50 Random Articles
- Why Do Bloggers Get Comments With Strange Author Names
Would you approve a (blog) comment where the commenter's name is "Best Way To Loose Weight"? Any sane blogger would never approve such comments even if it is relevant to context. Do you know why?
As comment author is linked with
- FDA OK's Cholesterol Drug Lipitor for Diabetics
Pfizer Inc. said U.S. regulators (FDA) have approved its cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor. Lipitor is used to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack in diabetic patients.
The approval is for patients with type 2, or adult onset, diabetes (NIDDM)
- Research discovers response to beta-blocker therapy genetically pre-determined - must read if you are on beta-blocker therapy
Beta-Blockers (like Atenolol) are used for heart failure treatment. Beta-blockers are also often prescribed for diabetic and renal (kidney) transplant recepients as adjunct anti-hypertensive (blood pressure) medications.
Beta-blockers help restore the heart to a more typical shape and size and
- Ode to marketing
In technology startups marketing is often ignored, or when the startup is in troubled waters they are the first to laid of.
Marketing is cornerstone of any successful enterprise. We should always go for a solid marketing team, which operates with
- Stanislav Petrov - The Man Who Saved the World
Rarely we hear (outside movies and comics) of a man (or woman) who actually saved the world.
Stanislov Petrov did by preventing a nuclear holocaust and third world war.
Sirens blaring, warning lights flashing, computer screens showing nuclear missiles on their way,
- OpenSTA, Load & Stress Testing Tool, Alternatives on Linux
In our effort to fully switchover to Linux as Desktop and Server environment, one of the biggest challenges is to find an alternative to OpenSTA, a popular and very capable open source distributed software testing tool for regression, load and
- Recommended Value Desktop PC (Assembled) Configuration for Home Users in India
We recently purchased parts for a home desktop PC in India for the value oriented price sensitive segment (along with several new computers for office). My objective was to choose a solid home desktop personal comnputer with decent graphics, solid
- Design Patterns in Java (and EJB) References
Three high quality free resources (eBooks & website) for learning about design patterns in Java & EJB for your reading pleasure.
Design Patterns in Java - A free eBook which extensively covers wide range of design patterns with good examples.
EJB Design
- DOS Tricks: Creating File From DOS / CMD Command Line...
There is an old trick from Dos days (still valid in all windows under cmd prompt or even command.com) when we wanted to create a quick file without loading up edit (edit.com) was to use copy con. The exact syntax
- Sun Microsystems Announces Layoff of 4000-5000 Employees
Sun Microsystems announced plans to cut up to 13 percent of its work force, in its first major restructuring effort under new CEO Jonathan Schwartz.
Sun said it will cut between 4,000 to 5,000 employees over the next six months, which
- Map of topics on Simple Thoughts Blog
Here is a map of topics on Simple Thoughts Blog.
It is also available from the front page below topics header in the sidebar, named as (map).
Please refresh the page if the display is not clear.
Enjoy!
- Debunking 9/11 conspiracy theorists
An interesting article "debunking conspiracy theorists' paranoid fantasies about Sept. 11" (read mainstream media aka official version) from balsamic vinigga @ Kuro5hin.
Few excerpts:
Astute observers of history are aware that for every notable event there will usually be at least one
- Super Simple Java ORM Framework For SQL Happy Developers
I previously mentioned that I intended not to use any Java ORM frameworks. ORM frameworks I have seen so far have a steep learning curve and tend to shoe horn your architecture into their model. So I started fresh without
- DragonBall Z in Hindi: A Tragedy!
It was very frustrating to watch DragonBall Z dubbed poorly in Hindi in Cartoon Network, India today. It is murder, plain and simple. DBZ sucks in Hindi and that too with a really sad voiceover of Raditz. Finally Cartoon Network
- Transparent is Gray to Microsoft Internet Explorer
I use and test my web applications and blogs primarily on Firefox these days. I do however occassionally look at Internet Explorer. Mostly they are nearly identical with few known differences.
This time after I uploaded a new logo for
- Mambo / Joomla SQL Injection Vulnerability Discovered
Omid has discovered a vulnerability in Mambo & Joomla, which can be exploited by malicious users to conduct SQL injection attacks.
