tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34300785889660962122024-03-19T09:55:40.254+05:30Thameera's ColumnThameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-43895285826093302642010-11-06T07:49:00.000+05:302010-11-06T07:49:31.927+05:30New blogI rarely blog here now, please follow me in my <a href="http://thameera.wordpress.com/">microblog</a>.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-51192694002377171902010-06-14T13:49:00.000+05:302010-06-14T13:49:51.798+05:30Nothing to write aboutThis post is about nothing. I have nothing in my mind to write about. Isn't it wonderful? Having nothing in the mind to write about? <br />
Wait. How can having nothing to write about be wonderful? It's always great to have something you can share with others. Having nothing to write about implies you are living a kind of a stale life. <br />
On the other hand, if I have nothing to write why am I writing like this? Of course having nothing to write itself made me write. It's quite interesting to write about the fact that there is nothing to write about. You must try this too, you know. <br />
When you have nothing to write about and when you are writing about this fact, so many things come to mind that you can write, of course about having nothing to write about. This a wonderful feeling you know.<br />
And then, there may be some people who have nothing to read. They of course can read posts like this, written by people who have nothing to write about. I know, it is lame.<br />
Okay, I see the frowns of some of your faces. I quit. There is a possibility that I'll have something to write about sooner or later, of course not about the fact that I have nothing to write about. So see you then. Kthxbai!Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-45732396882718092312010-05-24T23:30:00.001+05:302010-06-07T17:10:21.597+05:30Life with the E63Three weeks without a phone wasn't a much welcome experience, but the all new Nokia E63 that followed wiped all the worries away.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0b5RByJR_59qP3EdCmbJjXf7D9T1rqzpI3po-zHSgx6jJjG-9sJNMdIsyYbuKhFQhOn4_y_CkulHsnttyJr4pmHq5-9JqVpDBQBLhWbfpQhjIZi6z8Cpngte1CiQv2y1QO-um8zGs40/s1600/nok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0b5RByJR_59qP3EdCmbJjXf7D9T1rqzpI3po-zHSgx6jJjG-9sJNMdIsyYbuKhFQhOn4_y_CkulHsnttyJr4pmHq5-9JqVpDBQBLhWbfpQhjIZi6z8Cpngte1CiQv2y1QO-um8zGs40/s200/nok.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><br />
I had by no means imagined that I'd end up with an awesome phone like this. What better phone can a boy who had only an N70 wish for?<br />
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So here I am, typing proudly with its qwerty keyboard in the quickoffice suite, checking for new tweets in Gravity now and then, and occasionally returning to my ebook when I feel like. Then perhaps I will watch the next episode of The Big Bang Theory in Real Player. Suddenly I see something worth sharing on the road, capture it and post in TwitPic. What a wonderful life this is! What should the lives of people who doesn't have E63s be like!<br />
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Believe me, life with an E63 is simply wonderful!<br />
EAVB_VQWOMEREJUThameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-43847841985689059052010-02-21T16:05:00.003+05:302010-02-21T16:13:22.852+05:30There's an antivirus called ubuntu<img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 202px; height: 55px;" src="http://ubuntuforums.org/images/misc/ubuntulogo.png" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I stumbled upon this thread in ubuntuforums.org today: <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1412150">http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1412150</a><br /><br />The question been asked is:<br /><br /><i>"A frient of mine heard of a program that will make you never get viruses again.<br />Its called Ubuntu. I go to the site and download the program, but it wont install.<br />How do I install it. I got like a lot of viruses and dont like that it makes my computer slow and sends stuff to friends.<br />I just want to chat with my friends and internet without getting viruses.<br />This is the good site to ask about this, right.<br />Srry for my bad english."</i><br /><br />The people in the forums have answered him, welcoming him to the linux world, telling him that Ubuntu is an operating system - not an antivirus, etc. And at one point the problem poser says:<br /><br /><i>"Wubi. I download it and click install. Its busy now.