^..^ regmee^..^

New Blog

2009-03-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

Now on, I will be writing at blog.regmee.com

Experiment with InkScape and the Vector Graphics.

2008-11-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

Took a while before I could draw Mr. Frankenstein on InkScape. But it was worth learning.
For those who want to draw Vector Graphics on InkScape, the connectors are pretty immature and so will be difficult to draw data flow diagrams. Polygon tool might be of help, but will take a lot of practice.

Here's the image.

"Ghajni" --- Bollywood and Creativity.

2008-11-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

aaah .... Bollywood seems to be synonymous to creativity as far as Cinema goes :P
My expectations of Aamir starrer "Ghajini" in being a Taare-zameen-par alike with a different take-away message is 60% ruined already. Heard it's a remake of south Indian movie "Gajni" with just the spelling difference ... haha .. which in-turn seems to be a copy of the hollywood-made "Memento".

I wish I hadn't seen "Memento" a while ago ... The Ghajni youtube-promo makes me wonder if I really want to see the movie just for those lengthy songs and the new Aaamir Khan look .... hmmmmmmm ... less likely.
`

Zombie blog re-discovered.

2008-10-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

After almost 4 years I re-discovered my zombie blog here.
Now I know why I shouldn't have picked the blog NAME I did. :D

One thing is for sure... No matter where you hide/hibernate... your forgotten web posts/materials will haunt you back someday.

I am wondering if at all someone visited those pages. No comments as of yet.... hints at some useless posting done .... haha

Making good use of the available Lyx templates for Thesis writeup (in Ubuntu)

2008-10-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

/usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/lyx
--> cmuthesis.cls
--> sigplanconf.cls
--> xxxxx

/home/user/.lyx/layouts
--> cmuthesis.layout
--> sigplanconf.layout
--> unswthesis.layout

sudo texhash
(now on, the changes in cmuthesis.cls will immediately reflect on the pdf)

run lyx Tools->reconfigure

restart lyx

Open with lyx and start using the templates
--> cmuthesis_template.lyx
--> sigplanconf_template.lyx

SSH key authentication with NetBeans

2008-10-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

Once you have generated the private/public key pair and done server/client side configurations there's little more to be done to be able to use it with NetBeans.

Edit ~/.subversion/config file to include.

ssh = $SVN_SSH ssh -l
(This is disabled by default)

Then add the key to the agent.

$ ssh-add

You are all good now if you have no passphrase set in which case you might have to authenticate with the passphrase.

Annoying problem with SVN-Server SSH authentication

2008-10-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Don't you get mad when you have to enter your passphrase 3 times for every SVN-commit ? Well I do.

Go avoid it !!!

(If you don't know this already) Pass-phrase need be entered just once for every X-login.

$ env | grep SSH

This command gives your ssh agent that is running.

SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/tmp/ssh-THqzVF9262/agent.9262

Generate the private/public key pair with

$ ssh-keygen
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa):
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX user@host

(select no passphrase to login without a passphrase)
Now, id_rsa holds your private key and id_rsa.pub has the public which has to be updated in the server.

(Server) Edit the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys to include the public key.

On the client side, you can load your keys into the agent with ssh-add

$ ssh-add

That will load the standard keys into the agent:

~/.ssh/identity (SSH1, RSA)
~/.ssh/id_dsa (SSH2, DSA)
~/.ssh/id_rsa (SSH2, RSA)

Now, you need not supply pass-phrase for any ssh client you start from your X session. If you don't have a passphrase set you don't need to supply one.

