A few reviews

Even though the semester has ended, the workload has not.There is still a project, and I have no idea where to begin.

As someone so aptly put it, this project is a way for us to recognize the might of the subject that we call antenna.

Not that I am even begging to differ.

Iqbal comes to my mind:

وہی میری کم نصیبی، وہی تیری بے نیازی

میرے کام کچھ نہ آیا یہ   کمال  نے نوازی

There are some books that I thought I may want to review.

• The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris. The story transports you to the world of Clarice Starling, a trainee at the FBI Academy. She is portrayed as a determined and courageous woman and is assigned with the task of interviewing a man charged with cannibalism, who also happens to be a noteworthy psychologist, to help the police in what may be another case of a cannibalism.  
• Rebecca,by Daphne Du Maurier. The writer has a distinguishing style, a blend of the mellow and the melancholy,with some unexpected twists in the plot thrown in at places where you do not expect them. Basically, it is the story of a young,poor girl who meets a middle-aged rich widower and marries him, to find out that their life is constantly haunted by ghosts of the past. Throughout the story, you cannot help feeling sorry for the lack of self confidence and the childish innocence of the heroine, who, interestingly, remains anonymous till the end of the story (and even after it).
•  The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. It is a story for children. A very good story, nonetheless, of some animals who, of course, live in their respective homes. Some of the animals it features are a mole, a rat (called ratty) and a very conceited toad, who composed a poem in his own honour:
            ' The world has held great Heroes,
             As history-books have showed;
             But never a name to go down to fame
             Compared with that of Toad!'
  
  
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is definitely a very curious case and a good read, though a short one. The (short) story of a man who was somehow traveling backward along the time axis.
•  A Damsel in Distress, by P. G. Wodehouse. One can always trust Wodehouse for some hours of sheer delight. This book describes one of his high-spirited heroines and the adventures she had, defying her family.
•  Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. A sad and disturbing tale of two field workers looking for work, a sharp yet unsuccessful man and his friend with very limited mental capabilities.
•  Something Wicked this Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. Science fiction, fantasy and horror. It discusses some of the deepest, most well-hidden desires in almost every mortal being. The desire to live forever, and to be young forever, and the lengths to which human beings can go to get what they want.
  

Saying it at last

For once in our life, we can blame the absence of a martial law for our troubles.
Disregarding the serious, the ugly and the tragic sides of the ongoing tussle for clinging-to-power-despite-absolutely-lacking-morality in the country, a royal friend and I discussed the situation for about an hour and expressed our hopes that we may get some unforeseen holidays and hence could have the exams delayed.
Alas,our hopes were in vain, and now we have to face the terrible truth:the papers are here, and our preparation is nowhere.
If there is anyone in the higher setup who is in the mood for an adventure, I do hope they embark on it before the upcoming holidays,or it won't be any use at all.
Sometimes it happens that you try to escape something and it comes after you in hot pursuit.In another discussion, the above mentioned two had agreed that the following questions fall under the category of very immoral questions:

• How was your paper? (particularly asked again and again from a poor student who is staggering out of the exam hall with a numb brain)
• How is your preparation? (asked on the day before the paper, the night before the paper, the morning of the paper,while the poor, lazy student stares at others' shining, eager faces.Of course, as it happens, the student under consideration is the dumbest and the laziest of them all, rather one of the very,very few dumb and lazy ones.)
• Have you studied subject x, book y, chapter z, topic a, page b, figure c, curve d? ( This asked all the time during the semester.A solution may be for the student to prance around with a placard saying  'NO' worn around the neck.)

So we are trying to create a world in which exams don't have a hype around them. But then we got a message telling us that we have to go and see our marked papers this monday.
Now I particularly dislike this subject, for it is an ultra stupid one, and not even the instructor, who is one of *the* best teachers I have ever come across, could create a spark of interest with his amazing teaching skills.
(By the by, the teaching talents of this particular teacher have been quite wasted, teaching a stupid course. He could have been assigned something worthwhile. But,on second thought, which talent isn't wasted here? Jump to next thought.)
So now we will have to see it and forget it.
Having a short term memory helps. I wonder if goldfish really are the happiest of us all.

