Jason S Blog on Technology ::The Authoritative Guide::

Why do you think thermal runaway reactions are dangerous on an industrial scale?

2011-12-10T23:43:00.001+05:30

Thermal runaway reactions are always said to be dangerous on an industrial scale since the reactions go faster in an industry where they tend to reach higher temperatures. As you would already know that Exothermic reactions tend to release quite a large amount of heat, so when the reaction mixture gets very warm, a very very hot exothermic reaction begins.

When you use industrial floor scales, it wouldn't take long to measure how and for how long the reaction needs to run to completion, so although it begins to get very very hot, it's soon over at the speed it started off with. When we see no more heat is being generated by the industrial reaction, and when it'll start cooling once the reaction is over.Did you know that for around 30 years manufacturers of some of the top of the line industrial weighing equipment with the best quality, accuracy, advanced technology and durability have always struggled to sustain it.

When you have got a large volume of raw materials reacting, and that too in an exothermic reaction, it then begins to get hot, and finally it can quickly spiral abd get out of control. What happens is that the heat generated from the reaction can't escape, the reaction goes quicker, which then leads it to release even more heat, which speeds up the reaction even more.So that is how you have a thermal runaway reaction - in such a reaction even vessels cold melt, or explode.

The raw material or even the product might boil away and be lost. At times it might catch fire and lead to very very dangerous situations. So that leads to the conclusion that exothermic reactions have to be run with plenty of coolant available which will help to keep the reaction at a manageable temperature.But on the other hand Nuclear power stations is another example where you don't want it to get too hot.

Norton 360 Version 4 – The best Anti-Virus solution till date

2010-07-02T09:21:00.005+05:30

As most of you folks already know, I have become a fan of Norton products ever since I started using Norton Internet Security about 6 months back. The new Norton products and solutions have had a radical shift in terms of performance (which I deem very important), features and even the UI. This time round I got hold of a copy of Norton 360 Version 4 – the new kid(version) in the block!!

First things first – Norton 360, as the name truly suggests is a complete 360⁰ solutions that truly runs out of the box from the time you say go (err… install). Norton 360 takes care of all things related to security for your PC / Laptop / Netbook and also takes care of a few more mundane tasks. It is packed with a powerful Anti-Virus, a super smart Fire-Wall, a password safe storage solution and also a auto-backup feature.

Lets deep dive into each of these features separately and the significant improvements that you get with the new Version 4.

Norton 360’s Anti-Virus Solution: One of the most powerful and yet light weight anti-virus solution that I have seen for quite sometime now and it’s getting better. The most useful and exciting feature that I find is called “Live Scan” – this is switched ON by default and runs whenever it finds the computer usage to be idle or low. “Live Scan” automatically determines whether to run a ‘Quick Scan’ or a ‘Full System Scan’. The advantage that I get with this cool new feature is that it runs usually when I’ve left my comp and gone to grab a cup of coffee or catch up on dinner – so no more hassles of setting up a schedule and making sure your comp is up and running for the scheduled scan to run.

I for once have had issues running scheduled scans – missing most of the schedules all the time, setting up a schedule over the weekend or late times of the day means that your machine needs to run over that time to hit the schedule. Now all that looks passé with this very cool and intuitive option. The best part of all this is that the scan magically ends as soon as you once again start using your computer – so you never feel that any of the computer resources have been sacrificed for the scan.

Norton 360’s File Insight Feature: How often do we download .exe’s / setups and what not off the internet – but how do we know that whatever you’ve downloaded is really legitimate and free of any virus, Trojan or root-kit. The later part is taken care by the anti-virus solution but never the legitimacy of the file. You are always left to make the decision yourselves based on the site from which you have downloaded, the person/forum that recommended it, etc – but even for a seasoned internet person like me, it’s quite a daunting task to decide. That’s when you’ve got help in the form of ‘File Insight’ which checks the file against an online database and reveals some interesting facts, let alone whether the file is safe to use/install. It churns out some cool facts such as the number of users who have downloaded/installed the file, safety level of the file and from where you got it to the physical location on your hard-disk that the file resides on. That’s a lot of cool and interesting facts to consider before you make a choice.

Norton 360’s Firewall : This is a very simple and lucid fire-wall solution, nothing much to worry on and it’s so very simple that if you can use your computer for browsing you can configure the firewall too easily. But I guess the default setting that Norton 360 ships out with is more than enough and you don’t really need to tweak any of the configurations frankly speaking. Also Norton's new SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advance Response) behavioral monitoring system does a good task in combating phishing attacks and real time surveillance of your PC from attacks of the outside work over the network.

Norton 360’s Identity Safe Storage: Quite a cool option to store your usernames and passwords for the sites that you often visit. All the information is safely encrypted and stored. You now need to only remember one master password to access the safe storage.

