Wanderings of the Wonderful Mind.....

Success or Value - Whats real and important?

2008-09-08T22:22:00.000+01:00

“Try not to become a man of success rather try to become a man of value.”
–Albert Einstein

Read a famous quote from Einstein and thought what an amount of hidden value this has and these were my thought written as words.

I want success, its my dream, its my life, i dream of it every morning and night and thats my thought all day long, sounds familier isint it?
Look into you, thats what you have been reciting all these years.

So whats success?, typically we associate success with an image of expensive cars, things, a big house and the things that we hardly would even want, so success = things.
We all need things, but associating success with it is where all the problem starts.

Try all you want to become a man (or woman) of success. It will likely happen if you try often and with clear focus. However, if you are merely

seeking those images, then you will be just another example of how money doesn't buy you everything.

Try to become a person of value, and it won't matter to you if you have success or not. Becoming a person of value means that first, you are of

value to your own existence, and second, you are of value to the existence of others. Being a person of value may mean having those images of success,

but if it does not, you will find that it truly does not matter to you.

Here is an idea that many people don't seem to like: no matter who, no matter what, every person acts out of selfishness. Mother Teresa acted out

of selfishness. Of course, this requires a broader definition of selfishness as we typically see it. Call it “conscious selfishness.” When Mother

Teresa helped countless people, she did so out of the deep yearning that came from within. It was the best way that she found to serve her passion.

Just live your life like a downstream river, mould the curves, adapt to the currents, and play with the corners and hit the rocks, make choices that serve what you regard as your highest value and just see what happens and not the temporary wants.

Stop worrying about success, it cant go anywhere else other than lining up with your passion, your passion should be of service, of value, no matter if its for you or better for the whole world.

If you have this kind of a mindset following values rather than chasing the illusionary world of success, everything you want will definitely be right there in the perfect moment you wanted it...

So decide for yourself what success is for you, what ever you wanted you have it, or what ever you wanted you chase it it keeps eluding you at the right moment.

GPS Loggers - RBT 2300 and Holux M241 Reviewed in depth

2008-09-08T22:21:00.002+01:00

Here is a details review of both the GPS logger models and read on to see which one is a clear winner over the other.

So I purchased the RBT-2300 and had some issues with the signal fix and one of my friend suggested to try the new Holux-M241, later realised the fix is due to the low signal level inside my apartment and its an issue with all GPS units.

My main use is for Geotagging photographs and also to be used as GPS with my Nokia N73.

Here are my observations on both the devices on a test I did this weekend.

Specs:
RoyalTek RBT-2300 with Nokia battery fully charged
Holux M-241 with Energiser lithium battery fully charged

Time to Acquire first fix:
Tried both inside my flat and first fix was difficult, so moved both the devices to my Balcony, RBT-2300 acquired the fix in approx 12 minutes and the Holux took 15 minutes.

Lock:
The RBT-2300 was able to lock to the signals more easily than the holux M-241 when i moved inside my apartment, Royaltek lost signal one in 10 compared to Holux losing 4 times in 10.

Logging:
RBT starts logging the moment you switch it on and the GPS is fixed, no hassles to wait for the fix and then press the start button to start logging.
Holux needs to get the fix first and then need to press the enter button to start logging.

Log size:
RBT : 180 days worth data or approx half million way points
Holux : 130,000

Battery life:
RBT using a Nokia batterly (860mAh) ran very good for 9 hours until the unit totally died.
Holux using the new Energiser lithium battery (approx 2800mAh) ran for 6 hours till it totally died.

Connecting to Smartphone:
Both the devices were very easy to connect to my Nokia N73 using bluetooth, got connected immediately without any problems.

Connecting to computer:
RBT provides only bluetooth and connected pretty well,
Holux uses both USB and bluetooth and connection was good.

Software:
RBT software is better then the Holux, remembers the selected Com port and also the folder location where GPS log file was last downloaded.

Downloading LOG files:
This is the main part where I started hating the Holux M-241, both took the same time to download using bluetooth, however the Holux files were empty without any log info in a previous test.

Reliability:
For any geotagging and logging purposes reliability of the data is more important, RBT has delivered proper ones till now and had no issues, but with the Holux, I was not able to download the data, this might be due to the fact that the battery got over and the unit switched off without stopping the log, now am not able to see the data in Holux, using the download tool, it crashes whenever I try to get the file.

