We know the risks of posting our email ids on the internet and so resort to address munging (eg.: instead of posting my-mail-id@isp.com we post my-mail-id(at)isp.com).
Here is a utility which creates a small Captcha for the emai id, so that people can post the image.
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Friday, June 22, 2007
Unimaginative Brand Names and Trademarks
Every day morning on the way to work, I cross a construction site. Since this area is just near a traffic light (which is green for only a little time), I invariably look at the site. The first thing which strikes me DAILY is the fence which encloses the site. Well, not the fence itself, but the little sign boards on the fence - "Long Fence" (R). I don't know the exact reason why this fencing company chose to name themselves as "Long Fence", but it surely pains me a lot on two accounts:
How boring it would be if all brand names were unimaginative! We would drive cars with names such as "Car", "Little Car", "Sedan", etc., we would read newspapers in the morning with names such as "Daily Newspaper", "The Newspaper", or would wear shoes named "The Shoe" and "Running Shoes" !
And mind you, all these names would be trademark protected. Meaning that if I put a fence which is long and another one which is short, and put up boards on them (for whatever reasons) - 'Long Fence' and 'Short Fence', I would be liable for brand infringement. Whoa !
Another instance can be as follows: a company obtains a trademark for the generic word "Shoes". Now, if I roam around with a t-shirt with a message printed "My shoes are pathetic", the company can very easily build a case against me on the grounds that I am derogating their brand name.
I really wonder why the copyright office does not reject generic names as trademarks!
The USPTO website offers simple definitions of all such confusing terms. Here you will note that there is a distinction between 'generic names' and 'brand names'.
Another case in question is the Project Honeypot (TM). If you read through their terms of use, you will be surprised to learn that generic word combination 'Project HoneyPot' is now their trademark and can not be used by others.
The Honey Net Project (R) also uses a generic name.
Generic names should not be offered trademark protection. It is definitely disadvantageously to future competitors.
To all such generic trademark holders, please TRY to be imaginative!
I might need to drop my case against 'Long Fence' (R) since it seems that the word 'Long' is what is registered and not both together. But even then it is disadvantageous to competitors who loose consumers, every time a person googles up generic words and reaches the website of a company with a generic name.
, ,
- Lack of imagination in choosing a name
- Trademark protection of generic names
How boring it would be if all brand names were unimaginative! We would drive cars with names such as "Car", "Little Car", "Sedan", etc., we would read newspapers in the morning with names such as "Daily Newspaper", "The Newspaper", or would wear shoes named "The Shoe" and "Running Shoes" !
And mind you, all these names would be trademark protected. Meaning that if I put a fence which is long and another one which is short, and put up boards on them (for whatever reasons) - 'Long Fence' and 'Short Fence', I would be liable for brand infringement. Whoa !
Another instance can be as follows: a company obtains a trademark for the generic word "Shoes". Now, if I roam around with a t-shirt with a message printed "My shoes are pathetic", the company can very easily build a case against me on the grounds that I am derogating their brand name.
I really wonder why the copyright office does not reject generic names as trademarks!
The USPTO website offers simple definitions of all such confusing terms. Here you will note that there is a distinction between 'generic names' and 'brand names'.
Another case in question is the Project Honeypot (TM). If you read through their terms of use, you will be surprised to learn that generic word combination 'Project HoneyPot' is now their trademark and can not be used by others.
The Honey Net Project (R) also uses a generic name.
Generic names should not be offered trademark protection. It is definitely disadvantageously to future competitors.
To all such generic trademark holders, please TRY to be imaginative!
I might need to drop my case against 'Long Fence' (R) since it seems that the word 'Long' is what is registered and not both together. But even then it is disadvantageous to competitors who loose consumers, every time a person googles up generic words and reaches the website of a company with a generic name.
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Friday, June 15, 2007
Which book influenced you the most?
I was catching up with some reading. I happened to chance upon the article in IEEE Spectrum March 2007 issue which was about books that made an impact in the lives of a few leading technologists.
The two books that were mentioned by more than one person were:
Science fiction probably did as much as anything else in the 20th century to push youngsters into engineering. So it’s natural to look at the genre today and wonder if, amid the electronic clutter of modern adolescence, paper books still retain their power to enthrall and inspire.
Here is the link to that article.
