Chaitanya Sharma

TippingPoint IPS evasion by packet fragmenting

2009-02-03T04:51:00.000-08:00

I was recently testing a website which had and IPS running on it. The IPS was from TippingPoint and my task was to execute XSS & Sql Injection attacks on the site - after bypassing the IPS. Now bypassing the IPs was something I had only read about and had never done it first hand. SO this seemed to be a challenge.

The vulnerability details can be found here:

http://www.3com.com/securityalert/alerts/3COM-07-002.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/24861/info

This vulnerability can be exploited by sending fragmented packets so that the IPS would not detect the traffic. This vulnerability exists only in TippingPoint TOS versions 2.1.x, 2.2.x prior to 2.2.5, and 2.5.x.

I used a tool called 'fragroute' which comes preinstalled in BackTrack3.

fragroute creates a route to the server you traget and all your traffic passes through fragroute - no need to configure proxy in web browsers. The configuration that worked for me was -

tcp_seg 24
ip_frag 64
tcp_chaff paws
print

This configuration goes in the conf file /pentest/scanners/fragroute-1.2/fragroute.conf and the command would be -

bt ~ # fragroute -f /pentest/scanners/fragroute-1.2/fragroute.conf xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

After the command is executed, just browse to the site and your traffic will be fragged!

This thing worked for me. Another idea as suggested by BSDaemon (Rodrigo) would be to use gzip encoding. i.e. to send your traffic by encoding it using gzip and then send the traffic by fragging it. fragroute can be used to fragment the traffic. You will need to create a PHP script to send requests for you and use the function gzinflate to encode the traffic.

I have not tried this technique so I do not know the details of the working but this idea should give headway to anyone looking for help.

Any inputs / comments / feedback will be welcome :-)

You are kidding aren't you?

2008-01-20T23:08:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that i like to show off my superior knowledge about technology and computers in general and try to belittle the ignorant mortals. So I've decided to start my own Internet Hall of Shame where I'll be posting outrageous entries salvaged from the Internet. The one below is a good contender for the top spot. This was posted in a discussion of "Why Linux will not displace Windows"

"Are you saying that this Linux can run on a computer without windows underneath it, at all ? As in, without a boot disk, without any drivers, and without any services ?

That sounds preposterous to me.

If it were true (and I doubt it), then companies would be selling computers without a windows. This clearly is not happening, so there must be some error in your calculations. I hope you realize that windows is more than just Office ? Its a whole system that runs the computer from start to finish, and that is a very difficult thing to achieve. A lot of people don't realize this.

Microsoft just spent $9 billion and many years to create Vista, so it does not sound reasonable that some new alternative could just snap into existence overnight like that. It would take billions of dollars and a massive effort to achieve. IBM tried, and spent a huge amount of money developing OS/2 but could never keep up with Windows. Apple tried to create their own system for years, but finally gave up recently and moved to Intel and Microsoft.

Its just not possible that a freeware like the Linux could be extended to the point where it runs the entire computer from start to finish, without using some of the more critical parts of windows. Not possible.

I think you need to re-examine your assumptions."

Cracks me up each time I go through it.

And 'They' say "You spoil the environment"

2008-01-18T04:45:00.000-08:00

This is a common statement that is hurled towards outsiders working in Bangalore. Lets divide the people into two clans and dig into it deeper – ‘Us’ and ‘Them’. ‘Us’ being the people from outside Bangalore/Karnataka and ‘Them’ being localities. Why are such things being said?

1) Booze
Them - You guys drink and create scenes.

Us - Ever be to a frigging wine shop? 90% of the people there are people in lungis, drinking desi, right there; in the shop.

I wonder if these shops even have the license to serve alcohol in the first place or they serve a drink or two to the cops have get away with it.

‘We’, do drink, but either at Pubs or in the privacy of our homes. If at pubs, we do not loiter on the streets because the cops sniff our asses like dogs to find out if we are drunk and extort money. If at home, we do not want to disturb the other people living in the vicinity. Booze culture has been prevalent in Bangalore since 1970's. I believe that was the time IT meant Income Tax and nothing else. ‘We’ have not aggravated the problem. If you do not believe me, just keep an eye on the sidewalks after 9:30 and see for yourself whom you find lying in the gutters - IT professionals or someone else?

Us - Yes, we do drink but ‘We’ do not spoil the environment after drinking. If ‘We’ did create a scene, you would make it impossible for ‘Us’ to live.

2) Crime rate
Them - Crime rate has gone up because of ‘You’.

Us - This is a joke, right?

We are at the receiving end of the crimes. And who are the people who commit them? No the outsiders, but the localities. Yes siree. We are the ones who are looted every night while traveling or beaten up for reasons known only to the mentally demented. Girls are harassed not by ‘Us’, but by those who are not outsiders. ‘We’ as not A-holes to come to a foreign land and do immoral activities. ‘We’ are the ones who are being harassed physically, mentally and financially (I'll come to that soon)

3) Climate
Them - The climate has become hot since this IT thing started. It’s not the same.

Us - Its happening all over the world. You are not exceptional. Welcome to the club. Some call it Global Warming. I'd just call it a natural change in climate.

4) Traffic & Pollution
Them - The traffic and pollution have increased. Lots of traffic jams. So much pollution.

Us - I agree the traffic problem has increased. But that’s the state of all growing cities. The government is earning a fortune as taxes because of IT and the least they can do is build a few flyovers to solve the problem of traffic jams at peak hours. I can't help it if the politicians are corrupt. They are one of 'You'. Another observation I've made is that the traffic jams are mostly created due to heavy motor vehicles (Buses, Trucks, and Tractors) which move slowly and do not allow other traffic to move forward. This city needs wider roads. Even 'We' hate these jams. 'We' are not entertained by them and just want to do our jobs and go home.

As for pollution, 'We' are pressed into riding Non-Polluting Vehicles, which we do. Check the pollution levels of Auto-Rickshaws, Buses, and Trucks. You'll find the culprits. Don't blame us.

5) Auto Rickshaws
Us - The auto rickshaws suck the last drop of blood from out veins. The pain that we go through while squabbling with them is equivalent to getting kicked in the nuts. Being charged 1.5 times fare at every possible opportunity just because ‘We’ are not from here is just done. Reasons cited – “I have to take a U-turn 1 kms away” (Wait for 5 minutes, you’ll get a passenger, that way you will not have to take a U-turn) “1.5 time because it’s a Sunday” (WTF??? Dude, didn’t you make enough money when you mugged that poor soul last night on Outer Ring Road??)

