Vivek’s Info

Custom auto-reply in Gmail for grad students and secret lovers

Published June 24th, 2009 in Software & Utilities. 0 Comments

An application to send custom auto responses in Gmail

Gmail’s Canned responses feature allows you to send fairly sophisticated customised auto-responses based on incoming mails. First we have to draft different kinds of responses we would like to send and label them. For example, being the party animal I am becoming, I’d want a mail like, “This sounds great, I am on my way” for any e-mail inviting me for a party. I will create it and label “Party mail”. I can then create a filter in Gmail to scan all my incoming mails based on senders, keywords in text, subject line, and an assortment of other features. In this case, I would want search for words like “Pizza OR free food OR party”. Once we specify the keywords we can instruct Gmail to send the “party mail” canned response to any mail that matches the search strategy.

Using a similar process we can create canned responses for other purposes. For example, I can look for all mails from my advisor containing words like “deadline OR late OR finish” and automatically send response like, “Got swine flu: I have been instructed not to get in touch with any person or animal for the next 15 days”. This can be set up in a jiffy.

Setting it up

Enable canned response: Login to Gmail and go to Settings>Labs and look for canned responses in the list. Once you find it, click the “Enable” button and save the selection by going to the bottom of the page.

New canned response: Next, compose an email with any subject line and text you want. You will now see a button called “Canned responses” near attach file button above the message box. Click on it and select “new canned response”. Give it an appropriate title.

Create filter: Go to the top of the inbox and you’ll see a “create filter” link next to search box on top. Click on it and it will enable you to create a search strategy. After defining the keywords, it will automatically ask you to create filter. Click on it and it will have a box below called “send canned response”. Select the appropriate response like “Party mail” or “Got swine flu”. Make sure you define the keywords carefully, else your advisor may get a response saying you are on your way and a party invitation will get the response that you’ve got swine flu.

3 Tips for power users

Send this to anyone but…

You may want to send a mail asking people not to disturb you since you’re having a quiet evening with your girlfriend. In case you do not want this to go to your wife you would want to mention “-wife” in the “from” section when you specify the keywords. The minus sign will ensure that mails from your wife’s mail id do not get this response. If you believe in being extra careful you may want to mention “-wife –mother in law” as keywords. Grad students would want to filter out advisors as well.

Messages to a group

An extra careful secret lover may want to ensure that his wife or anyone related does not get the “do not disturb” response. Unfortunately, Gmail does not allow us to filter messages based on a whole group of people, but there is a way around. Create a group called “wife & related” from the contacts link. Once you create a group, Gmail allows you to select all contacts of this group. Once you select, you will find a link on the right saying “recent conversation”. Click on “Any” under that and it will automatically generate the keyword for you to filter any message from any of them. You will find the keyword on the search box on top. You can then copy and paste it when you create a filter.

Meticulously choosing keywords

After my comprehensive exams I decided to take off for a week when I did not want to hear the word “work” or anything remotely related to it. I wanted to create a filter that will meticulously choose keywords so that any mail with words like work, job, study, deadline or exam will automatically get a response saying “temporarily dead: reincarnation expected in one week”. An online application called wordnet (www.wordnet.princeton.edu) can help us create a list of keywords based on the word of our interest.

On being the target of targeted advertisements

Published June 7th, 2009 in Fun stuff and Personal. 0 Comments

At one point I used to think that mothers know us the best. Today there is someone to beat mothers thumbs down in how well the know us – the advertiser. Unlike my mother they seem to have the access to my innermost thoughts, conversations and moods with access to my mails, facebook, search histories, and what not and with the advent of targeted advertising I have started learning what they have learned about me.

Last week almost all advertisements carefully picked for me were of women with curves as big as their heads, enticing me to join a dating service. These advertisements seem to suggest that the only thing on my mind is voluptuous women and I have been rather irritated. I patiently tried clicking the “dislike this ad” option at least 100 times. That did not work. I then tried clicking those occasional advertisements on other subjects such as writing or economics of with the vein hope of misleading marketers of my interests. That did not work. Frustrated, I decided to declare to one popular social networking site that I am in a relationship (that contains letter 6 and letter 2 in the acronym, don’t tell them). As soon as I selected the option I had a new advertisement saying “wanted new men”. In desperation I then decided to announce that I am married.

