Cevapr

TWRP's effectively bugged split backups

2013-04-27T20:04:00.001+05:00

TWRP has definitely revolutionalized Android's recovery battlefield, with all touch GUI and several other new features to the field. Lately, there has been some debte going on about the changing trend of TWRP's recent versions. I am, however, not to continue this debate, but rather to "argue" about one feature which, in my opinion, is effectively bugged and not the best choice.

TWRP, just like CWM and some other recoveries, does split tar balls for partitions larger than 2GB, since FAT and FAT32 has a limit of 2GB for a single file size. This, in practice is a wonderful idea without which most newer devices, with their large data partitions, would be unable to survive a nandroid backup. Now, let's look at how this is implemented by CWM and TWRP.

In CWM, it just splits the tar ball into several blocks of 1GB each. These chunks are not full tar balls themselves, but need to be joined consecutively, in the order they were split, in order to form a full tar ball. CWM pipes these individual chunks to tar while restoring. This guarantees one very important point of the idea of split backups. Each chunk file is exacly 1GB, irrespective of file sizes inside the tar ball.

In TWRP, this works differently. My best guess is that they have deliberately tried to be different from CWM, which is acceptable and would be better, given that it does not break functionality of the idea behind splitting backup files.

TWRP creates a list of files, with 1 file in excess of 1GB and creates a tar ball of the list of files. Unlike CWM's split chunks, these are comlete tar balls. This process continues until all the files in the specific partition are backed up. If the list gets over 2GB, TWRP warns that the filesystem contains a file over 2GB and thus the backup might not restore properly. There is a chance that a single file in a file system can be over 2GB. Some might argue that this is just theoratical, but in today's Android world where app sizes are touching the skies, it is very much practical. There are even some apps that I know of, whose sizes are well over 2GB. In such a case, at least one of the split tar balls would be over 2GB. TWRP would definitely emit an error stating that it might not restore properly, but this is of no help for the user. The user does not have any other way of performing a proper nandroid backup which would properly restore, except perhaps going for TWRP's competition.

Some might argue that the individual backup files should be complete tar balls, which can be readable and editable by users, rather than chunks of a full tar balls, which are not readable and not editable, unless joined together. My argument is that nandroid backup files are not meant to be edited by users and if they are to be read or edited, the user or software should also possess the resorces and knowledge of how to joing the individual chunks.

To conclude things, TWRP has tried to be different from the competition and also make individual split files readable, both of which are good ideas but failed and defeats the original purpose behind split backups.

I urge the TWRP team to take this to drawing board again and re-think about it. I am not asking to do it the same way as CWM and other competitive recoveries, but to do it in a more practical way which fulfills the original purpose of split backups, ie; split file sizes not being over 2GB AT ANY COST.
At times, developers (read, human beings) make wrong decisions in the development cycle. Winners are those who do not fear to change the wrong decisions made by them.

Champions of the web

2010-09-17T00:26:00.000+05:00

The web has been excellarating its growth since its starting and ever since. It has become such a basic necessity for most of us and on its way to today, several innovations and new technologies have influenced its shape, as we see it today. I am referring to those as the champions of the web, which has defined the turns the web has experienced in its life. Below is the list in alphabetic order.

