The Absinthe Table Lamp

A table lamp made from an Absinthe bottle.



Base is created from rings of different sizes available from scrapyard, arranged in a shape and stacked one on top the other, then welded with an oxy-acetylene flame.

Glass base is 10mm clear glass, made slightly larger than the border of the lower three rings.


Each bottom ring also has a glass through which a LED is lit up to add focus to the base.Electronics and wiring hid neatly inside one of the bottom rings


Absinthe bottle cut from the bottom using a glass scorer and the hot-cold stress method, then sanded to remove sharp edge.


Custom lettering and design done using vinyl and glass frosting solution.

Nexus One with a broken power button[Solved]

I have a Nexus One with a broken power button! No matter what you do, the phone will not turn on..So I had the following options

1) Return the same to HTC is the phone is under warranty and you are in the United States.

2) Get it repaired from a HTC service center in your country.

3) Use a different button on the phone to perform the same set of operations as the power button.

For me 1) was out of question, 2) was way expensive (Rs 4000/ 80 USD for a phone which is not worth that price).

3) was the most easiest and the most non intrusive of all three options and involved the following steps.I utilised the volume buttons and the the scroll wheel to wake the phone and other options which were served by the power button.


Common Instructions

If you need to restart the phone, its impossible to do so, since the power button is broken.In such a scenario, follow this

a)Connect the phone to a charger/USB.
b)Remove the battery from the phone once you see the charging light on the phone
c)Insert the battery and keep it there until you see the charging light again.
Continue doing steps b) and c) until the phone boots (Phone normally boots in 4 attempts).

[Update]
It is required that the phone be fully charged in order to complete the steps correctly.A phone shutting off in between an upgrade/flashing due to low battery is sure to brick
Thanks Angelo for this quick tip!!

Warning- The steps mentioned below will void your warranty and possibly lead to a bricked phone is not followed correctly.You have been warned!


1)Downgrade the phone to Android 2.2 from 2.3.4 or 2.3.6

This step is required as Google has plugged the exploit in the 2.3.X versions which allow rooting the phone.

Its is the best idea to upgrade your contact information, SMS, MMS, Images, Videos and anything you deem important to either Google by syncing or to a local disk on a computer.The data is irrecoverable right after now!


Download the 2.2 Shipped ROM from the link.

The name of the zip archive is Passion_Google_WWE_2.16.1700.1_FRG33_MFG_Shipment_ROM.zip.

Make sure the size of the file is roughly 84 MB.A lower value suggests the file is corrupted and has the highest chance of bricking your phone.

Once downloaded, extract the zip inside the zip file, and rename the file as PASSIMG.zip (please note the case, only the filename PASSIMG.zip will work)

Copy this file to the root of the phone SDCard.

Turn your phone off, by removing the battery.

Keep the Volume(-) button pressed, try to power up the phone following the common instructions mentioned above.

Once the phone boots, release the volume button and wait for the HBOOT to recognise the PASSIMG.zip file.

It will ask for permissions to upgrade, select yes using the appropriate volume buttons.

The phone will boot automatically once the upgrade is done.

Steps available here.

Once you have downgraded the phone, make sure you create your Google account setup on the phone as some steps will require downloading apps from the Android Market.

2)Rooting the phone

Download SuperOneClick on your desktop, extract the zip archive, and run the application.Connect your phone to the computer and hit the "Root" button.You need to put your phone in USB debugging mode from Settings >Applications > Development > Enable USB Debugging. You will also need the Android SDK installed to complete this step.

SuperOneClick is pretty straightforward, and you will have root permission with ease.

Reboot your phone.



3)Install ROM Manager

Download the latest stable build of CyanogenMod for Nexus one from here.

Rename this downloaded file as update.zip and copy it to the SD card.

Search for ROM Manager on the Android Market, and install it.The free version will suffice for this entire task.

When you will run ROM Manager, a prompt will ask if you would like to assign SuperUser permissions to ROM Manager.Select yes.

