Santhosh

Archive for the ‘LiveCast’ Category

Green Talk @ Sans Tech Press : Eco Facts

In Environment, Green Talk, Hot News, LiveCast, My Reviews, Nation on February 5, 2009 at 5:55 pm

Time for Green Talk @ Sans Tech Press. I used to always think about global issues on nature and its protection, and today I thought of blogging some good tips and facts on environment and some harmfull products and how we can manage it.

gtr

GLASSecofacts-glass

  • Glass containers go from recycling bin to store shelf in as little as 30 days.
  • An estimated 80% of recovered glass containers are made into new glass bottles.
  • For every ton of glass recycled, over a ton of raw materials are saved, including 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone, and 160 pounds of feldspar.
  • Ninety percent of recycled glass is used to make new containers.
  • Recycling glass helps to preserve natural resources while lessening the load on landfills—and helping communities avoid expensive disposal costs.
  • Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
  • Recycling glass lowers the melting temperature and saves 32% of the energy needed for production of new glass.

PLASTICecofacts-plastic

  • If we recycled every plastic bottle we used, we would keep 2 billion tons of plastic out of landfills.
  • Recycling a pound of PET saves approximately 12,000 BTUs.
  • It takes 25 two-liter plastic soft drink bottles to make a sweater.
  • It takes two plastic soft drink bottles to make enough polyester fiber for a baseball cap.
  • It takes 35 two liter plastic soft drink bottles to make 1 sleeping bag.
  • Americans go through 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.

ALUMINIUMecofacts-aluminum

  • If we recycled the 48 billion aluminum cans that we throw away each year, we could save the equivalent of 24 million barrels of oil.
  • Recycling aluminum cans saves precious natural resources, energy, time and money – all for a good cause – helping out the earth, as well as the economy and local communities.
  • Aluminum is a sustainable metal and can be recycled over and over again.
  • In 2003, 54 billion cans were recycled, saving the energy equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil (America’s entire gas consumption for one day). It takes about 6 weeks total to manufacture, fill, sell, recycle, and then remanufacture a beverage can.
  • The energy saved from recycling one aluminum drink can will run your TV for 3 hours.
  • If we recycle the aluminum trash that Americans throw away, we could rebuild the entire US airline fleet every three months.
  • Recycling one aluminum can saves the amount of energy to light one 100-watt bulb for 20 hours or run a TV for 3 hours.
  • In America, 1,500 aluminum cans are recycled every second.

In fact, the prestigious Princeton College Review and Kaplan’s College Guide now have sections devoted to how “green” a particular college or university is today. I wish all the colleges in our Country also to take up Green Projects within their locale and make the earth a better place for the future to rejoice.

eco-friendly

Making an Impact through Mini-Projects

In CAREER ARTICLES, Computers, DeveloperActivities, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews on February 5, 2009 at 11:58 am

From days of yore , education in India has been a very integral part of Ones life. Indian culture is stepped in education of different types – from the age old Gurukul system to the modern Montessori methods. Traditionally Education in India is looked upon by everyone as a holistic experience.

students-laptop-guide

Engineering has become a core area where students step into in a large numbers. For Engineering Students  especially for Computer Science and IT students  it is important to pad up their industry skill-set before they are placed to compete in the global arena. Students nowadays are placed in their third year itself and the final year projects are being carried out in their fourth year leaving behind their practical skills during campus placements. Keeping this in mind many students have started doing mini projects. In some of the technical groups in which I am a member, nowadays I see my fellow students started with their mini projects.

Mini projects develops practical skills in students. In spite of all the theory we learn, the industry should also know our ability in completing projects using our own initiative. I am fascinated with the latest trends in attending internships from the companies as we get to learn lots more from these.

On-line mini Projects through sourceforge.net and other open source development initiatives will surely add value to our experience cloud. These projects would definitely benefit ourselves, but the very least we can do in our second and third year of our engineering would be to work on mini projects and present papers.

OSUM : Awesome Place for All Developers

In CAREER ARTICLES, Computers, DeveloperActivities, Hot News, INDIA, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, NetBeans, Open Source, OSUM, Sun Microsystems, Technology Events on February 5, 2009 at 10:53 am

An OSUM Place for all Developers

Open Source University Meet-Up (OSUM) pronounced  as Awesome is a perfect Student Developer’s Community fostering all Open Source tools and training Students. I am fascinated to share things with my fellow beings, including my knowledge and experiences. This is Why I am also crazy about Open Source, as It allows us to share, recreate and lot’s more. There is no hassles in reviewing Copyrights. OSUM helps a Student developers community in the college to make sure that the members gets trained and well incubated with industry training before they are let out in the corporate world.

