Some Kind of Trouble: James Blunt

Just listened (in fact I'm still listening) to James Blunt's new album "Some Kind of Trouble". And before anything else I should say its good. Yes, its really good. Will it feature amongst my all time favourites? Possibly no. But in parts its brilliant, its sublime. Sort of reminds you what good music is really about. 

This album, for one, is much more optimistic sounding than his previous two albums. Though "Back to Bedlam" was his biggest commercial success, its his second album that I really like. Because it shows off more of his skill as a songwriter and this album basically continues the trend. I read elsewhere on the net that this album is already a larger hit than his previous one and I can see why - optimistic songs appeal to a wider audience.

Coming back to this album we've got songs like 'Best Laid Plans', 'Stay the Night' that present beautiful lyrics. And then there's 'These are the words', 'I'll be your Man' that have this funky, catchy tune. Not to say that its all good, but you cant really argue with lines like'The more that I hold on, The more that you let go' or with 'His father is not the man he'd like to grow up to be, And his mother is not ageing gracefully'. And then there's his soulful, high-pitched voice that communicates like nothing else.

James Blunt is back. Not that he was ever down, but now here's something from his stables that you just cant ignore. Love it or hate it, but there's no escaping this one. 

I for one absolutely love it.

Bypassing Fortiguard

Since I'm back after a long time, I'd like to begin with a topic I really like - breaking rules. You see, our college has installed this hardware+software filtering system called Fortiguard, and we don't like it one bit. We did have a filter before that, but being a squid based proxy, it was just simple to get around. And therefore when this new system was introduced we didn't think much of it. But a little bit of googling showed that it is a pretty robust system and I didn't find a single soul who'd got past it. And hence this post.

What we have here is an approach that doesn't involve proxy sites. What are the advantages you ask?
Well there are a few. For one, most proxy sites don't allow you to login into sites like Facebook or Gmail and some to any site that requires a login. Even when a site allows such logins, you might not really want to use the service for fear of foul play. And then there's the ubiquitous torrents which cannot be used through proxy sites as they are applications residing on your computer. So the benefits are significant.

But if all you want is a site that allows you to browse the net freely, then this proxy site, BlueBox, by my friend Nandu Raj is a good bet. And the best part is - Fortinet doesn't block it (yet).

Now lets get back to business. We are going to use a service provided by the good people at 'Your-Freedom'. They have a network of servers throughout the world and allow us to connect to them using a little application. Once installed, every bit of data that we send from our computer is chanelled into their servers which then communicates with the external world. So to some remote webserver, it appears that the your-freedom server is trying to connect to it and not you. This is why, with a little bit of tweaking, its even possible to  use torrent applications (I'd personally recommend uTorrent: its light and its fast).

So what do you need to do ?

1. Go to the Your-Freedom website and register for a free account.
2. In the same page you'll see a lot of download links. Download the appropriate one for your OS. Remember that the Java version needs the Java environment to be pre-installed on your computer. Click here to get Java from the official website. If you don't have it or wouldn't like to download it, then use the standalone Windows or Mac OSX version.
3. Install your-freeedom. Once the installation is complete, it'll launch itself. Select the language you want and in the next window, click 'Configure'.
• Now a new window will pop up. In the 'Account Information' tab fill in your 'Your-Freedom' account username and password. 
• In the 'Server Selction' tab move the sliders around to specify what you want. For example if you are going to use torrent, move the slider named 'P2P Server' to 'Require' and so an. 
• Now click on 'Use Wizard'. Click next till it says 'Looking for Freedom Servers'
• In the meantime, your firewall may pop up. Here allow the your-freedom application net access on all networks and watch the application run a battery of websearches to check for all connections that are available to you.
• A list of servers available will be displayed, once the searches are complete. Select the one at the top of the list and click next.
• If it asks for your username and password, enter them and click next.
• In the following screen  it'll show the proxy name and port to use in applications. It'll be something like socks4/5:localhost 1080 and web proxy: localhost 8080.
• Write down those details. Click 'Save and exit'.
• Click 'Start connection' whenever you want to use the net without any restrictions. Wait till it shows an open door icon, with NO exclamation marks.
• Thats all. 
4. The application has buttons to configure Firefox and Internet Explorer to use it by default. What this means is that any sites that were previously blocked are now accessible by default. But if you wish to view a site that was not originally blocked, then you'll be much faster if you don't use your-freedom. More on that later.
5. If you don't use torrent applications, skip this step. I'll use uTorrent as an example.
•  Launch uTorrent. 
• Go to Options > Preferences > Connection. 
• Under 'Proxy server' set type as 'Socks5'. Set port as '1080'. Also tick 'Use proxy for hostname lookups', 'Use proxy for peer to peer connections'.
• Click OK and restart the uTorrent. 
• Now you should be able to use torrents like before, but with the 64 kbps speed restriction.
6. Have Fun :)

What could be the title ???

