Monday, September 21, 2009

Browsing World Wide Web from the terminal

2 comments
We usually browse internet from browsers which have fancy gui, buttons, gestures, shortcuts. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer are few of them.
Being a geek we love to do things the hard way :-) Simply because it is fun!!
How about browsing internet from the plain old terminal? Amazing huh!! w3m is installed default by ubuntu which provides browsing internet from terminal
try it becoz it is FUN!

w3m in action -->

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Awesome photos that I have taken

0 comments
Below is my picasa web albums link, please comment if you like the photos! :-)
http://picasaweb.google.com/tharidufernando/StarPhotos#

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Sinhaly the wave robot

0 comments
Hello everybody,
This week I was free so I started a little wave project. To who don't know what is wave it is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web. It is initiative from Google and will be available for public later this year. To learn more about wave go to this link.
Google wave is still in developer preview stage which have lots of bugs :-( You can get a invite from this link.
To whom who have google wave accounts my address is tharidu@wavesandbox.com
So let's start,
Google wave allows developers to use and enhance it through the APIs available. They are Robots, Gadgets and Embed. Well I developed a small functioning robot called "sinhaly" which enables user to use English-Sinhala transliteration easily. So if you type mama it will convert it to මම. It runs in the cloud and to use it you will have to add sinhaly ( sinhaly@appspot.com ) as a participant.
Sinhaly was written in python a
nd uses unicode standard to render Sinhala fonts. The algorithm was derived from UCSC Language Technology Research Laborotary's Real Time Unicode Converter.

Sinhaly in action :-)

Hope you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

How to rearm Windows 7

0 comments
Windows 7 is not yet released but the RTM version is available at MSDN. The intial trial period of Windows 7 is 30 days. However this can be extended upto 120 days!
This is legal also!!

"slmgr.vbs –rearm"


Enter the above command at a command prompt and restart. This command must be used when the trial day counter almost zero. The above command will give 30 days and can be entered 3 times.

wave

0 comments


Sunday, July 19, 2009

Techකතා Live: 24වන සජීවී වැඩසටහන හා පැන-විසඳුම්

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Techකතා Live: 24වන සජීවී වැඩසටහන හා පැන-විසඳුම්

  • High Quality (STEREO) 64Kbps (Broadband අන්තර්ජාල සම්බන්ධතා සදහා)


    [Download MP3 (32MB) or Ogg (31MB)]


  • Low Quality (STEREO) 32Kbps (Dial-up අන්තර්ජාල සම්බන්ධතා සදහා)


    [Download MP3 (16MB) or Ogg (21MB)]

  • Monday, July 13, 2009

    Windows 7 RTM build is leaked!!

    2 comments
    Today the RTM version of windows 7 which bears the 7600 build have been leaked. x64 is only available @ the moment.

    Windows 7 RTM x86 ISO: 7600.16384.090710-1945_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD.iso
    Windows 7 RTM x64 ISO: 7600.16384.090710-1945_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD.iso

    Hashes for Windows 7 RTM Build 7600.16384.090710-1945 x64 iso is:

    Windows 7 RTM 7600.16384.090710-1945_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD.iso

    7600.win7_rtm.090710-1945

    SHA1 0×31849B315290EFABFD81F967ED3C553D82925E4C


    Im gonna install a fresh copy of this bulid if time allows!

    You can get the links by googling!!



    [Images Coutesy: TechInvaders]

    update - http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?t=6293

    torrent - Mininova


    Tuesday, June 30, 2009

    prefix-infix-postfix

    5 comments

    Welcome back after a long time!!

    @ UCSC for our data structures & algorithms course we had a assignment for converting between prefix-infix-postfix notations. So there are total of 6 conversions! I’m posting this because as i experienced this is a good project for get around in stacks, recursion and basic algorithm and data structure stuff.

    I implemented four of conversions which are infix –> prefix,

    infix –> postfix , prefix –> infix, postfix –> infix.

    Other 2 conversions will happen using the above ones.

    I wrote up the program that will support unary operators(minus numbers) 1-n digit numbers (5 , 50 , 456 , ..)

    BELOW are the pseudocodes

    Infix to Postfix algorithm
    1) Check for parenthesis errors. If found return ERROR
    2) Get the next element and store it in a variable – temp
    a. IF temp is a operand, examine the next element
    1. IF it is a operand output temp
    2. ELSE IF stack.top is unary minus --> output temp
    3. ELSE output temp and a SPACE
    ii. ELSE IF stack.top is unary minus -->output temp
    iii. ELSE output temp and a SPACE
    b. ELSE IF temp is a opening parenthesis -->push stack with temp
    c. ELSE IF temp is a operator
    i. IF stack is empty -->push stack with temp
    ii. ELSE IF stack.top is a opening parenthesis -->push stack with temp
    iii. ELSE IF temp’s precedence > stack.top precedence -->push stack with temp
    iv. ELSE output stack.pop and a SPACE AND repeat step “c”
    d. ELSE IF temp is a closing parenthesis
    i. WHILE stack.top is NOT opening parenthesis -->output stack.pop and a SPACE
    ii. IF stack.top is opening parenthesis -->pop the stack
    3) WHILE stack IS NOT empty -->output stack.pop and a SPACE


    Infix to Prefix algorithm
    Same as infix to postfix algorithm except,
    1) Before step 2 the input string will be reversed.
    2) Also the two parenthesis{ “ ( ” , ” ) ” } will be swapped where mentioned.
    3) Lastly the output will be reversed


