Planet FLOSS India

Prakash Advani: USB 3 is here

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:00:04 +0000

USB 3 devices have finally started showing up in the US and expect them to be more widely available everywhere else in the world, later this year.

USB 2 has been around, but with serious bottlenecks. Its slow and gets slower when you connect multiple peripherals. Is USB 3 going to solve the problem? It looks promising. What is USB 3 all about?

10 times faster than USB 2.0 with 5Gbps.
USB 3 is bi-directional so its much faster. In USB 2 data can flow only in one direction at a time.
Realistically you should get 3 times faster transfer speeds for external drives.
Backward compatible with USB 2. If you connect to older systems, you will still be able to use, but at slower speeds.
More power. Since more and more devices are being powered by USB, USB3 provides more power to adequately power those external hard drives.
Linux is the first operating system to support USB 3, and yes Microsoft has followed by including support in Windows 7.

The first place where USB 3 has started showing up is in external hard drives. If you are looking for one, you should consider USB 3. To get USB 3 performance, you will need USB 3 port on your computer, which is lacking in most of the PCs/Laptops sold today. However you can buy a hard drive with a card for your PC/Laptop.

From Amazon: 1 TB USB 3 external desktop hard drive with PCIe USB 3 adaptor.

USB 3.0 Expresscard for your laptop.

My Next Notebook or Netbook? Two years ago, I said good bye to my lone...
Standardise power cables for laptops Dell Ideastrom has this excellent suggestion: Standardize Power Cables for...
Multiple users, one computer Todays computer have more power than what is required...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Nirbheek Chauhan: Infibeam Rocks.

noreply@blogger.com (nirbheek) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:05:42 +0000

Some of you who follow me on twitter might remember something I tweeted about on Feb 6th:

Crap. Bought the wrong book on Infibeam and there's no way to cancel after making payment. Worse, I already have this book x-( #fail

This is essentially what happens when you buy stuff on the Internet at 5am after not sleeping all night preparing for an exam. I selected the (wrong) book, paid for it using Paypal, and soon afterwards, realised that I wanted the second part of this book (Foundation Analysis). Checked their FAQ to find to my dismay that they don't support cancellation of orders after payment has been made.

Needless to say, I'm a student, and students are poor(er). So I was sitting around semi-depressed wondering how to sell the book off at a minimal cost loss after I get it. On a whim, I decided to tweet about it (I generally don't tweet much; mostly passive reading).

After giving my exam, I noticed two missed calls on my phone from a strange number. I decided to wait for them (whoever they were) to call me again. A couple of hours later, I get another phone call; but this time it gets cut before I can pick it up. A few minutes later I get the following email:

Dear Nirbheek Chauhan ,

Order Id : [REMOVED]

Title : [REMOVED BOOK TITLE]

We have received your request for cancellation of above order through twitter.com. So we are offering you your ordered amount as prepaid credit to your Infibeam account which can be used for next purchase.
Please allow us for the same. So we can credit your account accordingly.
We also tried to reach you through given no. [REMOVED MOBILE NO.], but could not get response.
Thank you for shopping with us! You can contact us anytime using http://www.infibeam.com/ContactUs.action

Sincerely,

Infibeam.com Customer Service
Fresh Way to Buy, Sell and Rent

My reaction -- :O :D :O :D

Yesterday evening, they cancelled my order and refunded the amount I had paid as prepaid-credit which I can now use to buy the other book that I wanted to buy!

I don't know about you, but I'm very impressed by their customer service. The fact that they took the initiative to monitor twitter for tweets mentioning "Infibeam" for any problems that users face is a strong indication that they aren't just some random E-Store. They have definitely made permanent customer out of me!

On a related note, I've found that their book prices are usually less than or equal to those on flipkart.com . Another reason to use them ;)

Kartik Mistry: My Hero

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:39:15 +0000

* Cyril Brulebois (kibi) is my hero…

Sujith H: FOSSMEET@NITC/2010

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:05:01 +0000

Day 1

After a long release schedule at office, I decided to move on to FOSSMEET@NITC on thursday night. I reached the NIT campus on friday morning. After the breakfast I had a long sleep in the guest room. By noon, I reached their Computer Center and tried to get an internet access. I started to make my slide. I finished it by 4.30 pm. By 5.30 pm, everyone gathered for the inaugural function of FOSSMEET.

After the inaugural function it was Sasikurmar sir gave a talk about Free Software.

Day 2

I woke up with a sad news. My friend Pradeepto missed the flight to Mumbai from Kolkata and he couldn’t make to FOSSMEET@NITC. Hence I decided to conduct a BoF on KDE for students who came there. But the result was disappointing. No one came for the BoF. The day started with Jain’s scribus talk.

I decided to spent time with my friends Praveen, Jain Basil, Vivek(and others). We also celebrated Praveen’s birthday.

Vivek actually took me outside for an awesome dinner.

Day 3

Day 3 started with my talk on how to build KDE for development. Unfortunately there were not more than 3 or 4 people who knew about KDE. I was little tensed because Atul was sitting in the hall listening the talk. After my talk Atul came to deliver his talk. This was second time I was listening to Atul’s talk. It was nice to hear how he was interested in technology and lot more things. I wish students would really think about engineering seriously

After Atul’s talk I along with Unni decided to conduct a Qt workshop. I thought of giving an introductory way to create small widgets, signals and slots and things like that in C++. But again the students who were there for my Qt workshop hardly knew C++.

Well altogether I found people really liked the workshop rather than talk. And hence next time I will try to submit a workshop rather than talk.

Ashik Salahudeen: Minimal, Mouseless firefox

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:29:47 +0000

When i use firefox (or any application) , i hate to take my hands away from the keyboard and do stuff with the mouse. I get stuff done with either using pre defined shortcuts or by navigating the menu using keyboard. This got me into looking for a keyboard nav solution for firefox and i [...]

Tarique Sani: Rann of Kutch: Day 5 – Day of nothing much.

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:36:18 +0000

A flock of Great White Pelicans takes off

25th Jan, 2010: This can be termed as “The day when nothing much happened”. We left CEDO, Nakhtrana at 6:00 am and reached Rann Riders , Dasada at 12:00 a distance of 350km.

Continue reading, but just 4 more photos

Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.

Arky: An Open Letter to Oracle on the Topic Of Accessibility

noreply@blogger.com (Arky) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:56:00 +0000

Dear Oracle: You don't know me, so please permit me a brief introduction: I'm Joanie. By day, I'm an assistive technology specialist working with individuals who are blind or visually impaired. By night, weekend, and holiday for almost four years now, I've been a GNOME community contributor working primarily on the Orca screen reader, a project led by Sun's Accessibility Program Office. Working

Narendra Sisodiya: YLMF OS files

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:24:05 +0000

These files contains YMLF OS's list of installed applications and
backup of setting using
gconftool-2 -R /

