Anand Balaji's adventures in _technicolour

Linkorama – Issue 9

by Anand Balaji on Jun.22, 2010, under Bunch of links

Our much delayed and anticipated(?) bunch of links finally hits the web. Many thanks to all the contributions. Keep them coming!

- Anand

Dhananjay Prajapati

Quickstart your Azure development
http://www.devx.com/MSDN/Article/40801

Toolkit to consume and publish RSS feed on your ASP.net website.
http://aspnetrsstoolkit.codeplex.com/

Sunny Shah

Qt demo videos
http://qt.nokia.com/developer/learning/online/talks/archive/view

Tejinder Singh Hanspal

Phishing loss: ICICI told to pay Rs 12.85 lakh to NRI
http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/apr/13/icici-told-to-pay-rs-13-lakh-to-nri-over-phishing-loss.htm

India’s IT leaves its worst year behind
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/apr/28/slide-show-1-tech-indias-it-leaves-its-worst-year-behind.htm

Five hidden dangers of Facebooking
http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100510/854/ttc-five-hidden-dangers-of-facebooking.html

Yahoo, Intel Unveil Green Data Centers
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3879886/Yahoo-Intel-Unveil-Green-Data-Centers.htm

Open Source Software Investigation — Stty Settings, Backspace and Delete
http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3879851/Open-Source-Software-Investigation—-Stty-Settings-Backspace-and-Delete.htm

Open-Source Software: Bad, Evil and Un-American
http://www.serverwatch.com/article.php/3868046

Xeon is Money in the Bank for Intel
http://www.serverwatch.com/daily_news/article.php/400844/Xeon-is-Money-in-the-Bank-for-Intel.htm

Server Security: The Threat from Within
http://www.serverwatch.com/trends/article.php/3882096/Server-Security-The-Threat-from-Within.htm

Getting Ediscovery to Work for You
http://www.serverwatch.com/trends/article.php/3879446/Getting-Ediscovery-to-Work-for-You

It’s a Windows vs. Linux Mobile Market Turf War
http://www.serverwatch.com/trends/article.php/3881461/Its-a-Windows-vs-Linux-Mobile-Market-Turf-War.htm

Google, Microsoft Spin PR Disaster Straw Into Gold
http://www.serverwatch.com/eur/article.php/3859306/Google-Microsoft-Spin-PR-Disaster-Straw-Into-Gold

Cloud Computing Is About Portability: Interop
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3879351/Cloud-Computing-Is-About-Portability-Interop.htm

The Power Behind Cloud Computing
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3875266/The-Power-Behind–Cloud-Computing

Will 12,000 Cloud Computing Deployments Lead to Profit?
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3878416/Will-12000-Cloud-Computing-Deployments-Lead-to-Profit

Google, Microsoft trade more blows over Docs, Office 2010
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176730/Google_Microsoft_trade_more_blows_over_Docs_Office_2010

Lawmakers consider changes to wiretapping law to protect cloud services
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176364/Lawmakers_consider_changes_to_wiretapping_law_to_protect_cloud_services?source=toc

For IT, enterprise wireless to get more gnarly in next decade http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176489/For_IT_enterprise_wireless_to_get_more_gnarly_in_next_decade

Adobe escalates feud with Apple over Flash
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176715/Adobe_escalates_feud_with_Apple_over_Flash

Will Apple’s iPad Wi-Fi + 3G crash AT&T?http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176189/Will_Apple_s_iPad_Wi_Fi_3G_crash_AT_T_?source=toc

Corporate e-mail in the cloud: Google vs. Microsoft http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176036/Corporate_e_mail_in_the_cloud_Google_vs._Microsoft

Surfing the Net? Beware of security threats
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/mar/08/slide-show-1-tech-surfing-the-net-beware-of-security-threats.htm

Broadband speed: Kerala is No.1
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jan/28/slide-show-1-tech-broadband-speed-kerala-tops.htm

Beware of these 14 cyber threats!
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/25/slide-show-1-tech-beware-of-these-cyber-threats.htm

Mobile number portability: Will you change your operator?
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/sep/30/slide-show-1-tech-mobile-number-portability-will-you-change.htm

US’s multi-billion-dollar lure for Indian IT giants
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/sep/28/slide-show-1-tech-multi-billion-dollar-lure-for-indian-it-giants.htm

Cybercrooks improvise to fuel underground economy
http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/apr/21/tech-cybercrooks-improvise-to-fuel-underground-economy.htm

‘Rearm’ trick extends Office 2010 free ride to 180 days
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176804/_Rearm_trick_extends_Office_2010_free_ride_to_180_days

Security guard pleads guilty to hacking his employer
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176811/Security_guard_pleads_guilty_to_hacking_his_employer

Google stops sniffing Wi-Fi data after privacy gaffe
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176810/Google_stops_sniffing_Wi_Fi_data_after_privacy_gaffe

Intel aims wireless display technology at handhelds
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176800/Intel_aims_wireless_display_technology_at_handhelds

Dissecting Microsoft Office 2010
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176254/Dissecting_Microsoft_Office_2010

Ice cream with (RFID) chips to go
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176795/Ice_cream_with_RFID_chips_to_go

Facebook unveils new security features
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176752/Facebook_unveils_new_security_features

Facebook’s Become a Phisher’s Playground
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3882301/Facebooks+Become+a+Phishers+Playground.htm

One Gang Responsible For Most Phishing Attacks
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3882136/One+Gang+Responsible+For+Most+Phishing+Attacks.htm

VMware Grabs Java Developer GemStone
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3880741/VMware+Grabs+Java+Developer+GemStone.htm

Wi-Fi Networking Could Get Speedier
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3881196/WiFi+Networking+Could+Get+Speedier.htm

Software Pirates Swipe Billions in Booty
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3881986/Software+Pirates+Swipe+Billions+in+Booty.htm

Google to Close Nexus One Online Store
http://www.internetnews.com/mobility/article.php/3882361/Google+to+Close+Nexus+One+Online+Store.htm

Indian education is steering online
http://expresscomputeronline.com/20100517/trend01.shtml

The power of CMD.EXE commands
http://expresscomputeronline.com/20040823/techspace01.shtml

Optimize Windows 7 for better performance
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Optimize-Windows-7-for-better-performance

Ways to improve your computer’s performance
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Ways-to-improve-your-computers-performance

