Nazly's BLOG

Showing the right path to alternative software

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:19:47 GMT

The news Raids against 'software pirates' in Colombo caught me by surprise this morning while I was going through the news papers. I'm not sure whether similar raids have been carried out in the past but it was unexpected. I'm really glad that such action has been taken to protect the Intellectual Property Rights for software. But where does it lead to? The next target will be the general users of pirated software. But have we educated people about pirate software? Do they know the consequences of using pirated software?

As far as I can see it, 90% of the general public are unaware of the fact that they are doing something illegal. If they go to one of these outlets that sell pirated software they can buy a CD for Rs.80 ($0.75) or a DVD for Rs.150 ($1.3) quite easily. They actually think that they are paying the price for buying the software, which is not correct. The software is actually worth hundred times than that. Even if you buy a genuine copy of one of the proprietary software for its price you cannot make illegal copies of it. Because the licence clearly states that you cannot do that. Most of the tech-savvy users understand what is pirated software. But there is a non-tech crowd in other industries that use pirated software for their day to day needs without realising the fact that they are doing something illegal.

So whats the solution? Are you ready to pay over Rs.10,000 ($100) to get a genuine copy of the software? Or will you look for an alternative software which will give you the freedom to use and share among the others? The latter will be my choice. That is why I use Free and Open Source Software. I think for a country like ours using FOSS is the ideal choice for people involved in any industry. By choosing Free and Open Source Software you have

* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0). * The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). * The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2). * The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3).

As you can see you have the full freedom over the software unlike the software tying you down. Its important to make the public aware that for almost every proprietary software there is one or more alternative Free and Open Source Software available. I made my move to GNU/Linux as my primary operating system sometime back and never looked back since then. As I said I had more than one alternative in this case as there are hundreds of distributions for GNU/Linux. I did try Redhat Linux 9, Fedora 3, Slackware and finally settled with Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) at that time. This doesn't mean that the other distributions I tried are bad. It means that I had choices to make before settling down with what I was comfortable with. Currently I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on all my computers. I use FOSS for all my day to day needs. I use Mozilla Firefox for Web browsing and Mozilla Thunderbird as my email client. I use Pidgin for Instant Messaging which supports Yahoo, MSN (yes, I have friends there too ) and Google Talk. I use OpenOffice for handling all types of Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Presentations. And the list goes on.
Find FOSS alternative for your proprietary software at www.osalt.com

What I wanted to emphasize is that there are FOSS alternatives. By using it you won't be considered a criminal. You won't be caught by the police for copying a FOSS software in a CD and selling it to someone by charging the cost for the CD. You are free to do so. More than that you can modify the source of that software. In a proprietary software the source itself is not available. Lets not consider that part for now.

It was the Lanka Linux User Group and FOSS Sri Lanka that were behind my move towards FOSS. They conduct workshops, trainings, conferences all around Sri Lanka in order to promote Free and Open Source Software here in Sri Lanka. Specially in Schools amongst the younger generation. So when ever you are in need of any help of FOSS you know where to look for. So make the move now. Don't wait till its too late.

Does Web 2.0 solutions really solve problems?

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:58:53 GMT

If you haven't seen much updates in my blog lately, its mainly because most of my updates are on Twitter. I kinda liked the idea about micro-blogging from the start because updates can be short and sweet + updated via Instant Messaging or SMS to Twitter. I wrote about my Twitter experience in one of my previous blog posts "What am I doing?". I think now it has got up to a point where there are very minimal blog posts in the recent times and everything else is on Twitter. The good thing about it is that there is a set of crowd on Twitter that follows me so that they get notified when I update. Apart from that the Facebook application for Twitter will update my Facebook status and the Twitter badge on my blog will show my latest tweets as well. The bad thing is that there is another set of crowd that want to see my blog being updated more often and not interested in my little tweets. This set of crowd is not the super-techie kind to spot the Twitter badge on the right-side column of my blog. My blog posts are more techie but in between there are posts about Cricket as well. So it can vary. There was a time my blog being categorized to Cricket but its my personal blog. So I really didn't care. I do try to keep it balanced but there is no define rule as such.

But then there are few other services I use on a day-to-day basis to share news, photos and articles on the Web. I use Flickr to share my photos. I Digg. I share news and articles on Google Reader. I share my bookmarks at del.icio.us and the list will surely grow. I already have the Twitter badge on the blog. I was displaying the Flickr photos but removed it for now coz the Flickr API was giving some problems. I surely can incorporate the rest of the services into my blog using the APIs, badges or feeds provided by them. In fact I was in the attempt to do that but have second thoughts and wonder whether it distract the main blog itself.