/apps:
/apps/update-manager:
autoclose_install_window = true
first_run = false
show_versions = false
remind_reload = true
window_size = (no value set)
show_details = false
launch_time = 1262862929
check_dist_upgrades = true
/apps/empathy:
autoconnect = true
file_transfer_default_folder =
use_conn = true
import_asked = false
/apps/empathy/notifications:
notifications_contact_signin = false
notifications_contact_signout = false
notifications_disabled_away = true
notifications_enabled = true
use_libindicate = true
notifications_focus = false
/apps/empathy/location:
publish = false
resource_cell = true
resource_network = true
resource_gps = false
reduce_accuracy = true
/apps/empathy/ui:
main_window_hidden = false
compact_contact_list = false
separate_chat_windows = false
show_offline = false
show_avatars = true
avatar_directory =
/apps/empathy/conversation:
spell_checker_languages = en
theme = classic
show_contacts_in_rooms = true
adium_path =
avatar_in_icon = false
nick_completion_char = :
spell_checker_enabled = true
graphical_smileys = true
enable_webkit_developer_tools = false
theme_chat_room = true
/apps/empathy/hints:
close_main_window = true
/apps/empathy/sounds:
sounds_disabled_away = true
sounds_incoming_message = true
sounds_service_logout = false
sounds_service_login = false
sounds_new_conversation = true
sounds_contact_login = true
sounds_enabled = true
sounds_contact_logout = true
sounds_outgoing_message = false
/apps/empathy/accounts:
salut_created = false
imported_mc4_accounts = false
/apps/empathy/contacts:
sort_criterium = name
/apps/gnobots2:
/apps/gnobots2/preferences:
/apps/baobab:
/apps/baobab/properties:
enable_home_monitor = false
skip_scan_uri_list = []
/apps/baobab/ui:
toolbar_visible = true
statusbar_visible = false
baobab_subfoldertips_visible = true
/apps/yelp:
use_caret = true
use_system_fonts = true
variable_font = Sans 12
fixed_font = Monospace 12
/apps/totem:
brightness = 32767
show_vfx = true
lock_screensaver_on_audio = true
deinterlace = false
shuffle = false
autoload_subtitles = false
volume = 100
subtitle_encoding = GBK
debug = false
hue = 32767
auto_resize = false
window_on_top = false
visual = goom
remember_position = false
connection_speed = 11
buffer-size = 3
subtitle_font = 文泉驿正黑 Italic 20
saturation = 32767
repeat = false
audio_output_type = 0
visual_quality = 0
disable_user_plugins = false
open_path =
screenshot_save_path =
contrast = 32767
network-buffer-threshold = 2
/apps/totem/plugins:
/apps/totem/plugins/bbc:
active = true
/apps/totem/plugins/youtube:
active = true
/apps/gnome-power-manager:
/apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons:
hibernate = hibernate
lid_battery = suspend
suspend = suspend
power = interactive
lid_ac = suspend
/apps/gnome-power-manager/actions:
low_ups = hibernate
sleep_type_ac = suspend
event_when_closed_battery = true
critical_ups = shutdown
sleep_type_battery = nothing
critical_battery = hibernate
/apps/gnome-power-manager/thresholds:
time_low = 1200
time_critical = 300
percentage_low = 10
time_action = 120
percentage_critical = 3
percentage_action = 2
/apps/gnome-power-manager/ui:
show_context_menu = true
show_actions_in_menu = false
icon_policy = charge
enable_sound = true
/apps/gnome-power-manager/lock:
hibernate = true
suspend = true
gnome_keyring_hibernate = true
blank_screen = false
use_screensaver_settings = false
gnome_keyring_suspend = false
/apps/gnome-power-manager/timeout:
sleep_computer_battery = 0
sleep_computer_ac = 0
sleep_display_ac = 1800
sleep_display_battery = 600
sleep_computer_ups = 0
sleep_display_ups = 600
/apps/gnome-power-manager/disks:
spindown_timeout_ac = 600
spindown_enable_ac = false
spindown_timeout_battery = 60
spindown_enable_battery = true
/apps/gnome-power-manager/general:
check_type_cpu = false
network_sleep = false
installed_schema = 3
use_profile_time = true
use_time_for_policy = true
can_hibernate = false
can_suspend = true
/apps/gnome-power-manager/backlight:
dpms_method_battery = off
idle_dim_time = 10
battery_reduce = true
brightness_ac = 100
idle_brightness = 30
enable = true
idle_dim_ac = false
dpms_method_ac = off
idle_dim_battery = true
brightness_dim_battery = 50
/apps/gnome-power-manager/statistics:
graph_type = power
show_events = true
show_axis_labels = true
smooth_data = true
data_max_time = 21600
/apps/gnome-power-manager/notify:
discharging = true
low_power = true
sleep_failed = true
sleep_failed_uri =
perhaps_recall = true
low_capacity = true
fully_charged = false
/apps/update-notifier:
auto_launch = true
hide_reboot_notification = false
show_apport_crashes = true
end_system_uids = 500
regular_auto_launch_interval = 7
/apps/seahorse:
/apps/seahorse/sharing:
sharing_enabled = false
/apps/seahorse/listing:
show_trust = false
sort_by = name
show_expires = false
show_validity = true
show_type = false
/apps/rhythmbox:
library_strip_chars = false
grace_period = 45
library_layout_filename = %tN - %tt
library_preferred_format = cdlossy
library_locations = []
use_replaygain = false
monitor_library = false
library_layout_path = %aa/%at
first_time_flag = false
/apps/rhythmbox/state:
add_dir =
burn_speed = 0
volume = 1
right_paned_position = 400
small_width = 600
sourcelist_height = 300
play_order = linear
window_height = 550
burn_device =
window_width = 800
paned_position = 160
window_maximized = false
window_position_x = 0
window_position_y = 0
/apps/rhythmbox/state/daap:
show_browser = true
sorting = Artist,ascending
paned_position = 180
/apps/rhythmbox/state/library:
show_browser = true
sorting = Artist,ascending
paned_position = 180
/apps/rhythmbox/state/podcast:
show_browser = true
download_interval = 0
sorting_feeds = Feed,ascending
sorting_posts = Title,ascending
download_prefix =
download_next_time = 1
/apps/rhythmbox/state/iradio:
show_browser = false
sorting = Title,ascending
/apps/rhythmbox/state/ipod:
show_browser = true
/apps/rhythmbox/state/mtp:
show_browser = true
/apps/rhythmbox/ui:
queue_as_sidebar = false
toolbar_hidden = false
columns_setup = RB_TREE_MODEL_NODE_COL_TRACK_NUMBER_STR,RB_TREE_MODEL_NODE_COL_ARTIST,RB_TREE_MODEL_NODE_COL_ALBUM,RB_TREE_MODEL_NODE_COL_GENRE,RB_TREE_MODEL_NODE_COL_DURATION
sourcelist_hidden = false
song_position_slider_hidden = false
small_display = false
time_display = true
rhythmdb_columns_setup = RHYTHMDB_PROP_TRACK_NUMBER,RHYTHMDB_PROP_ARTIST,RHYTHMDB_PROP_ALBUM,RHYTHMDB_PROP_GENRE,RHYTHMDB_PROP_DURATION,RHYTHMDB_PROP_POST_TIME
statusbar_hidden = false
toolbar_style = 0
/apps/rhythmbox/ui/library:
browser_views = 0
/apps/rhythmbox/audioscrobbler:
username =
scrobbler_url = http://post.audioscrobbler.com/
password =
/apps/rhythmbox/sharing:
require_password = false
share_password =
share_name =
enable_browsing = true
enable_sharing = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins:
no_user_plugins = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/audioscrobbler:
active = true
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/rblirc:
active = false
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/ipod:
active = true
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/cd-recorder:
active = true
hidden = true
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/magnatune:
show_browser = true
sorting = Artist,ascending
active = true
format = ogg
hidden = false
paned_position = 88
pay = 8
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/status-icon:
status-icon-mode = 3
active = true
window-visible = true
notification-mode = 1
mouse-wheel-mode = 0
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/tray-icon:
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/artdisplay:
active = true
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/iradio:
active = true
hidden = true
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/daap:
active = true
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/power-manager:
active = false
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/audiocd:
active = true
hidden = true
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/lyrics:
engines = [leoslyrics.com,lyrc.com.ar]
folder =
active = false
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/generic-player:
active = true
hidden = true
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/visualizer:
quality = 1
active = true
element = goom
hidden = false
screen = 0
monitor = 0
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/mmkeys:
active = true
hidden = true
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/jamendo:
show_browser = true
active = true
format = ogg3
hidden = false
paned_position = 180
sorting = Artist,ascending
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/pythonconsole:
active = false
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/plugins/fmradio:
active = false
hidden = false
/apps/rhythmbox/player:
transition_time = 0
transition_album_check = true
network_buffer_size = 32
use_xfade_backend = false
/apps/eog:
/apps/eog/ui:
/apps/eog/view:
/apps/eog/full_screen:
/apps/eog/plugins:
/apps/gnotravex:
/apps/gtali:
/apps/gwd:
metacity_theme_opacity = 0.75
metacity_theme_active_opacity = 1
blur_type = all
mouse_wheel_action = none
metacity_theme_shade_opacity = true
use_metacity_theme = true
metacity_theme_active_shade_opacity = true
/apps/stickynotes_applet:
/apps/stickynotes_applet/defaults:
width = 100
font_color = #000000
color = #ECF833
height = 100
font = Sans 10
/apps/stickynotes_applet/settings:
force_default = false
confirm_deletion = true
date_format = %x
locked = false
use_system_font = true
sticky = true
use_system_color = true
/apps/evince:
override_restrictions = true
/apps/aisleriot:
/apps/metacity:
/apps/metacity/global_keybindings:
cycle_group_backward = disabled
switch_to_workspace_1 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_2 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_10 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_11 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_12 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_3 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_4 = disabled
run_command_window_screenshot = Print
cycle_windows_backward = disabled
switch_to_workspace_7 = disabled
show_desktop = d
switch_to_workspace_6 = disabled
cycle_group = F6
run_command_screenshot = Print
switch_panels = Tab
switch_to_workspace_left = Left
cycle_panels = Escape
switch_to_workspace_9 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_5 = disabled
switch_windows = Tab
switch_to_workspace_down = Down
switch_to_workspace_8 = disabled
switch_windows_backward = disabled
switch_to_workspace_right = Right
run_command_1 = disabled
run_command_2 = disabled
run_command_3 = disabled
run_command_4 = disabled
run_command_5 = disabled
run_command_6 = disabled
run_command_7 = disabled
run_command_10 = disabled
switch_group_backward = disabled
run_command_12 = disabled
cycle_windows = Escape
switch_panels_backward = disabled
run_command_11 = disabled
run_command_8 = disabled
run_command_9 = disabled
switch_to_workspace_up = Up
panel_main_menu = F1
switch_group = disabled
cycle_panels_backward = disabled
run_command_terminal = disabled
panel_run_dialog = F2
/apps/metacity/keybinding_commands:
command_11 =
command_12 =
command_screenshot = gnome-screenshot
command_1 =
command_2 =
command_3 =
command_4 =
command_5 =
command_6 =
command_7 =
command_8 =
command_9 =
command_window_screenshot = gnome-screenshot --window
command_10 =
/apps/metacity/window_keybindings:
minimize = F9
begin_resize = F8
maximize = disabled
move_to_center = disabled
move_to_side_e = disabled
move_to_workspace_1 = disabled
move_to_workspace_2 = disabled
move_to_side_n = disabled
move_to_workspace_4 = disabled
move_to_workspace_5 = disabled
move_to_workspace_6 = disabled
move_to_workspace_7 = disabled
move_to_workspace_8 = disabled
move_to_workspace_9 = disabled
maximize_horizontally = disabled
move_to_corner_sw = disabled
activate_window_menu = space
move_to_side_w = disabled
move_to_side_s = disabled
move_to_corner_ne = disabled
toggle_fullscreen = disabled
lower = disabled
move_to_workspace_3 = disabled
toggle_shaded = disabled
move_to_workspace_right = Right
raise_or_lower = disabled
raise = disabled
move_to_workspace_up = Up
toggle_maximized = F10
move_to_workspace_left = Left
begin_move = F7
unmaximize = F5
move_to_workspace_down = Down
move_to_corner_nw = disabled
close = F4
toggle_on_all_workspaces = disabled
maximize_vertically = disabled
move_to_corner_se = disabled
move_to_workspace_10 = disabled
move_to_workspace_11 = disabled
move_to_workspace_12 = disabled
toggle_above = disabled
/apps/metacity/workspace_names:
name_5 =
name_6 =
name_1 = Desk 1
name_2 = Desk 2
name_3 = Desk 3
name_4 = Desk 4
name_14 =
name_15 =
name_16 =
name_11 =
name_12 =
name_13 =
name_10 =
name_9 =
name_7 =
name_8 =
/apps/metacity/general:
visual_bell_type = fullscreen
auto_raise_delay = 500
titlebar_font = Sans Bold 10
visual_bell = false
application_based = false
action_double_click_titlebar = toggle_maximize
audible_bell = true
compositing_manager = false
