Hitched Hiker

Get Microsoft to Fund Linux

Abhilash — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:30:25 +0000

Its always fun to see big corporations funding open source and free software. Whether they do this willingly or unwillingly really doesn’t matter as long as your favourite open source/free project gets a nice donation. It makes you feel like you have achieved a little victory for the open source/free movement.

A lot of people may not know that it is quite possible for you to do the above mentioned benevolent act, with just a little bit of perseverance and patience. I read a post on the blog on my favourite Linux distribution, Linux Mint, and just had to share the information provided in the posting. The posting is about how Graeme Corbbett got a refund for choosing to reject the Windows operating system installed on his newly purchased Dell laptop. On getting the refund, he went ahead and donated the amount refunded to him to his favourite Linux distribution, Linux Mint.

The post is not only funny to read but also gives a really nice and calm way to deal with the usual delaying tactics used by the representatives of big companies to make us feel like we don’t know what we are taking about. While I don’t know whether this will work in India, I would urge anyone who can, to at least try. When I buy my next laptop I will try this after comparing the EULA.

This is the post on the Linux Mint blog with the text of the letter sent by Graeme Corrbett.

This is the post on linux.com with a longer and more detailed description and procedure plus tips and tricks, though it is a little old.

Let me know if anyone has any success.

Update: To reject the Windows 7 EULA do NOT boot the computer. There is no “Reject” button, only an “Agree” button. Go through this article on Silicon Alley Insider.Similar Posts

My Must Have Photo Tools for Linux in PhotographySoftware
Review: Minty Freshness with Linux Mint in Software
Microsoft to Offer Free Upgrade to Windows 7 in Software
Using your LCD/Plasma TV with your Linux Box in Software
Linux Mint 7 KDE Edition in Software

Google Maps has Fresh Images for Mumbai

Abhilash — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:46:32 +0000

Google maps has been updated with fresh images for the city of Mumbai in India. The images are hardly a couple of weeks old and show the current aerial views of Mumbai that can be recognized including the under construction Mumbai Metro, the Chembur Monorail and everything else that was earlier missing from the older images which were almost 3 years old. You can also now zoom in to the maximum level allowed by the slider. Earlier there were no images for the maximum zoom level.Similar Posts

Bhuvan: India’s Answer to Google Earth in Internet
Google Analytics Custom Reporting in Internet
The Customer is Not Always Right in Internet
Indian Blogger? Please don’t Blog About… in Internet
Internet Goals for 2009 in Internet

Opera Mobile 9.7

Abhilash — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:08:13 +0000

Since Torch Mobile got bought over by RIM, their mobile browser Iris is no linger being distributed or the older versions updated. This was a browser that I really liked since it was light and ran quick on my imate KJam. Its ironic that imate has also shut down their operations and now only the brand remains. I had tried Opera Mobile earlier but earlier releases did not launch as fast as Iris and certainly did not run as quickly as Iris on my WM5 device. Having seen the swift development of other mobile browsers and the discontinuation of the Iris browser prompted me to try Opera Mobile once again. This time, I was quite surprised, after a small initial hiccup.

I installed the latest beta release (9.7) and started it up for the first time. It didn’t start. Thats quite alright with me. With the KJam some of the more recent applications sometimes do not launch the first time generally owing to low memory or the relatively slow processor. In fact I generally overclock the OMAP 195 to about 300mhz when I try new applications. After a quick reboot, I ran Opera again. It started up and showed me a much cleaner interface than the last time that I used it almost a year ago.

The interface is definitely a lot slicker and more polished than Iris. The address bar, search bar and the dialogue boxes are all very nice to look at. The browsing itself is also fast. I have now used the browser both on my GPRS connection and also with Wifi. I am quite happy with this release and am quite certain that I will be using it going forward. Opera is definitely better than Iris and a lot better than Skyfire which is just bloatware. However I will look at that later, maybe.

The other really nice thing to have are the Opera Widgets. This is something that I used to spend a lot of my free time on even in the desktop version. It is loads of fun and the widgets available are both for entertainment and information. I have spent a lot of time playing Ninja Ropes and the Daily Crossword on the desktop Opera browser. I am really excited to try more of the widgets on the mobile platform.

To go through the main features of Opera Mobile 9.7, I have the always popular screenshots from my imate KJam.

