Insertion Sort in Different Flavors

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Been revving up algorithms for my job hunt. Thought, I should share some. Here's Insertion Sort, in Ruby, Java and C.

It has a Worst and Average Case Scenario Complexity of Theta(n^2) (or Theta n-squared). It is efficient for smaller data sets while larger data sets would require a lot of time for sorting.

Oh! I've also been dabbling in the art of Ruby Programming.

I find the language a lot more neat and simpler than my previously known languages - C and Java. The best thing is that with multiple syntax possibility, I can quickly code in free flow without the need to frequently check and recheck whetehr I'm sticking to the syntax rules to express my thoughts.

This is one of the features of ruby to have multiple syntax rules for the same task, incorporated from C, Python, Small-Talk, Java and more. This makes it easy to learn and apply.

Without further delay, here's the algorithm;

INSERTION SORT (PSEUDO-CODE)

A = [1,5,3,7,6,2,8,9,10,4]

print "Initial Array Order " + A

for j = 1 to A.length
{
i = j-1
key = A[j]

while i>=0 && A[i]>key
{
A[i+1] = A[i]
i = i-1
}

A[i+1] = key
}

print "Sorted Array Order "+ A

OUTPUT>> [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]

Note: The above algorithm assumes a Zero indexing for the Array. For One indexed Arrays, alter the for loop to -

"for j = 2 to A.length"

and alter the while loop to -

"while i>0 && A[i]>key"

Now, Insertion Sort in Ruby;

INSERTION SORT (RUBY)

A = [1,5,3,7,6,2,8,9,10,4]

p "Initial Array Order"
p A

for j in 1...A.length

i = j-1;
key = A[j];

while i>=0 && A[i]>key

A[i+1] = A[i];
i = i-1;

end

A[i+1] = key;

end

p "Sorted Array Order"
p A

Here's the screen shot of the running Ruby program:

InsertionSort (Java)

public class InsertionSorting
{
public static void main( String[] args )
{

int A[] = { 10, 9, 5, 7, 3, 1 };

System.out.printf("\nInitial Array:\n");

for( int k=0;  k<A.length;  k++)
{
System.out.printf( "%d, ", A[k]);
}

for( int j=1;  j<A.length;  j++)
{
int i = j-1;
int key = A[j];

while((i>=0)&&(A[i]>key))
{
A[i+1] = A[i];
i=i-1;
}

A[i+1] = key;
}

System.out.println("\nFinal Array:");

for( int k=0;  k<A.length;  k++)
{
System.out.printf("%d, ",A[k]);
}
}
}

Here's the screen shot of the running Java program:

Java program run in Netbeans IDE.

INSERTION SORT (C)

//Insertion Sort

void main()
{

int A[6] = { 10, 5, 7, 3, 4, 1 };

printf("\nInitial Array\n");

for ( int l=0;  l<6;  l++)
{
printf("%d\n", A[l]);
}

int j =0;
for( j=1;  j<6;  j++)
{
int i = j-1;
int key = A[j];

while((i>=0)&&(A[i]>key))
{
A[i+1] = A[i];
i=i-1;
}
A[i+1] = key;
}

printf("\nFinal Array\n");

for (int k=0; k<6; k++)
{
printf("%d\n", A[k]);
}

getch();

}

Here's the screen shot of the running C program:

[C Program compiled with TCC.]

Hey! It's a nice idea to code the same stuff in C, Java and Ruby. Next time onward I'll try to post programs in all three languages. Not entire applications, though, it gets tedious when the program runs long.

Next hopefully should be Data Structures Stack and Queue, or Merge Sort. Lets see. Till then, adios!

PS: Attached Ruby, Java and C files. [LINK]

Bibliophile: 1984 By George Orwell (A Glimpse)

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I have heard a lot of praise of "1984", by George Orwell. Let me first quote directly from the book's summary on its back cover:

"Winston Smith is a low-rung member of the Party, the ruling government of Oceaina. He works in the Ministry of Truth, the Party's propaganda arm, where he isin charge of revising history. He is but a small brick in the pyramid that is the Party, at the head of which stands Big Brother. Big Brother the infallible. Big Brother the all-powerful.

