I recently created a website for IEWatch Software LLC. www.iewatch.com - the creators of IEWatch, a cool little addin for IE. As a beta tester, I was offered a copy of the software. Initially I kept thinking, okay, might be useful in SOME situations, but why would I waste a hundred bucks on this app.

And for the first week or two I used it, I seriosly did not think it would ever be useful for me. While I was working on another project (an ecommerce asp.net 2.0 app), I kept running into a problem where the payment processor kept returning blank values. The usual debug features were not helping, and with the 48 hour deadline approaching, I was starting to panic. This is where I finally got to REALLY use IEWatch. The data being posted by the payment processor was encrypted, but IEWatch was able to quickly help me capture the data, see where my code was wrong (Hey, even *I* make mistakes, y'know!) and thankfully made the deadline.

I highly recommend anyone working with web apps to try this baby out. Hop on over to http://www.iewatch.com and try the demo. And no, I was not paid for this endorsement. It is genuine.

Here’s something I always wanted to write about – one of my favorites places in the world! I have always been a nature nut (or as some say, a nut by nature) and I relish any chance to hop on over to Solitude. Now, yesterday at dawn, June 26th, I was kinda stressed out, NukeBall had to be delayed (for the last time) to July 24th, and needed a break. I had been working all night (all through the rain and ten gazillion power failures) and suddenly I noticed it was freakin’ red outside. It was dawn and I hadn’t noticed.

For a very arid desert-like area, you don’t get too much visibility as there’s always sand blowing about. But the rain had cleared the air, and the red and blue sky was amazing! Like I mentioned, I love going to Solitude. It’s a small mountain range about 6 miles from where I live (See map below). Officially, the place has no name. It’s triangular sedimentary rock formation, probably 3 times higher than the town (from sea level), and is a very quiet place, though I’m afraid “civilization” will overrun it in a few years. Sigh. I have been going there practically all my life. I named it Solitude (though it has been called other things as well). Would’ve planted a flag there, but the rocks are too solid.

Anyway, so I’m fighting those little bugs that come out after a good rain and at 70kmph on a 150cc bike on wet roads, you hate them! Soon enough I would find out how deadly these little critters are!!

Here is a shot taken at about 5:30am, and the second at 6:10am:

I rarely go to Solitude in the mornings. Mostly coz I sleep in the mornings. Nature nut that I am, I started chasing after all these birds and small animals I never get to see at any other time. The first was this cute little brown owl. Unfortunately, it was too skittish and the only shots I got were out of focus. For the few hours I was there afterwards, it kept teasing me by calling me out from the cliff floor, and even did a couple of flybys.

While I was trying to find the perfect cam setting in the rapidly changing light, I heard a weird noise behind me. I turned around to find a pair of Mongooses (or is it Mongeese?). Apparently, it was a mating pair and I had intruded. The male was big (easily 2 feet+) and was baring his teeth and growling. I remember doing something similar when someone last interrupted me, so I quickly got away. No pictures of them, unfortunately, but I did get a quick shot of their den.

As I was trying to leave the mongoose territory, a damned bug flew right in my face, and I almost swallowed it. And in that moment I panicked for second, sadly, and stepped onto an unstable ledge right on the edge of the cliff. The ledge broke, and this nature nut almost cracked! I fell about 4 feet, right on the knees, and missed falling off the cliff by hardly 6 or 8 inches. (Note to self: lose some weight). Parts of me are still aching. Nasty fall.

Of course, the day could only get better from there. The photo you see below is of the nesting grounds (or rather small caves) of various birds, including a few small brown owls, a few dozen parrots, and a few exotic looking birds I don’t know the English (or Scientific) names of. This is a very dangerous place. The rock is very brittle, just like the ledge I stepped on. If you fall from this place, you fall on some seriously sharp rocks and cactuses! Of course, there is a still bigger danger. Look at the huge (4”-12” wide) crack in the hill. It goes on for a few hundred meters. It was caused in the 2001 quake, and keeps getting bigger with every subsequent aftershock and now new quakes (4.7 on the Richter scale, 4 days ago). While the thing is solid and stable, you never know when it will suddenly fall off. The sharp rocks I mentioned are the remnants of the adjoining huge ledge that fell in the big quake.

The photo below is of a strange moth-like insect that often likes to hang around on these black rocks. These weird creatures make for great art study.

There is something strange about me (yes, yes, ONE of the things that’s strange about me) – I never really liked mammals. Give me cold blooded animals anytime! I love reptiles and amphibians. I had three pet tortoises growing up (they all live in the wilderness now). One of them was even named Raphael! So, as I moved closer to the avian nesting grounds, I saw this big (8”+) chameleon. Now, these are a different species (or rather sub-species) of the normal chameleon found in rainforests, tropics, etc. These chameleons are more adaptive to the dry area. Usually, these lizards are very shy and run off when you approach them. But this one was amazing. I was able to get within a couple of feet of it and it didn’t move. Heck, it even posed for the camera! Check out the perfect profile shot below. I sat next to it for almost 15 minutes and took many photos. After that it got tired and moved down the cliff wall. It was a great experience! I was "One with the Reptile".

It started getting cloudy after that, and I had to split before the rain started again (digital camera, y’know).

This place is a sanctuary for me. I came here first in 1989, and have been coming here almost 4 times a week since then. It can get dangerous at times. I’ve encountered several spitting cobras (one was a giant 12 foot, red toned cobra!!) that can spray their venom 10 feet away. And they're severely venemous. Wild dogs and wolves are often a problem if you go deep into the hills. But the most fearsome thing I’ve seen here was a panther cub back in 1997 or 98. It was probably adolescent. I was alone. My old SLR had just run out of film. Thankfully it was young enough to be scared of me as much as I was scared of it. I quickly got out of there, and have not ventured that far again. I was later told that a whole pack had moved into the mountain range and were even picking off cattle from a nearby village. Thankfully, haven’t seen them since.

