Saturday, June 27, 2009

Override right click protection and save images in websites

Some websites disable right click and drag/drop on certain images to prevent users from saving them.
Its very inconvenient for those who want to save a local copy of some images/photos.


In Firefox this can be done by ,
1. Tools -> Page Info
2.Select the Media Tab, all images on the page will be listed with adress at top and preview at bottom.
3.Press the "Save as" button above the preview pane and save the image.
Interestingly, a similar process can be also done using IE 8, Internet explorer 8 has some interesting developer tools.


In IE 8,
1.Press F12 or select T00ls-> Developer Tools
2.On the developer tools window, select the menu Images ->View Image report
3.A report of all the images and their attributes along with preview open in a new tab in IE.
4.Right click and save the image required.

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Friday, June 26, 2009

RapidShare Fined $33 million



Court rules site, and others like it, are responsible for ensuring copyrighted material isn’t illegally hosted on their servers.

The Hamburg Regional Court of Germany has ruled against German-owned file hosting website RapidShare this past Tuesday. It found the site guilty of violation of German copyright law and set damages at about €24 million ($33.4 million).

In what could prove a key precedent, the court found Rapidshare, and by extension similar file-sharing sites, bear principle responsibility for ensuring copyright-protected material is not illegally posted on their servers.

The ruling was a major victory for German royalty collection agency GEMA, which had brought the suit against Rapidshare for allowing some 5,000 protected music titles to be posted on their site.

“The judgment states that the hosting service itself is now responsible for making sure that none of the music tracks concerned are distributed via its platform in the future,” said GEMA in a press release. “This means that the copyright holder is no longer required to perform the ongoing and complex checks.”

RapidShare’s been under assault by copyright holders for a while now, it’s most recent attacker being German book publishers who wanted the site placed on the ISP’s blacklist of blocked sites.

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Apple's ipod 3.0 firmware unlocks bluetooth for 9.95USD

Apple released the iphone/ipod firmware 3.0 version recently.
The catch for ipod touch users is that this firmware upgrade is that it activates(unlocks) the bluetooth chip in ipod touch.Ever since it was released,there was no bluetooth option in ipod touch,but it had an option to connect with Nike gadgets.
The chip that was used for Nike is now being unlocked to provide bluetooth access to ipod touch,enabling multiplayer games,wireless headphones etc.
But, there is a catch here too, the firmware upgrade is not available for free.
It needs to be purchased for 9.95$ (USD). (file size 257.8MB)
Normally, it is the duty of the vendor to provide firmware updates for free.
Imagine Nokia selling its phone's firmware updates,or Microsoft selling service packs!
Apple has monopoly in this segment since they are the leaders.

And then, there is this problem of Apple bundling stuff.
Quick time is bundled with itunes.Why cant Apple integrate quicktimes' codecs into itunes itself?
I have itunes 8.1 and its been bugging me to upgrade to itunes 8.2,but i declined the upgrade. So, what Apple did was to bundle the ipod touch 3.0 firmware with itunes 8.2!I need to upgrade to itunes 8.2 in order to upgrade to 3.0 firmware which i bought for 10USD.

All in all, the bluetooth unlocking is too good to resist.
The upgrades in 3.0 include,

Stereo Bluetooth



Multiplayer peer-2-peer gaming



Landscape mode typing in Safari,Notes etc



Cut/Copy/Paste

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Friday, June 19, 2009

Mobile number portability by September 2009


- MNP (Mobile Number Portability) will allow a mobile customer to change his/her service provider for any reason, while keeping the old number intact, all for a small fee.

- IT minister A.Raja had said that MNP will begin in October. (on June 2009)

- Mobile number portability (MNP) is set to roll out in Chennai from September, the focus will now shift from pricing to quality of service.

- In most of the countries where MNP is prevalent, the subscribers are not charged for availing the service.

- TRAI had earlier recommended a charge of Rs.200 for the number changing procedure,since higher prices may make the service unattractive.

- Number portability will be able to keep a check on the quality of service offered by mobile service companies and is also likely to provide a level playing field for all mobile companies, including new entrants.


Related news
- Tamil Nadu has a very high penetration market for mobile companies in the country. Already, Chennai has the highest teledensity at 111% (111 mobile phone connections per 100 persons)

- Tata Docomo, a joint venture between CDMA major Tata Indicom and NTT Docomo of Japan, will launch its GSM services in Tamilnadu by June-end.

- Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla company with services in 17 of the 28 circles, is all set for a commercial launch in Chennai.

- Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited (SSTL), a joint venture between Sistema of Russia and Shyam Group of India, which rolled out its telecom brand MTS' in Tamil Nadu recently, has clocked 55,000 subscribers within a month.

