Writing a daemon in linux
Needed some online tutorial writing a daemon process. The links below helped.
VHEMT
One of the most comprehensive and meaningful websites I have read so far: The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT)
Another thoughtful article which talks about the taboo topic “Eugenics”: Future Generations
It is almost scary to have understood the nature and scale of the problem we are heading to, and despite the existence of workable solutions, it is almost too late and we are letting nature to adjust the balance, at great cost to the whole humanity and our planet.
I am sure if Spock were alive today he would have said “May we live long and die out”.
Going paperless at home
I have been sick and tired of the flood of junk mails at my home. I have already opted for paperless delivery of bills and statements, but the insurance and credit card offers keep coming. Finally found a blog post with solution to stop them as well. Here are a couple useful links:
1. How I Went 99.9% Paperless At Home
2. Evernote Is Decluttering My Life
Got published on childfreedom blog
An article I wrote a while back got published on the childfreedom blog: A Man’s View
I am quite happy with the comments the post got so far, but the comment a reader sent me directly today made my day:
Enjoyed reading your post on the childfreedom blog. Good for you for speaking out about your view. I have seen so many of my friend’s husbands get talked into having a kid that they did not want. It damages the marriage not to mention all the stress it brings into daily life for 20+ years ! FAR TOO MANY men just go along with the woman and have kids they did not really want & then it’s too late!
There is an article in the September 2010 Real Simple magazine called ” My One and Only” by Rebecca walker. She has a 5 year old son – she is 40 and SHE wants another child but her husband does not. She is very honest and says she realizes it isn’t fair to ask her husband to do more child rearing and put his dreams of raising funds for a school in Cambodia & to make a film and have the time and the energy to promote it. So it’s good she was honest and wrote about honoring her husband’s wishes. I think she should count her blessings that she has got one healthy kid & be grateful her life will be less complicated by not having more-!!!!
Having kids is a crapshoot no matter how you look at it. Friends of ours in their early 40’s have twins that are now 2 1/2. They were so desperate to have kids they went through expensive fertility treatments. Now they are overwhelmed – living a frantic lifestyle. They are strapped for money now and the quality of life they once enjoyed is GONE.
I didn’t want kids because I did not want a life of non-stop stress, chaos, upset, mess, marital strain and financial ruin-!
Keep spreading the word that “child freedom” is a GREAT thing! Maybe you can prevent some men from ruining their lives !
New riding record – 212 miles in 2hr 50min
Posted by therider in Motorcycling on August 16, 2010
I am no ironbutt certified rider yet, and nor do I care. But it was definitely an achievement to be able to pull off a ride-till-empty-tank that I always dreamed about. I normally stop for a little drink or stretching out every 100 miles on a long ride, but this time having already done a 140-mile non stop record, I decided to push a bit further. This was a sheer test of mental stamina since I was physically fine with no drowsiness at all. I could feel the urge to be complacent and stop after 150 miles, but something in me kept me calm and going. It was a great meditation as well, riding in silence (thanks to earbuds) for 2 hours and 50 minutes at no less than 70 mph on I-5, from Gorman to Santa Nella, covering a record 212 miles for me.
Some long distance riders only stop for fuel but I think I won’t be doing this kind of thing all too often unless on sedate interstates.
San Diego ride
Posted by therider in Motorcycling on August 12, 2010
On a long trip after more than a year. This time to San Diego for the alumni conference of IISc where Priti is volunteering. An easy thousand miler and a welcome break from the crazy hectic life we are in now.
The wing got equipped with new front tire and front brake pads yesterday. Working on it in the garage was a bliss. So also loading it up today just before the start of the trip. I was badly stuck with some office work so packed up my work laptop as well, hoping to get some coding done during the trip.
We hit the road at 5pm. Destination Goleta, CA. GPS showed ETA 10:05pm. From all my previous experiences, that meant midnight. No question about it.
It was a blissful, “zoned in” ride. Except for the temperature games of California. 75F to 60F in no time. A jacket liner break at 60 miles, then a quick restroom break and one last stop for refuel at San Miguel around 160 miles. Then a non-stop 140 mile sprint to Goleta. Went through dense fog and then enjoyed a long stretch oceanside road with dark starry skies and three ships lit up like christmas trees. Had to stop for a minute and turn off the lights just to take in the view.
