tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96800842024-03-06T22:48:19.282-08:00MERC HAVENfallin leaves, broken hearts, technogadgetory...Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-38692457913533609572008-12-05T01:48:00.000-08:002008-12-05T01:51:34.664-08:00Trial switch to TumblrWow, it's been more than a year since I posted anything on this blog. As of today I have decided to switch over to <a href="http://www.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a>, because it allows better integration with my 'under-construction' website. If Tumblr doesn't work out, I might get back to my old trusty blogger account. For now, Tumblr it is.<div><br /></div><div>New blog URL: <a href="http://blog.mercurysquad.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">http://blog.mercurysquad.com/</span></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-53882658603092624282007-08-30T06:22:00.000-07:002007-08-30T06:26:06.716-07:00Version numbersThis always amuses me. As if the kernel version of 2.6.20.16.28.1 was too short, here are a couple more to marvel at:<br /><br />Opensource version numbers from the Ubuntu repository:<br /><ul><li>The commented version number<br /><br />libqt3-mt - <b><span>3:3.3.8really3.3.7-0ubuntu</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>5.1</b></li><br /><li>The dfsg version number<br /><br />libmagick9 - <b><span>7:6.2.4.5.dfsg1-0.14ubuntu</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>0.1</b></li><br /><li>The source package version number<br /><br />libnss3 - <b><span>2:1.firefox2.0.0.6+1-0ubun</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>tu1</b></li><br /><li>The kernel module version number<br /><br />nvidia-glx-legacy - <b>1.0.7184+2.6.20.5-16.29</b></li><br /><li>The compulsively specific version number<br /><br />freewnn-common - <b>1.1.0+1.1.1-a021-1.1</b></li><br /><li>The all-in-one cvs tag version number<br /><br />faad - <b><span>2.0.0+cvs20040908+mp4v2+bm</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>p-0ubuntu3</b></li><br /><li>The usual timestamp version number<br /><br />ippd - <b>1:3.10.20070306-0ubuntu1</b></li><br /><li>The holy-crap-you-win version number<br /><br />comerr-dev - <b><span>2.1-1.39+1.40-WIP-2006.11.</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>14+dfsg-2ubuntu1</b></li><br /></ul>Then there are Microsoft version numbers like<br /><b><span>6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2gdr.</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>050301-1519</b> (Internet Explorer 6).<br /><br />In terms of actual point numbers, the linux kernel image of <b>2.6.20.16.28.1</b> pales in comparison to a Drupal based shopping cart's version number of <b>1.125.2.23.2.17.2.50</b>. That's a whole <i>eight</i> levels of nesting!<br /><br />I gave up on such schemes long time ago. Everything I code has only a serially increasing 'build number' which starts from 1 and goes up to however many times I change and re-build it ...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-20276279395238965202007-06-25T14:42:00.000-07:002007-06-25T14:44:36.569-07:00MercurySquad.net is goneThat's true. The domain registration and hosting account expired yesterday so now it's gone ...<br />I don't know when I'll be able to renew the registration because PayPal stopped direct debit on my account, despite being a verified member and having used my account for 2 years.<br /><br />Until I'm able to buy back my domain (which probably will cost me a lot because someone's hoarded it already) and a hosting account, there will be no more mercurysquad.net. Sorry all you facebook hackers.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-8610735409519838082007-06-01T10:52:00.000-07:002008-03-29T15:11:53.899-07:00The most unforgettable cartoon theme tracksA while ago there was a post linked from digg.com, titled the "15 most unforgettable cartoon theme songs". It was a neat article, but it grossly missed some *real* themes which should have been included. So here is my own compilation. Not all of them link to the cartoon versions, but you can get an idea of the theme anyway :<br /><br /><br />10. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKWPXEV3pL0">Johnny Quest (new one)</a><br />9. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd7yNoHbZuA">Popeye theme</a><br />8. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14_N3RmGNRg">Looney Toons (+crappy remix)</a><br />7. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIkne0Ptij8">Addams Family</a><br />6. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BwLboD84vc">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a><br />5. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIl5YwcO72g">Tale Spin</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZfKOAqxeno">Flintstones</a> (tie)<br />4. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ePpHAfVpw">Ghostbuster</a><br />3. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEGlJP4X4vc">Arabian Nights (Aladdin)</a><br />2. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4aFNYwNL7Y">Family Guy</a><br />1. <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=dWw5LkVLxoM">DuckTales (hindi version!)</a><br /><br />That's all I can think of right now. Might update later.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-928067580217681162007-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:002007-05-01T15:54:33.662-07:00Password rules?A prominent computer services company has the following rules on their website when you register for their job stock:<br /><br /> 1. Passwords must be at least 8 characters long and no longer than 16 characters.<br /> 2. Passwords must only contain alpha and numeric characters, not symbols.<br /> 3. Passwords must not contain more than two identical consecutive characters.<br /> 4. The first or last character of a password cannot be numeric.<br /> 5. Passwords cannot contain your e-mail address.<br /><br /><br />I wonder who came up with point 2, 3 and 4. Anyone can see that :<br /><br />Assuming the restrictions weren't in place, there could be a possible of 26 times 2 (letters) + 10 (digits) + 10 (approx number of symbols) = 72 to the 8th power.. combinations. I don't even want to calculate that.<br /><br />Restriction 2: cuts down the number of combinations from 72^8 to 62^8.<br /><br />Restriction 4: cuts down number of combinations about 20 times (10 possibilities for first and last)<br /><br />As for restriction 3, I would need to spend more than a few minutes to come up with the number of possible combinations that rule removes.<br /><br />Needless to say, their rules make it <em>easier</em> for brute-force password attacks to be successful, and <em>harder</em> for people to come up with a password they are not likely to forget. Bravo.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-73149344320611768992007-04-28T20:09:00.000-07:002007-04-28T20:33:15.444-07:00Just finished a new trackReplaced the strings on my guitar and started jamming. An interesting funk riff caught my fancy, so I added some loops, a couple of extra guitar parts, and turned it into a song. Called "Siesta", it's an electronica/lounge track for my in-the-works album "All an Illusion."<br /><br />You can <a href="http://www.freewebtown.com/mercurysquad/music/siesta.mp3">download Siesta here</a>. (8 MB mp3 file). Or if you prefer, you can download a 5 MB mp4/aac file <a href="http://www.freewebtown.com/mercurysquad/music/siesta.m4a">here</a>, which can be played in iTunes or Winamp, for example. The mp4 also sounds loads better than the mp3, by the way.<br /><br />The original mix I made turned out to be almost 7 minutes long. The one I have uploaded here is actually a shorter edit, about 4 min 44 second long.<br /><br />The other track from this album that I have released already is Conditions for peace which you can <a href="http://www.mercurysquad.net/music/Conditions_for_peace.mp3">get here</a>. It's a techno/breakbeat track.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-60572894122629790712007-03-17T23:56:00.000-07:002007-03-18T00:10:55.545-07:00Back from CeBIT 2007Yup! Made it to Hanover this year. Couldn't afford to miss it again. Here's what Wikipedia says about CeBIT:<br /><br /><blockquote>CeBIT is the world's largest computer expo. It is held each spring on the fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology. With an exhibition area of roughly 450,000 m² (~ 5 million ft²) and up to 700,000 visitors, it is larger than COMPUTEX and the no-longer held COMDEX.</blockquote><br /><br />And it's true - the whole thing is HUGE. Each exhibition hall is roughly the size of 1 or 2 football fields, and there are ... twenty seven such halls. :-\ No wonder it's the world's largest. What could be better than 27 stadium sized halls full of tech gadgets (and chicks).<br /><br />There were lots of cool things to see, although for the most part the halls were occupied by Chinese/Tiawanese companies demonstrating such technological wonders as... a mouse! A webcam!! Holy damn, LAPTOP BAGS!<br /><br />Anyway, some highlights were: natural 3D displays, eye tracked video conversations (also on 3d displays), huge point-to-choose displays where you simply point at the screen with your finger, from a distance, to select objects (it was guided by a green overhead laser and some cams). Face trackers (it tracked people's faces, eyes, lips, and shows the gender, mood of the person etc.). Audio cubes (new way to compose music, crappy, in my opinion).