Have you tried out the NoScript plugin for Firefox? It blocks out the scripts from most of the websites (except those in it's whitelist). Blocking out the scripts mean that most of the ads are blocked at the script level itself. Many popups are written using Java scripts. They'll be automatically blocked too.. It's a very good thing that you can selectively block scripts from websites.. But beware. If you are doing a transaction on the web (banks, auction sites, paypal sites, etc) you need to make sure that you have allowed all the scripts originating from that website. If not, the scripts are blocked the first time & the transaction is not complete.. Then clicking on the "Allow" button will reload the page allowing the scripts. This way, the transaction may be carried out twice which may be disastrous..
The NoScript plugin along with the Adblock Plus plugin make sure that you see no ads, popups or run unwanted scripts.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Google Desktop
I had been using the Google Desktop Search (GDS) for quite some time now.. Initially (1.0 beta version), I did not like it much as I could search only text files & office documents.. I could not search through the things I wanted, like source code, XML files, PDF files, etc.. But after I got hold of a plugin that allowed me to control the type of files I could index, GDS was of immense help.. I could set up GDS to index all my text files, source files & specific extensions. It was a very helpful tool... But I read on the google website that it took about 500 MB of index space... I thought that was too much.. Anyway, my company also encouraged people to use GDS by making it available on the intranet..
Recently, I thought of trying out Google Desktop 2.0.. I downloaded the 2.0 beta version.. This was a major improvement over GDS.. Now Google Desktop could not only search (desktop/web), but also had a lot of other important & useful features.. I liked the Google Sidebar.. I can see updated news (I can even choose news specific to my country/region) on the sidebar.. There is also this ScratchPad which I found useful.. I can write/paste any text in it & it will be autosaved.. Very handy tool.. Then there is this weblinks.. You can subscribe to a particular weblink & you can see the updates on the sidebar.. This is particularly useful to read blogs.. I can add the URL of a blog as a weblink.. Any new post on the blog (actually anything updated in the past 7 days or so) would be shown to me in the Sidebar. The entire post can be viewed (by expanding it) within the sidebar itself.. No need to visit any website.. That's cool..
There are also a lot of plugins available for Google Desktop.. I did use the "ToDo" & "TimeWarp" plugins.. The ToDo plugin was quite useful.. I have seen people maintain a Todo file on desktop & updating it regularly.. I felt this ToDo plugin for Google Desktop was much better for such people.. The "TimeWarp" plugin is funky. It displays an analog clock, the shape & size of which is customizable.. Most of all, Google Desktop is light. It takes up very less memory..
I really felt Google Desktop was a perfect tool & a must-have for everyone.. This was until yesterday, when my laptop suddenly slowed down tremendously.. And there was a small balloon above the system tray which said "You are low on disk space on C drive". I was confused as I had not installed any softwares recently. With much difficulty, I could open up the My Computer. I saw that C drive had just 130 MB of free space. Usually I keep over 1 GB of free space on C drive.. I started investigating which folders took up so much space.. I eventually found out that the index files maintained by Google was close to 2 GB.. I did not expect Google Desktop to hog so much of disk space. I had to uninstall the Google Desktop to restore sanity to my system.
Recently, I thought of trying out Google Desktop 2.0.. I downloaded the 2.0 beta version.. This was a major improvement over GDS.. Now Google Desktop could not only search (desktop/web), but also had a lot of other important & useful features.. I liked the Google Sidebar.. I can see updated news (I can even choose news specific to my country/region) on the sidebar.. There is also this ScratchPad which I found useful.. I can write/paste any text in it & it will be autosaved.. Very handy tool.. Then there is this weblinks.. You can subscribe to a particular weblink & you can see the updates on the sidebar.. This is particularly useful to read blogs.. I can add the URL of a blog as a weblink.. Any new post on the blog (actually anything updated in the past 7 days or so) would be shown to me in the Sidebar. The entire post can be viewed (by expanding it) within the sidebar itself.. No need to visit any website.. That's cool..
There are also a lot of plugins available for Google Desktop.. I did use the "ToDo" & "TimeWarp" plugins.. The ToDo plugin was quite useful.. I have seen people maintain a Todo file on desktop & updating it regularly.. I felt this ToDo plugin for Google Desktop was much better for such people.. The "TimeWarp" plugin is funky. It displays an analog clock, the shape & size of which is customizable.. Most of all, Google Desktop is light. It takes up very less memory..
I really felt Google Desktop was a perfect tool & a must-have for everyone.. This was until yesterday, when my laptop suddenly slowed down tremendously.. And there was a small balloon above the system tray which said "You are low on disk space on C drive". I was confused as I had not installed any softwares recently. With much difficulty, I could open up the My Computer. I saw that C drive had just 130 MB of free space. Usually I keep over 1 GB of free space on C drive.. I started investigating which folders took up so much space.. I eventually found out that the index files maintained by Google was close to 2 GB.. I did not expect Google Desktop to hog so much of disk space. I had to uninstall the Google Desktop to restore sanity to my system.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Article about population
Here is a nice article about population -
http://www.melvindurai.com/population.htm
http://www.melvindurai.com/population.htm
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Changing times
I love this time of the year.. Lot's of festivals & functions.. We have the Dasara for 10 whole days.. Sweets & special preparations every day!! Then it is Deepavali.. The joy of friends & relatives getting together & bursting crackers..
Also, there are a few functions now.. This time of the year is considered to be auspicious & you'll find a function almost every other day.. Last Sunday was some "Parayana" at my home.. There were about 50 relatives who came to our house. The week before that, it was my cousin's house Grihapravesha.. It was almost a 3 day event. I could attend only 2 days though. Next Sunday is the same cousin's engagement. So, all our relatives are getting together again..
