Welcome To Rishop

Samsung Drops Prices for Google Chromebooks

2011-09-24T14:22:00.001+05:30

Chromebooks went for sale in June and in this short period of time, Samsung has already dropped the price of their Google Chrome OS laptops by as much as 10%.

The Wi-Fi only Series 5 Chromebook is now selling for $399.99, down from $429.99, while the 3G + Wi-Fi Chromebook is available for $449.99, down 10% from the original $499.99. The prices for Acer Chromebooks are however unchanged.

While a price drop is always welcome, I am still not convinced why would anyone prefer a stripped-down Chrome OS based laptop over these netbooks that are much more versatile.

How to Host your Website on Google

2011-09-24T14:20:00.000+05:30

In what looks like a brilliant PR win for Google, the Royal Family of UK has selected Google as the web hosting provider for Prince William’s official wedding website. The site, available at officialroyalwedding2011.org, contains news updates, photo galleries and videos and all this is hosted on Google App Engine.

What’s new here? Web developers have long used Google App Engine to host web apps in the cloud - see Sleeping Time and Tall Tweets for example - but this is probably the first time that Google’s infrastructure is being used to host a 'static website' of an event that will get plenty of press attention and web traffic in the coming days.

Host your own website on Google App Engine

There are quite a few advantages with hosting websites on Google App Engine. First, it should be more reliable since your site will get served through Google’s own data centers.

Second, if you have a low traffic website, it is highly likely that you won’t have to spend a penny for web hosting. You get 1 GB of free storage space for hosting your images, HTML web pages and other files and 1 GB of bandwidth per day. If you exceed that quota, you pay-per-use similar to Amazon S3.

Ready to jump?

With a regular web hosting company, you rend some storage space on their server, you then transfer your HTML and other files to that server using FTP or cPanel and your website is ready to serve. Google App Engine works in similar manner except that the file transfer mechanism is a bit different.

Step 1: Go to appengine.google.com and create a new application. If you have never used App Engine before, you might be asked to verify your mobile phone number before you can create a new app.

Step 2: Give your application a name – it should be unique and may only include lowercase alphabets and digits. For this example, our app identifier is “thisismyawesomewebsite”.

Step 3: The next two sub-steps may scare some of you but trust me, they simply require you download and run two installers in the given sequence.

3a. Download and install Python from python.org.
3b. Download and install App Engine SDK from this code.google.com.

Step 4: Download and unzip this file - website.zip – somewhere on your desktop. It contains a basic website with some HTML pages, images and CSS that we’ll try to host with Google App Engine.

Step 5: Open the app.yaml file with notepad and replace the word ‘labnol’ with the application identifier that you created in Step 2 above. Save the changes.

Step 6: Finally it’s time to deploy /upload our website to Google App Engine. Open the Google App Engine Launcher program from the Start Menu, choose File –> Add Existing Application and browse to the folder where you unzipped the website.

Hit the deploy button, input your Google Account credentials and within seconds, your website should become available online at abc.appspot.com where abc is your unique app identifier. Later, if you add or modify any web page, press Deploy again and your new /edited files will get uploaded to App Engine.

Sharing on Twitter, Facebook and Google+

2011-09-24T14:14:00.000+05:30

There’s little denying that Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are the three most active social networks at this time where billions of pieces of content are shared every single day.

To give you an idea, more than 200 million tweets are written every day by 100+ million users on Twitter while the numbers are even more impressive for Facebook. The 800+ million users of Facebook like and share more than 2 billion posts per day. Google+ is growing at an impressive rate but is still a relatively small player with 43 million users.

Thus, as a web publisher, it definitely makes lot of sense for you to share your content across all these channels but have you ever wondered which of these networks have the highest engagement level? Which of them would bring the maximum eyeballs to your content?

Kevin Rose, best known as the founder of Digg, recently did an interesting experiment. He shared the same web article on his Twitter, Facebook and Google+ profiles simultaneously and, with the help of bit.ly analytics, calculated the number of clicks coming from each of these social networks for the next two days. The results aren’t very surprising.

