This is one of the best racing videos I have seen lately. It was the final race of the ALMS 2009 season:
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Split your desktop in Windows XP
For my Windows Operating system needs (Ubuntu is my primary OS), I am still stuck with using Windows XP. So recently when I saw a Windows 7 ad showing how to split your desktop in half (vertically) I wanted to find out if Windows XP had that option. To be honest, I was looking to find an application that would enable that feature. Turns out, XP did have this feature out of the box. Here is a link to an article/blog post that shows how this can be achieved in XP: Split desktop in Windows XP
I guess I will be sticking with good ole XP for some time.
I guess I will be sticking with good ole XP for some time.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Interesting Email
So I got this email this morning. Too good to be true! =)
------email begin-----------------
I like your profile as well as your pics which seem to express you really well.
As for me, I am a hard working, warm, outgoing & optimistic girl
looking for the special someone to put on a pedestal and just have fun together.
I am a little adventurous and ambitious as well.
I would enjoy chatting some on here if you are up for it, and I hope to connect in
a special way. If you will, tell me a little about you. What was your best first date?
Have you ever been in love? Please let me know if you'd like to talk further. My e-mail
xxxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com . Write me .
Regards,
Kiss
------email end-------------------
I did some searching online and found another person who also got the exact same email today. It's clearly some sort of spam. I wonder what they are up to!
------email begin-----------------
I like your profile as well as your pics which seem to express you really well.
As for me, I am a hard working, warm, outgoing & optimistic girl
looking for the special someone to put on a pedestal and just have fun together.
I am a little adventurous and ambitious as well.
I would enjoy chatting some on here if you are up for it, and I hope to connect in
a special way. If you will, tell me a little about you. What was your best first date?
Have you ever been in love? Please let me know if you'd like to talk further. My e-mail
xxxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com . Write me .
Regards,
Kiss
------email end-------------------
I did some searching online and found another person who also got the exact same email today. It's clearly some sort of spam. I wonder what they are up to!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Google Voice SMS pushed to Iphone using Prowl + Python
I have been using Google voice for sometime. I am having a hard time figuring out what it could be useful for however. I like their SMS feature and use it to shed load from my phone company's messaging plan. There is a major drawback to using Google Voice for SMS though. Google does not allow you to send email or other notifications when you receive an SMS. So you will have to visit Google Voice using your browser to check for SMS messages.
This is probably something Google left out so it does not anger phone companies. I can see how people will switch to using Google SMS if email notifications were sent when messages are received. It will literally provide you with a free unlimited texting plan with your own phone number.
Mikeyk came up with a hack to create a Google Voice client to send push notification to Iphones. In short, you will need to have a computer connected to the internet running a python script which will send push notifications to your prowl client. In this case, the prowl client will be installed on your Iphone.
Mikeyk's instructions are fairly self explanatory in setting up his client. I recently did this and it took less than 20 mins to set it up correctly. Having a little bit of python experience definitely helps.
A little more detail about my setup: I installed the scripts on my diminutive Ubuntu 9.04 workstation. I already had python installed so I just added the three dependency package that Mikeyk mentions. One thing that was a little interesting to me was that I didn't quite know how to download the scripts from github! Silly me! I later noticed that github provides a download option which basically creates a zip or tar of all the files the source author had published. So make sure to download Mikeyk's code from github unless you like copy pasting and indenting Python code.
I did run into a few small issues trying to run the code. When I run the script, it keeps telling me that it can't read the cfile (credential file) but it does extract the values. So no worries there. It was clearly getting some sort of exception trying to read the credential file and was printing out the general exception message. I was being lazy and didn't delve much into it.
The other issue I ran into was, python kept telling me it needed a float type variable to store the sleep time (loop interval) which I had set to 60. Again being lazy I just hard coded the value 60 into the script, as shown below which took care of it. To my defense, I had to meet my friends for lunch and I was running late!
Excerpt from mikeyk's code - these are the last three lines from the prowlgooglevoice.py script:
while True:
# uncomment below for debugging
# print 'sleeping...'
gv.check()
sleep(sleep_time)
Python was complaining about the sleep_time variable, so I replaced it with the value 60, lame!
It seems to working great for me so far. I received close to 20 texts through Google voice yesterday and got notification for all of them.
I can almost say good bye to my ATT messaging plan (which I won't) if I wanted to and just use Google Voice for SMS. Give it a try if you send a lot of text messages. It's not very convenient but does work for many. I am hoping that Fring will come up with a plugin to Google Voice which will make it easy to send SMS messages from smart phones.
