Scribez

Disclaimer: The following is a result of waiting too long for something productive (regarding my posting) to happen. The author is not responsible for wasted time or moronic acts inspired by the following rant.

Over the years, we have had numerous men/women who have fought the system single-handedly without compromising on a single one of their ideals. Sadly , the number of such people has dwindled and with the exception of Lester Burnham (1999) and Tyler Durden (1999), we haven’t had many anti establishment heroes to look up to in the recent past. We haven’t had people who can show us the way to true renunciation of materialism and freedom from this s****y consumerist society. We have become…(drumroll)…chicken s**t. Below are a few methods in which you (yes, YOU) can stick it up to The Man without taking the blame, losing your job or selling your children.

10 ways to stick it to The Man without giving yourself away:

1. Do not wear your ID card before/after office hours (9-5) especially while outside the office. You unwittingly promote the brand name of The Man. They spend enough on advertising; you don’t need to help them out. Similarly, do not wear shirts/caps/badges/bags/bands that endorse The Man in any way.
2. Drink as much coffee/tea/milk from work as possible. They cost at least 5 rupees outside. In this small but significant way, you can make a dent in The Man’s coffers.
3. Make funny faces at your colleagues when they’re not looking.
4. Use all your paid leaves and sick leaves. Also paternity/maternity leaves.
5. Spread vicious (non traceable to you) rumors about colleagues who suck up to The Man.
6. If The Man blocks your internet access, do not fret. God gave you smart friends for a reason.
7. Make Voodoo dolls of people you hate at work and stick needles into them. Dart boards with your colleagues’ photos are a cliché but a good idea nonetheless.
8. In case your company provides perks if you get married to a colleague, get married as soon as possible and file for divorce sooner (and split the booty of course).
9. Spread rumors about The Man to competitors and unwittingly trigger a stock market crash.
10. Get a life.

Posted by The Prestidigitator

Youtube is becoming another myspace with a large number of sad/pathetic people who waste their time and life. The worst part is they are all so blind even after being exposed some people say stuff like “you rock Girl, even if its fake”.

That was an excerpt from one of our previous posts, on an exposed YouTube star, and it pretty much sums up most of what YouTube is all about. However, there are some hidden gems.

An article on Digg, had a pretty huge list of full length cartoons available on YouTube and I believe its worth a mention. So if you haven’t already heard , take heed! Although the link (http://prezwho.com/cartoons.htm) given while being dugg is no longer a valid one, here’s a mirror available from duggmirror.

P.S:- Some of the videos might be in the process of being removed (if not already been removed) on request from content owners so make sure you watch them before they disappear completely!

I installed Fedora Core 6 in my system on Saturday - ok yeah I know I need to get a better life. But, hey I was just mesmerized by reading the new features in Core 6 - named Zod that I had to try. Well, Zod is NO god!! After 3 reinstallations and reading through millions of articles on What the hell is the problem with Fedora Core 6, I finally managed to get everything up and working!!

Some basic instructions to the newbie planning to install Fedora Core 6.

Solving the i686 architecture with the i586 kernel and kernel-devel problem:
If you are planning to install FC6 on an i686 architecture - make note of this!! Anaconda screws up BIG TIME, and installs the i586 kernel and kernel-devel on ur i686 machine. Normally this is not a problem, however, CPU Frequency controller daemon will not work and it’ll be a pain in various parts of the anatomy if your driver / program requires a kernel-module to be installed along with it. The worst part - your architecture is still maintained as i686!! Just that anaconda installs the i586 kernel!!

Solution:


1. Install yumex$ su -
   $ yum -y install yumex
2. Once the installation is over, get into yumex [Applications->System Tools->Yum Extender]
3. Go to the Install View once it’s done updating everything
4. Install kernel-xen and kernel-devel-xen packages for the i686 architecture
5. Once installation is done, reboot into the xen kernel [which itself is not really worth having owing to tons of problems].
6. Go to yumex again and remove kernel and kernel-devel packages currently for the i586 architecture
7. Once it is done, Go to the Install View and add kernel and kernel-devel packages, but now for the i686 architecture
8. Once it is done, reboot into the non-xen kernel and remove kernel-xen and kernel-devel-xen packages
9. Boom you are done and you can get to installing the packages for nvidia/ati drivers, ntfs support etc.

I read there is a simpler way - aka the more adventurous way of getting ur kernel to the i686 architecture. It’s provided here!! Me, not being so adventurous, especially on breaking Linux 3 times after installation, I stuck to the safer bet :-D!

Solving the Desktop Effects cannot be enabled problem for nVidia cards
Another crazy thing I noticed - after reading so much about Compiz being installed by default with Fedora Core 6 and GNome 2.16 is that - try as I may - it never got enabled!! Aaarrgghhh!! Well, so I went to the Compiz requirements site - and checked that for it to work with nVidia cards, it required driver 1.0-9625 or higher..