Verdict:

Eventhough the looks of the Holux is better then the RBT, and the Holux has an attractive LCD display and many modes, it is clearly not a winner in the Geotagging scenario, may be it can be used as a GPS device for smartphones, but definitely never a reliable one for Geotagging, the reasons below.

1. For geotagging, i would prefer to switch on the device and start logging by default and if I dont want it, then I can switch it off, its ridiculous to wait for a signal and then to switch the logging on.

2. If the unit dies of low battery charge, I should atleast be able to get the proper log files from it, here Holux fails to impress.

Overall the new Holux M-241 is just a beauty with absolutely no brains and does not seem to be very useful for logging and Geotagging world with a highly unreliable performance.

Even though the RBT is simple and does not have any fancy display, it exactly does the job its claimed to do.

so anybody planning to buy the Holux M-241, please assess these facts and base your decision on what you mainly intend to use the GPS for, if visual display of the GPS details is not much of a bother to you, better go with the RBT-2300.

The Winner:

[b]RBT-2300 is a clear winner[/b] compared to the Holux M-241.

(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear Lyrics - My all time Fav song

2008-09-08T22:21:00.001+01:00

I loved this song by Bryan Adams (I Wanna Be) Your Underwear.

Dont know why? , here is why, I loved this song for no reason, my Rational mind has its own thinking, what a Crazy guy would he be to 'Be an Underwear', I wanna be - your high heels when ya kick it - to be a shoe to kick somebody.

Very few are blessed to get such crazy thoughts and it feels so great to be crazy about someone this much.... thats the Heights of Craziness on someone you love!.

Here is the lyrics.Enjoy!!

Artist: Bryan Adams Lyrics
Song: (I Wanna Be) Your Underwear Lyrics

I wanna be your t-shirt when it's wet - I wanna be the shower when you sweat
I gotta be the tattoo on your skin - yeah lemme be your bed baby - when you climb in
I wanna be the sheets when you sleep - let me be the secrets that you keep
I gotta be the spoon - ta stir your cream
I wanna be the one that really makes you scream
I wanna be - your lipstick when ya lick it
I wanna be - your high heels when ya kick it
I wanna be - your sweet love babe - ya when you make it
from your feet up to your hair - more than anything I swear
I wanna be - your underwear
I wanna be the itch that you scratch - wanna be the chair when you relax
I gotta be your razor when you shave
I wanna be the habit that really makes you crave
I wanna be - your hot tub - when you're dippin'
I wanna be - your bathrobe - when you're drippin'
I wanna be - your cocktail baby - when you're sippin'
I just wanna be right there - more than anything I swear
I wanna be - your underwear
I wanna be your sleeping bag - baby slip inside
Let me be your motorcycle n' take you for a ride - alright
I wanna be - your hot sauce - ya when you're cookin'
I wanna be - your sunglasses - hey good lookin'
I wanna be - wanna be the one - you're stick your hook in
I just wanna be right there - more than anything I swear
Oh ya I wanna be - your underwear

The hottest songs from Bryan Adams

Geotagging of Photos made simple

2008-09-08T22:20:00.000+01:00

***What is Geotagging?

Geotagging is a simple process of writing the Geographic information to Exif data in the images.
Geographic information includes Lattitude, Longitude, Height and other related information.

***Why should I Geotag?

When fotos are Geotagged, it makes it simple for the viewers to pinpoint the exact location where the foto was shot, and also saves the creator from the hassle of remembering each of the locations.

Geotagging is also now read by most of the popular sites like flickr, provides an amazing integration with Google maps to show a Location Map of the fotos you have taken.

How wonderful it would be to see your pics on google map with the exact location details.

***Do i need a GPS receiver to Geotag my fotos?

No you dont need a GPS receiver to do it, although a GPSr may get the exact co-ordinates of the location and saves the hassle of manually searching the co-ordinates.

***How do I Geo tag my fotos?

There are a couple of free tools to do the job.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
you can use GPicSync, it's open source and supports the following raw filetypes:
http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/wiki/RawFormats

Very nice, have a try: http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detailed instructions here:
http://www.oziphototool.com/smf/index.php?topic=124.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The latest Picasa has a great integration with Google Earth... It wont let you write to CR2 files, but will store in a .ini file.

For JPEGs it write the exif, you can upload the photos to Flickr and Picasa Web and they will show in the map.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***How do i find the location co-ordinates?

Its very easy with Google Earth or google Maps, if you know the location, search in Google Earth and that will give you the exact details required.
Picasa also has an integration with Google earth and writes values to JPG files.