- Reliance Communications, which rolled out its GSM services in Tamil Nadu in April with a soft launch, will soon start full-fledged services across the state.

- The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is considering to introduce portability for the Direct-to-Home (DTH) segment.So, one DTH set can be used with DishTV/SunDTH/Airtel's when DTH portability is implemented.The procedure is in initial stages,may take years to implement. (TRAI was recommending Number portability for mobile phones since 2003!)

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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Early 1990s news broadcast about "Internet"

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Sunday, May 10, 2009

How to force restart or shut down ipod touch

There are certain instances in which the ipod touch needs to be restared manually, such as in the case of application crash, or irresponsive ipod.

To restart the ipod touch, press and hold both the power button at top and the home screen button at bottom middle.Press and hold for few seconds, ipod will restart.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Travian troubles

From travian website,

Travian is a browser game featuring a world with thousands of other real players. One begins the game acting as a chief of a tiny village.
The problem with travian is that it requires the players to put in their maximum possible amount of time.Thats unrealistic expectation because players have their real life to tend to.
played on two travian worlds each lasting ten days.
On the first world, i played as a newbie and then switched to a different world with a good experience to play. But, being a browser game,and without much interactivity the game demands too much time.After 2 weeks,alliances started building up and i joined in one of them.I met players who played 16 to 20 hrs per day,and they are the successful players. Any players who spared a few hours a day will be farmed like hell, thanks to their system of timed construction where one just gets to watch a timer tick to zero.

Resources keep accumulating and unless you spend your resources wisely in every 6 hrs(max),your resources will be stolen.How can anyone spend their time to check in on travian so many times a day? Most people done even check email, or reddit or digg so many times a day.

And, its unlike WOW,where one can engage in something interesting all the time, watching the timer is a gruesome part of travian.

My advice to any would-be travian players, please keep away from travian unless you want to waste your precious time watching stupid timers all the time (atleast play Warcraft 3 or WOW!).
The fact that one spends a lot of advertisement money does not mean they have a great product in their inventory.

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Monday, March 02, 2009

A glimpse of future computing

An inspiring video by Microsoft.
<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-GB&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a517b260-bb6b-48b9-87ac-8e2743a28ec5&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Future Vision Montage">Video: Future Vision Montage</a>

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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Simple screenshot application

This app takes the screenshot of the current window and saves it to a file.
File location and file name prefix can be changed,date and time stamp will be attached to the file name automatically. The screenshot taken can be opened by clicking on the "view" button.
And, there is no need to worry that your screenshot can get overwritten,since i attached a very unique date,time and millisecond stamp to the file name.

Screen shot taker 1.0

The application is available for download here.
VB.net developers looking to modify it can get the source code here.

Note:
Dont try to take screenshot of empty desktop,will work fine for taking screenshots of any window, i didnt care to fix that bug since there cant be no productive use for taking screenshot of empty desktop.If anyone wants to fix it view above source code.

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Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Apple ipod touch 8GB extensive review

Bought my Ipod touch (8GB)for 12,000 INR on 23rd Dec 2008 at TNagar,Chennai.
Its features include 3.5inch touchscreen(multi-touch),533MHZ ARM processor,WIFI...

I was a bit disappointed at the time of purchase due to the fact that the ipod wont even start up until its connected to a PC with iTunes.Sadly, iTunes isnt provided in a CD.It simply said "Connect to iTunes" till i connected it via datacable to a PC with iTunes.
Thats where the disappointment ends.

As soon as it starts up,its a very feature-filled device.
The menus and navigation are excellent.
This is the starting screen(Home screen).



One row at the bottom is dedicated to Music,Videos,Photos and iTunes.
Sadly, entering into iTunes says "This store is not available in your country(India)".

Let me list out the apps available by default.
1.Safari
2.Mail
3.Contacts
4.Clock
4.YouTube
5.Calendar
6.Stocks
7.Maps
8.Weather
9.Calculator
10.Notes
Then there is the settings icon and App store icon.
Safari browser works great,zooming in and out are done with simple gestures using two fingers.
There is support for opening multiple webpages,and the browser changes to landscape mode upon rotating it sidewise.
Youtube application provides Youtube integration and is ised to browse and view YouTube videos directly without opening the browser.

One more drawback is that it is not possible to download from the AppStore without providing a credit card.
Actually, there are loads of free apps on the AppStore and you may never need to spend a single rupee to get those free apps,but, you still need a credit card to create a iTunes account.The iTunes account is required to download any app from the AppStore.
But, once an account is registered, more than 15,000 applications await at the AppStore.

