cat /dev/brain | grep thoughts > Blog

Monday, December 24, 2007

Wannabe Ultra Geek !!

I have been exploring and experimenting with Linux for a while now. When I started as a newbie I was looking for the best distro which suited all my needs. I tried out at least 20 distros before deciding my favorite one's. I don't think one distro can solve all my needs. So depending on the situation I use one of the following distros. The distros which I personally liked are:
Each distro has some unique strength over others. For example,

  • Knoppix comes with a rich set of softwares(7 GB!) and out of the box hardware support. This contains almost all softwares which I need from a Linux distro.
  • As a long time windows(7+ years) user I felt comfortable with OpenSuse. In my opinion this is the best distro for windows users. I use OpenSuse 10.3 at home.
  • Slax is a small and flexible distro. Flexible meaning, I can quickly assemble my own distro without knowing any internals of this distro. With MySlax creator I was able to choose the modules and assemble my own distro in no time.
  • Linux From Scratch(LFS) is not exactly a distro, but I would like to call it a distro. This is for Ultra geeks who want to build their own distro from scratch.

I am not Anti-Windows and having used windows for over 7 years, I should admit that I am really bored of Windows OS. Even though Linux is being widely used by non-geek users, I personally believe that Linux is for geeks. The reason why Linux is for geeks is: We can explore the internals of the OS and experiment with it, which makes Linux more interesting.


Linux from scratch is for ultra geeks who want to build their own distro from source code. In the beginning, It requires many days to build a complete distro(i.e. LFS + BLFS) and it is very challenging to build from source. Even geek's find it very challenging and thats why I called LFS as a distro for Ultra geeks.

With every challenge lies an opportunity, and LFS is not an exception. Even though building LFS from source is challenging for a geek, the opportunity to learn the internals of the OS and building our own distro is rewarding. I am really excited about LFS and planning to build Linux from source. Let me get my hands dirty with LFS and let you know when I become Ultra geek!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Download Youtube Videos!



Just enter the youtube video URL in the above text box and download the video in FLV format.

SCWCD Passed :)

I passed SCWCD 1.4 with 97% yesterday! When I went to the prometric center the server was down, I waited for few hours to take the exam. Luckily the server was up again, otherwise I should have taken the exam some other day. I did not aim for a high score, Instead I foucsed on learning the fundamentals properly which led to a high score.

Friday, December 21, 2007



I am now a registered Linux user. If you would like to register yourself you can check out this link: http://counter.li.org/

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

News: Netbeans 6.0 released

Netbeans 6.0 was released, this is a major release after Netbeanse 5.5. You may order a free DVD kit at the official site http://www.netbeans.org/ which contains the software for Windows, Mac and linux platforms. Also, the DVD kit contains tutorials and screen cast for getting started with Netbeans. This is a major release from Netbeans which started gaining momentum in the Java IDE space after its version 5.0 release.

New features in Netbeans 6.0:

Netbeans now supports SVN and Mercurial version control systems
Improved profiling support with Heap walker and Profiling points
Expression stepping - Step over individual expression with statement

Java script and CSS editor
Visual mobile designer and Mobile game builder
Ruby development
Improved UML support

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Adobe digital editions


I recently tried Adobe Digital Editions and started loving it. It is more like viewing a pdf file in acrobat reader. It is actually a ebook reader and the features included in Adobe digital editions are highly suitable for avid reader like me. The features include bookmarking, creating a library of ebooks with book shelf(It is like folders). It requires flash installed in your machine. Try it out you might like it if you need a light weight application.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Where am I?

Its always good to know who we are and what are our weakness and strength for our goal.

I am a Software Engineer with about two years of experience. I have used Java in most part of my work so far. As you might know by now, I completed SCJP 5.0 last week with 81%. My real aim is SCJD so I am not very keen on the SCJP score.

After doing good amount of research I found that I need to be strong in the following areas:
  1. Swing and good user interface design
  2. Object oriented analysis and design(OOAD)
  3. RMI and socket programming
  4. Multi threading
  5. IO
  6. Design patterns
  7. Javadoc, coding conventions and maintanability of code
  8. Others: Ant, Junit for building and testing the app
In the above, the only strength I have is multi threading. I am planning to learn all the others pretty soon. I really want to get the basics right in all the above areas within one month(30-June-07) from today. I did not do any estimate, Its just did a blind target as I am new to areas like RMI, Swing and design patterns. I will have a real target as I get into learning all the stuffs listed above when I start getting the grip of it.

