Pidgin is an easy to use and free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once.Supported chat networks:
KMess is an alternative MSN Messenger chat client for Linux. It allows Linux users to chat with friends who use MSN Messenger in Windows or Mac OS. The strength of KMess is it's integration with the KDE desktop environment, focus on MSN Messenger specific features and an easy-to-use interface.
Like many Linux and KDE applications, KMess is free software.( This document was written in connection with the one day Live Cd workshop held at college of Engineering Attingal. )
1. Introduction
This document describes how to build a minimal live CD based on ubuntu 8.10.. The most recent version of this document can be found at http://brainstorms.in.
2. System Requirements
3 Exploring an existing ubuntu CD.
In order to understand the working of a live CD, let us look at an existing ubuntu CD
If you have the CD with you , put it into your CD drive. If you have an image , mount it on the loop device.
# mount -o loop ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso /cdrom
The directory structure of a typical ubuntu CD look as below.
autorun.inf dists isolinux pics preseed ubuntu wubi.exe casper install md5sum.txt pool README.diskdefines umenu.exe |
The exe files and autorun.inf are for installing under MS Windows. Some of the other files are self explanatory. Our main focus will be on isolinux and casper directories..
The isolinux directory contains files needed to boot from the live CD, Infact, isolinux belongs to a set of bootloaders written by Peter. H Anwin. The home page is here. As I mentioned isolinux , is the bootloader.. If you look at isolinux subdirectory, you will find several files. Some of them will be as shown below.
isolinux.bin isolinuc binary isolinux.cfg Configuration File boot.cat boot catlogue bootlogo Logo |
There are several other files. They are mainly for providing language support. ( Please feel free to look at some of them). The isolinux.cfg includes several other configuration files corresponding to differnt boot options. We will write a simple isolinux.cfg later.
The casper directory contains the following.
filesystem.manifest filesystem.squashfs vmlinuz filesystem.manifest-desktop initrd.gz |
vmlinuz and initrd.gz are the kernel and ram image from which isolinux will boot the system.
The filesystem.squashfs contains a compressed image of the filesystem. When we boot the live CD, this image will be uncompressed and moounted as the root filesystem.. All remastering programs and custom distros try to rebuild this image.. Filesystem,manifest and filesystem.manifest-desktop are text files which contain a list of packages inside the squashfs image.
The squashfs image can be loop mounted like an iso image.
# mount -o loop filesystem.squashfs /mnt /tmp
4 Preparing the host system.
Ensure that the Ubuntu 8.10 is installed on the host system. Log to the host system and update the system using apt. (I am assuming that you have direct access to Internet..)
a) Install necessary packages
apt-get install syslinux squashfs-tools mkisofs sbm
b) Prepare a working directory
Open a terminal on the host system, Become root.
$sudo su
#
Create a temporary work directory.
# mkdir work
Inside work create the following.
# mkdir work/filesys
#mkdir work/image
#mkdir work/image/casper
#mkdir work/image/isolinux
#mkdir work/image/install
We will be building the iso image from the image directory. We will populate the image directory one by one and finally build a CD image. The filesys directory is a temporary area where we will build the root filesystem of the Live CD.
Here you Go! http://brainstorms.in/
VirtualDub is a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP), licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It lacks the editing power of a general-purpose editor such as Adobe Premiere, but is streamlined for fast linear operations over video. It has batch-processing capabilities for processing large numbers of files and can be extended with third-party video filters. VirtualDub is mainly geared toward processing AVI files, although it can read (not write) MPEG-1 and also handle sets of BMP images.
It is widely used by network administrators and just curious users around the world.
It runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X, possibly supporting other platforms as well.
A new wafer-level camera technology has been designed to significantly advance the integration of miniaturized cameras in mobile phones.Tessera Technologies, a leading provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry,announced a new wafer-level camera technology designed to significantly advance the integration of miniaturized cameras in mobile phones, personal computers, security cameras, and other electronics. Tessera's OptiML WLC technology makes it possible for cameras to be manufactured at the wafer level, drastically reducing the size and total bill of material cost of camera modules. As a result of these and other significant benefits, Tessera is providing the electronics industry a powerful tool for integrating cameras into a wider range of electronic products.
