Notes to Self

Moving from LA to San Jose

2008-07-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

I thought this would be easy cos my employer would provide movers but now, they are only paying me for the move so I am stuck....

Been googling and filling up forms for quotes. but nothing so far :(

Infosys (Infy) pays for overtime

2008-02-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

Infosys has settled for a total amount of $26 million.with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) towards possible overtime payment to certain employees in California

The payment pertains to the last three years and such back wages will be paid to employees in due course and was announced by Infosys as part of its Q3 2007-2008 results.

Highlights of Infosys Q3 Earnings Report (2007-2008)

Revenues: $1.08 Billion
Net income: $310 million
Earnings Per Share: 54 cents
No of Employees: 88,601
(as on December 31, 2007)
Clients Added during quarter: 47

Outlook for Q4 2007-2008 for the quarter ending March 31, 2008

Revenues: $1.136 billion-$1.142 billion
Earnings per ADS: 54 cents

According to Line 64 of Ex 99.1 - Miscellaneous Exhibit of Infosys's '6 K' on the secinfo site

Line 64: California wage settlement The Company has voluntarily settled with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) towards possible overtime payment to certain employees in California for a total amount of $ 26 million. The payment pertains to the last three years and such backwages will be paid to employees in due course. Outlook for the quarter ending March 31, 2008 and the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 ...

At Lawyers and settlements.com

The site is asking us to

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Register your Infosys Unpaid Overtime Complaint
If you are an employee of Infosys Technologies in California and make less than $47.81 per hour and do not receive overtime wages, you may qualify for damages or remedies that may be awarded in a possible Infosys Unpaid Overtime lawsuit. Please click the link below to submit your complaint and we will have this lawyer review your Infosys Unpaid Overtime complaint.

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As a former employee of Infosys who falls into this category I got my check ( checque ???? ) today and really appreciate that the company settled my balance inspite of the fact that i had not claimed anything from them

Bloxorz

2008-01-14T15:01:00.001-08:00

Here's a simple game of moving a 1x2 block by rolling/turning it over to finally reach a hole. Reminds me very much of Sokoban, but with some interesting twists including the absence of walls.

Play it to know more - it sure will bring down your productivity at office

iPhone Faults

2007-12-18T23:56:00.000-08:00

1. Does not have copy and paste functionality.

2. Safari considers every 10 digit number a phone number, even if it is a tracking number or something.

3. No way to switch between applications without going to the home screen first. So for instance, if you using the pop mail application, click on a link in your email, it goes to safari but once you're done with safari, you can't go back to mail app without pressing home button.

4. Safari supports tab/multiple window browsing but no way to right click and open a link in a new window.

5. After you close the new window in safari, your original window still navigates to the new page and disables the "back" button as well. So you've to go to history and navigate from there.

6. No way to close the keyboard. Start the SMS application, create a new SMS, press send, keyboard stays there.

7. iPhone puts timestamp on SMS conversation when it feels convinient to do so.

8. Can't just turn off the phone without turning off wi-fi as well.

9. Can't play games without an internet connection.

10. Can't change the auto-correct feature of iphone.

11. Can't record videos.

12. Claims to have "full version" of the web available on iphone but no flash support. Can't even pan around a map on google/yahoo/live maps etc. or similar applications.

13. Can't delete pictures from your photo gallery. Can only delete on pc and sync again.

14. Can't rate songs on iPod.

15. Album art don't change once the song changes in album flip mode.

16. No snooze feature for reminders.

Mesothelioma

2007-12-05T17:58:00.001-08:00

Today read somewhere that "mesothelioma" is one of the highest paying adwords in adsense. Being a doctor's son ,was too curious not to lookup what "mesothelioma" meant.

So here's a gist of whatz given on wikipedia

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.[1] In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking

More information , its prognosis, symptoms and prevention at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesothelioma

Turn Off Archiving in Oracle

2007-12-05T17:57:00.001-08:00

Shutdown edit pfile / spfile (spfile when instance is up of course) to say log_archive_start = false.

startup mount

alter database noarchivelog;

alter database open;

create user syntax for mysql

2007-12-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

1. CREATE USER user [IDENTIFIED BY [PASSWORD] 'password']

Then u'll have to do the grants for the db

2. Grant all on .* to user

Convert pdf to html - free

2007-12-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

If the Adobe PDF file is on local media, such as a hard drive, CD-ROM, or internal server, it can be submitted as a MIME attachment to an e-mail message. All converted Adobe PDF documents will be sent back to the sender as MIME attachments. For plain text, mail the attached PDF to pdf2txt@adobe.com. For HTML, mail the attached PDF to pdf2html@adobe.com.

To convert a pdf file on the web to a html format, go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html and provide the url for the pdf file

How to make money with Google Adsense

2007-12-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

Found a nice article about google adsense at http://www.trap17.com/index.php/google-adsense_t6544.html

Having used Google's Adsense program before, I know it's a great way to generate money from your website. Google Adsense Program offers you PPC Advertising, know as Pay Per Click, it's a great way for you to earn money for a website that would otherwise be sitting there, generating no money. I've decided to teach you a few steps and tips, on how to squeeze the most out Google Adsense. If you're successful, you could be raking out anywhere from 300 - 500 Dollars US a month. (Or even more)*~Drool~*

THE STEPS.

1.Register for a Google Adsense account, here

After you registered, it's time to play the waiting game. Google takes approx. 2 - 3 days to check your website, and see that it's got the right content, etc, etc... Here's a note, Google tends to not let Blog sites to participate in the Google Adsense Program, you'll understand why, later on.

2. Hopefully, you will now have a verified Google Adsense account. And you can log onto your Publisher's account.

3. Now, the money making begins, first of all, make sure that your site actually has VISITORS! If not, try to visit a traffic exchange site, or convince your siblings to visit it often. Customize your codes, and paste it onto your site.

THE DO'S AND DON'T OF GOOGLE ADSENSE.

1. Consistency is Good.

Google watches your account VERY closely, and if they notice that there's something "fishy" going on with your account, they say "Bye Bye" to your account. I still insist till today that I never did anything against the Google Rules and TOS. So, If you suddenly have a jump in the number of Clicks that you get, you might just get screwed over by Google. That's why you always want a steady stream of visitors, or else, you'll risk having your account suspended, like what happened to me.

2. Keywords are the KEY.

I mentioned earlier that Google tends to not accept blogs for the Adsense Program, here's why: Blog's as you know, give out a wide variety of information, one day, the author could be talking about Goose Repellent, the other he could be talking about Computers. The was Adsense works is that it scans your page for keywords, then applies those keywords into the advertisements, therefore, if you're website is all about Computers, you'll have computer-based ads, if it's about goose repellent, then, you'll, er, have goose repellent ads. The thing about ads, is, that they all aren't worth the same price per click. So to say, if you have a computer ad, and someone clicked on it, you'd probably get $2 for that, on the other hand, if you had a Goose Repellent site, you'd get 2 cents for that click. So, if you had a blog, then you could talk about certain keywords and you’d get more revenue, as opposed to a goose repellent site, which cant change their content.

