Blogger Just added a New Page Element: Subscription Links

Blogger today added a new Page Element called 'Subscription Links'. This will allow bloggers to add a feed subscrition service to their blog. Once the Subscription Links are added a new Page Element will appear on the blog (see image). Readers can subscribe to both Posts and Comments via popular feed readers.

The Links are neatly arranged into a drop down box (see image). This element looks good especially when the background is white. Another plus is that both RSS and Atom feeds are available.

For the counter side, Blogger has just added a few online readers in this element. Even the most popular Desktop Feed Readers and missing. Meanwhile, FeedBurner gives a wide range of options which includes both online and Desktop feed readers. Also this element cannot be customised i.e. you cannot select the readers of your choice. Only thing that can be modified is the title (which is ' Subscribe to ' here). The New element also showed problems when placed towards the end of the page.

So the new Element holds good for those blogs without a FeedBurner Link. But for those blogs that already features FeedBurner, there is no point in shifting to this.

Bill Gates Retires

The Software Guru, Bill Gates will not return to his office anymore for his routine work. Today will be his last day of his official work at Microsoft. But he still owns the majority share of Microsoft and will continue to take part in its important decisions.

Born on 28th October 1955, this 52 year old 'guy' dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to built Microsoft Corporation, along with some of this associates. It was his futuristic vision that made computers accesible for eveyone.

Retirement does not mean fishing or travel for Bill Gates. He will stay in tune with the latest technologies at Microsoft and will devote much of this time towards the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This Gates Foundation works for charity and puts in more than 4 Billion Dollars per year towards its cause, across the World. Moreover Bill Gates have decided (earlier) to donate a major portion of his fortune towards funding of various projects world-wide. Remember that he is worth over $65 Billion!

Kudos to Gates. Have a happy Retired Life...

Nokia Buys Symbian for $400 Million!

World leader in mobile phones, Nokia, just bought Symbian. VentureBeat reports that Nokia is going to keep the Symbian OS free. This might mean a slight dip in mobile prices of Nokia phones. More over this integration should mean better understanding of the needs of Nokia and thereby better mobile phones.

This purchase is going to put Nokia right in front of the war with Apple's iphone. So cell phone lovers watch-out. Nokia might be bringing some serious stuff very soon.

Press reports ...

" To be clear, Nokia already owned a large percentage of Symbian, but now it has bought the remaining shares to take total control. The all-cash deal is said to be worth around 265 million Euros, which is just over $400 million. "

Read Original Article

How to Download the Full Installer of Yahoo! Messenger: Faster Download

Downloading Yahoo! Messenger is simple. Just head to yahoo.com/messenger. There you will find the newest Messenger waiting for a free download. What you get from there is an installer which weighs around 800kb. But the real messenger is heavier than that. A full installer is about 10mb. The 800kb installer downloads the remaining files during installation. The download is not as fast as the download using a download manager. This trick is for those who wish to download the full installer to their pc. This trick is useful if you have a slow internet connection or if you wish to download the whole messenger using a download manger.

What we do is that we find the location of the full installer.
1. Download the Yahoo! Messenger Installer from the messenger section of Yahoo. This file is not that big (usually around 800kb)
2. Go offline
3. Now run the installer when you are offline. There is a step where it downloads the remaining files. Since you are offline, an error says that it cannot connect to server. This error window contains the link to the alternate installer which is the full installer. Now connect to the internet and press yes. This will start the download of the full installer.

There is an alternate method which is worth a try. Usually the small installer is named msgrXus.exe where X is the version number. This name will be present in the download link of the small installer. Just add a ‘y’ to the name so that it reads ymsgrXus.exe. Now you can directly download the full installer.

New Uses for an Old SMPS: Extra Cooling at No extra Cost

The power supply of your personal computer, SMPS (Stands for Switched Mode Power Supply), is the unit responsible for delivering regulated DC Supply to the silicon inside. This unit protects the computer from power surges. An SMPS gets blown out very soon in our country due to the common power surges and irregular power supply.

