Some well chosen videos (Funny + Interesting + cool)

I have been meaning to start a link where I can put the links to or the videos itself so that I can share it with you guys! Guess what, I just did!

You can find the links to the videos here!

RandomWish chosen Videos Enjoy!

Micro$oft vs Mac vs Linux

This picture says it all. This just made my day. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Isn't Conky the best? You like?

So yesterday night, I was bored and I thought about doing something on my computer. I stumbled onto Conky and then I thought what a nifty thing to have especially when you are using Linux. I thought, I should give it a try and then I spent few hours on it and then I got it working fine. I thought that if it took me this much time to get it working after some tweaking, then why not share it with others, which may save some people some time. Digg this if you want me to write a step-by-step how to for this.

Here is a Screenshot of what I have:



I know it looks good. No? Well, I just hope that you like it. I am going to put my ".conkyrc" file here. If you like it and if you like it then just drop me a line. I am thinking about writing a HOWTO step by step on my next blog. But, I need an incentive to write this "howto" (So drop me a line if you want me to write one :).However, If you are familiar with Conky then you will be able to figure everything out by yourself.

So, I hope that enough people want this! Trust me, its so light and useful and pretty that you will like to have it on your desktop.

You can find my configuration here.

I know it looks really complicated and geeky, but its PRETTY EASY to use it. All you have to do is copy this configuration into a file and then that's it. See its that easy! You are more than welcome to use this configuration and then if you make it look better then please drop me a line. I will be more than happy to see if you can make it look better than this.

So if you want this then drop me a line here and I will write a HOWTO and then it will be easier for the newbies. I am asking this because I don't know if enough people out there can't figure this out.


UPDATE:
Many people asked me for the weather python scripts. I am sorry but I have been busy with my projects lately so I couldn't follow this post. Here is the link where you can follow the instructions to get your python script. If you have any more questions then please write a comment and I will do my best to answer.

Conky configuration [.conkyrc]

# Conky configuration
# of cbrman.
###For a correct work, edit it and delete all the lines that start with ### below the line called TEXT. They are notes about make it work.
background yes

# Use Xft?
use_xft yes

# Xft font when Xft is enabled
xftfont sans:size=7:bold

# Text alpha when using Xft
xftalpha 0.8

# MPD host/port
#mpd_host localhost
#mpd_port 6600
#mpd_password tinker_bell

#Print everything to console?
out_to_console no

# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 1

# This is the number of times Conky will update before quitting.
# Set to zero to run forever.
total_run_times 0

# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window yes

# If own_window is yes, you may use type normal, desktop or override
own_window_type override

# Use pseudo transparency with own_window?
own_window_transparent yes

# If own_window_transparent is set to no, you can set the background colour here
#own_window_colour black

# If own_window is yes, these window manager hints may be used
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager

# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes

# Minimum size of text area
minimum_size 210 5

# Maximum width of window
maximum_width 215

# Draw shades?
draw_shades yes

# Draw outlines?
draw_outline no

# Draw borders around text
draw_borders no

# Draw borders around graphs
draw_graph_borders yes

# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 1

# border margins
border_margin 4

# border width
border_width 0

# Default colors and also border colors
default_color #cccccc
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color black

# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right
#alignment none

# Gap between borders of screen and text
# same thing as passing -x at command line
gap_x 5
gap_y 0 # To hide from tranparent window borders.

# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?
no_buffers yes

# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
uppercase no

# number of cpu samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
cpu_avg_samples 2

# number of net samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
net_avg_samples 2

# Force UTF8? note that UTF8 support required XFT
override_utf8_locale yes

# Add spaces to keep things from moving about? This only affects certain objects.
use_spacer none

# Maximum number of special things, e.g. fonts, offsets, aligns, etc.
max_specials 512

# Maximum size of buffer for user text, i.e. below TEXT line.
max_user_text 16384

TEXT
${voffset -5}${color #f8ec1e}${font undotum:size=30:bold}${time %e}${font}
${voffset -33}${goto 65}${#f8ec1e}${font undotum:size=10}${time %A}${font}, ${voffset -7}${#f8ec1e}${font undotum:size=12}${time %B}${font} ${voffset -7}${color #f8ec1e}${font undotum:size=12:bold}${time %G}${font}
${voffset -2}${goto 65}${color #f2f2f2}${font undotum:size=12:bold}${time %H:%M:%S%z %P}${font}
${voffset 12}${font openlogos:size=20}${font}${voffset -50}
${voffset 18}${goto 22}${color #28AF63}${color #28AF63}$sysname ${color #FF6600} $kernel ${color #28AF63}Ubuntu ${color #FF6600}$machine${voffset -18}
${voffset 16}${goto 22}${color #28AF63}Uptime:${color #FF6600} $uptime ${color #28AF63}Load:${color #FF6600} $loadavg${voffset -18}
${voffset 18}${goto 22}${color #28AF63}CPU: ${color #28AF63}${cpubar 7,92} ${color #FF6600} $cpu%
${voffset -27}${goto 500}${color #FF6600}${font Openlogos:size=20}${font}
${color #28AF63}${cpugraph 15,203 FF6600 f2f2f2}
${color #28AF63}RAM: ${color #FF6600}$mem/$memmax - $memperc% ${color #28AF63}${alignr 2}${membar 7,45}
${color #28AF63}Swap: ${color #FF6600}$swap/$swapmax - $swapperc% ${color #28AF63}${alignr 2}${swapbar 7,46}
${color #28AF63}Processes: ${color #FF6600}$processes ${color #28AF63}CPU freqency: ${color #FF6600}${freq 1}MHz
${color #f8ec1e}${font OpenLogos:size=25}J${color #f8ec1e}${font 28 Days Later:size=10} WEATHER $stippled_hr${font}
${offset 4}${color whitesmoke}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=CN --refetch}
${color #28AF63}Today's Conditions:${offset 4}${color whitesmoke}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=CT}
${offset 36}${voffset -4}${color #28AF63}${font Weather:size=54}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=WF}${font}
${voffset -8}${color #28AF63}Temperature: ${color whitesmoke}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=HT} ${color #28AF63}Windspeed: ${color whitesmoke}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=WS}
${color #28AF63}Direction: ${color whitesmoke}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=WD} ${color #28AF63}Humidity: ${color whitesmoke}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=HM}
${color #28AF63}${stippled_hr 1}
${color #28AF63}Tomorrow: ${offset 4}${color #f8ec1e}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=CT --startday=1 --endday=1}
${color #28AF63}${stippled_hr 1}
${offset 20}${color #f8ec1e}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=DW --shortweekday --startday=1 --endday=3 --spaces=15}
${offset 14}${color whitesmoke}${font Weather:size=30}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=WF --startday=1 --endday=3 --spaces=9}${font}
${voffset -7}${color #28AF63}Max: ${color #FF6600}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=HT --startday=1 --endday=3 --spaces=13}
${color #28AF63}Min: ${color #FF6600}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=LT --startday=1 --endday=3 --spaces=14}
${color #28AF63}Hum: ${color #FF6600}${execi 1680 python /home/deepu/.scripts/conkyForecast.py --location=USKS0620 --datatype=HM --startday=1 --endday=3 --spaces=13}
${color #f8ec1e}${font Poky:size=20}a${color #f8ec1e}${font 28 Days Later:size=10} PROCESSES $stippled_hr ${font}
${color #28AF63}Name ::. ${goto 110}PID${goto 138}CPU%${goto 175}MEM%
${color #FF6600}${top name 1} ${goto 105}${top pid 1}${goto 138}${top cpu 1}${goto 175}${top mem 1}
${color #FF6600}${top name 2} ${goto 105}${top pid 2}${goto 138}${top cpu 2}${goto 175}${top mem 2}
${color #FF6600}${top name 3} ${goto 105}${top pid 3}${goto 138}${top cpu 3}${goto 175}${top mem 3}
${color #FF6600}${top name 4} ${goto 105}${top pid 4}${goto 138}${top cpu 3}${goto 175}${top mem 4}
${color #28AF63}Memory ::.
${color #FF6600}${top_mem name 1} ${goto 105}${top_mem pid 1}${goto 138}${top_mem cpu 1}${goto 175}${top_mem mem 1}
${color #FF6600}${top_mem name 2} ${goto 105}${top_mem pid 2}${goto 138}${top_mem cpu 2}${goto 175}${top_mem mem 2}
${color #FF6600}${top_mem name 3} ${goto 105}${top_mem pid 3}${goto 138}${top_mem cpu 3}${goto 175}${top_mem mem 3}
${color #FF6600}${top_mem name 4} ${goto 105}${top_mem pid 4}${goto 138}${top_mem cpu 4}${goto 175}${top_mem mem 4}
${color #f8ec1e}${font Poky:size=20}f${color #f8ec1e}${font 28 Days Later:size=10} HARD DRIVE INFO $stippled_hr ${font}
${color #28AF63}Root ${goto 50}${color #FF6600}${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} ${color #28AF63}${alignr 2}${fs_bar 7,60 /}
${color #28AF63}Home ${goto 50}${color #FF6600}${fs_used /home}/${fs_size /home} ${color #28AF63}${alignr 2}${fs_bar 7,60 /home}
${color #f8ec1e}${font Poky:size=20}l${color #f8ec1e}${font 28 Days Later:size=10} MUSIC $stippled_hr${font}
${color #28AF63}${alignc}CURRENT SONG INFO ::.
${if_running rhythmbox}${color #28AF63}Artist: ${color #FF6600}${goto 50}${exec rhythmbox-client --no-start --print-playing-format %ta}
${color #28AF63}Title: ${color #FF6600}${goto 50}${exec rhythmbox-client --print-playing-format %tt}
${color #28AF63}Album: ${color #FF6600}${goto 50}${exec rhythmbox-client --no-start --print-playing-format %at}
${color #28AF63}Genre: ${color #FF6600}${goto 50}${exec rhythmbox-client --no-start --print-playing-format %ag}${goto 130}${color #28AF63}Year: ${color #FF6600}${exec rhythmbox-client --no-start --print-playing-format %ay}
${color #28AF63}Position: ${color #FF6600}${exec rhythmbox-client --no-start --print-playing-format %te}${goto 130}${color #28AF63}Length: ${color #FF6600}${exec rhythmbox-client --no-start --print-playing-format %td}${color #28AF63}$else${color #f2f2f2}${alignc}${font sans:size=6:bold}No Activity${font}$endif
${color #f8ec1e}${font Poky:size=20}w${color #f8ec1e}${font 28 Days Later:size=10} NETWORKING $stippled_hr ${font}
${color #28AF63}My IP Address: ${color #FF6600}${execi 10000 curl 'http://www.whatismyip.org'}
${color #28AF63}WiFi Network: ${color #FF6600} ${wireless_essid wlan0} ${color #FF6600} ${wireless_bitrate wlan0} ${wireless_link_qual wlan0}%
${color #28AF63}${wireless_link_bar wlan0}

27 most Interesting Facts [22 to 50]