When ROM Manager loads, select the option that says "Flash ClockWorkMod Recovery"
This will flash the Recovery tool on your phone.

After the recovery is installed, select the option "Install ROM from SD Card".Select the update.zip file, and for the options to be selected, Backup Existing ROM,Wipe Data and Cache, Wipe Dalvik Cache, all need to be selected.

Once the Cyanogenmod is installing, do not interrupt the process and let it happen.It takes a good 10-15 minutes for everything to complete.

[Update]
You need to install the google apps package, because CM7 does not come bundled with these.Download the gapps file , rename as update.zip, and copy to root of SD card. Open ROM Manager and repeat steps above, select the update.zip and then let ROM manager do its awesome job!

This was the final step!


Congrats! you have completed rooting and modifying your Android phone with a custom ROM.

Once the phone has booted completely, make sure you go to Settings > CyanogenMod Settings > Input >Trackball Wake[selected]

Install Quick Boot from the Android Market, and create a shortcut on your phone to reboot.

Install the battery calibration app from the Android Market and re-calibrate the battery with the app instructions.

If by chance you phone hangs, you need to restart, it is necessary to have a charger or a USB cable to jump start the phone.Follow the same guidelines as described above to start the phone.

MTDC Ganpatipule Review

I stayed with my family at the Ganpatipule Resort over the 15 August 2011 weekend.
Honestly, I would have not written a review as such, but there were some compelling reasons for me to do so.Firstly, there is very little information about the resort location, closeness to beach, which room to choose, how is the view and amongst other things a general idea of the stay there.I did a lot of research online and was able to decide then.

I went during the rainy season, which is the non-peak season of the year.Prices are lower at this time of the year, June-Sept.I did a reservation at this resort in April, almost 4 months ago, and could not get a room of my choice, so it is obviously a better idea to book earlier than this.Do not even think about going there and booking a room, with the idea of a room being available.Locals will charge you exorbitant prices, and its really not worth it. For Rs.5600, I conveniently booked a "Deluxe AC" (1300/night) and "Sea View Deluxe Room A/C"(1500/night). These two types of rooms have very little difference in the view of the sea.Reservations happen only through Nivalink.

I started on Saturday (13 August 2011) via Jan Shatabdi Express at 5:20 AM from Dadar, and reached Ratnagiri at 11:30 AM on same day.This train has Chair cars only and there is no sleeper compartments.There is a single AC coach of 103 capacity.Its highly recommended that you book in the AC chair car, as most of the local public without reservations will get in the reservation compartment.

From Ratnagiri, we took a rickshaw for Rs.450 to reach Ganpatipule, and took us about 1 hour to reach there.The views are mind blowing on the way, and do get down to click a few snaps.

The staff at the resort is friendly and helping.We checked into our rooms and here is the first look review of the rooms

Deluxe AC
- Sea view is not partial as the Nivalink folks had suggested.There is more than adequate view of the sea from these rooms.
- The room was a little less than perfect in terms of the general look.The paint was scraping and there was definite stale smell of the sea.
- Washrooms and Bathroom was very clean and looked after.
- The AC was non-functional, Phone was not working. I could not reach out to the Reception to complain about the faulty AC, the first day.
- Road leading to these rooms was frayed, and it was a trouble walking bare foot when we came back without footwear from the beach.


Sea View Deluxe Room A/C
- Sea view is little more, since it is about 40 feet ahead of the Deluxe AC room.There is a small pavement for walking around these rooms.
- These rooms have almost everything common with the Deluxe AC room.The room is of the same size and the layout is also the same.


Verdict
If you cannot get a reservation to the the Sea View Rooms, then the Deluxe room will provide you the same view of the sea at a lower cost.You definitely need an AC room as the weather can be hot and humid.

On the same day, we had out lunch at a "Pure Veg" Restaurant named Bhau Joshi.If you cannot stand a mixed kitchen then this restaurant is the best value for money.A sleep inducing lunch will come to about Rs.100/person.

