Tushar Kapila Stories and Media: July 2008

Thursday, July 31, 2008

laptop install check list

To insall on laptop

avast

firefox

opera

IE 7

XP professional SP2

editpad

textpad

filezilla

java j2ee wtk sprint tomcat apache file and common mail activation

muon

xamp

7-zip

cvsnt

MS Office

VS6 VB6

dotnet runtime

Nokia PC Suite

Google pack

active perl

sound card
office help full VBA excel
latest office
hibernate
psinfo - check if still
D:\prog\apps\win\ps\psinfo

PsInfo v1.75 - Local and remote system information viewer
Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

System information for \\TGK3:
Uptime:                    0 days 14 hours 25 minutes 19 seconds
Kernel version:            Microsoft Windows XP, Multiprocessor Free
Product type:              Professional
Product version:           5.1
Service pack:              2
Kernel build number:       2600
Registered organization:
Registered owner:          *
Install date:              1/22/2008, 2:51:06 PM
Activation status:         Error reading status
IE version:                Unknown
System root:               C:\WINDOWS
Processors:                2
Processor speed:           1.7 GHz
Processor type:            Genuine Intel(R) CPU           T2080 @
Physical memory:           896 MB
Video driver: -

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

encoding UTF-8 / Unicode how to save as

click the image to see the full size

When you need to save a html/ other text file with accents/ special characters like á can use text pad and use the save as dialog to choose the Encoding and choose UTF-8

See attached image TextPad_SaveAs_Encoding.JPG for a sample of the textpad encoding type in the save as dialog.

Also the html file needs to have the following meta header in the <head> section:

Tech Note:

In PHP code need to use the mb_ functions like mb_substr mb_ stands for multi byte functions. You need to replace these functions in other places where you use strings that might be multi byte like substr is replaced with mb_substr, mb_ send_ mail to send multi byte emails (that may have unicode characters in the text or subject), etc

Saturday, July 26, 2008

postit

sent international postal mail at local prices $1 Rs 50 for a one page letter to the USA

neat huh? http://sel2in.com/postit/

Why use this? Save time and money on international posting. Process * You upload and / or type/ draw (using in development Java applet) the letter/ documents to be posted. What do we do with your information? Nothing besides printing, sealing in envelope and posting. We do not read it or retain a copy after processing. For full details read our privacy statement

Send letters across countries faster and at low cost!

Why spend on international posting ... if you can scan or want to send personalised handwritten letters to your loved ones or type / have a text/ word/ html version of the letter, upload it here, give us your and the recipient's postal address.

To begin, simply type the letter in the big box or upload the documents to be printed (each file will be on a separate sheet, you can specify print options - margin, page orientation and choose from page sizes. Fill in the text in the big box saying Text Contents/ or choose one or more printable files. You can even zip the files if they are big/ numerous. Attachments besides txt, jpeg, html, text, MS Word (version 2000 - use save as to save in 2000 version), Excel, ppt will not processed (or zips containing anything but these types of files). Office files will be opened with macros off. We will give you a link at the end of the transaction from where you can view the status of your request. We will print and post within a day, if the payment matches the number of pages. The site will be updated within a day of us receiving the delivery receipt. You can choose to go by regular mail where there is no receipt. Full money back refund in case documents not delivered within 8 days in metros and major cities (2-3 weeks for more remote places).

http://sel2in.com/postit/

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

DID YOU BRIBE ANYONE TODAY?

Many people take pride by saying "my India, my country". However, when it comes to ground reality, my country feeling fades away when they do not follow traffic rules, give bribes to govt. officials, public offices, at temples, etc....

The most important document that identifies you, The Passport, the process of getting one has taken people with surprise. Even after submitting valid documents and depositing the fees, people await for their passports from five to six months and in some cases even more. People are forced to bribe police officials for getting an okay report during verification process, which is the most important process for the issue of passport even when the facts are in place. And when the documents are not in accordance or you need to change or update information on passport, it might again take few months to get the work done. No doubt people are reluctant going themselves to the passport office and instead seek an agent to do the work to save time.

Other places where people often bribe officials are public offices from peons, guards to officers, VIP darshan in temples, traffic police for crossing speed limit, not holding driving license/ RC, jumping signals, no helmets, RTO officials, policemen to run cafes 24/7, ticket checkers to get reserved seats in trains, schools & colleges for getting admissions and of course there is no account about the black money.

These are a few situations where people have bribed officials to get their work done and save time.