Are you bored? Well, here is something to keep you entertained at the same time you may learn something. This is another addition to the most interesting facts. These are hard to find but whenever I find them, I like to keep a note about them. So here they are:

22. The most nutritious food in the world is: Blood (who would have thought).
23. The origin country of windmills: Iran.
24. How long American drivers wait at traffic lights in their lifetime: 14 days (I feel bad for the taxi-drivers).
25. Carpenter's pencils are square so they don't roll off roofs.
26. Water can flow through a plant at 4mph.
27. Every second 100,000 chemical reactions occur in your brain.
28. First ever Christmas celebrated with electric tree lights: 1903.
29. Cranberry Jell-O is the only flavor that contains real fruit flavoring. (I seriously didn't know this).
30. Most widely eaten fish in the world: Herrings.
31. Thomas Edison proposed to his second wife by Morse code.
32. Worldwide, about 20% of all married couples are first cousins. (Just gross).
33. Britain's Imperial Crown has 1,783 diamonds, 277 perls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 5 rubies and it weighs around 7 pounds. (wow).
34. In Greek mythology, "Nike" is the goddess of victory.
35. There are 284 bathrooms in the Pentagon. (talk about government waste).
36. World's bestselling cookie: Oreo (I think everyone knew about this).
37. Kayaking is a required subject in Greenland's schools.
38. Norway consumes more Mexican food than any other European nation.
39. Mosquitoes hibernate.
40. A shrimp's heart is in its head.
41. Denmark has the highest tax in the world. (Rates 'start' at 42%).
42. The only American praised by Hitler in 'Mein Kampf' was Henry Ford.
43. In Sanskrit, "Nirvana" literally means "going out". (I bet you didn't know that).
44. The Berlin wall was 26.5 miles long.
45. Europe is the only continent without a desert.
46. A French kiss is known as an English kiss in France.
47. Jupiter is large enough to fit all the planets of the solar system inside it.
48. The word "disco" means "I learn" in Latin. (huh).
49. More steel is used in the U.S to make bottle caps than to make cars.
50. Hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs. (Well, what do you know).

Here is a bonus for you:
51. In Oklahoma (USA), you can be fined for making funny faces at dogs.

I hope you enjoyed them. I will keep them coming. Stay tuned.

My Mandriva (spring 1.0) experience. [Mandriva Vs Ubuntu]

Hello everyone,

So yesterday, I went to the book store and bought the 'Linux Magazine'. In the July 2008 edition, I found the Mandriva (spring-1.0) DVD and I read the whole article about it. It boasted about a lot of things such as, "how easy it is to install" and "how the control center in Mandriva is so unique". As, its clear so far that I like to try out many distributions and I always like to compare them with Ubuntu, which I have been using for many years. I have been looking for a distro which can replace Ubuntu but I think that, that search is never going to end.

So, before I tell you about my experience with Mandriva, I would like to tell you what kind of computer I own and what kind of situation I was in before I gave a try to Mandriva.
I have a Dell Latitude D630, with 512MB RAM, 60GB hdd and Intel Centrino Duo Core. I had three partitions on my computer. I had Windows on a 20GB partition and then the rest of 40GB was alocated to Ubuntu. I had two partitions for Ubuntu and I alocated 10GB to the "/" and 30GB to "/home".

So I popped in the Mandriva DVD, which I got with the "Linux Magazine" and then I installed it just the way Ubuntu was installed on my computer and obviously, I got rid of Ubuntu. The installation was pretty slow compared to Ubuntu and things like setting up the system clock and partition table etc were not as user friendly as Ubuntu. Anyway, I did what I had to do to get Mandriva installed on my computer and at the end, it asked me to restart the computer. I was really excited about the whole thing but all my excitement just evaporated when I got a message when my computer wouldn't restart after the installation. I got an error messages saying that, my hdd was currupt.

Now you tell me how I would feel when I get a message like that. I was so furious as now it wouldn't even let me go back to my previous partition status. I tried to look for help online, but there was nothing available online which could help me. Then I got the idea of putting Ubuntu CD and then checking my partition. Guess what! My whole hard-drive was deleted. I lost freaking everything. Mandriva just locked everything and my whole partition was gone. Ubuntu even couldn't recognize my partition table or Windows.

Well, then I thought, now that I have lost everything anyway, let me give Mandriva another try. I re-installed Mandriva and this time it worked. It worked but there was a really really annoying problem. They boasted that they use Network-Manager-0.7 in the Linux Magazine article, but they forgot to set it up for the the user. When I tried to connect to my DSL Wireless, it asked me to download some dependencies off the Internet.
"How do you think that I will be able to get something online, if my freaking Wireless is not working?"
Then as a price to install/try Mandriva, I lost my Windows but I leanrt a valuable lesson. Don't try out anything without having a backup. Thank God that I had a backup on my external hdd before I tried Mandriva.

Now I have only Ubuntu on my system. I have tried many Linux Operating Systems but my personal experience with Mandriva was the worst. I thought that Linux operating systems are trying to be more user friendly, but if this is how they are going to be then, how do you expect to attract Windows and Mac users to start using Linux. No wonder why Mandriva is on #6 on DistroWatch.

So I would like to convey this message to everyone, that DON'T INSTALL OR GIVE A TRY TO MANDRIVA UNLESS YOU HAVE BACKED UP YOUR WHOLE SYSTEM. As in my previous blog, I shared my experience with Suse-11.0 with everyone, but I never told anyone not to give it a try if they wanted to, but in the case of Mandriva, I would say you should only give it a try if you are truly not happy with your current operating system.

