My Thoughts !

I was searching for something on GWT recently. Didn't find it. I thought there must be some FAQ on GWT. Unfortunately, there is nothing. I thought I'll create one. As of now the basic site is up (Thanks to Google Creator, its all done in less than an hour, without touching any HTML or spending a single paise), I've to collect questions and update the site with proper answers. If you have any questions to be added, do send it to me. (prefeably with answers)

I switched to Wordpress from Blogger. There are many things I'm happy about. Two little things really annoy me.

(1) The editor is really resource hungry at times. Especially if you type a sentence and then use the backspace key to delete it, the CPU usage will touch 100% for few seconds and your system will hang for a moment. Ctrl+Arrow to navigate words also similar case. Some improvement in the editor is definitely needed as writing a blog is the primary thing that everyone would do!

(2) I constantly try the new themes released. Most of the themes don't care about displaying the tag line under the title. Without that the title looks a little odd to me. So even though I like many other themes than the current theme that I'm using, I'm not switching to them because of the tag line problem.

These are really little things, but it does adds to the user experience.

Today morning I got a mail from ICICI Direct. The content is:

Dear Customer,

We regret to inform you that the documents and proofs of identity and address given by you at the time of account opening have been fully damaged by flooding in the storage areas caused by heavy rains. The natural disaster was most unfortunate.Time bound resubmission/re-execution of the documents is necessary for compliance to various regulatory and legal requirements and to keep the account operational.

In order to complete this formality, you need to submit an account opening form and other documents. The Bank branches listed below will remain open on 23rd and 24th December to help you complete the documentation in time.

While we regret this imposition on you, we urge you to complete the formalities as soon as possible.

We state that no charges would be collected from you for re-submission of the forms.

We earnestly seek your co-operation in helping us serve you better.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
ICICIdirect.com

I initially thought that it might be a phishing attack, but then it seemed to be genuine. I wonder how the nation's largest private sector bank is handling documents of high importance. They are not ready to come and collect but expect me go to their branch and submit the documents. Worst, they expect me to do it on a long weekend and send a mail on that friday. I'm not going to do it. Let me see how far it goes.

BTW, am I the only one whose documents were lost in the flood? Did anyone else get this mail?

[Update 26-Dec-06]

From what Jaganath said in the comment and many more people ending at this blog entry for search terms like "icici last documents flood", it looks like I'm not the only one whose document is lost. After the mail, I've another mail and few sms reminding me to visit the bank and submit the details. I replied the mail saying that its the bank's mistake that they didn't keep the documents safe and they should come back to me and collect the documents. No reply so far.

When we want to open an account these guys are behind us. They will send persons to your office or home or whereever you want to get all those documents. The treatment is royal. Once you are a customer then things are different. They charge you for everything (Citibank charged me Rs 50/- for withdrawing money from the bank counter when I lost my ATM card). I've decided not to visit the office and produce the documents rather ask them to come and collect it, since loosing the documents is their mistake. Let me see how far it goes.

If a you driving in Bangalore and struck in the traffic:

If you are driving a 2 wheeler, you can find some space between the 4 & 6 wheelers. Use every inch and keep going. If you are driving a 4 wheeler, you are helpless. Stop the engine; switch on the FM/Audio player and call your girl friend and talk. Occasionaly honk and irritate others.

If you are driving a 2 wheeler and there is no space between the cars & buses, switch to the platform or even the wrong side of the road. No one will question you. Keep going. If you are driving a 4 wheeler, you are helpless. If you girl friend got bored and kept the phone by now, call your x-girl friend and talk. Now and then honk and irritate others.

If you are driving a 2 wheeler and "traffic" in the platform and opposite side of the road is also stopped, you can do nothing about it. Switch on the FM in your mobile or call your girl friend. If you are driving a 4 wheeler, you are helpless. Try calling your girl friend's x-boy friend's current girl friend and talk. Keep honking and irritate everyone.

Yesterday I wanted to connect to the Source Forge servers. With windows, I've always used Putty. So I started googling for a port of Putty for Ubuntu. Then I realized the fact!

hee hee hee. Every great person makes silly mistakes. So now that I've made one, I too can be listed in the "great persons" list :-)

Related links:
Ubuntu Titbits
Eclipse in Ubuntu
Auto Login in Ubuntu
Screen resolution got struck in Ubuntu
Configure DSL in Ubuntu

In the third part of this series, I thought of discussing about the names of software companies and products.

The first time I encountered a name problem was during our first 2 months project @ PSG Tech. Initially we decided that we will create a compiler which can translate Java source which is written in Tamil. Later we modified it and created a new language itself. Just like Java, it had defined specs for the language, the intermediate file format and a virtual machine. One major difference is that the programs can be written in any natural language - English, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, etc. So its a true multi-lingual programming language. Ok. How do we name it?

Since its language independent, the initial idea was to name it as "Ma". This word is language neutral and has the same meaning across most of the languages - Mom. Somehow none of us liked it.

Then we thought of what else is language neutral? Music. So we decided to name is as "Swaram". Then we tried to justify it with a reason:"With just 7 Swarams, you can produce countless Raagas. Similarly with just few constructs like 'if', 'else', 'while', 'do', 'for', you can produce countless programs".

The next time I had to name a product was during the second 2 months project. It was design and implementation of a Distributed File System. We named it as "Om File System". Reason? "Om is something that exists everywhere in the universe, but you can't point something and say that is Om (Hinduism) Similarly in our file system, a file is distributed across a network, but you cannot point a fragment and say this is that file". Well, OM had another "real" meaning as well. I don't want to heart Mr. M, (he is a very good man and I still like him) so I leave it to you to guess. :-)

Only after graduating from the college I read more about branding. You should always name a product so that when people hear about the name, they always associate it with the product. There are many example which will violate this rule ('Surf') and many examples which will follow this rule('Fevicol'). The interesting part is, if you give a unique name and if it becomes a grand success, the product itself will be named after the brand. Sony's Walkman is a classic example. Most of the personal stereo's are called Walkman. From 'Choli' to 'Dalda' there are many examples in this category as well.

Coming back to software, think of Microsoft. It wouldn't mean anything else other than the software gaint. When you hear the word, no matter what context it is, you associate always associate it with the company. That doesn't happen for Apple. Interestingly enough, the product names from these companies are other way around. Microsoft: Windows, Word, Excel, ... Apple: Mac, iPod, ...

The next time I'd to name a product was for the Eclipse plugin for the GWT. I thought it should uniquely identify my product, but should reflect both Eclipse and Google tradition. So the name Googlipse (Google Eclipse) was chosen. The logo also follows a similar theme, the coloring of Google and the font & stripes of Eclipse. I was very proud of coming out with a good name. I thought if you type in Googlipse in a search engine, it should always point to my product.

One of the very first mails I received about Googlipse was from the GWT team lead himself. He wrote: "Googlipse seems to be cool, despite the name". If I search for Googlipse, Google first says that its a spelling mistake & suggests to search for "Google" and then points to my product :-(

The next time I was in search of a name was for a company that I was about to start. (I always wanted to start a company and create some nice products. Since I've a product in hand, I'm very serious in starting a company). So what should be the name? It should be unique like Microsoft or Infosys. After coming up with a list of few names, I decided upon "Cypal Solutions". I'm currently undergoing the legal process for it, but what is Cypal?

I come from a village called Sellappam Palayam, which is very often called as Cyper Palayam by friends. When how about starting a company in that name itself? So the company is named as Cypal which stands for CYber PALayam. The first thing I did was for the availability of the domain name cypal.com. It was already taken and was available for sale. The website says that they are ready to sell it for $ 1000. I would have bought a good laptop for that price. So I had to choose a different domain name.

So you guessed it right. As this post is already big, I'm going to say the domain name in my next installment of "Whats in a name?" and its all about domain names.

Related links:
Whats in a name? Part II
Whats in a name? Part I

Last post was about naming conference rooms. Now lets look email ids. (Yes, I think email ids are also your name)

Unless your name is "Diguki Mabendra" or "Sukranthi Rakur", you can't get an email id in your name. So people become creative in creating email ids.

The first option people would try is to have prefixes. Eg:mail_pranni / mail_to_pranni / contact_pranni. If you had a little luck on your side, you might get it. All of these options were gone and one of my friend selected like this call_<his name>. He is still called as the "call boy" in our friend's circle. If you are running out of all mail_, contact_, call_ stuff, you can still try something like "please_please_please_mail_pranni". It should be available. If not look into the next one.

The next option is numerical suffixes. It will look something like pranni_2006 or pranni_1988, where the suffix would be either the current year or your year of birth. But the ugly thing about this scheme is 2006 doesn't have any meaning and 1988 means it will reveal that you are already 18 years old.

I've seen only two kind of people called with numbers. Not sure whether in real world it happens, but atleast in movies it does. One people who are jailed and people who send them to jail (our great police).

SI : "Yov 394, intha 567 thappichutanya"
PC : "ayyayo, 567 kitta thaan sir intha maasathu maamool ellam iruku"
SI : "Ada nee onnu. naa namma kaithi no 567 la sonnen ya, constaple 567 illa"

hmmm definitely they have some namespace problem :-)

For those who don't want to have any suffixes or prefixes still have a better option. Your short and sweet nick name (like "Bala") would have been taken by someone else. But not your full name. If that is also taken, try "firstname.lastname". If that is also taken then you can try out "firstname.middlename.lastname", there is least probability that someone might have already taken it. Unless you are really unlucky, you can settle down with this. So if you can't "Bala" you can go for "BalaNadarajaGurusamy.coimbatore.RamaKrishnaSunderesan". Only trouble with this scheme is that length of the textbox might not be enough to type your email id.

If you still prefer a short name, you can suffix/prefix your name with something you are passionate about. This idea looks good for "RajaCricket" or "PhotoPranni", but not "VikasCoinCollection" or "KumarCPlusPlus".