26% of Web video is ready for the iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/05/14/26-of-web-video-is-ready-for-the-ipad/

Apple sells one millionth iPad
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/05/03/apple-sells-one-millionth-ipad/

Mahindra Gupta

90 percent of Windows 7 flaws fixed by removing admin rights
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/03/half-of-windows-flaws-mitigated-by-removing-admin-rights.ars

7 performance tips for faster SQL queries
http://infoworld.com/d/data-management/7-performance-tips-faster-sql-queries-262?page=0,0

Adobe’s content aware fill
http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/03/adobes-magical-content-aware-fill-bends-pixels-to-your-will/

Solaris is free no longer…
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/03/solaris-10-no-longer-free-as-in-beer-now-a-90-day-trial.ars

Anand Balaji

How to read your camera’s histogram
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/read-cameras-histogram-perfectly-balanced-images/

Apple sued over multitouch patent
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20001424-260.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Microsoft: Office 15—not 2010—to be fully OOXML compliant
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/04/microsoft-office-15not-2010to-be-fully-ooxml-compliant.ars

Inside WebKit2: less waiting, less crashing
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/webkit2-a-split-process-model-non-blocking-web-renderer.ars

 
New iPhone Developer Agreement Bans the Use of Adobe’s Flash-to-iPhone Compiler
http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/iphone_agreement_bans_flash_compiler

Angry Twitter App-Makers Plan Secret Meetings On How To Replace Twitter
http://blogs.forbes.com/velocity/2010/04/12/angry-twitter-app-makers-plan-secret-meetings-on-how-to-replace-twitter/

Anatomy of Linux Kernel Shared Memory
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-kernel-shared-memory/index.html?ca=dgr-lnxw01LX-KSMdth-LX

Announcing the first free software Blu-ray encoder
http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=328″

Sony to stop manufacturing Floppy discs after 30 years
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/26/sony-to-stop-manufacturing-floppy-discs-after-30-years/

Multitasking the Android Way
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html

Download Microsoft Desktop Player
http://www.microsoft.com/click/desktopplayer/

Introducing the Chrome Web store
https://chrome.google.com/webstore

Understanding Microsoft Push Notifications for Windows Phones
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2010/05/03/understanding-microsoft-push-notifications-for-windows-phones.aspx

More on C++ Default initialisation
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=485&ns=18088&WT.mc_id=2010-05-11_NL_C%20%20Newsletter

Overriding new and delete (C++)
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=486&ns=18192&WT.mc_id=2010-05-18_NL_C++Newsletter

Microsoft Outlook lock-in could vanish with new open source projects
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/05/outlook-lock-in-could-vanish-with-new-open-source-projects.ars

The case of the random IE crash
http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2010/06/01/3335060.aspx

Windows Increases Lead in Server Unit Sales
http://www.osnews.com/story/23412/Windows_Increases_Lead_in_Server_Unit_Sales

Parameter passing in C#
http://www.yoda.arachsys.com/csharp/parameters.html

URI vs. URL
http://www.bernzilla.com/item.php?id=100

Apple’s iOS 4 Explored
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3779/apples-ios-4-explored/1

Stack based vs Register based Virtual Machines
http://doc.cat-v.org/inferno/4th_edition/dis_VM_design

A Taste of Froyo: Google Android 2.2 Explored
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3782/a-taste-of-froyo-google-android-22-explored/1

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Using a HttpModule to protect your content from 3rd party referrals.

by Anand Balaji on May.25, 2010, under Coding

 There are certain cases under which you may wish to “discourage” external sites from linking directly to public content (images, documents …) on your site. You may for example, prefer to have user’s visit your site first before accessing any of your resources.

The sample code attached to this post illustrates how to use a HttpModule to act as a filter which prevents third-party sites from linking to your content. You can use this approach to prevent others from linking to pages, images and other resources.

Revision History
v1.0  – Initial code base (25/5/2010) – Download from here.

Section 1.0 – Configuration

a. Unzip the file and deploy it to a folder of your choice.

b. Register “non-standard” extensions – You will need (under IIS 5.x and 6) to register non-standard file extensions (e.g. .js, .jpg, .gif etc.). This enables requests for these resources to be channelled via the ASP.NET engine.

The image below depicts .jpg files being associated with the ASP.NET ISAPI engine. You should limit the HTTP verbs to a range that is supported by your web-site.

Add_file_extension

The image below shows the application configuration screen that is used to add file mappings under IIS.

Application_configuration

c. Open the web.config file and locate the  xanWebFilter node. Next, add file extensions that you wish to ban. I’ve added asmx files which would cause requests from third party sites to be redirected to yahoo.com. Similarly, I’ve added a jpg key that causes all non-validated requests to be transferred to banned.htm

   1:      <!-- Xanthium web-filter specific values. -->
   2:      <xanWebFilter>
   3:          <add key="asmx" value="http://yahoo.com"></add>
   4:          <add key="jpg" value="http://localhost/banned.htm"></add>
   5:      </xanWebFilter>

d. Ensure that the web.config file refers to the HTTP Module (IIS <= v6 or IIS7 classic mode)

<system.web>
    <httpModules>
        <add type="XanIISUtils.BannedExtensionFilter"
          name="xanthiumContentFilter"/>
    </httpModules>
</system.web>


web.config changes (IIS7 integrated mode)

<system.web>
    <httpModules>
        <add type="XanIISUtils.BannedExtensionFilter"
          name="xanthiumContentFilter"/>
    </httpModules>
</system.web>

e. Compile the code and run it. You will see that requests for asmx and jpg files that do not have HTTP referrers set will result in redirects to yahoo and banned.htm respectively.

Section 2.0 – How it works

The application makes use of the functionality provided by the HttpModule class which allows HTTP events to be subscribed to. This allows a piece of code for example, to be invoked when a request is received for a resource managed by the ASP.NET subsystem.

In a similar fashion, you could subscribe to the  Http_EndRequest event to append data (for example) to a stream returned by the server.

The following code in BannedExtensionFilter illustrates how an event is registered

public override void Init(HttpApplication app)
{
     ...
 
    // Register handlers that are called each time a request is received.
    app.BeginRequest += new EventHandler(this.Application_BeginRequest);
}

Next, when an event is called, the framework automatically invokes Application_BeginRequest() within BannedExtensionFilter. This method is responsible for determining whether a request should proceed unhindered or should be redirected. The following steps briefly describe the steps performed -

1. Determine whether the requested resource is part of a banned extension. In our example, this would be true for asmx and jpg files.