Here is a take home message for you. If you are using Ubuntu, then please don't even think about giving a try to Mandriva, you will get disappointed in so many ways!

If you have any comments or remarks then feel free to drop them in the comments section.

These are my 2 cents for you! Hope this helps some people out there.

Brits vs Americans!

They both speak English, but not necessarily use the same words. For example, British people call trucks "lorries". I think that's the right thing to say as well because I lived in England for few years. Well, anyway, I found some common and funny words which would make you laugh. I took most of the words from the "I hear America Talking", by Stuart Berg Flexner.

BRITISH	AMERICAN
Tower Block	High-rise Apartment
Booter	Horn, Siren
Note	Bill (paper money)
Fringe	Bangs (of hair)
Graughts	Checkers
Caravan	Trailer
Track	Tread
Cash Desk	Checkout Counter
Polka Dots	Chocolate Chips
Candy Floss	Cotton Candy
Boarding	Billboard
Motion	Bowel Movement
Accumulator	Battery
Fascia (panel)	Dash (board)
Cubbyhole	Glove Compartment
Pantechnicon	Moving Van
Lie-by	Rest Area
Verge	Shoulder (of a road)
Chucker Out	Bouncer
Push Chair	Stroller
Wing	Fender
Patience	Solitaire (a card game)
Sponge Bag	Shaving Kit
Braces	Suspenders
Spanner	Wrench (tightening tool)
Freeway	Turnpike
Grabage/Dust bin	Trash Can

Enjoy!
If you know any other words then please drop them in the comments.

18 FOOD SUPERSTITIONS!

Did you ever thought, what you could do with the food beside eat it? Drive evil spirits away, Use it for good luck and many other uses. Many people actually used to or still believe in these bizarre rituals and superstitions related to food. I found few of them and I thought I should share it with you all.

1.
Bake your cake while the sun is rising, and do not throw away the eggshells until the baking is done.



2.
Tossing coffee grounds under steps leading to the kitchen will rid the home ants.



3.
If you spot bubbles in a cup of coffee, try to spoon them up and eat them before they burst. If you succeed, you will receive money from an unexpected source.


4.
If you don't spit out the seeds while eating a grape, the seeds will give you appendicitis. (Thank God there are seedless grapes out there)


5.
It's meant to be a bad luck if you gather Blackberries after October 11th.



6.
If you love someone and you want him/her to love you back then you should give them an orange.



7.
Hold a buttercup under someone's chin. If it casts a yellow colored shadow then that person 'loves' to eat butter.


8.
If you are deaf then, you should eat Onions mixed with 'ant eggs', which will cure your deafness.



9.
If there is a thunderstorm out there then you should save yourself and your milk. This is because, its believed that, the sound of thunder would turn the milk sour.


10.
It is a bad luck to eat the last piece of bread on a plate, this is because it is believed that it will cause a bachelor to marry, or an unmarried woman to stay unmarried. (I think its a bit sexist)


11.
If you have a tree which doesn't bear fruit? Well it is believed that if you hammer a peg or nail into a fruit tree that bears no fruit, soon you will have some fruits.


12.
If you are bald then here is something which will help you. It is believed that if you pour Rum on a your bald head, it will cure your baldness. (what a waste of alcohol)


13.
There is always a good reason to watch your steps. Tipping over a slice of cake on a plate while serving a guest is a sign of bad luck.


14.
If you want your Cabbage to flourish and do well, you should plat them on St. Patrick's Day.



15.
Two yolks in an Easter egg is a good omen. It is believed to make you rick someday soon.



16.
You like eating bananas? Well, bananas must be broken apart - never cut with a knife. Because, it is believed that cutting bananas brings bad luck.


17.
Oh you think you are dumb? You want a solution? It is believed that eating peaches gives you wisdom.



18.
If you grow too much lettuce in your garden, your wife will never conceive children. (I wonder when it came from, this just dones't make sense. As if the rest of them make sense.)


I hope that you enjoyed reading this.

You are my INSPIRATION!

It's always interesting to find out where the architects of pop culture get their ideas. These may surprise you.

PRINCESS LEIA'S HAIR:
According to the "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, "I was trying to create something different, so I went with the kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman look. The buns are basically from turn-of-the-century Mexico."




SCOOBY-DOO:
Modeled after Bob Home's movie persona, "in which he played the coward for laughs before ending up the reluctant hero."





DOUBLE VISION:
The title of Foreigner's 1978 hit song came from a hockey injury. Frontman Lou Grammm was at a NewYork Rangers game when the goalie was knocked in the head with a stick. After the dazed player was taken off the ice, the arena announcer reported that he was "suffering double vision."



ELLIE ARROWAY:
The protagonist in Carl Sagan's novel "Contact" (played by Jodie Foster in the movie) was based on a real-life SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) member Jill Tarter, who "has logged more telescope hours in the search for cosmic company than any other human on the planet."



CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW:
Johnny Depp based his character in "Pirates of the Caribbean" on a mix of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and the amorous cartoon skunk, Pepe LePew.




THE EXORCIST:
Both the novel and film were based on reports of an actual exorcism performed on a 14-year old boy in Maryland in 1949, the last official case of exorcism in the United States.




ME AND BOBBY MCGEE:
Songwriter Kris Kristofferson got his inspiration from a scene in Fellini's movie "La Strada". When Anthony Quinn realizes that Giulietta Masina is dead, "he suddenly realized he was free but he was also the loneliest son of a bitch in the world. It showed the two sides of freedom - that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."