To Check the loaded keys use

$ ssh-add -l

SVN setup Linux Server - Linux User

2008-09-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Linux Server: (you don't need root privilege if you can use svn commands)

xxx@yyy$ svnadmin create ./ALDORSVN/ --fs-type fsfs
xxx@yyy$ ls ./myProject/
Proj1 Proj2
xxx@yyy$ svn import ./myProject/ file:///path/to/SVNrepo/ -m "first import"
xxx@yyy$ svn file:///path/to/SVNrepo/
xxx@yyy$ cd /path/to/SVNrepo

/* contents of the following files should start from the first column */
xxx@yyy$ vi ./conf/passwd

[users]
xxx=yyy
zzz=aaa

xxx@yyy$ vi ./conf/svnserve.conf
[general]
xxx = write
zzz=read
password-db = passwd

xxx@yyy$ svnserve -d -r file:///path/to/SVNrepo/ --listen-port 8888

Linux User: (I had to login with ssh password :P )
svn co svn+ssh://xxx@yyy.zzz.ca/path/to/SVNrepo
svn co svn+ssh://xxx@yyy.zzz.ca/path/to/SVNrepo/Proj1
svn co svn+ssh://xxx@yyy.zzz.ca/path/to/SVNrepo/Proj2

:-)

InkAndAudio Chat using Skype

2008-08-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Uploading the sources and the binaries onto the college provided 'projects' space marked the end of my reading course on 'multimodal interaction with digital ink and audio'. This was quite a while ago.

It was not possible to push the InkAndAudio chat application as an Skype-Extra because it could not be successfully tested on WinXP (tested Ok with WinVista 32 bit).

More information can be obtained here along with the Binaries for download and the Installation instructions.

:-)

Vmware with guest Ubuntu and host Ubuntu

2008-08-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

vnc4server doesn't seem to be doing so good for different Linux distros. I had to have a remote login enabled in my Linux box (as the Title of this story says).

Eventually, had to settle down with RealVnc that comes with Ubuntu default installation.

Steps:

1) (guest ubuntu) I have enabled auto login at startup for the OS. System->administration->login windows
Now, get to Security tab and enable auto-login for a user.

1) (guest ubuntu) System -> Preference -> Remote Desktop

Setup the necessary options here. I allow full control without authentication for my ease.

The server box is all set for remote access.

2) (host Ubuntu) "tsclient" = Terminal Server Client is used to connect to the Server.
The following script (stored in file - vncUbuntu) does the trick for me.
tsclient -x /home/user/Desktop/vmware/ubuntu.rdp
where ubuntu.rdp is the file saved by tsclient which stores the necessary parameters set for connection.

I picked 800x600 resolution, 16 bit color (to make the session work bit more faster :)

Now, I just need 3 command lines to play around and connect remotely.
* vmrun start /var/lib/vmware/Virtual\ Machines/VM_Ubuntu/VM_Ubuntu.vmx
* vmrun suspend /var/lib/vmware/Virtual\ Machines/VM_Ubuntu/VM_Ubuntu.vmx
* tsclient -x /home/amit/Desktop/Thesis/vmware/ubuntu.rdp

-Amen

Kernel Compilation in Ubuntu (Gutsy)

2008-07-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

The dreaded Kernel Compilation has begun to haunt me again. I should have taken it up seriously back in undergrad days.

Here's what I do.

Steps:

Download the desired kernel from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ I got linux-2.6.26.tar.bz2 and kept it at /home/user/kernel

bunzip2 -d linux-2.6.26.tar.bz2
tar -xvf linux-2.6.26.tar.bz2

Now we have a directory at /home/user/kernel/linux-2.6.26

Uname command will tell us what the current kernel version is.

user@linux-box:/boot$ uname -a
2.6.22-14-generic

user@linux-box:~/kernel/linux-2.6.26$ ls /boot
abi-2.6.22-10-generic initrd.img-2.6.22-10-generic System.map-2.6.22-10-generic
abi-2.6.22-14-generic initrd.img-2.6.22-10-generic.bak System.map-2.6.22-14-generic
config-2.6.22-10-generic initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic vmlinuz-2.6.22-10-generic
config-2.6.22-14-generic initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic.bak vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
grub memtest86+.bin

This tells us that the hardware configurations have been captured in the config-2.6.22-14-generic file which can be used for our kernel compilation.

