Disable Thunderbird 3.0 Global Seach and Indexer if you are already using Google Desktop search

Last week I have installed Thunderbird 3.0 and found that its memory foot print is way high than its previous version. After digging I figured out that the reason for this high memory foot print is because of the new auto indexing and global search features packaged with thunderbird 3.0. I have disabled that option and found that the memory foot print used by Thunderbird 3.0 is same as its previous version.

I suggest you not to use this feature in Thunderbird 3.0 unless you have some other global search options like Google Desktop search. Actually I recommend all to use Google desktop search for any kind of search options on the disk. When you are installing Google desktop search application be careful and do not select any option which may give Google  your  personal information and search details.

How to stop indexer in Thunderbird 3.0

Thunderbird 3.0 comes with a very nice and powerful global search functionality. For this when you fist start the thunderbird 3.0 after installation, it will try to index all the messages in your your inbox and folders, which will kill your machine and stop you from doing anything else on your machine. If you want to stop that and only want to run the indexer only when you are away from machine  then you can disable the indexing task by going to Tools-> Options..->Advanced-> Uncheck the box "Enable Global Search and Indexer", which will stop the indexing and global search functionality. Note that once the complete initial indexing is done, you don't have to disable this option as the thunderbird 3.0 just does the incremental indexing when ever there is a new mail.

Thunderbird 3.0 released

Long wait if over and the new version looks great and works great. Few things I notices after I started working on this

1) The UI and tabbed interface is much better than what I have anticipated.
2) The feature like "Show in conversation" you get as part "other actions" in message body is pretty good and at least very useful form me.
3) Search is pretty good and it has an option to search with in the body of the message, for which now I depend on google desktop search. But the indexing task of existing mails literally killing my laptop as the memory used by Thunderbird reaching 200 MB and there is no option to pause or stop indexing :(
4)  One thing I didn't like at all is there is no lightening add-on available for Thunderbird 3, now I am forced to use the nightly build. I really hate to use these nightly builds. But one good thing is the nightly build UI looks good and some how feel its faster than 0.9 version but takes too much memory, can't blame its after all a development build.
5) Thunderbird 2.0 tags and filters still work in Thunderbird 3.0 and that's a good new for me.
6) When indexing is running Thunderbird  3 is taking around 90 MB of main memory(RAM) which in my opinion is not good and hoping to see some fix in next releases.
7)Delete functionality still needs some improvements as I am still ending up with hung session when ever I try to delete more than 100 mails in single go.

Connecting two PCs with out switch or router

One easy way of doing this is by connecting two PCs using a Ethernet Cross over cable. I got this cable for 35(1 meter in length) from a local computer hardware shop. After connecting the two PCs change the network connection settings as given below

In the properties of TCP/IP portal
For the first PC give IP details as 10.1.1.1 and sub-net as default 255.255.255.0
For the second PC give IP details as 10.1.1.2 and sub-net as default 255.255.255.0

Wait for couple of minutes then try to ping second machine "ping 10.1.1.2", the ping should be successful.

Google Timeline

A nice video in YouTube about google's advancement from a search engine.

Create a single feed from multiple feeds

This is great online utility to combine multiple feeds into a single feed. When you do this you will get a URL which you can use to anywhere to show the feeds of your sites in a single place. Also you can get HTML case which you can get anywhere in a page to show the feeds. This is very cool you can try this by going to the URL

 

http://feedmingle.com/

 

I combining my blog and site feeds into a single feed. Try this

http://feedmingle.com/mingle/6940

 

Another cool thing is that, you will get the combined feed in three formats RSS, ATOM and JSON, which I think very cool.

A Visual Guide to Computer Cables and Connectors - Identify The Right Cable Easily

A Visual Guide to Computer Cables and Connectors

Computer cables can be confusing so here’s a quick visual guide that will help you quickly identify almost every cable that came bundled with your computer and other electronic gadgets. You may also refer to this guide for ideas on how to hook different devices using commonly available connectors and converters.