[15] Acronym that will make you laugh, such as "C.R.A.P"

I found these acronyms at different places and I thought I should share them with you. Sure they made me laugh so much. And, oh they are real. I hope you like them.

(1) CRAP
Committee to Resist Acronym Proliferation.

(2) GHOST
Graffiti Habitual Offenders Suppression Team.

(3) SWIFT ANSWER
Special Word Indexed Full-Text Alpha-Numeric Storage With Easy Retrieval (Longest true acronym in English...so far).

(4) POETS
Piss Off Early, Tomorrow's Saturday (British slang for "TGIF").

(5) SCAM
Southern California Auto Mart.

(6) CACA
Canadian Agricultural Chemicals Associations.

(7) BARRF
Bay Area Resources Recovery Facility.

(8) NAPS
National Alliance of Postal Supervisors.

(9) RUIN
Regional Urban Information Network

(10) FIB
Fisherman's Information Bureau (It was this big...really!).

(11) SLUTS
School of Librarianship Urban Transportation System.

(12) SAP
Society for American Philosophy.

(13) EATM
Exotic Animal Training Management.

(14) GORK
God Only Really Knows (How doctors refer to patients they can't diagnose).

(15) WUNY
Wait Until Next Year (Said after a losing season).

Hope you enjoyed it, if you know some other hilarious ones, please share!

Reap the benifits of having a Gmail ID!

The best thing about having a Gmail ID is unknown to a lot of people. You think that you know everything and all the benefits of having a Gmail id? I can bet you will be surprised to find you out that it is not true. Did you know that you could do these things?

Let’s say that your email address is ‘GeorgeBush@gmail.com’, basically everything sent to any of the following email addresses will be forwarded to your primary email.

• GeorgeBush@gmail.com
• GeorgeBush@googlemail.com
• G.eorgeBush@gmail.com
• Ge....orgeBush@gmail.com
• Geor..geBush@gmail.com
• Georg..eBush@gmail.com

Continue reading....

[Best] Blogger tips / tricks / hacks for newbie!

I am going to share a big secret for all the people who just joined the infamous blogspot.com. There are a lot of things you can't do it by yourself or it would take you a lot of time to figure it out by yourself. So here is a little HOWTO [in a great detail] to help you out. From here you will be able to do the followings:

1. You can remove the blogger bar (yes the search bar on the top).
2. Add a randomizer to show different quotes, graphics or html.
   
3. You can show the recent comments you have received/written.
   
4. You can format the style of your comments. Everything about them [almost]
5. Add inline adds.
   
6. Use feedburner.
   
7. Add additional pages (such as, adding links to older posts that you can customize.)
8. Use a real domain instead of blogger's default names.
   
9. Add Instant Messaging to your blogger blog.
   
10. Update your blog daily and have quality content.
    

International Laws; Laugh or get scared...but these are real!

You should remember these international laws as you might get into trouble if you are are a tourist/traveler. This would also help you if you are in a new country and about to make one of the following mistakes.

• In England, it's illegal to name your pet "Queen" or "Princess" without the Queen's permission.
  
• In Athens, Greece, driving on public roads while "unbathed" or poorly dressed can cost you your driver's license.
  
• If you aren't a member of the royal family in Japan, it's illegal for you to own a maroon car.
  
• If a man is wearing a hat in Cheshire, England, the law requires him to raise it when a funeral passes.
  
• In Equatorial Guinea, you can name your daughter anything you want - except "Monica".
  
• You can keep cows in sheds in the Northern Territories of Canada, and you can keep chickens in sheds. But you can't keep cows and chickens in the same shed (this is just plane weird to me).
  
• In India, women (but not men) are allowed to marry goats ( It sure sounds really bad to me)
• Old English law: if an object is smaller than a husband's little finger, he can beat his wife with it.
  
• In Canada, if a debt is higher than 25 cents, it's against the law for you to pay in pennies.
  
• In Vancouver, British Columbia, the speed limit for tricycles is 10 miles per hour.
  
• In Baluchistan, Pakistan, the law allows a man to "acquire" a wife by trading in his sister.
  
• Makes sense: in London, England, it's illegal to operate a motor vehicle while sitting in the back seat.
• In Australia, the pictures of convicted drunk drivers are published in newspapers with the caption, "He's drunk and in jail" (haha)
• Cigarettes are legal in Nicaragua; cigarette lighters aren't.
  
• My personal favorite: Boxing is illegal in China (too brutal); capital punishment isn't.

I hope that you had fun reading these. Please digg it if you like it as I am just new to digg.
Good Luck!

Ubuntu (Hardy) or OpenSuse-11.0? Make up your mind and let's end this once for all!

You want to know which is the best for you? You want to know what others think? You want to let people know which OS is better? You have come to the right place. Let everyone hear your voice and find out what others are thinking. This is going to help people like me and you. I have made up my choice and I want to know what you think. So just take a second to vote and please decide once for all!

The worst and the best movies of 2008 so far!

Iron Man vs Indian Jones! You can see which one is not worth your time and money! You can't chose which one you want to watch? I can save your day (as if you are going to listen to me :P), but anyway I am here to help. For some people, I would say, its not even worth reading this blog here as you will find out why I said so... Read on to find out.

Indian Jones and the kingdom of the Crystal Skull:
I can say that I am a die hard Indiana Jones fan and I grew up watching the first three films again and again. When I heard about the fourth movie (Crystal Skull), I was really excited but after watching the movie, all I could think is that, they should have let alone the idea of making a fourth movie as the trilogy ended so perfectly. However, I went to the movie with my great enthusiasm and I really really forced myself to like it, let alone love it but that was just impossible. This is primarily because of the poor script, which could have been written by a 10 year old who is bad at writing stories.

