Firefox 3 Rocks

Its official. Firefox 3 rocks. Gina Trapani’s Lifehacker.com blog is one of my personal favourites on the web. I am a regular visitor and subscribe to the blog on my Google Reader too. She has a nice post up about the recently released Firefox 3 and some of its quirks. Nice, nice browser, better than Firefox 2 in its memory usage. Tasty extensions as usual. Rock on!

Digsby - The New Age IM Client

The thing that has recently caught my attention is Digsby. I have always longed for a multiple IM client that helps integrate all chat services but is not minimalistic and geeky. Though, Pidgin is a great multiple IM client, it has issues in enabling file transfers and video chat. It calls for extra-geeky meddling with options, if these things are to be made possible.

Digsby is a cool IM client which is sure to be the next big thing like Firefox. And like Firefox, it seems to hog a lot of memory. However, trust me that should not be a deterrent in using Digsby. This is because Digsby can make up for Msn, Yahoo, AIM and Gtalk clients. Imagine running all of these clients individually and it would certainly work out to that much of memory usage.

The setup file is over 11 MB and takes a while to download. Once this thing is installed, it is completely hassle-free. Though, it has the characteristic geek tinge to its minimalist interface, it can quickly be customized. In fact, geeks have more to rejoice for because it allows for back-end customization and a lot of scope for the ones that cannot keep from exploratory coding adventures.

Rightly represented by a friendly cute logo, Digsby is intuitive all the way. You can immediately configure all your IM accounts. But here is the easter egg. You can also configure your Facebook and Twitter into this IM client. It will give you updates about your Facebook pokes, friend statuses and other notifications. You can also update your Facebook status by using Digsby.

As if this were not enough, there is good news for the compulsive twitter addicts. Twitter allows for updates via IM but Digsby also lets you read your friends’ tweets. You can click on the Twitter tab in your Digsby interface to do this.

Digsby allows for tabbed conversations and has amazing skinning options that makes your boring IM windows look really new age. Those who use gtalk must especially be starved for some skinning and emoticon action. Now you can quench those cravings with Digsby.

I personally use Windows but I understand that Digsby is compatible with Linux and Mac as any open-source software is likely to be. They also have support forums and wikis to assist the newbies.

Digsby is here to stay. Check it out!

Demystifying KM for Tech Companies

Knowledge Management or KM is turning out to be the proverbial Elephant surrounded by the blind men. Much has been written on what it is, how useful it is and so on but then there is no definite success formula. One of the major reasons for this ambiguity is that people have yet to define knowledge. While most of us think a completed task constitutes knowledge, what we fail to understand is that real knowledge resides in how the task was completed. The reusability of such knowledge is very high and can form the much needed knowledge platform.

To look at some examples in a technical organisation, some people would think knowledge ideally resides in the minds of professionals and the documents that they churn out. While this might work in certain quarters, what can really work is a collaboration and a capture of ideas while the documentation (documents, presentations, .pdf files and more) is being created.

Email exchanges, discussions, and external research links constitute a huge portion of the knowledge which floats around in an organisation. One classic example is technical documentation in technology organisations. While the finished documents constitute a chunk of knowledge, a larger chunk remains in the ‘journey’ of the documentation. Reusability of this knowledge helps in reducing the timelines for similar activities in the future and also helps build a series of best practices.

It is important for organisations to establish methods by which such useful yet undocumented knowledge is saved and shared for future activities.

By

Jiten Gajaria

Web 2.0 on the Desktop

Ever wished you could do away with folder structures on your desktop/laptop computer? The visual idea we have about files and folders as objects and collectors has become so innate to file organizers that it gets irritating some times to find files. With the proliferation of high bandwidth and the huge increase in the data being collected and stored by people, the mp3 revolution, the p2p revolution, etc., finding data and organizing data has become a bane on the desktop. None of the three primary operating systems offer a convenient way to automatically and intelligently sort the data in downloaded files into categories, which explain what the files consist of and what they do.At least I have this problem of downloaded files not getting noticed after I download them. I download papers, articles, files, programs on to my desktop and at times, they clutter the desktop, but when I am done organizing them (into folders) I find it difficult to find the files I need. With file names such as “do2376.pdf” “math_izz_ipr_pdf.pdf” and “web45ghu.exe”, most downloaded files and programs have neither an unambiguous name nor an indicative meta data which shows what the file/setup program contains.

• A useful and underused technique in Windows could have been implemented into the tooltip system. The tooltip is a very common meta data organizer which lets us know what we are doing in Excel sheets, tells us the names of commands or what they do, and so on. Unfortunately, although people use tool tips well otherwise, it is not popular with the masses who create content which can be downloaded or programs.
• The linux desktop offers a great alternative to the folder maze. Enter Leaftag. This is a nifty little set of utilities which can tag folders and files and make the information inside the folder make sense. What is especially interesting is that on linux systems with Leaftag there will still be files as usual, but they could be tagged in case you want to remember something about them.
• Delicious‘ system of social bookmarking is a great way to organize information on the web specific to a user’s browsing activities. It is interesting what a combination of RSS and Delicious bookmarks can do. Why is it not possible to do the same within the framework of a desktop?
• There is a software for Windows too, as shown in this lifehacker post:

In order to encourage you to tag new files as they’re created, tag2find can also monitor your new files and prompt you for tags. tag2find then provides a couple of ways to search through your tags, both of which seem to provide snappy results. Add to that automated tagging by filetypes, tag clouds, and Windows Media Player integration, and tag2find is a surprisingly powerful tool.

