September 29, 2009

Do forward...to help students in need

Dear Friends,

If you have come across any bright students coming from poor financial background who have finished their 10th standard this year (April 2009) and scored more than 80%, please ask them to contact the NGO-Prerana (supported by Infosys foundation).  The NGO is conducting a written test and those who clear the test will be eligible for financial help for their further studies.

Please ask the students to contact the people mentioned below to get the form

#580,Shubhakar,
44th cross,1st 'A' main road,jayanagar 7th block Bangalore
Mob no- 9900906338(saraswat i)

Mr.Shivkumar( 9986630301) - Hanumanthnagar office

Ms.Bindu(9964534667 )-Yeshwantpur office


Even if you don't know anyone, please pass on this info, someone might be in need of this help desperately.

September 24, 2009

Freewares / Free Softwares 17 Sep 09

Fotobounce

Fotobounce can help download your Facebook Photo albums or that of
your friends. It's a free Windows-only utility to help manage photos
in your Facebook and Flickr accounts, right from the desktop. You can
download old photos, upload new ones to the web or simply view your
existing photo albums as a slideshow without downloading them locally.
Fotobounce also includes built-in face recognition to quickly tag
photos on the desktop and upload them on to Facebook. Fotobounce can
help share photo albums with family members who aren't very active on
social sites. Just download a local copy of your Facebook albums and
send them as email attachments or burn a DVD. You can browse your
photo library on the go from your BlackBerry, iPhone, or iPod Touch,
too. And, if ever you decide to close your Facebook account Fotobounce
can be a handy tool to move your albums to another photo sharing
website, like Flickr.

You can find more details and download Fotobounce at
http://fotobounce.com

Live Mesh

Live Mesh can help synchronize files with all of your devices, your
work computer, home laptop, your Mac, and the mobile phone. Devices
live in multiple places. Access your files from any device or from the
web, easily share them with others, and get notified whenever someone
changes a file. The Live Mesh Remote Desktop can provide access to
another computer in your mesh - access to even those folders you
haven't synchronized. You can also use any programs on your remote
computer, even if you don't have them installed on your local
computer. Copy and paste files between your remote computer and your
local computer, and even connect from almost any web browser.

More details on Live Mesh Beta at
https://www.mesh.com/welcome/default.aspx

Nero 9

Nero now offers a free version with data disc burning and copying
capabilities for your CDs and DVDs. You can download, after
registration, the 55 MB Nero v.9.4.12.3d (Release Date: August 28,
2009) for Windows® XP SP2 or SP3, Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows®
XP Media Center Edition 2005 with SP2, Windows® XP 64 bit, Windows
Vista® 64 bit, and Windows® 7. The 64 bit versions are supported via
32 bit emulation mode.

For hardware requirements, other details, and download visit at
http://www.nero.com/eng/downloads-nero9-free.php

Please note this version of Nero 9 contains only the data burning and
disc copying features for CDs and DVDs. Additional features and
functionality are available with an upgrade to Nero 9 full version.

Please also note the Nero Free and Trial versions are strictly for
personal, non-business use, and technical support is not available.

IDrive-E Basic

Drive-E Basic version provides a complete hands-free automated backup
for your files and folders. It offers 2GB of free online backup
space, no backup, restore, file type or bandwidth restrictions. With
IDrive-E all you have to do is to download and install it on your
computer, schedule files and folders to secure your backups, that's
all. The user-friendly application lets you restore large number of
files with a simple drag-and-drop using the Windows Explorer like
interface. All data transfer is encrypted with 128-bit Secure Socket
Layer (SSL) Strong. It also has a 256-bit AES encryption on storage
with an encryption password key provided by the user while installing
the application. IDrive-E is intelligent, carries out only
incremental backups that transfer only portions of file that have been
modified or changed since the last backup.

More details on 1Drive-E Basic v.1.1.6 at http://www.idrive.com/index.html

QA

I need a tiny cleanup utility, not a bloated one, please!

A

You could try Madavan's ByteWasher, it's a mere 13 KB in size!
ByteWasher can remove temporary files, backup files, cache files,
cookies, recent document shortcuts and more!

ByteWasher v2.0 can be downloaded at
http://lmadhavan.com/software/archive/bwash2.zip

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QUOTE TO MULL OVER

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends
on our dispositions and not our circumstances.

Martha Washington

Customer care in 2020

Hi Friends, This is a good conversation between the customer care and its customer. i hope u will like this conversation. Pls read n send ur comments and tell me will this happen in the future or not? Enjoy.....

Customer care in 2020

Operator: "Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. May I have your..."

Customer: "Heloo, can I order.."