The action sequences in the Crystal Skull are staged and edited horribly. As far as I remember, there is just plenty of frantic energy, lots of noise but the sense of rediscovery is totally absent. I would say that this movie has ruiend the unprecedented blend of action and comedy that made the previous three movies so much fun. The adventurous ride ends with the trilogy which is totally lost in the Crystal Skull.

I found it really disappointing and I would like to call it a desecration of the franchise, a way to milk the cash-cow, which makes your eyes tired after watching the movie. 'Most' of the movie is swamped in a sea of stunts and CGI as the scenes and character relationships are just charmless. To me Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull is nothing more than a very minor chapter in the adventures of one of Hollywood's most beloved action heroes. Its a huge disappointment for those who waited patiently for his return.

This was the last thing I had expected from its great casts and directors. The film's greatest crime is that its not a fun film at all, as it keeps you busy thinking about how the story line doesn't fit together. I did not have a clue what was happening in the Crystal Skull almost throughout the movie. As I was getting my bearings towards the end of the movie, an alien spaceship took off, I almost whispered to the guy next to me "Please...make it stop!"

Iron Man:
After watching 'Iron Man' twice already, I can say that this is an exciting kick-off to the summer season. If the 1940s was the golden age of comic books, then we are now in the golden age of comic book movies.

Robert Downey, Jr., the leading man is the true revelation of the Iron Man, who may not be giving the greatest superhero performance ever, but in my eyes he certainly is one of the best actors to ever portray a superhero. This movie is politically smart, action packed and loads of fun. Its highly entertaining and well made movie, which can be in the same league as "Spider Man-2", "Superman Returns", "X-Men-2" and "Batman Begins". You might think that its hard to believe, but yes! it is that good.

Iron man is not only action packed but it is also laced with a story that has a good quality substance with wit and romance added to please the audience of all ages. Before I went to watch this movie, I did not have very high expectations, but after leaving the cinema hall I could see that this movie has made an erstwhile tin man look like an amazing superhero.

Director Jon Favreau's controlling visual effects in "Zathura" is not there anymore. You can see his new clunky prologue and escape sequence flawlessly placed together in the story containing smartness, humor and soul. Jon Favreau has turned a comic strip into an excellent engaging amalgam, which might have been just another Marvel strip.

The gadgetry used in the movie is absolutely dazzling, which matches with the exhilarating action with a pinch of scintillating comedy. The main thing which sets this movie apart from the rest of the superhero movies is that its is not bogged down with the repetitive superhero mantra; "with great power comes great responsibility."

In my opinion Iron Man has not only etched itself the mark of one of the best reviewed movies so far in 2008, but also one of the highest superhero movies of all time. With talented casts, interesting director and a wealth of plots from comics ready to be mined for future story-lines, this movie definitely leaves you wanting more.

So I would say, Get your popcorn ready! Iron Man is the perfect start to the summer movie season. This movie keeps you entertained till the end with its blending brains and geekiness in equal measures. I would like to conclude with a reminding note for everyone about to set their foot in the theaters, stay till the closing credits of the movie, the Iron Man song is just the right punch you need to get out of the theater if you are wanting more.

#Note: I am not getting paid to do this :P. This is my personal opinion and if you have any comments please don't keep it to yourself as its a huge debate topic among my friends at the moment. So let me know if I am wrong/right, your input would be highly appreciated.

Animal Superstitions [I]; you can choose to believe in them or maybe not!

Superstitions are always intriguing, even if you don't believe in them. When you hear a superstition and if you are part of it, then you do feel this weird thing about them, even if you don't choose to believe in them. Well, I just stumbled on to few of the very old ones relating to animals, collected by Edwin and Mona Radford in their book, Encyclopedia of Superstitions (Yeah there is an encyclopedia about it!)

1. A strange dog following you is good luck. A dog howling is a sure sign of death.
   
2. If a rooster crows near the door with his face towards it, it is a sure prediction of the arrival of a stranger.
3. Good luck will attend anyone upon whose face a spider falls from the ceiling.
4. If a cat sneezes, it is a sign of rain. If a cat sneezes three times, a cold will run through the family.
   
5. Living pigeons cut in half and applied to the feet of a man in fever will cure him (don't try this at home please).
   
6. To cure illness in a family was the patient and throw the water on a cat. Then drive the cat out of the doors, and it will take the illness with it.
   
7. If blind people are kind to ravens they will learn how to regain their sight.
   
8. If you find a hairy caterpillar you should throw it over your shoulder for good luck.
   
9. If a dog passes between a couple who are going to be married, much ill-luck will result to them.
   
10. Mice, minced, given to a sufferer, will cure measles.
    
11. Dried rat's tails will cure a cold.
    
12. If a white weasel crosses your path, it presages death or misfortune; but if one runs in front of you, you will be able to beat all your enemies.
    
13. If a cat sneezes near a bride, it means she will have good luck in her wedded life.
    
14. When mice swarm into a house hitherto free from them, a member of the household will die.
    
15. If the rooster crows at midnight, the Angel of Death is passing over the house.
    
16. If a man should kill a glowworm, it will endanger his lover affair, and may cause the death of his beloved.
    

I know that few of them sound really silly but some people still believe in a lot of superstitious beliefs. I hope that you had fun reading these. I found these interesting and thought I should share them with you.

Enjoy!

Buddha is dead but his wisdom lives on!

Sidhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, or "Enlightened One," died in 480 B.C., but his wisdom lives on. Following are few of his words which enlighten a lot of people's world. I am fascinated by him and his ideas. I was going through a book where I found few of his words which really moved me. I thought that it would be good if I could share it with you all. So here it goes:

• "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
• "Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
• "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."
• "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
• "Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace" (my favourite!).
• "Every human being is the author of his own disease."
• "In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true."
• "It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."
• "We are what we think."
• "Let us be thankful!, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die. So, let us all be thankful."
• "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not growing all the way, and not starting."
• "Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others."
• "Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."
• "Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."

I know there are a lot more but I couldn't just go on and on. I hope that you liked Buddha's wisdom words and hope that this brightens your day!

5 [most] imfamous tyrants before they were infamous.

You know great leaders make their choices early in life that pave the way for their illustrious careers. But what about the world's worst tyrants? Here's a look at the early lives of 5 rotten apples in the history barrel.

5. JOSEPH STALIN [1879 - 1953]


Place in History:

• Soviet ruler from 1924 to 1953.

• Fueled by a mad paranoia, Stalin is responsible for the murder and mass starvation of millions of soviet citizens. His forced collectivization of Soviet agriculture starved as many as 5 million people from 1932 to 1933. The political purges that followed from 1936 to 1938 may have killed as many as 7 million more.
• His diplomatic and military blunders leading up to WWII contributed mightily to the 20 million Soviet military and civilian casualties during the war.

Before he was infamous:

• Born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, young Josheph entered a Russian Orthodox seminary in 1984, but he was kicked out of it at the age of 20.
  
• He then went underground, became a Bolshevik revolutionary, and later adopted the pseudonum Stalin (which means 'Man of Steel').
  
• Between 1902-1913, 'the man of steel' was arrested and jailed seven times, and sent to Siberia twice.
  
• In 1917, he became the editor of "Pravda", the Communist Party newspaper. Stalin did not play a prominent role in the communist revolution of November 1917, but in 1922 he was elected general secretary of Communist Party, a post that became his power base.
  
• Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, but it wasn't until after six years of maneuvering against opponents that Stalin emerged as Lenin's unrivaled successor in 1930.
  

4. MAO TSE-TUNG [1893-1976]


Place in history:

• Leader of the Chinese Communist Party [1935] and the founder of the People's Republic of China, which he ruled from 1945 until his death in 1976.
  
• Under such disastrous programs as 'The Great Leap Forward [1958-1960] ' and 'The Cultural Revolution [1966-1976]', more than 30 million people starved to death or were murdered outright by Mao's government and its policies.
  

Before he was infamous:

• At the age of 13, this child of peasant farmers left home to get an education. He tried police school, soap-making school, law school, and economics before settling on becoming a teacher.
  
• He attended the University of Beijing, where he became a Marxist and in 1921, at the age of 27, a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party.
  
• In 1927 he alienated orthodox Marxists by arguing that peasants, not workers, would be the main force in the communist revolution.
  
• It was not until 1935, following the 6,000 mile "Long March" to escape the Chinese government's brutal campaign against the communists, that he emerged as the party's leader.
  

3. POL POT [1925-1998]

Place in history:

• Leader of the Cambodian 'Khmer Rogue' guerrilla movement, which seized control of the Cambodian government in 1975 and ruled the country until January 1979.
  
• On Pol Pot's orders the cities were emptied and the urban population forced out into the countryside to work on collective farms that became known as "killing fields." Nearly 1.7 million Cambodians [20% of the entire population] were starved, worked to death or murdered by the Khmer Rouge.
  

Before he became famous:

• Born Saloth Sar, Pol Pot lived in a Buddhist monastry for six years, and was a practicing monk.
  
• He worked briefly as a carpenter before moving to Paris at the age of 24 to study radio electronics as a full scholarship.
  
• While there he joined the French Communist Party. He later lost his scholarship and returned home in 1953, the same year that Cambodia won independence from France.
  
• Over the next decade Sar rose through the ranks of the Cambodian Communist Party (the Khmer Rouge), and in 1963 he became its head.
• In the mid 1970s he adopted the pseudonym, Pol Pot.
  

2. IDI AMIN DADA [ca. 1924-2003]

Place in history:

• Ugandan dictator from 1971 to 1979.
  
• In those years he expelled the entire Asian population of Uganda [more than 70,000 people] and is believed to have murdered as many as 400,000 people during the eight year reign of terror.
  
• In 1979 he invaded the neighboring country of Tanzania; when the invasion failed and the Tanzanians counterattacked he fled into exile.
  
• Eventually he settled in Saudi Arabia, where he died in August 2003.
  

Before he was infamous:

• Amin, a member of the small Kakwa tribe of northwestern Uganda, was born in 1925 and raised by his mother, a self-proclaimed sorceress.
  
• As a child he sold doughnuts (mandazi) in the streets.
  
• In 1943, he joined the King's African Rifles of the British colonial army and went on to serve in the Allied Forces' Burma campaign during World War II. After the war he became a boxer and was the heavyweight champion of Uganda for nine years (1951-1960).
  
• Amin continued his rise through the ranks of military and by the time Uganda became independent from England in 1962 he was one of only two African officers in the entire Ugandan armed forces.
  
• President Obote appointed him head of the army and navy in 1966; fiver years later Amin seized power in a coup and declared himself president for life.
  

1. ADOLF HITLER [1889-1945]



Place in history:

• Elected German Chancellor in 1933 and ruled Nazi Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945.
  
• The Nazis murdered an estimated 6 million Jews and other people it considered inferior, including Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, communists and homosexuals.
  