***What is the difference between Geotagging and GeoStamping?

Tagging means writting GPS coordinates into EXIF metadata -same as writing/changing (for example) variuos DateTime values. Important is: tagging doesn't change image! With other words: when you open geo-tagged image, you don't see GPS coordinates (you need some exif utility to see and edit those values).

Stamping means you (using some utility) "write" coordinate values directly onto image. So, everybody will see those values by opening/viewing image (you remember old photos containing date/time when they were taken?). The problem is, it is difficult to edit stamped images later. In short: GPS stamped images are not very artistic -they look ugly, actually

***Examples?
I have tried Geotagging some images and here is how they look on my site, scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Google maps.

http://www.vividscapes.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5790

Missing any information?, please feel free to add or correct me where ever am wrong.

Do not fool around with your profs

2008-09-08T22:19:00.000+01:00

True story from IIT Bombay ...Batch 1992-96

One Night 4 College Students Were Playing Till Late Night and Didn't
Study For The Test Which Was Scheduled For The Next Day.

In the morning they thought of a plan. They made themselves look as
dirty and weird with grease and dirt. They then went up to the Dean and
said that they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their return
the tyre of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way
back and that they were in no condition to appear for the test.

So the Dean said they can have the re-test after 3 days. They thanked
him and said they will be ready by that time.
On the third day they appeared before the Dean. The Dean said that as
This was a Special Condition Test, All four were required to sit in
Separate classrooms for the test.
They all agreed as they had prepared well in the last 3 days.

The Test consisted of 2 questions with the total of 100 Marks.

Q.1. Your Name........ ......... ........( 2 MARKS)

Q.2. which tire burst....... ......... (98 MARKS)

a) Front Left
b) Front Right
c) Back Left
d) Back Right.....!! !

What the heck is all about Photography.....

2008-09-08T22:18:00.000+01:00

Had a prosumer camera for 2 years, i was a bit happy with the pics, bcos i did not have to do anything to get some pics.

The SLR bug caught me and I treated myself to the 400D Canon and some glass.

Now the fun started, I thought I was ok in pictures, but now i see am Crap, my goodness my fotos were horrible and when browsing the photography forums came across this link, Now i know what i should do, and what those great men did to get those jaw dropping fotos!.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/spectator.htm

Now i really need to do something to atleast say I can take a picture.

What is Samyama?

2008-09-08T22:17:00.002+01:00

Recently came across a link that exactly says what a Samyama is.

http://www.kriyayoga.com/english/on_your_wings/samyamah.htm

Happy B'day to my lovely Dad.

2008-09-08T22:17:00.001+01:00

DAD, I love you always,

In all possible ways.

He who got me into this lovely world,

He who taught me to walk,

He who taught me to Talk,

He who taught me to dance,

He who taught me to sing,

He who taught me to live Life,

He who taught me not to Stife,

He who is always excellent,

Always the best,

Dare not to Test,

Not a passing Fad,

It's my best Dad.

Be it good times, be it bad times,

Be it happy time, be it sad times,

I realized "U da man!".

I saw your wisdom,

I saw your courage,

I saw your forgiveness,

I saw your compassion too,

And I knew I can rely on you.

As Strong as a mountain,

As Majestic as a tree,

As Warm as the summer sun,

As Calm as the cool blue sea,

As comfortable as the serene nights,

As wise as the Ages of wisdom

As joyous as the morning spring,

With nothing more to ADD,

And everything is there in this LAD,

He is none other than my wonderful DAD.

You were there with me,

When I was angry with you,

I shouted in my ignorance,

You showed to be intelligent,

You were there whenever I am sad,

You are my wonderful and loving Dad.

DAD, I love you always,

In all possible ways.

Before and after marriage.....just for a laugh.

2008-09-08T22:16:00.002+01:00

Before marriage:

He: Yes. At last it was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO. Dont even think about it!
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Yes!
She: Will you hit me?
He: No way I am not such kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?
He: Yes!

Now after the marriage you can read it from below to top.

A Quote

2008-09-08T22:16:00.001+01:00

What you don't like to see in yourself is what you hate seeing in others.

Too True, Too Often

2008-09-08T22:13:00.000+01:00

Too True, Too Often

Too often we don't realize
What we have until it is gone
Too often we wait too late to say
"I'm sorry - I was wrong."

Sometimes it seems we hurt the ones
We hold dearest to our hearts
And we allow foolish things
To tear our lives apart.