Cheers!
Credits: Mikeyk
This is probably something Google left out so it does not anger phone companies. I can see how people will switch to using Google SMS if email notifications were sent when messages are received. It will literally provide you with a free unlimited texting plan with your own phone number.
Mikeyk came up with a hack to create a Google Voice client to send push notification to Iphones. In short, you will need to have a computer connected to the internet running a python script which will send push notifications to your prowl client. In this case, the prowl client will be installed on your Iphone.
Mikeyk's instructions are fairly self explanatory in setting up his client. I recently did this and it took less than 20 mins to set it up correctly. Having a little bit of python experience definitely helps.
A little more detail about my setup: I installed the scripts on my diminutive Ubuntu 9.04 workstation. I already had python installed so I just added the three dependency package that Mikeyk mentions. One thing that was a little interesting to me was that I didn't quite know how to download the scripts from github! Silly me! I later noticed that github provides a download option which basically creates a zip or tar of all the files the source author had published. So make sure to download Mikeyk's code from github unless you like copy pasting and indenting Python code.
I did run into a few small issues trying to run the code. When I run the script, it keeps telling me that it can't read the cfile (credential file) but it does extract the values. So no worries there. It was clearly getting some sort of exception trying to read the credential file and was printing out the general exception message. I was being lazy and didn't delve much into it.
The other issue I ran into was, python kept telling me it needed a float type variable to store the sleep time (loop interval) which I had set to 60. Again being lazy I just hard coded the value 60 into the script, as shown below which took care of it. To my defense, I had to meet my friends for lunch and I was running late!
Excerpt from mikeyk's code - these are the last three lines from the prowlgooglevoice.py script:
while True:
# uncomment below for debugging
# print 'sleeping...'
gv.check()
sleep(sleep_time)
Python was complaining about the sleep_time variable, so I replaced it with the value 60, lame!
It seems to working great for me so far. I received close to 20 texts through Google voice yesterday and got notification for all of them.
I can almost say good bye to my ATT messaging plan (which I won't) if I wanted to and just use Google Voice for SMS. Give it a try if you send a lot of text messages. It's not very convenient but does work for many. I am hoping that Fring will come up with a plugin to Google Voice which will make it easy to send SMS messages from smart phones.
Cheers!
Credits: Mikeyk
"District 9" - the movie
I went and watched "District 9" yesterday. Without giving away details of the movie, I have to say, it's one of the most genuine movie plot's I have seen in the last couple of years. The trailer for the movie, basically gave nothing away. Watching the trailer I thought this would be just another Sci-fi movie based on alien invasion. I, however, did not read the plot synopsis before going to the movie so it was a total surprise for me.
I suspect, the plot of the movie was taken from common human suffering and aliens were used as a metaphor. Many of the sufferings depicted in the movie, are experienced by humans on a day to day basis. After you watch the movie, you will be able to relate to some recent events in Darfur, Sudan and other places around the globe.
I was exceptionally impressed with the lighting, mood and the general display of direction. Director of photography did an excellent job in creating the correct mood for the plots. I was engulfed in anticipation to see what would happen next. At no point during the movie, I could predict what to expect next. Even though the movie was about 2 hours, I didn't feel that any of the scenes were stretched to fill in time.
The movie was based entirely on Neill and Terri Tatchell's screenplay. Neill had shot a 6 minute long mini film in 2005, which had similar theme to it.
Wikipedia link to Alive in Joberg by Neill.
In conclusion, kudos to Neill Blomkamp for an excellent direction. It's a great movie and I recommend watching it =) .
I suspect, the plot of the movie was taken from common human suffering and aliens were used as a metaphor. Many of the sufferings depicted in the movie, are experienced by humans on a day to day basis. After you watch the movie, you will be able to relate to some recent events in Darfur, Sudan and other places around the globe.
I was exceptionally impressed with the lighting, mood and the general display of direction. Director of photography did an excellent job in creating the correct mood for the plots. I was engulfed in anticipation to see what would happen next. At no point during the movie, I could predict what to expect next. Even though the movie was about 2 hours, I didn't feel that any of the scenes were stretched to fill in time.
The movie was based entirely on Neill and Terri Tatchell's screenplay. Neill had shot a 6 minute long mini film in 2005, which had similar theme to it.
Wikipedia link to Alive in Joberg by Neill.
