Some photographs of the men and machine of the Indian Air Force [IAF]. Check it out.
via Torque Aviation
Godspeed
Some photographs of the men and machine of the Indian Air Force [IAF]. Check it out.
via Torque Aviation
Godspeed
Been using a Nokia C3-00 mobile handset since November. Having used it for more than 7 months, thought of jotting down some observations gathered from these few months of use.
The phone runs the Series 40 software with a re-worked interface, looking very different from the default interface of traditional S40 phones. Actually, some of the lack of features mentioned above [02, 06, 09, 13, 15] are inherent limitations of the software platform itself, rather than a deficiency on part of this phone model in particular. Still, goes without saying, being able to overcome these lacunae would help a great deal.
Despite these few minor niggles, totally satisfied with the purchase decision. Considering the price point at which this phone was then bracketed [around $125-$147 USD, depending on your bargaining skills], it certainly made a good buy with the right price-feature balance backed by the reliability that the Nokia brand name provides. Bought mine for Rs. 5650 INR [~$128 USD] then, with a pouch for carrying the phone thrown in with it. Should be available for a bit lesser today - guessing one should be able to get it at around the Rs.5000 [$113 USD] price point. In subsequent reviews of the handset by tech magazines & shows, folks have had good things to say about the handset. Also won the Budget Phone of the Year award at the NDTV Gadget awards held few months back.
Listing out some of the ways this handset is being used:
Having made the purchase decision, am satisfied with it. While looking for a suitable handset, came across a lots of models from Indian companies peddling Chinese-made handsets stamped with their companies name here. Considering that these phones were packed to the gills with feature-sets at a price-point far less than that of the Nokia or other well-established brands, was often tempted to buy one of those. But then again, these phones are known to have several performance issues and are known to go kaput very often. Not having a fraction of the network of service centers of those like Nokia also served as an effective deterrent against going in for those phones.
Recently read about Samsung having released a similar handset of their own - Samsung S3353. It seems to have the same set of specifications & price-point, except for the fact that the Samsung model comes with a track pad instead of a D-pad in the Nokia C3. Haven't checked it out though.
The Nokia C3, at the Rs. 5000-5500 INR price point, IMO, is a good choice for anybody looking to purchase an entry-level QWERTY handset. Does its job well - just remember to keep your nails trimmed while using it.
Godspeed
Came across these two writings this week. Not one normally capable of figuring out most poems, what their liberal, unrestrained use of use of metaphors, puns & a salad bowl of other figure of speeches used with with gay abandon [show offs!!]. Yet, this one I could figure out [I think] & it felt very nice & quite uplifting in a sense.
Sharing it. Do read & share.
Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath! - Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan [Ph.D.]
Vruksh ho bade bhale,
ho ghane ho bhale,
Ek Patra chhah bhi mang mat, mang mat, mang mat,
Agnipath, Agnipath Agnipath;Tu na thamega kabhi tu na mudega kabhi tu na rukega kabhi,
Kar shapath, Kar shapath, Kar shapath,
Agnipath, Agnipath, Agnipath.Ye Mahan Drushya hain,
Chal raha Manushya hain,
Ashru, Sweth, Rakta se Latpat Latpat Latpat..
Agnipath, Agnipath, Agnipath.
Translation:
(There may be huge, warm and shady trees all around)
(Don't even as the shade of a single leaf)
(Walk on the Path of Fire, Walk on the Path of Fire)(You will not stop, You will not turn, You will not halt)
(Take this oath, take this oath, take this oath)
(Walk on the Path of Fire, Walk on the Path of Fire)(This is a great situation)
(Man Walks)
(Tears, Sweat and Blood)
(They swathe Him, they swathe Him)
(Walk on the Path of Fire, Walk on the Path of Fire)
via roy writes
Save for the fact that he was the father of the of the awesomeness personified Amitabh Bachchan, hadn't taken any interest in knowing any more about him. Know a little more today.
A recitation of the poem by the Amitabh Bachchan, his son,
This one arrived in the inbox this morning - a prose, I think, the word structure is called.
Work
If you are poor, Work.
If you are rich, Work.
If you are burdened with seemingly unfair responsibilities, Work.If you are happy, continue to Work.
Idleness gives room for doubts and fears.
If disappointments come, Work.
