Hi Honey!

Last weekend, we had sweet time in our Apartment, because of Honey Bee-Hive. Once a year I find the Honey Bee constructing their nest in my apartment area. Usually they like the 3rd floor very much. They love the balcony area of some of the flats in 3rd floor. This time, we had tough time finding a person who can remove the hive. Finally we got hold of the person through a chain of contacts.

My aim was to shoot (smile pls) the Queen Bee, but I could not do so. The Queen Bee was captured in a container and it could not be opened due to security reasons :) Somehow, I managed to get these snaps for my post. Due to huge size, I have uploaded them here. I am posting the details of the person who is professional in removing the Honey and cleaning up the hive.

Name: Ashok (stays near Bannergatta)

Contact: 92427-71877

Yahoo Mailbox size goes Unlimited!

Yipppieeeee! for those users who are fan of Yahoo Mail! Once upon a time, Yahoo was my primary mailbox. These days, I am using GMail more than Yahoo.

Yahoo has made a tempting offer for me to go back to my old primary mailbox. Although Yahoo launched this a month ago, I noticed this today in my mailbox. The RHS mail box usage showed the above animated GIF.

Now, AOL is the next in this initiative. They also started offering unlimited disk space.

A very good comparision chart of all Free Web Based Mail Providers can be found here.

Bangalore Midnight Marathon - 'First of its kind'

What a wonderfull idea! The world's first Midnight Marathon will be held in Bangalore this year. This event will take place near WhiteField/ITPL area on Saturday 19-May-2007 Midnight. The event is expected to end on early hours of Sunday :) So get ready to leave out your sleep on this weekend.

Office Website of this Event for complete info/registeration details: http://www.coindia.com/

Spidy 3 releases Today

Finally, one of my most awaited Spiderman 3 movie releasing today in India and some other countries.

His Quality Policy remains same - "With great power comes great responsibility" :) But, this our Hero, Peter Parker, gets 3 new villains - New Goblin, Sandman and Venom.

This movie is already released in some parts of world a month back (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/releaseinfo). Hoping to get Movie Tickets to watch this movie soon.

Windows Live Hotmail Launched

Recently Hotmail launched its New Windows Live Hotmail Interface to everyone. The same was being offerred to limited users for Beta testing.

When I logged into Hotmail, I was suprised to receive the above "Thanks" mail.

Unbelievable Internet Speed Record

A group of researchers led by the University of Tokyo has broken Internet speed records - twice in two days.
Operators of the high-speed Internet2 network announced Tuesday that the researchers on Dec. 30 sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols. The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps.
That likely represents the current network's final record because rules require a 10 percent improvement for recognition, a percentage that would bring the next record right at the Internet2's current theoretical limit of 10 Gbps.
However, the Internet2 consortium is planning to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps. With the 10-fold increase, a high-quality version of the movie "The Matrix" could be sent in a few seconds rather than half a minute over the current Internet2 and two days over a typical home broadband line.
Researchers used the newer Internet addressing system, called IPv6, to break the records in December. Data started in Tokyo and went to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle before returning to Tokyo. The previous high of 6.96 Gbps was set in November 2005.
Speed records under the older addressing system, IPv4, are in a separate category and stand at 8.8 Gbps, set in February 2006.
The Internet2 is run by a consortium of more than 200 U.S. university. It is currently working to merge with another ultrahigh-speed, next-generation network, National LambdaRail.
The announcement of the new record was made at the Internet2 consortium's spring meeting, which ends Wednesday in Arlington, Va.

Source: MyWay.com

Speedup your Windows XP computer in Minutes!