Kevin has 1.2 million followers on Twitter who clicked on the link ~5800 times. Some 135k people have added Kevin to their Google+ circle and that got him ~3600 clicks. Finally, his 261k subscribers on Facebook clicked on the link link more than 11000 times.

The click-through ratio, or the engagement level, was the highest on Facebook.

Control Two Computers with a Single Keyboard and Mouse

2011-09-24T14:12:00.000+05:30

Let’s say you have two computers on your desk and, in an effort to save space, you want to operate them all using a single pair of keyboard and mouse.

There are two solutions here. If the computers are connected to the same network, you can use software programs like Input Director or Synergy to operate them with a common keyboard and mouse. In the other scenario where the machines aren’t connected, you can get a KVM switch to share one keyboard and mouse between them.

A Better Alternative – Mouse without Borders

My work setup is quite similar to what you see in the illustration above and I have been using the Input Director software all this while to control the two Windows PCs with one keyboard and mouse. Input Director is reliable and (mostly) works without problems though it does require some understanding of the Master and Slave concept.

Last week, I switched to a new Windows utility called Mouse without Borders and find it so much better than my previous solution. Wondering why?

The best part about Mouse without Borders is how easy it is to set up. You install the utility on all your Windows computers, enter the security code provided by the software and your computers will get linked. This is almost as simple as pairing a set of Bluetooth devices.

Installing Mouse without Borders – Step by Step

Once installed, you can not only use the same keyboard and mouse across your computers in a seamless manner but you can also drag and drop files between them. This is so convenient. Earlier, I had to create shared network folders or had to use Dropbox to transfer files but now I can simple drag them from desktop A to desktop B as if they were on the same computer.

With the Mouse without Borders utility installed, you can also send screen capture of one desktop to another by pressing a hotkey or from the system tray menu. After having used the tool for about a week, I never experienced a crash though I did have problems sharing clipboard especially when the copy operation was done inside a Flash application.

Mouse without Borders can only be used to control Windows based computers. If your work environment involves a mix of Windows, Linux or Mac computers, Synergy could still be the only good choice for you.

Turn your Google Docs into a Fax Machine

2011-09-13T17:42:00.000+05:30

While there are dozens of web-based services that let you send and receive faxes from the computer without requiring a fax machine, Interfax goes one step further – it turns your Google Docs into a complete fax machine.
You just have to connect your Google Docs account with Interfax and once the link is enabled, you can fax any of your existing Google Docs documents, or spreadsheets, to any fax number in the world right from the browser. You may even send the same Google Docs file to multiple fax machines in one go – remember to separate the different fax numbers / Google Contact names by commas.
The cost for sending faxes from Google Docs varies according to the destination country and the length of the document. For instance, if you are to send a fax to US, the cost would be 13¢ per page, 15¢ for UK while a single page fax to an Indian number would cost you 60¢. There’s no monthly fee for sending faxes though you’ll have to buy minimum credits for $10.
GinzaFax is another online fax service that is built around Google Docs. It is slightly more expensive to send faxes through GinzaFax – the cost 40¢ per page for US numbers and 60¢ for other countries – but here you get a $5 free credit for sending faxes the first time you sign up for an account.
Other than sending faxes, you may also use both Interfax and Ginza Fax to receive faxes from anywhere in the world directly into your Google Docs account. The incoming faxes are automatically converted to PDF format and they get saved in a separate folder thus making it easier for you to locate them later.

Tools that Detect Changes on your Favorite Web Pages

2011-09-13T17:38:00.001+05:30

Last month, my story about Facebook hitting a trillion page-views received an unexpected amount of interest around the web. I obviously don’t have inside sources nor did anyone contact me with those numbers – so how did I get the news about the trillion milestone before anyone else on the web?
The answer is simple. I use a web monitoring software that tracks a list of web pages (URLs) at set intervals and alerts me whenever content is added or deleted from these pages. In the above case, the monitoring utility was watching a page on google.com and the moment Google uploaded the new numbers, I got an alert on my desktop.