Known Working

ATI: Radeon 7000 through X850 (r100 through r400 generations)
Intel: i830 through i945
nVidia: all cards supported by the driver 1.0-9625 or higher

[source: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/RenderingProject/aiglx]

And the latest stable driver in the Livna repo for Fedora Core 6 is 1.0-8776. Umm - what DO you do?

Solution:

1. Enable livna-testing repo.
2. Go to the update view in Yum Extender
3. Select kmod-nvidia and the xorg-x11-drv packages which are 1.0-9626. Update your drivers people!! and Boom!! After a reboot - thou shall be able to enable Desktop Effects. Enjoy rotating the cube and all sortsa window wobbly effects.

Note: The Window Wobbly effects could get to you after some time, if you move around your Windows a lot :-D!!

Note to self: Need to post more links and screenshots of the same. Shall get to that in a day or two!

Posted by gurupanguji!

This is a book I bought 5 months back and read once just before I came to Hyderabad. I was in too much of a hurry back then but I did realise that this was one of those books that deserved a second read and boy was I right!

The last few books I read have had drugs and addiction as a/the major plot line and this one’s no different. Dwight Wilmerding is a 28 year old working a politically incorrect (?) job as a tech support for Pfizer (think Viagra). He lives a few blocks away from Ground Zero in New York along with a bunch of quirky room mates and has a pretty dysfunctional family to boot. Divorced parents and a psychologist/left wing sister.

He suffers from chronic indecision (Abulia) and he apparently has a tough time living life because at every turn he is met with tough decisions . So he decides to try out an experimental drug, Abulinix that supposedly cures this. The drug makes him ‘decide’ to go to Ecquador to meet a long lost friend. Advenures, love and self discovery ensue.

Now this book had gotten a lot of great early reviews but the latter ones weren’t all that great and I think this is simply because the author, Benjamin Kunkel is way too smart (and witty) for his own good! Loved the philosophical conversations and drug induced (Weed, Ecstacy and ‘San Pedro’) ramblings, some of which are pretty profound. The ending was pretty much of a disappntment as everything tended towards politics and the exploitation of Third World Nations.

The first half of the book made this one of my all time favourites! 8/10 Dark Humor at it’s best!

The author , The Prestidigitator also writes on his personal blog. http://www.ontheverge.wordpress.com

This is a little mini review for Splinter Cell Double Agent. It is only mini because I have not played the full game and only about 4 levels, so really it is initial impressions.

Graphically as always the game looks great with deep detail in the locations. There is an occasional framerate issue in the first couple of levels when Fisher walks up or down stairs but after a while it is eradicated. The other problem is on very dark levels with not alot of lighting, it is indeed very dark and requires the use of night vision goggles. Its a shame they had to make it so dark on those levels as you don’t get a great idea of the good graphics. This is especially noticeable on the very first level.

However not all levels are like this and perhaps a tweak of your television brightness may help.

This iteration of Splinter Cell I have found is quite difficult even on the normal setting. I would put it on a par with the original Splinter Cell for difficulty, perhaps a bit more difficult even. Of course that is no bad thing, it would be a shame to have all games easy to complete.

Its also worth mentioning that even if you think you are an afficionade at Splinter Cell, it is worth doing the two training levels as on the 360 version you get two achievements.

So far I am really pleased with the game and it lives up to my expectations. The game can be a bit buggy sometimes getting stuck near objects or minor clipping but on the whole it is a very worthy effort by Ubisoft. I cannot wait to get stuck into the rest of the game.

So far, 9/10

This Article was written by Becs she also blogs at http://www.spritesandbites.net

Here’s something funny to play with for a while. Web 2.0 Logo Creator written by Alex P. is a logo generator site which was designed to parody the wave of various ‘Web 2.0′ application logos with the (beta) tag and everything.

The graphics generated can be saved and uploaded to your website, or you can just copy and paste the provided links to the images wherever you wanna share them.

Just type your text and choose whether to have your text show a reflection and/or the (beta) tag included, then click generate and watch the site work its magic. Here are just some of the ‘web 2.0′ logos I generated with Web 2.0 Logo Creatr:

And something we all wanna see:

How cool is that? So if you’ve just written your latest web application and wanna join the ‘web 2.0′ parody, go check out the Web 2.0 logo creator. A great time killer!

This Article was written by Justin and blogs at http://justinb.wordpress.com

Sony in their infinite wisdom has released a price comparison chart between the PS3, 360 and Wii. Its laughable. They have taken the 360 core machine and included added extras to make it cost more than the PS3. Of course anybody in their right mind would know if you wanted to do a true comparison, you would compare it to the 360 premium. But of course this is marketing. This is Sony’s chance to take a swipe at Microsoft. Nintendo have not escaped either. They have said the online service is free for 6 months based on the fact you get Opera browser free in the first 6 months.

It is all very disjointed and of course deliberately done. The sad thing is that the unknowledgable joe public may actually believe it.

You can see for yourself the chart they have provided and what they have decided to add on as an extra cost. These are the sort of comparisons I have been seeing for months from the immature kids on Gamefaqs.