Found this wonderfull article which contains the tips to speed up the Windows XP computer without upgrading your hardware. To summarize, the following are the points discussed in this site:

1. Disable extra startup programs
2. Disable Extra Services
3. Adjust Display Settings
4. Remove Widgets and Background
5. Folder Browsing
6. Indexing Service
7. Size of Page File
8. Enable Direct Memory Access (DMA)

For complete details, please visit: Mobile-Pedia.com

GMail Error Code 008 while attaching files (Solved for me)

From past few days, whenever I used to attach images in GMail (using http://gmail.google.com/) and click on "Send" button, I used to get Error Code 008. Here's the screenshot of this error:

This error is popping up on my Windows XP 64 bit OS with IE 7 Browser. I even tried with FireFox 1.5.0.11, which takes very long time (almost in Hanging state) to attach a file of size 400kb.

There is a Help provided by GMail Help Center to resolve this error at this location. The solution which helped me to resolve this error is to use the GMail Secured URL - https://gmail.google.com/.

The HTTPS method helped me to solve my problem and hope the same helps others.

LPG Gas Cylinder's Expiry Date

Do you know that the LPG cylinder's have expiry date? Here is how we can check the expiry of LPG cylinders:

On one of three side stems of the cylinder, the expiry date is coded alpha-numerically as follows:

A/B/C/D and two digit number.

Example: C06

The alphabets stand for quarters -
A for March (First Quarter),
B for June (Second Quarter),
C for September (Third Quarter),
D for December (Fourth Quarter).
The digits stand for the year till it is valid.

In the above example, C06 would mean September Quarter of 2006.

Puzzles on my SMS :-)

Its been while, since I did some New Posts in my blog. I have a very simple excuse to the whole world - "I was busy" :)

In this post, I will post some of the interesting Puzzles that I received as SMS. These are really a great timepass and learning... Here, the list goes...

1) I am a 10 letter word. My 1234 has 'power to rule'. You eat my 5678. My 89&10 means 'of a lady'. I can fly. What am I?

2)I am a word of 5 letters, people eat me. If you remove my 1st letter, I will be form of energy. If you remove my 1st 2 letters I will be needed for living. If u remove my 1st 3 letters I will be near u. If u remove my 1st 4 letters I will be a drink 4 u... Who am I?

3) I am 7 letters long - 1234567. My 123 is a vehicle. My 2345 was a pop group. My 456 is a piece of luggage. My 567 changes every year. What am I?

4) It's a 9 letter word. 123456789. If it fails u will die. If u have 234, u can 1234. 56 is a type of disease. 89 indicates exact location & time. Whats the answer?

5)I will give you 5 zeroes 0,0,0,0,0 Use any mathematical operation but the answer should be equal to 120. Whats the answer?

6) I am a 5 letter word. If my 1st letter is removed I am a country. If my 1st 2 letters r removed, I am the opposite of 5 letter word. Who am I?

7) I am a 7 letter word. It is above God, it is impossible to God. If you eat this, you will die. Who am I?

Thanks to the SMS Senders :)

Gmail doesn't recognize dots (.)

Do you know that in GMail, the First.Last@gmail.com and FirstLast@gmail.com both are same?

Yes, thats true. Gmail doesn't recognize dots (.) as characters within a username. This way, you can add and remove dots to your username for desired address variations. messages sent to your.username@gmail.com and y.o.u.r.u.s.e.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.com are delivered to the same inbox, since the characters in the username are the same.

Keep in mind that hyphens (-) and underscores (_) can't be used in a Gmail address. Also, usernames are case insensitive, so it doesn't matter if you enter upper case or lower case letters.

I came to know about the above recently when I saw some mails in my Spam Folder, which didn't had the dot (.) in my eMail address.

This is what Google has to say about it.

BMTC Volvo introduces SMS service

Technology has come right down to the streets with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) introducing SMS alert service on the exact location of its buses.

The service, appropriately called "Yelli Iddira," entails a message "Where are you," eliciting the answer in the likes of "I am near Corporation bus stop now."
Initially, the service will be available on two Volvo routes — V356C between Kempe Gowda Bus Station and Electronic City and V335E between KBS and Kadugudi via ITPL. To avail oneself of the facility, one has to send an SMS from the mobile phone in the following manner — YI {lt}Volvo Route Number{gt} {lt}U or D{gt} to 9945634666.
For instance, to know the location of Route No. V356E, send an SMS reading YI V356E U, where YI stands for Yelli Iddira? V356 stands for the Volvo route number and U stands for `up' direction. Buses heading out of the starting station are designated as `up' and in reverse direction as `down.'