<br />Thank you for the help.<br />I don't know what a operating system is. I hope just the viruses are gone.<br />I think this is what my friend got."</i><br /><br />He is just another typical example of a normal computer user who doesn't want to know the inside out of a computer, but just use it for his day to day tasks.<br /><br /><i>"It isn't windows. I didnt know that. Just dont want viruses anymore.<br />I can chat and use internet with ubuntu. Youtube, facebook, msn. Yes."</i><br /><br />Ubuntu will be the best choice for him. It's very good that he chose ubuntu forums. Just to know that you have a whole community to help you when in trouble, that's lovely!<br /><br />We meet lots of people having similar problems - who don't know what an operating system is, who just want to know how to get their surfing and wordprocessing done hazzle-free. All we people need to do is to carefully guide them in their transition to Ubuntu, without burdening them with technical stuff. Just make their life in ubuntu wonderful and exciting!</div>Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-4406967198982140902010-02-10T18:06:00.000+05:302010-02-10T18:06:14.689+05:30Need for Speed: reading the web faster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRlhGuoCICw6mzFBw4Cy-3_diinRbKiMna3BkE9q46BZ2Cc-ANPoN2zSWzUnOi_9K15w7qUQqSfc-4EqflPlK0qBRqAhETCE7sdOz78ohu3tk4-mT9-JkIrh5rvQP2bgCzz9lDyIuPio/s1600-h/p_2714997.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRlhGuoCICw6mzFBw4Cy-3_diinRbKiMna3BkE9q46BZ2Cc-ANPoN2zSWzUnOi_9K15w7qUQqSfc-4EqflPlK0qBRqAhETCE7sdOz78ohu3tk4-mT9-JkIrh5rvQP2bgCzz9lDyIuPio/s200/p_2714997.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Everyone need to read web pages. News sites, reference material, this and that. Unfortunately most pages are designed to discourage our reading experience. Some have letters so that we need to magnify the screen to read. And there are those pages which have so many words per row, that we almost always get lost when moving to the next line.<br />
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And we have our problems too. Inability to concentrate on anything makes us read the same para again and again.<br />
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Not to worry. At least in the computing world, problems are solved nearly in the same speed they appear. There are several interesting tools we can use to enhance our reading experience in the web.<br />
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<h2>1. <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2149">RSVP Reader</a></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrW0gJt0w6v-Q_sFuZ9xjPkNW18VRbtMFt83_jqiSOeM7Mmv1gGW5ENewmpSUuYkvhD40daZaXHl3TTjpN-749rPkcsbRnR5sWK76GuwpFDu4XZJ3zsq79zhY-vv7n4AnOxEtIYC_TmQ/s1600-h/rsvp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrW0gJt0w6v-Q_sFuZ9xjPkNW18VRbtMFt83_jqiSOeM7Mmv1gGW5ENewmpSUuYkvhD40daZaXHl3TTjpN-749rPkcsbRnR5sWK76GuwpFDu4XZJ3zsq79zhY-vv7n4AnOxEtIYC_TmQ/s320/rsvp.JPG" /></a></div>This is a nice addon for Firefox. Once installed it brings a new toolbar with several buttons and a text area. To read some text all you need to do is select the text and click the Play button on the toolbar. It then begins to show chunks of the text in the text area which is the only place you need to keep your eye on while reading. You can adjust the font size, number of words displayed per minute and the length of the chunks.<br />
Since you do not have to move your eyes in the screen your attention is not lost. For articles you want to skim through, for example long articles to be read in a short amount of time, you can increase the wpm value. May not be much suitable for reading technical stuff, but really great for going through news, stories, etc.<br />
And it is said that by using this your speed reading skills improve too. It's a pity a substitute is not yet available for Chrome.<br />
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<h2>2. <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7928">Reasy</a></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQ_8a5-OH_E-UNvKORQru0SVjtDFir8P72EdCPgvuNM_I7BVkE57NZ9ZyJqikHj79Ims_8LcdALih9AwqqpMEeUlt7lYb6k3FLSOlrOp7ma7zHrGl4GlN5m1e0Tj_g9nlq5Ad3BkyVEA/s1600-h/reasy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQ_8a5-OH_E-UNvKORQru0SVjtDFir8P72EdCPgvuNM_I7BVkE57NZ9ZyJqikHj79Ims_8LcdALih9AwqqpMEeUlt7lYb6k3FLSOlrOp7ma7zHrGl4GlN5m1e0Tj_g9nlq5Ad3BkyVEA/s200/reasy.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