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The two books that were mentioned by more than one person were:
- A Single Pebble
- Gravity's Rainbow
Science fiction probably did as much as anything else in the 20th century to push youngsters into engineering. So it’s natural to look at the genre today and wonder if, amid the electronic clutter of modern adolescence, paper books still retain their power to enthrall and inspire.
Here is the link to that article.
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Sunday, June 10, 2007
Indian Advertisements - 2
Let's take a look at advertisements for a particular brand. Starting with Fevicol ads. These ads, I recall were very fresh, were funny and remarkably creative.
Undoubtedly the first Fevicol ad which made a lasting impression. The use of animals in ads is definitely wrong.
The most famous Fevicol ad. To the Indian guy watching, it provided some humour (not 'humor'), allowed him to smile at himself and his way of life, while to the western guy it provided a way to define and grasp India (like the abused concept of 'snake charmers and cows').
The Katrina Kaif ad!
Very nice, a whole story is told in a few shots. There is the classic tension in being married and loosing the freedom, the appearance of a pretty girl in a married man's life who beckons out to him (much to his frustration and dilemma), the epehemeral quality of such attractions is well brought out by the busy railway station setting and the cloud of steam which seems to cover her. The husband wakes up from his dream and realizes that the box of fevicol had such a powerful influence, that he found himself to be really stuck to his wife.
As I said about this ad, so much in so less.
Fevicol is so strong that you don't need gravity :)
To the urban class, there is a definite charm in the rustic life. Perhaps this is why there are so many shots depicting the rural setting. And of course the Rajasthani people's life is very interesting. Note how the parents have made a toy for the kid from a used fevicol bottle. I think this is a very accurate depiction of how people use a little creativity in thier daily lives to turn things into something other, especially for the poor folks who can not afford a real toy.
This is another classic ad. This was one of the first few ones which lay the stage for Fevicol's brilliant ads.
It is also pretty interesting as the radio in the scene has two uses. One to be a part of the srtting and the other brilliant use being to supply the audio for the ad.
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Undoubtedly the first Fevicol ad which made a lasting impression. The use of animals in ads is definitely wrong.
The most famous Fevicol ad. To the Indian guy watching, it provided some humour (not 'humor'), allowed him to smile at himself and his way of life, while to the western guy it provided a way to define and grasp India (like the abused concept of 'snake charmers and cows').
The Katrina Kaif ad!
Very nice, a whole story is told in a few shots. There is the classic tension in being married and loosing the freedom, the appearance of a pretty girl in a married man's life who beckons out to him (much to his frustration and dilemma), the epehemeral quality of such attractions is well brought out by the busy railway station setting and the cloud of steam which seems to cover her. The husband wakes up from his dream and realizes that the box of fevicol had such a powerful influence, that he found himself to be really stuck to his wife.
As I said about this ad, so much in so less.
Fevicol is so strong that you don't need gravity :)
To the urban class, there is a definite charm in the rustic life. Perhaps this is why there are so many shots depicting the rural setting. And of course the Rajasthani people's life is very interesting. Note how the parents have made a toy for the kid from a used fevicol bottle. I think this is a very accurate depiction of how people use a little creativity in thier daily lives to turn things into something other, especially for the poor folks who can not afford a real toy.
This is another classic ad. This was one of the first few ones which lay the stage for Fevicol's brilliant ads.
It is also pretty interesting as the radio in the scene has two uses. One to be a part of the srtting and the other brilliant use being to supply the audio for the ad.
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Indian Advertisements - 1
One of the greatest pleasures of watching Indian TV channels are the BRILLIANT advertisements.
I found a treasure trove of some old and some new ads on YouTube. Here are a few:
This one must be new. I don't recall having seen it before.
The shots are definitely inspired by a great movie called "Rudaali". The first few lines of introduction are definitely for the Western viewer. They establish some of the cultural truths associated with the marks of being married in India.
The ad viewers have no clue what so ever as to what this ad is all about until the last shot. The shot from outside, when the husband has seemed to die is very nice, because there is this little explosion (audio and visual) in the story at this time.
Another new one, very funny! The music is JUST RIGHT, starting from a traditional piece to some western song snippets.
You will notice (perhaps on the second viewing) that there is no break in logic in the story (I get pretty upset about logic breakdowns), since there is a good explanation as to how the girl gets the remote and mistakenly preses a button on it too! This is conveyed in single shots and people may miss it. But then this is not so important to the normal viewers perhaps. The only problem I had, was that there was no couch in front of the Tv set! People in that house viewed the TV by turning their heads by 90 degrees...yeah right!