The Hindu sent two SMS for the two services at 7 p.m. on Saturday to test the same. For V356C, the reply was "At Kempe Gowda Bus Stand, near Kempe Gowda Bus Stand" and for V335E, it was "At 1.07 km southwest of Ulsoor bus stand." The idea was conceptualised by Muralidhar Rao, co-chairman, BMTC Commuter Comfort Task Force and the service was designed by Sujit Kumar of CL InfoTech Pvt., Ltd., Bangalore, a BMTC release said. Apparently, the service is being offered with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) that are integrated through GPRS.

Service Provided by CL Infotech Pvt Ltd. For details on its services, please click here.

GMail - No more waiting for someone to invite!

Yes! Its true, you no more require a GMail Invite to open Google Account. The Search Engine Leader - Google.com, officially opened its GMail to public for Free Online Accounts on Valentines day (14-Feb-2007). There's no reason you should struggle to reach the ones you love, and Gmail helps you communicate fast and easily. Gmail is available in over 40 interface languages.

Visit www.gmail.com, and click on the Sign-up link to create a New Google Account. Also checkout the Video at YouTube.

Source: Official Google Blog

Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes in 2007

Whats DST?
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a system of handling the changing amounts of daylight throughout the year. The goal of DST is to maximize the daylight hours available during typical waking hours. By adjusting clocks ahead a standard amount, usually an hour, people can have more daylight available during their typical work day. For example, suppose you wake daily at 7:00 AM. In the spring, the sun rises earlier each day. Instead of waking up at 6:00 AM to take advantage of the daylight, DST observers move their clocks ahead an hour. The effect is that they can continue to wake at 7:00 AM according to the clock and enjoy more daylight. In the fall, people set their clocks back an hour as sunrise happens later each day.

Whats the problem with DST in 2007?
Because of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the start date and the end date for daylight saving time (DST) in the United States will change in 2007. DST in the United States will start three weeks earlier and will end one week later than in previous years. DST will start at 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March and will end at 2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November.

Due to this, many software applications require patches to be installed. I have collected the Patch/Update information related to various software/tools:

1) Microsoft Visual Sourcesafe
2) Microsoft Visual Studio
3) Windows Mobile Update
4) Sun Java
5) Oracle
6) IBM Lotus Notes and Domino
7) Cognos position statement regarding DST readiness

Also found this link, which covers the DST information in detail.

Spice - DO NOT SMS Offer

SCOOOBY DOOOBY DOOO0OO... My Mobile Service Provider introduced one of the Best Offer for Prepaid Customers like me. I am ready to celebrate Dry Days. Check out the Offer Details below :

In order to enhance customer service and ensure customers get undisrupted service while messaging, we would like to inform all concerned that w.e.f 12-Feb-2007 (00:00 hours), no Free or Discounted SMS would be available to Spice Prepaid customers on the following days between 00:00 and 24:00 hours, i.e., New years's day (1-Jan), Pongal (15-Jan), Valentine's Day (14-Feb), Holi(4-Mar), Ugadi(19-Mar), Eid Milad(1-Apr), Friendship Day(5-May), Independence Day(15-Aug), Raksha Bandhan(28-Aug), Ganesh Chaturthi(15-Sep), Dussera(21-Oct), One day prior to Diwali(8-Nov), Diwali Day(9-Nov), Christmas Day(25-Dec), New Year Eve(31-Dec).

On these days normal SMS charges will apply for all Spice Prepaid customers. All concerned may please note.

Sd/-
Spice Telecom

Source: Spice Telecom

Thank you Spice for not including my favorite Baapu's day in your above list. I am hoping that other Service Providers are sweet and have not implemented the same.

