Google Picasa

So Google is moving on from Picasa. The alternate, Google Photos, suggested at the site, is just the upload application.

Picasa desktop application has good functions for basic image editing and enhancements.
The download links are no more there. In case installer is required, you'll need to refer to Software Repository sites.

The following links are are still working although these are removed from Download page:

http://dl.google.com/picasa/picasa39-setup.exe
http://dl.google.com/picasa/picasa38-setup.exe

Thought for the Day...

One day a fisherman got up very early in the morning. There was not enough sunlight to get into the sea. He saw a pack of stones to pass time. He started throwing the stone into the sea. While having the last stone in the hand, the sun came up then he saw that the stone was a diamond. He felt for his misfortune of throwing all of them into the sea... Moral of the story: Do not get up early in the morning...

phpPoker | Get phpPoker at SourceForge.net

phpPoker | Get phpPoker at SourceForge.net

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phpPoker

I created a 5 Card Poker Game in PHP. This is one player game and I started it to practise some PHP.

Today I've released phpPoker under GNU GPL at SourceForge.net. This is my first Open Source Project that has reached Net.

The Project Page at SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/phppoker/

The phpPoker can be played online at
http://phppoker.sourceforge.net/demo/index.php.

I'm yet to work on Project Home Page: http://phppoker.sourceforge.net/.

Open Source Softwares in USB

This is a compilation of open source softwares customized to run from USB stick.
"winPenPack is a free project having as main objective research and development of portable software. All applications are optimized for use on a portable device (USB pen drive, portable Hard Drive, etc.) and do not require installation."

http://sourceforge.net/projects/winpenpack/

http://www.winpenpack.com/

The collection can be downloaded as a ZIP file. Once you extract it to a Pen Drive, the working softwares set is ready.
The list of software available in the pack is reasonably good, including open office, firefox explorer, system and security tools, development tools, project management tools, image and multimedia management tools, drawing tools etc.
English support is available but needs imporvements. Even after using English as default language, many applications continue to show Italian interface.

अच्छे बुरे

चांद सितारों से क्या पूंछूं, दिन कब मेरे फिरते हैं
वो तो बेचारे खुद हैं भिखारी, डेरे डेरे फिरते हैं
***
एक नुज़ुमी दाग़ से कहता था आज
ज्योतिष
आपके दिन ए जनाब अच्छे नहीं

***

कोई पास आया सवेरे सवेरे
मुझे आजमाया सवेरे सवेरे

मेरी दास्ताँ को जरा सा बदल कर
मुझे ही सुनाया सवेरे सवेरे

जो कहता था कल शब् संभालना संभालना
वही लड़खड़ाया सवेरे सवेरे

कटी रात सारी मेरे मयकदे में
खुदा याद आया सवेरे सवेरे
***
फिकरे-मआश, इश्के-बुतां, यादे-राफ्तगां
रोजगार की फिकर/ बुत - god (also means lover)/ गुजरे दिनों की याद
एक जिंदगी में कोई क्या क्या किया करे

Open and Free Mind

Another cool tool from Open Source Software repository: FreeMind.
This is how the FreeMind site describes it:
"FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map) software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click "fold / unfold" and "follow link" operations.

So you want to write a completely new metaphysics? Why don't you use FreeMind? You have a tool at hand that remarkably resembles the tray slips of Robert Pirsig, described in his sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance called Lila. Do you want to refactor your essays in a similar way you would refactor software? Or do you want to keep personal knowledge base, which is easy to manage? Why don't you try FreeMind? Do you want to prioritize, know where you are, where you've been and where you are heading, as Stephen Covey would advise you? Have you tried FreeMind to keep track of all the things that are needed for that?"

There are so many possibilities with this small tool - taking notes in meeting, preparing strategy, using as task list, ...