2. If the file is “black-listed”, determine whether the request should be redirected based on the return value of IsValidRequest().

IsValidRequest() performs a simple check to determine whether the HTTP referrer is set to the current application server. If the referrer is something else – the method flags this request for rejection.

protected Boolean IsValidRequest(HttpApplication app)
 {
    Uri fromUrl = app.Request.UrlReferrer;
    if ( null == fromUrl )
    {
         return false;
     }
 
     // Referrer is not empty - check to see whether it happens to
     // be this server's name
     return _serverName.ToLowerInvariant() == fromUrl.Host ? true : false;
}

Section 2.1 – Expandability

The current method of validating the HTTP request header for the referrer leaves a lot to be desired, you can start by using some sort of cookie/session check to make things more robust as well as to cater to those (usually custom coded) HTTP clients that may not set a referrer. You can either completely replace IsValidRequest() or override it in a derived class.

Section 3.0 – Conclusion

The code helps illustrate how HTTP modules could be better alternatives to performing similar tasks within the (beloved?) global.asax file. You should typically use this approach if -

1. You are using IIS7 in integrated pipeline mode and want to marshal ALL application requests through your code. I realise that I have not yet talked about setting up the handler for IIS7 – I’ll update the article at a later stage.

2. You need to keep the code modular and reusable within multiple applications. All you need to do is to compile the files into a library and store it within the GAC.

3. You believe in keeping a clean, non-complicated global.asax file.

Section 4.0 – Disclaimer

This code is released “as-is” without any sort of warranty. Please feel free to use it and modify it in your own projects. The code has been kept as simple as possible so that key concepts can be easily understood by the reader.

Please do feel to drop me an email if you find the code useful or if you have any questions.

Anand Balaji

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Linkorama – Issue 8

by Anand Balaji on Mar.25, 2010, under Bunch of links

 A very warm welcome to Dhananjay who has finally decided to share his choice of technical links with us. Welcome DJ! Hope to see a lot more from you in the future! :)

 - Anand

Links contributed by Dhananjay Prajapati

Implementing a dynamic where clause in SQL
http://www.sqlteam.com/article/implementing-a-dynamic-where-clause
http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1521

Efficient Paging for GridView in .NET
http://www.nikhedonia.com/notebook/entry/efficient-paging-for-gridview/

Automatically minify and combine JavaScript in Visual Studio
http://encosia.com/2009/05/20/automatically-minify-and-combine-javascript-in-visual-studio/

Links contributed by Tejinder Hanspal

World’s most intensive techies in India, China
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/feb/11/slide-show-1-worlds-most-intensive-techies-in-india.htm

India’s 10 fastest growing tech companies
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/24/slide-show-1-tech-10-fastest-growing-tech-companies.htm

Say goodbye to kerosene lamps, here’s Kiran!
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/dec/23/slide-show-1-worlds-cheapest-solar-lamp.htm

Cybercriminals make hay, gullible fall prey
http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/dec/30/tech-cybercriminals-make-hay-gullible-fall-prey.htm

Meet the future: Intel Science Talent Search finalists
http://getahead.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/feb/09/slide-show-1-career-meet-the-finalists-of-intel-science-talent-search.htm

8 tips for safer online shopping
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/tips-and-tricks/safer-online-shopping.aspx

Internet Explorer 8 is more secure
http://nsslabs.com/test-reports/Q309_Browser_Security_Summary_Final.pdf

10 Emerging Virtualization Companies Shaking up Datacenters in 2010
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3864081/

Intel Video: 2010 Intel Core Processor Technologies
http://www.intel.com/itcenter/demo/corefamily_perf/index.htm?dfaid=1&crtvid=0;

Will Cloud Computing Succeed Where Grid Failed?
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/datbus/article.php/3861321/Will-Cloud-Computing-Succeed-Where-Grid-Failed.htm

Virtualization Reality: Why Microsoft Virtualization Solutions Deliver Value When Compared to VMware
http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenterexperts/archive/2009/10/11/virtualization-reality-why-microsoft-virtualization-solutions-deliver-value-when-compared-to-vmware.aspx

Tape vs. Disk: Tape Refuses to be Evicted
http://www.serverwatch.com/hreviews/article.php/3848676/Tape-vs-Disk-Tape-Refuses-to-be-Evicted.htm

Solar Power Your Data Center Into the Future
http://www.serverwatch.com/hreviews/article.php/3847411/Solar-Power-Your-Data-Center-Into-the-Future

Supercomputing Heads for the Cloud
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3846926/Supercomputing-Heads-for-the-Cloud

Windows 7’s Virtual Impact
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3846001/Windows-7s-Virtual-Impact

What’s the Future of Linux and Solaris at Oracle?
http://www.serverwatch.com/article.php/3861376

Where Will the IT Jobs Be in 2010?
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3857676/Where-Will-the-IT-Jobs-Be-in-2010.htm

2010: The Year of Virtualizing Securely
http://www.serverwatch.com/virtualization/article.php/3858426/2010-The-Year-of-Virtualizing-Securely.htm

5 Steps to a More Efficient Data Center
http://www.serverwatch.com/article.php/3864496/5-Steps-to-a-More-Efficient-Data-Center

Data Deduplication: A Tongue Twister Worth the Effort
http://www.serverwatch.com/trends/article.php/3858666/Data-Deduplication-A-Tongue-Twister-Worth-the-Effort

The Java 7 Features Bound to Make Developers More Productive
http://www.developer.com/java/article.php/3864871/The-Java-7-Features-Bound-to-Make-Developers-More-Productive.htm

Open Source: Fuel for the Smartphone Explosion
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Open-Source-Fuel-for-the-Smartphone-Explosion-69329.html

Laptop Encryption Chips: Dissolved, Needled, Prodded and Hacked
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/69335.html

How to Have a Cybersafe Olympics Experience
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/69334.html

What Dreams May Come With Google’s Super-Speedy Network?
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/69323.html

Google’s New Social Scene-Stealer
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/69333.html

Motherboard Madness and Mayhem
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/69264.html

Microsoft to Take Another Stab at Mobile
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/69332.html

Microsoft Trots Out Office for Mac 2011
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/69330.html

