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Prakash Advani's Blog (10 unread)

Mozilla Thunderbird 3 rocks

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 7:29pm GMT by Prakash

Tags: Linux [edit]
I have been using Thunderbird 2 for more than 2 years now, I recently upgraded to Thunderbird 3 and found it very well designed. Here is what I liked:
- Has an attachment reminder, so if you write “please see the attached… ” and then forgot to attach, it reminds you. Neat!
- Tabbed emails. Used to tabbed browsing? welcome to tabbed email. Allows you to open emails and mail folders into different tabs.
- Powerful search. You can type a search string, and it will find that string in inbox, sent box, subject. This is quite useful if you are looking for something but don’t know where it could be.
- It also has smart folders and and archive folders.
- Addon manager to manage all your addons.
Here is a complete list of features.

Ubuntu 10.04 scheduled to be released on April 29,2010 already bundles Thunderbird 3.

For Ubuntu 9.10, there are ready packages available. To Install Thunderbird 3 on Ubuntu 9.10 read this documentation on how to add the repository.

Use this link to Download Thunderbird for Windows, Mac and Linux.

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Linus Torvalds ditches iPhone for Android based Google Nexus

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 11:38am GMT by Prakash

Tags: Linux [edit]
Linus Torvalds has purchased a Google Android based Nexus One cellphone.

But I have to admit, the Nexus One is a winner. I wasn’t enthusiastic about buying a phone on the internet sight unseen, but the day it was reported that it finally had the pinch-to-zoom thing enabled, I decided to take the plunge. I’ve wanted to have a GPS unit for my car anyway, and I thought that google navigation might finally make a phone useful.

Read 10 reasons why eWeek believes that it could affect iPhone Sales.

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New Plug Computer 3.0

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 3:05pm GMT by Prakash

Tags: Gadgets and Deals [edit]
After clocking 10,000 + Units of the Plug Computer, Marvell is releasing Plug Computer 3.0.

For those who came in late, Plug is a small lower powered computer which can do those nightly downloads, uploads, data captures, image captures from web cams and more.

What new?
- 2.0 GHz
- 1 Watt power consumption
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Wifi
- Bluetooh
- SD Card
- eSata
- Runs Linux
Read More.

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India in 1835

Posted: February 21st, 2010, 3:38pm GMT by Prakash

Tags: India [edit]
LORD MACAULAY’S ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 2 FEBRUARY, 1835

I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.

This not only tells you what India was in 1835 but how British managed to rule over India.

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50 megapixel camera from Hasselblad

Posted: February 19th, 2010, 11:24am GMT by Prakash

Tags: Photography [edit]
If your work required very high megapixel camera, this is for you. And yes it costs an arm and a leg – 25,000 dollars! Check out more.

Hasselblad H3D II 50 Digital Camera 50MP

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Oh Rats! They find explosives!

Posted: February 17th, 2010, 12:40pm GMT by Prakash

Tags: General [edit]
Fight global terrorism with Rats, the bomb squad is here!

Rats, which many people dislike are being trained to find explosives. They are used to find Landmine’s and are saving lives.

They are suitable for this, as they have a keen sense of smell. They are also being used to screen for diseases and are found to be faster and cheaper than normal lab tests.

Read More about APOPO the NGO behind one. Want to adopt one?

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30X optical zoom cameras from Olympus and Fuji

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 11:31am GMT by Prakash

Tags: General [edit]

Olympus and Fuji have both released 30X optical zoom cameras. This is amazing amount of zoom for those wildlife enthusiasts

Here is a comparison between the two:

Features	Olympus SP-800UZ	FinePix HS10
Optical Zoom	30X	30X
Digital Zoom	5X	2X
Megapixel	14	10
Image Stabilisation	Dual	Triple
Display	3″ LCD	3″ Tilting LCD
Movie Recording	High Definition	High Definition
High Speed Movie	10 fps	1000 fps
HDMI	Yes	Yes
ISO	Upto 10,000	Upto 6,400
Raw support	No	Yes
Internal Memory	2048 MB (2GB)	54 MB
Battery	Lithium Ion	AA or Lithium Ion (not included)
Weight	435g	636g
Aperture	F2.8-F5.6	F 2.8-F11
Pricing	US$ 349	US$ 499

Support this site.	Buy Olympus SP-800UZ	Buy Fujifilm FinePix HS10

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The affordable Olympus Pen

Posted: February 15th, 2010, 10:13am GMT by Prakash

Tags: Gadgets and Deals [edit]
Olympus has been bringing Micro Four-Third cameras to the market faster that expected. After the E-P1 and E-P2, they have now released E-PL1 which is cheaper by US$ 200.

Here are the specs.
- Kit includes 14-42 Zoom lens
- 12 MegaPixel
- 2.7″ LCD
- HD Video support
- List price US$ 599
E-PL1 has a few advantages over E-P2:
- Dedicated REC button
- Magnified live view button
- Up to 14x live view magnification
- Lighter low-pass filter
- Built-in flash
E-P2 advantages over E-PL1:
- Two control dials
- More direct-access buttons (including ISO and white balance)
- Superior image stabilization system
- AE/AF lock button
- Orientation sensor
- Larger, 3.0″ LCD
- More substantial construction
- 1/180 sec flash sync speed (rather than 1/160)
- Maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 sec (rather than 1/2000)
- Maximum ISO of 6400
- Virtual level display
- Built-in stereo mics/speakers
- Optional wireless remote
- Electronic View Finder (EVF) bundled, in EPL-1 it is optional
Detailed comparison of all the three models at DP Review.

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OpenOffice Marketshare India and other countries

Posted: February 13th, 2010, 12:53am GMT by Prakash

Tags: Linux [edit]
WebmasterPro has an interesting way to calculate the percentage of people using OpenOffice.

Poland & Czech Republic lead in OO usage and have 22 percent people using OpenOffice.

Germany 21 percent and France 19.

UK/US at 9 percent.

India is low at 5 percent.

See more at WebMasterPro.

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USB 3 is here

Posted: February 9th, 2010, 12:30pm GMT by Prakash

Tags: Gadgets and Deals [edit]
USB 3 devices have finally started showing up in the US and expect them to be more widely available everywhere else in the world, later this year.

USB 2 has been around, but with serious bottlenecks. Its slow and gets slower when you connect multiple peripherals. Is USB 3 going to solve the problem? It looks promising. What is USB 3 all about?
- 10 times faster than USB 2.0 with 5Gbps.
- USB 3 is bi-directional so its much faster. In USB 2 data can flow only in one direction at a time.
- Realistically you should get 3 times faster transfer speeds for external drives.
- Backward compatible with USB 2. If you connect to older systems, you will still be able to use, but at slower speeds.
- More power. Since more and more devices are being powered by USB, USB3 provides more power to adequately power those external hard drives.
- Linux is the first operating system to support USB 3, and yes Microsoft has followed by including support in Windows 7.
The first place where USB 3 has started showing up is in external hard drives. If you are looking for one, you should consider USB 3. To get USB 3 performance, you will need USB 3 port on your computer, which is lacking in most of the PCs/Laptops sold today. However you can buy a hard drive with a card for your PC/Laptop.

From Amazon: 1 TB USB 3 external desktop hard drive with PCIe USB 3 adaptor.

USB 3.0 Expresscard for your laptop.

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