Monthly Archives: September 2007

iCon : Steve Jobs


It was not very long ago that I was reading iCon, a book on Steve Jobs ( though unauthorized, I thought it might kjust be good past-time ). Well it seems the past is not all goody-goody for him. He has had the most eventful life I have ever seen. Now it is kinda true that Steve Jobs wasn’t into programming and stuff but he has done a wonderful job marketing the software that Apple made. His attitude towards technology is nothing but infective. You listen to him and you want to do something great. He is and was a figure that would get whatever he wants and would exopect only perfect results, and I am not criticising him. His persuassion powers did wonderful things for Apple in those early years. Though Steve Jobs has marked iCon as an unauthorized version of his biography, it is surely worth a read. He is the ultimate source of passsion and motivation. OK so he didn’t design the Mac but he was the driving power behind it and has made it what it is today. So hats off to you, Steve !

Mac vs. PC – The Eternal War

So… here it goes … my very first post on the Exun blog. I could have done it on my experience and feelings on getting in, but Shubham already did that and it would be very lame to do another similar article.

Now we all know about the war that has been on for almost three decades, Mac vs. PC. OK, true Apple made the GUI, Windows copied it. But note this down people, Bill Gates with all his cheap business tactics made it popular. It is also an established fact that more people are using Windows as compared to Mac (Though I can swear Mac is way better than Windows). I guess one very important reason for this is that Apple lost out on many of the important years that mark the GUI’s growth (Thanks Sculley!). Maybe Apple could have used those years to gain a wider a market base.

Another very important reason is PIRACY. Almost every kind of software that Microsoft makes is available at much cheaper prices in areas I can’t name. Why don’t we have Mac software being sold on such a wide scale? Well, basically because in terms of compatibility Mac is not all universal. So what if Mac OS Leopard is gonna cost only $129 whereas Windows Vista Ultimate costs $416? Leopard isn’t gonna install on your PC. I am a true Apple fan, but if I can’t run Leopard on my computer ( and boy I can’t afford an iMac) , I have to do with what Microsoft has to offer ( which is not much ).

So what Apple should do (I can bet they won’t do it) is to make Mac more compatible. I hope in the distant future I will be able to run Mac on my computer and won’t have to do with a version that needs a patch file, a whole lot of changes, etc. C’mon Apple, you made the iPod a phenomenon, can’t you do this much? (Do it for all your fans Apple, those who can’t afford your products, whose prices are apparently decided by “Idiots”€)

EXUN in VIEW

– Myself in Transition: Outsider to Insider
Exun members . Ah!!! What airs, privileges, pride, importance and what not!!! Ever since I joined the school, Exun has been something of an elusive harbour to me. In fact, much more, at times. In a school, where talent is recognized the hard way, its really difficult to prove yourself; where everyone else is running miles ahead of you and you trying to follow at their heels fail miserably each time you try to get up (Success is always relative! What if you managed to get what you think is a very hard-earned and well-deserved 2nd rank, you are only brushed aside for there is someone who outplayed you.) being in Exun certainly does a world of good as only brainies get into Exun or so is the common perception. Such is the “prestige” of Exun, that a student automatically earns some respite if the name of Exun figures out in the fiction that he burps out after being caught while bunking. But now, at last, this craving has been fulfilled and rest as they say is history. Enough of dwelling on the past. In the words of our wordly-wise Vice Principal, Dr. D. R. Saini, “Past is History, Future is mystery, Present is a gift, Accept it.”

So moving from what the feeling was to how it is now, now that I am officially one of the Exun Clan. As Mukesh Sir, and later Manas, briefed us about what our responsibilities, jobs and time to time clashings(read competitions) will be like, my mind soared high on the note that now I am an insider. Something, I craved for and now more importantly something I will always saviour. Something, which excites me no bound yet at the same time reminds me of the tremendous responsibilities and obligations that one has to see off. But, enthusiasm and work are the two pillars on which the very foundations of Exun lie. And, If diamonds are forever, who said Exun is not???

EXUN eLITE 2007 Results

The Exun eLite results are as follows:

Programming

  • Shashwat Gangwar (XI-K) / Ananth Goving Rajan (XI-L)
  • Sajal Jain (XI-G) / Shikhar Srivastav (XI-G)
  • Sachin Gupta (XI-K) / Rahul Bhatnagar (XI-K)
  • Abhinandan (X-D) / Ankush (X-D)
  • Souvik Bhattacharya (X-L) / Anamitra Bose (X-L)
  • Aman Gupta (X-L) / Achal Shah (X-L)

The First Three Positions are the Winners.

Quiz

First

  • G. Sidharth (XI-I)
  • Shubham Prakhar (XI-J)

Second

  • Nikhil Goyal (XI-K)
  • Abhishek Mallick (XI-K)

Third

  • Aditya Grover (IX-H)
  • Vishesh Kumar (IX-H)

Group Discussion

Winner

  • Samarth M. (XI-E)

Congratulations to all Winners!

EXUN eLITE 2007

Date: 12th September 2007
Eligibility: Classes 9 – 11

Quiz
Each team must have 2 members
1st – 3rd Period, OAT (Prelims)
4th – 8th Period, AVH (Finals)

Programming
Each team must have 2 members
1st – 3rd Period, OAT(Prelims)

Group Discussion
1st-3rd Period, Blossoms Seminar Room

Web Designing
Last Date for submission of websites: 20th September

To register, send your name, class/section and event(s) you are participating in to [email protected]

Details for events, along with preparatory material for Quiz and topics for Group Discussion and Web Designing will be sent via e-mail.

Note : It is compulsary for all exun programmers to participate in this event.
        :No exun member shall take part in the quiz.