If you are tired of all these, the best way is to reverse your name and create an email id. So "Pranni" would become "Innarp". The name would look little odd, but this would definitely work. Only trouble is the reversed name should not be another name. Infact when God wanted to register his name, it was already taken and he even tried doG. But it was also taken. Don't wonder about who else has registered as God. My tech savy pet dog tried to register just as "Dog", since it was taken (there exists another tech savy dog), it reversed its name and registered. Poor God was not as techie as those dogs and knew about internet and email ids only a little later.

If all else fails, register a domain name and create an email id there. Eg: register "grprakash.com" and create an email id like "me" or "prakash". Well, the problem is availability of the domain. If you don't get the domain in your name, you have options. The first one is to have some prefixes like "visit_pranni.com". The next option is ...

Related links:
Whats in a name? Part III
Whats in a name? Part I

Pranni, in whatever name he is called, will behave like Pranni. So whats in a name? I don't know and I don't have any answer. But I'll pen down my thoughts on "names" this series titled "Whats in a name?".

In my previous company, we moved to a new building. All of the cubicles and cabins were numbered with some sequence like WKS 123. But what about the conference rooms? Somebody in the committe (we had a committe to look after all the arangements in the new office) came with a nice scheme - names of rivers. One of the HR said the cafeteria, which is also the biggest conference room, should be named as Kaveri. The reason he gave was it was the lifeline for the whole state of Karnataka. None of us believed that could be the real reason. He is not from Karnataka and he is not even from TamilNadu. So why Kaveri? Its neither his wife's name nor his kid's name. So why he suggested Kaveri? This started lot of rumours. It was finally concluded that he might had/have a girl friend named Kaveri.

Well, since most of us were not from Karnataka, the name was rejected. As Ganga is the biggest river, it was decided that the biggest conference room should be named after it.

The 5 rooms in the west side were named after the 5 rivers in Punjab. Then all around the office were Yamuna, Krishna, Godhavari etc.

On one side, there was Amazon. What? India is full of rivers and even if there were a dozen more conference rooms, we can name them after Indian rivers. So why Amazon? Digging into non-official sources revealed that our new VP was earlier working for Amazon.com and to make him happy the HR folks suggested this. Only after the new building was inaugrated, they came to know that our VP had quit Amazon after a very bad experience.

Moral of the Story 1:

If you are asked to name a conference room/anything, don't suggest a human name. If its a girl's name and you have no obvious connections like your sister's or wife's or mom's name, you are in trouble. If you suggest a guy's name and you have no obvious connections, you are in very very deep trouble. ;-)

Moral of the Story 2:

When you are naming to please someone, make sure the name makes the someone really happy. If not at least make sure that name doesn't remind and bring back some bad memories. :-)

Related links:
Whats in a name? Part III
Whats in a name? Part II

An awesome move by Google - whole of GWT is now opensourced. GWT's user library was already opensourced with Apache license, but now the Java to Javascript compiler is also open sourced. The good thing is that they are accepting patches so you can submit your code to Google and become a committer as well.

Good work Google :-)

A flash-back:

Pranni : Dad. I'm getting older, so I've to be responsible.
Dad : ???
Pranni : Here after give me the money, I'll take tickets in the bus whenever we are travelling.
Dad : But what made you think that you are grown up? You are still a kid.
Pranni : No. I got the letter from the school. I've been promoted to 6th standard. I'm no more elementary school boy. I'm grown up.

Few years later:

Pranni : Dad, I'm getting older, so I've to be responsible.
Dad : ???
Pranni : Here after when we go out in the moped, I'll be driving. You sit behind.

Looking back, I could laugh at the meanings of responsibility at different ages. Now that I'm 18 years old, the meaning of responsibility is really different. Especially after becoming a father of a cute little princess. May be years later I'll be laughing at this meaning too. But till I get another meaning, let me be "responsible" :-)

Its my wedding anniversary today. I can't believe that one year has gone. I remember same day last year with all the tension, happiness, troubles and whole lot of drama. I know this year will be completely different. Without her, there is nothing to celebrate. It started just like anyother day, except for one unexpected visitor at 7 AM in the morning. Uncle called me and went downstairs. Somebody was waiting there with a boequet and a greeting card. Till I reached the gate, I was keep on guessing who would have sent it. To my surprise it was from my office! That was really pleasant surprise. I've seen how birthday celebrations are happening here. the HR gal will take the card and go from desk to desk to get it signed from everyone and that evening the birthday baby should sponsor snacks for the whole company. (Think of how practical it will be in TCS/Infosys) But sending a bouquet right to my house, that too at early morning, was really nice idea. I wish she were here to receive it. I'm surely missing her at occasions like ths. Its ok. Wait for a week to hear the good news ;-)

Think of this. You will be really busy with something. Either a meeting with your PM or debugging a nasty bug or spending a nice moment with your friends in the cafeteria or discussing all the sweet nothings with your girl friend. You get a call in your cellphone/office landline. You pickup only to hear "Would you like to have a personal loan at attractive interest rate" or "How about an exciting job oppurtunity that fits your career" or "Are you interested in credit card". I hate tele marketing. When I'm in a relaxed mood and not so busy, things are different.

Here are few such examples:

:Hello.
:Hello sir. Are you looking for a job change?
:hmmm. Yes. Why are you asking?
:We are a Delhi based consultancy company and we do have really nice openings for the talented.
:What about the salary?
:You will get the best in the industry sir
:Great. What are the companies do you deal with?
:We deal with various companies. What is your qualification and skill set sir?
:I've completed my +2 and have 5 arrears in my B.Com.
:(after a moment) So how did you get into the industry? you went thru any computer courses like Aptech or NIIT?
:Computer course? Why do I need to learn computers?
:(quite confused) hmmm. You are a developer right? Or a tester?
:Oh! you got the wrong extension. I'm the security sitting in the reception. So you have jobs only for the computer persons?
:Sorry sir
:Hello...

I don't know how the tele marketing gal felt, but I really enjoyed it. hee hee hee. Check this one (We had to share the extension in one of my previous companies):

:Hello
:Hello, can I talk to Vanitha?
:Yes, Vanitha speaking
:Sir, I asked for Vanitha
:Yes, Vanitha here. What do you want?
:No Sir, errr, sorry Madam, Are you interested in personal loans?
:Yes, I want to buy a pen and I need Rs 10. Do you give a loan without any interest for that.
(now she understands that somebody is playing and keeps the receiver)

This I guess is the best one:

:Hello
:Hello, Can I talk to Srini?
:Srini has gone to the canteen. What do you want?
:No problem, I'll call after 10 minutes
:I don't think there is any need for that. As far as I know, he has credit cards from every major bank; he has a personal loan for 15 Lakhs and he already paying EMI for a house loan of 50 Lakhs.
:How much did you said the personal loan was?
:15 Lakhs. I don't think he will go for it again. So you better not call again.
:Sure. Thanks

Wait. That is not the end of the story. Ater 15 mins Srini did get a call and he was talking over the phone for 10 mins. When it was over, he stood up and asked: "who said my wife that I took a personal loan?"

Well, I leave the rest to your imagination ;-(

Even after working with Java for all these years, I'm still a great fan of the "Expert Friendly" programming language - C++. Look what the creator of the language has to say about the quality of software.

read more | digg story

The Hindu is a decent daily that contains only the news that you would want. Unlike 'Times of India', there won't be any news if John Abraham vomited in a party or if Briney didn't wear her underwear during her flight travel. When I went to Chennai last weekend, there was a news item in Hindu about a local thief. I was surprised and pulled up some news from of the "unofficial sources" (My classmates' girl friend's dog's hair dresser's second wife's distant cousin). Here are the details.

This guy, lets name him x for now, has started this technique almost an year back. Within few months he has done so many thefts using the same technique. He is bold enough to leave his finger prints. The Police have no match for those prints in their database, so he is new to them. Once it went to a level, where every tuesday night, he would be at work. The police stepped up the night patrol. Once when the police patrol was 4 streets away and he was successful in escaping from the scene after opening a bureau.

The official count of the number of police people deployed on this case stands at 75, but my source claims that it would be somewhere above 350. Everynight they had patroling in many areas. If anyone found to be a suspect, they would take his fingerprints and demand him to show some id. The next morning the fingerprints will be compared with our great x's fingerprints. Still no use. But after all this, our man was silent for 2 months and then he strikes last friday.

So what is his technique? Check what The Hindu says:

Chennai News : `Bureau-puller' is at it again

Somebody said that it was a James Bond movie. I could have done so many things for that money that I spent at Mayajaal for this stupid movie. Sigh :-(

Tonight I'm going to watch a real bond movie in Star Movies. The Golden Eye.

One of my friend happened to read the following comment in the code:

/*
The newline before the title parameter below fixes xxxx-yyyy. I have absolutely no idea HOW it fixes xxxx-yyyy, but the simple fact that it does fix the problem indicates that I could spend my whole life trying to work out why and be none the wiser.
I suggest you don't think too hard about it either, and instead contemplate the many joys that can be found in life - the sunlight reflecting off Sydney Harbour; walking through the Blue Mountains on a dew-laden Autumn morning; the love of a beautiful woman - this should in some way distract you from the insane ugliness of the code I am about to check in.
Oh, and whatever you do, don't remove the damn newline.
*/

When I wrote my "story", Spree asked me, where I got the idea of register marriage from. Well, it was from none other than from Spree herself! Although she didn't opt for it, it was a thought initiated by her.

After several years of trouble, she finally gave me the good news of her engagement. I'm very happy tonight. I'm supposed to keep it as a secret, so I'm not going to blog about this ;-)

When ever I see Anne Geddes's photos, I thought no big deal. Its just some nice photos of kids, whats special about it. I've to change my mind when I tried taking photos of my sister's 2 yr old kid. My God. Just for this one photo, I was struggling like for 15 mins. After 4/5 wasted snaps, finally managed to get one. Now I understand how much effort would Anne Geddes need to shoot those photos!

From Misc

Officially Weblogic is supported on Suse and RedHat only. Not on Ubuntu. But installing it on Ubuntu (Edgy) was smooth. Just downloaded the Weblogic Server 9.2 Redhat x86 installer and executed it. Installation went fine without any problem. After installing I was searching for the menu item for the config wizard. Its not added. So have to manually add it. Same for the menu item for starting generated domain servers. Otherwise the I thought its going to be a painful experience, but overall it was smooth!