If you'll see, my last post was the one I posted around april last year. So its been a while, and a lot of things have  occured in between- for instance, I have become a PES fan and an anti-FIFA person - but I guess I'll be posting here more often. Seems some people read my blog after all... woohooooo :-)

Office 2010 beta

Here’s a small trick which people who have installed the latest beta version of Office 2010 might find useful.


Office 2010 beta, by default doesn’t allow you to edit certain filetypes, especially .doc, .rtf etc


All one needs to do to enable editing of these filetypes is a little registry edit. And since not all people like to tinker with their registry, I though it might be worthwhile to upload a small .reg file to help those who want to get it done faster/easier.


Method:
Copy the text given at the end of this post into notepad and replace the text       “The full path to your folder here”      with the path of the folder which contains the file you wish to edit.


DO NOT REPLACE THE QUOTES.


Then select Save as and give it some name for example adfw.reg


But take care to change the file type to “All Files“


Save the file somewhere, preferably on your desktop. Now go to your desktop and double click on this file. The User Account Control may pop up. Just click yes.


And here is the fix.






Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Security\Trusted Locations\Location3]
“Description”=”3″
“AllowSubFolders”=dword:00000001
“Path”=”The full path to your folder here“






Comments welcome

"FortiNET" has got some holes

Welcome back.

    I'm back after quite some time and unfortunately my Google Chrome project had to be dropped. But there's some good news as well. Well as many of you know, our college has installed "Fortinet Fortiguard" which is some sort of firewall like system to prevent us from accessing certain sites which they deem to be not suitable. Well if it had been blocking access only to such sites, then I wouldn't have complained. But the stupid system blocks several useful sites (like some movie subtitle download sites) as well. And worse still it blocks programs like uTorrent (I don't support nor do I indulge in piracy). And guess what- it can be bypassed. Mind you, I'm not talking about using some proxy site to surf blocked sites. As a matter of fact you can even use uTorrent and the like.

    I didn't bypass it just for the sake of it. Nor did I bypass it to access all those blocked sites. I just wanted to show how everything has flaws that can be exploited. Well, rumour has it that our college is paying something like three lakhs every year for this service. And as far as I can see there's no point in it anymore. All they wanted to do was to prevent access to certain sites. There were far easier (and cheaper) ways to achieve that. Just think how much money they can save just by not using the Fortinet based system.

    Like that saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way.

Portable Google Chrome

I've always been a fan of google and its products and Chrome is one product which I'm particularly fond of. I was pretty excited about it until I found out that I could not install it on the computers at CC, as I didn't have administrative privileges. So I set about modifying chrome to enable it to be used on any system and without installation. And I've been successful in modifying chrome to make it usable on any system as long as you are allowed to copy and extract files, that is in virtually every system. All you need to do is to extract the file to a folder where you want it to be saved (preferably in Z: in our CC, so that you can use chrome no matter in which computer you sit, both from Terminal 1 and Terminal3). A folder called Portable_chrome_3 will be created which will contain the program.

And most of us have encountered the message "Some additional plugins are required to view the contents on this page. Please click here to install the missing plugins". Well in most cases the plugin that's missing is the adobe flash player. And again though you can download it, you wont be able to install it due to the lack of administrative privileges. Hence I've included flash player 10 with chrome so that you may be able to view such websites the way they were meant to be viewed.

And then there's enhanced privacy. All your data (history, web forms, and passswords if you choose) is stored in a separate folder called Profile within the Portable_chrome_3 folder. So you don't have to worry about someone else being able to log into your Gmail or orkut accounts just because you've clicked "Remember me on this computer" or "Save password". Since these files are on your account (only if you've extracted the contents to Z:\) no-one except you will have acess to them.

And finally its small and eminently customisable. All of this has been achieved in a file only 12.7 MB large (thats the size of about three mp3 songs). Hope you'll like it.

Note: I'll posting the download link very soon.

"Student dismissed for ragging"

Ever since the recent supreme court ruling, headlines like these are a common sight in newspapers. Often, we don't give as much as a second thought it and conclude that the concerned students must have done something seriously wrong to have attracted such a penalty. But recently when three second year students were suspended for a whole semester for ragging in my college, I began to think. The said action was taken due to two separate incidents. I'll concentrate on one incident (for that's the one that set me thinking). And for protecting the privacy of those involved I won't be naming anyone.

