Shaunak's Universe

Photographing Lights

shaunak — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:25:51 +0000

Its Diwali, and its the festival of lights. But capturing lights, especially near point sources and making them look interesting can be a bit of a challenge.

One nifty trick to make point sources like decorative lights and tiny lamps more interesting is to make them appear like point sources. For example:

Anna-giri

shaunak — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:17:01 +0000

de·moc·ra·cy - diˈmäkrəsē - Noun
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

au·toc·ra·cy - ôˈtäkrəsē - Noun
A system of government by one person with absolute power.

Perhaps I am having trouble comprehending the definitions, after all I am not a very clever person; But for the life of me, I fail to understand why one person's ideals is allowed to over rule elected representatives of a billion people, in an established executive system.

Ministry of External Affairs

shaunak — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:47:29 +0000

For the ongoing bilateral talks with India, Pakistan has put its best face forward, in form of their ravishing Foreign Minister, Ms Hina Rabbani Khar.

She will hold dialogue with her Indian counterpart, S.M. Krishna. For those whose memory needs a refresher, this is the same man who read out somebody else's speech at the United Nations.

On a complete side note - Now I know why we call it "Ministry of External Affairs" (Getit?)

Google+

shaunak — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 07:30:57 +0000

Quick question: Who invented the light bulb? If you answered Thomas Edison, then unfortunately you are starkly mistaken. The incandescent lightbulb as we know it was invented by British Physicist, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan. (Sir Humphry Davy pioneered the concept) Edison began his experiments nearly a decade later, vastly improving the life of the filament and its pragmatic scope.

So why does history and your fifth grade teacher remember Edison as the 'lightbulb guy'? Because he commercialized the lightbulb. He made it economically viable for homes, offices and public spaces to be lit by this futuristic lighting. Edison and his electric company created the electricity supply market and brought the power of moving electrons to the public. And that is why history recollects Edison as the lightbulb man; because Edison created an environment conducive to incandescent lighting.

A century later, a completely new generation of pioneers, the brilliant brains behind Google, look to pull of a similar historical hijack. Over the last decade Google has created myriad range of products that provide convenient, pertinent and fruitful services to millions of Internet users everyday. From e-mails (Gmail), organizing (Calendar), photo sharing (Picasa), scholarly research (Scholar and Books), to your mobile phone (Android) there is a Google product to suit each of your necessities and more. With Google+, the company simply looks to leverage its grasp on the internet market place and very effortlessly foray into the lucrative market of social networking, all this while simple re-enforcing, consolidating and integrating its existing line of products. Ensuring that, while they may be late on the social network game, they will not be diminished in memory a few decades from now.

Instead of comparing Google+ to competing services head on, lets look at what it brings to the table for Google and their 'consumers'. It takes multiple products which weren't precisely market leaders, and turns their technologies into stepping stones for Google+. Picasa, for example, wouldn't stand ground against Filckr. But by integrating Picasa services seamlessly into the Plus network, its gets a new lease at life with a new mission. Similarly, lessons learned from the unsuccessful Wave network manifest themselves everywhere. Hangouts to Huddles, everything makes communicating with a group easier than ever. Google's dominant position in the mobile operating system market only arguments the usefulness of Google+, with their mobile application integrating the best of various prevalent services like Foursquared and Twitpic to name a few. (Check-ins anyone?)

One thing that instantaneously strikes the user is the sheer utility, neatness and intuitiveness of the User Interface, be it on the desktop, tablet or an Android powered mobile phone. (Sorry iOS, on application for you as of now.) The interface is smooth, clean and aesthetic. The beauty of the photo galleries, the rolling animation of the circles, and the little animations that play when you +1 a post, every small detail accrues your delight. A bouquet to Google's UI designers. Most of the UI is functional across browsers, though you might run into some niggles with Opera, but nothing drastic.

Google+ is a refreshing take on the social network which helps usher in a new era of idea and experience sharing. It extends Google's communication portfolio, functions as a master class in user interface design, rejuvenates weaker products by assigning new roles to them and most importantly, give Mark Zuckerberg sleepless nights.

Ramdev and the UPA

shaunak — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:29:20 +0000

The Ramdev-government ramayana continues with irrationality prevalent on both sides.

At first the government bent over its back with Sibal and Pranab heading to the airport to meet the Yogi. Followed by a midnight crackdown on his assemblage the very next night, from which the patriotic ascetic escaped in the grab of a woman.

The drama persists as Ramdev is hospitalized for excessive dieting.

Link: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/ramdev-s-health-worsens-sri-sri-ap...

