Say no to Okay

The word okay is a overloaded and ambiguous word used for right about anything. The difference can be in the tone at which it is said or written.

It is apparently the single most used word in the world due to its simplicity and adoption in a number of other languages. It originated from the abbreviation O.K. and not the corollary.

The usage can be very tricky,

"He is okay"

What does that mean?
He is good and not exceptional.
He is average and not good.
He is poor but not terrible.
He is terrible but not evil.

Hmm..beats me!

Husband: I have got some urgent work and so am cancelling our dinner plans.
Wife: "Okay"

Yes? Think about it? Maybe? As you wish? No way?

Beats me again!!

Picture this.

President Bush is talking to his Secretary of Defense over the phone,

Bush: Hello
Secretary: Hello Mr.President
Bush: So what have you got?
Secretary: Need permission to deploy and fire.
Bush: Okay (Secretary launches nuke and starts world war III), what did you just say??

"Okay" is neither yes or no. It can mean so many different things
and is still so commonly used. It leads to confusion and chaos.
Its usage should thus be abolished

And thank god 'okay' is not a keyword in modern programming languages.

Lets work towards banning it!Okay?

Bot Wars

There has been a spurious increase in the number of worms circulating the Internet over the past one/two weeks. CERT has reported worms and their variants written by rival gangs that are targeting each other and trying to take control of computers. All of them exploit the recent Windows Plug n Play exploit. These worms not only take control of computers but also search and destroy other rival worms. The intention of these criminal cyber gangs is to take control of an army of computers much bigger than any other, to launch distributed and coordinated attacks on organizations for financial benefits. Thus have started the bot wars!

There are some interesting articles on this in BBCNews and Zdnet.

This is unbelievable. Gone were the days when the Internet was exclusive to the universities and the research community. And gone are the days when this lone creative introvert of a kid tried to showcase his exploits by breaking into systems. Now has arrived the day of the cyber gangs. Groups of organized and highly qualified individuals who have gone underground for the sole purpose of being nefarious mercenaries!

I wonder how the Internet and the world will look like 10 years from now. My two cents are on the coming of cyber police who are as prevalent as the modern day policeman. Only difference would be that the weaponry used will be totally out of the world!

Trip to Chennai Part 2

My Chennai vacation was real fun. I got to meet up with
my family and friends after a long time.

There was no other incident on my last leg journey on
train from Bangalore to Chennai. The ride was peaceful
and slept right through. Next thing I know, my brother was
at the station.

There were these ID day celebrations going on. Took part
in the marathon the morning I came and won second prize
just behind my brother. Bro has been very atheletic
since his school days. At some point of time it does dawn upon
all older bros that their kiddie sibling are not all that little
anymore.

I met up my friends after some 4 long years! It was a wonderful
reunion. We caught up with some old times and had some
hearty laughs. Fruit shop used to be one of our favorite
hangouts and still is. We had our days of chaos and ruckus there.
Who ever said you could not get high with lime mint cooler!

We guys have planned another get together this diwali. Hope
to have another blast then!

Trip to Chennai

The independence day vacation along with rakhi were just around the corner when I realized that I had to go home. It had been a while since my last visit to Chennai. I tried to wake early the day before my journey to get a Tatkal train reservation. Tatkal is a god given hope for last moment travellers like me. But the lazy me who worked late the previous night could not get up early and had to think of alternate plans. Thats when my roomate told me about this smooth Volvo bus that goes to Bangalore in 15 hours!! Once in Bangalore I could catch another bus to Chennai and travel for 6 hours before I am home sweet home. Little did I realize that there is more to it than meets the eye.

I reached Bangalore after a hair raising bus ride. I was seated right in the front row of the large spacious Volvo. The bus driver had the impression that he was playing 'Monster Truck Madness'. He had absolute disdain for all others on the road and drove himself to glory giving his passengers some 'living on the edge' moments! Once I Bangalore at around 4:00 PM, I got a rude shock that the next bus to Chennai was only at 10:00 PM. So, I decided to try my luck on train. Right now, I have a on waiting list 1 AC ticket to Chennai at 10:30 PM. Hope some buddy of mine cancells his/her ticket. I would be forever grateful. If not it would be another adventurous last leg ride home.

More when I reach Chennai. I am so bugged that I am blogging from this cybercafe near the Bangalore bus station paying a rip off amount of 28/Hour.

Touchdown

[Aug 9 2005 6:09 PM IST]

Discovery has finally landed in Edwards Air Force Base in California!

News of the descent had gathered worldwide attention after the Columbia disaster almost two and a half years back. NASA had vowed to not have another incident similar to Columbia. But when Discovery was launched there was debris falling from the spacecraft, which was captured on some newly installed advanced cameras. There was speculation and worries that this was going to be a Columbia-II. Luckily, none of the debris hit the spacecraft this time round. NASA has cancelled all future lift-offs until it can address the 'debris falling' issue comprehensively.

The safe return of Discovery is good news to the world over. Man has been bold and intelligent enough to venture to space and send rovers to Mars. Exploration of the unknown expanse of the universe, just as man explored Earth some hundreds of years ago, will lead to progression of mankind and beyond!

Looking forward to the Galaxian empire and the Jedis, in some birth of mine.

May the force be with you!

Intro

This is my first venture into the world of blogging. A number of my of friends are in the game and I do not want to miss the bandwagon. Here on, I will post articles on computer security. I am no big expert but as far as I can say nobody is one! We are all here in an eternal learning experience. I will not bore you guys anymore with my constant rant. Look out for my first article soon.

Take it easy fellas!