Kushal Sejwal

Sharing pics online smartly

2011-05-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

This post is an apology to a dear innocent friend, who took hours to share some pics with me. They were all high quality digital pictures (each approximately 5mb in size) and took a whole day to upload 100 of such pictures. I am surprised to learn so many people don't know how to compress their digital camera pics before uploading them to online picture sharing sites like Picasaweb, Flickr etc. or emailing them. This ultimately clogs up the free storage you get online and take a whole lot of time if have a slow broadband.
For online sharing of images, a resolution of 1024x768 pixels or even 1600x1200 pixels is more than enough and digital images from latest camera are always far greater. So compressing images is a necessity before sharing them on web. To make life easy for non-geeky people, I have compiled some simple ways to do it on both Linux(recommended) and Windows platform.

Linux Platform
For Emailing:

Install imagemagick - a very powerful command line image processing suite. If using Ubuntu, just click here or type this in terminal:

sudo apt-get install imagemagick

Once installed, you can download this script (I wrote it :-)) and copy paste it in the folder containing the pics you want to compress.
Right click on the ‘resize.py’ file and select ‘Properties’. Check the box next to ‘Allow executing as program’ followed by ‘Close’.

Double click on the ‘resize.py‘ file, choosing ‘Run’ when prompted.
Thats it! Check the size of generated photos.zip file, its much smaller.

For uploading on Picasaweb: If you wish to share pictures through picasaweb, its much more efficient, easy, feature rich and far more simpler.

Open the default photo manager in Ubuntu "Shotwell Photo Manager" from Application>>Graphics menu.
Import the folder containing your photos.
Select them and from File menu click "Publish". Enter your picasaweb email ID password and remember to decrease the size from "Photo size preset" option.
Voila! Done, check your picasaweb profile, it will have all the pics but much light on size.

Windows Platform
For Emailing: To compress the images for emailing in windows Microsoft Office Picture Manager can be used. Its very user-friendly to use. I found a nice video tutorial:

Note: To compress many pics together choose the thumbnail icon located under the file and shortcut... option. And you can zip the folder containing the compressed pictures before emailing.

For uploading on Picasaweb: In windows you have to install Picasa software. Click here to download the lastest version of Picasa. After installing follow this tutorial:

Note: While uploading pictures to the web albums, remember to decrease the size from the "Upload Setting"

R.I.P Ubuntu Shipit

2011-04-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

After serving for years and giving millions of free Ubuntu CD to the world, finally Ubuntu Shipit comes to an end. Though from the past several Ubuntu releases I have been downloading new ubuntu version instead of requesting a free CD, I still feel sad that Shipit won't be there from now on. In my opinion, Shipit played a major role in popularizing Ubuntu and taking Linux to the mainstream desktop computers. I myself owe the initiation of my journey into the world of GNU/Linux to Ubuntu Shipit. It was the free Ubuntu 7.04 Live CD that prompted me to try this wonderful OS.

Anways, Ubuntu Shipit did a great work and will be always be missed very dearly.

फिरंगी मेला

2010-10-01T17:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekends had been really engrossing. Saw a very different aspect of Wuerzburg, which is quite contrary the to popular (dis)belief about Germans, that they don't enjoy, laugh and interact. I witnessed this in form of a westernized version of our Indian "melas". The streets which I always founded deserted on weekends were jam-packed last two weekends. The first avatar of this "firangi mela" was Stramu Music Festival, where different performers, artists, theater groups and music bands gathered on the streets to show their talent. And the second one was "Stadt Festival", an occasion to enjoy the local specialties. From exotic wines to delicious local food, one can get everything at one single place.

I won't say much and let the pictures do the talking.