Finally I developed the roll. Here are the photos of the beast.

From Diwali Trip

From Diwali Trip

Free and Open Source Java

Finally Sun has open sourced Java. For a Java developer like me, it means nothing. If they concentrate on the licensing and redistribution of the JRE, it would be great for me and the software houses as well. There is no point in creating Desktop applications in Java if there is no assurance that a Java Runtime will be available in the user's machine and even worse that you can't ship Sun's JRE due to a hell lot of license restrictions. This made vendors like IBM and BEA to have their own JRE implementation, but then they are not into desktop application developement. So the future of Java Desktop applications lies on the licensing policy of the JRE and may be tie ups with hardware vendors like Dell & HP for pre-installing Java on the PCs they sell (IBM already bundles their JRE with IBM machines)

I don't write about my employers on this blog. But this is a small exception. Happened to come across a recent news article about my current employer, so here is the link(Sonoa Secures Round B). And regarding the product that we are working on, it is a ... Hey, wait. I need to keep my mouth shut on that :-)

"ஒரு கல்லூரியின் கதை" படத்துல ரெண்டு மூணு பாட்டு நல்லா இருக்கும். எப்பவாச்சும் முனுமுனுத்துட்டு இருப்பேன். படம் பார்த்தது இல்ல. சமீபத்துல எதோ டீவீல போட்டாங்க. அம்மணி கூட உக்காந்து பார்த்துட்டு இருந்தேன். கதை என்னமோ கொஞ்சம் வித்தியாசமாத்தான் போச்சு. நடுவுல ஒரு இடத்துல, மனசுல காதல் இருக்கா இல்லையான்னு தெரிஞ்சுக்க, ஹீரோயின் சத்தமே வராம உதட்ட மட்டும் அசைச்சு கூப்பிடுவாங்களாம், கூப்பிட்ட ஒடனே ரொம்ப தூரத்துல இருக்கற ஹீரோவும் கரெக்டா திரும்பி பார்ப்பாரு. எங்க அம்மணி: "நீயும் தான் இருக்கியே. லேப்டாப்ல எதயாச்சும் நோண்டிகிட்டு இருந்தா, அடுத்த ரூம்ல இருந்து காட்டு கத்து கத்துனாலும் காது கேக்காது. ஹூம். அதுக்கெல்லாம் மனசுல சுத்தமான காதல் வரணும்."

யப்பா டைரக்டருங்களா, உங்களோட கற்பனை வளத்தை பாராட்டுறேன், ஆனா இதெல்லாம் கொஞ்சம் ஓவரு.

I know that I'm the only user in my system and no one else will have access to it. I don't see a point to have a login screen. With Windows, I know we can set to auto login using a userid. I was searching for similar thing in Ubuntu. Found one :-)

Go to terminal and type "sudo gdmsetup". You will get login window preferences. Select Security tab; check "Enable automatic Login" and select the user. You are done! Simple ha? But why there is no shortcut in the Preferences/Administration/Applications menu?

Related links:
Ubuntu Titbits
Eclipse in Ubuntu
Putty in Ubuntu
Screen resolution got struck in Ubuntu
Configure DSL in Ubuntu

I don't know what harm I did to Google. Its been targeting my blog for weird search terms. For the past one week, its sarees color. Check these search terms with Google:

sari color of 2006

orange color sarees

blue and purple shaded sarees

And another thing I don't understand is, why would anyone search in Google for a colorful saree? Shouldn't they go to The Chennai Silks/Pothy's/Nalli? hmmm. Gals!

[Update:15,Nov,2006]

After a week, I thought that saree stuff is over. And then someone landed in this blog for this query: "What color saree suits a dark woman". LOL!

With Firefox 2 and IE 7 released, the war is heating up. Now that both are equipped with tabbed browsing, phishing tools etc, its hard to say which one is better. But one area where Firefox is a clear winner is the unlimited extensions it has. The following are my top rated extensions:

(10) Splash! - What good is a software that doesn't show a "Loading" page? From Windows to Eclipse, almost every software I use has one (Even Gmail has!). Firefox didn't have a splash screen. This plugin fills the void.

(9) Tabbrowser Preferences - It gives you more control over tabs. eg. you can create new tab when using the search bar

(8) Foxy Tunes - The ability to control your favourite media player, without leaving Firefox.

(7) Performancing - There are many desktop tools for writing blogs, but not many extensions. This is one of the best Firefox extensions for blog writers.

(6) Cooliris - When you find a link, keep your mouse over it. This extension will give you a preview of what is available in that link. This is really helpful when are you are using some search engine and want to preview the links before loading the page in the window.

(5) Download Status Bar - If you are downloading something and want to know the status of it, don't have to switch to and look at the Download dialog box every now and then. The status of each download is available in the status bar. When there are no downloads to show, this bar automagically vanishes :-)
(4) DownThemAll - When you want to download multiple items in your page, this extension helps you. It comes handy when you have too many images in a page and you want to download all/few of them.

(3) Adblock Plus - Firefox does prevents the nasty popups. But what about the in-page ads? Use Adblock Plus. You can configure it to eliminate most of the ad s found in a page.

(2) TamilKey - Very useful when you are in net-cafe. You can't expect them to install ekalappai. Simply install this pluging and start blogging in Tamil.

(1) Google Browser Sync - This one is really helpful for those who use more than one computer everyday like me. No matter which computer I use, I can add a bookmark when I come across a nice site. This plugin will sync it to all the computers that I use.

One fine day you loose your ability to speak to your friends. The most troubling thing is you can't speak only to your friends and relatives, but you can address a crowd and speak in a conference. The worst part is you can sing to your friends, but not speak. How will you feel?

After 18 months of pain and struggle, Scott Adams, the man behind Dilbert comics, gets back his voice. And he is the first person to get back this. Check his blog for more info.

Even though I've never met him nor exchanged any mails, I'm happy that he is back to normal.

For the long weekend on Diwal, I had a bus ticket to Coimbatore on Friday night, but since Friday is a holiday, I was thinking of driving to Coimbatore. The previous Saturday when Raja and Ashok were also interested in joining, it was decided that we'll drive. On Tuesday, I was talking with my house owner and told him that I'm going home for Diwali in bike. He said, "ethuku sinna vandila, peria vandi thaan iruku illa, eduthutu poo" (Why small vehicle? Take my big vehicle and go). They had two Maruthi zens and one is very rarely used. I admitted that I can't drive cars. He smiled and pointed to the "big vehicle". Its a Thunderbird. Hmmm. When I bought my pulsar, one of my friends commented: "When you ride a bike, it should look like a prince on a horse. But with this bike you look like a mosquito on a buffallo". Thunderbird is twice powerful than my pulsar and its definitely a bulky beast. How will I look like? Mosquito on an elephant? Never mind, I thought of trying. Thursday I took it to office. It was like a test drive. I drove in the Koramangala traffic and in the inner ring road as well. I felt comfortable and thought I can handle it. So I decided to take the "big vehicle".

Friday morning, I left at 6.30 AM. Raja and Ashok joined me at Madiwala and we started. After Hosur, I lost them from my sight. I waited in the road side and then went back a km also. Cudn't find them. With no cell signal, I cudn't catch them. There is no point in looking for them and I proceeded alone.

I took the Thoppur, Bhavani, Tiruppur route. The four lane NH - 7; Thoppur forest; Mettur Dam; Tiruppur-Pollachi road, everything was perfect and the ride was enjoyable. Except for one small accident. I was having breakfast after Krishnagiri in a Punjabi Dhaba(Is it true that there are more Punjabi Dhabas in Tamil Nadu than in Punjab?) When I came out to the parking space, I saw the headlight was smashed and the mudguard was scratched. Someone in a car, which was parked near-by, told me that some lorry crashed into my bike when it was taking reverse. The driver of the lorry came down; saw the damage; went back to his seat; and went away from the scene. I was helpless. I've to repair it now :-/ Monday morning I started and took the Coimbatore-Salem route. Except for the 15 mins heavy rain after Salem, the ride was perfect. The total distance was around 800 kms. I've taken few pictures. The film roll is complete, I'll post them here.

Don't ask me what was the response at my home for driving. I better not write anything about it ;-)
My pulsar will be good till 100km/hr speed. Beyond that speed, you will slowly feel that you are loosing control. But Thunderbird is different. Most of the time I was driving at 80 km/hr and many times at 120 km/hr. The bike was solid. No wobbling at all. After a while, you won't even hear any sound from the engine. Its surprising quite at higher speeds.

Thunderbird is a nice bike. Initially I thought it might not be comfortable to drive in city traffic, but I was wrong. It is equally good for regular commuting. May be I'll sell this Pulsar and buy a Thunderbird. But first I should put on some weight. At least I should look like a bird on an elephant :-)

Happy Diwali to the readers of my blog. It includes the regular readers of this blog (yes, all the 5 of you) and those who were directed to this blog for unrelated search terms like "coimbatore aunty" and "mehandhi design".

There were rumours saying that Google is preparing portable datacenters. Even before those rumours are confirmed, Sun released one. Project Blackbox.

Project Blackbox is a datacenter that fits inside an ordinary shipping container. Usually the softwares from Sun sucks. They never made any profit by selling software. Thats one reason they give away their software free. From NetBeans to Sun One server, you get the entire stack free - including the Solaris OS. Hardware is their speciality and major revenue comes from selling & supporting Sun boxes. May be this project should help them to bring up their profits again.

Windows Live writer is one software which I'm definitely missing in Linux. Its a simple and cute tool to use. You can format your text in the editor; immediately switch to see a web preview; if it needs further tweaking, switch to the html mode and continue editing, etc. All this you can do it offline. This is especially helpful when are at home and there is a power cut. Can't connect to net, but still can write blogs offline in my laptop. I'm currently evaluating few blog editors for Linux, none of them seems to be fine. I'll post reviews of each editor and a final verdict on them later.