I hope the advertisements will stop now. If they do not, I am considering having a sex change. I may even consider becoming much younger with the vain hope that dating sites may not target eight-year-olds. I guess I should watch out these incremental steps. If I do all of them, I’ll be an eight year old married girl which may lead to different kinds of trouble.

Ps: it has been a week since I declared myself married, and I am happy to report that marketers are as vulnerable to cheating as mothers. Advertisements with those inviting women have almost disappeared, sometimes I miss them. I now get advertisements for part time jobs, invitations to tattoo my wife’s name on my hands and other most interesting advertisements. Sometimes I am overwhelmed that it now recognises me as a person of many talents. One ad looking for musically talented men was specially chosen for me; another invited me to become a police officer, and there have been other offers for my talents in my spare time. I now realise that there are real advantages to being married in the virtual world. I expect to stay happily married ever after.

Best international news programmes: A list

Published December 30th, 2008 in Useful Links (by topics), Current Affaires, Video & Audio online and Indian media. 2 Comments

An effort to build a list of good international news programmes to get news from diverse perspectives

Over the last few years, I have developed an interest in international affairs. Unfortunately, International English news sources were dominated by channels in USA and Britain. BBC and CNN that were available widely had some high quality programmes but put forward highly circumscribed views. My earning for diversity of views got a fillip with online news channels. I am now trying to compile a list of good weekly programmes, documentaries, etc. that we can watch now and then to catch up with major issues in different countries. Without such a list, it would be impossible to keep up with all the new resources that are becoming available now through You Tube and other sources.

Your suggestions please

I will build a list and publish it here soon. In the meanwhile, I would appreciate your suggestions from mainstream or alternate channels from different regions. Some examples include:

NDTV (India): We the people
CNN-IBN (India): Devil’s advocate
Al Jazeera’s (Middle East): People & Power
Dawn News TV (Pakistan): Talk back
BBC (UK): Hard talk
PBS (USA): Frontline
CNN (USA): GPS by Fareed Zakaria
University of California Television (USA): Conversations with history
Fox News (USA): O’Reilly Factor (To say the least, this represents a point of view!)

I would like to expand this list and identify good sources for other areas including African countries, Latin America, etc. If you know of a good crisp TV programme that is available online, please let me know with a comment below.

Thank you.

To a brave cousin

Published December 5th, 2008 in Personal. 0 Comments

The husband of my most admired cousin died today. It was sudden and completely unexpected by any of us, and he was just 44. I am told that she has taken this bravely; courage has been the story of her life. Nine years ago she had a child with severe CP. Through these years, I have never once seen her complain, and was touched every time I met her to see her cheerful dedication to give the child a good life. She trained herself in special education and became a teacher in the school that her child goes to. Special education can be demanding physically and emotionally, but all that I saw of her and the school was an acceptance, and a dedication to give children a good life.

These schools pay very little to its teachers; that’s the nature of the game. Many years ago, her husband lost his job never to get a stable one back again. Almost seven years of this, and I never once heard her complain about it. She valued her marriage and values her child and has only spoken to me of the good things these have to offer. Her wonderful attitude has amazed me through these years. Her ability to smile through what would have been crushing difficulties for most of us humbles me. The death of her loved husband adds another chapter to her troubled life…and I hear that she is taking it bravely.

I wonder why all this happens to her…is it because she unlike most people has the ability to get through it and remain a pillar of strength? I pray that she meet this most challenging time of her life with the same fortitude that we have seen of her through these years. My heart goes out to my incredible cousin, one of the finest women I have known. I have known her as the loving mother of a child with CP, with an unflinching commitment to give her daughter a good life. I now pray that she will come through these tough times and have the commitment to give the daughter and herself a fulfilling life that each of us deserve. May the best of her stand by her.

