Here is a couple screenshots of my Ubuntu 9.04 with VLC, XAMPP (installed for Wordpress), Wordpress 2.9, Firefox 3.6, Chrome Beta dual booted with Windows Vista.

My re-installation of Ubuntu was due to me fooling around, trying to install Compiz (only to realize that there was an easier method to do it!) and corrupting Ubuntu files. It was fun to re-install it. It (Ubuntu) did mention to me that 9.10 is available. But after learning that it would take more than four hours to download and install necessary components, I have decided not to upgrade.

Unfortunately, my friend also tried to install Ubuntu but couldn’t install because of ‘busybox‘ stumble block! If you have any answers do let me know so that I can inform my friend.

Related Posts:

• November 20, 2009 -- Google Chrome – Do we need another OS??

Wordpress.org has released 2.9 version (codename: Carmen) with some major updates. According to Wordpress blog, some of the important updates includes:

1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).

Source: Wordpress blog.

The experience is just getting better and better!…

A Quick Review

First – Undo/Trash option: Yes it is a good feature. I like the way the Wordpress team thinks!

Second – Built-in Image Editor: I have tried this and there seems to a bit of a problem. I mean it posts it as it is. Also, when I select the crop function and apply to the image, it doesn’t allow me to save the image! I have posted an image below for your reference.

Original Image

Tilted Photo

Built-in Editor doesn't seem to work!

Also when you use the ‘Edit’ function while posting image, it seems to update the file, but what if you want to have two images. The original one and the cropped up one. There seems to be no option for that. Would be nice to have one.

Third – Video Embed: Now to test the embed video option, I am going try embed in the video Matt has created about Wordpress 2.9 upgrade in Wordpress blog!

http://wordpress.org/development/2009/12/wordpress-2-9/

Strange as it is, I can’t seem to post the video as it is from Wordpress blog. It only copies as a URL and fails to detect the embedded video. However, if I post a link from Wordpress TV website, it automatically detects and post it as a video as shown below. (Note: The video below, I have used the embed code to post the video.) Even in the video below, Matt displays the edit function up to a certain point. He hasn’t displayed a full rundown of the built-in edit feature. I find it a bit fishy although I have to admit that, that video is not an ‘How-to ‘ and it more of an intro to feature set.

Video from Wordpress Blog

Video from Wordpress TV : I have just posted the link here, and Wordpress has embedded the video

Fourth – Upgrade of your Plugins: Yes this works perfectly! There is no problem. You can select all the plugins that needs to be updated and click update to their latest version in one go.

Inspite of this, I strongly suggest you to upgrade your Wordpress. Why? Well simply to avoid giving hackers a chance to hack your blog/website due to vulnerability in your older version of Wordpress.

If you find updating Wordpress manually difficult, I suggest you use Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin. This plugin upgrades your Wordpress smoothly without any issues. I have used it three times so far and it works like a charm. It allows you to automatically back up your databases and posts so that you can easily upgrade your Wordpress without any harm done to your content.

So in conclusion, I am the only to find only one issue with the built-in editor? I am not sure, but I will Google it and let you know.  In the meanwhile, you (those who are using Wordpress to host your website/blog) let me know if everything works well as it has it been stated.

Happy Blogging!

People have also read this:

• December 27, 2005 -- Muenchen Tower
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This post is dedicated to our Fallen Heroes of 26/11 Mumbai Terrorist attack.

On this day, we should all take a moment to pray for those who died on that fateful day. We should also remember the sacrifices made by people like Tukaram Omble, Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte, NSG Commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, and NSG Commando Havaldar Gajender Singh which further resulted in prevention of loss of life.

I clearly remember the day as it was raining heavily in Chennai. When I was driving back home, I heard the news in the radio that there was some terrorist attack taking place in Mumbai. The first thought to my mind was a big blast and scores of lifeless body scattered around. I made a silent prayer and hoped that there would be fewer casualties by the time I reached home. Little did I knew that a horrific nightmare has been unleashed upon Mumbai and upon India.

When I saw the live news coverage, I was first surprised and then felt anger rising inside me. How could these Terrorists could so boldly walk into an iconic hotel and star shooting? How did they get automatic weapons in so easily without anyone noticing it? and perhaps How did they enter India? was the leading question in everyone’s mind at that time. As the nightmare unfolded, I (along with whole of India) realized that it was premeditated by the terrorist group called LeT and that they had given them the weapons and ammunition to kill innocent civilians.

I sincerely hope that our Government has learned their costly lesson through this terrorist act and I hope they take security more seriously. Otherwise, the lives lost by those people would be for nothing.