Zu Verschenken

2010-09-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

Don't get afraid by the post title, I would still be writing in English. These two words are German meaning "to give away" or more meaningfully "to give as a present". So whats so special about these words? For me these words proved to be a blessing and one of the first thing I loved about German people. Here in Germany, whenever someone shifts from one place to another, the cost of transporting household stuff is so much that they never take it with them. And getting rid of the old stuff is also not cheap, companies charges a hefty amount for dumping them. So what they usually do, put all the items outside their home with a signboard stating "Zu Verschenken" i.e please take away whatever you want as a gift. I was lucky enough that in the very first week some neighbors, who were shifting to Belgium, did the same. Without spending a single cent, my unfurnished room (which was previously just having a matress) was occupied with a bed, table, chair, bedside table, wooden cabinet ... etc. There was so much to take but my room didn't had space left, so I had to leave a lovely sofa set. It was like making a wish to genie, "I want full furniture in my room"... and the very next day I had it all.

The last thing that I got from them was the best - A nice Sony Ericsson mobile phone. It was not charged, charger was missing and I thought it would never work. Why would anybody leave a cellphone, that too in a working condition. I bet with my friends, if the mobile works I would finally buy a sim card (since I was not planning to buy a mobile phone/sim card). I bought a charger for that phone and was pleasantly surpised to see it working flawlessly :-)

So now I have a fully furnished room and mobile phone (FREE) and I promise that when I would leave Germany, will give all this as a gift to someone in need ..."Zu Verschenken".

Life in Germany

2010-09-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hallo! So after months of no new post I am again back. But things in these couple of months changed drastically. I successfully completed my Masters and got a PhD position in University of Wuerzburg, Germany. And from the past one month I am here in Deutschland (Germany). For someone who have never been away from home for more than a week, surviving in a foreign country is quite challenging but at the same time full of fun, learning and gaining some really weird experiences. And I want to share all this to my near and dear ones via my Blog. I will keep updating posts with tag "Life in Germany".

As for this post, enjoy some pics of the beautiful city where I am residing now.

Song of the Day

2010-05-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

I am sharing a small script which I wrote in python some time ago. I was sitting idle and wondering which song should I play from my mammoth hindi movie songs collection. A thought came to my mind, why not create a script that can select any random song from my music collection and play it to me. Eureka! now I have a new "Song of the Day" each time I open my system. The script is very simple to understand, it mainly uses the python's random module.

Here is the script:

#!/usr/bin/python
# Random Song player
# This script plays a random song whenever executed

import os
import glob
import random

os.system("totem '%s'" % (random.choice(glob.glob("/media/music/hindi songs/hindi movie songs/*/*/*[.MP3]"))))

Note:

Replace "totem" with command for your favourite media player, e.g you can use VLC in the command line itself by replacing "totem" with "vlc -I ncurses."
Also change the music directory accordingly and delete or add */ to suit your music folder location.

After you made the changes, its really easy to use the script. Save it as SongOfTheDay.py, and run it in terminal as:

python SongOfTheDay.py

O Saathi Re

2010-05-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

Hello folks, I have been busy for a while with my thesis work, so posting after a very long time. I have finally decided to start playing and practicing my bansuri again. So here goes a newly added video, will add more from now on.

As I always say, I am still learning and its long way to go, so all comments, suggestion welcome :-)

Integrating Gmail to your Desktop Environment

2009-12-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

In one of my recent post, I wrote about my addiction with gmail. It have become an important part of my daily online life. There are several good email clients like Evolution, Thunderbird, MS Outlook which gives added features but I still use gmail to send and receive emails. But what pesky is whenever you click on any email ID or the mailbox button (if any) on your keyboard, it starts your default email client( Evolution in Ubuntu and Outlook in Windows environment), not gmail which you want.

So, if you too want your computer to know that Gmail would do all the emailing stuff for you. Then read along.

NB: I used Ubuntu 9.10 and Firefox 3.5.6 for the steps below

Step 1: Handling Mailto's
Mailto links (the hyperlinked email IDs) within browsers are handled by your default email client. We can set up Firefox to respond to a mailto click by opening a compose windows directly in Gmail.