<br /><br />And the above was all from ONE single section of ONE hall (the Fraunhoffer IIS section)! The World Cyber Games 2007's Euro championship finals were being held there, as well as some Germany high school robotics competition.<br /><br />More details, pics etc. will follow later. I'm too tired right now to write anything more. For now, satisfy yourselves from this: <a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=cebit+2007&hl=en">Videos of CeBIT 2007 on Google</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-44016629142325930712007-03-14T06:18:00.000-07:002007-03-13T22:20:43.618-07:00Pi DayIt's here. 3/14. Also happens to be the birthdays of Albert Einstein (scientist) and Johann Strauss (composer). Great day indeed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-11690531060264050472007-03-01T13:46:00.001-08:002007-03-01T13:47:45.743-08:00Took a personality test with a twistThe whole Software Engineering Lab course is getting on my nerves.. in a sort of good way.<br /><br /><blockquote>Your programmer personality type is:<br /><br /> <b><span style="font-size:180%;">DHTB</span></b><br /><br /><b>You're a <span style="font-size:180%;">D</span>oer.</b><br /> You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.<br /><br /><br /><b>You like coding at a <span style="font-size:180%;">H</span>igh level.</b><br /> The world is made up of objects and components, you should create your programs in the same way.<br /><br /><br /><b>You work best in a <span style="font-size:180%;">T</span>eam.</b><br /> A good group is better than the sum of it's parts. The only thing better than a genius programmer is a cohesive group of genius programmers.<br /><br /><br /><b>You are a li<span style="font-size:180%;">B</span>eral programmer.</b><br /> Programming is a complex task and you should use white space and comments as freely as possible to help simplify the task. We're not writing on paper anymore so we can take up as much room as we need.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-45448672998711526012007-02-05T10:02:00.000-08:002007-02-05T10:08:52.509-08:00More facebook hackingDiscovered another little hole in Facebook which lets you view <em>anyone's</em> notes - even those who are not on your friends list or those you don't even know. You can read about the hack (in detail)<a href="http://www.mercurysquad.net/facebook_profile_notes_hack.html"> on this page</a>.<br /><br />I have packaged it as a bookmarklet so using it is drag-and-drop simple. This is mostly not because of any security hole in Facebook, but a simple default setting which most people never bother to change. For anyone worried about this, all you have to do to prevent your notes from being viewed is to use the My Privacy page sensibly, instead of leaving it to defaults.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-57855127104135160862007-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:002007-01-31T20:21:54.336-08:00Got PageRank 4So Google recently completed their database update, and funnily, my blog gets one notch higher, from a pagerank of 3 to a pagerank 4. There are commercial sites which struggle to move above pagerank 3, so I am not sure why my simple, <em>personal</em> blog has a rank of 4. In fact, there was a time some years back when my blog was linked to some very popular/important webpages - at that time I had a pagerank of 5!<br /><br />My website <a href="http://www.mercurysquad.net/">www.mercurysquad.net</a> has a PageRank of 3 right now, even though it was put online only about a week ago.<br /><br />But whatever, I don't really care that much about pagerank and all. This is mainly because recently at work, I had to do some research on search engine optimization, so that got me interested in this. As long as I enjoy blogging and the few visitors I have enjoy the content, it's fine!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-31598209760197793832007-01-28T15:00:00.000-08:002007-01-28T15:05:30.258-08:00Rage Against the Machine to re-unite - only for a dayThis is big news. Rage Against The Machine are going to play at the Coachella music fest in Los Angeles, after 7 long years. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-coachella22jan22,1,6747076.