If sorrow overwhelms you and loved ones seem not true, Work.When faith falters and reason fails, just Work.
When dreams are shattered and hopes seem dead - Work.
Work as if your life were in peril; it really is.Whatever happens or matters, Work.
Work faithfully, and work with faith.
Work is the greatest material remedy available.
Work will cure both mental and physical afflictions.
On similar lines, one of the most enduring lines spoken in any movie - from the The Shawshank Redemption,
"Get busy living, or get busy dying"
Was originally uttered by Tim Robbins's character Andy Dufresne in the movie, but Morgan Freeman as Red, with his deep baritone voice, repeating it later, I felt, infused a much dramatic effect & brought out the profound nature of its significance. Also one of the all-time favourite movies, cutting across all genres and linguistic distinctions.
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Read this very nicely written article about the Afghan Cricket team yesterday - The Astonishing Story of Afghani Cricket.
As rightly suggested in the article, India's BCCI must take the initiative to groom the team to a standard that can challenge & defeat the biggies of the game, till the time they are able to put up decent facilities & infrastructure on their own land.
Extensive & continued sessions of regular grooming, training & guidance at the National Cricket Academy & MRF Pace Foundation, under the guidance of some of the best in business would do the talented folks a great deal of good. For all its abysmal sports culture, the facilities available to cricketers performing at the upper echelons of Indian cricket are comparable to best available elsewhere. Overflowing coffers of the cricket association can throw up such aberrations here and there.
As part of of its diplomatic outreach towards engaging Afghanistan, that involves contributing $2 Billion USD towards various development programmes there [all non-defence], it must also incorporate sports relation in its quiver of options. No other nation is placed better than India in helping Afghanistan achieve the pinnacles of success in cricket [okay, the second place, with the Indian team positioned at the pinnacle ;)].
Regular victories by the Afghan team against established teams on the international arena could play a pivotal, possibly cataclysmic role in achieving national integration in the truest sense of the term, cutting across the deep-rooted ethnic divides that seem to mar all efforts to achieve this. With every Afghan victory on the playing field, India scores one on the diplomatic field, with the good word of India's efforts in enabling this feat being reiterated and reinforced amongst the common Afghan, creating an even greater positive disposition of the Afghan towards India. Sports, or more specifically cricket, could be yet another prong in India's multi-prong "soft power" approach in its engagement with Afghanistan.
Godspeed
Was at home in the afternoon when the Courier came to deliver my prize - a Sheafer Ballpoint pen. The contest was organised by Digit magazine in association with IBM some many months back. Don't quite recollect what had to be done to win the prize - questions had to be answered, I think.
But I do remember telling myself that the only prize that would be of any use to me would be the pen. The rest, if I'd won, I'd probably have passed them on to someone. Then again at that time I'd thought they would be giving away a pen set - a fountain pen and a ballpoint pen as I was looking forward to owning a decent fountain pen after the last half-expensive Parker fountain pen [had a plastic body - hence half expensive :)] I had bought lasted only a couple of months, thanks to my careless handling which resulted in the pen dropping on the ground and its nib going kaput. Turns out the prize is just a ballpoint pen; no fountain pen - KLPD. Will probably pass it on to someone anyway - have a whole bouquet of multi-colored pens of various kinds on my table.
The Sheaffer pen, as I learnt is the 3rd prize - the 1st prize being a Canon camera, 2nd an iPod Nano & the 4th a watch, none of which I was particularly looking forward to winning. Had my heart set on the third prize & I won it - happy I am anyway.
Having won a few such prizes online earlier, one thing I realised is that each time I won a prize, it has invariably been in a contest I forgot all about after entering. Wait myself silly each week to catch the latest episode of Cell Guru on NDTV and, once uploaded, scroll to the end of the episode first to see if they've announced my name as one of the winners in the giveaway they conduct at the end of almost each episode & after experiencing KLPD each time not seeing my name, go back to the start to begin viewing that episode. Never enter my name when they give away Micromax or one of the many Chinese rebranded Indian handsets though. Giving away a HTC Desire Z this week - actually last week, but they had not broadcast the episode last Saturday, due to the 2011 Cricket World Cup final match that India won.