This article appeared on Digital Inspiration blog. It has lot of information related to

• USB Cables and Connectors
• Audio Cables and Connectors
• Video Cables
• Audio and Video Cables
• Data Cables
• Networking Related Cables

You can find the complete article on this link.

Live Writerfox :: Add-ons for Firefox

This is a nice add-on for firefox to post blog with the help of MS Live Writer. Check the below given link to get the add-on. At present this add-on only supports firefox 3.0 to make it work with 3.5 check this post on IndianHippy.

 

Live Writerfox :: Add-ons for Firefox

How to convert graphic files from one format to another format?

The common requirement for any graphics designer is to change file format from one to another with out loosing quality or effects got in the original format. There is freeware called XnView to do this same task very efficiently. This tool allows you to do the following tasks with minimum effort.

Import about 400 graphic file formats

Export about 50 graphic file formats

Multipage TIFF, Animated GIF, Animated ICO support

Image IPTC, EXIF metadata support

EXIF auto rotation support

IPTC editing

Resize, rotate, crop support

Lossless rotate & crop (jpeg) support

Adjust brightness, contrast...

Auto levels, contrast

Modify number of colors

Apply filters (blur, average, emboss, ...)

Apply effects (lens, wave, ...)

Fullscreen mode

Slide show with effects

Batch convert, batch rename

Create WEB page easily

Screen capture

Create contact Sheet

Create or edit Multi-page file (TIFF, DCX, LDF)

TWAIN & WIA support (Windows only)

Print support (Windows only)

Drag & Drop support (Windows only)

Compare image side by side

Filmstrip layout You can download the tool from here. Few screenshots from the official site.

Wishlist for Google chrome

This is my wishlist for google chrome next versions

 

1) In built support for RSS feeds and ATOM feeds

2) Proper XML and XSL viewing support

3) Full support for viewing the office documents

4) AdBlock support

5) Improved javascript debugging and error messages display(like in firefox)

6) Built in form fill wizard like in opera.

7) Built in google mail alerts.

8 ) Minimal image editing capabilities

9) Allow more customization options for the “New tab” page.

10) Not but the least add-on support.

Windows XP users cannot upgrade to Windows 7

Microsoft revealed the upgrade path of Windows 7 operating system

Windows XP and below users are out of luck. You must have Windows Vista SP1 or newer to upgrade to Windows 7.

You can't upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista Starter Edition.

If you're upgrading from Windows Vista, you must upgrade to one of the standard Windows 7 SKUs (meaning you can't upgrade to Windows N, Windows K, Windows KN, or Windows E.)

Windows Vista's "Business" SKU is now called "Professional" in Windows 7. Don't be alarmed when you can't find Windows 7 "Business" on the shelves.

Also Microsfot revealed minimum requirement details

• 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of available disk space (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Below is the table showing how windows growing on its requirements from version to version

Firefox 4.0 mockup just looks like Chrome

Mozilla released firefox 4.0 at first glance I felt it exactly looks the way google chrome looks. Below are the few images given in Mozilla wiki. The other feature mentioned in the WIKI is about combo stop/refresh/go button which comes at the end of the address bar.

 

Audio file formats explained

Recently I found this very nice article in MakeUseOf.com, I am pasting the same below

Almost everyone is familiar with the most commonly used file formats – for music, mp3 and wmv, for video, avi and mpeg, and for images, jpeg and gif. Unfortunately, these common formats are not the only ones we run into on a daily basis. On any given day, we are likely to also see .flv on Youtube or .pdf while opening documents.

It seems as though there is an unending list of file formats that accomplish the same task – saving a bunch of data. What is the purpose of the existence of these seperate formats, and why do they extend the list of available formats to “Save As…“? Is there any real difference between which extension a particular file is saved as, as long as it’s appropriate for the media being saved? Why, why, why do they plague me with their endless resistance to conversion?

The list of questions could go on, pretty much for the length of this article, but I believe I should provide some answers, since the questions are probably what led you here in the first place. So here goes nothing – a guide to the inner workings of the common, but still unusual file formats.