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true">Read the announcement here</a>. What more, Red Hot Chili Peppers and DJ Tïesto are set to perform as well, along with numerous other bands at the 3-day festival. I hope some sort of live cam or something is set up, or at least recordings are made available later. Those of you in LA, <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> something.. e.g. Take good quality camcorders to the show ;)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-17787063718051446782007-01-26T21:58:00.000-08:002007-01-26T23:06:23.544-08:00Les chansons FrançaisUp until some years ago, we had the French music channel MCM on TV. In those days there were several songs which I used to listen to and loved. Among them were some French songs. In a fit of nostalgia, I dugg up some of them. The French music scene is bumping when it comes to Pop (as compared to, say, Korea or Thailand, where I'd throw up if I had to watch their music channels for more than 10 minutes). Listen to them all, you won't be disappointed!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Des Palmas</span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-8xV3YuKfo">Regarde moi bien en face</a> - Catchy song, used to be my favorite, I even made a backing track for this, and know the lyrics by heart<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxwPQQl6PJ8">J'en reve encore</a> - A recent one. Actually I can't find a video of his other song, Sombre.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Marc Lavoinne </span>avec<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Cristina Marocco</span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFm-E5OZKe8">J'ai tout oublié</a> - Very nice haunting song, duet, with lyrics. Not that I get more than 20% of it, but still fun.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jenifer</span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eta91HhC1c">Au soleil</a> - Sorry for bad video, but song is nice<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyo8QfU3BI">Des mots qui résonnent</a> - Nice song, but some of the added sound effects destroy it (it's the TV version)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6sy98S83r0">J'attends l'amour</a> - For some reason I remembered this as "J'attends la monde" and was going nuts trying to find it :-\ First French song I heard on MCM. Valentines day is coming, appropriate video!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Iva Fruhlingova</span> (or just "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Iva</span>")<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unajZDMGa90">Ou tu veux, quand tu veux</a> - Amazing song. Haunting tune. This one appears to be a slightly remixed version from the MP3 I have. Very good video, and amazing vocals of a very pretty singer. One of my favorites.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lorie</span> - yes it's ridiculous but hey, at <em>that</em> time I liked it, plus she's hot as hell<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4swWVHDYZig">Toute seule</a> - First video I saw, I believe this was her first too. Apparently she was spotted on some website where she posted a song of hers. There is another of her songs which was way better and less cheesy but the title escapes me now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tiziano Ferro</span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t2-Re4IYqQ">Perdono</a> - This is one song that had annoyed the hell out of me, being played non-stop. But it's OK. Endure to the end for the camera girl dance ;)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CheJ07ZD660">Imbranato</a> - MUCH better song, must listen. Slower and soulful.<br />I don't think both these songs are French, though... my ability of identifying languages ends here but if I am given guesses, I would say Spanish or Italian. <span style="font-style: italic;">Te amor</span> is Spanish right? But the lyrics have so much O sound I'm tempted to say it's Italian. Anyway, I don't know.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Renaud</span> et <span style="font-weight: bold;">Axelle Red</span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PftqGKJz3Ds">Manhattan Kaboul</a> - It's obvious from the title and the video what the song is about. Catchy guitar riff and chorus. Video is recorded off MCM :D<br /><br />There was also this song by Yannick Noah, but it was reggae and I hated it so I'm not going to bother recalling what it was titled.<br /><br />And the mandatory: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alizée</span> - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwKPGUIVME">Moi lolita</a> - Everyone has perhaps heard this song (and seen the video). Dance track. Anyone know what they're talking in the beginning? All I got was Tu m'aime...(blahblah)..Je t'aime. Anyway, Alizée is such a doll you can't miss this video.