But, I am really not a very big fan of this solution since it’s not portable really. In the sense, if I happen to use a public computer at a kiosk or over at a friend’s place – I really can’t harness this solution easily. Also, since I’ve become lazy in not typing the password’s each time to login – over a period of time one tends to forget the actual credentials. There must be a better solution for this problem but I can’t think of one that would be truly safe in all scenarios for now.

Norton 360’s BackUp feature: Looks like Norton is slowly consolidating it’s portfolio and that’s really a boon for users like me and you. The backup feature is pretty tidy and easy to setup and use. A few clicks on configuring your backup drive/media and the locations to backup – you should be ready to go. Believe me it’s a very simple process and best of all it’s right out of the box for all practical purposes.

Norton 360’s backup and recovery tool also provides you a free 2GB of online storage space that you can easily backup your important documents and photos. This free Online Backup is simply too cool if you’re out of home/office on a remote country with only a PC connected to the internet (read an airport) - viola you get access to all your backup files right there online.

Also for an extra charge you can easily increase your online backup storage up to 25GB at $69.99 per year. This is a very cool feature that the other backup / anti-virus products like McAfee currently donot do not offer today.

Performance has really been a deciding feature for me to switch over to Norton (this statement looked very very unlikely about 10 months back – if you were to ask me). There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t choose Norton 360 over the ample number of products that are out there in the market.

Norton 360 1 PC license costs INR 1795 - but the deal is with the 3 PC license at INR 3200, nowadays most of us have a desktop, laptop and netbook - so it does make sense to have a three license one - these also come with 2GB of online storage space. The premium edition includes 25GB of online storage space and a three PC license, the suggested retail price is INR 4025. Both - standard and premium editions of Norton 360 includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. All Norton 360 users with a valid product subscription are eligible to receive the latest product updates via the subscription service model.

Norton 360 not only protects your computer but also tunes up your system for the best performance like doing a disk defragmentation or fixing driver issues and also backs up essential files – all in the background (now that’s the icing on the cake). The list of features and the great value for money that it provides is simply endless – as I started off this review, it’s truly an out-of-the-box solution where you deploy and completely let it take care of everything – all in the background.

ICSE Results to be declared today on www.cisce.org

2010-05-19T09:23:00.002+05:30

ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Examination) will be declaring the results of ICSE (Class 10) 2010 and ISC (Class 12) 2010 today (19th May 2010) at about 15:00 hrs or 3:00 pm IST on the website www.cisce.org. As expected the www.cisce.org website is down from this morning signalling that the results are getting uploaded and changes are being made to the website to announce the ICSE results.

As a matter of fact 1,567 ICSE schools across India and about 35,000 students from the city are anxiously waiting for the ICSE results from the board today. Many students are expected to be affected once the results are out since the ICSE results have a direct impact on their future life path. The ICSE 2010 exams were conducted in the month of March 2010 across schools in India and abroad affiliated to the ICSE board.

One may recall that last year round there were a couple of problems faced by the students and also the ICSE authorities due to heavy web traffic and eventually the website crashed. Once the ICSE website crashed the students were scrambled to get to know their results. Hopefully we feel that this year the ICSE board authorities have taken into consideration the problem of heavy web traffic and would be publishing the ICSE 2010 results simultaneously on various websites. The complete list of alternative websites where the ICSE results will be available is here.

The ICSE results like last year can also be checked using the ICSE SMS facility. For getting your results on SMS follow these simple instructions:

Type your index number and send as an sms to any of these numbers from your mobile phone:

56388

524524

56263

51818

Also you can search on Google for the ICSE results by using keywords like ICSE results, ICSE results 2010, 2010 ICSE, ICSE 2010 results, ICSE results website.

Wishing all the students the very best!!

Other websites and useful links for ICSE results:

Finally we have a Steam client for Mac for FREE from Valve

2010-05-13T18:50:00.002+05:30

Valve has finally managed today to rather officially give us the Steam client for Mac. This is simply some superb news for Mac users since they get the 'free to play' Portal game and also a vast library of 63 games too for the Mac platform.

Valve says that in order to celebrate the Mac launch, it will be giving away free copies of Portal to anyone who downloads Steam between today and May 24, 2010. Here is the direct link to download your Steam for Mac. For all the existing steam users who don't still have a copy of the game yet they can simply click on the install button on the game's Store page to get it now!!.

Steam being pushed into the Mac platform will surely open loads of opportunities for Valve. Valve can now easily expand the current customer base for its games distribution service. This announcement is significant since most of the hardcore gamers on Mac used to play all the steam titles only by using Windows OS via Bootcamp, but that's not needed anymore.

