BarCamp Delhi is proposed to be a camp where we get together and discuss/rant/brain-storm/share opinions/information/wisdom about anything. Be it Web Technologies, trends, Mobile Internet, Hacking, Blogging, Vlogs, Social Media etc. that interests us.

The details of the event are:

Date: 17th May 2008 (Saturday).

Time: 9:00 am to 6.00 pm

Location:

Amity Innovation Incubator
Auditorium, Block C
Amity University Campus
Sector 125, Noida
Ph: +91.120.46590000, 4659151

For Driving Directions + Auto-Fare on SMS: Send rg source-location-name to bcd4 (to 56767)
Note: SMS based Driving Direction service will be active only on 17th May 2008.
Amity University Campus on Google Maps

How to register for the event: Go to the Campers List and add your name to the bottom. Also, please try Volunteering for stuff.

Will blog more about the event when its over

Hope to see you there!

/bin      /system/executables

/boot     /system/boot

/dev      /system/devices

/etc      /system/config

/lib      /system/libraries

/home     /users

/media    /storage

/mnt      /storage

/proc     /system/processes

/root     /users/Administrator

/sbin     /system/executables/admin

/tmp      /system/temporary

/usr      /system/applications

Well, that’s just plain stupid if you ask me.. It will create unnecessary confusion and difference between various linux distributions! I think Ubuntu should strive to be “User Friendly” not “Idiot Friendly”. We dont want another case of the Windows do we?

What do you guys think?

Processor: Core2Quad Q6600 @2.4Ghz
Motherboard: MSI P35 Platinum
GFX Card: MSI 8600 GT (512MB)
RAM: Patriot 2×1GB DDR2 800 Mhz (matched pairs)
HDD: Western Digital 400GB HDD (16MB buffer)
SMPS: Cooler Master Real Power 550W
Cabinet: Cooler Master Elite
Screen: Viewsonic VX922 (19″)
DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S203D

Hope this one lasts for 2-3 years without any major upgrade (i know its hoping against hope)

Here are some pics, if you wanna have a look

 If you’re a Linux enthusiast like me, you’ve probably tried to convert a few people over to Linux from another operating system. Even though you succeed many times, there are always a few ‘geniuses’ out there who need some real persuading to switch over to Linux.

So here are some quick and simple things about Linux you can point out to your potential convert.

1. Linux helps you get rid of viruses, worms, and other computer infections.

Although it is possible to get infected even with Linux (malware is mainly written for Windows), its system architecture, based on a server-client relationship makes it difficult for a virus to do any damage. See this post.

2. Linux is fast and will stay fast

Vista is a huge resource hog. XP isn’t too humble either. If you use Windows for a longer time and install lots of different programs, your computer becomes bloated with trash data, consequently becoming slower. With Linux, even a major distro won’t demand more than 256 RAM to run passably with all the bling and a maximum of 2 GB of space. And it won’t get slower.

3. Linux is easier to use than Windows. Using the Terminal is not necessary in most cases.

What could be easier than opening a package manager, selecting the software you want, and letting Linux download it for you? I hate it when people complain about how Linux’ hardware support bites. They probably aren’t aware of the fact that Linux supports more devices than Vista. I should know, I had my share of problems with three different versions of Windows with lots of pieces of hardware. Ndiswrapper-gui is fool-proof and you know it! You can’t expect a new user will know how to solve every issue.

4. Linux is free as in free beer AND as in free speech. Cost does NOT define the value of Free Software!

All of the major Linux distributions are free of cost. Yes, that’s zero dollars. Ain’t it great to have a whole operating system and not be afraid you’ll get fined? You can choose from a multitude of great open source apps which come under the GPL license, too. No need to worry about the

5. Your porn collection is safe with Linux

Don’t laugh. I’m not a big fan of porn, but it has a big market share on the Internet. On Linux, (which is trojan, virus etc. free), every user gets a password, and you can see the source code so you know that FBI isn’t checking you out, like on Windows.

6. Thousands of Windows-only applications (even Photoshop CS3) and games work with Linux through WINE just as fast. You can also find good alternative open source software.

The Linux experience may be a bit different for a user who needs some Windows-only software, because there is no good equivalent for it on Linux. There’s always WINE though. It’s a compatibility layer which can install Windows programs on your Linux Box, even games like Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament, Half-Life 2…

Search open source alternatives

Search the Wine application DB

7. Linux looks better than Windows Vista or Mac OS X

It’s a simple as this: Linux has got Compiz Fusion and a very nice default theme, normally. You can imitate ANY effect other operating system boast with. If a Mac user still thinks his Mac OS X or Vista look better, don’t worry. You can make Linux look exactly like it in under 15 minutes.

