Exception handling is not the panacea to everything

Please, for the sake of a thousand Gods, stop writing try blocks that are over 1500 lines long !! I am having a royal headache ..

And worse, dont handle it like this - (exasperatedly pointing my hands below)

        } //end try
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            logger.log("Getting List failed");

        }

Atleast log the exception and print the trace...

And they say I am slow.. Yes, I will be slow when I am doing someone else's work (after completing the tasks assigned to me and you know about it), cleaning up such code and getting it to work.

Lenin

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth."

 - Lenin

CPU shootout

A very good comparison of Microprocessors on Toms Hardware.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/07/16/cpu_charts_2007/index.html

Surprisingly enough, many older processors are still competitive enough, and in a few cases, beat the newer processors. Like E6600 does outperform E6650 on some occasions. But then, E6600 has lower cache and FSB, but higher clock multiplier. So in some cases, it might be a better performer. Higher FSB, like in E6650, does help in memory intensive applications.

IMHO, E6600 is still the best buy at current prices, and would suffice for 2 more years. But if you want more juice, well you have the Core 2 Extreme processors with Quad core. Also, I believe that there has to be an optimum number of cores - the performance gain when jumping from single to double core is much higher percentage-wise, than a jump from dual core to quad core, or quad core to 8-core. AFAIK, multiple core/processor machines are very good at the server level. I am not too sure regarding how much would be the performance gain for a gaming desktop.

Also, the good old AMD Athlon X2 series is still alive and kicking. Its good enough for most applications.

8 random facts about me

Sakshi (http://sakshijuneja.com/blog/2007/06/29/some-random-facts-about-me/) and BarbarIndian (http://barbarindians.blogspot.com/2007/07/8-facts-about-me-you-could-live-without.html) have tagged me. Here goes...

1. When I was a primary school kid, once my neighbour asked me, Who was John F Kennedy? I did not know, so I said I dont know. He said - "You know, come on, dont be shy, tell me". I was in a bad mood and said - "Tere baap ka baap". Later my baap thrashed me.

2. My mom thinks there is something wrong with me when I listen to heavy metal music. A friend once asked me jokingly if I am into some tantric stuff.

3. My favourite channels would include National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery channel, Cartoon Network, Pogo, VH1.

4. I started having beer, whisky etc and cigarettes in the final year of my Post Grad, at the age of 23. Bacardi is my favourite. And amongst the common regular cocktails, I like Long Island Iced Tea.

5. I missed admission to IIMs and XLRI by a few ranks in both cases, after my graduation. I never tried again. Now when I see what managers are like, I dont regret it much.

6. I used to be secular. I used to think there is no reason to fight on the basis of religion (later I realized that you cannot do anything when the fight is forced on you). I used to hate religion. I used to think Hindus are really bad because my history textbooks highlighted many bad points. I used to think Chacha Nehru and Gandhi were valiant freedom fighters and I used to respect them. How wrong was I....

7. I used to be a voracious fiction reader and it included Forsyth, Archer, Verne, Ludlum, Rowling, etc and anything that had a good review. I drastically cut down some years ago due to lack of time and other priorities. My reading is very limited now, based strictly on the recommendations of friends. I wanted to start Ayn Rand, but the thickness of the books makes me put it off for later.

8. I hate orkut.

Reservation argument continues

Does Madmohan Singh even know the meaning of affirmative action - http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/06pmo.htm
The Prime Minister's Office has summoned the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India on July 14 to submit a progress report on the affirmative action taken by them.

After interfering with the working of our educational institutions, he now wants to interfere with the industry.

Dr Singh (I think Oxford or Cambridge should revoke his degree, going by his dumbness),

The industry does not care about caste or creed or even nationality(Air Deccan Operations chief is a Western chap, I am not sure if he still is after the merger with Kingfisher airlines). It wants to get its work done. Its more interested in doing business and performance. You are just being a cog in the wheel by such stupid hairbrained schemes like reservations in private industry (one of the few bastions left which are improving instead of degrading). Dont you think you should be better concentrating on things like infrastructure and law and order. If these things show an improvement, everyone benefits, and mostly the poor - whom you claim to represent - benefit. I understand that you want to deflect attention from other failures and show reservations as a success or something, but stop raising the reservation cabal where it does not need to be done.

A critique of academics on Hinduism

A nice article by Aditi Banerjee, deconstructing studies on Hinduism -

 

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070629&fname=aditibannerjee&sid=1&pn=1