One day when I woke up, my computer was turned off, I thought there might have been a power failure at night. I tried to switch on my pride(Dell Studio XPS 8100), but to my surprise and shock, there was no response from my computer It was all dead silent. I tried all the tricks I had learnt in my life, but no luck. I knew, if I call customer care and if they pick up my call after 5 – 8 tries and 30 – 45 minutes of wait, they will tell me to unplug all the wire and plug it in again and try to restart the computer. I did all these things, when nothing worked I tried my final option; that is to call customer care!

It wasn’t a complete surprise when no one picked my call until I tried 6 times with lot of persistency. Finally a girl received my call, talked so politely, heard all my problems, situation and calmly told that she will connect me to the technical team! Again, the wait began and finally I heard a guy answering my call: “Hey its Mark, how may I assist you”. Out of curiosity I asked him, where are you talking from? He said, Australia.

By this time, I had already gone into phonesia!

Phonesia: The affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling, just as they answer!

I had no hopes of getting my PC fixed by the Dell support team via phone. I was worried about the data in my hard disk, I was worried about my business etc.

With all these, I continued talking to Mark. I explained him about the problem and as expected, he told me to pull all the wire behind CPU(Central Processing Unit). But he told me one extra weird thing to do.
He told me to switch off the power, remove the power plug/cable from the computer. And told me to press and hold the start button for 15 seconds.

Well this must be crazy thing to do. But I did it, as Mark told me to do. Because I had no other options left.

After 15 seconds I connected back all the cables and switched on the power and pressed the start button on my computer, and boom, to my surprise..my PC started working! it just gave me a warning message.

I asked Mark about what’s it in pressing and holding the start button for 15 seconds? He was generous to explain me that, there will be a battery(maybe a capacitor) which needs to be charged always. Once it looses its charge it stops responding to the press event of start button. To recharge it, we need to press and hold for 10 to 15 seconds and then it starts to respond like it did before!

Lesson learnt: Be open to learning. Be calm. Know that people who built the system aren’t stupid. Most importantly, Don´t judge too quickly!!

Above video is in no way directly related with this article, but shared it as it has some good message.

If you know any such troubleshoot tips and if you were in similar situation like me, then please share it with us in the comment section.

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Not to blame them – Microsoft is more popular here due to its user friendliness or may be because most government offices in India are using Microsoft Operating System and Office suites.

[ I always feel, how good it would be to a developing country like India(economy wise) to switch to open source software like Unix, OpenOffice etc.]

First thing first: So what is iPad ?
The iPad is a tablet computer developed by Apple Inc. It features multi-touch interaction with print, video, photo, and audio multimedia, internet browsing, and runs most iPhone OS apps. The device has an LED-backlit 9.7-inch (25 cm) color LCD display and uses a virtual keyboard for text input. Prices for models in the United States range from $499 to $829 depending on the amount of storage and inclusion of 3G access.

So ipad is everything, from iPod, iBook and we can use iTunes and the Apps that we are already using on iPod and iPhones.

Photos:

Some Videos:

As iPad is still a new thing to all of us, I thought it would be fun to ask my friends:

What do you think iPad is? [ like: iPhone, iPod, iMac etc.]

I asked those who did not have any clue about what iPad is, to make sure the answers are based on their pure imagination.

My friends replied me with some fantastic imaginary things:

Rajesh: Digital mouse pad.

Manjunath patil: Its a Computation Device.

Navya k: something like inkpad (iPad). or may be like iMac.

Samartha: Digital Keyboard.

Sawti D M: Who is this ?

Sridhar P: A combination of both phone and computer.

Raghu: Songs hearing machine.

Prashanth: Its a Notebook. Digital Notebook.

Jagdish: Electronic Device.

Nagraj: iPhone.

Nagbhushan: Digital Sound.

Sagar: Digital Nappy pad.

Kiran K R: Integrated Personal Audio Device.

Janardhan: I don’t want to be bothered thinking of ipod or ipad, but I need mouse pad urgently.

Gagan: Pad sized fully touch screen lap top or touch screen palm top.

In one or the other way, most of them were right with their guess and imagination about the name iPad. I really appreciate them for taking time to SMS me back with their answer.

Fun apart – Many people doesn’t seem to be happy with the new iPad, as there is no Multitasking capabilities, no camera etc. I think Apple Inc., will surly listen to its potential customers and soon patch up and will comeup with new iPad( we may call it iPad 2.0 ! ) as per the expectations of its fanboys.

But the question will remain – who will purchase this sleek, sexy looking(design wise) iPad now? Are you planning to purchase one? Make sure you know what you are getting and what not with your iPad, before placing an order.

Image Source: Apple.com

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Here’s what you need to know:
Source: microsoft.com

This is pre-release software, so please read the following to get an idea of the risks and key things you need to know before you try the RC.