focus_new_windows = smart
mouse_button_modifier =
resize_with_right_button = false
theme = XPLuna
titlebar_uses_system_font = false
num_workspaces = 4
button_layout = menu:minimize,maximize,close
action_middle_click_titlebar = lower
disable_workarounds = false
auto_raise = false
focus_mode = click
action_right_click_titlebar = menu
reduced_resources = false
raise_on_click = true
/apps/gnome-keyring:
/apps/gnome-keyring/daemon-components:
ssh = true
pkcs11 = true
/apps/gnotski:
level = 0
/apps/panel:
/apps/panel/applets:
/apps/panel/applets/applet_0:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_ShowDesktopApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 1
/apps/panel/applets/applet_1:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_WindowListApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 2
/apps/panel/applets/applet_1/prefs:
display_all_workspaces = false
group_windows = never
maximum_size = 4096
minimum_size = 50
move_unminimized_windows = true
/apps/panel/applets/applet_2:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_NotificationAreaApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 2
/apps/panel/applets/applet_3:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_WorkspaceSwitcherApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 2
/apps/panel/applets/applet_3/prefs:
display_all_workspaces = true
num_workspaces = 4
num_rows = 2
display_workspace_names = false
/apps/panel/applets/applet_4:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_ClockApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 0
/apps/panel/applets/applet_4/prefs:
custom_format =
gmt_time = false
expand_weather = false
show_timezones = false
expand_tasks = false
internet_time = false
show_tooltip = true
show_seconds = false
show_weather = false
speed_unit = Default
expand_appointments = true
unix_time = false
show_date = false
expand_birthdays = true
config_tool =
cities = []
format = 24-hour
show_temperature = false
show_week_numbers = true
expand_locations = false
temperature_unit = Default
hour_format = 12
/apps/panel/applets/applet_4/prefs/timezones:
tz_id_list = []
/apps/panel/objects:
/apps/panel/objects/object_0:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon = /usr/share/themes/XPLuna/start.png
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = menu-object
use_custom_icon = true
tooltip = Main menu
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 0
/apps/panel/objects/object_1:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location = firefox.desktop
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = launcher-object
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 1
/apps/panel/objects/object_2:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location = nautilus-computer.desktop
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = launcher-object
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 1
/apps/panel/objects/object_3:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location = gnome-terminal.desktop
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon =
locked = false
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = launcher-object
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel_0
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 1
/apps/panel/global:
tooltips_enabled = true
highlight_launchers_on_mouseover = true
menu_key = F1
enable_animations = true
confirm_panel_remove = true
panel_show_delay = 300
locked_down = false
drawer_autoclose = true
screenshot_key = Print
panel_animation_speed = panel-speed-medium
disable_log_out = false
enable_key_bindings = true
panel_hide_delay = 500
disable_force_quit = false
window_screenshot_key = Print
disabled_applets = []
panel_minimized_size = 3
run_key = F2
disable_lock_screen = true
keep_menus_in_memory = true
/apps/panel/toplevels:
/apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_0:
enable_arrows = true
enable_buttons = false
hide_delay = 500
enable_animations = true
expand = true
name = bottom_panel_0
size = 24
unhide_delay = 500
x_centered = false
screen = 0
y_centered = false
animation_speed = medium
monitor = 0
auto_hide_size = 6
x = 0
orientation = bottom
y = 0
auto_hide = false
/apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_0/background:
opacity = 6000
rotate = false
color = #ffffff
type = gtk
fit = false
image =
stretch = false
/apps/panel/default_setup:
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets:
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/window_list:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_WindowListApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
position = 1
attached_toplevel_id =
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/clock:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_ClockApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
position = 2
attached_toplevel_id =
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/indicator_applet:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_IndicatorApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 4
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/trashapplet:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_Panel_TrashApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel
use_menu_path = false
position = 0
attached_toplevel_id =
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/fast_user_switch:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_FastUserSwitchApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 0
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/workspace_switcher:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_WorkspaceSwitcherApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
position = 1
attached_toplevel_id =
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/notification_area:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_NotificationAreaApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = true
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
position = 5
attached_toplevel_id =
/apps/panel/default_setup/applets/show_desktop_button:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid = OAFIID:GNOME_ShowDesktopApplet
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = bonobo-applet
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = bottom_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
position = 0
attached_toplevel_id =
/apps/panel/default_setup/objects:
/apps/panel/default_setup/objects/menu_bar:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location =
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = menu-bar
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 0
/apps/panel/default_setup/objects/yelp_launcher:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location = file:///usr/share/applications/yelp.desktop
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = launcher-object
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 4
/apps/panel/default_setup/objects/browser_launcher:
menu_path = applications:/
launcher_location = firefox.desktop
bonobo_iid =
custom_icon =
locked = true
panel_right_stick = false
object_type = launcher-object
use_custom_icon = false
tooltip =
toplevel_id = top_panel
action_type = lock
use_menu_path = false
attached_toplevel_id =
position = 1
/apps/panel/default_setup/toplevels:
/apps/panel/default_setup/toplevels/top_panel:
enable_arrows = true
enable_buttons = false
y_bottom = -1
hide_delay = 300
enable_animations = true
expand = true
name =
size = 24
unhide_delay = 100
x_centered = false
x_right = -1
screen = 0
y_centered = false
animation_speed = fast
monitor = 0
auto_hide_size = 1
x = 0
orientation = top
y = 0
auto_hide = false
/apps/panel/default_setup/toplevels/top_panel/background:
opacity = 6000
rotate = false
color = #ffffff
type = gtk
fit = false
image =
stretch = false
/apps/panel/default_setup/toplevels/bottom_panel:
enable_arrows = true
enable_buttons = false
y_bottom = 0
hide_delay = 300
enable_animations = true
expand = true
name =
size = 24
unhide_delay = 100
x_centered = false
x_right = -1
screen = 0
y_centered = false
animation_speed = fast
monitor = 0
auto_hide_size = 1
x = 0
orientation = bottom
y = 0
auto_hide = false
/apps/panel/default_setup/toplevels/bottom_panel/background:
opacity = 6000
rotate = false
color = #ffffff
type = gtk
fit = false
image =
stretch = false
/apps/panel/default_setup/general:
applet_id_list = [clock,notification_area,indicator_applet,show_desktop_button,window_list,workspace_switcher,trashapplet,fast_user_switch]
object_id_list = [menu_bar,browser_launcher,yelp_launcher]
toplevel_id_list = [top_panel,bottom_panel]
/apps/panel/general:
show_program_list = false
object_id_list = [object_0,object_1,object_2,object_3]
applet_id_list = [applet_0,applet_1,applet_2,applet_4,applet_3]
enable_program_list = true
profiles_migrated = false
enable_autocompletion = true
toplevel_id_list = [bottom_panel_0]
/apps/gnomine:
use_question_marks = false
use_overmine_warning = false
use_autoflag = false
/apps/gnomine/geometry:
nmines = 40
ysize = 16
mode = 0
xsize = 16
/apps/gnome-screensaver:
lock_enabled = false
idle_activation_enabled = true
cycle_delay = 10
status_message_enabled = true
lock_dialog_theme = default
mode = single
user_switch_enabled = true
idle_delay = 10
logout_delay = 120
embedded_keyboard_command =
lock = false
logout_enabled = false
embedded_keyboard_enabled = false
theme = screensavers-ubuntu_theme
logout_command =
themes = [screensavers-personal-slideshow]
power_management_delay = 30
lock_delay = 0
/apps/gcalctool:
accuracy = 9
display = FIX
xposition = -1
showregisters = false
trigtype = DEG
showthousands = false
base = 10
wordlen = 64
mode = BASIC
showzeroes = false
yposition = -1
/apps/glines:
/apps/glines/preferences:
/apps/glines/saved:
/apps/gnome-dictionary:
sidebar-width = -1
source-name = Default
print-font = Serif 12
default-window-width = -1
statusbar-visible = false
sidebar-page = speller
server = dict.org
strategy = exact
port = 2628
smart = true
default-window-height = -1
sidebar-visible = false
window-is-maximized = false
database = !
/apps/gnome-search-tool:
default_window_height = -1
look_in_folder =
disable_quick_search_second_scan = false
show_additional_options = false
quick_search_excluded_paths = [/mnt/*,/media/*,/dev/*,/tmp/*,/proc/*,/var/*]
default_window_width = -1
columns_order = [0]
disable_quick_search = false
default_window_maximized = false
quick_search_second_scan_excluded_paths = [/]
/apps/gnome-search-tool/select:
file_is_empty = false
exclude_other_filesystems = false
owned_by_group = false
date_modified_less_than = false
owned_by_user = false
date_modified_more_than = false
owner_is_unrecognized = false
contains_the_text = true
size_at_least = false
size_at_most = false
show_hidden_files_and_folders = false
follow_symbolic_links = false
name_does_not_contain = false
name_matches_regular_expression = false
/apps/netbook-launcher:
/apps/netbook-launcher/favorites:
/apps/netbook-launcher/favorites/ubiquity:
type = application
desktop_file = /usr/share/applications/ubiquity-gtkui.desktop
/apps/gconf-editor:
bookmarks = []
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon:
volume_step = 6
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/gtk-modules:
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings:
volume_down = XF86AudioLowerVolume
media = XF86AudioMedia
screensaver = l
home = XF86Explorer
pause = XF86AudioPause
search = XF86Search
volume_up = XF86AudioRaiseVolume
email = XF86Mail
previous = XF86AudioPrev
sleep =
help =
power = Delete
stop = XF86AudioStop
eject = XF86Eject
next = XF86AudioNext
volume_mute = XF86AudioMute
www = XF86WWW
play = XF86AudioPlay
calculator = XF86Calculator
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins:
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/keyboard:
priority = 6
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/a11y-keyboard:
priority = 7
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/background:
priority = 97
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/keybindings:
priority = 20
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/xrdb:
priority = 90
active = false
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/xsettings:
priority = 2
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/sound:
priority = 5
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/mouse:
priority = 7
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/typing-break:
priority = 200
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/clipboard:
priority = 99
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/housekeeping:
min_notify_period = 10
priority = 300
active = true
free_percent_notify = 0.05000000074505806
ignore_paths = []
free_size_gb_no_notify = 2
free_percent_notify_again = 0.0099999997764825821
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/xrandr:
priority = 1
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/font:
priority = 4
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/media-keys:
priority = 98
active = true
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/xrandr:
show_notification_icon = false
/apps/gnometris:
/apps/gnometris/options:
use_target = false
bgcolor = Black
theme = plain
starting_level = 1
usebgimage = true
do_preview = true
block_pixmap = 7blocks-gw.png
line_fill_height = 0
random_block_colors = false
rotate_counter_clock_wise = true
line_fill_probability = 5
/apps/gnometris/controls:
key_right = 65363
key_down = 65364
key_rotate = 65362
key_pause = 65299
key_left = 65361
key_drop = 32
/apps/gnome-screenshot:
include_pointer = true
take_window_shot = false
border_effect = none
delay = 0
include_border = true
last_save_directory =
/apps/gnome-terminal:
/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles:
/apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default:
background_type = solid
background_color = #FFFFFFFFDDDD
scroll_on_output = false
visible_name = Default
scrollback_lines = 512
scroll_background = true
alternate_screen_scroll = true
use_system_font = true
background_darkness = 0.5
silent_bell = false
allow_bold = true
delete_binding = escape-sequence
login_shell = false
use_skey = true
word_chars = -A-Za-z0-9,./?%&#:_=+@~
default_show_menubar = true
icon =
title = Terminal
use_theme_colors = true
custom_command =
scrollbar_position = right
backspace_binding = ascii-del
cursor_shape = block
palette = #2E2E34343636:#CCCC00000000:#4E4E9A9A0606:#C4C4A0A00000:#34346565A4A4:#757550507B7B:#060698209A9A:#D3D3D7D7CFCF:#555557575353:#EFEF29292929:#8A8AE2E23434:#FCFCE9E94F4F:#72729F9FCFCF:#ADAD7F7FA8A8:#3434E2E2E2E2:#EEEEEEEEECEC
scroll_on_keystroke = true
update_records = true
title_mode = replace
exit_action = close
use_custom_command = false
cursor_blink_mode = system
background_image =
foreground_color = #000000000000
font = Monospace 12
/apps/gnome-terminal/global:
confirm_window_close = true
use_menu_accelerators = true
use_mnemonics = true
active_encodings = [UTF-8,current]
profile_list = [Default]
default_profile = Default
/apps/gnome-terminal/keybindings:
switch_to_tab_4 = 4
paste = v
switch_to_tab_6 = 6
switch_to_tab_7 = 7
switch_to_tab_8 = 8
switch_to_tab_9 = 9
help = F1
close_tab = w
new_window = n
zoom_in = plus
prev_tab = Page_Up
switch_to_tab_5 = 5
new_tab = t
full_screen = F11
set_terminal_title = (no value set)
reset = (no value set)
toggle_menubar = (no value set)
switch_to_tab_10 = 0
switch_to_tab_11 = (no value set)
switch_to_tab_12 = (no value set)
reset_and_clear = (no value set)
close_window = q
zoom_out = minus
new_profile = (no value set)
move_tab_left = Page_Up
zoom_normal = 0
detach_tab = (no value set)
next_tab = Page_Down
copy = c
move_tab_right = Page_Down
switch_to_tab_1 = 1
switch_to_tab_2 = 2
switch_to_tab_3 = 3
/apps/vinagre:
always_show_tabs = false
history_size = 15
shared_flag = true
show_accels = false
/apps/vinagre/plugins:
active-plugins = [vnc,ssh]
/apps/nm-applet:
suppress-wireless-networks-available = false
stamp = 1
disable-disconnected-notifications = false
disable-connected-notifications = false
disable-wifi-create = false
/apps/gedit-2:
/apps/gedit-2/preferences:
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/ui:
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/ui/toolbar:
toolbar_visible = true
toolbar_buttons_style = GEDIT_TOOLBAR_SYSTEM
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/ui/side_pane:
side_pane_visible = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/ui/recents:
max_recents = 5
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/ui/bottom_panel:
bottom_panel_visible = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/ui/statusbar:
statusbar_visible = true
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor:
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/save:
writable_vfs_schemes = [dav,davs,ftp,sftp,smb,ssh]
auto_save = false
create_backup_copy = true
backup_copy_extension = ~
auto_save_interval = 10
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/cursor_position:
restore_cursor_position = true
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/wrap_mode:
wrap_mode = GTK_WRAP_WORD
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/search_highlighting:
enable = true
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/line_numbers:
display_line_numbers = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/undo:
max_undo_actions = 2000
undo_actions_limit = 25
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/right_margin:
right_margin_position = 80
display_right_margin = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/colors:
scheme = classic
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/font:
use_default_font = true
editor_font = Monospace 12
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/current_line:
highlight_current_line = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/tabs:
insert_spaces = false
tabs_size = 8
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/auto_indent:
auto_indent = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/smart_home_end:
smart_home_end = after
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/editor/bracket_matching:
bracket_matching = false
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/print:
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/print/fonts:
print_font_header_pango = Sans 11
print_font_body_pango = Monospace 9
print_font_numbers_pango = Sans 8
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/print/page:
print_header = true
print_syntax_highlighting = true
print_wrap_mode = GTK_WRAP_WORD
print_line_numbers = 0
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/encodings:
auto_detected = [UTF-8,CURRENT,ISO-8859-15,UTF-16]
shown_in_menu = [ISO-8859-15]
/apps/gedit-2/preferences/syntax_highlighting:
enable = true
/apps/gedit-2/plugins:
active-plugins = [docinfo,modelines,filebrowser,spell,time]
/apps/gedit-2/plugins/filebrowser:
open_at_first_doc = true
filter_mode = hidden_and_binary
filter_pattern =
/apps/gedit-2/plugins/filebrowser/on_load:
virtual_root =
root =
tree_view = true
enable_remote = false
/apps/gdm:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/a11y-keyboard:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/xsettings:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/media-keys:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/background:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/sound:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/xrandr:
/apps/gdm/simple-greeter/accessibility:
/apps/indicator-session:
suppress_logout_restart_shutdown = false
/apps/gnome-session:
/apps/gnome-session/options:
logout_prompt = true
splash_image = splash/ubuntu-splash.png
auto_save_session = false
show_splash_screen = false
/apps/epiphany:
/apps/epiphany/general:
homepage = file:///usr/share/ubuntu-artwork/home/index.html
/apps/mahjongg:
/apps/bluetooth-manager:
show_icon = true
/apps/nautilus:
/apps/nautilus/preferences:
show_icon_text = local_only
start_with_sidebar = true
click_policy = double
background_color = #ffffff
start_with_toolbar = true
start_with_location_bar = true
search_bar_type = search_by_text
mouse_back_button = 8
directory_limit = -1
exit_with_last_window = true
always_use_location_entry = true
desktop_font = Sans 10
media_autorun_x_content_start_app = [x-content/software]
media_automount_open = true
show_desktop = true
side_pane_background_color = #ffffff
navigation_window_saved_maximized = false
desktop_is_home_dir = false
media_autorun_x_content_ignore = []
always_use_browser = true
theme = default
mouse_use_extra_buttons = true
sidebar_width = 148
enable_delete = false
side_pane_background_set = false
install_mime_activation = true
preview_sound = local_only
show_image_thumbnails = local_only
side_pane_background_filename =
navigation_window_saved_geometry = 720x540+93+132
sort_directories_first = true
date_format = locale
background_set = false
media_autorun_never = false
background_filename =
show_advanced_permissions = false
media_automount = true
thumbnail_limit = 10485760
default_folder_viewer = icon_view
mouse_forward_button = 9
start_with_status_bar = true
executable_text_activation = ask
media_autorun_x_content_open_folder = []
show_directory_item_counts = local_only
side_pane_view = NautilusTreeSidebar
confirm_trash = true
/apps/nautilus/icon_view:
default_use_tighter_layout = false
captions = [none,size,date_modified]
default_use_manual_layout = false
default_sort_in_reverse_order = false
thumbnail_size = 96
labels_beside_icons = false
text_ellipsis_limit = [3]
default_sort_order = name
default_zoom_level = standard
/apps/nautilus/sidebar_panels:
/apps/nautilus/sidebar_panels/tree:
show_only_directories = true
/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata:
/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/home:
icon-scale = 1
nautilus-icon-position = 64,102
nautilus-icon-position-timestamp = 1265583337
/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/computer:
icon-scale = 1
nautilus-icon-position = 64,22
nautilus-icon-position-timestamp = 1265583337
/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/directory:
nautilus-icon-view-keep-aligned = true
nautilus-icon-view-layout-timestamp = 1265583337
nautilus-icon-view-tighter-layout = false
/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/trash:
icon-scale = 1
nautilus-icon-position = 64,262
nautilus-icon-position-timestamp = 1265583337
/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/network:
icon-scale = 1
nautilus-icon-position = 64,182
nautilus-icon-position-timestamp = 1265583337
/apps/nautilus/compact_view:
default_zoom_level = standard
all_columns_have_same_width = true
/apps/nautilus/list_view:
default_zoom_level = smaller
default_column_order = [name,size,type,date_modified]
default_visible_columns = [name,size,type,date_modified]
default_sort_in_reverse_order = false
default_sort_order = name
/apps/nautilus/desktop:
network_icon_visible = true
computer_icon_name = My Computer
trash_icon_name = Recycle Bin
network_icon_name = My Network Places
trash_icon_visible = true
text_ellipsis_limit = 3
volumes_visible = true
home_icon_visible = true
computer_icon_visible = true
home_icon_name = My Documents
/apps/drivemount-applet:
/apps/drivemount-applet/prefs:
mount_point = /media/floppy
/apps/gnibbles:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm/1:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm/2:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm/3:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm/4:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm/5:
/apps/gnibbles/preferences/worm/0:
/apps/gnome-system-log:
logfiles = (no value set)
width = 600
logfile = /var/log/messages
height = 400
fontsize = 10
/apps/procman:
cpu_color0 = #FF6E00
cpu_color1 = #CB0C29
cpu_color2 = #49A835
current_tab = 2
cpu_color3 = #2D7DB3
mem_color = #AB1852
width = 440
solaris_mode = false
kill_dialog = true
view_as = 1
net_out_color = #844798
net_in_color = #2D7DB3
graph_update_interval = 1000
show_tree = false
show_all_fs = false
height = 495
update_interval = 3000
disks_interval = 5000
smooth_refresh = true
swap_color = #49A835
/apps/procman/disktreenew:
sort_col = 1
sort_order = 0
columns_order = (no value set)
/apps/procman/memmapstree:
sort_col = 0
sort_order = 0
/apps/procman/proctree:
col_12_width = 48
col_8_width = 0
col_16_visible = true
col_5_visible = false
col_15_width = 48
col_4_visible = false
col_15_visible = true
col_14_visible = false
col_3_visible = false
col_1_width = 0
col_13_visible = false
col_2_visible = true
col_12_visible = true
col_4_width = 53
col_7_width = 0
col_1_visible = false
sort_col = 0
col_0_visible = true
col_11_visible = true
col_10_visible = false
col_11_width = 48
col_14_width = 48
sort_order = 0
col_0_width = 198
col_3_width = 0
col_6_width = 0
columns_order = (no value set)
col_13_width = 48
col_10_width = 0
col_9_width = 50
col_16_width = 48
col_9_visible = false
col_2_width = 37
col_8_visible = true
col_7_visible = false
col_5_width = 0
col_6_visible = false
/apps/nautilus-open-terminal:
display_mc_item = true
desktop_opens_home_dir = false
/apps/compiz:
/apps/compiz/plugins:
/apps/compiz/plugins/switcher:
/apps/compiz/plugins/switcher/screen0:
/apps/compiz/plugins/switcher/screen0/options:
brightness = 65
bring_to_front = true
speed = 1.5
auto_rotate = false
zoom = 1
icon = true
mipmap = true
window_match = Toolbar | Utility | Dialog | Normal | Unknown
saturation = 100
minimized = true
timestep = 1.2000000476837158
opacity = 40
/apps/compiz/plugins/switcher/allscreens:
/apps/compiz/plugins/switcher/allscreens/options:
next_all_key = Tab
next_all_button = Disabled
next_key = Tab
prev_all_button = Disabled
prev_key = Tab
next_no_popup_button = Disabled
next_panel_button = Disabled
prev_no_popup_key = Disabled
next_button = Disabled
prev_panel_key = Disabled
prev_all_key = Tab
prev_panel_button = Disabled
next_no_popup_key = Disabled
prev_no_popup_button = Disabled
prev_button = Disabled
next_panel_key = Disabl