Chrome for Mac Needs a Bit More Shine
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/68857.html

How Microsoft Could Beat Apple and Google: Needed – One Child Executive
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/business-mac/69277.html

Sorry, You Just Can’t Pin Down Apple Consumers
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/69298.html

Which IT Skills Are Pulling Big Bucks?
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/it-management/69286.html

Robots in the Home? Be Afraid
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/future-tech/68835.html

Top 8 Enterprise Server Predictions for 2010
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/green-tech/69095.html

Why Code Coverage Tools Should Be in Every Developer’s Toolbox
http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/3844736/Why-Code-Coverage-Tools-Should-Be-in-Every-Developers-Toolbox.htm

On Programmer Laziness & Anonymous Types
http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/3850256/On-Programmer-Laziness–Anonymous-Types.htm

An Android Developer’s Top 10 Gripes
http://www.developer.com/ws/article.php/3857796/An-Android-Developers-Top-10-Gripes.htm

Incremental Intellisense Improvements in VS2010
http://www.developer.com/net/article.php/3851191/Incremental-Intellisense-Improvements-in-VS2010.htm

Dynamic Language Support in the .NET 4.0 Framework
http://www.developer.com/net/article.php/3849871/Dynamic-Language-Support-in-the-NET-40-Framework.htm

The New Spring 3.0 Features You Need to Know
http://www.developer.com/java/web/article.php/3861826/The-New-Spring-30-Features-You-Need-to-Know.htm

Microsoft’s new ‘phone home’ anti-piracy practice unacceptable, says critic
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9156518/Microsoft_s_new_phone_home_anti_piracy_practice_unacceptable_says_critic

Microsoft to crack down on Windows 7 activation cracks
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9155738/Microsoft_to_crack_down_on_Windows_7_activation_cracks?source=toc

Is Google moving too far (from search) too fast?
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9155998/Is_Google_moving_too_far_from_search_too_fast

NASA: Robotic arm attaches addition to space station
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9156359/NASA_Robotic_arm_attaches_addition_to_space_station

Hackers outwit Windows 7 activation
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140947/Hackers_outwit_Windows_7_activation

Mobile VoIP: Skype App Coming to Verizon Smartphones?
http://www.enterprisemobiletoday.com/news/article.php/3864856/Mobile-VoIP-Skype-App-Coming-to-Verizon-Smartphones.htm

Google Prepares to Enter ISP Market
http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsysm/article.php/3864221

Yahoo’s Message: We’re in the Search Fight
http://www.internetnews.com/search/article.php/3864321/Yahoos+Message+Were+in+the+Search+Fight.htm

Firefox Tops Vulnerability List
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3847461

What Matters to Open Source: Licensing or Community?
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/interviews/6980/1/

My personal contributions

Cisco unveils next Internet core router
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9168058/Cisco_unveils_next_Internet_core_router

Apache bug prompts update advice
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Apache-bug-prompts-update-advice/0,130061744,339301617,00.htm

Five Ways to Improve Your Functions (C++)
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=476&ns=17213

Questions About Virtual Functions and Copy Constructor Calls
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=475&ns=17109

Tuning C/C++ compilers for optimal parallel performance in multicore apps: Part 1
http://www.embedded.com/design/223000215

PayPal to Open App Store for developers
http://www.cio.com/article/555813/PayPal_to_Open_App_Store_for_Developers

iPhone developers: What they give up to get into Apple’s app store
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=31684

Mozilla’s new JS engine.
http://www.osnews.com/story/22984/Mozilla_Borrows_from_WebKit_to_Build_Fast_New_JS_Engine

Rethinking the User Interface Paradigm of IDEs
http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/acb/codebubbles_site.htm

Windows Phone 7 Series Shacks up With AMD, Will Bring 480×800 Xbox Live Titles
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17881

Apple’s Spat With Google Is Getting Personal
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/technology/14brawl.html?pagewanted=1&src=tptw

More suggestions of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/11/more-suggestions-of-multitasking-in-iphone-os-4-0/

Cracking open five of the best open source Easter eggs
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/03/cracking-open-five-of-the-best-open-source-easter-eggs.ars

Microsoft shows off Windows Phone 7 Series dev tools at MIX10
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/03/microsoft-shows-of-windows-phone-7-series-dev-tools-at-mix10.ars

MFC applications now default to being DPI-aware
http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2010/03/11/mfc-applications-now-default-to-being-dpi-aware.aspx

Platform Preview gives Web developers first taste of IE9
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/03/platform-preview-gives-web-developers-first-taste-of-ie9.ars

MIT researchers enable self-assembling of chips
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/339837/mit_researchers_enable_self-assembling_chips/

Mobile App Devs and the Quest for Cash
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/69559.html?wlc=1268839406&wlc=1269008572

Explaining Microsoft RemoteFX
http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/03/18/Explaining-Microsoft-RemoteFX.aspx

Multicore requires OS rework, Windows architect advises
http://www.itworld.com/hardware/101580/multicore-requires-os-rework-windows-architect-advises?page=0%2C0&source=smlynch%22

Windows Phone 7 Series: The AnandTech Guide
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3774&p=1

Germany warns against use of Firefox browser
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8580716.stm

Gmail Gives a Peek Behind the Scenes
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Gmail-Gives-a-Peek-Behind-the-Scenes-137402.shtml

Free BBC Wildlife photography tips and tricks.
http://www.bbcwildlifemagazine.com/masterclasses.asp

Helpful Photography Cheat Sheets to Make Your Life Easier
http://www.thephotoargus.com/resources/helpful-photography-cheat-sheets-to-make-you-life-easier/

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Linkorama – Issue 7

by Anand Balaji on Feb.25, 2010, under Bunch of links

Mahindra Gupta

Analyst: Apple tablet launching in spring to crush Kindle
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/12/analyst-apple-tablet-launching-in-spring-to-crush-kindle.ars

Resizing images from the server using WPF
http://weblogs.asp.net/bleroy/archive/2009/12/10/resizing-images-from-the-server-using-wpf-wic-instead-of-gdi.aspx

Solar Power charger case
http://www.techblog.ws/gadgets/solar-power-charger-case/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Sunny Shah

Top 10 business technology trends for 2010
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/enterprise/top-10-business-technology-trends-for-2010-20091214-krx0.html