Open Firefox.
Proceed to Edit >> Preferences >> Applications window
Search for "Mailto" Content Type and make the action "Use GMail"

If by any case you are not able to see "Use Gmail" option. Copy and paste the following link into the address bar, it would prompt you to ask whether you want to add Gmail as an application for mailto links.

javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto","https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s","GMail")

Step 2: Setting Gmail as your preferred application
Next step is to make Gmail as your default email client.

Open a terminal session. (Applications >> Accessories >> Terminal)
Type

mkdir ~/.scripts

Now enter

gedit ~/.scripts/open_mailto.sh

In this new text file paste the following, save it, close and return to the terminal

#!/bin/sh
firefox "https://mail.google.com/mail?view=cm&tf=0&ui=1&to="`echo $1|sed -e 's/?subject=/\&su=/' -e 's/mailto://'`

Set the script as executable by typing following commands

chmod +x ~/.scripts/open_mailto.sh

Close the terminal
Open System >> Preferences >> Preferred Applications >> Internet >> Mail Reader
Select "Custom" from the drop-down menu and in the command box, type this

sh /home/your_user_name/.scripts/open_mailto.sh %s

... replacing your_user_name with your actual user login name.

Your default e-mail application according to Ubuntu, is now a Gmail compose window which will create a new e-mail with auto-populated 'To:' field for any client-side E-mail links.

Step 3: Notifier
The last step is to install CheckGmail, an application to notify you when a new e-mail lands in the Inbox. The same application can be used to quickly compose a new mail (right click the tray icon).

To install, go back to the terminal and type

sudo apt-get install checkgmail

Start the application from Applications >> Internet >> CheckGMail
Right click the new Gmail icon and configure to use your own login details.
Add this application to Ubuntu start up. Systems > Preferences > Startup Applications and click Add. Use any name you like, but the command must be "checkgmail" (without the quotes).

That's all! You should now have effortless Gmail access whenever you wish to read or compose a new email from you desktop.

Sources:
http://lifehacker.com/392287/set-firefox-3-to-launch-gmail-for-mailto-links
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/set-gmail-as-default-mail-client-in-ubuntu/
http://checkgmail.sourceforge.net/

My Orkut

2009-11-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

Orkut is one of the most visited website in India and on my computer as well ;-). Thanks to Orkut I have met such old pals of mine with whom I had no contact for years. But recently I saw a "shifting" trend in my friends from Orkut to Facebook. After getting like a hundred of friend request I finally decided to try Facebook but never liked it in comparison to orkut. Its too messed up, nothing like the clean interface of Orkut and the ever active communities on diverse topics. Another reason is my love for Google, Orkut being my most used Google's product. But now I have the ultimate reason for staying with Orkut - "The new version of Orkut"!

It is still beta and has some minor bugs but looks very promising. Has several Facebook-like-features and much faster than the previous one. To try it you require an invitation and have two ways to do so:

Join the official community, its says "Everyone who joins the community will get an invite"
Find a friend who's already using the new version of Orkut and ask for an invite. I just have 4 invites left, though.

For screenshots and to know more click here

Happy orkutting!!

Mini Switzerland of India

2009-09-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

If you have always been engrossed by the scenic beauty of Switzerland in pictures and movies, and always wanted to visit there. There is an economical, desi alternative called "Chopta"- the mini "Switzerland" of India.
Chopta is a picturesque hamlet which is still unexplored by travelers. Situated at an altitude of 2900 meters, chopta offers a splendid view of snow clad himalayas, lush green forests of pine and deodar, large pasture land where you can see horses and sheeps gazing. You get so mesmerized by the breathtaking landscape, that you feel as if you have come into the lap of mother nature.
My best friend Ankit accompanied me on the trip. We headed for rishikesh from Delhi where we stayed for a day and the very next morning started our actual journey to Chopta. Chopta is approximately 250km from Rishikesh, the path is quite tortuous, with many sharp turns up into the mountains. In the way, we saw Devprayag and Rudraprayag, the two holy place located at the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers, and Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers respectively. We reached chopta from where we started the trek to Tungnath Temple, one of the five and the highest Panch Kedar temple. The whole view of the place from Tungnath temple, around 3,680 m from the sea level was invigorating. The weather was beautiful, you see a mist enveloping the entire place. I will always cherish the memories of the Chopta trip. I desperately want to visit the "Mini Switzerland" again.

