Tumblr - a new, better equipped blog platform for you.



Curiously enough, I had created a Tumblr in Hindi and another one in English for me. What about you? Haven't you? I have gone a step further now and had created a Widget with the first Tumblr that you can see at the right column on my Hindi blog.

What is Tumblr? There is an official FAQ that you can refer, but obviously, Tumblr is an innovative kind of blog platform that lets you post blogs dirt-easy. And, as most things in Internet are free, Tumblr too is free for personal use.

On a first glance, Tumblr looks like a blog platform having some features of Blogger and Wordpress both. Some extra are added and some unnecessary ones were scrapped.

I especially liked the Tumblr's capability to import and display almost all kinds of RSS feeds. You can set to display an unlimited number of feeds on your Tumblr. But, beware, you must have rights to display them in your Tumblr.

For example, If I add the feed of http://narad.akshargram.com in my Tumblr, then it will populate itself automatically as blogposts by pulling feeds from the said URL.

To test this feature, I created a Google Blog search for NEW HINDI BLOGS and added this search's feed in my Tumblr.

The result is astonishing. Google is constantly searching for new Hindi blogs according to the given parameters and the search result is feeded in to my Tumblr, which is finally displayed here. The process is automatic, and once I set things, I had to do practically nothing to manage this Tumblr.

Not only that, you can integrate other web services like Flikr, YouTube, PodCast etc seamlessly and effortlessly in your Tumblr. For example, whenever you upload a photo in your Flickr account, it will get published as a blog post in your integrated Tumblr.

Registering on and using Tumblr is easy. In Less than 30 seconds flat, really! Perhaps, Spammers have not eyed Tumblr so far.

People behind Tumblr are saying that this ain't a blog platform. Instead, they say, it is a kind of scrapbook in which you can publish any scrap, and that too with equally easy. They say in their FAQ -

"Blogs are great, but they can be a lot of work. And they're really built to handle longer-form text posts. Tumblelogs, on the other hand, let you easily and quickly post and share anything you find or create."

Well, may be. But, I think, Tumblr's main use will remain publishing rich, multimedia blogs because of its intuitive integration with feeds and other web services.

So, what are you waiting far? Go ahead and create a Tumblr for yourself. And let the world now - you too own a Tumblr!

Tag ,,,

I tried to dirty my hands on OpenSolaris Belenix 0.6



Ever since Sun Solaris had gone open source, I had desperately wanted to try a hand on it. I tried to install Solaris Express Developer Edition in my multiboot-multi-partitioned machine but nothing worked. Recently I learned that OpenSolaris new live CD version had been released. I simply could not stop myself to download the ISO image of OpenSolaris Belenix 0.6 live cd.

At first, I tried to run it in MS Virtual Machine environment. My machine's hardware spec is quite new and good - 3.2P-4 with HT, 1GB RAM. The OpenSolaris Lice CD refuses to boot in to my Virtual Machine and it keeps rebooting automatically after initial splash screen and a few dialogues. I tried to change various settings of both virtual machine as well as OpenSolaris Belenix 0.6, but it simply failed to boot, and that too, without giving any reason.

Then I tried to boot My PC through OpenSolaris live Belenix 0.6 CD. In initial dialogues I had chosen KDE as my desktop. Here again, the OpenSolaris live Belenix 0.6 failed to boot in to graphics mode. I tried different types of X configuration in its initial X-11 configuration dialogues but it failed every time. Even, selecting SVGA failed - and strangely enough, its initial VGA splash screen worked well. I had in my machine - hugely popular, basic, medium end Graphics card - Intel i-845.

This reminds me of my initial days with Linux - about 8-10 years ago - when we were forced to configure each and every aspect of Linux configuration to simply work out things. Today, most Linux distribution do not require any advanced tweaking during their initial installation - most things work out-of-the-box and distributions like Xandros have simple, 4 click install options.

It looks like OpenSolaris needs to travel a real long way, and journey has just begun.

Tag ,,,

World's cheapest PCs


Suddenly everybody is talking about cheap PCs. The OLPC created the debate and now Intel's Classmate had brought the cheap PCs come full circle.

While OLPC's pricing has been increased to about $150-176, Classmate's pricing to stick around $100 will make it more acceptable.

While OLPC claims that its XO laptop has a screen resolution four times better than a normal laptop with a 12-hour battery life Classmate's specification says it has 7" screen with approx. 4-hour battery life.

Meanwhile, due to many obvious reasons, many individual and companies were forced to upgrade their hardware. Windows Vista, for example can not run on older computers having less than 512MB RAM. These hardware remain in working condition and are being re-sold at a fraction of a price at many places. You can get a an old yet with full multimedia capable P3 class complete desktop PC for about $100 at any local computerwala. In India, Big-apple is one such company that deals in used computers - and you can find many used PCs are being sold at a fraction of original PCs.