Related links:
Ubuntu Titbits
Eclipse in Ubuntu
Putty in Ubuntu
Auto Login in Ubuntu
Screen resolution got struck in Ubuntu
Configure DSL in Ubuntu

I installed Ubuntu 6.06 from a live CD. After I configured internet, lots of packages got updated. Not sure which one corrupted the settings, but my screen resolution changed to 640x480. I tried System->Preferences->Screen Resolution. But no higher resolution was listed there. I remember using xconfig or something similar in past. But no such commands were available. Google gave me the answer. We need to manually edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

Earlier the Screen section had

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection

I changed it to:

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection

Having only one resolution mode and only one Depth, makes it the default one. Additionaly I've to add the ViewPort (not sure why it was needed). Now the screen is back to normal resolution :-)

[Update 8-Nov-06] The ViewPort is not needed. Resolution is fine without it. But after upgrading to Edgy, the resolution went back to 640x480. Either simply adding an empty line at the end of the xorg.conf file or executing a "sudo touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf" and then restarting X (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace), will bring the resolution back to normal. Quirky Linux :-(

Related links:
Ubuntu Titbits
Eclipse in Ubuntu
Putty in Ubuntu
Auto Login in Ubuntu
Configure DSL in Ubuntu

I've been using Ubuntu for a while. So far its good.  As I've a laptop loaded with Windows XP, Ubuntu has not been my primary OS. Since my last date with the present company is this Thrusday & I'll be returning my laptop, I've to make Ubuntu my primary (and only) OS. I'll pen down my experiences here.

The first thing I needed to configure was my DSL Connection. I searched for any utilities, but I couldn't find anything (at least not under System->Preferences or System->Adminstration. After a little bit of Googling, I was able to configure. Here are the steps:

• First configure your IP address. Select System->Adminstration->Networking


• In the window, selec the ethernet adapter to which you have connected your DSL modem(mostly you will have only one adapter listed)


• Select the properties of the adater.


• If your ISP supports DHCP, select it, if not key in the static IP address that your ISP gave you


• Go back to the Network settings window and key in the ISP's DNS server IP addresses


• Now that you have configured your TCP/IP settings, we need to configure the PPPoE settings.


• Open a terminal window and run "pppoeconf" (you need root permission). The wizard should help you configure the settings.


• Now if you have not configured to connect at system start up, use the commands - "pon dsl-provider" to connect; "poff" to disconnect and "plog" to view the current status

How good it would be, if there exists a wizard that will guide you thru all the above steps. Hmmmm. Long way to go for Linux to become a common man's OS.

Related links:
Ubuntu Titbits
Eclipse in Ubuntu
Putty in Ubuntu
Auto Login in Ubuntu
Screen resolution got struck in Ubuntu

This picture was taken when we went for a trip to Bannargetta National Park. Forget the spelling mistakes, read till the last line for the list of menu items in a road side hotel ;-)



There were lot of foreigners when we were waiting in the queue for the safari tickets. One of them was asking, whether they can see any tiger in the safari. Somebody in the queue commented, "For many foreigners, India is a land full of tigers, snakes, elephants and Software Engineers".

Hmmmm.

சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது
சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது
ஒன்றை மறைத்து வைத்தேன், சொல்ல தடை விதித்தேன்,
நெஞ்சை நம்பி இருந்தேன் அது வஞ்சம் செய்தது
சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது

ஓ, கன்னி மனம் பாவம் என்ன செய்ய கூடும்
உன்னைப்போல அல்ல உண்மை சொன்னது
சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது

உனைத்தவிர எனக்கு விடியலுக்கோர் கிழக்கு, உலகினில் உள்ளதோ உயிரே
சூரிய விளக்கில் சுடர் விடும் கிழக்கு, கிழக்குக்கு நீ தான் உயிரே
எல்லாம் தெரிந்திருந்தும், என்னை புரிந்திருந்தும்
சும்மா இருக்கும்படி சொன்னேன் நூறு முறை
சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது

ஓ நங்கை உந்தன் நெஞ்சம், நான் குடுத்த லஞ்சம், வாங்கிக்கொண்டு இன்று உண்மை சொன்னது
சொன்னாலும், சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது
விழிச்சிறையில் பிடித்தாய், விலகுதல் போல் நடித்தாய்
தினம் தினம் துவண்டேன் தளிரே
நதியென நான் நடந்தேன், அலை தடுத்தும் கடந்தேன், கடைசியில் கலந்தேன் கடலே
எல்லாம் தெரிந்திருந்தும் என்னை புரிந்திருந்தும்
சும்மா இருக்கும்படி சொன்னேன் நூறு முறை
ஓ, பூவெடுத்து நீரில் பொத்தி வைத்து பாரு, வந்து விடும் மேலே வஞ்சிக்கொடியே
சொன்னாலும், சொன்னாலும் கேட்டிடாது கன்னி மனது
சொன்னாலும் கேட்பதில்லை கன்னி மனது

A better and updated version is maintained here (http://grprakash.googlepages.com/gwtwithejb).
In this post, I thought I'll explain how to use GWT with EJB. GWT addresses the web layer and EJB the middle layer, its natural to use both of them to have a neat J2ee app.

I assume that you know how to create EJB project and Web project with Googlipse. For the second one, I've written a post here.

If you are an advanced EJB developer and have used GWT for a while, "Use the RemoteServiceImpl as a EJB client and continue in the as usual way". If you are not, then the rest of the post is for you.

What we are trying now is to have a text box in the web page and a button. When you key in a person's name there and press the button, it will show the age of the person.

The first step is to create a Stateless Session Bean. The Remote & Home interface will look like this:

public interface AgeServiceEjb
extends EJBObject, Remote {

public int getAge(String name);
}

public interface AgeServiceHome
extends EJBHome {
public AgeService create()
throws ...;
}

The EJB looks something like:

public class AgeServiceBean
implements SessionBean {


//All EJB members here
public int getAge(String name){

int age;

if(name.equals("Pranni"))
age = 18; //Pranni is always 18 :-)
else if(name.equals("Bill Gates"))
age = 51;
else
age = 40; // default value

return age;
}
}

I opted for a very simple implementation. Of course you have do the normal way of contacting the Data Layer. Use Entity beans or try plain JDBC or use Hibernate. Check whether name is null or not, throw a NameNotFound exception. Its the plain old normal EJB code. GWT never restricts anything here. If you already have some EJB, exposing it to a servlet or a swing client, very well, you can reuse that also.

Now let us create a Remote service in the Web layer.

The GWT's RemoteService is very similar to the RemoteInterface of EJB:

public interface AgeServiceGwt
extends RemoteService {

public int getAge(String name);

// Other members Util, SERVICE_URI etc
}

The RemoteService's Impl is the key which connects GWT and EJB:

public interface AgeServiceGwtImpl
extends RemoteServiceServlet
implements AgeServiceGwt{

public int getAge(String name){
Context ctx = new InitialContext();
AgeServiceHome hme =
(AgeServiceHome)ctx.lookup("<JNDI name>");
AgeServiceEjb ageService = hme.create();
return ageService.getAge(name);
}
}

You can do all the normal EJB client stuff here. Add parameters to create initial context, configure the JNDI name, cache the home interface, etc. If you have ever used JSP/servlets calling EJB code, think it in the same way. Treat the Impl class as a servlet (in fact it is!) and do the usual way.

Common problems:

• How do I deploy the EJB in the GWT's embedded Tomcat server?

You can't. In fact you can't deploy it even on an external Tomcat. Its just a web container. You need an app server like WebLogic or JBoss

• How do I create a EAR file?

Create an EAR project and add these projects (EJB & Web) to it. Select File->Export->Export as EAR file

• Can I deploy the application in an app server and still debug in hosted mode?

Yes. Look at "Deploying to an external server" in the GWT tutorial. Its the same way.

ஒரு மாசமா டைபாய்டுன்னு சாக்கு சொல்லி, வீட்டுல நல்லா தின்னுட்டு, தூங்கிட்டு இங்க வந்தா ஒரே கடி. இங்க தனியா வேற இருக்கேனா, சண்ட போட கூட ஆளே இல்லாம, நானே சமைச்சு, அத நானே சாப்பிட்டு, ஹூம். என்ன தான் திட்டும், அடியும் வாங்கினாலும், அம்மணி நெனப்பு வுட்டு போக மாட்டேங்குது. இந்த மாதிரி பிரிவில தான் நல்லா கவித வருமாமே. செரி ட்ரை பண்ணிப்பார்போமேன்னு ஒரு வெண்பா எழுதினேன்.

கவித, கவித எங்க படி:

தரையில் ஒருமீனாய் என்னைத் திணறவிட்ட(து)
எங்கள் இருவர் பிரிவு

இங்க இருக்கற வரிகள் எல்லாம் நான் எங்க இருந்து சுட்டேன்னு கண்டுபிடிங்க பார்க்கலாம்:

 

கோபம் கொள்ளும் நேரம்
வானம் எல்லாம் மேகம்
காணாமலே போகும் ஒரே நிலா

கோபம் தீரும் நேரம்
மேகம் இல்லா வானம்
பெளர்னமியாய் தோன்றும் அதே நிலா

---

உலகத்தின் கடைசியாய்
இன்று தானோ என்பது போல்
பேசி பேசி தீர்த்த பின்னும்
எதோ ஒன்று குறையுதே.

