25 years of Doom

 

The ‘Doom’ in the title refers to the original computer video game released by the folks at iD software. 25 years ago, on December 10th, DOOM.zip was first published on the University of Wisconsin FTP server in December 1993. When the upload was complete, 10,000 people attempted to download the game at once, crashing the university's network. That game was the true push to the next generation of FPS games, moving away from fun to more darker genres. Every video game in use today has inherited or was inspired in some way to the original Doom.

I myself came across the game only five years later, given the serious lack of internet connectivity in India. People had to share the first episode of the shareware offline on floppy disks , and magazine CDs. The programmer in me was instantly hooked, more by the complex worlds created by the code on a 2d screen, than the actual game play. I knew immediately, I wanted to get into 3d graphics programming, and join the team of cutting edge , microprocessor system programming.

Years later, well, I am no-where in that area, although I do code. I now work in boring enterprise computing, using a fraction of my brainpower I used during my assembly language days in school. I did end up creating a 3d engine, using sectors for maps and perspective texture mapping, but I could not start a career into that area.

John Carmack is a computing god. And Doom is just one of the ways he pushed computing power of the 90s to its limits. Those days of efficient, system programming is long gone, and modern programmers don’t care about using as little memory as possible.  But if you are interested, you can read about the source code of Doom in a new black book.

Its only a matter of years before Doom will end up in the museum of computing history.

 

Journey: Migrating to Australia

I have been getting a lot of questions from friends and strangers alike, about how we went though Australia’s General Skilled Migration program and secured our 189 resident permit. Although I have described bits and pieces to many, I realize I am now forgetting the details of our journey. So this is where I will document it for eternity.

October 2016: I officially started the migration process. It will be evident later that I had been very lazy in the planning and execution of the process. I first contacted a migration agent who had helped a colleague secure a PR. The price he quoted was hefty. And mine was a straight forward application, as I had worked in the IT industry after completing by Bachelors in Computer Engineering. I felt I did not feel the help of a migration agent to process what I thought was a straightforward visa application.

We first submitted the EOI with 60 points as an ICT Business Analyst in March 2017. Yes , it took us that much time to go through the paper work. We waited till July 2017, and saw that there was no point waiting any longer.

In July 2017, I got my skill re-assessed for Software engineer. Also retook the PTE English test, and scored superior. Mrs also cleared the PTE test. Total points now : 80 ! We re-applied our EOI with the new documents on July 13th. Missed by one day because there was  an allotment round on the 12th ! The delay was entirely due to ACS cunningly timing their results with the allotment dates.

EOI accepted on 26th July.

We applied the visa will all documents on August 1st.

Medical took 2 weeks. Got it done at Fortis Bangalore . Medical was uploaded on 23rd August.

Then was the excruciating wait. The application status was still ‘Received’.

On Sept 7th, we got the mail, that our Visa was granted.

The actual journey was only from 26th July to 7th September. But due our naivety we had to wait for almost a year.

So tip 1: Plan everything. If you are not sure, or are on a time limit, hire a migration agent. 

Migration agents are much more familiar with all the steps, and will strictly follow up on the process for you. Ultimately you will get a visa faster. If you decide not to engage an agent, then you need to diligently follow up on the process at every step. It took us almost a year to get our visa, because we got lazy along the way.

You will need money. For two people, one primary and one dependent, it will cost about 4 lakhs in INR. For all the tests and assessment required. It will be wise to keep track of your expenses.

Tip 2:  Don’t apply with 60 points. 

The  189/190 visa application process is well documented. There are free online points calculators which will help you find the best way through. They will mention that a minimum of 60 points is required for an application. But what they won’t tell you is the system is setup so that the applications with the higher points get a preference at almost every stage of the application. So whatever you do, do NOT apply with 60 points. Try and increase your point score. If you can apply with 75 points, your EOI will be picked up within 15 days, in the very next cycle. DIBP will often change the minimum score requirement through the application year, so there is no point in waiting.

Assuming you are between 25-32 years of age, and have 8 years work experience outside Australia, and have cleared the English test with the lowest ‘Competent’ rating, you will get the minimum 60 points.

But if you can go back and improve your English test and score ‘Superior’ rating, you will get a total of 80 points ! If you are married, and your spouse can score ‘Competent’ on the English test, you will get 5 more points .

Tip 3: Take the Pearson English Test. Do NOT take the IELTS test.

I cannot stress this enough. Every site and forum explains the points system with the IELTS example. And a lot of aspirants take this test too. But if you are taking the IELTS for Australia migration then please stop ! IELTS is a two day , paper-written test. The test itself is graded manually. And you will have to scribble a lot. However hard you try, you will not be able to score anything more than the minimum 6. Unless you have a beautiful handwriting. And have been writing letters all your life.

Take the PTE. It costs around the same, but is an automated computer driven test. Its shorter, about 3 hours, and your handwriting does not matter. Most of the visa applications are from software engineers, and have been using computer keyboards through their career. Such people can ace this test. At least the written part. There are numerous articles and videos explaining tricks to beat this test. And if you still need help, sign up for a coaching class.

Tip 4: Unless you are 100% sure, do NOT apply EOI as a Business Analyst

I learnt this the hard way. Since I had 10+ years of experience, I thought my application would be better as a ICT Business Analyst. Big mistake.

Check the occupation ceilings page on DIBP. Australia invites EOI applications under 71 different codes. There is an upper limit on the number of EOIs handed out in each code. As of the current year, 2017-2018, the code with the highest ceiling is…wait for it…Nurses. More than 16000 nurses can apply and be selected this year !