We will see a further reduction in pricing of PCs. Who knows, some day you will have a brand-new PC for free - the way you get your mobile phone now - all you have to do is to commit yourself to use their web services for a specific period of time.

Tag ,,,

Proposal for free open source fellowship called

If you are perusing any personal software project that comes within the range of FLOSS (read on further for clarification) then here is good chance for recognition as well as a small financial support.



I am producing a mail received from Mr. Gora Mohanti, Sarai-CSDS in the subject:


Hello all,

Below is an invitation for proposals for the RGF-Sarai CSDS programme for short-term FLOSS fellowships. Please feel to circulate this far and wide.

The deadline for submission of proposals is the 25th of June. Please feel free to address any queries with regards to this to floss@sarai.net.

Regards, Gora

--------------------------------------------------------------

Call for proposals:

RGF-Sarai, CSDS, short-term FLOSS fellowships

1 Introduction

The Sarai programme of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi (http://www.sarai.net) is pleased to announce fellowships for projects related to Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) activities. This year, we have partnered with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) who are providing support for work in the specific area of computing, and localisation in five Indian languages, namely, Assamese, Hindi, Kashmiri, Oriya, and Urdu.

We also invite proposals from projects in other FLOSS areas, especially ones that are relevant to educational, social, and community needs. Any project that meets the criteria given below is eligible for the fellowships, but we are particularly interested in:

o Indian language computing, including work on fonts, rendering, locales, input methods, spell-checking, etc., as well as in advanced technologies like OCR, handwriting recognition, and speech-to-text.

o Localisation into Indian languages of user interfaces, and translation of help documents for FLOSS applications. o In the interest of sustained development, we would like to see the enhancement of, and extensions for projects funded as part of past Sarai FLOSS fellowships.
In particular, we draw attention to NewsRack (http://newsrack.in), Hindawi (http://www.indicybers.com), and ApnaOpus (http://apnaopus.var.cc).

o Documentation for users of FLOSS tools, particularly in the area of Indian language computing. The production of video tutorials would be welcome.

o Development of graphics, multimedia, and publishing tools. This would include applications for audio/video editing, animation, and desktop publishing. Enhancement of existing FLOSS tools is especially encouraged.

o Putting together, distributing, and supporting a complete Indian language distribution, using FLOSS operating systems, and tools.

o Collaboration software, and groupware solutions. o Writing Linux device drivers, and front-ends for common hardware, such as wireless cards, graphics cards, scanners, and printers. The other significant difference from past practice is that we will be asking for more of a collaborative approach from the fellows, both among one another, and with people at Sarai. The collaboration need not be in the actual development, but can consist of an ongoing conversation about one's work, its direction, and current status. While this has been an implicit expectation in the past, this time we are making the requirement explicit.

The exact details of these will be worked out with the selected fellows, but will include things like discussions over IRC, email, and postings on the Sarai Project Resource Centre (PRC) mailing list. Fellows will also be asked to prepare a timeline for the projects, with intermediate milestones, and will be expected to adhere to them.

2 Applying for the fellowships

We invite students, developers, researchers, and practitioners interested in the FLOSS arena to apply for the fellowships. While there is no prescribed format for the applications, we expect them to be in sufficient detail for a reviewer to sensibly evaluate them. Attention to details, such as a plan of work that addresses what is possible to accomplish within the limited project period, a projection of how the work might be continued after that, and a discussion of the possible impact of the project, is strongly recommended.

In particular, we will look favorably on projects aimed at eventual deployment, rather than development per se. Please mail your application, along with a resume, to floss@sarai.net , with the subject line of "RGF-Sarai FLOSS fellowships". As this information is intended to be public, also subscribe to the PRC mailing list at https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc, and post a copy there, failing which your final proposal will be forwarded there by one of us. Enquiries are invited at floss@sarai.net , and on the PRC list, including questions on how to frame proposals. The last date of submission is midnight IST on Sun., June 25th, 2007.

The projects will run for a total of about six months, with a final workshop to be held at Sarai, CSDS, Delhi, where the fellows will be expected to present a summary of their work. Besides this, as part of our engagement with the RGF, we will be holding workshops in regional locations, and the FLOSS fellows will be asked to be present at events local to them. The total amount of the fellowship will be Rs. 70, 000.