Click the image for more information on this unbelievable story. Actually its not unbelievable, it is the sort of fighting I would expect in a console war, sadly.

MediaMax, powered by Streamload, gives you a private and secure place to upload, store, access, and share your personal videos, photos, movies, music, and files.

A certain while ago the world would have scoffed at anyone who dreamed of using the Internet as a tool to backup files and/or share personal data. But in the years that have gone by many companies have come forward offering services that try to make this ‘dream’ a reality.MediaMax,formerly known as Streamload, is one of the front runners.

When mentioning the capability of handling many file types including music , videos and other file types, one would expect the interface to be pretty hard to use. However, in this case , the interface is clean, simple, clutter-free and intuitive.

Although all uploaded files are placed in the FileManager they are easily accessible from the various ‘tabs‘ available.

The Video Share and TV&Movie Locker tabs essential fulfill the same purpose and that is to enable you to store,access and/or share such media files. Some of the files that they support (explicitly mentioned) are TiVoToGo, iTunes videos, movie downloads from MovieLink (not accessible to people outside the US), CinemaNow, and PVR and Media Center PC recordings. Some of the other features are the abilities to create albums, video playlists, tags, and conversion of any video frame to a picture.

The Photo Share enables you to organize, share, and edit all of your pictures. Features enable you to create albums and tag pictures.

The Music Locker houses all music file types. It categorizes files according to its metadata(i.e. attributes such as artist, album, genre, track number, etc). There is also the ability to stream your music or download it, whichever you deem appropriate.

Sharing files is the key in this application. You can choose to share your files with individual people or you may choose to make you file public. In the former case you may enter the email address of the recipients you would like to share your file with and an email will be sent to them with

• the file as an attachment
• the link to the file.

Here you are also allowed to set an expiration date for the link and/or a password with which the file can be accessed.

All mails will be sent from the email address that you used during registration of account( email verification is necessary to use this feature).

If you choose to make your file public you may move your files to the ‘Hosted’ folder and anyone may access these files through the use of a URL in the format of http://www.mediamax.com/<username>/Hosted/.

Word of Caution:

With 25GB of storage space and 1GB download/share bandwidth(for free user accounts) this is just one of the best services out there. And its no secret why they received mention on CNet, Demo, PCWorld and other technology forums.

“Information anywhere, anytime.”

Technorati tags: Scribez, Technology, Internet, Storage, Media, Applications

The Mythbuster Special !

Starring Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the format of Mythbuster was planned for the Australian TV. But it was rejected because the responsible decision-makers believed that there was not enough orientation towards science. In 2002, Discovery Channel released three pilots of the show. This gave Mythbuster the breakthrough in the US.

In 2006, the third season of the show was released.

Mythbuster focus on urban legends.

In every episode both the special effect specialists check the substance of the legends.

The legend of the Ming Dynasty Astronout.

Jamie and Adam investigate into the myth about Wan Hu’s journey into space.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LznBfmpSdhk]

There are many myths about cheating in the breath test when the police stops you on the way home from your favourite bar.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osv53–rK48]

It is a fact that quicksand exist. But what about killer quicksand ?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4R0nKiE-9Q]

Like everyday you sit in front of the PC and do your daily work. Installing the new software, you wait eagerly for some days. Insert the CD into the drive and…

See for yourself.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTuSnZF8kek]

A question that turned the world upside down.

Does buttered toast always land on the buttered side up or

the buttered side down ?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO1tHbE7uwQ]

“A second is no more than a second. A minute is no more than a minute. A day is no more than a day. They pass. All things and all time will pass. Don’t force or fear, don’t control or lose control. Don’t fight and don’t stop fighting. Embrace and endure. If you embrace then you will endure.”

                                                        —A Million Little Pieces

A Million Little Pieces is a ’semi-fictional’ memoir written by James Frey, a self confessed addict and criminal as he goes through rehabilitation in a Twelve Steps centre. The center believes that an addict can overcome his addiction only if he treats it as a disease and if he believes in a Higher Power or God. Problem is the author is adamant about his disbelief in God.

The story does not take you to that point where the protagonist comes to terms with his faith or lack of it; it is about owning up for one’s actions and taking the blame no matter how hard it is.

This is hands down the grittiest and most cringe inducing book I’ve ever read. I actually skipped through two pages of graphic detail where the author pulls out his toe nail out. This is definetly not a book for the faint of heart. It’s not just the intensity of the book,  the language is pretty down and dirty too.

All that said, this is also one of the best books I’ve read. I rate this over Shantaram as the emotions here are a lot more real and most of the stuff said here does not glorify the writer in any way, it only makes him human.

It’s a sort of coming of age story of a 23 year old addict who comes to grips with what family, friendship and love truly mean. The writing style is something I really loved. It truly captures the intensity of the plight.

All in all 8.5/10. Great great stuff!

PS As for the controversies, you can’t make a great story without exxagerating it now….can you?