The name stands changed

Back after a long hiatus.I was stuck up with some unimportant work.Excuses apart, I also changed my blog site name from “smellslikeanil” to “smacksofanil” during this period.

A short journey back in time to tell you people, why I decided to change the name.

On a routine morning at office, I was discussing with my colleague whom I will for convenience call Mr A,this not so routine topic of having a blog name for my site . I wanted a name which would reflect unambiguously the taste of topics I would plan to choose and write on and which would reflect my way and style of looking at things.

He told me was in the same spot of bother when he had started his blog and that he had named it “SmellsLikeCalvinSpirit” , the ardent Calvin fan that he is.The discussion ended there as we had to attend a ubiquitous meeting.

Days later when I finally started my blog site, without even a speck of doubt, without even giving it a second thought,I named it “Smellslikeanil”, It was as if the name was there in my mind all the while.It was the best name I could ever think of, a name which in three simple words epitomized everything I wanted to say about my blog site.It seemed like a panacea which I supposed would match the style and make an impression towards all topics that I would write in the near and distant future.

And so it was, I even wrote the first two blogs that you can read below under that name.But the name was not to be,something very strange happened last week that took me by surprise.My dear colleague Mr A thought that I had hijacked the name and that it was pure plagiarism on my part to have named my blog site so.Though he did not put it in exact words, his disappointment was palpable.

Though not my intentions to hijack the name, the name had just stuck to me subconsciously ; I did not make any efforts to justify my position, I did not say a word.But I did not like the feeling of having my blogs with that name anymore.And I had to change it.

But now thinking of a name became all the more difficult.I was left with no other option than to rack my brains to come up with an alternate word, a word which could ultimately capture the idea that the blogs reflected my views, reflected my idealism, reflected my standpoint on issues, reflected me. And thus re-christened it “Smacksofanil”. This was the closest I could come and now the name has grown on me.I have come to like it,infact liking it more than the original.

What now, wait , there is another colleague , Mr B coming here …….

Security flaws in Apple Macintosh

If you closely notice my last blog , you will see that I had decided at that moment of time that I would be writing about security flaws in the Apple Macintosh.I was reading about MOAB( Month Of Apple Bugs ) that day and felt I should be saying my two cents worth about this matter.

I have been quite a fan of the MACs ever since I was initiated to them in mid June , the year of 2004. I was left gaping at the slick machines when I first saw them, I just did not know how to boot the emac-G4 i had at that time.Well,time has passed, I have had the experience of coding on the MAC, using it as my personal computer and more.I now have a sprawling 20-inch Imac G5.And I like the machine,it just works !

There is a 20-inch intel Imac as well in office but I have been unsuccessful getting through my close friend and a hardcore Apple fan who is using it at the moment.I hope to buy a Macbook someday soon.

Getting back to the topic of interest,the flaw in using QuickTime 7.1.3 when using its rtsp handler to cause a stack based buffer overflow easily, officially kicked off the Month Of Apple Bugs, now better known and famous as MOAB.Its widely touted that earlier versions of QuickTime might also be vulnerable.

For me as a MAC user and quite a loyalist , the flaw was besides the point.At many discussions with a bunch of close friends in office who have access to MACs and windows alike , we always used to argue that although the MACs are a secure set of machines with a robust underlying OS, it was just a matter of time that these machines would be targetted as well.The only reason we concluded that might have been discouraging “hackers” to do so was the narrow reach and appeal of the MACs to the masses.

The Apple MACs have a meagre 2% share of the burgeoning PC market and there is ,as I see it, no incentive whatsoever for hackers to hack into the MACs apart from self gratification that is.

Now though the situation is slowly but surely changing and it only makes me happy.With Apple’s earnings increasing every quarter,much of which unquestionably comes from their foray into the digital entertainment arena viz the Ipod and Itunes store, the MACs increasingly are forming quite a sales number.As a personal experience I have been seeing more and more people getting to hear about these beautifully engineered MACs..

With all their MAC product lines successfully undergoing the transition to Intel chips, Bootcamp software enabling users to install Windows XP on their MACs the bygone year 2006 was a good one for Apple and there is no doubt any small that the MAC sales are picking up and generating quite an interest.All this hype surrouding the MOAB and the bugs themselves just reinforce this and reinforce strongly.

What is now being heralded as Apple’s best operating system , The Leopard, due to be released mid this year, i.e. 2007 only makes the situation all the more enticing.With the Macworld Expo a few days away, I am waiting eagerly to see what is announced next about Leopard.

My First Blog Ever

Its been close to a year now that I was contemplating putting on my writing shoes and write something worthwhile.Now dont get me into an argument about what “worthwhile” is. Its a highly subjective word and more often that not we will differ on what a worthwhile writeup is.For now lets assume that when I write something its because I feel its worthwhile and not because someone else felt or someone else wanted me to write.

What took an year to bring my dream of having a blog site of my own to fruition ? There are many reasons, but without doubt procrastination tops the list.Other trivial ones include a demanding job, some late travelling , et all..

The advent of a brand new year brings hope,vigor and enthusiasm and I for once have taken a cue from this and started with my blog site.

Now thatI have started , I hope to continue my quest of writing my “heart” out. There are innumerable topics I feel strongly about and there can be no better a place than this to vent out my feelings.

There have been occasions many when I have felt I was a pariah , because my views tend to be radically different from the others in a group.This I hope should be the place where I’ll place my views in a more sophiscated and sober manner and allow you all to deconstruct and comment on it.

This should be the place where I will be myself ( hopefully ) without any inhibition, without any fear of being categorized an outlaw.

Welcome aboard , says the blogger within me

Wish you all a very successful year ahead.

P.S. Next Up : Security flaws in Apple Macintosh.