I await more proliferation of the ideas of Web 2.0 to the desktop. But this is second in line after my favorite wishful hack idea: instant-on computers. (And no, I don’t mean boot times of under 15 seconds as you get in SSD powered computers.)

Gtalk Themes

Click on the link above to download Help.pdf and MyTheme .rar

Extract MyTheme.rar to your computer

Read Help.pdf and install MyTheme.exe to your computer

This program was given to me by a friend. It is an awesome way to set background pictures in your gtalk chat windows. It also enables another feature that is sorely missed in gtalk. Emoticons! Yeah, you get loads of them with this theme. This is a nice way to add some color to your gtalk! Have fun!

Black XP Theme

I have always wished I could have a black theme for XP and I stumbled upon something exquisite.

Use this link to download the Zune theme from Microsoft - Zune Theme from Microsoft

Install it on your system and voila your system looks totally funky!

Metacafe has a video demo of the whole procedure.
Watch Demo

Enjoy your black XP!

Manually crash Windows XP

Manually Crash Windows XP (Source: The Straight Dope)

Windows-XP has a “feature” (???) with which it is possible to manually crash a system by simply holding the right CTRL key and pressing the “Scroll Lock” key twice. This feature can be turned on by the following steps:

1. Start regedit. 2. Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
3. Create a new DWORD value and name it CrashOnCtrlScroll
4. Right-click on this newly created value and click on Modify
5. Enter 1 in the Value data field and click on OK.
6. Close regedit and reboot your system.
7. Now you can blue screen (crash) your system by holding the right CTRL key and pressing “Scroll Lock” twice.

Note:

Your system may reboot or show a blue screen whenever this crash is initiated. If your system reboots after initiating the crash, and you want to see the blue screen, follow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel > System
2. Click on the Advanced tab
3. Under Startup and Recovery, click the Settings button.
4. Under System failure, uncheck the option Automatically restart.

Happy crashing…!!

Source: The Straight Dope

Google Talk Tips & Tricks

Some people say Google Talk is nice because of its minimalistic design, but they don’t want to use an Instant Messenger that doesn’t have smileys and font customization. Here are some tips that will make your work with Google Talk better.

Keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL + Mousewheel up/down: Change the font size in a conversation window.
* CTRL + E: Center text
* CTRL + R: Right justify text
* CTRL + L or CTRL+J: Left justify text
* F9: Open Gmail to send an email to the person you talk to
* F11: Start a call
* F12: Stop the current call
* ESC: Close the current window

Conversation

* Some smileys are converted by Google Talk: :-O B-) :’( :O
* To write bold text, type *your gtalk message*
* To write italic text, type _your gtalk message_

Startup parameters (go to Start/Run and type “c:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe” /one_parameter_from_the_list_below)

* /nomutex: allows you to open more than one instance of Google Talk.
* /register: write Google Talk settings in the registry.
* /checkupdate: check for new version.
* /factoryreset: revert to default settings.
* /mailto email@gmail.com: send an email with Gmail.
* /diag: start Google Talk in diagnostic mode.

Remove Virus in XP that Blocks Access to Orkut

There is a certain virus that prevents XP users from opening www.orkut.com from any of the available browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera etc).

For many Orkut addicts, it is nearly impossible to live without Orkutting.

So here we have the solution for your problem.

Follow the steps exactly as written here and in the same sequence.

Procedure:

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. Open the Task Manager and go to Processes.
2. Look for svchost.exe under the image name. Find the ones that have your username under the Username tab.
3. Press DEL to kill these processes. Click Yes to ignore the warning.
4. Repeat for more svchost.exe files with your username and repeat. Be careful not to kill svchost.exe with system, local service or network service.
5. Now go to My Computer.
6. In the address bar, type “C:\heap41a” and press Enter. Delete all the files in here.
7. Now go to Start. Click Run and type “Regedit“.
8. In the menu bar click Edit and then click Find.
9. Type “heap41a” and press Enter.
10. The display will show you the following:
    “[winlogon] C:\heap41a\svchost.exe C:\heap(some number)\std.txt”
11. Press DELand click Yes to ignore the warning.
12. Close the Registry Editor.

BANG! The virus would be gone!

Note: Please format all your pen drives because the virus might be hidden in there in a microsoft.exe autorun.inf file, which you might not be able to find. This would mean you should repeat the whole procedure above. (After the pendrive is formatted.)

Now you should be able to access Orkut without much trouble!

Remove Virus in XP that Disables “Show Hidden Files”

There is a certain virus that prevents XP users from viewing the hidden files.

The virus meddles with the ’Show hidden files and folders’ option in the Folder Options and the option keeps bouncing back to ‘Do not show hidden files and folders’, despite repeated trials.

Here is how you can set this problem right:

Navigate to the windows registry:
Go to Start menu
Click Run
Type regedit in the text box and then click Enter.

When the Registry Editor opens, perform the following steps:

Go to the following registry key:

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then open Software.Under this navigate to: Microsoft -> Windows ->  Current Version -> Explorer Then go to Advanced -> Folder -> Hidden -> SHOWALL
Delete the value CheckedValue.
(Its type should be REG_SZ and data should be 2 or 0.)

Create a new DWORD value called CheckedValue (same as above, except that the type is REG_DWORD).

Modify the value data to 1 (0×00000001).This should enable you to select the ‘Show hidden files and folders’ option without much problem.Do drop in comments if there are further queries and we shall try to find answers.