Technical Jargon:

File Format: a specific way to encode data that is to be saved as a file. Please note that the file format does no encoding on its own – the encoding is left up to the codecs.Codec: a program/algorithm that encodes/decodes data to convert a file between different formats. The popular media codecs are generally for shrinking file size. Laurence did a post on codecs last year.

Lossy Codec: refers to a codec that sacrifices file quality for the sake of compression.

Lossless Codec: does not destroy any data, regardless of whether or not the data is necessary for the file’s integrity.

Metadata: information about the file that is stored within the file itself – for example, when a picture was taken and what type of camera it was taken with, or the artist of an audio track. Karl has done a post on how to remove metadata from photos.

Container: a file format that concerns itself more with how data is stored, and not necessarily coded.

Bitrate: the number of bits processed per second. To put things into perspective, mp3’s generally have a bitrate of 128 kbit/s, while CD’s generally have bitrates of around 1.4 Mbit/s.

VBR/CBR: the difference between variable bitrate and constant bit rate is just that – VBR uses a higher bitrate to encode (and thus, allocates more space to)  more complex parts of the audio file.

Audio File Formats Explained

.aiff /.wav

.aiff /.wav – These are both uncompressed, lossless formats, which means it takes about 10MB to save a minute’s worth of music. aiff was developed for Apple’s OSX, and wav for PCs, although both formats are compatible with both operating systems.

Since wav is the native file format for store bought audio CD’s, it is also the format preferred by PC wielding audiophiles; mac users generally rip CD’s into the aiff file format. There are codecs like FLAC and WavPack that will compress .aiff and .wav files, although the resulting file will still be huge compared to the ubiquitous mp3 format. Simple Help has a great tutorial about playing .flac files in iTunes here; it is for Mac OSX users only.

.aac

.aac – Apple’s default audio format, AAC is a lossy compression scheme that was developed to replace mp3, but never achieved the prominence that mp3 has with listeners. Some argue that AAC produces the same quality audio at 96 kbits/s as a mp3 does at 128 kbit/s, but with the recent developments in mp3 codecs (particularly LAME), mp3s have performed far better in listening tests against AAC than in previous years. Nevertheless, when it comes to a sound quality to file size ratio, AAC beats MP3.

.ogg

.ogg – Vorbis, which is the name of Ogg’s audio format, is an open source lossy compression format that is favored by developers of free software for its patent-free nature. Despite its claims of being able to produce better sounding music at smaller file sizes, Vorbis is not widely used because of its slow encoding time and the lack of native support from popular music players such as iTunes and Winamp.

However, many video game makers and programmers have begun using Vorbis because it is open source, and thus does not demand licensing fees like mp3 and aac do. If you are interested in testing the sound quality of Vorbis yourself, try the aoTuV modification of Vorbis and install the XiphQT plugin for iTunes.

Conclusion :

If you’re willing to sacrifice the storage space, and have ears sensitive enough to tell the difference between a CD and a ripped track, go with .wav or .aiff. Otherwise, .aac and .mp3 encoded at bitrates above 256 kbit/s are indistinguishable from CDs for the average person.

Vorbis performs the best at low bitrates around 64 kbit/s, whereas the LAME encoder for MP3 performs better at higher bitrates. Regarding VBR and CBR, the general rule of thumb is that VBR will produce better sound quality at a lower file size than CBR can.

Ultimately, it is up to your own ear to determine which codec to use, and which format is best for you. Perhaps you’d like to perform your own listening test, to determine how picky your ear is. If so, try WinABX, which is a program that performs double blind listening tests. When you finally decide which format and bitrate is optimal for you, get yourself a codec pack, and convert your music with the multitude of audio converters that are out there.

Not to ignite a flame war, but which format/codec/bitrate do you use? Do you think AAC or Vorbis will ever gain the type of popularity that MP3 has right now? Leave your opinion in the comments, and stay tuned for Part 2: Video!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

Apple.. we want a E-book reader

First it was mac then IPod and then iPhone. With every new product Apple revolutionized the entire industry. May be now its time to bring Apple Electronic book reader. Existing products like Amazon Kindle, and Sony Digital reader. Recently there was some news about the same. Hope we will soon see a apple e-book reader soon.