• You don’t need to rush to get the RC. The RC will be available at least through July 2009 and we’re not limiting the number of product keys, so you have plenty of time.

• Watch the calendar. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you’ll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You’ll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use. (Learn more about installing Windows.)

• Protect your PC and data. Be sure to back up your data and please don’t test the RC on your primary home or business PC.
• Tech details/updates: Before installing the RC, please read the Release Notes and Things to Know for important information about the release.

• Keep up with the news. You can keep up with general technical information and news by following the team blog. And, you can get non-technical news, tips, and offers by subscribing to the monthly Exploring Windows newsletter.

• Keep your PC updated: Be sure to turn on automatic updates in Windows Update in case we publish updates for the RC.
• Installation: You can install the Windows 7 RC on a PC running Windows Vista without backing up the PC—but we encourage you to make a backup for safe keeping. If you’re running Windows XP or the Windows 7 Beta, you’ll need to backup your data, then do a clean installation of the RC, then reinstall your applications and restore your data. If you need to do a backup, please see How to back up your PC for more details and a suggestion for how to backup a PC running Windows 7 Beta or Windows Vista.
• To install and use the RC, you’ll need to know how to:

• Troubleshoot problems. You’re pretty much flying solo, so you’ll need to handle your own tech support, and rely on other RC testers for their know-how

• Burn an ISO file to make an installation DVD

• Install Windows

• Backup and restore your PC

• Set up a network

• Create and use a system recovery disk

• To learn more about the Windows 7 RC, see frequently asked questions.

System Requirement:-

• Internet access (to download Windows 7 RC and get updates)


A PC with these system requirements:

• 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

• 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

• 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

There are 2 versions of Windows 7 for download, 32- and 64-bit versions available in five languages: English, German, Japanese, French, and Spanish.

Do not hurry and download the wrong version of the OS, and realize later that it doesn’t support your current system. This public download will be available till the end of July 2009 and its not limited to specific number of users, so take your time and test your system specifications before starting to download.

Windows 7 is rumored to be released some times in June – July 2009. So you will be still using this free public download version even after the final version of the Operating System is in the market. And more interestingly you will keep receiving the updates till 1 year.
Note that there will be no official system to support users queries, but there are geeks who will be eager to help you at any time, so I think its a worth thing to download and try on your system(if your system meets the requirement). So far our experience with Windows 7 is just awesome(or better than Vista!).

Here is the link for you to register and download Windows 7 for FREE.

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Here is the Old trick (For windows XP):-

1. Click on Start menu. Then on Control panel.
2. Now click on “Regional and Language Options” icon.
3. In the “Regional Options” tab, click on “Customize” button.
4. After clicking “Customize” button, another window pops up. Now click on the “Time” tab.
5. Besides AM Symbol and PM Symbol, you can add anything that you want to display in the system tray.
6. If there is limitation of characters, you can even delete the AM and/or PM symbol. Apply, OK. Done.. Look at your task bar

For Vista : In the bottom of the Format tab click on Customize this format button.

Limitation of this old trick:
You might have already observed that, you can not insert more than 12 characters(after deleting the AM and PM symbol).

To over come this limitation, we shall enter into registry.(Tested in Windows XP)
1. Click on Start button.
2. Click on Run.
3. Type regedit. Click Ok.
4. Now click the plus mark besides each of these -> HKEY_CURRENT_USER and then Control Panel and then International.

5. Now click on International. And find these s1159 and s2359. Right click and select “Modify Binary Data“, as shown in the above figure.

6. Now follow the above figure and modify the name.
Do not change the numbers. Just modify the text in the right most side. See to that, there is a period (DOT) after each character and 3 dots to specify/display a DOT in the system tray.

Hope you enjoyed.. Please share your tips, tricks in the comment section. Have a nice week end.

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Step 1: Goto Desktop. Press Ptr Scr [Print Screen] button. This key is usually present after the F12 key or above the Insert or Home or Page Up keys. Now right click on the desktop and goto “Arrange Icons By” and then uncheck “Show Desktop Icons“.

Step 2: Now goto ms-paint application or any other paint applications. Click on Edit menu, and click on Paste option. Now save the file in some folder.

Step 3: Now again right click on the desktop and select “Properties“. Select Desktop tab. Now click on browse button and select the image saved, in step 2. Click on Apply and Ok.

That’s it. Now when your friend tries to click on the icons on the desktop, he will not be able to do that, as those icons are images and not the actual icons!

Remember, people who do not know much about computers may get stuck with this trick, but do not irritate them for long time, as they may try to fix the problem and create a new one which even you can not detect and fix

Be responsible while making fool of some one else. Try to make it just for small fun and do not make it to hurt someone’s feelings. Have a great, fun filled April(2009).

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Text Completion Feature ?
Text completion is a feature built into some Unix shells that allows you to type part of a filename or directory name and press a key to fill out the rest.