---

உப்புக்கடலோடு மேகம் உற்பத்தியானாலும்
உப்புத்தண்ணீரை மேகம் ஒரு போதும் சிந்தாது
மலையில் விழுந்தாலும் சூரியன் மரித்து போவதில்லை
நிலவுக்கு ஒளியூட்டி தன்னை நீட்டித்துக்கொள்கிறதே,
மேகமாய் நானும் மாறேனோ
அதன் மேண்மை குணங்கள் காண்பேனோ
சூரியன் போலவே மாறேனோ
என் ஜோதியில் உலகை ஆளேனோ

---

காற்றில் இலைகள் பறந்த பிறகும்
கிளையின் தழும்புகள் மறைவதில்லை
காயம் நூறு கண்ட பிறகும்
உன்னை உள்மணம் மறப்பதில்லை

 

கருப்பு-வெள்ளை காலத்துல "அத்தை மடி மெத்தையடி ஆடி விளையாடம்மா"-ன்னு அழகான வரிகளோட வ்ந்துகிட்டிருந்த தமிழ் சினிமா பாடல்கள் எங்கயோ போயி "எப்படி? எப்படி? நீ சமைஞ்சது எப்படி?"-ன்னு கேக்கற மாதிரி பாடல்களோட வர ஆரம்பிச்சிருச்சு. "இப்ப இருக்கற ஆளுகளே செரியில்லப்பா, எங்க காலத்துல எல்லாம்"-ன்னு ஆரம்பிக்கற பெரிசுகளுக்கு ஒரு இன்பர்மேசன்: மேல சொன்ன ரெண்டு பாடல்களையும் எழுதினது ஒரே ஆள் தான். அப்ப பார்க்கறவங்க தரம் கொறஞ்சு போச்சோ? நமீதாவோ இல்ல மும்தாஜோ வந்து ஒரு ஆட்டம் போட்டாதான் படம் ஓடுமோ? அப்படியும் இல்ல. தவமாய் தவமிருந்து கூட ஓடுதே. இந்த தமிழ் மக்களோட ரசனைய புரிஞ்சுக்கவே முடியலபா. என்னமோ போங்க.

ஸ்டேட்பாங்கில அக்கவுண்ட் இல்ல
டாஸ்மாக்கில கடன் வெச்சவன்

இந்த மாதிரி அட்டகாசமான பாட்டுகளுக்கு நடுவே நல்ல சில வரிகளும் எப்படியோ வந்துடுது. அப்படி நான் பார்த்த சில வரிகளத்தான் சுட்டு மேல குடுத்தேன். எந்தெந்த பாட்டுன்னு கேக்கறீங்களா?

1. கண்ட நாள் முதலாய் - மேற்கே மேற்கே தான்
2. வேட்டையாடு விளையாடு - மஞ்சள் வெய்யில் மாலை
3. சாமுராய் - மூங்கில் காடுகளே
4. 7ஜி ரெயின்போ காலனி - கண் பேசும் வார்த்தைகள்

முக்கியமா அந்த டாஸ்மாக் வரிகள் சொல்லாம விட்டுட்டானேன்னு திட்டுறவங்களுக்கு - ஆறு படத்தில "சோடா பாட்டில் கையில" பாட்டு 

This photo was taken during the valaikaapu (any translations in English?) function. Photo taken by my friend with his digi-cam. Usually I publish the photos taken by me only, but this one is an exception :-)

I can eat idly with curd or chappathi with rasam or even the so-called "Butter Paneer Masala" prepared by my wife. But I can't eat the typical Bangalore Sambar.

Grrrrrrrrrrr

The earlier UI of Google Reader was not usable at all. Now this version is little better. Still there could be more improvements:

 

• The subscribed blogs are shown in the left pane in the tree view. It would be really nice if items could be drag-n-dropable
• The Manage Subscriptions page is another mess. By default it shows all the subscribed feeds. No one is going to pay attention if more than 20 items are listed. And I've around 100 feeds! Scrolling also becomes slower with more items
• I thought there should be some way to search for tags I want to manage. The search button was hiding in right corner. When you have all the items displayed, it better be in a better visible place
• When you click "Add Star", there is a visual indication on the star and the text becomes "Remove Star". Same for "Share" and "Add Tags". But when I clicked "Mark as read" nothing happened. The text didn't change and there was no visual clue. It took me some time to realize that there was a visual clue. The box right before the text is a check box and there is a tick box. First the box itself very small and the tick happens to be in the same dull gray color. The UI should be consistent - it would be better if the text changes to "Mark as unread" and the tick mark appears in a brighter color as in other things
• When you add a feed thru Firefox, first it asks for whether to add it to Google Personalized home page or to Reader. It asks for everytime. There could be a preference for "add to this by default" or similar
• The feeds added from Firefox always gets added to the root. There should be a way to put it under a folder while adding.
• The Feed Settings Menu has just one item - UnSubscribe. May be they have plans to add more items, but for undelete, how about a Thrash Can symbol under the tree and items and the items drag-n-dropped into it will get deleted?
• The sharing is little weird. Instead of some number based URL, they should do a think of something else. BTW, try this URL: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/00123456789012344567
• I was doing some thing and suddenly the left panel disappeared. I didn't know how to bring it back. No button to restore. I closed the tab and opened reader in a new tab and discovered that I've accidentally pressed 'u', which happens to be the shortcut for Full screen view. I'm a great lover of keyboard shortcuts, but there should be a way to use the mouse and switch between the normal and Full Screen views.

For those who were wondering why I didn't post anything for a month or didn't reply you mails, I was down with typhoid. I called up my PM and conveyed the message and went back to my native village - the great "cyber palayam". Almost every family in my village, including mine, has a member affected by chi-kun guinea fever. I thought I'm going to get affected by it in my one month's stay there. Luck was on my side. I escaped. So what was I doing for one whole month? Nothing! With no cellphone signal or internet, I just spent all day lazing around. Can't watch TV as for every fifteen minutes, there will be a 5 min power down. The worst thing is that during that 15 mins, mostly will be ads and the main program will be during the time where no power. It was tough for a guy like me to sit simply and do nothing. So the best I can do is gardening. Whenever I go to Pollachi for a check-up, I'd buy some plants. Finally now my home has all sort of plants from Rose to Jasmin and from Pomegranate to Papaya. Not sure how it will be maintained in my absense.

Its election time and I read every line in the Dina Malar. Pretty much interesting to see the statements by our "great" leaders. Esp Captain, Thirumavalavan and Karunanithi. Add our Election Commision to that list.

When I came back to Bangalore this morning, I'd thousands of mails, both personal and official. Sorting out and reading them is really a challenge. Still doing it. Got to read the blogs and newssites to see what has happened in this one month. Few things I noticed:

• The all new Google Reader. Finally they got a decent UI. Will post about it later.


• The new iPod Shuffle. I didn't like this model.


• My previous post is topping up in the results for the search GWT tutorials:-)

[Update - A recent revision of this tutorial is available at here.

This tutorial introduces you to GWT. You can do develop GWT apps without any IDE, but it is really helpful if you use one. I choose Eclipse with a plugin for GWT called Googlipse to walk thru this tutorial. Not because Eclipse & Googlipse are free or because Eclipse is the default Java IDE for many developers, but simply because I'm the creator of the Googlipse plugin :-P

Requirements:

• You need the latest GWT. You can download it at here. Make sure you download the latest version.


• Download and install Eclipse 3.2 with WTP 1.5. You can get it here.


• You need a Java 1.5 VM to run Googlipse. You can get it here.


• Download Googlipse from here and drop in the jar in your eclipse\plugins directory.

Settings:

Before you start, you need to tell Googlipse where you have installed GWT. In Eclipse, select Window -> Preferences -> Googlipse -> Browse. Select the directory where you have installed GWT.

Creating the App:

Create a new Dynamic Web Project. (File-> New -> Project -> Dynamic Web Project)

In the first Wizard page, type "Hello World App" for Project Name and select "Default Googlipse Project" in the Configurations drop down. Click Finish.

With GWT you organize your code as Modules. Modules are typically organized under a package. When you create a module, you will have

• A <module name>.gwt.xml file, where you will have all your configurations of a module


• A folder named "public", where you will have all your html, css, images, etc


• A package named "client", where you will have all the client side code - which will be converted into JavaScript later


• A package named "server", where you will have all the server side code - in form of Servlets

Select File-> New -> Other -> GWT Module

You can select an existing package if you have already created, or create a package where you want to keep your module. Type "MyModule" for Name and click Finish. In the Package Explorer view, you can see that all the necessary code to run a module is created by Googlipse for you. Now you have the basic skeleton of a GWT app, lets run the app in hosted mode.

Running in Hosted Mode:

Googlipse integrates GWT hosted mode into Eclipse in a nice way. Select Run -> Run -> GWT Application. Click the "New Launch Configuration". You can select the project and the module, which you want to run. In the parameters page, you can customize the options passed to GWTShell. Click Run. You should see two windows popping up. One is the GWT Shell and the other is the hosted browser. Click the 'Click Me' button in the browser window, and you can see the "Hello World!" message right next to the button.

Compiling the application to JavaScript:

You can compile the client code into JavaScript, so that you can deploy it on any standard WebServer. Click the "Compile/Browse" button in the hosted mode browser. This will compile create the javascript and other supporting files under the build\gwtOutput directory.

Deploying to an external server:

Open the Servers view (Window -> Show View -> Other View -> Server -> Servers). Configure your favourite WebServer in the view (Right click on the view -> New -> Server) You can configure any server (Weblogic, JBoss, Tomcat, etc) and the configuration depends on the vendor and its not described here. Assuming you have configured a server, say Weblogic 9.0 server. Right click the configured server -> Add and Remove Projects. In the dialog box, move our Hello World App from Available Projects to Configured Projects and click Finish. Now you can start the server and see your application @ http://localhost:7001/Hello_World_App/MyModule.html (The URL varies depending on the server vendor and the server configuration)

Creating a WAR file:

Creating a WAR file for deployment is very simple. Select File -> Export -> WAR file and follow the wizard.

Adding RemoteServices:

What we have done so far is a simple static application. There is no RPC involved. GWT supports a properitary mecahnism thru which the client code and server code communicate. The heart of the RPC is a RemoteService interface. This lies in the client package of the module. The implementation of this interface should be available in the server package. By convention, the class is named as <RemoteService>Impl and Googlipse enforces this. There is another interface called the Async interface. Async interface is based on the RemoteService interface. More details about this interface is available here. We don't have to worry about this interface, because Googlipse create this Async interface for you and will maintain it.