Today on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack, let us all take a pledge that we will stand united in the face of terror and we shall not bow to any kind of violence. No matter what they (terrorists) do to us, we shall remain united and we shall prevail.

Jai Hind!

Related Posts:

• November 20, 2009 -- Who has the Right of Way!
• November 14, 2009 -- Happy Childern’s Day from Google!
• October 17, 2009 -- Happy Diwali!

(Warning: This is a bit lengthier post!)

Well the internet is abuzz with the news about the new Chrome OS which was unveiled by Google yesterday. All major social networking sites and technology related sites closely monitored and reported the news. TechRadar has posted several screenshots of the Google’s OS. Endgadet has posted videos of Google’s engineers discussing about their new OS.

The news about launch of a new OS by Google hit sometime back. There has been several rumors about the release and some fake screenshots (ComputerWorld, Endgadget, Gizmodo) were also reported to be posted on the internet. It was also reported that it is being developed to primarily focuses on netbooks and it will be centered around its browser. With yesterday’s announcement, all the rumors and speculations were laid to rest.

Google’s OS, named after its browser Chrome. On particular interesting thing I found was that the OS supports solid state devices for storing and accessing information (so, start ditching your current hard drives). You can download the chrome open source from their website www.chromium.org.

Do I really need another ‘OS’?

Well… Yes and No. Yes because my current Vista OS is started showing signs of aging (being buggy and slow) and No because there is quite a few alternatives already available: Windows 7, Apple Mac and Ubuntu Linux.

Windows 7 – It has got positive reviews from many tech websites. It seems that they have set everything right that was wrong in Vista and improved not just UI but usability as well. However, once again, Windows has screwed up the upgrading plans which now essentially it is better to re-install Windows 7 regardless of which version of Vista you are in. The good thing though is you can transfer your data as it is (but loose a couple of default apps in the process).

Apple Mac – well its a Mac and there is nothing else to it. They are reliable and good looking. They do the job quite well except they are a bit pricey.

Ubuntu Linux – It is growing strong these days. With their latest release Karmic Kola, they have done a remarkable job of bringing Linux into the mainstream. I have been using Ubuntu (dual boot in my PC) for about a year or so and I love the user interface and easy at which I could do almost anything at the same level of Windows. Hardware support is no longer a nightmare in linux. Gaming is one area which still needs a lot of hand holding but I am sure they will get there eventually. Of course this may not be a real concern for those who don’t focus on games.

Chrome OS – so what’s new?

The major flaw (as they see it) is that they are all resource hogs and it has a lot of ’stuff’ that we don’t need or care. So why do you have an operating system which is bloated, non-responsive and full of viruses? With most of your stuff is now online, Google is promoting an OS which is centered around your web browser or in other words – the internet.

This video I saw in YouTube describes what they have done and what’s new. They have basically decided to undo certain boot-up procedures which takes place in our PCs. This generally increases the boot loading time quite dramatically. But how will it affect the performance I am not sure. Will have to wait and see.

In this second video I found, a Google engineer explains how the current boot times are and how they operate versus Google Chrome’s boot up time and operation.

Chrome OS : The Next Gen OS

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. Having a browser-based operating system will enable me to do a lot more tasks quickly. And if its light, secure and easy to use I wouldn’t mind dumping Windows (!) and use Chrome. But remember, this is just a concept with which Google has started out. I am sure it will take  a couple of years to get it proper.

But there are a few questions that remain un-answered. The PC market (and even netbook market) ecology revolves around other applications such as games (such as Half Life, Call of Duty), productivity software (such as Office), creativity tools (such as Photoshop, Premier Pro), etc. With introduction of browser-based operating system, how are these apps going to get integrated? Will Google support these apps or will it come up with its own?

Or will we be seeing something new on that front? Perhaps an online version of Photoshop with full features? As Gizmodo points out, if we are to embrace this new OS, then we should also be ready for subscription services which is basically you giving up your ownership of data. Gizmodo rightly put it:

Chrome OS can carry out Google’s LET’S ALL LIVE ON THE INTERNET vision when the conditions are right, eventually. But these are long-term bets, measured in years.That might make sense to a room full of Google engineers. To the rest of us, though? It’s abstract. It’s strange. It seems gimped. It’s largely irrelevant, and it’s not all that exciting. Yet.

– Source: Gizmodo

So what do you think of Google’s Chrome OS? Drop in your comment and let me know…

Sources:

Google Announces Chrome OS

First Google Chrome OS screenshots Leaked?

Are These the First Chrome OS Screenshots?

Chrome OS: The first screenshots – A look at the Google OS

What Google Needs for Chrome OS to Make it?