This somewhat an extension to the RSVP reader. It makes the words scroll in the page while blocking the view of the real page content. Meant to further reduce the distractions. More focused on the presentation of the text, rather than many options, the author claims. But I personally dislike this.<br />
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<h2>3. <a href="http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/">Readability</a></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeAWk0WqNkPUBYYzwpwAAbx4Y52i-KM_ZzY5KI7ZrFit6oZLpdE0_742YvEH71wPzCE5SMd7vCaSGL1yKjpbvHsPNsvEgrEr5PsJCXGmiBbdxHJiVtHOcIZ5uxWSyIWDgLRXvgLaaQx4/s1600-h/readability.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeAWk0WqNkPUBYYzwpwAAbx4Y52i-KM_ZzY5KI7ZrFit6oZLpdE0_742YvEH71wPzCE5SMd7vCaSGL1yKjpbvHsPNsvEgrEr5PsJCXGmiBbdxHJiVtHOcIZ5uxWSyIWDgLRXvgLaaQx4/s200/readability.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Ever noticed that it is far easier to read the slim columns of a newspaper than long sentences in a book? Wished everything was in columns like that? Readability is the answer.<br />
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This ain't an addon, but a bookmarklet, something (a script in fact) you can drag and drop in your bookmarks bar and can be used in all browsers. You can first adjust the font style, size and margin size and then drag the bookmarklet to the bar. To read using this gadget, all you have to do is to hit the Readability bookmarklet while you're on the page you wish to read. If the RSVP reader's pace is too fast for you this will fit. The only drawback is Readability still lacks support for certain sites and has difficulty in displaying bulleted lists, etc.<br />
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This list isn't exhaustive. These are just the ones I'm using daily and would give you a started. I noticed that googling "read online faster" gives a plenty of results.<br />
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And, finally, if you want to increase your reading speed as a whole, I'd recommend Tony Buzan's Speed Reading book for best results.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-3178384558183945112010-02-07T19:28:00.000+05:302010-02-07T19:28:38.501+05:30This is the way we comb our hairI and my friend moved to this new boarding place in rajagiriya. We hadn't brought much of the belongings from the previous place, so had to shop for toothpastes, soap, combs, shoe polish, and all such minor stuff.<br />
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I love the pavement shops in the Borella junction. You can shop while you're walking to the bus stop. You can shop when you're waiting for your friend to arrive. You can shop even while you're hurrying for some important task. And, these shops can cater to most of your daily needs, too.<br />
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So almost all the stuff we bought were from these pavement shops. The prices aren't scary, and you can always find the cheapest of the kind. But when we got back and tried to comb our hairs, this is what we found out:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmYoD5m6OH97DG87EKvh1qjj8pDtneHDQDCyXwcXKo615Sm_XuOSaXtrF5q0mdbKitESLQzS7saWxNp5uhDpVdVGoSGkyzl3d51-_Uv9IDNGxYRm4bOlZ22fKhAv0FVJbdTVoGZ6-Ys0/s1600-h/comb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmYoD5m6OH97DG87EKvh1qjj8pDtneHDQDCyXwcXKo615Sm_XuOSaXtrF5q0mdbKitESLQzS7saWxNp5uhDpVdVGoSGkyzl3d51-_Uv9IDNGxYRm4bOlZ22fKhAv0FVJbdTVoGZ6-Ys0/s320/comb.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Too bad. Why didn't we double check before we put the thing to the bags? Because it was too small a thing to check? It cost only 30 rupees though. But 30 is 30, you know. Got to find some glue to fix the thing now.<br />
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Yes, plastic goodies in the market these days are so carelessly assembled. Especially those tiny things we find in the pavement shops including toys. Whatever amount it costs, we ought to check the thing twice just to be safe.<br />
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And the moral of the story is, you'll go to work with the hair messed up the next day if you don't do your shopping carefully.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-90780447070463994732010-02-04T13:58:00.001+05:302010-02-04T14:00:47.171+05:30I need a book lightI badly need a book light. Because the best time to read without other stuff to think about is when you're in the bed waiting for the sleep to arrive. It's the only time when you're not worried about checking the mail every five minutes or looking what others are tweeting about. The only time you have when the book is the world for you.<br />