For software engineers, the ceiling is 6000.  For Business Analysts, its only 1000. So there is one BA for every 6 software engineers.

As the number of visas get allotted get closer to the ceiling, the minimum points required to apply in that code increases. So it gets more difficult to get an EOI under that code.

Here is a revelation, the code under which you applied for the Visa will not be printed on the visa anywhere at all. So you can apply as an SE and work as a BA. Or vice versa. But try and apply through a code which has a higher ceiling. Increases your odds.

Tip 5: Move parallelly.

We made the mistake of following each stage one at a time. This took more time. There are various steps required, but they can all be executed in parallel, thereby shortening your wait time. Again, this is where a migration agent can help you out.

1: English test

2: Skill assessment

3: Police clearance (PCC)

The skill assessment is the step which is going to take the longest time. From gathering all the document required to scanning and uploading and then waiting, it could take 1-3 months for this step. So it is best to start here.

Simultaneously, prepare for and take the English test. The scoring of each test will only take 1 week, so you will get the result soon.

The PCC is more tricky, you will need to apply to the passport office where you are staying, and gather all the relevant documents to prove your temporary and permanent address.

Oops, this is longer than I expected. I will follow this up in a later post.

Good luck !

Australia VISA 189 EOI 261313 tip trick hack

It floods here too

 

Living in India through floods and famines, I thought, had prepared me for the worst of climate change elsewhere in the world. Almost, because I knew well to stay at home today. Because it is flooding outside right now.

The whole NSW region, Sydney specially, has been continously battered by rain and winds since early this morning. The memes are out, and still coming in.  Roads are flooded, trains have stopped, underground stations are flooded too, and people are stranded. Just like that time.

But the one thing that separates this reality with what was witnessed back home, was that NSW was prepared. The oncoming storm was called out weeks ago, and warnings were issued well in advance. People still tried to get to work, but I guess most are safe.

Some pics:

 

 

 

As of right now, there are no deaths reported. Two deaths have been reported. Far less than what is otherwise expected.

There is no fighting nature. All that we can do is to be prepared.

Telecom and Aviation in the limbo

 

Been reading a lot of news about how many telecom and aviation companies in India are all burning cash, and slowly heading towards ultimate shutdown.

The newly formed Vodafone-Idea is running out of Ideas to stay afloat, there are plans to disconnect numbers who do not recharge enough a month, and there are speculations, only speculations at this point, to charge customers for incoming calls ! Gives me the 90s vibe. During the late nineties and early 2000s, companies used to charge about 7 Rs/- a minute for incoming calls. It was Reliance who changed the game by launching their first telecom services , undercharging for services, and eventually forced the practise out of the industry.

And aviation, it seems is the other industry in a nosedive. A newly inaugurated and much hyped airport was promptly shutdown after two weeks, because the sole operator refused to ply. Companies are now charging more for online services. Some others are cancelling entire flights reportedly due to not having sufficient pilots. Owing to rising aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, the depreciating rupee and competitive ticket pricing, not a single airline in India is earning more than it is spending. The losses run into thousands of crores of rupees. Some frequent flyers are posting reasons online as to why they will stay with the failing company. It is not just Jet, Air India’s losses are mounting, market leader IndiGo has announced a loss for the first time since it took off in August 2006, SpiceJet is said to be looking for fresh investments to stay airborne. Some new airlines like Air Odisha (of Jharsuguda fame), Air Deccan and TruJet are not flying aircraft on several shorter routes as not operating is a more viable option than flying. In fact, had it not been for the recent fall in fuel prices and the rupee’s recovery, at least two airlines would have come to a grinding halt. They did not have enough cash to sustain themselves beyond a month.

Its surprising that despite all the opportunities in the market, these companies are always burning cash. Customers are simply not willing to pay. They can turn their fates around if they simply start charging more for their services, but then, in the world of social media, they also have to limit the memes coming their way.

 

 

India is truly shining.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More stories from WWI

 

The pas few days have been days of revelation for me. Although I hated history during my school days, I now (surprisingly) enjoy reading about little stories from history. Like India’s contribution during the two World wars, specially the first one.

Like this site, where they have attempted to document all the Sikh soldiers who died fighting in various World War I battles. Each icon depicts a death, and is placed at the martyr’s place of birth. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. In total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the Indian Army fought against the German Empire in German East Africa and on the Western Front.

 

Elsewhere, I also came across this fantastice new movie aclled ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’. Directed by Peter Jackson (of LOTR fame), the footage is heavily reconstructed footage from WWI, colored my modern software, allowing us to see what life was like during those horrible years.  These audio interviews were conducted by the BBC in the 60s and 70s. The images are from the Imperial War Museum film archive. Although they only used a small part of it, Jackson's crew visually restored all 100 hours of footage the Imperial War Museums sent them for free

And worth adding, some of the footage in this doc was created in 1914-18 as propaganda. So, not all of it is authentic combat stuff; and some was designed to boost morale back home. That moment when the colour kicks in is jaw dropping. Audio dubbing is done with modern actors and shell sounds, so if you see a WW1 soldier speaking that is an actor overdubbing. Lip-readers were used to ensure dialogue accuracy. This film has covered the 4 years of the war in a single dramatic arc - obviously there were many terrible battles after The Somme. The Russians left the war in 1917 but in came America. This led to a huge German offensive which failed to stick.

Stats are hard, but estimates says 20 million people died in the First World War. It changed the world, empires fell, society changed; art, music, literature, poetry, film, gender roles. The Russians became communists. Middle East redrawn by Brits & French.