The main page with and without the address bar and the navigation buttons. The text renders very well

Reading is very non-stressful and the text on the pages is very clear and zooming and panning is also effortless

The settings menu has a nice clean interface and all the options are easily configurable

The context menus are intuitive and the option of opening a link in a new tab is something that I missed in Iris

Tabs can be selected from the navigation bar at the bottom and the search option is available when you select the address bar

Opera widgets are something that I really liked even in the desktop version and you have the same feature available on the mobile platform as a seperate application. Loads of fun in my opinion, and all delivered through the browser

Just as examples, the Facebook and Twitter widgets. They werent as fast as I hoped that they would be. In fact the mobile sites of both these services work a lot faster directly in the browser

Similar Posts

None Found

Remote Timer for Sony Alpha

Abhilash — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:06:38 +0000

The last accessory that I bought for my camera kit were some really inexpensive (and pretty useless) optical filters of various colours and some of the macro type filters which too haven’t been used much. Since it had been some time since I had bought anything for the camera, I was looking for some inexpensive accessories that would actually get used and not just lie in the camera bag. While browsing for camera accessories online (mostly ebay), I saw some really cool wireless remotes for Sony Alphas.

They were very nice and had all the features that you could ask for in a timer. They were wireless with a unit that attached to the flash receptacle with a wire going from there to the remote port and a hand held unit with all the goodies. Most of them had just the shutter release mechanism but more advanced ones had an intervalometer to take pictures at preset intervals. You could adjust the number of images to be taken, the time gap between each image, the duration for the shutter to remain open and also the delay timer.

So you could take 99 images at 10 second intervals, keeping the shutter open for 5 seconds each time and a delay of 5 seconds before shutter release. Yeah, that’s about all that you really need to do right. And how about that wireless feature? Yeah, but all this comes at a cost of about 150 to 200 dollars. That was nowhere near my budget. So I headed over to ebay US and searched for remotes for the Alpha with all the above features but not cordless. I found the Yongnuo manufactured remotes which were shipped from Hong Kong. The price was a very comfortable 25 dollars plus shipping, a grand total of 37 dollars. Here it is now.

Remote Timer and Intervalometer

I bought this remote a few months ago and have been using it very regularly, whether just to take night shots or to take timed shots. One of the first things that I did was to set up the camera to capture the sunrise in a set of images. While the timer and camera worked brilliantly, the scene really wasn’t what I expected with very little to really see. However, it proved that the timer and remote were a really good buy. The next time I use the timer was on a really stormy night and I was able to get some really nice shots of lightning and also long exposure shots of planes taking off from the nearby airport. A few of those shots are below.

Another useful function of the timer is the shutter lock. You can set the shutter to BULB and then lock the shutter release for long periods of time. Possibly useful for astrological photography. I might never get to do that considering the amount of light pollution in the city. Anyway, this has been a good purchase for me. More samples as and when I take them.Similar Posts

Review: Sony DSLR Alpha 300K in Photography
Review: Sony DSC-S80 in Photography
Diwali Photography in Photography
Moon Shots in Photography
Camera Shootout: Old Sony VS New Sony in Photography

Diwali Photography

Abhilash — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:29:52 +0000

Diwali was here and now its gone. It is without a doubt the best Indian festival in my opinion. The lights and the fireworks make the atmosphere the most festive possible, unfortunately also adding to the smoke in the atmosphere. The fireworks are loud and irritating, but it wouldn’t be diwali without them.

This was the first diwali where I had my DSLR with me. In fact my only interest in this diwali was the opportunity to be able to get some nice shots of the various kinds of fireworks going off. Even though, finally, I only got to take photos of three or four type of fireworks, namely Chakras, Rockets, Flower Pots(anaar), and Sparklers, at the end of it all I was pretty satisfied with the shots I was able to get.

All the shots that I took were handheld and mostly on shutter priority with the shutter open for 1 second. This was good enough to catch any trails made by the fireworks and also keep the exposure low so that the pictures didn’t get washed out. The people who were actually lighting the fireworks were so enthusiastic that they hardly gave me time to experiment with any other settings. Besides they seemed to be having so much fun, I didn’t want to turn it into a boring photo session. So I did the best that I could under the given conditions.

Collected below are some of my favourite pictures from the Diwali just past.