Them – ‘You’ earn so much, what do you care?

Us – Its hard earned money. You would know if you went out and worked rather than just live off the rent that you get by letting out your ancestors house.

6) Corruption
Them – Corruption has increased since ‘You’ guys have come.

Us – Lets just not get there. I don’t want to open a can-of-whoop-ass and expose what all goes on and why is there corruption. (Ever wondered why ITPL and Electronic City are in one end of the city and the new Airport on totally another end of the city?)

--
Disclaimer: I do not have a personal grudge against 'Them' This post is just a funny thought that crossed my deranged neuro system. While some of the things said above are true, others are just to piss 'Them' off. Please do not flood me with 'I hate you - go hang yourself' comments.

Things I've learnt about the stock market

2008-01-17T05:17:00.000-08:00

This post will not make you rich overnight. It's not one of those "Master the markets" crap. These are just some things I've learnt over the past one and a half year. I'm happy to share this with you. Don't expect that this is Guru gyan that you can't get anywhere else. You'll definately learn these things when you invest in stocks, but best not to learn it the hard way (Like I did in some cases)

1) Don't sell all your stocks at one go. Sell in lots. This is a wise thing to do as you the prices of the stocks that you are selling might still go higher. If you think that the prices will go down, sell more but as fas as possible, don't sell off everything at one go.

2) When the markets are falling, don't get panicky. Don't be in a hurry to sell off your stocks because the prices are falling. Sooner or later they will bounce back. Avoid trading when the markets are falling. Its like trying to catch a falling knife. You'll end up hurting yourself. As they say "When the rape in inevitable, lie down and enjoy it"

3) Set targets. Whether you buy or sell stocks, set targets and then act. If you want to sell a stock, set a target, once that target is achived, sell off the stock. The price might go higher, but it can go lower also. So act on targets. Don't get too greedy.

4) Start booking profits as soon as the market reaches "All time high" and all that jazz. It will crash as soon as it reaches some mark. Book profits at that time - sit on cash wait for the market to come down and get ready to buy.

5) Don't act blindly on tips. Research the company, check out its trading volume, price history and see which mutual funds have invested in it, etc. Compare the stocks with the stocks in the same category (Price history, comparative price). Its your money, you should know where to put it.

6) If you've invested in a slow moving stock which has not had much movement. Don't wait for it to move. It might move, but that'll take time. Get out of that stock and invest in a fast moving stock (Reliance ???? :-D )

7) Be patient. Give your money time to appreciate. Never ever take a hasty decision. You'll never profit out of it.

8) Don't put all your eggs in one basket. i.e. Have a diversified portfolio by investing in multiple sectors. Check out which sectors are hot and try to focus on them for that moment, but also keep a tab on what might come up in the future and invest in it while the prices are low.

9) Don't get obsessed with it. Playing with stocks is highly addictive. Try not to think too much about it. You will lose your focus if you think more than required.

10) Whenever you sell a profitable stock, keep a watch on its price. Buy it back as soon as it falls. These stocks can make you rich.

11) Don't just invest in stocks. See other options - Mutual Funds are doing good. Diversify your funds.

12) Avoid buying stocks when they are at all time high rates. People will say that it'll still go up. But its more likely to come down pretty soon. Buy the stock when the price comes down.

Hope you'll be careful about investing. Keep in touch with the market, play safe and you'll definately be profitable. Happy Investing :-)

Having a bad day?

2007-11-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

"Viral" Fever

2007-10-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

No, its not the virus wala viral I am talking about here, but the viral marketing stuff -Advertisments. Webchutney has made some of the funniest virals I've seen till now and they are definately worth a look. Below is the list of some of the virals by webchutney. If there are more, lemme know, these things outta be shared with :-)

I like the "Thakur ka inteqam" and the "Chalis Chor" one and love it when the guy says "Bhains ki eyes" in that one.

http://www.thakurkainteqam.com
http://www.webchutney.com/virals/chalo_lanka.html
http://www.webchutney.com/virals/ChitiAyiHai.html
http://www.makkadman.com/
http://www.webchutney.com/virals/aao_viral.html
http://www.webchutney.com/virals/udi.html
http://www.webchutney.com/virals/mastbahaar.html
http://www.webchutney.com/virals/moving_train.html
http://www.webchutney.net/extras/airtel/chaalischor/chaalischor.html
http://www.microsoft.com/india/jugalbandi/
http://makemytrip.co.in/makemytrip/static/flash.htm

30 Funny Seinfeld Quotes

2007-03-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

● I was the best man at the wedding. If I'm the best man, why is she marrying him?

● It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.

● What is a date really, but a job interview that lasts all night? The only difference is that in not many job interviews is there a chance you’ll wind up naked.

● You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, "See if you can blow this out."

● Men want the same thing from their underwear that they want from women: a little bit of support, and a little bit of freedom.

● Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge.

● Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem.Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash.

● That's the true spirit of Christmas; people being helped by people other than me

● There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men don't think there's a lot they don't know. Women do. Women want to learn. Men think, "I know what I'm doing, just show me somebody naked."

● According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.

● Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason

● The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war. Pretty impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little Swiss Army knife they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there. Corkscrews. Bottle openers. "Come on, buddy, let's go. You get past me, the guy in back of me, he's got a spoon. Back off. I've got the toe clippers right here."

● Why do people give each other flowers? To celebrate various important occasions, they're killing living creatures? Why restrict it to plants? "Sweetheart, let's make up. Have this deceased squirrel."

● Why do they call it a "building"? It looks like they're finished. Why isn't it a "built"?

● People who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to

● Seems to me the basic conflict between men and women, sexually, is that men are like firemen. To men, sex is an emergency, and no matter what we're doing we can be ready in two minutes. Women, on the other hand, are like fire. They're very exciting, but the conditions have to be exactly right for it to occur.

● The big advantage of a book is it's very easy to rewind. Close it and you're right back at the beginning.

● I have a friend who’s collecting unemployment insurance. This guy has never worked so hard in his life as he has to keep this thing going. He’s down there every week, waiting on the lines and getting interviewed and making up all these lies about looking for jobs. If they had any idea of the effort and energy that he is expending to avoid work, I’m sure they’d give him a raise.

● To me, a lawyer is basically the person that knows the rules of the country. We're all throwing the dice, playing the game, moving our pieces around the board, but if there is a problem the lawyer is the only person who has read the inside of the top of the box.