<br /><br />And that concludes my French Song Megapost. It's amazing I was even able to recall all these songs and dig up the videos, it's been something like 5-6 years. Oh good old times... what's crazier is that all these artists are located in <span style="font-style: italic;">one</span> city barely 400 miles away from me!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-67127744492297372192007-01-26T21:13:00.000-08:002007-01-26T21:25:49.478-08:00Google Video search now includes YouTube videos: and vice versa!I was just looking for something on Google Video and noticed that it returned a lot of results linking to YouTube videos! Although there was no fanfare, not even a separate page describing this, but only a small blurb on the Google Video homepage. Here's straight from the horse's mouth:<br /><blockquote><img src="http://video.google.com/images/movie_youtube.gif" style="width: 46px; height: 46px; margin-top: 5px;" alt="YouTube icon" /> New! Now you can also search for videos from YouTube. </blockquote>It's great that we can now use Google's search features (duration tag, boolean operators) to search for videos on YouTube. Because honestly, YouTube has the worst search feature (you can't even add a - sign before a word to exclude it from the search!). But it seems the integration is two-way, because YouTube searches are now playing well with Google-style search terms.<br /><br />The Google acquisition was a good thing for YouTube, indeed! Let's just hope the whole copyright issue remains outside of Google's area of interest. What I mean by that is, hopefully Google will adopt a no censorship/monitoring policy and will only remove infringing videos on request. That's the stand any publicly available information carrier should take.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-74712620859070893072007-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:002007-01-24T13:41:58.589-08:00SnowSo it snowed finally. Brings back memories. But it's January 24th - kinda weird for a first snow when it should be the <span style="font-style: italic;">end</span> of the snowing season. And the 'entry' this time was not as grande spectaculaire as last year (<a href="http://mercurysquad.blogspot.com/2005/11/first-snow.html">late November</a>). I hope it snows really heavily at least once this winter... it is <a href="http://mercurysquad.blogspot.com/2005/12/and-more-snow.html">a pretty sight</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-51379918962547862812007-01-23T16:21:00.000-08:002007-01-23T16:23:05.108-08:00mercurysquad.net - soft launchYes I finally decided to change the site from offline mode to online mode. This is it - <a href="http://www.mercurysquad.net/">www.mercurysquad.net</a> is now online for the whole world to behold! There aren't too many sections or pages yet, I will keep adding content later as and when I get time.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-89792840470291946452007-01-22T17:11:00.000-08:002007-01-22T18:01:43.201-08:00Cult of Vi...And I hereby proclaim that I am joining the Vimpires at the <a href="http://www.splange.freeserve.co.uk/misc/vi.html">Cult of Vi</a>.<br /><br />The Vi brigade in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war">Holy War</a>* now has a soldier more. <a href="http://www.stallman.org/saint.html">Church of Emacs</a>, bring it on. For you lesser mortals still in the clasps of <a href="http://www.notepad.org/">Notepad</a> or <a href="http://gedit.org/">GEdit</a> or <a href="http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=11419">what-have-you</a>, it's time for an awekening. Rise to <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://amix.dk/blog/viewEntry/130">Vim</a></span>.<br /><br />On a side-note, I read about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_%28UNIX%29">ed editor</a> (written in 24 bytes of code, jokingly called the 'standard text editor'). It sure is scary. Here is my first session with ed (blue: me, red: ed) -<br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-family:courier new;">Feisty> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">ed</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:courier new;" >test</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:courier new;" >?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:courier new;" >clear</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:courier new;" >?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:courier new;" >help</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:courier new;" >?