Now I have a problem. There are too many services I'm using. I need to syndicate all of them in one place. If you are one my friends in Facebook you could easily track all my updates coz I have added all the necessary applications for all the services I use. But then you need to be my friend. There is a bit of an urgency to get everything in one place. So I started working on building a Website for this purpose.

In the process I came across FriendFeed, a service that will grab all my updates from the services I use. You can check my FriendFeed page to get all the latest updates on all the services I use. So I guess I will settle with this for now. But it doesn't mean that I will stop the development on my Website. It will be up soon.

My current situation reminds me of a saying I found in an article that I read.
Are we nerds just making solutions to solve problems created by our own solutions?
I guess the answer is Yes based on the increasing number of Web 2.0 services. Any thoughts?

Last ball six wins the game for Windies

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:48:32 GMT

West Indies clinched a last ball thriller in the 1st ODI vs Sri Lanka which was played at Trinidad. Requiring six runs off the last ball Chanderpaul hit a massive six over deep midwicket from a full toss bowled by Chaminda Vaas which won the game for the West Indies. They were nine down at this stage so the match could have gone either way. But it was Windies who ended on top.

Chanderpaul's last ball six

Video Embedded

West Indies Innings highlights

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Twitter status updates

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:31:24 GMT

I'm currently updating my Twitter status through the code when I make a blog post.

England back to winning ways

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:31:11 GMT

Ryan Sidebottom's heroics have given a big confident boost to English Cricket as England have beaten New Zealand 2-1 in the recent Test series which ended today. After losing the first Test, England dropped their pace duo Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard to inject some young blood into the team bringing in Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Broad and Anderson were right in business but it was Sidebottom who made a big impact on the team. His ten wicket haul in the first Test which included a hat-trick was followed by a five wicket haul in the second Test and a seven wicket haul in the third Test won the series for England.

There has been some remarkable improvement in the England batting lineup as well. Tim Ambrose, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell made centuries during the tour and the rest of the batting line up chipped in as well. So all in all its the break that England needed as they are back in to winning ways in Test Cricket.

Summary of the series

England team with the trophy after beating New Zealand

UNIX Cheat Sheet

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:28:58 GMT

Here is a comprehensive document that has a collection of Unix/Linux/BSD commands and tasks which can be very useful in our day to day work.

UNIX Toolbox

This document is a collection of Unix/Linux/BSD commands and tasks which are useful for IT work or for advanced users. This is a practical guide with concise explanations, however the reader is supposed to know what s/he is doing.

Get Back your Screen Space

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:47:00 GMT

Here is a list of tweaks and extensions that would gain more space for viewing websites in Firefox

Get Back your Screen Space: Maximize Firefox Viewing Area

Mighty Mini

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:56:55 GMT

For a long time I had this craze for cars and specially the Mini. I don't own a car though but my motorbike has fulfilled all my transport needs and really happy with that except the fact that I can take a bath when it heavily rains while riding

While I was walking by with a friend of mine I spotted this Mini parked and quickly caught it using my phone cam. The Mini is in excellent condition by the looks of it. My friend and I were really keen and found the owner of the car and asked him whether he has any plans of selling it. He had a one word answer. "No"

This gentlemen who was in front of a computer was really keen on giving us some information about the Mini. Also he shared some info related to their club. Their website URL is mightymini.lk. It was very interesting to talk with him. I have seen Minis go on road trips and I guess this is the only Mini club here in Sri Lanka. Correct me if I'm wrong. Hopefully sooner I can join this club. Of course I'm in the look out for a Mini, definitely not the New Mini

Embedding YouTube Video as Valid XHTML 1.0

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:46:22 GMT

I always wanted to embed YouTube videos to my blog posts. But when I add the YouTube code to embed videos in my blog posts, I get validation errors from the W3C Markup Validation Service. I have been very careful on maintaining my blog to be XHTML 1.0 compliant. So finally I have found the solution to sort out the issue. The main reason being YouTube's use of the <embed> tag, which has been deprecated in XHTML 1.0. So I had to modify that code a bit to suit my need to be XHTML 1.0 compliant.

This is the code that YouTube gives to embed a video to a page

<object width="425" height="355"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rybb85zc5yY"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rybb85zc5yY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"> </embed> </object>

I changed it to

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="width:425px; height:355px;" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/rybb85zc5yY"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rybb85zc5yY" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> </object>

I tested the code on all popular browsers and it works fine. If you come across any browser versions that has any problem with this code not displaying the video please do let me know with the browser and its version.