CSS - CSS has played THE major role in separating styling from HTML. Any sane web developer would agree on this as one of the best decisions taken by the W3C and the web community as a whole.
Firefox - Undoubtedly, firefox is the first browser to challenge the eternal blessings of Internet Explorer and gain a significant market share. Firefox saved an ever collapsing web by then. It has renewed the dreams of developers who foresee a unific web which are rendered identically in all browsers. This is not a disrespect for any other alternative browsers like Opera and Safari.
Flash - You might be thinking, "Oh! Why flash! It's bad for an open web after all!" But the reality remains, that flash has filled an innumerable gaps in the web, starting from simple animations in web pages to moving advertisements to displaying videos in browsers. It would be lame to not include flash in this list, thus!
Gmail - Gmail brought alive the reality of web mail, back to the web. Since its inception, Gmail has influenced many other leading web mail providers to be serious about web mail and has truely shown that web mail can be intuitive, efficient and useful. And maybe even fun.
Compression - This includes all forms of compression relating to the web, including but not limited to (as if a disclaimer) web page compression, file compression and image compression. All this together has contributed so much for the web in terms of so much of saved bandwidth and web traffic, not to mention the speed improvements for users.
HTML5 <audio> and <video> - This championship is yet to happen (maybe happening now). This brings to the web, a flash killer which is both open and far easier to implement across browsers.
JavaScript - JavaScript has served the web for years. It is regarded to be one of the most vital innovations for the web.
JSON - A data format which is easier to serve and has the minimal overhead, JSON has gained widespread support among web developers of all kind. It has phasing libraries in almost all languages, despite being a late comer.
Web fonts - The days when web developers did not have the freedom to use their favourite fonts in web pages, are over. There were two options by then; stick to Sans Serif and Hevletica or draw an image with the text in your required font. Those days are over and soon be long gone. Not to mention the possibility of a web with multiple languages, without the users having to "install" every other font on earth.

PS: I started writing this post, back in June. It's been 4 months since then.

Turning on Comment Moderation

2010-03-11T01:30:00.000+05:00

I have been getting a lot of comment spam in the past couple of months. I tried to tackle the situation with various method (including, but not limited to) disabling anonymous comments and enabling CAPTCHA. However, as nothing seems to have worked reliably, I am left with nothing but enforce comment moderation. Keep in mind that this blog isn't a democracy, but a dictatorship and I am the dictator. So, don't ever think about complaining of the moderation, whatsoever! This is my first and last decision. Well, at least for now. ;)

Edit: Almost all the spam comments have been cleared!

The Web is Getting Smaller in Size

2010-02-06T12:11:00.001+05:00

The World Wide Web is indeed getting smaller and smaller day by day. I know that any of you aren't ready to agree. Indeed, you would say that I started talking nonsense. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it is the truth. The web is getting smaller in size, I mean in byte size.
The number of web pages and web sites is an ever increasing number, infact an exploding number. So you would say that the web is growing and thus getting bigger in size. Well, I am rambling about the various technologies which are being innovated and those which are already in action which exists to reduce the size of web pages smaller and data transfers lesser. Some of the popular ones include web page compression, caching, proxying, etc, etc...
Compression, for instance, is one of the most wide-spread and fastest growing technologies which contributes to making my statement valid. Compressing web pages largely reduces the size of data transferred between server and clients. One of the most common methods of web page compression include gzip. Almost all of today's servers and browsers support gzip compression. Some of the browsers used in mobile phones also supports gzip compression. Gzipping a web page effectively reduces its size by over 50% in most cases and even over 80% in some not-so-rare cases. Gzip is being adopted by an increasing number of websites, day by day.
There are some other forms of compression technologies like sdch which has even higher hopes. There are also other technologies such as minifying JavaScripts, CSS and HTML, caching web pages in browsers, caching proxies and ISPs. Some ISPs even implemented gzipping content within their local networks.
All these combined, contributes to my statement that the web is getting smaller in size, day by day. It is a totally winning concept for a healthier and ever growing web.

More News About Opera Mini 5

2009-10-06T03:11:00.001+05:00

Further to my previous post about new features expected in upcoming releases of Opera Mini 5, there are couple of more features to expect. The source code of Opera Mini also references to mailto: links which could mean that Opera Mini 5 will support some form of handling mailto: links, which the previous versions of Opera Mini has simply ignored. This has also been referenced in the request header "features" of Opera Mini.
The request header "features" also references to something named "native bidi" which could mean introduction of native bidi (bidirectional typing). This would be an indeed useful feature for users with phones capable of right to left typing.
By the way, this is the first blog post from my all new Nokia N85. ;)

Opera Mini - Secrets Revealed

2009-09-22T15:43:00.001+05:00

It has been Opera's common practice to only include a few new features in the first beta and add more features in the second beta and then also to the final release. It is also quite consistent that they release two betas of a browser before they release the final release. This has been their trend in Opera Mini as well as the Opera desktop browser. With the current Opera Mini 5 beta, I would project this to be the trend as well.