● Men don't care what's on TV. They only care what else is on TV.

● The idea behind the tuxedo is the woman's point of view that men are all the same; so we might as well dress them that way. That's why a wedding is like the joining together of a beautiful, glowing bride and some guy. The tuxedo is a wedding safety device, created by women because they know that men are undependable. So in case the groom chickens out, everybody just takes one step over, and she marries the next guy.

● My parents didn't want to move to Florida, but they turned sixty, and that's the law.

● I will never understand why they cook on TV. I can't smell it. Can't eat it. Can't taste it. The end of the show they hold it up to the camera, "Well, here it is. You can't have any. Thanks for watching. Goodbye."

● Somebody just gave me a shower radio. Thanks a lot. Do you really want music in the shower? I guess there's no better place to dance than a slick surface next to a glass door.

● See, the thing of it is, there's a lot of ugly people out there walking around but they don't know they're ugly because nobody actually tells them.

● What would the world be like if people said whatever they were thinking, all the time, whenever it came to them? How long would a blind date last? About 13 seconds, I think. "Oh, sorry, your rear end is too big." "That's ok, your breath stinks anyway. See you later."

● You know what I never get with the limo? The tinted windows. Is that so people don't see you? Yeah, what a better way not to have people notice you than taking a thirty foot Cadillac with a TV antenna and a uniformed driver. How discreet. Nobody cares who's in the limo. You see a limo go by, you know it's either some rich jerk or fifty prom kids with $1.75 each.

● You can measure distance by time. "How far away is it?" "Oh about 20 minutes." But it doesn't work the other way. "When do you get off work?" "Around 3 miles."

● Are there keys to a plane? Maybe that's what those delays are sometimes, when you're just sitting there at the gate. Maybe the pilot sits up there in the cockpit going, "Oh, I don't believe this. Dammit..I did it again." They tell you it's something mechanical because they don't want to come on the P.A. system, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be delayed here on the ground for a while. I uh..Oh, God this is so embarrassing...I, I left the keys to the plane in my apartment. They're in this big ashtray by the front door. I'm sorry, I'll run back and get them."

● I once had a leather jacket that got ruined in the rain. Why does moisture ruin leather? Aren't cows outside a lot of the time? When it's raining, do cows go up to the farmhouse, "Let us in! We're all wearing leather! Open the door! We're going to ruin the whole outfit here!"

Google Gadgets

2007-03-16T00:06:00.000-07:00

Okay so you've noticed a few changes in the blog. The new digg xml, the BSE index thingie and the Doc to PDF converter. All thanks to google. I checked out Google Gadgets today and man, have the people done some fantastic work. It amazed me that i hadn't started using them since yet. As i browsed them, i felt like creating a seperate blog all together for all the really cool gadgets there. And all for free :-) I couldn't resist putting up a few, but finally i cut down to a few.

I'll be playing with them in the coming days so you can expect to see changes in the blog. Hope you like and use the gadgets i put up - Cheers

Mission Google Revisited

2007-03-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

This is my story about topping the Google charts. There was once a time when I used to feature no where in google search. That upset me a lot. I wanted to feature in the list when when people looked up my name. So i started on a long and exciting journey to make it to the top on google for "Chaitanya Sharma". I fought with the Google bots to include my name in their list. I bribed them, offering them all I could and all the information they wanted (META tags). And succeed I did in my mission. A few months later my blog link (Yes, this very blog. Its historical, isn't it?) featured on the top when people searched for my name (I wonder who used to search for "Chaitanya Sharma" other than myself and the people I forced to query the same). So my ego and alterego was satisfied and I was the king of that region.

Power got to my head and I became careless. I stopped blogging for a while. The evil powers of other Chaitanya Sharmas took over my reign to rule that query kingdom. Slowly my position started slipping and all I could do is watch it slip helplessly. One fine morning I made up my mind to fight with the ones of whom we do not speak and readied my weapons (blog posts) I'll fight till I've not defeated them all.........climb over their shoulders and reach the top (of the search results).

Let this story be remembered as the story of a person who would not give up on being top in the Google list. Someone who fought endlessly with the Google bots and defeated them time after time. Who would not let his iron grip on the search results lose. Let this story be remembred as the story of "Chaitanya Sharma"

PS: Please Google my name :-D

Random contemplations of a geek

2007-02-28T22:51:00.001-08:00

What do you do when you don't have anything new to tell the world? How do you tell people time when everyone has a watch of their own? You collect information from other places and show it to them in a different manner. You take their watch and tell them the time in 5 different formats :-)

Thats Web 2.0 from you. Almost everything you want to know is on the internet now. From making nuclear warheads to DIY delivering babies. Don't want to take the pain of making your own content and uploading it? Let that responsibility rest on the users who visit your site. Let them decide the content and let them decide what they want to read and what they want to vote out. Thats exactly what sites like Digg, Wikipedia, Wikimapia etc are doing. They allow the users to create the content of their sites. And all this for free. Thats the business model of Web 2.0 and believe it or not, site owners are making millions from this (YouTube is worth a couple of billion dollars!!!)

How does it affect us? Users upload the content and "Tag" it appropriately, which makes searching of content easy. This makes the web "Intelligent".
Buzz words like XML, RSS, Atoms etc have come into existence. RSS is a really interesting thing.... although i did take time to understand it. (Read this to know the pain i went through while understanding it). It makes the Web more lively and spontaneous.
Well the point of the whole thing is that there is no point in writing this post. Someone must have already written something like this and you could have done a "Digg" on it. Remember, these are random contemplations....

Between my college and my home

2006-10-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

The beautiful sun showing its best colors. A view from the canal.

Here I am, on the road again............... The "Thanks for visiting Gandhinagar" board

Torrent. Water flowing in the narmada canal

Meri bhains ko danda kyon mara. Behind Shreyashram.

Gende ke phoolon ka khet. Again behind
Shreyashram

Jungle mein mangal. Adalaj cross roads.

Small part of a long journey. More destinations to be clicked, more memories to be shared...........