Firefox 3.5.1 is out

I just updated my firefox version from 3.5 to 3.5.1 hope fully this fixes the crashes I am seeing.

Firefox 3.5.1 fixes the following issues:

• Several security issues.
• Several stability issues.
• An issue that was making Firefox take a long time to load on some Windows systems.

Solution for firefox 3.5 crashes

The suggested solution is creating a new profile. Because while updating firefox to 3.5 there is a possibility of corrupting the existing profiles. If your next question is how create a new firefox profile please read on.

Execute to this command in run box firefox –P.

The command will show you a box like this here you can create a new profile. After creating new profile you can migrate configuration from old profile to new profile. 

Google going to launch Chrome OS

Today google officially declared that its going to launch and new light weight and open source operating system with the name Chrome OS. First they are targeting this OS for notebooks.  The code is going to be available to all in the later part of this year and you can buy a notebook with chrome OS in the second part of 2010. As per the Google official blog, they redesigned and reinvented the OS concepts with this and they are providing minimal functionality and lots of security with this OS. The goal of this OS is just provide a platform to run your machine and connect to internet, everything else you can do it on web. So lets wait and see :)

Gmail exits beta

Good news is that gmail, google docs and calendar are no more betas, today google remove beta tag from the logo. Though we don’t get something new because of this. Just something to feel happy.

Open Web Tools Directory

Via: Mozilla Labs

There are an immense number of tools that have been created to help web developers. Unfortunately, you might never know this; there’s no central index of these tools. It turns out that keeping up with all the development in this space is really difficult–even for folks like us who have been tracking it every day for years.

As we’ve explored different tools we could create here as part of the Developer Tools Lab, we’ve come to the opinion that in addition to creating new tools, one of the best things we could do is help developers understand the broad universe of tools that already exist and expose some of the fantastic and amazing work that’s being done.

We’re launching today a first step in this direction: an Open Web Tools Directory.

(Note: a modern browser with canvas is required to view this, like Firefox 3.5, Safari 4, Chrome 2, or Opera 9).

We went with a “space” theme to emphasize the sheer size of the tool ecosystem (though at the moment we only have a small fraction of the tools available listed). And, frankly, we just couldn’t do another table-based master/detail database application; we wanted a directory that would be fun to use (and perhaps a bit of fun to create as well).

So where do we go from here?

First, we’re putting out a call for folks to tell us about their tools. We’ve prepared a data entry form for you to use to submit a tool; please, help us fill up the directory with the hundreds or thousands of items we’ve missed! Your entries won’t go live immediately, but we’ll review them on a regular basis and get them added.

Second, let us know what features you’d most like in the directory. We’re exploring a few different concepts for how to display the entries in the directory. Here’s one of our ideas to add more detail to what we display about each entry:

We’re also exploring concepts for adding social participation features, like ranking the tools and commenting on them (though we’d like to have a good solution to astroturfing in place before rolling them out).

We also want to make searching the tools better. Right now, the search box at the bottom of the screen searches over all text fields and you can limit the directory to broad categories of tools, like “Debug”-related tools:

Finally, we’d like to make an accessible version of the directory, both for browsers without canvas support and for screen reader support. What should this accessible version be like?

We’re looking forward to evolving the directory and working with the web community to make it a vibrant resource for discovering and tracking the web’s amazing tools universe.

What do you think?

– Ben Galbraith, on behalf of the Developer Tools team

Sorry firefox I am leaving you for Chrome

I am a big big fan of firefox and I learned to write add-ons and created few of them. I was very very happy with you and every time you come-up with something new I tried be first in line to have it on my home and office machines. I used to hate IE and mock people who uses it. But after updating my firefox to 3.5, everything changed at the first look I loved you 3.5 as usual but after few hours I realized that I made a huge mistake by upgrading you to 3.5. The only reason you crashed so often and badly that I started feeling like why I am using you anymore. So I choose chrome and at times IE 8 at my work and home instead of you. I hate to say but I am sorry firfox I am leaving you.