In a totalitarian society, where individuality is suppressed and freedom of thought has its antithesis in the Thought Police, Winston finds respite in the company of Julia. Originality of thought awakens, love blossoms and hope is rekindled. But what they don't know is that Big Brother is always watching."

And....I ADORE this book!! Well, 'Volume One' or 'Part One' (Whatever you call the partitions.) of the book. Instantly a lot of ideas, thoughts and memories begin swirling in the reader's mind, when you start reading the book. This book is primarily evocative and thought provoking.

A lot of (Yes, a Hell, lot of!) other writers, stories and books have copied (another word is stolen, or adapted if you're being polite) the ideas from this masterpiece. Truly, original and most influential, I agree.

I've started with 'Part Two'. The first fifteen or so pages of 'Volume Two', is a little repetitive. More over, I believe these could have been shortened. I fear the same themes and ideas would be reiterated over the entire 'Volume Two' (But, I cannot say it with certainty, unless I've read it.). I may need to skim and skip a few more pages to get back into the juicer parts of the (main) plot.

Still, I'd recommend anyone to read this book even for the ideas and imagination that rings so true in internet/espionage days in 'Volume One'. Also, the book is aimed primarily as an anti-communist propaganda but, works well for any authority figure or government.

Full review after I get through the remaining two volumes (Yes, the entire text is in Three Volumes). Catch you later.

Books Discussed:

1. 1984 By George Orwell.

Related articles

• Bibliophile: 1984, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein. (mdnaseemashraf.wordpress.com)

Bibliophile: Adios, Invisible Man.

NOTE: Blog moved to Wordpress. Click here for latest posts and more cool stuffs.

Reading of "The Invisible Man" was finally completed! Things could be so much better in today's world of information overload and instant gratification, if one were locked up in a room with nothing but a book, that man would read, reread and even memorize that book.

Something similar occurred with me. I was on a two and a half hour flight, yesterday, from Delhi to Bangalore, to resume my job hunt here. I was allotted a window seat and, surprise, I didn't have any travelling companion on my side. No sir not even one! I was free to move up the side arms and sprawl on that three seat couch. Cheers! I still had the distraction of my laptop but, as I've not got it's battery replaced, this repaired junk would barely run a few minutes. Hence, no more distracting laptop.

All options snatched away from my hands. All distractions muted in my mind. I was finally free to do some quality work - Crack open a book and read it.

The Invisible Man: My review -

The Invisible Man was a good book. Though parts of it were prolix and a bit dated as are most classics. Some pages are full of unneeded imagery. Now, onto the finer points of the story. The story shows in small glimpses the psychological effects of Invisibility on a man. His effort to handle this new found advantage (power) and finally, his downfall.

A lot of questions comes to my mind. "Where is the blame?" Is the society or these mundane and average
people to be blamed in the crime of not understanding a man's achievement or their mistreatment of him just
cause he was invisible? The first part of the blame I believe is on the society. Unwilling to agree and sympathize with the protagonist.

This mistreatment (discrimination?) of the invisible man by the society may have been the prime cause of
his insanity, I'd argue. But, then, "Are we inherently evil (or good) only a moment away to show our true nature and color?"

A quote comes to mind about blame:

"The superior man resolves to walk alone, and is caught in the rain. He becomes bespattered and people
murmur against him. Where is the blame in this?" - I Ching

And as is custom, here is a quote from The Invisible Man -

"Hitherto I have gone on vague lines. We have to consider all that invisibility means; all that it does not mean." - The Invisible Man.

Now, I'll be off to reading 1984 and job hunting. Wish me luck.

