more backporting

_data/tags.yml

+vim:
+    name: Vim
+    desc: The One True Editor
+
+config:
+    name: Configuration
+    desc: COnfiguration of various software that I use
+
+life:
+    name: Thoughts on Life
+    desc: Thoughts on Life, the Universe, and Everything Else.
+
+lit:
+    name: Literature
+    desc: Thoughts on things I read
+
+jekyll:
+    name: Jekyll
+    desc: The Jekyll site generator
+
+programming:
+    name: Programming
+    desc: Thoughts on programming and scripting
+
+arsenal:
+    name: Arsenal F. C.
+    desc: The club I adore - Arsenal Football Club
+
+football:
+    name: Football
+    desc: Thoughts on Football
+
+tech:
+    name: Technology
+    desc: Thoughts on Technology

_layouts/post.html

@@ -16,10 +16,20 @@ pagestyle: posts
 		<a href="{{ site.base-url }}{{ page.url }}">
 			{{ page.title }}
 		</a>
+	{% if page.tags.size > 0 %}
+	{% endif %}
 		<time datetime="{{ page.date | date_to_xmlschema }}" class="post-date">
 			{{ page.date | date: "%B %e, %Y" }}
 		</time>
 	</h1>
+	<div class="tags-list">
+		{% for page_tag in page.tags %}
+			{% assign tag = site.data.tags[page_tag] %}
+			{% if tag %}
+				<a class="tag" href="/blog/tag/{{ page_tag }}/">{{ tag.name }}</a>
+			{% endif %}
+		{% endfor %}
+	</div>
 </header>
 
 {% assign sections = content | split: site.section_separator %}

_posts/2008-12-31-back-to-Dihing.md

 ---
 layout: post
 title: Back to Dihing!
+tags: [life]
 ---
 
 So, finally I'm, back in Dihing, my second home... It does feel great to be

_posts/2009-01-13-crichton.md

 ---
 layout: post
 title: Michael Crichton -  A Great Author
+tags: [lit]
 ---
 
 *Jurassic Park* and *The Lost World* are movies that almost everyone I know have

_posts/2009-06-28-friends.md

 ---
 layout: post
 title: Friends...
+tags: [life]
 ---
 
 What constitutes a friend? My mum thinks that every single person I know is my

_posts/2009-09-26-notes.md

 ---
 layout: post
 title: Notes on Programming
+tags: [programming]
 ---
 
 I've always had a love of writing programs, maybe because I like to create

_posts/2009-10-30-identity.md

 ---
 layout: post
 title: A Lost Identity
+tags: [life]
 ---
 
 In my days at IITG, I have often been asked where I hail from. Somehow, I never

_posts/2010-02-25-les-miserables.md

+---
+title: Les Misérables
+layout: post
+tags: [lit]
+---
+
+It has been a long time since I first read the novels which affected me the most
+strongly: *Wuthering Heights*, *Jane Eyre*, *Crime and Punishment*, *War and
+Peace*, *Great Expectations*, *David Copperfield*, *One Hundred Years of
+Solitude*, *The Picture of Dorian Gray*, *Ivanhoe* and *Gone with the Wind*. The
+first two I read when I was ten years old, or thereabouts; the last, *Gone with
+the Wind*, three or four years ago. Since then, I've read a few books, but none
+which created impressions as deep as they have. So much so, that I'd come to
+doubt whether I would meet anybody as kind and as good as Melanie Wilkes, or
+anyone as terrible as Dorian Gray. I felt that I wouldn't meet any love as
+strong as the love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, or the love for
+Scarlet that Rhett had. Women like Jane Eyre, or Countess Natasha Rostova, or
+Agnes Wickfield, or Scarlet O'Hara are rarely met with. But a lot of things
+changed when I decided to correct a mistake that I had made, since I had never
+got a chance to read Victor Hugo's *Les Misérables*, having read *The Hunchback
+of Notre-Dame* years ago as an abridged version (curse those monstrosities, they
+rob us of a great deal!). So when I chanced upon a Penguin Classics edition of
+*Les Misérables*, a 1976 translation by Norman Denny, I seized it without a
+second thought.
+
+Victor Hugo is a master story-teller, and his plot is rich in twists and turns.
+Some have parallels, as for example Thénardier's role in bringing the truth
+about Jean Valjean's life to Marius's knowledge is very similar to Gollum's role
+in destroying the Ring in *The Lord of the Rings.* Oh! Once I shuddered when
+*The Lord of the Rings* was compared to the Harry Potter series, and now I
+shudder to compare *The Lord of the Rings* to *Les Misérables.* I read *the Lay
+of Beren and Luthién* and was deeply moved, and when I read the last three books
+of *Volume V: Jean Valjean,* I did something which I have not done in years: I
+wept. If, previously, someone had asked me to name the three greatest characters
+I'd met, I would have named R. Daneel Olivaw, Melanie Wilkes and Sherlock
+Holmes. Now, the list would be R. Daneel Olivaw, Melanie Wilkes and Jean
+Valjean. All three are characterised by their infinite love and compassion,
+their benevolence and goodness, their innate heroism, and their strength of
+character. Indeed, Daneel is more human than some humans.
+
+Norman Denny said that Victor Hugo is a poet, and rightly so. Only a poet would
+indulge in a retelling of the Battle of Waterloo, only for creating a setting
+for an ironical twist of fate. But the tale is well told, and only increases the
+disgust for the dastardly act that follows, and I doubt even the best of authors
+could have done any better. His novel is accused of being riddled with
+unreadable digressions, but they serve to make the tale all the more
+interesting, and are as much matter for the mind as Leo Tolstoy's philosophical
+meanderings in *War and Peace.* In many a sense, I find Tolstoy's work (which he
+considered to be something not quite a novel) is the only book comparable to
+Hugo's work. It is interesting that one chronicles the beginning of Napoleon's
+downfall, and the other the aftermath. Both have characters that rise from being
+social outcasts to being angels on Earth, the one has Pierre Bezukhov, an
+illegitimate son of a count, with a heart of gold and the innocence of a child,
+and Jean Valjean, a paroled convict who came out with the blackest of minds and
+was transformed into the most benevolent of men.  Both have their ingenues:
+Natasha and Cosette (the picture at the top is of her as child); both have their
+young men burdened with poverty and a title: Count Nicholas Rostov and Baron
+Marius Pontmercy.
+
+
+Hugo's tale of nineteenth century France is singular tale of misery and
+wretchedness, and, at the same time, of hope and love. We follow the life of
+Jean Valjean, sent to prison for stealing a piece of bread for his family,
+ending up spending nineteen years in jail for repeated escape attempts, after he
+is released on parole. He encounters the Bishop of Digne, an uncanonised saint,
+who transforms him, and guides him to the path of goodness. He is entrusted with
+the care of Cosette, the child of a poor girl called Fantine. As Cosette grows
+into womanhood and meets and falls in love with Marius, the tale draws them all
+into events leading up to the June Revolution of 1832 in Paris, weaving all the
+threads in to a tapestry of singular beauty. We witness the gallant nature of
+Jean Valjean, as he helps even those who dislike him or even hate him. We
+witness the implacable nature of Inspector Javert, whose single-minded
+dedication to the enforcement of law is the gravest of dangers to Valjean's
+liberty. We witness the unchanging evil in Monsieur Thénardier, even as he seeks
+to rob the gentleman who gives him alms, and to expose him to his son-in-law,
+whilst unknowingly setting aright a number of misunderstandings. Éponine's pain
+at having to aid Marius with his love for Cosette rends our hearts. Why, oh, why
+do people have to suffer from unrequited love?
+
+Admittedly, Hugo's tale has weaknesses. Nobody will paeans to the love between
+Marius and Cosette. Nobody will sing ballads about Marius. But then, this tale
+is not about them. This is about the upliftment of Les Misérables, the miserable
+ones, the wretched ones, the very dregs of society, as seen in Valjean, Éponine
+and Gavroche; Gavroche - that gallant little soul, to whom, one cannot help but
+bow to and acknowledge his greatness of soul. Yet, with all this, as one flows
+along with the tale, we do not even see these flaws, immersed in the curiosity
+that makes us want to know: Will they ever have a chance at a better life? Will
+they rise above their misery and find happiness?