Found out recently that Airtel has activated my free GPRS Internet that came with the Nokia C3-00 handset I purchased some months back. The moment I inserted my SIM card into the C3-00, I got an SMS saying that as an Airtel customer, I was entitled to free Internet surfing on my Nokia C3 handset, subject to a data transfer limit of 2 GB each month for the next 6 months [total data transfer of 12 GB]. Had bought the handset in November. But each time I tried surfing, it kept getting connected through the Airtel Live service and I kept getting charged for the surfing. Had spent a full morning then, talking to various operators at their call center trying to get my GPRS configuration in order so that I could make use of the free Internet, but to no avail. Then gave up all hope and forgot all about it as there was no real need, since Internet access is available on the desktop.
Was fiddling with the phone the other day, while waiting to pick up Mum, when without realising, went to the Internet section and clicked on a bookmark. Viola!! the site opened up and was not even being interrupted with a message every few minutes, informing me of the amount that had been deducted for the browsing as it would happen when connected through Airtel Live - my legitimate, free Internet through GPRS had been activated on my Nokia C3 :D.
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Update: Was catching up on watching an episode of Gadget Guru broadcast a few weeks backs in which they showed the proceedings of the Gadget Awards 2011 ceremony. Learnt that it has awarded the Nokia C3, the budget phone of the year award. Vindication of my purchase decision made a few months backs :). A good purchase, if you can get it for <= Rs. 5700 INR [~ $129 USD]. Got mine for Rs. 5600 INR [~ $127 USD].
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Having Internet access on the cellphone does have some advantages though. Waiting becomes a lot more tolerable. Also, when I feel like taking a quick peek at discussions going on different forums, without wanting to take part in any of them, doing it on the cellphone instead of the desktop means I can do it and be done with it & not keep on using the computer for long hours thereafter as it invariably happens when I use the computer, with the initial intention of doing a quick surf.
Thanks a lot to the wonderful people at Digit & IBM for giving me a prize - much appreciated. Thanks again!
Some pics of the pen that came today.
Click on the thumbnail to view larger-sized image
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Godspeed
"Saare Jahan Se Achcha"
Never have Iqbal's words soared such great heights [quite literally, in this case] touching the emotional chords of every Indian who has heard these magical words being uttered by the first Indian in outer Space, Cosmonaut Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma.
Dutifully ripped off Wikipedia
Today [3rd April 2011] marks the 27th anniversary of the historic journey that took the first Indian into Space. Strapped inside the Soyuz T-11 mission capsule [the first variant of which first went to Space in 1966 & whose improved variant continues to perform nearly the same task even today], mounted atop what was essentially an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile [ICBM] to travel to the furthest reaches of Space not travelled by any other Indian before. Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, besides becoming the 1st Indian in Space, also became the 138th human in Space.
This journey by Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, in which he spent more than a week aboard the Salyut-7 orbiting Space Station, was made possible as part of Soviet Union's Intercosmos programme - an outreach initiative by the Soviets, using Space travel, to enhance friendship & co-operation with Warsaw Pact nations, & in a few exceptional cases like that of India, Non-Aligned Movement [NAM] countries. Thus Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, then a Squadron leader in the Indian Air Force [IAF], was selected for this mission with then Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra, also serving in the Indian Air Force, was to be his backup undergoing all the training and procedures being performed by the primary members selected for the mission.
With a still-fledgling Space programme that India had at that time, the Scientific significance of the an Indian mission may have been somewhat limited. Material Science experiments devised, however, would have no doubt benefitted from the zero-gravity environment on-board the Salyut-7. However, the upswing of passion and inspiration the travel evoked amongst Indians was, without doubt, immeasurable.
Later, another Indian was said to be undergoing Astronaut training at NASA to be part of its manned mission, plans for which had to be aborted due to some reasons IIRC [will add to this or retract after confirmation - remember reading about it somewhere but can't locate the source any more].
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Update: Yes indeed, 2 more Indian Scientists Nagapathi Chidambar Bhat [Nagapathi C. Bhat] and Paramaswaren Radhakrishnan Nair [Paramaswaren R. Nair], his backup, were undergoing training to become Astronauts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] to be part of the STS-61-I mission aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger as payload specialists. However following its unfortunate crash during take-off on an earlier mission that resulted in its destruction, this mission was cancelled and they were unable to go to Space.
Thanks to the helpful member on the forum for pointing towards the Challenger disaster incidence - helped fine tune the Google search that got me the answer.