Books Discussed:

1. The Invisible Man by H.G Wells (Science Fiction, Classic, Tragedy, Thriller)

Books Mentioned:

1. 1984 by George Orwell (Dystopian Future, Society, Science-Fiction, Psychology)

Related articles

• Bibliophile: 1984, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein. (mdnaseemashraf.wordpress.com)

Bibliophile: Lord of the Flies + Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of The World

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Today, I decided to post about two previously read books, as my progress with The Invisible Man is quite slow. One eBook and the other traditional trade paperback.

Both these books are thought provoking and deep. They have great deal to say on the various nuances of life, existence, philosophy and the human condition, including our own humanity. Even though my previously chosen words may add a slight hesitation in the modern microwave minded easy readers, both these books are very good as story and easily accessible.

Lord of The Flies

by William Golding

An engaging story about a group of stranded children on an uninhabited utopian island. The story follows the adventures and events occurring with survival and daily activities of these plane crash survivors. Slowly progressing into more complicated themes and mature allegories. A good read for both young and adult readers. Lord of The Flies, packs in a multitude of characters and their personalities, making the book a very rich reading experience. The past and background of these characters is left unknown and very vague. The starting situation is much like a hypothesis for an experiment on human nature, psychology, civilization and society.

The allegory and in depth meaning may not leap directly for the reader. But, it becomes a great story, once we start assimilating the nature of the characters and connect them with real life people. That may not be a point of concern for the first time reader. But, this book deserves a second re-reading or at least some time to think over it. (The Wikipedia Page on this book may help you as a cheat sheet but, only after you've first read the story in its entirety.)

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World

by Haruki Murakami (Translated from Japanese)

Read this as an e-book, now, I crave to buy it as a paperback. This book is primarily Science-Fiction, but, laden with philosophy. This book may not be for everybody. The ordinary reader may find the book verbose; And a tough book to digest especially if the reader has aversion to thinking, wondering and questioning, his or her own-self and mindset. Primarily aimed at mature readers and specifically those stuck in this modern life very similar to the dystopian life of the story's protagonist.

The book narrates two parallel stories (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World) with indirect connection as alternating chapters. Their is a marked contrast between the setting, theme and other plot points of the two stories. This is purposefully designed to reflect our own internal conflict, with our mixed feelings and somewhat confused (not actually confused. The thoughts of the protagonist in the two stories is crisp but, they deal with different aspects of our humanity) thoughts.

Some, readers (who are in my opinion addicted and acclimated to most of the ordinary low quality reading materials) find it difficult to follow or grasp the stories; especially the alternating parallel narratives. Some of the critiques go on to complain that the two stories could've been separated into two volumes one after the another, avoiding all the alternating chapters format. They, better keep mum, for every book and story is entitled to be told in it's own unique format, sequence and style. That is the freedom a writer and a story teller has, which builds the true nature of the story. It is not a technical book, to stringently follow a format or sequence order! (Try, House of Leaves for that matter and you'd find it convoluted, eerie and hauntingly non-sequential, thereby adding the horror theme and flavor to a far greater degree than ordinary stories.)

Finally, as a work of fiction the story is pretty short and even depressing for the reader. But, as a food for thought, the questions, observations and thoughts of the protagonist is very profound. This should be a warning to those seeking an easy read or an entertaining story. For a story, pick any other book. For an experience, choose this one. It is primarily a psychological thriller, once the reader starts relating to the questions, thoughts and ideas of the protagonist or his lifestyle. It oozes of existentialism, soul-searching and self-realization.

I personally, read it in PDF format on Foxit Reader, which facilitated me with highlighting, underlining and note making tools. I have underlined, highlighted, commented and argued my own thoughts and feelings as I read the story and marked it in the book. So, paperback owners would be better off with their pencils about them when they're reading this book, if they want to get to the depth of this book.

Happy Reading!!

Books Discussed:

1. Lord of The Flies by William Golding (Thriller, Adventure, Psychological Thriller, Philosophical, Tragedy?).
2. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World by Haruki Murakami. (Psychological Thriller, Philosophical, Translated, Tragedy?)