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But then there's the problem of light. When you're at the bed it's dark. No luxury of a bedlight which you can turn off just on the moment sleep engulfs you. We people are boarders. No one to turn our lights off when we fall into sleep. So the only option seems to be a booklight. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-Ees-PQhqCYZAlMDM1eCJ7pSCpe5Ug6_DHGCRiUMA4vtFZ59vLait1dNHQHSoRHug0u6UILBIhWw77f6ntrtx35g3hbB7g86cmcty2oQcBwfiVcrrYjv28_gPdMC_ME5hDAZTXGZH2A/s1600-h/BL_XtraFlex_Blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-Ees-PQhqCYZAlMDM1eCJ7pSCpe5Ug6_DHGCRiUMA4vtFZ59vLait1dNHQHSoRHug0u6UILBIhWw77f6ntrtx35g3hbB7g86cmcty2oQcBwfiVcrrYjv28_gPdMC_ME5hDAZTXGZH2A/s200/BL_XtraFlex_Blue.jpg" width="171" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Wm3Vt1NxvLMIOCwMLZI6GUpaf0olTjQ2zd1w6KA2mQgneJUUoF-Y2iQQAf82NTYljSg4in0UnahGN377LYwkOdXFw-y2ZELhuGAjSdMjIYzbye1t_7VUq7Dwq-LBXKTXsSSYe6OK05w/s1600-h/hydra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Wm3Vt1NxvLMIOCwMLZI6GUpaf0olTjQ2zd1w6KA2mQgneJUUoF-Y2iQQAf82NTYljSg4in0UnahGN377LYwkOdXFw-y2ZELhuGAjSdMjIYzbye1t_7VUq7Dwq-LBXKTXsSSYe6OK05w/s200/hydra.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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I browsed sites about booklights for several days, but still haven't made up the mind to buy any particular one. Firstly, there was the problem of no credit card, but that problem will soon be solved with a Sampath web card. Then the price. A fairly good one will cost at least $15 which of course is too much for a chap like me. And the other problem is charging it. Seems most of the lights available on ebay are battery powered, AAA ones in that case. Their prices ain't sweet either. Of course, a recharger has to be bought, but still have to pay some handsome money for that, too. The best option would be to look for a light coming with a power pack, as the laptops do. Not quite sure of the availability anyway.<br />
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If anyone of you readers have experience in using one, please be kind to share the story.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-15549138877218842672010-02-03T19:32:00.000+05:302010-02-03T19:49:47.603+05:30People around us<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJ6ysh8jiZd9BEkjfSE4O_2oM2KZLmAK-HQ6lfXwIudMNoEkjiY2WkraLsEIOQfXZgVlco8prvI-imlPTT93kx0TOxzl3h9wiIuHEwExa752dZPUsh9AZqec4glSwA7xVd1WBWarlkCM/s1600-h/recreation_WRW.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJ6ysh8jiZd9BEkjfSE4O_2oM2KZLmAK-HQ6lfXwIudMNoEkjiY2WkraLsEIOQfXZgVlco8prvI-imlPTT93kx0TOxzl3h9wiIuHEwExa752dZPUsh9AZqec4glSwA7xVd1WBWarlkCM/s400/recreation_WRW.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434018969735746210" /></a><br /><div>Lately, I was thinking about the nice people around me. How unique each of them is! Wow, it's really nice to have so much different people to talk to!</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, some of them are really annoying at times, but yet, they're wonderful in so me way or other. Each of them have some nice feature if we think about it. X is studious, but I love him seeing studying, to see how some people can really put whole their efforts into boring things like that. And he does that really well too! Y behaves quite odd most of the time. But the more I talk with him, the more I get to know about the things in the world I don't know.</div><div><br /></div><div>And there's this person S, who rarely speaks. I watch him walking, how he's not interested in most of the things happening around him. He's by himself. People make fun of him, but it's not him that cares. Why should he?</div><div><br /></div><div>T's sentences always contain some bad words, even curses. But he's quite creative with that. I know of no one who can use bad words in such a creative manner.</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, we always only see the bad things of people. Forget the thousand good things he's done, if he commits one thing we find wrong, that's it. Yet how many of us try to think of the good and unique features of all these people? How the world will lose him if he were not here! Ain't these the people who add spice to the world we live in?