Most free apps and games are enough to provide entertainment/functionality, but there are some must own apps that can only be bought, albeit at a very small price.

Another headache is iTunes.
It is not possible to acces the device in PC without involving iTunes.
iTunes is responsible for managing music,videos,photos and apps.
And,its not possible to transfer and view ebooks(pdf)/documents(word,ppt,excel etc).
But, such files can be viewed on the browser if the files are opened via internet.
Here is a simple workaround i found.
I bought this "Memory Stick" app from Appstore for 45Rs (0.99$).This app can store any file and the file can be opened in iPod,and documents can be viewed from within the app. There are some free apps to provide this functionality too,but they have certain limitations.


Here are some photos of the ipod.

In standby,



Locked screen,


Safari browser,


Safari in landscape view,


Audio player app,library view of Albums,


Audio player, "Now Playing" screen,


YouTube app,


The "stocks" app,


AppStore, Category view,


Mail app,


Maps app,


Glossy, mirror like bottom-side of iPod Touch,


Sorry about the amateur photos, thats what i could make out of a N73 camera during night.

Update:
A warning note to all ipod users, never set your ipod headphone volume to more than 80% maximum.It leads to loss of hearing gradually.Apple is being sued to indicate this warning on its ipods.Read more about volume limiting here.

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Monday, January 19, 2009

History and future of Earth's continent structure


650 Million Years In 1:20 min

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The SMS scam

SMS (short message service) is available in every mobile phone, and network operators mostly charge for using sms.There are certain free sms plans, but they offer free sms at a monthly "topup" or "booster pack".

About 2.5 trillion messages will have been sent from cellphones in 2008, and 3.3 trillion messages are expected to be sent in 2009, an estimate by Gartner group.

Lets take a look at what are the costs incurred by the network operators(Airtel,Aircel,Bsnl...) for processing sms. (From NYtimes)

A text message initially travels wirelessly from a handset to the closest base-station tower and is then transferred through wired links to the digital pipes of the telephone network, and then, near its destination, converted back into a wireless signal to traverse the final leg, from tower to handset. In the wired portion of its journey, a file of such infinitesimal size is inconsequential. Srinivasan Keshav, a professor of computer science at the
University of Waterloo, in Ontario, said: “Messages are small. Even though a
trillion seems like a lot to carry, it isn’t.”

Perhaps the costs for the wireless portion at either end are high — spectrum is finite, after all, and carriers pay dearly for the rights to use it. But text messages are not just tiny; they are also free riders, tucked into what’s called a control channel,space reserved for operation of the wireless network.
That’s why a message is so limited in length: it must not exceed the length of the message used for internal communication between tower and handset to set up a call. The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted.



Cost of sending an SMS is almost nothing, yet the network operators charge upto .50rs or 1re per sms , depending on the plan. Consider it along with the fact that 2.5trillion messages are sent last year, that will make a fortune for the telecom companies.

Further reading,
What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting (NewYork times)
TRAI not to intervene in SMS tariffs (The Hindu, read last paragraph)
Wired Blog

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Saturday, November 22, 2008

Creating themes for mobile phones

Many of us want to create our own themes (skins) for our mobile phones. Themes are better than using wallpaper and screensaver for mobile phones,because themes allow a great extent of customization. There are several software applications available for creating themes separately for Nokia, Sony ericsson, Samsung,LG etc.These creators are usually bulky and require to be installed in the system.
So far, the only free and best theme creator website is ownskin.com
I have been personally using this website for many years and their online theme creator works perfectly for almost every mobile phone on the market.
The only downside is that they require you to create a free account, and that too is required so that you can edit/download your theme later.


Supported models:

Acer N30 N50
Anex TEKSP230
Asus A636 MyPal A600 MyPal A620 MyPal A639 MyPal A716 P505 P525 P535
Audiovox 2032SP 5600 PDA1032C PPC 4100 PPC 5050 PPC 6600 PPC 6601 PPC 6700
Cingular 2125 3125 8125 8525
Dopod 515 557w 586w 818Pro 838Pro C800 D600 D810 M700 P800W
HP Voice Messenger
HTC MTeoR P3600 P3600i P6300 S310 S620 S710 S720 Touch TyTN TyTN II
i-mate Smartflip Smartphone Smartphone2 SP3 SP3i SP5 SP5m SPL
Lenovo P930
LG KS10
Mio 8380
Motorola i930 MPx200 MPx220 Q Q 9h
Nokia1680 classic 2323 classic 2330 classic 2600 classic 2610 2626 2630 2660 2680 slide 2760 2865 2865i 3109 Classic 3110 Classic 3120 classic 3155 3220 3230 3250 3500 Classic 3555 3600 slide 3610 fold 5000 5070 5130 XpressMusic 5140 5140i 5200 5220 XpressMusic 5300 5310 XpressMusic 5320 XpressMusic 5500 5610 XpressMusic 5700 XpressMusic 6020 6021 6030 6060 6070 6080 6085 6086 6101 6102 6110 Navigator 6111 6120 Classic 6121 Classic 6124 classic 6125 6126 6131 6131 NFC 6133 6136 6151 6165 6170 6210 Navigator 6212 classic 6220 classic 6230i 6233 6234 6260 6263 6267 6270 6275 6275i 6280 6282 6288 6290 6300 6300i 6500 Classic 6500 Slide 6555 6600 6600 fold 6600 slide 6620 6630 6670 6680 6681 6682 7070 Prism 7100 Supernova 7210 Supernova 7260 7270 7310 Supernova 7360 7370 7373 7390 7500 Prism 7510 Supernova 7610 7610 Supernova 7900 Prism 8600 Luna 8800 8800 Carbon Arte 8801 E50 E51 E60 E61 E61i E62 E65 E66 E70 E71 N70 N71 N72 N73 N75 N76 N77 N78 N79 N80 N81 N81 8GB N82 N85 N90 N91 N91 8GB N92 N93 N93i N95 N95 8GB N95-3NAM N96 N96-3
O2 Xda Cosmo Xda IQ Xda Phone Xphone Xphone II
Orange MPx200 SPV SPV C500 SPV C550 SPV C600 SPV E100 SPV E200
Palm Treo 750
Panasonic X700
PanTech PN-820
Qtek 7070 8010 8020 8060 8080 8100 8300 8310 8500
Sagem myS-7
Samsung Blackjack i600 SGH-D720 SGH-D730 SGH-i300 SGH-i320 SGH-i400 SGH-i450 SG H-i520 SGH-i550 SGH-i560 SGH-Z600
Sierra Wireless Voq
Sony Ericsson C702 C902 F500 G502 G700 G900 J200 J300 K300 K310 K500 K508 K510 K530 K550 K600 K610 K618 K660 K700 K750 K770 K790 K790 old K800 K800 old K810 K850 M600 P1 P990 R300 R306 S500 S700 S710 T303 T610 T616 T618 T628 T630 T637 T650 V640 W200 W300 W350 W380 W550 W580 W600 W610 W660 W700 W710 W760 W800 W810 W850 W880 W890 W900 W910 W950 W960 W980 Z1010 Z250 Z310 Z320 Z530 Z550 Z555 Z600 Z608 Z610 Z710 Z750 Z770 Z780
T-Mobile Dash SDA SDA (US) SDA Music
PocketPC 240x320
Smartphone 176x220 240x320 320x240

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Convert and download Youtube Videos

There are sites that offer to provide downloadable video links for Youtube videos, but their problem is that Youtube videos are downloaded in FLV format and its not playable by usual media players and require FLV players. Not to mention that FLV format is not playable on DVD players, mobile phones etc.

So, the best option is to convert Youtube videos to our preferred formats before downloading them.
Here are two sites that are tested and found to be working perfectly.

http://www.convertyoutube.com/ (best choice, video quality is best)

http://all2convert.com/index.html
Also check out how to view Youtube videos in higher quality.

Update: www.vixy.net is first on Google.

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Disabling UAC prompts in Vista

Most of the vista users complain about the confirmation prompts like "Windows need your permission to continue" or "Are you sure you want to do that"?. Such prompts are not just to annoy Vista users, they are in place to prevent any system process from performing any malicious activity, like preventing viruses.
Anyway, most users would like to turn off UAC, sacrificing security for ease of use.
This is the procedure to disable or turn off UAC in Vista.

Method 1 :Using control panel
1.Open Control Panel.
2.Under User Account and Family settings click on the "Add or remove user account".
3.Click on one of the user accounts.
4.Under the user account click on the "Go to the main User Account page" link.
5.Under "Make changes to your user account" click on the "Change security settings" link.
6.In the "Turn on User Account Control (UAC) to make your computer more secure" click to unselect the "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer". Click on the Ok button.
7.You will be prompted to reboot your computer. Do so when ready.
(In order to re-enable UAC just select the above checkbox and reboot.)

Method 2: Using MSCONFIG
1.Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.
2.Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find "Disable UAP" (this should probably change to UAC in next Vista beta builds and in the RTM version). Click on that line.
3.Press the Launch button.
4.A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
5.Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.
(You can re-enable UAC by selecting the "Enable UAP" line and then clicking on the Launch button.)

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