Tools for Monitoring Web Page Changes

The utility that I have on my Windows machine is called Website Watcher from Aegnis.com – a single-user license for the basic edition of Website Watcher is about €30 and it supports all types of web addresses including secure http and ftp based URLs.
A web monitoring tool, in simple English, works something like this. You specify the address (URL) of a web page that you would like to track and how frequently the tool should ping the given page to determine if the content has changed.
In the case of Website Watcher, you can also visually specify the portions of a page that should be ignored for tracking (like the sidebar or the footer). Later, if the tool detects that a page has changed, you can compare the before and after versions of the page side-by-side and, like any other diff tool, the changed text is highlighted for quick comparison.
Website Watcher works well but if you are looking for a free alternative, check out NotiPage. This is again a Windows-only utility for monitoring web pages with basic monitoring features except for one limitation - NotiPage only highlights the new content that has been added to a page but you won’t be able figure out what has been removed from a page.
If you are monitoring a page that follows a regular pattern – like a Google Search results page where all the different results are rendered as a pattern using a similar set of HTML tags – you may also use Google Docs as a page monitor. You essentially scrap the page content into Google Docs with the help of ImportXML function and then track changes through RSS. This does however require some knowledge of XPath and CSS.
Versionista is another awesome web-based tool for tracking web pages. It lets you compare the two versions of a page side-by-side and thus you can know what has been added, or removed, from a page since you last viewed it. Versionista also lets you apply regular expression based filters to help you specify what kind of page edits should be ignored by the tool during the comparison.

Buying a TV? Here’s What You Should Know

2011-09-08T19:33:00.000+05:30

Our 32" Sony Bravia LCD TV wasn't really old but felt a bit obsolete. There were no USB ports, the TV wasn't network-capable meaning it cannot connect to the Internet or the home network, the 32" screen looked rather small in the living room and, most important, the TV didn't support full HD.
It was therefore time to upgrade to something bigger and more advanced.
I am no expert to offer you any advice on buying TVs but I’ll still try to summarize the key things I learned from the various websites and my Twitter friends while researching for my own purchase.

A Buying Guide for TV

There are several points to consider before buying a TV. What screen size should you choose? Is LED better than LCD or Plasma TVs? Which ports should you look for in a TV? Is it worth paying extra for networking related features? HD (720p) or Full-HD (1080p)? Which TV brand should you go for? And finally, is 3D necessary?

LCD, Plasma or LED?

There are basically two types of TVs - LCD and Plasma. The other category, LED, is actually a type of LCD but one that is slimmer (looks matters) and consumes less electricity than regular LCDs. I haven't had a chance to compare the picture quality of equivalent LED, LCD and Plasma HDTVs side-by-side but most online material seem to suggest that Plasmas offer the best picture quality.
The other point in favor of Plasma HDTVs is the viewing angle. LCDs and LEDs are best viewed from the front but if your room’s seating arrangement is such that people may have to watch TV while sitting at either sides, Plasmas may be a better option as the have a wider viewing angle. That said, if your TV room is brightly-lit or has too many windows, the Plasma screen may carry glare or reflection. LCDs have a matte screen and thus don't have the reflection problem.

Size of the TV Screen

HDTVs are available in various sizes and the one you should choose depends on two factors - the length of your room and obviously your budget.
As a rule of thumb, the ideal size of the TV screen should be anywhere between .3x and .6x where x is the distance between your sofa and the TV. For example, if the viewing distance is 6 feet (or 72 inches), you can go for a 24" - 48" screen.

TV Input Ports

Most newer TVs have HDMI and USB ports but what's also important is the location of these ports. If you are planning to wall-mount the TV, make sure that there are enough free ports at the sides of the unit because, once you mount the TV, it will be inconvenient, or rather impossible, to use the back ports for connecting your gadgets to the TV.