Here's this week's titles which are available on Steam Play:

And Yet It Moves
Atlantis Sky Patrol
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
Bob Came in Pieces
Bookworm Deluxe
Braid
Brainpipe
Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
Chuzzle Deluxe
City of Heroes: Architect Edition
Civilization IV: The Complete Edition
Cooking Dash
Diaper Dash
The Dig
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
DinerTown Detective Agency
DinerTown Tycoon
Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
Escape Rosecliff Island
Fairway Solitaire
Fitness Dash
Football Manager 10
Galcon Fusion
Gemini Lost
Guns of Icarus
Hotel Dash Suite Success
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
KrissX
Loom
Luxor
Luxor 3
Luxor: Mahjong
Machinarium
Mahjong Roadshow
Max and the Magic Marker
My Tribe
The Nightshift Code
Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye
Parking Dash
Peggle Deluxe
Peggle Nights
Portal
Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery
Quantz
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
Tales of Monkey Island Season 1
Toki Tori
Torchlight
Trijinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery
Unwell Mel
Valarie Porter and the Scarlett Scandal
Wandering Willows
Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
World of Goo
Zenerchi
Zuma Deluxe

New Features in C# 4.0

2010-05-12T12:36:00.002+05:30

Visual Studio 2010 is out and we have a new version of C# that also accompanies it. That's C# 4.0 - I have been working on C# from the good old 1.0 or 1.1 version upwards. So whats the new 4.0 version of C# got in store for you. Here's a wrap up of the new features available as part of C# 4.0 release.

keyword Dynamic

There's a new kid in the block, with the introduction of a very a key feature of this release called the dynamic keyword. The keyword dynamic bridges the gap that existed between a dynamically and statically - typed languages. Well, C# can now also be considered a dynamically typed language too. You can easily create dynamic objects on the fly and even have their types determined only at run time. You will simply need to add a new namespace called System.Dynamic, and lo you can create expandable objects and even advanced class wrappers. You can also facilitate interoperability between different languages, including the dynamic ones.

To better understand the use of dynamic keyword, here's an example:

dynamic BankAccount = new ExpandoObject();
BankAccount.Number = "174258733-451269";
BankAccount.HolderName = "Jason S";
BankAccount.Branch = "Bangalore";

Though there are many pros and cons for the use of dynamic keyword and the system performance overheads, it makes like that much more simpler for the developer in the end.

Optional (or Default) Method Parameters

If I rightly remember, VB.net is preferred to C# when porting old projects in ancient langues of VB 5 / 6 or when working on creating COM wrappers since VB.net allows you the use of Optional or Default parameters in methods. C# 4.0 has finally got this feature to make it that much more robust in this area.

You can now easily specify a default value for a parameter within the method declaration in C# 4.0. Also, the consumer of the method can either pass a value or can easily skip the parameter. When the parameter is skipped, the default value declared in the method is passed.

Here's a simple example to explain it:

Method declaration:

public static void GetMoney(int amount = 0) { }

Bot the below Method calls for the above declaration are valid in C# 4.0:

GetMoney(); // 0 is used as amount in the method.
GetMoney(1000);

Named Arguments

Well, here's another relief to the developer. Did you know that in C# 4.0 the order of parameters in a method declaration and also the order of arguments you pass to the method when calling don’t need to match anymore!!. You can now easily provide arguments to a method in any order that you are comfortable with by specifying parameter names with-in the method call. This feature also tremendously improves the readability of one's code.

Here's a simple example of using Named Arguments in C# 4.0

var sample = new List();
sample.InsertRange(collection: new List(), index: 0);
sample.InsertRange(index: 0, collection: new List()); // both ways it'll work now

Covariance and Contravariance

Does the heading sound confusing? Well, the use of variance on generic type parameters in interfaces and delegates is yet another new feature available in C# 4.0. Though, strictly speaking it doesn’t add that much of a new functionality. But it rather makes things work in the first place as you expected them to work. Here is a major advantage that is hidden in the power of C# 4.0 in simple line below. Note: The below code wouldn't have compiled up until C# 4.0 was released:

IEnumerable objects = new List();

Now you have the ability to implicitly convert references for objects instantiated with different type arguments. This makes it that much more simpler and easier to reuse code.

Improved COM Interop Support

As I started this article with the dynamic keyword, then we had the optional parameters and named arguments, did you know that all of this actually enables a significant improvement in working with COM interop. Though all these features have arrived pretty late for the COM Interop world - but it's like late than never is better.

Take a look at my ugly code below:

var excelApp = new Excel.Application();
// . . .
excelApp.get_Range("A1", "B4").AutoFormat(
    Excel.XlRangeAutoFormat.xlRangeAutoFormatTable3,
    Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing,
    Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing);

I can now simply write it in a few lines as below:

excelApp.Range["A1", "B3"].AutoFormat(
    Excel.XlRangeAutoFormat.xlRangeAutoFormatClassic2);

Ain't it pretty neat?