We have to copy this config file into our linux kernel sources which we unzipped. I decided to use the same config file that I had in my Ubuntu because I am building the kernel for the same machine. This might not be your case.

$ cd /home/user/kernel/linux-2.6.26
$ cp /boot/config-2.6.22.14-generic ./.config

$ make menuconfig
This should be the most tricky part which eventually defines the Kernel size. You might want to change the default options to optimize/minimize the kernel size.

$ apt-get install kernel-packages
this gives us make-kpkg which is an alegant tool to build the kernel.

$ make-kpkg clean
Below, I will use "my+name" tag to give the build file a unique name.
$ fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd --append-to-version=my+name kernel_image kernel_headers

(Take a coffee break now as this might take a while)
It took 1 and 1/2 hours on my m/c with 1 GB RAM. Probably few more parameters can be changed (while make menuconfig) that could reduce the kernel size and the time it takes to finish compilation.

Eventually we get 2 binaries (the two .deb files in the following steps).

These .deb binaries can be taken to other machine with similar hardware.

Install:

$ sudo dpkg -i linux-image-2.6.22.9my+name-10.00.Custom_i386.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-2.6.22.9my+name-10.00.Custom_i386.deb

$ sudo reboot

/boot/grub/menu.lst now has one more entry.

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22.9my+name
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.22.9my+name root=UUID=a89c3e7b-3b67-4543-8746-6687acea31f1 ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.22.9my+name
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22.9my+name (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.22.9my+name root=UUID=a89c3e7b-3b67-4543-8746-6687acea31f1 ro single
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.22.9my+name

If you can not boot your new kernel and you need to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst file then don't panic.

You can either use Ubuntu live CD as I used to.
Or, if you are as clever as me and have a Dual Vista/Ubuntu setup then you can use this "Ext2 Installable File System For Windows" tool which is just amazing. You can simple mount your Ubuntu installation Ext3 volume in a C:\ , D:\ like drive in Vista and then browse through xxx:\boot\grub\menu.lst, make necessary changes and reboot into your Ubuntu with the new kernel.

-Amen

Writing a Paper

2008-06-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things to consider while writing a paper. (Kent Beck)

a) Write to the Program Committee
You need to get past the PC first. You have about 30 secs to blow his/her mind. A PC guy is an expert, and so you need to leave a mark with appropriate content of interest.

b) One startling sentence

c) Argument: problem, solution, defense and related work.
This section convinces the reader that your idea is novel and you have sufficient work to prove the explained problem.

d) Abstract
It is a 4 sentence summary of the paper's conclusion. This should help the PC to place your paper in pile A ( first priority )

++++++++++++++++++++

Four Sentences in the Abstract

1. Problem
2. Why the 1 is a Problem
3. Startling sentence
4. Implication of 3

Blogging in Nepali with रोमनाईज्ड युनिकोड ;-)

2008-06-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

नेपालि मा ब्लग लेख् न पानि रमाईलो हुदो हो जस्तो लागेर केहि लेख्दै छु । Romanized Unicode चाहि अति cool हुदो रहेछ । मलाई धेरै खुसि लाग्यो । Grammar को चाई बाल भएन आजलाई । जे सुकै होस ।

धेरै लेख् न सकिएन । फेरि फेरि लेख्दै गरुला ।
गणतन्तर नेपाल लेख् न पनि आएन मलाई । I need more practice.

Adios :-)

Setting up SVN repository with Eclipse + TortoiseSVN + Subversion 1.5

2008-05-10T19:52:00.001-07:00

xxx@yyy$ svnadmin create /path/to/repository ( eg. /home/xxx/repo )
xxx@yyy$ ls projects/

Project1 Project2 Project3

xxx@yyy$ cd projects
xxx@yyy$ svn import . /path/to/repository/ -m "adding projects to repo"

xxx@yyy$ svn list file:///path/to/repository/Project1 (list the content)

xxx@yyy$ svn co file:///path/to/repository/Project1 workingCopy (check out)

xxx@yyy$ svnserve -d -r file:///path/to/repository/ --listen-port 8888
After the last step we can access the repository from other networks.