Setting LAMP in Ubuntu

2009-08-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

If you wish to transform your system into a full-fledged Web Server, then the primary requisite is to install the LAMP which stands for Linux Apache MySQL PHP. I faced a couple of issues while setting it up, so thought of making this guide to help anyone who want install LAMP in their Ubuntu without any effort. This guide is tested on Ubuntu 9.04.

Installing Apache
To start off we will install Apache.

Open up the Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal).
Type the following line of code into Terminal and then press enter:

sudo apt-get install apache2
The Terminal will then ask you for you're password, type it and then press enter.

Testing Apache
To make sure everything installed correctly we will now test Apache to ensure it is working
properly.

Open up any web browser and then enter the following into the web address:

http://localhost/

If you see a message saying "It works!" , then congrats the first component of LAMP is successfully installed and working.

Install PHP
In this part we will install PHP 5.

Again open up the Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal).
Type the following line into Terminal and press enter:

sudo apt-get install php5 libapache2-mod-php5
In order for PHP to work and be compatible with Apache it must be restarted. Type the
following code in Terminal to do this:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Test PHP
To ensure there are no issues with PHP let's give it a quick test run.

In the terminal Type the following line:

sudo gedit /var/www/testphp.php
Type this line into the phptest file:

< ? php phpinfo(); ? >
Save and close the file.
Now open you're web browser and type the following into the web address:

http://localhost/testphp.php

The page will give you detailed information about php. If it does, great move onto the last part.

Install MySQL
To finish setting up LAMP we will now install MySQL.

Once again open up the amazing Terminal and then Type this line:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server
Note: It will auto ask you for a password for the MySQL database so you don't need to manually enter the commands. Now to test MySQL, just enter the following command in the terminal and it will ask you for the password( latest MySQL versions require the option "p" for password when you login in.)

mysql -uroot -p
We are now going to install a program called phpMyAdmin which is an easy tool to edit
your databases. Type the following line into Terminal:

sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-auth-mysql php5-mysql phpmyadmin
Copy phpmyadmin into /var/www/ directory to work http://localhost/phpmyadmin, with this command in terminal:

sudo ln -s /usr/share/phpmyadmin/ /var/www/phpmyadmin

Now just restart Apache(3rd step in install PHP) and you are all set!

I am a Gmail Black Belt Ninja! What about you?

2009-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have been using Gmail from almost 4 years now and have got strongly addicted to it. Gmail means less spam, simple user interface, enormous space that we don't have to worry about deleting mails ever. But apart from these great features Gmail has some very innovative tools to make your life much simpler. Filters, Labels, star and Google's lab features are just to name few.

I have been using almost all these amazing tools to manage my inbox and happy to know that I am a Gmail Black Belt Ninja. How? Check out this cool link to become a Gmail Ninja.

http://www.gmail.com/tips

Customizing Calender in Ubuntu

2009-06-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

If you have ever noticed, the default calendar in the clock applet in Ubuntu starts with Sunday as the first day of the week. This depends on the system's locale setting. In some countries the week starts with Sunday while in some Monday is the first day of the week. This post is not a debate on which is the "true" first day of the week. I start my week afresh from Monday onwards. So I want the calendar to start with Monday, while Saturday and Sunday ( the favourite days of the week ;-) ) at the end.

Linux means customizability but quite ironically there is no GUI tool to change your starting day preference in Ubuntu.

