ajaypal.com blogs

The monster in the mirror

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:27:56 -0600

This is what Arundhati Roy has to say about terrorism and Mumbai Attacks: The monster in the mirror.

I am a casual and lazy blogger and could never have written anything more beautiful than what she has said. So just a link back.

Update: 15/12/08
If we can somehow can get out of the Deviancy amplification spiral, that is as of now in full swing in India, maybe we can heed some advice from Mr. Tony Benn, "If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people".

It is Easier to Tell the Truth

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:19:11 -0600

The subject cited quote is easier said than done for various reasons. Maybe we believe others may not want to hear it, maybe we want to play it safe, maybe we fear rejection, maybe it is fear of being persecuted. We are afraid. We may not even fully understand the reason for our fear but we may think that it is easier to play it safe.

There is another way around "half-truth", we can dilute our words and not risk as much. But would that be truth? As Gandhi Ji once said, "What is Truth? A difficult question; but I have solved it for myself by saying that it is what the voice within tells you. How then, you ask, [do] different people think of different and contrary truths? Well, seeing that the human mind works through innumerable media and that the evolution of the human mind is not the same for all, it follows that what may be truth for one may be untruth for another…"

So You Deleted /boot Partition from within Windows :-)

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:24:12 -0500

Ahh so the Windows user did it finally, even after my warnings to the contrary.

Say, "Did what?"

Well the story goes like this. After getting impressed by all gloss and glitter of Gnome and KDE Desktop GNU/ Linux and the beautiful looking windows, themes, 3D effects thanks to compiz, fancy gadgets & better than Apple Mac like looks via cairo-dock and the best thing localisation in Punjabi. And seeing what he (the nube) never though was possible on a PC/ Laptop with Windogs. Finally I was asked to install GNU/ Linux on his laptop. Got most of issues of an unsupported H/W worked out and finally GNU/Linux with X started (but no 3D, no compiz).

Tryst with Demo-cracy

Tue, 20 May 2008 10:01:58 -0500

In a recent local election in Punjab I was deputed as a presiding officer along with four polling officers for conducting elections in a village. The experience has been sort of interesting and mixed.

Being a Govt Servant I cannot say much, but shall let these low resolution pictures speak for me.

Get Set...

Truck Load of Ballot Boxes and whatever (sometimes called polling party)

The Inside Story of New Dilbert.com or How Richard M Stallmann & Linus Torwalds Bribed Scott into Promoting GNU/ Linux

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:24:37 -0500

1st April 2008, Our Correspondent
Finally we have the inside story on why the dilbert.com has been given an all new Flashy look. We have learnt from reliable sources that Richard Stallman of Free Software Foundation fame and Linus Torwalds of GNU/ Linux fame have sent kickbacks to Scott Adamas and have also sponsored some heavy weight flash widgets for the new dilbert.com site to make the main website unpopular.

Who Says Using GNU/ Linux is difficult?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:24:22 -0500

This is amazing, atleast for me, my three and a half years old (now almost four in about four months), can use GNU/ Linux fairly well (for a kid of his age and fairly well than many older windoz guyz I have seen around). This is what he can do after about ten minutes of coaching.

Powers on the monitor, powers on the Desktop.
Waits for GNU/ Linux to load.
On GDM Login screen enters his username, sometimes selects his username from the user list displayed by GDM (I have set his password to blank for his convenience).

GNU/ Linux on a Compaq Presario C700 C738TU

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:31:24 -0600

Finally I have a new laptop an HP Compaq Presario C700 (Model C738TU). A good machine with very good performance, for a fairly reasonable price.

The default factory installation on it was Free/DOS. I have installed GNU/ Linux Fedora Core 8 on it. Most of the things have worked out of the box. Here is some basic informations which can help other owners of this notebook using GNU/ Linux.

Goodbye BBSBEC

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:49:35 -0500

This friday 15th June 2007, was my last day at BBSBEC, farewell dear college. I have been at BBSBEC for more than 10 years, first as a student then as a faculty. But again it is not over I will always consider myself to be part of BBSBEC.

Now the new job from Monday 18th June 2007, hope it would be as much fun.

Cheap Webcam for GNU/ Linux

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:06:25 -0500

After a long wait finally I dared to install a (comparatively) cheap USB webcam, I bought from a local friendly neighbourhood computer goods vendor, on my GNU/ Linux machine. The make was Intex Night Vision Camera IT-305WC (as per the box) and the cost was INR 700/- (approximately USD 16).

I was hoping for a long night ahead but hey thanks to these guys, it was a breeze. Fortunately my webcam (USB vendor ID 0x0AC8 and Product ID 0x303B) was listed on this page with another brand name Vimicro (USB vendor ID 0x0AC8 and Product ID 0x303B). Then the usual download from the driver download page.

Gandhi Ji, Violence, Independence

Wed, 30 May 2007 13:11:04 -0500

IMHO There are basically three ways to fight an adversary (though adversary may not be correct word here)

Sail with the wind. Submit to the adversary even if you may be right. Means one does not have the moral courage required to be considered a human being. Easiest way to survive.
Fight back/ hit back (use Guns or other violent means including words) kill or be killed. But this is a never ending cycle, one feels itself to be victim in (so called) self defense, for own rights, for country, for people kills another then the other feeling victimised will repeat the same cycle. And eye for an eye. Some what easy, you don't need to think beyond your immediate goals, can behave in a beastly manner.

Play Nintendo Entertainment System Games Online

Sun, 20 May 2007 13:19:05 -0500

So here you can pretend that you are researching online for your next big project but actually can be playing games online in your web browser http://nintendo8.com/toplist/more/.

Nice collection of old retro games from the 80's. Have been made available online using the very nice Java Applet from vNES.

BTW I can also put on some of my old favourites online but not sure regarding the legal status of uploading the ROM.

See Me Live

Thu, 03 May 2007 00:40:09 -0500

UPDATE: 18 May 2007, the camera is off-line now. See the last image from the camera below, before it was dismantled.

This is inside our RnD lab, you can see me and a number of other fellows here usually from 0830 to around 1800 Hrs IST Mon to Fri and sometimes on Saturday and Sunday also. This cam is available I don't know till when, so enjoy the show.

All hail the monstrous nerd

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:50:17 -0500

I am the supreme nerd GOD.

and this is what has been said for me

3% scored higher (more nerdy),
0% scored the same, and
97% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is: All hail the monstrous nerd. You are by far the SUPREME NERD GOD!!!

Moving to a New Server

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:33:31 -0500

My homepage ajaypal.com has been moved, from my locally managed server (for the organisation where I am still working, maybe till next month) to a commercially managed server (some where in US I guess), with effect from 14th April 2007 00:00 Hours.

With the expected change in my job, in the coming days, I believe I won't be able to dedicate time for management of this server.

Authentication bypass in Cyberix Internet Management System

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 04:40:01 -0500

A mohali based company http://www.cyberix.in/ has an otherwise good Internet Management Software Product by the name Cyberix, is vulnerable to a very simple authentication bypass vulnerability (rather it is more of a software design issue).

Cyberix IMS when authenticating a user using, the web login via a popup window, sends the MD5 hash of the users password in the GET request. As all URLs, along with the GET variables and their values, are saved in the browser's history, thus any user who has access to the system, used by a previous user, can simply check the browser history and click on the login URL to login as the other user, without providing any password. Defeating the purpose of an IMS where different users may have different access levels as promised by Cyberix IMS.