Inverter/UPS purchase

After a terribly long break from blogging, I am back. To do public good, no less.

We just bought an inverter/UPS for the office thanks to the super unreliable BESCOM supply in Bangalore. We finally decided on an APC 850 VA, 100 AH tubular battery (from Relicell). Since we use it to mostly power laptops and the Internet modem/router, we haven't gone in for additional wiring - we plan to plug it all in using extension cords. I know the office will be all wire-y, but we are fine with it for now.

I realised how little good information there is out there to help people like me make an informed decision on the product and config to buy. Hence this post. Our thought process went as follows:
- We needed only laptops (3-4 at a time) and maybe 1-2 desktops (down the line). However, we wanted to plan for the future - hence the 850 VA one, not a 600 VA one.
- Tubular battery is the way to go - less maintenance, longer life. Everything else sucks.
- 850 VA supposedly translates to around 500 W (roughly 60% of the VA=W). Each laptop roughly takes around 60 W. Hence 4 laptops=240 W, which is 50% of what we have as capacity.
- The guy who sold it to us says 4 laptops should last 6 hours - we haven't tried that one out yet.

Chelsea making the EPL more competitive than it should be

Chelsea should have sealed the EPL by now - but results like 0-0 v Birmingham don't help. A potential 6+ points lead is now down to 2, and Man U and Arsenal are back in the race.

What doesn't help is the African Cup of nations, and Drogba and co not being available for the month. Arsenal seems to be in decent form, and they can be threat no. 1 to Chelsea this season. You can also never write United off. All in all, good fun for the neutral, but for a Chelsea supporter, this is nerve-wracking after doing so well all this while.

IPL

Lots has been written and said about the IPL. I have been quite closely involved, AND have been going through some life-changing moments (the two are not necessarily linked) to comment here or anywhere else. Suffice to say that "so far so good". crowds are coming, people are watching on TV, city loyalty has come to the fore reasonably quickly, strangers are striking up conversatons in barber shops and bus stops and no one (not yet anyway) is talking about Paanchvi Pass (SRK's latest game show on Star, which was supposed to steal all the thunder).

Early days yet, but as I said, so far so good. I was skeptical, as was, I suspect, most others - but the Indians have loved it so far.

Single most important reason for success - THE CRICKET HAS BEEN GOOD.

Players are taking this damn seriously (some too seriously - e.g. Bhajji and Sreesanth)and it is showing. The cricket has been very good - and some pitches have been excellent.

What would I tweak? No. 1 priority - make all the pitches favour good bowling and brave batting - I would like targets of 120-150 being chased down in the last over. Rest will take care of itself. Oh yes, I wish the teams could do more to foster local loyalty, build fan bases and make the cabbie on the street thump his chest with pride and say he supports the local team.

Peter Roebuck gives four thumbs up for the IPL here.

Last point - and this could be seminal - first time in living memory (well, last 20 years anyway) - that a major tournament in India has become a success without a single shot hit by Tendulkar. India has, indeed, moved on. Who knows, maybe Sachin will recover and take this tournament to another level altogether - but Indian cricket has begun to walk without its favourite crutch - the Tendulkar straight drive.

India - Pak ODIs - ho hum!

Really ho hum wasn't it? Hardly any sparkle, hardly any tension - as Osman Samiuddin of Cricinfo said, India - Pak is supposed to tingle. This ODI series didn't!

What do you remember from the 5 ODIs? For me, the only point of note was Sachin's two terrific innings that ended in the 90s. Nothing else of note happened. Oh yeah, Rahul Dravid was dropped - but that is day before yesterday's fish-wrap if Indian public sentiment is anything to go by.

The biggest rivalry in cricket? Bah!

Test matches coming up!

Yay, the Test series is upon us. Looking forward to the India - Pak home series with definitely more interest than the ODIs! India have acquired a new (or should I say old) captain. Opinion is divided - but most people in the know seem to think Kumble will make a good captain. He is aggressive without being in-your-face, he has a good work ethic and has brains. My worry however is that since he is not in the ODI team, will his word carry full weight with a team that has tasted success recently in the ODI/TWenty20 format? My other issue is that his bowling hasn't exactly set the world on fire - will he have a major impact in Australia, where the pitches are definitely flatter than they used to be, and their batsmen played Murali with ridiculous ease.

However on balance he seems to be the best choice available - warming the seat for Dhoni perhaps.