The Great Indian English

2006-10-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a sign board of a mechanic i saw today. I found it pretty amusing and clicked a pic. Sorry for the bad picture quality, but you'll get the point :-)

For those you still don't get it............. it should be "Bike Zone"

Superman Returns, Part - 2

2006-09-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

All right folks, step right up!!! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Watch me spank Superman's butt again. I don't have anything personal against Superman, but I've taken a liking for cruelty towards aliens (Superman is from Krypton)

So, in Superman returns, we see a guy emptying a machine gun at Superman on a rooftop. Nothing happens to him or his blue suit (I have to get something made from that material) So, anyway....... Later, when Superman is taken to the hospital (I still don't know why they did that, doctors don't know his anatomy) the docs rip open his suit without any effort. Now what kind of material is resistent to 100s of bullets and gives away at the tug of a doctor?

Point number 2 - Superman has a love child with Lois Lane..... This is the first successful cross species offspring i suppose. I wonder if they taped their love making session....... But seriously, how can an alien who does not even eat food have a child with a homo sapien sapien? Does Superman have the x chromosomes and y chromosomes?

The director should have applied thought into that rather than just pick out the script from some shady comic book.

Viva la blog

2006-08-13T03:44:00.000-07:00

Blasted college finally re-opened. A few days ago, I was on my way to the college on my bike. Hadn't been riding for a while due to the rains. So that day, after a long spell of showers, the Sun finally shows its face. The weather was beautiful and i decided to take my bike to college. I'd completely forgotten the joy of riding it. Man, i did feel like God again while riding it........

And on my way to the college, the "creative juices" that had stopped, started flowing again. I was blissfully ignorant about the fact that i did a lot of my thinking while riding my bike (mostly to college) So, hopefully i'll be riding to college more often and blog more often.

Viva la blog and viva la bike

Excuses...........

2006-08-09T03:44:00.000-07:00

Haven't been blogging for a while. The creative juices don't flow as much as they used to these days. May be because i'd been on a sabbatical from college and have become lazy during the break. Anyway, I was thinking about the excuses people come up with when they're accused of something. Denial, they say is the most predictible human instinct.

I remember a funny incident that happened a few years ago at a red light crossing. A traffic cop had pulled aside a taxi (rickshaw) driver for jumping the red light. I was passing by on my bicycle and happened to hear the drivers excuse. It still makes me laugh like hell, he was cribbing in Gujarati, "Saheb, ketli vaar thi ubho hato, light lili tahij nauhti!!! Su karu?" transalting to "Sir, I had been waiting for a long time, but the light did not turn green!!! What was I to do"

I'd give it the "Excuse of the year award" if such a thing did exist. Send in such funny things, if you have any anecdotes.

Superman Returns!!!! Or does he?

2006-06-27T23:24:00.001-07:00

Batman began last year, and now Superman returns after a sabbatical. He had gone to search for the lost remains of planet Krypton, which had been destroyed, resulting in him being sent to Earth. Here 'The Man of Steel' grew up as a normal boy and one day he relaized that he had superpowers. So as all superheroes must do, the caped crusader started wearing blue spandex tights with a red underwear on top of it and boots to go along with it etc etc. One can see his muscles thru the material as it sticks to the skin (I wonder if you can also see his nipples when it gets cold around :-D)

So after he fought the evil forces of Lex Luthor, he went search for his roots. Now he returns to the city of Metropolis where Lex Luthor is planning to take over the world (as usual)

My take on this one: The original superman (Christopher Reeve) was pretty old when he played Superman (late 30s?) So he goes to Krypton and returns after 5 years. Shouldn't he be OLDER? Here's this 27 year old KID playing Superman. "BOY! Go home, your mom's calling!"

It doesn't make sense to me. Will we be seeing 'The Man of Steel' or 'Boy in tights'? Kevin Spacey is the perfect choice for Lex Luthor (Actually Cramer from Sienfeld would have been a better choice. He's like this evil genius) But is Brandon Routh the right choice for Superman? I guess we'll have to wait to find that out.

This world is mine for the taking, make me king!!!!

2006-05-25T04:37:00.000-07:00

There are some songs that actually move our lives and affect us. Eminem is one singer who can make us do it and "Lose yourself" is the song that can actually get you to do a lot of things.

It's one of the best songs I've heard across all the categories. This song can get you on your feet when you're down in the dumps. If you've not heard it, LISTEN to it now.

Here are the lyrics in case you don't understand what he's rappin'

"Lose Yourself"

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin, how everybody's jokin now
The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that
Easy, no
He won't have it , he knows his whole back's to these ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that, but he's broke
He's so stagnant that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, that's when it's
Back to the lab again yo
This whole rap shit
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him

[Hook:]
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo

The soul's escaping, through this hole that it's gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is borin, but superstardom's close to post mortem
It only grows harder, only grows hotter
He blows us all over these hoes is all on him
Coast to coast shows, he's know as the globetrotter
Lonely roads, God only knows
He's grown farther from home, he's no father
He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
But hold your nose cuz here goes the cold water
His hoes don't want him no mo, he's cold product
They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose dove and sold nada
So the soap opera is told and unfolds
I suppose it's old partna', but the beat goes on
Da da dum da dum da da

[Hook]

No more games, I'ma change what you call rage
Tear this mothafuckin roof off like 2 dogs caged
I was playin in the beginnin, the mood all changed
I been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhymin and stepwritin the next cypher
Best believe somebody's payin the pied piper
All the pain inside amplified by the fact
That I can't get by with my 9 to 5
And I can't provide the right type of life for my family
Cuz man, these goddam food stamps don't buy diapers
And it's no movie, there's no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
And these times are so hard and it's getting even harder
Tryin to feed and water my seed, plus
Teeter totter caught up between being a father and a prima donna
Baby mama drama's screamin on and
Too much for me to wanna
Stay in one spot, another day of monotony
Has gotten me to the point, I'm like a snail
I've got to formulate a plot fore I end up in jail or shot
Success is my only mothafuckin option, failure's not
Mom, I love you, but this trailer's got to go
I cannot grow old in Salem's lot
So here I go is my shot.
Feet fail me not cuz maybe the only opportunity that I got

[Hook]

You can do anything you set your mind to, man

Unemployeed No More

2006-05-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Back to blogging after a long sabbatical. For all of you wondering where i've been. Well, i've been busy with exams and busy preparing for placement tests. AND, this is the cream of the cake............ I got selected for MindTree.

Here's me after the interview............. looking sharp :-)

Thanks for all your good wishes.

Life @ DA-IICT

2006-04-12T11:09:00.001-07:00

Lecture at 9 - Reach not before 9:15

Lab session at 10 - Enter the lab not before 10:30 after having breakfast and gossiping

Lab session ends at 12 - Don't work in lab. Just roam around making noise and start feeling uncomfortable at 11:45, check for the time every 2 mins and wonder if your watch is slow. Have attendence marked at 11:55 and leave the lab saying that you're hungry.