I found an alternative way which does the trick. Hope it would help somebody who feel equally irritated like me seeing the calendar starting with Sunday. Open the terminal and following these steps :

Check which locale is running using the command

$ locale

On my system it is "en_IN". Now open this file for editing.

$ sudo gedit /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_IN

Change first_weekday to 2 instead of 1 (Press Ctrl+F to find the line "first_weekday")

Regenerate the locale using

$ sudo locale-gen

Finally get your customized calendar by reloading the panel

$ killall gnome-panel

The musical side of me

2009-04-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

I am passionate about music, love listening to every kind of music. If someone would ask me what you want if you are alone on a island, I would reply, a laptop and the music collection I have ;-) But somehow I always felt I don't understand music, I just enjoy it but don't realize what exactly music is. The only solution I found was learning some form of music. Vocal I cannot even dream of (I have a horrible voice) so the only option left was some musical instrument. I always felt everyone should learn at least one instrument to understand and feel what music is.

I remember my childhood days, when my father bought me a bansuri from a mela I was so exited, blew it the whole day but didn't actually got music out of it. Nobody was there to explain me its science. But a hidden desire always kept in my heart to make music out of my bansuri. What I love about bansuri as an instrument compared to other is its simplicity. According to hindu mythology, it is the instrument of Lord Krishna and its Him who has made it deceptively simple. Bansuri doesnt just play music and notations but actually produce emotions.

I was lucky, really lucky that I met Vijay bhaiya, my guruji. He is an extraordinary flautist, he can actually made you cry when he plays his bansuri. He guided me in making my desire come true and with few months of practise I was actually able to produce music from the same bansuri that I have. Then I moved to the classical bansuri. It just didn't helped to develop a passionate hobby but actually learn what music exactly is, why it is so divine.

I am still learning and would always be learning... but now I have gathered some courage to post my favourite songs played on bansuri. Comments, suggestion, encouragement welcome...

Installing WordWeb Dictionary through Wine

2008-11-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

Initially, when I shifted from Windows XP to Ubuntu Linux, it took some time to find all the Open Source alternatives to the softwares/programs that I frequently used on Windows platform. I was indeed glad that I could easily find even better alternatives to almost all the basic softwares. Except one i.e a good English Dictionary. I use WordWeb(free version) in Windows, which is an elegant, fast dictionary which caters all your need. It found it very handy and useful. In fact I used it so much that I was really missing it in my Ubuntu desktop. The default gnome-dictionary provided in Ubuntu, does same work but the only hitch, that it requires an internet connection. Which I didn't had!

I tried "StarDict" as an alternative but didn't liked it much. It had to be loaded with dictionary database which was another headache for a newbie like me. So last option left was installing WordWeb through Wine. It worked flawlessly as it does in Windows. The only thing didn't worked were the hotkeys. But a little trick helped.

Install WordWeb with wine by simply starting the setup exe file.
Right click on the desktop and select "Create Launcher" option.
Write any name say "WordWeb" and in the command put "/home/kushal/.wine/drive_c/'Program Files'/WordWeb/wwnotray.exe" (Replace kushal with the your user name)
Now whenever you want to look-up for any word, just select it and instead of pressing any hotkey, merely copy it (Ctrl + c) and then click the launcher we just created. WordWeb will open with the meaning of the selected word (no need to paste the copied word).

Click here to download WordWeb Dictionary.

Taste of Linux Mint

2008-10-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

I am an all time Ubuntu user. I had tried a couple of other distros but never felt the same ease and stability, so sticked to Ubuntu. I support Linux and Open Source a lot so as a duty always recommend and pass the Ubuntu CDs to friends and relatives. Ubuntu according to me, is the best Linux distros for any newbie. Its very user-friendly and very easy to configure. The only glitch comes when I gave the live CD to somebody who do not have internet access. Ubuntu cannot play popular media file like mp3, avi etc. by default. Additional media codecs have to be installed, which for a normal Linux user might be an easy cakewalk but surely a unnecessary hiccup for a noob. So I searched for a distros which support media playback by default but with the same stability and user-friendliness .