Books Mentioned:

1. House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. (Horror, Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Supernatural)
2. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. (Science Fiction, Classic)

Reinstallation Complete! Let's code on!!

My software, data etc re-installation on my laptop is now sufficiently complete.

STEP 1: Install the Omnipresent Java (i.e JDK) and two IDEs Eclipse and NetBeans.

I ran into issues with the JDK, Eclipse Galileo and PATH Environment variable here's another post on what I had to struggle with.

Step 2: Add some new age uber powerful simplistic language - Ruby On Rails (Primarily Ruby. I'm still learning it.)

I installed Ruby On Rails Bundle from this Rails Installer, Link. This bundle contains a Ruby Installer, Rails Installer and a Ruby Gems Package Manager (Which handles Ruby Libraries), as well as Git. I've been tinkering with Ruby these last few months but, have not worked something substantial - I'm still in the beginner learning phase.

Step 3: And, then there was the wise old owl, C.

Installed a no questions asked hassle free C compiler - TCC from here. Tiny C Compiler is by far the smallest compiler and its compilations/builds are also comparatively small. [Reference Link].

Step 4: Add some cool sounding and fancy tools.

Installed a set of Editors to make me gloat in pride...Vim and Notepad++. But, still uses Notepad (Force of habit).

Step 5: Install the Essentials of Human Computer Interaction worthy applications.

Then I went on to install the little subtle essentials: Skype, Firefox and VLC Player.

Step 6: Finally, the Bells, Whistles and Eye Candy: [Details linked.]

• CCleaner
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Software
• Pandora Recovery
• Free Alarm Clock
• Stardock's Logon Studio
• Stardock's Fences

Step 7: Rest in the after glow of achievement and plan your next code projects........doing what is meant to be done.

Issues with the JDK, Eclipse Galileo and PATH Environment variable

Problems with the JDK and Eclipse:

"JDK Not found...." & "JNI Error..."

I had quite a lot of trouble fixing my Java JDK and Eclipse Galileo IDE. Thing was that I was trying to reuse my old installation of Eclipse (which being portable does not require a setup/installation) with the old JDK 1.6.0 Setup, I had saved. My old eclipse started throwing up strange problems when I tried working on new projects in my old workspace, even though the previous projects and files were working fine with the IDE.
I decided on updating my Java which gave me a new JRE 1.7 which existed with JDK 1.6.0 (Creating more path related confusions). This created more hassles with my system when I tried installing a new version of Eclipse IDE Kepler. The IDE started throwing "JDK not found" errors and my command prompt (Yes, I'm still stuck with Windows 7. I will build a dual boot with Linux Mint, as soon as I get the download finished.) also did not respond to "java" or "java -version" commands. So, I figured out that my JDK has been screwed.

Ineffective Solution:

I tried all the fixes available from altering the "eclipse.ini" configuration file shipped with eclipse to point to my JDK using "-vm %JAVA_HOME%"\bin\" and other similar combinations. Then the system started throwing JNI Error of a missing .dll file from the jre in the client folder. One way was to link to its path the location in the configuration file (Messy! Don't do that! Well, unless you know what you're doing).

Solution:

Uninstalled and Reinstalled Java (JDK 1.7). [My suggestion; You should try CCleaner after uninstalls to clean and fix Windows Registry.] Set the PATH environment variable from:

Advanced System Settings (From My Computer Properties after Right Clicking) > System Properties (Dialog) > Advanced (Tab) > Environment Variables (Button) > System Variables (Window) > New/Edit (Button below the window depending whether "path" or "PATH" variable exists or not) > Adding the path/address to "%JAVA_HOME%\bin". Then you may need to restart the system.

  

I downloaded the download available from Oracle with the latest Netbeans IDE bundled together. [Link] (For the JDK only try this Link.)

Did You Know: There are different JDKs available to use. They have the same standard libraries but, they also have special libraries bundled with them to be compatible with the other vendor services and tools. The two giants IBM and Oracle, there are Open Source versions too, like the one from GNU and OpenJDK; Courtesy of Sun Microsystems, which had released the Source Code as open source sometime, back in 2006.