_posts/2011-03-13-god.md

+---
+title: The Character of God
+layout: post
+tags: [life, lit]
+---
+
+Over time, I have changed my position regarding the existence of god(s). From
+*apathy* ('Don't know, don't care'), to *disbelief* (atheism) to *doubt*
+(agnosticism). I have heard many accounts of god(s), from the 'universe, then
+god' (like the ancient Greeks') to 'god, then universe' (most other accounts),
+from single god (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) to many gods (Hinduism, the
+Egyptian pantheon). The problem exists, in my opinion, specifically in the proof
+(or lack thereof) of the existence of gods. For the purposes of this article,
+let us consider a few things as given:
+
+- The Universe (and everything in it) exists for a reason: the principle of
+  causality
+- If god(s) exist(s), said god(s) created the Universe. Also, since the Universe
+  was created, whoever created it can be labelled 'god' (If a group created it,
+  let's call the group 'god' and avoid the problem of the plural). Ergo god
+  exists in any case.
+- The Universe, and everything in and of it, is finite. (This is controversial,
+  let us postpone discussion on it for a while.)
+
+The first principle is essential, as it is the very basis of all of today's
+science.  I believe that some of the primary purposes of science are to
+establish the *causes* (*why*s of things), along with means (*how*s) and
+predictions (*what now*s). The questions that are central to science is how and
+why the Universe was created in the first place, but whether it lies within the
+scope of science to assign a cause and means to its creation is beyond me.
+The only way we can sidestep the problem of creation is by assigning a present
+age of infinity to the Universe. That, of course, would be somewhat the trivial
+solution for this question, and not possible because of the third condition.
+
+Proof of existence of god is impossible within the framework of the Universe.
+Consider the  two mutually exclusive situations in which god does interfere with
+the Universe after creation, and does not. In the first case, it would be
+impossible to assign an observable cause to acts of god, but simply because we
+cannot observe the cause doesn't imply that the cause is god. The reason might
+simply be beyond our present science. Unless we acquire infinite and complete
+knowledge, which is clearly impossible, we cannot assign causes (or lack
+thereof) to all events, again under the third condition. (As a side note: an
+infinite and complete knowledge would also imply knowledge of creation of the
+universe, thus solving that problem.) If god does not interfere with the
+Universe after creation, then, of course, we cannot prove the existence of god
+from phenomena within this Universe. So we can merely speculate and argue about
+it.
+:smile:
+
+Now, given that god created the Universe, that still doesn't complete the cause.
+There still exists the problem of why said god(s) created it. Most religions
+don't give a damn about this, insofar as I can infer. They neither say anything
+about it, nor say why they don't say anything. Science fiction authors, on
+the other hand, do often speculate about it. From "The Lord is the name of my
+cat." to the ultimate scientist, there have been many instances. Here I come to
+the central point of my article. The thing is, "god(s)" present a theory, a
+theory as to why the Universe exists and is the way it is. To completely ignore
+said theory and disregard it is unscientific (ergo *atheism* is unscientific). My
+favourite hypothesis is the one by Arthur C. Clarke in his *Rama* series. In it,
+at the very end, he describes god as the ultimate scientist, who tries different
+initial values to the problem of the Universe so as to obtain an Universe in
+perfect harmony. Now lets avoid why the god wants perfect harmony (c'mon, do we
+need to go into an infinite chain of reasons?), and what harmony means. The
+thing is, this god has the best (for me) attribute of all. The god has a reason,
+and has reason too, apparently.
+
+The most interesting thing about this god, is that it apparently is subject to
+one of the most fundamental principles of quantum theory: that we cannot
+observe something without interfering with it. The observations are kept to a
+minimum, and care is taken to minimise its effects. As far as I am concerned,
+this concept totally beats Clarke's *Space Odysseys* and Asimov's Gaia/Galaxia
+concept. But, not, I suppose, Douglas Adam's nuttiness.
+
+Till later!