Lunch Session - Reach the cafe and sit around looking pretty. Forget completely about the fact that you were feeling hungry as hell a minute ago. Have a leisurely lunch. Go to the hostel and sleep / gossip.

Lecture @ 2 - Go to the lecture and sleep.

Assignment submissions - (36 hours prior to the submission) Have a look at the problem description. First things first - google for the code of the assignment. Ask around if anyone's assignment is already completed. If not, finally start working on it 11 hours prior to the submission. Barely finish it in time and submit it.

Exams - Pretend to study a week before the exam. Sleep a lot. Watch all the latest movies. A day before the exam, sleep during the day. Pretend to study again. 8 hours prior to the exam. Realise that it's pretty late and actually start studying. Whine that the course is too much and time too less.

After the exams - Come out of the examination hall - laughing. Realize that it was no use studying as you couldn't have answered even if you did study.

In all - Whine about not having time, having too much pressure, watch movies, chill out, sleep a lot, have fun :-D

More to come............................

Disclaimer: This post in any way does not intend to insult the reputation of the institution, it's professors, or the "hours" they spend on us.

Ong-bak: The best martial arts movie

2006-03-29T07:30:00.000-08:00

Watched a Thai movie named Ong-bak. I have no idea what it means. This movie has the best martial arts action sequences ever done. And all the sequences are real. No fakes, no cables, no strings attached. Every jump, every kick, every fall is real.

Forget the story. Forget the bad acting, forget the bad dialogues, forget listening to one of the worst dubbings you'll ever get to hear.
The action sequences make you forget everything.

This movie kicks Brucelee's butt back to Hong Kong. hehehe. Go watch it.

The unbecoming engineers

2006-03-23T06:46:00.000-08:00

We hear all the time that IITs are "THE" best engineering colleges in India. I too believe the same (for some unknown reason). I had a small talk with one of our professors at DA-IICT (Prof. Narendra Shukla) and he reviled that this is not the case in his words "Except for a few of the students who are really brilliant, the rest are really average and some of them are worse than our (DA-IICT) B. Tech students. I wonder how they crack the exam".

He later forwarded me an interesting article on the same topic. It's a lot of fun reading that article - http://www.jammag.com/careers/articles/engineering/engineering/engineering.htm

Discalimer: This post in any way does not intend to doubt the capability of the IITs, its students or the anything else related to it.

Packet Sniffing

2006-03-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

Gave a presentation on packet sniffing today (10th March 2006) @ DA-IICT for my class. The presentation can be downloaded from http://www.chaitanyasharma.in/sniffer/

Calvin and Hobbes

2006-02-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

A few of the funniest things in life: The Simpsons, Calvin and Hobbes, Userfriendly. These are some of the things that you can never get bored of and even after reading or watching them for over a decade, they still have the ability to crack you up like never before.

Here's a comic that i found REALLY funny. Click on it to read

The Ultimate Truth

2006-02-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

Sages and saints have sought after the ultimate truth since times unknown. People become enlightened when they find it. Buddha was considered God when he came to enlightenment. What is the ultimate truth and why do people seek it always? Is it something which you can visualize or is it just realizing that everything is waste of time and life is just to have fun, which I realized long ago.

Well isn't the ultimate truth right in front of us? You're looking at it right now......You're using it to read this post. The Computer. "How?" You ask? It takes absolute truth to run the computer. 1's and 0's......nothing else. No shades of grey, nothing at all. Either the bit is there or it's not there. It does not take bullshit and does not give you bullshit (obscures it does what is does on purpose). But it wouldn't work if it were not for that fact that the it's the truth.

It's a perfect place which runs on the truth and every man can play God. Which God are you?

2006-02-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

I tagged this beautiful poem from Abhishek Goyal's blog. It's really touching and beautiful. As an Indian (if the one who is reading this is one), I think it will be appreciated.

I detonated a device that rocked the world.
But I have yet to shake my sleeping millions awake.

My bigotry sundered a subcontinent in two.
But I have given man his most tolerant Faiths.

I grew up unlettered and illiterate I shall die.
But I have schooled a hundred million children.

My life is a trauma of permanent hunger.
But I have created protein from sugarcane bagasse.

I perish in my thousands of cholera and typhoid.
But I have led the team which discovered aureomycin.

My industry stagnates because I will not work.
But I have leapt a hundred technological years in twenty.

I walk in the footsteps of a man called Mahatma.
But I have loved the teacher more than his teachings.

Freedom was the paradise I promised my poor.
But they halved the reward by doubling their numbers.

I was born in a palace plundered and sacked.
But I have made of the ruin the home I love called India .

I am sad.
But I am glad.
I am.

Ours is a magnificent land.
We must build a magnificent future.

Think Ahead.

My full name

2006-02-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

Would you believe my full name? It's - Chaitanya Akshaya Kumar Vishnu Dutt Shankar Dutt Bhola Ramji Joshi Sharma.

Goes upto my great great grandfather - Bhola Ramji Joshi, then my great grandfather - Shankar Dutt Joshi, my grandfather - Vishnu Dutt Sharma, my father - Akshaya Kumar Sharma and finally me....Chaitanya Sharma.

Switch to Linux

2006-01-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

Most of the people know that I have an affinity for Linux. So, now instead of just booting into it for experimenting, I’ve started using it as the primary OS. And to be frank, it’s not that bad as operating system :-D

The hardest part of it is to fine tune it to your requirements (which is not possible in Windows) and getting some of the softwares work. The major draw back of OSS (Open Source Software) is the lack of standardization. It’s like having two sides to a coin. At one end I can develop my own program for something if I don’t like the existing softwares, but on the other hand that software might work with a specific set of libraries which might not be available on all the systems. This becomes a pain in the you know what. But progress is being made towards these things and soon enough these issues will be resolved.

Also most of the courses that are offered at DA-IICT require you to work on Linux, forcing the students to work on it....whether they like it or now. Programming is done only on Linux so is networking. You don’t know Linux, you don’t know crack about networks is the saying that goes there. So this kind of makes me the hero of the networks class B-)

The only issue that I’m facing with my system right now is that XMMS crashes after playing one song and how do I stop Gaim from starting at startup (I’m using KDE, btw). Any suggestions?