Recently we had to replace our SMPS for the same reason. This had happened earlier. This time instead of giving the SMPS to the vendor we kept it with us, out of curiosity. Working into the old chap, we soon found out that the cooling fan inside it was intact.

The Broken SMPS:

The Cooling Fan:

The fan is rated at 12 volts. This guide will tell you exactly how to place the fan into your cabinet. The power supply for the fan can be taken from the working SMPS in your computer. You have to know a little about SMPS outputs (if you do not know already), and here is what you need.
SMPS gives output as 12v, 5v and 3.3 volt. Your fan needs 12v (rating will be marked on the fan). The standard output connectors and its output powers are given below. The images are self-explanatory. The required 12 volt output can be taken from one +12v and one ground. Clean the old fan and place it on the cabinet using screws. Most cabinets ought to have a spare fan hole. Our fan was marked with the direction of rotation and direction of airflow. If they are not marked connect to fan to a +12v DC supply and find the direction of airflow. Make sure that you place the fan on the cabinet in such a way that its sucks air from inside to the outside. This will keep the dust out (Thanks Mathews).

The fan will have a +ve wire (usually red) and negative wire (usually black). Identify the +12v of the SMPS output and connect the red wire to it. Connect the black wire to the ground connection. We used cello-tape to make these connections. Turn on the SMPS and make sure that the direction of rotation and airflow are correct.

Now its time to close your cabinet. Congratulations!

Gmail is not 100% Safe! And we have got proof

Gmail is fast, but we just found out how insecure it is. The standard Gmail loads into a java applet which gives Gmail all the so called, cool features. Each time you open a mail, Gmail creates an executable file named ‘mail.google.com’ in the Internet Explorer Cache (usually in Temporary Internet Files folder). This file cannot run on windows, if you try opening it you get an error message:

We opened the file in the best ever hacking tool, Notepad. As expected we got a scramble of text. Some lines of the text looked like html code, so we thought of opening the file in Internet Explorer. For this we saved the text file as ‘mail.html’ and opened it in Internet Explorer hoping to find some effect of the html. The result was negative. Then we opened the file in Microsoft FrontPage and switched the view to HTML (refer image)

In the HTML view, the text was organized and comprehensive. And we got the answer. Gmail is not 100% safe. We could make out the mails that we had previously opened on our computer from the html. Here is an example:

Original Mail:

HOW TO DETECT A 2-WAY MIRROR?
When we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc. How many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror i.e., they can see you, but you can’t see them. There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms or bathroom or bedrooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by looking at it. So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking at?
CONDUCT THIS SIMPLE TEST: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror. However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE; IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR! (There is someone seeing you from other side). So remember, every time you see a mirror, do the fingernail test. It doesn’t cost you anything. It is simple to do.
The reason there is a gap on a real mirror, is because the silver is on the back of the mirror UNDER the glass. Whereas with a two-way mirror, the silver is on the surface. Keep it in mind! Make sure and check every time you enter in hotel rooms. May be someone is making a film on you.

Ladies: Share this with your friends.
Men: Share this with your sisters, wives, daughters, friends, colleagues, etc. Pass this message to all Ur friends in the Contacts

Take care.......
luv
GTM

The Scramble we found from Cache:

[[["v","1mq71lcaz8ekj","5259372521f1cec4","41","1","vaknsvbtjz8a"]
,["gn",""]
,["cfs",[]
,[]
]
,["i",100]
,["st",1211373576]
,["qu","32","6745","0","#006633",0,0,0,"0","6.6"]
,["ft","Add a personalized \u003cspan style\u003d\"color:#0000CC;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;white-space:nowrap\" id\u003d\"prf_g\"\u003e\u003cb\u003esignature\ u003c/b\u003e\u003c/span\u003e to all your outgoing messages. \u0026nbsp; \u003ca style\u003dcolor:#0000CC target\u003d_blank href\u003d\"http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?ctx\u003d%67mail\u0026hl\u003den\u0026answer\u003d8395\"\u003eLearn more\u003c/a\u003e"]
,["cs","112276a993ec9903","2 way mirror","2 way mirror","",["^i"]
,[]
,0,1,,"112276a993ec9903",[]
,1,"4",0,0]
,["mi",8,1,"112276a993ec9903",0,"0","GTM JS","GTM","4gtmjs@gmail.com",[[]
,[]
,[]
]
,"4/25/07",[]
,[]
,[]
,[]
,"Apr 25, 2007 11:55 AM","2 way mirror","",[]
,1,,,"Wed Apr 25 2007_11:55 AM","On 4/25/07, GTM JS \u003c4gtmjs@gmail.com\u003e wrote:","On 4/25/07, \u003cb class\u003dgmail_sendername\u003eGTM JS\u003c/b\u003e \u0026lt;4gtmjs@gmail.com\u0026gt; wrote:","gmail.com",,,"","",0,,"\u003caab366660 704242325y38b5aab4q2dace5d9177108a0@mail.gmail.com\u003e",1177482336000,,0,"2 way mirror",0]
,["mb","\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c u\u003eHOW TO DETECT A 2-WAY MIRROR?\u003cbr\u003e\u003 c/u\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc.,\u003cbr\u003eHow many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror\u003cbr\u003ehanging\u003cbr\u003eon the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror \ni.e., they can\u003cbr\u003esee you, but you can\u0026#39;t see them. There have been many cases of people\u003cbr\u003einstalling 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms or bathroom or\u003cbr\ u003ebedrooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by \n\u003cbr\u003ejust\u003cbr\u003elooking at it. So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty\u003cbr\u003ewhat\u003cbr\u003etype of mirror we are looking at?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\ u003e\u003c strong\u003e\u003cu\u003eCONDUCT THIS SIMPLE TEST:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/u\u003e\u0 03c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePlace the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if \n\u003cbr\u003ethere is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then\u003cbr\u003eit is a GENUINE mirror.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHowever, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail,\u003cbr\u003ethen BEWARE, IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR! (There is someone seeing you from \n\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003eother side). So remember, every time you see a mirror, do the\u003cbr\u0 03e\u0026quot;fingernail test.\u0026quot; It doesn\u0026#39;t cost you anything. It is simple to do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe reason there is a gap on a real mirror, is because the silver is on \n\u003cbr\u003ethe back of the mirror UNDER the glass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhereas with a two-way mirror, the silver is on the surface. Keep it in\u003cbr\u003emind! Make sure and check every time you enter in hotel rooms. May be\u003cbr\u003esomeone is making a film on you. \n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLadies: Share this with your friends.\u003cbr\u003eMen: Share this with your sisters, wives, daughters, friends,\u003cbr\u003ecolleagues, etc.\u003cbr\u003ePass this message to all Ur friends in the Contacts Take care.......n\u003cbr\u003edo test\u003cbr\u003eit....\n\u003cbr\u00 3e\u003cbr\u003e\ u003cstrong\u003eluv GTM\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n",0]
,["ce"]],"0"]

See for yourself, the whole of the mail is in the cache. We tried with many such files. We found lot of mails in bits and pieces along with a bunch of email addresses. Now that’s solid proof.

If you are someone who uses public computers or shares a computer with someone, it would be good for your privacy if you clear the cache after logging out of Gmail every time. Some public computers do not give access to the cache, in that case use the ‘Basic html view’ available in Gmail. We recommend Firefox to use Gmail. It does not have this problem of privacy.

And for the Google guys: Time has come to solve this Privacy issue.