After visiting the Lambodar Temple for which the place is named Ganpatipule, we headed for Jaigadh Fort.If you can avoid this dilapadated fort, you should.Instead you can visit the Lighthouse which is near this fort and have a breathtaking view of the sea from the highest point in Ganpatipule.The lighthouse closes at 5:30PM sharp, so you need to be here before that.This trip cost us Rs.500 in a Rickshaw and the fort is about 25 kms from the MTDC resort.

On our return journey, we had a look at the Blue Ocean resort which has a part of the beach cordoned off for them.The starting price in this resort is Rs.10500/Night.

For Dinner, we packed food from the small restaurant just next to the Lambodar temple and had it in our room.If you plan to do this, then you need to have sufficient number of plates, spoons and other vessels.Drink only bottled water from reputed brands.

Day 2 (14 August 2011)

We had two options, staying at the hotel and have fun at the beach or visiting Marleshwar(80 kms) which has an ancient Shiva Temple and a huge waterfall .We stayed at the beach because the day was very clear and the tide was at its highest peak.

The water is not the best in terms of cleanliness.Wear adequate protection (sunscreen, shower cap) if you intend to go in the water.Keep adequate drinking water and the sea can be rough, so do not venture out deep.The part of the beach just outside the resort will be almost private so that is a sure advantage of staying at the resort.If you are allergic to anything related to the skin, wear additional protection to avoid an allergy.A sun tan is sure to happen.

We spent about 6 hours having a lot of fun at the beach and returned back by 1 PM to our rooms.I moved my belongings from the Deluxe AC room to the "Deluxe Room A/C (Super)" because of the non-functional AC.This room has the best view of the sea because it was higher than all rooms in the resort and the room is relatively large.The manager kindly agreed and got us shifted.Strongly suggest to book this room if available.

Most restaurants stop serving food after 2:30 PM, so make sure you have food by this time.We had a quick nap after our lunch.We spent most of out time at the beach in the evening, and played some card games at night, after dinner.


Day 3 (15 August 2011)
The MTDC being a government organization, there was the tricolor unfurled in the morning on Account of the Independence Day.We had heavy breakfast and starting packing as we had to checkout by 9 AM.The MTDC folks were okay to extend the time to 10:30 AM.The kids we had with us were so happy with playing at the beach that we decided to go back again to the beach.We packed all out stuff and kept it at the reception.The reception has 2-3 small cabins where you belongings can be safe, and there are open showers along the way from the beach to the resort where you can clean yourself.You can change your clothes in the washrooms/driver rooms near the reception.
The MTDC staff booked a minivan from us from our trip back to Ratnagiri station for the train Jan Shatabdi Express back to Mumbai.We reached Mumbai at 11 PM at night.


Some Tips for a pleasant stay at Ganpatipule
- It is highly recommended to stay at the MTDC resort, because it has a prime view of the sea.No other reseort in its class has that kind of view for the rate MTDC offers.
- Unlike other government servants, the staff at Ganpatipule was forthcoming and friendly,accomdating.
- Wear sunscreen
- The rickshaw drivers have a habit of enforcing decision on other rickshaw drivers if you haggle a lot with them.We wasted about 1 hour because one of the rickshaw driver we haggled with, made others deny us ferrying to Jaigadh fort.We walked about 2 kms to the rickshaw stand and then found a rickshaw.It is higly recommended that you book a minivan or a car for your entire trip to save time.Better still, it will work out to be the same in terms of time and money to travel from Mumbai by road.
- Its best to avoid direct confrontation with the local public who will escalate issue unnecessary and give it a communal twist.
- Expect drunk folks on the beach and in most public places.
- Wear proper clothing as the place has a religious sentiment attached to it.
- Prices in the MTDC restaurant are almost double the prices outside the restaurant.A little walk to the two restaurants behind the Lambodar temple will save you some serious money.Do not venture out after 8 PM if you are alone.