</div><div><br /></div>Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-68002119659470569832009-10-13T09:08:00.001+05:302009-10-13T09:15:09.390+05:30Youtube wants me to commit suicideYeah, it does. It recommends me videos of suicide, execution, and all kinds of videos that would trigger a person who's also considering kind of suicide. And in my case, I've been feeling quite low for several weeks which left my mind in a state where I can no longer think as a rational human being. And, yes, one's youtube profile exposes himself. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4rzc3p6O3wyHqp_2TzUX7z4SebN9kqqmBShZuVhGJxlrBYlc1-RsFDMSWV8rgpGY1ywkgkSKTRm8QhhLfKxSZTziE96Q6AeCW_JGArtvjiS_t1UNt7U2BvbcbU1j0RFSOno-shWXOas/s1600-h/utb+recommended.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4rzc3p6O3wyHqp_2TzUX7z4SebN9kqqmBShZuVhGJxlrBYlc1-RsFDMSWV8rgpGY1ywkgkSKTRm8QhhLfKxSZTziE96Q6AeCW_JGArtvjiS_t1UNt7U2BvbcbU1j0RFSOno-shWXOas/s400/utb+recommended.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391924812144003346" /></a><br /><br />So don't get much excited if newspapers flood news about "Youtube kills young student" soon.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-29774507668332114972009-10-03T10:47:00.000+05:302009-10-03T11:18:09.921+05:30Installing TrueType fonts in Ubuntu<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlgzPfHnnmpZa06mVwbro2Z9uVr8ZngKvvOPE8utbsrYpPRrxOQP0bPA4m-YCSWVAejiJ4e1GXF4hVvJyK8UxaZkqvIgDizKgwN3T_5PDsWL9ZUY1TEFbNByyPO5QcJNR-4201TQP8gg/s1600-h/fonts.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlgzPfHnnmpZa06mVwbro2Z9uVr8ZngKvvOPE8utbsrYpPRrxOQP0bPA4m-YCSWVAejiJ4e1GXF4hVvJyK8UxaZkqvIgDizKgwN3T_5PDsWL9ZUY1TEFbNByyPO5QcJNR-4201TQP8gg/s200/fonts.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388244524455343762" border="0" /></a><br />Switched to linux and feeling the lack of fonts? Not to worry. Installing ttf fonts is fast and easy. Here's how to do it in Ubuntu. Hope it doesn't vary much for other distros.<br />The first step, of course, is to download some ttf fonts to be installed. Or perhaps, you can copy them from your Windows drive, given you have one remaining. One of my favourite places for fonts is the Fonts section in <a href="http://www.gnome-look.org/">http://www.gnome-look.org</a>.<br />Once the fonts are downloaded, copy them to somewhere like Desktop. In case of zipped fonts, you have to unzip them to get .ttf versions.<br />Now open up a terminal and dive to the fonts directory.<br /><br /><table border="0"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="black"> cd /usr/share/fonts/truetype</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Now that you may perhaps install dozens of fonts in the future, it's a good idea to keep them separated from the pre-installed ones. So let's keep the new arrivals in a new directory.<br /><br /><table border="0"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="black"> sudo mkdir myfonts<br /> cd myfonts</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Note that you will be required to give the password in creating the new directory, if you're not logged in as the root.<br />The next step is to move our new fonts to their new home.<br /><br /><table border="0"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="black"> sudo mv /home/<username>/Desktop/*.ttf .</username></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Replace <username> with your username. Also take note of the dot (.) at the end of the statement, indicating that the files have to be moved to the current directory.<br />Now we have to notify ubuntu about the new arrivals like this:<br /><br /><table border="0"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="black"> fc-cache -f -v ~/.font</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Done! Now go to your favourite word processing application (AbiWord in my case) and enjoy the newly installed fonts to your heart's content!Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-4305569079528891622009-06-24T23:19:00.000+05:302009-06-24T23:25:24.930+05:30Most people do it. When their products are not meeting the expected sales, they change the name of the product. Why shouldn't I?<br />This blog was so far named Techno Blog, and it was very recently I found out that it was one of the worst names a blog can have. Don't mean that Thameera's Column is the best of the names, but it's better. What do you think about the new look and feel?