First Step to Hell ;)

Ok guys,


This afternoon, I climed the first step to HELL.. Yes my pratical exam started.. But I am happy that I finished my assignment (exam) within 1.5 hrs.. We are given a total of 3 hrs to finish the assignment..

Well I had to make a solution for "Marksheets" of students. This was to be implemented with Visual Basic as front-end and Oracle 9i as Back-end. It was a pretty simple job with almost 6 forms being done in about 60-75 min, including the various constraints as well as security issues..

My next pratical exam is on 3rd of next month, exactly a day and half after the MSDN Session

Ancient Astrology!

God of Prophets (January 1 to February 2)
Those born under this sign have a sure talent for recognising Mr./Ms. Right the first time they see him/her - for them it's often a matter of love at first sight. When this happens, usually at a chance meeting in public places like shopping malls or restaurants, you can attract him/her by radiating happiness. You'll find it will captivate him/her

God of the Sacred Nile (February 3 to March 4)
Better known as the Crocodile god, Suchos guarded the treasures of ancient Egypt. Those born under this sign are attracted by beauty, and ancient wise men warned them not to be blinded by it. "Look beyond an attractive appearance and find the real man beneath" they warned, "Listen to your heart, instead of what your eyes tell you."

God of Fertility (March 5 to April 9)
If you were born under this sign, don't expect to fall in love at first sight. Those ruled by Osiris need time for love to put down roots in their hearts, but it will grow stronger until it blossoms into a romance that will last a lifetime.

God of Truth (April 10 to May 2)
Ptah' s people are very sincere and have to be careful to avoid being hurt in romance. You'll find your Mr/Ms Right practically on your doorstep because you've known him/her for a long time. Because he's / she's a down-to-earth type who appreciates sincerity, he'll / she'll be attracted to you sooner or later, so don't be pushy when you recognise him /her.

God of Life (May 3 to June 16)
The hawk-headed god rules a fickle sign - those born under it have roving eyes and a passionate nature. Life for them is finding a series of Mr/Ms Rights, and they have no trouble doing it. For true romantic happiness, you need a very strong, steady type of man/woman who can tame your restless spirit and still give you the excitement you crave.

Goddess of True Love (June 17 to July 21)
Beautiful Nephtaphis watches over this most dreamily romantic of all signs. Her children are incredibly loyal to their lovers, and are actually capable of becoming one with them in body, mind and soul. For this reason they have to be careful to choose men/women as caring and considerate as themselves, or they will cruelly be taken advantage of.

God of Thunder and Lightning (July 22 to August 18)
Like their turbulent guardian, those born under this sign have quicksilver temperaments and have to keep their thermostats lowered if they want their love lives to heat up. You need an even-tempered, understanding type who can put up with your occasional outbursts.

Protector God (August 19 to September 21)
If you were lucky enough to be born under this sign, you can look forward to life-long romance that will never stop growing. Mr/Ms Right for you is the mystery man type who has a multi-faceted personality and will Forever be revealing new and fascinating aspects of himself/herself, Thereby continually giving you something new about himself for you to love.

Sun God (September 22 to October 15)
You'll have no trouble finding Mr/Ms Right because you're what every man/woman is looking for - tender,understanding, passionate, and Intensely loyal. Men/Women will flock to you, so you can afford to be choosy. Pick the man/woman who is most deserving of the prize you are, and don't look back. Your only fault is a tendency to wonder if you made the right choices in the past, so keep your eyes peeled on the future.

Goddess of Miracles (October 16 to November 9)
Those born under the sign of this ancient Egypt's chief goddess have a magic touch. With a smile, they can captivate any man/woman who attracts them. Finding Mr/Ms Right is easy for Isis' sons/daughters - they can spot him/her a mile off and snare him/her with their great charm.

God of Light (November 10 to December 3)
Thoth's children have a hard time displaying their feelings, especially the romantic ones. When you meet Mr/Ms Right, show him how you feel - don't keep him/her guessing.

Goddess of Music and the Arts (December 4 to December 31)
Hathor' s children are in love with love. They tend to fall head over heels in love with the first man that shows any interest in them, and they stick to them like glue. Keep a level head and be sure he's really Mr/Ms Right. Your type of man/woman likes harmony, and you have to show him/her that you're the one who can provide it.

