What on opening to Shantaram!

“It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming of my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it’s all you’ve got, that freedom is an universe of possibility. And the choice you make between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.”

With such an opening and similar passages spread throughout, it becomes a hard to put down book. Add to that an Australian author who has lived in the slums of Bombay, and you almost expect to be enriched by some sort of karmic philosophy. Philosophy and spiritual journey or not, this certainly is no karma in a bottle. The story of Shantaram is a story of adventure and daring, allegedly a fictionalized account of the life of author Gregory David Roberts who was a heroin addict who committed a series of armed robberies. He became known as "The Gentleman Bandit" because he wore a three- piece suit and spoke politely. In 1978 he was caught, tried and sentenced to 19 years in a maximum-security prison. While incarcerated he wrote a book which was confiscated, shredded, rewritten and destroyed again: 600 pages and six years' work were lost.

Then Roberts escaped, apparently by climbing over the prison's front wall, between two gun towers, in broad daylight. He was designated Australia's "Most Wanted Man", spent the next 10 years on the run and wrote his massive book all over again. He calls it "a novel written in blood and tears".

The narrator is a "revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime and a poet who lost his soul in prison". He has ghastly experiences in a torture chamber and on battlefields and in other prisons, "chained on three continents, beaten, stabbed and starved".

Part travelogue, part love letter, part autobiography, Shantaram is a vivid, entertaining but slightly grandiose tale of Lin, an ex-junkie and convicted robber who escapes from an Australian prison then hides in the most alien of places: the hot, filthy, decadent, seaside metropolis of Bombay.

This hero is brutal, passionate and romantic, an action man who sometimes pauses to meditate on the nature of good and evil and describes his extraordinary world with vivid, occasionally florid magniloquence. This vast volume is a remarkable achievement and if it really tells the story of the author's life, truth is definitely stranger than fiction.

Shantaram is no wide-eyed backpacker's Lonely Planet travel guide. Instead, it could double as a guidebook for a fugitive who needs to disappear, counterfeit passport in hand.

Or it could just be a fun read for someone committed enough to stay with this lengthy, impossibly heavy book.

Lin is introduced as he steps off a plane with a new identity. Only the punishing Bombay heat is there to greet him. He is instantly intrigued by the city just as it is by him. He is gawked at by locals for being a gora, and he can't get enough of the never-ending cacophony of the city's life pulse.

Prabaker, an energetic and sometimes irritating city guide, is the first to greet the newly free runaway. He also is one of the book's most innocent and refreshing characters. It is on one of his city tours — filled as much with slums as tourist sites — that Lin meets the mysterious green-eyed beauty Karla Saaranen.

Karla is Lin's love interest and his gateway to Bombay's underworld of German prostitutes, ruthless madams, corrupt police officers, deadly henchmen, Bollywood money launderers, Iranian smugglers and Afghani mafiosi.

It is under the stewardship of one such Afghani don and philosopher that Lin rises among the ranks of an underworld he struggles to moralize in maddeningly unnecessary philosophical passages. It is at these points that the book bogs down.

Despite occasional flubs, much is covered gracefully during the decade time span. Lin briefly lives in a 5,000-year-old village where he earns the name Shantaram, which means man of peace. He starts a medical clinic in a slum, gets beaten up countless times, fights with the mujahadeen in Afghanistan and acts in a few Bollywood films.

Roberts based much of the plot on his own life. He escaped from an Australian prison after being convicted of a string of robberies and spent 10 years hiding in India. Eventually, he was extradited, finished his 19-year term and wrote this book.

Roberts' behemoth is Bollywood-like in its strengths and flaws. Its visceral, cinematic descriptive beauty truly impresses. Although Shantaram gives too much of itself, its redemption lies in its bleeding-heart love letter to a Bombay few ever see.

Courtesy of Peter Deyell

We have just upgraded SuperSync.

Download from: http://www.hoohee.com/supersync/Installers/SuperSyncSetup1.5.0.4.exe
Please remove any previous version before installing.

What changed?

1. Folder pairs are now categorized and displayed in a tree view instead of a list
2. Added a context menu to the list of folder pairs tree view
3. Added command line options: -g, -f, and -b
4. Errors or Warnings, when run in batch or scripted mode, will now display in a single error dialog box, after the completion of the batch run, with a stack trace
5. File structures exchanged between the client and server are now compressed
6. Added file and folder backups for deletes with a time limit (clean-up occurs on next run, if older than a certain number of days specified)
7. Most importantly, we've added an auto-update feature which downloads and installs the latest version of SuperSync, when released from the Internet (this website)

TODO List?

1. Add option to enable/disable deletes or attribute changes from action list
2. Change the file copy progress messages to a panel in the middle of the window, include progress of current file vs all files, and total number of items to process
3. Add option to create most used folder pairs for system folders (e.g. My Documents, Favourites, Outlook default folder, etc...)
4. Remove ".supersync" files when users delete their SuperSync folder pair from the client application
5. Remove or recalculate ".supersync" files when users change left folder names for existing pairs

Where can I get this update from?