So, there you go - that was a wrap up of the new features that are available in C# 4.0. Hope it helped!!

Can your OS make some ice-cream for you? Well, Linux can!!

2010-05-12T09:31:00.005+05:30

We have the OS wars raging like the Cold War down under and ready to erupt any given time. In this time, I have a question for you - Can your OS really churn out some delicious ice-cream? Most probably the answer would be in the negative. But if you happen to run Linux - the answer is YES!!

Well, a company called MooBella (what a name to Moo around with) has come up with a rather geeky invention - a Linux-powered ice cream maker which is currently undergoing demo runs in New England. This is not the size of your average PC though for home use, but a full fledged ice cream machine that reportedly churns out Fresh Dairy Ice Cream in 40 seconds and has a whooping 96 varieties. All this being 100% natural dairy stuff.

The ice cream machine sports a 15" touch screen but under the hood it is basically an off-the-shelf PC Hardware that is in use and best of all it happens to runs Redhat Linux. Well, the basic interface happens to run off Firefox too. This seems to be a cool innovation and also a great example of what Linux can do.

I am sure that in near future we will have refrigerators / TVs / ACs coming with a choice of OS like Linux / Android / Chrome / Windows. Any takers yet?

FaceBook Login

2010-05-11T17:37:00.002+05:30

As you all know by now - Facebook happens to be the single most popular Social Networking website on the Internet. Facebook currently has approximately has more than 400 million active users currently worldwide, which makes it the most sought after web property second to Google.

When you are speaking about 400 million users on facebook, the Facebook login problems are also very similar to the login problems that you will face on any other website online. What I am trying to emphazize here is not the common forgotten username / password kind of problem but at most sophisticated problems related to phishing Facebook accounts which many other large websites online too have to worry about - did I forget google's set of misseries in the early days?

We currently have two different versions of the Facebook Login page online - the standard login page to your facebook account that loads up on your web browser, the other version is called Facebook Lite which is mainly a mobile version of Facebook with faster loading times and also less data on the page. Both these pages have an option called the forgot password which links to a page that helps you change the Facebook password in case you have forgotten the original facebook password.

I would recommend users who often forget their Facebook password to use an online Password Manager that helps you to easily fill your password when online. An online password manager will remember the username and password for your Facebook account, and it will also automatically fill the details into the login form at the Facebook homepage - some even have the functionality to do a Facebook login automatically too (How lazy can it get folks!!).

Well, Facebook users often experience other login problems that may not be really related to the Facebook login page o- at such times it is recommended to clear the web browser cache - which will help you fetch a new copy of the website form the webserver again. I can also think of another way to overcome the Facebook login issue by using a different web browser from the one in which you are having problems to see if the login problem still exists. If it still exists you can very well be sure that web browser is not the real problem here nor is it to do anything with the browser settings that may be the culprit for the Facebook login problems the user is facing.

Do read the tips on Facebook Login.

A few FaceBook Login Tips

2010-05-11T17:31:00.003+05:30

Here are a few tips for Facebook Login problems that have become very common nowadays. if you follow these tips, you can be sure to reduce the number of issues you face with your Facebook login.

You should NEVER and EVER click on links from other webpages to visit the Facebook login page. Many a times clicking a Short Url may land you on the Facebook login page - simply close the page and open a new browser session and type the url manually yourself.
You must always remember to enter the url directly into your web browser's navigation bar to goto the Facebook login page.
Take a few second to reconfirm the url displayed on the navigation bar and also do a check on the website before you start entering your log in information.
It is a good practice to use a password manager to enter the login details and process your login. That way no key-press for key loggers to know.
Always ensure that you have a very secure password with consists of atleast eight characters/digits. This should include atleast one number, atleast one CAPITAL letter and atleast one special character.
Never give your username and password to anyone - let them be your best friend or family member. You'll never know how knowingly or unknowingly that information can land in the wrong hands.
Always make it a habit to change your online password the very minute you suspect the account has been compromised - No second thoughts.

Well, that's all the gyan I could think off - if you have any other tips, do post it in the comments below - deeply appreciated.

Also you can find more Facebook login information and some very good security tips at the Facebook Official Login Helper site.

List of Best Engineering Colleges in Bangalore : Ranking of B.E. Colleges for CET and COMEDK

2010-05-11T17:21:00.004+05:30

The Karnataka CET (KCET), COMED K and AIEEE entrance exams for all the Karnataka Engineering Colleges have just got over. Well, here is a list of all the Best engineering colleges in Bangalore to choose from for the 4 precious years of Engineering ahead.

We have considered the following facts in providing the ranks to the colleges below:

Engineering Colleges only in Bangalore
Faculty to Student Ratio
Facilities available and the quality
Faculty qualifications
Previous year placements record
Student feedbacks over the years

etc, etc, etc....

