Monday, April 27, 2009

Some feelings are so special

In my 24 years of life, I have been very studious more than enjoying life. May be because, "enjoying life" meant something only studies to me. I paid more attention to my studies a lot more than watching out the charming guys around me. I don't know if I should call it right or wrong... My friends say, in one or the other way I really feel I had missed something :D Well not really! :)

I might not be lucky enough to have had time to spend on loving someone during my school or college days. I really was too busy in targeting my centurions, competing with my class mates in not letting them score first ^_^, spending enormous amount of time in library, participating in oratorical, singing, essay witting competitions where I have bagged a hand full of prices. I was happy with the life I had lived in the past 24 years. At the same time, I should be feeling so lucky to have the world's best parents ever! They brought me up like a princess. I owe them big time for that :)

As you all know I am a native Indian and as per Indian tradition, it is the parent's duty or responsibility to find the perfect soul-mate for their children. (Let's not talk about the exceptions here - the "love marriages". Cupid hates me for some reason I guess haha). My parents are so orthodox that they consider the horoscope match and parents' approval from both sides are mandatory for a man and a woman to kick off with their married life. It has been 3 months since they started to find a match for me it seems. I was not even told about it, damn! :)

Yesterday all of a sudden, they brought our home a guy and introduced him to me. We spoke (with my relatives around, of course :)) for almost 30 minutes and I quite seem to like that guy. He is charming, witty, funny and what not! When he left our home, I really felt, could he not have stayed for even more minutes? He is really cute when he smiles... I see a baby-ish look on his face. He said he do like me and my family as well which got me smiling :)

Yesterday I even came up with a pet name for him. His real name is Maniyan. If things go well, I am planning to call him as "Ian" as his name's ending rhyms well with Ian. Ian is one of my most favorite names. It is of scottish origin. In the United Kingdom, Ian was the 19th most common male name. Wiki says Ian means "God is Gracious" well so is he hahaha Guess I am mad! Okay, I better behave now! :)

I kinda seem to fancy this guy but the thing is his parents should also agree for this relation. I never prayed GOD regarding my affairs/love relationships because I never had one before. I can not call this a love or relationship either. It would be utter non-sense if I do :) It is just that this guy seems so nice and suits very well with my character. I just pray his parents should agree too. If they don't, I will not be sad or worried or cry over my pillow with sleepless nights. I got a lot of better things to feel worried for like on-time delivery with really less time (blame the PM for their poor effort estimating skills) which causes slogging and weekend works, JLPT Level 3 Examination, MBA exams, blah blah :( Actually, I really hate that "work on weekends" part which I used to do in Wipro. In Logica, it is all smooth so not much of pain :)

By the way, pray for me guys that his parents should agree. :)

PS: This might sound completely stupid for some people but I just can not escape the tradition & customs :)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Customize Windows Logon Message

Are you bored of the same old Windows Logon Message? Well, you can customize it with your own persobalized messages like, "Enter this WINDOW - Viruses are awaiting you!" LOL No offense!

  1. Click Start, Click Run, Type regedit, and then Click OK.
  2. In the Registry Editor, scroll down to through the tree: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
  3. Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
  4. Right-click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your message.
  5. Close the editor and your new message will appear at every log on.
This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain. In case of the stand-alone or peer-to-peer networks (P2P), the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.

Note: You may need to have an administrator account on your computer to make changes to the registry. Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. At the very least, you should back up any valued data on the computer before making changes to the registry.

As the title describes, this tutorial is to shutdown the system automatically after n number of seconds.

  1. Right Click on your desktop and choose "New->Shortcut".
  2. In the box that says "Type the location of the shortcut", type in "shutdown -s -t 3600" with out the quotation marks and click next.
  3. Note: 3600 are the amount of seconds before your computer shuts down. So, 60secs*60mins=3600secs.
  4. Make up a name for the shortcut something like Turn Off Timer and you're done
If you want to change the icon, do Right Click on the shortcut which you just created. Choose the last most option Properties->Change Icon-> Browse.

PS: To make an abort key to stop the shutdown timer just create another shortcut and make the "location of the shortcut" to "shutdown -a" without the quotes.

Before I build up any hype let me clear you one thing - With this trick, you can ONLY watch movies in MS Paint but can't do any other operations like Pause/Stop/Rewind, etc. To be more specific, you can just watch it while its playing behind in Windows Media Player Classic or Winamp or VLC or any other movie player you use.

The steps are so simple:

  1. Open your favourite movie player and play the move (I played the .avi, format in Media Player Classic) (.mpg also works)(VLC Player will also do)
  2. Hit "PrintScreen" key on your keyboard. Let the movie play in the player. Do NOT stop it.
  3. Open MsPaint. (Start->Run_>Type mspaint)
  4. Select "Edit > Paste" Or Hit "CTRL+V"
  5. Now you will see the movie is being played in Paint!
To add more fun, while you’re in MS Paint, save the screenshot as a BMP file, right click on that file and set that file as Desktop. Now the movie will be playing on your desktop.

