Ravinder's B.L.O.G.

Everything Happens For The Good

2009-07-21T21:38:00.002+05:30

Everything Happens For The Good

There was once a King who had a wise advisor. The advisor followed the King everywhere, and his favorite advice was, “Everything happens for the good”. One day the King went hunting and had a little accident. He shot an arrow at his own foot and was injured. He asked the advisor what he thought about the accident, to which the advisor replied, “Everything happens for the good”. This time the King was really upset and ordered for his advisor to be put in prison. The King asked his advisor, “Now, what do you think?” The advisor again replied, “Everything happens for the good”. So the advisor remained in prison.

The King later went on a hunting trip, this time without the advisor. The King was then captured by some cannibals. He was taken to the cannibals' camp where he was to be the evening meal for the cannibals. Before putting him into the cooking pot he was thoroughly inspected. The cannibals saw the wound on the King’s foot and decided to throw him back into the jungle. According to the cannibals' tradition, they would not eat anything that was imperfect. As a result the King was spared. The King suddenly realized what his advisor said was true. The advisor also escaped death because had he not been in prison, he would have followed the King on the hunting trip, and would have ended up in the cooking pot.

Moral:

It is true that everything in life happens for a purpose, and always for our own good. If you think about it, all our past experiences actually happened to bring us to where we are today, and it is always for the good. All the past experiences makes us a better person. So, whatever challenges that we may face today, consider it happening to bring us to the next level.

Win Merge: File, Folder Comparison and Merge

2009-06-27T08:12:00.001+05:30

Often in a development environment, a developer is posed with issues with comparing files and folders. Even though, the Software Configuration management tools offer file comparison utilities, they often do not serve the full purpose of the developer and lack the best features of File Comparison Tools.

Beyond Compare from Scooter Software will the Number 1 choice of any developer for File/Folder comparison, merge. But, this is a paid software.

As usual, I always look for some opensource/freeware stuff whereby I can get all these facilities without purchasing any software.

One such great software from OpenSource is "WinMerge". It gives all the facilities of Beyond Compare.

File and Folder Comparison
Merge
Tree View [basic version] (wow!! i was waiting for this BeyonCompare feature on winmerge for a long time.)
Plugin Support
xdocdiff plugin: with this you can compare Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and some more files.

read more on winmerge @ winmerge.com

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Initiative: A short story

2009-05-04T14:53:00.002+05:30

Employee "A" in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day? The manager took "A" to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank. ” A" completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. The manager smiled and said “GOOD JOB ".

Next day Employee "B" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as above to this person also.
The Employee "B' before starting the task saw Employee "C" struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. He realized "C" has the same task. Now "B" not only crossed the river but also helped "C" to cross the river. "B" reported back to the manager and the manager smiled and said “VERY GOOD JOB "

The following day Employee "Q" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.
Employee "Q" before starting the work did some home work and realized "A", "B" & "C" all has done this task before. He met them and understood how they performed. He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task.

He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly. Using the methodology he had written down he crossed the river and reported back to the manager along with documented procedure and training material. The manger said "Q" you have done an “EXCELLENT JOB “.

The following day Employee "O' reported to the manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.
"O" studied the procedure written down by "Q" and sat and thought about the whole task.He realized company is spending lot of money in getting this task completed. He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river and went back to his manager and said, "You no longer need to assign this task to any one".

The manager smiled and said " Outstanding job 'O'. I am very proud of you."

What is the difference between A, B, Q & O????????

Many a times in life we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play.,
Most of us end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably yes. We would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation.

Let us compare ourselves with "B". Helping some one else the problem often improves our own skills. There is an old proverb "learn to teach and teach to learn". From a company point of view "B" has demonstrated much better skills than "A" since one more task for the company is completed.

"Q" created knowledge base for the team. More often than not, we do the task assigned to us without checking history. Learning from other's mistake is the best way to improve efficiency. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help. Re-usability reduces cost there by increases productivity of the team. "Q" demonstrated good "team-player" skills,

Now to the outstanding person, "O" made the task irrelevant; he created a Permanent Asset to the team.
If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated "team performance" over an above individual performance; also they have demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as "INITIATIVE" .