So here's the ranking :

RV College of Engineering, Mysore Road (RVCE)
P.E.S. Institute of Technology, Outer Ring Road (PESIT)
B.M.S College of Engineering, Bull Temple Road (BMSCE)
Bangalore Institute of Technology (BIT)
MS Ramiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT)
RNS Institute of Technology (RNSIT)
Sir M Visvewsvaraya Institute of Technology (MVIT)
JSS Academy of Technical Education (JSSATE)
BNM Institute of Technology (BNMIT)
Global Academy of Techology (GAT)
Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering (DSCE)
Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology (AIT)
BMS Institute of Technology, Yelahanka (BMSIT)
Sapthagiri College of Engineering (SCE)
CMR Institute of Technology (CMRIT)
New Horizon College of Engineering (NHCE)
P.E.S. School of Engineering (PESSE)
Don Bosco Institute of Technology (DBIT)
Atria Institute of Technology (AtIT)
MV Jayaram College of Engineering (MVJCE)
Vemana Institute of Technology (VIT)
Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering
HKBK College of Engineering (HKBKCE)
East West Insitute of Technology (EWIT)

Check your COMEDK 2010 (UGET) results online : Complete list of websites to get COMEDK results when Announced

2010-05-11T17:06:00.002+05:30

The Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK) in Karnataka was held recently. The results for the COMEDK UGET-2010 can be checked online from the following websites when they are announced. The COMEDK office is located at #37, first floor, Ramanashree chambers, Lady curzon road, Bangalore 560001, Karnataka.

COMEDK Fax number is 080-2598309 (or +91802598309)

COMEDK Email : uget@comedk.org

COMEDK Help desk number : 080-41132810 (4 lines)

COMEDK website www.comedk.org

Candidates who have appeared in COMEDK UGET-2010 can easily check their results from one of the following websites once it is announced online:

www.comedk.org [Official Karnataka COMEDK website]

(more websites to be added soon)

Wishing all the students the very Best and also a very Bright and fruitful Engineering Life ahead!!!

Here are some important dates pertaining to COMEDK 2010:

Publishing of COMEDK answer keys: 09.05.2010

Last date for receiving objection pertaining to COMEDK answer keys: 14.05.2010

COMEDK UGET 2010 Results - Publishing of test scores: 26.05.2010

Last date for receiving objection pertaining to test scores: 29.05.2010

Publishing of COMEDK rank list: 07.06.2010

Last date for dispatch of COMEDK rank cards: 17.06.2010

Only centralized counseling for B.Arch

Start date for issue of online application form for B.Arch: 21.05.2010

Last date for receipt of completed application forms for B.Arch: 24.06.2010

Check your CET 2010 results online : Complete list of websites to get CET results when Announced

2010-05-11T16:58:00.006+05:30

The Common Entrance Test (CET) in Karnataka is conducted by the CET Cell. The results for the Karnataka CET 2010 exams can be checked online from the following websites once they are announced. The Karnataka CET Cell office is situated at 18th Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore.

Candidates who have appeared in CET 2010 can easily check their results from one of the following websites once it is announced online:

http://kar.nic.in/cet [Official Karnataka CET website]
http://cet.kar.nic.in [Official Karnataka CET website]
www.oneindia.in
www.Karnataka.com
www.vishwabharati.org
www.shimoga.net
www.thatskannada.com
www.educhoice.org
www.bangaloreeducation.com

Wishing all the studenst the very Best and also a very Bright and fruitful Engineering Life ahead!!!

Also note that you can easily check your CET results via SMS by following the simple instructions here.

We now have Intel Atom processors to power Tablets and Handhelds

2010-05-09T20:50:00.004+05:30

Intel Atom processor’s have been known for their power-saving architecture, proven transistor and circuit design and also unique manufacturing process techniques that have made them the market leader in the netbook market. But now we have a new kid in the block – Tablet PCs!

Tablets PCs have entered the mainstream with the introduction of the Apple iPad. Intel today unveiled its newest Intel Atom processor-based platform (formerly codenamed as "Moorestown") – the chips are called the Z6xx Series Family (codenamed "Lincroft" system-on-chip [SoC]), the Intel Platform Controller Hub MP20 (codenamed "Langwell") and a dedicated Mixed Signal IC (MSIC), codenamed "Briertown."

The new platform aimed at Tablet PCs has been specially repartitioned to include the Intel Atom Processor Z6xx series, which will include the 45nm Intel Atom processor core with onboard 3-D graphics, video encode and decode functions, as well as memory and display controllers into a single SoC design. It will also include the brand new MP20 Platform Controller Hub which supports several system-level functions and I/O blocks. Also the dedicated MSIC integrates power delivery and battery charging, and consolidates a range of analog and digital components.