Some nice technology videos
http://videolectures.net/

Google demonstrates quantum computer image search http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18272-google-demonstrates-quantum-computer-image-search.html

 

Bhavesh Bagadiya

Runtime font loading with AS3 / Flash CS3 (not Flex!)
http://www.betriebsraum.de/blog/2007/06/22/runtime-font-loading-with-as3-flash-cs3-not-flex/


Anand Balaji

Creating Windows 7 Jump Lists With The API Code Pack and Visual Studio 2008
http://www.developer.com/net/article.php/3850661/article.htm

Google Drops Hints on Its Own Android Phone
http://www.internetnews.com/mobility/article.php/3853081

GNOME 3’s Next Steps
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3852071

Malware Hidden Inside Screensaver, Theme on GNOME-Look
http://www.osnews.com/story/22625/Malware_Hidden_Inside_Screensaver_Theme_on_GNOME-Look

The perils of Cross-Site tracking
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1321167

Getting free wireless in airports and hotels
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/getting_free_wireless_in_airports_and_hotels.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

The connection between SQL Server and Formula 1 racing
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000001476

Database encryption in Microsoft SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc278098.aspx

The Google e-book store and the free Sony e-book reader
http://ebookstore.sony.com/google-ebooks/

Engineering Windows 7 Graphics Performance
http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/04/25/engineering-windows-7-for-graphics-performance.aspx

AJAX animated images (free)
http://mentalized.net/activity-indicators/

Setting Up Web Filtering for a Network Using OpenDNS
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1310224

Implementing the Singleton Pattern in C#
http://www.developerfusion.com/article/9407/implementing-the-singleton-pattern-in-c/

Get your free copy of Best of Simple Talk .NET e-book
http://www.red-gate.com/products/ants_performance_profiler/boost_app_performance_ebook3.htm?utm_source=msdnflash&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_term=1287&utm_content=boostappperf-ebook&utm_campaign=antsprofiler

How to: Enable a Web Service to Send and Receive Large Amounts of Data (IIS)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa528822.aspx

Windows Batch file help-guide
http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm

Understanding Garbage Collection in .NET (Low level details!)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/magazine/bb985010.aspx

Building a Hackintosh Apple Can’t Sue You For
http://www.osnews.com/story/21564/Building_a_Hackintosh_Apple_Can_t_Sue_You_For

Epic Demonstrates Unreal Engine 3 for the iPod Touch/iPhone 3GS
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3695

Apple Issues Fix for Flickering Woes on Top-Selling 27" iMac
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17198

A Closer Look at bada
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=465&ns=16430

File/Registry Transaction support in ATL
http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2010/02/02/atl-support-for-transaction-file-system.aspx

Mozilla Labs Jetpack – Intro & Tutorial

Slideshow demonstrating important concepts of Cloud Computing

In the clouds no one can hear you scream…
View more presentations from cirrious.

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Linkorama – Issue 6

by Anand Balaji on Dec.09, 2009, under Bunch of links

 

I’d like to thanks to Sunny, Tejinder and Mahindra for contributing links for the latest issue. I hope you enjoy our collection of links!

The aim of this library is to encourage knowledge transfer. The links do not necessarily need to be of a technical aspect, but can be anything you find worth sharing.

Please send comments and feedback to my Zeus Learning account.

Cheers,
Anand

Sunny Shah

First Look: Google Goggles tries to ID your world
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141954/First_Look_Google_Goggles_tries_to_ID_your_world

Design of completely anonymous and decentralized Internet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet

 

Tejinder Singh Hanspal

Phishing, vishing: Great tips to be safe
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/sep/14/slide-show-1-great-tips-to-be-safe-from-phishing.htm

For the first time India is known for her professionals
http://getahead.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/oct/08/slide-show-1-achievers-subroto-bagchi-todays-youth-are-growing-up-in-a-truly-liberated-India.htm

Beware of these 12 online Christmas scams!
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/20/slide-show-1-tech-beware-of-these-12-online-christmas-scams.htm

4 Trends Every IT Hiring Manager Needs to Know
http://www.serverwatch.com/career/article.php/3841041/4–Trends-Every-IT-Hiring-Manager-Needs-to-Know.htm

Performance Improvement: Understanding
http://www.developer.com/db/article.php/3827266/Performance-Improvement-Understanding.htm

World’s first USB 3.0 ready External Hard Drive
http://www.freecom.com/news.asp?id=9205&catName=press

Microsoft kills Dynamics mobile
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9138516/Microsoft_kills_Dynamics_mobile

Web apps account for 80 percent of internet vulnerabilities
http://www.scmagazineus.com/Web-apps-account-for-80-percent-of-internet-vulnerabilities/article/129027/

Nations that are out of recession
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/18/slide-show-1-nations-out-of-recession.htm

10 smart tips to counter recession
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/26/slide-show-1-ten-smart-tips-to-counter-recession.htm

The world’s fastest growing companies
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/19/slide-show-1-infosys-among-world-fastest-growing-cos.htm

Top 100 IT Freelance Jobs
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3834086/Top-100-IT-Freelance-Jobs.htm

World’s 10 most competitive nations
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/sep/08/slide-show-1-india-more-competitive-but-switzerland-the-best.htm

Why IMEI code is a must for your mobile?
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/19/slide-show-1-tech-imei-code-is-a-must-for-your-mobile.htm

How Indians made Silicon Valley the world’s tech hub
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/25/slide-show-1-tech-how-indians-made-silicon-valley-worlds-tech-hub.htm

Microsoft affirms vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer
http://www.scmagazineus.com/microsoft-affirms-vulnerability-affecting-internet-explorer/article/158435/

Facebook scam email tries to spread Zeus bank Trojan
http://www.scmagazineus.com/facebook-scam-email-tries-to-spread-zeus-bank-trojan/article/156456/

The ghost in the machine: 3 disk imaging apps
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141226/The_ghost_in_the_machine_3_disk_imaging_apps

How to optimise your Windows 7 PC
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139534/How_to_optimize_your_Windows_7_PC

Warning over Michael Jackson email virus
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090702/tc_afp/entertainmentmusicusjacksontechnologyinternet

Social networking sites don’t protect your privacy
http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/jul/23/slide-show-1-social-networking-not-safe.htm

Searching for a job online? Beware of hackers
http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/17/tech-hackers-prey-on-job-aspirants.htm