_posts/2011-07-27-passion.md

+---
+title: Passion is Forever
+layout: post
+tags: [arsenal, football]
+---
+
+We saw a recent lecture series on club loyalty. I believe that those *fans* who
+abandon their club when they are down don't understand the core point of
+football, or any team game, or any game, for that matter. I admire Barca, not
+for their style of play, but for the sheer talent and skill some of their
+players have. I admire Royal Madrid, because of the impunity with which they
+play Fantasy Football. I admire Manchester United, because they have grit. I
+admire Tottenham Hotspur, because they fought to grow out of the shadow of their
+neighbours and succeeded.
+
+But I am an Arsenal fan, not because of their style of play (which I do love),
+or because of their players (though Robin van Persie is my favourite), or some
+other such detail. In a team game, the principle of superposition doesn't apply.
+The whole != sum of the parts. I love Arsenal, because I see in them a
+reflection of myself. The first Arsenal match I remember watching was the
+Champions League final of 2005-06. And that match epitomizes their seasons
+since. They get themselves in a mess. Then by sheer luck, or pure skill, or by
+some combination thereof, they get their arses out of that mess and get on top
+of things. And then it all unravels, while you watch on with a sinking feeling.
+
+Like Arsenal, I have talents and skills. Like Arsenal, I can be the best. Like
+Arsenal, I have had a string of bad choices ruin it for me. Like Arsenal, I have
+managed to save my arse from really being fried (though mostly through sheer
+luck). I feel a connection to Arsenal, because if, despite all this, they manage
+to win, then it tells me that I can too.  
+(And one of my friends, a Liverpool fan, had an interesting dip in grades that
+quite closely followed Liverpool's dip in form. Though perhaps that is a bit too
+much for me. :) )
+
+I hope that Arsenal win.  
+I hope that Arsène Wenger finally constructs a team where each player, no matter
+how skilled or talented, is truly loyal to our club.  
+I hope.  
+(cf. [*Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption*][1])
+
+Wait! Nay, I ***believe*** that Arsenal can win, and be the best.  
+Because that belief is tied to my belief in myself.
+
+ [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Hayworth_and_Shawshank_Redemption

