New blogger app

The new blogger app is super cool. Download it from play store.

Allows you to add images easily, etc.

How to play "Kazhutha" (Donkey/ass) card game - കഴുത ചീട്ട് കളി എങ്ങനെ?

 Take all cards and distribute equally.

A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 is the decreasing order of values.

Each round consists of each player putting one card each in anti-clockwise order. The purpose of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand and become empty handed. The last person remaining with cards in their hand is declared "kazhutha".

The player who plays first is usually the player with Ace of Spade.

If a player plays spade, that round is for spades and every player must play only a spade card. Whoever plays the largest valued card in the round, "loses" (or wins) the round and has to start the next round.

Now, if everyone had every suit equally distributed, the game would be very boring because after all the rounds, everyone would have finished all their cards. This is where it gets interesting.

If a player plays diamond Q let's say. And player 2 plays diamond K, and player 3 plays diamond 10, and when it comes to player 4 imagine they don't have any card of diamond in their hand. Then, they can play any card of any other suit and the player who put the largest card till then will have to take all the cards on the floor in that round and add to their hand. That is, in this case, player 4 could play a card like say Ace of Clubs, and player 2 (because they played K of diamond) will have to take the diamond Q, K, 10 and the Clubs A into their hand. Player 2 will also have to start the next round.

At the end of one game, whoever becomes the ass will have to start the next game. As it goes "കഴുത കശക്കി, കഴുതക്കിട്ട്, കഴുത കളിച്ച് തുടങ്ങേണം"

Ask me in the comments if you have any questions on playing this wonderful card game.

Aeroway Mysore - Tips and Tricks

Aeroway is a great cheap fast broadband Internet provider in Mysore.

Here are some useful tips for Aeroway subscribers.

Check your plan balance and other details

Go to http://172.16.0.1/myaccount.html
Login with your username and password

Here you can change your password, view package details, expiry date, your assigned IP address, bandwidth usage per session, bandwidth left, etc.

Opening the captive portal directly

You can load the captive portal by going to http://10.10.0.1 or http://172.16.0.1
Pin this tab in firefox or chrome to have it load whenever you open the browser

Use alternate DNS services

Aeroway recommends you to use their own DNS which is at 172.16.0.1, but this is required only for you to get automatically redirected to the captive portal when you're logged out. If you are smart enough to load the captive portal by yourself, using the trick I just described above, you can set your DNS to other great DNSes like
Google: 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4
OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220
OpenNIC: 89.18.27.34, or 193.183.98.154, or 5.9.49.12, or 31.3.135.232

Recharge or pay bills online

You can use the spotsoon app on iOS or Android to pay Aeroway. But you can also pay directly online by going to aeroway.spotsoon.com

Troubleshoot your internet connection

If all of a sudden you are unable to access the Internet, take some time to figure out where the problem is.
First, check that your router is on and there is power supply. If not, call electricity board.

Then, find the cable that comes from the roof and go into your router. Take a note of all the LEDs that are on. Disconnect this cable, and see if any LED turns off. Connect the cable back and see if any LED comes on. If there is an LED that goes off and comes on, that is the "link indicator". It being on means that you're connected to Aeroway's infrastructure and no monkeys have severed the cable connection.

If the link is up (on), then load the captive page manually and try logging in. If it doesn't log in, either your password is wrong, or your package has expired. If it does log in, but you still can't access the Internet, it's mostly a problem with the upstream and there's nothing you can/need to do.

If there's no link, inspect the cable coming from the roof. If you can find any cuts or if you find banana peels lying around, call aeroway and tell them that the monkeys have cut your cable.

If the link is up, but the captive page doesn't load, there're a hundred reasons why you can't connect properly to your router and teaching you that is beyond the scope of this article.

Aeroway Internet - Cheap and Fast Broadband Internet in Mysore

I am a long time user and fan of Aeroway Internet in Mysore. They have been providing me cheap and fast broadband internet in "namma uru Mysuru" for more than 2 years now.

Tariff
The most attractive thing about the tariff plans of Aeroway is that they have truly unlimited plans (no FUP) at affordable prices. For example, the 1Mbps unlimited for ₹750 (and 15% tax) which gives unlimited unlimited Internet at 1Mbps is really useful if you're someone who likes to download a lot of stuff over torrents. The upload speed would be 1/3rd of the download speed.
And higher speeds are also available, upto 50Mbps. The best thing about the tariff plans is that it is extremely easy to change your tariff plan every month, you just have to choose a different plan and pay accordingly.
Checkout tariff details here

Customer service
My place is full of monkeys and they keep cutting the cables on the roof. But, Aeroway engineers come within hours of calling their office and fix it (for free!) every time without fail.