Soccer by the Sea

shaunak — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:38:04 +0000

You don't need a ground, coaches or even shoes. All you need is a ball and some spirit.

Gone Fishing

shaunak — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:33:44 +0000

A lazy Sunday sunset by the seaside. What more could a person want?

The Jester's Dreams

shaunak — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:45:47 +0000

Who doesn't dream of betterment. Who doesn't want to advance in life. Which Jester doesn't dream of one day becoming a king?

Pro-Corruption Rally

shaunak — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:26:12 +0000

As the government bows to the voices of the Anna Hazare led protesters, will someone spare a thought for the poor traffic constables?

What will happen to their bread and butter, if corruption does truly come to an end.

Link: Government Bows

Anna Hazare's Fast

shaunak — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:02:08 +0000

Activist Anna Hazare's fast enters its third day today. The veteran campaigner has stated that he will refuse all food and drink till the government doesn't enact a stringent anti-graft bill.

While the end result of this protest and the eventual effects of more anti-corruption legislation remains to be seen, one this is for certain. He's got the media's mind off cricket.

BBC: Indian activist Anna Hazare begins anti-graft fast

Mood Indigo '11

shaunak — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:43:33 +0000

Taken on the last day of IIT-B's cultural fest "Mood Indigo 11". As the sunset, the event promised to wind up in a musical finale.

Change We Can Encash

shaunak — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:31:38 +0000

The president of the United States, his excellency, Mr. Barack Obama is on his way to Mumbai, India to rub his imperial shoulders with desi politicians.

The city governance is going out of its way to welcome him.

The New Gmail Priority Inbox

shaunak — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:58:15 +0000

If Larry Page and Sergey Brin asked me to scrub the floors of the Google office for half an hour a week, in exchange for using the new Priority Inbox feature on Gmail, I probably would. It's neat, well conceived, well implemented, efficient and nifty. Very nifty. In my book, it's the best thing to happen to E-mail, since Gmail.

It concept is easy enough; your Inbox is divided into three sections: 'Priority', 'Starred' and 'Everything Else'.

The Priority section contains all the emails and threads that Google thinks are important to you, and are unread. Once you read these messages, they are moved below to the Everything Else section. The stared section consists of emails that you have marked with a star, and are still sitting in you Inbox. The Everything Else section contrives of, well, everything else. (No surprises here!) Unread messages that Google thinks are unimportant: chain mails and Facebook notifications for instance, priority mails that you have finished reading, or messages that you have manually marked unimportant.

Since a picture is worth a kilo-word, here is a screen-shot of the priority Inbox in action. I have edited out some parts of the image, because after all, it is my mailbox, and I deserve a little privacy. No?

All this is of-course dependent on Google's “thoughts” on you E-mails. And boy, are they good at this thinking business. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about the effectiveness of the algorithm at first. But after using this for a while now, I am impressed with the accuracy of the software. It works great right out of the box. Spare a couple of promotional emails, it has demoted nearly all social networking notifications, chain-mails and other unimportant messages downwards, all neatly lined up for quick deletion. And by no means does it do so blindly; it understands that replies and comments on Flickr etc. are important to me, so prioritizes them, while youtube, instructibles and what have you, notifications automatically head southward.

To top it off, the system is Bayesian, so it will adapt to your use.

All in all, its a powerful feature that saves a lot of time and effort. Its a zillion times more useful that Google's recent forays into innovation; case and point: the new ajax-ified image search. Not to mention Google wave. But hey, failures are only stepping stones to success, Aren't they? And this time, Google has hit the mark with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The wonderful promotion people Google have made an amazing video explaining the new feature. I do recommended you watch it. It is delightful.

The priority inbox can be enabled from here: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/priority-inbox.html

64th Independence Day

shaunak — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 03:18:05 +0000

Today, on the 15th of August 2010, India celebrates her 64th year of Independence, with a multitude of discount sales.

Un-Common Wealth

shaunak — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:13:50 +0000

The bright glare of the media has blown the cover off the shady underhand dealings of the commonwealth committee, the calumny and deceit of the organizers and has reaffirmed the nations belief in its 'corruption system'.

And yet in the face of undeniable evidence, chairman of the committee and the main perpetrator, Suresh Kalmadi stands unfazed, confident of his abilities of dodging the butterfingers of the law.

The Telegraph: http://bit.ly/aEQDOc

Medieval Age meets Marriage

shaunak — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:48:05 +0000

With medieval social organizations issuing parallel kangaroo court diktats, and our political leaders backing them, India is poised to re-enter into the medieval ages.

