calm_before_the_storm_

New car!

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:37:55 GMT

We got a FIAT Palio Stile 1.1 SLX (furnace red color) from B.U.Bhandari in Pune. The reasons for going for a FIAT were good engine, and ample cabin space. Diesel was ruled out, as the premium above petrol was way too high. Photos here, here and here.

Updated photos of Anushree

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:45:54 GMT

Anushree turned one on 3rd January, and I wanted to update her latest photos. Finally, they are. Here.

RMS makes a fool of himself on misc@openbsd

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:23:06 GMT

RMS (yeah, Richard Stallman) made a fool of himself on misc@openbsd when he made repeated incorrect statements about OpenBSD. And when people indicated this to him, he tried to shrug them away saying that they were "mistakes" on his part. Theo rightly calls him a "liar" and an "hypocrite".

Whatever respect I had for Richard as a "leader" has rapidly diminished and reached zero. Read it and judge for yourself.

Writing an iso image to a CD/DVD in OpenBSD

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:55:25 GMT

Writing CD
Assuming that your CD device is cd0, and you wish to burn image.iso to the CD, execute the following command "cdio -f cd0c tao image.iso" as superuser.

Writing DVD
Assuming that your DVD device is cd0, and you wish to burn image.iso to the DVD, do the following (as superuser):
1. Install "sysutils/dvd+rw-tools" from ports
2. growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/rcd0c=image.iso
Note that the raw device is used here (rcd0).

More details on burning CDs' or DVDs' through OpenBSD are located in the FAQ here.

Pune's "nuisance festival" is back

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 05:12:33 GMT

Pune's nuisance festival is back. Welcome(!) to ten days of noise pollution, gambling, liquor, bullying, road blocks, traffic chaos (in an already "infrastructure-challenged" city) and political mileages.

Unfortunately, worshipping in public, creating purely nuisance value is considered loyalty-to-your-religion by many.

Bank Of India's website compromised - downloads malware!

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:23:13 GMT

Ban'k of India's site has been compromised - a malicious JavaScript downloads an executable, which then downloads other malware. As per F-Secure labs, the compromise has not yet been corrected. More here.

You are strongly advised to stay clear of visiting the site, and stop any net-banking activities with Bank of India, until this issue is fixed (hopefully they do it sooner!)

I am a FreeBSD ports maintainer now!

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:48:29 GMT

My first port, wcalc (a powerful arbritrary-precision, command-line calculator), got committed today. The PR (problem report) is here. Thanks Martin Wilke (miwi). I will be maintaining wcalc for FreeBSD henceforth. :-)

kidunix is now Anushree

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 06:10:37 GMT

We finally succeeded in zero'ing on a name for our daughter - Anushree, which means pretty, prosperity, and is another name for Goddess Lakshmi - Hindu Goddess of Wealth. The name is also in tune with our names, all start with the letter A. :)

Reasonable design of software

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 06:02:12 GMT

The concept of "good design" of software is too abstract to be actually realized. For companies that ship software and are legally accountable for it, the idea of "good design" translates to "reasonable design". Let me explain.

** What good characteristics do you wish to have in your software?
General answers that you'd get are:
- simple
- easy-to-use
- robust
- available
- secure
- solves the problem (inherent property, generally assumed)
- economical
- maintainable
- etc., etc., etc..

Given the real life constraints, like go-to-market pressure, revisions, people change, maintainability, it is very difficult (almost impossible) to maximize all the above mentioned properties in finite time. What needs to be done is to strike a balance between all of them, and come up with an optimal solution. For eg., a banking and financial software should be available and secure to the max, but can be okay to be a bit unfriendly, a software game should be user-friendly, but is okay if it is a bit expensive (it is a luxury), and so on.

This optimal balance is what I call a "reasonable design" choice, where, the software meets the needs of all its stakeholders (designers, developers, marketing folks, end-users, etc.)

Will try to expand this article as time permits.

Restoring the MBR with FreeBSD boot manager (after Windows eats it!)

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:27:25 GMT

I dual-boot with Windows XP and FreeBSD. Now, I had to re-install XP - which meant that my master boot record (MBR) would be overwritten by Windows XP, and I would lose the ability to dual-boot. Does not matter, as we can always restore the MBR back to the one FreeBSD installed, with the following steps:
1. boot the machine through FreeBSD installation CD 1 (the boot CD)
2. through sysinstall (the FreeBSD installer), go to the Fixit mode
3. start the "live" image, which gives you all the commands
4. issue the following command at the shell prompt:
boot0cfg -B -s [slice_num] [disk]
In my case, the slice_num was 2 (as 1 was for Windows XP), and the disk was ad0.
(boot0cfg -B [disk] will suffice if you don't care for the "default boot selection")
5. exit the Fixit mode, and exit the installer. Remember to remove the boot CD.

You will be again greeted with the famous:
F1 DOS
F2 FreeBSD

Reading this will also help.

Enjoy!

Bye-bye Orkut!

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 03:39:59 GMT

I am not longer on Orkut. It kills a lot of time, and I am too bored of it.

Motofone F3

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:37:20 GMT

Got the new Motofone F3 sporting the e-paper technology. It is a pretty cool, primitive phone, good for people who just want their phone to do one job, and do it well - duplex talk. :)

Only two remote holes in the default install, in more than 10 years!

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:32:33 GMT

One more remote hole in the default install of OpenBSD. The count now is two. I guess it is the latest security advisory (Incorrect mbuf handling for ICMP6 packets) for pf(4).