I got Head first OOAD and Java Design patters book to begin with. Started learning....

Friday, June 01, 2007

Sharing SCJD


I have just started to prepare for SCJD. So I thought it would be better If I share my explorations with everyone in this blog. I will share my plans, explorations and my progress in this blog. I think it will be very useful for both me and others.

From my side I will be logging my plans, explorations and progress here. It is an opportunity for me to help others who are preparing for SCJD and to stay committed myself. Otherwise I might float it and fail to achieve it within the target date. More I write about it, more I get involved and above all I will have the satisfaction of helping others, which is worth more than just earning the certification myself!

I always wanted to know how people prepared for the certification and their experience. So I read a lot about the experiences in the forums like Javaranch. But the disadvantage with forum post was, I can only read the experience in the end and not real time. And also whatever I read was just a summary. It doesn't give a clear picture how others have overcome the obstacles. So If I share my experience real time with others, it is an opportunity for others who are preparing for SCJD. My experience will be useful for others irrespective of my result in SCJD. Whether I pass or not, it doesn't matter. If I pass everyone will benefit from the path I have taken. If I fail everyone(Including me) will know why I failed and learn from the experience. I see a lot of benefits like this. So I am sure its worth sharing!!

I am aware that I am not supposed to reveal any details of the assignment. So I will not give out any details about the assignment which is illegal(And against my will). Instead I will log my experience real time. For the sake of convenience I will tag all my SCJD related experience with the tag "SCJDShare". So In future anyone can just filter the posts and read it. So I am starting today the first post with "SCJDShare". Also I will be bookmarking my links in delicious with the tag "SCJD". Long way to go... Lets do it!!!

At last SCJP


At last I have completed my SCJP 5.0 last week. I got the voucher one year before and after a long time I completed the exam successfully. In my opinion SCJP is not that tough. Because it did not involve many tricky questions unlike the simulators. The real SCJP questions are more direct and evaluates your understanding of Java. If you are well versed with Java then SCJP should be a cake walk. Whatever I read from forums like Javaranch are a hype.

I started preparing for SCJD exam. It is my next goal and I target May, 2008 to complete it. I got to learn many things for this exam. So far I am enjoying it, and I hope I complete it well before the target date. I am shooting for December, 2007 if all goes well.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Yahoo Photos to be discontinued!

According to Techcrunch Yahoo Photos will be discontinued soon in favour of Flickr. I am a fan of Yahoo Photos and user for more than 6 years. I wish Flicr is shut in favour of Yahoo photos since the number of Yahoo users photos are more than Flickr. Yahoo photos is the leader in online photo site as per the data from Techcrunch:

Yahoo Photos ---> 31.1 Million unique visitors
Flickr ---> 28.5 Million unique visitors
Photobucket ---> 28.1 Million unique visitors
Facebook Photos ---> 23.5 Million unique visitors

It is an irony that eventhough Yahoo photos is the leader in photo sharing site it is getting discontinued. I wish it is otherwise. Any how I hope the migration from Yahoo Photos to Flickr will be less painful!!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Get Open Solaris kit!

Sun Microsystems is giving out free open solaris kits. The kit contains two DVD's. It is obvious that Sun is looking for improving the market of Solaris. Here is your chance for trying out open solaris. The Open solaris kit contains the following:
1. Solaris Express
2. Live CD's (Nexenta OS, Belenix, SchilliX)
3. Sun studio compilers
4. Open solaris source code

Get it here!

Online Yahoo Messenger!

After Meebo and other online messengers Yahoo released its online version of Yahoo Messenger. It was obvious that the online messenger usage had increased drastically in the recent past and it is likely to grow. So Yahoo is prepared to tap this market by relasing its online version of messenger today. Unlike other online messengers Yahoo Web messenger is built on flash 9. The interface is very cool and stores the chat history!


Recently Yahoo integrated its chat with Yahoo mail. The online messenger is evolving and Webmessenger from yahoo fuels that evolution.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Aol.in is out!


AOL launched its web site for India. It is following the suit after Google, Yahoo and MSN. It provides email, messenger services with "@aol.in" address. The other services provided are news, sports, local search and videos.