Drawbacks
One tiny drawback is that there is a captive portal which you need to be logged in to with your username and password for the Internet to start working. This is a very minor annoyance.

Another problem is that you have a shared IP and therefore it is not possible to initiate a connection to your computer from outside. But having said that, it's possible to obtain a static, private IP for just 200 a month!

Visit Aeroway website

Kerala Schools Revised School Time Schedule Class 1 to 10 New Time Table

SCERT has published the Revised School Time schedule for classes 1 to 10. That is, Kerala schools classes I to X.

This new time table is for the year 2015-16.

This has been done to keep up with the pace and changing trends of the changing educational needs. The 44th state school curriculum sitting committee had agreed to the proposals by SCERT to bring these changes.

The last time time tables were revised was 25 years ago in 1989

From 2015-16 Kerala schools must follow the new time table.

It is divided into

• high school section - Class 8, Class 9, Class 10
• UP section - Class 5, Class 6, Class 7
• LP section - Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4

Click here to download the SCERT notification of the official time table for class 1 to 10

Kerala VHSE Revised Curriculum Syllabus Module 1 and 2 Draft

The Vocational Higher Secondary Education Revised Curriculum Syllabus Module 1 and 2 draft can be downloaded from the SCERT website.

Click here to download the revised curriculum syllabus of VHSE module 1 & 2 draft

Autistici Inventati Email Configuration for Mozilla Thunderbird Client

Here's the smtp, pop, and imap configuration for thunderbird for using Autistici/inventati email which will give you emails that ends in autistici.org onenetbeyond.org etc

incoming mail
server	mail.autistici.org
protocol	POP or IMAP
port	for POP: 110 (TLS) or 995 (SSL) for IMAP: 143 (TLS) or 993 (SSL)
username	user@inventati.org

outgoing mail
server	smtp.autistici.org
port	465 (SSL), 587 (TLS)
username	user@inventati.org

Replace inventati.org with autistici.org, onenetbeyond.org privacyrequired, etc to connect for respective email addresses.

Collected from http://www.autistici.org/en/stuff/man_mail/connectionparms.html

Corel Draw X6 Malayalam Font Problems

Recently for my college magazine I had to troubleshoot the Malayalam section.

A friend collected the Malayalam articles from various students of the college and sent to someone in Kerala to type them out.
The stupid typist in Kerala typed that using some software in an ascii font.

You have heard of arial, times new roman, etc. These are fonts that make English letters come beautifully. Now, imagine we replace the symbol 'A' in Times New Roman and keep malayalam letter അ there. Then, whenever you type 'A' in that modified font, you'll get the Malayalam character. But if you change the font you'll get 'A' itself. This is how an ascii font works.

So this typist had typed the entire thing such that it works only with Ambili font.

It would have been fine if that worked properly in corel draw. But the letter ണ്ട  (nda) does not work in such a case because corel draw thinks that the ascii font does not need complex processing. ( http://community.coreldraw.com/forums/p/33588/172022.aspx )

Since there was no time to convert all that to unicode, I converted it using this software called payyans. http://wiki.smc.org.in/Payyans

Remember, the pip repository has a very old version of payyans. You're better of downloading the latest version from savannah.

After I converted all the text to unicode, there was another problem.

The letters ണ്‍ ന്‍ ര്‍ ല്‍ ള്‍ are given its own position in unicode. But in the past they used to be a sum of different letters and zero width joiners. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-width_joiner

Corel Draw X6 could recognize only those letters with zero width joiners.

So I had to manually replace in a word document the following:
ല്‍ to ൽ
ണ്‍ to ണ്‍ (they were the same)
ന്‍ to ൻ
ള്‍ to ൾ
ര്‍ to ർ

Now the corel draw x6 would show these fonts properly using a unicode font like Rachana or Meera. http://malayalam.kerala.gov.in/index.php/Fonts

Running RaspberryPi remotely by forwarding its display to your laptop

If you have a RaspberryPi and want to use it via your laptop, you don't have to restrict yourself to the command line.