In conclusion, kudos to Neill Blomkamp for an excellent direction. It's a great movie and I recommend watching it =) .
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Weight loss program
A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program. The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old girl with a sign around her neck.
She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, 'If you can catch me, I'm yours.'
Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.
He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program. The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She had a sign around her neck that reads, 'If you catch me, I'm yours.'
Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.
Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program
'Are you sure?' asks the representative on the phone. 'This is our most rigorous program.'
'Absolutely,' he replies, 'I haven't felt this good in years.'
The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, 'If I catch you, you're mine.'
He lost 63 pounds that week.
Credit: lotustalk
She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, 'If you can catch me, I'm yours.'
Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.
He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program. The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She had a sign around her neck that reads, 'If you catch me, I'm yours.'
Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.
Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program
'Are you sure?' asks the representative on the phone. 'This is our most rigorous program.'
'Absolutely,' he replies, 'I haven't felt this good in years.'
The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, 'If I catch you, you're mine.'
He lost 63 pounds that week.
Credit: lotustalk
Deer hunting
A man kills a deer and takes it home to cook for dinner.
Both he and his wife decide that they won't tell the kids what kind of meat
it is, but will give them a clue and let them guess.
The kids were eager to know what the meat was on their plates, so they
begged their dad for the clue.
Well, he said, 'It's what mommy calls me sometimes'.
The little girl screams to her brother
'Don't eat it, it's an a** Hole..
Credit: stole from lotustalk like many other ones here.
Both he and his wife decide that they won't tell the kids what kind of meat
it is, but will give them a clue and let them guess.
The kids were eager to know what the meat was on their plates, so they
begged their dad for the clue.
Well, he said, 'It's what mommy calls me sometimes'.
The little girl screams to her brother
'Don't eat it, it's an a** Hole..
Credit: stole from lotustalk like many other ones here.
A cruel little four liner joke
Three mothers talking about their sons:
Mother #1: My son is a rabbi. When people see my son on the street, they say "Hello, rabbi."
Mother #2: My son is a priest. When people see my son on the street, they say "Hello, father."
Mother #3 whose son weighs 400 lbs: When people see my son on the street, they say "Jesus Christ!"
Mother #1: My son is a rabbi. When people see my son on the street, they say "Hello, rabbi."
Mother #2: My son is a priest. When people see my son on the street, they say "Hello, father."
Mother #3 whose son weighs 400 lbs: When people see my son on the street, they say "Jesus Christ!"
Doctor's appointment ...
Satbinder Singh went to a doctor's appointment and met Robin Singh at the waiting room.
Robin had a very sad look on his face. Feeling sympathetic Satbinder asked him, "Why are you so sad?" Robin replied, "Well I came here for a blood test, and they cut my finger to get blood."
Immediately, Satbinder burst into tears. Robin, visibly shaken asked him, "What happened Satbinder? Why are you crying".
Satbinder replied, "I came here for a urine test!"
Robin had a very sad look on his face. Feeling sympathetic Satbinder asked him, "Why are you so sad?" Robin replied, "Well I came here for a blood test, and they cut my finger to get blood."
Immediately, Satbinder burst into tears. Robin, visibly shaken asked him, "What happened Satbinder? Why are you crying".
Satbinder replied, "I came here for a urine test!"
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Steve Jobs' Abandoned Mansion
Just ran into some pictures of Steve Jobs' abandoned Spanish mansion taken by Jonathan Haeber. Simply amazing photography! I wish I could take pictures like these!
Abandoned Jackling House Mansion
Credit: Jonathan Haeber
Abandoned Jackling House Mansion
Credit: Jonathan Haeber
Brammo Enertia
Brammo Motorsports, the company that brought the mighty Ariel Atom to US shores is going to start selling there all electric bike named Brammo Enertia. It can do 60mph and does 45 miles in a single charge. If you have a motorcycle license, you can just walk into a Best Buy and buy one of this. Provided you have $12k laying around to spend on this bike.
Now I am waiting for Brammo's all electric sports car to come out. Hopefully it will be cheaper than the electric Lotus Europa that Tesla is selling for 100+ grand.
Fantastic!
Linked to Popular Science Website : http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2009-06/brammo-enertia-test-drive-review
Now I am waiting for Brammo's all electric sports car to come out. Hopefully it will be cheaper than the electric Lotus Europa that Tesla is selling for 100+ grand.
Fantastic!