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Subsequently, however, 2 women Astronauts of Indian origin Astronauts Kalpana Chawla & Sunita Pandya Williams did become members of its manned Shuttle mission & Astronaut Edward Michael Fincke is married to an Indian-origin Engineer with association with NASA. There was also news an Indian Space tourist aboard the Virgin Galactic - don't remember the exact details now - not so relevant.
Its Space programme having reached a certain level of maturity, the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] has scheduled its own manned Space programme, with the maiden launch scheduled for the 2016. Lots of technologies need to be developed and validated and rated for the human Space flight that India would embark upon. One of the most critical of these technologies would be the launch vehicle - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle [GSLV], that is to power the mission, has had to face certain challenges impeding its successful launches in the last couple of attempts - expected failures that symbolize the authenticity & genuineness of an R&D programme.
Watch: Indian perspective on Manned Space Missions - reasons & necessary Technologies [Aero India 2011]
Extremely unfortunate to find that no Indian newspaper found the anniversary of this achievement by Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma worthy of coverage, even in one of its inner pages as a footnote. Does not bode well for a country that fails to recognise and honor Science & Technology and its men in uniform - primary factors that determines a country's strength and destiny. In this case we've managed to dishonor and disregard both in one go.
The only article I found after searching was published a few days back appeared in the Financial Times, which my chacha Google tells me is a UK-based publication.
Read: India: Rakesh Sharma
Also no coverage in any of the MSM television news channels here in India, that otherwise specialize in whipping up hysteria and infusing melodrama even while reporting about paint drying.
Found this solitary report in a Tamil news channel: Rakesh Sharma Space Travel
Some pictures concerning the occasion.
Click on the thumbnail to view larger-sized images
photos via www.photodivision.gov.in
A recording of the conversation that took place between the then Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma while in. On being asked by the Prime Minister how India looks from up there, Rakesh Sharma replied with the historic lines stated at the beginning.
You may download and listen to the complete song, whose line was used by Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma to give the reply.
Read: Saare Jahan Se Achcha - its continued popularity & recital even today a testament to that fact that Indians pay more heed to the message rather than the messenger.
On line of the Soviet Intercosmos initiative, I had asked for India to extend a similar proposal to the Islamic Republic of Iran - a mutually beneficial arrangement that would harm none, yet serve the purpose of realpolitik beautifully.
Godspeed
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To the possibly 7-odd people* who probably visit this blog & wondering why there has been no recent updates - offline activities & commitments take precedence over activates of my online avatar & they are currently leaving me with no time to stay online as much, if at all, or as long as I would've liked. Situation likely to continue for the next couple of months at the very least. Had a few half-written write-ups about a few interesting things I had been reading prior to the virtual stoppage of online activities. May be able to post them only much later though.
Some hi-res photographs of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [UAV] operated by the Indian Armed forces.
UAVs in the picture:
Lakshya remotely piloted target drone
Click on the thumbnails to view larger-sized images
HT www.pib.nic.in || www.photodivision.gov.in
Godspeed
A few hi-res photographs of the Indian Army's Russian-origin Main Battle Tank [MBT] T-72 that I use as my desktop wallpaper.
Click on the thumbnails to view larger-sized images
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HT www.pib.nic.in || www.photodivision.gov.in
Godspeed
While in College, one of the least liked things was submitting our journals for "correction" [read: professor tick marking alternate pages of the journal, while looking up & talking to the other professor sitting on the adjacent table doing something similar]. We invariably ended up writing pages after unending pages of hurriedly written experiments and assignment reports, copied from someone who had finished it a day early after finding a senior who had photocopied a [his] previous years journal to complete his own submission the previous year and had now handed the year-old photocopy to the friend, in which half the words had begun to start fading. It was the most unproductive time-wasting activity we had to undertake every 6 months for the 25 marks allotted for our journals. Diagrams were a different issue though - loved drawing them.
Now with no more hurriedly filed journals to submit, actually missing that activity a bit. So, in order to re-create the mood of filling up journal pages half-asleep in an handwriting I myself wouldn't be able to read the next day, I 've decided to write this post in the format resembling that of a journal write-up. Also has a little bit of the hurried element thrown in for good effect.
Note: If you can afford it, then please do consider using their paid service. Also, if a free user, then do not create more than one account for yourself. The second account created for this post was only to demonstrate the ability to achieve stated aim - purely academic reasons. Would be very unfortunate, if the good folks at Dropbox have to wind up their service due to user abuse.