Getting back to the topic, I found some references in the source code of Opera Mini, which could reference to the new features coming in the next beta as well as the final version. So, here are some noteworthy references I found.

- Tools (Could this be a settings page called tools or a menu called tools? Below are the options that come right after tools.)
- always show navbar (You could guess what this means. It's probably an option to always show or hide the navbar - the bar that has back/forward/reload/exit buttons.)
- addressbar progress (This could be an option to show the progress bar in address bar instead of the status bar. This option is already available in Opera desktop browser. So it makes perfect sense to include it in Opera Mini as well.)
- save session (This is yet another feature that's available in Opera desktop browser and with the introduction of tabs in Opera Mini, it's quite likely for them to implement this. I guess it would become a favourite for me.)
- addressbar on page (As of now, as soon as you load a page, the address bar disappears. This option could be to avoid it and always show the address bar.)
- javascript (Could this be an option to enable and disable javascript.)
- TabBar (Well, there already is a tab bar in Opera Mini. So this could be an option to toggle it on/off.)
- passwordmanager (No, there isn't a real password manager in Opera Mini yet. It's just that you can save passwords and clear saved passwords. You cannot actually manage passwords as you cannot delete individual passwords. So this could be the solution invented.)
- inline (It's probably the option to toggle the inline text editing capability.)
- bream virtual keyboard (Could someone have a thought about what this could be?)

The below are probably the different internal pages of Opera Mini:
- t_bookmarks (The bookmarks page.)
- t_history (The history page.)
- t_savedpage (The saved pages page.)
- t_downloadmanager (Download Manager page?)
- t_settings (The Settings page.)
- pa_findinpage (Find in page. It's not a page actually. Note the "pa_" in front.)
- t_help (The help page.)
- t_exit (The exit page. Probably a page asking if you really want to exit, when you press the exit button.)
- t_extensions (Are they going to implement extentions or probably plugins?)

There is an option under advanced settings, called zoom and the values are 60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, 140%, 160% and 200%. This could mean that the infamous page zoom feature in Opera desktop is finally coming to Opera Mini. There are also options for plugins (perhaps a toggle to turn on/off plugins) and an option named turbo and Use Turbo Mode as a child option.

There are also references which say "net,org,com". These are TLDs that are commonly used. There are further more references to "userTLDs" and "uk, il, nz, za, co.". This could mean that users would be given the option to save their own TLDs in the next releases of Opera Mini.

Well, that's probably too much I have spit out. Now this is the end of it. Keep waiting for there features to emerge in the upcoming beta 2 and the final version of Opera Mini 5.

Opera Mini 5 beta - First Impressions.

2009-09-21T13:16:00.001+05:00

Opera Mini beta has arrived and I have been using it for a couple of days. Here are the things that I liked and disliked.
Likes:
- New sleek ui (The new ui is simply great except that the scaling seems a little larger. I hope Opera Mini folks will fine tune it before the final release.)
- Tabs (This has been the feature that I have been eagerly waiting for long. Tabs are implemented quite magnificiently and Opera Mini has made me say wow again.)
- Copy and paste (This has also been a feature I have long awaited.)
- Speed dial (The speed dial looks more like a speed dial now and it rhymes well with a phone's keypad, thus serving more of its purpose well as the name.)
- Inline text editing (This is a feature that I almost new they would implement, after the auto-complete address bar in Opera Mini 4.2)
- Faster than 4.2 (Opera Mini 5 is indeed faster than its predecessor, despite some ramblings by users that its not. This is my observation and the results of my tests so far.)
- Password manager (or the so called wand in Opera's terms. I have never liked saving passwords anywhere I use a browser. Not at home, not in office, and not even in the portable browsers in my pen drive. But Opera Mini 5 has really changed my habits. I am starting to love the convenience of not having to type my username and password again and again.)