<br /><br /><hr><br />Now spending most of my time in Ubuntu Linux 9.04, I found out several interesting tricks to speed up the things in Linux. And the best of them is that to copy paste some text from one place to another, you don't need to select it right click and select copy, and all the boring stuff. All you have to do is select the text and middle-click in the place where you want it to paste. Isn't that a simple plan?Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-30038939385546801772009-05-15T01:00:00.000+05:302009-05-15T01:01:53.533+05:30My new Sinhala blogI just started a blog in Sinhala. It's called <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-transform: uppercase; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">තමීරගේ තීරය. </span></span><div><a href="http://thameeragetheeraya.blogspot.com/">http://thameeragetheeraya.blogspot.com/</a><br /></div><div><br /></div>Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-14501662012210882252009-05-05T19:34:00.001+05:302009-10-13T09:08:06.771+05:30How to add pictures in gmail<p>Now there is a Gmail Labs facility which lets you embed pictures while composing a mail. Follow the following steps to enable this feature:</p> <p>1. In Gmail, click on the Labs icon <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRF5-NRpJfDjXHibzuoWRR_P7feqCsJ36VSEam9JATaOgyLMRxNoe0PHq3kHpCg0f5qRzT8wcolUuTAwnsFjb776YyA7UMrhb6UDr1OjGqoVa0lfq1R0Zhkin3hF4CL8Atirn6S_3HUds/s320/labs.JPG" style="margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 19px; height: 26px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332340502823937746" /> to the top right of the page. </p><p>2. Scroll the page until you find the lab <span style="color:#0000a0;">Inserting Images</span> and enable the feature. Then click Save at the bottom of the page.</p> <p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrEIm55idj4T_8ldWBxua9ACSaA_UTaw8WkK-g75AdXjcSaWGL9eZ9bDTf00p29SQNH3WpuPKTTRI7bHFkQiRNgEIid3R3_QnAht6Sy5t2E_Fx-ixXfbpqeIFbDBBr5vbcFbc-YSlQbk/s320/images1.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 48px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332340979716926626" /></span></p> <p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3. If you have already enabled Gmail Offline, a message will appear saying that it will take some time for the lab to be enabled. In my case it took several days. Don’t know what the reason is. Anyway, after it is enabled an insert picture icon comes to the toolbar when you are composing a message.</p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OrZEbSXxsgnHBjBZMvnOnIPAsOC36bO_y0MwXGJAHqOnxREVBawCk6MMyGlK8-NxuBi_PhIMNnJEmnoR762jqgAIXcNYglcSoDz99Z1wvfprmQgZ3MadoJ3t90aD2AkNRYSaAN4xhBw/s320/images2.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 213px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332341116020337026" /> <p>However, the recipient will not see the image until he clicks on the Show Images link that would appear. </p>Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-86478561977909172512009-04-25T18:28:00.000+05:302009-04-25T18:38:55.483+05:30How to save Word documents in PDF<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1e65kSa0cgAnP13YJh-n8cefwk4I91XFIU8er93Q30mO0_UL8Dn1byXKGnBQRwonJBkH7N_xXyGxYuKeuLU9UjOC8Ts6XPNJxGWXa0JKTWa2NYX9XKA4grDtoQ2ic-iQfOkItlRhHUcc/s1600-h/SaveAsPdf.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1e65kSa0cgAnP13YJh-n8cefwk4I91XFIU8er93Q30mO0_UL8Dn1byXKGnBQRwonJBkH7N_xXyGxYuKeuLU9UjOC8Ts6XPNJxGWXa0JKTWa2NYX9XKA4grDtoQ2ic-iQfOkItlRhHUcc/s320/SaveAsPdf.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328613944005747074" /></a><div>It is possible to publish Word documents in PDF format just in two clicks in Word 2007. All you have to do is to download and install "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS</span></span>" from www.microsoft.com. (Hint: search for the above phrase at that site). After installation, a menu item as in the screenshot to the right appears.</div><div>XPS also seems to be a filetype like PDF but it is open source or something, I'm not sure. </div>Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-14794383175964914092009-04-22T09:33:00.000+05:302009-04-22T09:42:00.039+05:30Docx to doc converterToday I brought this certain DOCX file from home and at the internet cafe I'm horrified to find that Word 2007 is not available in the cafe's machines. Well, why worry, internet's got the answer to every problem. So I googled "Docx to doc converter" and followed the top link. And it was a pay-and-convert site!