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:courier new;" >q</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Feisty> _<br /><blockquote></blockquote> </span></blockquote>Reminds me of <a href="http://www.zeta.org.au/%7Ejulian/Edlin.html">EDLIN</a> from DOS days. <span style="font-family:courier new;"></span>Thank goodness, even Notepad is better. <a href="http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=26705&a=196169&po=1,00.asp">Electric Pencil</a>, anyone? :-P<br />*There exists a lesser war: <a href="http://www.jwz.org/doc/tabs-vs-spaces.html">The tab vs space war</a>.<br /><br />Those of you who have no clue what this post is about are encouraged to check out all the links I have sprinkled across this post ;-)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">:wq<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-85918136419783709062007-01-22T15:02:00.000-08:002007-01-22T15:46:21.173-08:00Review: flying-pizza.deFerri's is good and great, but sometimes variety is nice. I might be the dream customer any Pizza house would ever want (6 pizzas in a row is no big deal), so I thought of 'expanding my horizons,' in the process also benefitting the Jacobs population (and perhaps any other Bremen visitors) by offering a small review of FlyingPizza.<br /><br />First off is the convenience of being able to order online instead of by phone. It might just be a life-saver on a night when you really need a Pizza but don't have a calling card and your Skype balance is zero. Not that that has happened to me before, I am usually too well prepared for that kind of thing.<br /><br />Second, the menu is good. It is a small annoyance having to pronounce the toppings you want in the clearest German accent you can fake so the Ferri's guy (or the lady) understands you mean Hähnchen and <em>not</em> Schinken. FlyingPizza has a vast range of toppings and pre-built pizzas available in 3 sizes (note: don't order larger than the 20 cm unless you know what you are doing - or have other people in your room) - all available online. Apart from pizzas, they also have a large selection of other stuff, noodles and all that. I decided to order their "Neue" Chicken pizza which comes with Hähnchen, Barbecuesauce, Zwiebel, Paprika und Goudakäse. Being really hungry, I went overboard and ordered an extra topping of Ei and Extra-Käse - on a 26 cm base!<br /><br />Total cost: €10,40. Yes that's a LOT, especially in comparison to Ferri's five-buck-a-pop. I was determined not to let cost be a factor, considering this was perhaps the first tummy-filling meal I would be having in the past 2 days (sorry Aramark). What I should have realized is that a perfectly acceptable pizza could be 'crafted,' had I gone for a simple 20cm base with just cheese and sauce, and added my own toppings. The base starts at €3,90 so a 2 or 3 topping pizza would come at about €6 (their minimum delivery). Overall the prices were quite affordable, provided you are not foolish like me and know what pizza size you can handle.<br /><br />The website is in German, but easy to follow for anyone who has taken A1.1 (proud pupil here). The website is easily navigable and adding a topping is quick (they use AJAX so the page doesn't reload on every click). Make sure you use the extra info field to type in the university name and your room number! The order is routed via another website so after you click Jetzt bestellen, you gotta wait about half a minute before it is confirmed.<br /><br />Then the waiting begins. Delivery time was about 45-50 minutes, which is quite good considering it comes all the way from Blumenthal (Schwaneweder Straße or something) instead of from Grohn like Ferri's (who still manage 1½ to 2 hours at their whim). There was a once-in-a-blue-moon instance when Ferri's delivered in 20 minutes, but don't count on it. Considering that FlyingPizza probably aren't familiar with IUB (the bill had instructions printed on how to reach me), I was expecting a phone call and having to pick it up from the porter's or something (or in other universities: the front desk). Instead, the delivery guy rings the bell and it's delivered straight to your room. They speak English and are in uniform. All the more professional. But make sure you tip the delivery guy (I didn't and he was a bit taken aback as he counted the €10 note and two 20¢ coins I handed him).<br /><br />The pizza: It was <em>bulky</em>. Yes, I repeat, don't order larger than 20 cm. Especially not with 5-6 toppings. It's a waste of money, as I found out. But the quality: delicious! Nice and juicy, unlike the dry cardboard that Ferri's calls pizzas (which we all have come to accept much like Aramark food). Yes it also <em>does</em> look exactly like the pizza photo on their website. My only gripe is that they don't slice the pizza for you. FlyingPizza is also the first pizza house which understood that by Ei I meant boiled eggs, sliced; not fried eggs scrambled in the middle of the pizza (unlike Ferri's who sent me a Peperoni pizza when I asked for vegetarian). It does taste a little sweet so even if you're not Asian, you might want to add some extra Scharf (60¢ extra).