What’s very interesting with this release is that the new chip platform brings in a very "PC-like" experience with fast Internet, 3-D graphics, multi-point videoconferencing, multi-tasking and advanced voice capabilities. Most importantly full 1080p video support right out of the chip. We have many players like Dell, HP, who are planning to release new Tablets in the coming days which would directly compete with the Apple iPad and Intel’s new Z6xx chips will surely give them a winning hand in it.

Complete list of Best and Free Anti-Virus for your Windows 7 :: Updated on May 2010

2010-05-06T12:57:00.002+05:30

Though you may have one of the best operating system's in your computer - a.k.a. Windows 7, you will still need a good anti-virus program to protect your PC from Viruses, Trojans, Root-Kits, etc. There are several paid Anti-Virus solutions from Norton (Symantec), Mc-Afee, etc but when you have a personal PC or laptop and can't really afford spending any more on softwares - well, look at the Free Anti-Virus solutions.

Free Anti-Virus softwares are actually second to none in terms of protection but they lack functionality and a few bells and whistles found exclusively on paid Anti-Virus softwares.

I have put together a list of the Best Free Anti-Virus Solutions that are available currently.

As for the paid Anti-Virus, the Best detections rates are found in these:

Symantec Norton
Avira AntiVir
Panda
Avast
Sophos

Go ahead and protect your data - choose a Anti-Virus solution wisely and don't forget to update it often!!

How to disable Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications - using the Free RemoveWGA

2010-05-06T12:45:00.003+05:30

>For those of you who are wondering how to disable or simply remove the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications - You have help at hand in the form of a cool tool called RemoveWGA. Though you must already be aware that removing the WGA from your Windows copy amounts to piracy by Microsoft's term.

But at times you may have a genuine reason as to why you want to turn off the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification, in such cases Microsoft doesnot help you with any tool right away. This is where RemoveWGA comes into picture. This is a very simple and easy to use tool that allows you to remove the WGA protection in your copy of Windows.

I would like to once again stress that removing WGA from your Windows XP or Windows Vista or Windows 7 amounts to you having a pirated copy of Windows. So thread in caution when you try this out. Your on your own and i don't assume any responsibility.

Now after all that long disclaimers - where do you get a Free download of RemoveWGA you may ask? Well, head over to the software database at Softpedia and you can find it easily.

II PU (PUC) 2010 results announced : Website to get results Online

2010-05-05T18:07:00.001+05:30

The long awaited Karnataka PU 2010 results dates for PUC is finally announced. The results once available online will be at the following list of websites:

http://pue.kar.nic.in - The only official website where the PU 2010 results will be available direct from the board. This website is also the official website of the PU board of Karnataka (Pre University Education Examination Board) which conducts and also announces the results of the PUC exams conducted in March - April 2010.

http://puc.kar.nic.in - This is the direct website given on the official link. But unfortunately the website is down saying "Bandwidth Exceeded" since the results are getting uploaded to the website servers. In the meantime, you can easily click on the direct url to access the 2010 PU results by clicking on this website link http://stg1.kar.nic.in/pucsup2010/

www.kar.nic.in - The Karnataka Government's official website in which all announcements related to the 2010 PU results are nowadays announced.

http://karresults.nic.in - Karnataka Government recently created an exclusive website for announcing results of exams like the PUC 2010 and SSLC 2010.

Here is a list of other websites to get updated and current information :

Website for Karnataka 2nd PUC Results (Click Here)

Latest Update on PU 2010 : The PU 2010 results for the exams conducted in March - April 2010 has been announced by the government that it will be available on 6th May 2010 evening in the above websites. The PU 2010 results will also be published in all the PU colleges of Karnataka which were exam centers from 2 pm onwards on 7th May.

The PU 2010 results are the most awaited since atleast 6.51 lakh students have written the same.

www.kseeb.org website is down already

2010-05-05T15:56:00.003+05:30

When everyone is waiting anxiously for the SSLC results we have one shocker - the website where the results are to be announced is down!! Yes, www.kseeb.org is down already and it has a familiar message saying

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

The authorities don't really understand the students anxiousness really, else why would the website be down.

But on the other hand, there is talks that since the results are being uploaded into the website hence it has been pulled down. But being a techie myself - it is clearly not the case. The web server has exhausted all the bandwidth allocated to it and hence the message.

Meanwhile, you can get the results from the other websites listed here:

All the very best!!

Karnataka SSLC 2010 results Online :: Website Announced

2010-05-05T11:31:00.004+05:30

The Karnatak SSLC results for Class 10 is available at the following list of websites:

www.kseeb.org - This is the official website of the SSLC board in Karnataka (Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board) which is instrumental in conducting the SSLC examinations. The website is currently down since the results are getting uploaded. At times the main website for the SSLC 2010 results might be slow, you can click on the direct url to access the results by clicking on http://karresults.nic.in/sslcresult2010.htm

www.kar.nic.in - This happens to be the Karnataka Government's official website where most of the results are announced nowadays.

http://karresults.nic.in - Another website from Karnataka Government exclusively for announcing results of exams like the SSLC 2010 and PUC 2010.