Setting Up the Canon iP1700 printer for use on Fedora Linux

shaunak — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:19:20 +0000

After much trials and tribunals, I finally got my Canon iP1700 to work with Fedora 11. Canon doesn't provide Linux drivers for this particular model so it wont work out of the box, but it is more than willing to print along happily with borrowed drivers.

I used the official Canon drivers for the iP2200. You can grab them from here: http://software.canon-europe.com/products/0010231.asp. In the OS selection pick “Linux”, choose your language and hit submit. Download the "Canon Print Filter for Linux (2.60 rev 3)" (or newer) package. Its a 22MB “.tgz” file.

Double click it to bring up “File Roller” (or use the terminal if you are feeling frisky). Extract the file “ip2200_Linux_260.tag.gz” to the Desktop. Extract the “guideip2200_2.60-1.tar.gz” if you want a manual. (Yeah, right.)

You will need to re-extract “ip2200_Linux_260.tag.gz” to a sub-folder on the Desktop (I call it ip2200), since it is also a compressed file. It contains these RPMs:

Go to the sub-folder ip2200 on the Desktop, double click on “cnijfilter-common-2.60-1.i386.rpm” to install it. You may have to supply the administrator password and choose “Force Install”. Do the same with “cnijfilter-ip2200-2.60-1.i386.rpm”. This should install all the necessary drivers.

Note: If you have attempted to install these drivers before (and have been unsuccessful), the packages will conflict and you will need to completely remove them. The command is:
su -c 'yum erase [name-of-package]'
For example:
su -c 'yum erase cnijfilter-common-2.60*'

Once the drivers are installed, restart CUPS by typing the following at the terminal:
/etc/init.d/cups restart.

Now to setup the printer through the CUPS server.

From you browser go to this URL: http://localhost:631
Choose the “Administration” Menu
You may be prompted for a password. The username is usually “root” and the password is you system's root password.
Hit the “Add Printer” button and select “Canon iP1700 (Canon iP1700)” from the list.
Add a name, description and location or simply accept the defaults.
In the model selection list hunt for “Canon iP2200 Ver.2.60”
Choose a few configuration options and you are done!

At this point you may want to print a test page. You can do it through CUPS. To do this go to the “Printers” section, click on “Canon ip1700” (or what ever you called it) and from the drop down menu choose “Print a Test page”.

If you found this page helpful, do consider sharing with others who may be looking for something similar. Digg, twitter and links on forums work great. Let me know if the method worked for worked for you. (or perhaps didn't!) Or if you find an error in what's described above. Use the comment form below, or mail me.

The Festival of Kites

shaunak — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:25:32 +0000

Makar Sankranti is celebrated as a Spring-Harvest festival throughout India. The festival is celebrated differently in different parts of India. It is christened Bihu in Assam, Uttarayan in Gujrat, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Lohri in Punjab. Kite flying is an inevitable part of the festival in many states of India, especially in Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP etc.

Hang Him Already

shaunak — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:58:03 +0000

Its been over a year since the brutal attacks on Mumbai. Yet the lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab is comfortably housed inside Aurthur Road prison. And he continues to make a mockery of the system that simply refuses to punish him.

Student Suicide Spate

shaunak — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:49:56 +0000

The new year has begun on a very grim tone with a spate of suicides gripping the city. Sharply rising population, coupled with the sheer lack of infrastructure and opportunity are taking a toll on the innocent minds across the country who struggle to cope with the pressures of academics and the burden of expectations on them.
The toll has risen to 15 this past week. And how does the government respond? By watching movies.

TOI report: http://bit.ly/5MC7nS
DNA: http://bit.ly/6gY08K

Telangana Row

shaunak — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:00:54 +0000

At the end of the day, subdivision of states doesn't solve problems of electricity, water, overpopulation and corruption. It only adds to middle school geography syllabus.

Facebook Founder's Open Letter to Users

shaunak — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:18:49 +0000

Facebook's has grown to a user-base of about 350 million, making the it single most popular social network on the web. With an estimated 1734 million people connected to the Internet today, this effectively means that one in every five Internet users have a Facebook account.

In light of its massive global popularity, Facebook has decided to upgrade its 'regional network' based privacy control. In an open letter to users, founder Mark Zuckerberg has highlighted how the existing network based privacy control is proving to be ineffective and Facebook will now implement a new, simple privacy model that will allow the user greater control over his or her information.

The letter can be found here: http://bit.ly/7vMW87

Dubai Financial Crisis

shaunak — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:05:24 +0000

The center of a global real estate boom, Dubai is now reeling under the effects of a massive financial crisis.