TOP 5 Reasons to JOIN OSUM:

  • LEARN about Open Source Technologies and how they are opening up new career opportunities for students
  • ACCESS free online web courses, webinars, tutorials and other resources to prepare for career enhancing certifications
  • SHARE your technical knowledge with other students around the world virtually and on campus
  • COLLABORATE with a global community of students via forum, campus events, webinars, etc.
  • CONNECT and make friends with students around the world who are committed to Open Source just like you!

Join OSUM Community Now and connect with tens of thousands of student developers and over 900 student clubs from over 80 countries. Change (Y) Our World.

InternetBus Project : Explore the World of Internet

In Automobiles, Computers, Hot News, INDIA, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Nation, Open Source, Technology Events on February 4, 2009 at 11:29 pm

We probably know Google from the products on the Internet, like Google Search, Gmail, Orkut and Google Maps. Soon, they may even visit a town near you, to give you a first hand experience of what the Internet has to offer you.

The Internet Bus Project is an attempt educate people about what the Internet is, and how it may be beneficial to their lives, by taking the Internet experience to them through a customised Internet-enabled bus, which will travel to several towns and cities across India.

The bus started at Chennai recently and there was lots of people who realised the essence of the work carried out by Google and supported it. Due to the problem in Srilanka, the local goverment here at Chennai declared bandth and the roads were left with none. If this has not happened now, Iam sure that this project would have reached a wider audience.

Fortunately Google have planned this project to take place in every town in the state and the Internet Bus is now on the roads heading straight to vellore. I am sure that people and fellow students at vellore will be able to make use of this event to realise and Explore the World of Internet.

internet_bus

Here is the schedule that the Google Internet Bus will follow:

February
03 Feb Chennai
05 Feb Vellore
06 Feb Krishnagiri
07 Feb Salem
11 Feb Erode
12 Feb Tiruppur
14 Feb Coimbatore
18 Feb Dindigul
19 Feb Madurai
23 Feb Tirunelveli
25 Feb Nagercoil
27 Feb Tuticorin

March
02 Mar Pudukkottai
03 Mar Tiruchirappalli
06 Mar Thanjavur
08 Mar Kumbakonam
10 Mar Neyveli
12 Mar Cuddalore
13 Mar Tiruvannamalai

The Database TASTE Challenge – SQL Vs Oracle

In Computers, Databases, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Oracle, SQL 2008, Technology Events on December 24, 2008 at 12:16 am

Recently all Oracle certified Professionals were given a chance to migrate to Microsoft SQL 2008. The moment I deployed SQL 2008, I found it was a excellent platform for all DBA’s. I realized SQL provided me the perfect stage to exhibit all kind of services from Analytical to BI.

Comparing ORACLE 11g to MS SQL 2008, I found all the additional services as built-in feature in MS SQL 2008, but not in ORACLE 11g.Secure, robust, easy to maintain, cost-effective solution is provided by SQL 2008. SQL 2008 are launched in different flavors, and let me chart all those here;

Express Edition, Workgroup Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Developer Edition, Web Edition, Mobile Edition.

I will advise Enterprise level to all, as it has no CPU limit and unlimited storage. Each flavor is special in its own.  Watch this video and you will know what peers think on SQL 2008.

Let’s get some Taste Teasers!!!

Sans Review

FIREBUG – A must have Add-On

In Computers, Hot News, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Open Source, Technology Events on December 17, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Sans Review

Sans Review

Man. I thought the Web Developer extension for Firefox was extremely cool, but this very useful add-on to the world’s best browser is an even better equipped toolbox for front-end developers. You can tweak every little code detail right from the browser and see the results instantly. I found the option to temporarily disable individual lines of CSS code to be very useful. A must have for web designers.

WANTED TECH GURU

In CAREER ARTICLES, Computers, Hot News, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Open Source, Technology Events, Technology Research Labs on December 17, 2008 at 12:29 pm

tech-guru

Every once in a while ideas pop into my head. I can’t help it. Most are crap, but some warrant further investigation. Problem is that I do not have the technical knowledge to look into some of them and create proof-of-concept type applications. I’m pretty good with WordPress and Scripting, and Database development. One of my ideas would require using the Google Maps API for instance, others need somewhat sophisticated database operations or SMS interaction, or… who knows.

What I’ve been looking for for a while now is someone to collaborate with on these concepts, brainstorm about them and -if we feel there’s something to them- go ahead and realize them. This, of course, is not a job offer. Chances are you’ll never make a dime, but there’s also a slim chance we’d be the next Twitter, or even the next YouTube. So if you’re into PHP (Ruby?), javascript, and like exploring new technical developments, contact me. Who knows what it’ll lead to.