Here is the site link:
http://freemind.sourceforge.net

Note that the software needs JRE (Java Runtime Environment). If you install the software and it doesn't work, try installing JRE first:
JRE Link and More Details

Searching Files with Google

So I'm searching for something on Google again. What I'm getting in search results are some useful pages, mostly HTML pages. And yes, there are some result links with [PDF] mark.
I realize these are PDF files stored on some websites which Google has indexed. I also realize that contents available on net in the form of PDF/ PPT/ DOC/ XLS files are better resources than ubiquitous HTML pages.
Now the question: Is there any way I can search those files, and restrict my search results to File URL only.
Yes, if I add "filetype:PDF" in Google search box after search string, I'll get PDF files in search results.
There is another option: Google allows you to create Custom Searches. Using this feature it is possible to create a Custom Search box, which will search only files.
Go to Google and try this. If you don't want to dig into technical details, I've created one for me. This is also available at the bottom of my blogs.

When I do a file search, only links with files are returned. In addition, the result page provide filter for PDF/ DOC/ XLS/ PPT files.

Check this and add my blogs to your Favorites :)

Some Cool Translations….

Have a nice day!
----- अच्छा दिन लो!

What's up?
----- ऊपर क्या है?

You're kidding!
----- तुम बच्चा बना रहे हो!

Don't kid me!
----- मेरा बच्चा मत बनाओ!

Yo, baby! What's up?
----- बेटी यो, ऊपर क्या है?

Cool man!
----- ठंडा आदमी!

Check this out, man!
---- इसकी छानबीन करो, आदमी!

Don't mess with me, dude.
----- मेरे साथ गंदगी मत करो, ए व्यक्ति.

She's so fine!
----- वो इतनी बारीक है!

Listen buddy, that chick's mine, okay!?
----- सुनो दोस्त, वो चूजा मेरा है, ठीक?

Hey good looking; what's cooking?
---- अरे सुन्दरता की देवी; क्या पका रही हो?

Are you nuts?
----- क्या आप अखरोट हैं?

Son of a gun.
----- बच्चा बंदूक का.

Rock the party.
---- पार्टी में पत्थर फेको.

And the best ones are.....

How do you do?
----- कैसे करते हो?

Keep in touch!
----- छूते रहो.

Lets hang out!
----- चलो बाहर लटकते हैं

ZIP RAR

Most of us have used WinZip to handle zip files. It doesn't handle RAR files, so WinRAR is required. Similarly there are separate tools for handling ISO files.
There is one Open Source Software, which handles these all; and in addition there are more formats supported. 7-Zip is available at http://www.7-zip.org/. This is a good replacement for commercial versions of popular archiving softwares.

This is the feature list as per 7-Zip site:

• High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
• Supported formats:
  Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
  Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
• For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
• Self-extracting capability for 7z format
• Integration with Windows Shell
• Powerful File Manager
• Powerful command line version
• Plugin for FAR Manager
• Localizations for 63 languages

Technorati

Technorati Profile
Blogger's Directory - if you have your own its good to have it listed here.

शायर: अख़्तर / मीना कुमारी

***
शेर कहते हो बहुत खूब तुम अख़्तर लेकिन
अच्छे शायर ये सुना है कि जवां मरते हैं
***
शाम तन्हा है, आसमां तन्हा
दिल मिला है कहॉ कहॉ तन्हा

बुझ गई आस, थम गई ज्योति
थरथराता रहा धुँआ तन्हा
***

ExplorerXP

The standard Windows Explorer has a Tree View for folders and a List View for folder and file listing. Only one folder can be "explored" at a time. FireFox made Tabbed browsing polular, and off late, Internet Explorer has introduced tabbed browsing in Release 7. Windows Explorer still lacks this feature.


There are softwares where more than one folder view is available in verticle or horizontal split.


2xExplorer has been there since long with a scaled down version for non-commercial use:
2xExplorer Site





There is another recent entry with similar feature:
ExplorerXP



Sooner or later, Windows Explorer will have to introduce this feature.

floAT's Mobile Agent

It is a good Open Source Software for use with Mobile phone. I've been using this with Sony Ericson handset and it works fine with this set.
Here is the homepage at SourceForge:
http://fma.sourceforge.net/index2.htm
This is what the homepage says about FMA:
...
FMA is a free powerful phone editing tool allowing users to easily manage all of the personal data stored in their phones, via a number of different connections methods. FMA allows easy management of Phonebook (both SIM and Phone memory), SMS, Profiles, and Files stored on the phone. FMA can also allow you to pickup and dial calls directly from your PC. FMA is fun and much more; whatever you want it to be, it is whatever a mobile phone should have :-) (Currently based on Sony Ericsson T610 features set).
...