As long as I have tried, it doesn't play DivX ,and Flash movies. Experiment it with other formats too. No one, including myself will never want to watch movies this way but it's cool to know that printscreen captures the videos as well :)

If you have the XP Installation CD, you can find out the Serial key then. Follow the below steps to know how:

  1. Insert your XP Installation CD in the CD-ROM. If it auto runs, exit it.
  2. Open up My Computer and Right click on your ROM drive with your XP Installation CD still in it.
  3. Press CTRL+F or Click on the Search button to open up the Search Option
  4. Search for the file named unattend.
  5. When this unattend file is found, the path shown will be as if the file is on your system drive and not on your cd drive. Don't bother it!
  6. Now the final step is to open that file and look for the serial key in it. You will find it written in this file only as product key.
It did work for me. Try it for yourself :)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Making Logo with Letters


I recently found an article and it is a nice reading for all those interested in Typographic Logo design.
I had my own learning from this resource. Go through when you find some time. I am sure you will learn at least one new thing from it :)

Grab your copy at Before & After Magazine.


Don’t we all just wish we could get out of this trash planet and go there right now?…Just to start trashing that one of course… hahaha

Read More

Friday, April 17, 2009

Tamil Onomatopoeia

Definition: Onomatopoeia is using words that imitate the sound they denote. Eg: Woof (dog’s bark), Ding (a metal sound), etc.

Image courtesy: www.literaryzone.com

I been thinking of writing an article about Japanese Onomatopoeia for a long time and finally started it on Tamil New Year (last Tuesday). While I was writing, I had a thought if Tamil’s “Irattai Kilavi” & “Adukku Thodar” are what the Onomatopoeia actually means. I then started searching for some more details about Tamil Onomatopoeia and ended up with this best E-Guide.

Google landed me down on Tamil Onomatopoeia by V.Gnanasundaram, Ph.D. I downloaded it right away (only the 1st two chapters. Too bad the other chapters were not found on the FTP server :() and bothered to read it only by the day before yesterday.

Download those two PDFs and read it when you have time. I read and really was amazed by the author’s wisdom and command over the language. I could not help myself from dropping him a ‘note of thanks’ e-mail for his great work and especially for making it free to everyone over the WWW. Also, requested him to make the remaining chapters available :) If I say, “people like him are simply great” that would be an under statement. Bless him!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

SQL Injection Cartoon

I found this cartoon over the net. I just love it! :)



I found this last night. Have fun playing around with it :)

Check out SQL ZOO

Compile your C Source Code online for free. It’s nothing to be amazed at though, just thought I would share!

PS: As .EXE are not allowed in official environment, you might not be able to test it out at office. Play with it when you are home.

Pogo Plug is one of the new gadgets I came across lately.


With Pogo Plug, you can share your USB hard drive over the internet any time with NO special configuration. All you have to do is,

  • Buy Pogo Plug (it costs around $ 100)
  • Plug it in your router – Connecting your Pogo Plug & router
  • Plug it to the power board – Connecting Pogo Plug to power
  • Register your Pogo Plug device on their official website
  • Enjoy sharing!
PS: If you know how to build a home FTP server then you would not be fascinated by this gadget. It however serves the total tech noobs :)

Have you got a laptop or a PC at home? It is the right time for you to try your nasty hands on some of the Linux distributions. Linux is not windows but you sure will get everything in Linux which you get in Windows… the GUI, Play Games, Listen to mp3, Chat, watch videos, even use windows inside Linux, ... you name it!

Try Linux at your home today…

Take The Quiz to find out which distribution suits you the best. The exciting part is, you get Live CDs too so you can experience Linux even without installing it in your system.

Cheating explained the sad way



Cheating explained the happy way




Music makes even cheating more beautiful Lol Love pop for life :)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Women and Linux

Yesterday I was chatting with some of my old time mates & other online tech-buddies. It all started as a normal chat though but don’t know how we ran down to a narrowed conversation of, “Women & Linux”. The fire was ignited by a pointless question “Well Why do you girls even bother Linux?” as if it’s a men’s stuff! H3ck! I normally don’t show my anger over the internet but I was made spoken J the conversation went on for almost an hour and made my crew admit that Linux does NOT belong to men. Only fools say that!

Isn’t the world’s first programmer a woman? (Ada Lovelace).

Don’t you really know that all of the ENIAC programmers were women.

Isn’t the Linux kernel hacker, Valeire Aurora a woman?

Haven’t you heard about the Debian Women project?

There are a plenty that I can quote! It is just that women’s contribution is being unacknowledged but that is not our damn fault!

This is a real transcript that happened y’day in Yahoo Chat (and that too in a Programming room.)