I am afraid that the semester project I have to complete is turning into a case of
 ہاتھ کانٹوں سے کر لیے زخمی
پھول بالوں میں اک سجانے کو
When I succeed in overcoming my fear of doing it finally, the monitor goes blank,courtesy wapda. Recently, there was a power outage of approximately 18 hrs at my end. A discovery I made: lack of electricity can induce murderous ideas in a human being.
I am not sure if it would last long enough for me to complete this post or not.
Not that I am out of ideas. Not at all. In fact, I was rather looking forward to my teacher's reaction when I was going to deliver a little speech in front of him, elaborating that I could not complete the work as there wasn't any electricity the entire weekend, and because I am a miserable,poor person after all, and how I should be excused for it.
In fact, I'll still have to give him some excuse.As I am a proponent of telling the truth, it would be something along the same line, that I am lazy\slow-witted\hibernate in winter\have some family feud with processors\ etc etc.
In the cold morning, getting up seems one of the most difficult and brutal things one can ever be compelled to do.
In the upcoming holidays, I want to try my hand at developing some website. Personally, I think I don't have much of a taste for creating a design, so I'll just have to use some custom template. Rather, I'd concentrate on the development part.
Rain is finally here, and is as nice as ever!
So, if I emerge alive out of this trying to make a project, I'll continue this blog. For in the other case, I won't be able to blog.
To my single, most devoted reader: I promised you that I'll try to decrease the level of idiotic content in my babbling, but I don't seem much successful.

The game is done! I've won,I've won!

Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
Except for the fact that the game is not done. In the least.
This is something I might have mentioned before, but I'll say it again,anyways:Winter is a time to sleep 16 hours a day.
Besides, a winter without rain is-not the right winter.
As things-to-do pile up, my mind wanders at random to Ancient Mariner lines and I keep thinking of a number of completely unrelated things.
I am waiting for someone's post, it is supposed to be a happy one.
Still waiting for it.
For some time, I have been intending to read Ghulam Bagh, for I have heard a lot about it.
I came across the song of ice and fire series and started reading it. At first,i was not impressed. But further reading took me deep in the world of Starks, Lannisters and Targaryens. Then I watched the entire season of A Game of Thrones, and now I am waiting for ACOK. Despite knowing the entire story beforehand (or as much of it as has been revealed to date, till A Dance with Dragons), it was a nice watch. The way the season stays true to the real story is nice,too.

The Wall is such an interesting place

A Dream Of Spring (break)

So this weekend was spent dreaming, with open eyes.
Someone announced the date for exams in a very public place. It was thoughtful, I must say. Still........
I was turning the date over in my mind, subconsciously,when I realized  what final exams really imply.
I sat up with a jolt.Upon rechecking, the result was the same:
  The spring break is near!!!!!
 So,naturally, the rest of the weekend was spent in a blissful fantasy.I dreamed of the chocolates I'd eat, the mornings I'd spend curled up in a warm bed, the books I'd read (the break isn't really important for this) and the long story I may write,if I can muster the energy. Who knows, I may get an idea for doing something  interesting , though that not very probable, as I have not thought of many interesting things to date. (I am an exceptionally boring and bored person.)
In short, my weekend was radically different from that of my friend, the distracted soul.
(DS, times change often,so don't dwell too much on useless things.)
There are a few things to do in the meantime, of course. There is a project to be made, along with, horror of horrors, a report. Due to a series of unfortunate and unforeseen events, I'll  have to make the report myself *shudders*
Besides, a minor problem is that I am as yet undecided about the project. In the end, if I cannot find anything more interesting, I'll have to settle with a matrix inverter. (The thing I most like about a matrix is its name. Matrix! Maybe I should search for a nice title page for my report, with iridescent green letters on a black background.)
If I cannot find something to do with prime numbers, matrix inversion it will have to be.
I got to play with a beautiful Nook today. Thank you, my friend-with-a-Nook.
There are a couple of lines by Ghalib which are the favourite these days,ever since I first read them last week: 

تماشا ،  کہ اے محو  آینہ داری

تجھے کس تمنا سے ہم دیکھتے ہیں

Valar Morghulis

For some time, I have been living in Westeros most of the time, with the characters of A Song Of  Ice and Fire, so that may explain the title. When I finish the last book, I may write a review, if I can summon the energy.
Winter is a perfect time for hibernation. At times, I have thought about what may happen if human beings get the ability to properly hibernate. For one thing, it will definitely lead to a decrease in the use of resources all over the world.
If I cannot hibernate properly,  I would like some soma.
It has been so long since I tried to properly string some sentences together that I am forced to write really incoherent things here.But it may be some consolation to know that they are not as incoherent as my thoughts.
I have learned, through my experience, not to judge things\people\events at once. Because all these things change, and change constantly, change all the time. Change is really the essence of life.
Maybe I believe too much in Nietzsche's opinion, that there are no facts, only interpretations, but I can not help believing it.I have myself found it to be true too many times not to believe it. Like Iqbal said, about the heart being a thousand-sided diamond and each side having a different colour. Things and people always have so many dimensions and two dimensions may be very different from each other. You may like one side and dislike the other. The end result is that you are puzzled. Befuddled about what to think and what not to think.What to say and what to hold back.
Well, it may not happen with other people, but it happens with me.

The final result is that I am left with no opinion about most things.And 'I don't know' is not a very good answer. Other people are not content with it. At times, even I am not content with it.
Maybe it is just about having a bad judgement.
How can I judge?

FPGAs are fun

They definitely are. Its just that they leave you a bit depressed-when they leave you, that is.
And they are dangerously addictive.