So have Dubai's elaborate sand castles, been blown over by the wind?

News: http://bit.ly/6Fqyfx

The Rose of Dixie

shaunak — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:53:28 +0000

A solitary rose by the window. Silent and lonely.

26 November - Mumbai Terror Attacks, A year on.

shaunak — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:17:00 +0000

This Thursday will mark the first anniversary of the unnerving terror attacks on the heart of Mumbai.

Here is a quick refresher of the sequence of events of that fateful evening. Ten terrorists armed to the teeth, simply wafted into the city on a rubber dinghy and scurried across South Mumbai from landmark to landmark. From the Victoria Terminus, Leopard Cafe, Cama and Albless hospitals, before finally setting up a siege at the Oberoi Trident, Nariman House and the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. They fired upon innocent civilians and left a wake of death and destruction where ever they went. The brave men and women of the Mumbai police did their best to stop them, but the force's outdated and inefficient equipment were no match for the sophisticated weapons of the terrorists. The efforts of the police men were largely futile. Although, banking on sheer bravery, courage and their trusty lathi, they did manage to catch one terrorist, Ajmal Kasab alive. The marine commandos were called in. They carried out intensive operations at the three locations simultaneously and after 72 hours fighting, the battle finally ended and once again, Mumbai emerged victorious. The price of victory was high. The city's bravest men, including ATS chief Hamant Karkare and encounter specialist, Vijay Salaskar lay dead.

The attacks were followed by the usual political hoopla and finger pointing. News channels buzzed with pointless debates, and questions went flying. Candle marches and 'human chain' formations were held all over. “We will not forget”, was the mood. One year from the incident, where are we?
Nowhere.

The same ministers who laughed off the incident as trivial, and considered it appropriate to quote a cheap film dialogue to describe the situation has been re-elected to his ministerial post. A few jeeps, a handful of guns and a few sandbags were purchased under the pretext of 'Police Modernization '. Almost all of the squad still used the same outdated equipment. Promises from our ministers have remained exactly what they have been for more than six decades of our democracy, just promises. Empty and baseless promises.

The lone surviving terrorist Kasab has still not been convicted. The trial stretches on. To add to the irony, while our government could not care any less about the rights of our own citizen, it speaks of rights of terrorists.

Dynastic, regional and blame-game politics still supersede the safety of our citizen. Our police force still has to make do with third grade equipment. State Reserve forces have been deployed to increase security, but we have no place to house them. Boats have been purchased to patrol the waterways, but we have no fuel to run them. The candle marchers who vowed work towards improvement now are back to chasing EMIs.

So dear fellow citizen, where are we a year from the worst terror strike on our beloved city? Precisely where we were a year ago, two years ago, a decade ago:
Drowning in the dirty swamp of Indian politics. Helpless and weary.

Links:
The Night in Pictures: http://bit.ly/70cGwg
Comprehensive report: http://bit.ly/8QMnKF
Video Report: http://bit.ly/4T4L1X
Some of my cartoons and posts from then:
http://bit.ly/7AdG1v
http://bit.ly/8MNLDP
http://bit.ly/5WKSGa
http://bit.ly/5hyHO6
http://bit.ly/4vzTnX
http://bit.ly/6jkmKI
Ye Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan: http://bit.ly/4U9qU4

Inflation

shaunak — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:37:33 +0000

The prices of essential commodities and foodstuff keep rising each day. As stocks falter and markets fluctuate, what could be a better investment in these difficult times?

Social Networking

shaunak — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:06:13 +0000

Social networks seem to be over-riding real relationships these days.

Modernized Halloween Costumes

shaunak — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:27:42 +0000

Headless Scepters and Goblins have become oh-so Scooby-Doo for kids these days.

Halloween get-ups have to evolve with time don't they if they still have to scare this generation. Don't they? So presenting, a new line of Politically Incorrect Halloween costumes.

Note: Guns and Booze cocktails sold separately.

Click on the image to enlarge it. Feel free to contact me for larger sizes.

A Troop of Monkeys

shaunak — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:22:41 +0000

A few million years of evolution changes so much. Or does it?
These monkeys were willingly lured with a few peanuts at Sunset Point, Matheran.

Season's Greetings Dr.Mallya

shaunak — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:34:07 +0000

What do you do when you don't like a gift? Apparently if you are an MP, and a self appointed upholder of Indian culture, you rudely return it. Very classy.

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/zp979

With a $1.8-billion alcoholic drinks market in India, which 'Indian' culture are we talking of anyway?