The Adventures of TinTin and Snowy

I was away this week to attend InfoSecurity Europe 2005 in London which is Europe's "number one, dedicated Information Security event". It was a great excuse to get out of the office and go rub shoulders with fellow IT geeks. Little did I know how geeky they would be. I was dressed to kill and immediately felt out of place when I entered the exhibition. Majority of the visitors wore rumpled suits, askew ties and had beleagured expressions on their faces. These were truly harassed people constantly protecting the perimeters of their networks. I headed straight for the seminar rooms, hoping to bump into 'not-so-obvious-geeks' but without much success. They wore jeans in the seminars. Sacrilage!! The first day whizzed past as I went from one seminar room to the other, from one keynote speaker to another. As the days progressed, I emerged out of my cloud of ignorance of security related matters. Every speaker was a harbinger of dooms day, the end of the world. I slowly realised how naked I felt. How naked my company is against a determined cyber criminal.

Gone are the days when a hacker was a snotty nosed spotty teenager sitting hunched over his PC in his room, attacking companies for fun or just to prove that they could do it. Today, cyber crime is properly entrenched in the Mafia's domain. Its a lucrative industry. There are cyber gangs out there and viruses being developed just to destroy rival viruses . Heads of research in anti-virus companies have been assasinated. Lives have been threatened. Blood has been spilt. The end result? That irritating little spam mail advertising Viagra. How much viagra can one person buy?

What really worried me was a comment made by Eugene Kaspersky, Head of Kaspersky Labs, that spammers and virus makers have merged forces and have become much smarter. Instead of spamming the world with a virus/trojan epidemic( e.g. Netsky, Sasser, MyDoom etc.) and getting more information from all the infected PCs out there than they can handle, they've decided to go covert. Viruses and trojans have inbuilt timing mechanisms in them now. They only infect a few thousand PCs, not enough for a big fuss to be made and therefore, no new patches or signatures created to protect computers. Use the information from these PCs, and then, turn themselves off and become harmless files. Then affect another few thousand PCs. The cycle goes on. This effectively means that we could have some trojan or virus or spyware on our computer and we don't know abou it. And neither does any antivirus program. Now THATs scary.

Well on a lighter note, I was surprised to see the number of skimply clad women in this show also. But I suppose geeks are easy targets for voluptuous women in barely anything. Who can resist a Unified Threat Management System or a neural intelligence application firewall when its being sold by a gorgeous blonde in panties? Unfortunately, I don't have pics to back up my story, so you'll have to trust me. It would have been odd if I went up to them and snapped pics with my Samsung D500. Where are my thick skinned mates when I need them?

Anyway, the weekend is here. Not just any old weekend. But Bank Holiday weekend. We're driving over to Frosty's place in Lincoln. He's got back together with Hilary after 8 months. Thank god. I'm gonna try my best not to make him force me into binge drinking. But Ani's ruining the long weekend by volunteering to work on Monday. What rot!!

I think Steve Fowler has started bloggin too. But I can't be sure. Considering the fact that I had 7 Steves in my MSc course, its not too much of a hint when a MK Steve leaves a comment and has an incomplete profile. What the hell is MK?

You know that you've become domesticated by your woman when:

1) You lower the toilet seat after you've gone for a leak without being told.
2) You put out the garbage every week without being told.
3) You bring down the dried clothes on the line without being told.
4) The weekly trip to the supermarket takes more than an hour instead of 10 minutes.
5) The weekly trip to the supermarket is something you look forward to.
6) You accompany her when she goes shoe shopping without whining and cribbing.
7) You start enjoying window shopping for her jewelry.
8) You wash and dry the sink after doing the dishes.

Trust me, I'm domesticated.

Last week was quite unique for us. All through KGP and even Lancaster Uni, Ani and I have always been the couple and we've hung out with a bunch of other singles. There were the odd couples here and there, but they were few and far in between. Most of the time, the other couples spent time alone coochicooing instead of being with all of us. However, we've always been in a group. It was fun and cool in its own way. Last week we went to a friend's house for dinner not expecting any other company. However, we barely entered the house before we heard the familiar lilt of that awful language, Bengali. No offence to Bengalis. If you aren't Bengali, all that ami thumi stuff really hurts the ears. Even saying I love you doesn't sound romantic. "Ami thumaki balo bashi". Anyway, where were we?