Steps:

Configured on Windows Vista.
a) install TortoiseSVN
Restart
b) install Subversion 1.5 for Windows.

Now change the Subversion config at (%appdata%\Subversion) according to the
howTo setup given in the first link below.

(howTo setup subclipse on Windows to work with ssh+svn -by Alex)
http://subclipse.tigris.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=users&msgNo=3334

c) if Eclipse starts to crash with subclipse installation, here's the remedy
http://subclipse.tigris.org/faq.html#win32-crash

Using Eclipse to check-in Check-out.
- After subclipse installation read the Help file from Eclipse->Help
- Open a new Repository Location (The Server that we setup above)

svn+ssh://xxx@yyy/path/to/repository/
(yyy to be replaced by full domain - eg. xxx@orangenet.people.ca/path/to/repo)
- If successful we will see Project1, Project2 and Project3 in the tree
- RightClick Project1 to check-out from the server
- To check-in a newProject to the repository
x) open newProject in Eclipse
xx) rightClick newProject-> Team-> Commit

(or you may use the TortoiseSVN to check-in code from the Source code Folder)

I still don't know how you can browse the Committed code in the server.
Although, the following command will list the committed code.
xxx@yyy$ svn list file:///path/to/repository/newProject

PS:
To be able to check-in files using TortoiseSVN (right click option) we have to set up the ssh client with the TortoiseSVN configuration file.

Right click any folder -> TortoiseSVN -> settings (now choose network)
and set up the SSH field as

C:/Program Files/TortoiseSVN/bin/TortoisePlink.exe -i C:/Users/xxx/Documents/PrivateKeySSH2RSA1024.ppk

Rotten Android Ideas

2008-03-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

For the android developer challenge, I had two (rotten) ideas in my mind.

i) local-bus tracking application

I wanted to develop an application that would help students or general people see the (school/local) bus on top of the route map displayed on their mobile. This application could not have been so android-ically technical but sure could have found a lot of users.

ii) gambling application (MobLotto)

Winning money (how-so-ever) always gives me an adrenaline rush. So I thought of writing a gambling application. This idea got through several mail-exchange activities, and eventually rusted out in multiple inbox-es. Then one fine day I decided to post it and Voila !!!!!

Someone fires up the MobLotto on the G-phone and initializes the following
- No of participants currently
- date of result announcement
- How much money raised
- how many winners will be announced

Adding more participants:

Each user fires up his/her application. When the application is fired a user interface opens up which gives you multiple options to choose the MobLottoType (instant lotto, general lotto .. etc.)

instant lotto : Results come up sooner.For say people in a theater/horse race or some desperate gambler who needs to win instantly

General lotto: Fundraising lotto:

same game may be used for voting. People have their mobiles registered. This application might let them vote.

Once an option is picked up then the Ongoing MobLotto in that category are listed.

you won't need to worry about the participants from your end. all you do is Participate .. and win ...

How to broadcast messages:

a) broadcast only to people in your contact list`
If you are at a party or in a situation wherein you just want to play with your people in the list

b) broadcast to people in your area
(railway/airport/theater/racing)

Now here comes the Work-distribution part because of which all my group members left me alone to work on the proposal :P

a) UI design (2 persons)
interface to start MobLotto. buttons, menus, dialogue boxes

b) How to broadcast messages to ppl in an area.
Grab Data using the GPS APIs' Algorithm involving this data usage

c) Algorithm to select the Winners
The users need participate in the winner selection somehow.

i) May be let 'em choose few Locations on the map
(out of 3 hot locations)
Then depending on the number of votes the location gets manipulate the co-ordinate somehow to pick up the winners.

ii) May be pick up the value of total money raised and manipulate the value to pick up the winners.

d) API Development
API should cover
-Distance calculations between broadcast point and participants
-FreiendList broadcast
-RandomBroadcast

Hint --- I could become a super-unsuccessful "project-manager" if I were to pick up that role. What do you think ???