Conclusion: My JDK, Eclipse Kepler and NetBeans IDE works like magic.

Other known Reasons for similar JDK and Eclipse Problems are incompatible softwares, like using 64 Bit JDK or IDE on a 32 Bit System. Here is a small note on it:

Working: 32 Bit OS + 32 Bit JDK + 32 Bit Eclipse IDE

Working: 64 Bit OS + 32 Bit JDK + 32 Bit Eclipse IDE

Working: 64 Bit OS + 64 Bit JDK + 64 Bit Eclipse IDE

Related articles

• Install Eclipse on Your Windows OS, A Step by Step Guide with Screenshots (ashout.com)
• Installing jdk and eclipse (haramritpanesar.wordpress.com)

Desktop Enhancements and Essential Softwares: CCleaner, Pandora Recovery, Logon Studio and Fences

My System's Bells and Whistles...

CCleaner

Cleans and Fixes Windows Registry, removes extra temporary or application dump data - freeing space. It also has an Uninstaller built in to uninstall stubborn applications. A Windows Startup editor which can let you enable, disable and see what all applications/processes run on system start up/booting. Furthermore it has a System Restore Index (from where you can remove previous Windows restore points whenever you've fiddle with applications or updates by installing or uninstalling them). And, Lastly, the most sinister feature...The Drive Wiper; A tool which can be used to wipe clean or format the drives attached to the system. It has got multiple pass cleaning setting which can be adjusted.

Did you know, that whenever you delete any file or uninstall stuff, the files and data are only unlinked from the OS? Yup! True Story. That means that the actual data still remains in the hard-disks memory only it's address link is nullified. The data can be accessed when it's stored bits are scanned, identified, collected and read from that drive using data recovery tools. No sir, not even your beloved Shift+Delete Key would save you from this type of espionage. Formatting the drive, which is actually writing or overwriting the entire disk or drive with zeros makes it clean. Still, cleaning softwares work by estimating the un-indexed (due to deletion) data/disk segments and sectors writing zeros in them. Which, means parts of that data can still be recovered, though incomplete. Now, when you overwrite multiple times you are only decreasing the probability of leaving behind even a few bits or bytes of data behind.

Pandora Recovery

As you've been wondering which kind of scanner application recovers deleted data, well wonder no more! (Or, at least don't turn away from this webpage at least; Google not required.)

Pandora Recovery is a good tool to recover deleted data files. Though it has a limited set of file-type identification, it can easily identify and recover most office documents, images, files and others. But, it also shows the level of deletion or overwritten parts of the file to be recovered. It cannot make complete recovery of overwritten data or may even fail to yield results.

Still, it is useful to recover accidentally deleted data especially if you have a habit of quickly Shift+Deleting files or when you've emptied the Recycle Bin.

Stardock's Logon Studio

Logon Studio, lets you, without any manual hacks, replace the Windows boot screen to an Image of your choice. It also supports Slideshow feature of changing you Log-on Screen in selected intervals. Good at impressing your friends with beautiful wallpapers or artwork on your log-on screen.

Stardock's Fences [Full Version is Paid]

A very good desktop enhancement program that arranges your icons in beautiful fences/boxes and adds features like multiple icon work-spaces (like Expose in Mac OS X or Virtual Desktops or Work spaces in Ubuntu/Linux). It also gives some other cool features like Icons hiding and others. Icon hiding feature is very useful if you have cool Wallpapers.

Free Alarm Clock

A clock I got from Download.com, which is useful as any other clocks but, with customizable audio for alarms, makes it particularly useful for me. I add mnemonics, quotes and facts I need to memorize, in my voice, to be played after some intervals as audio flash cards. Cool eh? Specially useful with learning new languages. (Which I'm not currently engaged in.)