PS: Thanks to my good friend "Stuti" for this!!!

Exams Commin Over.

Guys,

Starting 28th October, 2004 - I will hardly be online.. Exams are comming up.. However I promise, i will keep you posted, whenever and whereever I get some time ;)

So until next blog - ADIOS

Navrati @ Falguni Pathak, Mumbai

My Exams are commin up from 27th of this month.. Past few days, were too hectic for me, due to submissions and then the tensions of gearing up for the exams.

However, taking a break from the "bored" routine, I came back to my Home Town, Mumbai on Thursday. So past two days, evenings (read: Nights), have been fun playin Dandiya and Garba till 0000 hrs, at Mumbai's Navrati Hotspot, SANKALP, NSE Grounds, Goregaon. This the the place where I was pitted past 6 years for all the 10 days. Thankfully the Government had relaxed the timings for last two days for Navrati and I could enjoy the complete fun.

BTW its Falguni Pathak, the Dandiya Queen who takes all the show away at Sankalp

Visual Studio.NET at a Glance

.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is an environment for building, deploying, and running XML Webservices and other applications. It is the infrastructure for the overall .NETplatform. The .NET Framework consists of three main parts: the common languageruntime, the class libraries, and ASP.NET.

The common language runtime and class libraries, including Windows Forms, ADO.NET,and ASP.NET, combine to provide services and solutions that can be easily integratedwithin and across a variety of systems. The .NET Framework provides a fully managed,protected, and feature-rich application execution environment, simplifieddevelopment and deployment, and seamless integration with a wide variety oflanguages.

XML Web services
An XML Web service is a unit of application logic providing data and services toother applications. Applications access XML Web services via ubiquitous Webprotocols and data formats such as HTTP, XML, and SOAP, with no need to worry abouthow each XML Web service is implemented. XML Web services combine the best aspectsof component-based development and the Web. They are a cornerstone of the Microsoft.NET programming model.

XML Web services can be accessed by any language, using any component model, runningon any operating system. They utilize HTTP as the underlying transport, whichallows function requests to pass through corporate firewalls. XML is used to formatthe input and output parameters of the request, so the request is not tied to anyparticular component technology or object calling convention. The Microsoft .NETFramework makes it easy to write components that communicate using HTTP GET, HTTPPOST, and SOAP.

Language Enhancements
Microsoft Visual Basic .NET
Visual Basic now offers full object-oriented language features, includingimplementation inheritance. It also allows developers to create highly scalablecode with explicit free threading and highly maintainable code with the addition ofmodernized language constructs like structured exception handling.

Microsoft Visual C#
.NETMicrosoft C# .NET is a modern, object-oriented, type-safe language. It enablesprogrammers to quickly build a wide range of applications for the new Microsoft .NETplatform. C#, pronounced "C sharp", is designed to bring rapid development to theC++ programmer without sacrificing the power and control that have been a hallmarkof C and C++.

Microsoft Visual C++
.NETVisual C++ provides deep support for creating XML Web services including ATL Server,a new project type for creating powerful server-based applications. Withattribute-based programming any function can be easily exposed as an XML Webservice. Traditional unmanaged C++ and new managed C++ code can be mixed freelywithin the same application. Existing components can be wrapped as .NET componentsby using the managed extensions. Using managed extensions preserves your investmentin existing code while integrating with the .NET Framework.

Microsoft Visual J#
.NETVisual J# can be used by developers who are familiar with the Java-language syntaxto build applications and services on the .NET Framework using the Visual Studio.NET 2003 IDE. Visual J# also supports most of the functionality found in VisualJ++, including Microsoft extensions.

ASP.NET
ASP.NET is more than the next version of Active Server Pages (ASP); it is a unifiedWeb development platform that provides the services necessary for developers tobuild enterprise-class Web applications. While ASP.NET is largely syntax-compatiblewith ASP, it also provides a new programming model and infrastructure that enables apowerful new class of applications. You can migrate your existing ASP applicationsby incrementally adding ASP.NET functionality to them.