Input passed to the "id" parameter when editing content isn't properly sanitised before being used in a SQL query. This
- 459 Bomb Blasts in 20 Minutes Rattle Bangladesh; India Seals Border
459 Bombs were blasted throughout Bangladesh within a span of only 20 minutes killing at least 2 people.
For years Bangladesh has quietly nurtured Islamist extremists trained by Pakistan's ISI and Taliban-minded clerics. Khaleda Zia's overnment even made them coalition partners.
Yesterday
- Game Review & Tips: Battle For Wesnoth
I always wondered what made people get addicted to a game. Now I know. Battle for Wesnoth is an amazing, free, cross-platform (Windows, Mac & Linux), turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme that will surely get you hooked for
- Free Expense Report Software: A Review of Adisoft's Expense Submittal System
I used to work for Extensity Inc., now part of GEAC. Extensity Expense Report Software was the key product of Extensity. I was project lead for Extensity's Expense Report Software product. I have knowledge about this domain and strong interest.
- How to Fight Against (sub?) Human-Written Comment Spam
All the comment spam plugins of the world do not protect you against spams which are written by humans. No amount of comment spam prevention plugins or .htaccess tricks protect you against them. So how do you fight when humans
- The Truth About Embryonic Stem Cell Alternatives
Executive Summary: There aren’t any.
The first potential alternative is a promising breakthrough in the biotech world of stem cell research with the news that Harvard scientists reported taking skincells to generate embryonic stem cells.
Researcher Kevin Eggan and his colleagues achieved
- How to Determine if your Sensitive Data is Safe in Shared Hosting
One of the strong security concerns in shared hosting environments is whether your sensitive data like MySQL server login/password or other login/password is actually safe from other users sharing the same web hosting machine.
Few shared hosting providers do not
- Experience with Pentium Dual Core 3 Ghz CPU & Lenovo?
Do you have any experience with Pentium Dual Core 3 Ghz CPU? I am looking at an offering from Lenovo, currently in negotiation, for purchasing several PC's. Specifically I am looking to know:
1. With their reputation for heat generation, how
- How To Speed Up Linux Desktop by 30%+
I am using Linux (Fedora Core 6) on a pretty high end hardware (at least when I bought it) - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz (4M shared L2 Cache) with 2 GB DDR2 RAM, nVidia dual-head graphics card
- How to Install and Build Source Code for Open Solaris
This is the first of two articles in which we describe how to acquire and build the source code for OpenSolaris. The first article provides all the necessary background information (terminology, where to get the tools, and so on) and
- How To Recursively Delete Files And Directories Using Java
How can you recursively delete files and directories in windows? You can select them in explorer (in windows) and delete it, right?
The problem with the explorer approach is that if one or more files and / or directories cannot
- Innovative 419 Nigerian Scam With Love
Today I received a 419 scam email with a difference. It speaks of "genuine love". I continue to be amazed by their innovative techniques of scamming. Enjoy!
Here is the email in full from CYNTHIA TOMSON [cynthia_tomson220@yahoo.com]:
My name is Miss Cynthia
- Is there a method to Google's madness?
Is there a broader plan behind latest Google innovations? At first sight some of them seems random addition to the Google family (20% effort or not) and somewhat unrelated to its search focus.
Lets scan Google News lately:
Google Maps now
- DragonBall Z Starting in Cartoon Network India on 30th April
Cartoon Network have started advertising about the popular anime series Dragonball Z starting in India from 30th April. I have seen it twice. The first show will be at 5:30 pm on 30th April. The episode is Arrival of Raditz.
- Network Masks / Netmasks for Dummies
Network masks is a notation to group IP addresses. Let's take a familiar analogy. My phone in US was 510-595-3830. 510 was the area code which included a large group of phone numbers in San Francisco-Oakland-Emeryville area. Similarly IP addresses
- Monkey Fun - Super Monkey Ball 2
An interactive Flash game from Sega where you get to throw a monkey into outer space on losing. Who wants to win anymore?
There are three games to play. Pretty refreshing for monday morning.
Play Super Monkey Ball 2 here.
- Too many questions and concerns on java.util.logging package
Too many unanswered questions on logging package.
Why is the package name a verb? Package names should be nouns as can be seen in the rest of the API. Why did the author suddenly decide on a verb?
How is Logger.getLogger(String name)
- MySpace Photo Statistics
In MySpace on average (based on sample size of 2071208 images) 15 photos are uploaded per user. Considering only users who have at least one or more photos uploaded, they have on average uploaded a staggering 32 photos.
