Inspirational pics!!

Origami Tulip

Spotted a lot of Tulip bloom this spring. Made an origami Tulip today -->




 

 

Folding steps in diagrams: Here
Diagrams with Instructions: Here
Youtube video Instructions: Here

None of these instructions are mine... lol

Heartbroken

Heartbroken by Heise

The world is so cruel. It makes u think that you are going to get what you desire. It really convinces you. Even if you are a person who deal things mildly whether it is joy or sorrow, the world makes you believe that now there is no way you wont get it.

Finally I let my heart have a little joy. Yes, I got it, so happy now. Even though it seemed like a dream, I believed that I got it. And when the time came it was cruelly snatched away, slipping out from the gap of fingers, so close, but couldn't make it... Why did this happen?.......  I could have lived with out it, I dint have any hopes from the start. I would somehow live my dull life, but you gave me desire. My heart which was not used to wishing and hoping so much, soared at the thought of what I was about to get, it is all my mistake, i fell in to the trap of this mirage. Now my heart, it lies there.... wings cut, broken, shattered... tears cant heal it... When it heals the scars of this wound would be so tough that my heart would never hope again, it would never dare to be happy again only to fall in to the deep trench of sorrow...  It will grow cold... For the fear of losing it would never try for anything again, for the fear of disappointment it would never wish/expect anything again... it will be closed forever to everything, it can no more be called heart, just a part of body with no emotions or desire in it..... I am dead until i die, until i leave this body and mind,  until my rebirth... all thanks to this cruel world...

Live for yourself!

In the present world where money has become everything, we make the common mistake of trying to impress others(often our "enemies") with our status/job/luxuries.... We work so much towards in that direction... to get a new huge house, new car, highly paying job, great body, the list goes on...

All these are good things, definitely.... only if it gives you peace and happiness...

You get a new house/car on loan... You are happy when others praise it... But at the end of the day, you are not able to sleep peacefully in the house because you have to spend coming years working hard to pay the loan...

You go for a highly paid and respected profession that you don't even love, you work with out sleep for that promotion which will just increase your workload with out much increase in income... If it is not what you love... then why? Is it not enough to do a job you love, be a real pro at it and earn what is enough, perhaps a little surplus too... You don't have to earn too much, you are gonna be dead in another 50 years anyways... so don't forget to live your life while you are alive...

It is not necessary to get an awesome body that they show in the ads unless you really love to look so... If you are comfortable being healthily chubby, you don't have to crawl to gim everyday and hate all those rigorous  work outs. Well, I don't think someone can work out that much with out really wanting a great body, so noone need to be told like this probably... lol

Come on friends, we got to stop living to impress others... let's...
DO what we truly love,
BE who we truly are and
LIVE for our loved ones...

Must have free android apps 2012

The following are list of android apps I have on my phone and wouldn't ever uninstall. All of them serve there purpose really well, do not eat up phone(or SD) space and battery, have no annoying ad pop ups and all of them are FREE!! They are best of their kind. Do try them!

1. Android Assistant(18 features)

(Average rating: 4.5 from 54,858 votes)
It helps manage and improve phone's performance. Features of this app which I use most are:
a. Process Manager (Auto Boost and Quick Boost can distinguish different types of processes thus will not kill fatal system processes and apps in Ignore List.)
b. Cache Cleaner (saves a lot of memory)
c. System Clean (Browser History, Clipboard, Market History, Gmail History, Google Earth History, Google Map History)
d. Save Battery Settings (bluetooth, wifi, gps, auto-sync, orientation, haptic feedback, screen brightness, timeout)
e. File Manager (allows to browse through files in SD cards)
f. Batch Uninstall (I use this a lot since I install and uninstall apps a lot)
g. App 2 SD (helps save phone memory)

These are just 8 of the 18 features. To check out the 18 features and know more about this app, go to google play official site: Android Assistant.

2. Antivirus Free

(Average rating: 4.5 from 56,720 votes)
I have used a lot of antivirus app and I guess this one is the best. It detects application install automatically and let you know if the app is safe or malicious. It detects faster than other antivirus app. It is lightweight too.
To check out and know more about this app, go to google play official site: Antivirus Free

3.Bathing Cat

(Average rating: 4.6 from 32,224 votes)
The green battery bar on android gives me no estimate of how much battery I have left. I want an exact figure you know, in percentage. And sometimes while charging my battery gets so heated up that I wonder if my phone is gonna burst! So this app helps me with these two rants.

