Rohit's Realm

Rohit's Realm http://www.rohitsrealm.com The thoughts, observations, and rants of the proverbial young urban professional. en-us Copyright (c) 2001-2010, Rohit Nafday. All rights reserved. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:18:46 -0800 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:18:46 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss rohit@rohitsrealm.com webmaster@rohitsrealm.com Rohit's Realm Feed Generator v1.0 Handwringing on the Subject of E-Books http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/02/01/handwringing-on-the-subject-of-e-books/ Having committed most spare moments of the past month to making progress in Leo Tolstoy's massive 1869 tome, War and Peace, it seems only fitting to pause as I pass the approximate halfway point (end of Volume II, page 600 of 1224) and consider the vexing question of book format that has tormented me since the start of the e-ink revolution in late 2007. Although I bought a second generation Kindle shortly after its release in April 2009, and have since then <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2010/03/26/redemption-part-one/" title="Redemption (Part One)">occasionally</a> used the thing to read <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/category/books/" title="Book Reviews">books</a> (as opposed to law articles), it has never replaced the physical format for me (as it has for many fellow <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/category/technology/" title="Technology">techies</a> I know). Indeed, both of my last two <q>ill-advised <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/rohitnafday/status/148518800684363776" title="Book-Buying Binge 2">book-buying</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/rohitnafday/status/92331816383549440" title="Book-Buying Binge 1">binges</a></q> have involved brick and mortar bookstores, and my version of War and Peace is the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Vintage-Classics-Tolstoy/dp/1400079985/rohsrea-20/" title="Amazon: War and Peace">2008 Vintage translation</a> by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (easily my favorite Russian translators, incidentally). As with most things in my <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2006/09/25/the-curse-of-an-overly-analytical-mind/" title="The Curse of an Overly Analytical Mind">sorry</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2006/09/19/the-principles-of-discontentment/" title="The Principles of Discontentment">excuse</a> for an <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/11/24/30-seconds-of-bliss-in-an-otherwise-meaningless-existence/" title="30 Seconds of Bliss (in an Otherwise Meaningless Existence)">existence</a>, the question of <q>why</q> bothers me. Why haven't I abandoned the physical format yet (as I long did in music, TV, and movies)? E-books mean less clutter and less expense—what's not to love? Perhaps nothing. But I can think of at least three possible explanations as to why I—and many of my fellow <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2010/03/22/law-school-casualties-and-a-chance-at-redemption/" title="Law School Casualties (and a Chance at Redemption)">bibliophiles</a>—might not have made the leap to e-ink wholeheartedly: (1) books are intrinsically different than other media such that (a) format matters and (b) the physical format can be superior; (2) the utility people derive from pretension (i.e., others seeing your library) exceeds the cost of the clutter; or (3) we are relics of a soon to be bygone era on our way to waxing nostalgic about bookstores and paperback books much the way our parents' generation goes on about record stores and LPs.<a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/02/01/handwringing-on-the-subject-of-e-books/#fn1" name="n1" title="Go to Footnote 1">1</a> Bear with me as I tackle each of these thoughts in turn. Or don't: it wouldn't be the first time I (or this third-rate <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">site</a>) have been <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2009/06/28/did-law-school-kill-the-realm/" title="Did Law School Kill the Realm?">abandoned</a>, and it certainly won't be the last. rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/02/01/handwringing-on-the-subject-of-e-books/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/02/01/handwringing-on-the-subject-of-e-books/ Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:28:19 -0800 Some Thoughts on Sports Allegiances http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/22/some-thoughts-on-sports-allegiances/ <div class="photobar"> <img src="http://photos.rohitsrealm.com/d/30020-1/49ers-logo.png" alt="SF 49ers"> </div> Obsessive allegiances to sports teams have always mystified me, even as I myself hold and act upon these obsessive allegiances. This most worthless of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">sites</a>, for instance, has long <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/category/sports/" title="Sports">documented</a> my ire and despair over the trials and tribulations of the ever faltering <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/category/ucb/" title="UC Berkeley">Cal</a> Golden Bears. But as I myself observed some <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/10/14/boys-dont-cry/" title="Boys Don't Cry">years back</a> following an especially devastating failure by my alma mater that nearly brought me to tears, the notion of caring enough to weep about a sports institution whose only relation to you is that it represents your undergraduate university is difficult to explain—at least as a rational matter. The notion that one might care the same way about a team whose only relation is even more tenuous—that it represents a city which you may have once called home—is downright preposterous. All these rational thoughts notwithstanding, each August I inevitably get <a href="<a href=" title="Bears, Don't Break My Heart">excited</a> for the upcoming college football season (and by October, am usually reduced to despair by atrocious quarterback play). Worse still, I would have been getting similarly excited about the NFL each year, but for nearly a decade, the team I've long rooted for—the San Francisco 49ers—was stuck in a rut of horribleness that actually made it seem like Cal had a better chance of getting to the Rose Bowl than the 49ers to a playoff game.