Google Maps mashup idea

We all knew that Google Maps is an ideal tool for finding places, directions, terrain, traffic and street view. I regularly use Google Maps to find directions to drive and see street view to get accustomed with the route.

With the fundamental infrastructure in place, I am thinking, could we line up the street view photos and take users on a virtual drive along on the driving directions. Such a mashup should give a virtual tour of the route. It will easy drive on the route direction and locate landmarks along the route.

Such a mashup will entail lot of bandwidth to get all the photos along the route and the load on the server serving the photos will be high.

USB Write Protector

There was a false alarm of virus infection in my SanDisk Cruzer micro USB drive. This triggered me to think how good it will be to have write protection (hardware) in the USB drive.

There were lot of software solutions to this. But the utility needs to be installed in all the computers from which you will access the USB drive. This makes the utility cumbersome to use and also reduces the USP of USB drives.

Iomega Select Portable HDD

As part of 10 yrs of Iomega in India promotion, we were offered Iomega products at
33% discount from the MRP. There were additional discounts on certain products as well.

Most of the sale were related to portable HDDs. I picked up Iomega Select Portable HDD - 250GB drive. The Select range of portable HDD has fiber cover which offers better look, grip and static proof compared to aluminum casings in other ranges.

The HDD came with a USB cable and quick user guide. Iomega offered us Retrospect software as backup solution with 3yrs of extended warranty.

The portable HDD is pre-formatted for Windows and runs like a charm. The USB2.0 is real fast in copying the contents. The Select model has ventilation gaps for heat dissipation.

Jira Firefox Extension

My office uses Jira as bug tracking tool. Quick search option in Jira is really useful to peak into the bug details when you know the bug ID. In my perspective, the deterrent to this feature is, one has start the browser, navigate to the jira site and then do a quick search.

To simplify, I developed a small firefox extension through which you can enter the bug ID and it directly takes you to the bug page.

In the course of this, I got a few good links to firefox plugin development.

Firefox Extension Devlopment
XUL Controls - MDC



If you are interested in the extension, pls leave a comment.
Note: This extension is not generic enough to support all Jira deployments.

Onion Pakoda

Something crispy, spicy and hot to munch on a chilly-drizzling monsoon evening always tickles the taste-buds. Tried onion pakoda on a such occasion this week.


Mix
(Onion, Coriander leaves, Bonda mix, salt to taste)


Fry

Ready to serve

Connecting multiple monitors to laptop

It is widely acclaimed that having multiple monitors increases the productivity. One gets wider viewing area and having different applications opened in the monitors helps you to concentrate and work better. I had been toying with this idea for a while and seem to reap some benefits.

Hardware setup
Dell D630 laptop
Dell Docking station (model: PR01x)
Two 19' Dell monitors

Software setup
Win XP
Multimon

Connection
Use the usual VGI video cable to connect first monitor.
Use the DVI cable to connect the second monitor.
The docking station should have support for DVI port.

Configuration
Now, you need to configure your OS to use two monitors.

With Win XP, Go to Display Properties and attach the second monitor.
Identify and check both the monitors
One can swap the monitor position on the Display properties window to suit your monitor placement
Install MultiMon (freeware) to get the Taskbar on the second monitor

Other Resources

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307873
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/northrup_multimon.mspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-monitor

NH7

NH7 (bangalore to salem) is completely four lane now. I have been able to consistently do bangalore - salem(200kms) in 3hrs 15mins.

Driving the Krishnagiri - Thoppur section is a bliss now. This road section is build and maintained by L&T. Rs 48/- is the toll charges for cars. They have user amenities like restrooms, emergency communication systems, patrols and ambulances available at the disposal.

Pink Pearch Fish Fry

This happens when the culinary mood kicks in during the weekend.

Adopted recipe from here.



Apply masala on pink pearch.
(Grind soaked rice, soaked red dry chili, green chili, coriander leaves, mint leaves, clove, garlic, pepper, tomato and salt to taste)


Leave it to dry for a while


Fry it with little oil


Fry on both sides


Garnish to serve

Belandur Railway Station

A very quiet deserted railway station.

• Single railway line
• Only 2 or 3 passenger trains stops here

Innovative Film City

Trip Time:
1 Day (10am to 7pm)

Commute:
Bangalore - Bidadi (~50kms)
Take the Bangalore Mysore state highway. After Eagleton resort diversion, look for Bidadi Industrial estate diversion on the left. The route to the place is well marked.

Links:
www.innovativefilmcity.net

Attractions:

• Funplex - has a 4D theater
• Ripleys Believe It or Not
• Mirror Maze
• Bungy Jump (different kind)
• Miniature City
• Wave Pool
• Go Karting
• Wax Museum
• Haunted Mansion (but haunted by nothing)
• Fossil Museum
• Dinosaur Kingdom (for kids)
• Host of other kids games

Review:
I felt the tickets are pricey as either you have get a combo ticket or pay for each attraction as you visit. Individual attractions are priced on higher side and easily this will set you back by 1000Rs per head.