<br /><br />Verdict: Just a tad pricey, but the good quality and fast delivery coupled with the ability to order online make FlyingPizza a very good alternative to Ferri's. Only downside is that they take orders only until 11:00pm.<br /><br />MENU & SELECTION: 7/10<br />EASE OF ORDERING: 10/10<br />FOOD QUALITY: 8/10<br />PRICE: 6/10<br />DELIVERY TIME: 8/10<br />OVERALL: 8/10<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flying-pizza.de/flying-pizza/13/">www.flying-pizza.de</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Now for this little advertisement, FlyingPizza, will you also offer me 5-10 free pizzas, like <a href="http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061227/microsoft-free-ferrari/">Microsoft did for tech bloggers</a>.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-55672058351968912132007-01-12T05:25:00.000-08:002007-01-12T05:29:59.208-08:00Ten thousand eight hundred?!!Wow. Someone searched for 'mercurysquad' and landed on my website, so I click the statcounter link, and what do I find?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=mercurysquad">Google.com: Results 1 - 10 of about 10,800 for mercurysquad</a>.<br /><br />This is crazy. I should really stop using the 'net.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-25658548156958079362007-01-08T17:21:00.000-08:002007-01-08T18:02:24.675-08:00The Facebook profile pic hack - reloaded<blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">This was originally posted on my facebook profile's notes section, but is reproduced here with a bugfix and made easier to use for the benefit of mankind.<br /></span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Here's a neat Firefox trick to view someone's profile pic (or another photo) in full size even when they are not in your friends list.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">So here goes:</span><br />Simply drag and drop the following link to your bookmarks toolbar:<br /><span style="font-size:115%;"><a href="javascript:window.location.href=window.location.href.replace(/\/[t|s](.*)jpg$/,'/n$1jpg');">View Full Pic</a></span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic; font-size:90%;">Note: If you are viewing this in Facebook, please click View Original Post and then drag the link from there instead. Facebook adds its own stupid link tracking so dragging directly from here won't work.</span><br /><br />That's it. From then on if you wish to view the full profile pic, just right click the thumbnail > View Image > and click the View Full Pic bookmark on your toolbar.<br /><br />This should also work in Internet Explorer (and maybe any other browser, but I have not tested). Firefox just has the View Image option making everything much easier.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How it works</span><br /><br />As everyone (perhaps?) knows, to view profile pics of people not in your friends list or network, all you gotta do is (in Firefox) right click the little thumbnail of the photo and choose View Image. It opens up the same image. Now to view the full size pic, you have to change the /t130139303 (or whatever the number is) to /n130139303, in the location displayed in your address bar.<br /><br />This is a hassle, so we create a bookmarklet to do the search/replace for us. Here's the code:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">javascript:window.location.href=window.location.href.replace(/\/[t|s](.*)jpg$/,"/n$1jpg");<br /></span><br />The regex has [t|s] because there are two versions of a thumbnail on facebook, a 't' (tiny) one and an 's' (small one). The full pic is 'n' (normal). Yes, I know the regex is not comprehensive and will match any URL which ends in a .jpg file whose filename starts with 't' or 's' but who the F cares when it works on facebook just fine - simply don't click the bookmarklet while on other sites to avoid running into 404 Page Not Found's and other side effects.<br /><br />Let's see if I can whip up a Firefox extension to make it even less work.<br /><br />PS: In case you are wondering about my motivation (you perverts), it was a 'side effect' while I was trying to muck with the commenting system on digg.com. Apparently digg is quite secure (so far) and I didn't get anywhere but the idea worked on facebook for now.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-47547831435995047402007-01-06T03:14:00.000-08:002007-01-06T03:19:17.045-08:00digg.com has perhaps the weirdest crowd onlineMan, this is crazy. I have been visiting digg.com quite often in the past few months, because it's a great source of news and discussions. But with each passing day, it seems more apparent that most diggsters are a group of self indulgent, let's say, cultists.