You can leave your comments below or head over to the Flickr Photo Page to see the higher resolution images and leave comments there too.Similar Posts

Exposure Bracketing for Tricky Lighting in Photography
Photography Project No. 3: Macro in Photography
Photography Project No 4: Macro Again in Photography
Photography Project No. 2: Light Writing in Photography
Moon Shots in Photography

My Must Have Photo Tools for Linux

Abhilash — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:30:56 +0000

I am very interested in photography. Although I am not a professional or even looking to be a professional in the field, I do enjoy using my DSLR and trying out new things when I can. I like posting my pictures to websites like Flickr and seeing how people react to my work. Since I use Linux on my home computer, over time I have developed my own work-flow when I want to do some post processing before either posting to Flickr or on my blog. While I don’t have the tools that are available to Windows users, there are many free and open source programs available to me for my meager needs. Even if I had been on Windows, I would not have wanted to really spend any money on my hobby for software (the hardware is expensive enough). I would have probably used the same tools that I use on Linux. This is a list of my essential photo tools for Linux.

The GIMP

The GIMP

The GIMP is my choice for photo manipulation and retouching. My first brush (pun intended) with GIMP was with the Windows quite a few years ago. I did not use Linux then and it was the only free “Photoshop Clone” that was available for Windows. I upgraded every time there was a new release and am very comfortable with the tools and the menus. The best part about GIMP has to be the plug-ins. The vast repository of plug-ins available for the GIMP is the best thing. A standard installation of GIMP for me contains plug-ins that I use practically every time I am playing around with an image.

While the GIMP can’t really beat PS and its siblings when it comes to professional photo-editing, there is no reason a non-professional should spend ridiculous amounts of money on commercial photo-editing software when the GIMP is present. The additional plug-ins that I use most frequently are:

The Advanced Tone Mapping (ATM) Plug-in: This is one smooth plug-in for anyone who is sick of the process of creating a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image. Basically you take 3 shots at different exposures, align and combine them, and then Tone Map them to get an image that shows more range from shadows to highlights. The process is tedious to say the least. Especially if you are using open source/free software. This plug-in lets to tone map a single image to give it the same appearance as you would get after tone mapping a HDR image. It is easy and the results are quite satisfactory. Of course, the quality of your original image also matters. There are various options you can play with to get good(realistic) to really freaky(freaky) results.
Exposure Blend Plug-in: This plug-in makes it easy to merge 3 differently exposed photographs into one image. The output is not a HRD image however the blending does provide a very good input file for the ATM plug-in mentioned above. In some cases, the exposure blend is enough to not even require a use of the ATM plug-in.
Lomography Plug-in: What is it about the lomo effect that has gotten people to rally themselves together and create groups and clubs for it? I don’t know and I don’t care really. However, the effect does give some interesting pictures to look at and you can always “argue” that the “feel” of the scene changes when you have shot in lomo (whether real or fake). The lomography plugin gives really nice results and you can actually choose the kind of colours that want the image to take, whether you want to make the skies green or the whites yellow. This plug-in has it all. If you have enough money and the willingness to spend it then get yourself the real thing.

QtpfsGUI

QtpfsGUI

QtpfsGUI is as complicated to use as the name might lead you to believe. This program is a fair, open source rendition of commercial programs like Photomatix. The aim is to be able to create a work-flow driven tone mapped HDR image. It allows you to create a HDR by blending multiple, variously exposed frames of a scene into one HDR image and then tone map this image using many tone mapping algorithms. The resulting image from each of the algorithms is different and you get to choose the one you like best.

There is a lot of trial and error involved and it is a very engrossing process to say the least. However, while the usage is not very user friendly, the results can be amazing and are only restricted by how much effort you put in to the HDR creating process. This a must have for me when I have the time and I want the result to be mush more than satisfactory.

Picasa

Google Picasa

Yes, that’s right, Picasa. If you are thinking, why I would be using Picasa when I already use the GIMP, the answer lies in the fact that I use the web based Picasa to store that pictures that I want to feature in a blog. This too was driven by the fact the Picasa plug-in for Wordpress was way better than the Flickr plug-in that come to use when you must insert pictures for either of the services in to your blog post. I still use Flickr for sharing images that I don’t blog about or if I just have to use one or 2 photos in a post. If I am looking to blog in a photo tour kind of way then the photos go to Picasa.

Also, there are quick editing tools available in the Picasa desktop application that you can use to quickly edit, straighten, align, crop etc an image before uploading it to the online service. You don’t have to fire up the GIMP every time.