Select File -> New -> Other -> Gwt Remote Interface to create a RemoteInterface. You need to select the module where it will reside and then give the name and uri. Uri is typically where the client will be looking for the the server code. It should be unique within the given application. Click Finish and you see the RemoteService and RemoteServiceAsync are created in the client package and the RemoteServiceImpl is created in the server package. The RemoteService interface also has an inner class Util with one method getInstance. This will be very handy for invoking the service from the client code. We will see this later. Now lets add a method in the interface:

String sayHello() throws Exception;

You can see Googlipse will update the Async interface with this method signature

 

void sayHello(AsyncCallback callback);

Basically it removes the return type and exceptions and adds the callback parameter at the end of the parameter list.

In the Impl class, implement this method

public String sayHello() throws Exception {
return "Hellooooooo";
}

Invoking RemoteServices:

From the client code, you can use the getInstance method to invoke the RemoteService.

I've modified the MyModule.java to have an RPC call:

button.addClickListener(new ClickListener() {
public void onClick(Widget sender) {
MyServiceAsync instance = MyService.Util.getInstance();
instance.sayHello(new AsyncCallback(){

public void onFailure(Throwable error) {
Window.alert("Error occured:"+error.toString());
}

public void onSuccess(Object retValue) {
Window.alert("Server returned:"+retValue.toString());
}
});
}
});

As you can see, the onFailure method is called whenever there was any problem with the RPC call. If everything goes fine, onSuccess method is called with the return value from the method.

Common problems:

• I installed Googlipse and nothing happened.

There are 2 possible reasons:

1) You are running an Eclipse 3.1 or earlier.

2) You are running Eclipse on a Java 1.4 VM or earlier

• How do I change the URI of the application?

Right click the project -> Properties -> Web Project Settings. Change the Context Root value

• I added the Googlipse facet to an existing Dynamic Web App. Nothing works.

Follow these steps for adding the Googlipse facet to an existing app:

• 
  
  
  
  • First remove the gwt-user.jar from the application build path
  
  
  • Remove gwt-servlet.jar from WEB-INF\lib directory
  
  
  • Add the facet
  
  
  • Open .settings\org.eclipse.wst.common.component file and for every module in your application, add the line
  
  
  • <wb-resource deploy-path="/" source-path="/build/gwtOutput/com.googlipse.testApp.MyModule"/> where com.googlipse.testApp is the package and MyModule is Module name.
  
  
  • Refresh the application.
  
  
  
  

• I upgraded from previous version of Googlipse. I'm getting some errors.

You have to uninstall the Googlipse facet and then follow the above steps to install the facet again.

 

'காக்க காக்க' மாதிரி ஒரு படம் எடுக்கலாம்னு கமல் கெளதம் கிட்ட சொல்லி இருப்பார் போல. கெளதம் கஷ்டபடாம அந்த படத்தையே கொஞ்சம் அங்க இங்க மாத்தி remake பண்ணி இருக்கார். நேர்மையான போலீஸ் அதிகாரி, நீளமான தலைமுடிய விரிச்சுப் போட்டுட்டு ஒரு வில்லன், அவர் மனைவியை கடத்திட்டு போற கிளைமாக்ஸ், etc, etc.

படத்துல சொல்லும் படியான விசயங்கள்:

கமல்: சொல்லிக்கவே வேணாம். ஒரு கம்பீரமான போலீஸ் அதிகாரி எப்படி இருப்பாரோ அப்படியே இருக்கார் - கொஞ்சூண்டு தொப்பையும் சேத்திதான் சொல்லறேன் ;-)

கேமரா: சும்மா பூந்து விளையாடி இருக்கார் ரவிவர்மன்.

இசை: பின்னனி இசைல கொஞ்சம் கடிய போட்டாலும் பாட்டுல பட்டய கிளப்பிட்டார் ஹாரிஸ் ஜெயராஜ்.

காமெடி: ஒன்னு ரெண்டு இடத்துல அங்க அங்க டயலாக்ல தூவி விட்டிருக்கறது, ரசிக்கும் படியா இருக்கு. ("மணிரத்னம் படம் மாதிரி பேசறீங்க?", "சாப்ட்வேரா? நானா?", etc)

கோட்ட விட்ட மேட்டருக:

திரைக்கதை: இன்னும் கொஞ்சம் நல்லா பண்ணி இருக்கலாம். முக்கியமா, "காக்க காக்க" சாயல் இல்லாம பண்ணி இருக்கலாம். அப்புறம், மொத ரேங்க் வாங்கற டாக்டர் "சாகா வரம்" பத்தி பேசறது எல்லாம் லாஜிக்கே இல்லாத விசயம்.

வன்முறை: கொஞ்சம் ஓவருங்க. கழுத்த அறுத்தா ரத்தம் கொப்புளிச்சி வரும் தான். அத அப்படியே படத்துல காட்டணுமா?

இங்கிலீஸு: நியூயார்க்ல நடக்கற விசாரணை பூரா இங்கிலீஷ் வசனம் - தமிழ் சப்-டைடில். B, C  சென்டர்ல படம் பார்க்கறவங்களுக்காக அஞ்சு நிமிசத்துக்கு ஒரு தடவ கமல் இந்தியாக்கு போன்ல update பண்ணற மாதிரி தமிழ்ல கதை சொல்லறார். எடுபடுமான்னு தெரியல.

படம் பார்த்துட்டு வெளிய வந்த ரெண்டு பேர் பேச கேட்டது:

"கமல் இண்டியன் சினிமாவோட சிங்கம்டா. சும்மா சொல்லக்கூடாது படம் சுப்பர் இல்ல?"

"ஆமா மச்சி. அடுத்ததா உங்க தலைவரு காமெடி படம் தான எடுப்பாரு?"

பெங்களூர் வலைப்பதிவர்கள் சந்திப்பு பத்தி இங்க எழுதி இருந்தேன். அதுல "என்னால ரொம்ப எல்லாம் தமிழ் பேச முடியாது" -ன்னு அறிமுகப்படுத்திகிட்ட பாரதியோட blog பக்கம் எட்டி பார்த்தேன். ஒரு நிமிசம் ஹார்ட் அட்டாக் வந்திடுச்சு. அசத்தலான குறள் வெண்பா எழுதி வெச்சிருக்காங்க. ரெண்டு சாம்பிள்:

கதவுதிறந் தோடிவந் தென்மழலை சொல்லும்
மொழியின் இனிதோ தமிழ்?

சோர்வாய் படித்து முடித்து உறங்கிடப்
போவோம் விடியும் பொழுது

இதைப்படிச்சதுக்கு அப்புறம் தலைப்புக்கும் இதுக்கும் என்ன சம்மந்தம்னு கேக்கறீங்களா? தமிழுக்கு வந்த போதாத காலம், எனக்கும் குறள் வெண்பா எழுத ஆசை வந்திருச்சு. பாரதி போன ஜென்மத்துல நிறைய புண்ணியம் செஞ்சு இருக்காங்க. இல்லைன்னா என்ன மாதிரி சிஷ்யன் கிடைப்பாங்களா? ;-) கொஞ்சம் பொறுமையா பகுபத உறுப்பிலக்கணத்துல ஆரம்பிச்சு வெண்பா ரூல்ஸ் எல்லாம் சொல்லி கொடுத்தாங்க. நானும் ஏதோ கத்துகிட்டு தமிழை கொலை பண்ணப்போறேன். தமிழ் மேல அதீத பற்று இருக்கறவங்க தயவு செஞ்சு இதோட இந்த blog படிக்கறத நிறுத்திடுங்க. இதோ என்னோட மொத குறள்:

பதிவு எழுதியது போதாதென் றெண்ணி
எழுத நினைத்தேன் குறள்.

ரெண்டு வாரத்துக்கு முன்னாடி சன் டீவி டாப் டென்ல இந்த படம் மொதல்ல வந்ததா நியாபகம். சரி நல்ல படம் போலன்னு சீடி எடுத்துட்டு வந்துட்டேன். குழந்தைகளுக்கு பிடிச்ச காரணத்துக்காகவும், குடும்பத்தோட பார்க்கக்கூடிய காரணத்துக்காகவும் தான் தியேட்டர்ல கூட்டம் வரதா பசங்க சொன்னாங்க. ஒண்ணு, ரெண்டு தவிர மத்தது எல்லாமே கொஞ்சம் கடியான காமெடி தான்.

"ஒன்பதுஎழுத்த்து" டைட்டில், ஏழை ஹீரோ, டமில் பேசற பணக்கார ஹீரோயின், மரத்த சுத்தி ஒரு ரெயின் சாங், அம்மா தாலி வெச்சு ஒரு சுப்பர் சென்டிமெண்ட், தொப்புள்ள பனியாரம் சுடுற சீன், ஓடுற ட்ரெயின் மேல கிளைமாக்ஸ் பைட், இத்யாதி, இத்யாதி - இந்த மாதிரி ஒரு "வெற்றிப்படத்துக்கு" அத்தியாவிசயமான சமாச்சாரம் எதுவும் இல்லாம, சுத்தமான தமிழ்ல ஒரு ராஜா காலத்து காமெடி கதை எடுக்கலாம்ன்னு யோசிச்ச டைரக்டர் சிம்புவிற்கு ஒரு பெரிய சபாஷ்.

இந்த மாதிரி ஒரு படத்துக்கு, அதுவும் ஒரு அறிமுக டைரக்டர நம்பி பணம் போட்டிருக்குற சங்கருக்கு இன்னொரு பெரிய சபாஷ். (அது ஏன் சார் உங்க படத்துக்கு மட்டும் வேற தயாரிப்பாளர் கிட்ட போறீங்க?)