It tells you percentage of battery charge remaining, no the app doesn't tell you, the cute kitten tells you! The kitten as name tells loves to bath. The water in it's tub represents battery level. If you are charging you phone you can see water filling the tub from a pipe. If water level is too low(you can set how low) the kitten becomes so angry and asks you to charge, cool right?
It also tells you the temperature of battery. If it gets too hot(you can set how hot), the cat starts sweating and asks "Am I on sun?!" It also asks a dozen other things, reminds you to have lunch, go to sleep etc. Yes you get a companion on your home screen!! You can bath it, feed it etc, no you don't have a choice, she will get very upset if you don't feed her milk. I guess I got too excited talking about this!
Anyway, check it out here: Bathing cat.

4. MixZing Media Player

(Average rating: 4.4 from 66,241 votes)

I was not really impressed with the built-in media player. Searching for songs, playing by folder, making playlists etc. could be easier. So I tried out media players from the market and found MixZing to be the best!
Music ID identifies your songs, even those without valid tags, and lets you clean up their tags and album art. Displays lyrics for millions of songs. Sleep timer is another great feature.

Check it out at MixZIng media player.

5. Uva silent widget camera

(Average rating: 4.0 from 6,643 votes)

I love to take photos in the dim light of restaurants but the loud clicking sound of camera embarrasses me. So I got this one. Two complaints that I have: It saves photos to different folder in SD, viewing it right after we take to see if it came out well, is a little difficult since it saves away the photo and gets ready to take a new one right away!

Anyways, here is Uva silent widget camera.

6. Screen Filter

(Average rating: 4.7 from 13,279 votes)

I read myself into sleep. It is possible to decrease brightness in phone settings to 11%, but it still is too bright to read/play games at night. Screen Filter applies a shade that acts as a dimmer to ensure eyes don't hurt.

You can find it here: Screen Filter

7. Sundroid Free Sunrise Sunrise

(Average rating: 4.4 from 1,233 votes)
Why would anyone want to know sunrise and sunset time? Well, I go for jogging a little before sunset or a little after sunrise. And this is the best out there for the purpose. Worldwide sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset times on your phone! Sundroid Free Sunrise Sunrise

8. Path tracking lite.

(Average rating: 4.2 from 337 votes)
Path Tracking Lite records your GPS positions while you perform activities such as Walk/Run, Driving and Bike. Each activity is drawn with different color on the map. It display current and average speed, calories burned, time and distance information while performing activities. You can save and review all these information later for analysis. Pretty accurate and lightweight! Path Tracking lite.

9. SoundHound

(Average rating: 4.4 from 137,664 votes)
Unlimited music recognition! With the world's fastest music recognition and exclusive singing search, SoundHound is instant music search and discovery. SoundHound

10. 20000 Awesome Jokes

 (Average rating: 4.3 from 10,527 votes)

 Have a long journey to office, get this. No net conn. required. 20000 jokes in 40+ categories! Only if you are a person who likes jokes! :P
20000 Awesome Jokes

So, these are the apps from the "google play store" the old android market that I think are must-have!! What are your favorites?

Success -how hard you should try before you give up?

The answer is until you succeed!

Abraham Lincoln had faced numerous failures before he became president. His story inspires us to not give-up no matter how many times we fail... with the right effort, success will be ours!

A list of Abraham Lincoln’s Failures:

• Lost job, 1832
• Defeated for legislature, 1832
• Failed in business, 1833
• Elected to legislature, 1834
• Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835
• Had nervous breakdown, 1836
• Defeated for Speaker, 1838
• Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843
• Elected to Congress, 1846
• Lost renomination, 1848
• Rejected for Land Officer, 1849
• Defeated for Senate, 1854
• Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856
• Again defeated for Senate, 1858
• Elected President, 1860
  
  

success quote -Winston Churchill

The Ass and The Charger

I came across an Aesop's fable, thought of sharing ... nothing new, we all have read/heard it in our childhood...

Once, there lived an Ass and a Charger. The Ass was leading a very hard life. Everyday, it had to carry heavy load from dawn to dusk. Still it wouldn't get much to eat. It was beaten when it was tired or lazy. There was also a Charger who lived in the same house. It was living a sweet life. The horse was fed healthy food. There were servants to take care of it. The owner would take a ride on the majestic horse in the morning. The horse was leading nothing less than a royal life. The Ass envied the Charger very much. Its only duty was just to stay there beautifully, or so the Ass thought.