ChatOverSkype :: Skype Chat application with App2App communication using C# and Skype4COM

2008-03-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Lately I have spent some time digging the Skype API. This chat example shows how we can use the Skype API and the Skype4COM wrapper to code simple applications in C# with Visual Studio express 2008 edition
[free VS express download]

ChatOverSkype application opens with the current Online Skype users on you list on the left hand side. One has to double click on any one of the online user to start the Chat.

Haven't spent so much time polishing the code. So , might be a bit frustrating to understand. [:P]

But what are hackers for ???

#########################################

ChatOverSkype_bin.zip has the Binaries ( you need to have .NET 3.5 in your system )
ChatOverSkype_src.zip has the source files

- Regmee

(Vista XP Ubuntu) ( lost / corrupted / messed up ) MBR / GRUB recovery

2008-02-05T21:16:00.001-08:00

In the process of experimenting with XP install on my Dell XPS laptop that had Vista & Ubuntu,I had to stuggle hard to bring back the lost MBR Grub image back to the MBR again.

Finally I managed to get XP Professional loaded with Vista and Ubuntu.
Here's my adventure

a) Had Vista setup with factory settings.
b) Shrunk volume for Ubuntu installtion which pushed grub into MBR
c) Wanted to Install XP along with/without Vista
d) Shrunk volume (Vista) again for 10 GB (XP single drive) space and spoilt MBR
e) Followed tutorial at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351
Did the following steps using the Ubuntu (Install cum Live) CD
- Boot Up
- Open Terminal
- sudo grub
- grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
(gave) (hd0,4)
which meant grub installed on 4+1 = 5th partition on the 0+1 first Hard Drive
- grub> root (hd0,4)
- grub> setup (hd0)
- grub> quit
- sudo reboot

This fixed the grub back to MBR and I was so so happy to see the grub screen after a reboot

When selected a boot option from the drop down I was greeted with:
"Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
Press any key to continue."

Because I had created a logical drive out of the shrunken space from Vista installation the /dev/sda numbers on the Linux Grub got changed.

From the Grub list now I selected an option to edit with 'e' and changed the value (hd0, 5) to (hd0,4) and pressed 'b' to boot

wohoooooooooo !!!!! Ubuntu booted up and made me happy again.

After I logged in to Ubuntu.. went straight to the /boot/grub/menu.lst file and changed all the (hd0,5)s to (hd0,4)s for permanent change. (Also changed (hd0,2) to (hd0,1) for Vista and Vista too booted :P )

f) Geared up to Install Windows XP.
Little did I know what was in store ....

Booted up for Installation .. the same traditional blue screen .... same nostalgia :( .. eventually got to a halt with

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer"

I freaked out. Logged into Ubuntu again just to explore "The How-To Geek" guide @
"resolving-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives/"

Damn !! Had to download Intel SATA Drivers for my Dell XPS M1330 from
SATA driver for XPS M1330

And along with the steps given @ "The How-To Geek" guide above I had to create a new ISO image using the XP Professional installation CD and the downloaded drivers. Took me almost 1/2 an hour.

It was a pleasant experience coz at one point I was hopeless. I said to myself "NOT AGAIN !!" ... Probably you also know the agony of messing up with the dual boot systems.

Finally I could install XP and reverted back the overwritten MBR to the old GRUB following step (e) above. My joy had no bounds when I saw the "Vista/LongHorn" Grub menu take me to the XP installation.

-Amen

Nepali font installation for Ubuntu

2008-01-25T17:35:00.001-08:00

If you have problems with the Nepali font installation in Ubuntu, this is the right place for you.

Ubuntu allows only the *.TTF (true type font) installtion. To install Nepali fonts you will need the *.ttf files e.g. kantipur.ttf, himali.ttf, preeti.ttf, gauri.ttf, mteverest.ttf, REETI_0.TTF, RUKMINI.TTF etc.

