Kinshuk Sunil - My Blog

I turned 26 on this June 3rd. I am getting old now :D

Well, the birthday was a pleasant one. First there was a surprise party by Nano and company, special thanks to chief conspirator Wild Prodigy. This was the first occassion for me to cut a cake on my birthday. Indeed.

Then, I spent the day with my family. First watching a morning show of Kung Fu Panda 2 3D at The Great India Place. The movie is a total laugh riot and very well done. Definitely Recommended! Post that, we spent some quality time together at home. Followed by a nice dinner at Moti Mahal.

What with quitting my job and starting up, chasing passions, and doing awesome stuff, it feels like 26 was a milestone in passing. Something, that I had never felt yet.

Now, with all the adrenaline pumping, and with some heart bursting action, I guess its time to make some games.

Hell Yeah!

Apologies, for not writing for long. My last post came almost a month ago, when I quit my job at OSSCube to move on to bigger and better things.

So what am I upto lately? Certainly a lot of photography, spending time with family and friends, participatign at community events, lot of reading and loads of gaming.

To be able to develop games, you have to play games too. While the whole team is sort of getting ready to pull stuff together, and we freezing all the projects that shall be executed in the next 6 months, and I keep scribbling on design documents, scracthing features and gameplay elements or adding a ones or twos someplace else, we are also playing games. Counter Strike, Battlefield Play4Free, Frozen Synapse, Darkspore, Sims 3 Medieval, Crysis2, NFS Shift 2 Unleashed, amongst many others and a lot of crazy old classics as well, esp XBill.

Right now, these days, I am doing two things primarily. One is a little sound project for a cute little IPad game. Shush now, I cant tell you more about it, other than the fact that this is probably the first game hitting the stands with my name on it.

The other project is a very interesting project me and a couple other friends, together, are doing - building a game from the ground up. Based on Indian mythology, this game is an action adventure and is shaping up real good. I spend a lot of time playtesting it these days, and soon the team will be running the publisher mills. This project makes me dream now, it will be insane when it comes out. Sadly, I cannot share anymore details on it as well.

On a different note, I precisely know what I will be working on the next 6 months and have some realistic deadlines defined for me and the rest of the team. So, only exciting times ahead. Oh yes, I also need to figure out a revenue model. Alas, so much for good times.

Mark my word, friends, settiing up a business is easy and doing tech innovations easy, but finding a revenue model and a sustainable one at that too is tough. If you dont trust me, ask the guys at Twitter. Enough said.

As a last treat for the closing of this post, I am sharing a fan video I made for Bioshock Infinite, compiling the premier trailer with the track Mind Heist by Zack Hemesy from the Inception Soundtrack. The result is astounding, though my video editing skills are horrible. Have fun.

PS: Lately, some product information has been posted on my blog, it is not spam but just items of my wishlist. Right now the descriptions are generic, since I am hard pressed for time. Over time, it will end up being the description of why the product joins my wishlist. Oh and yes, the wishlist is built for your use. Use it, send me your love with the gifts.

Today was my last day at OSSCube. I have moved on to bigger and better things now.

The last 3 years that I spent at OSSCube have been a great learning experience. I started a fresher straight out of business school and ended up at OSSCube, starting a new business department altogether - Community & Relations.

This new department focused on creating a synergy between the open source communities in India and the company. Created conversations and platform for and around open source.

Over these three years, I grew older, maturer, smarter and fatter. Made many accomplishments with many community initiatives and events. I was a part of almost all OSScamps and similar community initiatives across the country. Created many other alignments between the community and the company. Met loads of people and many new friends. Traveled across the country. Saw the nation I am so proud of. Learned about open source and projects. Started contributing to some open source projects; started taking care of Hindi Localization in LibreOffice, contributed a lot to Drupal and Mozilla Firefox. Got credited as a Mozilla Contributor. Jumped in and contributed to other initiatives as well. Organised OSI Days 2010.

Built structures and broke some as well. Had troubles. Had fun. Made awesome friends. Started a review blog. Reviewed phones and games. Published interviews and articles. Lectured at colleges, and stuff.

Done loads of awesome stuff, indeed.

Today was my last day at OSSCube. I have moved on to bigger and better things now. The plan is to pursue my hobbies and ambitions for some time, see where it takes me. Joining me would be my friends and brothers in arms. So, I expect it to be fun all the way. What needs to be figured out is how sustainable it will be over time. Challenges, I love them.

So, I am moving on now. Moving on to more fun, more energy and more me.

Ever wondered what goes in the making of an event like CommunityHACK? Read on for a sample discussion between the team organising it.

