Hi Everyone,
I have released Ver 2 of my DFS (Debian From Scratch) install guide. This version covers the installation of dfs-0.6.19
Article URL: How to install and configure DFS.
Thanks,
Suramya
March 4, 2006
March 2, 2006
Geekcorps: A Peace Corps for techies
This is another volunteer outfit that can essentially be thought of as a Peace Corps with a focus on PCs. The organization recruits technical experts to conceive ideas for integrating technology into local economies in a self-sustaining way.
This is extremely interesting, they pay you (airfare, accommodation, insurance and a monthly living stipend) to goto places like Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Romania), Central Asia (Armenia, Kyrgystan), Northeast Asia (Mongolia), Southeast Asia (Thailand), Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Mali) and the Middle East (Lebanon, Jordan).
I will be taking part in this sometime next year as this year I have pre-existing obligations. The average tour is 4 months.
Group Website: Geekcorps.org
More details: TechRepublic Article
Thanks to Sonja’s Blog for the link to this.
– Suramya
March 1, 2006
Life is fun… esp when you are too busy to enjoy it
Yup, life is fun. I havn’t been posting stuff because I didn’t feel like it because of a hectic schedule but the past few days have been fun:
The weekend of 18th Feb:
Went to the 81st birthday of Padmashree Mr. Ram V Sutar, a sculpturer whose sculptures have been put up everywhere. Check out this site for a list of some of his works. This was the first time I met a Padmashree reciepient and it was an awesome experience. I wish I had my camera with me at that time but…
Also met Richa, my cousin sister when she came over for lunch on Sunday. It was fun talking to her after such a long time.
The rest of the time:
Staying up late working on stuff. Waking up even later. Couple of times I went to bed at 11am – 12 pm. The only bad part was that since I was up my parents would ask me to come for a walk with them to the plot where we are building out house. Other than that it was just work/sleep/read books/watch TV.
Today/Yesterday:
Didn’t sleep all night (Was working), then left for Rajkumar Mama’s place at 6 am, came back at 12:30 pm (Didn’t sleep the entire time, ’cause I hate sleeping in a car.) Then when I got back I couldn’t sleep, so I read a book for a few hours and finally fell asleep at about 3:30 pm. Then at ~ 4:30 pm I got a call from a friend. I spoke to her for a while but I really have no idea what I talked about. I only remember who it was because I had wished her all the best for her exams earlier in the day. I hope I was making sense on the phone…
Then I went back to sleep and work up at 7:20 pm to start work. Now its almost 4 am but I still don’t feel sleepy.
Lets see… I think I will read something and then crash.
Oh, I also watched Final Destination 3. Its pathetic. No match for the original and even the sequel. Didn’t even bother to finish watching it.
Well there was a lot more stuff that happened since I last posted but I don’t feel like typing any more.
Will post more later (maybe).
– Suramya
February 18, 2006
CollageGen Ver 0.5 released
Released Version 0.5 of the Collage Generator. This time the source code for the script is also available for download at the site.
I do have a working demonstration page but it don’t works if one person uses it at a time, because it queues up each request it recieves and process it in a FIFO (First In First Out) format, so if too many people are using it at the same time the page time’s out. Will probably switch to a threaded model to allow parallel processing of requests.
ChangeLog:
- Rewrote the Backend Script to speed up the collage generator faster
- Added XML-RPC support to allow better communication between the frontend and the backend
Your Feedback/Comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Suramya
February 17, 2006
Surabhi and Vinit’s Engagement Pics are online
Hi Everyone,
After months of procrastination I have finally put Vinit and Surabhi’s Engagement photographs up in the photogallery.
Thanks,
Suramya
February 14, 2006
February 10, 2006
Liquid Camera Lens Ready For Phones
This is pretty cool, now liquid lenses are now available for manufacturers to use in cameraphones. The new Arctic 320 is a zoom and auto-focus lens, but has no moving parts. Instead a small current warps liquid trapped inside two lenses to change the distance them and adjust focus or zoom.
Now we will probably get a camera phones with more powerful digital camera’s and better zoom features. Can’t wait till its out in the market.
Source: Liquid Camera Lens Ready For Phones
– Suramya
Police blotter: Patriot Act e-mail spying approved
Another not so useful move by the US govt in the ‘war’ against terrorism. My cooking can be described as a lethal weapon so I guess they need to check my email to make sure I am not a terrorist.
Abstract:
A federal judge recently approved a prosecutors’ Patriot Act request for e-mail surveillance without any evidence of wrongdoing by the target. The Patriot Act’s amendments authorize that type of easily obtainable surveillance of e-mail. All that’s required is that prosecutors claim the surveillance could conceivably be “relevant” to an investigation.
Complete Article: Patriot Act e-mail spying approved
– Suramya
February 7, 2006
Good Article on Profiling and Generalizations
A really good article that talks about profiling and generalizations. It takes a case about generalizations regarding Pit Bulls and compares them to terrorist/smugler profiling and how thats not such a good idea.
Profiling is never a good idea, if I know that there’s a profile for a particular kind of person then when I am trying to do something unnoticed as that person I would deviate as much as possible from that profile. I think thats a logical/intelligent response and while terrorists are acting on a false sense of right/wrong that doesn’t make them idiots and this is proved time and again when a bombing or terrorist act is carried out by someone completely unsuspected as they were completely outside the usual profile.
Another issue with generalization is that people tend to start focusing on them and ignore other vectors of threat. e.g. terrorists usually hijack planes right? So the reaction is that lots of money is spent on airport security etc. What is to stop them from taking a shopping mall/theator hostage? They can seal off the exit’s and threaten to blow it up. This is not a threat that is commonly recognized. There are hundred’s of other ways they can terrorize us.
So what do we do? Do we hide at home and refuse to comeout? Nope, we learn not to limit our responses to a list of threats, diversify and learn to counter/field unexpected threats.
Original Article: The New Yorker: Fact
Thanks to: Schneier on Security for the link.
– Suramya
February 6, 2006
What do you say when…
What do you say when you open your CD player to put in new CD’s and you notice a 1/2 mm layer of dust inside it, telling you no one has used it in the past 4 years?
What do you say when your desktop at home hasn’t been powered on for over a year?
What do you say when you want to get a new gaget for home and the response is: What will we do with it/My current one works fine.
When you go to bed at 5:00 am when everyone else is waking up.
– Suramya