Tessera's solution is designed to overcome the cost, size and manufacturing roadblocks facing the industry as cameras become pervasive in mobile phones and other electronics. Using OptiML WLC technology, thousands of lenses are manufactured simultaneously on a wafer, and then bonded at the wafer level to create the optical element of the camera. The result is simplified assembly and up to 30% cost savings for the optical component of the camera module. OptiML WLC technology also reduces the size of the camera to a minimum, delivering up to 50% size reductions over conventional camera modules in camera phones today. Tessera's recently acquired Eyesquad technology can be easily integrated into the OptiML WLC solution, providing advanced auto-focus and digital optical zoom without the use of moving parts, resulting in greatly enhanced camera functionally and reliability at lower costs and smaller form factors. www.tessera.com
This website details the design and construction Wave Bubble: a self-tuning, wide-bandwidth portable RF jammer. The device is lightweight and small for easy camouflaging: it is the size of a pack of cigarettes.
An internal lithium-ion battery provides up to 2 hours of jamming (two bands, such as cell) or 4 hours (single band, such as cordless phone, GPS, WiFi, bluetooth, etc). The battery is rechargeable via a mini-USB connector or 4mm DC jack (a common size). Alternately, 3 AAA batteries may also be used.
Output power is .1W (high bands) and .3W (low bands). Effective range is approximately 20' radius with well-tuned antennas. Less so with the internal antennas or poorly matched antennas.
Self-tuning is provided via dual PLL, therefore, no spectrum analyzer is necessary to build this jammer and a single Wave Bubble can jam many different frequency bands - unlike any other design currently available! To reconfigure the RF bands, simply plug it into the USB port of your PC and type in the new frequencies when prompted. Multiple frequency ranges can be programmed in, each time the device is power cycled it will advance to the next program in memory.
Read more here. http://www.ladyada.net/make/wavebubble/
All you need is available for download
A few people who have had Hotmail address for a long time and don’t want to change. They also have bought iPhones and now have no way to use the built-in client on the iPhone to read mail. This solutions lets them read Hotmail on their iPhone. (Actually, the same setup can apply for Apple Mail, too.) One catch here is that your Hotmail account must support Forwarding. You can see it is does under the Hotmail Options.
Basically these instructions help you set up forwarding in Hotmail so that incoming messages are forwarded from Hotmail to a Gmail account. This also sets up Gmail and the iPhone to make replies and new messages look like they come from Hotmail. When complete, you can read, reply, and send messages in Gmail and the iPhone as if you were on Hotmail.
With this solution in place:
Email people send to your Hotmail address will be visible on your iPhone in the built-in iPhone Mail software.
If you reply to a message on the iPhone or in Gmail, to your recipients it will look like it came from your Hotmail address.
You can still check mail using Hotmail on the web if you like.
You can also log into Gmail and see your Hotmail messages there.
An added bonus is that you will benefit from Gmail’s junk mail filter, which is excellent.
Since Gmail supports IMAP, the iPhone and the Gmail mailbox is synced nicely as you read, delete and filter messages.
Note: While you can still read email on the Hotmail website as you currently do, there is an advantage to reading your Hotmail in your new Gmail account. The iPhone and the Gmail account will be synced — so for example, Gmail and the iPhone will keep track of which messages you have read on either device. If you get a message and read it on the iPhone, when you check your Gmail account it will also show as read. Were you to check your mail on Hotmail.com, messages you have already read on the iPhone will show as new.
The same goes for deleting messages. If you delete a message on the Gmail site, these will be deleted from the iPhone, too. The same is true for filters. You can set up filters on the Gmail site, and this filtering will by synced to the iPhone. None of this is synced with the mail you see on Hotmail.com. So basically, if you implement this, you are better off just checking and reading your Hotmail messages in Gmail, but its up to you.
In addition to these steps, you may need to do work to bring your Hotmail address book to Gmail. Gmail has some instructions to help with that.
Start with Gmail. Create a new Gmail account. Note that you could use an existing Gmail account for this solution. This has some tradeoffs, one being that messages you send from the iPhone appear to come from that Gmail account instead of your existing Hotmail account. If you just want to keep your Hotmail account intact and use that as your main account, I think it’s better for to create a new Gmail account and just use that for handling Hotmail.