<a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/22/some-thoughts-on-sports-allegiances/#fn1" name="n1" title="Go to Footnote 1">1</a> One might think that after a decade of next to no expectations, my allegiance to the 49ers might have lessened. Instead, hours away from the NFC Championship, I again find myself anxiously awaiting the game—and wondering why it is that I care so much. rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/22/some-thoughts-on-sports-allegiances/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/22/some-thoughts-on-sports-allegiances/ Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:09:16 -0800 Rohit Reviews: Notes from Underground http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/02/rohit-reviews-notes-from-underground/ <div class="photobar"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/067973452X.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt="Notes from the Underground"> </div> <q>I am a sick man . . . I am a wicked man. An unattractive man. I think my liver hurts.</q> With those opening sentences, Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1864 novella Notes from Underground joins the pantheon of <q>books with awesome opening lines,</q> alongside such masterpieces as Anna Karenina, A Tale of Two Cities (review <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2010/03/26/redemption-part-one/" title="Redemption (Part One)">here</a>), Pride and Prejudice, and Huckleberry Finn. And like its compatriots just mentioned, Notes did not disappoint beyond its opening lines. Considering that Notes is often regarded as the first existential novel, it has, unsurprisingly, long been on my list of books to read. But for whatever reason, it never was a priority, and given the length and density of other works of Russian literature (including a <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/07/16/rohit-reviews-the-idiot/" title="Rohit Reviews: The Idiot">few</a> by <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/01/24/rohit-reviews-the-brothers-karamazov/" title="Rohit Reviews: The Brothers Karamazov">Dostoevsky</a> himself), the almost absurdly short Notes, which clocks in at only 131 pages, always seemed to fall by the wayside. That is, until my second <q>ill-advised book-buying <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/rohitnafday/status/148518800684363776" title="Book-Buying Binge">binge</a></q> of 2011. But length can be deceiving: despite its rather skimpy appearance, the novel still packs a rather impressive intellectual punch—and this time, without the 200 pages or so of exposition usually endemic to Russian novels. rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/02/rohit-reviews-notes-from-underground/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2012/01/02/rohit-reviews-notes-from-underground/ Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:23:22 -0800 Year in Review, 2011 http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/31/year-in-review-2011/ Well, dear readers, it would appear that both you and I have managed successfully to keep the <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/05/08/into-the-heart-of-despair/" title="Into the Heart of Despair">existential demons</a> at bay for yet another dismal year, undeterred in our never ending pursuit of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/01/16/in-pursuit-of-nothingness/" title="In Pursuit of Nothingness">nothingness</a>. Whether that is an <q>accomplishment</q> or a most miserable development, I leave for you to decide. Rather than spread holiday cheer this year in an uncharacteristic display of misguided merriment (as I have been want to do in the past), however, I thought I might take a moment to comment on the state of this most dismal <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">site</a> as it charges on (futilely) into its tenth year of existence. Yes, you read that correctly: it's been ten years. Hard to imagine, really. And while the state of its author has not much changed in that time—I remain as unmoored in a turbulent sea of loneliness, despair, and the like as ever—this site has taken a definite tumble, both in intellectual caliber and <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/28/recent-mod-perl-woes/" title="Recent Mod Perl Woes">technical</a> adequacy. I can't much help the former; tacit failure is largely what this site represents, after all. But I can and do intend to remedy the latter, probably sometime in the first or second quarter of 2012. (It's important to have goals.) So stay tuned for a better platform by which I will deliver my usual enlightenment. Oh, and Happy New Year. Be sure to enjoy the festivities tonight. If the Mayans were right, it'll be this planet's last. rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/31/year-in-review-2011/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/31/year-in-review-2011/ Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:24:04 -0800 Rohit Reviews: This Side of Paradise http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/27/rohit-reviews-this-side-of-paradise/ <div class="photobar"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0307474518.