Hari's Corner

Here's my next Geeky and Meeky cartoon. I've entitled it Booting problems. Hope you enjoy it.

I was just checking out the latest comments out here this morning (expecting 0 new comments) and I had a pleasant surprise.

Two members of the b2evolution team, project maintainer Francois Planque and code moderator Scott Kilmer have commented on my b2evolution review and my subsequent follow up. While the fact that my humble review should have caught their attention is an honour in itself, what I truly appreciate is their insightful thoughts and their acknowledgement of my points both for and against b2evolution. I've posted a lot of software reviews in the past, but this is the first time I can remember that I've had somebody from the development team acknowledge them. It's recognition like this that really encourages me to do more software reviews in the future.

I'm glad to been of help and I'm thankful I worked a lot on that review and didn't embarrass myself.

Papa Hari is back to solving crises in people's lives. This week, two readers have written in to Papa Hari asking for advice on making important decisions in their lives. We hope that these will help and inspire our readers in bringing out their deepest fears, conquer them and take charge of making crucial decisions which will affect their lives forever.

Crucial investment advice

Joe (name changed), the parent of a student of Papa Hari Institute for Higher Studies writes in:

Dear Papa Hari, My son has been studying in your institute without a pencil box for around three years now. Recently he lost two rulers, one eraser and one pencil. Upon investigation, I found a hole in the bottom of the bag as the reason for the loss. After overcoming the trauma of this discovery, I've finally decided to invest in a secure, sturdy pencil box to carry all his essential implements in. Can you please advise me on how to go about investing in a suitable pencil box that will serve as his ideal companion throughout his days in your prestigious institution? Your tips will be much appreciated.

Dear Joe,

You have made a wise decision in writing in to Papa Hari. Buying a pencil box is no trivial matter. It is an important investment that could change your son's life forever for better or worse. According to Markicius Markov Lateeni-Choran, the world renowned expert in pencil box design and development, in his best-selling treatise Pencil Boxes And How To Make Them Work For You (1956) he has mentioned three major aspects you need to consider when investing in a sound pencil box. They are:

1. Size and shape. You need to carefully consider your son's requirements. How many pens does he carry? What are their lengths? How bulky are they? Does he carry additional pencils? What about space for the pencils, rulers, the eraser and sharpener? Be very clear about this. Take measurements if necessary for the purpose. You cannot be too careful about your investment, so be prepared to do adequate research to avoid anger and frustration later.
2. Durability. A pencil box should stand by your son through good times and bad. It's very important that you choose a really durable pencil box. Be careful about the material - is it made of metal or plastic? What is the catch mechanism used to open and close it? Does it withstand being dropped from a height? Research on these aspects and never fear to ask the shopkeeper these crucial questions. It's your life-savings on the line and nobody has the right to deny you crucial information before purchase.
3. Fashion and design. A true pencil box should make your son proud of it. Your son should identify himself in his pencil box. It should represent his personality. Markicius has mentioned that the modern trend of plastering a pencil box with fancy stickers of celebrities is an unartistic and destructive trend and that a worthy pencil box, in its pristine form, should need no added decoration or glitter. Buying an ugly or unsuitable box for your son can result in depression, dejection and long-term personality disorders, so be very, very cautious on this point without compromising on the other two aspects mentioned above.

Once you consider these aspects, go ahead and choose wisely and carefully. A good pencil box is one that serves your son for a long, long time, never lets him down and will become a valuable antique piece ten or twenty years from now. Finally, pay close attention to the brand. Does the company have true expertise in manufacturing pencil boxes?

Let your son discover true joy and fulfillment in his new pencil box! Do not fail him in this: he is worth it!

P.S. And replace that old school bag too.

A question of freedom and safety

Jack (name changed), another long-time fan of Papa Hari writes in with a question that has the deepest implications for society, tolerance, freedom and safety.

Dear Papa Hari, I'm sending my son to a school which doesn't have a strict anti-banana peel policy. Recently he was involved in an accident where he slipped up on a banana peel which had been dropped carelessly on the corridor outside his class room. Upon investigation it was his friend who was responsible for placing that banana peel in that location. I come from a very religious, law-abiding family and have nothing whatever to do with the pro-banana movement. I don't believe in their propaganda that "banana peels don't slip up people; people slip up people". Banana peels are an increasing menace in this school as many students are lured into this modern trend of eating bananas for lunch as they are considered a nutritious alternative to pizza and burgers. Should I complain to the principal?

Dear Jack,

The pro-banana movement is indeed a worry in this day and age. According to the Organization Dedicated to Banana Peel Control (ODBPC) in its Annual Report for the year 2005-2006, on an average 1252.534 people are involved in banana peel related accidents every day and the number is growing in alarming proportions. The National Banana Agency (NBA, not to be confused with the National Basketball Assocation) sticks to its stance that it is people who are responsible for leaving banana peels knowingly or unknowingly on corridors and other public places. Papa Hari personally feels that while bananas are good as a whole for society (even though over-consumption can have its own side effects), banana peels are not. The inherent property of the banana peel (its slipperiness) belies the NBA's propaganda that "banana peels don't slip up people; people slip up people" If banana peels weren't so slippery, would people actually slip up on them? No.