As far as I know, all the accused did was to ask the junior not to wear shoes or to tuck in his shirt. I'm not writing this to argue that this doesn't amount to ragging, for deep down I've got a nagging feeling that it does. But what I'd like to highlight is that the punishment that has been awarded can hardly be justified. In my opinion the said "crime" didn't deserve anything more than a warning, or at most a suspension for a short time coupled with a public apology and intimation to the accused's parents. If the fellow ( or someone else) was found to be involved in ragging again, then a stronger punishment should be awarded. On the contrary awarding a severe punishment to one person even if the crime didn't deserve it, only so that it may deter others from doing the same doesn't seem to be the right thing to do.

I don't support ragging, the fact is I'm vehemently opposed to it. Not because it is a punishable crime, but because it is a crime that you commit against your conscience. At the same time I find the aforementioned punishment an overkill. Especially considering the fact that all this mayhem ensued only after the supreme court declared ragging a punishable offense, and that the the concerned people could be held responsible.

I understand that ragging is a social evil and it must be dealt with properly so that no one falls victim to it anymore. But there's the trouble. You see, I don't find the present approach very convincing.

New Divide by Linkin Park

Here's the link to the video of the song 'New Divide' by Linkin Park from the movie 'Transformers 2'.


But I've got to say that I'm a bit disappointed with the song, though it complements the movie beautifully. And I'm sorry that I'm unable to embed the video on this page.

Back to college

I'm back at college, which means that I'll be posting as frequently as I can. ;)

Freshman-Not anymore

Farewell to PG 2

My days in the PG 2 hostel(its the hostel I live here at NITC) have come to an end, well almost. At most I'm going to be here for a couple of more days. And I have to admit that it has been quite a memorable experience, especially when I stayed in the 'U'. Well the 'U' is nothing but a U shaped part of the building. I don't know why but it held a special place in our hearts-maybe because its so open to the surroundings.

Not all first year boys stay in PG 2. Most of them are in the 'A' hostel, the hostel designated for the first year boys. But somehow about 60 (myself included) ended up in PG 2. And PG 2 boys have distinguished themselves in almost every aspect of college life ever since. For example take the NITC first year football team. About half of the members are from PG 2, though we are only about 10% of the total first year boys. Its not only about the good things. When it comes to using swear words few, if any can match our beloved archie (NITC lingo for a guy who studies architecture).

Most of the inmates of PG 2 hostel are people who are doing their post-graduate studies and regularly work late into the night. Therefore there was no restriction on the movement of students in and out of our hostel at night, something which the guys in A hostel didn't enjoy (back in the first semester A hostel gates closed at about 9 pm). As a result we were able to stay out as late as 2 am and sometimes even more. Of late we have started going out late in the night to pluck mangoes from the many mango trees that grow inside our campus and return only by about 4 am.

Though there were celebrations every now and then, this holi was something special. It all began with someone on the second floor borrowing some colour from the PG's (Post Graduates). It was mixed with water and sprayed on anyone who was seen outside. But the coloured water didn't last long. And then the fun part began. Someone had a brainwave and splashed someone else with water-not coloured, just plain water. Moments later everyone was spraying water on everyone else-mind you, inside the hostel. The fact that we had an important series test the next day was forgotten. Some people, not wanting to be drenched in cold water hid in their rooms. But no one was spared. And when we finally stopped the whole corridor had standing water!

Moments like that marked our stay in PG 2 for the past one year, and I feel kind of nostalgic now that I have to shift to the 'B' hostel. But then life's like that and what else can we- mere mortals-do but take it as it comes. ;)

IPL

What has become of Cricket?

Seems IPL is the most happening thing right now.
Almost everyone is talking about Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings and the like.Sports pages in newspapers are almost exclusively dedicated to IPL news. And the fact that the event is taking place outside India makes no difference.

And yet its times like these that often make me wonder... Wonder whether I'm a Martian (Just joking). For I don't seem to share everyone else's enthusiasm about the mega event. Maybe its the exams-which never cease to irritate me-that have kept me from following the IPL so closely, or maybe not. Because I still watch every match that Manchester United plays, I still follow F1 and Tennis, but I don't feel like watching cricket anymore.