Slide Show Windows Desktop Gadget

That funny little floor plan you see in that small window of my Desktop, is an actual floor plan. I use this gadget to well, show pictures from a selected folder repetitively . These pictures are my own edited and drawn (using MSPaint) flash cards, to memorize stuff whenever I look at my desktop. More on it, I write later, in another dedicated blog post.

Bibliophile: 1984, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein.

Finally, finished flash reading Frankenstein. The story was decent but, senselessly verbose. Actually, if rewritten with the actual story plots it'd be pretty small; Maybe even a short story.

Some of the themes I found in the story should be a premonition to new readers of this classic, which is hardly classic. It starts with the same flavor as is with the story Faust (as much I can gather from Faust's reviews and synopsis; I've not yet, read the original text of Faust.). Another theme is Technophobia and Paranoia (as per the story writer's fault; Yes, that's Mary Shelley's psych evaluation). Religious propaganda, as was common in the west with the authors at that time - which led to subsequent corruption of western perception and fear/hate over time...the rest you can gather. It is not scary, even.though it is classified as horror. It's more of a tragedy.

The Prime message of the Story:

We make our monsters and villains. Our, civilized society discriminates on appearance and other facets, shunning and oppressing the victims. The ensuing suffering of the victim corrupts him/her to hate and malice. Hence, we are responsible for our own problems and suffering, for we built those agents of chaos and pain. Regret fuels redemption whereas, Hate fuels only revenge culminating to Loss/suffering which again kindles Hate (in this new victim - the earlier oppressor). And The Cycle of Hate goes on forever unless, one regrets their mistake and agrees to amend it.

A quote from Frankenstein, (As I quote the best lines I find from the books I read):

"Man, how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say." - Frankenstein.

Also, the book is replete with stanzas from S.T. Coleridge's, best poem, "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner". (I wish to read the poem in it's entirety. So, far I've only read excerpts of it.) I hold this poem in very high degree of respect.

Moving forward on the reading list:

Now, returning to the next on my to read Book list is; George Orwell's iconic novel, "1984". And...remarkably, I have received it today for a mere sum of INR 96, that includes delivery. (Yup! Got it from Snapdeal. Read the addendum for my shopping experience of "1984" from Snapdeal.)

But, in the chronological order of stacking of my books on the shelf, H.G Wells's  "The Invisible Man", awaits being read still in it's transparent plastic packing. (Nah! I had to rip it open. Reasons for unpacking later.)

A small Synopsis/teaser of both these works as per my knowledge is as follows (It's better not to read the synopsis and reviews online as they spoil the material's true quality.):

H.G Wells's "The Invisible Man":

A work of science fiction by the science fiction classic writer. As the name suggests, it's a story about an invisible man, driven to insanity and plotting a heinous crime. I have to admit I've seen a lot of invisible men from pop-fiction. The best to date I found was, Lloyd Ventrix aka Mojo, the Invisible Man from Batman the Animated Series episode, "See No Evil". This guy was formidable, giving the Dark Knight a run in the dark. Though, Batman could've and has on many occasions devised ingenious contingencies like, SONAR or using non-visible electromagnetic spectrum to detect the invisible entity (like IR or UV cameras).

George Orwell's "1984":

A work of dystopian science fiction but, with greater emphasis on the social and real-life implications of such a world and it's inhabitants. The story is more grounded in reality and is actually a sociopolitical response/propaganda against Socialism. Famous for it's inception of the term and idea, Big Brother: A system of constant surveillance of the public (with emphasis on encroachment of personal privacy). It's themes are again inspired and adapted from another earlier work; "Brave New World". I've seen and read a lot of similarly themed works in a wide range of formats from comics, movies, cartoons and books to real life news (Yeah! You must be abreast of the latest news as well as hue and cry over NSA spying and the PRISM, internet conspiracy theory.)

Though the best identical themed work I've seen and read is V for Vendetta. (The best there is in this flavor. Trust me.)

*This book is thicker i.e voluminous, with 312 Pages. While,...wait a minute. I'll have to remove the plastic cover.....Yes. 218 Pages.