Pros for the MTDC resort
- Location
- Friendly services
- Clean bathrooms and toilets.
- Prompt service

Cons
- Little wear and tear, rooms leak water in moderate to heavy rain.
- Be sure to check all AC and other equipment before you check in.
- Restaurant is expensive as compared to all other restaurants.
- Roads leading to rooms are not paved well and can create pain in the foot if walking bare foot.
- At night, there is not enough ambient lighting outside along the roads that lead to the main gate.Be sure to carry a bright torch.
- Water Heaters in the rooms could have been better.
- Toilets need health faucets.


What to eat
- Misal Pav
- Usal Pav
- Puri Bhaji
- Shrikhand and Mango pulp at Bhau Joshi Restaurant.
- Poha and Idli at Swati Restaurant.These two were so good that we repeated them for breakfast the next day as well.
- Tea from the MTDC Restaurant.

Generally, the Maharastrian food is highly recommended.

For readers to make a decision on which rooms to book, here is an location map of the rooms in the resort.

Bye Bye TCS!!!!

I left my job in TCS on 24 June 2011. My biggest reasons of leaving the company are my stagnating career and my manager.


I have a lot of respect for the Tata group.They are a set of noble people with rock solid principles.In the times of all the corruption and all the ill-doings of the people around, this, I say is the mark of great people.But here is why I dont think it worked for me at TCS:



1) Career growth

I have been working in Classic ASP for the last 4 years 9 months.This isnt even close to being recent in terms of technology.My guess is that the project I am working on was the only one in this world which still has not moved out of this technology.

2) My Manager

It just doesn't get to him that its just not me, but my entire project hates him.Ideas are rebutted, sometimes rudely.He has a pretty narrow vision in terms of technology and only understands Microsoft stuff.Everything else has shortcomings, he has a list for it.The biggest reason he is such a eye sore is that he cannot stand to what he says.If you say to him that you said something like this, then "you are quoting him in the wrong context". Mr. Manager,I show you the first three fingers of my hand and ask you to read between the lines.

3) Bureaucracy

I resigned and also in parallel was looking for projects in Android in the company.One of the projects did offer me a role of a team leader which I happily accepted.All the folks who had the power to make a decision, took the decision that it is probably good to throw me out of the company than to offer me a new role or a project.Good for you guys, since you can very well afford a resource from outside the company who can work at a higher salary.Makes complete business sense!!!

4) Outdated IT systems and processes

These are systems built by engineers.There is no concern over usability, since all the people who will be using these systems will have to use them some how or the other or get a lower appraisal rating if they mess up.

I have time and again asked one simple question: " I use Facebook everyday, no one came and told me how to use it, why do I need to attend a training to learn how to create a simple Change Request process? "

People are expected to attend and work in office even after a training for 9 hours which happens at the other side of town! People choose to not attend those trainings.Anyways, trainings are most of the time just some presentations picked up from Google, and being presented because the person needs to fill the appraisal sheet that a certain number of trainings has been conducted.

People trained in C++ during Initial Learning Program are allocated to projects in ASP???? My gut feeling is allocations are decided on dice.


It is not that there isn't enough hue and cry in the organization on these issues.I just still don't see any positive story which negates what I just said.

Stock market prices and sheer employee strength, are they really indicators to a good company?Read a company's Vision, Mission and Values- If there is more customer that employee, its a sure sign of company which needs to be kept away from.Sure, money does matter, but not to me.

Rock Climbing in Goregoan

Had a fun and exhausting wall climbing session on an artificial wall in Nandadeep High School, Goregaon.

I got featured on hackaday

cellphone-charger-has-a-usb-port-forced-upon-it

HowTo- Attach a propellor on a TURNIGY 2204-14T 19g Outrunner

In my initial rounds of testing the setup for the RC electronics, I came across a real problem, how to securely attach the prop to the Outrunner motor.I looked around a lot of groups and websites, and after looking at a lot of pictures, have been able to attach the prop.