For those customers, who are on the same boat as me, here are some tips:
1) Send SMS one day in advance or a belated SMS after 1 day. You can keep reminders for above mentioned dates on your Mobile Phone Calendar.
2) As per my experiences with Delivery Reports, I noticed that the Spice SMS Server Date usually runs behind. So do not take any change - please send the SMS 15 minutes before/after the above said Dry Days.
3) If your plan permits low rate calls, use Phone Calls instead of SMS on these Dry Days.

Air Show 2007 - Bangalore

The Air Show of 2007 is back in Bangalore. I am hoping to see it again this year. My first visit to Air show was two years back with my friend Ganesh. Unfortunately, we were not Blogging that time :)


This year, Chairman of the Tata Group Ratan Tata (right in picture) flew the F-16 fighter aircraft at the Aero India show in Bangalore on Thursday 08-Feb-2007. He termed the experience "exhilarating."

Latest Update >>> I visited Air Show on Sunday and will put the update soon...

New phishing technique discovered

A new ‘undetectable’ phishing tactic has been hijacking the web pages of a major UK bank, according to security vendor Envisional.

Until now customers have been able to check a link in an email by moving the mouse over it, thus revealing a fraudulent URL addresses. But this new method shows the legitimate web address of the bank in question.

'This is a completely new and very dangerous threat,' said Envisional’s chief executive officer, Michael Wheatley. 'Even wary, sophisticated online banking customers will be caught out by this latest form of attack.'

The new approach exploits a vulnerability in the web site of the bank, allowing a link to look like it directs the user to the legitimate site. Actually the link sends the user to a framed mock-up of the bank's page that is really part of the phisher’s web site.

Source: Computing UK

Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2005

Found this informative article which provides step-by-step guidelines for diagnosing and troubleshooting common performance problems by using publicly available tools such as SQL Server Profiler, System Monitor, and the new Dynamic Management Views in SQL Server 2005.

Source: Microsoft Technet Website
Click Here for Direct Link to 108 pages of Word Document

The Wow starts Now

Microsoft launched Windows Vista on 30-Jan-2007 and tells us “The ‘Wow’ starts Now”. The world's largest software company spent some 6 billion dollars and 5 years to develop the programme, and is offering a smorgasbord of different versions designed to fit everyone from the web-surfing granny who needs just basic functionality to the media and gaming- obsessed geek.

Vista users can actually expect several thousand new functions, Microsoft claims. Most of them are hidden underneath the hood, so to speak. One eye-catching element is the new graphical interface, dubbed Aero. It is remarkable first for its semi- transparent windows. Open several windows at once, and you can still see which other folders and documents are open beneath them. This is not exactly trailblazing in the world of operating systems, though. Transparent windows are also available in Apple's Mac OS X and with various Linux versions.

Read complete article at Playfuls.com

Also checkout the Vista Launch post at VJ's Blog.

Google Earth agrees to blur pix of key Indian sites

President APJ Abdul Kalam's concerns over Google Earth providing detailed and unhindered view of ‘sensitive' Indian establishments have been addressed, courtesy a formula which allows users uninterrupted access to the ‘eye in the sky' while camouflaging key installations.

At a recent meeting between ministry of science and technology officials and Google Earth representatives, it was decided that installations identified by government would be carefully camouflaged. This, it was felt, was better than an outright blackout. Apart from well-known sites like BARC, there are many less prominent ones, and blacking them out would only attract attention to their locations.

Images of these locations will not be of more than 25-50 metre resolution, more like the older generation pictures provided by Indian Remote Sensing satellites. Official sources said Google Earth would distort building plans by adding structures where none existed or masking certain aspects of a facility. This could be done without attracting attention to such establishments, which range from laboratories, mines, military sites, space and atomic centres and residences of high-profile VVIPs.

The government list of such sites would be accepted by Google Earth. The controversy over Google Earth's images had gained momentum after Kalam, in October last year, expressed concern that unrestricted pictures on the web could have worrisome security implications.