Dislikes:
- Download, Opera Link and feeds are disabled in beta. Will be added later. I could acess feeds by typing feed:list in address bar. I indeed have it as my 5th speed dial now. Also I am having the impression that they are going to implement a better download manager and not just the download page, when the final version comes out. Also I guess that more will be added to Opera Link. Could be searches and wand.
- Saved pages from 4.2 are not supported in 5. This is something that I really hate. Now I am not going to port the over 200 saved pages from Opera Mini 4.2 to 5. Instead I would have to keep a copy of 4.2 (perhaps renamed), until someone finds a solution (either Opera Mini folks make saved pages from 4.2 compatible with 5 or someone would find a way to convert them).
- No option to open page with images, while clicking a link. This was a feature that I loved and used often in Opera Mini 4.2. I hope it is not removed and would be back soon.
- Crashes. This isn't a dislike actually. As it is beta software, people should expect and accept crashes and bugs, which would eventually be fixed.

Overall, I like the new Opera Mini 5 beta and hope it would be final soon.

PS, I am posting this from Opera Mini 5 beta.

Spam the Spammer!

2009-08-25T05:11:00.000+05:00

Below is an email I got in my in-box. Of course, it's my hotmail inbox. Gmail won't deliver me such shame.

Verify Your Account To Avoid It Closed‏‏‏‏‏‏‏

From: Windows Live™ Team (khalfan30@hotmail.com)

You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk

Sent: Tue 8/11/09 8:21 PM

To: Windows Live™ Team (khalfan30@hotmail.com)

Dear Account User

This Email is from Hotmail Customer Care and we are sending it to every Hotmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of Hotmail accounts so we are shutting down some Hotmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account.

Due to the congestion in all Hotmail users and removal of all unused Hotmail Accounts, Hotmail would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.

* Username: ..............................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Sincerely,
The Windows Live Hotmail Team

Roming between Dhiraagu and Wataniya

2009-05-29T13:38:00.000+05:00

I use Wataniya as my primary mobile number apart from a backup Dhiraagu number. Basically, I carry two handsets; a Nokia N82 with a Wataniya SIM card and a Nokia 1202 (a so called Nokia bathhi) with a Dhiraagu SIM. In the past week or so, Wataniya was experiencing some (I would say, major) issues with their network coverage in some areas of the country including Baa Atoll, where I reside. Those were hard times for me in those (almost) 4 days when there was virtually no coverage. Even now, the coverage isn't completely well. Whenever I switch off and switch on the mobile, it takes a long time for the SIM card to register with the network and I had to wait for sometime before I could make a call. Moreover the EDGE (mobile internet) service is also having some random cutdowns even now. EDGE is the successor of GPRS, faster than GPRS and backward compatible. That means if my handset doesn't support EDGE it will select GPRS by default. Also Wataniya provides EDGE in some areas only. For instance, EDGE is available in the resort which I work but not available in my home island. Wataniya's EDGE is much much faster than Dhiraagu's GPRS. Even Wataniya's GPRS is faster. Moreover, Dhiraagu doesn't provide EDGE. Not as far as I know.

During the network outage, I felt disturbed and uneasy. Luckily that I had my backup Dhiraagu number, which I made great use of during the outage. But I was thinking of something else. Something more advanced and convenient for everyone. I was thinking of the situation where I may not be having a backup number. I can have a thought of how frustrated I would be. So, here comes my solution. Both the operators can have roaming agreements with each other and activate roaming during an outage. This would save us all from the hassle of an outage of a service that has become a basic need in the 21st century.

You could wonder "what on earth am I talking about?". Well, an example is the best way to explain a theory. Let's assume the instance I had in the past couple of days. Wataniya could have a roaming agreement with Dhiraagu so that they could use Dhiraagu's network and let all of us (Wataniya users) roam in Dhiraagu network, just the same way as we do overseas. Now, you could ask if it is possible. Yes, it is possible in every other way as roaming is not limited to between countries. Instead, roaming could be established between operators in the same country too. In this way, operators could relieve it's customers from the inconveniences of a network outage.