Operator : "Can I have your multi purpose card number first, Sir?"

Customer: "It's eh..., hold..........on......889861356102049998-45-54610"

Operator : "OK... you're... Mr Singh and you're calling from 17 Jalan Kayu. Your home number is 4094! 2366, your office 76452302 and your mobile is 0142662566. Which number are you calling from now Sir?"

Customer: "Home! How did you get all my phone numbers?

Operator : "We are connected to the system Sir"

Customer: "May I order your Seafood Pizza..."

Operator : "That's not a good idea Sir"

Customer: "How come?"

Operator : "According to your medical records, you have high blood pressure and even higher cholesterol level Sir"

Customer: "What?... What do you recommend then?"

Operator : "Try our Low Fat Hokkien Mee Pizza. You'll like it"

Customer: "How do you know for sure?"

Operator : "You borrowed a book entitled "Popular Hokkien Dishes" from the National Library last week Sir"

Customer: "OK I give up... Give me three family size ones then, how much will that cost?"

Operator : "That should be enough for your family of 10, Sir. The total is $49.99"

Customer: "Can I pay by! credit card?"

Operator : "I'm afraid you have to pay us cash, Sir. Your credit card is over the limit and you owe your bank $3,720.55 since October last year. That's not including the late payment charges on your housing loan, Sir."

Customer: "I guess I have to run to the neighbourhood ATM and withdraw some cash before your guy arrives"

Operator : "You can't Sir. Based on the records, you've reached your daily limit on machine withdrawal today"

Customer: "Never mind just send the pizzas, I'll have the cash ready. How long is it gonna take anyway?"

Operator : "About 45 minutes Sir, but if you can't wait you can always come and collect it on your motorcycle..."

Customer: " What!"

Operator : "According to the details in system ,you own a Scooter,...registration number 1123..."

Customer: " ????"

Operator : "Is there anything else Sir?"

Customer: "Nothing... by the way... aren't you giving me that 3 free bottles of cola as advertised?"

Operator : "We normally would Sir, but based on your records you're also diabetic....... "

Customer: #$$^%&$@$% ^

Operator : "Better watch your language Sir. Remember on 15th July 1987 you were convicted of using abusive language on a policeman...?"

Customer: [Faints]

Know your value - Read This very useful...

Know ur Value....!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a Rupee 500
note.

In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this Rupee 500 note?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this note to one of
you but first let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the note up.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up,
now
all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did
not
decrease in value. It was still worth Rupee 500/-.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the
dirt
by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We
feel
as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose
your value. You are special. Don't ever forget it! Never let yesterday's
disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams.

"VALUE HAS A VALUE ONLY IF ITS VALUE IS VALUED BY YOU".

Freewares / Freeware - 24 Sep 09

BUDDI

BUDDI, developed by Wyatt Olson, is software to manage personal
budgets. It is a programme which can be used even by people who have
little or no financial background. Buddi is easy to use, has useful
functions, for example the way it can display statistics to present a
quick overview, would satisfy most home users. Though not a
professional account software, Buddi is indeed great for the quick
overview it provides. Several plugins are available that can add
import and export functions. Buddi requires a Java Virtual Machine
which means it can be run on most operating systems including
Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple Macintosh. If you have been using
an Excel sheet to record your earnings and expenses, Buddi is the next
step up.

To download Buddi, released under the GNU General Public License,
visit http://buddi.digitalcave.ca/download.jsp

A tutorial can be found at
http://buddi.digitalcave.ca/quickstart/index.jsp  and

FAQ at http://buddi.digitalcave.ca/faq.jsp

ObjectDock™

ObjectDock™ can help organize shortcuts, programs and running tasks
into an attractive and fun animated Dock. With ObjectDock™ users
decide where the icons and shortcuts ought to be on the desktop, all
with an unique style. ObjectDock can also be used to replace the
Start bar entirely, freeing up valuable screen space. Many interaction
modes are available, you can choose the dock availability that's
right for your kind of work. Among the features are: Easy to use
shortcut organizer, Simple drag & drop operation, Convenient autohide
and "keep in background" modes, Fully customizable - backgrounds and
images freely available, Smooth animations, Super-smooth minimize
animations in Vista, Low system resource usage, and many more.