Therefore, it's important that you maximize your revenue by using "expensive" keywords, such include:

Web Hosting - 2 - 8 dollars a click

Computers 1 -3 dollars a click

So, if you website is technology oriented, you’ll tend to get more money than those who use a Goose Repellent site.

In addition, Google checks the amount of times your page uses a certain words therefore, if you have the word “cpu” 100 times on a site, it’s very likely that your advertisement will inceldue something that has to do with CPU’s.

You can use this handy Keyword density checker to see how many words and stats on you keyword density of a website. http://www.ranks.nl/tools/spider.html. Limit is a 40k website.

3. DO NOT click on your own ads.

Seriously, if you click on your own ads, Google automatically logs you IP address, and then it notifies a moderator, then, well, you’d be pretty screwed. Because you aren’t allowed to click on them, and if you’re the sneaky type, you’d go to computers with different IP’s and <- snipped -> yourself. It’s a good idea, but, again, Google also monitors how frequently the ads come from the same IP, therefore ,even if it’s not your computer, but you use it to click from it frequently, Google will notice, Google tends to go for a wide variety of IP’s to ensure that it is actually getting real visitors.

Poker Hands

2007-12-05T17:53:00.001-08:00

Texas Hold Em - Basics

2007-12-05T17:52:00.003-08:00

In Texas Hold'em, there are two face-down cards for each player and five face-up community cards. The player who makes the best five-card poker hand with any combination of their two face-down cards and the five community cards wins the round. In a Texas Hold'em game, a disc or other marker is used to indicate which person is the "dealer" for the round. Before the cards are dealt, the person to the left of the dealer posts a bet called the small blind, a forced bet that is of a predetermined amount. The person to the left of the small blind posts the big blind, another forced bet which is usually double the small blind. The first two cards are dealt to each player face down (these are called the hole cards), and the person to the left of the big blind starts the first round of betting. (Notice that the big blind and small blind do not get to look at their cards before betting, thus the term "blind"). In the first round of betting, each player has three options: call, raise or fold. To call, the player must place a bet that is equal to the last bet placed. (For the first player in the round, this would be equal to the minimum bet.) A player may choose to raise their call bet by an additional amount, which the other players will then have to call. If one's hole cards are not favorable, the player may simply choose to fold and sit out the round.

After all the players have finished the first round of betting, the first three community cards are dealt face-up on the board. This is called the flop. The second and all subsequent betting rounds start with the first player to the dealer's left, and players now has the option to check. By checking, the player indicates interest in the pot without placing a bet. Any player may choose to place a bet, which the other players must then call. Players can still raise, if a bet has been made, or fold, if their hand is not favorable. After the second betting round, the fourth community card is dealt face-up (this is called the turn card). After the third betting round, the fifth and final community card is dealt (this is called the river card). A final round of betting ensues, and afterwards each player turns their hole cards face up. The highest hand that can be made with any combination of a player's hole cards and the five community cards wins the pot. If two or more players have the same hand, the next highest card in the player's hand (the kicker) is used to break a tie. If there is no kicker card (the tied players have used both hole cards, or have the exact same hand), then the pot is split between them. The dealer button is then passed clockwise to the next player and another round of play begins.

Poker Etiquette

2007-12-05T17:52:00.001-08:00

1. Don’t Play Out of Turn

While you may be so excited about how good your hand is you can hardly wait to raise the pot, you have to wait until it's your turn to do so. Same goes for folding hands you can't wait to get away from. If you jump the gun, it gives other players information they shouldn't have before they make their own decision and can confuse the action.

2. Don't Talk About Your Cards While the Hand is Still Going On

Once you've folded, it's tempting to chat about what would have happened if you had stayed in, but if anyone who's still in the hand hears, it'll give them information that they might use to their advantage. For instance, if you had a 7-2 as your pocket cards in Hold'em and the flop comes 7-7-2, if you blurt out that you would have had a full house, everyone will know that it's unlikely that any player still in the hand has the full house, making it hard to bluff and represent that hand.

3. Don't Show Your Cards (Until the Showdown)

When you fold, make sure you don't flash or flip over your cards as you toss them into the muck. Again, if players know what you fold, it'll give them information that may change how the rest of the hand plays out. Unless you are all-in and heads up, there is no reason to show or expose your cards until the showdown.

4. Don't Splash the Pot

There are two bad betting habits that you see a lot in the movies which are no-nos in real life. The first is when a player tosses his bet in a big mess in the center of the pot. That's called Splashing the Pot, and it makes it hard to tell how much you've bet. A better way is just to stack your chips neatly in front of you to bet.

5. Don't Make String Bets

The second bad habit from movies is the string bet, which is when a player goes "I'll call your 500.... and raise another 1000!" You have to declare whether you're simply calling or raising right away -- once you say "call," that's all you can do. If you're going to raise, say raise and the amount right away. This is especially important in casinos.

6. Don't Be Rude or Mean

Even if you're having a bad losing streak, it doesn't give you the right to curse other players or be rude to the dealer. It will win you neither pots nor friends.

7. If You Show One, Show All

If you win a hand before the showdown but want to show your cards anyway, you can't just show them to the one player to your left or right, you have to turn them up for the whole table to see. After all, why should only the lucky players next to you get to know what you were holding?

8. Do Pay Attention

If you're in a hand, don't make everyone remind you that it's your turn -- keep up with the action so the game keeps moving. Talking on cell phones is a bad idea.

Texas Holdem starting hands

2007-12-05T17:51:00.001-08:00

1. Ace-Ace

This is the best Hold'em poker hand you can hope to have. It's the best of the best, and will win more than any other hand. Also known as American Airlines, pocket rockets, and bullets.

2. King-King

This 2nd-best hold'em hand is still incredibly strong and will win you a good chunk of change. Two kings, or "cowboys" are only dominated by aces.

3. Queen-Queen

Two queens, or "ladies" are a very good hand. Sure, kings and aces will beat you, but you've got the upper hand on jacks and below.

4. Ace-King

Ace-king is a strong but tricky hand. It is the strongest of the drawing hands, but the flop needs to work with you to give you a pair of aces or kings for it to really pay off. Suited it is slightly stronger than unsuited, as then you can also make the nut flush much more easily.

5. Jack-Jack

A pair of jacks, ten-handed, will win almost 20% of the time. If the flop shows a queen, king, or ace, watch out, but otherwise, it's smooth sailing.