The first line in which the girl's father asks her to "come and meet your husband" is perhaps just to reinforce the idea that this a matrimonial related ad. Without that line, it might be tough for the advertisement creators to convey the message that the guy has come to see the gal, to viewers who are not familiar with what is going on.
Hmmm...perhaps this ad and the previous one are also targeted to non-Indian viewers.
The cute Rasna girl! She was such a rage, that millions of kids would get the "Rasna" haircut in summers. The mark of a cute kid was having the Rasna haircut.
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I found a treasure trove of some old and some new ads on YouTube. Here are a few:
This one must be new. I don't recall having seen it before.
The shots are definitely inspired by a great movie called "Rudaali". The first few lines of introduction are definitely for the Western viewer. They establish some of the cultural truths associated with the marks of being married in India.
The ad viewers have no clue what so ever as to what this ad is all about until the last shot. The shot from outside, when the husband has seemed to die is very nice, because there is this little explosion (audio and visual) in the story at this time.
Another new one, very funny! The music is JUST RIGHT, starting from a traditional piece to some western song snippets.
You will notice (perhaps on the second viewing) that there is no break in logic in the story (I get pretty upset about logic breakdowns), since there is a good explanation as to how the girl gets the remote and mistakenly preses a button on it too! This is conveyed in single shots and people may miss it. But then this is not so important to the normal viewers perhaps. The only problem I had, was that there was no couch in front of the Tv set! People in that house viewed the TV by turning their heads by 90 degrees...yeah right!
The first line in which the girl's father asks her to "come and meet your husband" is perhaps just to reinforce the idea that this a matrimonial related ad. Without that line, it might be tough for the advertisement creators to convey the message that the guy has come to see the gal, to viewers who are not familiar with what is going on.
Hmmm...perhaps this ad and the previous one are also targeted to non-Indian viewers.
The cute Rasna girl! She was such a rage, that millions of kids would get the "Rasna" haircut in summers. The mark of a cute kid was having the Rasna haircut.
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Sunday, June 03, 2007
Zen Poetry - II
From the book: "Ryokan Zen Monk poet of Japan", translated by Burton Waston.
Midway in its flight
the bird burst into a song,
something to say,
which couldn't wait for a perch.
With what delight,
the pigeons practice their flight
from one window ledge to another
and then back again
Now and then,
You must long for your old nest
in the deep mountains -
I too have,
memories of the past.
Oh big bird,
ruler of the skies,
what could frighten you?
that you build your nests
high up in the mountains,
deep in the crevice.
It is not that
I never mix
with men of this world -
but really I'd rather,
amuse myself alone.
Showing their faces
showing their backsides
the autumn leaves fall.
Though travels,
take me to
a different stopping place each night,
the dream I deram is always
the same one of home.
, ,
Midway in its flight
the bird burst into a song,
something to say,
which couldn't wait for a perch.
With what delight,
the pigeons practice their flight
from one window ledge to another
and then back again
Now and then,
You must long for your old nest
in the deep mountains -
I too have,
memories of the past.
Oh big bird,
ruler of the skies,
what could frighten you?
that you build your nests
high up in the mountains,
deep in the crevice.
It is not that
I never mix
with men of this world -
but really I'd rather,
amuse myself alone.
Showing their faces
showing their backsides
the autumn leaves fall.
Though travels,
take me to
a different stopping place each night,
the dream I deram is always
the same one of home.
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Saturday, June 02, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Are you a true Vim fan?
To all Vim users and lovers:
Have you proved your love towards Vim by buying the Vim book?
If not, then BUY THE VIM BOOK! If you buy it through the URL provided, 7.5% of the sales proceeds will be donated to the charity working for children in Uganda, which is where, the creator of Vim, Bram Moolennar wants the proceeds to go.
So if you want to express your heartfelt grateful thanks to Vim, then buy the book at the very least.
UPDATE: The book has a lot of typos and errors. Do not forget to check out the errata for the book.
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Have you proved your love towards Vim by buying the Vim book?
If not, then BUY THE VIM BOOK! If you buy it through the URL provided, 7.5% of the sales proceeds will be donated to the charity working for children in Uganda, which is where, the creator of Vim, Bram Moolennar wants the proceeds to go.