_posts/2012-10-11-echoes.md

+---
+layout: post
+title: Echoes
+tags: [lit]
+---
+
+Recently I started reading Robert Jordan's *The Wheel of Time*  series. Each
+book is well written, and the characters strong and memorable, the tales
+themselves grand. The series itself vies with the *Mahabharata*, considered by
+most Indians to be the greatest epic. One thing I noticed time and again is the
+number of similarities, echoes, as it were, of tales from elsewhere, books and
+movies. By itself, it might seem like a weakness, but no! It is a strength, for
+each echo strengthens the feeling that the tale is your own experience long
+forgotten, from a different life perhaps, for it is familiar and yet strange.
+Perhaps like the feeling Birgitte Silverbow has for the memories of each of her
+adventures with Gaidal Cain.
+
+I have always loved the *Lord of the Rings*, but that was always tinged by a
+touch of disappointment over its inspiration from Christian myth. But it was
+while noting the similarities between it and *The Wheel of Time*, and
+*今日から㋮王!* (*God (?!) Save The King!*), one of my favourite anime shows,
+that I realised how different it was. In each case, the central villain, whether
+Shai'tan, Sauron or Soushu, was imperfectly defeated -- waiting to return for a
+final confrontation. (Just like Tom Riddle, some of you will point out. I'm sure
+it is a common enough theme, like Loki being bound till Ragnarok.)
+
+In both the *Lord of the Rings* and *The Wheel of Time*, the creator of the
+universe... uh, well... creates the universe and then lets the drama play itself
+out, not interfering any more (except in one unique case in *LOTR*). The Aes
+Sedai are like the Elves - long-lived, highly respected, deserving of respect -
+yet as human, as petty as any around. Curiously, the Ogier are more like the
+Elves than the Aes Sedai, long lived, with an affinity for things that grow,
+living in some isolation from humans, yet deadly when raised to arms. Both have
+created incredible wonders, cities more beautiful than any by man, and neither
+will involve themselves in the affairs of men, but both will fight the Shadow.
+Orcs are perversions of Ilúvatar's creations by Morgoth, just as Trollocs and
+other Shadowspawn are perversions by the Dark One and the Chosen. *Barad-dûr*,
+close to Mount Doom within Mordor is where Sauron hides, and Shayol Ghul north
+of the Blasted Lands is where the Bore to the Dark One's prison lies - and
+Morgoth's fortress in Angband, Thangorodrim lies to the north of *Anfauglith*
+(the Gasping Dust).  In each world the armies from the lands to the west of the
+ocean are quite powerful, but Seandar's armies are like kids imitating soldiers
+when compared to Valinor's armies. In both cases ships attempting to reach the
+lands to the west have failed for quite some time. In both worlds, the world
+itself was altered - in LOTR, once during the hiding of Valinor when the Arda
+was made round, and again in defeating Morgoth when Middle-Earth was shattered,
+and in the other during the Breaking of the World that followed the madness.
+
+In both *今日から㋮王!* and *The Wheel of Time*, the central character, the hero
+who would defeat the villain once and for all is someone who has no idea of
+their initial power, but has to learn to control it and use it. And there the
+most striking contrast presents itself: Yuri Shibuya is truly the most decent
+hero I have ever encountered, and that's counting Goku. Anyone who has watched
+the *Dragonball* series will know the import of that. On the other hand, Rand
+al'Thor is, at least until the 12th book, a hard man. Oh, if ever there was a
+crossover between to *The Wheel of Time* universe, what wouldn't I give for Yuri
+or Goku to meet and befriend Rand! The tale of Lews Therin Telamon and his One
+Hundred Companions riding to Shayol Ghul to seal Shai'tan's prison always
+reminds me of the anime scenes featuring Shinou, the Great One, in his battle
+with Soushu, the Originators. In both cases they somewhat succeeded, at great
+personal cost. The Great One was infected by the Originators, *saidin* tainted
+by the Dark One's counter-stroke. Shinou was taken over by the Originators
+towards the end until Yuri freed him and Lews Therin went mad and gained his
+title, the Kinslayer. Another pair of reflections: *Callandor*, the Sword that
+is not a Sword, the Sword that cannot be claimed, save by the Dragon Reborn and
+*Mullem Desoive Eligh Morgif*, the Demon Sword that cannot be wielded by any
+save the Demon King. Both are virtually useless as swords, but both are
+incredibly powerful. The humans in 今日から㋮王! fear Demons, those who can
+wield magic, and people in The Wheel of Time fear those men who can channel the
+tainted *saidin*. al'Lan Mandragoran reminds of Conrart Weller, with their
+sword-mastery and training of the hero.
+
+And the most recent echo, the one which prompted me to write this post, was not
+from *LOTR* or *今日から㋮王!*, but from a movie. The second meeting between
+Egwene al'Vere and Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, the confrontation that results is
+strikingly similar to the climax of *A Few Good Men*, right up to the
+spectacular collapse of both antagonists. You can't handle the truth, indeed!
+Unfortunately the ends to these confrontations are in contrast.
+
+And that's not speaking of the echoes within *The Wheel of Time* itself,like
+Perrin Aybara, Rand al'Thor and Matrim Cauthon's belief that each was no good at
+handling women and the other two were. Each time that's mentioned, it makes me
+chuckle. I'm sure I can spot more similarities, more echoes when I read through
+the *Lord of the Rings* and *The Wheel of Time* and watch *今日から㋮王!* again.
+For now, this will do. It feels good to write (?!) and I hope I'll do it soon.
+Truly, though, the numerous threads of this tale do weave a most splendid
+Pattern, a Pattern that will be a joy to behold when finished! Ta!

