My Application Owns the Computer!

A pervasive attitude among programmers is that the only reason people own a computer is to run their application. Symptoms include:

• Usurping shared resources like the desktop, system folders, task bar, registry, ... ("The whole machine is for my use.")
  
• Can't turn off the app ("The only reason the machine would be on is to run my app, so I'll install an auto-startup service, a startup app, an Explorer plug-in, ...").
  
• Resource hogging ("I can just grab exclusive access to files, database, or network connections when I launch and keep everything open.")
  
• Interrupts workflow with pop-up messages, tooltips, alert balloons, taskbar messages, status messages, sound effects, ... ("Look at me! I'm working! Do you see me? I'm doing something!!")
  
• Collateral damage ("I don't use that so I'll delete it.")
  
• Race conditions ("Anything I do will stay that way forever until I change it.")
  
• Security breaches ("I can expose everything on the machine, since I am the only one that will ever access it.")
  
• Lack of interoperability ("My app has everything it needs so I don't need to support file export or cut and paste.")
  
• No deployment ("I will never have to update or uninstall my app; they'll just get a new machine.")
  

Christmas.NET - Dedicated to all the programmers out there

using Self;
using Self.Emotions;
using Self.Online.Blog;
using Self.Rides.Bike.Pulsar150;
using Self.Offline.GirlFriend;
using Self.Offline.SocialCircle.Dudes;
using Self.Gadgets.Canon500D;
using Self.Gadgets.AmazonKindle;

namespace Self.Life.Experience
{
    public class Christmas
    {
        public Christmas()
        {
            InitialiseComponents(Self.Life.Instances[CURRENT_INSTANCE]);

            GalacticDomination.Thread.Suspend();

            Emotion emo = Chrismas_Start(new System.TimeSpan(48, 0, 0));
            Self.Life.Experience.Add(emo.Summary);
            Self.Life.Components[2009].Vacation.Add("Chritmas", emo);

            GalacticDomination.Thread.Resume();

            var settings = new { Audience = "Public", LevelOfDetail = "Overview", OutputLanguage = "Human, C# v3.5" };

            Blogs[TECH_BLOG].Post(this, emo, settings);
        }

        [System.Serializable]
        [System.STAThread]
        public Emotion Chrismas_Start(System.TimeSpan duration)
        {
            if (Self.CurrentStatus == Status.Married)
            {
                Monotonus.Do("boring, chistmas tree, boring, big dinner, boring, gifts under tree, boring");
                throw new InvalidSystemStateException("maybe try a few linux commands like sudo. If not on mono then no chance buddy");
            }

            Shopping("Gifts", "for friends, family, her");

            WithHer("Bike to Secluded spots, Curvy Hilly Roads", "use lots of breaking ;)");
            WatchMovie("London Dreams", "could have been better movie but only spent half the time actually watching movie");
            WithHer("xoxo", "[censored]");
            WithHer("Dinner", "Chinese");
            if (GiveGift("Her", "Necklace").IsHappy) Self.MentalState.SaveSnapshot();
            WithHer("xoxo", "[censored], snuggle, [censored], snuggle");
            Gadget("Kindle", "Read some more from 'Spin by Robert Charles Wilson'");

            duration.Subtract(new System.TimeSpan(24, 0, 0));

            BikeTo("Mussoorie", "No Snow, still lots of fun");
            WatchMovie("De Dana Dan", "great Hera Pheri like fun");
            Gadget("Kindle", "Catch up on blogs using google reader mobile ed.");

            BikeTo("Back Home", "make too much noise, overspeed, pit stop for beer");
            WithBuddies("Get Drunk", "best part of the day");
            GiveGift("Buddies", "Suspicious dvds, " + Emoticons.EvilGrin.Load());
            Gadget("Canon500D", "takes pics of buddies in wierd and compromising situations");
            WithBuddies("Passed Out", "best part of the Night");

            duration.Subtract(new System.TimeSpan(24, 0, 0));

            return new Emotion(this, "Happy", "Huge Handover");
        }
    }
}

Buying an Amazon Kindle 2 in India? Bollywood estyle!

Scene 0 – The hero spots the heroine. Love at first sight – General Specs

First off, I purchased a Kindle 2 and am very happy with the product. It is what it is said to be and then some!