You can download the fonts from the locations below or copy the *.ttf fonts from your windows font installation folder.

http://ncthakur.itgo.com/download.htm
http://nepali.info/nepali/fonts/

Installation:

METHOD A:

$ sudo nautilus fonts://

Now copy the .ttf fonts to the opened directory.
Fonts are installed in /usr/share/fonts directory in Ubuntu.
Now restart the browser and see the magic.
If it dint' work you might need to do
$ sudo fc-cache -f -v
Restart the browser again.

METHOD B:

$ mkdir ~/.fonts
Copy the ttf (True Type Fonts) fonts here.

$ sudo fc-cache -f -v
Restart the browser again.

MultiModal Interaction (MMI)

2008-01-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

Distance learning is one field where MMI has proven to be a boon. MMI not only helps communication but makes it more better and more advanced.

Synchronous and asynchronous chats in Distance learning use MMI wherein a teacher, and distant students come online and discuss. More often they have a common whiteBoard on each screen where everyone can write/draw using the pen device (ink chat) and discuss at the same time (voice chat). Video may also be streamed showing the participants (web-cam).

Researchers have extended such MultiModal Interaction tools for helping 'hearing disabled' and 'sight disabled'.

Form fillup applications with tools such as stylus/penInk and voice is not something new. Homer browser for the blind is an example of interactive web application with voice.

Sites such as SensoryInc.com and AutomatedLiving.com have done substantial amount of work in the MMI field, their products ranging from ICs, PDAs, Cell Phones, Automobiles and other appliances and household items.

Newer technologies with extensible languages such as SALT (Speech Application Language Tag) and (X+V) = XHTML + VoiceXML have made it easier to develop robust MMI applications.

MultiModal Applications:
Input : Speech Recognition, Keyboard, Stylus (digital ink), touch Screen
Output: Visual, audio, touch

A good news for extensive bloggers, tabletDev.com is working on a tool that will hep blog using digital ink. Now, bloggers can simply select the destination blog and publish in no time.

MS speech recognition available in XP/Vista can be used bigTime with the 'pen' interface available in tablet PCs.
(The speech recognition is not so much robust and can be painful at times)

Speech synthesis is no more a problem, with the availability of free tools such as Festival TTS engine. With the two available ink APIs viz. the IBM CrossPad API and the Microsoft Tablet PC API, applications might be developed with various digital ink formats such as : UNIPEN, Jot and InkML.

The immense power of MMI will become evident when we get to see even handicapped users using the application.
visually impaired --- voice
hearing impaired --- text
can't speak/type --- penInk

If such voice, text and penInk are alltogether mixed up in the MMI application with the required conversion from one to another would not that be a true MultiModal application ?

Ubiquitous Computing

2008-01-11T20:48:00.002-08:00

ubiquitous -- meaning Omnipresent (everywhere)

Ubiquitous Computing might be a bad news for a Computer Addict but surely is the future.

The current scene of a single user - single computer will be history. There would be thousands of devices embedded in your surrounding. You may never know or get used to the idea of having so many of them around.

Imagine yourself filling in an application form and the input gets sensed by the computer and stored.

Imagine people writing on paper and the text geting transformed into chat.

Imagine an officer walking to the counter, signs on a paper which then gets verified and is allowed access.

Imagine programmers sharing a document and then geographically separated colleagues putting changes, circling text and verifying with signatures.

Imagine a busy techie who writes a message which then gets sent as a voice message to his wife.

Imagine having writing pads all over the place and then sending input to the machine after scraping things right then and there. Such "pads" might as well have variable sizes.

Imagine a burglar trying to break into the house instead gets trapped when the main door shuts from behind after the hidden sensors finally figure out him not being a family member.

Imagine yourself in a safari ride. You get the presense of animals nearby notified in your sunglass display.

