Cricket Schedule Android App

Since long time I was looking for an android app that quickly shows me the list of upcoming cricket matches. There are apps like Cricinfo, CricBuzz already in the market. But the problem with these apps is that the user has to navigate a lot to check out the fixtures. Sometimes this is very irritating. Also another issue with these apps is that if your device is not connected to internet then you cant view the fixtures. This is also frustrating.

Finally I came across an app that does more than what I wanted. The app is called Cricket Schedule which is freely available on the Android Play store. You can filter fixtures based on type of match, teams, series and Calendar month. It also helps you in easily adding reminder to Google calendar.

A Part of Dhoni's Resume

* Led the team to win the cricket world cup

* Captain of number one test team of the world

* Captain of number one ODI of the world

* Led the team to win the T20 world cup

* Captained CSK to win IPL

* Captained CSK to win Champions League

* Led the team to first ever series win (both test and ODI) in Newzeland

* Led the team to first ever tri-series win in Australia

* ODI average of around 50

The Kamran Show

After Kamran Akmal's Superb show in this world cup, people have started praising him for his fantastic performance. Here are some of the expert comments -

1) Behind every successful batsman, there is Kamran Akmal

2) Kamran's favourite movie: Catch Me If You Can

3) I hope that Kamran's wife doesn't let him hold their babies!

‎4) Why can't Kamran Akmal be a Pakistani team selector? Because he will keep dropping everyone from the squad!

5) Why is Umar Akmal the best batsman in the Akmal family? Because he got the most chance to bat in the back yard as Kamran Akmal...

‎6) Kamran legacy: kamran could be a good brand ambassador for Save water campaign. "Every drop counts"

7) Why did Kamran Akmal have to walk back to the team hotel after the match? Because he failed to catch the bus!

8) ‎Kamran's favourite pickup line-" Can I drop you somewhere?"

9) What do Kamran Akmal & Michael Jackson have in common? Ans. They both wear gloves for no reason.

Intel Interview Experience

Had a chance to sit for inteview with Intel during campus placement. I am overjoyed that i was finally recruited by them. It was one of my dream company. Very Happy to be there.

Below is my interview experience.


Shortlisting Criteria

* Resume based Shortlisting

* Students shortlisted with either work in systems area or high cpi or excellent
resume

* Many shortlisted students with good interviews were eventually rejected because their work did not match with intel's profile. This time they were looking for people with networks or graphics background.

* Intel is a company to target if you are good in systems, architecture etc. People weak in algorithms can target this company as there very are few questions from algorithms.

Interviews

I had three back to back interviews with hardly any gap between the interviews.

Technical Interview 1

* WAP to count the number of set bits in a number efficently. Cases when the number is positive and negative.

* How can we support OOP features in C? What about the access specifiers? How can we do it in C?

* Do u have any experience with linux kernel or device driver. No. I said i had interest in OS, and given the opportunity i can work. I was always trying to drag the interviewer towards OS and i was successful in it.

* Do you know anything about ARM or intel architecture? No.

* One program was given and i had to find error. The program had a function which returned addess of a local variable.

* How is memory protection done in OS?

* What are the various modes of operation of a process? User and kernel mode. What was the need to have two such different modes?

* What happens durig system call?

* What exactly happens in the trap instruction?

* What are the advantages and disadvantages of kernel and user threads?

* Some basic questions on my mtp (M.tech project). He wanted to know about my mtp.

* Can we start a bash shell from another bash shell? Yes.

* What is we want the new shell to use a enviroment variable of the old shell?

HR Interview

This was supposed to be a HR interview, but turned out to be a technical + HR interview. This was the toughest of the three interviews.

* What is the difference between device driver and firmware. Couldnt answer

* What type of work you want at intel. I said, system related.

* Suppose you are working on your preferred field, but suddently you are told that you would not working on this field any more and now you have to work on a field that you have no interest. What will you do?

* Give an example from your life when you successfully completed an uninteresting task? I said i had taken a course called “Philosophy of mind” in which i did well. Then he asked me to say anything on philosophy of mind. I couldnt say a word.

* Are you a honest person?

* Who is the most honest person that you have met ever?

* Who is the most honest politician? I said Gandhi. He asked why? Could not answer.

* He got angry and said that you dont know anything, why should i hire you? I said it is not important to know everything, but it is important to know few things in great details (I committed a great mistake by saying this). Ok, tell me what is your field (in which you know in great details).I said wireless networks.

* He asked me difference between 3G and 4G? How does GSM work? Could not say even a word.

* How does CDMA work. Explained.

* Which type of network will support more customers - TDMA based or GSM based. Explained.

* Do u think you will be selected? Yes. Why?

* Give me a situation where you showed your creativity?

Technical Interview 2

* Expalin me the TCP/IP protocol stack.

* Explain me your mtp.

* Do u know what is 802.1x eap? I said no.

* How does virtual function work in c++.

* When is Vtable created.?

* What if we delete the this pointer within a class fuction? What will happen?

* Would you like to work on graphics or networks?

Resources for preparation

1. Prepare your resume very well
2. Brush up your OS skills
3. Apply only if you like systems related work.

Are we losing Harbhajan as a bowler ?