Screen Resolution – 720p, 1080i or 1080p

The next factor is the screen resolution where your choices are 720p, 1080i and 1080p - also known as full HD. Unless you are getting a small screen TV - like 32" - go for 1080p resolution and here’s why. More and more TV channels are becoming available in high-definition, the HD picture quality is vastly superior but you need a 1080p TV to experience the difference.
Jason Bonney adds – “Although I see no reason NOT to get a TV supporting 1080p, it's currently only really needed for Blu-ray. Broadcast HD TV is only 1080i and most video games (XBox 360/PS3) are native 720p being upscaled to 1080. So you can get by with 1080i if need be. I had an HD DLP 1080i for years before upgrading recently, and for HDTV and my 360 games it was still great.”

3D or 2D?

All brands are working hard to sell you 3D-capable TV sets but is 3D worth the extra cost or should you just settle for the good-old 2D? It depends.
We have a joint family and the TV is placed in a common room so we mostly watch it together. In order to enjoy 3D content, one needs to wear 3D glasses. If there are four other people in the room, they also need to wear compatible 3D glasses. The glasses are expensive but cost aside, I highly doubt if folks at home would be willing to wear a pair of glasses for watching a movie or a TV program. Also, there's isn’t enough 3D content available anyway – especially in regional languages - so we decided to go with 2D.

Network Connectivity

The other important feature to consider while deciding a TV is network connectivity. The expensive TV models often have built-in WiFi (or Wireless LAN) while others are WiFi-capable meaning you can attach an extra dongle, always old separately, to connect the TV to the home network or for watching web videos - like YouTube - on your TV wirelessly.
All Internet-ready TVs have an Ethernet port so if you can stretch the LAN cable from the router to the TV, you can go for the WiFi-capable model but without spending on the USB wireless adapter. Also look for DLNA support as it will become easy for you to stream photos, music and videos from your computer and mobile phone to the TV screen.
One more thing. TV vendors like Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG bundle various 'apps' to help you watch YouTube videos, Flickr photos and other web content on the HDTV. However, the number of apps offered by these vendors is still small, they have no built-in browsers, no web search and you are thus limited to a very tiny portion of the web.

So what we finally picked is a 50" Panasonic Viera Plasma TV, full HD, lacks 3D, Internet-ready but without built-in Wi-Fi. It is definitely not “razor-thin” but since the unit is mounted on a wall, you rarely notice the thickness. Also, Panasonic offers limited Internet apps but not that we have connected it to Logitech Revue (read review of Google TV), family members can access almost the entire web in the living room.
While everyone has different requirements or “wants” and there’s no such thing as ‘perfect’ when it comes it to buying electronics, the above points may help you make a slightly more informed decision and get more value for your money.

Best Tools for Taking Wikipedia Offline

2011-09-07T11:47:00.002+05:30

Would you like to download the entire Wikipedia on your computer or mobile phone for offline reading? Well, here are some good options to consider.

Download Wikipedia Articles for Offline Reading

Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia, offers downloadable copies (or database dumps) of all its wikis that one can download and thus access the entire Wikipedia content on computers that are not connected to the Internet.

The database dumps are frequently updated and include every single article that’s available on the main Wikipedia website. The dumps are available as .xml.bz2 files that you can easily open on your computer using the free and portable WikiTaxi software.

WikiTaxi ships with an importer that will first uncompress the Wikipedia database files (.bz2) and then converts them into a .taxi file format. Now you open these .taxi files inside WikiTaxi just like the way you open .doc files inside Microsoft Word and, if you are running low on space, the original Wikipedia dumps may be safely discarded.

A good alternative to WikiTaxi is Kiwix – this is also free software and available for Mac, Windows and Linux systems. You first install the Kiwix software on your computer and then download one of the Wikipedia editions – the articles are packaged as .zim files that’ll open directly inside Kiwix without requiring any conversion.