Here are a list of other websites to get more information :

Update : The SSLC 2010 results for the exams conducted in March - April 2010 will be announced on 6th May 2010 Morning in the above websites. The SSLC 2010 results will also be availabe and announced in all the high schools in Karnataka from 2 pm onwards.

The SSLC 2010 results are the most awaited since atleast 8.35 lakh students have written the same.

How to buy gold bullion and also steps to safeguard its value?

2010-05-01T23:30:00.004+05:30

One of the easiest and time-tested methods to buy gold bullion is to buy it directly from a reputable local gold bullion dealer who's been in business for a pretty long time. Why I prefer to get it from a dealer the good old way is coz you can see and feel the gold bullion - also you can actually feel the weight of the coins before you buy.

It's most likely the best approach to buy coins that are actually issued by a Bank or a Government agency than to buy the usual 1 oz or 10 oz bullion in the open market.

Usually you will find in most cases that the bullion that you plan to purchase is assayed or usually tested (acid) to check that it is real. But if you buy gold bullion encapsulated by a the very reputed issuing company it usually comes in a tamper proof case so there's really no question of purity or safety. Well, if you happen to invest in gold, you must clearly understand that it is a very long-term proposition since once you have it, it doesn't do much. Much in the sense, gold bullion doesn't pay interest or dividends but I would think that it is nice to take out and look at from time to time and feel it in hand often.

Also, be prepared that in short term you may infact likely lose money due to the market but eventually inflation increases it's value over a long period. The recommended allocation that most wealth manager's suggest is not more than 5% of your total portfolio's value should be in precious metals. Also, here's a very important tip when at the dealer's outlet, make sure that you are not charged more than around 10% over the current spot value of the metal. Remember to check online to see the daily spot value's and keep yourself updated of the up's and downs.

Finally, remember to keep the gold bullion, encased in it's original protective plastic Air-Tight packet since condition (in the distant future) may be important when selling. Hope you found this stuff interesting and useful.

Delay in Bangalore(RCB) - Mumbai(MI) IPL match today due to Explosion

2010-04-17T16:31:00.004+05:30

For all those like me who are waiting for the start of the Bangalore Mumbai IPL match. There has been an unscheduled delay in the Royal Challengers (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) match held today due to two small explosions outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore where the match is being held.

There hasn't been much information coming forth from the authorities immediately on the incident but security has been beefed up and hence the delay in starting the match. Unconfirmed reports suggest that atleast 10 people including a security guard have been injured.

This is a very critical match for RCB who have only 14 points from the last 13 matches that they have played. Today's win for RCB can land it into Semi-Finals for sure, else they will dilly-dally on others losses to get into the semi's.

Anymore updates, I will keep you folks posted.

Update (16:40hrs): RCB Win the toss and elect to field. The explosion was caused by a fault generator - 3 policemen are injured. Security agencies have sanitized the area.

How to install Windows 7 from a .iso without burning onto a DVD

2010-03-08T10:44:00.004+05:30

Windows 7 doesnot allow you to install off the same Hard Disk. But if you didn't want to burn the .iso image of Windows 7 that you downloaded to a new DVD - you can still install it off the .iso file by using the method below.

You will need a portable hard disk / pen drive though.

Incase, you have a portable hard disk or a pen drive - do the following :

1. Get WinRar (www.rarlabs.com) and install the software on your machine. WinRar is similar to winzip but supports many other formats including .iso.

2. Extract the .iso of Win7 to your pen drive / portable hard disk. Place the extracted files into the root of the drive - your other data can be put into folders.

3. Restart your laptop and hold F9 / F2 to enter into boot-menu which gives you a choice to load from. Here select your pen-drive / portable hard disk - usually a USB device.

Done - that's all it takes. You can now go ahead with the normal install process.

How to find large e-mails/attachments in GMail and delete them easily?

2010-03-05T12:56:00.002+05:30

Many a times, you are struck with a scenario that only a last few % of free space is avilable in Gmail. Though GMail has been growing everyday (or every 2 seconds) in increasing your online storage space - but yet for a person like me who has been using GMail for more than 5 years now as a primary e-mail account, it does become full at many a times.

Today my Gmail account read as "You are currently using 6538 MB (88%) of your 7429 MB.". Now that was a bit worrying for me and decided to bring it down atleast by 5% and here's what I did for it.

Head over to the search bar on top of your Gmail account and type as "has:attachment (*.mov || *.mp3 || *.wm || *.avi || *.wmv )" and the results you get could be the large file attachments that are sitting in your GMail account and making it bulky. Evaluate if you need it else you can select them and delete.