Under Settings, go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP » Enable IMAP. Save the changes. Under Settings and then Accounts, add another email address — add your existing Hotmail account.
Now go to Hotmail. In your inbox, there should be a message from Gmail; you need to click on a link in that message. Next go to Options and set up forwarding to your new Gmail account. It’s up to you whether messages are retained in Hotmail. (If you don’t have an option for forwarding, you may be out of luck. Perhaps others have advice on how to get Hotmail to allow this.)
Back to Gmail: There should be a message from Hotmail; you need to click on a link in that message. Now back into Gmail settings, under Accounts, you should see your Hotmail email address listed. Click on the link that says Make Default. From here on, you can use Gmail as your way to check Hotmail. You actually do not need to login to Hotmail any more to read mail, you can use your Gmail account as the web-based way to check Hotmail.
Now how to access from iPhone: On the iPhone, go to Settings and then Mail. Delete any previous attempts you’ve made to make a Hotmail account — these can cause problems with the new account you create. Create a new email account by clicking Add Account. On the next screen, choose Other (don’t pick Gmail). Here are the settings:
Name: Your Name
Address: Your current hotmail.com email address
Description: (can be anything) “hotmail”
Incoming Mail Server:
HostName: imap.gmail.com
UserName: yournewaddress@gmail.com
Password: the password for this gmail account
Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com
UserName: yournewaddress@gmail.com
Password: the password for this gmail account
All other settings should match the defaults.
Send yourself a test message to your Hotmail account from another account. Give it a few minutes, and it should then show on your iPhone.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071218184905987
The tonsils are lymph nodes in the back of the mouth and top of the throat. They normally help to filter out bacteria and other microorganisms to prevent infection in the body. They may become so overwhelmed by bacterial or viral infection that they swell and become inflamed, causing tonsillitis. The infection may also be present in the throat and surrounding areas, causing pharyngitis.
Tonsillitis is extremely common, particularly in children.
In modern terms, tonsillitis is caused by microorganisms, but this statement is often denied by some group of people like homeopaths, immunologists, etc., who argue that it is mainly due to weak defence system.[citation needed] Because tonsillitis is often found in people with low defence activity.[citation needed] However, the following are the usual causative organisms.
* Streptococcus (commonly referred to as "strep") bacteria (the most common cause of tonsillitis)
* Adenoviruses
* Influenza virus
* Epstein-Barr virus
* Parainfluenza viruses
* Enteroviruses
* Herpes simplex virus
The set of symptoms of tonsillitis vary from individual to individual. However, following symptoms are commonly seen in tonsillitis patients.
* Sore throat more than 48 hours
* Swollen and red tonsils
* Yellow, gray or white coated tonsils
* Difficulty swallowing
* Blisters in the throat
* Ear pain
* Ulceration in the throat
* Fever and chills
* Headache
* Tender jaw and throat
* Loss or change of voice
* Loss of appetite
* Malaise
* Nausea
* Vomiting
* Abdominal pain
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.
Following homeopathic remedies have been found effective in many cases of Tonsillitis:
Here you go for more... http://www.hpathy.com/diseases/tonsillitis-symptoms-treatment-cure.asp
Magnetic Levitation Train, also maglev train, a high-speed ground transportation vehicle levitated above a track called a guideway and propelled by magnetic fields (see Magnetism). Magnetic levitation train technology can be used for urban travel at relatively low speeds (less than 100 km/h, or less than 62 mph). For example, a short-distance maglev shuttle operated for 11 years from 1984 to 1995 between the Birmingham, England, airport and the city train station. However, the greatest worldwide interest is in high-speed maglev systems. Train speeds of 552 km/h (343 mph) have been demonstrated by a full-size maglev vehicle in Japan, while in Germany a maglev train has run at 450 km/h (280 mph) and in China a maglev train has reached a peak speed of 432 km/h (268 mph).