Set up raspberry such that it receives an IP address from the router (say 192.168.1.48)

Ubuntu 14.04 by default xinit can be done only by console users, so, switch to console 6 by pressing

Ctrl + Alt + F6

login with your username and password

xinit /usr/bin/ssh -Y pi@192.168.1.48 lxsession -- :1

You might have to configure passwordless login

Ctrl+alt+F8 is where the pi session is

Ctrl+Alt+F7 is where your session is

Root Android One phones (micromax canvas a1, karbonn, spice uno) without unlocking, without flashing recovery

Hi!

If you want to root your android one phone without any hazzle, just follow these steps.

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot boot recovery.img

Then install the supersu app via sideload

adb sideload supersu.zip

3 bulbs 3 switches puzzle with LED bulbs

Here's the puzzle.

There are three light switches up in the attic of an old house. They control three light bulbs down in the basement. The problem is that you don't know which switch is connected to which bulb. You can make one trip down to the basement to figure this out. How are you going to do it?

Think and you'll easily come up with the traditional answer that's applicable to incandescent bulbs.

Don't know?

The answer that's expected is: Switch on one bulb for a long time, then switch it off, switch another on, and go to the basement immediately. The bulb shining has the second switch. And the warmer of the two unlit bulbs has the first switch.

What if the bulbs were made of LEDs?

Since the question isn't serious, I came up with two solutions of my own - which may or may not answer the question correctly. For educational purpose, they are:

1) Use an arduino to make one LED blink. Switch one on, keep one off. Go to basement and correlate the bulbs.
2) LEDs can emit light as well as detect light. So, if the bulbs are not arranged in an equilateral triangle fashion, switch one on, and measure the multimeter readings in the other two switches. Then go to the basement. The bulb closer to the shining bulb has the switch which showed the larger multimeter reading.

Flaws and other solutions are welcome.

Share text from computer PC to whatsapp via Android phone

There is no official desktop client for whatsapp. And this makes sharing text or links from computer to whatsapp contacts very tedious.

A usual way people do this is typing down the text using phone, or sending themselves an email via gmail which they copy to whatsapp.

But this free, open source app called QRtoWhatsapp, eliminates the need for all that hazzle.

Things you need

A QR code creator on your PC. Linux, Windows

QRtoWhatsapp app installed on your android phone

Zxing barcode scanner app installed on your android phone (asks to install the first time you run the QRtoWhatsapp app)

Whatsapp on your android phone.

To download QRtoWhatsapp go to the github repo here, and click on view RAW

Google Removes Free SMS Apps from Play Store

Early today Google has removed all the free sms apps from its Play Store.
These include Free SMS India, SMS Free, Free 2 sms, etc.

Free SMS India now returns an error "We no longer support this gateway" when you try to send an sms.

This is probably due to a Terms of Service violation and now you'll have to visit sites like way2sms or 160by2 directly through their website to send free SMS.

Blackberry messenger for Android, BBM, hands on review - features and bugs

The new BlackBerry messenger for Android has made a splashing start. In the first two days of using it, here are the main features as I see it. I will also compare these with whatsapp.

Authentication
Blackberry ID and pin is a must for BBM unlike whatsapp. This is a different philosophy regarding privacy and can't be compared. There is slight friction in adding new contacts. Scanning QR code didn't work with my 3 MP camera. But following www.pin.bbm.com/BBMPIN lets anyone add you directly, only that there's no easy way to add the URL prefix to your pin while sharing.

Private chat
The text boxes are too big, but the font is too small. There are about four icons next to messages to signify different status of the message.
There's ping option (like yahoo messenger's buzz) which is another way of saying hi.
There's also the ability to attach images, sound notes, etc. And a lot of emoticons to choose from.

Multi person chat
No image support here.
Easy to add people.

Groups
Group is the best thing about BBM. Groups are given separate space and is not like just another endless conversation. There can be discussions in different topics.
Pictures can be uploaded which can be commented upon
Checklists can be made and individuals assigned to different items.
Events can be added which appears chronologically.

Group members can be added by anyone. There can be multiple administrators.
And members who join after a long time will still be able to see previous messages, lists, pictures, etc (unlike multi person message)

In total whatsapp groups now appear child's play :-P

Bugs
Till now, I've found some small bugs.

The settings keep reverting to default.
The blackberry connected notification needs to be on for pin invites to work properly.