So if you want to express your heartfelt grateful thanks to Vim, then buy the book at the very least.
UPDATE: The book has a lot of typos and errors. Do not forget to check out the errata for the book.
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Microsoft's New Captcha - Cat or Not?
Microsoft came up with a new CAPTCHA idea. The CAPTCHA asks the user to classify the given photographs into a group of photos which depict a cat. This scheme is named Asirra.
The scheme is very similar to an earlier scheme called KittenAuth, in which also the CAPTCHA taker had to recognize the cat. The difference is that Microsoft is using labeled photos from www.petfinder.com and so has a huge database of images.
People who work at petfinder have done all the hard work in creating the CAPTCHA since they have labelled the photographs of the pets (cats and dogs). The claim is that the database has around 2 million images and more arrive regularly.
Humans can also adopt the pet that the like and so the creators hope that the animals will get a shelter.
Advantages of the scheme:
Disadvantages of the scheme:
Continuing more on the last disadvantage, does Microsoft mean that the best puzzles which the computer can NOT solve need to be human generated? Can't a computer create a puzzle which it can not solve?
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The scheme is very similar to an earlier scheme called KittenAuth, in which also the CAPTCHA taker had to recognize the cat. The difference is that Microsoft is using labeled photos from www.petfinder.com and so has a huge database of images.
People who work at petfinder have done all the hard work in creating the CAPTCHA since they have labelled the photographs of the pets (cats and dogs). The claim is that the database has around 2 million images and more arrive regularly.
Humans can also adopt the pet that the like and so the creators hope that the animals will get a shelter.
Advantages of the scheme:
- Visual CAPTCHAs are always easier than the character based ones
- The test is easy to perform and is universal
- The database is very large
Disadvantages of the scheme:
- The scheme assumes that the database will always keep growing (what if petfinder.com stops its services?)
- Since no distortion is used, the database has to be kept a secret
- Humans are used to create the CAPTCHA (humans at petfinder.com label all the images and provide the 'difficulty' to the test. An elegant solution to this problem would not involve humans in creating it
Continuing more on the last disadvantage, does Microsoft mean that the best puzzles which the computer can NOT solve need to be human generated? Can't a computer create a puzzle which it can not solve?
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Saturday, April 28, 2007
Converting .pdf file (Adobe Acrobat) to .doc file (MS Word)
In the last post I had mentioned a way that I thought I am going to use to get a .doc out of the .pdf I had.
After a few more online searches, I was extremely thrilled to know that there were many more options for me, all thanks to the LaTex community. This http://www.tug.org/utilities/texconv/textopc.html
has all the details! There are many options listed in that site, I am referring to a few
below and also have added some other ideas.
If you have a .tex file and want a .doc file at the end, you can choose one of these methods:
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After a few more online searches, I was extremely thrilled to know that there were many more options for me, all thanks to the LaTex community. This http://www.tug.org/utilities/texconv/textopc.html
has all the details! There are many options listed in that site, I am referring to a few
below and also have added some other ideas.
If you have a .tex file and want a .doc file at the end, you can choose one of these methods:
- .tex --> .pdf -> (pdftotext) .txt --> (copy & paste) .doc
- .tex --> (TeX4ht) .html --> (copy & paste) .doc
- .tex --> (LaTex2rtf) .rtf --> (MS Word/Open Office) .doc
- .pdf --> (Adobe Acrobat Standard - use 'save as' option) .doc
- .??? --> (Google Documents - covert to .doc) .doc
I have used the 1st option many times before. It always requires some cleanup after the .doc has been created.
I used the 2nd option for my work this time. The results are nice. Cleanup is not required at all for text. Tables and figures require some cleanup. There is another option "html,word" "symbol/!" "-cvalidate" which supposedly makes the .html output tuned towards MS Word. I haven't used that option yet.
The 3rd option seems interesting. Should try it.
The 4th options caught me off guard, since I had not thought of it. I tried it, but Adobe Acrobat did a very bad job. Text, tables will require a lot of cleanup, while no cleanup for figures is required.
One of my friends recommended the 5th option. Have not tried it fully yet. Tried exporting a .xml file (created with TeX4ht) to Google Writer, but Google does not accept .xml files yet.
In conclusion, I really must thank the selfless efforts of all the people who have created these amazing open source tools.
