Enough is enough

I have been committing myself to a lot of projects lately. My last count shows me that I have five in hand. But it is time for introspection.

Being involved in a project is good. But it is also my responsibility to make sure that the project succeeds. I had thus far been under the impression that the more I do the more I win. But this is certainly not the case. So from now on enough is enough! I am going to take up no more projects but am going to complete the ones I am currently involved in, to perfection.

MY OPEN LIVING
This is for Atma anna

I am now fairly used to Ubuntu. I am doing almost everything in it. Some of the screenshots:















I haven't even spruced up my desktop using screenlets or widgets and even before that it looks so good. I will now address the issues raised by Atma anna.

1.) I agree that Linux is not so convenient as Windows. Most tasks need to be performed from command line interfaces. But that is power. You can change the display settings all in one go by editing a file called xorg.conf. You cannot do that in Windows. Again I think engineers are power users of computers. And Linux is power.

2.) There is an alternative to almost every software from Windows. The best part is they are all OpenSource. There is K3B for Nero, Pidgin or Gaim for Y! messenger, Firefox for IE, QCAD for AutoCAD, Blender for Maya, VLC for Media Player, the list could go on... (Watch out for a download accelerator and manager that we are currently developing at CEGLUG )

3.) I do not know much about GIS and DIP. GRASS GIS is OpenSource, so is MapServer, gvSIG, etc. MATLAB is also available for Linux for DIP and e-foto is a photogrammetric workstation.

I would recommend any user to switch over to Linux. But a basic knowledge of UNIX and some commands maybe essential. It is a lot easier to learn these UNIX commands than to spend Rs. 20000 on Windows Vista! Believe me!

Linux is GOOD

Finally I have switched to Linux - Ubuntu Linux. It is wonderful! Really! Imagine running flip 3D with 256 MB of RAM. Vista cannot do that but Ubuntu can. It is not just about the looks but the overall flexibility of the system. Also the stability and security are amazing. Imagine that Windows was a small skinny boy and Ubuntu, like Terminator. When you give a powerful blow to both and compare... Windows shows a BSoD. But Ubuntu just logs-off, more like a powerful man getting a little dazed by a punch in his cheeks. That's stability.

Security is also good. I do not need antivirus software. When I changed the permissions of the /usr/share folder to 777, Ubuntu refused to work anymore. That's security. If I did the same in Windows by deleting some system files, the system would work but show a thousand alerts with codes I cannot even understand.

All said Ubuntu is not totally free of bugs. Compiz sometimes behaves strangely. Copy-paste does not work everywhere unless you are root. And the shade of brown where ever you go irritates me. Of course I could change the theme... Hey! I cannot do that in Windows! :) Now that's Open Source and I like it!

Hooray!

Hooray! I have finally got my NVidia FX5200 card to work on Ubuntu Gutsy! All thanks to ENVY.

There can be no stopping me now from my Open Living.

What a month!

Wow! What a month it has been! (I know it is actually two, but for some reason I remember only one go by) The past 40 odd days have been the best times of my (technical) life. From exercising my head to having fun, I have done all that I had ever wanted to do. I remember stating in the last blog that I had two projects on my hand. Well both are now over (I had some additional ones too!) with a 50:50 success rate.

The first was TGMC a programming project cum competition conducted each year by IBM. We finished it in four 12-hour days. I know we did not do our best but it was a new experience for me to finish a project at all.

Then there was my A Remotely Piloted Blimp for Aerial Photography. Insane as I was to put forth that idea, it never really worked out. The plan was to build a blimp for aerial photography and photogrammetry. But the project proved too costly and was abandoned. But I am still interested in it!

Then came the big K! This year's edition saw my association with some really great people to conduct Aeromodelling. They are all from Mechanical Engineering doing their 6th semester (except Pratap who has passed out). My association with Mirunalini, Bhubaneswari Parida, Anusha, Muthukumaran, Kaveesh, Pratap and a host of others through them showed that CEG is still a vibrant place with talented people. I was truly amazed by their ability to learn and have fun at the same time. It is this lack of enterprising people in the other branches, especially mine, that worries me. I do not have people in my class with whom I can discuss, say about Quantum Mechanics in the morning or about Superman Returns during lunch. I did have such discussions with the others though. From calculating spring constants for the springs in the catapult to debating the existence of UFOs, engineering doesn't get better than this!

Anyway we had a great time during Kurukshetra 2008. Aeromodelling was a good success. I am glad that I was part of Team K! and also thankful to people like Mirunalini who inspite of being seniors allowed me to play an equal part in all we did for K!

But it is all over now and assessments are due in a week. So it is back to routine for me after a long time. A lot of other things happened as well, but then it would take too long (especially with my notoriuosly intense craving for perfection)to tell the reader everything.

And damn, I am still using Windows!!

Linux must wait...

Well... as per my earlier blog I ought to be doing this from Ubuntu. But I upgraded my PC and now Ubuntu Live CD wont work! So a bit of a delay in my open living. It is unlikely though I will be installing it any time soon, because on the day after tomorrow my exams start.

I am currently involved in two projects so keep watching my blog for updates. Boy am I excited about them!!!

And SGE has started a new website and also an e-journal SPECTRA. I designed the site. Take a look and post your comments!

OpenSource is the way to go.

I am an enthusiastic Linux user. I always had Ubuntu installed on my system in addition to Windows. But I had always resisted the idea of using Linux on an everyday basis. But after one or more stimuli that I have received I have finally decided to switch to Ubuntu for all my daily tasks. So my next blog will be from a Linux OS.

I am aware that I will encounter problems in using certain programs. One possible program that I may not be able to use (or find an alternative) is Nikon Capture Control Pro. Correct me if I am wrong.

Fresh after hibernation!

Today is exactly six months since my last blog. It is not that I was too busy to blog but only that I had nothing to blog about. Not that the past six months have been totally devoid of incidents but only that I felt no true purpose in my blogging. So to spice up things a bit, this blogspot will from now onwards be a platform for all that interests me and will not be restricted to an account of my life. So for yet another time I restart my blog!