Ubuntu 8.04 Tried and Tested: Review

We just received our copy of Ubuntu 8.04 and we did a first hand try on our machine. Usually the CD features some Windows versions of Open Source Software. This time there is nothing like that. There is a new and Improved Installer that loads up once the CD is inserted while Windows is running. This installer can install Ubuntu temporarily without affecting the present file system. Also there is option to install Ubuntu permanently and when this is chosen, Windows restarts and boots from the CD.

The CD boots up with lots of options which was there in Ubuntu 7.10 too. You can try the live version of Ubuntu which shows you exactly how the installed system will look like. But the live version is a too slow and the speed is directly proportional to the speed of your CD drive.

The Ubuntu installation is a seven step process where you tell Ubuntu about your Hardware and specify where to install Ubuntu. The installation took around 30 minutes.

Once installed Ubuntu booted for the first time to a desktop with a picture of a rooster. Now the working speed increased ten fold. Ubuntu 8.04 features lots of desktop effects that will make working with workspaces fun.

To request Ubuntu head to: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu

Some Things In Life Never Change: Here are few such things

Somebody rightly said that 'Some Things in Life Never Change'. Science and Technology have changed our ways and walks of life. Changes can be felt every single day. Newer and better gadgets show up at the stores every week. But still there are some things that never fall out of our life. No matter how far Technology has come, these things have stayed more or less the same over these years.

Watches : We are speaking of Analog Watches. Digital Watches are available with accuracy of upto one second in one million years (i.e one second variation from the real time over one million years). Many digital watches can show temperature and altitute and can even check your emails. But still the glory and style of the traditional analog watches is different. People prefer to see the mechanical movement of the dials more than the style of the silicon controlled displays.

Pencils : We live in a world which has got everything from ball-point pens to laser markers. But pencils still have a very special place in our lives. Technology has not really affected the use and production of pencils. Pencils are used even by space travellers so that they can write in conditions where there is no atmospheric pressure to push the ink out of the ball-point pens!

Calculators : Calculators first came to our lives first in the form of abacus. Abacus is still used in many parts of the world. The electronic calculators as we see today came back in the 1930's. After that many devices including the computer came in front of us. But still we use these electronic calculators for daily mathematical works owing to their low cost and simplicity of use.

Floppies : There was a time when you had to install windows using a bunch of floppies. But memmory have become so cheap that now you can store all the books in the oxford library in a thumb drive. But floppies are not out of the show. The newer laptops do not have floppy drives.. ok. But geeks still use the floppies to recover a system once it does not boot. The windows recovery comes very handy in a floppy.

Dot-Matrix Printer : With the advent of ink-jet and laset-jet printers, dot-matrix printers said good bye to house hold. But that did not mean that it was going to die. Dot-Matrix printers find application in shops and stores where cheap printing is required. The cost of printing using a Dot-Matrix printer is not even one-tenth that using a laser printer. May companies still have a range of Dot-Matrix printers.

Radio : When JL Bird invented Television, someone said that the era of listening is over and now its the time to see. Initially people found T.V very attractive. But we still have Radio transistors in every nook and corner. Even most modern mobile phones have FM Recieving. Many new Broadcasting Centers are coming up these days. Radio transmission now even uses satellites. Maybe its the busy life that still keeps Radio as a part of our day.

Incandescent Lamps : These are not energy-efficient, these are short-lived but these are cheap. Technological advances could invent energy efficient CFL Lamps and LED Lamps. But they all failed in the competition with the Edison Lamps. When you get a CFL for 100 Rs or a LED Lamp for 250 RS you can get a Incandescent Lamp for Rs 10. Today 1$=42Rs.

Printed Books : As we have seen, you can store whole of the Oxford Library in a thumb drive, but that does not stop the publishing industry to stop printing. Printed books still have roles to play in our lifes like it had to play when printing initially started. Maybe its the ease to read something printed that keeps it going.

Fax Machines : We live in an age of SMS and e-mails. But when things get official, we still use fax machines. Because fax is fast and simple.

Post : If emails are soft, post is hard. Personal communication using written mails have decreased. True. But still officail communication is through the normal post.