To find large zipped attachments use this search option.

has:attachment (*.zip || *.rar || *.7z )

To find large pdf / doc / xls / ppt / docx / pptx / xlsx attachments use this search option.

has:attachment (*.pdf || *.doc || *.docx || *.xls || *.xlsx || *.ppt || *.pptx )

Usually ppt / pptx are large culprits too.

P.S: After you delete the mail and attachment, it still remains in your GMail Trash folder. So go over to that folder and hit "Empty Trash". Now you can finally see some very good increase in the storage area of your Gmail account.

As for me, it went upto "You are currently using 6138 MB (82%) of your 7429 MB." which was a pretty good increase for me.

Fire at Carlton Center, Bangalore claims 9 lives : Updated Video

2010-02-23T20:55:00.004+05:30

This evening there was a major fire that broke out at the Carlton Center(popular for TGIF) near the Old HAL Airport Road, close to the Domlur Flyover.

Reports being flased on television suggest that 9 folks have lost their lives and 70+ are injured. The blame is on a electric short-circuit. Also, the poor fire management equipment present in the building.

This incident has led to 2 km+ traffic jams in most places around Domlur. My condolences to the family(s) of those who have lost their lives today.

Here's a video grab of the incident.

Help the Victims in Haiti

2010-01-21T15:18:00.002+05:30

As you are all aware Haiti has had a bad time with nature. The new year (January 12 2010 to be precise) witnessed a 7.0 earthquake that struck 10 miles south of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. This has created wide-spread devastation including loss of life, property and has left many with severe medical problems and also homeless.

It has been estimated that at least 2.5 to 3 million people are affected by the Earthquake. The earthquake also triggered a series of mudslides, collapsed many buildings, and also knocked out power and communications lines. If you are interested to help even a small amount such as $10 will go a long way in helping those in need.

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization, founded by volunteer doctors and nurses and dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through relief and development programs. Their team is treating crush injuries, trauma, substantial wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies - And they're in it for the long haul.

So, please go ahead and donate generously by clicking the link here.

If you are in US, you can donate $10 to help the people of Haiti in a very simple way such as sending a text message of the word "haiti" to 85944 (Works only in US). The sms method works only in US, others please contribute via their secure website.

The Best In Audio Video Tools

2009-12-30T20:36:00.002+05:30

What do you use your computer for? Long gone are the days when the computer was strictly a data processing tools. Today, the computer is an all-purpose media entertainment center. Its capabilities have gone far beyond keeping a catalog of all your movies and music – it’s even gone beyond playing all your favorite music and movies. These days, with the right tools you can splice, cut, record, edit, mix, create and publish your own media. And to accompany the new capabilities there’s a dizzying array of new software tools that can help you do everything from rip CDs to encode complete animations and videos. How do you find the best new software tools?

And you’ll find them easily. There’s no need to wade through page after page of directory structure. You can search all categories from the front page on the site, or click on a category to go directly to browsing that category. You’ll find video editors, audio editors, CD rippers, imaging software, video and audio converters, complete all-in-one packages and more. There are shareware listings, commercial listings and freeware listings – in short, just about everything you’d ever want to play with your media.

Each listing includes a capsule description and a full review as well as a side box that lists all the important details about the software – including both a staff and user rating, and the chance to enter your own rating. The categories include All-in-One, Media Players, CD Rippers, CD Burners, Converters, DVD software, Editors, ID3 Tag Editors, Mobile Phone Tools, Plugins, Radio and Broadcasting (plogcasting, anyone?), Recorders, Utilities and Voice and Text editors.

The reviews are comprehensive, listing all the capabilities of each software package and how well it performs each function. It’s a nice bonus that’s not often found on pure directories.

For software publishers, there are multiple opportunities for exposure. There’s an easy submission tool to add a free listing of you audio or video software, and many different ways to increase the exposure of your listing at very reasonable rates. You can opt for a featured listing, front page exposure, top level search results, footer text links and more.

Among the most popular software featured at audio-video-tools.com is Blaze Media Pro, the popular powerhouse all-in-one media tool that converts between all available video and audio formats .Rip, burn, convert, edit, capture, create, extract and combine files to create your own unique media.

Free Invites for new Orkut – anyone wants?

2009-12-03T02:44:00.001+05:30

Many of you folks send e-mails to me asking for an invite to the new Orkut eversince I wrote about the New Orkut. Though the steps were very simple to get an invite easily on the New Orkut but many were unable to get one.

So, here’s some very good news for you folks.

Well I am giving away the invites on a FCFS (First Comment First Serve) basis. You simply need to comment on this post below and also mail me at .

So what are you waiting for folks!! Get started – the new Orkut is really worth the wait I feel.