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Prakash Advani: Avatar was created on Ubuntu

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:12:09 +0000

What common between Avtar, King Kong, Lord of the Rings, Fantastic Four, X-Men, i-Robot? They were all created at Weta Digital in New Zealand.

Now some vital stats:

2 Petabyte disk array
10gbps networking
10 TB Ram
35,000 cores (4,000+ blades)
Ubuntu

Ubuntu vs Windows Hardware Requirements I compared the hardware requirements of a popular Linux Desktop:...
Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala now available for download Ubuntu 9.10 is finally available for download. It’s faster to...
Ubuntu vs Vista vs Windows 7 This is an interesting article comparing various features of Ubuntu...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Akshay Gupta: Internet Relay Story – I

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:21:39 +0000

EVENTS OCCUR IN REAL-TIME.

09:56 [Users #kit-room]
09:56 [@ChanServ] [ kitalis_] [ kitallis]
09:56 --> #kit-room: Total of 2 nicks (1 ops, 0 halfops, 0 voices, 1 normal)
09:57 --> kitallis (n=kitallis@343.345.232.27) has joined #kit-room
09:59         kitallis : *Yawn*
10:00         kitallis : Darn. It's 10 P.M. already. Better finish my work off
10:00         kitallis : or I'll have to face KCs sad breath tommorow morning.
10:02  ! kitallis snaps out his Dell, starts working
10:03  ! kitallis goes and grabs a can of b33r
10:03         kitallis : Hmm, LaTeX is giving me the creeps
10:04         kitallis : might as well make this in PowerPoint.
10:06         kitallis : *Sigh*
10:06         kitallis : I'm a fucking programmer, why do I even need to make this shite :S
10:06         kitallis : I'd rather ... ohh, what's this ... hmm, p0rn ... naaaicee.
10:07         kitallis : These clothes are rather uncomfortable
10:07         kitallis : I should change to something comfortable first.
10:08  ! kitallis opens his wardrobe, grabs some pyjamas.
10:08  ! kitallis sees something glimmering in the dark corridor
10:08         kitallis : Hmm, that was odd. I swear I saw two white round balls shining
10:08         kitallis : over there. Probably cuz of this stupid little b33r
10:10         kitallis : Argh, WTH. Shouldn't waste time. I'm so pumped already.
10:11  ! kitallis turns the music on
10:11         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:12         kitallis : Ahhh, /me feel so trippy.
10:12         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:13         kitallis : This is so nice ...
10:13         kitallis : so where was I ...
10:13         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:14  ! kitallis does a Control+Shift+P
10:14         kitallis : naicce, fuck work, living alone is awesome ...
10:14         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:16         kitallis : Shit, need moar b33r.
10:16         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:16  ! kitallis stands up, minimizing the browser, turns around ...
10:17             sid0 : <_<
10:17  ! kitallis drops the empty can in his hands
10:18         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG.
10:18         kitallis : ...
10:18         kitallis : ...
10:18             sid0 : <_<
10:18         kitallis : ...
10:19             sid0 : <_<
10:19         kitallis : ...
10:19  ! kitallis quietly goes around him and leaves the room
10:20         kitallis : ...
10:19             sid0 : <_<
10:19         kitallis : ...
10:19             sid0 : @_@
10:19         kitallis : ...
10:20             sid0 : >_>
10:20 --> kitallis (n=kitallis@343.345.232.27) has left #kit-room ()
10:20  ! kitallis calls m1k3y
10:20         kitallis : m1k3y: dude, you won't fucking believe what happened just now
10:21         kitallis : m1k3y: can't even begin to explain you ...
10:21            m1k3y : kitallis, bhut
10:21  ! kitallis starts running
10:21         kitallis : m1k3y: well, nvm, I'll explain later
10:21         kitallis : m1k3y: can I just sleep over at your house, for tonight?
10:22            m1k3y : kitallis, shyoar
10:23         kitallis : ...
10:23         kitallis : Can't think. Gotta think. Not right. Rite. Right.
10:23         kitallis : Something is wrong. Wrong. Lights. Something is wrong.
10:23         kitallis : Probably the b33r. No, I'm good. You're good. We. Us.
10:23         kitallis : Gotta run. Fast. Something was wrong.
10:24         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:24         kitallis : ...
10:24         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:24         kitallis : What's happening. Run. Big strides. Alcohol. No. Fast.
10:25         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:25         kitallis : ...
10:27  ! kitallis rings m1k3y's doorbell
10:27         kitallis : ...
10:27         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:27         kitallis : Need to get this music outta my mind. Need to. Now.
10:28            m1k3y : haye kitallis
10:28            m1k3y : kitallis, Dude, you look drunk
10:28         kitallis : m1k3y: sorta, just a little b33r, wasn't feeling right over there.
10:29            m1k3y : kitallis, oya, iy understand, cum on in.
09:29 [Users #m1k3y-room]
09:29 [@ChanServ] [ m1k3y] [ prostitute]
09:29 --> #m1k3y-room: Total of 2 nicks (1 ops, 0 halfops, 0 voices, 1 normal)
10:29 --> kitallis (n=kitallis@343.345.232.27) has joined #m1k3y-room
10:29         kitallis : m1k3y: KTHX
10:29         kitallis : m1k3y: Dude, I should sleep now, very tired.
10:30            m1k3y : kitallis, :S
10:30            m1k3y : kitallis, err... k
10:30            m1k3y : kitallis: we'll tawk in tah mornin'
10:31         kitallis : m1k3y: thx, for all this
10:31            m1k3y : kitallis: np, d00d.
10:32         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:33         kitallis : Must go to sleep. Right fucking now.
10:34  ! kitallis lies on the bed, grabs the blanket
10:34         kitallis : Hmm. Teddy Bear. Tomatoes. Cold. Need to sleep
10:34         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:35  ! kitallis turns the lights off, dissolves into a sleeping shape
10:36         kitallis : I'm not sure why it came
10:36         kitallis : It just stood. I wasn't ready.
10:37         kitallis : I swear I wanted to shout
10:37         kitallis : But for some reason I didn't.
10:37         kitallis : I don't think I'll be able to sleep this way.
10:39  ! kitallis turns around to check the time on m1k3y's Bose clock
10:39         kitallis : 10:41 it says. Ain't even mid-night yet.
10:39         kitallis : Gotta try sleeping in any case.
10:40             sid0 : >_>
10:40  ! kitallis wiggles his head
10:40         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:41             sid0 : >_>
10:41         kitallis : ...
10:41             sid0 : >_>
10:41         kitallis : HOLY FUCKING GAWD, HE'S BLOODY HERE AGAIN.
10:41         kitallis : LEAVE ME FUCKING ALONE, YOU S.O.B.
10:42             sid0 : >_>
10:43  ! kitallis storms out of the room
10:43            m1k3y : kitallis: wut happened?
10:43 --> kitallis (n=kitallis@343.345.232.27) has left #m1k3y-room ()
10:44            m1k3y : ...
10:45         kitallis : Why is this happening. Why is it there.
10:47         kitallis : I gotta run. Gotta find a loophole
10:47         kitallis : Need to get rid of him
10:49         kitallis : There should be a way. There always is.
10:50         kitallis : Need to find something to get sober first.
10:50         kitallis : Can't think this way. Chemist. Adrenaline shot. Need one.
10:50         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:52  ! kitallis crosses the road, runs over to the Chemist
10:53         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:53         kitallis : Can I get some Epinephrine shots?
10:53          ChemGuy : are you god?
10:53         kitallis : No :S
10:53          ChemGuy : sucks duzunnit?
10:53         kitallis : not really.
10:53          ChemGuy : wife? kids?
10:54         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
10:54         kitallis : No
10:54          ChemGuy : single lol
10:54         kitallis : yaahh /0/
10:54         kitallis : Just gimme the meds already.
10:54          ChemGuy : kk
10:58  ! kitallis injects some Adrenaline
10:59         kitallis : There must be some place it can't enter.
10:59         kitallis : Why is it doing this to me.
10:59  ! kitallis spits twice in a gap of three seconds, then spits again.
11:00         kitallis : Hmm, this is making me feel so alive
11:00         kitallis : I should just fucking run away as far as I can
11:02  ! kitallis starts leaping into the infinite road ahead.
11:03         kitallis : ...
11:03         kitallis : ...
11:03         kitallis : Truck.
11:04  ! kitallis slams into the speeding truck
11:04         kitallis : ...
11:03      TruckDriver : HOLY SHIT. CALL THE AMBULANCE. FUCKING CALL THE HOSPITAL!
11:04          SomeGuy : WTF happened!
11:04       AnotherGuy : Dear god...
11:05      TruckDriver : Somebody get a fucking ambulance!!
11:05      TruckDriver : He was fucking running like maniac in the middle of the street
11:05      TruckDriver : in the opposite fucking direction, slammed straight into me
11:05       AnotherGuy : Dear god...
11:06         ChanServ : *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK* ; *DHUGH DHUG CHAGHK*
11:06         kitallis : bhut ha...ppened...
11:06      TruckDriver : OMG he's waking up!! ...try relaxing kid.
11:06       AnotherGuy : Dear god...
11:07          SomeGuy : They're here, the ambulance is here!
11:07            Medic : Get him in! Get him in! Go! Go! GO!
11:07       AnotherGuy : Dear god...
11:08         kitallis : wha ...
11:08         kitallis : mhmmmhmm ...
11:08       AnotherGuy : Dear god...
11:09         kitallis : AnotherGuy: stfu n00b.
11:09       AnotherGuy : kk
11:10          SomeGuy : I Think he'll be alright
11:10      TruckDriver : You never know. You never do.
11:58  ! kitallis wakes up, in the hospital, drowsy
11:58         kitallis : Plaster. Bandage. Blood. Peace.
11:58  ! kitallis looks around.
11:58         kitallis : I think it's over.
11:58         kitallis : He was just a fragment of my pervert imagination, I guess
11:58  ! kitallis closes his eyes for a while
11:59  ! kitallis looks around again.
11:59         kitallis : Yep. It's over.
11:59  ! kitallis does a shut-eye and goes back to sleep.
12:00             sid0 : <_<

Obligatory blog post. An intended mockery on the deeds of the great sid0. He’s watching.