Linked to Popular Science Website : http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2009-06/brammo-enertia-test-drive-review
I am all for "paid vacation for all"!
Pretty bold move by Alan Grayson. I am hoping this will pass through the house.
http://grayson.house.gov/2009/05/grayson-proposes-first-ever-paid-vacation-law.shtml
http://grayson.house.gov/2009/05/grayson-proposes-first-ever-paid-vacation-law.shtml
Congratulations!
Lots of lovely couples got married/engaged this summer. Wish you guys the very best life has to offer and a very happy and fulfilling life together.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Cowboy and Indian
A cowboy meets an Indian herding sheep in the Black Hills....
Cowboy: "Hey, cool dog you got there. Mind if I speak to him?"
Indian: "Dog don't talk."
Cowboy: "Hey dog, how's it going?"
Dog: "Doin' all right."
Indian: (Look of shock!)
Cowboy: "Is this Indian your owner?" (pointing at the Indian)
Dog: "Yep."
Cowboy: "How does he treat you?"
Dog: "Real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes
me to the lake once a week to play."
Indian: (Look of total disbelief)
Cowboy: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"
Indian: "Horse no talk."
Cowboy: "Hey horse, how's it going?"
Horse: "Cool."
Indian: (Extreme look of shock!)
Cowboy: "Is this your owner?" (pointing to the Indian)
Horse: "Yep."
Cowboy: "How's he treat you?"
Horse: "Pretty good, thanks for asking, he rides me, brushes me
down often, and keeps me in a lean-to to protect me from the
elements."
Indian: (Look of total amazement)
Cowboy: "Mind if I talk to your sheep?"
Indian: "Sheep lie!!!"
Cowboy: "Hey, cool dog you got there. Mind if I speak to him?"
Indian: "Dog don't talk."
Cowboy: "Hey dog, how's it going?"
Dog: "Doin' all right."
Indian: (Look of shock!)
Cowboy: "Is this Indian your owner?" (pointing at the Indian)
Dog: "Yep."
Cowboy: "How does he treat you?"
Dog: "Real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes
me to the lake once a week to play."
Indian: (Look of total disbelief)
Cowboy: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"
Indian: "Horse no talk."
Cowboy: "Hey horse, how's it going?"
Horse: "Cool."
Indian: (Extreme look of shock!)
Cowboy: "Is this your owner?" (pointing to the Indian)
Horse: "Yep."
Cowboy: "How's he treat you?"
Horse: "Pretty good, thanks for asking, he rides me, brushes me
down often, and keeps me in a lean-to to protect me from the
elements."
Indian: (Look of total amazement)
Cowboy: "Mind if I talk to your sheep?"
Indian: "Sheep lie!!!"
Tiger Woods + Buick!
Taking a wee break from the golf circuit, Tiger Woods drives his new Buick Rendezvous into an Irish gas station. An attendant greets him in typical Irish manner, unaware who the golf pro is, "Top o' the morning to ya". As Tiger gets out of the car, two tees fall out of his pocket. "So what are those thing my, son?" asks the attendant.
"They're called tees," replied Tiger.
"And what would ya be usin 'em for, now?" inquired the Irishman.
"Well, they're for resting my balls on when I drive," replies Tiger.
"Aw, Jaysus, Mary an' Joseph!" exclaimed the Irish attendant. "Those fellas working for Buick think of everything!"
"They're called tees," replied Tiger.
"And what would ya be usin 'em for, now?" inquired the Irishman.
"Well, they're for resting my balls on when I drive," replies Tiger.
"Aw, Jaysus, Mary an' Joseph!" exclaimed the Irish attendant. "Those fellas working for Buick think of everything!"
Work vs prison!
When you think about the differences between work and prison, maybe prison isn't so bad (yeah right!!) ...
IN PRISON.......You spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell.
AT WORK........You spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle.
IN PRISON.......You get three meals a day.
AT WORK........You get a break for 1 meal and you have to pay for it.
IN PRISON.......You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK........You get rewarded for good behavior with more work.
IN PRISON.......A guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK........You must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.
IN PRISON........You can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK.........You get fired for watching TV and playing games.
IN PRISON.......You get your own toilet.
AT WORK........You have to share.
IN PRISON.......They allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK........You cannot even speak to your family and friends.
IN PRISON.......All expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK........You get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from you salary to pay for prisoners.
IN PRISON.......You spend most of your life looking through bars from inside wanting to get out.
AT WORK........You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.