SuperSync 1.4.0.0 can be downloaded from this address: http://www.hoohee.com/supersync/Installers/SuperSyncSetup1.5.0.4.exe
Please remove any previous version before installing.

Video Tutorials

http://www.hoohee.com/supersync/SuperSyncBasic.htm

How do I restore a SuperSync folder if my system crashes?

Answer is based on SuperSync version 1.4.0.0

It is very important to understand how SuperSync works for you to better utilize it without issues.

I highly recommend that you always check the backup deleted files option for folder pairs, in case you have the wrong settings for a folder pair for your particular circumstances.

If your system crashes and you want to restore an existing folder pair, in version 1.4.0.0, you need to delete the ".supersync" file stored on the server folder, belonging to your account, before you run the synchronization. This ensures that any previous relationship between the server and your system is now removed. Otherwise, SuperSync assumes that you have deleted all files in that folder on your system and want this behaviour replicated to the server.

What happens if I delete a SuperSync folder from my machine and then run synchronize on it?

Answer is based on SuperSync version 1.4.0.0

When working in a team who all share the same folder and have SuperSync configured to replicate, you should treat the files in the synchronized folder on your machine as if it is the shared folder on the server. If you delete files in your folder, they get deleted on the server when you synchronize.

Let's say you decided that you need to reclaim disk space on your machine and delete the folder, but forget to delete the SuperSync folder pair for it. When you next synchronize that folder (either directly or by batch running), Supersync will fail to synchronize because it can't find the folder it is trying to synchronize on your system.

What happens if I delete all files in a SuperSync folder from my machine but keep the folder and the SuperSync folder pair, in case I want to copy the files at a later date?

Answer is based on SuperSync version 1.4.0.0

The simple answer is that you should not do it. If you decide to delete a folder pair from SuperSync, please delete your account's ".supersync" file on the server, or ask your network and systems administrator to do that for you.

Later versions of SuperSync might implement the removal of the relationship when folder pairs are removed from the list.

Video Tutorials

http://www.hoohee.com/supersync/SuperSyncBasic.htm

We have just upgraded SuperSync.

What changed?

1. Fixed a bug in the function that retrieves directory history
2. Added a clearer version number in the windows title bar

TODO List?

1. List folder pairs in categories and display in tree view instead of list
2. Add synchronization command line options to allow for execution from automation scripts
3. Change error list to tree with a child containing the stack trace
4. Zip file structures exchanged between client and server
5. Add option to backup deleted files and folders to a backup directory for x number of days
6. Add option to enable/disable prompting for file synchronization and display of error messages (moving output to a file), if any
7. Add option to enable/disable deletes or attribute changes from action list

Where can I get this update from?

SuperSync 1.3.3.1 can be downloaded from this address: http://www.hoohee.com/supersync/installers/SuperSyncSetup1.5.0.4.exe

We have just upgraded SuperSync.

What changed?

1. Fixed a bug in the directory listing function
2. Added version number in the windows title bar
3. Changed the error message raised when a directory is not found on the server
4. Modified the speed estimate calculation to only include actual file data transferred and not their attribute modification

Where can I get this update from?

SuperSync can be downloaded from this address: http://www.hoohee.com/supersync/installers/SuperSyncSetup1.5.0.4.exe

A tightly-focused disaster story about English society under extreme duress, but none of his works grabbed this subject matter with such vigour as The Day Of The Triffids in which the panic and desperation of a blinded populace is revealed.

Plot

An ecological disaster of unimaginable scope...A world wide crisis over oil production...A laboratory created strain of plant life, genetically altered to increase production, proves deadly both to humans and all forms of large animal life...Biological warfare in the form of a new and deadly plague accidentally unleashed, wipes out the majority of the human population...An artificial satellite carrying a new and deadly weapon is triggered, perhaps accidentally, affects the entire earth, not just the population it was designed for...

Cold War

The book is an unmistakable product of Cold War apprehension about what many perceived to be the impending doom of the human race. Written at the time when the Russians had just exploded their own atomic bomb (but before the true nuclear horrors of the hydrogen weapons), the novel is a reflection of the fright that one day (and possibly sooner than later), humanity will slip off the tight-rope of nuclear brinkmanship into the abyss of nuclear holocaust. It is no coincidence that the Russians engineer the triffids in the first place in an apparent attempt to deal with overpopulation, lack of resources, and overcome dependence on capitalist oil. It is ironic, of course, that it takes the greed of Westerners to unleash the scourge upon the world. This was years before the Russians launched Sputnik (1957), moving intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite weapons from theory into practice. But the writing was on the wall and Wyndham correctly saw it.

Another bit of the Cold War shadow hanging over the book is the touching faith of many Britons in America. It is expressed several times throughout the book and ranges from "the Americans could not let something like this happen to them" to "they will be here any time soon to rescue us." Whether they would was, of course, the quintessential puzzle for the Europeans. Although dismissed by everyone who let himself or herself acknowledge to true magnitude of the disaster, the blind faith in America is touching even today. If America does not save the world, who would? Who could?