Google Chrome OS: Rounding Up The Rumors

Google’s Chrome OS revealed — with video!

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Related Posts:

• December 28, 2009 -- My Ubuntu installed with XAMPP, Wordpress and Chrome Beta!
• September 3, 2008 -- Google Chrome is Launched – Early Screenshots of Google Chrome

Today evening as I drove back home in my car, I witnessed an accident – not a terrible one but definitely a scary one. As I was nearing a signal in Mount Road near Whites Road, I saw a Tata Safari sped past me, overtaking a few other cars in front of me, trying to take a u-turn at the signal. However, before the car could do that the signal changed to orange and then red in a fraction of a second. Mind you, there was ample time for the Safari’s driver to stop and wait for the signal to turn green.

In a hurry to make the u-turn, the driver did not see a cyclist who was in front of the traffic. At the last moment, the driver applied brakes and hit him from behind. He and his cycle was thrown into the oncoming traffic. Luckily, some the car drivers in the opposite direction witnessed this and avoided hitting the cyclist.

There was a bit of commotion at first, as I could not see the cyclist. I presumed the worst. However, thankfully, the cyclist came from under the car and was mad as hell. It seems strange, but I could only imagine that the cyclist fell down with half of his body under the front bumper. I immediately looked around for a cop, hoping that the driver would get fined (at the least!).

Unfortunately (and fortunately for the driver) no one was around. The cyclist by this time gathered his cycle and started shouting at the Safari driver. When the tinted windows of the car rolled down, I could see the guy who drove such erratically. He was in his early twenties and was arguing that it was his mistake that he came and stood in the front! I just couldn’t believe my eyes and ears! Here is a guy who ran down another human being and almost killed him, standing there and arguing that nothing happened and that it was ‘partially’ his fault too!

It was cyclist’s luckiest day. Had the oncoming traffic had not been alert, he would have definitely run over! In a sense, it was lucky for the Safari driver too I suppose. As soon as the signal changed, the traffic started flowing normally. I took my usual right and went a bit farther and stopped to see the car driver and the cyclist pulling over near the curb and continuing their discussion (read as argument) as to who has the right of way!

I didn’t stay much longer and thanking God that nothing happened, I drove off. I could only imagine that the driver of the Safari paid him some money and then took off.

As more and more cars are being bought, the plight of today’s traffic condition is getting worse. Despite putting several new signals and timers to help the drivers take proper decision while reaching the signal, such incidents keep happening.

Rarely do we see someone getting arrested for rash driving or the victim getting any compensation for the injuries. Even if it does happen, they go scot free! Its our attitude that is the root cause of all sufferings. We always assume that it is okay to cut the guy to the right/left of us, we assume its okay to honk the hell out of the guy who is properly waiting for the signal to turn green, we assume its okay to drive fast within city without considering that there are others who use the road. But its NOT!

People! Please pay attention to how you drive! It might save other lives!

I came across this video in YouTube, which I think it speaks my mind about that driver!

Related Posts:

• November 26, 2009 -- My Salute to our Fallen Heroes!
• November 14, 2009 -- Happy Childern’s Day from Google!
• October 17, 2009 -- Happy Diwali!
• May 23, 2008 -- My Small and Humble advice to our Chennai vehicle riders!

Today morning I was greeted by this wonderful doodle from Google. As today being 14th November, Childern’s day in India, Google has decided to brighten up Google page with a doodle from India.

India's Doodle

The doodle posted above is from Puru Pratap Singh, 4th standard student from Gurgaon. Google has also showcased some of the doodle’s sent to them here. My favorite one has to be the one by Arushi Agarwal, a 1st standard student from Powaii. It is because the way she has visualized the whole image. I just love it!

So what is your favorite doodle? Let me know…

Related Posts:

• November 26, 2009 -- My Salute to our Fallen Heroes!
• November 20, 2009 -- Who has the Right of Way!
• October 17, 2009 -- Happy Diwali!

Yes! it is that time again, where you have to upgrade your wordpress blog. From the Wordpress blog…

2.8.6 fixes two security problems that can be exploited by registered, logged in users who have posting privileges.  If you have untrusted authors on your blog, upgrading to 2.8.6 is recommended.

The first problem is an XSS vulnerability in Press This discovered by Benjamin Flesch.  The second problem, discovered by Dawid Golunski, is an issue with sanitizing uploaded file names that can be exploited in certain Apache configurations. Thanks to Benjamin and Dawid for finding and reporting these.