``India is one of the world's fastest-growing online markets, and our India portal will help us compete for users and advertisers in this important region,'' Ron Grant, AOL's president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.


AOL is betting on the Indian internet market as it is said to be having 45 million users now and expected to reach 145 million by 2010. I don't see anything new in the AOL India portal. Since the Indian internet users are growing rapidly and since the Indian internet market has a huge potential, AOL wants its share. The AOL needs to bring something new to get the attention of Indian users since the Indian portal market is already dominated by Google, Yahoo, Rediff and Indiatimes.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Best Speech - Steve jobs


Speech given by Steve Jobs to Stanford students on a gradution day in 2005. Its truly motivating and I am sure you too will love this speech.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Free Solaris DVD


Are you interested in trying out Solaris OS for free?? If yes, Then here is your chance to order your Solaris DVD for free. I received it last week and yet to try Solaris express edition. The only solaris distro i tried is Belienix, which is a live CD and eager to try solaris..

Link for ordering Solaris DVD kit: http://www2.sun.de/dc/forms/reg_us_2211_391.jsp

More Info: http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/index.jsp

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

IBM Linux Ad




Another Linux ad. This is from IBM and its wonderful!! Take a look at it!

Remember the milk!


Every one of us needs to manage our tasks every day. It can be anything from project related tasks to shopping list. In my opinion Rememberthemilk is the best among all the softwares I ever used. It has almost everything I wanted from a "To Do list manager".

A bit of history....
The project was started in August, 2004 and the first release was made in October, 2005. The founders are all from Australia and Only three people are behind this project(Emily, Omar and Bob)!!!

Features:
  1. Web based.
  2. Interactive user experience using Ajax.
  3. Tag support for grouping task lists.
  4. Netvibes, Google calendar integration were recently added!
  5. Mobile version of rememberthemilk.
  6. Multilanguage support.
  7. Remainders in messenger and email.
Its worth a try... check it out!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Truth happens!



Any open source enthusiast will love this video as I did and I hope you like it as well!!! :)

Saturday, February 17, 2007

In-Game advertising getting hot!


After the google's acquisition of AdScape Media I researched about In-Game advertising industry and here are the facts.

What is In-game advertising?
In-game advertising is another kind of advertising where the advertisements are placed inside the computer games. In-game advertising dates back to late 70's where the in-game advertising was purely static. The advertisements will be created during the development and It can never be changed. But now, its an era of dynamic In-game advertising. In dynamic In-game advertising the advertisements can be altered remotely by advertising agency.

Why its hot?
According to these sources, the size of computer gaming industry is more than $38 billion and its growing rapidly. With the recent releases of Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 gaming consoles, gaming industry is reaching new levels. Computer games engage the gamer fully and no longer considered to be just for entertainment, It has a high potential for advertising which is not tapped so far. And virtual reality games like Second Life adds fuel to the fire of In-game advertising.

Who's is in?

Google acquires AdscapeMedia!


Google yesterday acquired AdScape Media for $23 million! Adscape media is the video game advertising company and the developer of the worlds first in-game advertising. Advertising is taking a big leap nowadays and with acquisition of AdScape google plans to widen its advertising empire. There are new innovative ways to advertise now and In-game advertising is one such an example.

To know more about in-game advertising click here.

From Wikipedia..
"2005 spending on in-game advertising was USD$56 million, and this figure is estimated to grow to $1.8 billion by 2010"

Its obvious that google is planning to seize the growing opportunity by its new acquisition.

Friday, February 16, 2007

What is a recursive program? Its cool!

Best example of the recursive program I have ever seen! Its simple and cool!

I got this in a forward mail.I admire the creativity of the person who created this image. What do you think buddy?

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Get free NetBeans CD!!!

Are you a Java Programmer? If you want to try one of the best Java IDE you can order the NetBeanse CD for free!! It will be delivered at your door for free!!

Link for Ordering Netbeans world tour CD:
http://www.netbeans.org/about/cd-form.html

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Yahoo Messenger integrated to Yahoo mail!

Finally Yahoo integrated its messenger with Yahoo mail. It was a great feature in Gmail and now Yahoo mail follows it. I wish online chat history is available in Yahoo messenger integration. I was expecting this for long time and finally it arrived now. Still I am waiting for my mail account to get activated with messenger. Here is the screen cast from Yahoo employee...

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 007 !!
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