Browse Photos in 3D from Firefox

In Computers, Hot News, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Technology Events on December 17, 2008 at 12:13 pm

Sans Review

How cool is this? A Firefox plugin that raises the bar for all other image browsers. Installing it will add a small ‘play’ button to images on Flickr, Picasa and tons of other sites. Clicking that button open the PicLens screen where you can intuitively browse through the gallery in 3D. Very easy to set up, and a surefire way to impress your friends.

http://www.piclens.com

Award for Best Application Name Goes To…

In Computers, Hot News, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Technology Events on December 17, 2008 at 12:02 pm

boxshot

I know from my own experience that naming an application you’ve created can be just as challenging as creating it in the first place. A name should fit the purpose and be catchy at the same time. Some names are so clever they’ll not only increase the software’s chances of success, they also make me smile. Here are some of the best ones I’ve come across.

Top 5

1. Taekwindow
This clever little app changes the way you can drag and resize windows. Although I see more use for this under OSX (where you can still only drag the bottom right corner), the wordplay works. Taekwondo is a clever martial art, so the analogy fits.

2. Greasemonkey
Greasemonkey lets you run ‘user scripts’ that can affect the way web pages work and are displayed. There are tons of these scripts, ranging from useless to invaluable timesavers. This Firefox plugin lets you mess with the internals of web pages, so the name fits perfectly.

3. Ubuntu
This isn’t another plug for my (currently) favorite operating system. This is simply a very good name. The Zulu word of ‘ubuntu’ has been described as being “too beautiful to be translated into English”. What is clear is that is has to do with a sense of community, and that’s what makes it a great name for an Open Source project that aims to bring Linux to the people.

4. CrapCleaner
This is telling it like it is. CrapCleaner will do just what the name suggests. It cleans the crap that Windows, browsers and other tools leave on your system. So instead of giving it a fancy name like “SpaceSaver Deluxe” or “System Accellerator” the authors opted to go for the direct approach. Kudos to them for that.

5. Babelfish
Ok, so it’s not an application you can download and install, but it is an application. And it has a really cool name. Not everyone might be familiar with Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but considering how the original radio comedy has been made into a book, a TV series, a movie and a video game that’s not for lack of trying. All feature a fish that feeds on brain waves and, in the process of doing so, just happens to translate every possible language into something you’ll understand. That’s why it goes in your ear.

Bottom 5

1. Nero burning ROM
To even get this name you need to realize that Nero is made by a German company. “Rom” in German means “Rome”, and since the program is used to ‘burn’ things, they probably thought naming it after the Roman emperor who was accused of setting Rome on fire was a clever move. If only Nero hadn’t been such an extravagant tyrant…

2. Toast
Toast was one of the first user friendly CD burning packages available. But in the early day’s, phrases like “You know that $10 disc you just bought me? I toasted it” must’ve caused a few arguments. And considering how electronic are often called ‘toast’ when they’re ‘fried’ I can’t help but wonder if this was the best name they could come up with.

3. Floola
I must’ve clicked this name ten times by now when running across it on various websites, just to see what it was. There’s not a single clue I can decypher in the name as to what the software actually does. Nothing I can remember it by. As it turns out, it lets you manage certain mobile phones as well as iPods. So they called it “Floola”. Right.

4. Alcohol 120%
I’m starting to see a pattern here. Another CD burning application. Sure, alcohol burns in your throat. Especially when it’s a chemically impossible 120% solution. Unfortunately, alcohol is also the most widely used recreational drug, and probably causes more profound problems than any other substance. Way to go “Alcohol Software”…

5. Foobar2000
This is actually my favorite audio player. I use this eight hours a day, four days a week. That’s probably why I only made it my number five. ‘Foobar’ is a placeholder name often used by programmers, and its most probable origin is FUBAR, which means “Fucked Up Beyond All Repair” or “Fucked Up beyond All Recognition”. Why anyone would name the fruits of their labour this is beyong me. Especially with the “2000″ bit, which, let’s face it, has been pretty lame ever since the year 2000 actually came along. And no, it’s not a toolbar of any kind.

So there you have it. My personal best and worst application names. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

Chrome Out of Beta

In Computers, Hot News, Latest Technology, LiveCast, My Reviews, Open Source, Technology Events on December 17, 2008 at 11:44 am
chrome

Sans Review

Google’s Chrome Web browser for Windows is no longer beta software. The company released Chrome 1.0 on Thursday, a mere 3-1/2 months after its initial release. Google describes its business as search, ads, and apps. Search and ads, it dominates. The online applications market remains contested, not to mention the mobile applications market. Google needs a browser of its own, so it isn’t dependent on the goodwill of Apple, Microsoft, or Mozilla for access to its users.

According to me, the 1.0 designation is meaningless. Chrome is both done and a work in progress. Mac and Linux versions are still being worked on, with no declared target date for release. New features, like an API for extensions, also are under development. And then there are the bugs. Google’s Chrome bug-tracking system lists more than 2,400 open issues. Not all of them are bugs and not all are serious bugs, but clearly plenty of significant issues remain.