6. Ace-Queen

Ace-queen is the second best drawing hand, and when suited, will win about 20% of the time as well.

7. King-Queen

King-queen, especially suited, is a great drawing hand that is only afraid of an Ace falling on the board.

8. Ace-Jack

Ace-jack is another great drawing hand. Suited is always better here, but unsuited is still playable.

9. King-Jack

King-jack, especially in later positions, is a fine hand to play, but can be beat by any of the hands listed above and should be folded to big raises. Statistically, suited it will win just under 19% of the time, but unsuited that drops to just 15%.

10. Ace-Ten

Ace-ten is still a good hand -- you've got the ace, and can make a straight if the miracle J-Q-K falls on the board. But be wary of playing it too strong, especially unsuited, as if all you end up with is a pair of aces, you may be out-kicked.

IPL vs ICL

2007-12-05T17:50:00.002-08:00

Rival cricket leagues do battle in India

October 23, 2007 – 2:19 am

NEW DELHI - India’s new-found fascination for Twenty20 cricket has turned into a tug-of-war as money, power and court battles overshadow the country’s most popular sport. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is determined to be the sole crusader of the lucrative crowd-pulling Twenty20 format in cricket-mad India despite its secretary Niranjan Shah earlier describing Twenty20 as a “waste of time.”

This apparent change of heart had nothing to do with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s young Team India winning the inaugural Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September, an event Indian officials once strongly opposed.

It had everything to do with the unveiling in May of the unofficial multi-million-dollar so-called rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), bankrolled by the country’s largest media group, Zee Telefilms.A rattled BCCI banned cricketers signing up to the ICL from representing the country, forcing the rebel body to file an ongoing case challenging the BCCI’s monopoly over the sport.

The BCCI also drew up its own three-million-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) with the blessing of the International Cricket Council and supported by boards around the world.And so began a game of oneupmanship, lapped up greedily by the media and showing no signs of abating with no apparent concern for the effects it could have on players, their international commitments and the sport in India.

The Zee-backed ICL presented India’s only World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev as its chief executive, while the BCCI’s IPL paraded the country’s other legend, Sunil Gavaskar, and popular commentator Ravi Shastri as members of its governing council.At the moment the IPL is seemingly winning the battle in terms of getting star players to sign up.

It says it has on board Test captains Graeme Smith of South Africa, Daniel Vettori of New Zealand, Shoaib Malik of Pakistan and the entire Team India.The IPL also persuaded ICL’s main draw, Pakistani star batsman Mohammad Yousuf, to break his contract with the rebel league and sign up with the official body, prompting the ICL to serve legal papers on the player.

The best the ICL has managed so far are retired international stars, headed by West Indian great Brian Lara and Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, along with a slew of domestic has-beens.Both leagues — despite obvious deep pockets — have found it easier to sign up big names than finalise start dates and other details of the events they plan to stage.

The only real concrete fact is that both leagues will feature Twenty20 matches between franchised teams made up of international players and young promising Indians.The ICL may begin in November and the BCCI is looking to start the IPL in April next year, although like much in this saga, nothing is certain.

The beleaguered Asia Cup limited-overs tournament, already put off twice before and now scheduled to be held in Pakistan in April-May, faces an uncertain future if the IPL is held at the same time and there are concerns the players may end up playing too much cricket.Unsurprisingly, not everyone is impressed at the potential impact the leagues could have on cricket.

“If the proto-typical young cricketer is happy signing up for IPL franchises and making his money there, is he going to bother playing five-day cricket?”, veteran columnist Ashok Malik said.Cricinfo, the game’s leading website, said: “Money could make Twenty20 the most lucrative form of cricket any aspiring cricketer wants to play.

“So what that would do to cricket skills and talent pools for longer versions of the game is anyone’s guess.“Also, it could change the way we look at cricket. Teams based on regional affiliations will be replaced by teams based on commerce, players playing not for local pride but for top dollar.

“That’s how football has grown in the last 20 years — and not everyone’s happy with the shape it’s in today.”

Everything you wanted to know about the IPL

2007-12-05T17:50:00.001-08:00

What is the Twenty20 Champions League?

The Twenty20 Champions League is an international tournament featuring the best teams of the domestic Twenty20 tournaments in various nations. It is scheduled to be held in October 2008.

Who is behind it and is it official?

It will be run by the cricket boards of India, Australia, South Africa, and England. The league has the backing of the ICC, so it will be deemed official.

What's all the buzz about?

Simply put, it's probably the first international tournament for domestic sides. It's not too different from the similarly named football tournament in Europe. Just as football clubs from various European nations qualify through their individual leagues for the football Champions League, the top two teams from each of these cricket-playing nations will qualify through their respective Twenty20 domestic leagues for the Twenty20 Champions League. Teams in England, Australia and South Africa will qualify through existing competitions; for India, where the Twenty20 structure barely exists, a new league called the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be put in place.

Have the details been worked out? The where, when and how?

As mentioned above, it will be played next October between eight teams, two from each country, divided into two groups. There will be a total of 15 matches, including the semi-finals and the final. The venues are yet to be decided, but it shouldn't be a problem because the organisers have the support of the ICC and the national boards.

What will they be playing for?

The overall prize money for the Twenty20 Champions League will be $5 million, the winners taking home $2 million. There will be $3 million up for grabs in the IPL. By contrast, the winners of the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean took home $1 million; the team that wins the current ICC World Twenty20 will take home half of that.

Where did the idea come from?

There is a school of thought that the idea was originally put forward in 1996 by the same man who is in charge of the project now: Lalit Modi, BCCI's vice-president. But it was shot down then because it would go against the zonal system that the BCCI runs under. Modi, though, says the work seriously got underway a couple of years ago when Sharad Pawar became the BCCI president. It is believed that the project was fast-tracked when the Zee group in India announced the Indian Cricket League in April this year.

How are they different to each other?

They both use the Twenty20 format but that's about all they have in common. The ICL is not recognised by any of the national boards or the ICC; it is a one-nation tournament lacking the status, international reach, players, and the infrastructure that the Twenty20 Champions League will have by default. The players here won't be barred from representing their nations, unlike the ones who have joined the ICL. It will eliminate the concept of regional representation. For example, it is possible in theory that Glenn McGrath plays for Mumbai Maulers against New South Wales in the final of the Twenty20 Champions League.

And there's one more difference: Franchises.

Franchises? What's that?

That means the teams making up the Twenty20 league in each participating country will no longer have regional affiliation as they do now - states in Australia and India, counties in England - but will be owned by corporate houses, rather like football teams in Europe or the major sports teams in the US. And, like them, they can trade, appoint coaches and support staff, buy equipment and make best use of whatever resources they have. Apart from the prize money (more on that later) the sources of revenue will be gate money, a share of TV earnings, and sale of merchandise. It hasn't yet been decided if they will have a share in the players' endorsements.

