The joy of an eco-friendly Diwali

Diwali is the one festival in India which is celebrated by all irrespective of caste, creed and religion. Diwali is celebrated to acknowledge the victory of good over evil. And the lighting of earthen lamps or diyas (clay lamps) on a moonless night signifies a new beginning of enlightenment and the end of darkness of ignorance.

This Year Diwali is celebrated on 26th October 2011 Wednesday. I Hope many of you are prepared to celebrate Diwali with family and friends. This article tries to sensitize the readers towards celebrating an environmentally safe Diwali by pointing out the major impacts that Diwali has on our environment and your health.






Let’s Explode Joy without Crackers

For many of us burning crackers and making sounds is a way to enjoy and have thrill. But people won’t think about how these crackers are harmful to environment and health.

It can cause throat, nose & eye related problems which can later develop into adverse health hazards. It can lead to headaches & reduced mental acuity when it reaches the level of 100 ppm. Burning crackers throws more smoke in to the Air which has much more severe effects in people with heart, respiratory or nervous system disorders. It can aggravate problem for people suffering from cold, allergies or coughs and can also cause congestion of throat & chest. Increase amount of noise has harmful effects on animals as well as humans





So let’s Say a BIG NO to Crackers and Fireworks and save our environment and health.


Burn Lights using Traditional Oil Lamps to Reduce Electric Power

Electric Power is already overloaded in our country. The use of electric power to light homes, business establishments, monuments and roads requires a huge amount of electricity. The older tradition of burning oil lamps is a possible alternative to electric lights – even though it does use oil, the duration of the lamps is shorter.


How to celebrate environmental (Eco) friendly Diwali.

• Do celebrate the festival of lights with less pollution and do help poor people by offering food and clothing rather than spending huge money for purchasing crackers.
  
• Follow the principle of nature conservation, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink Refuse. 

• Consume less electricity to light your house as we are in the age of energy crisis, and we are indirectly polluting the mother earth.
  
• Explode few crackers for the significance of Diwali.
   
• Burst crackers in open areas rather than near houses, flats etc. Try and remember that some people might not be able to tolerate that much noise pollution.
  
• Explode less noise crackers as this will help aged and others and you will also help in avoiding noise pollution.
  
  

Things to remember


* Children should be allowed to light crackers only under parental supervision.

* Avoid bursting crackers in crowded and congested areas. Light them in a field, away from flammable materials.

* Do not burst crackers holding it in your hand.

* Before lighting, be sure people are out of range of fireworks.

* If you get injured in the eye, put a cotton pad and immediately visit an ophthalmologist.

* Keep unused fireworks away from area where you are lighting crackers.

* Keep a bucket of water nearby for emergencies.

* Never ignite fireworks in a container, especially a glass or metal.

* Don’t wear loose clothes.


A celebration is all about spreading happiness and joy. We should celebrate True Diwali in traditional styles with out giving up joy and happiness. celebrate clean and green Diwali.So, make sure you do your bit by pledging for a smokeless and noise free Diwali by steering away from firecrackers these festivities.





I wish all my readers “HAPPY DIWALI”.

Ur's

Timer for Automatic Shutdown Without Using Any Software

Generally, while watching movies or reading an eBook, I fall asleep. This must also be a case with many of you, watching movies on your laptop and then lying asleep the next minute, with only ghosts left to watching your boring movie.





So its better to have an Automatic timer for shutdown. We All use some or the other software to shutdown windows in our system. But there is a inbuilt option in windows which allows us to shut the windows at certain time.I found this trick in Microsoft Windows Manual.





There are two ways to implement Automatic shutdown. In both cases a code was given to set the time for shutdown with just using RUN command. This shutdown timer works perfectly in windows versions. Just you have to enter a simple command in RUN.



M - 1 

If you want to shutdown your computer at the specific time without clicking the menu and waiting for shutdown process, you can do it just using windows without any additional software.
Here is the steps to do that :

• Click Start, and then Click RUN
  
• Type for examples “at 10:30 shutdown -s” then click OK (replace hours with the time you want)
  
  
  

• The computer will shutdown at 10:30
  
  
• To cancel, go back to the Run command and type “shutdown -a” and then click OK.

M - 2

1) Press Ctrl + R to open the RUN command.

2) Type the below code given below.

"shutdown.exe -s -f -t 300"


shutdown.exe is for calling the shutdown executable.
–s is the command for shutdown.
–f is for performing a forced shutdown. If an application stops responding when shutting down, this command will force shut it. Using this command is not compulsory, but recommended.
–t command is for specifying the time the shutdown will take place. After you put the –t command give a space and then enter the time in seconds. So in the above example, the computer will be shut down in 6 hours.

Let’s put the whole command in one line: "shutdown.exe -s -f -t seconds"


Tip: If you want to restart the computer instead of shutting it down, replace the –s with –r. Similarly, if you’d like to logoff, replace –s with –l.