In Love, grief and solidarity: A Cousin

A word against Palin detractors

Published October 2nd, 2008 in USA. 0 Comments

Let me start with a clarification that between the candidates I prefer Obama, and I hope that Obama-Biden will win this election. I am not a fan of Sarah Palin either. With this clarification, let me explain my criticism of SP detractors. A lot has been made in the last few days about Sarah Palin’s poor knowledge of world affairs, of economics and it has even been floated that she does not read much, and so is unsuitable to be a candidate. I actually don’t think that being widely read or being an “expert” is necessary for a good politician. Some of the best politicians I have known of are people with little formal education, but thanks to their roots with the people, they had the right priorities. At the same time, “experts” are often the most misguided people about, after-all spaces that accord us the “expert” status encourage narrow understandings and conformity. Politicians who “know” a lot offer me no comfort. Nixon and Kissinger were an acclaimed team with tremendous interest in foreign affairs, did they leave the world a better place? After decades of experience Kissinger’s advice on Iraq before the latest war in itself was telling.

I don’t think expertise matters for a great politician. By this, I do not support the view that we should elect presidents based on whether s/he’s great to have beer with. What matters for me is that the person is in touch with common people, recognizes their priorities and has the commitment to push these relentlessly. Common sense (as commonly understood) and right priorities are what I would look for in a candidate. I do not argue that Sarah Palin has these…it is likely she does not have the right priorities (after all she has the priorities of the right). My opposition to her will be on the idea that she would not support the right causes, and not because she is not a geek.

My sex life

Published September 27th, 2008 in Fun stuff and Personal. 0 Comments

My relationship with sex could be summarized in the following terms: ignorance, followed by awareness, followed by an absolute unwillingness to engage, academic engagements, followed by willingness (accompanied by lack of opportunities) and finally now, the curious sexual turn. After having had a fairly pristine life - sexually speaking - sex has now become an integral part of my life: they are always making love in the room upstairs. The charm to living in old wooden houses in America is that it gives you a sense of community. If (concrete) walls have ears in India, the wooden walls here have 1000 watt speakers. There is no scope to mistake, much less to ignore the society around me.

The first time, it started with some wild running and dancing in the room above. Soon it was thump, thump, thump followed by some conversation (or perhaps a monologue in feminine voice), followed by an invigorated thump, thump, thump. Now that sex has descended on me, literally, my preoccupation with it has increased. What kind of bed do they use? That’s not the kind I want to have, I tell myself. I have sworn by now that I will never live with a room below me. What sort of conversations does one have while making love (alas, those monologues keep me up, but are never clear enough for me to make sense of).

Friends of mine for whom knowledge is a practical pursuit will be surprised by my ruminations about sex. How does it matter to me, the eternal single man? Here’s my two pennies for them: I too am a practical man, one with a broad vision. I believe that knowledge should be applied and should be practical, and I always have a plan on hand. And for those doubting Thomases who are still wondering what I will do with this knowledge, here’s my strategy, and you will believe me now: “he who can does, he who can’t writes a blog post”.

Cyrano de Bergerac: Moving

Published August 20th, 2008 in Movies. 0 Comments

Cyrano de Bergerac

Year: 1990

Writer: Jean-Claude Carrière, Jean-Paul Rappeneau

Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau

Length: 137 mins

Category: Drama

Rating: 4 out of 5

Beautiful French movie about a man in love who is unable to express it through his life since he thinks he’s ugly. Cyrano, a poet, soldier and a man highly accomplished in many things has an unusually long nose. He is in love with his cousin. Just when he musters courage to tell her, she seeks his help to get in touch with a handsome man in his company. Christian, though handsome, does not have a way with words. Cyrano helps him by writing his letters and Roxanne starts loving the words more than Christian’s looks. Cyrano finally admits that it was he who wrote those letters 14 years after Christian dies in a war.

Cyrano de Bergerac

The movie is full of beautiful poems and great acting by Gerard Depardieu, Anne Brochet and others in the compnay. Every character in the movie is worth cherishing, a rare accomplishment for a movie with so many. Parts of it though is Bollywoodish with high strung drama.

To end this brief review, the end was the most disappointing factor about the movie. By making it a little too long and full of dialogues, the sting was taken away from the movie. If it were only a little different, I would have walked away from the movie feeling utterly lonely and sad in sympathy for Cyrano de Bergerac.