Version 1.9 of ObjectDock™ , one of the most popular program of its
kind - 3.5 million users to date, can be downloaded at
http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/downloads.asp#download

Sonarca Sound Recorder

Sonarca Sound Recorder Free is a handy sound recording software to
record various sound inputs to WAV and MP3 audio formats. Its features
include: supports multiple sound input, audio/video files playback, CD
player, line in, microphone, internet radio, even the obsolete tape/
VHS cassette, CD quality sound recording (claims the developer), uses
latest Lame MP3 encoder; On-the-fly recording -no temporary file
generated, Intuitive output file management, Diagnose and print
detailed sound device info, Supports majority of modern sound cards:
multi-channel/professional/external USB sound cards, Supports several
sound cards, Fully visualize the recording process, Supports global
hotkeys, start recording anywhere, All events are logged for future
diagnosis, and Windows Vista compatible.

The 1356 Sonarca Sound Recorder Free v3.0.3 can be downloaded at
http://www.accmeware.com/Files/FreeRecorderSetup.exe

Please note some of the features are restricted to the paid version.

FloorPlanner

Buying a new home or rearranging your bedroom or kitchen? You can save
time and have more fun if you lay out your ideas in a floor plan.
Floorplanner is easy, quick, and a great way to create and share
interactive floor plans. Using point-and-click, drag-and-drop tools,
you can make your house plan in minutes, and rearrange it as often as
you want. You can save, send, and print your designs to share them,
or place them on your own website. It is easy to use and works in any
modern browser, no extra downloads required. Floorplanner is free for
personal use. However, you can create only one plan, and save up to
five designs in either 2D or 3D.

To watch a demo visit http://www.floorplanner.com/demo  and to know
what others say about Floor Planner you may visit
http://www.floorplanner.com/press  

To create your own free Floorplanner account register at
http://www.floorplanner.com/signup/.com  

If you need more plans and/or want to support the development of
Floorplanner you may consider upgrading to a PLUS account.

----------------------------------------------------------

Can you suggest a tool to seach folders/files?

You could try David Carpenter's Everything Search Engine,
a very quick, find-as-you-type, file locater. You can
download the 334 KB utility for Windows 2000, XP, 2003,
Vista, 2008and Windows 7, at
http://www.voidtools.com/Everything-1.2.1.371.exe

----------------------------------------------------------

QUOTE TO MULL OVER

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the
conseuqence of my actions. My actions are the ground upon
which I stand.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

September 18, 2009

Short Story with Big Message

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.' There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'

The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.'
What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.


Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness…. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…
And even more beautiful, knows that you are the reason behind it!!!

Statue of Liberty | the Making

The New York Public Library has recently unveiled some extraordinary pictures of the Statue of Liberty under construction. Take a trip back in time and see extraordinary behind the scenes images of the creation of this superlative structure.

A giant is formed. The sheer scale of the statue under construction can be seen here, in contrast to the workmen posing woodenly for that fairly new invention, the camera.. The more formal name for the statue is Liberty Enlightening the World and it is constructed with sheets of pure copper, even though the picture makes it look something like marble.. It is something of a miracle that we now have the finished product standing proudly on Liberty Island. Had it not been for the contributions of ordinary French and Americans then she would never have arisen in the first instance.

Such is the immensity of the statue one can only wonder whether or not the workmen pictured above had any idea which part of the statue they were working on at any one time. The photographer Albert Fernique, who captured these pictures around 1883, must have been in a certain awe at the immensity of the statue and his images capture its sheer scale and size beautifully. The French had decided to give the United States of America something for their centennial independence celebrations that the Americans and the world would never forget. The process of building was painstaking, slow and fraught with financial difficulties. The copper ?shell' was only what the public would see. What lies beneath - both in terms of its structure and the story behind its *****ion - is almost as startling

At the time France was in political turmoil and, although at the time under their third republic, many people looked back at the time of Napoleon and the monarchy before that with fondness and wanted its return. The desire for a backwards step to authoritarianism was worrying. French politicians - as wily then as now - saw Lady Liberty as a way, albeit phenomenally huge, to focus the public's imagination on republicanism as the best way forward. The USA and its centennial of independence from the yolk of England was the perfect focus.

The plaster surface of the left arm and its hand take shape, the skeleton underneath revealed. As there is a deal of work under the carapace, so the French politicians had ulterior motives. Using the USA - which many saw as the ideal of government and populist aspirational politics - the French used the statue as a Trojan Horse in reverse, as it were. Its true purpose, in the eyes of the political gift givers, was to make republicanism the center of political ideology in the minds of the people. How greatly it succeeded can never fully be quantified but the French cannot be faulted for thinking big. It must be said here that the ordinary French, through their substantial buying of lottery tickets (and other fundraising efforts) had a much purer purpose at heart than their politicians.