_posts/2012-11-30-epilogues.md

+---
+layout: post
+title: Epilogues
+tags: [lit]
+---
+
+One thing to note before you start reading this: I haven't written anything in a
+long time. I'm just gonna ramble.  Note 2: I started writing this before
+*Echoes* and some of the stuff meant to be here ended up there, so not much
+rambling! :)
+
+I just finished watching *American Reunion*. I loved it. I watched *Men In
+Black<sup>3</sup>*, and I loved that too. You know why? Because once I get
+started on a tale, I want to know how it ends. Not necessarily the complete
+ending, with everyone dying off, but an ending that gives closure. I always
+wondered what became of J after he let Laura go. I always wondered how K was in
+his younger days. I love to know the history of a tale's universe, it's
+back-story, as it's sometimes called. MiB<sup>3</sup> gave me that and a fitting
+end, a nice little joke about chance. Similarly for *American Reunion*. Jim and
+Michelle getting married, Oz not even in the picture, Finch doing his usual
+thing... No, no: That's not how that tale would end. There always has to be an
+epilogue. An epilogue gives us closure. A bit of what happened later, to tie up
+all the loose threads. These movies were exactly that: Epilogues to a much-loved
+tale long told. Maybe that's why I am not too excited about *Grown Ups 2: Grown
+Ups* was an epilogue to a tale never told - but maybe it can be the prologue to
+a tale yet to be told. Dragging on a film series like they have done with *Saw*
+- that is an abomination, a sin.
+
+Maybe the epilogue of *War and Peace* affected me a bit too strongly: It was the
+first epilogue that I read so labelled. The earlier novels I read, *Wuthering
+Heights* and *Jane Eyre* had similar chapters too, short, but satisfying. *War
+and Peace*, on the other hand, had an epilogue befitting its length. It
+contained a lot of interesting thoughts. The passage on how the French
+Revolution happened was one of the funniest passages I have read, and since
+then, I have had a bit of reluctance in studying our world's history, absurd as
+it is - why should any other world's history be any less important? That is why,
+to me, the *Lord of the Rings* is the greatest tale I have read. The appendices
+provide some more information about that world, and the Chronology tells me how
+it ends for each member of the Fellowship. The death of Aragorn, followed by the
+departure of Legolas for Valinor (accompanied by Gimli, so it has been told)
+concluded that tale for me. Contrast this with *Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank
+Redemption*, which most of you will know better as the movie *The Shawshank
+Redemption*. Its final lines are so written that the overwhelming sense of
+uncertainty filled with hope would be thoroughly destroyed by an epilogue. That
+is why I regard *The Shawshank Redemption* as the greatest film ever made: It
+transcended the book it adapted. It's ending, and the movie in general somehow
+managed to be as good as, if not better than, the novella. Few, if any,
+adaptations manage that. Most fumble at it - like a teenager fumbling at a bra
+strap. Some mess it up completely - like Jim with Nadia. *The Shawshank
+Redemption* redeemed them all.
+
+But when it comes to tales that demand epilogues, I think the standard to beat
+is set by *Foundation and Earth* and *Rama Revealed*. Both books are just that -
+a conclusion to a long tale. Both have fitting titles. Rama is revealed -
+somewhat. Earth and Foundation - the two ends of the Galaxy - the beginning and
+the end. To end a tale that spanned around 22,000 years, three separate series
+and 16 or so books in all would take a masterpiece - and Asimov, the master that
+he is, did it oh so well. And the sly devil managed to slip in a few threads to
+continue the tale, too. Reading that novel as the ship entered the Solar System
+is one of the defining moments of my life. Meeting Daneel Olivaw there, I
+realised why inevitably most people are theists. Seeing Daneel there, I felt all
+the emotions people feel on seeing an old friend. Most importantly, since I
+hadn't read the prequel books, I wasn't sure I'd meet him - a successor perhaps,
+but not Daneel himself. But to know Daneel was present all along, guiding,
+helping humanity - that was a relief. We really are too stupid to live long, you
+know.
+
+
+But let us leave these depressing thoughts. The prequel books to *Foundation* -
+aha! Just as most tales leave me wanting to know how it all ends, most also
+instil a desire to learn how it all began. Reading *Forward the Foundation* and
+*Prelude to the Foundation* brought home how delightful a well-written prequel
+truly is. It lends context the entire series,explaining details that otherwise
+never really stood on their own. The *Silmarillion* was the other great prequel
+I read. It's not really a prequel, since it was a separate book, taking place
+Ages before The *Lord of the Rings*. Reading The *Silmarillion* was like reading
+ancient history, and the discrepancies between it and the tales told in
+*Unfinished Tales* and *The History of Middle Earth* books made it seem all the
+more like real history, as if these were events that really happened, but with
+no trustworthy and complete records. It was fascinating. Many people can't
+comprehend how I can reread a novel or a series of novels from the start - don't
+I already know what's going to happen? I do, in a general way. However, there
+are several tiny details which attain greater significance in the context of
+what happens later on. These details are like an "Aha!" moment, not quite
+Eureka! but a flash of recognition when you realise that the Towers of Midnight
+are mentioned as early as in book two of *The Wheel of Time* - *The Great Hunt*,
+and all those dreams that Egwene has in book three foretelling events well in to
+the tail-end of the series. It's quite fun, actually, re-reading those books. I
+wonder what *A Memory of Light* will be like... Will it have a great epilogue?
+Will it give closure? Or will it be like *Inheritance* and make you wonder when
+the next part's releasing? :/

