sandipb.net

> yours truly.

So Wordpress just released 1.5.1.1 to fix the RSS problem which has bitten me badly too. The trouble is that I am getting sick of their manual upgrade steps - backup, overwrite, restore, etc. etc. when the only changes have been to the core files! I wonder why they can’t release very minor releases (e.g. 1.5.1.1) as patches. Even minor releases (e.g. 1.5.1) can be released as patches - the database changes can be handled using the upgrade script which can itself be available as a patch.

Is Canon selling overpriced digital cameras in India?

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The Canon A95 Canon India is selling Powershot A95 at an MRP of Rs. 25,995/-. Amazon’s listing of A95 mentions a list price of $349.95 (or Rs. 15,121 at today’s exchange rates). Amazon actually sells it for $269.94 (or Rs. 11,664 today). The question is why does Canon India sell its regular products at a 70% higher price in India? How much duty do these products attract anyway?

Beware of Visa electron based debit cards

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Take a look at this post by Bhavin Shah talking about how insecure Visa Electron based debit cards (like my ICICI debit card) are. He has learnt this the hard way when HDFC bank refused to entertain any disputes on a fraudulent charging of Rs. 25,000 on his stolen card. In short, You are not asked to enter your PIN while swiping these debit cards. There is no obligation on the part of the merchant to check the signatures with that on the back of the card.

Greasemonkey is currently not only just the hottest Firefox extension (or plugin) in town, it is also the most disruptive of all browser plugins. It beats me how nobody had thought of such a browser add-on before. Greasemonkey allows the user to change their experience on any website, on their own, without the help of the website developers themselves. It does this by modifying the website behavior using custom javascript that is added on top of the browser pages.

PrintFu - On demand PDF printing

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General internet / printing / web

http://www.printfu.org/ Give us your PDF and a couple days later, you’ll have a black and white, printed and comb bound book on your door step. Damn, this is something I have been looking out for ages! How I wish somebody offered such a service in Delhi! 😞

Nice short intro to Bazaar

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foss

Edd Dumbill has written a real nice short intro to the Bazaar - a reimplementation of GNU Arch revision control system. I have been getting tired of keeping up with new Subversion revisions and the mod_dav/mod_dav_svn module that I need to keep updating. By contrast Arch allows read only archives using plain HTTP. Most importantly it supports distributed repositories - this allows me to maintain a repository of system config in the servers that I manage, and sync them when I want with my home machine.

Free Java and Free Flash

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foss

Three important projects for creating Free alternatives of these major and popular proprietary technologies.

Configuring Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router for my home

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General broadband / internet / personal / tech / wireless

I bought my first wireless equipment a couple of days back - A Linksys Wireless-G router model WRT54G. I had selected this model after spending a number of days poring through online reviews of various routers. The Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G router The box cost me Rs. 3550 (with bill) in Nehru Place. I immediately started working on how to place it in my network. Finally an hour back, I could figure out the right way to configure it.

Microsoft vs. Google

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General business / google / microsoft / tech

A great article on the online tussle between Microsoft and Google. For anyone who has been watching Gates over the years, the idea that an upstart like Google could so flummox him and his fierce company takes getting used to. But Google is a rival unlike any he has faced in a long time. In previous battles, Microsoft always had a powerful trump card: It controlled the Windows operating system.

Am I an Electric Human?

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personal

For quite some years now, I have been having an odd problem. I seem to get charged up with static electricity very frequently. As many of my friends and relatives would testify, they have suffered many painful and shocking handshakes with me. Then there are time periods when this problem becomes especially acute, and touching anything from door curtains to basin knobs to car doors gives me shocks. Sometimes I can even see a blue streak of electricity zapping across my hand to a door handle I am about to touch.