It must surely have been amazing for the workers to turn up each morning to the sight of a colossal head looking down upon them. The inspiration for the face seems to be the Roman god of the sun, Apollo or his Greek equivalent, Helios. More down to earth sources of inspiration center on the women in the life of the sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. It may well have been Isabella Eugenie Boyer, a good looking and well-known figure in Paris at the time. More worrying, some believe the face of the statue actually belongs to Bartholdi's mother. Bartholdi never revealed the true model of the face, but if this is the case Freud would have had a field day.

Bertholdi made a small scale model first, which is still displayed in the Jardin du Luxembourg in the city of the statue's original construction, Paris. Before the statue was shipped to America, though, it had to be seen to be tested. If it had not been for money, it may never have landed in the states - particularly in the form we all know. On a visit to Egypt, Bartholdi's vision of liberty expanded to its present proportions. Had his original idea received financial support, then whatever gift the French gave the Americans for the 1876 centennial could not possibly have been the statue.

Little by little, the statue arises. Bertholdi saw the Suez Canal under construction in the eighteen sixties and was inspired to build a giant figure at its entrance. He drew up plans which bore a remarkable similarity to what now stands on Liberty Island but his ideas were rejected by the Egyptian ruling body of the time because of the financial problems the country was facing at the time. Had the statue been built in Egypt as a lighthouse, the idea would never have been taken up for America. The Statue of Liberty as we know it was in fact used as a lighthouse, from its unveiling in 1886 right until 1902 - the very first in the world to use electricity.

Almost there! There were huge structural issues that had to be addressed in the design and construction of a sculpture of such enormity. Enter a certain Gustave Eiffel, who would later go on to build that eponymous tower which still dominates the skyline of Paris. It was his job (which he delegated to Maurice Koechlin, his favored structural engineer) to ensure that Liberty's copper sheath could move while still remaining vertical. Koechlin created a huge pylon of wrought iron and the famous skeletal frame to ensure that the statue would not fall down in high winds.

Money was always a problem. The plan had been to get the statue to the US by the fourth of July, 1876. Only the right arm and torch were finished by then. However, as the Americans had taken responsibility for the construction of the pedestal, these pieces of the statue were displayed to the American pubic at the Centennial Exposition (in Philadelphia) . Money raised by allowing people to climb this part of the statue (see here) started the funding efforts for the base of the statue. The French did their bit too, showing the head in their own exposition in 1878.

1886 must have been one of those years that people remembered for the rest of their lives. A statue of gigantic proportions, symbolizing the ideas and aspirations of America, was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland at Liberty Island (renamed from Bedloe's Island or Love Island). In an ironic twist, President Cleveland had vetoed the New York legislature from contributing fifty thousand dollars to help with the building of the statue's pedestal. Letting bygones be bygones, President Cleveland was more than happy to officiate at the ceremony. This had not been the only problem to face the statue in the years before its final unveiling, of course. From the model stage, above, to its triumphant moment of revelation, the process was fraught with difficulty - mostly of a financial nature. However, thanks to the efforts of both the American and French people we now have a permanent reminder of what we should hold dear - liberty still symbolically steps forth from her shackles to protect, shelter and enlighten.

Oscars: Eight on ten for 'Slumdog Millionaire'

'Slumdog Millionaire' sweeps eight Oscars at the 81 st Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound

 

 

Mixing, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Direction and Motion Picture. Indian music maestro A R Rahman brings home two awards with his Jai Ho... composition.

THE OSCAR WINNERS...

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire. “It has been collaboration between hundreds of people. All of us are here to share this moment. This was an extraordinary journey,” says the Slumdog... team.

Best Direction: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song: A R Rahman for ‘Jai Ho...’ (Slumdog Millionarie)

The Indian music maestro, Rahman wooed the audience with ‘O Saya’ and ‘Jai Ho...’ the nominated songs from ‘Slumdog...’, as the nominees for Best Original Song were being announced.

Best Original Score: A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire . “I have nothing but my mother and she is there with me. I thank her for making me coming all this way with her blessings,” said a proud Rahman.

Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire. “This is just not a sound award, but a history being handed over,” said Indian receiver Pookutty.

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. “The cast and crew of the film told me so much about India and writing,” said a proud Beaufoy.

Best Documentary Short Subject: Megan Mylan for Smile Pinki

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn for Milk.

Best Actressin a Leading Role: Kate Winslet for The Reader. Breathless Kate confessed experiencing the fainting feeling just like Penelope Cruz. She shouted onstage and waved at her father. She said, “I want to thank my family as they love me the way I am and lets me do what I want to.” By the time she finished her speech she was already in tears.