Kiwix is definitely easier to use than WikiTaxi and that packaged .zim files can read across all popular platforms but the downside is that, unlike the database dumps used by WikiTaxi, the .zim files aren’t very frequently updated. Also, the zim package for English Wikipedia doesn’t include every article though the packages for other languages are complete.

If you have an iOS device – like the iPhone, iPad or iPad Touch – you may grab the excellent Wiki Offline app and carry all the Wikipedia articles in your pocket. The app renders Wikipedia articles in a beautiful interface and supports tabbed browsing so you can open multiple articles side by side. Wiki Offline is also available in the Mac App Store for your Mac OS X.

The other option for using Wikipedia offline is WikiReader – this is a 3.5” monochrome device with a capacitive touch screen and contains over 3 million Wikipedia articles. The updates to Wikipedia articles are released every quarter – you can update the device by connecting it to your computer – or you opt to receive updates on SD cards.

The WikiReader device costs $99 and though I haven’t tried it myself, it did get a huge thumbs-up from Ars Technica. You definitely don’t need this if you carry a smart phone that is always connected to the Internet but could be a good reference tool for the rest of us with an impressive battery life – much like the Kindle.

Remove Passwords from your PDF Files

2011-09-07T11:41:00.001+05:30

There’s a free Windows utility called BeCyPDFMetaEdit that can help you remove passwords from PDF files* but without make any other change to the document. (I am not sure why the developers picked such a complex name for this useful utility).
Here’s what you need to do:

1. Launch the program and it will ask your for the location of the PDF file.

2. Before you select and open the PDF, change the mode to “Complete Rewrite.”

3. Switch to the Security tab and set the “Security System” to “No encryption.” Click the Save button and your PDF will no longer require a password to open.

Create Bootable XP CD

2011-08-30T17:14:00.004+05:30

How to create a bootable Windows XP SP3 CD/DVD (Nero)

Step 1

Create 3 folders - ex.
C:\WINXPSP3
C:\SP3
C:\XPBOOT

Step 2

Copy the entire Windows XP CD into folder WINXPSP3

Step 3

You will have to download the SP3 Update.

Rename the Service Pack file to XP-SP3.EXE
Extract the Service Pack to SP3 from the Run Dialog using the command: ex.
C:\XP-SP1.EXE -U -X:C:\SP3

Step 4
Open Start/Run... and type the command:

update.exe -s:WINXPSP3 ex.
C:\SP3\update\update.exe -s:C:\WINXPSP3
Click OK
Folder WINXPSP3 contains: Windows XP SP3
In the same way you can add hotfixes and updates to your XP SP3 ex.
H:\WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86 -s:H:\XP

============================== ===============
How to Create a Windows XP SP3 CD Bootable
============================== ===============
Step 1
Download xpboot.zip

Code:
Code:
http://thro.port5.com/xpboot.zip ( no download manager !! )
Extract xpboot.zip file(xpboot.bin)in to the folder XPBOOT or Create an iso of bootable WinXP
Open it using 7Zip.
Look in [BOOT] file to Bootable_NoEmulation.img file
Copy it to XPBOOT

Step 2

Start Nero - Burning Rom.
Select File > New... from the menu.

1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot)
2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data
3.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation
4.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 07C0
5.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4
6.) Press the Browse... button

Step 3
Select All Files (*.*) from File of type:

Locate boot.bin or Bootable_NoEmulation.img in the folder XPBOOT

Step 4

Click ISO tab
Set File-/Directory length to ISO Level 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 chars)

Set Format to Mode 1
Set Character Set to ISO 9660
Check all Relax ISO Restrictions

Step 5

Click Label Tab
Select ISO9660 from the drop down box.
Enter the Volume Label as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the System Identifier as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Volume Set as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Publisher as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Data Preparer as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Application as WB2PFRE_EN

* For Windows XP Professional OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXPOEM_EN
* For Windows XP Home OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXHOEM_EN

Step 6

Click Burn tab
Check Write
Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!)
Set Write Method to Disk-At-Once
Press New button

Step 7

Locate the folder WINXPSP3
Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.
Click the Write CD Dialog button.
Set Burn speed to 16x
Press Write
You're done.
Have any problems???
Dont wait to ask....