1) Remove one of the small concentric pieces that came with the prop, one that fits securely over the motor.







2) Push the piece you selected in step 1, into the prop.See image of original prop and one with the piece inserted.The one with the piece inserted has a smaller hole.In the image, the prop on the top has the piece inserted.





3) Place the prop on the motor, and use rubber bands.Tie the rubber band from one screw to the other , and the prop in between. Tie one on each side of the prop.

Happy flying!

*******Update*********

After some minutes of flying, the propeller just got flung around as the rubber bands snapped.Its a more firm hold with a cable tie.

The Case of the Bus Pirate

I returned back from the USA, and amongst other things , I got myself the Bus Pirate.

Here is what it looks like



What is it? Its a bus sniffer.It can sniff and execute arbitrary commands over buses like I2C and SPI, making prototyping very easy.

In itself it is very fragile, and needs some protective covering so that it does not fling all over the place. I saw a few laser cut acrylic cases on the web, and decided to build my own.This is how it looks





Here is a quick guide to building one, and I will post an instructable soon

1) Cut three rectangular pieces of acrylic of size 7.5 cms by 4.5 cms.The bus pirate is 5 cms by 3 cms. Match all edges, file them smooth, and while sandwiching them tight with a bench vise, drill four 3/16" holes at the corners.Make sure you keep enough space, at the edges, so that the acrylic remains intact at the edges.


2) Take the piece in the middle, and cut out a rectangular piece of the size of the bus pirate.

3) Take the topmost piece, and make rectangular slots at the places where the headers come out from the bus pirate.



4) Create slots where the USB mini connector attaches with the bus pirate.

At the end, you should have the three pieces looking like these.




5) You are almost done.Insert the screws in the holes you drilled at the corners, and then file the corners round.Then keep the bus pirate in the second piece and layer the third top piece over it, and tighten the screws.Make sure you do no crush any circuity while tightening the screws.

Here is the final result



Total cost of materials-Under 100 Rupees/$2.This took me about 4 hours to build, and it probably needs a lot more finishing, but it does the job very well.

New Idea

The Klann Linkage.Will make one.Will make the second, the third, the fourth.Will join these four in mechanical harmony together, and create a walking beast...

Flight Simulators

I have always been interested in flying actual airplanes remotely, and after being to the US, I ordered a foam plane called a Super Cub.After flying it, I realized that it is incredibly difficult to start flying an airplane right away.You need to be under the aegis of an experienced pilot to really learn how to fly.I could not find any good flying clubs around town, and it being winter, the winds were not on my side.After a lot of reading, I found that there are simulators which help you learn how to fly.They are priced at about $200 a piece, and as ever there are free options available.
How do they work? Here is what the blog post is about :)

1)You need to have either a 4 channel transmitter or above.I chose the Spektrum DX6i.This has port on which you connect a cable, and the transmitter emulates as a 4-Button, 4-Position Joystick.This cable costs around $14.
For the software, I used FMS.
The argument here is, this is still larger in cost than the pricey simulator, but in the simulator, I get a stupid dummy joystick(No transmitter), which simply is a box with 4 potentiometers, and an expensive software( the FMS is just about same in performance and appeal as the other).
Currently, I have not purchased the DX6i, but the Super Cub did come with its own 3 channel Tx, in reality, it has four channels...Hmm..Well I have hacked around an old joystick earlier, so it should not be a difficult task to do so now with the Super Cub's transmitter.Here are some snaps which confirm my idea.









Here is an image with the back cover removed.The 4 Yellow Boxes show the contacts of the potentiometers which I will use and emulate a 4 channel joystick on my computer.





I would need to solder some wires and make a nice hole in the transmitter, stick a port there, and attach a cable to my computer.Trouble is, my computer only has USB ports(I so hate the new laptops, they are not really hacker friendly).So would need some kind of a dongle there.