Do refer to http://www.tug.org/utilities/texconv/textopc.html
for all the options.
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Friday, April 27, 2007
Creating American Psychological Association (APA) Style documents
For a book that I am writing for, I have to submit a .doc file (ugh!) which follows the American Psychological Association (APA) style. Just getting the 70+ references to follow this style was a nightmare for me. With no help from APA and the MS Word community (if there existed one!), I had to turn to Latex to help me out.
The Apacite package was what I used. I thought that as usual it would be relatively a simple task to use Latex, but this time Latex really took away a lot of my time.
I had forgotten how to install packages on a Linux machine and so first had to re-learn that from here. Once I had that working, it just seemed impossible to get the references working!
Firstly, I had to see that all the URLs were enclosed with the \url tag (before that I realised after many hours that I had forgotten the \usepackage{url} directive in the tex file and Latex had not specifically complained about that!), then I added the \bibnodot{.} command to the end of each URL.
After these steps of making my .bib file look as similar as possible to the .bib file provided at the CTAN's site for Apacite, I still was not able to get it working. The worst part was trying to debug the "Runaway argument"!
I got an error which was similar to:
After some googling and after finding some useful sites for debugging common Latex errors (this one), I still was not making any progress. I had this idea of replacing all the indents (hex09) in my .bib file by good old space (hex 20), thinking that it would help. I don't know if that helped or not, but by this time, I was able to get a few references.
Simply rewriting some of the bibtex entries (at places where Latex complained) helped ultimately and the invisible errors were at last gone!
At the end of hours and hours of working on the format of the document, at last I got a pdf file which followed the APA style guidelines.
((UPDATE-START))
A lot of errors such as this:
((UPDATE-END))
BUT, Latex's promise was the EXACT OPPOSITE!
Latex promises that the writer does not have to worry about the style and can concentrate on the content only. It promises the flexibility of different styles just by changing a few lines or so. Well, Latex did not deliver that promise to me in this case.
But if I had taken the other route of working on the style while using a Word document, surely I would have gone mad by now and would not even have got close to finishing the task.
Now I have a few more simple steps:
, ,
The Apacite package was what I used. I thought that as usual it would be relatively a simple task to use Latex, but this time Latex really took away a lot of my time.
I had forgotten how to install packages on a Linux machine and so first had to re-learn that from here. Once I had that working, it just seemed impossible to get the references working!
Firstly, I had to see that all the URLs were enclosed with the \url tag (before that I realised after many hours that I had forgotten the \usepackage{url} directive in the tex file and Latex had not specifically complained about that!), then I added the \bibnodot{.} command to the end of each URL.
After these steps of making my .bib file look as similar as possible to the .bib file provided at the CTAN's site for Apacite, I still was not able to get it working. The worst part was trying to debug the "Runaway argument"!
I got an error which was similar to:
Runaway argument?
\bibitem
! File ended while scanning use of \@tempa.
\par
After some googling and after finding some useful sites for debugging common Latex errors (this one), I still was not making any progress. I had this idea of replacing all the indents (hex09) in my .bib file by good old space (hex 20), thinking that it would help. I don't know if that helped or not, but by this time, I was able to get a few references.
Simply rewriting some of the bibtex entries (at places where Latex complained) helped ultimately and the invisible errors were at last gone!
At the end of hours and hours of working on the format of the document, at last I got a pdf file which followed the APA style guidelines.
A lot of errors such as this:
?were flagged both by the CUI and GUI (Kile). Just ignoring them produced the .pdf file nevertheless.
! Undefined control sequence.
l.1072 ...ves/sum2005/entries/turing-test/}\bibnodot
%
((UPDATE-END))
BUT, Latex's promise was the EXACT OPPOSITE!
Latex promises that the writer does not have to worry about the style and can concentrate on the content only. It promises the flexibility of different styles just by changing a few lines or so. Well, Latex did not deliver that promise to me in this case.
But if I had taken the other route of working on the style while using a Word document, surely I would have gone mad by now and would not even have got close to finishing the task.
Now I have a few more simple steps:
- convert pdf to text (pdftotext)
- copy the text to MS Word (or Open Office)
- do the final edits since pdftotext would not have done a neat job
- paste all the figures and create tables and
- that is it!
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Mails from the future
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Well, I'll see you in a few minutes, ol' buddy!