Far too many times we let
Unimportant things into our minds
And then it's usually too late
To see what made us blind.

So be sure that you let people know
How much they mean to you
Take that time to say the words
Before your time is through.

Be sure that you appreciate
Everything you've got
And be thankful for the little things
in life that mean a lot.

Significance of chanting mantras

2008-09-08T22:12:00.002+01:00

What is the significance of chanting mantras? Logical minds have a problem with mantras. A logical mind asks: "What can a simple sound do to me?" All mantras are not for higher levels of freedom. There are many mantras that you can chant for getting material benefits or to even ward off negativity. Day-to-day matters can effectively be handled by such mantras. Very few mantras lead to spiritual well-being. If any mantra, God or religion supports your greed, fear or limitation, it would be of no significance. Maybe your immediate purpose will be served because you destroyed your neighbor with your mantra or you made the necessary money that you wanted.

Why do some people make fun of those chanting mantras? A jnana yogi uses his intelligence to realise his ultimate nature. Usually jnana yogis have absolute disdain for all other systems, because they consider everything other than jnana as being stupid or idiotic. They laugh at bhaktas; they make fun of kriya yogis and karma yogis. Once a jnana yogi went to Shiva and said, "All your bhaktas keep chanting mantras? All they are doing is just adding to the noise pollution. If you want to transcend, you must have the consciousness to look beyond. Just by shouting mantras, where will they go? Why don't you tell them to stop this nonsense?"

Pointing to a worm crawling on the floor Shiva said, "Just go close to that worm and utter the mantra, Shiva Shambho''. The jnana yogi shrugged with disdain and went close to the worm and uttered Shiva Shambho. The worm died. The jnana yogi was shocked. He said, "What is this? I just uttered the mantra, and the worm died". Shiva smiled and pointing to a butterfly said: "Focus on that butterfly and say, Shiva Shambho''. The jnana yogi said, "No, I don't want to kill the
butterfly". Shiva said, "Try". The jnana yogi looked at the butterfly and said, Shiva Shambho. The butterfly too died.

The jnana yogi was taken aback and said, "If this is what the mantra does, why would anyone want to utter it?" Shiva continued to smile and again pointing to a spotted deer romping around said: "Focus on the deer and say Shiva Shambho". The jnana yogi said, "No, I don't want to kill the deer. Shiva said, "It doesn't matter; say it''. So the jnana yogi said, Shiva Shambho; the deer fell dead. Aghast, the jnana yogi asked: "What is the purpose of this mantra? It is just killing every being".

Soon after a mother came with her newborn child, seeking Shiva's blessings. Shiva looked at the jnana yogi and said, "Why don't you utter the mantra for this child?" He replied, "No, I don't want to kill the child". Shiva said: "Try". The jnana yogi, with great apprehension, approached the child and said, Shiva Shambho. The child sat up and spoke. He said, "I was just a worm; with one mantra you transformed me into a butterfly. With another mantra you made me into a deer. With yet another mantra you made me into a human being. Just utter the mantra once more; I want to attain divinity".

Modern science has now conclusively proven that the whole of existence is just a vibration of energies. Where there is vibration there is bound to be a sound. So in yoga we say the whole existence is just a sound. This is known as nada brahman. The entire creation is a complex amalgamation of sounds. Among this complex web of sounds there are a few sounds which are key sounds. These key sounds are referred to as the mantra.

Prayer and its Meaning

2008-09-08T22:12:00.001+01:00

Before Pranayama/Before Food

Aum… Aum… Aum…

Sahana vavatu sahanou bhunaktu

Sahaveeryam karavavahai

Tejasvinavadhitamastu

Mavid Visha vahai hi

Aum Shanthi… Aum Shanthi… Aum Shanthi…

Let us be together. Let us eat together.

Let us produce the energy together.

Let there be no limit to our energies.

Let there be no ill feeling among us.

Aum… Peace, Peace, Peace.

After Pranayama

Aum… Aum… Aum…

Asatoma sadgamaya

Tamasoma jyotirgamaya

Mrutyorma amrutangamaya

Aum Shanthi… Aum Shanthi… Aum Shanthi…

From Untruth to Truth. From Darkness to Light

(From Ignorance to Enlightenment).

From Mortality to Immortality.

May I be lead.

Aum… Peace, Peace, Peace.