It’s a great place. If you’re in the Bhuj area, just head up on Mundra Road, for about 9 kilometers. Just give me a holler and I’d be glad to show you around.

I know at least one guy who is itching to roam this place again! Right, Parvez?

Now this is a welcome sight! It rained here yesterday! To most people out there this is not a big deal, but when you live in a place where it rains about every 3 (or more) years, it's very important. When it rained a LOT in 2003 and the whole region was green, that was the first time I saw so much grass here in my whole life!

Anyways, this year seems promising. Another cool thing about the rain is that brings out all these insectoids that you usually don't see. For example, I spent 20 minutes chasing this fast little bug. As a student of both nature as well as art, it pays to study these little strange creatures. Just take a look at the beautiful carapace. It is METALLIC! Of course, when I got too close, it opened up from the behind and sprung two wings, came right in my face, sprayed me with what I believe to be insect pee or something, and flew away. But not before I got some cool shots of it!

In a week or two, I'm planning on going one-on-one with some big Crocs at a sanctuary not far from where I live. Now that will be something to remember. Need to get more memory for my cam.

June is going to be big for me. More than a few notable events are just around the corner.

The first being the renaming of my blog from Digital Exile to nAesthetic. I’m going to focus more on aesthetic than clowning around on my blog. A strong purpose in life (blogging life). You, in the RSS aggregator, hop on over to www.naesthetic.com (or the old www.nukeation.net). The blog looks hotter than ever!

The second will be the revamp of Nukeation Studios site for our 8th anniversary. The new site is expected to go live on the 9th of June.

The third, which is kind of unfortunate, is my 23rd birthday on June 17th. I find solace in the fact that while I may grow old, I refuse to grow up. And inversely, as a child prodigy, I have more than two decades of programming experience now. Ah, 128BASIC on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ in 1987. Those were the (crappy) days.

The fourth, and perhaps most important, will be the release of NukeBall – the first in a series of products we will be releasing! As soon as NukeBall is out the door, we can focus on the WinFX tools we have been prototyping!

Focusing on client projects and NukeBall has taken up most of my time. Now with NukeBall out of the door soon, and the new nukemeister Parvez joining the gang, I will finally have some time to resume my old blog projects.

First of all I will resume the Exploring WPF series of screencasts. Carl Franklin has given me some tips on how to make it better. Secondly, some of the free dev tools like Mapee and NukeControls and all that. I also need to give a major update to Nukeation Labs’ website. I have so much content just lying around.

As the name suggests, I will be focusing a LOT on aesthetics. The new UX revolution is gonna make aesthetics a LOT more important that they have ever been.

Now this is one guy who should NOT be cloned. Ever. Why? Read on. This is part of an email conversation we had last night (reminded me of the days when IM was not yet born).

For those of joining us late, Andy Eick is a brilliant - albeit idiocyncratic - friend and client. And where the heck have you been?!

Andy, you knew I was gonna blog this. NDA me next time.

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ANDY:

got my new pen [for tablet pc, tc 1100] today -- the eraser is really cool, adds a bunch
 
i totally give, i can't believe i'm asking for support on a freakin' pen.
 
It came with a small circular band? what the heck is that for?  it looks like a ring but it isn't a full circle.
 
Plus, Is there a trick to getting the button to work?  I have the tick box "use pen button to right click' ticked, but i still have to press and hold...

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ME:

Ooooooh, I love this. I get to harpoon your ego. :D
 
The band we're talking of should have a slit in the middle with a sort of hole. Now you put your pen's nib in that hole, press the ring from the sides, and PULL. It's for pulling out the nib and replacing it. Took me a whole of 5-10 minutes to figure it out.
 
Normally, I would just assume that there is something wrong with the pen button receiver on your tablet than think you don't know how to use the freakin' right-click button. But after this ring thing, I wonder. Look, open the Tablet PC tutorial that ships by default, and see the animation that shows how to use it.
 
If you can't find the TPC tutorial and the animation, you are no longer worthy of having a tablet. Pack it in nicely and ship it to 380, Aiya Nagar, Bhuj, GUJ 370001 India. :D

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ANDY:

normally, i'd come back with something smart alecy, but you know, i deserve this one. 
 
(Didn't even occur to me that you'd replace the nibs) -- and the right click thing, you hold the button, then tap the screen -- i was just pressing the button)

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ME:

Oooooooooooooooooooooh, I KNEW IT! THINK, MAN, THINK! We can't have good, if not great, devs of our time not think of this! Seriously. I even WROTE the whole process in a previous email if you remember. I specifically said "hold button, tap screen while holding button". Sweet mother of God! Dude, c'mon!

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ANDY:

do you think i got where i'm at today by "thinking" and "reading", puuhh-lease, thinking is for chumps.

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ANDY:

btw -- let me revise that customer testimonial ---

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ME:

Threats, Mr. Eick? Really?

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ANDY:

moi?, never.  I did say this new pen has the eraser on it, no?

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ME:

Why do I feel like James Bond strapped to a table and a laser beam is coming near my special place?

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And to think I considered him sort of a mentor to me! Thankfully, I do learn from my mistakes, so after that last email, I changed the subject.

PS. the "real" (ie, less exciting) Andy can be seen at http://www.andyeick.com/professional.aspx