We entered our friend's place to, only to be greeted by three Bong couples. And a bong stag. Nativity aside, the evening went by in quite a grown up fashion. The women all went to the kitchen to talk and then to bring the men the beers. Awesome. Being served. We argued about everything under the sun. Another thing bongs are famous for. We argued about who was the better actor, Amitabh Bacchan (bong favorite) or Mohanlal ( my favorite). Then we argued about if outsourcing was good for the country or not. Then the topic reverted to a popular topic among newly employed people. Work Permits and job offers. However, inane the whole evening may sound to you, it was actually quite fun. Way different to going out with friends and getting shit faced in a club and staggering back in a taxi.

What else happened this week? Oh yeah, I paraded Ani in front of a few relatives as well as my old school Principal. Everyone adores her and thinks I'm very lucky. What crap. She's lucky to have me ;) We also went to Cambridge. Its a small beautiful romantic little town. I took Ani on a river punt. Not that I did any punting, I just sat beside her and let the guide do all the rowing. I'll be gallant and dashing next time we go. This time, I wanted to enjoy the ride too. We'll put up a few pics soon.

I also got my new phone. The sexy Samsung D500. Its such a beauty. I've been playing around with it most of this week, at work as well as at home. Anyway, all in all, quite an exhausting week really. Way more hectic than usual.

Picking up on a point Saurabh made yesterday about struggles, life is always a series of battles. Whenever you win one, yet another crops up. Climbing mountains is the same thing. You finally make it, huffing and puffing, to the top of the peak, only to see yet another peak looming ahead. Is it always going to be like this? Will we ever attain true happiness and contentment? Will we ever come to the point when we have no more battles to fight?

I'm sure all of our lives have been a series of battles but I've been blessed, in as much that, I've won lots of my battles. As early as the age of 10, my sister and I lived miserable lives with our "evil" grandparents. We were desperate to return to our emotionally shattered dad, who'd just lost his wife and our mother. My sister lived in constant fear while I stuck my head into the sand hoping that it would all go away. But one day, while on holiday with our dad, he suddenly decided that enough was enough and never sent us back. We never went back, not even to collect our stuff. Nothing. That was our first battle.

After a series of other battles ( which I won't bore you all with), came Ani and I. Its been such a roller coaster of a ride. In her final year, I thought that this was it. I wasn't foolish enough to expect long distance - cross Atlantic relationships to work. After a long year of grieving and trying to dull the pain of eventually losing her, by immersing myself in my General Secretary post, by a stroke of luck, the American Consulate refused her student visa, even though she had a full scholarship. She tried three times, and every time, she was refused. Each time she applied, I thought I would lose her. Then she kept applying for jobs. Again, amazingly, an 8 pointer Computer Science Engineer, didn't get a job. What amazingly bad luck for her. At the end of the year, she left KGP leaving me behind. The whole of my summer internship was spent in misery, drinking away with Shiv, Abilash, Pandey and Vivek. Pandey would keep singing 'Lady in Red' , just to watch me burst into tears. But again, fate intervened and she got a job in KGP as a GRA.

The year passed by with me not getting a job anywhere. I applied to the UK just because Ani was applying, but had no hope of getting a scholarship in the UK. Dad disagreed with me going to the UK for a long time. Then suddenly again, one fine day, he says, alright you can go to the UK. Once I got to the UK, the next battle was finding a job. Applied high and low. Got just one interview. Got rejected a million times. And when all hope was lost, suddenly my project employer offers me a job outright after an impromptu interview with the directors in a cafe. How bizarre?

Then came trying to get Ani's parents to accept me and to let us get married. Christ that was a battle. Both parents wouldn't budge and each had their "pride". My folks were more supportive but refused to take the first move and talk to her parents. Her parents just outright didn't want to discuss it and laughed it off. My parents insisted that I get married only after my sister. It was a bloody Nightmare. Again when we were resigned to the fact that Ani would become an old hag waiting for me, suddenly my dad says "Lets get you married in the next 6 months". What the heck?

So here I am. With everything I wanted. Surely there was divine intervention at each stage. Whatever it was, I'll never give up hope from now on. Coz its when you least expect it that providence strikes.

Remember I bragged about my covert operations during the CV show? Well it caught up with me today. Unfortunately for me, our receptionist was out for lunch today and one of the fitters answered a phone call as he was passing by. Whoever it was on the phone asked to talk to George Prakash. Well, he just put the call through to me without even asking who it was. I answered the call and the person introduced himself as Mike and started talking about our company website. You know how it is, when you talk to so many people and you know so many different people with the first name, its difficult to place who exactly you are talking to. I assumed it was one of my associates from a supplier. But then when his questions started being a bit too pointed, I asked him where he was from. He, being quite daft, revealed his company name, possibly assuming that I've never heard of one of our biggest competitors. How brain dead is he?