Humility

2008-09-08T22:11:00.001+01:00

Humility doesn't mean believing you are less than anyone else. It means being aware that you aren't more important than anyone else while at the same time being aware that no one is more important than you. You treat yourself with respect and you treat everyone else with respect also. You no longer compare yourself to others in any way because you know through direct perception that everyone is equal.

I love you the most

2008-09-08T22:10:00.000+01:00

I love you the most,
You are my foremost,

When I was born,
I was new to this entire existence,

Did I know where I am,
Neither do I know who I am,

You taught me the way,
To be in my best possible way,

You became my world,
So dear and near that cannot be told,

When I grew, I thought,
You were not noticing me,
But I saw the truth,
You had every picture of my growth,

I saw you always with me,
Can I ask anything more for me.

At joy, at sorrow,
At Bliss, At love,
At hardships, at sweet moments,
You were like the skin of the fruit,
Protecting me from prying eyes that loot,

You wanted a ring,
I wanted something,
You traded your precious ring for that Something,
So selfless, So humble, So giving,
What more can I ask for such a living,

You were the best,
I love you of all the Rest.

Neither will I regret,
It's a sin to forget,

My all time love to you,
To my Best Mom and Dad,

I love you the most,
You are my foremost,

Let Nothingness take me away

2008-09-08T22:08:00.003+01:00

Before a New day,

Let Nothingness take me away,

Am I the Mind,

I struggle to Find,

Am I the body,

And I finally conclude, Am nobody,

Shatter thy Ego,

To be in absolute Bingo,

15 minutes of Nothingness,

Has done wonders to my Worthiness,

I don't need a Yama,

To take away my Prana,

Before a New day,

I wish Nothingness could take me away.

28 WAYS 2 MAKE A GIRL SMILE

2008-09-08T22:08:00.001+01:00

28 WAYS 2 MAKE A GIRL SMILE........

1,Tell her she is beautiful.not hot or fine.

2,Hold her hand at any moment even if it is just for a second

3,Kiss her on the forehead

4,Leave her voice messages to wake up

5,Always tell her you love her at any & and all times

6,When she is upset ,hold her tight & tell her how much means to u

7,Recognice the small things .they usually mean the most

8,call her sweetie or Baby

9,Sing to her no matter how horrible your voice is

10,Pick her over all the other girls you hang out with

11,Write her notes. (she loves them)

12,Introduce her to family &friends as your girlfriend

13,play with her hair

14,Pick her up ,tickle her .& play Wrestle with her

15,Sit in the park &just talk to her

16,Tell her funny jokes,tell her stupid jokes,just tell her joke

17,Throw pebbles at her window in the middle of the night just becuse u missed her

18,Let her fall asleep in your arms

19,carve your names into a tree

20,If she's mad kiss her

21,Give her piggyback rides

22,bring her flowers just becuse girls like flowers

23,Treat her the same around your friends as you do when your alone

24,Look her in the eyes& smile

25,let her take as many pictures as she wants

26,slow dance with her ,even if there isnt any music playing

27,kiss her in the rain

28,YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH HER TELL HER

bhO shambhO - Meaning of this Ecstatic song

2008-09-08T22:07:00.002+01:00

bhO shambhO
raagam: rEvati

2 ratnaangi janya
Aa: S R1 M1 P N2 S
Av: S N2 P M1 R1 S

taaLam: aadi
Composer: Dayaananda Saraswati
Language: Sanskrit

pallavi

bhO shambhO shiva shambhO svayambhO

anupallavi

gangAdhara shankara karuNAkara mAmava bhavasAgara tAraka

caraNam 1

nirguNa parabrahma svarUpa gamAgama bhUta prapanca rahita
nija guhanihita nitAnta ananta Ananda atishaya akSayalinga

caraNam 2

dhimita dhimita dhimi dhimikiTa kiTatOm tOm tOm tarikiTa tarikiTakiTa tOm
matanga munivara vandita Isha sarva digambara vESTita vESa Isha sabEsha sarvEsha

Meaning:by Suhasini Jayakumar
pallavi: Hail , oh Lord Shambhu, one who "self appeared"

anupallavi: Source of Ganges, Shankara, oh merciful lord who redeems me from this ocean of sorrow, samsAra

caraNam 1: without gunas, one who is beyond time, past, present and future

truth beyond gunas(?), beyond all things finite, oh infinite, blissful, wondrous, ever the same lingA

caraNam 2: This is just the rhythm of the dance of creation and destruction

Other information:
Lyrics contributed by Lakshman Ragde.