To begin with, the franchise concept will apply to the IPL; the organisers plan to extend it to the other countries in a couple of years' time.

Hang on - what about other countries where they play Twenty20, Pakistan, for example??

Pakistan is a notable missing name but Modi says it will be part of the inaugural Champions League. However, it's yet to be seen in what capacity Pakistan is involved; it is believed that Pakistan, like Sri Lanka, does not have the economy to sustain a full-fledged franchise concept. It's possible that the IPL includes one team from Pakistan. New Zealand have also not been directly involved in the Champions League so far but the country's cricket board is already talking of its teams joining Australia's Twenty20 competition to have a shot at the international event.

All this is pretty radical, isn't it?

It certainly has potential to change the game. Lalit Modi wasn't joking when he told Cricinfo, "We're going forward and trying to change the world order." One, the money could make Twenty20 the most lucrative form of cricket any aspiring cricketer wants to play. So what would that do to cricket skills and talent pools for longer versions of the game is anyone's guess. Two, it could change the way we look at cricket. Teams based on regional affiliations will be replaced by teams based on commerce, players playing not for local pride but for top dollar. That's how football has grown in the last 20 years - and not everyone's happy with the shape it's in today.

It is significant that the league was launched in the presence of cricket's most powerful men - the heads of the ICC and the Indian, Australian and South African boards, and the ECB's No. 2 (not to mention Messrs Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, McGrath and Fleming).

Fight for Kisses

2007-12-05T17:49:00.001-08:00

Consultant

2007-12-05T17:47:00.001-08:00

A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in an Armani suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie (Corb), leans out the window and asks the shepherd, “If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?” The shepherd looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers, “Sure. Why not?” The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his AT&T cell phone, surfs to a NASA page on the internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He uploads all of this data via an email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1586 sheep.” “That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my sheep.” says the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then the shepherd says to the young man, “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my sheep? “The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?” “You’re a consultant.” says the shepherd. “Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?” “No guessing required.” answered the shepherd. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked; and you don’t know crap about my business. . . ” … Now give me back my dog.”

Manager

2007-12-05T17:46:00.001-08:00

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a man below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don`t know where I am."

The man below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you`ve not been much help so far."

The man below responded, "You must be a manager." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man on the ground, "you don`t know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it`s my fault."

ICL Playing Roster

2007-12-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq headlined the list of players as the Indian Cricket League (ICL) announced its teams for the inaugural tournament. Lara has been named in the Mumbai Champs side while Inzamam will play for Hyderabad Heroes.

Inzamam and Lara, along with Stuart Law, Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan are likely to lead the teams."We have ensured the teams are balanced in every way and receive the best facilities in terms of coaching, showcasing their talent and exposure to international cricket," Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL's executive board, said. "I wish all the players best of luck for the tournament."

The teams will be taking part in a practice camp in their respective cities.

See the list of IPL players.

Teams:

Chennai Superstars: Stuart Law, Ian Harvey, Hemang Badani, Chris Read (wk), Russell Arnold, Sridharan Sriram, Shabbir Ahmed, V Devendran, R Sathish, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Hemanth Kumar, Jamaluddin Syed Mohammed, Thiru Kumaran, J Hareish, V Sarvanan, R Jesuraj, Sanjeev Martin, G Vignesh, P Vivek.

Coach: Michael Bevan

Hyderabad Heroes: Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Harris, Nicky Boje, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Anirudh Singh, Ambati Rayudu, S Shahubuddin, Stuart Binny, IS Reddy, Vinay Kumar, Ibrahim Khaleel, Kaushik Reddy, Bheema Rao, Alfred Absolem, Shashank Nag, PS Niranjan, Baburao Yadav, Zakaria Zuffri.

Coach: Moin Khan

Kolkata Tigers: Craig McMillan, Lance Klusener, Darren Maddy, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Rohan Gavaskar, Upul Chandana, Deep Dasgupta, Abu Nechim, Parviz Aziz, Shiv Sagar Singh, Boyd Rankin, Mihir Diwakar, Rajiv Kumar, Sayed Akhlakh, Subhomoy Das, Sujay Tarafdar, Pritam Das, Anshu Jain, Ali H Zaidi.

Coach: Daryll Cullinan

Delhi Jets: Taufeeq Umar, Niall O'Brien, Paul Nixon, Dale Benkenstein, JP Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, Abbas Ali, Ali Murtaza, T Sudhindra, Abid Nabi, Sachin Dholpure, Abhishek Tamrakar, Dishant Yagnik, Dhruv Mahajan, Abhinav Bali, Raghav Sachdev.

Coach: Madan Lal

Mumbai Champs: Brian Lara, Vikram Solanki, Robin Morris, Nathan Astle, Kiran Powar, Shreyas Khanolkar, Johan Van der Wath, Rakesh Patel, Avinash Yadav, Nantie Hayward, Subhojit Paul, Dheeraj Jadhav, A Sanklecha, Ranjeet Kirid, Pushkaraj Joshi, Suyash Burkul, Raviraj Patil, Nikhil Mandale, Sridher Iyer.

Coach: Sandeep Patil

Chandigarh Lions: Chris Cairns, Imran Farhat, Dinesh Mongia, Hamish Marshall, Andrew Hall, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Rajesh Sharma, TP Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Daryl Tuffey, Sumit Kalia, Chetan Sharma, Manish Sharma, Luv Ablish, Bipul Sharma, Karanveer Singh, Amit Uniyal, Gaurav Gupta, Harpreet Singh.

Coach: Balwinder Sandhu

Everything you wanted to know about the ICL

2007-12-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

What is the Indian Cricket League?

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) is a cricket league set to run in parallel with BCCI-run tournaments in India. Contrary to common perception, the ICL is not a breakaway league but an entirely new entity.

How did the ICL come about?

The roots of the ICL lies in the same issue as those of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket: discontent over TV rights. The Essel Group¹s Zee TV believed it got a raw deal in the allocation of Indian cricket¹s TV rights last time around, when despite making the highest bid, Zee was denied the rights for want of experience in sport broadcasting. The ICL is a joint venture between the Essel Group and Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services (IL&FS), and is seen by many as Essel head Subhash Chandra Goel's attempt to get back at the BCCI.

On April 3, 2007 the Essel Group announced the league, saying that the BCCI had failed to create "a reserve pipeline of players", and that the idea behind the league was to create an "ideal pool with killing instinct". They were quick to add that the ICL was not in conflict with the BCCI, and the board would be free to draw from the ICL's talent pool.

