ZXSpectrum!

So, are you one of those zx spectrum crazy people?

Yes? So is my husband - arjun!
So well, ofcourse you must be on World of Spectrum already.

Well, my husband also has been blogging about spectrum and stuff...

You can check it out here: http://chuntey.wordpress.com/
For the non spectrum species, its chuntey and not chutney (a spicy condiment ) :P

I wannabe a bear in my next life!

So, women out there. Do you agree with me?

Creativity in Silence

It was a regular day at work. I managed to drop in a little early than usual. While sipping my blackcurrant smoothie, I looked around. I saw a lot of empty chairs. There was some sorta silence, an emptiness in the air. I felt fresh and at my creative peak! And then I realized how important the silence was for the creative minds.

My peak lasted for about half an hour for by then more and more people poured in; it was work-time after all. My artist friend, Kailash walked in and I immediately asked him about how he felt about silence as an inspiration for creativity. He completely agreed with me! And I'm sure that a lot others would agree as well...

It's not that its impossible to be creative otherwise; after all, most of us have been working in the silence forbidden environment for a long time and we've done good. But never something that has left us completely satisfied...

People expect more creativity yet they are not ready to provide a secluded environment. Everyone needs it, but it's hard to provide. People work better during early mornings or late nights. It's the silence, the emptiness, it puts your mind at peace. You can think clearer.

The afternoons do not compare to that of the mornings and nights, but still with a good amount of open space for oneself, it works! And by that I do not mean a large room. It just means a small secluded space.

Even now, while writing this, I can hear a lot of voices behind me. I'm unable to track what I wrote; the brilliant sentences and words coming to my mind are lost before they reach my fingers to type.

We need the creative space for being creative. We do not want it to die. We do not want to fall into the routine creativity. Creativity is the opposite of routine!

We possess talents that are not explored. Please do not forget that.
The emptiness speaks to us, they guide us, they unite us with our subconscious to work wonders!

We need the emptiness... the void is what fills us!

(Image taken from: http://th00.deviantart.net/fs31/300W/i/2008/235/6/6/Creativity_by_CrisVector.jpg)

Passport Form submissions made easy? Ya right!

Ok, so my husband had gone to apply his passport... We tried the online registration first, since it apparently gives an appointment (Date and time). We tried for Jan and unfortunately the the earliest date we could get was 3rd Feb. So then we thought we will go by the usual long process... The forms were available on the website and we downloaded it. Filled it properly and my hubby went to submit it...

Tada.... it is THEN revealed that ONLY online registered applicants can submit. So, after the unsuccessful attempt we came back and yesterday managed to submit the application after a lil problem.

Since they have stopped allowing people other than the one submitting their forms, I stood outside while my husband went inside the office.

While outside, I saw a lot of ppl in trouble as they had no clue where to go for what and I was giving them guidance better than the guard standing there. So I thought maybe I will list down some points here.

1. You have to do ONLINE REGISTRATION - here. Now unfortunately, only after filling up all the details will you know the earliest date of appointment. But let that not disappoint you. Apparently IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! So, confirm the appointment and take a printout of the form.

2. The printed form will have your name and surname all under the 'surname' field... No, it doesn't matter now as it is happening from 'their' side. So chill!

3. Also, there still will be a lot of fields that will be blank. No their system is not smart enough to print a NA where NOT APPLICABLE. Comeon, its Indian govt we are talking about... Can they ever make things simpler for the general public? NO!!

4. And there will be some more fields which you will have to fill out manually anyways...

5. They don't give a damn about the date. The main thing is the serial that gets printed with the online form. The date is like a dummy.

6. And the time... EVERYONE GETS 10 AM! 10 am to 12.30 pm is the time they entertain people there. And u thought u had a 10 am appointment?? Haha... When my hubby and me got there at 9.15, there were already a 100 people ahead! Think about the guys who turned there at 10! :P

7. If you don't know how to fill the online registration form, then they do it for you at the passport office for Rs.35/-. The counter's name will be ONLINE REGISTRATION. This confused so many people coz they thought that this was the line to submit forms of those who did an online registration... Seriously? Re-read last line of Point 3!

8. YOU'VE TO CROSS SIGN ON UR PHOTO IN THE PP FORM. I'm mentioning this in caps coz a poor lad was asked to go back because of that... I mean how long does a sign take?? Sheesh!

9. Proof of Residence is always a pain... When they say electricity/phone/water bill and bank statement and all, what they actually mean is.... for the period of one year... Get one of say Feb 2009 and one of Feb 2010.....its to make sure u stayed there for an year! They want 2!!

My hubby had just one bill of last November... But somehow the lady accepted it after a warning that if asst.passport officer doesn't think its enough, you will have to come again and submit a 2008's copy... I can't guarantee abt ur form anymore than that... Wow!

10. And where do you go to submit it? speed post center is easy right?
HA HA FOOLED YA!GO to the passport office if you don't wanna waste your time! When my hubby headed to the Speed post centre, they said they don't take it there anymore as they've no idea what happens to the forms they send to the passport office... *gulp*.

The first response however was, "passport forms? here? where did you get that idea from?" And my hubby showed them a board just across the wall which stated "Passport form accepted here!"
Brilliant ain't it??

No wonder people these days wanna get the passports done through agents!!

BioShock 3D Mobile Released!

This long awaited game is now available for the Verizon mobile devices.
Release Date: 9th Feb 2010

Click here to see it in the Verizon store.


BioShock 2D Mobile also released for the Verizon mobile devices.
Release Date: 5th Jan 2010

Click here to see it in the Verizon store.
Also, click here for the 2D mobile game review. It got a 7/10.

The 3D review is yet to come as it just got released.

I've been the lead designer for both the 2D and 3D mobile versions, however have been very closely associated with the 3D one as I belong to the 3D studio.

The 3D game has closely followed its console version and tried to do justice to it.

BioShock 3D ran into its alpha stages during recession time and I ended up losing my team members... This meant that the whole design was now on my heads... I literally had to read thru my team's work and redo the designs...

I also saw that a lot of similarities, pop ups, help messages, simple things as such was not implemented. I decided that we should do it. Although I was overloaded with the whole design (plus time was running short), I managed to squeeze these little things inside to get the whole feel!

The redesigning of levels took a toll on me, but I did take 3 ppl's job and still delivered it on time...
This game has given the whole team a lot of learning experience and it has been one of the most tiring yet pleasurable project!

I hope people like the game. We all did and we are honest! :)

Reblogged in The Indian Game Designer