Best Foreign Language Film: Departures (Japan)

Best Sound Editing: Richard King for The Dark Knight

Best Visual Effects: Eric Barba for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Documentary Feature Film: James Marsh for Man on Wire

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight . It was a special moment for actor’s family - mother Sally, father Kim and sister Kate who came to receive the trophy on Ledger’s behalf.

Best Live action short film: Jochen Alexander for Spielzeugland Toyland

Best Make-up: Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Costume Design: Michael O’Connor for The Duchess

Best Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Animated Short Film: Kunio Kato for La Maison En Petits Cubes

Best Animated Feature: Andrew Stanton for Wall-E

Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for Milk

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. “Has anyone fainted here, may be I will be the first one,” exclaimed Penelope immediately after receiving the award.

 

Conserve Power - An Easy Way - Please Do This

Hi All,

Have you ever wondered why most of the PCs are ON even when nobody is present in the whole wing?

 

Most of us hurry from our workplace during the last minute to board the shuttle and don’t find sufficient time to shut down the PC. There is an easier way to resolve this problem. ‘Hibernate’ option provides you the solution. Just switch your system to hibernate mode before you leave, and the state of all the applications running will be stored and once you switch ON your pc again, the previous session is restored.

 

Please find below the steps to configure this Hibernate option for WINDOWS XP users.

 

1)       Right click on any empty area in your desktop and click New -> Shortcut

 

2)       Paste the following into the text box and click on Next.

 

rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState

    

3)       Give a suitable name (Hibernate) for this shortcut and click Finish.

    

4)        Now you would like to change the icon for this shortcut to be more appropriate.

 

5)        Right click the shortcut -> Properties

             

6)       Now click on Change Icon button and click on Browse. You will be taken to the C:\sysroot\System32 folder.

 

7)       Select the file powrprof.dll

     

8)       You will see an alert like “C:\SYSROOT\system32\powrprof.dll contains no icons” but Click OK.

 

9)       Now you will see a list of icons displayed. Select the power icon or any other icon of your choice as shown.

 

10)   Now you will see the shortcut on your desktop.

 

All you need to do is that, just double-click this icon before leaving for the day and don’t forget to switch off your monitorJ.

The next day you switch ON your pc, all your work will be restored.

 

Remember, we are not doing this for the benefit of our organization.

 

We are doing this for our better tomorrow.

 

Note: Please share it with your team mates and make sure that we are making the system to hibernate, which would help us saving enormous power. Thanks a ton for your co-operation

 

September 15, 2009

11 BIGGEST TECHNOLOGY MYTHS (Must Read)

11 BIGGEST TECHNOLOGY MYTHS

Ever wondered what is common between the Lochness monster, Yeti and radiation from PC monitor causing cancer? Well, they all are myths!        

Like these there are several other notions about technology and its products that many of us nurture. Like some people still believe (most till some time back) that switching off the power without shutting down your PC can cause harm to it. Similarly, many believe that megapixel count is the ultimate factor to consider while buying a digital camera. However, in reality these beliefs are nothing but myths with no grounding that many people harbour.

Other than these there are many such myths that haunt the tech world. Here's over to some of the most common technology myths.

E-mail requires password, so it is safe

Using a strong password for your email does not mean that it is hack-proof. Despite using a strong password, your account can be compromised.   

According to a report in PC world, the webpage into which users put their username and password is SSL encrypted. This means that it enables encryption of sensitive information. However, the same does not apply when a user sends the e-mail text.     

While sending data, a hacker in the user's network can 'read' the text that is 'traveling' between your PC and the e-mail server.

No magnets near my PC

This would have been true in the case of a floppy drive, however, hard drives and laptops are immune to magnetic radiation as they are free from magnetic composition.      

And like this, thumbdrives, memory cards and CDs too are, so don't get hyper and go crazy with those fridge magnets. 

Most of the storage devices, like SD cards are immune to magnetic fields.

In camera only megapixels matter

If you think that it is only the number of megapixels that ensure picture quality in a digital camera, its time to get your fundas right.    

Features like image sensor size and type, lenses and image stabilisation are as important, if not more, as the megapixel count in a digital camera.       

The fact is cramming more megapixels into a smaller image sensor can even lead to reduced picture quality. For high-quality prints sized 8"x 10" or more, you need a camera with at least 3 megapixel resolution.

Anti-virus is fool-proof

An anti-virus is a complete must for any PC. However, having an anti-virus does not mean that your PC is now completely secure from any kind of virus, malware or hacker attack.

It is not critical to just have an anti-virus solution, but also to keep it continuously updated. Also, no single anti-virus programme can completely safeguard you against virus, trojan, malware and spyware attacks. There may be chances that the anti-virus programme loaded in your PC is not effective against spyware or other kinds of malware not classified as viruses. Also, in case of a bigger attack, a security vendor may take long time to issue a security update.