I usually upgrade my blog manually – meaning that I create a backup of my database (db), my files (themes, plug-ins etc), de-activate all plug-ins and then download Wordpress from the official site. Once this is done, then I ftp the to site and upload the latest release. Then run the upgrade script and voila its done! Then starts the real process of uploading my plug-ins and keep my fingers crossed that they all work. If some doesn’t work, I have to check for the latest one and upgrade it. Only then the actual upgrade process is complete.

All-in-all it takes about 7 to 10 steps by the time you get to start using your own blog. But with Wordpress Automatic Plug-in, in easy 5 steps, everything gets done. It lets you backup your db and files, disable plugins, put the site in maintenance mode and upgrades to latest Wordpress and re-activates all plugins.

If you have been doing this manually, for pete’s sake stop doing it! Go and download this wonderful plug-in and get back to what’s important – blogging!

Related Posts:

• October 21, 2009 -- Wordpress 2.8.5 is here! Upgrade Now!

Recently I have started reading some pretty good novels – mostly fiction – by Frederick Forsyth. So far, I have read The Afghan and Avenger. Both are pretty awesome and is a must read for everyone. If you have a long journey and need to while away the time, these novels ought to do the trick.

Later I decided that I need to buy some good novels for this monsoon season. After all what better way to spend the weekends, when there is heavy downpour outside! So I decided to do some shopping around and see if I can pick up some good novels. There is a Landmark shop near my area where I reside. But for this I have to travel in this weather in my bike which is not a good idea. I can’t take the car because there is no proper parking space! While I was discussing my conundrum about this to my friend, he mentioned me about their website www.landmarkonthenet.com. So I decided to take a look at it.

Their site is neatly designed. It loads quickly and there are less ads in their website (YaY!). It sort of reminds you about Amazon but with less clutter. The sign up process is one of the easiest and quickest I have ever seen so far. Once you register, you can go browse in the ‘Books’ section for your favorite novel. If you can’t find it, then you can use the big search bar on the top of the website to search for your book/novel. You can also buy music CDs  and movie DVDs. An odd thing was that the website say it takes ‘3 to 7 working days’ to deliver a novel. Some novels takes about 45 days to deliver!

Now I am in Chennai … Why should I wait 3 to 7 working days to get my novel!?!? I guess that is the price you pay for booking online!

One other thing I found useless (at least to me!) was the ‘Events’ tab. Now the first impression that you get is that you will be able to book tickets for concerts/music events, etc happening in and around Chennai. Nope, you guessed it wrong! Its about the various ‘Events’ happening in and around Landmark stores in India. Why would anyone in Chennai want to know about a book signing event happening in Hyderabad?? The only useful information that I could find was (and people who attend quizzes will love this) about information on Landmark Quiz event and its download form.

Anyways, back to me buying the novel. Once you select the novel you need to buy, a small Javascript pop-up comes up and asks you to either ‘Continue Shopping’ or ‘View Shopping Bag’. Click on latter takes you directly to the check out process. It takes you through a series of steps which are very well explained and less confusing. I found this process to be smooth. At the end of the process, I was able to order for another one of Frederick Forysth novels. The strange thing was that nowhere during that process did the online store tell me when I will receive my novel!

Since I booked too late in the evening to call and confirm, I guess I will call them up tomorrow and find out when will I receive the novel. But if everything goes well, I should receive it within the time limit they have mentioned. I will definitely give this service a thumbs up if all goes well!

In the meantime, if you guys have done anything like this, ordering stuff online, do share. Let me know if you had a good or bad experience. And don’t forget to let me know any cool novels to go through.

Update: 14th November 2009: Well I have received my book within three days of booking. It has come in pristine condition and I am about the service so far. So its a definite thumbs up!

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• May 23, 2008 -- My Small and Humble advice to our Chennai vehicle riders!

Yes, it is time to upgrade your Wordpress blog. Some of the key highlights of this release includes ..

• A fix for the Trackback Denial-of-Service attack that is currently being seen.
• Removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was evaluated.
• Switched the file upload functionality to be whitelisted for all users including Admins.
• Retiring of the two importers of Tag data from old plugins.

Wordpress.com

For more information on this release, check out their official blog.

After learning it the hard way, my fellow bloggers (and readers who have hosted Wordpress blogs) upgrade your Wordpress blog NOW!

Also, check out the Matt’s post on “How to Keep Wordpress Secure“.

Related Posts:

• November 14, 2009 -- Upgrade to Wordpress 2.8.6 Security Release – NOW!

I wish all my friends and family a happy and delightful Diwali 2009!

Related Posts:

• November 26, 2009 -- My Salute to our Fallen Heroes!
• November 20, 2009 -- Who has the Right of Way!
• November 14, 2009 -- Happy Childern’s Day from Google!