New look of Dashboard of WordPress

WordPress has a new look for the Dashboard

I do not know if I like it, maybe it’ll grow on me. But as of now I’d prefer the old dashboard design. The main reason why I visit the dashboard is to find the top posts, wordpress news and growing blogs. Now all these have been pushed to the right column and are not in focus. I know what stuff has been happening on my blogs (comments, posts etc), what I don’t know is what is happening in the blogosphere – to that end the old dashboard design was better.

But then this new dashboard look has not been announced, maybe it is just a trial run.

Update: The announcement for the New Dashboard is up. Scoble’s thoughts on it.

Technorati: WordPress, Dashboard, New Look

Chemistry

Chemistry for me had always been a nightmare. I could never get the hang of reactions, the atomic interactions and I especially detested the Periodic Table. Chemistry was, and still is, the stuff of nightmares.

I was a pretty good student of Mathematics and Physics, but the classes of Chemistry would usually find me dozing, surprisingly at no fault of the teacher. Almost all of my Chemistry teachers were very good who generally maintained an interesting class, yet the subject would put me to sleep.

In the Chemistry practical exam, I was given a mixture and I had to find the components. I tried all the experiments I knew and zilch was the result. I tried to convince the lab attendant that I had been given some obscure, yet to be discovered compound to which he snickered & guffawed and I was left with nada again. One of my close friends, Gaurav, took pity on me, did some quick experiments and told me the composition. A heartfelt thanks later, I discovered a major problem – I had to write down the whole experiment and submit it – On Paper!. I had no clue what chemicals Gaurav had used, what reactions had taken place, was the colourless liquid in brown bottle an acid or a base, and was I supposed to heat the mixture, or was I supposed to pass that filthy smelling gas through it? A pssst and a nudge later Gaurav was few feet from me and that day my auditory senses were tested to the hilt. Every whisper was duly copied and pasted down on the examination paper. Thanks to Gaurav, I passed that examination.

I was so happy to have left Chemistry behind, and would take sadistic pleasure on seeing people studying it; but now I am truly sorry for them, I really pity them. Only because of this:

Courtesy: NY Times

After this makeover of the Periodic Table goes through, a new side-effect of studying Chemistry would soon emerge: Vertigo. The going round and round to study the elements would surely be spinning quite a few heads – literally and metaphorically, both.

I pity the new Chemistry students.

Technorati: Chemistry, Periodic Table, Science

The Blogging Conundrum

Why is that that the best ideas to blog about strike in the least likely place to blog? Like the loo, or when you are taking a shower, or when you are driving, or when you are on a vacation and have promised yourself that you would not touch a computer. And you would never remember the idea once you have the time and resources to blog. I have tried to write down the ideas as soon as they hit me, but to no avail – the time I take to traverse from the post-idea-hits-me-spot to note-idea-spot is bedecked with a zillion other not-so-post-worthy thoughts and consequently, the idea remains but an idea and never becomes a post.

Is it just me? Or others face the same problem too?

Lyrics: Ajnabi Shehar Hai – Jaan-e-Mann

Great lyrics, good music. Sonu Nigam does it justice.

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ajnabi shahar hai
ajnabi shaam hai
zindagi ajnabi kya tera naam hai
ajeeb hai ye zindagi ye zindagi ajeeb hai
ye milti hai bicharti hai bicharke phir se milti hai
Ajnabi shehar hai
ajnabi shaam hai

aap ke bagair bhi hume
meethi lage udasiya
kya ye aap ka aap ka kamaal hai
shayad aapko khabar nahi
hil rahi hai paaon ki zameen
kya ye aap ka aap ka khayal hai
ajnabi shehar mein zindagi milgayi
ajeeb hai ye zindagi ye zindagi ajeeb hai
mein samjha tha kareeb hai ye auron ka naseeb hai
ajnabi shaher hai
ajnabi shaam hai

baat hai ye ek raat ki
aap badalo pe letey the
woh yaad hai aapne bulaya tha
sardi lag rahi thi aapko
patli chandi lapetey the
aur shawl mein khwaab ke sulaya tha
ajnabi thi sahi saans mein silgayi
ajeeb hai ye zindagi ye zindagi ajeeb hai
mere nahi ye zindagi rakeeb ka naseeb hai

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Technorati: Lyrics, Hindi, Jaan-e-Mann, Ajnabi Shehar

The Elevator Ride

He pressed ‘Up’ and prepared for the long wait ahead. After all the elevator would not just rush to his floor, and present itself for only his service. Fiddling with his mobile, he waited. The elevator seemed to be taking forever. Turning towards the staircase, he mentally calculated that the six floors from basement to his office would be 26×6 = 156 stairs. Groaning, he opened the door of the staircase only to hear the ping of the elevator doors opening.

“About time“, he thought while pressing the number ‘5′. The doors clanged shut with an abnormally loud sound. “Must be because the elevator is empty, the echo working its wonders“, his Physics knowledge always crept to the fore at the most opportune or inopportune of times. As usual he noted everything being shown in the electronic display board just over the elevator doors – ‘9:41 a.m. Capacity: 20 persons or 1440 kg’ and as usual he calculated the average weight of each person to be 72 kgs. He had done this calculation almost everyday for the past one year, and still he did it everyday.

The ‘-1′ being displayed metamorphosed into ‘0′, he waited for the elevator to stop, and he had got used to stopping on almost every floor. “There had to be some drawback of working on the top floor.” Surprisingly the ‘0′ turned into ‘1′ and some more pixel morphing had the ‘1′ change to ‘2′. “Ahh, this seems to be my day. Hope I reach the top in this run only“, he thought as the ‘2′ transformed into ‘3′. The ‘3′ blinked and ‘4′ appeared instead, he murmured a silent prayer to pass the fourth floor – he hated people who called for elevators even if they had to go to only the next floor. His prayers were answered, the ‘4′ blinked and he glimpsed the ‘5′ appearing when darkness engulfed him.

“Damn the power cut. Few seconds more and I could have been out.” And the next instant he was weightless, the Physics mind took over and he remembered the equations written on the black-board; modified acceleration = (g – a) in case of a free fall. “So this is how it feels to be in space“, logic took the lead, but there was never a doubt that panic would be the winner – “Help!” Logic put up a brave front, “These things are fitted with emergency brakes“, but panic had the podium finish as he blacked out.

The world was abnormally bright. “Ohh, the light in the elevator is white. I never noticed“, coming to his senses he looked around. A slight bump on his head seemed to be the only vestige of his recent misadventure. As usual he looked up to the electronic display board – ‘9:44 a.m. Capacity: 1 person’ “Another clue, my dear Watson“, he intoned, “A faulty electronic display board.” The elevator resumed its upward journey swiftly. The Physics returned, “And now it is (g + a), and so I am feeling heavy. But the elevator seems to be a bit faster, I hope there are no major problems because of that power cut“

A ping again, and the doors opened. An elderly person was sitting at a desk with a laptop. “Strange! I have never seen this guy in office and why is he sitting here in the elevator lobby? We have the infrastructure, then why is he here?” Before he could ponder more, the elderly man briskly said, “You must be the elevator-accident-physics-guy. Right? Welcome! My name is Chitragupta, also known as Saint Peter. Now move aside, I am expecting more arrivals soon“.