8. Linux is fun

People always tell me this. And why? Linux users have the power to expand their system for free, they are free to modify the system exactly to their needs. You learn something new this way every day with Linux and if you do things right it can reward you with the desired results.

9. You can help improve Linux

There are lots of jokes made about ‘teh 1337 powerz of communityz’!!! Sadly, they exist mostly because they don’t know any good arguments against community. In open source, you can actually speak to the actual developers, help translate, develop and improve the software you are using right now while not helping others make wads of cash.

10. Linux makes you give your computer a name

It’s possible on every OS, basically, but Linux demands you do it! Sheer coolness.

Taken from here.

Steps to add the repository:

1. Open Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal)

2. Type “gksu  gedit /etc/apt/sources.list”

3. Go to the end of the file and add the following onto a new line:

## Latest Pidgin/Rhythmbox
deb http://www.telemail.fi/mlind/ubuntu gutsy main

4. Save the file and close Gedit.

5. Add the public key so that apt does not complain about any authentication errors (type into terminal):

wget http://www.telemail.fi/mlind/ubuntu/937215FF.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

6. Update your system (type in terminal)

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

7. Voila! You should now have the latest Pidgin and Rhythmbox!

So the sessions started with all of us introducing ourselves, along with tagging the event with 3 tags each The event started with Navjot’s presentation about GuruGeeks. The presentation was enjoyable, and i appreciate all the effort he’s putting into it! Next up were Manik and Akhil of the Vinsol team with a presentation on deploying rails apps on Amazon’s EC2, again being a very interesting presentation, it captured the attention of all present there. They even showed us a live demo of how to go about it! I just LOVED their sweatshirts! It had “Ruby makes me happy” with a cute ruby thingy on them. Check them out in one of the pics below. Next up was Vineet of Impetus presenting on “Planning Poker - Agile Estimation for Dummies”. After this presentation, the organizers decided to make two batches and proceed with 2 sessions simultaneously. So 2 groups were formed, one was the technical group and the other was the social group (which had presentations related to blogging and social networking). I remained with the technical group. Next up was Jignesh of Amazon with his highly informative and impressive session on Amazon’s EC2 and S3 web services. This was the best session of the entire event (i hope those who attended would agree with me ). We had to break in between for lunch. Jignesh completed his session after lunch. We had Abhishek with his session “Everyday Productivity with Windows Live Tools”. I personally didn’t like this session at all. It was more like a marketing attempt from Microsoft. I mean the guy was showing off windows live mail (outlook express replacement for vista) as if it was the ONLY email client on earth! Guys from ThinkDigit would know how i felt (this dude was like gx_saurav and iMav amalgamated into one life form ) Anyway, i think such sessions should not be allowed on events such as BarCamp. There was another “marketing” session by some company offering free server hosting for 3 months to budding startups (sorry, forgot their name). In the meantime, Kapil also joined us. The Vinsol team took the stage once more with Sur giving a session on “Ruby Insights - Some unsaid things about Ruby Programming Language”. Once again, the session was very informative, with him giving some tips and tricks for Ruby programming. He even gave some live demos of small code snippets. I moved from the conference room to the Networking room, where Akhil was giving a live demo of deploying rails apps on EC2. Jignesh was also there to answer our questions concerning EC2. After this, the sessions were over, and people were just interacting with each other. We clicked some pics, and then, were invited by Kapil to Ruby Tuesday for some snacks and beer, all sponsored by Opera Software! Me and Apoorv decided to accept the invite, while Deepak and Prateek decided to call it a day. We had a lot of fun (and beer ) there and interacted a lot with all present there. We were there until the very end when Navjot (representing Opera Software) paid the bill

So that was it! Now you’ve got a first hand experience of the entire event! But be sure to actually be there next time! I REALLY enjoyed the entire experience. Im now looking forward to attending such events, and ill be attending OSS CampDelhi 2 next week

Pics:

P.S. Ill be updating this post as and when i remember stuff

Heh, no its not a booze party From the BarCamp wiki:

BarCamp Delhi is proposed to be a camp where we get together and discuss/rant/brain-storm/share opinions about about Web technologies & trends, Mobile Internet, Hacking, Blogging, Vlogs, Social Media, … everything about the Technology that interests us. As said before, “It’s about geekery and having a focal point for great ideas.”

