Installing R and R studio on Ubuntu 12.10

Yes I know why 12.10? Well I am lazy to upgrade but also for the fact that the newer versions of Ubuntu haven't exactly set the world on fire. Anyways why am  I writing this post? Its pretty easy to install R but R studio? Well R studio wasn't willing to get installed on my PC after downloading the package.

For the uninitiated R studio is a IDE for  R and its pretty useful GUI.

So how did I manage to install R and R studio? Lets get over with some basic commands to install/update R.

To obtain the latest R packages, add an entry like

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http:///bin/linux/ubuntu saucy/"

or

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http:///bin/linux/ubuntu raring/"

or

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http:///bin/linux/ubuntu quantal/"

or

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http:///bin/linux/ubuntu precise/"

or

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http:///bin/linux/ubuntu lucid/"

But don't forget to replace by the actual URL of your favorite CRAN mirror. See http://cran.r-project.org/mirrors.html for the list of CRAN mirrors. 

To install the complete R system, use

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install r-base

Then Install gdebi which checks for dependencies 

sudo apt-get install gdebi

Adding RStudio

Download R studio

http://www.rstudio.com/ide/download/

After downloading R studio package run the following command

sudo gdebi 

Well ideally no errors should come up and you can find R studio installed and ready to fireup.

THe Indian PM unperturbed by the US spying on head of Nations

It was recently revealed that the NSA of USA was spying on head of state of 35 countries. The Indian government was fast to respond that even if they spied on the Indian PM  it wouldn't impact him because he doesn't uses neither a cell phone nor has a e-mail account. Amazing stuff I say and surprising that the PM of a #To Be' superpoer doesn't believe in communicating in an efficient manner.

Well i am hardly surprised because it has been ages since anyone heard Manmohan Singh talk. Secondly I am sure the NSA must have been exasperated spying on MMS. Why? Well he doesn't speak or does he? The NSA might have bugged everything from the PM's car to the house but they would have recorded only static and nothing else. Actually the NSA declared openly that they tried spying on the Indian PM and were impressed by the Indian technology . The Indian apparently has a coded silence and the best brains in the west came to naught trying to decode the silence. THey even tried facial recognition techniques in an attempt to decode the silence but they were out of luck on that count too.

All hail the Indian pm. After he relinquishes office he will be recruited as a spymaster by the Indian intelligence to teach them effective communication by silence. All hail Manuji and maybe take a few lessons from him too. 

THe story of India and Pakistan-- Will we ever reconcile and be friends?

I recently watched the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and it led me to think about this question " Can India and Pakistan ever be friends?" Well the answer my friend is not a easy one. The previous generation genuinely thought that people on the either side were brothers and they had lands in each others country which bound them. No matter whatever wrongs happened during the partition and despite the killings all of the displaced people had emotional bonds. Despite the hatred of during the partition there were neighbors and people displaced due to the partition.

Cut to current times and our generation have been born in our respective countries. No memories of the by-lanes of Lahore or Chandni Chowk for people from either side of the border. 4 wars till now and death of numerous soldiers on either side of the border. We Indians gloat about the successes we had in the wars and how we fought bravely to defend ourselves. I believe the same would be propagated on the other side of the border. NO country likes to propagate its defeat. But the common thing on both sides was the wars caused deaths to numerous soldiers whose only fault was they were just following the orders of their political masters (In case of Pakistan the military masters). But what the deaths did was create hatred in the minds of general population . What initially might have been bewilderment at the wars gave way to outrage as our fathers, bothers, uncles started dying. Now The other country was an enemy who had a role to play in the destruction of the peaceful life we had known. THe war was immaterial now and the anger of attack gave way to the emotion of revenge. THe other country had to be defeated to avenge the death of near and dear ones.

That particular generation gave birth to our current generation. The current generation had no links to each others country and at the same time had inherited the hatred from our parents. We heard stories about the air raids, the bombings, the death of a uncle, of a father, a mother, a sister in the wars. The stories of valor on the face of adversity made us proud and at the same time created the image of the enemy. The terrorist attacks attributed to secret services of each others country further engraved the image of the enemy nation. Well I don't doubt for a moment that there are no attacks originating from Pakistan with tacit support from the higher echoleons of the 'other' country .

So whats the point am i getting at? THe point is if we had to become friends with each other and develop a goodwill it would have been done in the first few decades of independence. Why? Because at that time we had people who didn't only share a common history but actually lived through them. It would have been easier for people who had known each other to talk peace rather than the present generation who have literally no links to the lands on either side of the border and share huge mistrust given the wars and other covert activities.

P.S pEace is very difficult but not impossible. Hope we scale down military spends on both sides of the border and spend them on social welfare.

The case of ishrat Jahan!!! Was she innocent or was she a terrorist??

In the last few days the discourse has been in India to devilify Narendra Modi and his anti muslim credentials. Well being not being a fanboy of Mr Modi I am kind off symphatetic with him. Recent reports suggest that the indian intelligence agents when they interrogated DavidHeadley and apparently he had mentioned about Ishrat and her being involved with the terrorist organizations. While its not clear to the extent of her involvement or the terrorist are simply trying to claim credit for the Gujarat Police's foolishnes but yes there is a certain doubt she might not be innocent after all.

But the case to me isn't that Ishrat was a terrorist or not? What after going through all the material tells me is that it was a fake encounter all right. The police in all its foolishness and misplaced love for the nation murdered 4 people in cold blood. What worries me isn't that if they were terrorists were not but the fact they were murdered. No matter how difficult I find to believe a 19 year old can be a terrorist but the facts cannot lie beyond a certain point.

The lesson from this case is that the police in order to showcase their bravado try to project encounters as a they have stopped the threat against the nation and to please their political masters. THe police should be made a professional organization with minimal political interventions otherwise we will soon turn into a police state with no future.

How much time does it take to change one's life???????

I was wondering what in life makes you change your views about ....Life, any other person, your nearest and dearest ones? To my surprise it takes only one moment when it comes to life or one sentence when it comes to near and dear ones.

I stumbled upon the fact unknowingly but painfully. I felt the full impact ocf the same when I was craving for company from my dear one. But alas she was angry at me not because I wanted company because I had done something stupid in the morning. I knew it was stupid and and wrong on my part and I apologized profusely enough (i believe in all sincerity).

So I called her and I started getting frosty responses so I did apologise again and again but I got some of the stuff I had given her in my stupidity so I didn't mind the whole thing that much and more so because it was me at fault so I deserved the flak I got no complaints on that.

A new day I was all fresh and happy to put the happenings of the previous day behind me. I placed a call to my dearest and I sensed she was still incensed about the previous day. I tried placating her and did apologize but then what transpired shattered me. She hit me where it hurts me the most , She simply sad I am a pretender and a fake person and just a show off and once I get hit at that point I don't hold back. I didn't want to hurt her because I knew that I would lose control and I didn't want to let the situation spiral out of control.

I had sensed the anger building in her from an incident which had happened earlier a day ear;ier. I had asked her and she had replied that what do I want to hear. That had incensed me enough but I chose to ignore it because I thought that she took it in a different manner because I usually didn't ask her anything. I don't know how to react because she has crossed an unsaid line and its something I can't take it. I had no problems with her venting her anger but what has pissed me is that she said the things she said. Anger is justified but insulting a person isn't.

What worries me that she forgot all the nice moments and changed heroutlook about me from just a single incident . And she didn't even think my apologies were sincere. What else a man can ask from his life!!!