You would now start wondering why wouldn't they just do it. Well then, you better start wondering why they didn't implement sending MMS between the two operators eventhough they both have implemented sending MMS to operators in other countries.

UPDATE

2009-01-16T00:35:00.001+05:00

Just wanted to "update" my blog, but I have nothing to write here. Actually, it's not just me, it's the both of us.

....

Still no idea of what to write. So, this is the end of it.

Anniversary

2008-11-21T07:08:00.001+05:00

This blog has passed it's first anniversary. Yes! This blog is now 1 year old. Actually the birthdate of this blog is 19th October. Unfortunately, I haven't noticed it until today when I wanted to update the blog after a long time of busy days. No, I'm not less busier even now. The fact that I am posting this on the way back from home, via Opera Mini on my all new N82, is more than enough proof for that. Oh, yes! This is my first blog post from this phone. By the way, if my princess is reading this, by any chance, "You made last night great! Thanx again."

What is?

2008-08-14T03:58:00.000+05:00

Google has always mesmerized us in many ways. Sometimes through introducing new and "tough" apps like Gmail and Google Docs. Sometimes through the cool little features in search itself and sometmes through tiny bits of humor added in between. Some of these are even called easter eggs. Google's spelling suggestion feature has some cool things to say about various things. Have a look at these screenshots.

Missing....

2008-06-21T00:25:00.001+05:00

First of all, mee varah sad moodegga ovegen liyaa sms eh. Ehenveema ehaa bodah alhaanulaathi in'gey.
Mashah nuves bunevey dho maadhamaa (mihaaru dhen miadhu) resortah dhaa vaahakaeh. Sorry for that. It has always been hard to leave family and go back to resort. But this time it's even harder. I know why. Coz I'm missing u. I'm missing ur support. I'm missing a part of my own self. I can understand ur situation. I really didn't want to tell this to u. But, keekkuraanee... I can't hide anything from you. I can't keep anything in my heart alone. As u said, u have changed! Not a lot, but somewhat. It's okay dear. Changes happen all the way in life. What's difficult is to get used to the change and what I want is u to be mine, forever. I know how u are feeling now. Don't feel that way. I'm not complaining. It's not only u to blame. I know I even couldn't give u enough time in the past week. Coz I was with family and I had less privacy. U do understand, right. Me too. So, what's next? I just need some more time with u. When u come back, just give me some more time in'gey. Also, give me all your time today. Just to get rid of this "missing" thing, please but only if u can. Now, are u thinking that I suffered these days? In terms of "missing", yes I did. But not in any other way. By the way, did I say "miss veyey" in the past couple of months? Look, how shy am I. Never mind about paragraphing in this sms and see, now I'm feeling little bit okay. Oh! My sms limit is over! So, bye bye and take care. Call me in'gey.

Euro 2008 Live Scores using Opera Mini

2008-06-10T04:58:00.001+05:00

A cool bookmark on Opera Mini is called "Live scores", and it's a site made by us to give you easy access to the latest scores in any major sport. You can try it yourself using our live demo (which functions just like on a handset).

If you're using a fresh installation of Opera Mini 4.1 (never downloaded or upgraded on your phone) you will have the live scores as one of the default bookmarks. If you're upgrading, just point your browser to http://portal.opera.com/scores.

hAtom

2008-06-02T02:53:00.000+05:00

This time I am adding hAtom to my blog posts. hAtom is a microformat for content that can be syndicated, primarily but not exclusively weblog postings. hAtom is based on a subset of the Atom syndication format. Adding hAtom took a little bit of time due to the complexity of the template I am using (it might be the same case with any blogger template). Validation was one of the things I always give preference specially when implementing something new. Optimus helped me with validation and ufXtract helped me have a glance at how it looks. I discovered yet another microformat tool called Pingerati which we can ping microformat enabled blogs to and it in return pigs other microformat enabled tools like technorati, etc... I also came across a tool which displays rel tag attributes like XFN, rel-tag, etc... It's called rel-lint.