Sri Lanka Culture

2011-08-30T17:12:00.003+05:30

Sri Lanka Culture is fascinating. The Yaksha and Naga tribes Civilized before 300 B.C. using agriculture and irrigation, Nourished from Buddhism in early 2nd Century B.C. and influenced by Indian invasions and going through Portuguese, Dutch and British rule, Sri Lankan Culture is diverse like it Natural Heritage.

Known as the Smiling People though out the world Sri Lankans enjoy a unique culture that's humble, artistic, entertaining and touching someone's heart.
The intimate connection between Sri Lankans and Buddhism as well as it's Art, Dance and Music is the fusion of life.

The European rule introduced democracy, modern education, legal and commercial system. Sri Lanka now is a mirror of it's own ancient and modern cultures diverse from it's cities to far villages.

Cultural Diversity of Sri Lankans can be explained as modern as a software developers for US corporations as well as traditional Chena farmers in Wellassa and Veddhas the Jungle people.

	Life in Sri Lanka in General
	Sri Lanka Culture and Nature an intimate relationship
	Sri Lanka Heritage of 2500 Years
	Sri Lanka People & Ethnic groups
	Sri Lankan Traditions & Rituals


	Myths & Mysteries of Sri Lanka
	Languages & Literature
	Buddhism in Sri Lanka
	Sri Lanka Food and Beverages

	Sri Lanka Culture Photo Gallery
	A Life of a Sri Lankan from Birth to Death
	Buddism Pirith Sangayana - Relief from Burdens

	Sri Lankan Literature, Sinhala and Tamil Languages
	Farming Rituals and Traditions
	Gods and Goddess of Sri Lanka
	Sri Lankan Kings of Art and Literature

History Of Sri Lanka

2011-08-28T13:37:00.004+05:30

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. known as Ceylon before 1972 is an island nation in South Asia, located about 31 kilometers (18½ mi) off the southern coast of India. Originally known as Heladiva, it is home to around twenty million people.
Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia and has been a centre of Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times. Today, Sri Lanka is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation, with a fifth of the population following faiths other than Buddhism – notably Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The Sinhalese community forms the majority of the population (around 78%), with Tamils, who are mostly concentrated in the north and east of the island, forming the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include the Muslim Moors and Malays as well as Burghers. English is widely spoken and is studied as a compulsory secondary language in school.
Island has a pleasant tropical climate and average temperature of the low lands ranges between 25-30 degrees Celsius. Famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, rubber and coconuts, Sri Lanka boasts a progressive and modern industrial economy. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka’s tropical forests, beaches and landscape, as well as its rich cultural heritage make it a world famous tourist destination.
Sri Lanka’s Per Capita GDP is presently US$ 900 – the highest in South Asia and the Literacy rate is 92% – the highest in South Asia and second highest in Asia. According to the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) Forecast 1998, Sri Lanka’s Business Environment ranks 11th in the region, and 42nd in the world, ahead of India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan.

After over two thousand years of rule by local kingdoms, parts of Sri Lanka were colonized by Portugal and the Netherlands beginning in the 16th century, before the control of the entire country was ceded to the British Empire in 1815. During World War II Sri Lanka served as an important base for Allied forces in the fight against the Japanese Empire. A nationalist political movement arose in the country in the early 20th century, with the aim of obtaining political independence, which was eventually granted by the British after peaceful negotiations in 1948. Since then Sri Lanka has enjoyed a stable democracy and continuous economic progress, despite the ongoing conflict between the Sri Lankan government and a separatist militant group known as the Tamil Tigers in the northeastern parts of the country.