Reached Goleta at exactly 10:05pm. Now this is a first. A personal record of nailing the GPS ETA doing 300 miles in 5 hours flat. Feels just great. To top it off, our hosts (Priti’s junior) fed us wonderful home cooked Indian food. I stopped short of food coma so I could start this blog entry and try to get some work done.
More tomorrow.
Updates:
Fri, 13th August: Busy day, met up with a friend before showing up for the conference mixer/gathering. After that, we went to see my buddy Venkatesh, whose 11 month old daughter just learned to walk on her own that very day. We then shacked up at my college batchmate’s nice house for the night.
Sat, 14th August: Very long day of conference from 7:30am to 10:30pm, but the food was great. I managed to get some office work done while covering the entire conference in between. Stayed with Ligeo and Divya after the conference.
Sun, 15th August: Long day of riding back home. Met up with roomie at Irvine where he came to meet his cousin. We had a mind blowing lunch at Chakra Indian cuisine restaurant inside the UC Irvine campus. After that Priti wanted to meet her junior so we stopped at Pasadena, also to avoid some nasty traffic. I am lucky I got to do a power nap which helped tremendously. I did a personal record in my riding that evening. From Gorman to Santa Nella, I rode non stop 212 miles on a full tank of gas, in 2 hr 50 minutes. It is a significant achievement considering the mental stamina it takes to sit for nearly 3 hours belting at 70mph or more. Back home at 11:30pm.
Summary: Roundtrip 1100 miles in 3 days, new personal record of 212 miles non stop in 2 hr 50 minutes.
Children and Marriage
A few interesting articles which talk about not only true facts but rather obvious outcomes of today’s socio-economic scenarios and modern lifestyles.
1. Having Kids Ruins Marriage
2. Why Children Ruin Marriage
3. Till Children Do Us Part
4. Married, successful and happy to be child-free
And to top it all, the post Alpha Female in the childfreedom blog sums it up nicely:
It’s time people stopped assuming that there is only one real reason a woman would opt out of motherhood – that she is a driven, career-starved ladder climber. The truth is, many (if not most) of us have chosen not to have kids for one simple reason:
We believe that parenthood sucks – and we want no part of it.
And from Bruce Gillespie in this article:
I’ve had people suggest that by not having kids, I’ll be missing out on something, and they’re undoubtedly right. But I’ll also be missing out on something by never climbing Mount Everest or walking on the moon, and I’m no more broken up about these missed opportunities than I am about never being a dad. I see it less as something I’m losing than something I’m gaining in the form of time, energy, and, let’s face it, money; without kids, I have more of all three to invest in my friends, my family, my work and my community.
The Baby Trap by Ellen Peck
Added a book to my rare list of must-reads.
The Baby Trap: The Controversial Bestseller That Dares to Prove That Parenthood is Dangerous
Solution for Cisco VPN Error 51
The Cisco VPN client occasionally shows an error dialog on a mac (Error 51: Unable to communicate with the VPN subsystem) when I attempt to start it, when the internet is working just fine. I found the fix in the following link which worked like a charm.
Specifically, this one line command did the trick for me:
Tetra Society of North America
Posted by therider in Hobbies, Personal, Technology on July 29, 2010
As if it was destined to happen, a coworker today showed me the website of Tetra Society of North America. It is a nonprofit organization that recruits skilled volunteers to create customized assistive devices for the physically disabled.
Why did it get me so excited ? Not only do I understand the plight of the disabled, I am currently running out of ideas of what to build next in my home workshop. If I get to make some kind of assistive device, whether out of wood or metal, it will not only make practical use of whatever skills I have, it will also justify owning whatever tools I desire.
Thank you so much, Ted. I just applied for a technical volunteer position and will look forward to making some contributions in near future.
About
Hi, I'm Joy. I am a developer at Yahoo! Finance. Besides having fun with software design, hacking and programming, I enjoy photography, woodworking and touring on a motorcycle. Read on, and welcome to my blog.
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