Wednesday 31 August 2011

ISP Vs Linux User



Part I :-

My Internet Service provider (henceforth referred to as ISP) is repeatedly mailing me to get free antivirus package :-)


"By upgrading now, you will be enjoying the following:
  • Free bundled Single Anti-Virus License."
Why would i require a Anti virus license if i am using Linux?It is a total no brainer.

Part II :-

 Also whenever i have a broadband outage and report the issue with the call centre guys

==>They would ask me whether the network icon in the system tray is blinking.Since I use "ifup" instead of network manager on GNOME obviously I wouldn't be able to see a network connection icon.

 ==>Then they request me to clear cache ,history blah ,blash{right click on internet explorer icon etc}

==>Then as part of their next sermon they ask me to Press start button==>Run==>cmd,After which i would interrupt them and  tell them politely that i am not using windows but Linux.They pause for second then repeat start saying "Press start button==>Run==>cmd".They either think i am an idiot or they don't want to understand what i am saying.
I bet Half of the ISP support personnel don't know what an OS is.


 It is high time that  Indian ISPs should review their support policies towards  Linux and MAC users. I definitely think as the number of internet users grow in India the size of the niche segment into which I fall will definitely grow in numbers.I would say that this is a sort of discrimination if ISPs continue to work in this fashion.

Friday 26 August 2011

Play Angry Anna Online


 Modelled around the famous game "Angry Birds" here is Anna in his new and latest avatar "Angry Anna". Start killing corruption by playing Angry Anna

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Remove Annoying "Universal Access Settings" menu from GNOME 3.X

 I have been looking for a way to remove the annoying "universal Access Settings/Accessibility Icon" menu from Top Panel in GNOME 3.X and finally found it in "ArchWiki".

The solution works in openSUSE 11.4/GNOME 3.X(GNOME 3.0.2) as of date


Steps to remove the Icon/Menu:-

Step 1:-
Create a folder named  noa11y.icon@panel.ui  in 
<HOME>/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions (or) ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions

Step 2:-
Create two new files inside the folder:

    File: ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/noa11y.icon@panel.ui/extension.js

    const Panel = imports.ui.panel;

    function main() {
      Panel.STANDARD_TRAY_ICON_SHELL_IMPLEMENTATION['a11y'] = '';
    }

    File: ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/noa11y.icon@panel.ui/metadata.json

    {
      "shell-version": ["3.0"],
      "uuid": "noa11y.icon@panel.ui",
      "name": "na11y",
      "description": "Turn off the ally icon in the panel"
    }

Step 3:-
Restart the GNOME shell.
 

Press Alt+F2 and in the "pop up" command line type in 'r' without quotes and then hit return key or the "Enter Key"
Viola no more "Accessibility Icon"


Edit : 01DEC2011 :- If you are on  openSUSE 12.1 there is an easier way to do this.Check out this post Step 6

The Curious Case of Zaheer and India

Just like the film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" where the film protagonist ages backwards which is most unbelievable,the same is the case with Zaheer Khan's performance and Indian Cricket Team.The is strange relationship between the his poor bowling and team's losing chances.It is a strange but the synergy is undeniable.

I was pondering about the humiliating defeat that the Indian cricket team was handed down by the English team(2011 Pataudi Series),when it dawned upon me that there is peculiar relationship between this series and ODI world cup final of 2003.I find strange similarities between Lord's test in 2011 Pataudi Trophy and 2003 ODI World Cup final.

==>Both matches are important as far as the series is concerned.

==>In the current series the unfit zaheer khan bowled only 14 overs and bowed out of the rest of the remaining 1s test on day one of the test.

==>Similarly in 2003 world cup Zaheer bowled a horrendous first over ceding 15 runs to Australia

==>Indians handed the Test Crown to the English in the 2011 Pataudi trophy

==>Indians handed the ODI Crown to the Australia in the 2003 ODI World Cup

==>In both the series 2003 ODI world cup as well 2011 Pataudi series India were considered the front runners

==>Zaheer khan opened the bowling in both cases

==>India won the toss on both the times and chose to field

==>The current Indian captain as well the one in 2003 were considered one of the very best were highly rated

==>Both occasions India was playing away from home and in iconic famous grounds "The Wanderers Stadium"Johannesburg,South Africa(2003)and Lord's Cricket Ground,London(2011)


In the next important match of the series that Indians play they should do the following to avoid humiliating defeats be it a test ,ODI or T20 or whatever new format they invent in future like T10,T5 etc:-

==>BCCI must haggle with ICC to get to play at a newly built stadium

==>Avoid winning toss

==>Even if they win the toss opt to bat instead of choosing to field

==>Ask some one else other than Zaheer to open the bowling in the event that they are asked to field first after the opposing team wins the toss and opts to bat first

==>BCCI can ask press to write articles telling the current team is weak and so on

==>BCCI can request ICC to drop Indian team a few places down in the ranking on the eve of the match

==>Appoint a stand in captain for the match and give the current captain(who would be certainly a very highly accomplished cricketer himself) a paid vacation to Alps or some remote location