In the recent past Harbhajan has been in excellent form with the bat. He has not only scored the highest run in the current series, but also has made some useful contribution with the bat in the recent past. This form with the bat has been useful for India in saving and winning test matches in the recent past.

But his form with ball has not been good for quite some tine now. His bowling does not have the same sharpness that it used to have previously. This is an extermely worrying sign for India, particularly with the world cup nearning. As the world cup is going to be in the sub continent, spin will be a big factor and India will require Harbhajan more than ever it has needed him. But at the moment the opposition does not seem to be too much bothered by Harbhajan.

India will get more benifit if he performs more with the ball than the bat. Ofcourse benifit will be highest when he performs with both. He should not get carried away with his batting performance. He should focus on improving his bowling now. Otherwise he will suffer the same fate that Irfan Pathan suffered. Pathan was also performing quite well with the bat, but did not concentrate with the bowl. So, he thrown out of the team. Similar thing happened with Parthiv Patel. Patel is a brilliant batsman, but he dropped too many catches behind the wicket and hence he was ultimaltely dropped from the team.

So, Harbhajan should try to bowl well and should not concentrate too much with the bat. India need him as a bowler, not as a batsman.

M.Tech Stage-1 Report and Presentation

Please have a look and give feedback so that i can improve myself.

Who is the most valuable indian player in the last decade ?

Sachin Tendulkar has been in the best form of his life in the last year. He has not scored more runs in a year than what he has already scored in this year. He also became the first player in the history of ODIs to score a double hundred. But my choice for the most valuable player is not sachin.

My choice for the most valuable player in the past decade are the two Vs of the Indian cricket. V.V.S Laxman and Virendra Sehwag. Both of the have made valuable match winning contribution in the last decade. The nature of the contribution is totally different for both of them. While Sehwag has mainly contributed in the first innings, it is the opposite for Laxman.

Laxman is one of the player you can rely on when the chips are down. He has bailed out the indian team in the 4th innings of a test match numerous times. He has got under the skin of the aussies. His speciality has been to strive under pressure. He relishes playing under pressure. He specializes in playing with the tailenders. Be it the famous 2001 test series against the aussies, the 2010 sri lanka series or the just concluded series against the aussies; Laxman has delivered when the team had lost all the hope in winning the match. That is his speciality which Sachin has already lacked.

Sehwag on the other hand has mainly dominated the opposition in the early stages of the test matches. He has given blazing start to the team, which not only increases the run rate (thus increasing the chances of the match producing a result) but also increases the morale of the batsmen down the order. The bowlers are crushed when he is in full flow. One of the negative points about Sehwag is that he fails in the 2nd innings but he makes up for it in the first innings by scoring doubles and triples !!

I see tremendous potential in Murli Vijay who can become the most valuable player in the next decade. He is a free flowing batsmen like sachin.

SIGCOMM 2010

I always wanted to know what happens in an conference. I got the opportunity to attend a conference when i received an email about travel grant for SIGCOMM 2010. SIGCOMM is one of the most famous conference in the field of networking. I send the application for the travel grant and it was accepted. I was delighted that i will be going to New Delhi to attend the conference. One of my friend (Kaustav) also went with me. We also registered for a workshop "APsys" which was held one day before the main conference.

We went to New Delhi by train. My mama had made arrangement for our stay at Banga Bhavan. After reaching there we took some rest and ate typical bengali food there. I enjoyed the food extremely. In the evening we went to Cannaught place. We also rode Metro Train. The train and the station were outstanding to say the least. I had never seen such type of railway station in my life. I was like a Mall !

The next day we went to the conference venue Hotel Le Meridien. It's a 20-storey 5 star hotel. For the first time in my life i went inside a 5 star hotel. It was amazing. The workshop was at 20th floor. The seen was amazing from the 20th floor. Everything was glittering. The lift were made of of glass.. something that i saw only in movies.The workshop was held in a small room and was quite boring except for the Keynote talk by prof. Hari Balakrishanan. We had snacks and lunch through the day. I didnt like the workshop and had extreme headache.

The next day was better. The conference started with presentations on wireless network. I liked couple of them. But after that i didnt find that much interest except for couple of papers. The lunch and the snacks were truly amazing, specially the desserts :-).. i had tons of them.


In the night there was a gala dinner. I never went to such a dinner party ever. Truly unique and amazing experience. Ate lots of starters and juice. We also interacted with a person from Bell Labs, US. I was surprised to know that he likes spicy indian food.

Next day was the best day as the best paper in Wireless networks were presented on that day. I enjoyed listening to them. In the night there was a banquet at Taj. Another thing that i had never experienced before. There was a Outrageous Opinion Session where profs. shared "Networking Jokes" with us. There was also some classical Indian music.

The last day was quite boring for me. None of the papers interested me. But i had to stay to get my travel grant check :-).

Sigcomm 2010 was a wonderful experience. For the first time i saw so many DONS in the field of networking. For the first time i went inside a five start. For the first time i had such a wonderful dinner and banquet.

The only thing i couldnt do was visit some places in Delhi. It was not a option for me because i went with kaustav :-( ......