Two different approaches to magnetic levitation train systems have been developed. The first, called electromagnetic suspension (EMS), uses conventional electromagnets mounted at the ends of a pair of structures under the train. The structures wrap around and under either side of the guideway. The magnets attract up toward laminated iron rails in the guideway and lift the train. However, this system is inherently unstable; the distance between the electromagnets and the guideway, which is about 10 mm (3/8 in), must be continuously monitored and adjusted by computer to prevent the train from hitting the guideway. A track 31.5 km (19.6 mi) long in Emsland, Germany, was used extensively to test this approach. As a result of these tests, the German government granted a commercial license to Transrapid International (TRI), a company headquartered in Berlin, Germany, to develop maglev systems based on the EMS design.
Read more here http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_7615
India is going to polls during the months of April and May 2009. Elections in India employ Electronic Voting machine(EVM). These machines are manufactured by two companies owned by the defense department. I had the opportunity to get hands on training in operating the machine as a part of pre election training for polling officials.( I am going to work as a presiding officer in a polling booth in the first phase of elections.)
The electronic voting machines that we use, have two parts :- a control unit and a balloting unit. They are interconnected by a flat ribbon cable of 5m length.
The Indian Electronic Voting machine
The balloting unit enables the voters to cast their votes. Each balloting unit can accommodate 16 candidates. 4 such units can be cascaded and connected to a single control unit.
Balloting unit Control Unit
The connecting cable is permanently attached to the balloting unit. It is connected to the control unit via a connector on the rear. Also, the main on off switch is on the rear side of control unit.
The various parts of balloting unit is shown below.
To answer these questions, you first need some background knowledge about strokes.
A stroke also known as a cerebrovascular accident or CVA, is a condition, which occurs when blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood to the brain rupture and part of the brain does not receive the blood flow it requires. The nerve cells deprived of oxygen in the affected area of the brain are then unable to function causing them to die within minutes. The traumatic effects of a stroke are often permanent, because brain cells are not replaced.Here are the most common signs and symptoms to look for related to strokes.
-The victim of a stroke commonly experiences weakness, numbness or paralysis of the face, arm or leg on one side of the body.
-The victim may express that their vision has blurred or decreased, especially in one eye.
-The victim may have problems speaking or understanding.
-The victim may complain of having a severe, sudden and unexplainable headache.
-The brain may be affected by a lack of oxygen causing the victim deviation of the eyes. Therefore the pupils would become unequal in size and non-reactive to light.
First aid for a victim suffering from a stroke is limited to supportive care until medical assistance arrives. Yet, do not underestimate this role. Caring for the victim with a calming presence and collecting important medical data to pass onto emergency medical personnel is very important. You can do this by taking mental notes of the above signs and symptoms and by following the steps below.
-Call emergency medical services immediately.
-If you are trained in CPR, check and monitor the victim’s airway, breathing, and circulation using your CPR and First Aid training skills.
-Lay the victim down with their head and shoulders slightly elevated. This will reduce blood pressure on the brain.
-If the victim is unresponsive but breathing place them on their left side with their chin extended. This serves as two purposes. It will assist in keeping the victim’s airway open and allow vomit and secretions to drain from their mouth.
-Never give a suspected stroke victim anything to eat or drink. Their throat may be paralyzed restricting them from the ability to swallow.
-Encourage the victim not to move and reassure them help is on the way to care for them.
TIA’s or Transient Ischemic Attacks are often referred to as “mini-strokes”, because the signs and symptoms are much the same. CVA’s, are closely associated and have similar symptoms, the difference is that the symptoms of a TIA are short lived. Victim’s symptoms normally last from a few minutes to a few hours, followed by a return to normal neurological function of the brain. Victims of a TIA should consider this a warning sign of a potential stroke since approximately one-third of TIA cases are followed by a CVA two to five years after their first TIA.
If you have any of the signs and symptoms of a TIA you should report it to your physician immediately. Your health care provider can help you to understand the possible causes of experiencing a TIA and can assist in changing diet, living a healthier life style and in some cases prescribe medication.
The common condition of high blood pressure can lead to many dangerous medical conditions including a stroke. One out of every four adults in the United States suffers from high blood pressure.
Just because a person feels well doesn’t mean his or her blood pressure is normal. In most cases, individuals with high blood pressure have no symptoms to warn them they have this condition. Having your blood pressure monitored often can alert you early on to this medical condition. High blood pressure is not something that can be controlled by staying calm or relaxed. It is a physical rather than emotional condition that can be treated by routine changes in diet, unhealthy habits and medication though it cannot be cured in most cases.