Warning: This is an extremely long post. And it could have become NSFW, so censored some parts of it :D

Here goes:

5:24 PM Pronoy: 41 attendees
and a few will stay overnight :D
5:25 PM me: gooooo
d
Pronoy: so far so good
5:26 PM me: yes
5:27 PM how many cakes do we get ?
ffx4 and gnome 3 ?
Pronoy: 2 I guess, 2 Big ones, we can haz big cakes
or then 4 small ones
me: 4?
5:28 PM Pronoy: yeah 4 small ones
if 2 big ones are a problem
me: shud we cut a cake for every launch ?
5:29 PM Pronoy: yeah 2 softwares == 2 cake
5:30 PM me: we are talking abt 3 softwares, 1 concept
Pronoy: okay ONE BIG FOSS cake
me: what do we print on the cake ?
Pronoy: [CENSORED] MICROSOFT
5:31 PM me: no
Pronoy: that
me: we are not against microsoft
we jus dont like them enough
Pronoy: lol
diplomat
me: :)
Pronoy: anyways, communityHack FOSS likhwa de
me: but if we have software icons
5:32 PM we can make the parent communities like the images
Pronoy: you'd go that far ?
me: obv
i am part of official teams of all 3 softwares :|
5:33 PM Pronoy: NICE !
we can kick your ass if something goes wrong in installation
me: :-s
nothing would go wrong B-)
5:34 PM Pronoy: we'll make it go wrong, just to see you get beaten by the mob
me: do you have a video camera ?
Pronoy: umm yeah
me: lets make a documentary on "how we hacked" :D
Pronoy: nandeep does I think
sure thing
and we can send it to FOSS.IN people and tell them "WE GET SOMETHING DONE YOU SHITHEADS STOP TALKING ALREADY"
me: 48 hours in 1 hrs crisp
5:35 PM Pronoy: sure thang
me: we'll do it
talked to nano already :D
Pronoy: great !
me: and i'll plaster my face all over it
5:36 PM and publish it in some film festival :D
and become the next AC
or we can have Nandeep play the role of a young AC
looks similar
5:37 PM Pronoy: sure thing, you'd be like zuchkerberg only you'd be called suckerberg
me: i dont mind that at all :D
any publicity is good publicity
Pronoy: Kinshuk Suckerberg
me: notoriety is awesome publicity
Pronoy: sounds good
me: :D
Pronoy: lest do it
me: make it Linus Suckerberg :D
Pronoy: lol yeah
me: my alter ego is called Linus Kuhsnik
Pronoy: yes and you too have an epic war
and kill each other
5:38 PM and then your gay son comes and starts an anti religious movment
me: no i cant
i love myself way too much :D
imma gonna publish this chat on my blog :D
Dev Diaries, the making of community hack
:D
5:39 PM wait, i shudnt be this excited
Pronoy: hahahahaahaha
me: everytime i am excited about some event, something bad happens
Pronoy: hehehehe
me: like lut4rp mowing down a kitten
Pronoy: XD
5:40 PM me: btw, lut4rp is not coming
he is #movinghomes
Pronoy: [CENSORED]
usko phone karke sab gaaliyaan nikaalenge toh aa jayega
me: lol, this will go on my blog too
:d
and fail4rp can then read it
5:41 PM Pronoy: sure thang
me: anyhow,
whats left to be taken care of communityHACK ?
5:42 PM Pronoy: I don't think anything is left, we have the venue the people and games and laptops
thats it
5:43 PM me: we need carpets
daris
Pronoy: oh yeah !
how / where ?
me: how about a "bring your own chatai" ?
bring your own mat
Pronoy: lol no one will bring
5:44 PM because students remain in hostels etc.
so nothing
it has to be us
also we might need extension boards
5:45 PM me: oh yes
wonder why we enver thought of that
:|
Pronoy: idk
me: wait
5:46 PM lets send an email to all participants tomorrow about this
make a wishlist on the wiki
stuff needed
we will ask participants to bring things at the event, contribute
Pronoy: okay, but do you have the capability of sending emails from doattend ?
I wasn't able to explore this
I would hate to do it one by one
me: it has that
what sort of an admin are you ?
:P
5:47 PM Pronoy: the one that's called first timer
me: so this is your first time ?
5:48 PM Pronoy: ja
losing my admin virginity on the event :D
me: how was it ?
Pronoy: :
abhi hua kahan hai
me: ok
you will make my blog post NSFW :D
5:49 PM Pronoy: lol
yeah
me: become visible
i am adding gaurav luthra to the chat
Pronoy: sure thing
me: and anyone else who wanted to help organise the event
Pronoy: done
oay
5:49 PM gauravluthra06 has joined
Pronoy has joined
Pronoy: hello
me: hello
5:50 PM we were talking abt CommunityHACK
we need mats and powerstrips