_posts/2013-04-12-bonobo.md

+---
+layout: post
+title: My super-awesome System76 Bonobo Extreme!
+tags: [tech]
+---
+
+I got the high-end Linux laptop available in the market: the System76 Bonobo
+Extreme. It is certainly my prized possession, way more awesome than anything I
+have ever owned, and anything I am likely to own in the next few years. I am not
+a professional reviewer by a long shot, but after two weeks of using the bonx6,
+I thought I'd post some of my observations.
+
+First off, this thing is huge! A 17.3" screen, a full-fledged keyboard with an
+inch-wide bezel on the sides, an inch-high base, a power brick that's more than
+twice the size (in all dimensions) of that of my old Dell Vostro 1088's or that
+of my parents' Samsung. There's an 89.2 WHr battery in it, which is quite
+different in shape from the usual elongated ones: It's rectangular. The clickpad
+is nice and large, with multi-touch. I love the large display - after years of
+squeezing out every pixel from a 14" 1366x768 screen, having a 17.3" 1920x1080
+display is like switching from my old hostel grounds to the football field. I
+won't list the specifics, the list is available on the website.
+
+There are a number of things which strike me about the bonx6:
+
+- Full-sized arrow keys: Yay! Seriously, what is it with other more mainstream
+  companies putting out half-sized, unusable arrow keys even on 15"+ laptops? My
+  aforementioned Vostro, a 14", had full-fledged arrow keys. Who could possibly
+  need a Shift key longer than certain parts of their anatomy? Also, the
+  separate WiFi and Bluetooth keys are nice, as is the key to turn off the
+  display. I used to use the `xset` command to do that, or wait on Windows. The
+  backlighting (with the variety of colours) is very good.
+- While the arrow keys are a huge plus, there is one annoyance about the
+  keyboard: Instead of <kbd>Home</kbd> and <kbd>End</kbd> as main keys,
+  <kbd>Page&nbsp;Up</kbd> and <kbd>Page&nbsp;Down</kbd> are the main ones and
+  you have to use the Function key to use them. I dunno what statistics led them
+  to this selection, but it's infernally irritating. I often use the
+  <kbd>Home</kbd> and <kbd>End</kbd> keys, especially while typing. I only use
+  the Page keys when reading, and that rarely. The other weird thing is the key
+  next to the <kbd>Spacebar</kbd>, which would usually be the Context Menu key
+  but is the Pipe/Slash key (`|`,``\``). I looked up the layouts available in
+  Ubuntu and it seems to be some variant of US/International, and worked as a
+  Multikey. I wasted no time in mapping it to the Context Menu key. (Why would I
+  need two keys with the same function while eliminating one which has no
+  duplicate anywhere else on the keyboard?)
+- Four 3.5mm ports: S/PDIF, Line-in, mike, headphones. The sound quality from
+  the headphones port on my Seinheiser CX-180 is noticeably poorer than that
+  from the S/PDIF port. But getting that port to work decently on Ubuntu 12.10
+  was a trial by trial-and-error. (No, that wasn't a typo. It was a trial, the
+  kind I hadn't had to face on Ubuntu since 2010.) The sound either a)
+  alternately rapidly between headphones and laptop speakers; or b) played on
+  the right laptop speaker and on the left headphone. The PulseAudio Volume
+  control program allowed me to get a handle on it, and now all is hunky-dory.
+  Ubuntu 13.04 beta had no problem. The laptop speakers themselves are quite
+  good, better than any laptop speaker I have heard (I have lived in a hostel
+  with a variety of laptops, including ones with Altec Lansing speakers), loud,
+  clear. And is that a sub-woofer on the bottom?
+- The basic Targus clamshell bag is a very tight fit, and doesn't seem to have
+  much in the name of padding. There's no Targus logo on the bag that I can see.
+  And the weight of this behemoth makes carrying it without a backpack an
+  arm-numbing strain. Thankfully, it just about fits into my Dell 15" backpack
+  that I got with the Vostro.
+- That was the good and the ugly. Now the weird: What is usually the Windows key
+  has a small Ubuntu logo sticker on it. While it's cute, the back-lighting is
+  blocked (but it's the only such key and so easily spotted). Considering that
+  that keys with multiple functions (like entire top array) vary wildly from
+  laptop to laptop, surely it wouldn't be that difficult to get buttons with
+  proper Ubuntu logos on them? Or better yet, Tux?)
+- The fingerprint reader and clickpad are nice, but it's the first experience
+  I've had with either, so I can't judge them. The clickpad did initially seem
+  to have too much friction. And now that I have got used to two-finger
+  scrolling, there's now way I'd go back to edge-scrolling and a special button
+  for right click. With tapping and two-finger tapping, the only time I actually
+  click on it is for dragging. I've only used a MacBook once, but I doubt theirs
+  is much better than this one. The fingerprint reader is especially useful on
+  Ubuntu, for `sudo`. :) Side-note: If you encrypt your home directory while
+  completing the Ubuntu setup, you will have to enter your password each time
+  you log on. The fingerprint reader can only be used once the password has been
+  used to decrypt the home directory.
+- The battery is good, lasts around 200 minutes watching movies and TV shows on
+  the headphone, all the while charging my Nexus<sup>4</sup>. It lasted an hour
+  while playing *NFS Carbon*, but grew very hot during the process – the rest of
+  the laptop was only mildly warm, but the battery, which is situated right at
+  the front and is quite in contact with your lap, was hot. That said, while on
+  external power, the laptop never gets very hot, but of the two huge fan vents,
+  the one on the right seems to get more exercise. I have a Nexus<sup>4</sup>
+  and I know when things get hot. The bonx6 doesn't. If the power usage of the
+  graphics card (mine is the base one, 670 MX) could be lowered – it is around
+  22 W even when in low-power mode – the battery could support 6+ hours of movie
+  watching.  I have heard Optimus is a nightmare on Linux, but I sincerely hope
+  nVidia cleans up their act and newer iterations of the Bonobo can support
+  that.
+- The port for the charging cable is in a very odd position: behind the laptop,
+  close to the middle. It is decidedly strange, but isn't inconvenient. Even
+  more weird, the cable head looks like a PS/2 port. And it seems to come loose
+  very easily, which is mildly annoying.
+- I installed Windows 8 (triple booting with the preinstalled Ubuntu 12.10 and
+  the Raring beta), and had no problems using it (aside from Metro :P). The
+  drivers provided by the knowledge76 website work great. I ran *Assassin's
+  Creed III*, and at the highest settings, it ran smoothly, without any jerking
+  or frame-skipping at all. I also ran the *Hitman: Absolution* benchmark: At
+  Ultra settings, it had an average framerate of 10! But the benchmark scene is
+  particularly detailed, featuring huge crowds, fireworks, birds-eye views – the
+  Vostro with it's Radeon HD 4330 could only manage an avg frame rate of 13 even
+  on the lowest settings, and this card breezes through games that brought the
+  4330 to its knees. *FIFA 13*, *Need for Speed: The Run*, *L. A. Noire*, *Spec
+  Ops: The Line* – all ran smoothly at the highest graphics settings.
+- The 7200 rpm, 500 GB HDD is fast enough for me: an average of 90 MBps read
+  speed and 40-60 MBps write speeds. The main issue is the secondary HDD slot –
+  more precisely: Where the hell is it? The Vostro has a clearly demarcated
+  section which can be easily unscrewed off to reveal the HDD and RAM slots. As
+  far as I can tell, I'll have to pry off the whole back to get to the spare HDD
+  slot, and I have a 500 GB disk lying around which I'd love to use as an
+  internal disk once again. And I do plan on adding RAM.
+- There are a couple of stickers on it: one for the SoundBlaster card and one
+  for indicating HDMI support. Strangely, no Intel Inside/Core i7 sticker, no
+  nVidia sticker. System76 did add a couple of metallic "Powered by Ubuntu"
+  stickers, one of which immediately went on my bonx6 :) and the other on my
+  parents' Samsung (which does, in fact, run Ubuntu 12.10 primarily).
+
+I love everything else about the bonx6 – the display, the backlit keyboard, the
+looks, the size, the clickpad, the desktop-beating level of power contained
+within this beauty, the Ubuntu sticker that System76 gave which I put on it, the
+abundance of ports, the fact that it came preinstalled with Ubuntu and that
+System76 supports Linux and not Windows! Thank you so much, System76, for making
+this awesome thing possible! And thanks to my best friend Roshan for telling me
+about System76! You rock, bro!