Well its at this juncture that I clammed up but my mind was racing wondering how much I accidentally gave out. Anyway, the cheeky wanker, went one step further and asked if he could place an order for one of our systems. Well Hell No. I'm not going to assist him in reverse engineering our product. But I just calmly took down his number and said that our Sales Department would be in contact with him as soon as possible.

Yeah right. In your dreams moron.

I know that I gave out my real name at the CV show to his sales man. But I didn't give out my correct company name, correct telephone number or address. How did he track me down? I wonder if there's a mole in one of our clients' offices. Coz only our clients know my name. Hmmm. The plot thickens.

After my first failed attempt to get to Birmingham for the CV Show, I tried again on Thursday. This time I braved the M6 with one of my colleagues. Amazingly, we managed to get to the National Exhibition Centre without facing any major road blockages or traffic jams.

This was my first time at the NEC and it really took my breath away. Its massive. Standing there, it just occupied my entire visual horizon. The NEC has a ground floor space of 2 million square feet. That's almost around 25 full sized foot ball pitches (real football...Not the American trash variety).

You won't belive whats opened up opposite my office in Blackpool.

A Barber's salon. A Gentleman's Salon. A Gentleman's Hair Cutting Salon with a twist.

The barbers are dressed in bikinis, thongs and suspenders. Nothing else. Costs about 20 quid.

And a fiver to cut your hair. ;)

What an idea. Think about it.... Let it sink in.

Right then. Whos growing their hair?

The UK railway system is famous for its consistent unreliability. Then, why pray tell, did I opt for traveling by train all the way to Birmingham for the Commercial Vehicle Show 2005 being held at the NEC. Coz, the only other option was to go by car on the horrendous M6. And let me tell you, the M6 towards Birmingham is something I PAY to avoid if I'm every going south to London. I pay 6 pounds on the M6 toll, just to avoid going via Birmingham. The only way someone can make me drive on the M6 to Birmingham is if they ask me to do it around midnight. Anyway, as usual I digress.

This morning I realized that my suit jacket was still at the dry cleaners. We went at 8.30 to the dry cleaners hoping and praying that they open early. Luckily, they were open and I managed to get my jacket and I rushed off to the station. Got my tickets and ran to the platform in the hope that I hadn't missed my train. Thankfully the train was still there on Platform 4 and I slowed to catch my breath. Coming closer, I realized that it wasn't my train but it was the 8.20 train to Liverpool. What the ...? Checked my watch to make sure I'd changed my watch to British Summer Time. Then came the announcement over the PA system. Have you ever wondered why they don't get better speakers in a train station? I can never understand what they are saying coz everything always sounds really muffled. Well after he repeated it around 3 times, I got the general gist of it. " Due to a power failure on the railway grid, all trains traveling South of Lancaster have been cancelled until further notice. We apologize for the delay and inconvenience caused to passengers".

What??!!! Shit!! I've got to get there for 11.30 and I'd given myself a half an hour gap for contingencies like this. Normally they are delayed. Not bloody CANCELLED. So after hanging around in the station lounge for an hour, reading Virgin train brochures claiming how punctual they are, I hear another garbled announcement. "All passengers intending to travel south of Lancaster, please make your way to Platform 3". Fine, Platform 3 it is, which just happens to be on the other side of the station, but I'm not complaining. Got to Platform 3 and realized that every train entering Lancaster from the north was cleared out and that resulted in a mob waiting on Platform 3. After waiting on Platform 3 for another 15 minutes, they announce " Alternative arrangements have been made for all passengers traveling south. Coaches are waiting outside to take you to Preston." .... So? What do I do when I get to Preston? I asked one of the railway employees about my options when I get to Preston and he said that no trains were leaving Preston either. So what the hell are they taking us to Preston on coach for? So that we can wait there forever?? I just checked the online status of the trains and they are still cancelled.

I really couldn't have been arsed to change trains a million times. I called up my boss and told him what happened and told him that I'd come tomorrow instead. Thankfully, they hadn't scheduled any client demonstrations for me today. So I cancelled the ticket and made Ani come and pick me up.

Here I am back at work, dreading traveling on the M6 tomorrow.

I'm looking for some advice.... I'm faced with two options and I'd like some input.