Song performed for karnATik by Prithi Narasimhan

Citation : http://www.karnatik.com/c2437.shtml

Shiva is the destroyer among the trinity

2008-09-08T22:02:00.001+01:00

Shiva is the destroyer among the trinity.

The holy word chant to worship him is made of five letters and is popularly called Panchakshara- “Na Ma Si Va ya”.

In this popular mantra each of these letters is considered as him and he is praised for his great qualities.)

Nagendra haraya Trilochanaya,

Basmanga ragaya maheswaraya,

Nithyaya shudhaya digambaraya,

Tasmai nakaraya namashivaya. 1

My salutations to the letter “Na” , which is Shiva,

Who wears as garland the king of snakes.

Who has three eyes,

Who wears ash all over Him,

Who is the greatest Lord,

Who is forever,

Who is the cleanest,

And who wears the directions themselves as dress

Mandakini salila chandana charchithaya,

Nandeeswara pramadha nadha maheswaraya,

Mandra pushpa bahu pushpa supoojithaya,

Tasmai makaraya namashivaya. 2

My salutations to the letter “Ma” , which is Shiva,

Who is bathed by waters of ganges,

Who applies sandal paste all over him,

Who has Lord Nandi as his chiefton,

Who is the greatest lord,

And who is worshipped by Mandhara and many other flowers.

Shivaaya gowri vadanara vinda,

Sooryaya daksha dwara naasakaya,

Sri neela kantaya vrisha dwajaya,

Tasmai sikaraya namashivaya. 3

My salutations to the letter “Si” , which is Shiva,

Who is peace personified,

Who is like Sun to the Lotus face of Gowri.

Who destroyed the fire sacrifice of Daksha.

Who has a blue neck,

And who has a bull in his flag.

Vasishta kumbhodhbhava gowthamadhi.

Munendra devarchitha shekaraya,

Chandrarka vaiswanara lochanaya,

Tasmai vakaraya namashivaya. 4

My salutations to the letter “Va” , which is Shiva,

Who is worshipped by great sages like,

Vasishta, Agasthya and Gowthama ,

As also the devas,

And who has sun , moon and fire as his three eyes.

Yaksha swaroopaya jada dharaya,

Pinaka hasthathaya sanathanaya,

Divyaya devaaya digambaraya,

Tasmai yakaraya namashivaya. 5

My salutations to the letter “Ya” , which is Shiva,

Who takes the form of Yaksha,

Who has a tufted hair,

Who is armed with spear,

Who is forever filled with peace,

Who is godly,

Who is the great God,

And who wears the directions themselves as dress.

Phalasruthi

Panchaksharamidham punyam,

Ya padeth Shiva sannidhou,

Shivaloka maapnothi,

Shive na saha modathe.

Those who read these holy five letters great,

In the temple of Shiva,.

Would go to the world of Shiva,

And be forever happy with Him.

Thanks to this site -http://www.geocities.com/ramya475/Shivapanchaksharastotram.htm

Adventure in Ooty

2008-09-08T22:01:00.000+01:00

Looks like an amazing place to have some adventure in Ooty

http://www.kingscliff-ooty.com/

Creating Objects that Support Edit Cancellation via IEditableObject

2008-09-08T22:00:00.000+01:00

This blog is from - http://blogs.infragistics.com/blogs/joshs/archive/2008/05/08/creating-objects-that-support-edit-cancellation-via-ieditableobject.aspx

Creating Objects that Support Edit Cancellation via IEditableObject

The IEditableObject interface provides controls with a way to allow a data source to react intelligently to being edited. This might seem superfluous, until you consider that complex controls, such as a data grid, allow the user to cancel an editing session via the Escape key.

For example, suppose the user is editing a row in the UltraGrid or XamDataGrid, and then realizes that he has been editing the wrong row. If he presses the Escape key once, the grid automatically reverts the active cell to the value it had before editing began. If the user hits Escape again, the entire row reverts to the values it had before the user started to edit its cells.

If the grid is bound to an ADO.NET container, such as DataTable, all of this magic happens for us automatically. However, if the grid is bound to a collection of your own objects, such as custom business objects, this will not happen by default. Your business objects will need to implement that logic, just as the ADO.NET containers do. Perhaps your business objects will not implement that functionality, since it is not part of any business domain, but Presentation Model objects might, instead. Regardless of the lingo, at the end of the day you will need to implement this logic somewhere!