Even if you have an anti-virus installed in your PC, it is important to follow basic security guidelines like not opening a mail from an unknown user or click on an unidentified link.

PC monitor radiation causes cancer

No! It won't. Radiation from your cell phone might give you a brain tumour, but a monitor is harmless.
The radiation from your monitor is too weak and also at a different frequency, so rest assure you are totally safe.           
In fact, according to several studies the amount of ultra violet radiation produced by a computer monitor is only a small fraction of that produced by florescent lighting.

Cookies track every move

Cookies do track your activities on a website. But they are simple things which will make sure that your next visit to the site is simple and hassle free.          

Cookies are basically small text files that help the browser remember specific information like your ID and password, preferences, shopping cart information etc. Plus, they are usually deleted when you shut down your browser.     

To delete cookies in IE, go to Tools, click Internet Options, click the Privacy tab, and click Advanced to override automatic cookie handling.

`Stop' a USB device before unplugging

This applies only in a few cases. This is said to ensure that the USB device is not unplugged while data is being read from or written to it. Doing so would corrupt the file being transferred or maybe damage the USB drive. However, when the USB is in an idle mode it can be unplugged without going through the entire process of 'Safely Remove hardware'.

For devices like keyboard, mouse, printers and scanners, you can just unplug them when not in use.

Wireless Networks are unsafe

WiFi has traditionally been an `open' system. There have also been several incidents where users wifi accounts have been hacked for terror and other criminal activities.   

However, this no where that Wireless Networks are unsafe and can be hacked easily, of course until a user leaves his doors open.   

Using a strong encryption for your wifi account can keep hackers away. All wireless devices these days support the common encryption protocols like WPA, WPA2 and WEP. Of these, WPA2 is the most secure and enable it to make your wireless network safe.

Never switch off before Shut Down

Many believe that turning power off without shutting down PC physically damages its hard drive. However, this is an age-old myth and has no grounding.      

However, users do lose their data if they were working and have not saved before switching off the power.       

Also, many users believe that one should shut down PC every couple of hour so that it can rest. The thought may be nice, but shutting down your PC every few hours may actually be harmful to your PC.           

Components in the PC are most stressed when they have to either boot or shut down. Doing that every few hours will keep it under constant stress. However, this doesn't mean you must keep your computer on forever. Operating systems do need a shut down once in a while, because even the best operating systems crash if not given a rest.

CD/DVD Media last forever

If you are among those who think that your CD/DVD Media has a shelf life of over 100 years, time to get the notion corrected. Yes your CD/DVD media can last this long, but that can be true only under certain ideal conditions.  

CDs and DVDs if stored completely away from dust and sunlight can have this long lifeline. Most CDs if not used say around five years, may not work. So, it is important to take back up of your CDs regularly, unless you are prepared to let go off your data.

Clearing recycle bin deletes data forever

Well many may relax when they delete their trash files.  

However, this is no reason to cheer. In fact, Windows just marks the area of the disk occupied by such files as empty, but does not delete the data.          

There are many file recovery software available such as TOKIWA DataRecovery that enables you to undelete files, even if they have been removed from the recycle bin. Such programmes can track the deleted files in the hard disk.      

Recovery of the deleted files is possible as long as the disk area is not overwritten by any new disk.

***HAPPY ENGINEERS' DAY *** Engineers always rock

September 15 is celebrated every year in India as Engineer's Day to commemorate the birthday of the legendary engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya(1861-1962).

Internationally recognized for his genius in harnessing water resources, he was responsible for successful design and construction of several river dams, bridges and implementing irrigation and drinking water schemes all over India.

He served as the diwan of Mysore State and was considered to be the architect of the all-round development of Karnataka.

Among his most successful projects are the design and construction of the K.R. Sagar dam and its adjoining Brindavan Gardens, turn-around of the Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works, setting up of the Mysore Sandalwood Oil Factory, drainage system in Mysore and the founding of the Bank of Mysore.

 

September 11, 2009

Shortest... but the best lesson from chetan bhagat!!!

Speech given by Chetan Bhagat...must read.....  Good one....

   "Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth.  If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

 One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?

 It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love.

 We are people, not programmed devices.....   "Don't be serious, be sincere." !

September 10, 2009

How to Start a Conversation with New People?

 Start a Conversation with New People.

How to Start a Conversation with New People

Whether you are a host or a guest, there are many social situations that will call for interaction, even when you are stumped for some way to get it going. For example, you might want to help a friend’s new “significant other” feel comfortable. Or, you might see a stranger across a crowded room, and realize that this is your only chance to impress Mr. or Ms. Wonderful. Then, you realize that you’re not sure what to say.