Photos:


Main Entrance


Entrance @ night


Market Street




Classics @ Ripley's




Mirror Maze


View of the film city


Light house @ Miniature city


Falls @ Miniature City


Go-Karting Track

Laptop battery life

The new generation laptops use Li-ion batteries for the power. I have observed that these batteries go defunct within a short time (~1 to 2 years) based on the usage.

As per my usage characteristics, I was assuming that the laptop remains hooked to the docking station most of the time and the discharge cycle from the battery is very low. Very rarely the battery gets discharged completely. And thus this affects the battery life.

On reading a few articles, it seems that Li-ion batteries does not suffer from the "memory" effect. But rather the heat generated from the laptop is the one that reduces the life span of the battery. More over these kind of batteries has the aging effect.

If you use keep your laptop hooked to docking station most of the time and have a reliable UPS backup, then remove and store the battery in a cool place to get most out of it.

Googling glitch

On Saturday night IST, when I was searching for something in Google, all the results churned out of google had a warning and the link did not pass through. I had very little suspicion on google. I overruled the warning in certain cases as I was trying to load pages from wikipedia.

Finally the news turned out to be a google glitch. This reminds me the horror stories of hi-fi science fiction movies, where the computer takes control of everything and restricts/controls access.

Blogger with word verification

Google's Blogger use to have word verification for the posts. When you create / edit a post, the word verification has to be done before publishing the changes. Though it prevents the spamming of the system, some times it is cumbersome to understand the words shown for the verification.

Apart from the sheer lengthy words, the display use to be convoluted which increases the frustration. Off late, I see blogger has removed word verification and does auto save as draft. Way to go!

Finally, I figured out that word verification gets shown for a blog that gets classified in spam category (because of the high number of posts). However my blog turned out to be false positive. Over a period of time (and some tune up to the algorithm), gave a clean chit to my blog . Hence no more word verification.

Bye Bye Side Middle Berth

Over last year, Indian railways came up with the ambitious plan to increase the number of berths in trains to increase the revenue. To cut costs, they came up with the innovative idea of having side middle berth (SMB) concept.

This concept was flawed in many ways.

• Did not give due consideration for comfortable travel
• Getting in and out is difficult
• For day time travel, the person with SMB ticket has to share his place in the other side coup
• The booking system could not be updated with SMB option

There were lot of complains about this SMB approach. Finally the railways gave up the idea this year for the benefit of the people.

Hampi Trip

Trip time:
2N/3D

Commute:
Bangalore to Hospet - Hampi Express
Hospet to Hampi (14kms) - local autowala (haggle for ~100Rs)

Stay:
Ranjana Guest House, Hampi (~1000Rs for a day)

Links:
www.hampi.in

The best website to know all about hampi. Has extensive details on all aspects.

Best time to visit:
Winter season (rest of the year, it will be hot)

Itinerary:
Day 1:
Cover the sacred part of hampi
Virupaksha temple, Hemakutta hill, Vitalla temple, Kadalekalu Ganesha, Sasivekalu Ganesha, hampi bazaar and adjoining areas

One can do this section by walk. Otherwise could hire an auto or moped to do a tour.

Day 2:
Tungabadra dam (5 kms from Hospet) and Royal Enclosure section of hampi
Underground Shiva temple, King's palace, Noble men's quaters, Queen's palace, Queen’s bath, Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stable

Need an auto / moped to cover this part.

Day 3:
Krishna Temple, Lakshmi Narasimha and Virupapur Gadde (other side of TB river)

Can hire a bicycle or by walk.

Review:
Hampi is a historical site. Prepare yourself to face rocks, boulders, stones, carvings, dilapidated temples and ruined palaces. The scared section of hampi and bazaar are infected by local tourists and looks in bad shape. Rest of the places are less crowded (comparatively).

Prepare yourself for a basic stay and facilities. Hampi is still a village with lot of foreigners. Being a typical tourist place, arm yourself to fight against getting cheated at all the places.

Photos:


Virupaksha temple


Dilapidated mantap @ Hemakutta hill


Bazaar @ Virupaksha temple


On way to vittala temple


Vittala temple gopuram @ dusk


Vittala temple


Musical pillars @ vittala temple


TB river enroute to vittala temple


TB river enroute to vittala temple


Postcard shot of boulders


TB dam


From the gardens @ TB dam


Underground shiva temple


Ruined noble mens quaters


Near King's palace


Ruined mahal @ dusk


Stepped tank


Another monument


Lotus mahal


Elephant stable


Lakshmi Narasimha