Not to be. Deleted all crappy old posts. Time to put some decent posts here

Filed Under: Website Updates Add Comment »

I have always, always had sleeping problems. Although I’ve never suffered from insomnia (as I’ve always felt the need to sleep 7-8 hrs/day), I have always been most active nocturnally. This has had its pros and cons as I went from high school to university and to full-time employment. After starting work at the awesome Zeald.com, for the first time in years, I could fall asleep within 10 minutes of getting in bed. For a time, it was good.

As I started studying part time again this year (while working full time), I needed to spend more time awake, just to get everything done. In early May, I started an experiment. An experiment to sleep 5-6 hours a day.

Week 1: The First Step is the Hardest
For no particular reason, I decided to start this on a Monday. So after a fun weekend, my first day back was after 5.5 hours of sleep. One of the worst feelings ever. I knew, whatever happens, I should stay away from caffeine. Easier said than done. I had 3 cans of V that week. Not as bad I would have thought. I required around 20 minutes of power naps everyday, just enough to recharge my batteries after work. Waking up on time in the mornings was extremely difficult. Some ways I managed to overcome this is by drawing the curtains straight after waking up (sunlight really helps), jumping into the shower straight away, and (believe it or not) checking my emails first thing in the morning!

Week 2: Persistence + RSI
In some ways, this week was harder. I stopped taking caffeine based products, and stuck to taking low GI products like Nutella and lots of nuts (almomds to be specific) as in-between snacks. Sleeping 2-3 hours less is quite tough on the body. Which means, my body needs to eat more. Since I didn’t have time for another meal, protein shakes worked well. It doesn’t have to be commercially bought, you can make one yourself! Another problem that could develop is RSI. Last year, I was actively playing tennis, and I never really got much RSI. This time however, I suffered extremely serious case of RSI, so bad that I had to take Voltaren. Back to exercise it was, and surely enough, RSI symptoms soon disappeared.

Week 3: The Hard Part’s Over
If you managed 2 weeks without cheating (ie, consistent sleeping patterns, low/no caffeine, exercise), this week will be quite interesting. Your productivity will be awesome. The only problem that I seem to remember from week 3 was that I kept getting easily distracted. This is where you should remember; it’s not the hours you put in, it’s what you put in the hours! Listen to music before starting to work, or while working. It helps a lot to get you into the mood.

I reckon it might a little easier to start this plan in summer, as the morning sun really helps you get out of bed quicker. I did it in the middle of winter, and it wasn’t too bad I have 2-3 hours extra in a day now, that’s 14-21 hours in a week!

So, to sum it up:

Avoid:

• Caffeine
• Doing Catch-Up Sleeps in the Weekends
• Power naps greater than 20 minutes

Catalysts:

• Water
• Low GI Products
• Power naps – I didn’t need this after about 3-4 weeks
• Exercise – a good 2-hour session of tennis weekly has been great. Going for a run works well also.
• Sunlight – free source of vitamin D

My girl friend was quite concerned about my sleeping habits. To a certain extent, so was I. From google, I can see this guy doing something similar to me. Needless to say, he’s a programmer also There were quite bunch of articles that also mentioned the bad effects of sleeping less than 8 hours a day. So if you’re willing to try this, proceed at your own risk.

---

Update: 18th August, 2007
I have now completely stopped doing power naps. I don’t even need it anymore, which is great! Also, I sleep 6-6.5 hours in weekends. I can do 7 also but I get headaches if I sleep longer. Btw, headaches have been normal for me ever since I can remember. Everytime I excessively slept, I had headaches. Apparently, 8 hours is excessive sleep now

Filed Under: General 1 Comment »

A few days ago, as I was browsing IMDb (as I always do after watching a movie), and I realised Marlon Brando had a really small primary key (8 to be precise). So out of curiosity, I checked who had the id of 1, and then 2 and then I wanted to know all the others as well.