and routers and switches
and lan cables
and lulz
how to get them
gauravluthra06: hi
me: plus we should do something for https://live.gnome.org/ThreePointZero/LaunchParty/...
gauravluthra06: well i can get bedsheets
5:51 PM a switch
a power chord
Pronoy: 42
me: i can possible steal a couple of powerstrips from my office :D
the anwer to everything in live
:D
let me hunt some
5:52 PM lex luthor, just so that you know.. this chat gets published on my blog tonight as "the making of community hack" :D
gauravluthra06: okie...
5:53 PM Pronoy: okay and my only contribution was to say "42"
and this
and this
and this
er...nevermind
gauravluthra06: what is 42?
me: the answer to everything in live
life
Pronoy: well its the number of attendees actually
5:54 PM chup be
life
42 attendees
me: which, is also the answer to our event's life
5:55 PM gauravluthra06: :P
me: so how many bedsheets can you bring ?
5:56 PM Pronoy: well, I can bring 2-3
and probably a powerstrip from office
but this will depend if I'll ever get to see home
5:57 PM me: beg borrow or steal, pls
gauravluthra06: i can get 3-4 bedsheets
Pronoy: okay
5:58 PM gauravluthra06: what else?
5:59 PM food?
snacks?
coffee?
does the office have a kitchen?
Pronoy: we have shops around
so that can be seen later
gauravluthra06: can we cook?
me: shack said they'll provide some snacks
we have a kitchen so can cook too
bt why do you want to cook
gauravluthra06: maggiii....
me: also, there is a bakery and community kitchen downstairs
hmm
i think we can make maggii
who brings it ? :P
add it to the wishlist
6:00 PM "pls contribute maggie"
gauravluthra06: yeah...
6:01 PM me: so we need mats, maggie, powerstrips, switches, routers
gauravluthra06: btw,i have a crimping tool in case we need to make lan cables on the spot!
6:02 PM :|
me: awesome
gauravluthra06: we'd just need a cat 5 cable
and some clips!
me: the music for the event is sponsored by Ctrl Alt Delhi
get some biatch speakers pls
gauravluthra06: LOL!
Pronoy: we can get our own cables
me: DJ on the house :D
gauravluthra06: i have an altec lansing pair!
Pronoy: DJ on the house lul
me: good enough
6:03 PM pronoy, i hope you are noting down everything on the wishlist
Pronoy: what was I supposed to ?
ocrap, scrollback
wait, this chat is logged so its fine
6:08 PM me: i will be bringing 7m lan cable
1 8-port switch
Pronoy: holy shit
me: 2 powerstrips, 6 slots each
Pronoy: robber
me: sponsored by OSSCube :D
6:09 PM Pronoy: except OSSCube will not know that they're sponsoring
me: they will
i sign an equipment release everytime i steal something
Pronoy: lol not stealing then
gauravluthra06: wafadar chor!
Pronoy: but nevermind
me: how can i steal it, and publish this on the blog as well ? :P
6:10 PM Pronoy: good point
me: i am so missing nano on this chat :D
who will bring the guitar ?
gauravluthra06: i have one
who will play it?
me: bring it
Ctrl Alt Delhi will :D
Pronoy: guitar ?
6:11 PM gauravluthra06: i think we are missing the point
me: in all their holy awesomeness
the point ?
gauravluthra06: are we going to a concert or a hack fest?
me: how can a hackfest happen without a rock jam ?
Pronoy: yeah kinshuk are we going for a concert or a hackfest
gauravluthra06: lets skip the jam for now....
me: yeah sure
gauravluthra06: and focus on code
me: i have my software synthesisers in any case :D
Pronoy: +1 on that
6:12 PM me: code is cheap, show me the talk
Pronoy: hahahahahahahahahaaha
me: :D
Pronoy: I'd love to see you sing :D
me: wait, that didnt sound right
oh, CAD is into instrumentals, dont you know :
:P
gauravluthra06: do we have pointers to the venue?
me: btw gaurav, we will be kicking out unproductive people too
6:13 PM gmaps ?
i still havent figured out how to contribute to OSM
gauravluthra06: by uploading gps tracks!
lets try it this time
and about the kick....the law of two feet still holds!
me: and how will i record the tracks
yes, we will enforce the law of two feet
6:14 PM gauravluthra06: u need a gps logger for that
me: those who arent having the time of their life
will be kicked out to have it somewhere else
gauravluthra06: i dont think phones can log tracks!
me: or we will set beachbrake and nano loose on them
phones can do
