After All, Who Cares?

Difference between malloc and calloc

2010-03-20T18:21:00.000+05:30

One of the most basic things a person familiar with programming language 'C' is supposed to know is:

What is the difference between the malloc and the calloc function calls?

Query Google and it'll tell you how many folks are interested in the answer to this question. The reason for that is that it is one of the most commonly asked questions in job interviews at the beginner's level.

Since the readers here may not possess that familiarity, the answer that's usually expected is:

While both the functions allocate memory, calloc() additionally initializes all the locations in the newly allocated memory block to '0'.

That's that. That answer is sufficient for the interview. That's all I knew. Until now.

I was reading The Old New Thing today and there was a mention of Copy-on-Write (CoW) in one of the posts. To understand it better, I decided to read about CoW on Wikipedia. From the Wikipedia page, I found out that calloc can be implemented using CoW:

Another use is in the calloc function. This can be implemented by having a page of physical memory filled with zeroes. When the memory is allocated, the pages returned all refer to the page of zeroes and are all marked as copy-on-write. This way, the amount of physical memory allocated for the process does not increase until data is written.

Nice, I said to myself. Note taken. Thanks TONT, Wikipedia!

John Gruber, we expect better posts from you.

2010-02-16T12:03:00.000+05:30

On Monday, February 15, 2010, Microsoft announced their new platform for mobile devices, Windows Phone 7 Series. This was at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The internet, since then, has been full of positive reviews of the platform.

Being one of those guys who got an early preview of the platform, I can tell you that it is a very good effort. Not better than the best out there, but certainly an impressive effort.

However, John Gruber, on his popular blog Daring Fireball, has this to write about it:

What a great product name. Not a mouthful at all.

Yes, we know it is not such a good name, but instead of just saying that, you could have at least said a couple of things about the platform, good or bad. Positive reviews encourage the folks building it and bad reviews highlight the areas to improve. It also makes for an article worth reading.

Over the years you have written lots of good posts; this one isn't one of them. We have come to expect better from you. Please do not let us down.

Trying out the email interface

2010-02-06T16:09:00.003+05:30

blogger.com (or blogspot.com) provides the blog owners with the ability to publish posts to their own blogs by sending an email to an email address, part of which is chosen by the blogger herself.
I know it has been around for a while, but I haven't tried it prior to this.

One of the things I want to try out is its ability to handle rich text, i.e. bold, italics, colors, highlighting.

Then there's quoted text.

How about the following:

Ordered list
...

What happens if I include unordered list, such as this one:

Unordered item #1

Let's find out how good/ugly looking this one turns out to be.

Now that's a deal!

2009-12-18T17:13:00.001+05:30

Found this "best" deal while watching a video related to COP15 on NDTV's website:

Get a Secure Government Job today!

I happen to know quite a few folks who are vying to get a government job because it is perceived to be the safest and least demanding job in difficult times for the economy.

I should probably pass on this link to them ;-)

#FAIL: Never book railway tickets via Cleartrip!

2009-12-10T17:56:00.001+05:30

I made a railway reservation from Indore to New Delhi via Cleartrip. The ticket was waitlisted till the preparation of chart, so I did not get to travel. That's fine, I should have made the reservation in time.

So I call up Cleartrip and ask them about the refund after the train has left Indore station. At first, I am told:

We can't tell you about the refund amount since it'll be processed by IRCTC and we don't know about it!

Excuse me, I made a deal with you! If you're in the business, you better know it down to the last detail. If you can't do that, please move out of the trade.

So the lady puts me on hold for a little while and then comes back to give me an "approximate" number. I am told, in a cool, cam, composed manner, that the following fees would be charged:

IRCTC Charges
Cleartrip Charges
Transaction Charges
Reservation Charges

Now this drives me crazy! I am being charged for the reservation I never got!? I'm exasperated, she realizes and says:

The reservation charges are levied by IRCTC, we did not charge you for this.

That's an "Aha!!" moment for me. She means I should argue with IRCTC about it, when I actually made the transaction via Cleartrip? Aha!!

So then next time onwards, why should I make the reservation through Cleartrip, and not go to IRCTC instead? That's what even Cleartrip is doing. The service they provide is certainly not worth my money, no way! Booking through IRCTC is almost the same (pain). If done via IRCTC, I'll know the exact refund amount as well.

I'll tell you what I'll do from now on: Research about the train and availability on Cleartrip and then book through IRCTC. Up yours, Cleartrip!