OPTION 1:

I'm currently working for a small company. It's not growing or expanding. However, the product lines are increasing and the growth potential is there....Potential customers who are big blue chip companies are trialling some of the new products....The top management says that by November, sales would boom.... We already have lots of clients and profits are slowly rising. Now my role as an IT Manager is constantly evolving. I'm primarily client facing now and deal on a personal level with Security Directors and Operations teams of the clients. I'm learning a lot...But its not a structured learning program. I've been thrown into the deep end all the time. However, all that I'm learning is industry related and product related and I'm not learning anything about best practices, new processes, new techniques, proper ways to do things. It's all a sort of 'get-your-hands-dirty-and-learn-from-your-errors' style...

Plus...The pay ain't that great. It's enough but I could get more in a bigger company. But the carrot that they are dangling in front of me is the 'Virtual' shares that they have offered. They keep giving me these shares which have no real value now. I have to stay with the company till they sell out to a bigger company. When they sell the company, the amount of money that I get from these shares would be massive.....In fact...More money than what I would have earned if I was in a bigger company. This projected sale could happen anytime between next year and three years later. I'm not stupid, I can see that they are doing this to keep on staff. But do i stay with these guys till they sell out or risk stagnating and getting bored??

The other side is that Ani's job contract is for 3 years. So technically we can stay here for a total of 2 more years.

OPTION 2:

I look for another job in a bigger company offering higher pay and a more structured approach to my career progression. I'd get more certifications and qualifications and get better trained. But then the problem is where do I apply. Coz if I get a job in a particular city, would Ani get a job in the same city? Do we apply together for jobs at the same time or does one of us wait and see where the other got a job and then apply in the same area. What are the chances of getting a job that both of us are happy with, in the same city.... Do I sacrifice the windfall amount of money, that I might get if I hang around with my present job, for a bigger company? A small company offers more freedom and less job monotony unlike a bigger company.

SO, in summary, Where do I get more valuable work experience? Where do I learn more? Where will I make more money? What the HELL do I do???

We watched the Butterfly Effect last night though lots of people told us it was a genuinely crap movie. BUT HEY, I've got a low threshold of quality and we had to do something while having our crab meat soup. However, typically, I liked the movie. It's difficult not to please me. It made me think about Chaos theory , the general theme around the movie.

The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does. (Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141)

It made me wonder what I would have changed if I had the opportunity to go back in time. Lots of things sprung to my mind. I could have done a million things differently but if I had done it differently, I wouldn't be here doing what I'm doing now. I tried my best to think of any change I could have done that would have made my past better but kept my present intact, and nothing worked. That's when I realised that I'm truly happy now. I always used to think that I could have done things better, but if I had, I wouldn't be so happy and so in love as I am now. My life is perfect and I don't want to change it one bit.

The past week has really tested me. Hanging out with Ani's sister and cousin was an experience that I won't forget in a hurry. Don't get me wrong, they are really nice people. Dixi is a really 'paawam' girl (can't think of an adequate adjective in English). Mittu is quiet and innocent. But last week my opinion was completely different. I thought Dixi was cunning and manipulative and Mittu was difficult and morose. It made me think about first impressions again. Its only after a week that both of them actually warmed up to me and started being friendly. Or it was probably me. I had a preconceived notion that they were both out to bust me and maybe I was not being friendly enough. Somehow I prefer putting the blame on them. I'm adorable and perfect. I was so stressed out and upset that they didn't like me. But once they opened up, things were much better. There were more laughs and less of the uncomfortable silence. I think the point when you've established a friendship is when two people can comfortably sit in silence together without your mind whizzing around trying to find another opening line after the previous one went dead into the water. I mean, free and a never endless conversation is ideal but as long as the silence is peaceful, that's fine too.

That's when I started thinking that people are so different. I expected them to be open and talkative like I am. If first impressions are so important, how do introverts make a good first impression if they do not communicate? This made me try to look up the differences between introverts and extroverts here.

Reading Jung's theory, it sounds like Jung was an extrovert. I mean, come on, introverts sound so negative. If you dig around on this topic, every site is written by either an extrovert or an introvert painting the other personality type negatively. How does one become an extrovert or an introvert. My first thoughts were that it depends on how you were brought up. If your parents are extroverts, chances are that you'll become an extrovert. But then, I know people whose parents are introverts but the kids are wild. Well, all this thinking got me tired, so I haven't thought any more. But it is interesting.

Well at least the whole trip went off without a hitch and the cat is still securely in the bag. It was such a relief to sleep in my own bed last night after two weeks of sleeping on the bleeding floor. To make my sleep extra special, I'd received my new duck feather pillow last night and oh was that nice.



sources: http://www.socionics.com/main/types.htm