Congratulation!!!!!

2006-01-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

Three cheers for Ravish, he completed his MSc degree in Advanced Computer Science on 13.01.2006. Looking sharp in that suit. The first one in our college batch to get his masters degree :-) Congrats Dude!!!

So it's one more party when he comes down to India in March ;-) Till then, have a ball there man, and don't work too hard. Life's too short to work for :-p

We're all proud of you.

Russian Roulette

2006-01-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia defines Russian Roulette defines as: "Russian roulette is the practice of placing one round in a revolver, spinning the cylinder and closing it into the firearm without looking, aiming the revolver at one's own head in a suicidal fashion, and pulling the trigger. The number of rounds placed in the revolver can vary. As a gambling game, toy guns are often used to simulate the practice."

This game has been the area of my interest lately. It's really interesting to think how someone can play it. Sure Gabbar did play it in Sholay with Kaalia and 2 other (The 'Ab tera kya hoga kaalia' fame).

The origins of the game are still not clear, but it's known that it was introduced by the Russian soldiers during WW-I somewhere around in 1917. As to how it came into existence, there are many tales to it. The most prominent is that Russian soldiers & officers were in bad shape at that time in the war and got drunk like hell many a times during which they became suicidal and started this tradition. Some other tales tell that the Russian soldiers were so ill-equipped for battle that they could rarely fully load their weapons. They placed bullets in the chambers at random. Therefore, when they fired at an enemy soldier, neither they nor the enemy knew if there would be a shell present. To do battle with a Russian became known as "Russian roulette".

It's named after the roulette wheel in the casions where there is a large wheel with numbers written on it and a ball is tossed in it. Bets are placed on which number the ball would stop at.

Click here to play the game online and not get shot while doing so

The world of computers

2006-01-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

Most of you reading this blog are into computers. It excites you and sets your pulse racing. It's a totally different world and you're God when you are programming / configuring your system in that world. Well, a lesser God, but you can do anything that lies in your power. You can do anything if you are powerful and can become a greater God.

What is it about computers that exites us so much. When you come to think of it, you can't even see what you have done. It's only a virtual thing. There is no hard copy. Take for example, this blog, or the other sites that are open in your browser right now. You can't feel them. I can't take this blog out of the computer and keep it as a show piece on the mantel, unlike an idol. But still we love what we do and are proud of it.

The whole world is becoming more dependent on computers for that sake. Eveything from watches (Yes, IBM has designed a wrist watch that runs on Linux) to refrigerators have chips in them that do the computations. It's hard to imagine a world without them and who knows after 30 years which other inventions will have come out. And still, we will never be able to materialize the things....... I do wonder what it is about computers that attracts us so much. A question more important that the answer to "Life, The Universe and Everything else" and here 42 is not the answer :-p . Almost sounds like a science fiction. I wonder if the robots will ever take over us while this generation is alive.

Eminem set to marry Kim again

2006-01-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it's surprising, but it's true. Even after all the turbulances they have been through and all the all the bitchin' he's done about her in his songs, they are going to re-marry in year again. Marshal Mathers (a.k.a. Eminem) and Kim Mathers divorced in 2001 after their first marriage in 1999.

But they are going to re-unite in the holy matrimony again. Isn't that cute.... Apparently Eminem misses his wife Kim and still loves her and wants to give her daughter Hailey a better life. There is also speculation that he might quit rapping and that's why his last album "Curtain Call" is named thus. This could be his final album. But he feels that he cannot stop rapping. There's so many people left whom he has not yet insulted. If he quits, who's going to abuse them?

Don't lose hope is the moral of the story.....yada yada yada.

O Fortuna

2005-12-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

Remember the song that used to be played in the background of the Old Spice ad. A man surfing in the ocean and an Opera playing in the backgroud...... Well, I do and it's one of my faourite songs. So i set on a trail to search for it and came up with this:

The name of the song is 'O Fortuna' from the collection 'Carmina Burana' which were originally composed in the 13th Century (Middle Ages) and later brought together in 19th Century. They were brought to life my Carl Orff, a German composer in 1937. The works were originally in Latin, and Orff later added a few German verses since he was, well.....German.

O Fortuna means Luck (Fortune) and is dedicated to the Goddess of Fortune. It was the opening to the opera and it's a good introduction to the people who think that classical music is boring.

Download the music in midi format here

And here's a really great flash animation of the same. It's a must see

Oh and btw, the new fragrance of Whitewater by Old Spice is simply fantastic, but it still cannot beat the original smell. Typically Old Spice :-)

The games people play

2005-12-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

A thirteen year-old Chinese boy jumped to his death last year from a 24 story building, allegedly after playing too much World of Warcraft. The parents of the boy are now suing game maker Blizzard with the help of lawyer and “internet game addiction researcher.” The legal team also plans on filing class action suits against “the whole game industry on behalf of other parents.”

This article amused me a lot. There was a similar incident where a Korean (I think) guy died of dehydration after playing computer games for 48 hours straight. Who is responsible for such incidents? Is it the game developers who make those games or is it the kids and the parents who don't know where to draw their limits. The next thing you know happening is I sue my ISP for providing me with an internet connection coz I spent my time surfing the internet while I should have been preparing for my exams.

I do sympathise with the parents of the kid. It's a very impressionable age. I myself remember playing Wolf and Doom 8 hours a day and not studying but that didn't drive me to shooting people or butchering them with a knife in case i was out of ammo.

The thing is, information today is available freely, but it is we who has to decide where we have to stop. It's a free world. Go play World Of Warcraft. But remember you don't get magic wings with that, which make you fly.

Kill Bill

2005-12-04T04:54:00.000-08:00

Saw Kill Bill Vol. 2 last night. Amazing movie. Had seen the first part a few months ago and now saw the second. The first part does not make sense if you don't see the second. All the unanswered questions like who's Bill and why is everyone in the movie after each other's blood are answered in the second part.

Just loved the ending. This one goes to my list of most favoured movies with Godfather and The Matix. Go watch it.

Batman Vs Superman

2005-12-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

All of us (most of us) would love to be a superhero. It's a different story that I actually am a caped crusader who ventures off into the night wearing underwear over my slacks, bearing a secret identity. But for the rest of the under privileged, it's a dream. Being a super hero.

Which are the superheroes who exist? Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Spider Man, Wonder Woman, Flash Gordon, Austin Powers, coming to the local scenario, Mahabali Shakha, Fauladi Singh, and everyone’s favourite, Superman and Batman.