Initiative pays of every where whether at work or at personal life. If you put initiative you will succeed. Initiative is a continual process and it never ends. This is because this year's achievement is next year's task. You cannot use the same success story every year.

The story provides an instance of performance, where as measurement needs to be spread across at least 6-12 months. Consequently performance should be consistent and evenly spread.

Out-of-Box thinkers are always premium and that is what every one constantly looks out for.

Initiative, Out-of-Box thinking and commitment are the stepping stone to success.

Internet at a very high speed of 640 Gbps

2008-07-13T21:52:00.005+05:30

World is soon going to move to a fastest possible internet speed of 640 Gbps .... wonder how?

University of Sydney physicists have developed an optical chip that could potentially improve Internet speeds upto 100 times faster than the current network.

Uses Chalcogenide glass photonic chips.
Based on plain glass and so cheap to produce the chips.
Do not have to shell more more for the new technology.
Data rates equivalent to transmitting 17 complete DVDs per second! (Unable to believe this.)
Chips could be available in another 5 years.
Possible first deployment in Japan.

read more...

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Google Sites now open to everyone

2008-05-23T16:40:00.003+05:30

Google Sites which was launched some time back and was bundled with Google Apps Product is made public now.
Now we can create our site without registering for Google Apps and enjoy all the benefits of Google Sites. Google Sites allows document sharing and much more...

read more

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Hulu: Watch Movies Online 100% Legally

2008-05-10T20:54:00.008+05:30

Have you heard of Hulu?
If yes, that's great! But, don't skip this article, as it tells you how to watch Hulu outside USA.
If no, just read on...

Hulu is a video on demand service launched by NBC, FOX and their cable networks (US). The site was launched on 12th of March 2008.

Features:

The soaps/shows/MOVIES available on this site are absolutely free and 100% legal.
Ad-supported streaming.
Users have the choice to view the ads ahead of the movie or in between the movie.
Superior Look 'n' Feel.
Quality of the video is richer than that of other sites (earlier there was divx, but they have shut down their site).
Hulu is currently available only to US visitors due to copyright issues with other countries. Soon this site will be available to viewers all over the world. (But, until then viewers outside US need not be disappointed... just read on).

Viewers outside US, who cannot watch Hulu videos can watch now by using Hotspot Shield.
Hotspot Shield shields your IP address from others....

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Hotspot Shield: Wi-Fi Security

2008-05-03T18:05:00.008+05:30

All of us, at one point or the other would have felt the need to connect to Wi-Fi Hotspot Zone for internet, typically at airports, hotels, etc.., But, did we ever realize that somebody else on the same Wi-Fi zone can hack our system, track the sites we visit and there is no end to such things in such a un-secured environment.

Here we go... Hotspot Shield by AnchorFree.
Hotspot Shield provides secure environment to access Wi-Fi spots by creating a virtual private network (VPN) between a laptop and the Wi-Fi router.
And the best thing about this software is that it is FREE.
Download Hotspot shield from here and enjoy hassel free internet browsing wherever you are.

Note: "You do not need this tool unless you want to connect to a Wi-Fi Unsecured Hotspot Zone".

Happy Browsing :)

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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SFTP GUI Clients

2008-05-03T17:17:00.005+05:30

There are a good number of SFTP GUI clients in the market.
But, among them I found FileZilla and WinSCP to be very useful.

Features of FileZilla and WinSCP:

Very attractive GUI
Freeware (GPL)
Quick transfer of files

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Sftp: Alternative to FTP on UNIX

2008-05-03T16:40:00.005+05:30

In general, FTP protocol is used to transfer files from one system to another in a network or on the internet.
FTP service is available by default on a Unix box but on some windows machines we have to enable it. To learn more on how to set up FTP server on windows click this.

In some rare cases, where FTP is disabled on a Unix box and only a secure shell is operational, sftp comes handy.
SFTP does the same work as FTP but works on a secure shell.

So, hereafter you can use SFTP if FTP is not available :)

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Free Online Photoshop

2008-03-28T07:01:00.005+05:30

Adobe seems to get into the web battle with Google and Microsoft. There's a very good news to those who once thought of using Photoshop, but couldn't due to license fee. Adobe launches free version of Online Photoshop Express, which provides a minimal set of features of Photoshop CS3.

Free Online Photoshop

For a DEMO click this.