Sidebottom hat-trick

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:33:48 GMT

England's Ryan Sidebottom bagged a hat-trick during the New Zealand's second Innings, giving some hope for England to win the 1st Test between in the recently concluded Test between the two teams. England trailing by 122 runs after the first innings, bowled out New Zealand for 177 runs in their second innings thanks to Sidebottom who captured six New Zealand wickets including the hat-trick. But England needing 300 to win the match failed to capitalize were bowled out for 110 giving New Zealand 1-0 up in the series.

Here is a clip of Sidebottom's hat-trick

Video Embedded

100+ Resources for Web Developers

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:01:17 GMT

This is a fantastic list for Web Developers.
100+ Resources for Web Developers

From the Blogpost :
There is some amazing stuff out there on the Web-resources, tools, tricks, and tips. Problem is, as a Web developer, you spend so much of your time just keeping up with new technologies - learning, playing - and this doesn't leave much time to go hunting for the latest and greatest tool, or for a better way of doing things.

So we've put together a list of over 100 resources to help make your life as a developer easier; where to find snippets of code, sites that automate processes, cheat sheets, lessons, useful tools and a couple of silly videos to give your brain a break if you make it through to the end. Please enjoy!

Rock with RSS

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:59:26 GMT

Here is a list of tools that would help in managing RSS Feeds.

14 "OTHER" Ways to Use RSS Feeds

PHP Projects u need to know

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:06:13 GMT

Here is list of PHP/Javascript Projects that I have been either using, keeping in track of or got to know recently. Doesn't matter if you are new to PHP or an expert in PHP, its a worthier try if you haven't got hold of them yet.

PHPMailer
Even though PHP's mail() function has been the No.1 choice for me to send an email, but PHPMailer is the ideal choice when I have to attach a file or send an email through a SMTP server with authentication.

php user class
This is a new addition to my list of classes. I haven't played around it yet, but php user class seems to be a cool class to manipulate users (login, logout, register, etc.) in web applications.

Magpie RSS
Magpie RSS can be used to parse RSS feeds.

htmlSQL class
This is one of the classes I came across recently. Its really cool. Using the htmlSQL class we can access HTML values by an SQL like syntax. Amazing ha?

Smarty
Smarty has always been my choice for a Template Engine.

StringParser_BBcode
BBcode is the best way to allow users to add bit of spice to their posts in forums, blogs etc. As a developer converting the BBcode to HTML can be bit of a tough job but StringParser_BBcode can do that for you.

easyFormProc
easyFormProc is a class that I developed that will create and handle all the process of the elements in a form. The processes include form posting, validation and retrieving the posted values. I have added few common validation functions. Custom functions can also be added.

jQuery
jQuery is a JavaScript Library that simplifies the way we write JavaScript. Handling events, performing animations, and adding Ajax interactions to web pages never been easier. This is a new addition to my list and I'm loving each an every moment of it.

tinyMCE
tinyMCE is a platform independent web based Javascript HTML WYSIWYG editor. It is a real life saver when it comes to developing CMS Applications that requires average users to update content.

These OpenSource projects really help a great deal in our developments. Specially when it comes to PHP, there will be always a solution already written by someone for our problem. So no need to re-invent the wheel. I would like to hear from you on PHP/Javascript projects that you have used/tried/heard during your development so it allows us to share what we know

News updates via Twitter

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:01:36 GMT

If you are a Twitter fan, by now you would know that most of the news sites use the Twitter service very effectively to let the people who follow them on Twitter get the news very fast. I personally follow Slashdot, Reuters, DIGG's Tech News and Google News on Twitter and receive IM updates when a news is posted. Of course at times it can be bit irritative but I prefer being up-to-date. Twitter has options of setting the way you want to receive updates so it can be customized at any time. This is a list of news sites that use the Twitter service to update their news.

If you are a developer and want to get the advantage of notifying your viewers if you are running a news site, an articles site, job posting website or a blog, Twitter will be the ideal choice. Check the Twitter API which you can use to communicate between Twitter and your application.

Here is a simple tutorial on sending updates to Twitter from PHP Script using the Twitter API. I tested it and works like charm

Google Search Tricks

me@nazly.net (Nazly) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:59:43 GMT

Here is a list of Google Search Tricks which can be really handy at times. This list mostly has the tricks that are not in the Google Cheat Sheet. I didn't know Google Search can be used to get LIVE Cricket scores. So people who cannot check LIVE scores because Cricinfo.com is blocked by the administrator at your workplace, now you have an option. Of course they won't block Google