My search ended with Linux Mint “Elyssa”. Linux Mint is a variant of Ubuntu with integrated media codecs. It comes in different editions to suit the need and taste of user and hardware. It comes in Live CD form, I downloaded it, burned the .iso image and tried it. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance and elegance of it. All the music and videos file could be played by flawlessly by default, even .flv, .rm and broken .avi files for which even I had to use a VLC or real player. But the best part was I got the same simplicity and ease of use which Ubuntu offer. In addition it has various utilities and tools which add of the flavour. The one which I really liked were the cool wallpapers and themes which give you a whole new ambiance to your desktop. Some other handy tools and bonus softwares are:

mintMenu : A custom menu with a filter and “favourite” menu
Several unique configuration tools like mintDesktop, mintAssistant, mintBackup
A few helpful softwares preinstalled viz APTonCD, Compiz Fusion, Thunderbird, xChat, Mplayer and EnvyNG.

With a few minor tweaks, I got the same Ubuntu feel but with a flavour of Mint!

Some Screen shots...

Click here to download Linux Mint

20 SSB Bhopal

2008-09-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have appeared for the SSB Interview for NDA at Allahabad in 2005. I got conference out and decided then and there I would come here again. The same happened again, I cleared the CDS exam this year and had to report at Bhopal SSB. I have heard a lot about Bhopal SSB, they say its the best in hospitality and infrastructure. They treat you really well. I was very exited. The 5 days at Allahabad SSB taught me many things, it was a learning experience. I packed my bag and left for Bhopal. We had to assemble at the Railway Station and from there we were taken to the main Army Cantonment area. The best part which I like about SSB is you get to meet people from all over India. Right from Jammu & Kashmir to Manipur and Kerela, you have everybody there. The moment we entered the our SBB which was 20 SSB, Bhopal, we were astonished by the beauty of the whole place. It was no less than a palace, very clean with lush green garden in front. Our room were also very spacious with all the necessary facilities. A total of 6 candidates were allocated a room. I was lucky that all the guys in my room were really friendly and warm. We become very good friends on the very first day. That night went into studying and preparing for the written test to be held next.

Next day we gave the exam and luckily all my friends and I got screened in. To celebrate wedecided to visit the famous National park of Bhopal “Van Vihar”. Its was situated at the banks of theBhopal Lake. I really liked the whole concept of Van Vihar, where animals were fenced but at thesame time were provided their natural habitats to live. We saw all sort of wild animals viz Lion,tiger, leopard, bear, crocodile, alligator and many more. I love wildlife and natural photography andclicked many photos there.

The next 4 days at the SSB were great, after completing the test and tasks for that particularday we traveled to many new places to explore Bhopal. We went to Tajul Mazid, one of the largest inIndia. Bharat Bhavan, the first Art Museum which I visited in my life. I was totally mesmerized bythe imagination and creativity artist devote to their paintings. At last the place which was mypersonal favourite , the Lake View. Its the complete hang out place of Bhopal, its always crowded byyoungsters, flaunting their bikes and girl friends. The view of the lake was a treat to eyes.

At last the day came, conference and our final result. Everybody was nervous but franklyspeaking I wasn't, I enjoyed each second that I spend at SSB and gave my best. Rest was up to them.The result was a disaster, only 4 amoung 65 candidates who came were recommended further. Itwas a shock to everybody. I felt bad not for me but for a couple of my friends who were verydeserving. But we had to accept the result, we were returned to the railway stations. The bond offriendship that we shared in past 5 days was so strong that regardless of the result we were happytogether. We all departed to our respective trains and promised to be in touch with each otherthrough internet.

I had one of my best time at SSB and would always remember Bhopal and my friends.

Click here to see more photos
Click here to visit our 20 SSB batch community on Orkut