This is how things are going to be. The huge available information pool is going to be filtered well and only relevant knowledge is served.

Similar to mobiles phones which have created history in being the most successful gadget of all times there would be uncountable computers hidden everywhere that are going to use us and the surrounding.

Calm Technology is going to be predominant giving the technology a smooth ride in all places. Such technology will bring about relief from "information overload". An e.g. of which may be the usage of video conferences over telephonic ones which will not only relax the user but also allow more information to exist.

to be contd ...

Little Endian Vs. Big Endian.

2008-01-11T20:15:00.001-08:00

Endianness:
It is the attribute of a system that indicates whether integers are represented from left to right or right to left. A big-endian representation has a multibyte integer written with its most significant byte on the left; a number represented thus is easily read by English-speaking humans.

- an issue that arises while ordering the bytes in the storage of multibyte numbers ( esp. when you are writing those numbers to a file )

Go to sleep if you can't remember this easy formula ..

(L-L-L)
Little endian -> Low-order bytes -> Lowest address in memory.

eg:
longint :
Byte3 Byte2 Byte1 Byte0 (lowest order)

In Little Endian the bytes will be stored in memory as.

Base Addr + 0 Byte0
Base Addr + 1 Byte1
Base Addr + 2 Byte2
Base Addr + 3 Byte3

eg: (Intel Processors in PC's use Little Endian)

In Big Endian the bytes will be stored in memory as.

Base Addr + 0 Byte3
Base Addr + 1 Byte2
Base Addr + 2 Byte1
Base Addr + 3 Byte0

eg: (Motorola Processors in Mac's use Little Endian)

( courtesy : the 1726 book Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift )

fun time

2006-05-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

a) 1st rule of Oriental Cuisine:
"Never look inside the eggroll".
b) The first 90% of the job takes 90% of the time.
The remaining 10% takes another 90% of the time.

a successful corporate life

2006-05-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Nepal .. then and now

2006-05-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

A Nepali no matter wherever he lives will always want to hear, see and speak good things about Nepal.

If the first sentence of this article does not apply to any reader then you could question yourself on being a Nepali.

Then:

Having been out of Nepal for the past six years (includes seldom visits to my native), I've always had a different feeling getting back to my hometown, Biratnagar. In the first years of undergraduate studies at REC(NIT) West Bengal I would just love it when I were going backhome .. especially when I'd be on a ricksaw over the Mechi River bridge in Kakarvitta, it used to give me some secure and homely feelings. I swear, I'd be totally relieved of every mathematical stress my brain had …. once I'd cross the check-post at the border :-)

As years gone by, I would feel more and more insecure getting back. Once I were closer to the border I'd start getting worried on reaching home as early as possible. I started spending less time at my place and would get back to college early.

Now:

It definitely hurts to hear our very own people are suffering and longing for their human rights everyday. Present day Nepal is a horrific nightmare to hundreds of thousands of us.

The ongoing bloodshed have almost deserted the land from the youth(sorry for the grammer).There are a thousands, who dream everyday of getting out of Nepal somehow ... a well known fact. Those who go out to get expertise would rather stay away in an alien society lonely then to get back and face frustrations( I fall into this genre). I am still optimist in the sense that one day I'd definitely get back and share all my expertise with the needed young Nepali vigour.

There are people who stay abroad and are scared to get back. Am I really ?? :-( Yes I am .

A very recent bitter experience of Pradyumna (my close buddy) who had gone backhome to fix up some visa papers had to stay indoor for thirteen days. He was backhome after seven long months and surely had desires of visiting his near and dear ones and having a good time in the capital. Little did he know that the day he'd land in Kathmandu he would be greeted by curfew orders for the next eight hours.

Many dream today that the "once open a time" very well known "peace loving" country is trapped in some Bermuda Triangle (correction needed .. I am feeling sleepy now .. ;-) ) .. but eventually it is supposed to find a way to a safer shore. Let's all pray that the day comes soon.