New Laptop!

It's an Asus U30J-series laptop. I'm really excited to have it now (after not having a new computer for the last 6.5 years)!
Also, you may see a new post (which I've spent a few days on) coming soon; that post was done with regard to this new laptop.

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Preview: Crunchbang ("#!") Linux 10 "Statler" Openbox (Alpha 2)

The default Openbox desktop. Aside from the Debian swirly logo, the desktop looks pretty much the same as in 9.04.01.

I am back at home, so I have more time to write reviews (until I need to move to my dorm room). Yay!
This is the first time I am previewing a distribution before its final release. As such, I have tested this distribution in VirtualBox rather than making a Live CD/USB of the ISO file.
You may remember that I tested #! 9.04.01 a while back, and that I was highly pleased with its lack of bloat combined with its full feature set. Unfortunately, I have to say that while this one is a good release (and please keep in mind that this is still an Alpha build based on Debian 6 "Squeeze" Testing), it isn't quite as nice as 9.04.01.
Follow the jump to find out why.
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Does Canonical do Enough for Linux?

Please feel free to have your say on this in the comments section. You don't have to read my opinion on it, but if you choose to do so, read on. I got this topic from this (Sam Varghese, IT Wire (note that the article is split into 2 pages)) article.
I am of the opinion that Canonical does in fact do a lot for Linux, and that this should be appreciated more. Sure, its contributions are not of the technical sort; I have seen the statistic before that Canonical only contributes to 1% of GNOME's development (despite Ubuntu being very much a GNOME-centric distribution; the primary contributors are Red Hat, Novell, and volunteers). The statistics are similar with regard to contributions to the Linux kernel.
But really, the whole argument is undermined by the very first sentence itself:

Ask anyone which GNU/Linux distribution one should recommend to would-be users and the answer is generally always one word: Ubuntu.

They have made Ubuntu the most popular Linux distribution among newbies and have introduced Linux to the masses. Isn't that enough?

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Should Media Companies Expose Corruption?

Please feel free to make your thoughts on this known in the comments section. I got this question from a TV news program a few days ago in the wake of the media exposing Indian MP Suresh Kalmadi's corruption with regard to his handling of funding for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi.
At first, I thought the answer was obvious: in the US, the media's investigative journalism led to the resignation of a sitting president, so of course it should! But now, I have my doubts.
I believe that even if the US justice system isn't perfect and can have its low moments, if a public figure is exposed as corrupt, that person's career is effectively finished forever due to the combination of the [strength of the] rule of law and the ensuing public disgrace. In India, on the other hand, corruption is pervasive in all levels of public office — from the common cops to the members of parliament. Media exposure won't really get to the root of the problem — it will just lead to corrupt politician after corrupt politician and resignation after resignation. To fight corruption, top-down approach won't work because the people lower down the hierarchy will still support corrupt practices, while a bottom-up approach won't work because the higher-ups' behavior will encourage corrupt practices to continue.
I remember reading in The Undercover Economist that as bad as sweatshops in developing countries are, they are one of the ways for such a country to become richer and develop homegrown businesses, as that is what happened in South Korea and is what is happening in China. Does anyone know of a similar story regarding corruption — a country that experienced some kind of change that drastically reduced the prevalence of corruption? Please do tell me in the comments — I would love to know!

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Book Review: "Fermat's Last Theorem" by Simon Singh

(Sorry, this time I don't have a picture of the book, though the owner is the same relative who lent me the books The Undercover Economist and Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.)
And with this, I have read all of Simon Singh's books. Yay! (I think.)
I really enjoyed this book as much as his other two books. The passages talking about the cracking of the Enigma encryption system were like déjà vu after reading The Code Book. I also enjoyed reading about all of the tension and drama surrounding the various developments and failures leading up to the proof of Fermat's last theorem (though there seem to have been an awful lot of people who took their own lives in the process, unfortunately). It reminds me very much of Big Bang, as the material is presented in a very accessible format, and the focus is more on the developments and characters involved (as the end result is already known from the start).
I would recommend this to anyone even remotely interested in math, history, and puzzles. For readers in the US, however, note that while the UK edition is called Fermat's Last Theorem, the US edition is called Fermat's Enigma.

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Das U-Blog Turns 1!

It has been exactly a year since I started this blog! Yay!
To all readers of this blog, thank you so much for reading these posts (and even occasionally commenting on them too). I hugely appreciate the time you have spent reading these posts.
So this post is for you, the readers. And I have a question for you: is there anything else you want me to write about? Please let me know in the comments section.
Thank you!

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Movie Review: Inception

This is the first time that I've watched a movie in a theater in a while. I had a really nice time watching the movie.
The story itself was really imaginative and creative. It may initially seem like a generic sci-fi action thriller, but I really like how it involves ideas which people frequently experience (e.g. dreams within dreams, lucid dreaming). I'm still a little confused as to whether Fischer finally does dissolve the company (I guess it's implied), but that's OK.
Yeah, even though I enjoyed the movie, I don't have a whole lot to say about it. Even so, I highly recommend it for anyone to watch (aside from young children).

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