The war broke out and the charger was taken to the battlefield. It was wounded and died. Then, the Ass thought... Even though I am leading a hard life, even though I am not regarded by my owners, at least I am safe...

Moral: Be not hasty to envy the condition of others.

Aesop's fables

Persistence is the key!

Do not give up! It might be a long journey, but victory will definitely be yours. You do not fail even if you dont win, but you do if you quit. Hang in there, it can't take so long...

DIY comb holder from cookie box

             Don't you just hate it when you can not find your comb when you are running late for work? Here is a cute comb holder that will cost you nothing... If there is an empty cookie carton lying around you can start right away!!

Step 1: Find the cookie carton, cut it as shown below:

Step 2: Cover the box by pasting some paper on it. I used plain white paper so that I can draw something on it. You can use some colored decoration paper too! It is enough to cover the side of the box which will be seen outside. I am so lazy that I covered one side only :D

Step 3: Now paint or write something cute on it! Place a double sided tape to the back side. (The words on the paper: "Experience is the comb nature gives men when they are bald -Chinese proverb)...
Aren't my comb and frog cute?!...

Step 4: Your comb holder is ready! Stick it on a wall or cupboard near your mirror!

 

101.1 Determine and configure hardware settings

Topic 101: System Architecture

101.1 Determine and configure hardware settings

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to determine and configure fundamental system hardware.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Enable and disable integrated peripherals.
  BIOS(Basic Input/Output System): It is the firmware located in a PC, which is responsible for bringing all of the system hardware to a state at which it is ready to boot an operating system. When the PC starts up, the first job for the BIOS is the power-on self-test  (POST), which initializes and identifies system devices such as the CPU, RAM, video display card, keyboard and mouse, hard disk drive, optical disc drive and other hardware. The BIOS then locates boot loader software held on a peripheral device (designated as a 'boot device') and loads and executes that software, giving it control of the PC. This process is known as booting. A BIOS has a user interface (UI), typically a menu system accessed by pressing a certain key on the keyboard when the PC starts. In the BIOS UI, a user can:
  
  • configure hardware
  • set the system (h/w) clock, which will provide time to OS on startup. #hwclock synchronize
  • enable or disable system components
  • select which devices are eligible to be a potential boot device
  • set various password prompts, such as a password for securing access to the BIOS user interface functions itself and preventing malicious users from booting the system from unauthorized peripheral devices.

• Configure systems with or without external peripherals such as keyboards.
• Differentiate between the various types of mass storage devices. Attachment interfaces :
  
• IDE/ATA (Integrated Drive Electronics / Advanced Technology Attachment) 
• SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment)
• PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment)
  all use the ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) standard to communicate with the device.
  The SCSI family of attachment interfaces is not hardware-compatible with the ATA family.

• Set the correct hardware ID for different devices, especially the boot device.
• Know the differences between coldplug and hotplug devices.
• Determine hardware resources for devices.
  /proc kernel.org
  /proc  /proc is a pseudo-filesystem(contain virtual files, size zero) which is used as an interface to kernel data structures. The numbered directories in /proc represent processes running on the system(number = process id number from ps command).
  
  The proc files, interrupts, dma, and ioports, show how system resources are currently utilized.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  # /proc/interrupts

          CPU0          
    0:   80448940          XT-PIC  timer 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  The first column refers to the IRQ number(interrupt request priority, 1-15). Each CPU in the system has its own column and its own number of interrupts per IRQ. The next column reports the type of interrupt(XT-PIC , IO-APIC-edge,IO-APIC-level) , and the last column contains the name of the device that is located at that IRQ.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  # /proc/dma

   4: cascade

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This file contains a list of the registered ISA direct memory access (DMA) channels in use.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  # /proc/ioports
  0000-001f : dma1
  0020-003f : pic1
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  a list of currently registered port regions, used for input or output communication with a device.
  The first column gives the I/O port address range reserved for the device listed in the second column.
  