India: A major hub for cybercrime
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/20/slide-show-1-india-major-hub-for-cybercrime.htm

AMD to drop clock speed in 12-core chips
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137053/AMD_to_drop_clock_speed_in_12_core_chips

Can you trust free antivirus software?
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137090/Can_you_trust_free_antivirus_software_

Why Apple Humiliates Microsoft in the Mobile Market
http://www.serverwatch.com/eur/article.php/3836146/Why-Apple-Humiliates-Microsoft-in-the-Mobile-Market.htm

Vista vs.. Windows 7: You Call This a Choice?
http://www.serverwatch.com/trends/article.php/3806996/Vista-vs-Windows-7-You-Call-This-a-Choice.htm

Should you spring for a tablet PC?
http://getahead.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/26/slide-show-1-living-should-you-buy-a-tablet-pc.htm

Drowning in a flood of email? Here’s help
http://getahead.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/25/slide-show-1-living-seven-tips-on-how-to-manage-your-email.htm

IT competitiveness: US is No.1, India at 44
http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/17/tech-it-competitiveness-us-tops.htm

How to secure your firewall
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/sep/17/slide-show-1-tech-how-to-secure-your-firewall.htm

Optimising your new laptop
http://expresscomputeronline.com/20090928/tipsandtricks02.shtml

Things to look for while buying a laptop
http://expresscomputeronline.com/20090928/tipsandtricks01.shtml

Networking in the virtual community
http://expresscomputeronline.com/20090928/technologylife03.shtml

Focus on technologies that optimise IT spend
http://expresscomputeronline.com/20090928/ites03.shtml

Useful Estimation Techniques for Software Projects
http://www.developer.com/article.php/1463281

Google’s Chrome Frame: Making IE Less Secure?
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3840991/Googles+Chrome+Frame+Making+IE+Less+Secure.htm

Intel Inside Could Mean a TV That Watches You
http://www.internetnews.com/hardware/article.php/3840916/Intel+Inside+Could+Mean+a+TV+That+Watches+You.htm

8 quick tips for getting the most from IE8
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137921/8_quick_tips_for_getting_the_most_from_IE8

Russian cybergangs make the Web a dangerous place
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9138514/Russian_cybergangs_make_the_Web_a_dangerous_place

A Web security policy can save you money and embarrassment
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539444/652048/-/ry5ipy/-/

Brute-force attacks target two-year hole in Yahoo! Mail
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/18/ongoing_yahoo_mail_attacks/

Companies Still Not Securing Customer Data
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3840921/Companies+Still+Not+Securing+Customer+Data.htm

Developers vs. Corporate: Why Can’t We All just Along?
http://www.serverwatch.com/career/article.php/3831611/Developers-vs-Corporate-Why-Cant-We-All-just-Along.htm

 

Mahindra Gupta

30 years of failure: the username/password combination
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/10/30-years-of-failure-the-user-namepassword-combination.ars

Stack overflow architecture
http://highscalability.com/stack-overflow-architecture

StringBuilder is not always faster…
http://www.chinhdo.com/20070224/stringbuilder-is-not-always-faster/

.NET Framework Library Source Code now available
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/01/16/net-framework-library-source-code-now-available.aspx

 

My contributions

The x86 instruction proprietary extensions: a waste of time, money and energy
http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=661

Google public DNS
http://www.osnews.com/story/22572/Google_Launches_Public_DNS_Service

Office 2010 to ship in June 2010
http://www.betanews.com/article/Confirmed-Office-2010-to-ship-in-June/1259616600

Sun brings “Teleportation” to VirtualBox
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Sun-Brings-Teleportation-to-VirtualBox-Virtualization-Software-209485/

Microsoft reveals IE9 details (DX9 video acceleration)
http://www.techspot.com/news/37012-microsoft-reveals-first-internet-explorer-9-details.html

Understanding Click-to-Run software deployment
http://blogs.technet.com/office2010/archive/2009/11/06/click-to-run-delivering-office-in-the-21st-century.aspx

The SunSpider JavaScript engine benchmark tool
http://www2.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9/sunspider.html

Address Space Layout Randomization in Windows Vista/7/2008
http://blogs.msdn.com/michael_howard/archive/2006/05/26/address-space-layout-randomization-in-windows-vista.aspx

LinkedIn opens up developer APIs
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3849776

Installing SQL Server 2008
http://www.developer.com/db/article.php/3847606/article.htm

Google ‘experiment’ crossbreeds Python with C++
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/11/google_go/

Agile, a Different Methodology
http://www.developer.com/lang/article.php/3846406/article.htm

Config Errors Leaving Huge Security Holes: Study
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3848056

The Costs of Virtual Functions
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=457&ns=16290

Firefox Tops Vulnerability List
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3847461

Improved COM Interoperability in C#
http://www.developer.com/net/article.php/3842541/article.htm

Is Linux Code Quality Improving?
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3840686

Implementing WSUS in a domain
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/12/how-to-implement-and-maintain-a-tiered-wsus-infrastructure.ars

iPhone gets .Net app development
http://infoworld.com/d/developer-world/iphone-gets-net-app-development-194

Adobe brings Flash apps to the iPhone
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/321020/adobe_brings_flash_apps_iphone

Adobe Alchemy converts C code to ActionScript
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/alchemy/

Unit-test your ActionScript code with ASUnit
http://asunit.org/

Understanding and Benefiting from Code Contracts in .NET 4.0
http://www.developer.com/design/article.php/3836626/Understanding-and-Benefiting-from-Code-Contracts-in-NET-40.htm

Build Build Resilient Applications with Windows Recovery and Restart Applications
http://www.developer.com/net/cplus/article.php/10919_3837086_1/Build-Build-Resilient-Applications-with-Windows-Recovery-and-Restart-Applications.htm

The Failure of the GPL
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1390172&ns=16169

Easy C++ Resource Management with shared_ptr
http://www.developer.com/net/cplus/article.php/3834316/Easy-C-Resource-Management-with-sharedptr.htm

Vista Makes Gains Despite Windows 7’s Debut
http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3831936

Google Native Client (C/C++ in the web browser!)
http://code.google.com/p/nativeclient/

RESTing with the Microsoft REST Starter Kit
http://www.developer.com/net/article.php/3825601/RESTing-with-the-Microsoft-REST-Starter-Kit.htm

Charting Your Course Using the Google Maps API
http://www.developer.com/open/article.php/3814971/Charting-Your-Course-Using-the-Google-Maps-API.htm

Native Parallel Programming for Visual C++: State Management
http://www.developer.com/net/cplus/article.php/3823096/Native-Parallel-Programming-for-Visual-C-State-Management.htm

Warnings on const Declarations (C++)
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=437&ns=15991

Iteration or Recursion?
http://www.developer.com/lang/article.php/3816966/Iteration-or-Recursion.htm

Intercepting Every HTTP Request with IHttpModule
http://www.developer.com/net/vb/article.php/3816211/Intercepting-Every-HTTP-Request-with-IHttpModule.htm

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Capturing fireworks

by Anand Balaji on Oct.01, 2009, under Travel and Photography

Fire in the sky :.