India - Pak should be easier - India should start favourites. India - Aus should be very interesting - if the Indian batsmen fire, we could be in store for some real massive scoring.

India - Pak - 1-0 India I suspect!

A major miracle

Anything, really anything can happen. Isn't that the precise reason why we all watch sport? After a completely wild and riveting F1 season, it all came down to a miracle that enabled Kimi Raikkonen to clinch the Drivers' Championship by a point from the two McLaren drivers who both finished on 109 points apiece. Who would have thought this possible with 2 races to go and Kimi 17 points behind? He had to win both races (which was the only thing he could control - and he did so fantastically), and hoped that Hamilton and Alonso would somehow implode - which they did, to differing degrees. Hamilton perhaps froze, was perhaps unlucky, it was probably too much to expect of him - but he will think about the last 2 races and say to himself - it was there for the taking. Rookie season notwithstanding. Alonso probably focused too much on what McLaren would do to sabotage his chances, and took his eyes off the Ferrari of Raikkonen. Serves him right for whinging all through the season.

I have always been a Ferrari fan (thanks to Schumi), and doubly so after the spy scandal. Stupendous result for Kimi - and F1 has probably reached a peak in viewership due to the scandal, intrigue, rookie driver, and an unexpected winner!

Street fighters or superstars?

Ian Chappell and Ian Botham are not on talking terms for many years now. They have had major run-ins in the past, but the latest cheap shot from Chappell in response to apparently what Botham has written in his latest book will make what you hear in gully cricket in every street in India sound like the Gita.

Chappell says:

“There are many skeletons dangling in Botham's cupboard, ranging from stories of drug-taking to general thuggery, and if he keeps peddling his lies, there's every chance more of these stories will emerge,”

“As I said when asked about his recent trip to Buckingham Palace: `Someone is going to regret awarding him a knighthood.”'

Botham claims:

“I gave him three official warnings, all of which he ignored, so the next time he started, I just flattened him.

“He went flying over a table and crashlanded on a group of Aussie Rules footballers, spilling their drinks in the process.”

Read the whole gory thingy here. Two superstars of the game, using the media to demean themselves, their sport, and us.

The lens of partisanship

We are attracted to sport by such things as glory and beauty, usually refracted through the fantastic lens of partisanship. But the thing that keeps us coming back -the thing that keeps us marvelling - is courage, the more vivid when seen through the same lens.

Better words on sport may not have been written. Isn't this exactly what makes us all sports fans? Keeps us awake? Makes us forego productive time to shout at the TV? Isn't the lens of partisanship something we all own? Isn't courage shown by our team and the glory they gather one of the most invigorating feelings ever?

Simon Barnes of the Times in London is a star.

Player columns

Most player columns leave me cold - nothing insightful, nothing new that I did not know already - humdrum and so bloody same - looks like the same ghost is writing every article.

Not this one though from Jonny Wilkinson - writing this after a deadly game which England won against all odds against France in Paris to get into the finals of the Rugby World Cup (again). Give it a read even if you don't get rugby (I don't), even if you don't know who he is, or what he has achieved for his (sports mad) country. His sleep problems, the tension when he is lining up to kick the penalty with 5 minutes to go and his walks to tire himself to sleep - wonderful - things we all could relate to in our own lifes (at a different scale perhaps).

Go on, read it!

PS: had disappeared from here. Hopefully am back for good now. Less of cricket, more of the other stuff - that I am sure of.

Terrific Wimbledon final

What a match it was - Federer V Nadal yesterday was truly awesome. All talk of Nadal being a novice on grass and Federer unbeatable on the surface nearly went out of the window yesterday - Nadal looked the better player for most part of the thrilling 5 setter. Federer was clearly rattled, lost his temper against Hawk-Eye and nearly blew a golden chance to equal Borg's 5 consecutive wins at Wimbledon.

Vijay Amritraj on TV said it best - he said Nadal on grass has done much better than Federer on clay in the French.

By the looks of it, Nadal seems to be transforming into a more complete player and a genuine threat for Federer in all surfaces - he is no longer just the king of clay. As Federer himself graciously said after the match, he had better collect as many wins as he can before Nadal starts winning everything in sight.

Lastly it was very refreshing to see Nadal being utterly gracious and well-mannered during and after the match, crediting Federer as a true champion. Wonderful ambassadors for sport - both these men. Great to watch.