  1. Start with a “hello,” and simply tell the new person your name then ask them theirs. Offer your hand to shake, upon his/her responding to you. (If you go to other countries, greet the person in tune with the particular culture). If you already know the person, skip this step and proceed to step.
  2. Look around. See if there is anything worth pointing out. Sure, talking about the weather is a cliche, but if there’s something unusual about it–bam!–you’ve got a great topic of conversation.
  3. Offer a compliment. Don’t lie and say you love someone’s hair when you think it’s revolting, but if you like his or her shoes, or a handbag, say so. A sincere compliment is a wonderful way to get someone to warm up to you. But be careful not to say something so personal that you scare the person off or make him or her feel uncomfortable. It is best not to compliment a person’s looks or body.
  4. Ask questions! Most people love to talk about themselves — get them going. “What classes are you taking this year?” “Have you seen (Insert-Something-Here)? What did you think of it?” Again, keep the questions light and not invasive. Do not ask too many questions if he or she is not responsive to them.
  5. Jump on any conversation-starters he or she might offer; take something he or she has said and run with it. Agree, disagree, ask a question about it, or offer an opinion, just don’t let it go by without notice.
  6. Look your newfound friend in the eye, it engenders trust (but don’t stare). Also, use the person’s name a time or two during the conversation; it will help you remember the name, and will draw the person’s attention to what you are talking about.
  7. Don’t forget to smile and have fun with your conversation!

 

 Tips

  • Just relax. Chances are that whatever small-talk you’re making isn’t going to stick out in anyone’s mind a few months from now. Just say whatever comes into your head, so long as it’s not offensive or really weird. (Unless, of course, the person you’re attempting to converse with is into weird stuff.)
  • Remember, if you think of something in your head while you’re talking, it’s probably related.
  • It will help if you watch some TV, listen to radio shows, and/or read a lot — newspapers, magazines, and/or books. You need to have some idea of what is going on in the world. Also remember and plan to share anything you like, think is funny, or find intriguing. This is building up your own library of things that might be helpful to another person during a conversation someday. It will be amazing how you thread these interesting things when you least expect it, and make conversation an adventure instead of a dreadful task. If you take it to the next step and say things that you want the person to think of as adding value, and keep to yourself things that the person might not, you are actually honing your own personality to be appealing to the other person, and what is a greater act of kindness than that.
  • If you are shy, it will be helpful to have thought about a topic or two that you could talk about.
  • Follow the lead that your listener is expressing. If he or she appears interested, then continue. If he or she is looking at a clock or watch, or worse, looking for an escape strategy, then you have been going on for too long.
  • Interesting and funny quotes or facts can lighten things up, and make way for things to talk about. You could also use a set of conversation starter question cards for inspiration.
  • If talking over the phone, keep the person involved in the conversation at all costs. If you can’t come up with a good topic, try the “questions” game. Just keep asking them questions; random questions work just fine as long as they are appropriate. This technique can save a phone conversation. The questions should be open ended questions that do not require a yes or no answer. For example “How do you know the hosts?” This way you can ask questions about what they just said or follow up with how you know the hosts (for example) instead of acting as if the conversation is an interrogation.
  • Half of an effective conversation is the way you non-verbally communicate, and not necessarily what you say. Practice better non-verbal skills that are friendly and confident.
  • Read newspapers and magazines to increase your knowledge so you can have more interesting things to talk about.

 

Chanakya's 27 Quotes Worth Learning.. Must Read

Chanakya's Quotes Worth Learning.. Must Read and Forward to All..   

CHANAKYA (True Indian Politician, Strategist and Writer, 350 BC-283 BC)  

1."A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first."

2."Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."

3."The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody.  If you cannot keep secret with you, do not expect that other will keep it. ! It will destroy you."

4."There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no Friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."

5."Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - WHY am I doing it, WHAT the results might be and WILL I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."

6."As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."

7."Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it.. People who work sincerely are the happiest."

8."The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."

9."A man is great by deeds, not by birth."

10."Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."

11."Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth."

12."The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."

13."God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."

14."Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."

15."A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night".

16."An egoist can be won over by being respected, a crazy person can be won over by allowing him to behave in an insane manner and a wise person can be won over by truth".

17."A human being should strive for four things in life - dharma, money, sex and salvation. A person who hasn't strived for even one of these things has wasted life".

18."A rich man has many friends".

19."A woman is four times as shy, six times as brave and eight times as libidinous as a man".

20.  "If you get to learn something even from the worst of creatures, don't hesitate".