Fire in the sky :.,
originally uploaded by Anand Balaji.

A lot of people have been asking me questions on how I managed to capture this image. I don’t pretend to be an expert on this subject, but I’ve listed a few things that I feel may help better your chances of not capturing featureless blobs.

a. Use a tripod – Needless to say, you will need a tripod to keep the camera as steady as possible. Superman may have no problems in holding a camera absolutely still for more than a second, but you certainly will!

b. Scout for an area relatively devoid of people – This is not very easy to do especially at crowded venues but it will prevent a perfectly decent shot from getting ruined due by numerous John (and Jane) Does’.

c. Use a wide angle lens – This will allow you to capture a vast area. You can crop the image in your favourite editor at a later stage. I set my lens at 18mm to capture this.

d. Use the lowest ISO speed – Just do it… you won’t regret it.

e. Shoot in RAW mode – If your camera provides you with a RAW capture mode, use it and correct colour casts and other issues in the comfort of your home (or office if you happen to be a “big-shot”). For the record, the image posted here was not captured in RAW mode… I wish I had!

f. Click test shots – You aren’t shooting on film so why act stingy? Use test shots to isolate areas that you want to capture within the final photo.

g. Set the camera to manual focus – Why waste time asking the camera to focus on a subject at a great distance? Set the camera to manual and then use the focus adjustment ring/buttons to pre-focus the lens at infinity.

h. Use the narrowest aperture possible – f13 – f22 work best for me, but you might have luck with other values as well.

i. Don’t lose patience – Remember that photography techniques take time to master. Don’t worry if you don’t capture anything extraordinary… they’ll always be another time and place to repeat the experiment.

j. Use a remote shutter release or timer to click the photograph – This helps prevent camera shake from ruining long exposures. A shutter release works best, but a timer will work wonders as well. This image was captured by setting the timer to fire 2 seconds after the shutter button was depressed (I was too cheap to buy a cable release).

Equipment:
1 x Pentax K100D
1 x Pentax (Kit) 18-55 lens @18mm (lens hood attached)
1 x Hamas tripod (low priced and quite unstable… but hey it did the job!)
1 x Patient wife

Happy capturing…

Anand

Another image I captured

Here's a sample...

Nice pretty fireworks

Another one...

Thats it... I promise!

That's it... I promise!

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Linkorama – Issue 5

by Anand Balaji on Aug.04, 2009, under Bunch of links

 

 

Thanks to Mahindra, Sunny and Tejinder for their regular contributions to Linkorma. As a tribute to them, I’ve decided to place their great contributions before my own! :)

Anand

Mahindra Gupta

 

 

Sunny Shah

 

 

Tejinder Singh Hanspal

 

 

For those that have managed to scroll down this far, hope you enjoy some of my picks! – Anand

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Delta and the Boeing 767 – 400ER

by Anand Balaji on Jul.12, 2009, under Travel and Photography

First Impressions – Delta’s Boeing 767 – 400ER

I recently had the opportunity of flying this type on the LHR-JFK-LHR routes. Mind you that I was flying economy and not business (I’m not “there” yet). Here are a couple of my initial impressions which may prove to be helpful for those who are curious or have already booked their flight and have no choice in the matter whatsoever.

 

 

1. The cabins were well maintained and didn’t show their age.  The overhead bins seem to incorporate the same design concepts used within the 777 which makes the cabin looks larger than it actually is (not that the 777 has a small cabin to begin with!).  The impression of spaciousness is impressive. Full marks over here!

2.The seats (even in economy) are covered in leather, not cloth. I found them to be a bit softer and therefore comfier, but it could just be my imagination.

3.The cabin layout is 2 – 3 – 2 which is great if you’re with your partner. It also isn’t too bad if you’re stuck right in the middle (and need to take frequent loo breaks!).

4.The entertainment system is really pathetic. Delta has a really limited choice of video and audio. Moreover, the system is really unstable with frequent crashes (3 in my case) and random reboots. Before anyone starts bashing Windows, let me quickly point out that the entertainment system is Linux based! For some obscure reason, the reading light and flight attendant call buttons have been incorporated within the entertainment system! That’s right, you WON’T be able to use either if the screen in front of you is on the blink (Not that it matters as I soon found out).

5.The 767 is an incredibly noisy airliner. This might be a bit harsh when compared to the newer generation 777 and 330/340, but I found it much more noisier than a 747-400 which is of the same generation. The flap and slat retraction operations are painfully noisy and the cabin noise during cruise is quite annoying.

Summary
Taking the above points into mind, I would not mind recommending a flight on this aircraft if -

a. The competition involves flights on a 777 with 3 – 5 – 3 abreast (Shock! Horror!) seating configuration. American Airlines offers this on the LHR/JFK route. Needless to say, I would not wish such an experience on my worst enemy.

b. The ticket price is right. When I booked, Delta was the cheapest (and only viable) option.

c. You aren’t expecting great in-flight entertainment. Yes, prepare to carry your own music/video entertainment or (even better) read a book.

d. You aren’t a nervous flyer. The noise can be a bit unnerving to some. If you are nervous, try to sit as close to the business class cabin as possible.

First Impressions: Delta LHR-JFK-LHR service

1. Delta probably is the only airline in the world with cabin crew that simply ignore the flight-attendant call light (the tiny light above your head that lights up when you “request” the services of one of the cabin crew). I noticed this on several occasions. Mind you it just wasn’t me who experienced this.