Tip 2: If you want to display a message that displays when the countdown is in progress, you can append a  –c command with a message attached. Like this: -c “Computer is shutting down”


Tip 3: To Hibernate Computer use "rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll,SetSuspendState".Similarly to Sleep Computer use "rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0"



Tip 4: You can also create shortcuts for all the above commands in your desktop.






In the shortcut location box, you’ll need to enter the correct command, which I’ve listed for you above.






After you click Finish, you should now have a new icon that you can double-click to immediately shutdown, restart, or lock your computer.



Tip 5: If you want to use a free software to shutdown the system automatically at a given time then the best software is Freeshutdown Timer.with this software you can Shutdown, Restart, Log off, Lock, Hibernate and Standby operations. Since this is a freeware software i have uploaded the setup file of Freeshutdown Timer in 4shared.com so you can download directly from the below link.

DOWNLOAD FREE SHUTDOWN TIMER

Ur's

Digital Identity For Every Indian – Project Aadhaar

Every Indian will be having his own Digital identity very soon,The Project called “Aadhaar” which is funded by Government of India to provide unique 12 digit ID to all Indian citizens,Headed by ex CEO of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani, the agency aims to provide a 12-digit unique identity number for all citizens. The project is ambitious to say the least, as by 2014, the Government wants half of India’s population to be allotted Aadhaar numbers. This translates into a staggering 600 million Indians, whose biometrics – photograph, fingertips and iris scan, will be recorded and compared.






About Project Aadhaar

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will issue for all residents in India.The aim is to issue a unique ID number that can be verified and authenticated in an online, cost-effective manner. Most importantly, it should be robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities.







Technology which will be used:


In Aadhaar the technolgy called Biometric Iris Recognition will be used.Other than each persons biometric profiling will be done with the help of a fingerprint scanner and a Web camera.





Companies behind project Aadhaar

Mahindra Satyam and Morpho (part of the Safran Group) will be providing the technology for issuing of UIDs. According to the press release, Mahindra Satyam and Morpho will be responsible for maintaining the databases and cross-checking the information. Mahindra Satyam will be providing expertise regarding system integration and IT while Morpho will provide the biometric equipment.


Benefits

• Aadhaar will become the single source of identity verification. Residents would be spared the hassle of repeatedly providing supporting identity documents each time they wish to access services such as obtaining a bank account, passport, driving license and so on.
• By providing a clear proof of identity, Aadhaar will also facilitate entry for poor and underprivileged residents into the formal banking system and the opportunity to avail services provided by the government and the private sector.
• Giving migrants mobility of identity.
• Financial inclusion with deeper penetration of banks, insurance and easy distribution of benefits of government schemes.

Reference :

http://uidai.gov.in/

Ur's

The Fisherman and the Banker

An investment banker was standing at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."

The banker then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The fisherman said, "Why bother? I now have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening and spend time with my family, I have a full and busy life."

The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat! With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the capital city. After that, who knows, maybe you could take on the world!"

The fisherman asked, "How long will all of this take?"

To which the banker replied, "I'd say about 15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the fisherman.

The Banker laughed, "That's the best part! When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?" the fisherman replied.

"Then you would retire and do whatever you want," said the banker. "What would you want to do?"

The fisherman answered: "I would sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening and spend time with my family."



Thanks to Neil Evans for the story.

Ur's

The Importance of Punctuation

Punctuation is not really that important, right? WRONG! It’s very important and a tiny, misplaced comma or question mark can cost several millions or break someone’s heart. Not convinced? Take a look at some of these great examples of punctuation mistakes. If you didn’t previously recognize the importance of punctuation, you will after seeing these!



1) Dear John Punctuation


The Dear John punctuation example is a very commonly used story about a man who received a beautiful letter from his loved one. In the letter his girlfriend spelled out, in no uncertain terms, how much she loved and adored John and it was clear to anyone reading the letter that she couldn’t live without him. Or could she?


Version 1:

Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy–will you let me be yours?
Jane

What happens to the letter if there were some punctuation mistakes and it was punctuated in an entirely different fashion?


Version 2:

Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria


AND THE MORAL OF THE STORY?

Incorrect punctuation can get you into deep, deep doo-doo!

Ur's

India’s $35 tablet ‘Aakash’

To begin with, the Aakash comes with a 7 inch resistive touchscreen display having a resolution of 800 A— 480 pixels. The Aakash will haveA a 366 MHzA Connexant processor with Graphics accelerator making up the core of the tablet. A 256 MB RAM works in conjugation with the CPU while the Aakash also boasts of a 2 GB Flash memory. Running the entire tablet operation will be Android 2.2 Froyo though there also is a micro SD card slot to ensure there are enough storage always available. What is really nice with the Aakash is that it has two USB 2.0 ports to offer along with a 3.5 mm jack.

