shiv.me

… aka Shivanand “Don’t sweat the last name” Velmurugan
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  • Fathers and Sons

    Posted on June 11th, 2009 Shiva Comments
    Father & Son #1

    Father & Son #1


    Father & Son #2

    Father & Son #2

  • 20 years is a long time .. lest we forget

    Posted on June 5th, 2009 Shiva Comments

    This post is a little late, but that has never stopped me from doing it anyway.

    There are some things that we need to regret …
    Tiananmen tank man

    And then there are some others, we continue to ignore …
    tiananmen_tank_man_google_china

    Hope we don’t add more such pictures to that list in another 20 years.

    Thanks to WilW @ WWdN: In Exile for inspiring me (as always)

  • Dealing with electronic waste

    Posted on April 9th, 2009 Shiva Comments

    I can’t claim to be someone is really into environment protection, and I’m not crazy paranoid about the junk I produce, but I do care about me, my family, and the future of mankind (mostly in that order). I recycle as much as I can, I try to avoid plastic bags, I don’t throw garbage on the streets (I’m shaking my fist at you, Shivanand-in-India-who-doesn’t-live-there-anymore) etc.

    I own a Macbook, and I wouldn’t say that I’m a big fan of Apple “the company”. However, I really like their products. The latest version of the macbook — that I’m not going to upgrade to — has given me reason to like it even more! Apple has made a huge stride, in making computer more environment friendly. Here’s the laundry-list of things they have eliminated from the Macbook (you read it right, ELIMINATED)

    The packaging is smaller by30-40% (on what was already a very small package). Ohhh.. I fail to mention the unibody Aluminium construction, which is not only durable, but also, completely recyclable!

    “Oh, but the Apples cost so much more than the average-Joe PC! Why should I pay for eliminating stuff I don’t care about?”, you ask.

    “Oh well, let me tell you something”, person-that-I-just-made-up-and-bashed-your-face-in-for-asking-such-a-stupid-question (That’s from reading Wil Wheaton, btw).

    “This is what happens to your average-Joe PC, once you are done with it in 6-months”.

    It gets dumped in third-world developing countries. Well, it is technically called “exporting used goods”. Used goods aren’t much use when they don’t work, are they? Of course, as it happens the people who are dealing with scrap, do so, because they have to find a way to eat the next day.

    Anyway, I digress. Back to Apple now.

    I think it is super that they have decided to invest engineering effort in make the products we use more environment friendly. Ofcourse, this doesn’t mean that you need to run out and get that spanking new Macbook that you don’t need. However, the next time you decide to buy a computer, think about this video, and see if you can wait a little longer to save up a little more to be able to buy the Macbook.

    You can find more details about the environment friendliness of the macs at the following links

    Macbook - http://www.apple.com/macbook/environment.html

    Macbook pro -http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/environment.html

  • Computer Recording Equipment

    Posted on March 9th, 2009 Shiva Comments

    I’m a bit of a stickler, when it comes to audio recording. I hate using the mics that come with laptops or the standard desktop mic. Recently, a co-worker asked me about my setup (I record a piano, strictly for my listening pleasure, and NO, MIDI doesn’t count).

    I couldn’t find the links for my version of the mic, but here are some equivalents.

    USB Mics

    MXL .006 USB Mic
    MXL .007 USB Mic

    Mixers

    Berhinger 502
    Berhinger 802
    Berhinger 1202

    Once you start using a condenser mic, and hear the richness of the output, you’ll never want to go back to the crappy on-board mics.