Though I am a newbie on OpenBSD, I quiet like the OS, for its simplicity (both while installation, and later on), and its approach towards security (I'd rather take a performance hit, than being compromised).

Welcome to our world...

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:37:10 GMT

kidunix landed on 03/Jan/2007. Welcome!

FreeBSD: where are the port configure options?

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 06:33:13 GMT

/var/db/ports/[port_name]/options is the file which stores configuration options. You can re-configure by doing a "make config" for that particular port.

Pseudo-secularism and religious fanaticism

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:59:57 GMT

Religious fanaticism is a side-effect of pseudo-secularism.

Debian - my favorite Linux distribution

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 05:04:20 GMT

I like Debian for the rock solid stability of the applications. I am yet to hit a segfault and a resultant core dump on any of its apps. It helps especially when I am doing monetary transactions over the net - never ever has Opera blown on my face.

The Debian release cycles are long (Debian releases when it is time), so if you run the "stable" release, you might have very old apps. Other Linux distros', make a release every now and then - without much thinking about the app stability. IMHO, the latest-and-greatest app, and all its eye candy is futile, if it is not stable. In the open source world, you can't guarantee stability of any app on Linux, simply because you don't make them - you merely integrate them. So Debian does a thorough testing of the apps too, and hence the longer release cycles.

If you come from the Red Hat world, Debian is a bit difficult to install though - you need to have lot of details about the hardware. But once you are up and running on Debian, there is no looking back. Oh, and its package management system apt, beats the sh** of other package management systems.

If you wish to have rock solid stability, but are okay with a bit out-of-date (depends on how you look at it, really) apps., then Debian is for you. I run Debian on my Dell Latitude D400, and am pretty happy with it. I am now eagerly waiting for the next "stable" release - Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 - which is just round the corner! :-)

Infosys and number 13

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 06:16:30 GMT

Infosys, Pune does not have building number 13! :-O

Purchasing property and the construction business

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 10:36:55 GMT

The entire construction business is a total *fraud*. There are no benchmarks, whatsoever, for prices/sq.ft.. It is totally upto the builder lobby to fix the prices, and the excuse of steel and cememt prices going up is absolute laughable.

Unfortunately, the builders' are not the only people to be blamed - the consumers' are more responsible for this. Why are we ready to pay any price demanded by the builder? We conveniently forget all the frauds' done by the builder to us, just because we wish to own an stupidly overpriced home? (Actually this has more to do with the Indian mentality of "owning a home in lifetime", which makes us an easy prey).

Anyways, I don't wish to preach - but I feel saddened when my acquaintance puts money blindly in some stupid building project - just to get royally cheated. It is our hard-earned money! :-|

There are some simple ideas one can implement while making a decision to purchase a home. Here -

Get your *own* lawyer. Every penny you pay him is worth it.

Don't sign on the agreement "as-is", get changes done in your favor with the help of your lawyer.

Make sure that the builder has *all* the requisite clearance documents before you invest. It is your right to demand those form the builder. Any missing document, or a promise, should ring a warning bell in your mind.

Make sure the electricity connection is transferred on your name by the builder. (This can and should be added in the agreement). This also ensures that the electricity being used is at the "home" rate and not "commercial" rate.

Don't get carried away by once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity - the deal is off if the builder does not wish to comply with your lawyer's demands. Better to be safe, than sorry!

Tons of safeguards' can be added to the agreement - right from leakages, to construction quality, to anything.

Make sure the REGISTER the agreement. Unless it is registered, it is just a piece of paper.

Think of the hard-earned money, and spend it wisely!

Have a good home! :-)

Excellent article on Computer Security

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 08:21:14 GMT

Came across A Taste of Computer Security, by Amit Singh. An excellent read.

Bad, bad, TVS

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:59:44 GMT

TVS Motor Company is very notorious to break all backward compatibility for its two wheelers. I own a TVS Fiero, first model, which I purchased in 2002, and I hardly get any part for it. Also, the CDI unit for Fiero is fit under the fuel tank, and has no security whatsoever - recently someone stole it from my bike.

Oh, and did I mention that this part cost me a whopping Rs. 3,700, when all others (bajaj, honda, etc.) charge about Rs. 1000 for it?

I'd strongly urge you all to think twice before going in for any two wheeler from TVS. Don't get carried away by their ads. of mileage, and coolness - if they don't maintain backward compat, its all rubbish. :-|

Happy Diwali!

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:00:18 GMT

Wish you all a very happy Diwali. Enjoy the festival of lights!

DNA's take on Bill Gates

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 05:34:26 GMT

The idea that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the first place.

--Douglas Adams

We are safe.

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 05:14:47 GMT

My family is safe after this. Hope everyone else is fine too!

Campaign against the Google-is-God phenomenon.

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 06:05:17 GMT

Google, the search engine giant has slowly started assuming God-like proportions, with scores of people worshipping it. Though there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this, there also lurkes the danger of consuming garbage, just because it comes from Google. Also, once someone reaches God-level, the innovative spirit slowly dies. Unfortunately, it takes us a good long time before we realize this too. See what happened to Microsoft - the software juggernaut now has become so comfortable in certain markets' (OS segment), that it hardly innovates.

No, I am not against Google, or Microsoft, I am against the unnessary-hype surrounding such companies, which might harm not only their creative ability, but also their customers' - with poor products.

This is my sincere attempt to rationalize our thoughts, so that we allow Google and Microsoft to innovate, and give us good products. Just maintain a level-headed perspective, there is yet a long way to go! :)