I Am Asif

Squeezer, grinder, hydraulic press, call it whatever you like, the month of November has been all that, and may be more. Having to attend non stop classes 6 days a week is a pain by itself. Moreover I've taken part in a training course on PLC at the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh. The course was for 15 days, 4 days a week and a total of 50 hours. I always knew doing the course in parallel with the classes at the varsity will not be easy. But I went for it anyway cuz I have no intention to do anymore studies after my graduation is complete next March, Inshallah. So, many of the days in the last month or so started at Fajr (that's before dawn), and ended after midnight. Only yesterday my course was complete and the certificates were handed out. Yesterday was also the last day before Eid at the varsity. This gives me a much much much awaited break of about two weeks.We, the students of the last semester have a prettttyyy big plan on how to make great use of this break, I...

The classes of the 4th year 2nd semester are under way. This is it. The very last semester. The home run. 3 and a half years don't seem like much, but looking back at all the courses I've gone through in the last 7 semesters, it indeed feels like I've come a long way. 4 courses, 4 labs, that's all there's left now. Thanks to Allah, all four course teachers this time are the best we could ask for, so that should make things easier. The chief annoying thing this time is the routine. There are plenty of gaps between classes throughout the week that guarantee a huge waste of time. But hey, it's just a matter of three months, right?

I didn't like the way Ramadaan started this year. 4 out of the 5 semester final exams were scheduled to be held in Ramadaan, who would like that? There is the issue of fasting of course, but I didn't mind about that. But I was really depressed cuz I thought I would not be able to take part in the month long Taraweeh prayers. But thanks to Allah (and a little nudge in the right direction from my sister), I found within me the courage to go for it anyway. I never thought I would find the energy to study after attending the salaat for more than one and a half hours, but Subhanallah, I was surprised to find myself studying deep into the night, staying up till sehri. In times I felt my studies were actually going better in Ramadaan. And the exams went pretty good as well. After the exams were done with, Allah gave me a much greater reward, to spend some time in the Path of Allah. Last time I went in a Jamaat was back in last year's Ramadaan, so I was feeling the increasing need...

It's over in a flash. Seems like it started yesterday, and yet I'm just 3 days away from the finals of the 4th year 1st semester. This has probably been the most dull semester we've ever had. The only spark of fun came from the T-10 cricket tournament that we had. Other than that, this semester's been totally boring. But I gotta say something about a couple of courses in this semester. First up, Microwave Engineering. For those of us who took up this one instead of VLSI, it has been a decision we've regretted throughout the whole semester. Up until the very last week of the classes, I really didn't know how I would as much as get rid of this subject in the finals. But you know, even the most difficult problems can seem easy if Allah wants. And so within the 1st 3 days of the PL, I went through it like a bullet. And guess what, it doesn't seem that hard anymore, thanks to Allah. And nice to see that most of my friends who were also scared shitless about this...

Water water everywhere. To the left, right, front and back, below you, knee deep, and the rain falling from above. Waves rushing in all directions, made by the passing of the vehicles. I'm not talking about boats on a river, but this has become the scene of the busiest of streets here in Dhaka city, all thanks to just one night of relentless rain, and the horrible drainage system of the capital. Thanks to the damaged climate, this year the rain has come later than usual. Monday night's rain was the first proper rain of the Bangla month of Srabon, which is synonymous to heavy rain. The failure of the drainage system is nothing unknown to the Dhaka dwellers. But it was indeed shocking how much damage just 5-6 hours of rain can cause. The city is virtually in a standstill even after more than 24 hours. The busiest main streets of Dhaka sank under knee deep, and in some places under waist deep water, not to mention the alleys and the lower parts of the city. It is likely that ther...

I was never into painting stuff. But those guys on discovery channel doing custom paint jobs on cars and bikes always amazed me. The wonders they make with spray paint and tape are simply fascinating. So for a long time I had it in my mind to try and do something with spray paint, and I wanted to customize my PC's casing! After grooming the idea in my head for a long time, I bought a can of red spray paint and some masking tape about a couple of months ago. But still I couldn't get painting, until recently. Only a few days ago, I finally did my first paint job on my PC, after going through a couple of test runs of course. I had a tough time deciding on the design. I kept drawing different patterns on a pad and finally I made up my mind on one.   The casing taped up and the design cut out . The design shows "A-19" . I did it like the pros. I taped up my PC's side panel, drew my desired pattern, cut out the part where I wanted the paint to be, and then unlea...

[I don't know why, but recently I'm feeling a strange reluctance to sit and write here. Not that nothing noticable is happenning, but I just don't feel like putting them in words. Anyway, now that I've finally got myself here, let's get to the topic] I've always had my eyes on my big bro's LCD monitor. It's nothing extraordinary, but I always knew it would be a great addition to my PC gaming experience, as so far I was playing games on my old 15'' monitor (4:3). A few weeks back, my bro got a Sony Bravia LCD TV as a wedding gift. I couldn't wait any longer. I plugged in his PC to his new TV, and took his monitor for myself! The monitor is a 19'' widescreen LCD monitor from Philips. It's not high end or anything, but it's 16:10 ratio, 1440X900 display is indeed a fascinating addtion to my rig, and it was probably the upgrade I was missing very much. The change it brought about to, not only my gaming, but also overall PC expe...