Him: Hey! LTNC. How u been?

Her: Never better. Ty Wbu?

Him: Cool. So, sup?

Her: Upgrading my Laptop’s kernel. U up2 much?

Him: What???

Her: ??

Him: R u really a girl?

Her: WTH!

Him: hehe how can girls upgrade kernel?

Her: Why not?

Him: nooo. It’s just weird. I have not seen chix doing it. Don’t mind… u really a girl? Hehe

Her: No! I am a yahoo bot.

Him: hehe really?

Her: Get a grip! U moron.

Him: U guy?

What a stupid conversation. Waste of 10 mins… Is upgrading kernel a “big” task? High school kids can do it, then why can’t women?

Well, all these stuff got me stay up till 3 Am and kept me wondering, why is it hard for men to believe women can code and why don’t they easily agree that women can be g33kz (wanna-be’s at the least)? What can be done to encourage women in Linux? It’s really OK if we don’t contribute anything to the Open Source Community (Neither do all men) but at least we can at least make an attempt to learn what the fuzz is all about. I started searching Google if there are any communities already working for involving Women in the technology field… Linux in specific!

Come on Girls… Read this article on How to be encouraged in Linux. Stay motivated and show the community what we got J Please do join Linux Chix when you find some free time. Remember… Interact with other female techies... I bet you gonna love it!

Life is just not about getting married and having babies OR making roti’s & cleaning OR just developing ineffective s/w & getting paid. Bring the “U” with in You! Let’s get into the world of computing & have the “real” fun :)

PS: To all the nice men out there, do motivate your wife/GF(s)/sisters/aunts/moms/grandmamma or who so ever. You never know what you grandmamma can develop J Spread the love for technology among WOMEN! :)

When you are bored at home and got nothing better to do, download SliTaz Live CD & experiment it!

To brief on it, SliTaz is the GNU/Linux OS sizing less than 30 MB. It boots very fast and contains many daily applications. You can also install it on HD or run it on USB key. SliTaz is NOT a brand new OS. It’s been around for more than 6 months. I got lucky enough to try it only now…

Check out More About SliTaz

The title says it all :)

Check out SMS (Slack Mini Server) Project. Check What SLAMP is, if you are not aware.

Too creative Lol

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Shameless Fellow

The title says it all :)

There was a job posting on a famous Job search site for the ITIL Service Manager Job and the job description reads as below…

…and also involve overseeing the Change Management function, ensuring that changes are managed in an effective and controlled manor…

I wonder what kind of manor? A Tudor? Hahaha! It however has passed the spell check though… I mean “Spill Czech” hahaha :)

Proof: See the first, second, third and subsequent link of This Google Search relating to jobserve domain

PS: My English is not good either but I am not working as an ITIL Service Manager Recruiter :)

Monday, April 6, 2009

If ants were bigger in size?

We all often tend to feel, "What the heck can it do man? It is just an ant!" Well, you should watch this video... It is horrible! Makes us think why Ants are not made bigger! This what they say in Tamil, "Yeli-ku Vaala Aandavan Alandhu-dhaan Vechirukkan" (Translation: God knows what should be given to whom) I personally consider this video to be sick but I still wanted to share as I am amazed of what those tiny little ants can really do!

I happened to see this video today. Isn't it funny, at the same time interesting to see what human do when they are alone and scared? If I was trapped like that, I could stay in there for 41 hours only if I had my Andromeda with me but then I wonder, if there will be any network signal. Lol But I really would have screamed or done something to break the top to get myself outta it as soon as possible! Anyways, just watch it :)

Yesterday, I was chatting with one of my mates online about some random stuff and social engineering. He was saying if I ever seen Swordfish movie and it is on the HBO. The chat started off that way and he suddenly asked me if I have seen Matrix first part movie and what do I think about it.

I did really not want to answer as "It is a great movie!" because that is not what I feel towards it. I could not continue chat as my cat been bugging me to talk with her for a while. So, I signed off that time but now I could really not stop myself from writing about what I feel towards Matrix and hence this post!

To me, Matrix is not just a movie! It tells us the reality that we the human beings are neither a part of a computer nor living in a world controlled by one computer. It has got something more to do with the Artificial Ethics, if you know what I mean! Machine-beings don't really have the moral standings while we, human beings do. Those sentient programs does not possess consciousness like humans. Having said that, can Matrix, the movie become real? Well, this an very old interview though (with Michio kaku) but spend some time reading it.

Source: G4TV

Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics explains why 'The Matrix' movies are or aren't accurate.


TechTV: In "The Matrix," the laws of physics can be violated, in virtual reality. In that world, machines have taken over, and we are slaves living in a computer-generated dreamworld. Is this a possibility?
Kaku: It's possible, but unlikely. First, our machines today have the intelligence and consciousness of a cockroach. Their insect brains cannot threaten us. However, in the future, they might become as intelligent as a dog or cat. But when they become as intelligent as a monkey, many decades from now, I think they might become a threat and we should implant a chip in their brains to shut them off if they become murderous.