• Hitler also started World War II, which killed as many as 55 million people.
  

Before he was infamous:

• As a small boy, Hitler dreamed of becoming a priest, but by age 14 he'd lost his interest in religion.
  
• As a young man he enjoyed architecture and art and dreamed of becoming a great artist, but when he applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, he was turned down (twice) for lack of talent.
  
• He bummed around Vienna until 1913, living off an orphan's pension and what little money he made from odd jobs like beating carpets, and from selling paintings and drawings of Viennese landmarks.
  
• When World War I broke out in 1914 he was living in Munich, where he volunteered for the Bavarian Army and was later awarded the Iron Cross.
  
• Germany lost the war in 1918; the following year Hitler joined the German Workers Party at a time when it had only about 25 members.
  
• He soon became its leader, and in 1920 the party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (better known as the Nazis).

I went through many tyrants from the history, but I thought that these were the 5 tyrants who affected lives of millions of people. I sometimes wish that these people were not born, maybe our world would have been a better place to live today.

1 to 21 most interesting things/facts I thought you should know.

1. An average person swallows three spiders every year.
2. The carrot was purple in its ancient form, not orange.
3. Only female mosquitoes bite; they need the blood to nourish their eggs.
4. An average French person uses 2 soap bars each year.
5. Brasilia (the capital of Brazil) founded in 1960 is one of the newest cities in the world.
6. Women look at other women more than they look at men.
7. The district of Columbia has one lawyer for every 19 residents (wow!).
8. The blue whale's tongue weighs as much as an adult elephant.
9. Onions have no flowers, only a smell.
10. Only one-third of the Americans say they'd want their boss's job (its lonely at the top).
11. Doctors say that people who have pet fish fall asleep easier than people who don't.
12. The smallest mammal on Earth is the 'The bumblebee bat' (It weighs less than a penny).
13. In the U.S, the second most popular place to eat breakfast is: The Car.
14. The wild turkey is the only bird with a beard (haha!).
15. Poll result: 50% of all Oreo-eaters say they pull them apart before eating them.
16. Squirrels lose at least half the nuts they hide (They forget where they put them).
17. The average human body has about 100 millimeters of bowel gas at one time.
18. The Italian flag was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
19. The average take from a bank robbery is about $3,000 (Is it worth the risk?).
20. The world's most expensive spice: Spanish saffron (It can cost more than $2000 per pound).
21. A bloody wound on your body starts to clot in less than 10 seconds.

Please leave a comment or digg it if you like it!

My OpenSuse 11.0 experience. OpenSuse or Ubuntu? I have made my choice.

Dear readers,

I have been using Ubuntu since the 'Ubuntu Breezy' edition. I have few friends how are OpenSuse users. I was kind of excited about the release of the OpenSuse-11.0 and then I thought that I should give it a try. I read a lot about this new openSuse release being the 'Ubuntu Killer'. You might think that I will have a biased opinion about it but to tell you the truth, I don't think that openSuse-11.0 is up to that level.

During the installation, I was a bit impressed with its new installation method, which was pretty similar to the Ubuntu's installation. If you are an Ubuntu user then I would suggest that you should stick with Ubuntu as its still way better than openSuse when it comes to user friendliness.

I will make a list of the things which I didn't like about it.

1. The smoothness of ubuntu is still lacking in opensuse-11.0

2. On my Dell Latitude D600, the visual effects were not running as smooth as ubuntu.

3. I would agree that they tried to make the interface look better and more user friendly but it still doesn't come close to Ubuntu.

4. I didn't find much online support for the new release of openSuse-11.0

5. The start-up/loading time was at least 10 to 15 seconds more than Ubuntu.

6. I checked the system monitor and the programs were running slower in openSuse.

Anyway, I should better stop here because I don't want to criticize it so much because the openSuse team has worked so hard towards this new release and it wouldn't be fair to them. I would say that if you are using Ubuntu and you just want to give openSuse-11.0 a try then go ahead and check it with the live CD, but I wouldn't advise you to install it as an operating system. Please leave a comment if you think I am wrong.

Well, as for me, I am back to Ubuntu and I am more than happy with it. This was my personal opinion and I hope this helps.

All the best!

update:
I think few people got me wrong. Let me summarize it in a few words for you. I have used Ubuntu, Suse, Debian, Kubuntu, RedHat, Fedora... To be honest, I am just staying with Ubuntu, not because I am trying to be biased here but its just so darn better than other Linux OS regarding the usability/update/speed/Interface/online-help (very helpful) etc. I have worked as a Linux IT support person and I never got any complains about Ubuntu. Everyone was happ after I installed Ubuntu on their computer, and a lot of people just gave up on Suse and other OS and they found Ubuntu to be the most usable Linux OS.

Please don't try to pull my legs. I am just stating my opinion and I am just trying to save other Ubuntu users some time and effort.

If you think that openSuse-11.0 is the right thing for you then go ahead and use it. I do NOT have any problem with it and I am not trying to change your mind. I love Linux and I always will, in one form or another.

Thanks for the comments!

Beautiful Kansas sunset

At the moment, I am visiting the US and I got a chance to visit Medicine Lodge, Kansas. I mean don't get me wrong, Medicine Lodge is beautiful, but I was more inclined towards the beautiful sunset that evening. I took a lot of pictures of the sunset and I am sharing some with you. If you like to have a bigger size image of any of the pictures then you can go to my picasa web album and get a copy from there. If you want any picture in a bigger size then please write me and I will send it to you.

Hope that you like them!

Enjoy!


Please leave a comment or digg it if you like it!