Fortunately, this is quite easy to do. The IEditableObject interface is all you need to implement, as seen below:

private BinaryFormatter _formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
private MyData _myState;
private MemoryStream _snapshot;

void IEditableObject.BeginEdit()
{
if (_snapshot != null)
return;

_snapshot = new MemoryStream();
_formatter.Serialize(_snapshot, _myState);
}

void IEditableObject.CancelEdit()
{
if (_snapshot == null)
return;

// Restore our state to the snapshot taken when the editing session began.
_snapshot.Position = 0;
_myState = _formatter.Deserialize(_snapshot) as MyData;
this.ThrowAwaySnapshot();
}

void IEditableObject.EndEdit()
{
this.ThrowAwaySnapshot();
}

void ThrowAwaySnapshot()
{
if (_snapshot != null)
{
_snapshot.Dispose();
_snapshot = null;
}
}

This code assumes the MyData type (and all of its ancestor types) is decorated with the Serializable attribute, since it is serialized by the BinaryFormatter.

The BeginEdit method starts with a check to see if we are already in an editing session. If so, it immediately returns since there can only be one editing session at a time. There is no guarantee regarding when and how often that method will be invoked, so this precautionary step is necessary. When a new editing session begins, a snapshot of the object's state is taken and stored in a MemoryStream.

If the user cancels the editing session, the CancelEdit method executes. That method deserializes the snapshot taken in BeginEdit, and applies the saved values to the editable object. If the IEditableObject instance contains the various fields being edited, instead of having a reference to one object that contains all the values, your CancelEdit method will include code that sets all of those fields to whatever values were saved in the BeginEdit method.

When the user completes an editing session (i.e. finishes editing a row in the grid) the EndEdit method is invoked. That gives us a chance to dispose of the snapshot data. Once the snapshot is removed, a subsequent call to BeginEdit will cause a new editing session to begin.

Einstein's Quote of the day

2008-07-27T19:50:00.001+01:00

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.

Northern lights

2008-07-25T13:35:00.006+01:00

Here is the link to stay very near to the northern lights spectacular.

http://www.eiscat.uit.no/EISCAT/cookbook/micro_guide/

contact person for staying there
http://www.eiscat.uit.no/EISCAT/cookbook/micro_guide/

http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Articles/Norway/North/Tromso/Winter/

http://www.nordlysopplevelser.no/content.php?p=contact

This site Sami adventure has custom packages for the northern lights.
http://www.samiadventure.no/eng/index.html

Tips for photographing the Aurora.
http://alaskaphotographics.com/how_to_photograph_northern_lights.shtml

Its all how you take it

2008-07-21T10:47:00.003+01:00

coming back from lake district this week, there was heavy traffic, yes I had a vacation, so did everybody and they do need to come back, definitely the roads got to be busy, my friend was driving and was a complaining about the traffic, so at that time a little thought came to me, read along....

If you are stuck in traffic;
Dont despair, there are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard privilege.

If you have a bad day at work;
think of the person who has been out of work for years.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend;
Think of the person in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, 7 days a week to feed their children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance;
Think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take a small walk.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad;
think of the person who has never know or felt what its like to love or be loved in return.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering whats life all about;
Be grateful, there are some who didnt even live long enough to get such an opportunity.

Should you be any situation, you don't even have to think of somebody, its just enough that you accept the situation without any reaction to it and see what can be done, Once you accept the situation, there are a million ways to deal with it, if you don't accept, the the only way is to keep lamenting!

Have a good day.... Enjoy the moment.

Loneliness is not grief....

2008-07-21T10:23:00.004+01:00

Loneliness...... am not talking here about any kind of seclution from life or a family break or dispute.... this is just about being alone out in the woods, look back nobody and look in front nobody...

A long narrow winding road
where lead me it would
Without a hint i could
Walk along the path full of wood

Broken trunks
Lively trunks
Fresh Grass, lovely ferns
The flowers Purple and yellow
Standing there with a bellow
Nobody around to follow
In tune with nature myself I Allow

Sends me, The gentle sounds of the River
and the birds and trees, into a Quiver
Of intermittent Rain drops dazzling down
in the slight peek of the sun at dawn
Am dripping wet, noting to fret
the winding paths, the disappearing peaks and curves
The only being there in valley all alone in loneliness
No reason to feel any illness

Oh what a joy, what a luxury
Just to be alone and all alone
Just with nature, inside let it be flown.