Using less salt in the foods you eat, losing weight, getting more exercise and stopping smoking can help lower your blood pressure in many cases.
If your doctor prescribes a medication for high blood pressure, take your pills everyday to keep your pressure down and possibly avoid having a stroke.
One last health related tip…
If you have not completed a First Aid and CPR training course, be sure to seek emergency medical attention in any type of emergency situation. Improper care can sometimes be more harmful than helpful. A few basic courses in CPR and first aid are recommended for preparation before a medical emergency exists. These training classes are neither time consuming or costly. Community groups all across the country provide this type of training and these training courses only require a few hours of your time. You could help save a life. Think about it!
Source..http://www.essortment.com/all/strokefirstaid_rnsi.htm
A dual-boot live DVD (offering a choice between Ubuntu 8.04 and Fedora 9 KDE) with a collection of test emulators, reference cards, study notes and exercises for the LPI (Linux Professional Institute) certification exam: "I am proud to present elpicx version 2.0. The elpicx DVD is a dual-boot Linux live DVD to prepare students for the exams of the LPI certification, including documentation and exam simulators.
Based on Fedora 9 KDE and Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. Ubuntu documentation and LPIC documentation were added together with software to prepare for the LPI exams.
Even more worrying, the exploit is already in the wild and no there's no fix in sight, leading a number of security researchers to suggested that, in the interest of avoiding malicious software, users switch to another browser.
If you're the pry-it-out-of-my-cold-dead hands sort of IE fan, there is one bright side to news that some 10,000 sites are ready to pwn your PC: so far the sites are mostly Chinese and the malicious software is mainly after passwords for computer games, which can be sold on the black market.
But given the scope of the flaw and the fact that Microsoft has yet to release a patch, don't expect that to last. Eventually far more sophisticated trojans will likely emerge with far more dangerous goals.
Obviously Microsoft isn't recommending you ditch IE (though the company didn't hesitate to suggest dumping Apple's Safari browser when it suffered from a far less serious vulnerability). Instead the company has released a security bulletin with possible workarounds, including running IE in Protected Mode and running Windows as an non-administrative user (to limit the damage an attacker can inflict).
Microsoft also says it is investigating the flaw and may push out an emergency software patch, rather than wait for the next monthly patch cycle to roll around.
Whether the culprit is a sink, toilet or rainstorm, getting your iPhone soaked in water or any other liquid is bad news. If the unthinkable happens, and you don’t have insurance, your best bet is to make sure the iPhone is off, swap it down with a dry cloth, then do one of the following immediately:
Put your iPhone in a tub or bag of uncooked rice and let it sit for several hours (up to 2 days).
Place your iPhone in a plastic bag with a few silica packets.
Put your iPhone in a hearing aid dryer for several hours.
The point with all of these methods is to draw all moisture out of the phone as quickly as possible. Just air-drying the unit is an option, but won’t act as quickly as the aforementioned methods.
If none of these tactics prove effective, and your iPhone loses significant or all functionality, an Apple FAQ states that if you own an iPhone and it requires service for any reason other than the battery (which costs $86 total to replace), Apple will repair your iPhone for the service fee listed below, plus $6.95 for shipping and handling:
4GB: $199
8GB: $249
Presumably this includes liquid damage, though Apple states “Service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse.”
One of the first noticeable changes in Windows 7 Desktop is the new Taskbar. The Windows 7 Taskbar post on the E7 blog clearly documents the reasons driving the Windows 7 Taskbar look and feel. The Windows 7 taskbar introduces new functionality that developers need to understand in order for them to take full advantage of it in their own applications and enhance their end users’ experiences. The Windows 7 Taskbar is an application-launching and window-switching mechanism that consolidates the functionalities from previous Windows Desktop mechanisms such as Quick Launch, Recent Documents, Notification area icons, desktop shortcuts, and running application windows.
Using max232 we can interface 18F454,18f4550 and 16f877 to PC serial port. Here you can see a very good example
If you are interested in making your own laser rangefinder, You can see this link, it is very interesting . You can use any processor, laser and spinning mirror you want. See the attachment for a full sized schematic.
See Link