DOS:- Text Completion Feature
In DOS we make use of tab button.
Ex:-

c:\>cd Doc[tab]

this will automatically take the full folder name as

c:\>cd “Documents and Settings”

[Test this--> C:\>cd Doc (now press the tab button)].

If you have multiple files in the same folder, whose name starts with “D”, then you can navigate between them by pressing tab key multiple times.

Many times we struggle to type the correct folder name and most of the times(when names are too long) end up typing wrongly. This can be avoided by knowing these simple yet powerful commands. Powerful because, we can use this feature with other commands to get some amazing results.

Unix:- Text Completion Feature

When you are in the command mode:-
Ex:-

$ar [tab]

In the above example, if a directory contains 4 folders or sub-directories by name 1. archive 2. archana 3. Sagar 4. archimedes, then you have to press the tab key two times, to get the list of all the sub-folders whose name starts with ar.

$ archive/ archana/ archimedes/

If there is only one sub-folder whose name starts with ar, then when you press the tab key once, the remaining letters of the word appears automatically.

In vi Editor:
When you are typing something in the vi editor, you can make use of this text completion feature. When you press [ctrl-p] after typing one or two letters, the text will auto complete. To autocomplete, Unix shell will look into the previously typed text in the same file and then fill the word accordingly. If there are more than one word which starts with the same letter(in the same file), then you can navigate between these words by using [Ctrl-n] option.

Some UNIX flavor does not support “Text-Completion-Feature”, and sh shall also does not support this feature. And some UNIX flavor may support this feature, but may have different keys to use.

Share your tips, tricks and hacks about commands in below comment section. By sharing our knowledge, we endup learning more..

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Windows 7 Multi-Touch @ PDC08(HP Computer):

Being a programmer and a geek myself, I have a desktop computer dedicated for testing all the software releases. So we have used almost all Windows OS. WindowsXP SP2 was simply great, while Windows Vista wasn’t so bad(our experience).

Anyway, we use and recommend Unix and we don’t find any other product to be better than that. OpenSource, reliable, secure etc.

Would like to here your views..

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If you yet don’t know about this option, then we would be very happy to let you know about this…..

This option would save the time used to boot your computer, by resuming your works directly from the point where you left.

When your computer hibernates, it stores whatever it has in memory on your hard disk and then shuts down. When your computer comes out of hibernation, it returns to its previous state.

While shutting down your computer, select the option Hibernate, instead of selecting Shutdown. And that’s it, you are done.

Here are some screen shots..

Windows XP :-

If hibernate option is missing means, here is a work around to get it in place.

Right click on your desktop, select properties. And then click on the Screen saver tab, now follow the below screen shot..

Now after you Enable hibernation option, click on the OK button. This should get you the option working.

UBUNTU screen shot below :-

Hibernate option is useful in following cases :-

1. When there is power failure and the UPS backup is dying and you know that, the power will be back shortly. In this case, it will be frustrating to shutdown and again boot the computer, when power is back. So in such case use Hibernate option, to consume your time and mood.

2. It was reported in some studies that, IT and other professionals leave the computers as it is, without shutting it down(in office), just because they need to start it up again tomorrow morning. Now, this will simply waste lot of money(remember, its a national waste). So please use this Hibernate option in office, if you can’t shut it down.

3. While going for a nap. While going out for coffee etc.

4. This option is very helpful for those who have lot of peripherals connected to their computer. Like printer, bluetooth etc, which require you to install separate driver software. This will make your computer to boot slowly. In such case you can make use of this Hibernate option. And you can shut down your computer at the end of the day.

5. And if you are using different IM, and download manager, spywares, malwares, bla..bla..bla, then your computer needs some more time, after booting, to start working in its normal way. So in such case also you can make use of Hibernate option, and shutdown only at the end of the day.

Now this option is so good, then why should we ever shutdown our computer ? Lets all consume our time and do someother useful work in that time! Its right to get that kind of thoughts, but the reality is, your computer becomes slower, if you use this option all the time. Its advisable to shutdown your computers atleast once in a day, inorder to maintain its health.

But actually, personal computers are built to handle such things. And I am almost confirm that, there will be no problem to RAM, as it will unload all its content as usual, when you use the hibernate option. As I said earlier, it will unload all its content into hard disk and then load it back when we turn on the computer again. So there will be almost no effect on RAM. But still, as we know technology is not 100% perfect, its just the long, unending journey towards perfection. So I think Permanent use of Hibernate option may cause in the failure of some hardware parts(over time) and it may also corrupt the Operating System over time. I am talking about the personal computers and not the Super computers(which will be having high configuration and will not have any effect even after using hibernate option over years).

I have put only windows and Ubantu Hibernate screen shot here. If you use some other Operating System(OS), then please send the screen shots to me(with hibernate option) and you would be helping lot of people out there, reading this post.

Also share your thoughts about this article in the comment section.

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