In case anyone from Cleartrip cares to read this post, here are the trip details, if they want to verify:

Cleartrip ID: 912021268
PNR: 8337869853

PS: Regardless of that, Cleartrip's calendar feature is very well thought-out and done. Give it a try (and leave the site after that). Did I mention that their support forum also does not work?

When you need something badly, give it your best shot ...

2009-11-22T01:41:00.001+05:30

When you need something badly, give it your best shot, keep improving yourself, keep trying, stay focused, stay motivated. Even if you don't get it, you come out a better person and that's more important.

Yeah, that's by me. Please feel free to use it wherever, whenever you see fit. If you do, try to drop me a link to it here although that's completely optional.

Super Mario Bros tunes

2009-10-27T11:06:00.000+05:30

This post is just so that I do not have to search for the MP3s next time around.

Oh, and I love it! :-)

Deciding which IT challan you need to fill

2009-10-01T11:55:00.004+05:30

If you are unsure which IT challan [280-283] you need to fill while filing income tax (new or revised), take a look at the FAQs section on the IT department's website.

If you don’t know Assessing Officer (Ward / Circle) ...

2009-10-01T11:49:00.002+05:30

Here's a handy tip:
If you don’t know Assessing Officer (Ward / Circle), Find it here by submitting your PAN.

How could one be loosing his/her data?

2009-09-22T02:44:00.006+05:30

One of the blogs I try to read regularly is FavBrowser. No doubt, it has good content. You should follow it if you are interested in news and stuff related to web browsers, though it is, by no means, the source all the interesting news.

Anyway, so I was reading this article today, posted on FavBrowser, and here's something interesting I found (pay close attention), and I quote:

Firefox uses SQLITE databases to store lots of its settings. By the time the databases grow and Firefox starts working slowly. SpeedyFox compacts those databases without loosing any data.

So I said to myself, "Must be just another copying mistake", so I headed over to the source to verify, and I quote again:

Firefox uses SQLITE databases to store lots of its settings. By the time the databases grow and Firefox starts working slowly. SpeedyFox compacts those databases without loosing any data.

Turns out, they had quoted it from their own source, and I quote once again:

Firefox uses SQLITE databases to store lots of its settings. By the time the databases grow and Firefox starts working slowly. SpeedyFox compacts those databases without loosing any data.

The funny thing is, I've also quoted it without any modifications/corrections but I hope the message has been conveyed :-)

When it comes to mobile space, Opera rules!

2009-04-26T12:17:00.004+05:30

I've been experimenting a lot in the mobile space lately, mostly as an end user. This includes trying out various applications available for the device.
One thing that has emerged very clearly is: Internet on mobile means Opera. Mini or not, Opera is the browser for all platforms.
Just for the record, I like Opera Mini 3.1 on my MotoRokr E6 much more than 4.2 Beta. BTW, I use Firefox 3.5 Beta on my desktop every day, so I know what beta means.

Way to go, Opera!

Follow @Opera on Twitter, just like me.

What is this?

2008-09-11T10:50:00.006+05:30

So you have to tell me what is being described here:

Inside there was only an enormous, transparent block with infinite internal needles in which the light of the sunset was broken into colored stars

Some extra information:
1. This is the description by a curious person who is living in an isolated village, unfamiliar with what Science has achieved in other parts of the world.
2. What is being described here is something most of us come across almost daily.

Source: Book titled 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel García Márquez

I've finished only the first two chapters of the book but it looks to be a MUST-MUST read.

I have a secret admirer!

2008-07-03T15:14:00.006+05:30

Today morning, on Thursday 03, 2008, I recieved a pleasant surprise in the form of a paper-flower mounted on the outer wall of my cubicle, waiting for me. Take a look at it in the attached shot:

From Misc

Enquiring with friends did not reveal anything; and I did not try too hard either.
It is an Origami-kind paper-folding-art flower, made out of 'Stick-It' notes. A very fine use of office stationery supply, eh?

(Notice the tag 'Insanity' ;-)
Update (26/02): The flower fell off its stem some days back & the operations staff cleaned it up before next morning :(

Woo Hoo!

2008-05-01T10:05:00.004+05:30

In case you did not know/realize (and I do understand that you have no means or motivation to realize), this is my 'century' post on this blog!
And I'll celebrate it just the way my current favorite explosive batsman Adam Gilchrist celebrated his most recent century in the IPL (109* off 48 balls):

Woo Hoo!