_posts/2013-06-11-mv-arch.md

+---
+layout: post
+title: Moving to Arch
+tags: [tech, config]
+---
+
+I'm not sure why, but Ubuntu takes a hell of a long time to start. The best I
+could get was 59s - and on occasion it even went to 1:15! If you think this
+isn't a cause for concern, this might tell you why it is.
+
+I did the usual `bootchart` analysis, disabling Plymouth splash, tried profiling
+via GRUB, disabling services... the usual. All to no avail, though. Booting
+within a minute is okay, I suppose, but I know for sure 12.04 and down would
+boot much faster on my old laptop.  I looked around, an in most places I noticed
+something interesting - LightDM usually only waited for less than a second for
+signals from X, in my case it was usually 15s or more. But I didn't have a
+ConsoleKit problem, the XOrg was actually reading something. I tried switching
+DMs - SLiM and lxdm - but no luck. 
+
+Now that I am fiddling with my setup anyway, I decided to install Arch. This was
+my third try, actually - neither of my previous two attempts while in IITG
+succeeded. But third time lucky, eh? I went about installing Arch via both the
+official and unofficial installation guides.
+
+Since my aim was as fast a start as I could get while still looking good, I
+decided to use btrfs for the root filesystem. We'll see how that goes. The
+installation was mostly pain-free. Except at one point where the Arch Wiki tells
+us to execute some commands and *then* shows a notice telling us to do so only
+after rebooting, not within the chroot jail. That fucked up my wireless
+connection, and I couldn't bring it back up. Luckily I had made the boot image,
+and I had no intention of installing GRUB again, considering that I already had
+one from Ubuntu. So I rebooted and got Ubuntu's GRUB to update itself, and then
+booted into Arch - took it about 12s to get to the login prompt.
+
+From there on, things were pretty easy. The hard part was deciding:
+
+- Which DE should I use? GNOME? XFCE? Or not use a DE at all?
+- Which file manager? Nemo? Nautilus?
+- Which DM? LightDM? LXDM? SLiM?
+
+Some things were eliminated straight off: I wouldn't use KDE or LXDE - I dislike
+the feel of KDE and LXDE wasn't feature-rich enough. XFCE was a good bet, but it
+was already my main setup on Ubuntu, and I wanted to try something new. I'd
+always heard good things about Enlightenment, Ratpoison, WMII and other such
+window managers, and I decided I didn't need a DE after all - I'd try
+Enlightenment and get it to work.
+
+As for file managers, I liked Nautilus and Nemo best, but I don't like the
+direction the GNOME3 team are headed with that, just liked I didn't like it when
+the made GDM a dependency of GNOME Shell or when they removed file listings the
+search results of the Activities overview. I had stuck with GNOME Shell even
+then, but the GDM dependency was the straw that broke the camel's back.
+Seriously, how difficult can it be to understand that I don't want to drag up an
+extra screen to enter my password? Take what you will from Metro, but *that* is
+the worst part.
+
+Again, last time I tried, I'd used E16 and was severely chastised. This time,
+E17 proved to be a pleasure to use - its own basic file manager (a file manager
+without tab support is always basic to me), excellent visual effects, okay
+themes. SLiM posed some problems - it wouldn't start correctly on occasion, each
+time I had to switch to Enlightenment even though it was my default - otherwise
+it would log me in and leave me without anything to work with - problems with
+stopping SLiM (each shutdown would take a couple of minutes, waiting for SLiM to
+stop). So I ditched it and went with LXDM - but this time, I set up autologin,
+so I don't even see the login screen. GRUB to desktop - within 30s!
+
+Odd thing, though. E17 favours Connman to manage network connections, and try as
+I would, I couldn't get `connman` to connect to my wireless network. Abandon
+that and stick to Arch's default `netctl`. Though the lack of a GUI for `netctl`
+is disconcerting.
+
+I had no trouble setting up the nVidia drivers or my fingerprint scanner or the
+touchpad. But it seems the ACPI keys will have to wait, since the Arch Wiki
+tells me I'll have to manually set up actions matching the signal they emit. And
+I have to set up other things - Bluetooth, for example.