Ink Pens : Ink-pens may leak, they might not write at times. But its always a pleasure to write with an ink pen. This pleasure have kept the ink pens alive all thorughout the years. We have all the leading manufacturers of pens showcasing a range of ink pens.

Bicycles : You have cars, you have motor bikes. But that does not stop the production fo bicycles. Being a source of health and pleasure, bicycles still stay as a part of our life.

Match Boxes : Lighters can look elegant. But they cannot replace the Match Boxes from our house hold.

Candles : Advent of Electricity reduced the prodcution of candles. That is true. But the soothing effect of a candle is much different from the cold light of a electric lamp. Candles serve as light reserve durig camping and parties. Dating cannot happen without a candle-lit dinner. lol

Life is like that... Some things in life never change!

The Story I wrote for The Dragon Giveaway at absolutevista.com

As you might have noticed in the list of participating websites for the HP HDX Dragon Entertainment Notebook Giveaway (www.31daysofthedragon.com, see previous posts), the first participating website is www.absolutevista.com. Absolute Vista wanted its readers to write up a story which would tell the world how the desktop replacement system would change your life. Here is a copy of the mail that I sent to Absolute Vista that contains my story...

----- Start of Mail -----

I need to breathe…

When the deep shades of the street rickshaws no longer attracted me, I went to McNair uncle. I was 12 then. I went the diggy alley, to the house on the edge. The bell on the door was too high for any boy of my age to handle. I had my own ways of calling up uncle from his study. His room featured all the good things that he had collected in his lifetime. His immaculately polished walking stick always lay next to his door, ready for a stride at short notice. He asked me the question that stills rings my ears – 'What do you want to grow up to? '– I said, I want to be a race driver. He eyed me from the corner of his half moon spectacles. Was that more than He had expected? I don't know. We played till late and then he told me to come back on Saturday.

He usually does not say this, so I went there. I thought he wanted to show something. Instead he took me to Eugene, the geek of our city. Back then it was only he who had a personal computer. Uncle had arranged the evening for me. I was racing down the Nilgiris. I was on my Mclaren. From that day I had been racing. The screech of the tyres and the fuzz of the Nitros have always made me shirty. Shirty to win. Whether it be Rockstreet or the roads of the Monaco, the black-eyed Porsche or the yellow hazels of the Lamborghini, it had been always cash, Nox and fun. I could see that I have started growing out of the box. The day I got my license is the day I got my first speeding ticket. My family and my society have pushed me back to the box. It's suffocating. I need to race, race and race till I fall. Give me the dragon, I need to breathe…

I said I need to breathe…

This is a 20 year old computer adhering machine that can be found in Kerala, India. This machine grabs his bike to go to college to earn its B-tech degree and is named Arun Basil Lal. That's me man.

No attachments please…

----- End of Mail -----

I did not have enough luck to grab the Dragon. The winner at Absoulte Vista was Derek Hunter. Congratulations Derek.

Proceed to Absoulte Vista to read the winning story and the runner-up's.

Interested in Oracle ? Then Get a Free Subscription of The Oracle Magazine

Are a Oracle developer? Are you interested in using Oracle products or do wish to know the inside stories of Oracle? Then here is something for you. Oracle has got a bi-monthly magazine which is given to all those who are interested in Oracle and its produclts.
The Oracle magazine is mainly for the IT professionals which delivers Up-to-date information on Oracle Database and Oracle tools. It contains Technical articles on Orcale products and operating enviornments and gives you lots of tips and tricks, right from the Oracle users. Also brings winning customer stories and news every 2 months right to your door-step in a neat printed format.
So if you feel like you need a bit of technical reading, all about Oracle, follow this link : www.oracle.com/oraclemagazine

You have to fill up a questionnaire before you get the free subscription.

The May-June issue contains an Interview with Jeff Pollock, senior director of product management at Oracle in whcih he talks about the new Oracle Data Integration Suite.