Debugging and The Art of Saving Your Ass

This reminded me of a similar experience while in college. I had written a program for one of my advanced programming practical exam and it worked but i couldn't figure out for the life of me why it always printed "Segmentation fault" (SF) at the end. When the professor came to check whether the program was working (and hence assign the marks), i calmly ran the program. The program was executing and spitting out various results and the professor was nodding his head all along (like a seasoned rap star) until the SF came out. He stopped his head-nodding and slowly lifted his finger (thankfully not his middle one) and asked me "Rejoy, why don't you explain to me how you got this error". So i looked at him, gave my best devilish grin and said "Actually, i typed in:

printf("Segmentation fault\n");

at the end of the program." (Meaning that i deliberately made the program print SF). The guy actually roared with laughter and clapped me on the shoulder. I think i will save this answer for one of my job interviews ;-)

Twinkle twinkle little star

Him: ... and you see that star over there?
Her: Oh! It looks beautiful.
Him: Thats the pole star. Its a lot like you. You have given a new direction to my life.... (utter gibberish follows followed by a repeat of the geeky but romantic "star connecting" routine from the movie "A Beautiful Mind")
Her: How romantic darling! Thank you for this wonderful evening gazing at Google Sky. tc... byee
Him: laterz

he logs off... she logs off...

Happy International Women's Day

Its just a matter of time when you get to hear what people make of you and your ways. Its like chinese whispers but somehow these "whispers" reach you intact. So a few days back, I learn that some of my colleagues had some funny views on me talking to girls. Yeah, I am crazy you know since women come from another galaxy and its not normal for a guy (read Indian guy) to be able to strike up a conversation with women. Here's what I heard:

1. Guys green with jealousy: Of course, this was not explicitly said but it was obvious in the way they gave each other those significant looks when I walked by.
2. One guy comes up to me and throws me the "you only talk with girls" line: And I slowly look him up and down and ask myself "Is he trying to tell me that he has boobies too?"
3. My girl friends (not girlfriends) giving me the "hey Rejoy, go talk to them" dialogue when a young thing in skirt passes by: Hey! I don't have the time to chase every friggin model who sashays down the catwalk. Besides, I go by quality unlike the quantity of boyfriends in your mobile contact list :-P
4. That I was gay: Ha! And this from the guys who spend all their life hanging out only with other guys. Enough said.