50 Random Articles
- Alliance Broadband Unlimited 512 Kbps Plan - Thoughts?
I have a love-hate relationship with Alliance Broadband, mostly hate. I took their service twice or thrice and ended up dropping them in favor of BSNL Dataone Broadband. The hate was mostly from poor connectivity in the past. Today I
- Long List of Useful Windows Software
Link
- Genuine microsoft windows farce
I went to download a script debugger from microsoft site. It told me that I can download it only if I allowed a program to verify that I am running genuine microsoft windows. I naturally allowed, wondering how it could
- Kindertrust's Anti-Trust Lawsuit Against Google Dismissed And Yet A Question Remains
US Federal court judge, Jeremy Fogel, dismissed Kinderstart's, education website, lawsuit against Google. The lawsuit accused Google of ""pervasive monopolistic practices" that denied its free speech rights, destroyed competition, and led to predatory pricing conditions".
The judge dismissed all nine counts
- My Experience in Setting Up DNS Servers on Linux And Free DNS Server ZoneEdit
taragana.com domains (including this site - blog.taragana.com) was using ZoneEdit as DNS Servers. I started using their service while transitioning from VPS hosting to the current dedicated hosting. The service was good and so I didn't prioritize the effort to
- Fun and Useful Tweaks with Google Talk (IM)
Some interesting tweaks to enhance Google Talk (IM).
- Google Checkout: Google's Internet Payment System
This week, possibly as soon as Wednesday, Google is expected by many to unveil a new Internet payment system. It may start out as an online wallet but could become a PayPal-like infrastructure for payments across the Web, handling everything
- Mobile Phone Risk found in Reflex study
Radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions, according to a new study majority-funded by the European Union, researchers said on Monday.
After being exposed to electromagnetic fields that are typical for mobile phones, the
- New study takes us a step closer to individualized treatment
New study by 64 renowned scientists standardizes on microarray protocols. Microarrays allow scientists to see how differences in gene expression are linked to specific diseases. Standardization brings us closer to doing routine lab tests with microarrays. This paves the way
- Sequence Your Genome Cheaply
Researchers George Church and colleagues at Harvard Medical School said they had found a faster and cheaper way to sequence your genome (the entire DNA code of a person, plant or other organism) for only about $2.2 million.
They hope to
- Comment Spam
After some deliberation, and seeing others, I decided to leave the commenting section on my blog un-moderated. Today I was mildly surprised to find almost all my posts had a comment to it. Surprise quickly turned to disgust to see
- HSQLDB Tip: Case Insensitive LIKE Query in HSQLDB RDBMS & Space Crunched String Comparison
I previously discussed how to extend HSQLDB relational database with simple Java functions. The example there actually implements case insensitive like query functionality for HSQLDB. Read the article to get an understanding of how to write such custom functions and
- What's up with Republican Java Geeks?
I very occassionally (once every six month or less) get comment from one (two?) blog reader to the effect that a certain post has nothing to do with Java.
They think it is a valid comment because I have syndicated
- Tata Indicom 1 Mbps Unlimited Broadband Price Reduced
Tata Indicom announced revised pricing for Infinity 1 Mbps broadband plan, applicable to new and existing customers (like us).
Infinity 1 Mbps broadband plan is now priced at Rs 2500 (+tax) per month instead of Rs 3600 (+ tax).
The low-end
- Google Flight Simulator Hidden / Easter Egg in Google Earth
Marco discovered a nice Flight Simulator from Google hidden within Google Earth. You need the latest version of Google Earth for it. I had Google Earth version 4.1.x which didn't work. You have to download the latest version 4.2. It
- Portable Inflatable Office in a Bucket
Work anywhere from a portable inflatable office.
Even the most rugged road warriors occasionally needs some privacy. If time is scarce - and budgets are tight - one option is the "Office in a Bucket," an inflatable structure that can
- The Rise of POJO's (Plain Old Java Objects)
Nowadays POJO's are everywhere. The name was initially conceived (I forget who it was) to bring back some spotlight to plain everyday used java objects (away from overhyped java beans or ejb).