_posts/2013-10-07-football.md

+---
+layout: post
+title: Football
+tags: [arsenal, football, lit]
+---
+
+I have just finished reading *Fever Pitch* by Nick Hornby. To those who don't
+know, *Fever Pitch* is about Nick's obsession with Arsenal. For those who don't
+know what Arsenal is: nothing to see here, please move along, folks. I haven't
+read of a lot of football literature, but as an Arsenal fan, it gave me a
+peephole into a world long since gone: the world when Arsenal were the
+equivalent of Stoke City of the last few seasons - the ogres of football. No,
+honestly. The way Nick described Arsenal and the Highbury crowd reminds me of
+the Potters in every way - the siege mentality, the general dislike from other
+fans, the media, the shit football…
+
+Me, I started following Arsenal in 2006, with that Champions League final. I had
+started staying up late during my Std 10 exams, and had kept the habit. :) On
+one such late night, while channel surfing, I came up on a live match. There was
+some ruckus going on. I had some idea of football, since I had watched the '98
+World Cup and the '04 Euro (Greece won?). Apparently the keeper had been sent
+off, no penalty, though. I started it too late and didn't get to see the replay
+of the foul. At that time I didn't know who Pires was, so I didn't get the full
+import of him being subbed. I did know who Henry was, though. :) 
+
+Even so, my memory gets a bit hazy here: I know that ten minutes later Campbell
+scored and then around 80' Barca equalised, and then later took the lead and
+won. The way I *remember* it, Arsenal almost immediately scored ('*10 men Arsenal
+take the lead!*') and the underdogs (to me, and hence I supported them - well,
+that and Henry) kept on gamely trying. To me it seemed that Henry was a lone
+fella trying to do the best he can up front, without much support. And then late
+in to the match they scored twice in quick succession. Damn. Since then I have
+followed Arsenal, first by keeping an eye on the papers for news of them, and
+then in IITG, by watching them regularly.
+
+Anyway, I digress. I intended to talk about the books. After reading *Fever
+Pitch*, I felt that the best follow-up would be reading Richard Sanders'
+*Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of British Football* once again. In many ways,
+*Beastly Fury* mirrors *Fever Pitch*. Nick is a fan of The Arsenal, Richard a
+fan of the enemy, Tottenham Hotspur. Nick's book is an intimately personal one,
+it's about him and Arsenal. Richard's book is about football itself, it is
+impersonal. It's very interesting, getting to know the early history of
+football. For example, I always thought the offside law was some reaction to
+stop players from loitering near the goal, and the change from requiring three
+defenders between you and the goal to two was meant to help attacking football.
+I was correct about the latter, but about the former, not so much.
+
+Or things like why Chapman and his WM revolutionized things so much. I knew that
+the first international was played with 9 forwards on one side and 8 forwards on
+the other. But then you read about people considering passing "unmanly". Why
+*Roog-by* (:P) has *Roogby* league and *Roogby* union. An anecdote in the book:
+Alfred Lyttelton's mother complains to Charles Alcock that she's afraid one day
+Lyttelton will come home with a broken leg. Alcock reassures her that if he
+does, it won't be his own. And I had always assumed that an amateur was someone
+who wasn't good enough, as compared to a professional. I hadn't thought that
+professional had more to do with profession than with being good, despite being
+a programmer - and that is one field where many amateurs are a sight better than
+many "professionals". The original football clubs - they were all amateur.
+
+Footballers' wages - back then people were amazed at footballers being paid a
+few pounds a week (the average earnings of a skilled worker then) and now we are
+amazed at footballers earning a ten thousand times what most people are paid. It
+also shows how some things remain the same, no matter how much other things
+change. The first keeper to Preston North End was racially abused in the press
+as soon as his form dipped. People only died playing Rugby. So of course a few
+career-ending tackles in football is okay.
+
+Hmmm… After my second time through *Beastly Fury*, assuming *Stillness and
+Speed* is delivered soon, I'd be reading my next football book. And hopefully by
+then the hostel field will be in a condition fit for play. And I'll be playing
+kick-and-rush again. :)

_posts/2013-10-29-anathem.md

+---
+layout: post
+title: Anathem
+tags: [lit]
+---
+
+There's something about 3: They say bad/good things come in threes. Some things
+in my life have been in threes: My favourite science fiction authors: Asimov,
+Clarke and Crichton (an ACC instead of an ABC). The books that shaped my views
+on society: *The Lord of the Flies*, *1984*, *Brave New World*. My views on
+cosmogony so far have been largely influenced by Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series
+and Orson Scott Card's Ender Quartet. Now, I have a third to add to that: Neal
+Stephenson's *Anathem*.
+
+Just under a third of the way in, I had no idea where the story was headed, but
+I knew, I could feel it, that I was on to something special: *Anathem* is book
+not easily forgotten. Two-thirds of the way in, the story has taken shape, and I
+know for sure that this is as special as *The Garden of Rama* or *Xenocide*. I
+should have known, coming from the author of *In the Beginning was the Command
+Line*. One of the blurbs on the back-cover said: "[It] begins so quietly... and
+winds up travelling so far." Perhaps the thing that I like most about this book
+is that it does exactly that: starts along slowly, inviting you to step and
+become one with its world, and then before you know it, you are in that world,
+travelling along with Erasmus.
+
+I had been reading *The Bourne Supremacy* before this, and I had been thinking
+how good that book is: as good as Matt Damon was as Jason Bourne, he simply
+couldn't have been Jason Bourne in the novels. Bourne, or Webb, is simply of a
+higher level. And now *Anathem* comes along like a whirlwind and wipes out
+Bourne from my mind. When I am done reading this, I'll have to read both of them
+all over again. And read *Ender's Game*, *Speaker for the Dead*, *Xenocide* and
+*Children of the Mind*. And *Rendezvous with Rama*, *Rama II*, *The Garden of
+Rama* and *Rama Revealed*. My grades are going to be planed.

_posts/2015-08-28-vim-for-man.md

 ---
 layout: post
 title: Vim as $MANPAGER
-tags: [vim]
+tags: [vim, config]
 ---
 
 Long, long ago, in a hostel room far, far away, I once read about using Vim as

_posts/2015-09-06-jekyll.md

 ---
 title: Yet another Jekyll post
 layout: post
+tags: [jekyll, config]
 ---
 
 I shifted my personal site to Jekyll some time ago, but I hadn't yet fully

styles/posts.css

@@ -27,6 +27,18 @@ img {
 	max-width: 100%;
 }
 
+.tags-list {
+	text-align: right;
+}
+
+.tag {
+    background-color: gainsboro;
+    padding: 0.1em 0.5em;
+    border-radius: 0.3em;
+    font-variant: small-caps;
+	text-decoration: none;
+}
+
 /* 
  * From http://drewsilcock.co.uk/proper-linenumbers/
  */
@@ -67,6 +79,9 @@ pre span.lineno {
 		border-left: solid 0.2em black;
 		padding-left: 0.5em;
 	}
+	.post-title h1 {
+		margin: 0.5em;
+	}
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