What is the Essel Group?

Essel is one of India's leading business houses, with interests in media, packaging, entertainment, education, and infrastructure development among other areas. It had an estimated turnover of $2.1 billion for the last financial year. Zee TV, with a range of specialist channels - news to entertainment to sport - has a strong presence in the Indian electronic media market, and Dainik Bhaskar is the largest-read Hindi newspaper in the country.

How is the ICL different from other leagues, like, say, the Kanga League?

Unlike other leagues that are run or funded by the BCCI or other parties, the ICL involves television coverage, which is the BCCI¹s main source of revenue.

Who will play in the league?

The initial idea was to have six teams, each consisting of four overseas players, two Indian internationals, and eight juniors. What the ICL with the help of its talent scouts - Balwinder Sandhu, Pranab Roy, Erapalli Prasanna, Bharat Reddy, and Rajesh Chauhan - has managed to assemble is a cadre composed of overseas player who have either retired from international cricket or are disgruntled with their respective boards, sidelined Indian internationals who have little hope of making it back into the national team, and domestic players, most of whom are nowhere close to national selection.

Regardless of when the first ICL tournament gets underway, it will inevitably clash with the Indian national team¹s schedule

The biggest draws for the ICL at present are Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Damien Martyn, Deep Dasgupta, and Dinesh Mongia.

What is the lure for players to join the ICL?

Although there are no official figures, it is speculated that on the lower end of the scale a player stands to earn as much as Rs 30 lakh ($72,600 approximately) a year, irrespective of how many matches he plays. As of last year, a domestic cricketer in India earned about 40 per cent of that if he figured in every match his team played in a season.

The ICL's fees for ex-internationals are said to be substantially higher.

The league has promised $1 million in prize money in the first season, half of which is to go to the champion team. The Ranji Trophy champions last season took away Rs 50 lakh ($124,000) by comparison.

Essel has promised to invest Rs 100 crore ($23 million approximately) to start with. It also claims it will look after the players better than the BCCI does and provide them job security.

What is the format of the tournament?

In the inaugural year, the six ICL teams will play a 40-day Twenty20 tournament on a home-and-away league basis. In the coming years the number of teams is set to go up to 16, and there is also to be a 50-overs tournament.

When will the games be played?

This has either not been decided yet, or not revealed. It is believed the games will be played in October, which means they will clash with the start of one of India's biggest home seasons in recent times, which comprises a seven-match ODI series against Australia, followed by a tour by Pakistan. India go to Australia after these two series, which means that, regardless of when the ICL gets underway, it will inevitably clash with the Indian national team¹s schedule.

Where will they play?

The answer is primarily the same as the above. Because the actual format of the Twenty20 tournament is not known, the requirement of stadiums is not either. The ICL has identified a ground for the players to train at, though: Mayajaal, just outside Chennai, which is a part of an entertainment complex.

The presence of four Pakistani players in the ICL rules out the use of the premises of the Essel Group's amusement complex Essel World on the outskirts of Mumbai. In the past the government has failed, in the wake of threats by the Shiv Sena political party, to guarantee security to Pakistani teams scheduled to play in Mumbai. Pakistan last played a Test in Mumbai in 1979 and an ICC-recognised match in 1989.

The West Bengal sports minister has provided the ICL a window of opportunity, saying that their government will be open to allowing the ICL use of Eden Gardens, which is owned by the government, and whose lease with the state cricket association is about to expire.

What is the standing of the ICL in international cricket?

The BCCI has not recognised the league, in consequence to which the ICC has refused to recognise it. The boards of Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Pakistan have also threatened to ban those of their players who join the ICL.

Indian players, current or former, who associate with the ICL in any capacity have been barred from availing any BCCI benefits - which also implies they will not be eligible for selection to the national team. The ICL, though, has moved court, contesting the BCCI's right to represent "India".

What happens to Indian players who have jobs with public-sector undertakings (PSUs)?

As many of the players are employed with PSUs like Air India and IndianOil Corporation for the sole purpose of playing club cricket, there was a fear that all of them would be dismissed because they would no longer be able to play cricket for their employers. The Delhi High Court intervened here, asking the PSUs to not dismiss their employees just because they had joined the ICL. The PSUs, though, have the option to not grant the players leave for playing cricket.

Where does the ICL go from here?

The first tournament is much awaited, not so much because it promises to be a competitive spectacle but because the odds are stacked heavily against its staging.

To help the ICL's cause, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission's (MRTPC) investigative wing is looking into the BCCI¹s refusal to share infrastructure with the ICL. If the courts conclude that the BCCI is indulging in monopolistic practices, they can intervene, much like they did when they fined the board for barring players from writing for newspapers and magazines. The coming months promise to be interesting, not necessarily in purely cricketing terms.

Read everything you wanted to know about the IPL

Priceless

2007-12-05T17:39:00.000-08:00

This spoof of the "Priceless" Mastercard Ad is my all time favourite

How to get a Loan for a small business

2007-12-04T01:51:00.000-08:00

Documentation requirements may vary; contact your lender for information you must supply. Common requirements include:

purpose of the loan,
history of the business,
financial statements for three years (existing businesses),
schedule of term debts (existing businesses),
aging of accounts receivable and payable (existing businesses),
projected opening-day balance sheet (new businesses),
lease details,
amount of investment in the business by the owner(s),
projections of income,
expenses and cash flow,
signed personal financial statements and personal resume(s).

You should take the information, including your loan proposal and submit it to a local lender. If the lender is unable to approve your loan, you may ask if the lender can consider your request under the SBA loan guaranty program. Under this program, the SBA can guaranty up to 85% of a small business loan; however, the lender must agree to loaning the money with the SBA guarantee. The lender will then forward your loan application and a credit analysis to the nearest SBA District Office. After receiving all documentation, the SBA analyzes the entire application, then makes its decision.

The process may take up to 10 days to complete. If the lender needs SBA applications and/or guidance it may contact the nearest SBA District Office by visiting http://www.sba.gov/localresources/index.html. Upon SBA approval, the lending institution closes the loan and disburses the funds. To be eligible, a business must be operated for profit and not exceed SBA's size standards. For further information and eligibility requirements, visit Contracting Opportunities.

How to Hack the iPhone

2007-11-29T23:21:00.001-08:00

-- DO NOT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS IF YOU HAVE EVER MODIFIED YOUR BASEBAND --

INTRODUCTION

Jailbreaking iPhone software v1.1.1 is an involved process, but can be
accomplished with the documentation here. The following steps will be
explained in-depth. Please read them thoroughly before proceeding.