    Prefix to Infix algorithm
    This algorithm is a non-tail recursive method.
    1) The reversed input string is completely pushed into a stack.
    prefixToInfix(stack)
    1) IF stack is not empty
    a. Temp -->pop the stack
    b. IF temp is a operator
    i. Write a opening parenthesis to output
    ii. prefixToInfix(stack)
    iii. Write temp to output
    iv. prefixToInfix(stack)
    v. Write a closing parenthesis to output
    c. ELSE IF temp is a space -->prefixToInfix(stack)
    d. ELSE
    i. Write temp to output
    ii. IF stack.top NOT EQUAL to space -->prefixToInfix(stack)


    Postfix to Infix Algorithm
    Same as Prefix to Infix algorithm except,
    1) Step 1 must be changed – The input string will be pushed into the stack
    2) Also the two parenthesis{ “ ( ” , ” ) ” } will be swapped where mentioned.
    3) The output string will be reversed.

    as i think this post will be a valuable resource for any computer science student!

    image

    Monday, June 8, 2009

    A easy way to share and store files online

    4 comments

    As i know almost of my friends @ da uni use pen drives (USB flash drives). They usually carry assignments, important documents, photos of GF or BF ;-) and etc., This is very dangerous becoz usually pen drive is not very reliable device and it can be lost or stolen by someone easily.

    Your computer’s hard disk is also vulnerable for failures and can be virus affected also.

    The result is losing ur assignment that must be given tomorrow. Then finally freaking out!!!

    The ANSWER is storing the files online. There are various free sites that give this service but i use “Dropbox”. It hav lots of features to explore.

    I will list some feature that i like most,

    1. There is a desktop client which will integrate with a folder in ur hard disk which can be synched online. There re offering clients for Windows, Linux and OSX. Cool!!!

    This means u can synch files over several computers.

    dropbox dropboxmenu

    This is a screenshot of my dropbox and the menu. U will see which files or folders are current updated or synchronizing.

    There re giving out a 2GB account free, if u want to upgrade it is possible.

    2. There is a web client which will be accessible @ www.getdropbox.com

    This site is very feature rich and easy to learn. It uses https protocol which is more secure also.

    dropboxevents dropboxweb

    3. U can also share certain folders with ur friends. They wont be allowed to other files or folders so it is great in team work.

    Hope u will give a try!

    U can get dropbox @ the link below,This my referral which will give 250 MB free for both of us so if u re interested go to it & download!

    Download Dropbox

    Saturday, June 6, 2009

    my most WANTED firefox extensions!

    5 comments

    I simply can’t live without firefox extenstions! Truly! It enhances the productivity of firefox & the web browsing experience overall.

    I use about 10 extensions or add-ones. I will list them by my preference. btw u can download it by clicking on the title.

    However addons make firefox more memory hungry! So be careful.

    1. Adblock Plus

    This nifty add-on can almost block any AD in internet. So this will result websites loading fast. You can also block anything according to ur preference also. It will also block adsense ads. After installing u can subscribe to a list that maintains a database of ads, scripts , etc. As i think it is a MUST for every firefox user.

    2. Flagfox

    This addon wont interest every user. This addon will list everythingabout the current site loaded up in the tab. It displays a flag according what country the site is hosted. It will also give access to numerous IP tools, Domain tools.

    3. Xmarks

    This is a addon which will sync ur bookmarks and passwords. This is useful who use more than one computer. Also it remembers all the passwords which is hosted online. All are encrypted so no need to be worry. A master password is used to access all the data. To use Xmarks u hav to create a account which is FREE.

    This also list top 3 sited related to the current site u re browsing also.

    4. TwitterFox

    This is for twitters. It can update the status, receive twitters, link the current site, see the replies and messages. It supports multiple accounts. A simple addon but very useful.

    5. EnSiTip

    English-Sinhala translator for firefox. Displays the definition/s of the word below the cursor. Very useful!

    6. Cooliris

    A cool awesome addon which transforms ur browser to a 3d wall. It can browse numerous sites in it. I use it for google search, youtube, facebook photo albums. By using this u can enjoy sites in a geeky and a faster way! a MUST!

    7. Peers

    When google chrome came into the scene it had the awseome address bar that doubles as a search bar, remember? However this functionality is not there in firefox. However by this addon u can get that functionality.

    8. Split Browser

    This addon is more useful for who hav widescreen displays. It can split the current tab into two pages horizontally or vertically. This is great for comparing. U can also synchronize the scroll.

    9. FoxTab

    Do u love the flip3d in windows or ubuntu(compiz)? Then u will love this also. U can quickly switch between tabs in a cool way.

    There is lot of features built-in so u can also give it a try!

    10. FEBE

    FEBE stands for Firefox Environment Backup Extension. It can backup ur entire profile including extensions, history(browser and form fill), bookmarks, cache, settings, themes cookies.

    This is a life saver when u want to install firefox again. U wont have to download extensions or themes again ever!

    Thursday, June 4, 2009

    Trying out MS Office 2010

    5 comments
    Microsoft have released a technical preview of MS Office 2010 few weeks ago. Because of my curiosity I downloaded it @ da usual place and installed this beta-like software to my desktop.

    I found out a new visually appealing splash screen
    As i feel the performance is still the same as old Office 2007.
    It still have the eye-catching and the very useful ribbon.












    The ribbon feature is now available in Outlook also :-)

    The most prominent new feature is the new Office Menu
    All important functions of every office program is integrated into this powerful menu.










    This version is made to Windows 7 hence it support
    my favorite jump lists

    However since this is a technical preview there are lots of bugs.
    But i'm impressed what Microsoft have come up with!

    Office 2010 bears the number 14. Previous version which is 2007 had number 12. Microsoft have skipped number 13 becoz of superstitious feelings maybe??