*Then it is done, gentlemen. I'll be starting with The Invisible Man.

Addendum:

I had ordered for 1984 A Novel by George Orwell in the last month's ending days. The delivery was not made to me even though the package had reached the city, Patna three days before it's online delivery date. Even after telephonic verification the book was not delivered to me. The next two days were holidays due to Diwali. Though, Amazon ordered, "The Invisible Man" and "Frankenstein" reached on it's promised delivery date + 1, due to festival on 6th of this month.

Maybe, the delivery service of Snapdeal is not efficient in the smaller cities, like Patna. But, both Amazon and Snapdeal had sent their packages via the same delivery service, surprising, ain't it? While Amazon's delivery reached late it was delivered on time (I was intimated of the delay), Snapdeal's earlier delivery was not handed over to me despite asserting the courier company, BlueDart, that the package is already present there in their collection. What next? I had to take a flight by mid-day on 7th.

Also, Snapdeal does not provide any facility to alter recipient address once the package has been put in transition. Again, Amazon, saves the day here. Amazon provides an online address change facility. I'm not sure if the shipping address change is charged or not. But, the initial delivery was under Amazon Assured free home delivery service. While, I had to spend INR 30 for delivery of this book 1984.

Another, thing about the book I have from Rupa Publications; The Invisble Man's paper quality is very good but, has a yellowish tinge to it. This actually, artistically speaking, extends the dull yellow cover theme and the type-written fonts with typewriter like ink variations in it's print makes it all the more nostalgic classic book to read. (Mind it this book is from Amazon).

But, 1984, bought by my judging of it's beautiful cover was an illusion. The pages are thin, dull white and feel like recycled newspapers. Still, the text and fonts are alright. I may have bought some incorrect print version.

Also, about Frankenstein, the book from Collins Classics collection and published by Harper Collins (One of the very best publishers) was excellent with it's Easter egg - Classic Literature: Word and Phrases adaptation from the Collins English Dictionary, at the end of the book for quick reference of old archaic word meanings. Next time I buy a classic I'll first seek it in a Collins Classic collection.

Books Discussed:

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (Science-Fiction, Horror, Tragedy)

Books Mentioned:

1. Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Supernatural, Horror ??)- I must read later.
2. The Invisible Man by H.G Wells (Science Fiction)
3. 1984 by George Orwell (Dystopian Future, Science-Fiction, Fantasy)
4. Ancient Mariner by S.T Coleridge (Story-Poem, Archaic, Adventure)

Bibliophile: Neil Davidson and Software Pricing

Speed read the first three chapters of Neil Davidson's "Don't Just Roll The Dice: A usefully short guide to software pricing" and had my mind's horizon expanded almost instantly. This book (booklet? It's pretty small.) is an essential guide to any self-respecting software developer and all the entrepreneurs, management honchos and tech industry elites, worth their salt.

It deals in terse and lucid language the various thoughts and ideas to consider over software pricing. The tales recounted from history gives me ominous premonitions of all these small amateur IT start-ups subsequent death, especially in India. Furthermore, the book discusses critical points like software piracy, market competition and consumer psychology in the software context.

I'll be adding more to this post when I finish reading the free e-book. Here's a link to it.

Happy Reading!!

Total Reinstall

What would you do if you were to start anew? No more carrying around regrets, failures, traumas, scars, bad memories and, even, bad habits? What would you give to give-up your weaknesses and build new strengths? Will you use your wasted time wisely? Or, will you repeat your sins; being hell-bound?

Now, returning from the philosophy to technology, these questions still resonate, albeit, remotely. Yet, the impact of such questions even in the pretext of an aging laptop is one with great influence and ramifications on the user's life. Already gave up my love of games when my PC started shutting down unexpectedly mid gameplay. Then, came the overheating...graphics card failures, weakened battery and failing motherboard circuitry.

