A new gadget and my entertainment center!!

Hey! I like toys, expensive toys that can make noise, move, works with battery or A.C power. I just recently got a new gadget which I consider the best gadget of 2005 (which is why i bought it!!), and magazines like PC World, Men's Health rate it as one of the top 10 gadgets of 2005. Its called a slingbox, and what it does is stream you television online. you ofcourse should have broadband connection and also a router (wired/wireless)but then you probably already have these two!! All that you need to do is to connect the slingbox to you DVR/Cablebox/Cable and also plug in a ethernet cable to the slingbox and connect the other end to you cable modem and you are all set on the hardware side!!

The slingbox comes with a slingplayer, which you install in your laptop, and you have to setup the router and the slingbox for remote viewing (basic port fowarding etc., child's play for anybody who uses bit torrents to...well you know what!!). and that's it!! watch your TV from anywhere in the world!! The slingbox also comes with IR guns, which acts as an universal remote and enables you to control you DVR from remote location. You can even set up new recordings, watch already recorded programs off your DVR etc. It essentially is advanced signal processing which enables online streaming. Also there isnt any subscription fees, once you buy the Slingbox you are all set!!

For those of you who already havent guessed it, my long term plans with the Slingbox? set it up in my house in India, and then I can watch all the cricket matches, MTV, Channel V, Sun TV, Surya TV (Midnight Masala ;), Kahani ghar ghar ki etc., all over here (or anywhere else in the world) and i dont have to pay a dime for it...pretty cool eh?? My entertainment center is however now a mess though with all the complex connections. There are a zillion cables running around my house to service my DVR, DVD Recorder, Home Theater, Slingbox, Cable Modem and Router. Check out below a picture of my entertainment center (well, I built it from scratch) and also my connections of AV devices!!

This is what you need to know about the entertainment center I built....

Total cost for lumber $60
Capital equipment $25
screws and fastners, glue, paint etc., - $20

Value, satisfaction, Pride I get looking at it and the aesthetics of the entertainment center - Priceless!!

There are some things money can buy, but for cooler things you need to talk to me!!

P.S> If you are wondering why the entertainment center is multi colored...well I ran out of paint, and all that was left were the yellow and black colors...and i thought...well what the heck!! after all it was never meant to be a contemporary piece of art anyway!!


Well these are the connections of the AV and computer devices in my house!! check it out!

Oru Vellai Kazhuthi-in Diary!!

Its been an interesting 3 months...definitely the peak of my business travel. Although on one hand there were tons of 60 hour weeks and working saturdays...there was also lots of fun associated with all the travelling, meeting different people, learning a little bit of a new language and ofcourse a vacation to Chennai, India.

I have been to 3 different contienents (North America, Europe, Asia), 4 different countries(U.S.A, Germany, France, India..I almost made it to Netherlands too!!) and numerous cities and countless restraunts in those numerous cities in the last 3 months. Travel is always associated with interesting incidents and I have had my share too. There have been numerous incidents which i had thought about blogging, but never really found the time. For example the time when I bit the fork, causing my gums to hurt for 2 whole weeks, while I was having an arguement with a colleague of mine over a business dinner or the the time, when I slip and fell in a bathtub and landed on my jaw in a hotel room in Paris.

People tell me I am lucky to have a job like this, I get to travel and meet different people, stay in nice hotels, visit different places...they often miss the big picture which is...along with travelling comes a problems, boredom and lonliness. For eg:- for the last 3 months I have been literally living of a suitcase. I definetely dont remember how my wardrobe looks and vagely remember how my apartment looks. I havent met some of my best friends for months despite the fact that they live only a couple of hundred miles away. I missed my best friend for 6 years's graduation ceremony. I havent watched my favorite program on television in the last 3 months and suddenly all the travelling doesnt sound that glamorous...does it?

As a new year dawns, I am first of all thankful to God, not just because I have a job but also because I have a job that I absolutely love. I realize that the new year brings about a lot of oppurtunities, along with a lot more travel, long flights and boring hotel rooms...but hey...I am 23 and single, If i dont do it now.....when will I? after all there is a career to be made...

Finally I thank god for the biggest gifts he gave me...the ability to be without worrying about problems till they actually appear & for my lazy dumbness, which prevents me from thinking about anything unless I absolutely have to. As long as I have these (flaws) qualities, I can lead (an)a (in)sane life (however you want to look at it!!!).

Chennai Pattinam!!

Any trip to Chennai is always wonderful. The city to me has an unrestrainable charm. I think thats interesting because thats typically an opinion only people who grew up in Chennai have. Most people who visit Chennai view it as a place with haphazard traffic, lotsa road work, numerous temples and a conservative city. Yet despite having visited a lot of other big cities in the world, I love Chennai because i have memories associated with the city's every nook and corner. I grew up roaming in its streets, eating the delicious roadside food it offers (popularly known as "kazh-izundhi Bhavan"), spending my evenings with my friends in Besant Nagar beach eating masala Kadalai.

Yes like any other self respecting college student I bunked college and went to satyam to catch a flick and then to Spencer's plaza. I enjoy the Nair Kadai Tea and the Babu Kadai food (Yes I went to SVCE). Ill stop now...this blog is not about food, its about the memories I have from every corner of the city. Like for example the time I bunked college and travelled from Sriperumbudur to Mount Road Devi Paradise theater, taking 3 different buses to watch Minnale with 15 others, The time when the 15 of us bunked college and went on a drive on ECR and then to Juhu beach to swim the whole day and to lay on the beach under the sun, followed by the first day first show of the movie "Kannathil Mutham Ittai" in Prarthana drive In theater.

I guess you should have got the point by now..which is

1) I used to bunk college a lot...which explains the dismal attendance record I had

2) I love Chennai and I always will, it might grow and become like Chicago one day, or might get a lot worse...it might be the most condervative city in the world or the most liberal...no matter what happens I will always enjoy my trip to the city.