शायर: फानी / हरिचंद अख़्तर

हर नफस उमरे-गुजश्ता की है मय्यत फानी,
सांस / बीती उम्र / कब्र
जिंदगी नाम है मर मर के जिए जाने का

***
शबाब आया किसी बुत पर फ़िदा होने का वक़्त आया
मेरी दुनियां में बन्दे के खुदा होने का वक़्त आया


तकल्लुम के खामोशी कह रही है हर्फे-मतलब से
बातचीत / शब्दों के अर्थ
कि अश्क-आमेज़ नजरों से अदा होने का वक़्त आया
आंसू भरी

हमें भी आ पड़ा है दोस्तों से काम कुछ यानी
हमारे दोस्तों के बेवफा होने का वक़्त आया
***

Creating Documentation and Manuals

Microsoft Word is one of the popular options to create documents. It can be used to create manuals and guides. But as these manuals grow in size and include more images, handling the document becomes more tedious task. Producing PDF version of the document is also not the straight task in Word.
One option available in Open Source is LyX based documentation tools. I found it particularly good at creating bulky and complex documents.
There are more than one software that need to be installed in order to get a working LyX framework. Here are the tools, I used in my setup:

• LyX
  
• MiKTeX
• ImageMagick
• GhostScript

LyX is the main program that uses other tools in background.

The basic difference in working with LyX and other common softwares is the appearience while writing documents. Instead of WYSIWYG, the approach is What You Mean Is What You Get. Normally, the document elements are styled as title, chapter, heading, and so on. Rest of the work is handled by LyX, when it processes and generate the document.

शायर: नामालूम

हम पर दुःख का पर्वत टूटा, तब हमने दो चार कहे
उसपे भला क्या बीती होगी जिसने शेर हजार कहे
...
अश'आर मेरे यूं तो ज़माने के लिए हैं
कुछ शेर फकत उनको सुनाने के लिए हैं

गूगल में हिंदी

गूगल में अब हिंदी में लिखना और भेजना संभव है।
बहुत अच्छा! यानी अब मैं कुछ पसंदीदा शेर यहाँ ला सकता हूँ.

अजय

Answer by BE students

Interviewer: Why is a thicker conductor necessary to carry a current in  A.C.as compared to D.C. ?  
Candidate:  An AC current goes up and down (drawing a sinusoid) and requires more space inside the wire, so the wire has to be thicker.  

External  (to  student) : "Why does a capacitor block DC but allow AC To pass through ?  
Student: See, a capacitor is like this  ---| |---  , OK. DC comes straight, like this ---------- , and the capacitor stops it. But AC,goes UP, DOWN, UP DOWN and jumps right over the capacitor!"

Interviewer:  How will you tell if that wall outlet carries AC or DC?  
Candidate: I will put my finger in. If it is pushed away, it is AC. If it gets stuck, it was DC.  

Interviewer:  H! ow will you reverse direction of an Induction motor?
Candidate:  I will remove the four bolts at the x-ud, turn the motor around, and put back the bolts.      

Interviewer:  How do you start a synchronous motor?  
Candidate:  Vrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (in rising pitch)  
Interviewer: Stop! Stop!  
Candidate:  rrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (in falling pitch)  

Examiner: "What is a step-up transformer?"  
Student: "A transformer that is put on top of electric poles."  
Examiner (smiling):  "And then what is a step-down transformer?"
Student (hesitantly):" Uh - A transformer that is put in the x-udment or in a pit?"  
Examiner (pouncing): "Then what do you call a transformer that is installed on the ground?"  
(Student knows he is caught-can't answer)
Examiner (impatiently): "Well?"  
Student (triumphantly):  "A stepless transformer, sir!"

PHP Designer 2006

PHP Designer 2006 Version 4.0.6 Beta is released.
The site (http://www.mpsoftware.dk/) and forums doesn't say anything about what's new. Debug option is not there.
While another debugger DBG ( http://dd.cron.ru/dbg/home.php) is available, but support is limited for php version up to 5.0.3. The php_dbg.dll version must match your php version.

ajaysajay