Tarique Sani: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-07

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:51:14 +0000

Settling down to watch Paa #movie #
“Let him run free and he will show what he can do” RT @achitnis: More on “Two Indias” http://bit.ly/acagw5 #
Hmmm…. @yuhuh got a Rubik’s 360 and solved it in 35 min. I would put it as a #fail for Rubik #
Blog: Rann of Kutch: Day 1 – Arrival: This time I kept a daily journal of our trip and I am reproducing it here as… http://bit.ly/aasKZf #
#Crosswords has put the latest from Richard Bach “Hypnotizing Maria” in self help section #epicfail #
Looks too good to be true…. RT @leplan: India’s First eReader – Pi launched http://is.gd/7s72B #Tech #

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.

Swati Sani: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-07

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0000

@popcorn09 Yes. One of the best I have ever seen. I place it in #Sholaycategory in reply to popcorn09 # Watching #kaminey for the 4th time with @tariquesani and @yuhuh. # http://twitpic.com/11okb9 – Dinner tonight. # Listining to Akon, Right now, na na. Like it. # LOL good one RT @mukeshbhargava: Hit song.. “Ibn-e-Batuta, #Chai pe toota, [...]

Prakash Advani: Why Microsoft can’t be creative anymore

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:49:56 +0000

Here is a nice article posted in New York Times written by a former Microsoft Vice President.

“Microsoft has become a clumsy, uncompetitive innovator. Its products are lampooned, often unfairly but sometimes with good reason.

Microsoft never developed a true system for innovation. Some of my former colleagues argue that it actually developed a system to thwart innovation. Despite having one of the largest and best corporate laboratories in the world, and the luxury of not one but three chief technology officers, the company routinely manages to frustrate the efforts of its visionary thinkers.”

Microsoft should open source the projects which got killed and will never see the light of the day.

More patent related lawsuits from Microsoft Simple business model: Make your product/technology popular. Let people start...
Microsoft A History of Anticompetitive Behavior The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), part of the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tarique Sani: Rann of Kutch: Day 4 – Super speciality birding!

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:23:37 +0000

The critically endangered Sociable Plover - Vanellus gregarius

24th Jan, 2010: A day of “Super specialty birding” is what I would call the day! Swati and Aasim opted to stay back due to yesterday’s tiring drive. So I went along with Mr Jugal Tiwari to a thorn forest near Banni grassland searching for the first target species of the day. “White-naped Tit” – This species underwent a rapid population decline in the recent past. Its small, severely fragmented population continues to decline, although at a reduced rate, as a result of the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its tropical thorn-scrub habitat. It therefore qualifies as Vulnerable.

Continue reading, has 14 more photos

Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.

Prakash Advani: Symbian goes Open Source

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:00:18 +0000

After Google Android, now Symbian has decided to go Open Source. Since Android is Linux based and this had a good chance of Linux becoming the de facto operating system in Cellphone too. So Symbian reacted and released all its source code too, in the hope that their customers don’t switch to Linux and they are able to retain their 46 percent market share in smartphones.

It remains to be seen weather cellphone manufacturers decide to use Linux or continue to use Symbian, however this is great news as Symbian as this will only improve Symbian. Expect stability improvements, as more people can now see the bugs.

Get the code, if you interested. And yes you can use the code to build your own phone without any licensing costs.

Is there still a market for proprietary operating systems? The game is changing and this will create enough competition for Apple/Microsoft to release their code. Show me the code!

Skype to go Open Source This is awesome News. Skype is planning to open source...
BJP commits support to open source The BJP, India’s biggest opposition party has released its IT...
Amazon Kindle source code released Amazon has released the source code for its e-book reader...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Aneesh Kumar K.V: debug-btrfs (btrfs file system debugger)

noreply@blogger.com (Aneesh Kumar) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:07:12 +0000

One of the easiest way to learn any specific file system layout is to write tools that can read the layout in user space. I started with ext4migrate for ext4. Now I am writing debug-btrfs for btrfs file system. Hope this will be useful for others too. Btrfs is a new copy on write filesystem for Linux and it makes extensive use of btrees. Luckily Chris Mason had done all the hard work of writing the library for getting different file system objects. So writing tools is just a matter of figuring out what you should look for in the tree.

Aneesh Kumar K.V: Rich-acl patches posted

noreply@blogger.com (Aneesh Kumar) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:55:50 +0000

You can find the patches here .

Patches implements a new acl format for linux so that we can have better acl interoperability with CIFS and NFSv4 acl.

Raj Shekhar: casio's g-shock watch

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:46:38 +0000

New entry at my site - a review for my watch, Casio's G-Shock MT-G Atomic Tough Solar Watch, which I love. Read more here

Debarshi Ray: Short-listed for Schmap Helsinki Guide

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:49:46 +0000

aleksanterinkatu-4

Originally uploaded by debarshi2001in

Came to know yesterday that this photo has been short-listed for the tenth edition of the Schmap Helsinki Guide. The photo was taken on Aleksanterinkatu.

Prakash Advani: My take on Apple iPad

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:07:28 +0000

Now that the dust has unsettled on the iPad and more anxiety is being generated , I decided to write my two cents.

Apple is known to be an innovative company and they have done exactly that with this device, however they could do better. What they seems to have done is just zoomed up the iPhone , guess Mr. Jobs is getting old .

Apple realised that people liked the iPhone but found the screen size too small, so why not make it bigger while everything else remains the same. Good strategy because you can use all your iPhone apps, bad one because it still has the limitations of the iPhone.

Here is what I liked:

Nice 10 inch Screen which is sufficient for most work and entertainment.
1024X768 resolution which is decent for all apps.
Slim .5″ and light weight 1.5 Pounds (700 grams).
Option for WiFi or 3G (3G may be locked to service providers as this is common Apple Strategy.)
Huge collection of applications, as all iPhone apps work.
10 Hours of Battery life.
Flash storage (SSD).
eBook reader, so you can use it as a ebook reading device, however dedicated eBook readers are easier to read because they don’t emit light.
Orientation sensor, so you can use it vertically or horizontally.

What I don’t like:

No expandable storage, as there is no memory card slot.
No USB either so you cant add any peripherals or storage either. You need to purchase additional accessory (Camera Connection Kit).
No Phone, who would want a 10 inch phone? But we also don’t want to carry so many devices. So phone capablity via bluetooth would be nice.
No Camera? you got to be kidding. How the hell are we going to use this for our our Skype Videos? Note: Apple has filed a patent for in-screen camera, so this may show up in iPad v2.

Pricing:

This is attractive and offers a good alternative to Netbooks.

Full specifications:

Size and weight

Height: 9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
Width: 7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
Depth: 0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
Weight: 1.5 pounds (.68 kg) Wi-Fi model; 1.6 pounds (.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

Display

9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Wi-Fi model

Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Wi-Fi + 3G model

UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900,1800, 1900 MHz)
Data only2
Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Location Service

Wi-Fi
Digital compass
Assisted GPS (Wi-Fi + 3G model)
Cellular (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

Other features:

30-pin Dock connector (same as iPod and iPhone)
10-hours of battery life (Over one month standby time)’
Full capacitive multi-touch interface
16-64GB of Flash memory storage
1 GHz Apple-branded A4 chip (developed in-house)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
802.11n WiFi
Built-in Speaker
Built-in Microphone

There is surely a market for devices between a phone and a laptop. The phone has a tiny screen, while the laptop is too big to carry around, so the iPad fills the space well. This will trigger many other OEMs to come up with similar devices, (Dell/HP/Acer are you listening?). The competition should give us more choices and yes similar functionality can easily be achieved on a Linux platform.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tarique Sani: Rann of Kutch: Day 3 – Bonanza continues…

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:14:58 +0000

Crab-plover - Dromas ardeola

23rd Jan, 2010: Started the day with an excyrsion to the Naliya Grasslands. The trip started off well with spotting of a Male Pallid Harrier soaking up the heat of the early morning sun. As soon as we had enough of the Harrier we spotted another beautiful lifer Black Francolin.

Continue reading, There are 24 more photos

Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.

Sarath Lakshman: See you at FOSSMeet@NITC

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:23:30 +0000

I will be conducting a basic Django Web development workshop on Saturday 6th Feb. Check out the schedule from the website. [link]

Pramode CE: Python/LaTeX workshop at Guruvayurappan College, Calicut

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Python/LaTeX workshop at Guruvayurappan College, Calicut

2010-2-4

I was at the Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College, Calicut on Feb 1st and 2nd to conduct a Python/LaTeX workshop. A few interesting facts about the college - it was founded in 1877 - it has a 100 acre campus on top of a hill from where you can view the sea!

This is one college where the new syllabus is going to be implemented very well, reason being the fact that it has one or two very motivated math teachers who are learning things with great enthusiasm. One of these teachers had collected a lot of tutorial stuff regarding LaTeX from the web; she also had access to the material prepared by the FOSSEE team. It was the first time that a teacher asked me to give the students some project ideas so that they can do something creative with the things that they learn!