<br />So I added "free" to my keywords and searched again. Then results led me to several sites all of who requested my email so that they can send me the converted file. I followed their guidelines and waited for about 10 minutes only to find no reply in my inbox. Tried another site with the same result. Getting f<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5kmoywyZtw_C2IPb8jHfGCvTiVXZPXU6Kq9tJZR6_aLjxnXWxg0SXwbQ0kf8sc9HnZ1qK25v-zs5Fv_DAc63I9-4WUspRfzpH_mrS_UuJiQIvfXE7aLeRp3vJyFtboOWiW3-prUnOuM/s1600-h/logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 60px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5kmoywyZtw_C2IPb8jHfGCvTiVXZPXU6Kq9tJZR6_aLjxnXWxg0SXwbQ0kf8sc9HnZ1qK25v-zs5Fv_DAc63I9-4WUspRfzpH_mrS_UuJiQIvfXE7aLeRp3vJyFtboOWiW3-prUnOuM/s320/logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327363548677329794" border="0" /></a>rustrated I finally tried www.convertfiles.com and in just a second I got the converted file as a link in my inbox! Thanks, ConvertFiles!<br />In the site you can, in fact, convert most file types, not only documents.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-55961473068056646582009-04-22T09:29:00.000+05:302009-10-13T08:38:49.688+05:30Vista Hidden Context Menu!!!You can access the hidden context menu in Vista by holding down the shift key before right-clicking on a file or folder. One of the coolest features in the new menu is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Copy As Path</span>. By choosing this, the path of the selected object is automatically pasted in the clipboard so you can paste it elsewhere. Otherwise, we would have to open the properties dialog of the file to copy its path, but even then you would not be able to copy the full path.<br /><br />When you shift-right-click a folder, the context menu gives you the option Open Command Window Here. This will open a command window (DOS prompt) with the selected directory as the current directory. Many of you will find this quite a handy feature.<br /><br />The hidden menu also has some shortcuts to pin the selection to start menu, add to quick launch, etc.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-4082422285725647072009-04-22T09:26:00.000+05:302009-10-13T08:39:46.584+05:30Office Compatibility CheckerYou have typed this certain document having several pages with lot of effort in the Word 2007 format, or perhaps the document may span several hundred pages. And now you have to convert the document to 2003 format. But will the converted document be exactly a clone of the original? Well, you can find this out by clicking on the Office button (to the top-left screen) and selecting Prepare->Run Compatibility Checker.<br /><br />It gives a list of warnings on what will happen when you try to convert to 2003 format, and their number of occurrences. For example, I got the following warning recently: SmartArt graphics will be converted into a single object that can't be edited in previous versions of Word.<br /><br />In the bottom of the box you can turn on automatic compatibility checking when saving in older formats (this is turned on in default)<br /><br />This compatibility checker is available in other Office packages as well.Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430078588966096212.post-20378195706770230192009-04-09T09:32:00.000+05:302009-04-09T09:39:51.784+05:30FILExtI was searching the web for some free vector graphics when I happened to download a file with extension .AI. What is the software to use to open this file? The simple answer is to go to http://filext.com<div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFIM8RNhotK3W10x_T-IrV-ej09pGZiOq1tutQHfCWsVEKRvAdQpecswM5gT7J0bvSdWWzKw25FMpnhC_NNOB5aqALpwyt443c6ZloonxZylUgWHOv4rJhShWF5y5nu_ggrvvmXpcIYM/s320/filextwbackground.gif" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 68px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322538976623668770" /><div>The site describes itself as the File Extension Source. Type in any file extension in the search box to the left and it will instantly display several results, and in my case I got the required result at the top. The result includes the meaning of the extension, the company with the copyright and the programmes used to open a file with the extension. In my case it was Adobe Illustrator (Should have guessed that before!).</div><div><br /></div></div>Thameerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290505322868497863noreply@blogger.com0