But considering that this is the first release, I'm sure BBM has a bright future!

What's new in whatsapp 2.11.109

Here's an unofficial change log of the latest whatsapp version released on Oct 22, 2013

The most striking new feature of this version of whatsapp is that the image upload and download are now better. The download button below a small thumbnail has been replaced by a huge low resolution thumbnail which when clicked leads to download of the image. Similarly when uploading image there is a similar large thumbnail.

While scrolling up and down in a conversation, the date of the conversation stays in a floating box on top

There are various other minor tweaks for voice messages, etc

Links posted are automatically getting image thumbnail like in Facebook and Google+

Root Android in Mysore

If you need help rooting your android phone in Mysore, without going to any mobile shop, contact me through my Google profile or email

File system structure layout of linux and Android explained

Android is built upon Linux. The way files and folders are organized in Linux/android is different from that in Windows. (I'd say it is better in Linux)

To begin with there is root. Represented by "/"
Root folder is the root of everything, the basic, the foundation, the sum total of all folders.
Rooted on the root folder is a tree of folders.
These are represented like "/system" or "/bin"
That means, the system folder is inside the root folder, so is the bin folder and so on.

When running Linux my home folder is in "/home/akshay"
My desktop files are in "/home/akshay/Desktop"

If I insert a pen drive, it gets "mounted" on to some "branch" of the "tree" eg: "/media/akshay/Transcend"

In android phone you don't get to insert pen drives. But you have sdcard! These can get mounted similarly to some branch. In my phone, sdcard's mounted at "/mnt/sdcard".
So, the external memory seamlessly merges with your internal memory. (Everything is in "/". But things inside "/mnt/sdcard" are actually stored in SD card. Things inside "/mnt/sd-ext" are stored in external storage...)

Thus, every folder on your device is under a single hierarchical order (unlike in windows where you have C:, D:, C:/Users/akshay, I:/lost/count)

PS: If you want to actually see the root folder, and its hierarchy, you'll need a good file manager on your phone. I recommend "ES File Explorer" for all its added functionalities.

NEET UG Second Round Allotment Last Rank 2013

Here's the Last Ranks of some medical colleges in the unreserved category of NEET UG in 2013
AIR Medical College
305 Trivandrum Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
377 Kozhikode Medical College, Calicut
905 Madras Medical College, Chennai
1218 Bangalore Medical College, Bangalore
1511 Stanley Medical College, Chennai
1879 Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai
2026 Mysore Medical College, Mysore

GPF Kerala or GPF Statement 2013 Kerala

Unfortunately the GPF authorities of Kerala didn't opt to have a domain name registered for their website, which makes us go to
http://210.212.239.70/~agckerala/dakags/login.php?&task=GPF
a rather suspicious URL to do this important task.
But can't do anything, the above URL is the site to download GPF statement and stuff. It is also linked from agker.cag.gov.in
http://210.212.239.70/~agckerala/dakags/letrdetails.php?task=home will give you a more detailed understanding of all things that can be done on that website. That is, the following:

1. File Tracking: The stake holders can track the receipt and status of any communication made to this office including Closure/NRA applications of General Provident Fund, Pay slips of Gazetted Officers and other general communications including complaints made to the Accountant General.
2. GPF Admission: This link gives the status of receipt and disposal of applications for admission to General Provident Fund, Kerala.
3. GPF Annual Account Statements: The subscribers can download the Annual Account Statements of their GPF Accounts. The subscribers are requested to change the default Personal Identification Number (PIN) already available with a PIN of their choice and keep the same confidential to themselves so as to prevent its misuse.
4. Status of Pension Applications: The status of receipt and disposal of applications for Pension, including revision of Pension of Kerala State Pensioners.
5. Complaints/Suggestions: Any communication which needs close attention can be directly made to this office. Be short and specific while writing. Please note down the number generated on submission of the form for knowing status of your mail in future.

Mysore medical college latest number of seats 2013

Mysore medical college having 200 seats for academic year 2013-14 in undergraduate category for MBBS is WRONG!

MCI gave permission for 50 extra seats leading to entry of 150 students in 2011-12 and 2012-13, but in the latter year they revoked the permission and cut the seats back to 100.

But, on government request MCI agreed to extend permission for extra 50 seats to year 2013-14.

Thus, Mysore medical college &research institute has 150 seats for MBBS.

Similarly Bangalore medical college retains 250 seats.