27 March, 2007 (9:43am)
RIP dear Kuku.
--------------------------------------------------
Hobbes: I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night!
Calvin: Hey, yeah.
Calvin: Well, I'll see you in a few minutes, ol' buddy!
Hobbes: I'll be right there!
--------------------------------------------------
Bill Watterson.
Released on: Sunday, Oct 22nd 1989.
The Calvin and Hobbes Searchable Database
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RIP dear Kuku.
--------------------------------------------------
Hobbes: I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night!
Calvin: Hey, yeah.
Calvin: Well, I'll see you in a few minutes, ol' buddy!
Hobbes: I'll be right there!
--------------------------------------------------
Bill Watterson.
Released on: Sunday, Oct 22nd 1989.
The Calvin and Hobbes Searchable Database
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Sunday, March 25, 2007
Dining in and around Fairfax
To make it easier for me, let me keep adding URLs to interesting places to eat in and around Fairfax city.
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This website lists a lot of interesting places in Herndon where one could try different tastes.
Vegetarian places from the 'Veggilicious' website.
Friendly Reminder: "Eat to live, do not live to eat!"
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Cool Web Tools - creating a Google map of the route you walked/hiked/biked/ran/swam/etc.
Found this at a posting on a birding forum. (oops seems that the 'return' key is no longer supported by Blogspot and so this might end up being one long line!) Will return back later.....
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I do not know what the problem is and where it is. Anyways I thought this would be a good reason to blog in HTML rather than plain English.
The problem: You walked/hiked/biked some place and want to know the distance that you travelled.
The Solution: this website!
It displays a UI which is the same as what you see in Google Maps and allows you to chart your route on it while displaying the total distance covered so far. Problem solved!!!
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Firebug
Firebug is an excellent tool to debug website code and also to analyze websites. I recently found some nice video tutorials at their documentation site.
From there I got to know about this PHP/Ajax programmer's blog which seems pretty interesting.
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From there I got to know about this PHP/Ajax programmer's blog which seems pretty interesting.
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Monday, March 12, 2007
Networking Cars !
This would be a big paradigm shift in our day to day lives. The idea is that all cars should be able to communicate with each other and to roadside Tx/Rx stations.
This month's IEEE's newsletter "The Institute" describes the standards for "car talk".
In the new world of networked cars this will be the scenario, your car will be aware of all the cars around it, their speeds, acceleration, deceleration, braking etc. If the car in the other lane tries to move into your lane, your car being in its blindspot, both the cars will recognize that situation and avoid the collision (by alerting the drivers perhaps).
As your car passes by a roadside information pole, it will be updated with the traffic conditions up ahead. Accidents on a road, major blockages and all such related information will be beamed to your car and you will be able to take a decision on an alternate route.
Sounds great !!!
To enable this scenario new standards have been developed and are called the IEEE 1609 suite of WAVE standards. WAVE here stands for Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment.
One of its promises is a simple technology change about which I think a lot (I almost led myself to believe that it was my new idea.) This simple idea is the idea of the traffic light signals being more than visual. Directional radio waves emitted by the traffic lights can "speak" to one's car and inform about whether it is ok or not to cross the intersection. WAVE will enable this simple idea.
If the system is integrated with the engine controls, the police might be able to over ride the car controls completely and take over the car of the runaway driver and stop it safely.
There is always a price to pay for new changes. This system will not only mean that a monetary price will have to be paid to have all that infrastructure in place but there will also be a loss of privacy, perhaps.
Security of the data will have to be a key concern. It must not be possible for one car to purposefully mislead the other car; or for some prankster to interfere with the waves of traffic lights.
The possibilities seem endless and so does the abuse. But nevertheless it sounds exciting.
, ,
This month's IEEE's newsletter "The Institute" describes the standards for "car talk".
In the new world of networked cars this will be the scenario, your car will be aware of all the cars around it, their speeds, acceleration, deceleration, braking etc. If the car in the other lane tries to move into your lane, your car being in its blindspot, both the cars will recognize that situation and avoid the collision (by alerting the drivers perhaps).
As your car passes by a roadside information pole, it will be updated with the traffic conditions up ahead. Accidents on a road, major blockages and all such related information will be beamed to your car and you will be able to take a decision on an alternate route.
Sounds great !!!