Therefore the Papa Hari Foundation for the Creation of Bananas Without Peels (PHFCBWP) is currently dedicated to research to discover bananas that grow without peels, thus eliminating the problem altogether. We don't need to throw the banana out with the banana peel. Recently our top scientist made a major breakthough: he found that the solution is to peel the banana immediately upon plucking from the plant and then preserve it in frozen form before shipping it to the supermarkets.

As far as the liberal and tolerant attitude towards banana peel accidents in society goes, Papa Hari feels that it's the prevailing attitude that such incidents are funny/amusing which is the prime reason for it. People continue to insist on the Freedom to Laugh which they claim is a fundamental human behaviour which no legislation can outlaw. Until one is personally involved in such accidents, this attitude will not change. It is important to educate society to become concerned about the safe and proper disposal of banana peels in garbage and trash cans manufactured to exact specification by companies with ISO certification. While the Society for the Protection of Banana Peels from Discrimination and Abuse (SPBPDA) might object to such harsh and cruel treatment of banana by-products, it is necessary for a democratic, civilized society to implement such steps to safeguard its citizens from unfortunate accidents.

P.S. Almost forgot your original question. Yes, go ahead and complain. And make sure your son's friend gets suspended for a week or two - Papa Hari says: revenge is fun!

That's all for this week!

Out of curiosity, I was browsing around my old haunt, LinuxQuestions.org forums and just re-discovered the reason why I don't participate there any more.

Quite simply: these kinds of never-ending discussions and debates over what are essentially non-issues. So much heat, so much angst, so much argument wasted when people could spend their time better in helping others or simply chilling out. I didn't read those threads in entirety because I'm too indifferent about such issues these days, but on perusing a few posts I got a reminder about how some things never change. And no, this is not aimed just at LQ.org. You get the same kind of thing on a lot of Linux communities in the internet and where the level of discussion is a lot worse than the examples I just gave.

There was a time when I was an active participant in more than one tech community and even took part in those kinds of debates. Now I have nothing against people on a personal level and quite a lot of LQ.org members and moderators are my good friends. The forum has got some great knowledgeable folk who help out newbies day-in and day-out with infinite patience and perseverence and a great admin team. And to be honest, of all the tech communities I've visited and took part in, LQ.org has probably got a more mature, level-headed crowd. But when you come across such kinds of threads with incredible regularity over a period of time, it has a depressing and numbing effect. Any sense of goodwill evaporates over heated arguments and there's no feeling that one is learning or discovering something new.

So I made a decision several months ago not to participate there or in any other tech communities online any more because there are too many tiring, never-ending debates like the ones I mentioned above, no community feel and no sense of appreciation for long-time contribution. I don't know why, but non-tech communities I find that people are so much more pleasanter, you get a broader mix of people with more tolerant and liberal attitudes who are generally willing to be friendly and indulge in light-hearted banter. At tech communities, you had better be careful about light talk or banter because you're quite likely to be flamed for being too jovial or being off-topic. Mild irony is mistaken for sarcasm and treated as a personal attack. People get too uptight and defensive about upholding their own positions. And more than anything, there's something so one-dimensional about tech-communities; a uniformity in thinking and a lack of in-depth, informed debate about anything remotely non-technical in nature. You probably do get one or two members in a hundred who're really intelligent, but those voices tend to get drowned by all the trolls who keep insisting on beating dead horses and reviving old flame wars. I sometimes think that even the trolls on non-tech communities seem more intelligent and amusing than trolls on tech forums.

I know I'm generalizing a lot and I'm as guilty as a lot of others in indulging in passionate discussions and even flame-wars in the past, but it's just that I've become too tired and too indifferent to waste my time posting regularly on online forums. This is not a research paper and I don't want to get too deep into the subject, but all I know is that writing a quiet blog with a small group of friends who drop by with a comment or two regularly and administering my own small community, LiteraryForums.org is enough for me.

I've been wanting to caricaturize Sir Winston Churchill for a long time, but at last I got down to it. It took a while and this was the most challenging one I've done till date. As usual - created in GIMP using the mouse only.

By the way I've also re-categorized the cartoon section for additional clarity.

We're moving.

Since I'm a very generous person and love sharing, here are some pictures of the state of our house last evening. We're still in the process, so everything is in turmoil. It will probably take up to a week to settle down in our new residence.

Pictures can explain much better than words in this situation.

Our great computer room in a state of transition. Not that it's much different from normal, but there are more things on the floor now

Books and papers accumulated over the years. I'm going to donate my old textbooks to somebody who can use and benefit from them.

Yes, that's just a sampling (maybe 2 - 3% of the total stuff we have to clear out)