3 Conditions

Applicants should have a valid bank account in any bank operating in India. These are support grants, and the fellows are free to pursue their primary occupations in parallel, as long as they keep working on proposed projects. The fellows must be willing to make a release of their final work under any open-source license approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Please see under http://www.opensource.org/licenses for a complete list. Proposals from teams, partnerships, collectives, and faculty on the behalf of a group of students are welcome, so long as the grant amount is administered by a single individual, and the funds are deposited in a single bank account in the name of an individual. ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Knowledge is power... share it equitably! _______________________________________________

prc mailing list

prc@sarai.net

https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc

Tag ,,,

How to add slideshow in your blog post?


I had added a slideshow of beautiful cactus flowers in my this blog post . This is a flash based slideshow, and that is why it loads quickly in browser. Some readers had asked me to how to add one such in their blog post.
Recently, the online picture storage service Picasaweb had added facility to show your uploaded picture files as a flash based slide show in any web page. And you can do it pretty easily.
If you do not have a Picasaweb account, then create one for yourself. If you use Blogger blogspot account for your blog, then there already will be a Picasaweb account for you in which you can login through your Blogger ID. Now upload your photos in a new album you want to show as slide show in your blog.
You can use Picasa tool to upload your photos. You can download Picasa tool which is now available in Hindi too.

Now select the album where you have uploaded your files and which you want to display as slide show. You will find a link called Embed Slideshow at the lower bottom side of browser window. Click on it and you will get an embedding code in HTML. Copy this and paste it at an appropriate location in your blog post. You can define your slideshow size from very small (144px) to very large (800px). I had used 400px here.
What are you waiting for? Start now! Add a beautiful slide show of your favorite pictures and photographs in your blog post. It works well in wordpress blogs also. We are waiting to see your camera's world through your blog's embedded slide show.
Tag ,,,

How many $$$$ a blogger can earn?

Do you have any idea - how many dollars a blogger can earn? It is virtually limitless. Well, tell me the other way - How many dollars an ace blogger is earning per day?

$1000 ?


$5000?


Or $10000?

If you believe the googledoc spreadsheet prepared by Paula, Markus Frind's daily income is about $10000 per day from his blogs only.

Paula's other estimation about ProBlogger Darren Rowse's income of between $120K $1.2 Million per month is true.

Well, those are lots of money indeed!

India's top blogger Amit Agrwal is not in the list - probably due to ignorance of Paula.


btw, how many $$$ are you earning through your blogs? Can you share your earnings with me?


Tag ,,,

How to add RadioBlog juke box in your blog?



RadioBlog plays shockwave audio files through an innovative, changeable playlist that you can add in your blog.

There are hundreds and thousands of all kinds of songs that you can create playlist and listen through RadioBlog. You can play a single file by embedding its Radioblog code in your blog post.

Shockwave files are extremely light in size and hence they do not clog your bandwidth. While your MP3 files may take about a few thousand kilobyte space, a SWF file may take only a few hundred. A MP3 file may take ages to load and take time to buffer, the SWF file loads quickly because of its tiny size. That is why in RadioBlog, you listen music without interruption.

Here is simple how-to described for you so that can create your own RadioBlog playlist and add the RadioBlog player in your blog - A best way to share your song playlist among your friend all across the globe.

Step 1- Go create an account at RadioBlog Club. It is very simple, two step process.

Step 2- Login and Create playlist at RadioBlogClub by searching songs through keywords.

Step 3- Note down the code number of playlist you created. It is available at the right bottom corner of your playlist page RadioBlogClub site. Refer picture below:

It says -

Do you know?

You can send this playlist to your friends, just copy/paste this link:

http://www.radioblogclub.com/fav/0/2273577/0

in the above link, you can see the number - 2273577. This is the number of your playlist. Note it down.

Now copy paste the following code (printed in bold) in your Blog side bar code at an appropriate place. Use ‘add page element' in New Blogger and choose Script/HTML code option, and save your template.

<script src="http://stat.radioblogclub.com/radio.blog/radio.blog.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
RadioBlog.playlist = 'http://www.radioblogclub.com/juke.blog.3.0/sounds/playlist?id=2273577';
RadioBlog.width = '75%';
RadioBlog.height = '100%';
RadioBlog.color.body = '#ECECEC';
RadioBlog.color.border = '#0099ff',
RadioBlog.color.button = '#0099ff',
RadioBlog.color.player_text = '#999999',
RadioBlog.color.playlist_text = '#999999'
RadioBlog.start();
</script>

Please note that you must change the code of your playlist id with 2273577 else, my playlist will load on your radioblog!

As you also see, you can change the look and feel of the player - so that it can match with your blog template scheme. Simply replace the existing color code with the one you want and you are done.

One best thing about RadioBlog is that once you set it up for your blog, you can dynamically change playlist in RadioBlog anytime and it will reflect in your blog instantly.


Your RadioBlog will look like this in your Blog-sidebar:


Enjoy Radio on your blog!

Tag ,,,