Bye Bye Blogspot

Moved this blog to my own domain - http://talonx.deepinspace.net/. My tech blog was already there - http://code.deepinspace.net. Have imported all Blogger posts there.

Running Plan 2010

Have been following a getting-back-to-running-and-beyond plan for this year. Here it is
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tYddwvThoWTS_-E-lo2iNCQ&single=true&gid=0&output=html

It does not include the details, just the outline. The initial months are the toughest, and the most fun. That's when you have to go slow to build your aerobic base (A nice writeup on aerobic base building is here). The Garmin Forerunner 305 I bought recently has been helpful in this - beeping faithfully whenever I cross 155 bpm. This is also fun since the runs are slow and easy, and you don't feel worn out or breathless even on the long ones

I've found http://www.dailymile.com/ to be a good site to track progress. It does not have many features like other running log sites, but I like its look and ease of use. And it has Garmin integration.

Yes, I am back to running.

Running is primal.
Running is elemental.


Running is Tiring.
Running is Exhilarating.

Running is Painful.
Running is Ecstasy.

Running Makes you float.
Running is Part of your being.

Running is Pounding your body.
Running is Controlling your mind.

Running is Getting sweaty and filthy and covered in salt.
Running is Cleansing.

Running is A Solo effort.
Running is Dissolving yourself in the cheers of the crowd at the marathon.

Book Review: River of Gods

Another guest post at pustakam - http://pustakam.net/?p=1864. This is a book I had bought some years back and finally got around to reading.

I finally watched the new Star Trek movie last Saturday.

These were my expectations

• Less comic relief
  
• Less Hollywood 'science' and heroics
• Something along the standards of what Christopher Nolan did in The Dark Knight

I was expecting too much. The less said the better, but these were the things that jarred me (bulletpointing makes things clearer and more concise, so)

• A Turbo lift where buttons are pressed (whatever happened to the voice commands?)
• Tricorders that look like extra-slim cellphones. This is accentuated when the crew start speaking into the tricorder instead of doing the comm-badge-slap-and-speak thing.
• The new look comm badges. They do not look sleek. They look like misshapen blobs when seen from any distance greater than 30 cms.

This is what Carl Sagan had to say about Star Trek (in Broca's Brain) -

'In a future in which interstellar travel is common, the ships officers are embarrassingly Anglo-American.'

This is no longer the case with recent series and this movie, but the latter gets a thumbs down as far as female portrayal is concerned. The sole role of Lt. Uhura in this movie seems to be to fulfill the hot chick routine and kiss Spock from time to time.

Come to think of it, the only Star Trek series starring a female captain is ST:Voyager.

Overall, a distinctly odd Trekexperience.