Regarding the workshop itself - most of the student's were already writing Python code, so I didn't have much work to do. I tried introducing classes/objects - not sure whether the students got the hang of it. This was the first time I was doing LaTeX - I believe the students didn't find it very hard.

Though the workshop was on Feb 1st and 2nd, I reached calicut on the 30th itself to participate in a wedding (on the 31st). After the function, Kishore and myself went to see "Avatar" at the Crown theatre (3D). I had heard somebody joke on twitter that "my dear kuttichaathan" was a better 3d film; there is also an amusing avatar-as-vietnam-colony gossip doing the rounds! Well, I am sure that the way you experience films is very subjective - but I feel this is one film which is getting a lot of undeserved praise (Kishore told me that he went to sleep for some time during the show).

Kartik Mistry: Some RFH

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:50:12 +0000

* I’m looking for some ‘more’ co-maintainer(s) for 2 packages:

1. LDTP

2. Gwibber

Both has ‘New upstream releases’ available. This Gwibber 2 thingy is becoming headache to package. May be someday – I should put it to experimental but people says that it is highly broken (atleast at this moment) to even have it there. LDTP has very nice upstream but having active co-maintainer is good idea. LDTPv2 is completely re-written and has very nice, co-operative upstream. Putting packages on collab-maint or somewhere is also good idea but I left it to potential new co-maintainer at moment

Sachin Dabir: Powerful selling lessons from ordinary people

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:46:05 +0000

It was year 1990. I was new in the city of Mumbai, was travelling in a 3 wheeler Auto Rikshaw with my fiance’. The rikshaw stopped at the busy junction and all of a sudden, popped in a dark face from the open side, with coarse voice and typical sound of clap and hand in from of my face. I was terrified but realised what was happening. The street eunuch was asking for or rather demanding money. Sitting with your fiance, in a Auto Rikshaw, which is not moving now, you are faced with intimidation of big, huge eunuch, you have no option but to give the money to buy peace of mind and time with your beloved.

This is a common scene for all the those living in Mumbai or visiting Mumbi often. Over a period of time I learnt the art of not giving in to these tactics and also learnt to communicate with these eunuch as normal person.

But I learnt 2 important lessons for my sales profession.

1. Prospecting : Usually the time windows available to beg / get money is 30 to 60 seconds, depending upon the traffic jam and traffic signal. If you observe carefully they don’t waste time with those whom they find are “hardened” Mumbaikar. They know what to look for in the prospect. They scan you in quick 5 seconds and decide to pursue the matter or move to next one. They are usally right about selection of the prospects and don’t waste time with others. This is how they improve their closure rate (so to say in sales language). From my observation the key characteristics they look for in the prospects are : Unmarried couple, just married couples, visitor in Mumbai from other part of India, religious oriented man, single lady, foreigners.

2. Delivering elevator pitch and closing the deal : In next 25 seconds are so they need to deliver the message that would fetch them money (close the deal). Depending upon type of prospect, they chose the right language ( give blessings or put a fear of curse) and straight away ask for money. Even here, they specify the amount which means helping the prospect to take decision quickly.

No one has given them sales skills training, it is the hardship of life that forces them learn quickly or they would starve.

At Ashnik, we help you equip yourself with the right skills, processes and methodologies to be successful in your sales career and help companies to grow their business. We are an exclusive partner of Adventace, a global sales change-management firm specializing in helping sales operations Create the High Performance Sales Environment® (HPSE) through an integrated, metric-driven set of products and services, in ASEAN and India region

Ashik Salahudeen: Still on Arch Linux

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:02:46 +0000

I started off my last year with Arch Linux. I never thought i would stick to it for this long, but it has been the least attention demanding among the distro’s I have used. There were no upgrade hassles and I always have the latest and greatest software once I do ‘pacman -Syu’. I have [...]

Roshan Singh: Codecracker 3.0 stats

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:34:31 +0000

Codecracker 3 was a major success among the three seasons of codecracker. Firstly, we went ahead to support four programming languages C, C++, Java and Python and secondly I was the admin . This time we broke all the records of the past with the number of registered teams which rose exponentially to 195 , with teams from 40+ engineering colleges including several IITs, IIITs, NITs and other engineering colleges.

Though many teams did not turn up to solve even a single question, may be because they were too difficult for them. Teams from IIITs outperformed everyone. Teams from our college could not participate properly due to pathetic internet, however they are no match for IIITs, still would have loved to see ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS from NITD.

Active meter showed 5500+ page loads.

Here are some stats that we collected from Google Analytics.

Codecracker 1.0 stats: http://sites.google.com/site/debayanin/codecrackerintlstats

Codecracker 2.0 stats: http://roshansingh.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/codecracker-stats/

Tarique Sani: Rann of Kutch: Day 2 – A day of plenty!

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:08:47 +0000

Grey Hypocolius- Hypocolius ampelinus (male)

22nd Jan, 2010: The night was an uneasy one for Swati, she sweated out her fever, but that had the advantage – she was feeling much better in the morning.

We were up at 6:00 and out at 6:30 as planned. It was pretty cold in the Banni Grasslands. The first target species for the day was Grey Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus. A very interesting bird that migrates all the way from Middle East to Kutch, Gujrat to spend the winter. We had to walk about a kilometer into someone’s field to get to the spot. Our guide fro the day Mohammad, Yes – that was his name and he insisted it was just that, told us that just as the sun rises the Hypocolius will also rise to the top branches. We stood there for a while, except for White cheeked bulbuls nothing showed up.

Continue reading, there are 26 more photos

Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.

Ravishankar Shrivastava: देखो जी, तुम ज्यादा पचौरी बनने की कोशिश मत करो…

raviratlami@gmail.com (Raviratlami) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:49:00 +0000

क्योंकि, हमें मालूम हैं, तुम्हारी पचौरिया कोशिशें…

व्यंज़ल

दूसरों को नसीहत और

खुद चल रहे कार में

दोस्त थे देखो लड़ पड़े

बिन कारण बेकार में

अलग मजा होता है

कभी कभी तो हार में

कुछ तो फ़र्क करो यारों

दो तीन और चार में

दो बातें तो होंगी रवि

जब वो बैठेंगे यार में

---

(समाचार कतरन – साभार दैनिक भास्कर)

Debarshi Ray: Ball tampering

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:09:44 +0000

Shahid Afridi has taken ball tampering to new heights. Thanks to Rohit for the link.

Manish Sinha: Directi Hackfest – 31st January, 2010

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:14:25 +0000

Ever since I learnt how to use git, there has been an urge from within to share my code, look at others and collaborate and develop something useful which everyone else can use. For me, usability is as important as functionality. Both are as equal as the other in general cases.

Rewind

Long back I once asked Abhishek Mishra (ideamonk) if we could meet up and organise a small hackfest. The aim was to let know each other’s project, meet new people, learn new things etc etc. One in these *etc* was to complete our unfinished projects due to lack of time, motivation or even know-how of some of the aspect of a technology. Long back Abhishek and Yuvraj Pandian T (YuviPanda) have collaborated on a project named PyMos which was to generate Mosaic for any image. It was written in Python and works like a charm. Give it a try.

Since me and ideamonk live in Bangalore, having a hacking session being physically present would be better than working online. Abhishek liked the idea and tweeted whether anyone is willing to give us space for this event which has wifi. He instantly got a reply from The Chef of CodeChef and there we had a space in the Directi office. Thanks to all the kewl cool people at Directi with “Hacker Mentality” for supporting us.

Agenda

Abhishek invited his friends for this session and two of them turned up – Ishaan Chattopadhyaya and Rohan Prabhu. Naresh from Directi was waiting for us. When we came in, there wasn’t any plan on what needs to be done, as we expected to work out on a common interest field. Ishaan had to speak on Location Based Search and me on CodeIgniter (PHP Framework). Abhishek had some projects like sahanapy and creating a GUI over apt-offline.

Talks

Till this time I had a feeling that we won’t be working much today since I didn’t knew anyone apart from Abhishek. To learn more, we first had small talks so that we can know each other and their interest of fields. Ishaan talked on Location based search which includes geographical searches like Google Maps. It wasn’t a very exhaustive one, but a pretty nice explanation of what all complexity lies beneath the hood.

At this time, we were total 4 people – me, Abhishek. Rohan, Ishaan and Naresh(Directi)

Then I went to speak on CodeIgniter which is a Framework of PHP. As opposed to what I said earlier, it actually doesn’t look like a framework, since it does not have many of functionality which make a F/W. This is what I explained – why it has only the things which we want, awesome documentation and a dead simple setup. It is just a set of classes which relive you from messing with lower level functionality. Since it is very simple, there is hardly any overhead with speed. You get only the basic boring things and complicated and interesting things are left to you.

Code

Abhishek showed us apt-offline which is an utility for getting updates, upgrades and packages on a Debian based box which does not have internet connection. The system on which these updates,upgrades and package download is done can also be windows. Typical situation is you have a very slow or no internet at home, but blazing fast net at workplace. You would be tempted to use office net to download the packages and update your local index, install updates and install packages.

This utility was created by Ritesh Raj Sarraf long back and was just a command line based application. Abhishek had tried it and it works flawlessly. All which was missing was a GUI over it. It first looked like an easy task. Use Qt Designer and drag-drop every control and here we go. This way of development had a big flaw. The GUI developed is no better than the CLI since the clueless non-techies wont understand words like “apt-offline set”, “apt-offline get” etc etc. Even it took me a minute or two to actually get what all these mean.

Rohan can be called a Qt geek. The guy knows each and every class and it’s properties and event etc etc. This made us even more interested since he is always at disposal to help us and teach us more. By this it was pretty late and we were wondering if could do something worthy at that time. Then we decided to work only on UI as of now, make small changes in the core class to accommodate the GUI which is otherwise hard-coded. We had to dive in the code to get better knowledge of how apt-offline works as there is hardly any documentation apart from one written by Ritesh himself.

Conclusion

I don’t have much idea of Qt and this was a good learning curve. I agree that this hackfest didn’t pay off well as we expected. Most of the time we spent in discussing data structures, algorithms, Qt, git etc etc. which was again as usual – AWESOME.

My personal expectations from such sessions is to create some useful software and not just YAXX (Yet Another XX). Functionality, Usability, Accessibility and Documentation – all matters equally. I would also like to slowly slowly move on more tougher and promising things like kernel and filesystem level coding.