To enable this scenario new standards have been developed and are called the IEEE 1609 suite of WAVE standards. WAVE here stands for Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment.
One of its promises is a simple technology change about which I think a lot (I almost led myself to believe that it was my new idea.) This simple idea is the idea of the traffic light signals being more than visual. Directional radio waves emitted by the traffic lights can "speak" to one's car and inform about whether it is ok or not to cross the intersection. WAVE will enable this simple idea.
If the system is integrated with the engine controls, the police might be able to over ride the car controls completely and take over the car of the runaway driver and stop it safely.
There is always a price to pay for new changes. This system will not only mean that a monetary price will have to be paid to have all that infrastructure in place but there will also be a loss of privacy, perhaps.
Security of the data will have to be a key concern. It must not be possible for one car to purposefully mislead the other car; or for some prankster to interfere with the waves of traffic lights.
The possibilities seem endless and so does the abuse. But nevertheless it sounds exciting.
, ,
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The visitor
Not once did he flap,
the visitor who came to check by.
while hundreds of pigeons took off,
flapping, turning, circling and restless,
all exploding into flight.
Between one ledge and the other,
a thousands flaps were heard.
but not once did he flap,
the visitor who slowly disappeared in his soar.
(c) Deapesh.
, ,
the visitor who came to check by.
while hundreds of pigeons took off,
flapping, turning, circling and restless,
all exploding into flight.
Between one ledge and the other,
a thousands flaps were heard.
but not once did he flap,
the visitor who slowly disappeared in his soar.
(c) Deapesh.
, ,
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Spam and Weather Advisories
Noticed recently that pump and dump spam was using text from some weather advisory.
The IP address I got it from was 67.199.231.212 (no information available on this IP address) and then relayed to 24.150.209.12 the address of which is Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. The address matches the weather advisory. Perhaps this content was cached on the computer.
The particular one that I received used the following weather advisory content.
ONE OF THE COLDEST AIR MASSES OF THE WINTER SEASON HAS SPREADSOUTHEASTWARD FROM CENTRAL CANADA. A LATE SEASON ARCTIC BLAST ARRIVING IN WESTERN MAINE ANDNORTHERN. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH, KENTUCKY HAS ISSUED AFLOOD WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS. THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL STARTSPREADING SNOW INTO THE REGION WEDNESDAY MORNING AND SHOULD ENDBEFORE WEDNESDAY EVENING. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS BEHINDTHE FRONT WILL PREVAIL OVERNIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHERRADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE UPDATEDFORECASTS. THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL STARTSPREADING SNOW INTO THE REGION WEDNESDAY MORNING AND SHOULD ENDBEFORE WEDNESDAY EVENING.
AVOID SERIOUS CONDITIONS SUCH AS FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA BYKEEPING WARM. A SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY. LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY. SEVERE WIND CHILL VALUES WILL SET IN LATETONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING.
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WIND WILL COMBINE WITH COLDTEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUSLY COLD CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSEDSKIN.
THE GREATEST IMPACT BASED ON THE CURRENT TIMING IS FORTHE SNOW TO AFFECT THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING COMMUTE ON WEDNESDAY.
A WINDCHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM EST TUESDAY.
A LATE SEASON ARCTIC BLAST ARRIVING IN WESTERN MAINE ANDNORTHERN. IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE. COUPLED WITH THE STRONG WINDS, THIS SHOULD PRODUCE WINDCHILL FACTORS REACHING AROUND ZERO COME TUESDAY MORNING. ONE OF THE COLDEST AIR MASSES OF THE WINTER SEASON HAS SPREADSOUTHEASTWARD FROM CENTRAL CANADA.
WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM ESTTUESDAY. A DRY COLD FRONT IS MOVING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGHTHE MID ATLANTIC REGION.
THESE STRONG WINDS COMBINED WITH BITTERLY COLDTEMPERATURES WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILL VALUES FIVE TO TEN DEGREESBELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS EVENING.
SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY.
THE CORE OF THE COLDEST AIRWILL BUILD OVER THE REGION TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.
WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM ESTTUESDAY. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL FALL TO 25BELOW ZERO OVERNIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY.