Most of our development is done using POJO's. Yet
- WordPress 2.2 Release Fixes
WordPress 2.2 is about to be released. Currently the release candidate 2 has the following features:
PHP 5.2.2 fixes:
WP importer now works in PHP 5.2.2
Workaround for PHP 5.2.2 bug that breaks XMLRPC
Fixed fatal error in cache.php by flushing output buffers during
- Sony DRM Rootkit Violates Open Source License
Sony's infamous rootkit based DRM software has been at the center of much attention for the last few week. That are facing a class action lawsuit. In the face of serious consumer backlash they recently decided to withdraw their copy-protected
- Spiderman 3 Trailer
Nice outfit, sentiments, acrobatics - overall it looks like good Spidey fun all over again. Looking forward to see it.
- Best and Worst Browsers - Choice of the Internet
Search best browser on Google and Mozilla Firefox is returned as the first result. If you are into I'm Feeling Lucky search then it will directly take you to Firefox home page.
However if you want to know about the
- 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!
- How To Resolve Tomcat - Openfire Port Conflict
Openfire (Jabber/XMPP server) by default binds on port 8080 which is also used by Tomcat. This causes Tomcat to fail when openfire is started before it. The solution, as always, is simple.
You can either change the port of Openfire or
- How To Test Master-Master / Master-Slave / Standard / Circular Replication on MySQL
Working with replication systems is not easy. Learning and testing different kind of MySQL replications and fine-tuning it to your specific needs is a time-consuming endeavor. Also you need to have several MySQL servers at your disposal. To overcome these
- WordPress Patch Update From 1.5.1.2 to 1.5.1.3 Now Available
WordPress developers have posted yet another "security" update. Again, as always, you have to delete everything (except wp-content/ and config.php) and re-install from scratch. If you are, like me, tired of these frequent updates (after having finally updated to 1.5.1.2)
- Mini Porting guide of Linux Applications to Windows + NailGun (for faster startup of Java Apps) Windows Port Available + Review of NailGun
Contents
NailGun Introduction
Rationale for Porting
Compiler choice: MinGW versus CygWin
Mini Porting guide from Linux to Windows (networking focussed)
Testing
Code & Executable Download
Suggestions for improving NailGun
NailGun Introduction
I was intrigued by the concept of nailgun which
- Hackers Steal 19, 000 AT&T DSL Customer's Credit Card Information
AT&T said hackers broke into one of its computer systems and accessed personal data, including credit card information, on thousands of customers who used its online store.
The attack affects about 19,000 customers who purchased equipment for high-speed DSL Internet
- How To Use Harry Potter Spells At Work
I was musing on how we could incorporate Harry Potter spells in corporate world. It looks feasible to me. Certain times the air becomes too thick and people begin to get too serious and self-important. Few spells applied at proper
- Biocavity laser is now used to study stem cell functions
The biocavity laser can show scientists the inner workings of a single cell. Paul Gourley and his colleagues at Sandia proved the laser could do that by studying cancer cells.
Researchers are now using the laser to study stem cells, since
- Book Review: Managing and Customizing OpenCMS 6
This is a review of the book Managing and Customizing OpenCms 6 by Matt Butcher and published by PACKT Publishing.
OpenCms Content Management System Overview
OpenCms is a popular CMS (Content Management System) software based on Java and XML technologies. The OpenCms
- Translator Plugin Pro Fully Supported On WordPress 2.x, 2.1.x, 2.2.x & 2.3.x (development)
Angsuman's Translator Plugin Pro is fully supported on all the latest versions of WordPress viz. WordPress 2.0.x, 2.1.x, 2.2.x Release versions as well as WordPress 2.3 development version. We will continue to support Translator Plugin on all the latest versions
- Breaking News: European Study Reports Halting of Progress of Type 1 Diabetes by Drug Anti-CD3 Antibody
The European study of patients with Type I diabetes found that short-term treatment lowered insulin dependence by 12 percent and increased insulin-making capabilities for at least 18 months.
"The results are very promising. There are not many instances where you can
- For DBZ Lovers: Dragonball Z - Upgrade To Super Saiyan (How Vegita Became Super Saiyan)
An interesting episode of how Vegita became super saiyan. This highlights something common with any big achievement.
Oh and here is a bonus. Goku turns SSJ3.
Enjoy!