Yes, even today after over half a century, Superman and Batman still give the bad guys jitters. Both the characters were created by DC comics. Both are every kid’s most favoured superheroes. But both have different ideologies. Both fight for different causes.

I personally prefer Batman to Superman. Firstly, Superman is not man. He came down from planet Krypton. He's a frigging alien (In the words of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers.) He was not a born a man, so I would not consider him human. Next, the things that he can do are also un-human. Faster than a speeding train, leaping over buildings. A normal man cannot do that. So it's not very easy to relate to him. He fights for the good reason and always chooses the right path. He stands for Truth and Justice. Plus normal people can't fly. I'd break my remaining teeth if I stand on a ledge and jump over it shouting "Up, Up and Away!!!!". Personally for me, it's pretty difficult to relate to Superman. I can relate to Batman.

He is a human being. Secondly, he's a billionaire. He feels strongly against things as compared to Superman who fights bad guys like a robot cleaning dirt. Batman fights crime because he hates criminals. He is driven by revenge and has become so because of the thing that have happened to him. His emotions are more close to an average person. Batman is something Bruce Wayne becomes during the night to fight crime. It's what he has trained to become and was not born. Superman was born Superman. The red "S" that he has on the chest, that's the blanket that he was wrapped in when he was found. People are not born what they become. They strive to become that. They work towards it. Just like Batman.

These are a few reasons that I like Batman more than Superman :-)

As for Spiderman.......well, he's just a boy in tights.

Explanations, Explanations, Explanations.

2005-11-27T23:54:00.000-08:00

Well, this is not an actual post. Just an intermediate notification informing that my end semister exams are going on and that's the reason the blog has been empty lately.

Exams get over at on 3rd of December and "I'll be back" then. Have a few topics lined up to talk about. I think they are interesting.

So, see you later alligator.

History of Microsoft Xenix

2005-11-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there was a company called even Microsoft (and still is) which came out with it's version of UNIX (Yes people, that's right, MICROSOFT had it's own verison of UNIX) Remember those were the days when Microsoft was not too big and before it had launched Windows.

MS licensed UNIX from AT&T in 1979 but it could not license the name UNIX so it released it's own UNIX based OS with features ranging from BSD 4.1 to 7th Edition. This falvour became wide spread because it was But MS did not sell this OS directly to the end users. It was only ported to 8086 which was very popular during those days. They licensed it to the software manufacturers like SCO, Intel, Tandy etc. (yeah, Gates has believed in earning through licenses since the very beginning)

It was at one point of time the most wide spread UNIX flavour. Though the interesting point is that it was never ported to 286/386 while it was with MS, inspite it's popularity.

So what happened to it? Where is it now, you might ask.

Well, apparently in 1987 MS made a big deal with Big Brother IBM to develop OS/2 (Watch "Pirates of the Sillicon Valley" for this part. It's every interesting how Gates deals with Apple and IBM at that time) which promised to put Microsoft in the drivers seat. Slowly after that deal MS lost interest in Xenix and they sold it to SCO the same year after in exchange of 25% stake in SCO (It does not have any stake in SCO now. In Jan 1998 MS sold all the stake it had.) SCO made Xenix a part of SCO UNIX a couple of years after that.

So that's the intersting history of Microsoft Xenix. Interestingly I've not been able to find the logo of Xenix anywhere. Don't know if they had one.

Microsoft Xenix 1.00 on 5¼-inch floppy disk

Programming.....

2005-11-04T01:38:00.000-08:00

Me and a class mate came up with this while the programming class was in session: "Programming takes your brains as a default argument and returns a garbage value"

I'd say it's true, but the quote needs a little refinment. Comments anyone?

New New New: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7

2005-10-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it was about time Internet Explorer got the tabs like Firefox / Mozilla. Coming next year is Internet Explorer 7 with some new and cool features. Microsoft has been imporoving on it's software quality and it definately makes some of the best softwares (OpenOffice still cannot beat MS Office). Also it's operating systems are also becoming stabler by each release. We need to see where it's new brainchild, viz, Vista takes it. Bill Gates has promised a lot of nice things and the initial reviews about the Beta have been nice but we will have to wait till next year to abuse it in first person (irony)

Getting back to IE7, it's still not available for download (it's available to those who possess the evil hands of a Microsoft programmer, for testing (irony again)) but you can read about the features here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/ie7/default.mspx

Linux is coming up, but there is no way that they can wipe off Windows. It won't be about taking over, it'll be about co-existing. that's what Nature is all about, isn't it?

Vintange Computers

2005-10-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

The age of vintage computers where there was no hard disk, no operating sysems, no monitors and no mouse. Just a small keyboard that needed to be attached to the TV and you needed to progam in BASIC (NOT MS BASIC). My uncle had brought one for us a long long time ago. This one, the Times Sinclair 1000 was launched in 1982. I vaguely remember my dad looking at the book and keying in programs that did small tasks.

I found this one after a long time in the junk. Had completely forgotten about it till now. Actually had read a book "Just for fun" by Linus Torvalds in which he had mentioned it so started digging it out from the junk.

I don't know if this still works. Will have to wait for a few days to check that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Being a geek it's a good collectible. I have found some programs for that so if this still works, i can run em :-)

New Car

2005-10-27T04:58:00.000-07:00

Got a new car today : Santro Xing. Here's a pic of the car (our color is golden brown sort of) The best car for city drive. Rides smooth as butter. Used to drive a diesel Indica before this. And believe me, after driving the Indica, it feels like you're driving nothing.

It's got a MP3 player by Blaukpunt which i think is really cool :-). So i'll have to stop buying tapes and start burning more CDs.

I'll take you on a drive whenever you come to meet me.
Oh yeah, i had math exam today. That's all I'll say about that ;-)

Bart uses Google

2005-10-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to.... (Feel like God)

2005-10-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to chase the rain.
I always wanted to quit on a Monday morning.
I always wanted to swim with the whales.
I always wanted to take a one-year trip… around the world.
I always wanted…I always wanted…

These are some lines from the ad of Tata Safari Dicor:

Those are the dreams that every one dreams. But few are able to achive. Especially the one when the man says "I always wanted to quit on a monday morning" Me and my bro love that one.

It's beautifully portrayed in the ad. The background score is amazing and it's actually the key behind the success of the ad. It's so soothing and give you a high at the same time.