0. Downgrading to 1.0.2 (if necessary)
1. Preparing the iPhone for a jailbroken update
2. Performing a software update, leaving you with a jailbroken v1.1.1
3. Forcing v1.1.1 to mount read-write so you can access it
4. Installing SSH and BSD world
5. Activating with a Non-ATT SIM
6. Patching SpringBoard to allow third-party applications
7. Clean-up

STEP 0: DOWNGRADING TO 1.0.2

Certain steps must be run prior to upgrading to v1.1.1. If you have already
upgraded to v1.1.1, follow these steps to downgrade back to v1.0.2.

1. Make sure you have a copy of the v1.0.2 firmware handy. It can be downloaded
here: http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/061-3823.20070821.vormd/iPhone1,1_1.0.2_1C28_Restore.ipsw

2. With the iPhone turned on, hold down the POWER and HOME buttons
simultaneously for ten seconds (until the screen goes dark). Then release
POWER while CONTINUING TO HOLD DOWN HOME for another 15 seconds.

At this stage, the iPhone WILL APPEAR TO BE POWERED DOWN, but it is actually
in a special type of recovery mode allowing software downgrades. If you
see the "Connect to iTunes" icon, you've placed the phone into the wrong
recovery mode, and will need to try again.

3. While continuing to hold HOME, launch iTunes. You should be prompted to
restore your iPhone. If your iPhone instead boots up, then you powered it
down instead of putting it into downgrade mode, so give step 2 another try.

Once iTunes is up, you can now release HOME. You will be prompted to
restore your iPhone (if you are not, try step 2 again). Hold down the
OPTION key (or SHIFT if you're running Windows) and click RESTORE.
You will then be prompted with a file selection window allowing you to
select a firmware file. Select the 'iPhone1,1_1.0.2_1C28_Restore.ipsw'
file you downloaded in step 1, and begin the restore.

4. After the restore is complete, you'll be told that the process failed, and
the iPhone will be in recovery mode. This is normal. Grab a copy of
NullRiver's Installer.app from http://iphone.nullriver.com/beta/ and
attempt to install the Installer.app. This will cause your phone to boot
again, however the installation of Installer.app will fail (it's OK).

5. Congratulations, you're now back at 1.0.2. You'll need to get shell access
to move onto the next step. Since you have Installer.app right there,
just run the installer again. This time it should succeed. Now activate.

Drudge has prepared a package called Trip1Prepz, which is designed
for people having to downgrade. It will perform all the necessary
preparations from STEP 1 without needing to set SSH back up, etcetera.

After Installer.app has been installed, go to this URL in Safari:
http://conceitedsoftware.com/iphone/beta

This will prompt you to add a community source to Installer. Once you've
done this, you should see Trip1Prepz listed as a package. BEFORE
INSTALLING IT, connect to iTunes, and ensure that you have an 'update' or
'check for updates' button. This is important, because once you install
Trip1Prepz, iTunes will no longer give you an option to update, but
only restore.

Once you're up in iTunes, stay connected and install Trip1Prepz from
Installer.app.

NOW SKIP "STEP 1: PREPARING THE IPHONE FOR A JAILBROKEN UPDATE" COMPLETELY!

Alternatively, if you don't want to use Trip1Prepz, you'll need to
get going again with SSH and BSD world. This method will require that you
DO execute the preparation steps in step 1.

To do it this way, use Installer.app and install the "Community Sources"
package. This will add the "OpenSSH" package to the installer manifest.
Now install BSD Subsystem then OpenSSH and you should be able to get back
into your iPhone (root password is dottie). You'll also want to add
BSD Subsystem. Now move onto the steps below (do not skip them in this case).

STEP 1: PREPARING THE IPHONE FOR A JAILBROKEN UPDATE

NOTE: This step requires you to be at iPhone software v1.0.2. If you are
not, please see STEP 0: DOWNGRATING TO 1.0.2 before proceeding.

Before upgrading to v1.1.1, some preparations must be made. The v1.1.1
update re-jails the iPhone. We're going to use a little hack which will
keep 1.1.1 from being able to jail once you upgrade.

The way this hack works is this: An "update" in iTunes is unlike a "restore",
in that the /private/var partition is preserved. The iPhone jails itself
to /private/var/root/Media. We're going to move Media out of the way and
replace it with a symlink to /. This fools v1.1.1 into jailing to /, which
really is no jail at all. This will allow us to access the root filesystem,
which we're going to throw into read-write mode later on.

1. Connect the iPhone to iTunes! It is critical that iTunes already
recognize your phone and that you have the "update" button available to you
BEFORE making the changes below. This is because executing the steps below
will otherwise cause iTunes to go into recovery mode, which will NOT WORK
with this jailbreak. Open iTunes, and if you have a "Check for Updates"
button, click it. You will be prompted to upgrade to 1.1.1. Tell iTunes
to "Download Only"; DO NOT click "Download and Install".

Once you see the "update" button, DONT CLICK IT, but continue to step 2.

2. While still connected to iTunes, SSH into your iPhone while still at
version 1.0.2. If you don't have SSH set up, see STEP 0's steps four and
five to install OpenSSH.

Now execute the following commands:

mv /var/root/Media /var/root/Media.old
ln -s / /var/root/Media

Your Media folders should now look like this:

lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 1 Oct 10 12:06 Media -> /
drwxr-x--- 7 root wheel 272 Oct 10 10:51 Media.old

If it doesn't look like this, try again.

3. If you plan on activating later using a Non-AT&T SIM (or without iTunes),
you'll want to back up your existing copy of the lockdownd binary
(we'll use these later)...

cp /usr/libexec/lockdownd /var/root/lockdownd.1.0.2

STEP 2: PERFORMING A SOFTWARE UPDATE

Now that you've symlinked Media -> /, you are ready to perform an update to
1.1.1. This MUST BE DONE WITH THE UPDATE BUTTON, and NOT the restore button.
The update process preserves your /private/var partition, while the restore
blows it away (which will just re-jail you).

Click the UPDATE button in iTunes, and upgrade to 1.1.1

If you didn't listen and shut iTunes, you may no longer have an update button.
If this is the case, you'll need to delete the symlink, put Media back,
start iTunes, then repeat STEP 1 again.

STEP 3: FORCING READ-WRITE MODE

If you've followed the steps properly, your iPhone should now be jailbroken, but
not yet writable. To confirm this, shut down iTunes and use iPHUC to connect
to the iPhone. Run 'ls' and you should see the root folders (Applications,
System, etc). If you see iTunes_Control, then you've botched a step and
will need to start over at STEP 0.

Forcing read-write mode involves overwriting the part of the disk partition that
contains /etc/fstab. This is done by writing to /dev/rdisk0s1. The included
iphuc-jailbreak code supports a command called "putjailbreak" which does this.
After we overwrite the disk, we'll reboot and the iPhone will be mounted in
read-write!