More in later posts!

eZ430 Chronos Development Tool from TI

I just recieved a package from TI, which had the eZ430 Chronos Development Tool I ordered for Sree.Here are some previews and a quick video showing the accelerometer function.Enjoy!!!


In the image below, you can see from left to right, the bundled CD(which has the drivers as well as the control software for the access points), the eZ430 emulator (programmer as well, to add your own code to the watch), the watch itself, the RF access point(shown in photos further) and a nifty screwdriver to remove the back panel of the watch, In addition to these, there are a few screws(not shown in images) if you end up losing some.










Here is the video, that shows the accelerometer function.I was pretty excited, as this happens to be the first video, I would have uploaded for sharing.

The Internet of Things

At work,I have being toying around with a way to have in-browser notifications in real time about the application the user is currently using.
I came across the XMPP protocol while designing my proof of concept, and further reading and research on the protocol made me realise what people have used to protocol to achieve.

The "Internet of Things" is something of a self-aware global or a private network of devices or objects that talk to each other over central nodes,these nodes being XMPP servers(loosely speaking).

The beauty of the protocol is its extensibility, and presence management that comes with it out of the box.

OpenSpime is an example of such a library that has extended the XMPP protocol, and currently has a Python library to get started.

This information came to me when I was browsing through hackaday,and has come as a pleasant surprise.

Here is also another informative link, what can you do with xmpp.

Sounds fun!

I am looking at publishing my implementation of the proof of concept,and it will require me to get approvals, given it has become intellectual property of the company I work for.
Looking forward to it...

I need of a new project!

I am so damn in a desperate need to start my own project..build a robot,do something without any reason of doing it..
Life is so drab and dull with nothing more than managing deploy schedules,listening to endless meetings,and its not the same here as it was in India.I could just hop off to lamington on a saturday morning and get my robot ready by Sunday end of day,probably dismantle it the next morning without keeping notes or pictures of my creation..

US would most probably be the place where I can get the latest micro boards and nice motors and stuff for my bot, but probably I would need to shell out a fortune to procure those as compared to India.There is no machining shop around,my house has a carpet so cant have heavy tools like a drill to make a robot chassis..the list is on and on and on..I hate buying readymade kits, and people who know this facet of me know how a "get my hands dirty" guy I am ..

I have loads of time at hand..to spend doing what I do best..build robots...

updates!

Life has become the superbly boring 9-5 thing..with almost all the fun jam packed on the weekends when Poonam is around..

The fun thing that happened was that I went in for a skydive from 10000 feet from the shoreline of Cape Cod.It was the most exhilarating activity I would have ever done..with a 40 seconds freefall and 3.5 minutes with a parachute thereafter.

I am currently working on a pet project that I think probably has the potential to make it big..or atleast provide me a good standing as a web developer outside of my line of work..which probably would shoot the page rank of this blog many times it is now..(only If I can publish it here..)

I can now cook as good as my mom does..which in fact was something I have learnt by myself..A pat on the back there...

I am dying to take another trip down memory lane,meet some old friends in the US,remember good old days..

My first few Weeks in Milford

Not pretty exciting!Well looking forward to it..
I have just rented a 2BHK apartment here, planning to buy a car(Milford is really horrible when it comes to public transport..Boston is way better)..
Work normally extends 8-8, and I do cook food sometimes!
Nothing exciting happening here...just the regular work-cook-sleep kinda life..
I am dying to jump start another small project or something..something that I may look forward when I come back home...The way it was in India...
The best thing here is the weather..it is pleasant..sometimes cold..and changes erratically...Spring is arriving...and the trees are starting to bloom..so that is the good part of this place..
The first place that I visited was Rhode Island..but the rains ruined the fun..had to stay back at the hotel for about 6-7 hours..will post snaps soon..
I have never been out of house like this..never in my entire life..so it all seems overwhelming...I have to make decisions that I have never thought of taking...and at times I tend to go nuts deciding between things..