Same like the Bajaj Avenger ad. That one too is beautiful. Every day when i go to college on my bike i have the guitars from that ad strumming in my head. Yeah, I do feel like God on the highway (Until a truck or a car zooms by me and brings me back to planet Earth)

Catch the ads on the TV if you already not seen 'em. I'm sure you'll love both.

Go reclaim your life by feeling like God

Microsoft GOD

2005-10-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corporation today announced its intent to purchase, copyright, and upgrade G.O.D. or GOD. The new product would be named, predictably enough, "Microsoft GOD", and would be available to consumers sometime in late 2005. "Too many people feel separated from God in today's world," said Joseph McSmither, director of Microsoft's new Religions division. "Microsoft GOD will make our L.O.R.D. or LORD more accessible, and will add an easy, intuitive user interface to the LORD, making the LORD not only easier to find, but easier to communicate with."

The new Microsoft Religions line will be expanded to include a multitude of add-on products to Microsoft GOD, including:

Microsoft Crusades: This conversion product will bring all worshipper accounts and prayer files over from previous versions of GOD, or from competing products like Buddha or Allah.

Microsoft GOD for the World Wide Web: This product ties Microsoft GOD with Microsoft Internet Information Server, making our LORD accessible from the World Wide Web using a standard Web browser interface. It introduces several new Web technologies, including Dynamic Salvation (DS) and Active Prayer Pages (APP). Donations for the poor can be donated via a Secure Alms Server (SAS).

Microsoft Prayers: Using a Windows-based WYSIWYG interface, this product will allow worshippers to construct effective prayers in a minimum of time. A Secure Prayer Channel technology allows guaranteed delivery of the prayer to Microsoft GOD servers, and Prayer Wizards enable users to construct new types of prayers with a minimum learning curve.

Microsoft Bible: Using a Windows-based editor, worshippers can cut and paste any Bible verses to fit their needs so that they can use them to back them up if any other people confront them for wrong doing. In the future, the Microsoft Bible will replace all the hardcopied ones found inside all courts and hotel rooms.

Microsoft Savior: This product will allow worshippers to transfer their sins to its internal Vice Database. After a preset interval, the product will erase itself from the user's system and establish a clear line of secure communications to the user's Microsoft GOD server.

Additionally, Microsoft is expected to announce a line of complimentary products for the new Religions line, which will enhance the functionality of the Microsoft GOD server product by providing a customized user interface. These interfaces will be based on popular religious sects, allowing worshippers to interact with the new GOD product in much the same way as the previous version. This line is expected to include Microsoft Mormon, Microsoft Catholicism, Microsoft Judaism (incompatible with Microsoft Savior), etc. However, it will not be compatible with the Windows666 Operating System since it makes them harder to save any file and impossible to restore a bad one, and many times it crashes the heart disk resulting in smoke and fire.

Competitor Netscape Communications denies rumors that it is planning to release a competing product, Netscape Satanism, that would attempt to render Microsoft GOD installations inoperable. Sun Microsystems also denies rumors that it is planning to releasea similar product, JavaChrist, and has filed suit to prevent Microsoft from using its logo.

RSS Cracked

2005-10-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

FINALLY...........CRACKED the RSS mystery!!! :-) Okay, I still do not know how to create my own RSS feeds (need to learn XML for that). But now i can atleast add the RSS feeds to the sites. Here's how it works:
1) Get a blog like this time ;-)

2) Select the RSS feed that you want to put on your blog or site. It's usually an XML file and it provided by the sites that you want to sync to. e.g The slashdot link is : http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdotLinux

3) Go to "Feed2JS" (BIG thanks to them for this)

4) Provide them the link you want to sync or "Feed"

5) They give you a JavaScript for the same which you need to place in the source code of your site.

6) Walla!!!! You have the RSS in your site / blog

Thanks to my friend Aalekh who got me interested in this. I'd never bothered to look into RSS before. Aalekh, you were looking for the solution, here you have it :-)

Now, back to admiring Google :-D

Tried the Google Reader today. It's amazing. It takes the RSS feed urls like the slashdot one i mentioned it and it beautifully parses each topic contained in the feed. You have to see how amazingly it works. Try it. You need to have a Google account for that ofcourse. And oh yeah, BTW, did I mention, now you DON'T need invites to create a new google account. Google has opened it's gates to the users.

Need to get a google t-shirt soon.

Food for thought: Seinfeld Quotes

2005-10-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

If aliens are watching this through telescopes, they're gonna think the dogs are the leaders. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume was in charge?

1 year Google plan

2005-10-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Made up a one year plan. Within one year, i want my name to be the first entry when you Google for it. Right now when you google my name, it's the last entry on the first page and on the second page, some of the postings i've made online show up. Hopefully one year down the line ChaitanyaSharma.in will be the first entry (I'll have some content for it too by then) and next would prolly be my SDLL project (If i ever start working on it and complete it).

I've submitted the site to Google today and i should show up in the search soon. Lets keep our fingers crossed :-)

Web 2.0

2005-10-16T04:48:00.000-07:00

Exit old internet; enter new internet. No, i'm not crazy. The new standard (not exactly a standard) Web 2.0 has come up now which is a lot better than the older version of internet. It's named so to follow the versioning in softwares.

Where is it, you ask? Well, it's everywhere. RSS, Google, Blogs, Wikipedia are examples of Web 2.0 It's all about making information searching and sharing more easy. (Remember the days when yahoo used inktomi for search results?) Google made it's way and changed the way we search. It even changed the term we use for seaching. Now i "Google" for info.

Read What is Web 2.0 for more info in the same.

Technology is soooooooo fascinating.

RSS crazy

2005-10-16T02:41:00.000-07:00

Why the hell is RSS so difficult to figure out. RSS, Atoms, Site Feeds. It's been over 2 weeks now and i've still not been able to figure out how it works. I'm trying to get the SlashDot feeds on my blog. RSS stands for Really Simple (simple my a**) Syndication. Guys, post me comments if you know how this thing works.

I could make my blog a one stop shop (window shop ofcourse) for geeks if this works out.

I wonder why UF does not have a RSS feeder (or whatever it's called)

- Chaitanya

Waiting for my laptop

2005-10-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

Waiting for my dad to bring my laptop back. Here's a picture of it:

SDLL

2005-10-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

SDLL stands for SD Live Linux, it's an idea i cooked up with a few suggestions. Plan to start working on it soon. check out http://sarovar.org/projects/sdll/ for the latest news on that.