Well, I finally had 10 minutes to spare so thought to write a script to see how these entries are defined. Not surprisingly, the movie titles are ordered in chronological order. I’ve left that list at the end of this blog entry in case you’re curious.

The actors listing however, is quite interesting and I can’t see much pattern in it at all. My guess would have been its the original id’s from when IMDb first started, but that was in the early 90’s. Surely, actors like Jennifer Aniston wouldn’t be there. Also, why would Gillian Anderson be there, and not David Duchovny! Ah well, it’s one of those mysteries which only imdb creators might know.

Actors

1. Fred Astaire
2. Lauren Bacall
3. Brigitte Bardot
4. John Belushi
5. Ingmar Bergman
6. Ingrid Bergman (I)
7. Humphrey Bogart
8. Marlon Brando
9. Richard Burton (I)
10. James Cagney
11. Gary Cooper (I)
12. Bette Davis
13. Doris Day (I)
14. Olivia de Havilland
15. James Dean (I)
16. Georges Delerue
17. Marlene Dietrich
18. Kirk Douglas (I)
19. Federico Fellini
20. Henry Fonda
21. Joan Fontaine
22. Clark Gable
23. Judy Garland (I)
24. John Gielgud
25. Jerry Goldsmith
26. Cary Grant
27. Alec Guinness
28. Rita Hayworth
29. Margaux Hemingway
30. Audrey Hepburn
31. Katharine Hepburn
32. Charlton Heston
33. Alfred Hitchcock (I)
34. William Holden (I)
35. James Horner
36. Buster Keaton
37. Gene Kelly (I)
38. Grace Kelly (I)
39. Deborah Kerr
40. Stanley Kubrick
41. Akira Kurosawa
42. Alan Ladd (I)
43. Veronica Lake (I)
44. Burt Lancaster
45. Bruce Lee (I)
46. Vivien Leigh
47. Sophia Loren
48. Peter Lorre (I)
49. Henry Mancini
50. Groucho Marx
51. James Mason (I)
52. Marcello Mastroianni
53. Robert Mitchum
54. Marilyn Monroe
55. Alfred Newman
56. Paul Newman (I)
57. David Niven (I)
58. Maureen O’Hara
59. Laurence Olivier
60. Gregory Peck
61. Tyrone Power (I)
62. Elvis Presley
63. Anthony Quinn (I)
64. Edward G. Robinson
65. Nino Rota
66. Jane Russell (I)
67. Miklós Rózsa
68. Randolph Scott (I)
69. Frank Sinatra
70. Max Steiner (I)
71. James Stewart (I)
72. Elizabeth Taylor (I)
73. Shirley Temple
74. Gene Tierney
75. Spencer Tracy
76. François Truffaut
77. Franz Waxman
78. John Wayne (I)
79. Raquel Welch
80. Orson Welles
81. Natalie Wood (I)
82. Victor Young (I)
83. Alan Miller (III)
84. Li Gong (I)
85. Henner Hofmann
86. Louis de Funès
87. Yelena Koreneva
88. Aleksei Korenev
89. Richard Paul (I)
90. Armin Mueller-Stahl
91. Gérard Pirès
92. John Cleese
93. Brad Pitt
94. J Reifel
95. Woody Allen
96. Gillian Anderson (I)
97. Pamela Anderson (I)
98. Jennifer Aniston
99. Patricia Arquette
100. Rowan Atkinson

Titles

(possibly among the first 100 movies ever made)