This week we had been to Lake district and had a full day for myself with nature and that too alone, what a wonderful time and place to be in alone, and the weather was raining, and a little bit rain and more rain, i was a bit irritated at moments not because I was enjoying the rain, but at moments i was not able to take my camera out for some good clicks, it was raining full day with a 10 minute break for the sun to show itself its there.

I did not even feel i walked some 16 kilometers up and down the hills.In all it was a enjoyable walk and time to be all alone and enjoy whats around.

Geotagging your precious photos

2008-06-20T20:51:00.000+01:00

Just thought of writing an article on Geotagging, a lot of them with their new toys, might find this interesting :)

***What is Geotagging?

Geotagging is a simple process of writing the Geographic information to Exif data in the images.

Geographic information includes Lattitude, Longitude, Height and other related information.

***Why should I Geotag?

When fotos are Geotagged, it makes it simple for the viewers to pinpoint the exact location where the foto was shot, and also saves the creator from the hassle of remembering each of the locations.

Geotagging is also now read by most of the popular sites like flickr, provides an amazing integration with Google maps to show a Location Map of the fotos you have taken.

How wonderful it would be to see your pics on google map with the exact location details.

***Do i need a GPS receiver to Geotag my fotos?

No you dont need a GPS receiver to do it, although a GPSr may get the exact co-ordinates of the location and saves the hassle of manually searching the co-ordinates.

***How do I Geo tag my fotos?

There are a couple of free tools to do the job.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

you can use GPicSync, it's open source and supports the following raw filetypes:
http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/wiki/RawFormats

Very nice, have a try: http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detailed instructions here:
http://www.oziphototool.com/smf/index.php?topic=124.0

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The latest Picasa has a great integration with Google Earth... It wont let you write to CR2 files, but will store in a .ini file.

For JPEGs it write the exif, you can upload the photos to Flickr and Picasa Web and they will show in the map.

Have tried a lot of tools and the best I found and that I use currently is Geosetter.

http://www.geosetter.de

Its a very lovely piece of software that does whatever you can think off.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***How do i find the location co-ordinates?

Its very easy with Google Earth or google Maps, if you know the location, search in Google Earth and that will give you the exact details required.

Picasa also has an integration with Google earth and writes values to JPG files.

***What is the difference between Geotagging and GeoStamping?

Tagging means writting GPS coordinates into EXIF metadata -same as writing/changing (for example) variuos DateTime values. Important is: tagging doesn't change image! With other words: when you open geo-tagged image, you don't see GPS coordinates (you need some exif utility to see and edit those values).

Stamping means you (using some utility) "write" coordinate values directly onto image. So, everybody will see those values by opening/viewing image (you remember old photos containing date/time when they were taken?). The problem is, it is difficult to edit stamped images later. In short: GPS stamped images are not very artistic -they look ugly, actually Smile

***Examples?

I have tried Geotagging some images and here is how they look on my site, scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Google maps.

My gallery "Showcase" at http://www.vividscapes.com has many of them Geotagged.
The album page shows a wider view and the Photo pages show the exact location.

***What are the GPS receivers that you can use for Geotagging.

I use the Royaltek RBT-2300, its very good for tagging, also the Holux M-241 is now improved after the new firmware version.

You can get these for approx 30£ off ebay.

Once you get a feel for Geotagging, you will definitely enjoy it.

Creating Objects that Support Edit Cancellation via IEditableObject

2008-05-28T11:02:00.000+01:00

This blog is from - http://blogs.infragistics.com/blogs/joshs/archive/2008/05/08/creating-objects-that-support-edit-cancellation-via-ieditableobject.aspx

Creating Objects that Support Edit Cancellation via IEditableObject

Fortunately, this is quite easy to do. The IEditableObject interface is all you need to implement, as seen below:

private BinaryFormatter _formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
private MyData _myState;
private MemoryStream _snapshot;

This code assumes the MyData type (and all of its ancestor types) is decorated with the Serializable attribute, since it is serialized by the BinaryFormatter.

Doing a Planet transformation to a Pano foto.

2008-05-19T12:09:00.002+01:00

1. Make the foto into a square using 'image size' by putting in the same number of pixels in the vertical axis.. uncheck constrain proportions..the image now looks a bit funky

2. Now flip 180

3 Go to filter effects and choose 'Distort......polar co-ordinates and press o.K and hey presto

this tip was given by one of the members in the Fredmiranda forum.

GPS Loggers - RBT 2300 and Holux M241 Reviewed in depth

2008-05-16T17:36:00.003+01:00