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Tatas buy Jaguar and Landrover

2008-03-26T19:11:00.005+05:30

After Tata Steel, now Tata Motors is on its way to conquer the market.
Tatas buy Jaguar and Landrover for $2.3 bn.

read more...

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IBM: Switch to a new world

2008-03-24T10:07:00.003+05:30

IBM announced that it has built a nanophotonic switch that can control flow of data on chip using pulses of light instead of electrons.

The nanophotonic switch is 100 times smaller than a human hair.
This optical switch is supposed to give greater performance and use less energy.
IBM says that using optical communication between the cores would dramatically cut processor's energy needs and the heat it emits.
IBM's dream to turn Super Computers to laptops may become a reality. So, by 2020 we may see Laptop Super Computers.
The new chip would require the energy required to power a light bulb as against the super computer, which would require energy to power hundreds of homes.

read more...
see photo

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Fix the web with Greasemonkey

2008-03-15T09:24:00.004+05:30

UserScripts is a good source of Greasemonkey scripts, which are uploaded by the community at large. As the video speaks, we can make the site look the way we want using these scripts. We can freely download these scripts from "www.userscripts.org" and install them.

Watch Video:

Please read the instructions before downloading the scripts, as the site itself has this caution on every script: "Extra caution is recommended when installing recently uploaded/updated scripts (read more). Be sure you trust any scripts you install". A person with good knowledge of JavaScript should be able to understand what the script does and install it.

Happy browsing!!!

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Firefox addons

2008-03-12T06:53:00.003+05:30

I found an interesting article about Firefox add-ons, it's simply superb. I have installed a few add-ons, they work really great.
read here...

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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India: Is Internet connection slow? Don't blame India.

2008-03-11T19:42:00.005+05:30

I always used to blame the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in India - that they can never provide a stable and reliable internet connection, but now I understand that I was wrong. Blame it on International Bandwidth operators as they charge 2 times that of US and UK.

read more...

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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Google Sites may give Sharepoint a run

2008-03-09T04:38:00.001+05:30

What is Sharepoint?

Microsoft's Sharepoint is a document management system software that allows users to share documents and maintain calendars on secure Web sites within an organization.

This is a paid software, organizations have to buy and maintain the software and the required hardware. Perhaps a costly affair in general!
Medium and small-sized organizations usually cannot afford it...

How is Google Sites better than Sharepoint?

With Google Sites:

No hassles of buying software!!! No hassles of buying hardware!!! This is a Free Document Management System on Google Servers.
Google Sites allows users to create a team web site in an easy way. Any Organization (say, University, School, Club, Community, etc.,) can maintain their documents on the web site, and for this they need not be techies. As Google claims, "Building a site is as simple as editing a document, and you don't need anyone's help to get started."

Google Sites is bundled under Google Apps, where the Standard and Education Editions are FREE. The Premier Edition costs $50/year/account.

So, if you and your friends are working on a project at university or home, sign up for Google Apps Standard Edition and enjoy the features of Google Sites.

Cons:

Large companies may not like the idea of putting their documents on third party servers due to security reasons. So I think this facility is a boon to small and medium scale companies but not to large companies.

Watch Video:

1.Google Sites Tour:

2. Google Sites:

read more..

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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PDFMENOT

2008-03-09T04:19:00.000+05:30

I remember the days when I used to surf internet by visiting a nearby Internet Cafe. A google search usually gives some pdf links too, but the poor Internet Cafe never provided me with Adobe Reader :( So, I had to download, install the Adobe Reader before I could read the pdf file. This happened with me, quite a fews times because I change the Internet Cafe Centres very often.
Was sick of download, install and view process. That too in India, with the download speeds of about 32kbps to 64kpbs (now we do get upto 2Mbps), it was hell at times.

The ultimate problem was without a PDF plugin for the Internet Explorer or Firefox, I could not view pdf files, now I think this problem is being solved. Thanks to "www.pdfmenot.com".

With "www.pdfmenot.com" you don't need a pdf plugin at all. Just copy the link to pdf file and then you can view it online.