Anyways last Friday, when I got a couple of days leave I went to the common room and sat down, determined to watch atleast one whole match. And I must say that I was disappointed by what I saw.I don't deny that there's plenty of 'action'. But what disappointed me was the lack of class, the lack of contest between the bat and the ball. The match begins with the batsmen going after the bowlers and ends with the batsmen going after the bowlers. It seems that the governing bodies, in a bid to attract everyone into cricket, have forgotten the very essence of the game. Gone are the days when the bowlers would would bowl just outside the off stump inviting the batsmen to play and the batsmen, unsure as to what to do would leave the ball alone. Gone are the days when a bowler would consistently ball at a particular line and length and let the ball do its bit off the pitch. And guess whats in...Cheerleaders.

Today the aim of every bowler is not to get wickets, but to concede as few runs as possible. Its all very good if you concede only a few runs. But when that becomes your sole aim, your bowling loses its 'sting'. Any bowler who approaches the game with such a mindset is not going to excel. And curiously its not the bowlers who are to blame. The shortest version of the game is just so demanding on them. Today any ball thats pitched outside the off stump is going to be punished and that realization has made the bowlers approach the game with a 'negative' mindset.

All of this has resulted in the transformation of 'The Gentleman's Game' into 'The Batsman's Game'.

For someone like me who has grown up playing, watching and admiring cricket, the game, all of a sudden seems to have lost its soul.And thats probably why I don't feel like watching cricket anymore.

A Windows trick

A little .bat file trick

I had been learning how to put custom made batch files (they are the ones with .bat extension) into good use. With a little bit of effort I came up with this batch file. As of now it's a collection of about three files, which causes your system to shutdown. Yes, shutdown.

Now you might be wondering what use can such a file have apart from playing pranks on friends. Maybe not many, but it sure does have one. Say you dont want your friends using your computer withot your permission, but dont want them think you are selfish (which is what happens if you set a password to lock them out of your account). In such a scenario you can use a batch file to cause your system to shutdown as soon as someone logs into it. And when they enquire lust tell them that it's some stupid virus which your antivirus can't get rid of. Trust me, they'll believe you.

Now you might ask, wont the system shutdown when I start using it?. Yes it will. But if you know a particular command you can prevent the system from shutting down (Just type "shutdown -a" without the quotes in the command prompt).And thats the beauty of it all. You can use your computer, while anyone else trying to do so without your permission can't. And I have set a delay of 59 seconds so that you may use the shutdown -a command in the command prompt to prevent the shutdown.

But there is a loophole. The whole process will start only if the batch file is executed at every login. Therefore I went ahead and added a registry entry which does exactly that.

I know only the basics of using .bat files and am trying to improve my bat file. I am particularly interested in reducing the number of files.I have not uploaded the file since it is still under testing. I'll surely upload it once I have finalised the file.

Afterthought:
The batch file is pretty basic and wont prevent advanced users from using your system.

Acknowledgements:

I am deeply in debt of my friend Dhandeep to whom I owe a lot of my batch file programming skills.

So long everyone [Right now, I think I'm the only one visiting this page. ;-) ]

My first post

And finally, I too have a blog.


I had always wanted to have a blog but was too lazy to set one up. And then there was the problem of updating it. Not having a computer meant that I would have to go to the nearest internet cafe to access the web, which ain't exactly cheap. All these reasons conspired to keep me from having my blog.

All that changed when I got admission to a college. The college was quite a long way away from my home and hence I had to stay in a hostel. The college computer centre [CC] was just about a hundred yards away from my hostel and best of all internet was free 24X7, 365 days a year [well, not exactly]. So now I had no reason not to have a blog, except my laziness of course. ;)
And now I have one.


About me.
I'm no elite hacker, nor am I an avid programmer. Why, for that matter I don't even own a computer. And when it comes to my programming skills, less said the better. But I dare say I'm interested about computers and have acquired enough knowledge over the years to qualify me to be a geek. And I'll be posting on it.

Now on to my hobbies and interests. I am ardent fan of F1 and absolutely adore Michael Schumacher. I like football, basketball,cricket, tennis, golf etc.[No. I'm not lying about golf]. Basically, I like any game that I can understand. I'm no bookworm, far from that, but I do like reading short stories and detective stories and I particularly like Sherlock Holmes. And when it comes to music i like almost every type of music - from rap to rock. But Linkin Park is by far my favourite band. I just love their songs - not just the music but also the lyrics.

I think that's a bit too long for a maiden post, well atleast by my standards, for I know no touch typing. I should end this post here or I would be too late for the evening tea [as I said earlier I live in a hostel].

Until then,
+91_