IN PRISON......There are wardens who are often sadistic.
AT WORK.......They are called supervisors.
IN PRISON.......You have unlimited time to read e-mail jokes.
AT WORK........You get fired if you get caught.
NOW GET BACK TO WORK!
IN PRISON.......You spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell.
AT WORK........You spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle.
IN PRISON.......You get three meals a day.
AT WORK........You get a break for 1 meal and you have to pay for it.
IN PRISON.......You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK........You get rewarded for good behavior with more work.
IN PRISON.......A guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK........You must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.
IN PRISON........You can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK.........You get fired for watching TV and playing games.
IN PRISON.......You get your own toilet.
AT WORK........You have to share.
IN PRISON.......They allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK........You cannot even speak to your family and friends.
IN PRISON.......All expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK........You get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from you salary to pay for prisoners.
IN PRISON.......You spend most of your life looking through bars from inside wanting to get out.
AT WORK........You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.
IN PRISON......There are wardens who are often sadistic.
AT WORK.......They are called supervisors.
IN PRISON.......You have unlimited time to read e-mail jokes.
AT WORK........You get fired if you get caught.
NOW GET BACK TO WORK!
Funny joke I just came accross ...
WOMAN: Would you get married again?
MAN: Definitely not!
WOMAN: Why not - don't you like being married?
MAN: Of course I do.
WOMAN: Then why wouldn't you remarry?
MAN: Okay, I'd get married again.
WOMAN: You would? (with a hurtful look on her face)
MAN: (makes audible groan)
WOMAN: Would you sleep with her in our bed?
MAN: Where else would we sleep?
WOMAN: Would you put away my pictures, and replace them with pictures of her?
MAN: That would seem like the proper thing to do.
WOMAN: And would you let her use my golf clubs?
MAN: She can't use them; she's left-handed.
WOMAN: - - - silence - - -
MAN: Sh&%.
MAN: Definitely not!
WOMAN: Why not - don't you like being married?
MAN: Of course I do.
WOMAN: Then why wouldn't you remarry?
MAN: Okay, I'd get married again.
WOMAN: You would? (with a hurtful look on her face)
MAN: (makes audible groan)
WOMAN: Would you sleep with her in our bed?
MAN: Where else would we sleep?
WOMAN: Would you put away my pictures, and replace them with pictures of her?
MAN: That would seem like the proper thing to do.
WOMAN: And would you let her use my golf clubs?
MAN: She can't use them; she's left-handed.
WOMAN: - - - silence - - -
MAN: Sh&%.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
No update from twitter yet!
Not unexpected, but I haven't heard from Twitter yet. I did find out that an account may be suspended for a minimum of 30 days! Hmm...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Minneapolis Car and Cafe
Car and Cafe takes place in Chanhassen AutoMotorplex every first Saturday of the month. I missed the one this last Saturday. Here is a link to the pictures I found online. All credit goes to the people who took the pictures. Safe for work as usual.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bellus.alex/CarsCafeAndAPSDynoDay8109#
http://picasaweb.google.com/bellus.alex/CarsCafeAndAPSDynoDay8109#
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Jay Leno is on Top Gear 13x7
Top Gear invited Jay Leno as their special guest this week. I've waited to see this for many years. Bravo Top Gear. I wish his lap was a little faster.
Babe Rally 2010
Friend of mine brought this up yesterday. We might be joining this next year if schedule permits. check it out - http://www.baberally.com/index.esp. BTW, BABE stands for "Big Apple to Big Easy" =)
Twitter just suspended my account!
So I was finally getting used to using twitter, sort of in a "send a message in a bottle" way. I added a few people/organizations I wanted to follow and was starting to get the point of using twitter. I actually got to know of some breaking news before it showed up on major news web sites. Then wham, twitter decided to suspend my account! I am assuming they use some sort of bot that tracks user behavior to suspend accounts. Who knows what I did to break their Terms and conditions?
With twitter having such little workforce I doubt anybody will ever review the ticket I submitted contesting my suspension. May be Twitter should be more careful about suspending people's account without sending warnings.
Anyhow, I am thinking I will stop using twitter and use this instead to send more messages in bottles. :D
Cheers!
With twitter having such little workforce I doubt anybody will ever review the ticket I submitted contesting my suspension. May be Twitter should be more careful about suspending people's account without sending warnings.
Anyhow, I am thinking I will stop using twitter and use this instead to send more messages in bottles. :D
Cheers!
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