i cant find the right version of the app
"where am i" for symbian
gauravluthra06: develop one!
:P
me: pls, google latitude with KML export helps too
6:15 PM Pronoy: lol, HAVE A GOOD TIME NAO ! or you'll be kicked
me: if i get kicked, the venue gets locked
so i am secured :D
Pronoy: hahahahaha
we'll have to pamper him till 10th
then we can kick him
me: oh i will be pampered
6:16 PM i think the event will help me increase my fan following :P
celebreteh babeh!
nano can be the paparazzi
Pronoy: XD
he'd love that
me: do we want media coverage ?
Pronoy: yes !
gauravluthra06: no
me: wai ?
Pronoy: always yes !
6:17 PM gauravluthra06: sometimes no!
me: we dont want a crowd
Pronoy: butwai
me: we want serious ppl
gauravluthra06: what wud u want to be covered by media?
me: and as far as media is concerened
i will publish ur picture on my flickr, pronoy
Pronoy: yeah we need to expand fast, so probably next time
me: alrite ?
expand? we?
Pronoy: :
me: explain
gauravluthra06: the only media wud be lfy or similar
me: no
we can have loads of newspapers
this is the sort of glamorous event they dig
6:18 PM think of it
48 hours in a row
gauravluthra06: oh yeah...
Pronoy: this thing goes on from becoming a simple hack session community to a full fledged hacker space
gauravluthra06: u are right
Pronoy: we'll try to make a place where people can walk in 24 hours
me: with youth and the hormones, and code and technology
gauravluthra06: glamourous....spercially with me coming
:P
Pronoy: and work and read and do anything
me: and all our gluttony while india fasts
add pizzas to the wishlist
and redbull and coke and drinks
6:19 PM gauravluthra06: who brings kebabs?
me: caffiene
Pronoy: abe night club nahi hai !
me: navratre
Pronoy: its a hacksession !
gauravluthra06: :P
Pronoy: lol navratre
me: :D
gauravluthra06: i think kanjak bitha lenge last day of the hackfest
:D
me: kanjak ?
6:20 PM Pronoy: okay nevermind the event
gauravluthra06: yeah
me: i think we covered everything
are we covered ?
gauravluthra06: life insurance?
Pronoy: :
gauravluthra06: atleast i am
6:21 PM LIC...Linux Insurance Corp.
me: do we want to let ppl join us online ?
like over IRC or somehting
gauravluthra06: Linux ke saath bhi....Linux ke baad bhi
me: and work remotely ?
do we set up a forge too ?
Pronoy: YES
eventually
me: lets adopt FOSSProjects.in as the place to list projects ?
and build teams and push things forward ?
6:22 PM gauravluthra06: i think having remote participants in the first edition is not a good idea!
and all the things you are discussing wud better be discussed at the event itself
the setting up of forges and stuff
that way we'd have more opinions!
6:23 PM watsay?
me: more opinions is always a trouble
in india, everyone has an opinion
even when they dont know what they are talking about
btw brb
6:44 PM me: ok
i am back
but i am going to eat maggie now
so bye

Sometime soon, I will sit and format everything properly, or is there a Drupal module that does it ?

The last post that I had written on my blog was on Feb 18th. A lot has happened since then, a lot more than I can remember and recount.

I got listed in Mozilla's credits as a contributor to Mozilla, a definite confidence boost.
I went on a mini-trip to Dehradun-Rishikesh-Haridwar with family.
Faced a fail OSScamp, which got cancelled at Manav Rachna, Faridabad.
Had an awesome OSScamp with the largest participation ever at OSScamp Lucknow.
Started working on MozillaIndia and actively create a Mozilla community in India with Vineel and Abhishek.
I finally started looking again at this website and will now make some much needed changes here, in time.
I started writing for Howzzit, a blog started by friends - Shayon and Atanu.
Got an N8 from Nokia for reviews, didnt quite like the phone and worried about what review to give.
Might hopefully get a couple of other devices for review soon.
Clicked some happy pictures with the camera. I must give it a name soon.
Almost killed Nano with slow Lead poisoning. I think he is still loosing some HP regularly.
Got fragged insane amounts of time over March in Counter Strike.
Participated in organising the first CommunityHACK.

A lot more, which I will keep updating here, with time.