1. Run iphuc:

Make sure iTunes is closed
killall iTunesHelper

- If you are on OSX/Intel: ./iphuc-jailbreak.osx
- If you are on OSX/PPC: ./iphuc-jailbreak.ppc
- If you are on Windows: ./iphuc-jailbreak.exe

NOTE: If you are using Windows, you'll need to grab an existing iPHUC
distribution to get all the remaining files

2. You should now be connected to your iPhone. Test this by running 'ls', and
make sure you see 'dev' among the list of directories. If you see
iTunes_Control, then you haven't jailbroken properly and will need to start
again from STEP 0.

3. We are now going to overwrite part of the disk partition with our payload
using the 2K file included in this distribution called rdisk0s1.
In iphuc, execute this command:

putjailbreak rdisk0s1 /dev/rdisk0s1

4. The upload should be relatively quick. Once finished, reboot your iPhone.
You're now in read-write mode, and jail broken! You can test this by
connecting again with iphuc after rebooting and running:

getfile /etc/fstab fstab

Open the file, and you should see the options for / to be 'rw' instead of
'ro'. If you still see 'ro', then something's gone wrong, try repeating
from step three.

STEP 4: INSTALLING SSH AND BSD WORLD

At this stage, you can crack shell on iPhone in the same way that you did
with 1.0.2. If you're using a Mac, the easiest way is using the iPhone
SSH Installer for Mac, which can be found here:

For Mac:
http://iphone.natetrue.com/iPhone_SSH_Install_for_Mac.zip

1. Just run iPhoneMacSSHInstall.sh in that package and it will walk you through
an automated install of SSH:

sh iPhoneMacSSHInstall.sh

The new root password for v1.1.1 is 'alpine', once it's finished:

ssh -l root iphone

Your SSH keys are likely to change, so if you get any errors about an
incorrect key, you can:

rm -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts

from your desktop's home directory and try again.

2. Once you're in, you will also want to install the BSD world. NerveGas has
built a new version of the BSD subsystem that doesn't require libarmfp.
Download and extract the following files:

http://iphone.natetrue.com/BSD_Base-2.0.tar.gz
http://iphone.natetrue.com/BSD_Extra-2.0.tar.gz

tar -zvxf BSD_Base-2.0.tar.gz
tar -zvxf BSD_Extra-2.0.tar.gz

Change into each of these directories and run:

cd BSD_Base
scp -r * root@[IPHONE IP]:/
cd ../BSD_Extra
scp -r * root@[IPHONE IP]:/

For Windows:

1. Follow the instructions here:
http://cre.ations.net/blog/post/howto-install-ssh-on-your-iphone

NOTE: If you download Nate True's iPhone SSH kit you will need to
grab iphoneinterface.exe from his latest iBrickr release to
actually make it work.

STEP 5: ACTIVATING WITH A NON-AT&T SIM

If you're using an AT&T SIM that will activate through iTunes, skip this
step and just activate through iTunes.

To activate with a non-AT&T SIM, we'll need to copy over that lockdownd
binary and activation certification we backed up when we were on v1.0.2
and do a little hackery, then copy the v1.1.1 lockdownd back when we're done.

NOTE: In order for afc to start, you must BOOT the phone with
lockdownd v1.1.1, so do not reboot the phone during this process. If
you have no choice, copy lockdownd v1.1.1 back after, then reboot
again to make sure afc comes up.

1. Back up v1.1.1's lockdownd:
cp /usr/libexec/lockdownd /var/root/lockdownd.1.1.1

Now overwrite the iPhone's copy with your old v1.0.2 copy:
cp /var/root/lockdownd.1.0.2 /usr/libexec/lockdownd

And upload the certificate included in this distribution:
scp iPhoneActivation.pem root@[IPHONE IP]:/System/Library/Lockdown/

Now:
killall lockdownd

This will restart lockdownd with v1.0.2's version

2. Download iASign from http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/index.php/IASign

bunzip2 iASign-v0.2.tar.bz2
tar -xf iASign-v0.2.tar
cd iASign/bin

Overwrite iASign's iPhoneActivation.pem with the one provided in this package
cp /path/to/1.1.1-jailbreak/iPhoneActivation.pem /path/to/iASign/bin/

Now run: ./iASign.mac --automatic iPhoneActivation_private.pem

After a while, it should complete and say "New State: Activated", but it
doesn't really work. Don't worry, we're almost there!

3. Now copy the v1.1.1 lockdownd back and restart it:

cp /var/root/lockdownd.1.1.1 /usr/libexec/lockdownd
killall lockdownd

4. Run iAsign once more:

./iASign.mac --automatic iPhoneActivation_private.pem

It should look like this:
Activating...
InvalidActivationRecord
New State: Unactivated

Don't let iAsign fool you, the phone is now activated.

STEP 6: PATCHING SPRINGBOARD

The new version of SpringBoard has been hard-coded to allow only factory
applications to run. We've coded up a patcher that will fix this "bug",
and back up your original SpringBoard app.

1. Upload the springpatch binary included with this distribution:

scp springpatch root@[IPHONE IP]:/usr/bin

Then low into your iPhone and run it:

$ springpatch

SpringBoard Patcher for iPhone v1.1.1
Brought to you by the iPhone Dev Team
Successfully patched /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/SpringBoard
Original backed up to:
/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/SpringBoard.original.
Please reboot your iPhone or kill springboard for changes to take effect.

If it exits successfully, you can now restart SpringBoard to enable third
party applications:

killall SpringBoard

2. You will need to list at least one application in:

/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/M68AP.plist

This is the new "DisplayOrder.plist". The application MUST be placed just
before the MobileStore application. The reason for this is that MobileStore
is placed at the end of the Springboard to specifically hide other
applications. Adding at least one application appears to break free from
this.

For example, if you have installed NES.app, your M68AP.plist will be modified
to look like:

displayIdentifier
com.natetrue.iphone.nesapp

displayIdentifier
com.apple.MobileStore

STEP 7: CLEAN UP

You've now successfully jailbroken your iPhone and set up shop. Congratulations!

Before you can sync, you will need to remove the symlink you created:

rm /var/root/Media
mv /var/root/Media.old /var/root/Media

That's it!

- iPhone/iTouch Dev Team

Loans

2007-11-25T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some questions to ask while hunting for housing loans, in case you need them:

Is a fixed rate of interest really fixed for the entire tenure? If it is not fixed for the entire tenure, when is it revised?
At what interval is the floating rate of interest revised?
Can you convert a floating rate of interest to the fixed rate of interest during the loan tenure?
Are there any part-payment charges?
Are there any pre-closure charges?
Is the loan insured? Does the insurance cover property damage or also accidental death of the applicant?
Is the loan issued on the (house value + registration)?
Does the loan also cover charges for soft furnishing of the house?
Is there any discount for timely payment of the EMI? (Believe me, some banks do give this)
Is the actual loan amount directly handed over to the vendor or to the applicant?
How long does loan disbursal take after completion of sanction?