2. Service was (ahem) curt and professional, but nothing like any of the Asian/Oriental airlines around. For the record, I’ve experienced far better service on Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. However, it seems to be the best amongst US carriers, slightly inferior to that offered by Jet Blue. I’m not sure if I imagined it though, but there seemed to be some sort of internal “animosity” between the Delta and Northwest cabin (Northwest crew are dressed in red) crew on both legs of my journey. I hope that this doesn’t affect service.

3. Food was strictly OK. There was a choice of vegetable pasta and chicken ravioli on both legs. The chicken seemed to be quite chewy and was quite (figuratively speaking) yucky. The Pasta on the other hand was much better, being quite suited for human consumption. You will also need to PAY for alcoholic beverages.

4. The crew were immaculately dressed and groomed and there was no one with the “fresh out of bed” look. The width of the aisles proved not to be a challenge to any of the crew (unlike Air India and American).

Summary
To sum it up, you get what you paid for! However, if you do pay a lot, you will probably be disappointed. Those (ahem) habituated to US cabin service will not find anything amiss as they are quite acquainted with lacklustre service in the first place!

 Links

Choose your best seat… : http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Delta_Airlines/Delta_Airlines_Boeing_767-400_Trans.php

Delta : http://www.delta.com

Delta (PDA/Mobile) : http://mobile.delta.com

Want to read more about the 767?  : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_767

Anand Balaji

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Linkorama – Issue 4

by Anand Balaji on May.08, 2009, under Bunch of links

The much delayed (and shorter) list of links finally makes its way onto your screens. Better late than never though :)

Inside an IPhone development company
http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/302384/how_aussie_iphone_developers_found_success_app_store
Microsoft turns .NET Compact framework over to the Open Source community.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2701

Quick Tips On Using Whole Program Optimization in Visual C++

http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2009/02/24/quick-tips-on-using-whole-program-optimization.aspx

Windows 7 Release Candidate is now available for download

http://www.osnews.com/story/21434/Windows_7_Release_Candidate_Released_to_Public

Optical Disc Offers 500GB Storage

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8021012.stm

The future of PHP

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-php-future/

Error Logging Modules and Handlers for ASP.NET

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ELMAHErrorLoggingModulesAndHandlersForASPNETAndMVCToo.aspx

Engineering Windows 7 Graphics Performance

http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/04/25/engineering-windows-7-for-graphics-performance.aspx

Microsoft and Open Source

http://blogs.msdn.com/ericnel/archive/2009/04/24/i-see-a-rosy-future-ahead-for-microsoft-and-open-source.aspx

Adventures with Azure

http://www.cirrious.com/Research/Azure/tabid/58/Default.aspx

Introducing Compatibility View in IE8

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/27/introducing-compatibility-view.aspx

How to setup database replication in MYSQL

http://www.howtoforge.com/mysql_database_replication

10 tips to manage projects better

http://www.developer.com/java/article.php/3817966

Detecting defects in C# code

http://www.developer.com/net/csharp/article.php/3818491

Displaying and Customizing Images from a Database

http://www.developer.com/net/asp/article.php/3818161

Can Objects Live Forever? – I

http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=431

Can Objects Live Forever – II

http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=432

Contributed Articles

a. Tejinder Singh Hanspal

India’s pride: The world’s first six-core microchip!

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/mar/04slide1-worlds-first-six-core-microprocessor.htm

The Groundbreaking Potential of Codeless Ajax

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/The-Groundbreaking-Potential-of-Codeless-Ajax-66740.html

Meet the Canadians who busted GhostNet

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090329.wcomputerspy0329/BNStory/International

10 emerging technologies to watch out for

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/feb/27slide1-emerging-technologies-to-watch-out.htm

Child Robot that Mimicks Infant Learning

http://www.ideaconnection.com/new-inventions/child-robot-that-mimicks-infant-learning-02332.html

India’s 10 most trustworthy companies

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/mar/10sld1-indias-ten-most-trustworthy-companies.htm

Biometrics beaten, securing Wi-Fi routers, Exchange-Firefox, Corporate Netbooks…

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20090302/edit01.shtml

Tata Housing presents Bangalore’s first green building

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20090302/market03.shtml

The Web is more dangerous, and U.S. is biggest culprit

http://gcn.com/articles/2008/12/10/the-web-is-more-dangerous-and-us-is-biggest-culprit.aspx

Consolidating Servers Does Not Mean Less Work

http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3808946

Cut Costs, Beat Recession With Cloud Computing

http://www.cxotoday.com/India/News/Cut_Costs_Beat_Recession_With_Cloud_Computing/551-99919-912.html

Microsoft may let Windows 7 users disable Internet Explorer 8

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49301357,00.htm

Super-rugged Dell Latitude E6400 XFR is tougher than you

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/super-rugged-latitude-e6400-xfr-is-tougher-than-you/

Hackers Target Xbox Live Accounts

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hackers-Target-Xbox-Live-Accounts-105361.shtml

Microsoft Still Has Eyes for Yahoo

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3809656/Microsoft+Still+Has+Eyes+for+Yahoo.htm

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Wix – How to forcibly overwrite pre-existing files during installation.

by Anand Balaji on Mar.07, 2009, under Coding

 

 

The fly in the ointment

Wix v2 is a pretty nifty tool but since there are a few nasty surprises in store for those who don’t know exactly what it does behind the scenes. More importantly, the Windows Installer tries to perform the intelligent thing of not installing files if the source and destination are exactly the same. This is done by comparing a checksum of the source and destination files. If the checksums match, the file isn’t overwritten at all!

Why would you want to overwrite the same file?

There are a few cases where you might need to do this. For example, if your application relies on the date-time stamps of files for copy-protection or versioning (amongst other things), the checksum comparison will ensure that files having the same checksums are not overwritten. This is not what you might have expected from an installer as one would logically (and sensibly) expect a well behaved installer to blindly overwrite pre-existing files on disc.

It thus becomes impossible for one to overwrite files that are exactly the same even though their timestamps do not match!

Solution

Fortunately enough there is a “directive” which can override this behaviour. Simply add the following line to your .wxs file -

<Property Id=”REINSTALLMODE” Value=”amus”/>

Conclusion

Admit it! Quick fixes aren’t usually as simple as this little tit-bit! I was lucky to come across this solution on the Internet (after a long and arduous journey) and decided to put it on a page exclusively devoted to this topic. Hope that someone finds it helpful! :)

Anand

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