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt="This Side of Paradise"> </div> Only <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/24/rohit-reviews-midnights-children/" title="Rohit Reviews: Midnight's Children">a few days ago</a>, I lamented the slowing of my reading pace caused by what I deemed the twin malignancies of overwork and ill-conceived travel. The holidays, however, have brought some spare time and today I wrapped up the first of four new books purchased in yet <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/rohitnafday/status/148518800684363776" title="Book Buying Binge">another</a> <q>ill-advised book-buying binge</q> last week in Brooklyn. Compared to Midnight's Children, F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise was a breeze of a read that I could most likely have finished in a day had it not been for other commitments. Having read and enjoyed The Great Gatsby a couple times (once in high school and again in college), I had rather high expectations for Fitzgerald's 1920 foray into the literary world at the tender age of twenty-three. Unfortunately, the novel ended up being somewhat of a disappointment. rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/27/rohit-reviews-this-side-of-paradise/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/27/rohit-reviews-this-side-of-paradise/ Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:41:39 -0800 Rohit Reviews: Midnight's Children http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/24/rohit-reviews-midnights-children/ <div class="photobar"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0812976533.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt="Midnight's Children"> </div> After an <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/07/16/rohit-reviews-the-idiot/" title="Rohit Reviews: The Idiot">inspired</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/07/17/rohit-reviews-franny-and-zooey/" title="Rohit Reviews: Franny and Zooey">spell</a> of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/07/27/rohit-reviews-emma/" title="Rohit Reviews: Emma">reading</a> over the <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/08/15/rohit-reviews-alice-in-wonderland/" title="Rohit Reviews: Alice in Wonderland">summer</a>, the autumn again brought the twin (self-imposed) malignancies of <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/rohitnafday/status/126339022569213952" title="Work">overwork</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/rohitnafday/status/119564487224344576" title="Switzerland">ill-conceived travel</a> that have long plagued me (and this <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">site</a>). Naturally, as a consequence, the feverish pace at which I had been consuming books ground to an unseemly halt. But as I had quietly committed to finishing the four books I bought in an <q>ill-advised book-buying binge</q> in July before the end of the year, I spent the last few weeks in a mad dash to finish the last—and by far, the longest and most difficult—of the lot: Salman Rushdie's 1981 Booker Prize winner, Midnight's Children. We are nothing, after all, without our entirely arbitrary commitments to ourselves. (I might be nothing regardless of my entirely arbitrary commitments to myself, but that's a story for another day.) rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/24/rohit-reviews-midnights-children/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/12/24/rohit-reviews-midnights-children/ Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:19:52 -0800 Recent Mod Perl Woes http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/28/recent-mod-perl-woes/ I would imagine that most of you (insofar as there are any of you) who read this most miserable of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">blogs</a> do so with some kind of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/03/06/a-tale-of-two-feeds/" title="A Tale of Two Feeds">feed reader</a>. And as you should: the code running this decrepit site has not been updated in almost <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/02/06/rohits-realm-redux/" title="Rohit's Realm Redux">five years</a>—an eternity in the Internet era. One problem with running such an old site is that when things break, they break badly. That was precisely what happened this past weekend when what should have been a routine security upgrade of my webserver (<a href="http://httpd.apache.org/" title="Apache HTTPD">Apache</a>) instead took out my whole web presence. And while I'd like to say I have fixed things, alas it isn't so. I have merely hacked them so that they are again functional; a fix, unfortunately, is still missing. For anyone experiencing issues recently with Apache and <a href="http://perl.apache.org/" title="mod_perl">mod_perl</a>, I have outlined the issue below. (That past sentence, by the way, should be taken as a sign for most—or all—of you to skip what comes next.) rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/28/recent-mod-perl-woes/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/28/recent-mod-perl-woes/ Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:57:49 -0800 My Romantic Quest: From Cynicism to Nihilism (Part 3) http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/11/my-romantic-quest-from-cynicism-to-nihilism-part-3/ Part of maintaining a ridiculous <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">blog</a> for nearly a <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2002/08/18/welcome-to-blogger/" title="Welcome to Blogger">decade</a>, I suppose, is having to confront the ridiculous assertions one has made on said blog in one's (ridiculous) youth. In my case, one such ridiculous assertion in particular might be salient today to those readers who have followed me over the years (and, of course, to those unlucky few who have had the distinct displeasure of having made my acquaintance in person): that I would get <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/08/08/my-romantic-quest-from-cynicism-to-nihilism-part-2/" title="My Romantic Quest: From Cynicism to Nihilism (Part 2)">married on a triplet date</a>, and more specifically, November 11, 2011 (or 11/11/11). Alas, today is the day of my (Internet) wedding and the bride to be has yet to show—they <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/05/24/perfect-strangers/" title="Perfect