21."In a state where the ruler lives like a common man, the citizens live like kings do. And in the state where the ruler lives like a king, the citizens live like beggars do".

22."Jealousy is another name for failure".

23."Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness".

24."One who is in search of knowledge should give up the search of pleasure and the one who is in search of pleasure should give up the search of knowledge".

25."The four greatest enemies of a man are - the father who has taken a loan, the characterless mother, the beautiful but promiscuous wife and the stupid child".

26."God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."

27.  "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourselves

 

Sardar Returns...........

Sardar Returns!!!  Last  two are Ultimate

 


Sardar declares:
..... . . I will never marry in my life &. . .
.. . . I'll give same advice to my children also. . . .. ..




A donkey kicked a Sardar & ran away
Sardar ran to catch the donkey.
He saw a zebra & started beating it & said 'SALA Tracksuit pahan ke dhoka
de raha hai'.



Sardar: Darling, years ago u had a figure like Coke bottle.
Jeeto: Yes darling I still do, only differnece is earlier it was 300ml
now it's 2 ltr.


Santa went to Mysore palace.
Tourist guide - Santaji plz dont sit there, its Tipu sultan's chair
Santa - Oye dont worry yaar i'll get up when he comes.!!..



Sardar wanted to make a STD call to punjab,
He wanted to save money so what did he do?
Simple, he went to punjab and made a local call..


One tourist from U.S.A.asked to Sardar: Any great man born in this village?
Sardar: No sir, only small babies!!!



Teacher: A for?
Sardar:
Apple
Teacher: Jor se bolo?
Sardar: Jay mata di.



2 sardars were fighting after exam.
Sir: Y r u fighting?
1st Sardar: This fool left the answer sheet blank,
Sir: So what?
1st Sardar: Even i did the same thing, now teacher will think that we both
copied.


Sardar 1: I'm very kanjoos, I went 2 honeymoon alone & saved 1/2 money.
Sardar 2: You R nothing I saved all my money, my friend was going & I sent
my wife with him.


Sardar is in a dissection class of cockroach. He cuts its 1 leg, and
says, "chal", it walks.
He cuts 2nd and 3rd legs and said, "chal" , it walks.
He cuts all the legs and said, "chal....." Finally he wrote the
conclusion.......
..... "after all the legs of a cockroach are cut - it becomes deaf......"


A Tamilian call up sardar and asks " tamil therima??"
Sardar got mad, angrily replied.... "Hindi tera baap!!!"


2 sardarjis looking at Egyptian mummy.
Sar 1 : Look so many bandages, pakka lorry accident case.
Sar 2 : Aaho, lorry number is also written...BC 1760!!!.....


A sardar on an interview 4 da post detective.
Interviewer : who killed Gandhi?
Sardar : Thank u sir 4 giving me d job, I will start investigating.......



A scene from Kohn Benega Crorepati.....
Amitabh : In which state Cauvery flows?
Sardar : Liquid state.....
Audience clapped.. Amitabh stunned, looks behind, ALL WERE SARDARS........


 

Boss: Where were you born?
Sardar: India ...
Boss: which part?
Sardar: What 'which part'? Whole body was born in India .



2 sardar were fixing a bomb in a car.
Sardar 1: What would you do if the bomb
explodes while fixing.
Sardar 2: Dont worry, I have one more..




Sardar: What is the name of your car?
Lady: I forgot the name, but is starts with 'T'.
Sardar: Oh, what a strange car, starts with Tea. All cars that I know start with petrol.


Sardar joined new job. 1st day he worked till late evening on the computer. Boss was happy and asked what you did till evening.
Sardar: Keyboard alphabets were not in order, so I made it alright.




Museum Administrator: That's a 500-year-old statue u've broken..
Sardar: Thanks God! I thought it was a new one.




At the scene of an accident a man was crying: O God! I have lost my hand, oh!
Sardar: Control yourself. Don't cry. See that man. He has lost his head. Is he crying?




Sardar: U cheated me.
Shopkeeper: No, I sold a good radio to u.
Sardar: Radio label shows Made in Japan but radio says this is 'All India Radio!
'


NOW THE LAST TWO ULTIMATE
:
In an interview, Interviewer: How does an electric motor run?
Sardar: Dhhuuuurrrrrrrrrr. .....
Inteviewer shouts: Stop it.
Sardar: Dhhuurrrr dhup dhup dhup....




Tourist: Whose skeleton is that?
Sardar: An old king's skeleton.
Tourist: Who's that smaller skeleton next to it?
Sardar: That was same king's skeleton when he was a child
.


 
 
 
 



                                                 

 

 

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