TechTV: In "The Matrix," the humans freed of the Matrix live in a tiny outpost called Zion deep inside the earth. Is this possible?
Kaku: Only in tiny caves, not at the center. Contrary to Jules Verne, the earth is really solid. We know this by analyzing the shock waves of earthquakes as they pass through the center of the earth. Also, using Newton's theory of gravity, satellites can measure how solid the earth is. So Zion would have to be based in a small cave, not near the center of the earth.

TechTV: Can virtual reality give us the Matrix?
Kaku: There are huge problems. It's extremely difficult to hook a computer into the brain. The wiring of the spinal cord is basically unknown. At best, on cats, we've been able to hook into their optic nerves, to see what a cat can see. And in blind people, we can stimulate a handful of pixels in their brain, but that's about it. The brain is still a black box. At best, scientists have, in stroke victims who are paralyzed, placed an electrode in their brain and connected it to a laptop so the paralyzed can move the cursor on the screen by sheer thought.

TechTV: How much computer power would be necessary to create the Matrix?
Kaku: All the computers in the world could not create the Matrix. It takes a supercomputer to simulate even simple aspects of reality, let alone the reality of billions of sleeping humans. The aliens behind the Matrix would have to be centuries ahead of our technology. (But then, if they are that advanced, they wouldn't need humans as batteries. They could just get Eveready batteries at the store instead!)

TechTV: How long will it take for science to duplicate the virtual world of the Matrix?
Kaku: Centuries. At present, we can barely interphase electrodes with parts of the brain. At best, the human brain can be taught to mentally control the cursor of a PC screen by thinking. And our best computers can only create a virtual reality for simple games.

TechTV: In "The Matrix: Reloaded," what did the creator of the Matrix mean when he complained that "anomalies" crept into his computer program whenever he tried to create the Matrix?
Kaku: In physics and mathematics, often tiny defects creep into our calculations that sometimes destroys the entire program. In physics, whenever we try to create a "theory of everything," tiny anomalies occur in the calculation which destroy the theory. Likewise, the creator of the Matrix found tiny anomalies whenever he tried to create an artificial world.

TechTV: What are these anomalies?
Kaku: Neo himself. Neo is actually the sixth incarnation of these anomalies. Each time, tiny anomalies creep into the Matrix that allow for the creation of superhumans like Neo who oppose the Matrix. Each time, the creator of the Matrix has to destroy these anomalies, in the same way that "superstring theory" destroys the anomalies often found in a theory of everything.

TechTV: Why do the sentinels of the Matrix always talk about "causality?"
Kaku: In the movie, causality means predictability. Machines are predictable, but humans are not. That gives us the great advantage over machines, that we are unpredictable, creative, and can think of new ways to defeat the machines. That's why the humans win over the machines of the Matrix, because even "perfect" programs have anomalies, and unpredictable beings (us) are sometimes superior to predictable machines.

TechTV: As a scientist, did you like "The Matrix" movie?
Kaku: Yes, because sometimes it's better for us scientists to suspend the laws of physics and let our imaginations roam!

TechTV:The "X-Men" movies are very popular. They're based on the military conducting a manhunt for mutants, who are viewed as dangerous. Is there anything to fear?
Kaku: Not really. After all, we are all mutants. We are mutant apes. Mutations occur extremely slowly, over thousands of years, and most of them do not survive. So don't expect any mutant baby to be able to teleport across walls or flash laser beams any time soon!

TechTV: Are some of the X-Men's powers possible?
Kaku: Mutations are quite incremental, based on mutations of single genes, so don't expect anything abrupt like magnetic powers. However, in the future, we might be able to artificially create cyborgs with superpowers. For example, if someone ever discovers room temperature superconductors, we might be able to create vast magnetic fields at will, like Magneto. Or lasers can be miniaturized. The smallest laser ever built is a little bit bigger than a cell. Micro lasers may be placed in someone's eyes to give them the power of a Cyclops.

TechTV: Are some of the X-Men so fantastic they violate known physical laws?
Kaku: Yes, laws as we currently understand them. Jean Gray's telekinetic powers cannot be explained by any of the known four fundamental forces. Also, Storm's ability to control the weather would require vast amounts of energy. A simple thunderstorm can unleash the power of several hydrogen bombs. The human body simply cannot generate such power. Furthermore, we do not know of any way in which to walk through walls. That would require neutralizing the electrical forces of the atoms in a wall, and we don't have a clue as to how to do that.

At the end of the day, Does it matter if we are in matrix or in super-field or in 26 dimensions or in oscillating back and forth multiple universes?
Reality (measured values) is still the same :)