Strangers">never</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/06/25/the-lady-in-pink-and-my-failure-to-capitalize/" title="The Lady in Pink (and My Failure to Capitalize)">do</a>. Could it be that I was stood up? Could it be that I have only one chance left to marry—12/12/12—until I am old and gray (2/22/22)? Could my storied <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2005/11/04/my-romantic-quest-from-cynicism-to-nihilism-part-1/" title="My Romantic Quest: From Cynicism to Nihilism (Part 1)">romantic quest</a> (to ruin my life) have ended in such a failure? Say it ain't so! rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/11/my-romantic-quest-from-cynicism-to-nihilism-part-3/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/11/11/my-romantic-quest-from-cynicism-to-nihilism-part-3/ Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:20:57 -0800 Introducing LawTeX http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/10/24/introducing-lawtex/ Well, dear readers, it has been a long while—almost two months to be precise—and if it were not to ring utterly hollow, I might even be willing to apologize for my absence. But, as with many things in this (necessarily futile) life of mine, I am over <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/08/10/the-other-one-confessions-of-an-unapologetic-adulterer/" title="The Other One">apologies</a>. Having last left you with a discussion of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/08/29/virtual-reality/" title="Virtual Reality">video games</a>, moreover, I see no reason why I shouldn't mark my return with a discussion of something far more esoteric: <a href="http://www.latex-project.org/" title="The LaTeX Project">LaTeX</a>, or more specifically, the software I developed in law school to facilitate the use of LaTeX in a world dominated by (loathsome) <acronym name="What You See Is What You Get">WYSIWIG</acronym> products. (That, by the way, would be the cue for most—if not all—of you to stop reading if you hadn't already.) rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/10/24/introducing-lawtex/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/10/24/introducing-lawtex/ Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:22:08 -0700 Virtual Reality http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/08/29/virtual-reality/ <div class="photobar"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B003O6E5OE.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt="Madden 12"> </div> For <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/02/13/a-programmers-achilles-heel/" title="A Programmer's Achilles' Heel">all</a> the <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/07/03/openid-gallery-and-the-big-three/" title="OpenID, Gallery, and the Big Three">mind-numbing</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2010/09/24/fun-with-flex-bison-and-friends/" title="Fun with Flex, Bison, and Friends">technical</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2010/11/22/slowly-but-surely/" title="Slowly, But Surely">gibberish</a> I <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/02/01/on-madness-and-gullivers-travels/" title="On Madness and Gulliver's Travels">routinely</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/05/05/stable-marriage-and-information-failure-in-the-social-marketplace/" title="Stable Marriage and Information Failure in the Social Marketplace">spout</a> on this most wretched of <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/" title="Rohit's Realm">sites</a>, there remains one <q>technical</q> topic that I have rarely—if ever—breached: video games. Considering it is a subject so closely aligned in the popular psyche with technology and computer geekery, that is as strange an omission as it is a confounding one. What could possible have motivated such a silence for over nine years of this blog's existence? Could it be shame? But, as a rather <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/07/02/the-more-things-change/" title="The More Things Change">unapologetic</a> (computer) <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2006/11/22/nerdy-sexy-cool/" title="Nerdy, Sexy, Cool">nerd</a> who as recently as 2007 refused to outsource my <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/03/13/outsourcing-my-digital-existence/" title="Outsourcing My Digital Existence">e-mail</a>, what possible shame could there be in admitting I like video games? None, as it were. My <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/06/25/the-lady-in-pink-and-my-failure-to-capitalize/" title="The Lady in Pink (and My Failure to Capitalize)">consummate</a> <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/05/24/perfect-strangers/" title="Perfect Strangers">failures</a> are, after all, <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2007/10/03/age-and-accomplishment/" title="Age and Accomplishment">well known</a> to this readership—to reveal, for instance, that I was a video game addict wouldn't do any more harm than, say, <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/07/19/reflections-on-life-law-and-the-unix-command-line/" title="Reflections on Life, Law, and the UNIX Command Line">this entry</a>, already has to my beleaguered (online) <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/01/02/the-death-of-the-public-journal/" title="The Death of the Public Journal">reputation</a>. So, what's the deal then? Simple: I don't write about video games because I neither play nor am interested in video games. (I know: blasphemy!) In fact, of <q>mainstream</q> societal indulgences today, I can't think of one (besides maybe <a href="http://rohitsrealm.com/archive/2008/11/18/too-elite-is-plebeian/" title="Too Elite is Plebeian">television</a>) in which I have less interest than gaming. rohit@rohitsrealm.com http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/08/29/virtual-reality/#comments http://www.rohitsrealm.com/archive/2011/08/29/virtual-reality/ Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:20:51 -0700