But, now that everything has been repaired and restored in my hands, will I walk the same path so often tread? Or, will I rise upto the occasion and build one of those marvels, of codes and science, that every Dad expects his son to build, when he hands him a laptop? Do We as modern day users truly deserve this high powered device that we lust after and buy? I've seen high-school students run after Corei7 Processors and Graphics Cards, even when they would be able to use a small iota of its true power playing games. People want more just because they can afford it. Rephrasing; "People mistake that whatever they earn is what they deserve."

They want the costliest car. The fastest bike. The biggest house. The largest TV. So on and so forth. But, is it what they need? Or is it just their want? Why can't they be at peace with what they have? Why can't they make do with OK? Why do we crave after luxury? *Enough of Psychobabble, Naseem! Get to your point!!* Okay! Okay! Jeez, you guys take the fun out of these...*Ravings of a mad man?*...Whatever you call these.

In short: Got my laptop fixed, finally! And, this blog post was due a long time, even though I've not covered a lot of books to write in my Bibliophile posts, or programmed or tinkered with code to blog about it. Spent my time with Frankenstein though. Read, or flash read (that's what I call my skimming, speed reading and jumping between the material), the first volume of Frankenstein. Currently in Chapter 4 of Volume 2 (5 more chapters to go). I'll blog about it later when I'd have done flash reading it.

A new, still plastic wrapped H.G Wells's, The Invisible Man, rests on my book-shelf. It will be my target next. After this I've been itching to read "1984 A Novel" by George Orwell, though I know about it from pop-fiction but, would like to read it in it's original format.

But, I'll be busy again with my tinkering, coding, studying, job-hunt and re-installing all the lost apps, data and goodies to my Toshiba. Hey, I also set a new set of wallpapers and desktop enhancements! Hopefully, Frankenstein would be completed quickly with my flash reading.

Well, I got work to do! Catch you later, readers. Bye.

Here's a Screen Shot of my Desktop Currently: (I'm adding two Screen Shots. I'll talk about the re-installation ritual in another blog post.)

I'll detail some interesting things for my new perspective and ideas for this resuscitated system. Adios.

Bibliophile: Good Bye Asimov; Hello Shelly!

The sun sets behind the concrete jungle of buildings, here in Shipra Sun City. The only unused patch of land by the Shipra Mall and my apartment, full of wild bushes, tall trees and birds emanates its own music of returning birds and crickets. The evening tunes are occasionally pierced by the escaping songs on stereo from the Mall - I can recognize the faint lyrics of Titanium, by David Guetta, being played. All the while these sounds play with the faint, far-away background noise of traffic and hum of construction machinery.

I‘ve completed reading my book, The Rest of The Robots from Isaac Asimov. All I have to say about these short stories are that they have some good food for thought and vintage value, like a science fiction classic. The stories have ideas and story plots found almost everywhere these days and hence, they didn't amuse me much.

My Toshiba laptop had been troubling me for some time; Overheating, sudden shutdowns and now, Graphics Card failure. Got it fixed yesterday and after an hour or two it burned itself again! I fear the price of fixing that stuff and all my documents were on the system.

Though, being the paranoid I am, I had created a backup on my thumb and portable hard drives, as well as on the cloud. Had to wire my elder brother‘s obsolete PC and hook it up with my laptop‘s hard drive. Will get the work done for now. I hope my Toshiba, infamous for its heating problem, gets repaired quick enough. I've got a job interview tomorrow evening. Wish me luck readers; I‘m in dire need of it considering the pile of problems instantly materializing with the absence of my only laptop.

I‘m blogging from my cellphone so do excuse my typos and other errors.

Now, I‘ll pick up that new book still in packing paper that I had ordered off Amazon; “Frankenstein“.

Here‘s a link to the book I‘m going to start reading.

http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/0007350961/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1384096088&sr=1-2&pi=SL75

I was biased to this print primarily because of its appealing cover art. (Now, don‘t remind me about that old saying on book contents and covers.)

Even though I know the sketches and themes of the story from pop-culture but, you truly don‘t know, until you've seen it for yourself.