ކާބޯތަކެތީގެ އަގުބޮޑުވަނީ ޔޯލަ

2008-06-01T00:19:00.000+05:00

ހަބަރުގައި ކިޔަމުން ދިޔަ އެއްޗަކުން ހަމަ އަނގަ މަޑުންލައިގެން ނީދެވުނީއެވެ. ކާބޯތަކެތީގެ އަގު ބޮޑުވަނީ ޔޯލައެވެ. އަގުތައް މައިތިރި ކުރުމަށް އެސްޓީއޯއިން އަގު ހެޔޮކުރަނީ ޔޯލައެވެ. އަދިވެސް ދިވެހި ސަރުކާރުން ހީކުރަނީ ރައްޔިތުން މިތިބީ ނިދާފައި ކަމަށް ހެއްޔެވެ. އެޅިހާ ބަތަކަށް ރިހަ ވެފައި ކަމަށް ހެއްޔެވެ. ނޫނީ އެސްޓީއޯއިން ކާބޯތަކެތީގެ އަގު ހެޔޮކުރުމުން ކާބޯތަކެތި އެތެރެކުރާ އެހެން ފަރާތްތަކަށް ލިބޭނީ ގެއްލުންކަން ހަމަ ނޭގެނީބާއެވެ. ވިޔަފާރިވެރިން އިނދަޖައްސާލާ ވާހަކަ ގައުމީ ޓިވީން ފަޚުރުވެރިކަމާއެކު ގޮވާލަން ލަދުވެސް ނުގަންނަނީ ބާއެވެ.

Tobacco - Free Youth

2008-06-01T00:12:00.000+05:00

Tobacco - Free Youth

What message does it convey? How do you mean it? If you are still confused, doesn't "Tobacco Free Youth" make more sense.

It's the slogan they used on the TVM advertisement "Stand Against Tobacco".

Google changing it's favicon

2008-05-31T00:22:00.000+05:00

When I signed in it was just like before. But when I signed out it was changed! Well, I am talking about the new Google favicon. They have changed it for Gmail and some other Google sites as well. Seems like they are having a new favicon!!! May be for a few days? As of this moment Google UK, Google Canada and Google Maldives has the new favicon.

And then doing a blog search I found that quite a few people have already started talking about this.

Insomnia

2008-05-28T05:04:00.000+05:00

It's almost 4:30 in the morning and I neet to report to work at 8:00, but am sleepless and tired. Tired of not getting any sleep. Why am I not feeling sleepy? Am I not happy? I am happy, ofcourse. Am I not fulfilled with something? May be! Am I wanting to do something? Ummm... Many things are there, but nothing specific at the moment. So, what's that I am missing. Okay! I missed an important call with dad. Didn't do any work which is a big drag-back. Didn't call any close friend, except my best friend, ofcourse. She is the best best friend that anyone can ever have and probably the best thing that ever happened to me. And... And... I love her so much. Thanx my princess, for making me feel so proud, so lucky, so happy and so good, all at the same time. Thanx once more for your love and care. Thanx twice more for the excellent friendship. Thanx for that simplicity and coolness. Thanx for listening to me and sharing your life with me. Thanx for the valuable time that you give me. Thanx for that closeness you keep with me. Thanx for the mobile SIM, ofcourse. ;) Thanx for everything an all the things. What more should I say about you. You are just great. It's more like, "you became the meaning of my life."

I always claim that I love more than you do. But sometimes it feels to me that it's the opposite. You make me believe, with proof, that it's not something we say, but something we do.

OK, stop now! Let me end this post. ;)

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-12T02:56:00.000+05:00

... is for the million things she gave me;

... means only that she's growing old;

... is for the tears she shed to save me;

... is for her heart of purest gold;

... is for her eyes, with love-light shining;

... means right, and right she'll always be.

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER".

A word that means the world to me.

Sowweee!