THE HEAVIERSNOWSQUALLS WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH OVERNIGHT BUT STRONG WINDSWILL STILL PRODUCE POOR VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
THE HEAVIERSNOWSQUALLS WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH OVERNIGHT BUT STRONG WINDSWILL STILL PRODUCE POOR VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
TO THE LOWER AND MIDDLE TEENS IN URBAN AND COASTALAREAS. LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY.
IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE.
SEVERE WIND CHILL VALUES WILL SET IN LATETONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING.
A WINDCHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM EST TUESDAY. WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS HAVE GUSTED TO 35 MPH. A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WIND WILL COMBINE WITH COLDTEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUSLY COLD CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSEDSKIN. OHIO RIVER AT CAIRO AFFECTING ALEXANDER. LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY. SEEK MEDICAL HELPIMMEDIATELY OR CALL 911. EVEN COLDER LOWS WILL BE ON TAP TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAYMORNING AS WINDS DECREASE AND LOWS DROP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS.
, ,
The IP address I got it from was 67.199.231.212 (no information available on this IP address) and then relayed to 24.150.209.12 the address of which is Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. The address matches the weather advisory. Perhaps this content was cached on the computer.
The particular one that I received used the following weather advisory content.
ONE OF THE COLDEST AIR MASSES OF THE WINTER SEASON HAS SPREADSOUTHEASTWARD FROM CENTRAL CANADA. A LATE SEASON ARCTIC BLAST ARRIVING IN WESTERN MAINE ANDNORTHERN. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH, KENTUCKY HAS ISSUED AFLOOD WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS. THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL STARTSPREADING SNOW INTO THE REGION WEDNESDAY MORNING AND SHOULD ENDBEFORE WEDNESDAY EVENING. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS BEHINDTHE FRONT WILL PREVAIL OVERNIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHERRADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE UPDATEDFORECASTS. THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL STARTSPREADING SNOW INTO THE REGION WEDNESDAY MORNING AND SHOULD ENDBEFORE WEDNESDAY EVENING.
AVOID SERIOUS CONDITIONS SUCH AS FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA BYKEEPING WARM. A SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY. LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY. SEVERE WIND CHILL VALUES WILL SET IN LATETONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING.
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WIND WILL COMBINE WITH COLDTEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUSLY COLD CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSEDSKIN.
THE GREATEST IMPACT BASED ON THE CURRENT TIMING IS FORTHE SNOW TO AFFECT THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING COMMUTE ON WEDNESDAY.
A WINDCHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM EST TUESDAY.
A LATE SEASON ARCTIC BLAST ARRIVING IN WESTERN MAINE ANDNORTHERN. IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE. COUPLED WITH THE STRONG WINDS, THIS SHOULD PRODUCE WINDCHILL FACTORS REACHING AROUND ZERO COME TUESDAY MORNING. ONE OF THE COLDEST AIR MASSES OF THE WINTER SEASON HAS SPREADSOUTHEASTWARD FROM CENTRAL CANADA.
WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM ESTTUESDAY. A DRY COLD FRONT IS MOVING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGHTHE MID ATLANTIC REGION.
THESE STRONG WINDS COMBINED WITH BITTERLY COLDTEMPERATURES WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILL VALUES FIVE TO TEN DEGREESBELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS EVENING.
SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY.
THE CORE OF THE COLDEST AIRWILL BUILD OVER THE REGION TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.
WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM ESTTUESDAY. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL FALL TO 25BELOW ZERO OVERNIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY.
THE HEAVIERSNOWSQUALLS WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH OVERNIGHT BUT STRONG WINDSWILL STILL PRODUCE POOR VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
THE HEAVIERSNOWSQUALLS WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH OVERNIGHT BUT STRONG WINDSWILL STILL PRODUCE POOR VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
TO THE LOWER AND MIDDLE TEENS IN URBAN AND COASTALAREAS. LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY.
IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE.
SEVERE WIND CHILL VALUES WILL SET IN LATETONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING.
A WINDCHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 6 PM EST TUESDAY. WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS HAVE GUSTED TO 35 MPH. A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WIND WILL COMBINE WITH COLDTEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUSLY COLD CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSEDSKIN. OHIO RIVER AT CAIRO AFFECTING ALEXANDER. LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST TUESDAY. SEEK MEDICAL HELPIMMEDIATELY OR CALL 911. EVEN COLDER LOWS WILL BE ON TAP TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAYMORNING AS WINDS DECREASE AND LOWS DROP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS.
, ,
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