Chronicles of Nikhil Baliga

Swami Gulagulaananda quoted: " Everything is difficult before it's easy " In Android applications, many times, you have a bunch of things that you want to show - that are shown one at a time, and you can slide your finger horizontally across for the existing pane to fly off and the new pane to fly in. To do this, you make use of Android's ViewPagers. However, in order to let a user know that the sliding is possible and also to indicate how many such slides are available, there are some symbols that you might have noticed. Like hollow circles and a filled circle, for example. To achieve this kind of effect, everyone over the Internet seems to suggest using a library called ViewPagerIndicator . And they are right. You can quickly set it up. But if you are a novice, you will go through one hell of a time trying to set it up. You can get a host of issues that you might not know how to resolve. I found that there are a large number of people in various forums,...

Baba Gyani Triviani said: " In Bangalore city, the general public is like the Joker. They work very hard to bring the White Knight down to their level " Just the other day, I was reading an interesting article about reciprocity. Apparently, the maxim " One good turn deserves another " is imbibed into our culture very deeply, so deeply that we remember good turns done to us and return favours invariably, if not immediately then over time. A good demonstration of this can be seen in the experiment by a well known psychologist whose assistant got twice as much money for raffle tickets when he got the people some coca-cola to drink (as a good gesture), than those who didn't get coca-cola - and people who didn't like him but got coke also paid double of those who liked him but didn't get coke. Amazing, isn't it? The author goes on to say that reciprocity works everywhere. But I don't think this theory works all the time at all. In fact, a couple...

Swami Gulagulaananda said: " You showed me a goat and made me a bakra " There was an interesting discussion at office today. I'd heard about this problem before, but didn't know that the name of the problem is " Monty Hall " problem. The problem goes like this: Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, "Do you want to pick door No. 2?" Is it to your advantage to switch your choice? [ Source: Wikipedia ] If you have not heard of this problem, take some time and think about it. See what the solution is, according to you. Then continue reading... You will encounter views and counter-views. Spoiler Alert: If you continue reading beyond this part, you will encounter answers Apparently the co...

Baba Gyani Triviani said: " Auto-rickshaws and auto-drivers are unstable, the former because of three wheels, the latter because, well, that's the way they are... What? " " There is one, go and ask him ". " Do I have to? Alright alright, stop poking my ribs " I said. I looked at the auto-driver again. The uncouth man with a shabby shirt and unshaved face was sitting idly, looking at nothing in particular. He scratched his face with all five fingers of his hand, for he didn't have any more to spare. Then he stuck his little finger into his ear and drilled it for a few seconds, pulled it out and without much thought took it to his nose and sniffed at it. I made a face and turned to look at my wife. " What? Stop staring and ask him! " she said again. I began walking towards him, being deliberately slow, hoping against all hopes that he would suddenly start his vehicle and ride away. But no such thing happened and I eventually covered th...

Baba Gyani Triviani said: " When people are pushed over the edge, expect the unexpected " This is my first attempt to write a Rondeau . It's titled ' Death to the queen ' --- He stood in the darkness like the shadow of the night, Not caring to be wrong, nor caring to be right, And then she arrived with some forty men, Sycophantic chicks around mother hen, He picked his gun, resolved to fight. For no peaceful way could befall his sight, And this was the way to rid this blight She walked unaware towards her den, Death to the queen! He remembered his son, playing with his kite, Beloved wife, with a future very bright, Burned them all, he remembered then, By greedy leaders, who had spoken zen, And had looted the country for the queen's delight Death to the queen! --- Epilogue: Corrupt politicians loot the country, a country where the investigating agency (CBI) is as independent as the ring finger is from the middle. A country where the ...

Swami Nikhilaananda said: " I was told that I sucked at math... I still couldn't understand what his problem was " " Well, hullo neighbour! What may I do for you? " asked my merry neighbour. He didn't look particularly smart, but he had a long list of degrees below his name-plate, the one etched in granite that was outside his home-office... - BA, BCom, BSc, LLB, and a couple of finance related degrees, I fail to remember those names. Who even does so many courses? " I was told you are good at palmistry. I also saw the board outside. I was just wondering if you could have a look at mine " I told him meekly. He was also good at numerology. This happened on the last day of my PU exams. " Why, sure. Come on in " He handed me two pieces of crude cylindrical translucent glassy objects. " Hold these crystal pieces in your hand. They will drive away the evil spirits, the negative energy from you so that I can read it clearly ". ...

Swami Nikhilaananda was told: " Remember, actions have consequences " Just the other day, I was talking to one of my best friends who's in the USA. He said people simply refuse to step out of their houses to meet others and socialise, they would rather talk to the same group of friends online. The internet and social networking websites certainly have their advantages. Unlike over a decade back, talking to someone who lives hundreds of kilometres away from you isn't difficult today. In fact, you can see them too. And with social networking such as Facebook, the entire group of friends can see what others are doing, share and comment on photographs and chat together irrespective of where you are physically. While everything sounds hunky-dory, there are quite a few disadvantages associated with social networking. In this post, I am going to pick only one, deliberately skipping privacy, security and other equally important issues - " The Etiquette Of Posting ...