ASP.NET is a compiled .NET Framework -based environment. You can authorapplications in any .NET Framework compatible language, including Visual Basic andVisual C#. Additionally, the entire .NET Framework platform is available to anyASP.NET application. Developers can easily access the benefits of the .NETFramework, which include a fully managed, protected, and feature-rich applicationexecution environment, simplified development and deployment, and seamlessintegration with a wide variety of languages.

ADO.NET
ADO.NET is a set of classes that expose the data access services of the .NETFramework. ADO.NET is a natural evolution of ADO and is built around N-Tierapplication development. ADO.NET has been created with XML at its core.

The ADO.NET object model is composed of two central components: the connected layer,which consists of the classes that comprise the .NET Data Provider, and thedisconnected layer, which is rooted in the DataSet.

.NET Data Providers includes the following components: the Connection object, theCommand object, the DataReader, and the DataAdapter. The first two should be familiar to existing ADO programmers;they are used to open a connection to a data source and execute a command againstit. The DataReader loosely corresponds to a forward-only, read-only recordset. It isa highly optimized, nonbuffering, firehose-style interface for getting the resultsof a query executed against the data source. The DataAdapter provides the bridgebetween the .NET Data Providers and the DataSet. The DataSet is a local buffer of tables or a collection of disconnected recordsets.

Student Chapter @ Cummins

Finally we started with a long pending Student Chapter in Cummins College of Engg for Women on the 9th October 2004.

I did a presentation on INETA's and Microsoft's Academic Initiatives. Also speaking about DevCon, Imagine Cup, The Student Project Program and The Spoke. Not to forget the Visual Studio.NET 2005 Express Edition. After that we started of with introducing .NET by Sarang to the students of Cummins. Totally the entire thing lasted for 2 1/2 hours. (1:45 to 4:15).

After the session in Cummins we left for MIT college where we were gonna have the PUG meet.
We had a session on .NET Remoting and Web Services at 1700 hrs) taken up by Harsha Kumar (a student volunteer from Cummins) and Sarang. Not to forget we had a special guest appearance from Nauzad, who ended the session with a cool demo on Authentication in Web
Services.

After the UG meet Sarang was in for a surprise!...A Black Forest Cake for me, from the UG members, for becoming an MVP! We all enjoyed the cake and then the enthu didn't end there...the lot had already decided that Sarang would be treating everyone for dinner!

So we all went to this place called Olivia and had a great dinner! We were discussing beserk things over dinner right from Longhorn to Windows Services for Unix.

And then we all saw each other off. Simply, it was a wonderful day.

MSN 7.0 Beta BUGS

Well, I had installed MSN 7.0 Beta on 3rd.. Past two/three days, I have been testing it.. And found quite a few bugs.. Here is a list of them..

If someone uses an illegal character and if we try to view that person's chat log, MSN Messenger closes (or may I say Crashed!!!!)

When switching between the Message History log and a different window, it says "Connecting..." , and very awkerdly comes in the middle of the LOG!!!!

Even if you disable "Nudging" it sometimes emulates receiving a text message but no text is actually received.

No Download of extra/more winks, in the sence that you can "Get More" Emotions but not winks

Manytimes my contact list randomly faded. (Not sure, if it happened with other users)

Disabling Tabs in MSN 7.0....

Welll, all fine, when ends fine.. However it didnt happen in my case.. Though I am a fan of MS, I didnt like the TABS on MSN 7.0. Simple because i wouldnt use them..

So came the question of how do I remove it.. After lots of Vivisimo, yahoo and google search, finally found an answer to it.. This is how it works out :

1) Hit Start > Run and fire up regedit

2) Look for the Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ MSNMessenger \ PerPassportSettings

3) Open all the sections consisting out of a number combination.

4) Select the DWORD DisableTabs (if it is not present, create it by right-clicking, selecting New and then DWORD-value).

5) Double-click it and change its value to 1.

6) Repeat this step for all number combinations.

7) Close and restart MSN Messenger.



Pssst: Before you try this out, make sure you back up ur registry, in case anything goes wrong.. Better Safe then sorry.

MSN Messenger 7.0 Beta

Microsoft is all set to release the latest limited beta version of its instant messaging client MSN Messenger (rather might have already released it).