- Sony Settles Rootkit Class Action Lawsuit
Sony finally settles the class action lawsuit filed in California caused by their highly controversial decision to install a rootkit for DRM protection of their music CD’s. If you are a Sony CD customer read the full details below to
- To Delete A Database Record Or Mark As Deleted? - A Discussion
Yesterday I received an often asked question from a close friend of mine and someone who I very much respect. In his words:
My new company has an existing system that I am rewriting. The system
has a database that
- Translator Plugin Pro Version 5.1.1 Released
Translator Plugin Pro versiion 5.1.1 has been released. This is a bug fix release. This upgrade fixes a small but important bug where the time-limit for stale refresh was not being strictly honored for heavily loaded sites.
This fix enforces the
- Announcement: Job Blog - Blog with latest job postings from various inner circles
I have put a new blog which lists hot job postings in software, bioinformatics & management, job leads available by word-of-mouth, mailings lists of alumni associations, java architects, java user groups, vc mailings lists etc. In other words postings, often
- How To Install XMemo (IPMsg Alternative) in Fedora Core 6 / Linux
XMemo is an alternative to IPMsg (for Windows only) and claims to interoperate with IPMSg protocol. In short a quick messaging tool for intranet use.
The standard procedure, which doesn't work out of the box, to install it is to download
- Translator Plugin Pro Version 4.0 Update
We are working on Version 4.0 of Translator Plugin Pro for WordPress blogs. The key features we are focussing on are:
1. Multi-lingual support. Translator 4.0 will support blogs written in non-English languages.
2. Additional Translation Engine. We are adding a new
- Fat thighs better than beer belly wrt. risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes
It is not how obese you are but the location of obesity that matters according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Where adults carry their fat, rather than how much of it they have, might be a better
- Humorous Take an Harry Potter
- WriteBoard from 37Signals - Brief Review
I just happened to chance upon much hyped WriteBoard from 37Signals.
It is an online (ajax enabled; what isn't these days?) service to create and edit text documents with a wiki like syntax. It allows commenting on the document. Additionally
- Translator Plugin Gold: Over 3 Million Translated Pages Served in 4 Months
Translator Plugin Gold for WordPress Blogs Statistics
Angsuman's Translator Plugin Gold has served over 3,033,523 translated pages since May 2007.
97.068% of the translated pages were served from cache.
Over 1,159,197 pages were served to human traffic (38.21%)
Don't you think your blog deserves
- 8 Fraud Prevention & Protection Measures in Google Checkout
Eight different ways Google Checkout prevents and protects you from fraudulent credit card transactions, reimburses you for eligible chargebacks and even fights on your behalf:
Update: See the comments at the end for some negative experiences with Google checkout. Consider them
- Shutdown Apache James Mail Server - Java Utility
Overview
A Java class to shutdown Apache James Mail Server via TCP/IP. It shuts down Apache James Mail Server by passing shutdown command via simulated telnet session.
Background
Apache James mail server requires a telnet session (where you pass the shutdown command) for
- Amazing Privacy Policy of Alexa
I contemplated downloading Alexa Toolbar. Knowing its reputation I decided to check its privacy policy to understand what exactly I am compromising by installing this toolbar. Just the first couple of paragraphs had me floored!
ALEXA'S TOOLBAR SERVICE COLLECTS AND STORES
- Summarizing Information Overload Without Information Overload
Kuro5hin author rianjs wrote an article on information overload in our daily life. The article itself is a burning example of verbosity and useless information overload. Hence I decided to summarize (my commentaries are in italics in the end of
- Top 5 Reasons Why BSNL DataOne Broadband Sucks
1. They, for all purposes, do not have customer support:
There is a number (1800-424-1600) but when there are problems in the line, nobody picks it up.
In the rare cases when somebody does pickup and answer, they can never solve any
- How To Use .htaccess to Prevent Apache HTTPD Directory Listing
Apache HTTPD servers are configured by default to display directory listing, when index files like index.htm or index.html of index.php etc. are not present in the directory. This can expose sensitive information to prying eyes and are often indexed by
- I Am Not Internet Service Provider! - A Look at Trust on the Web
I never thought I would have to give such a weird disclaimer but recently I have been getting way too many emails like this:
On 2/27/08, Chandrakant Gajjar wrote:
Please refer my complain No:4707124 as my internet
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