But acquiring this neat gadget is not so easy if you are in India. It makes for a neat story with a whole lot of bollywood style twists. Read: kicking the ass of the hero(me) for the whole movie and then unite with the heroine (kindle 2 global) right at the end. o-O.

Like everyone else outside the US, The hero went crazy for a few seconds when he learnt about the Kindle going international global :D He simply had to have it. Any science fiction bookworm would agree. Reading about awesome alien worlds and insane time-travel ideas on a comparably cool gadget is boundless fun.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the saga.

Aside from being extremely hot, the Kindle 2 is an amazing device. It’s form factor is surprisingly thin and E-Ink is so clear and easy on your eyes that it looks even better in the sun unlike other displays we are accustomed to. It can show a whole variety of file formats and for those it cant, one can find even more converters to get the job done. The Wispernet is great and covers almost all over the world. Via EVDO and falls back to 3G, EDGE and GPRS respectively based on the cellular service. It can charge via USB too and functions as a pen drive when plugged in.

Scene 1 -  The seduction – Geek specs

It uses a Lithium-polymer battery which does not degrade after each charge cycle. It has a processor faster then the Iphone. It has a Cellular modem that has hidden GPS features. It is extremely easy to use as it follows the minimalism  methodology set by google. It has stereo speakers albeit not a full blown MP3 player. It runs linux! and with some cool software you can easily be looking at the root prompt and happily compiling a custom kernel. It has many experimental features like a browser, picture viewer (manga), MP3 player, audio books and Text 2 Speech in addition to the million and one hacks out there in the wild due to the OS being linux. Oh and did I mention, an internet access is free.

View Full Album

All this in a 290 gram, super sleek, white hot body. The hero yells within ‘just take me. take me right here…’

Scene 2 – First date, her daddy is strict, no dates before marriage - Import fees and ways around

So, The hero trotted of to her home (Amazon.com) all giggly and bubbly and gobble up all the information on the new release and decided to ask her out on a date (check out the payment options).

The large import fees really made me mad and like all desi people couldn’t find it easy to pay the proper fees, need a jugaad shortcut. So I scour google with all the search trick i know. I find a few options like using one of those sites that provide you with a US address where you can ship the item and they forward it to you for a modest fee. The other one was a Chinese site selling Kindle at a much reduced price. However since kindle has a tiny cell phone for its eyes and ears I couldn't risk one of those options due to the fear of void warranty or wispernet not working.

So our hero wastes a lot of time on her from afar and finally succumbed to the Righteous ways. Marriage with the full 7 rounds. (i.e. the displayed $259 become $378.57). That is what girls do a guy’s pocket so the hero shouldn’t be surprised :)

Scene 3 – Family wants NRI - Payment options Credit card only

Soon thereafter the first hurdle comes, You have to have a credit card which I dont have (a whole other rebellious policy I subscribe to but best left out of this post). It wiped the smile off my face. More days pass searching and looking for options. Come up with only two. Either get someone to buy it for you or get someone to buy you a gift card which can then be used to make the purchase. I was a bit worried as, like other mobile devices, they get tagged to the purchaser.

The hero doesn’t want some random NRI to marry her and bring her to him. She is too hot to be trusted with anyone else.

After some talk here and there I find another in the middle option, Get someone to buy it for you as a gift ! In such a case the kindle is unregistered and one can then register it themselves. However, that options is some what hidden and not easy to catch. There is only one option and that is gift wrapping and that costs further more money. God help our hero. However after reading a lot more text in amazon support on the not so easy on eye non E-Ink monitor I find that just select gift wrap and dont select any wrapping method and add some gift message text and you are done. The purchase is made via a trusted friend

The heroine will stay single! All roads appear clear and our hero sings a couple of melodies. But he doesn’t know the mafia (whole shipping industry) is after her. The Mafia sends their minions all over the route. Will the heroine survive? Will they unite? The mafia is sure to be badass, what will the hero do?

Stay tuned for the next episode.