It reminds me of my childhood when I used to go to my relatives' place so often.. Every other week, I used to visit my cousins' places. We used to go out together for movies, parks & such places. In holidays we all used to go to our parents native place & have fun.. During vacations, all children of same age group used to get together at one person's place & spend the holidays together.. During Deepavali, for the 3 days, we use to get together at 3 different places for each day & burst the crackers together in the evening after a nice heavy lunch..
All that remains is memories.. These days everyone's so busy. I would be happy if I could go to a relative's place once a year.. We all get together only at some special functions/occassions (like marriages, Grihapravesha, etc). Even at that time, many people may miss out.. I don't remember the last time all our relatives went to a movie.. I think the last time I went to a movie with my parents was more than 7-8 years ago.. I don't remember the last time I visited a park with my parents/brother/relatives.. The world is changing.. Nobody has time.. How come people had time 10-15 years ago?? What has happened now?
Also, there are a few functions now.. This time of the year is considered to be auspicious & you'll find a function almost every other day.. Last Sunday was some "Parayana" at my home.. There were about 50 relatives who came to our house. The week before that, it was my cousin's house Grihapravesha.. It was almost a 3 day event. I could attend only 2 days though. Next Sunday is the same cousin's engagement. So, all our relatives are getting together again..
It reminds me of my childhood when I used to go to my relatives' place so often.. Every other week, I used to visit my cousins' places. We used to go out together for movies, parks & such places. In holidays we all used to go to our parents native place & have fun.. During vacations, all children of same age group used to get together at one person's place & spend the holidays together.. During Deepavali, for the 3 days, we use to get together at 3 different places for each day & burst the crackers together in the evening after a nice heavy lunch..
All that remains is memories.. These days everyone's so busy. I would be happy if I could go to a relative's place once a year.. We all get together only at some special functions/occassions (like marriages, Grihapravesha, etc). Even at that time, many people may miss out.. I don't remember the last time all our relatives went to a movie.. I think the last time I went to a movie with my parents was more than 7-8 years ago.. I don't remember the last time I visited a park with my parents/brother/relatives.. The world is changing.. Nobody has time.. How come people had time 10-15 years ago?? What has happened now?
Monday, August 22, 2005
Shivanasamudra trip
The photos below were from the Shivanasamudra trip. We went there the previous weekend (13th). I did not find much time to write about it last week. So, I just posted the pics.
The place is pretty closeby to Bangalore.. It's about 125kms. The road is good too. Shivanasamudra boasts of Asia's first power generation plant. Because of rains a few weeks ago, Kaveri was in full flow. Shivanasamudra is a pretty big valley where Kaveri water falls from 2 different points, creating 2 falls - Gaganachukki & Bharachukki. Most people visit only the Gaganachukki falls. You can also view Bharachukki falls from there. I had been to this place atleast a couple of times before (mostly on the way to Talakadu). This time was the best & the river was in full flow. A real treat for the eyes.. We even went near the Bharachukki falls. You can go close to the Bharachukki falls. There is a Darga closeby. The view from this point is also very good. But there are a lot less people on this side. And you can see the full glory of the valley from Bharachukki.
Four of us - Naren, Chandru, John & me went in Naren's car. On the way back from Bharachukki, one of the tires of the car got punctured. Chandru's strength & skills helped us get back on our way soon. We had taken the Kanakapura road on the way to Shivanasamudra. But while coming back, we came via Mysore road. We even went to the Cafe Coffee Day on Mysore road.
Overall the trip was very good & we enjoyed it very much.
Oh.. By the way, my cousins (along with their families) went to the same place the next day (Sunday, 14th). They had a horrible experience as there were just too many people.. The traffic was worse than that in Bangalore roads.. There were so many cars that it took them a Loooong time to get there.. And, unfortunately they also met with a small accident on the way to Shivanasamudra. They bumped into the car right in front of them. And the traffic was so good that the car in front of them banged on to the next car & so on.. They had lunch after 3:30 or so in the afternoon after visiting Gaganachukki. They did not bother to visit Bharachukki.
It's good that we went on a Saturday & not a Sunday.
The place is pretty closeby to Bangalore.. It's about 125kms. The road is good too. Shivanasamudra boasts of Asia's first power generation plant. Because of rains a few weeks ago, Kaveri was in full flow. Shivanasamudra is a pretty big valley where Kaveri water falls from 2 different points, creating 2 falls - Gaganachukki & Bharachukki. Most people visit only the Gaganachukki falls. You can also view Bharachukki falls from there. I had been to this place atleast a couple of times before (mostly on the way to Talakadu). This time was the best & the river was in full flow. A real treat for the eyes.. We even went near the Bharachukki falls. You can go close to the Bharachukki falls. There is a Darga closeby. The view from this point is also very good. But there are a lot less people on this side. And you can see the full glory of the valley from Bharachukki.
Four of us - Naren, Chandru, John & me went in Naren's car. On the way back from Bharachukki, one of the tires of the car got punctured. Chandru's strength & skills helped us get back on our way soon. We had taken the Kanakapura road on the way to Shivanasamudra. But while coming back, we came via Mysore road. We even went to the Cafe Coffee Day on Mysore road.
Overall the trip was very good & we enjoyed it very much.
Oh.. By the way, my cousins (along with their families) went to the same place the next day (Sunday, 14th). They had a horrible experience as there were just too many people.. The traffic was worse than that in Bangalore roads.. There were so many cars that it took them a Loooong time to get there.. And, unfortunately they also met with a small accident on the way to Shivanasamudra. They bumped into the car right in front of them. And the traffic was so good that the car in front of them banged on to the next car & so on.. They had lunch after 3:30 or so in the afternoon after visiting Gaganachukki. They did not bother to visit Bharachukki.
It's good that we went on a Saturday & not a Sunday.
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