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Aim:
To set up an arrangement that will automatically backup a file or complete folder from the hard disk to multiple Dropbox accounts.
Apparatus:
If you haven't yet got them, then please sign up here [referral].
Assumption:
Procedure:
The procedure can be broadly divided into 2 parts:
1. Installing and running multiple instances of the Dropbox software
Visit the Control Panel & select the User Accounts option.
Once there, select the Manage another account option.
Next, click on the Create a new account option.
Then you can create the new account. The account can be a Standard user account. No need to create an Administrator account. Here, Dropbox User is the name of the new account created.
Once done you will see the newly created account in the list of user accounts.
Important: You must assign this new account a password.
Once the new account has been created and the password assigned, log out of your existing account and log into the new account [Dropbox User, in my case]
Once logged in, install a copy of the Dropbox software on the hard disk. Since the new account created is a Standard user account, you will be asked to enter the administrator password to the install the software.
When you are asked to select the destination where the Dropbox folder is to be created, select a location that has an NTFS partition.
Click on the thumbnails to view larger-sized images
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As you can see, in my case, I have selected the L: drive for creating the Dropbox folder.
Once done, you may log out of this account and log back into the original [SD, in my case] account. Install another instance of the Dropbox software here too. Again the destination where you create your Dropbox folder must have an NTFS partition.
Here, the destination of the second [actually the first, since I've been using this account since long] Dropbox folder as shown is F:\Downloads.
Here, as I always log into my SD user account, the Dropbox account installed while logged in as that user name will start up automatically.
The task, now, is to start the Dropbox software that I had earlier installed while logged in under the Dropbox User account.
In order to do so, create a shortcut on the desktop, with the following as the target location [assuming your C: drive is the one where your OS has been installed. If you've installed it some place else, you'd probably know the path of the file for which a shortcut needs to be created :)],
Alternately, you may copy-paste the following into that box [including the quotes]
"C:\Users\Dropbox User\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\Dropbox.exe"
Once done, a shortcut shall be created on your desktop.
Invoke the context menu associated with that shortcut [usually done by right-clicking on the shortcut] & select the Properties option.
In the Target box, add the following string at the start of whatever is already present in that box,
runas /user:username
If, as in my case, the user name is made up of 2 words, then you will need to enter them within double inverted commas. Else the double inverted commas are not to be used. Thus by doing so, each time I click on the shortcut, I can start a second instance of Dropbox under the Dropbox User username, even while I am logged in as the SD user.
Each time you click on the shortcut, you will be prompted for the user password associated with that account. After you enter the correct password, your second instance of the Dropbox account too shall start. If you do not wish to enter the password each time, then, as shown in the picture you may append the /savecred operator to the earlier line that we had added. You may copy-paste the following into the target box.
runas /user:username /savecred
However, please note that the /savecred switch is not recognised in Windows 7 Home Edition & Windows 7 Starter Edition [& possibly the corresponding Windows Vista editions]. Even if added, it shall be ignored without harming your arrangement & you will be asked to enter the password each time. Also note that there needs to be a gap equal to one spacebar click between the appended string in the Target box and the content originally present there.
If you wish for the second instance of Dropbox to start automatically each time you log in, then you must copy this shortcut into the startup folder. It location is normally as follows,
C:\Users\SD\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\
Where SD must be replaced by the appropriate user name under which you want the second instance to start on your computer.
Now as you can see, I will have 2 instances of Dropbox starting up each time I log into my SD user account.
Alternately, instead of creating a shortcut on the desktop and then sending it to the Startup folder, you may directly create the shortcut in the startup folder and proceed as instructed. I have not done it that way, but don't see why it wouldn't work.
Thus, as you may have realised, in order to run more instances of Dropbox simultaneously, you would need more user account. Number of simultaneous instances of Dropbox = number of user accounts.
2. Syncing files and folders so that they are backed up across multiple Dropbox accounts.
Observations:
Result:
We have successfully set up an arrangement that will back up your hard disk data across multiple Dropbox account.
Conclusion:
Hence proved.
[okay, it sounds illogical, but in absence of being able to draw any coherent conclusion after performing an experiment, this was what we invariably ended up writing in the journals :D]
Godspeed