This would actually be the first time i’d be attending a BarCamp. Got to know about BarCamp last year through Amit of Uzanto, but missed it last year. Anyway, im surely attending it this time. Expecting to meet a lot of like minded people geeks I urge all people who can make it to the event, to register at the BarCampDelhi3 wiki page. As for those who would have to miss it, dont worry, many people would be live blogging the event. Ill also try and blog a bit about it, otherwise ill surely link you to the people who do blog about it in detail

Venue:  Impetus Technologies, D-39/40, Sector - 59, NOIDA

Date: 8th December 2007 (Saturday)

Schedule:

Log On - 9.30 am
Lunch Break - 1.30 pm (45 min)
Log Off - 5.30 pm

See you there!

Changelog:

New audio/video options

• H.264/HE-AAC codec support
  Flash Player 9 Update 3 includes H.264 video and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio codec support that opens up a broad ecosystem and selection of standards-based video — up to HD quality — that developers can leverage in their applications. Supporting a subset of MPEG-4 Part 12 (container) and Part 10 (H.264), including baseline, main and high profiles, Flash Player can play back existing MP4, M4A, MOV, MP4V, 3GP and 3G2 content.

Improved Performance

• Multi-core support
  Speed the rendering of vectors, bitmaps, filters and video, including true 1080p video, with new multi-core support that takes advantage of up to 4 CPUs.
• Hardware scaling
  Improve the performance and quality of full-screen video through the use of hardware scaling.
• Multi-threaded video decoding
  The VP6 video codec now runs in a separate thread on multi-core systems, enabling true 1080p video. In addition, the responsiveness and decode blockiness of the VP6 codec is improved with this change.
• Image scaling
  A new algorithm for scaling bitmap images enhances the quality and rendering performance of downscaled images.
• Flash Player cache
  The Flash Player cache enables common components, such as the Flex Framework, to be cached locally and then used by any SWF from any domain. Use of the Flash Player cache can significantly reduce SWF file sizes and speed application download times.
• Flash Media Server buffering
  The stream buffer is maintained while a stream is paused.

Universal Reach

• Full screen mode for Linux
  Full screen mode with hardware scaling is now supported in Linux.
• Accessibility support for the plugin
  Flash Player 9 update 3 adds support for Microsoft’s Active Accessibility (MSAA) API to the plugin, enabling consistent support across plugin-based and Internet Explorer browsers.
• Mac Os X Leopard support
  Flash Player 9 update 3 now supports the Mac OS X Leopard operating system.

Fixed in this version:

• On Linux, modal dialogs displayed by Flash Player stay in front of browser windows but do not prevent interaction with the browser as they should. (191331)
• On Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 Protected Mode may prompt users with security warnings when attempting to view Flash content after installing the Flash Player 9 (9.0.45.0) ActiveX control. Security warnings may also appear for users who choose to install the Google Toolbar from the Flash Player Download Center on adobe.com as part of the player installation process. This was fixed in an Internet Explorer update in June 2007.
• On certain SUSE 9.2 installations using the standalone player only, trying to Open a browser from the standalone player with SeaMonkey open will cause the player to hang. (193383)
• On Linux, networking operations in the standalone player are currently slow. (193158)
• On Linux, when the mouse is hovering over Flash content, keyboard input is not sent to the browser. (194265)
• Full-screen mode is not supported in the Opera Browser on Macintosh systems. (189140)
• Full-screen mode is now supported on Linux.
• Invoking document.write(..) method of JavaScript using ExternalInterface or FSCommand hangs Safari on next page load. This issue has been reported to Apple. (167996)
• The Mozilla Plugin Finder Service will not install Flash Player 9.0.20.0 on Intel-based Macs using double-byte language modes. Users may either install from the Adobe Player Download Center or use the Plugin Finder Service in non-double-byte language modes. (180719)
• The plugin version of Flash Player does not fire flash.events.Event.RENDER when wmode is set as transparent. (198515)
• Full-screen can be used when wmode is set (202290)
• Passing large amounts of XML through External Interface is significantly faster (206828)
• ExternalInterface now works with HTML objects that contain dots within the object name (199614)

Here is the list of security updates.

Some wallpapers.

Now to see if i can muster up the $109,000 to own it. And trust me, one day i will