I'm sure it would come in use to you some time :)

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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TeraByte DISK

2008-03-08T11:13:00.004+05:30

CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and now TeraDisc...
TeraDisc seems to store 1 TeraByte (1024 GB) and would be available by 2010.
So, if you are planning for a Blu-Ray Disc Player then think twice :)

read more...
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Vista SP1 may end up ruining your PC

2008-03-05T19:43:00.000+05:30

Microsoft has released a list of applications which can stop working due to Vista Service Pack 1 update. The list contains most of the security programs like Bitdefender AV, Zone Alarm, etc..

read more...

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Warning: Be sure to type "blogspot" correctly

2008-03-04T09:49:00.007+05:30

Accidentally, I mistyped the word "blogspot" with "blogpsot" and what I see is another site.

For e.g., If you type "gmailblog.blogpsot.com" instead of "gmailblog.blogspot.com" then you are redirected to another site and eventually your browser may crash immediately.
Possibly a malware or a spyware site !!!
It happens with any ".blogpsot.com" address, for that matter even with this site address.

So, be sure to type the word blogspot correctly, or instead I would actually recommend bookmarks.

Happy Browsing!!!

~R.A.V.I.N.D.E.R
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ICICI bank opens first US branch

2008-03-04T06:36:00.002+05:30

ICICI, the second largest bank in India (after SBI) has opened its first US branch.
ICICI bank has about 950 branches in India and has its presence in 19 countries all over the world. It plans to manage the salary accounts of US employees of TCS, Infosys and Wipro.

read more...

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India: Budget 2008 Tax Summary

2008-03-01T02:46:00.008+05:30

How much from our pocket?
Here is the summary of only the direct taxes:

Threshold limit of exemption from personal income tax in the case of all assesses increased to Rs.150,000. The slabs and rates of tax are :

Up to Rs.150,000 NIL
Rs.150,001 to Rs.300,000 10 per cent
Rs.300,001 to Rs.500,000 20 per cent
Rs.500,001 and above 30 per cent

In case of a woman assessee, the threshold limit increased from Rs.145,000 to Rs.180,000; for a senior citizens, the threshold limit increased from Rs.195,000 to Rs.225,000.
No change in the corporate income tax rates.
No change in the rate of surcharge.
Senior Citizen Saving Scheme 2004 and the Post Office Time Deposit Account added to the basket of saving instruments under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
Additional deduction of Rs.15,000 allowed under Section 80D to an individual paying medical insurance premium for his/her parent or parents.

Source: http://indiabudget.nic.in
Information Source: Narender

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SUN + MySQL= New Era

2008-02-29T09:25:00.007+05:30

At last, SUN Microsystems completes acquisition of MySQL (open source database). SUN paid a whooping $1bn for the acquisition, which is the biggest ever of any open source software company. MySQL offers a free community edition, whereas its enterprise edition costs $595/server/year.

SUN's top Open Source Softwares include

OpenSolaris (Operating System)
OpenOffice (Office Software)
Java (Software Development Kit/Runtime Environment)
NetBeans IDE (Software Development Environment Tool)
Glass Fish (Open Source Application Server)
MySQL (Open Source Database Engine)

All these softwares are free to download under GNU General Public License.

read more...

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Longhorn Server 2008 Launched

2008-02-29T03:11:00.004+05:30

Windows Server 2008 a.k.a Longhorn Server has at last been launched after 5 years of gap (after the release of Windows Server 2003). Microsoft launched its new Operating System with great fanfare. Analysts say that it is an incremental update rather than a giant leap forward.

Windows Server 2008 is expected to be more admin friendly with the ability to manage remote servers, a complete command line kit (like Unix), optimization and much more. But, Hyper-V, a promised feature is absent from this release. Hyper-V provides a facility to have many virtual computers like QEmu and Virtual-PC.

Along with this, Microsoft launched Visual Studio 2008. But, the much awaited launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 was pushed to third quarter. Microsoft confirmed that it would launch the Service Pack1 of Longhorn Client (a.k.a Windows Vista) early next month. So, let's wait and see what Microsoft has under its shelf...

read more...

Product Overview: Click Here

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No more paper air tickets from June 1

2008-02-27T07:34:00.003+05:30

After June 1, paper tickets would be a history as airlines world-wide would issue only e-ticket. Airlines is going to benefit by 10 times by evading paper tickets.
It's a boon to passengers as they need not wait for paper tickets to arrive by post.
Simply, at the click of the button passengers get e-tickets printed for them.

read more...

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