Thursday 11 August 2011

Sound of Rain

Boom Boom Boom goes the sound of rain
When accompanied by thunder

Voom Voom Voom goes the sound of rain
When married with the wind

Croak Croak Croak goes the sound of rain
When frogs count the raindrops

Clap Clap Clap goes the sound of rain
When window panes get agitated in the rain

Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh goes the sound of rain
When they fall onto the ground after a naughty child disturbs a tree after rains

Gurgle Gurgle Swoosh goes the sound of rain
When flowing along the deserted streets

Swish Swish Swish goes the sound of rain
When it hits the foliage

Plop Plop Plop goes the sound of rain
When it drips into a muddy puddle

Splatter Splatter Splatter goes the sound of rain
When it passes under the myriad wheels of the passing vehicles

Giggle Giggle Giggle goes the sound of rain
When people encounter the first rains of the season

Monday 8 August 2011

Rahul Dravid The Bhisma pithama/Karna Of Indian Cricket

 Every Hindu epic has a few characters who display impeccable  character.
Similarly  Indian cricket has Rahul Dravid.I would like to draw upon analogical similarities between great characters of mahabharata , Bhisma pithama/Karna and Rahul Dravid.

==>Similar to how  Karna was abandoned in favour of pandavas,rahul dravid despite being a good ODI player the later part of ODI  career was scarified so that new faces can show up in the team.

==>It was Rahul Dravid who first announced that senior players would not take part in 20-20 cricket just before 20-20 world cup which paved way for India's success in inaugural 20-20 world cup.This is similar to the stand that Bhisma took(in staying with the kauravas) when the kurukshethra war was about to start

==>Since India lacks good batsmen in the current series(2011 IndvsEng ODIs) Rahul is being recalled by BCCI to bolster the ODI side.This is similar to th e case where druyodhana begged Bhishma to lead kaurava's into battle despite many younger warrriors like drona ,karna who were also possible suitors.The trait that tilted balance in favour of Bhisma was character integrity in addition to being a good warrior.Similarly though India has lot of Indian youngsters who are keen to make a impact in current series selectors wanted to bring back Dravid who is the epitome of classical stroke play and ofcourse good batting in IPL matches.


==>Have never seen Dravid loose his cool regardless of the moment whether India is winning or losing similar to Bhisma who put up with every nonsense in his life ranging from his old father not asking him to marry as he wanted to marry a young maiden and also allowing kauravas to run rampant when they asked pandavas to leave for vanavas

==>Dravid kept wickets for a long time for India in the ODIs and in recent test series (Ind vs Eng 2011) when  Dhoni wanted to bowl a few overs .This which was not at all necessary as India has always had a great talent pool and it would be very easy for BCCI select a decent wicket keeper from the domestic circuit(Ranji,Duleep,Deodhar to name a few) . This can be equated karna donating his kavacha kundala to fully knowing that the alm seeker is Indra.This is case of sacrifice which was not required from Dravid .

The list is endless and we can just salute Rahul Dravid for  his yeoman service to Indian cricket


Twists in Dravid's tale :- Mr Dependable

GNOME 3.X, openSUSE 11.4 experience

GNOME 3.0, openSUSE 11.4 experience has been
==>Mouse gesture to switch between windows is really cool and likeable feature
==>Feel that more themes which work  out of box which can be installed through YAST is the "need of the hour"
==>Workspaces have no much use for me anyway ,hence major changes in workspaces handling between GNOME 2.x and GNOME 3.X did not matter much for an average user like myself
==>The default mapping of Windows switching and application launching to windows key in keyboard is much appreciated
==>Hope to see more flexibility in manipulating the top panel default menus like easy way of removing "universal Access settings" which most users don't really need
==>Really appreciate people who brought in "gnome shell extensions" as it involves no more searching for shutdown menu.
==>Really looking forward for more features in "System Settings" and "Tweak Advanced Settings"
==>Eagerly awaiting next release of openSUSE in September when better integration with GNOM3.X is hoped for atleast by me.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Famson (facebook) vs Googliath (google)

The latest internet rage is the fight between facebook and google
Its probably the third world war
The earlier world wars were fought for control of land and mining resources
The latest worldwar is for a piece of the internet traffic pie
The battle lines have been already drawn.
Pitched battle are being fought and here is the status of the war
==>Facebookland vs googleplus land has become a prime example of trench warfare
==>Google failed miserably in the "Buzz" land and the attempt fizzled out without a fuzz.
==>The Orkut fort lasted only till 2010 in india
==>Facebook has single handedly given death blows to all other competitors like hi5,myspace etc leaving only google in the fray
==>Facebok has made major gains in past few years of the war
==>Facebook alias samson(henceforth referred to as famson) is making huge headway against googliath bringing in more traffic to its site than google search site
==>To cover up early losses googliath has turned tide against famson by unearthing a major coup in the form of googleplusland
==>There also huge and large scale aerial bombing of ideas through "facebook like" and google "plus one"


One may join either of the forces in the below website.Happy browsing!!!!


http://likevsplus.thewebsys.com/