அடுத்த சபாஷ், படத்தோட ஹீரோ (!) வடிவேலுவுக்கு. முந்தி எல்லாம் வடிவேலு காமெடின்னாலே செனல் மாத்திடுவேன். வீர வசனம் பேசிட்டு கோவை சரளாவை கூட்டிட்டு போயி கதவ சாத்தும் போதே தெரிஞ்சு போயிடும், நம்ம வீட்டு கத தான் நடக்க போகுதுன்னு. அத டீவீல வேற பார்க்கனுமான்னு, யோசிக்காம செனல் மாத்திடுவேன். அப்புறம், வின்னர் படம் வந்து தான் அவருக்கு ஒரு பிரேக் தந்துச்சு. சும்மா சொல்லக்கூடாது, டீவீல விடுங்க, அந்த சீன நெனச்சு பார்த்தாலே சிரிச்சுடுவேன். அப்படி ஒரு காமெடியன், படம் முழுக்க ஒரு சீரியஸ் ரோல்ல நடிச்சு பேர் வாங்கறது கொஞ்சம் கஷ்டம். அதை ஒரு அளவுக்காவது பண்ணியிருக்கார். அவருக்கு ஒரு சபாஷ்.

வழக்கம் போல தன்னோட கதாபாத்திரத்தை உணர்ந்து நடித்திருக்கும் நாசருக்கு இன்னோரு சபாஷ்.

கொஞ்சம் நாடகத்தனம், கொஞ்சம் கடி பாடல்கள், கொஞ்சம் வெறுப்பேத்தும் காமெடி, இதை எல்லாம் தள்ளி வெச்சுட்டு பார்த்தால், மொத்தத்துல ஒரு நல்ல டைம் பாஸ்.

M$ has released a nice tool called Windows Live Writer. Its a WYSIWYG editor for blogs. You can download it here. I'm writing this entry from the editor. Let me see how it comes.

<test>

RED is smaller than BLUE.

Verdana, Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma,

தமிழிலும் தட்டச்சு செய்யலாம்!

</test>

With BlogSpot there is no way to tag my blog entries. When you get a comment in your mail, there is no way to know from which entry the comment was for. There were few hiccups like this. I decided to move to WordPress for a long time, and as usual I can blame on my laziness for not doing it. Finally I did it now. The transition was smooth. There is an import option in WordPress, where you can give you blogger id and password. It will give you the list of blogs you have. Click on the ones you want to import and its done!

One big disadvantage I'm seeing here with WordPress is that you can't actually create/tweak the templates. You have to select the available ones and use it. But thats OK. The template I've chosen is not that bad. I can live with this. I'm still correcting the images, and few other things. Please let me know if anything is missing here.

One more year has gone and I turn back and see the events.

First on my personal side. I've shifted from Chennai to Bangalore. I'm no more single and to add more to that I'm an expectant father.

From my official side, I've put down my papers and shifted company. If that is not enough, I've again put down my papers last week and expected to move to my third company sometime next month. On the other hand, I've released an open source product and its going well. I discovered a tutorial for it in Japanese!

Wow! There are too many changes and all for good! It might be the most exciting year I've ever had in my life so far. But no matter what, I'm still 18 years old. This year again failed to increase my age. To quote Bryan Adams again:

Don’t worry about the future - forget about the past
gonna have a ball - ya we’re gonna have a blast
gonna make it last
18 till I die

I've moved this blog to wordpress. Please change your bookmarks to here

ஒரு நாளில் வாழ்க்கை இங்கே எங்கும் ஓடி போகாது
மறு நாளும் வந்து விட்டால் துன்பம் தேயும் தொடராது
எத்த்னை கோடி கண்ணீர் மண் மீது விழுந்திருக்கும்
அத்தனை கண்ட பின்னும் பூமி இங்கு பூ பூக்கும்
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, கரு வாசல் தொட்டு வந்த நாள் தொட்டு
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, ஒரு வாசல் தேடியே விளையாட்டு
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, கண் திறந்து பார்த்தால் பல கூத்து
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, கண் மூடிக்கொண்டால்
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ ...

போர்களத்தில் பிறந்துவிட்டோம், வந்தவை போனவை வருத்தமில்லை
காட்டினிலே வாழ்கின்றோம், முட்களின் வலி ஒன்றும் மரணமில்லை
இருட்டினிலே நீ நடக்கயிலே உன் நிழலும் உன்னை விட்டு விலகிவிடும்
நீ மட்டும் தான் இந்த உலகத்திலே உனக்கு துணை என்று விளங்கிவிடும்
தீயோடு போகும் வரையில், தீராது இந்த தனிமை
கரை வரும் நேரம் பார்த்து,கப்பலில் காத்திருப்போம்
எரிமலை வந்தால் கூட ஏறி நின்று போர் தொடுப்போம்
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, அந்த தெய்வ ரகசியம் புரிகிறதே
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, இங்கு எதுவும் நிலையில்லை கரைகிறதே
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, மனம் வெட்ட வெளியிலே அலைகிறதே
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, அந்த கடவுளை கண்டால்
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ ...

அது எனக்கு இது உனக்கு இதயங்கள் போடும் தனிக்கணக்கு
அவள் எனக்கு இவள் உனக்கு உடல்களும் போடும் புதிர்க்கணக்கு
உனக்குமில்லை இது எனக்குமில்லை, படைத்தவனே இங்கு எடுத்துக்கொள்வான்
நல்லவன் யார், அட கெட்டவன் யார், கடைசியில் அவனே முடிவு செய்வான்
பழி போடும் உலகம் இங்கே,பலியான உயிர்கள் எங்கே
உலகத்தின் ஓரம் நின்று அத்தனையும் பார்த்திருப்போம்
நடப்பவை
நாடகம் என்று நாமும் சேர்ந்து நடித்திருப்போம்
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, பல முகங்கள் வேண்டும் சரி மாட்டிக்கொள்வோம்,
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, பல திருப்பம் தெரியும் அதில் திரும்பிக்கொள்வோம்,
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, கதை முடியும் போக்கில் அதை முடித்துக்கொள்வோம்,
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ, மறு பிறவி வேண்டுமா
ஓஓஓஓஓஓ ...

Who will get affected by this? In my opinion:

(*) People invested in DTH. This Insat was supposed to boost the transmission of DTH. Now we have to depend on your local cable operators/SCV/Hathway
(*) People who bought trasnponders. They have to switch to Plan B
(*) ISRO. Their plans to commercialize the satellite launching will get affected by this
(*) Met dept. Insat was also meant for meterological imaging.

Good thing that GSLV is not the carrying vehicle for India's mission to the moon:Chandrayan. PSLVs will be used.

People are different and so are their taste. Some say that the photos I post here are good, while the others say create a photo blog so we are saved. Same for the Tamil movie song lyrics and other tamil posts. So I've decided not to post photos or movie lyrics. For the ones who like my photos, here is a webalbum for and for the ones interested in Tamil movie lyrics, here is a blog. Soon you can expect a separate blog in Tamil. Will see :-)

Gone are the days of 'Washing powder Nirma, washing powder Nirma' kind of ads. Present day ads are of high quality. Many-a-times the TV ads during breaks are much better than the programs. Here is my thoughts on these ads.

Ads are usually targetted towards a subset of people. The subset is defined by te product and its features. Some ads are targetted towads a particular gender (gillette/whisper); some are targetted for a particular age group(complan/pension schemes); some ads are targetted for a particular income groups(Hyndai Sonata/SOTC International Travels); some ads are very generic & targets a wide range of people(Colgate/Britannia 50-50)

I think Ads can be classified by other means as well - talkative and conceptual. Vasanth & Co ad is the best example for a talkative ad. The Ad gives every piece of info, from 'India's biggest chain of stores for home appliances' to 'no service charge for credit cards'. The list does include all the type of products and brands. These Ads are boring. I tend to switch the channel when I see these.

The other type of Ads are the Class 'A' ones. In 20-30 seconds they tell you a story/describe you an event and sell the product. Though these Ads are good and interesting to watch, there is a negative impact on the product. You will remember the ad, but will forget the product that it tries to sell. Ok. A small test with 2 questions.

(1) There is an ad in which Hrithik Roshan dances with a cute gal, who says 'I can't dance'. The dance, music, picturization everything is fine. But what is the product? "Some" biscuit is not the right answer :-)

(2) Boxing event. One guys "gets" well. Break. Now the coach tells something in his ears. Next round starts. Our guy "gives back" and wins. Then the ads says about a wealth management scheme which gives you the right advice. Name that product.

Not all the conceptual Ads are like that. Think of all the ads of Fevicol or the recent ads of "Express yourself" Airtel ads. They are conceptual, but they make you remember the product as well.

Which one is better? I believe that there are two phases of a product. First is reaching out and the next is brand image building. The first phase is to make sure that the name is familiar. In this phase, I think 'Washing power Nirma' or 'India's biggest blah blah' should be fine. Once the brand is well known, then they can switch to the conceptual ads. Just as Surf excel did! Compare the earlier ads of Surf Excel with their present day ads!

Last weekend also I went home. This time I've got tickets reserved, so overnight travel and nothing happened to blog. However, there is something about the dinner.

All thru my 6 years of life in both the PSGs, whenever I go to the railway station for someone's send-off, I won't miss a chance for the mobile restaurants ('thallu vandi'-ya englishla eppadi solla?) Esp the ones in the street between Collectorate & Police Commissioner's office. But after moving to Chennai, mostly I'm kind of forced for an early dinner at home itself. So whenever I come to Coimbatore Railway Station, I would say to myself that, "next time, surely my dinner is at a road side shop". It never happened until last weekend.

So from Ukkadam bus-stand I directly went to the Collectorate. The first change I noticed was most of the shops are well-lit, neat and looked a little hygienic! Thanks to the funding by Women Help Group Scheme(didn't remember the exact name). I ordered my favorites - egg-dosa and half-boil along with paniyaram & idly. No matter how good the filter/Bru coffee is, which is prepared by your mom/wife, the tea that you get in the old glass tumbler after a "chetta, oru chaaya", in the near by Nair shop, always tastes better. The egg-dosa and the half-boil are no exception. Whenever I try for a half-boil at home, either its full-boiled or its under-cooked or I break the yoke. No matter how hard I try, I can't prepare half-boil with the perfection of the road side shops. I always end the dinner with the half-boil. After eating "few" items the bill was around 25 bucks. A set of idly at Nandhini costs 20 bucks and I don't like the chuttni there.