Class Struggle/Rise of the Minority

Triffids, like any exploited minority group in history, their true talents were ignored or mutilated and even their intelligence was denied. They were kept in absolute slavery until modern technology in the form of war machines that caused blindness and a plague gave them a chance for rebellion. As in all riots and rebellions of a class that has been kept down too long, what follows is an explosion of violence. The triffids have no thought but to get rid of man once and for all. The point is, while that makes them a horrible and brutal enemy, it was man that made them the enemy.

Morality

In a touchingly realistic scene, once Bill Masen understands the situation, he spends some hours just wandering the streets of London, at a dead loss as to what to do next. He feels he ought to do something, but doesn't know what. He'd like to help the people around him, but doesn't know how. He is overwhelmed. It is the same question raised by the movie, Titanic. In the movie, when all the lifeboats are launched and the ship sinks, there are 1500 people in the water about to die. Should the lucky ones in the lifeboats try to rescue some of them? If they do, what if too many try to climb aboard, sink the lifeboat and no one survives? Yet, to do nothing is to let the people in the water freeze and drown. It's a moral question with no easy answers and it is at the heart of the book.

Bill and Josella have to grapple with the ultimate moral problem: What, if anything, should they do for the millions helpless blind people of London? The heart says "help them," but reason says "impossible." The two resolve to join a group of seeing intent on building a new community, even though this necessarily means abandoning some of the old ways, especially in Christian morality. It is quite astonishing that, just like a Heinlein heroine, it is Josella who quickly realizes that the survival imperative will turn women into children-bearers and men into more (less?) than husbands. That Bill objects to this and has to be persuaded to take on a harem is perhaps even more astonishing. But it is Wyndham's investigation of the morality of survival strategies that sticks: the individual vs. the group, the loss of societal restraints, considerations of feudalism and territorialism.

Survival of the Species/Civilisation

If only a few people are together, all their efforts have to go towards survival and that means their grandchildren will be overworked subsistence farmers. There's a quote from the book that says that a workable society needs a leader, a doctor and a teacher. Bill, as a biologist begins to have ideas about ways to destroy the triffids, but has no possibility of developing his ideas unless he can find a group large enough to help him.

A devoutly Christian community that has split from the original group because of the latter's immoral ways. This community is obviously doomed to a slow extinction, and it finally succumbs to a combination of the plague and the triffids.

Note the rise (Brighton?) of the new semi-feudal order where a bunch of petty tyrants would run their own fiefs populated with blind under the pretext of saving them. They are also busy building an army to fight off possible invasions or invade others.

Characters

It is now very much a period work (50 years since published). Note: - no computers, no genetic engineering, no TV – the absence of blacks and Asians, the prim vernacular, and the ominous Soviet scientists all mark the novel as very much of its time. However, the characters it portrays are still with us - the schoolmarmish Miss Durrant; Coker, the self-educated organiser and uncommitted radical; the well meaning but ineffectual Michael Beadley and the Colonel; and the brutal Torrence.

Modern Woman

For a novel written in 1951, the woman, Joselle, is remarkably liberated. She is consistently strong, sensible and thoughtful. She spends much of the novel on her own so the relationship between the two becomes that of two self-reliant people who have come to love each other. She is part of the decisions they have to make about the future for themselves, their family and friends.

Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a happy new year. I know it's too late but I know you'll forgive my lateness, especially that I haven't wrote a line on this site since last year.

Yesterday, we got our new broadband connection (ADSL2+ Annex M) provisioned at the office and I wanted to see how fast it is.

Well, it was darn fast. The theoretical limit is 24Mbps upload and 2Mbps download. In reality the tests showed a 6.6 Mbps upload and 850 Kbps download speeds. I am not too sure if that's due to the limits of the server with which I was testing or the actual pipe.

If you want to test your connection speed and compare with others, I suggest you have a look at .

Speedtest has a nice GUI and links to lots of servers in most regions of Earth.

I tested with the Melbourne server, the closest to me. Make sure you pick one close, geographically, to your base connection.

Finally a moment of peace to take a break and blog again.
A few weeks ago I took on the challenge to learn and install Linux. This was the best thing I've ever done for quite a while. I am ecstatic and very happy of what I have achieved over the past few weeks.
I managed to install Fedora Core 5 and downloaded tens of open source programs, compiled, and installed successfully. There were a few hicups on the way but managed to clear them all as I steamed along.

Of recent, I had an issue with my nautilus file manager failing to recognize the different file types and couldn't properly display the special Computer URI. After trolling the internet and googling my way through, I found the following article which helped fix the problem.

1. KeePassX 0.2.2
2. Inkscape 0.43
   
3. Blender
4. GnuCash 2.0.0
5. iPodLinux
   
6. RockBox -> Installed on my 60GB IPOD Video
   
7. Anjuta 2.0.2
8. Glade 3
9. monoDevelop 0.11
10. MPlayer
11. Xine
12. Wine
13. XCDRoast with DVD support
    
14. xchm 1.9
15. Istanbul Desktop Session Recorder 0.2.1
    
16. g4l (Ghost4Linux)