However, the Aakash connects to the internet via a Wi-Fi connection which is just among a few other features such as integrated camera and GPRS that has been done away with to stick to the price point.

The tablet is being developed by IIT-Rajasthan (Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan) and DataWind (a UK-based company owned by a Suneet Singh Tuli, a Canadian of Indian descent). Manufactured by the plant in Hyderabad with the initial lot comprising of a total of 100,000 units of the tablet which government agencies would be buying for apiece while making available to students at a lower rate.

The tablet comes with a 12-month replacement warranty and supports formats like DOC, DOCX,
PDF and PPTX etc.





World Cheapest Tablet:The mighty $35 Indian Tablet is finally launched in India on October 5. Kapil Sibal, minister of communications and information technology confirmed. In Indian Rupee, the price of the tablet is Rs. 1700. The Indian Government will subsidize the cost of the tablet and offer it to students for about Rs. 1100 Only.

PRICE@1700 rupees 1100 for students.
Available in December.

Features and Technical Specifications:

Dimensions: 190.5mm x 118.5mm x 15.7mm
Weight: 350 grams
Display: 7-inch Resistive Touch Screen (800 x 480 pixels)
Video Playback and Streaming: Full HD (1080p) support
Operating System: Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Storage: 2 GB Internal (Expandable upto 32 GB vi MicroSD card)
CPU: 366 MHz Connexant Processor
RAM: 256 MB
Battery Backup: Upto 3 hours/180 Minutes (1.5 to 2 hours while playing HD video) (2100 mAh Battery)
Data Connectivity: GPRS, Wi-Fi (802.11 IEEE a/b/g) and 3G (via Dongle)
USB Ports: 2 full USB ports
MarketPlace: Getjar

Pros:

– Affordable
– FHD (1080p) video playback/streaming
–Video Streaming (Video Download also supported for YouTube)


Cons:

– Very Poor Battery Backup
– Slow Performance
– Bad Touch Experience (Resistive Touch Screen)
– Big & Weird Stickers at the back

Courtesy: gadget1.9square.net , wirelessera.in , gigabitestreet

Ur's

Windows Folder Tricks!!!

                                              


Windows 7 and vista allows you to create an invisible folder without any logo and name.If you have some private data and want to hide it from pirating eyes without using any external software then certainly you will benefit from this tutorial.




In this tutorial we will protect our data first placing it in an invisible folder and then hiding it so that no one can even accidentaly open that folder.So this will provide you with two level security.
How To Create A Folder Without Name In Windows 7 And Vista?

1. Click on Start Button in taskbar
2. Search For Character Map
3. Open character Map and click on the blank Coloumn
   
   
   
4. Now Click on Select Button and then on Copy Button(Now you have copied a blank Space)
5. Create a New folder and Rename it and press Ctrl+V keys from keyboard.

By this time we have created a folder without any name.Now we have to create a folder without any Logo.



How To Create An Invisible Folder  In Windows 7 And Vista?

1. Right click on the folder that you have created without name in the previous step.
2. Click on Properties>>Customise>>Change Icon
   
   
   
3. Now will get a popup windows with various icon.Select the blank Icon
   
   
   
   

4. Press Ok

By this time you have created an Invisible folder with no logo and no name.
Move all of your private data in this invisible folder.


How To Hide the Invisible Folder In Windows 7 And Vista?

1. Right Click on the Invisible Folder
2. Select Properties and now select the Hidden Checkbox.

By this time you have your data in an invisible folder with no logo,name and which is hidden.So only you can access this folder as only you have knowledge where this invisible folder is stored.



How To Open This Hidden folder?

1.First Make Your Hidden Files,folders visible from  folders options in control panel.

2.Now go to the drive (location) of your computer where you have created the folder without name and icon.Now press Ctrl+A your folder will get highlighted.

Ur's

Gandhian Gleanings

02 October 2011. 142nd Birth Anniversary of Shri Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. To us in India, he is the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The day is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti. The day is also celebrated as International Day of Non-violence across the globe.


There is so much written about this Mahatma or ‘Great Soul’ and so many interpretations about his words of wisdom, that it would be futile to add more chapters on him. This is just a small attempt at a bit of gleanings from the life of Gandhi that would perhaps be of some help to those who seek just that.


‘Gandhi’ means Grocer. He belonged to a family who were grocers by profession.
As a child, Gandhi was not very good at studies and had particular difficulty in learning to multiply.
He got married to Kasturba at the age of thirteen. Kasturba too was 13 then.
Gandhi’s political mentor was Gopal Krishna Gokhle.







A few golden quotes from the Great soul:


"Yes I am (a Hindu). I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."
"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

"As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it."

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

"I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life."

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”





These sayings by the Mahatma hold good in today's selfish and brutal world and would be worthwhile to put into practice. Surely, if applied in good measure and with patience, it would make the world a better place to live in?

Ur's

Photoshopped: When animals wear what humans wear

Source: FunFunBlog

Ur's