My Experiments

Last night,I was trying to install Debian on my Ubuntu sytem under Virtualbox.It was a painstaking 3-day download from the Debian Http servers, and then I understand that Virtualbox currently does not support a 64-bit guest OS yet.So it more 3-painstaking days to download the 32-bit Debian iso.

Apart from this I have ordered a new device from China,it has come pre-installed with WinCE and GPS logging in-built, and I need to run EmDebian on it.I really want to write down one large blog post that will show actually how to do this..effortlessly.

Things have slowly moved away from Orkut and Facebook, and more into Twitter.The system is so good that it allows posting information from a varied set of sources, and that's what make my mind tick.

I cannot believe this, that since the last 8 weekends, I have done nothing but built apps one after the other for Twitter..although they are in pretty nascent stage to date..And I love it!

Nothing more than this.

I Ran and Ran and Ran...To the finish....

It was a great experience to participate in the SCMM 2009.I enrolled in the 21.097 Km race that started at the Azad Maidan and then finished there.

I was able to finish the race in just a shade over three and a half hours.

Check the snaps here.

DIY GorillaPod

I had been trying since a few days to find something interesting to make,when i really get bored out of my programming and web surfing..The best place to be in such times is instructables.com.

I am in awe of what people are creating out of their imagination and really cool stuff is out there to be discovered.

I happened to read about the GorillaPod,which is a simple tripod for a point and shoot,and its happens to be something created out of sheer genius...the tripod can actually wrap around things,and stay stiff,so you can get those oddly positioned shots out of your camera.

Here is what my DIY version looked like...

To be honest,I have made this in 2 days flat!And it has not cost me more than $15.

Here are some more snaps of it,where the tripod seems to assumes the role of a photogenic model.

Here is how it can shoot in the macro mode....

The Pod clinging to a thin Door of my cupboard(Please neglect the mess within the cupboard,actually its a black hole,whatever has gone in,really I have never been able to find that thing back....)

Last but not the least,how the tripod clings to the window grill in my house...

I would be keen to sell this to someone who would be really interested.Drop me an email at rupin[dot]chheda[at]gmail.com....

Hacking the A570

My good old friend Mirang owns a Canon A570.
A570+CHDK=Lots of Fun on an idle Saturday afternoon.
The term CHDK stands for the Canon Hack Development Kit....
I then asked one question-Why in the world does one buy a digital SLR?And then I realised that not everyone is born a techie.
If you own a Canon point and shoot and looking for the fun of a digital SLR(Mind it it gives you the ability to open and close the camera shutter for (1/100k) second.Now thats way cool)..Then the CHDK is a way to go....

I am completely in love with all the people who really are doing things that defy the rules of normal gadget usage.They have a different perspective on gadgets,and are looking for the next free hour to try something new.The world calls them "hackers".They mean something else to me...Something way more respectable....

I really did not want to write another post teaching how to boot the camera from the CHDK scripts..there are lots of posts and information out to search and easily accessible.
Go ahead..give your Canon camera some steroids!

Updates Since my Last Blog Post

Woah..That was a long time ago..I guess...
I have been places..Visited a Marriage in Mahuva,Ahmedabad last week,and then had been to Panchgani,Maharastra this weekend.Check my album here.

I had ordered a Lappy ,the DV6929 from HP.This serves as at replacement to my old machine which has served me since the last 6 odd years.
The lappy looks great,and I seriously hate Vista,which has come preloaded.I will transfer all the files and folders from the old machine to a portable drive, and then format both the machine.The older one would be handed over to my neice,and the lappy would have XP and Linux installed...Lets see if all goes well :).Need to also set up a wifi environ at my house, and setting up a new corner in my house where I can happily sit and enjoy chatting online with friends with my cup of coffee.
And yeah,I need to get an old lappy working to set as a Linux Server in some corner of my house...

I have had a stack of around 300 Gb of movies,which I am planning to watch one every night.

Work at office and home has taken a real slowdown now,and I am most of the time surfing new things at delicious or digg...