The new enhanced version is designed to attract viewers' attention through dubbed "winks", a sound animation, and make the contact's Messenger window vibrate on screen, a "nudge".

Users of MSN Messenger 7.0 will also be able to specify their status before logging in (useful for logging in invisibly). Interestingly, many of the enhanced version's features already exist in its primary competitor Yahoo messenger.

Microsoft also intends to promote other MSN services, especially MSN Search, in the client and is testing services that allow users to purchase additional features such as special emoticons.

While the beta version includes several new features, it does not have all the features Microsoft has planned for MSN Messenger 7.0.

Microsoft hopes to release the final version to all users in the first quarter of 2005, after the public beta test.

What is TRACERT?

The TRACERT diagnostic utility determines the route taken to a destination by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo packets with varying IP Time-To-Live (TTL) values to the destination. Each router along the path is required to decrement the TTL on a packet by at least 1 before forwarding it, so the TTL is effectively a hop count. When the TTL on a packet reaches 0, the router should send an ICMP Time Exceeded message back to the source computer.

TRACERT determines the route by sending the first echo packet with a TTL of 1
and incrementing the TTL by 1 on each subsequent transmission until the target
responds or the maximum TTL is reached. The route is determined by examining the ICMP Time Exceeded messages sent back by intermediate routers. Note that some routers silently drop packets with expired TTLs and are invisible to TRACERT.

TRACERT prints out an ordered list of the routers in the path that returned the
ICMP Time Exceeded message. If the -d switch is used (telling TRACERT not to
perform a DNS lookup on each IP address), the IP address of the near- side
interface of the routers is reported.

Note: Not all machines on the internet will respond to a tracert or ping, this may be for security reasons and not as a result of a problem.

What is RFID?

Radio Frequency Identification is a means of capturing data about an object without using a human to read the data.

But isn’t that what bar codes do?
Yes, and bar codes and RFID both belong to a group of technologies called Automatic Identification and Data Capture. Along with Smart cards, and Magnetic Stripe technology and a host of others, this is a method of automating our need for data.

We have all become very aware of bar codes as they have permeated our existence in the last 25 years. In fact, it is tough to buy something in a store that does not use bar codes these days. But bar codes have four disadvantages that it would be nice to eliminate:

You have to be able to see them

The bar code cannot be written on or defaced

You cannot change the data once they are printed

They take up space on the object they are printed on

So what can we do about this things? Is the answer is RFID.
But what is RFID and what is all this hoopla about? For those of you who are coming to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for the first time, a brief introduction is called for. This technology has been around for many years, but it is only in the past few years that we have seen a surge in its acceptance and a massive growth in its use. AIM has published a history of RFID and you can get more information from the web site at Shrouds of Time - A History of RFID

From its first uses back in the 1940s, RFID suffered a very slow start and it is only since 1997 that we have seen the massive growth in the industry as technology caught up with the desires and the possibility of low cost tags was realized. Now we have the capability to make tags at a reasonable cost and the opportunities are beginning to really show themselves. As I look at my database, there are 338 companies that have identified themselves as being involved in RFID around the world. When you consider than maybe only five years ago, you could count the suppliers on your fingers, this is a massive increase.

The technology uses a very simple idea that has many complications involved in its execution. A reader/interrogator/scanner transmits an RF wave to a tag. The tag "hears" the RF wave, and responds with some data. Tags come in many flavors: passive, battery assisted, active, backscatter, different frequencies, tag talks first, reader talks first, various anti-collision techniques or not, printed antennas, wire wound antennas, hard case, label, etc. So many variations that it can be very confusing, but there is good news. Your application will define many of these for you, and working with your supplier/integrator you will rapidly choose the solution that is best for you.

So lets learn about the technology.

My New Computer

Sorry couldnt write from a few days.. Actually I got a new computer and was busy installing Stuff on it..

The Config goes as follows:

P IV 3 Ghz with Hyper-Threading Technology
1 Gb Of RAM
915 Express Motherboard
80 Gb SATA HDD
and a 8X DVD Writer

Now thats what I would say "Envy for others" ;)