Beat this home Entertainment system

I have my Home entertainment set up as follows:
(After a lot of effor and time and Mullah)

It is like this:

Hardware:

• XFX6600gt(2monitor_one SVideo out)
• Pixelview Play TV Pro(VideoIN+SVideoIN)
• Pinnacle PCTV 50i
• 54"TV(VideoIN+SVideoIN)
• PHIlips DVD Player(DIVX+MPEG+MP3VBR... basically the Play anything model)
• Phillips HTS3000 5.1 Speaker setup, recommended becuase of inbuilt FM and 3 Audio In(2x5.1 and 1 stereo) that can be switched via its remote)
• Logitech Rumblepad 2 wirelss gamepad
• A8NSLI Onboard Sound
• Creative sound Blaster PCI64(dedicated for Voice chat/phone)
• Desi Wireless Headset

Remote/Wireless:

• Logitech s510 Media Remote(Wireless MEdia Keyboard+Wireless mouse+Media remote)
• TV Remote
• Pixelview Tuner Remote
• Pinnacle Tuner Remote
• Philips DVD Player Remote
• Philips HTS3000 SOund System remote
• FM Based Headset for wireless sound and phonecalls

Software:

• Windows Media Player 11
• Pixelview TV Pro
• Pinnacle Media Center
• Logitech MEdiaLife(Super good alternative to Windows media center)+Setpoint
• Logitech Wingman gaming software(for controlling mouse/keystrokes etc with gamepad)
• Voice Chat software(like gtalk/yahoo)
• Musicmatch
• Winamp (will add more compatible software later)

Video Connections:

• Both monitors connected to the two Monitor Out of GFX card(One for computing other for watching TV/DVD/MOVIE/MUSIC PLAYLIST/H/W MOnitor
• SVideoOUT of GFT to SVideo IN of TVTUNER and Svideo IN of TV(I made the cable at home, just two out connectors connected in parallel)
• DVDPlayer VideoOUT to VideoIN of TVTUNER and TV VideoIN in Paraller)again home made)
• Control is super easy with Wireless Mouse/Keyword+logitech remote+TV Remote+Tuner Remote

Audio Connections:

• 5.1 Out from DVD player to HTS 3000
• 5.1 out from A8N-SLI Prem mobo to HTS3000 AMPlifier
• 2 channel audio of Tuner to Line IN of Mobo
• 2 Channel Audio of TV to AuX2 IN of mobo
• Audio In/Out between Creative PCI64 and Wireless HEadset reciever/transmitter
  

Other Connections:

• Cable IN to TV and TV Tuner
• Phone in from pole>UPS SpikeBuster>BSNL SmartAX MT841 Wifi Router Broadband ADSL modem>PHONE IN of Wireless Reviever base
• A Scary wiring setup for power/speaker/phone/cable/lan. so scary that there is more wire on walls then paint and my Mom's Maid refuses to enter to clean the room. will be working on tidying up the wiring soon.
  

Everyting can be seen/heard/captured everywere in any combination!!!

Plus i have my compaq laptop (based on V2000 series) with wifi for that special mobility around my house. This Setup kicks ass (to be modest) be it Saving Private Ryan or F.E.A.R or FiFa 2006 on TV via the rumbelling gamepad or NFS or Star movies or recording Emenim videos or Fear Factor or Gulam Ali or friend in Australia.. complete with a broad sofa set in the center.(or even the most imp part is switch of everything without getting up from the sofa/bet

There is a problem though. I keep a basket to put in all the remotes and wireless mice so that i dont lose it and sometimes i loose my mobile phone in that basket or one of those times when the mobile rings and i put one of the remotes to my ear. :-)

I am thinking of adding a 10 channel DJ TurnTable later...
LOL Dont CHoke it's just a JOke!!!

What do u think? Everything here is based on usability and economy not like OOOhhhh 10000Watts of blow-ur-cloths-of-in-a-beat speaker system or the one lacs rs Plasma screen or Damn quake@ 5000FPS...

BTW the PC config: AMD64 3000+(OC 2.6GHZ@1.475v + A8N SLI Premium(1009.11) + 1 GB Hynex DDR400 RAM in dual channel + XFX 6600GT 256MB + 2x160GB SATA RAID-0(nRAID) + 80GB PATA Seagate Barracuda + LG CDROM + LG DVDROM + Samsung DVDRW 16x + Creative PCI64+PCI WIFI 54mbps card + two chassis fan+500W Odyssee PSU.