Web: Detect an iphone user

2007-11-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

Article I found on http://www.askdavetaylor.com/detect_apple_iphone_user_web_site_server.html

The key to detecting a browser type is to remember that there's an environment full of information transmitted with each query sent from the web browser to the server. It includes the obvious things like the requested data file (which can be an HTML document, GIF or JPEG image, AVI movie, FLV animation or related) and the IP address of the browser's computer, but it also includes a critical variable called HTTP_USER_AGENT.

Visit with a regular browser from a regular computer and you'll see something like this:

HTTP_USER_AGENT=Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)
Here you can see that I'm testing from Firefox (which identifies itself as Mozilla for historical reasons) running on Windows XP (though it's identifying it as Windows NT for some cockamainie reason) and that I'm also running .NET.

Grab that same environment value from a slick Apple iPhone query, though, and the values are quite a bit different:

HTTP_USER_AGENT=Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en)
AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1C25 Safari/419.3
Pretty interesting reading if you're a geek: You can see where it's also identifying itself as Mozilla, but this time as Mozilla/5.0 rather than Mozilla/4.0. The string "iPhone" appears, which is what we'll key on, but notice also that it says that it's on a system with a "CPU like Mac OS X", just as we iPhone users have been suspecting for a while.

You can see the basic test we'll need to do here to ascertain if the visitor is using an iPhone or not: if their HTTP_USER_AGENT environment value contains the string "iPhone", we've got a match. Otherwise it's something else on some other device or computer.

You can do this test and act on it in a zillion different places, ranging from the actual Web server ruleset to JavaScript code to PHP conditional code to even having a separate "gateway" script page that everyone hits and redirects them to the iPhone or non-iPhone version of your Web page and site.

A JavaScript snippet might look like this:

var agent=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
var is_iphone = ((agent.indexOf('iPhone')!=-1);
if (is_iphone) { conditional code goes here }
Rather do it as a shell script? Me too. Here's how I'd do that as a rudimentary Linux shell script:

#!/bin/sh

if [ ! -z "$(echo $HTTP_USER_AGENT | grep iPhone)" ] ; then
echo "Location: iphone/index.html"
else
echo "Location: index2.html"
fi
exit 0
You can also have the conditional directly in CSS itself, if you're really into cryptic notations:

The basic idea in either case is that once you have detected that they're running an iPhone, you can modify what you deliver to them, either changing what's on the page, perhaps giving them a completely different version of the page, or even taking them to a different site entirely.

CHM reader for Mac

2007-11-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

I keep getting stuck with windows apps and docs that I need but cant run on my mac. Well here's a way to open CHM files on the mac.

Chimp Publisher's Description:

Chimp lets you view all those pesky CHM files that are floating around. CHM stands for Compiled HTML, and it's used by Microsoft Windows for help files, documentation, magazines and eBooks. Chimp lets you open these files with the elegance and ease you'd expect from OS X.

Chimp features:

* Document-wide searching
* Document-wide printing
* Editable bookmarks

What's new in this version:

* Export to PDF (10.4 only)
* Spotlight indexing
* More compatible with unusually formatted files
* Bug fixes

http://www.spherasoft.com/chimp.html

Chmox CHM reader for Mac

2007-11-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

Chmox is a viewer for Microsoft Help "CHM" (a.k.a. Compiled HTML) files and ebooks. It uses Cocoa, WebKit, and chmlib.

This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:
Mac OS X 10.4 Intel
Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
Mac OS X 10.3.9

It is an alternate to chimp

and can be downloaded from http://chmox.sourceforge.net/

Antivirus for Mac

2007-11-21T23:03:00.001-08:00

I suppose Norton is the household name for antivirus but its not free. I know scores of free antivirus programs for the Windows platform but didnt know of any free antivirus for Mac. A quick search in google landed me at http://www.clamxav.com/index.php

From the site:

ClamXav is a free virus checker for Mac OS X. It uses the tried, tested and very popular ClamAV open source antivirus engine as a back end.

Back in the days before OS X, the number of viruses which attacked Macintosh users totalled somewhere between about 60 and 80. Today, the number of viruses actively attacking OS X users is...NONE! However, this doesn't mean we should get complacent about checking incoming email attachments or web downloads, for two reasons. Firstly, there's no guarantee that we Mac users will continue to enjoy the status quo, but more importantly, the majority of the computing world use machines running MS Windows, for which an enormous quantity of viruses exist, so we must be vigilant in checking the files we pass on to our friends and colleagues etc. For example, if you're a wise person and you've turned MS Office's macro support off then you're not going to notice that virus which is hiding inside this month's edition of Extreme Ironing.doc which your friend sent you. If you then forward that document to a less wise person who has not turned off the macro support, then you have most likely just sent him a shiny new Pandora's Box with a sign saying "Open this end"!

Flippancy aside, I'm sure you get the idea: check the file before opening and/or sending it on to someone else. This gives you the opportunity to avoid the file altogether or at least copy and paste any vital information into a new document and send that instead.

Don't forget, if you run VirtualPC you can still become infected and lose valuable data on your Mac even though technically you're running Windows inside a sandbox. VPC will run any application you tell it to, virus or no virus, it doesn't know the difference. You can protect yourself slightly by not using VPC's "shared folders", but that's a useful feature which you shouldn't have to be without.

I tried it out and it picked up a couple of viruses in my MS Excel. Unfortunately it did not clean them

Unlock the iPhone

2007-11-21T22:59:00.000-08:00

The way to unlock the iphone is neither the simplest or the most straight forward method. An alternate and much simpler way is to use iNdependence_v1.2.5 which can be downloaded here

Use iNdependence to actiavte and jaibreak your iPhone. Then install anySIM through iNdependence and use it to unlock your phone. anySim is available from gizmodo

TinkerTool

2007-11-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

TinkerTool is an application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into Mac OS X. This allows to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system.

The tool makes sure that preference changes can only affect the current user. You don't need administrative privileges to use the tool. With this design, it is no problem to use TinkerTool in professional networks where users have restricted permissions. The program will never change any component of the operating system, so the integrity of your system is not put at risk, and there will be no negative effect on system updates.

All preference settings changed by TinkerTool can be reset to Apple's defaults, or to the state that existed before using the tool. No dangerous background processes are used for TinkerTool's operation.

TinkerTool is electronically distributed software. You can download the product free of charge from http://www.bresink.de/osx/0TinkerTool/download.html