2008-05-04T06:00:00.000+05:00

Dear Princess,

I feel so bad of not answering your phone. I don't know how the f**k it got off the signal. I was keeping it next to my ear and lying down, just waiting for your call. Fell asleep and woke up after one hour of your call. That was when I got the missed call message and also your SMS. So good of you. And so bad of me dho. I feel guilty, yes I do. I know what you will say, "It's okay. Cool!".

I love you so much my dear. So much that it sometimes makes me wonder why.

Feedburner Trouble

2008-05-01T03:12:00.000+05:00

I was burning my blog's feed on feedburner. Recently feedburner has added integration into Google Accounts as part of their merger with Google. In my opinion, it's a good move that feedburner merged with Google. Spcially because it's, hey, Google, the giant. But with every change comes the side effects. When people get the side effects they complain saying "why me, why me." This time it's me. Yes, I am sort of complaining. ;) My blog's feed at feedburner got all messed up with the recent change in feedburner. It got sort of mixed up with another feed of mine, the name, the source url, the items, everyrthing. I tried re-synching the feed as it had solved problems for me in the past. But this time, it thought of putting me in more trouble. The re-synching didn't work and I got, well, sort of pissed off. I deleted the whole feed and added it back. Luckily, (or is it unluckily) I didn't have any email subscribers, thus avoiding any issues. The point which really pissed me off is that I am using the feedburner feed url in all my other places like, Facebook Notes, FriendFeed, etc.. So, I had to re-organise all those (remove the mess up and re-start the whole thingy). Finally, I am done with all and back to normal. Aaah! Another "busy" hour. ;)

Oooooh!

2008-04-30T19:50:00.000+05:00

Ooooooooh! Ooooooooh! Yaayyyy! Yaayyyy! Yooo! Vooo! Wayyyy!

Oops! What am I saying? Okay, okay! I'm just happy. So so much happy. So much happier. Oooooh! I could hear the magic voice once again.

Tweet! Tweet!

2008-04-30T03:58:00.000+05:00

Well, everyone seems to be talking about twitter these days. Seems like a wave of tweets in the blogosphere. Why shouldn't I be involved too. I don't have much to talk about but just one. I have this cool Opera widget for twitter called Twippera. It's just cool. See it above.

More Microformats

2008-04-25T02:59:00.000+05:00

A while back, I added XFN support to my Link Bon'di. XFN™ (XHTML Friends Network) is a simple way to represent human relationships using hyperlinks and is a microformat. According to Wikipedia:

A microformat (sometimes abbreviated μF or uF) is a web-based data formatting approach that seeks to re-use existing content as metadata, using only XHTML and HTML classes and other attributes. This approach is intended to allow information intended for end-users (such as contact information, geographic coordinates, calendar events, and the like) to also be automatically processed by software.

Microformats are becoming a critical building block of the symantec web. I recommend you to use microformats in your blogs and websites. It might cost you a little more time and a little more effort. But at the same time makes a lot more information already available in your blog/website, more useful in the sense that those can easily be phased by browsers, email clients, search engines and even web applications.

This time, I am adding support for XOXO to my blog. It's not the XOXO (Hugs and Kisses or Love and Kisses) used by Shweeeeet on her blog posts. ;) XOXO is yet another simple microformat (all microformats are simple, by the way) which could be used in lists, like blogrolls. So, I used it in my Link Bon'di.

Additionally, I am adding hCard in my profile in the blog. Wow! microformats are simple yet elegant and it interests me so much. It's nice to know that Blogger already uses rel-tag microformat in label links of posts.

At last, I always make sure that anything I develop, no matter is it a web page, a script or even the microformats I have implimented in my blog are valid. Because on the web no markup at all is better than malformed markup. Here the microformats vaidator comes to the rescue. Go, validate your microformats at the Optimus microformats validator. Equally, optimus is also a microformats transformer which can transform the data in blogs/sites with microformats, to some of the popular API formats. WoW! Now your blog/site could really be your API with goodness of microformats and the power of Optimus.

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