VLC is a player but also can be used to record a screen cast ( capture the screen as video).Here is the small how to do that. This works with portable VLC too. Start the VLC By going to the installation folder and running the command

>> vlc screen://

It will open the VLC and shows the screen exactly. It actually is streaming the screen

Read the rest of this entry »

Accidentally deleted TechMag database today. I thought I had full backup. Only after the deletion I got to know it was not the case. As of now TechMag is down. I am trying to get the posts from other sources like RSS feed, my very old backups etc. I am not sure how many posts I have lost. But I am sure its lot (3 years worth).BTW this forced me to buy an account on Amazon AWS service. Now I have Amazon AWS account to backup my files into. I should be doing regular backups from now on. AWS is a great service; you pay as you use. You can calculate your monthly expenditure using the calculator. I am sure. Its going to cost lesser than others if you just use it for backup.

Think of wikipedia content available on CD for offline viewing. You will be able to view wikipedia on the road(laptop). You can gift them to schools which doesn’t have internet connection.Wikipedia certainly can replace Encarta/Britannica for students who can not pay hefty amount.We can distribute the CD version for almost $1 (in India). How we can do this:

1. We can get the latest current dump from wikipedia.com. Either the SQL dump or XML data dump. This gives us the opportunity to present the data the way we want
2. Take only the current version only dump and no images. We can use the current version only to reduce the size. And using images may cause some legal issues
3. Write code to build the index(Lucene). We can build the index on only article headers
4. Put the index and content on CD 5. Write an applet to give a search functionality(again using lucene). And process the data suitable to browser

For the end user:

1. Insert the CD into cdrom
2. Launch index.html on CD using any browser
3. Search and get the results
4. Click on the search results to get the full article

Note: Previously this article was at TechMag, now that page has 303 to here.
Note2: This article was quoted in Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2007/2008 By The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Orbicom

I had been to this seminar on ” New Age filmmakers and new trends” in Bangalore. It was arranged by Commits and called Flickers. Known filmakers like Ashuthosh Gowrikar,Khalid Mohammed,Nagesh kukunoor,Nagthihalli Chandrashekar,Mahesh Dattani. Each of them gave speech about their starts. I enjoyed Nagesh’s talk about the way he made Hyderabad Blues ( I haven’t seen still…but I have seen part 2). Then each of them had to answer the questions from aspiring film makers. Ashutosh got questions about the source of Swades’s story (Expected). He didn’t know what to answer. Mr.M.G.Sathyu came into his rescue who is the stroy writer of Swades.
He started to talk loudly at curious audience. According to him the story was written back in 2004 hence it was before the movie “Chigurida Kanasu”. He started to give difference between the Swades and Chigurida Kanasu.

In Swades Sharukh NRI – comes back from US….and In Chigurida Kanasu Shivaraj Kumar comes from Delhi….. and similar other differences. But does this difference make it an independent story ?. But then audience were much clever, they asked questions about Shivaram Karanth’s (Jhnanapeeth awardee) “marali mannige” which was written in 60’s. It has similar story. But then he started shouting at the audience and refused to continue the discussion. But Mr. Sathya for every story there is something called plot, which is the skeleton, around which you build the story. And if the plots are same then I will come to the conclusion (?). I really appreciate your effort in writing the story. But don’t you think you should give the credit to the Inspiration. ( Well that is where I appreciate RGV! Godfather was in US mafia and Sarkar was in Bombay. That didn’t make him to tell that they were different. Yes they are different stories/films but with the same plot. The RGV didn’t forget to give the credit.). Don’t tell me you never read “Marali Mannige” before writing Swades.

Meanwhile the discussions turned towards IP and piracy. All the three were against piracy ( offcourse) and copying the ideas ( yeah I know they are against).The since this is my area I had a suggestion for Ashutosh to beat piracy. I gave him the same idea which Rupa publishers used to beat book piracy. Release the DVD and CD at lesser price. Reduce the profit margin and ear by quantity. But he though its an idea which will fail. ( But I think Chetan Bhagat has sold lakhs of books @ Rs.90).Anyways its difficult to explain them.

Mahesh Dattani spoke about his movies and scripts. He spoke about “Dance Like a Man” and “Morning Ragaa”. I had liked both so I was keen. It seems he conducts workshops in Bangalore. Probably it will be a good break for me.

At last our master Chandru spoke to us. There were questions like why did “super star” fail ? etc. He was very patient and answered as many questions.Then there were questions about remakes, multiplex, regional movies etc.

Well it was interesting to listen to these young directors. Hopefully I have gained something out of it.