Phatch

Phatch, Photo Batch Editor

Phatch stands for Photo+Batch. Get it? Its a really powerful batch photo-editing application. When I upload my pictures to either Picasa or Flickr, I generally resize them to a decent size to be able to upload quickly. Internet speeds in India suck. Phatch not only resizes images but you also have the option to do other small actions on images like add shadows, round the borders, add watermarks and many more. It’s very versatile and more over its quick. The best thing is that its a pain to install in Windows.Similar Posts

Exposure Blending in GIMP in PhotographySoftware
Tone Mapping in GIMP in PhotographySoftware
HDR Images with Qtpfsgui in Photography
Get Microsoft to Fund Linux in Software
Accessing Linux Partitions in Windows in Software

About the Redesign

Abhilash — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:09:12 +0000

You may have noticed that this site has undergone a change. I have decided to clean up my act, literally, and use a theme thats easy on the eyes and easy to maintain too. I had been using magazine styled themes for some time on this blog and realized that the amount of work required to maintain those kind of themes is a lot. While this theme is also semi-magazine type, it does not have the heavyness that most magazine style themes have. There is minimal use of images and all non-essential items like the sidebar etc are hidden from the main view. The footer now contains additional navigation options and the usual things that you might look for in the sidebars.

This theme is by Matt Wiebe from Soma Design and is aimed at writers. The focus is on content and typography instead of multiple distracting elements that may be found in other themes. The design is simplistic with a lot of focus on the fonts and the display of content.

I have a feeling that I can use this theme for some time before I start itching for a new design. I am pretty certain that I am not going to go back to heavy magazine style themes for some time. Especially since I don’t intend to write about more than 2 or 3 topics of interest. This theme is the one I am going to be using and I will customize it to whatever my mediocre css skills allow.

Some of the other promising candidates that were screened are below.

Hemingway by Warspire

Infomalaya by Infomalaya

Infomalaya by Infomalaya.com

Manifest by Jim Barraud

Similar Posts

Magazine Styled Themes to Jazz up your Blog in Internet
My Online History in Internet
Review: Wordpress 2.7 in Internet
naukri VS timesjobs in Internet
Google Analytics Custom Reporting in Internet

Microsoft Office Web Apps

Abhilash — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:42:11 +0000

A couple of weeks ago the Softies announced the availability of Microsoft Office Web Apps as a Technical Preview to a few thousand people by invitation. They also plan to make the beta available to the public at a later date. An online version of Office has always been expected and there has always been the argument that MS would have to provide any such service free of charge so as to compete with other such services like Google Docs and Zoho. There has also been the expectation that MS would not really be too interested in this service as it would dilute the importance of the desktop version of Office.

While this release of Office Web Apps is in no way ready to be reviewed, it is an indication that MS is getting jittery about the developments that rivals are making in cloud based applications. Google is continually adding new features to its offering and Zoho is just miles ahead of the competition thus far and have recently added Zoho Discussions to their suite of free online office applications. MS officials have stated that they are not interested in competing with either Google or Zoho in this space and that their service is more of a sharing and discussing tool rather than a tool for creating and editing documents. This is completely understandable considering that they would be damaging their desktop offering’s market substantially if they build in all the features into the online apps. However, they also risk losing a lot of revenue if Google Apps and Zoho type services continue to gain ground in the cloud space.

So while MS Office Web Apps may not be a Me-Too in Microsoft’s opinion, for a customer interested in taking up a paid subscription to the service, it will be an option to consider in the same light as a Google Apps or a Zoho. They would really not care about how MS intended the Office Web App to be used, they would only think about whether it can replace the desktop applications that they are paying for, and to this end they would most likely be disappointed. While other cloud based office apps will move forward with more and more features, MS Office Web Apps runs the risk of being left behind.Similar Posts

TweetDeck Beta for Linux: Screengrab Tour in Software
Review: Kinoma Play for Windows Mobile in Software
Linux Mint 7 KDE Edition in Software
Google Chrome for Linux in Software
Firefox 3.1 Beta Released in Internet

Linux Mint 7 KDE Edition

Abhilash — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:30:52 +0000

I decided to refresh my laptop after it recently came back from repairs. While there was nothing wrong with it software wise, I was getting bored and wanted to try something new. Having heard good things about the mint KDE release, I decided to install that instead of my existing Windows + mint Gnome installation. I decided that I had no use of Windows any more as everything that I needed to do was available in Linux. I had it configured just so. I downloaded the KDE release of mint, all 1.1 GB of it and installed it on my laptop. My screen-shot review follows.

Pressing a key during boot fromt he live CD prevents it from starting the live session and brings you to this menu. The live session was giving mw problems by freezing so I decided to install instead of run live and then install.

The language seletion screen of the install

Time zone selection

Keyboard selection

Disk partitioning. Using the whole of the virtual disk

User information

Ready to install. The install process was standard mint/ubuntu

Partitioning and formatting the disk

Copying the files

Done. Restart to use the new installation.