1. Carmencita (1894)
2. Clown et ses chiens, Le (1892)
3. Pauvre Pierrot (1892)
4. Un bon bock (1892)
5. Blacksmith Scene (1893)
6. Chinese Opium Den (1894)
7. Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph (1894)
8. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
9. Miss Jerry (1894)
10. Sortie des usines Lumière, La (1895)
11. Akrobatisches Potpourri (1895)
12. Arrivée d’un train à La Ciotat, L’ (1895)
13. Neuville-sur-Saône: Débarquement du congrès des photographes à Lyon (1895)
14. Arroseur arrosé, L’ (1895)
15. Autour d’une cabine (1895)
16. Barque sortant du port (1895)
17. Bauerntanz zweier Kinder (1895)
18. Boxende Känguruh, Das (1895)
19. The Clown Barber (1895)
20. The Derby (1895)
21. Neuville-sur-Saône: Débarquement du congrès des photographes à Lyon (1895)
22. Forgerons, Les (1895)
23. Mer, La (1895)
24. Opening of the Kiel Canal (1895)
25. The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race (1895)
26. Partie de cartes (1895)
27. Place des Cordeliers à Lyon (1895)
28. Pêche aux poissons rouges, La (1895)
29. Repas de bébé (1895)
30. Rough Sea at Dover (1895)
31. Saut à la couverture, Le (1895)
32. Serpentinen Tanz (1895)
33. Voltige, La (1895)
34. Arrivée d’un train gare de Vincennes (1896)
35. Arroseur, L’ (1896)
36. Awakening of Rip (1896)
37. Baignade en mer (1896)
38. The Ball Game (1898)
39. Barnet Horse Fair (1896)
40. Barque sortant du port de Trouville (1896)
41. Bataille de boules de neige (1896)
42. Bateau-mouche sur la Seine (1896)
43. Batteuse à vapeur (1896)
44. Bivouac, Le (1896)
45. Blanchisseuses, Les (1896)
46. Bois de Boulogne (1896)
47. Boulevard des Italiens (1896)
48. The Boxing Kangaroo (1896)
49. Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest (1896)
50. Bébé et fillettes (1896)
51. Campement de bohémiens (1896)
52. Carga de rurales (1896)
53. A Chegada do Comboio Inaugural à Estação Central do Porto (1897)
54. Chevaux de bois, Les (1896)
55. Chiffonnier, Le (1896)
56. Uma Corrida de Touros no Campo Pequeno (1896)
57. Cortège de tzar allant à Versailles (1896)
58. Cortège de tzar au Bois de Boulogne (1896)
59. Couronnement de la rosière (1896)
60. Dancing Darkies (1896)
61. Dancing Girls (1896)
62. Danse serpentine (1896)
63. Dessinateur express (1896)
64. Dessinateur: Chamberlain (1896)
65. Dessinateur: Reine Victoria (1896)
66. Dessinateur: Von Bismark (1896)
67. Dix chapeaux en 60 secondes (1896)
68. Déchargement de bateaux (1896)
69. Défense d’afficher (1896)
70. Démolition d’un mur (1896)
71. Départ des automobiles (1896)
72. Départ des officiers (1896)
73. Effets de mer sur les rochers (1896)
74. Enfants jouant sur la plage (1896)
75. Escamotage d’une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin (1896)
76. Exit of Rip and the Dwarf (1896)
77. Fakir, mystère indien, Le (1896)
78. Feira de Gado na Corujeira (1896)
79. Gare Saint-Lazare, La (1896)
80. Grandes manoeuvres (1896)
81. Haleurs de bateaux, Les (1896)
82. A Hard Wash (1896)
83. Indiscrets, Les (1896)
84. Ivrognes, Les (1896)
85. Jardinier brûlant des herbes (1896)
86. Jetée et plage de Trouville (1er partie) (1896)
87. Jetée et plage de Trouville (2e partie) (1896)
88. Jour de marché à Trouville (1896)
89. Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer (1897)
90. Libération des territoriaux (1896)
91. Manoir du diable, Le (1896)
92. Marée montante sur Brise-Larmes (1896)
93. Melbourne (1896)
94. Miss de Vere (1896)
95. Papier protée, Le (1896)
96. Place Saint-Augustin (1896)
97. Place de l’Opéra, 1er aspect (1896)
98. Place de l’Opéra, 2e aspect (1896)
99. Place de la Bastille (1896)
100. Place de la Concorde (1896)

Filed Under: General Add Comment »