(See the video and celebration here)

...and in case you can't see that video, read the commentary here.

You've got to be really brave to...

2007-09-12T11:39:00.000+05:30

I have stayed in Delhi (the capital of India) long enough to make the following statement, and I'll also mention quite-a-few instances and reasons (in a multi-part series to follow), to drive my point:

You've got to be really brave to drive a vehicle in Delhi

To get things started, consider the case of what happened on numerous roads in the city today (September 12, 2007):
Some insane people, the group being quite large in number apparently, decided to protest by blocking various heavily-used roads at multiple points all over Delhi causing blockades and hence a lot of inconvenience to traffic throughout the city.

The news was all over the radio and television channels and the RJ, on the radio channel that I was listening to, ran out of breath multiple times when he started calling out the names of the roads affected. This is preposterous!!
And.. that is not the end of it. The police, according to the same RJ, had all the information about the 'protest' but never bothered to take any corrective/preventive measures. They intervened only once there was helter-skelter all over the city and there was complete pandemonium on the city roads. What the hell was the 'With You, For You, Always' force doing sitting on their butts when they knew what could happen (and it eventually happened!)?

Anyway, thankfully or luckily, I decided to leave for office a little early today (although I had no idea about the chakka jam protest) and therefore did not have to face the 'music' :-)

By the way, nobody knows what the protest was against.

This is a part of a series titled 'Delhi Driving'.

Super Mario Bros. Anthology

2007-09-12T11:37:00.000+05:30

This is a treat for Super Mario Bros. fans. I found a website (sincere thanks to Google) from where I could download the MP3s of most of the sounds in my all-time favourite arcade game. The website is KHInsider.

Thanks KHInsider and Google :-)

Truth about 'commitment'

2007-08-31T11:57:00.000+05:30

No comic strip has ever been this close to describing me! ;-)

Video Game: PETA against KFC

2007-08-22T14:23:00.000+05:30

Here's a nice game 'inspired' by my all-time favourite: Super Mario Bros. from Nintendo:

Source: [The Thinking Blog]

Thought of the day: #4

2007-08-22T13:59:00.000+05:30

Read it on the Graffitti that appeared in the Delhi Times section of The Times of India (20 August, 2007):

A bore helps you appreciate the brighter side of solitude

;-)

Thought of the day: #3

2007-08-21T17:53:00.000+05:30

Found on the inside of another chocolate's cover:

Dare to love completely!

Thought of the day: #2

2007-08-17T09:37:00.000+05:30

Found it on the inside of a chocolate wrapper:

There's no excuse not to dream.

I have one too, and my quest is on (Ref: TOTD#1)

Thought of the day: #1

2007-08-13T16:50:00.000+05:30

Pardon me if you find this (or another quote that means something similar) elsewhere, but I don't remember reading it anywhere and therefore, I consider it a result of my own thought process:

If you truly love someone, then that individual is worth sacrificing and risking everything you've got because once you win that person over, you really have got everything.

Feel free to remember 'Yours Truly' if you use this quote anytime anywhere.

For Linux Lovers

2007-08-09T14:57:00.000+05:30

Old Linux Newbie is one of the few blogs where I contribute, and I love this one dearly.
Anyway the last post there is about screen which has really excited me and I am sure you'll also find it highly useful. Let me know what you think.

Howto: Be a Programmer

2007-03-26T17:47:00.000+05:30

How to be a Programmer: A Short, Comprehensive, and Personal Summary - Robert L Read

A nice and not-too-long article! I specially liked the "time estimation" part, which guides you how to make the estimates logically and to never make pessimistic estimations. Must read, I would say.

Spam, Spam and more Spam...

2007-03-20T12:13:00.000+05:30

HEY ITS DIANNA, FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ORKUT, EVERYBODY SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION BUT ORKUT IS CLOSING THE SYSTEM DOWN BECAUSE TOO MANY BOTTERS ARE TAKING UP ALL THE NAMES, WE ONLY HAVE 57 NAMES LEFT, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT, DONT SEND THIS MESSAGE, IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT, SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST. THIS IS NOT A JOKE, YOU'LL BE SORRY IF YOU DONT SEND IT. THANKS DIRECTOR OF ORKUT, TIM BUISKI. WHOEVER DOESNT SEND THIS MESSAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DEACTIVATED AND IT WILL COST YOU $ 10.00 A MONTH TO USE IT.