Using the system.

The boot menu of the first boot of the system

The login screen. The theme can be changed and you can also give a different language to the login screen selectively

The boot splash. I wonder if it ractually means anything

There it is, the desktop. KDE takes longer to boot on my laptop than Gnome. The desktop has a section where you can display the contents of any folder in the system. In my opinion, its quite a distraction and I turned it off.

The KDE menu is a trial at coolness. However, I feel it fails a bit. Not miserably but by just a bit. The regular segregated application list is there and the search is there too.

The search is pretty standard and offers no additional functtionality like the mint menu which allows you to also search for the package in the repositories and also install directly from the menu. The KDE menu tells you to go search on the web.

The file browser, Dolphin, is fine. Although I don’t really care about the “try to be MS” theme. Why does KDE assume that I want to make my Linux box look like Windows? Anyway, its pretty standard and I found nothing extraordinary.

The usual mint programs are also present like, mintUpdate, mintNanny, mintBackup etc.

Kopete refused to connect to my gtalk and yahoo accounts. I had to give up after repeated tries and install pidgin.

This is one of the most irritating problems with KDE apps. All of them want to run the system tray. You have to explicitly “exit” to close the application.

When you try to shutdown or log off the system asks you to confirm and also has a 30 second timer.

My experience with the KDE version was not very nice. I found myself taking longer to do things than what I could manage with my older installation of the gnome version of mint. Also, the clutter is just a real put off. While some people like a really loaded look, I prefer a clean look which can be customized if required. I tried to create a launcher for Google Chrome on the desktop with additional arguments in the command and the icon refused to show up as Google Chrome. Just kept showing a question mark.

While I have read that KDE is more configurable than Gnome, I found nothing to give me that idea. The central control panel is inadequate to say the least. There was no way for me access the Keyrings, which I needed to do to put in the password for my wifi connection. There was no direct way to do it. I had to put in the password on every boot to connect to the wifi. Very irritating.

In my opinion, Gnome is a lot easier to use than KDE. However, I am talking about the Linux mint implementation of Gnome.Similar Posts

Review: Minty Freshness with Linux Mint in Software
Granular Linux in Software
Accessing Linux Partitions in Windows in Software
Good OS is a Good Boy: Needs to Grow up in Software
Would the Best Looking Linux Distro Please Stand Up! in Software

Angsana Oasis Spa & Resort, Bangalore

Abhilash — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:30:38 +0000

The Angsana Resort and Spa is located about an hour outside Bengaluru city in Karnataka. This particular resort is constructed and operated by the Prestige Group of builders based in Bengaluru under license from The Banyan Tree Group that operate the Angsana brand in Asia. This is a photo tour of the Bengaluru resort and spa.

The resort is generally host to corporate parties conducting training programs or other activities. There is also an influx of people on the weekends when it gets quite packed with all rooms occupied. There are also a lot of political functions that are held at the resort.

The sign near the main entrance.

The main entrance to the resort. There was a lot of walking involved as this is a sprawling property.

Well manicured gardens are a given at this resort. Any place thats not covered with brick or concrete is turned into a garden.

More of the gardens. I was able to walk around and take some quite nice photos.

The build quality and architecture was very nice. A very warm feeling overall.

2 floors at the most. 75 rooms in total. This translates to a lot of walking.

One set of rooms. These are the farthest of the rooms and we were in them.

Another set of rooms. Lots of space all around.

This tower is apparently an observation deck cum rain dance floor at the highest level. I couldn’t get up there as the access was closed.

A view of the observation tower.

One of the restaurants. Sundance. The food wasn’t really to my liking.

The Sundance restaurant at sundown.

The sky around the resort towards dusk. The atmosphere was cloudy and this made for some really nice scenery.

You could step out of your room and stand around drinking tea in the little garden outside.

A chandelier

There were flowering trees and shrubs everywhere. Thats one thing I really like about Bengaluru.

This was the clear pool with some fish in it. Quite uninteresting really.

The rooms were quite spacious but had a smallish LCD TV. Although I really didnt get an opportunity to see any TV wihle I was there.

The wading pool. Large enough to accomodate the corporate parties that descend upon the resort during the weekends.

Another view of the pool from halfway up the tower.

Similar Posts

Kabini River Lodge in Travel
CN Tower in Travel
Ganpatipule in Travel
Thailand in Travel
Innovative Film City in Travel