MySpace contains
- Calling Card of Nigerian Scammers
You can safely delete any messages contains with:
"correspondence may come to you as a surprise due to the fact that we have not met"
This appears to be an often repeated phrase of nigerian scammers these days and is worth searching
- Low Noise Way to Read LifeHacker / Gawker Media Sites With SmartFeed
LifeHacker is a nifty blog in Nick Denton's blogomerate (blog + conglomerate) which provides interesting tips for computer users. So here is my tip for LifeHacker users (and other readers of Gawker Media), LifeHacker style.
One of the problem with Gawker
- Warning: XML SiteMap Generator Plugin for WordPress May Report Fewer URL's
Arne Brachold's popular XML Sitemap generator plugin for WordPress may report fewer URL than that exists on your website. This in turn means less URL's which you are submitting to search engines for indexing.
I found out that in my
- My 5 AdSense Resolutions For 2008
In response to Google AdSense teams resolutions for us here are 5 AdSense resolutions I have taken for 2008 wrt. AdSense:
1. Get out of AdSense
AdSense is flaky. I want my business to minimally depend, if at all, upon Google AdSense.
- Comprehensive AWK Manual & AWK Example
I extensively use awk (along with cut and grep) for data processing of log files or for any text processing needs. AWK is an excellent text processing tool / filter and report generator.
Why is AWK so important?
It is an
- Goodbye J2EE and J2SE. We will miss you.
I heard in grapevine that Sun marketing has decided to change the names like J2EE, J2SE, J2ME etc.
The name change involves removing the "2" from the platform names. (E.g. Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) will become Java Platform,
- Free Open Source 3D (Game) Engine - Apocalyx: A Review
Apocalyx 3D engine includes features like rendering of sky boxes, cloud layers, lens flares, flat terrains and height fields even with reflections, infinite terrains, wavy surfaces, sprites, billboards, meshes with diffuse, gloss, environment and bump mapping, particles emitters, planar shadows
- Nginx Hacking Tips
Nginx is a high performance web server and mail proxy server written by Igor Sysoev and a good replacement for Apache HTTPD, the market leader. Nginx is rapidly increasing its market share with major websites joining it like wordpress.com. In
- CRM Firms Don't Follow CRM Best Practices
CRM vendors aren't following good CRM techniques themselves, according to a new report from The Customer Respect Group (TCRG). Oh the irony!
CRM vendors in the study ignored 27 percent of email inquiries, leading them to score below average-5.6 out of
- Google Spamming Mailing Lists!
You heard it right. I too am surprised to say the least. I am part of JavaJousters mailing list, a Java algorithms challenge group, where we discuss about JRobots tournaments and tips and tricks on creating or improving JRobots, an
- How To Fool Windows Genuine Advantage in 15 Minutes
Windows Genuine Advantage (how to remove WGA) has been alleged as Spyware, creates innumerable problems for genuine users and yet it is very simple to fool with 15 minutes or less of effort.
Ed Bott spent about 15 minutes to
- Non Java Topic: A tribute to the power of internet: The saga of a washing machine
I am the (sick) owner of an Electrolux product, a washing machine EW1045F, which was supposed to be the top of the line product when I bought it.
It had given us trouble all along for three years, been to repair
- Translator Plugin Pro 5.0 Release Update
We are adding finishing touches to the documentation. We will release it tomorrow, Wednesday.
- Stay Hungry Stay Foolish
While cleaning my computer I came across the audio of a very motivating commencement speech by Steve Jobs, delivered to 2005 Stanford graduates. The summary of the speech, in his own words, is:
You have to trust in something — your
- How To Block MSN & P2P on Linux (Using Shorewall)
You need to use shorewall, which in my experience is a highly capable and flexible firewall as well as Squid proxy to use this solution.
- Consolidated Health News for the week ending June 12, 2005
Three transplant patients have died as a result of receiving an organ from a donor who had unknowingly been infected with a common rodent virus. A fourth patient who received a kidney from the organ donor is recovering.
In what
- Nginx: How To Redirect /index.php To / To Avoid Content Duplication
Normally any website that responds to /index.php also responds to /. This has the potential to duplicate content. So how can you re-direct /index.php to / without causing infinite loop in nginx?
Here is a simple solution:
if ($request_uri ~* "^/index.php??$") {
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