Winding up, this is just a start and I have great expectations from these sessions. I would like to again thank the Directi guys and the other people who were supposed to come but were not able to turn up due to their personal commitments.

Akarsh Sinha: No longer maintainer of KStars

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:51:07 +0000

Given the distinct declining trend in my commit rate, and the piling up of bugs on bugs.kde.org and the absymal levels of effort I’ve been putting into my B.Tech. project, I have transferred maintainership to Alexey Khudyakov. So folks, please welcome Alexey Khudyakov, the new maintainer of KStars.

Amit Shah: Comparison of File Systems And Speeding Up Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Amit Shah) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:09:54 +0000

Update: I've done a newer article on this subject at http://log.amitshah.net/2009/04/re-comparing-file-systems.html that removes some of the deficiencies in the tests mentioned here and has newer, more accurate results along with some new file systems.

How should one allocate disk space for a file for later writing? ftruncate() (or lseek() followed by write()) create sparse files, not what is needed. A traditional way is to write zeroes to the file till it reaches the desired file size. Doing things this way has a few drawbacks:

Slow, as small chunks are written one at a time by the write() syscall

Lots of fragmentation

posix_fallocate() is a library call that handles the chunking of writes in one batch; the application need not have to code his/her own block-by-block writes. But this still is in the userspace.

Linux 2.6.23 introduced the fallocate() system call. The allocation is then moved to kernel space and hence is faster. New file systems that support extents make this call very fast indeed: a single extent is to be marked as being allocated on disk (as traditionally blocks were being marked as 'used'). Fragmentation too is reduced as file systems will now keep track of extents, instead of smaller blocks.

posix_fallocate() will internally use fallocate() if the syscall exists in the running kernel.

So I thought it would be a good idea to make libvirt use posix_fallocate() so that systems with the newer file systems will directly benefit when allocating disk space for virtual machines. I wasn't sure of what method libvirt already used to allocate the space. I found out that it allocated blocks in 4KiB sized chunks.

So I sent a patch to the libvir-list to convert to posix_fallocate() and danpb asked me about what the benefits of this approach were and also asked about using alternative approaches if not writing in 4K chunks. I didn't have any data to back up my claims of "this approach will be fast and will result in less fragmentation, which is desirable". So I set out to do some benchmarking. To do that, though, I first had to make some empty disk space to create a few file systems of sufficiently large sizes. Hunting for a test machine with spare disk space proved futie, so I went about resizing my ext3 partition and creating about 15 GB of free disk space. I intended to test ext3, ext4, xfs and btrfs. I could use my existing ext3 partition for the testing, but that would not give honest results about the fragmentation (existing file systems may already be fragmented, causing big new files surely to be fragmented whereas on a fresh fs, I won't run into that risk).

Though even creating separate partitions on rotating storage and testing file system performance won't give perfectly honest results, I figured if the percentage difference in the results was quite high, that won't matter. I grabbed the latest Linus tree and the latest dev trees for the userspace utilities for all the file systems and created about 5GB partitions for each fs.

I then wrote a program that created a file, allocated disk space and closed it and calculate the time taken in doing so. This was done multiple times for different allocation methods: posix_fallocate(), mmap() + memset() and writing zeroes in 4096 byte chunks and 8192 byte chunks.

So I had four methods of allocating files and 5G partition size. So I decided to check the performance by creating 1GiB file size for each allocation method.

The program is here. The results, here. The git tree is here.

I was quite surprised seeing poor performance for posix_fallocate() on ext4. On digging a bit, I realised mkfs.ext4 didn't create it with extents enabled. I reformatted the partition, but that data was valuable to have as well. Shows how much a file system is better with extents support.

Graphically, it looks like this:
Notice that ext4, xfs and btrfs take only a few microseconds to complete posix_fallocate().

The number of fragments created:

btrfs doesn't yet have the ioctl implemented for calculating fragments.

The results are very impressive and the final patches to libvirt were finalised pretty quickly. They're now in the development branch libvirt. Coming soon to a virtual machine management application near you.

Use of posix_fallocate() will be beneficial to programs that know in advance the size of the file being created, like torrent clients, ftp clients, browsers, download managers, etc. It won't be beneficial in the speed sense, as data is only written when it's downloaded, but it's beneficial in the as-less-fragmentation-as-possible sense.

Prakash Advani: Good morning Mumbai

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:38:32 +0000

Here is a photo taken during a sunrise in Mumbai. Have fun!

Brewing your own herbal tea Making your own herbal tea can be fun and keep...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

VaibhaV: Dalfry

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:56:07 +0000

Dalfry

Originally uploaded by Dalfry

Made dal fry after a while.

Originally posted at http://vsharma.net/609.

Swaroop C H: The point of being Done

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:18:23 +0000

Listening to Seth Godin say “What you do for a living is not be creative, what you do is ship” reminded me of the The Cult of Done manifesto:

If you find the image inconvenient to read, here’s the text:

There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
There is no editing stage.
Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
Once you’re done you can throw it away.
Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
Destruction is a variant of done.
If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
Done is the engine of more.

My favorite is Point 6.

© swaroop for Swaroop C H - India, Technology, Business, Life Skills, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Rakesh Pandit: Few Fedora Updates

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:01:57 +0000

Haven’t posted anything for long. So, thought about writing about what I had been upto with fedora from last week.

* Pushed following updates to rawhide:

1. Mayavi - 3.3.0

which failed because of some nimpy lib failure

from numpy.linalg import lapack_lite
ImportError: /usr/lib64/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/linalg/lapack_lite.so: undefined symbol: zgesdd_

which I will fix tomorrow.

2. Traits - 3.2.0

3. EnvisagePlugins - 3.1.1

4. EnvisageCore - 3.1.1

5. AppTools - 3.3.0

6. EnthoughtBase - 3.03

7. TraitsGUI - 3.1.0

8. TraitsBackendQt - 3.2.0

9. setupdocs - 1.0.3

10. transifex - 0.8.0alpha

11. TaskCoach - 0.78.2

12. pdf2djvu - 0.6.2

13. ginac - 1.5.6

14. gflags - 1.3

15. fuse-zip - 0.2.11

16. flickcurl - 1.16

17. lynis - 1.2.9

* Reviewed following haskell programs to clear long awaiting ghc-* breakages in rawhide
1. ghc-html
2. ghc-xhtml
3. ghc-regex-posix
4. ghc-regex-base
5. ghc-regex-compat
6. ghc-haskell-src
7. ghc-parallel
8. ghc-QuckCheck
9. ghc-stm

* FTBFS: linphone, sitecopy, opencv, taskcoach

* bugzcxx

- Fixed and improved build files
- Fixed examples
- Support for old versions improved
- fixed compilation options
- fixed implicit references to functions from xmlrpc_helper file.
- Removed unused variables.
- Fixed implicit declaration of strptime function.
- Commented out validate_url for later development and removed its (not so sane) usage from init functions.
- Fixed wrongly declared static variable in bugzc/bugzc_product.c .
- Renamed timezone in examples/bugzc/gettimezone.c to time_zone because it was shadowning declarations from time.h
- Fixed return value for bugzc_list_create from bugzc/bugzc_list.c.
- Updated support files
- Fixed password handling
- Updated documentation
- etc

Tarique Sani: Rann of Kutch: Day 1 – Arrival

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:37:47 +0000

Steppe Eagle, Aquila nipalensis

This time I kept a daily journal of our trip and I am reproducing it here as it was written without any changes…

21st Jan, 2010: We started from home at 7:50am, a wee bit late by my estimate but Swati was cool with it so I did not say anything. Flight was on time, Security people did not question too much about the Camera gear we were carrying.

We had a 3-hour layover at Mumbai, while on the customary “browse the bookstore” round I found a new book by Richard Bach “Hypnotizing Maria” – more on that book perhaps in a separate post later. The flight to Bhuj was delayed by an hour. As we came into land at Bhuj, Aasim remarked, “Looks like we are landing in middle of no where!” We got out of the aircraft to the thundering sound of fighter jets on low flying sorties. The Indian Air Force shares the Bhuj airport.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.

Swati Sani: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-31

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0000

@tirfan2009 I saw #ishquiya in movie theater. I vehemently oppose piracy. in reply to tirfan2009 # Sitting comfortably on recliners, waiting for #ishqiya to begin. # http://twitpic.com/10c10a – The moon tonight. #fullmoon # @chiefsanjay Around 3 would be perfect. Will wait for you. in reply to chiefsanjay # @chiefsanjay Sure. Post lunch? in reply to chiefsanjay # @chiefsanjay Yes. After [...]

Shreyank Gupta: Mallus, Fish and Coconut Oil

shreyankg@gmail.com ($hRiNk) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:43:52 +0000

It's been two weeks since I moved in with Minto and Praveen and I am having quite a bit of fun.

For starters I have cut down heavily on Outside Food and am having more home cooked food. Simple but tasty home cooked stuff. Bliss.

I always liked cooking. I never could, because I'm too lazy to learn. I never would because I do not like cooking for just myself. Life gets only as good as you can share it, I believe.

So I cook some stuff now and then. Recently I have specialised in the art of cooking Dal Khichdi. The Mallus like it, so I am happy.

We have unwritten rules for the kitchen. For each food item, one of us is the Head Chef and the rest have to listen to him and help regardless of all conflicts. Almost always yields good results (and we know who to blame if something goes wrong).

Today we got some Sardine and a Surmai Fish from the Hadapsar Mandi. We cooked Dal Khichdi with Sardine fried in Coconut Oil for lunch. It was strange because I had always heard Mallus had food cooked in Coconut Oil and I had only used Coconut Oil on my hair, body and door hinges. Putting tablespoons of Parachute Coconut Oil in the frying pan, watching it melt and thinking that I would soon have food cooked in it was, you know..

Lunch tasted good.

A nap and a shower later I took my Mallu roomies to Pune University road, which is quite far from Magarpatta City, to a Bengali Restaurant called Radhika for a taste of some good Bengali Cuisine. We ordered a platter with Mutton Curry and Fried Rohu fish. I also ordered Shorshe Ilish when Praveen declared he does not like the mustard taste. Even Minto found the taste a 'bit intense'. So I ordered another Hilsa without the mustard gravy which the Mallus enjoyed (probably). We finished up with Mishti Doi and Jolbhora Sandesh.

Surmai is waiting the Freezer to be cooked tomorrow for lunch.