<br /><br />As an example: A guy posts a lame comment on a story, with his website address plugged in as a signature. The comment gets dugg down to -ve thousands. Then he posts on his website about this. Someone posts his website on digg.com and now the same site gets front page with thousands of +ve diggs.<br /><br />To sum it up in someone else's words: This is a post on digg about a blog posted in response to a comment on digg posted on a story about a digg.com mirror.<br /><br />Ugh..<br /><br /><a href="http://www.digg.com/tech_news/The_Most_Hated_Comment_on_Digg">Link here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-8397285503862957082006-12-23T12:33:00.000-08:002006-12-23T12:38:59.075-08:00The RIAA are fuckin nutsSo according to <a href="http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/12/22/allofmp3com-sued-for-165-trillion/">this article</a>, the Recording Industries Association of America sued the Russian mp3 vending website AllofMP3.com for a total of US$1.65 trillion. That's more than the entire GDP of Russia which stands at US$1.4 trillion, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=gdp+of+russia">according to Google</a>. What dumbasses.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-43717802261941719662006-12-10T12:47:00.000-08:002006-12-21T13:23:23.483-08:00SomaFM needs your supportThe internet's best underground radio station needs to pay off $25,000 of bills by December end and is asking for donations. I just wanted to spread the word. SomaFM.org has absolutely the best radio channels ever, and I've listened to them for almost 2 years now.<br /><br /><a href="http://somafm.com/">http://somafm.com/</a><br /><br />If you like SomaFM too, or simply want to help, go to the Support SomaFM page. You can pay by credit card or German debit card etc. via PayPal. They already have almost $19k...<br /><br />UPDATE: They have managed $25k already. From the site :<br /><blockquote>Thank you to everyone who supported us during our end of year fund drive, we raised $25,000 towards paying off our outstanding expenses for 2006! Thanks for supporting listener-supported, commercial-free, independent internet radio on SomaFM! -- Rusty Hodge 14-Dec-06</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-18652720581737045802006-11-18T19:09:00.000-08:002006-11-18T19:10:33.615-08:00Three worst movie titles3) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas<br />2) Clear and Present Danger<br />1) Snakes on a Plane<br /><br />Anyone know any more? Add to the list!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9680084.post-17994497565652283912006-11-11T10:55:00.000-08:002006-11-11T11:15:10.199-08:00Guitar tabs and lyrics are now illegal ???<span style="font-size:180;">WHAT THE FUCK ?!!!?<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Guitar tabs are now considered illegal by the MPA/RIAA ?! Check these pages out -<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fretplay.com/tabs/r/red_hot_chilli_peppers/dani_calfriona_solo-tab.shtml">Sorry dude, we got pwned by the MPA. No tabs anymore. Kthxbye.</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_tabs#Legal_issues">Wikipedia</a><br /><a href="http://www.spokane7.com/online/stories/?ID=4108">A blog entry with details</a><br /><a href="http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/27/101332.php">Another article</a><br /><br />I came across this while searching for some tabs to practice tonight (Saturday, kinda free). And on many big tab sites, I got the message that tabs are unavailable. www.fretplay.com for example.<br /><br />WHAT the hell is wrong with the music industry?? I guess then performing any songs should be illegal as well. Big middle finger to you RIAA assholes. I think it's not too far fetched that they are going to limit the number of people you can have in your room when listening to a song... and might even call you a criminal if you hum a tune on the subway or a bus or while walking on the street. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT MY ASS. Rot in hell you blood sucking greedy bastards!! I say we boycott ALL big name artists. Fuckin retards. This is making me sick to the point of throwing up.<br /></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img src="http://c6.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=682168&java=0&security=63acdb25&invisible=1" alt="page hit counter" border="0"></a></div>Prashanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06689466510948145947noreply@blogger.com0