Well Thanks to commits for this seminar.

________________________________________
Issue:2 Date:30062003 TechMag Weekly By: Thejesh GN
Thankx
Thankx to Swaroop,Sandeep Patil,Sandya,Shibashis,Narayan(BTLITM) and all others for their encouragements…I will try to keep up to ur expectations..
Thankx Again,
Thejesh GN
________________________________________
Simputer
What is Simputer?
The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man. It is an acronym for Simple, Inexpensive, Multilingual, People’s Computer.And simputer is more capable than Palm in terms of screen size (320×240), memory capabilities (32MB RAM) and the OS (GNU/Linux).
The Simputer specs?
Mentioning only the important specs
-CPU 32-bit Strong Arm SA-1100 RISC CPU running at 200MHz
- 32 MB of DRAM
- 24 MB Flash for Permanent Storage (DOC)
- Display I/F 320×240 Monochrome LCD Display Panel
-Touch-panel Overlay on LCD Display used with a plastic stylus (Pen)
- Speaker and MIC Jacks Smartcard Connector
- RJ-11 Telephone Jack
- USB Connector

Operating System: GNU/Linux
- Soft-Modem Algorithms V.34/V.17 Data/Fax Modem Technology
- Perl/Tk scripting environment
and – Internet access (Browser, Email, etc.)-MySQL Server and Client – Dhvani: Text-to-Speech Software – MP3 Player———–
in addition The Simputer is a full-fledged Linux machine, and hence can run standard commands. what else u need?
So what is there for us engineers?
Developeing your own applications to simputer will be a great Learning experience and it can help somebody too.
Application development for the simputer can be done on any platform: linux, windows, solaris, MacOS. This is because any simputer application can be viewed as a blackbox that reads in IML (Information Markup language) and outputs IML. Thus you do not need to own a Simputer to create applications for it. The basic Simputer itself is poorly suited for application development, since it does not have a keyboard or a large display.
Further, IML browsers can run on any linux machine or Windows machine at this time, and can be written easily for other platforms. If you hav such a browser, the application development can proceed without consideration of the underlying hardware.
In addition, any X application that restricts the display to 240×320 will directly run on the Simputer. For example, we have xclock, rxvt, xeyes and other standard applications already running.
Again USB interface gives u a lot of chances. Products like the M-Systems Disk-on-Key Flash Disk are now available on USB. They can provide reliable storage ranging from 16MB to 1GB in capacity.You can attach a key board or mouse to the usb port…………….everything is left to your imagination now……..You can have your own customized Simputer
For detailed specifications, and for other details visit: www.picopeta.com and www.simputer.org
________________________________________
What is evolutionary computing?
Evolutionary computing harnesses the power of natural selection to turn computers into automatic optimisation and design tools.
The three mechanisms that drive evolution forward are reproduction, mutation and the Darwinian principle of survival of the fittest. In the biological world these mechanisms enable lifeforms to adapt to a particular environment over successive generations. The camel’s hump, the eagle’s eye, the dolphin’s sonar, the crafty human brain itself; all these solutions to environmental problems were generated by evolution. All bear witness to its power as a universal optimiser
Like evolution in nature, evolutionary computing also breeds progressively better solutions to a wide variety of complex problems.
Despite their superficial differences, the four main approaches to evolutionary computing share the same basic template. Whether you favour genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, evolution strategies or genetic programming, you will have to start with a random or semi random population of candidate solutions and you will have to devise a ‘fitness function’
1. Genetic algorithms.
2. Genetic programming.
3. Evolutionary programming
4. evolution strategies.
Where can u use these algorithms?
1. Engineering Design.
2. Routing Algorithms designs.
3. Machine Learning & AI
4. Optimization
Interested Visit:http://evonet.dcs.napier.ac.uk
________________________________________
where to get Indian Linux?
If u want Linux in indian language. And you expect it to support Indian Languages from a GUI/Application level as well as Kernel level. Then you will be interested to know IndLinux Hindi – Milan Demo CD 0.5 beta has been already released .
you can also support on going project of indianizing the linux by Involving in IndLinux project. The task of localization has several pieces that need domain expertise. Some examples are I/O modules, development of fonts, kernel enablement, word translation etc. The project is looking for experts and volunteers to champion the cause of Indian language computing.
Interested ? www.IndLinux.org

Contacts:gnthejind@yahoo.com or thejesh_gn@inf.com
For previous issues
DISCLAIMER:The ideas expressed in this newsletter are soley mine.While stating this i do not represent anybody.