Walking back to the Railway Station, my thoughts were roaming around the dinner. Say if I'd missed these shops during my college days, chances are less that I'd end up here for dinner. I probably would have preferred Annapoorna/Aarya's/early dinner at home. I was thinking that there are lot of simple pleasures in our lives like this, which should be enjoyed at the moment. Caught in the thoughts in this line, I entered the Station. There was a big 'Now or Never' ad for the TVS Apache. It said:

"Chase skirts now. Soon you'’ll be washing them"

She : என்னடா, இன்னைக்கும் ஆபீஸ்ல வேல சீக்கிரம் முடிஞ்சிடுச்சா?
He : ஆமா. ரெண்டு bug என் பேர்ல இருந்துச்சு. அத பிக்ஸ் பண்ணியாச்சு.
She : இப்ப என்ன? லேப்டாப் எடுத்துகிட்டு உக்காந்துக்குவியே?
He : இல்ல புள்ள. வெதர் ரொம்ப நல்லா இருக்கு. மொட்டை மாடிக்கு போய் பாட்டு கேட்க போறேன்

நம்ம ஆளு முகம் கழுவி; தலை சீவி; iPod எடுத்துட்டு மேல போறான்.

She : (மனசுக்குள்) என்னமோ செரியில்லயே. ஆபீஸ்க்கே கலைஞ்ச தலையும், கசங்கின சட்டையுமாத்தான் இவன் போவான். இப்போ என்ன தலை சீவி, அயன் பண்ணி வெச்ச T-shirt-ம்...

5 நிமிசம் கழிச்சி...

He : என்னது?
She : ஏன் முன்ன பின்ன பாத்தது இல்லியாக்கும்? காபி. குடிக்காமயே ஓடி வந்துட்ட, அதான் எடுத்துட்டு வந்தேன்.
He : செரி. அந்த புதுசா கட்டின பக்கத்து அபார்ட்மெண்ட்ல நாலாவது ப்ளாட்ல ஒரு பேமிலி குடி வந்திருக்கு பார்த்தியா?
She : இல்லயே ஏன்?
He : அங்க ஒரு பொண்ணு இருக்கு. ஏதோ எக்ஸாம்க்கு படிக்குது போல. சாயங்காலம் 6 மணியா போதும். டாண்ணு ஒரு புக் எடுத்துட்டு வந்து பால்கனில உக்காந்துக்கும்.
She : ம்ம்ம். நானும் நாலு நாளா எலி ஏன்டா இப்படி ஓடுதேன்னு புரியாம குழம்பிகிட்டு இருந்தேன். ஏன்டா. மனசுல என்ன +2 படிக்கற பையன்னு நெனப்பா? ஏழு கழுத வயசாச்சு, கல்யாணம் வேற முடிஞ்சாச்சு. இப்போ என்ன சைட் வேண்டி கிடக்கு?
He : அம்மணீ, வயசுக்கும் இதுக்கும் என்ன சம்பந்தம்? எத்தன வயசானாலும், இந்த விடலத்தனம் பசங்ச கிட்ட இருக்கதான் செய்யும்.
She : உடனே அம்மணீஈஈஈ-ன்னு கொஞ்சாத. இத இப்ப நிறுத்தப்போறியா இல்லயா?
He : அவங்கள நிறுத்தச்சொல்லு நான் நிறுத்தறேன்.
She : யார?
He : என்னதான் பசங்க விழுந்து, விழுந்து படிச்சு நல்லா எழுதினாலும், எல்லா செமஸ்டர்லயும் பொண்ணுகளுக்குனா ரெண்டு ரெண்டு மார்க் சேத்திப்போட்டாரே அந்த சேகர் சார், அவர நிறுத்தச்சொல்லு நான் நிறுத்தறேன். டைடல் புட் கோர்ட்ல லஞ்ச் டைம் போது அந்த 4th floor CTS பொண்ணு போட்டிருக்கற சுரிதார் நல்லா இருக்குன்னு நான் சொன்னப்ப, 'நீ இன்னும் வளரவேயில்லயாடா'-ன்னு என்னப்பார்த்து கேட்டுட்டு, அடுத்த வாரமே அதே டிசைன்ல சுரிதார் எடுத்து அவன் ஆளுக்கு குடுத்தான் பார் அந்த ரவி கம்மனாட்டி, அவன நிறுத்தச்சொல்லு நான் நிறுத்தறேன். இத எல்லாத்தையும் விட சனிகிழமை மாயாஜால்ல மத்தியான ஷோ முடிச்சிட்டு, அங்க எல்லாரும் ஜோடி ஜோடியா சுத்தறத பார்த்து வெறுத்து போயி, பின்னாடி கிச்சாவ உக்கார வெச்சு ECR-ல வண்டிய ஓட்டிகிட்டு வரும் போது, ரெண்டு HR பொண்ணுகள வெச்சு டிரிப்பில்ஸ் அடிச்சு போனாம் பார், அந்த பக்கத்து புராஜக்ட் டீம் லீட், அவன நிறுத்தச்சொல்லு நான் நிறுத்தறேன்.
She : போடாங்க... உனக்கு என்ன மனசுல பெரிய கமலஹாசன்னு நெனப்பா? உனக்கு ஒழுங்கா ஒரு ... செரி. அத விடு. இப்ப நீ நிறுத்தப்போறியா இல்லயா?
He : அட ஆண்டவா. என்ன தான் வளர்ந்தாலும், சில விசயங்களுக்கு bye-bye சொல்ல முடியாதுன்னு இந்த பொண்ணுகளுக்கு புரிய வைக்க மாட்டியா? அதான் சொன்னனே புள்ள. அவங்கள நிறுத்தச்சொல்லு நான் நிறுத்தறேன்.
She : நான் எதுக்கு அவங்கள நிறுத்தச்சொல்லனும்? நான் நிறுத்த வேண்டியத நிறுத்திக்குறேன். அப்பறம் பார்போம்.
He : ஙே!...


அது ஒண்ணுமில்லீங்க, புலிய பார்த்து பூன சூடு போட்ட கத தான். ஏதோ ஒரு தில்லுல போட்டியில நானும் கலத்துக்கலாம்னு முடிவு பண்ணி என்னால ஆனத எழுதிட்டேன். புடிச்சிருந்தா இங்க வந்து ஒரு ஓட்டு போட்டுருங்க...

Recent entries in this blog were filled with Tamil this, Tamil that etc. I've decided not to post any thing in that line for sometime. But Kongu Raasaa made me to violate it :-/

I recently blogged about listening to this song in Train. Prior to that whenever iTunes starts this song, I always fast forward it to the next song. No reason why I did that. I've been missing this good song for a long time!

This is the situation of the song. A village guy, whose dream is to become Police (and his dad's dream as well) and he achieves it as well. After getting a job he starts singing this:

பல்லவி:

வேப்பமரம், புளியமரம், ஆலமரம், அரசமரம்
ஊரவிட்டு போகப்போறேன் கேட்டுக்கோ,

ஆத்தங்கரை தெப்பக்குளம் குளிக்க வரும் செங்கமலம்
ஊரவிட்டு போகப்போறேன் கேட்டுக்கோ,

பஞ்சால சங்கு சத்தம் கேக்காத தூரம் போறேன்,
ஊரச்சுத்தும் குருவி பார்க்காத தூரம் போறேன்,

காக்கி சட்டை போட்டுகிட்டு,
போகப்போறேன் ஊரவிட்டு.

[Group]
காக்கி சட்டை போட்டுகிட்டு,
போகப்போறான் ஊரவிட்டு.
[End Group]

சரணம் 1:

சில்லுன்னு காலையில் எழுந்திரிச்சு; செலம்ப காத்துல சுழட்டுவேங்க,
சுத்தும் செலம்பு பட்டு கொஞ்சம் காயம் பட்டா நான் பொறந்த மண்ணெடுத்து பூசுவேணுங்க.

பல நாள் ஆச நெனவாச்சு, பெத்தவரு மனசு குளுந்தாச்சு,
புல்லட் வண்டி மேல ராக்கெட் வேகத்துல பந்தாவா சீறிகிட்டு போகப்போறேங்க.

[Group]
ஆறுசாமி பவனி சாலையில போனா பண்ணையாரு போடும் மேலு துண்டு எறங்கும்.
கலர், கலர் தாவணிய பார்த்துட்டா போதும்டா சாமியோட பவனி கைய கட்டி நிக்கும்டா...
[End Group]

சரணம் 2:

கள்ள நோட்டு அடிக்கறவன்; கந்து வட்டி வாங்கி சொரன்டுறவன்;
கோழி திருடறவன்; ஆட்ட அமுக்கறவன், ஆறு மாசம் டைமுக்குள்ள திருந்திக்கங்க.

வெப்பாட்டி வெச்சா ஒதப்பேங்க, பெத்தவள திட்டினா மிதிப்பேங்க,
கோலி கில்லி தண்டா ஆடும் பசங்க கண்டா, கூட்டத்தில் கொண்டாட்டமா சேந்துக்குவேங்க,


[Group]
குத்துர பம்பரத்த போல, தப்புன்னு தெரிஞ்சா தலயில குட்டுவான்
[End Group]

குட்டு பட்டா நீயும், குத்தம் உணந்துபுட்டா, சத்தியமா எனக்கு வேறொண்ணும் வேணாம்டா...

I tried to create a Collage of few Train pictures taken during Sivasamuthram trip. Thanks to Picasa, it was a matter of seconds. If you were wondering what were we doing at a railway station when the trip was on a car and bike, you got to read my earlier post: A conversation between Mr & Mrs God

In search of something I was googling for Tamil FM stations. I landed up with surprise. There is a Tamil FM Channel in China!!! What surprises me most is that they do have a very neat Website entirely in Tamil. Hindi is also available. Check this:

Have you ever won any award in your life? Its easy. Just try to cut a tree branch; just juggle something interesting; make a phone call for help when your vehicle breaks down; paint something on a train engine; try to shoot the police; try a bullet proof lotion or just drive the bees away. Oh! I didn't say what award? Its called the Darwin awards and here are the rules.

Go thru this site. You will find lots of ideas. Its a life time achievment, go for it. All the best!