• Tools and utilities to list various hardware information
  
  Report hardware => lsmod, lsdev, and lspci.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  #lsmod
  Module Size      Used by         Not tainted
  vfat       12844   0 (autoclean)
  fat         38328   0 (autoclean)   [vfat]
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  The lsmod command displays all the information available about currently loaded modules. The output of lsmod is a series of columns identifying the module name, its size, its use number(number of modules referring it), and its status(name of referring modules).
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  # lspci
  00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82815 815 (contd.)
  00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82815 (contd.)
  00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 03)
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  The lspci command displays information about your system’s PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect) buses and your installed PCI devices. This information is found primarily within /proc.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  #lsdev
  Device    DMA  IRQ  I/O Ports
  ------------------------------
  ATI                             c800-c8ff
  bttv                     10
  Creative                       e800-e81f ec00-ec07
  dma                              0080-008f
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  The lsdev command displays information about your system’s hardware, such as interrupt addresses
  and I/O ports. The command is useful for obtaining information prior to installing devices that may have hardware addressing conflicts, such as ISA (Industry Standard Architecture is a computer bus standard) devices. This command uses DMA files in /proc to also report I/O addresses and IRQ and DMA channel information. There are no options for lsdev. The output lists information in four columns: device name, DMA address, IRQ address, and I/O ports.
  
  Manipulating Modules=> lsmod, insmod, rmmod, modinfo, modprobe. (to list, insert, remove and query modules)
  
  insmod
  #insmod [options -s, -v] modulename
  Insert a module into the running kernel.(has to be superuser) Exist status 1 indicate error(dependency error of prerequisite modules, use modeprob)
  
  rmmod
  #rmmod [options -s, -a] modulename
  The rmmod command is used to remove modules from the running kernel.(superuser, no referring modules)
  
  modinfo
  #modinfo [options -a, -d, -p] module_object_file
  Display information about a module from its module_object_file
  eg: modinfo -d /lib/modules/2.2.5-15smp/misc/zftape.o
  
  modprob
  #modprobe [options -a, -c, -l, -s, -r, -t] module [symbol=value ...]
  In addition to loading single modules, modprobe has the ability to load modules along with their prerequisites or all modules stored in a specific directory. The modprobe command can also remove modules when combined with the -r option. (-t moduletype : Attempt to load multiple modules found in the directory moduletype until a module succeeds or all modules in moduletype are exhausted. Attempt to load available network modules until one succeeds: # modprobe -t net .Attempt to load all available network modules: # modprobe -at net)

• Tools and utilities to manipulate USB devices
  
• Conceptual understanding of sysfs, udev, hald, dbus

Terms and Utilities

• /sys
• /proc
• /dev
• modprobe
• lsmod
• lspci
• lsusb 

=================================================================

LPIC 1

LPIC 1 syllabus as seen in the official site:

To pass Level 1 you should be able to:

• Work at the Linux command line
• Perform easy maintenance tasks: help out users, add users to a larger system, backup & restore, shutdown & reboot
• Install and configure a workstation (including X) and connect it to a LAN, or a stand-alone PC via modem to the Internet.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Topic 101 System Architecture
Topic 102 Linux Installation and Package Management
Topic 103 GNU and Unix Commands
Topic 104 Devices, Linux Filesystems, Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Topic 101: System Architecture

101.1 Determine and configure hardware settings

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to determine and configure fundamental system hardware.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Enable and disable integrated peripherals.
• Configure systems with or without external peripherals such as keyboards.
• Differentiate between the various types of mass storage devices.
• Set the correct hardware ID for different devices, especially the boot device.
• Know the differences between coldplug and hotplug devices.
• Determine hardware resources for devices.
• Tools and utilities to list various hardware information (e.g. lsusb, lspci, etc.)
• Tools and utilities to manipulate USB devices
• Conceptual understanding of sysfs, udev, hald, dbus

Terms and Utilities

• /sys
• /proc
• /dev
• modprobe
• lsmod
• lspci
• lsusb

---

101.2 Boot the system

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to guide the system through the booting process.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Provide common commands to the boot loader and options to the kernel at boot time.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the boot sequence from BIOS to boot completion.
• Check boot events in the log files.

Terms and Utilities

• /var/log/messages
• dmesg
• BIOS
• bootloader
• kernel
• init

---

101.3 Change runlevels and shutdown or reboot system

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to manage the runlevel of the system. This objective includes changing to single user mode, shutdown or rebooting the system. Candidates should be able to alert users before switching runlevel and properly terminate processes. This objective also includes setting the default runlevel..

Key Knowledge Areas

• Set the default runlevel.
• Change between run levels including single user mode.
• Shutdown and reboot from the command line.
• Alert users before switching runlevels or other major system event.
• Properly terminate processes.

Terms and Utilities

• /etc/inittab
• shutdown
• init
• /etc/init.d
• telinit

---

Topic 102: Linux Installation and Package Management

102.1 Design hard disk layout

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to design a disk partitioning scheme for a Linux system.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Allocate filesystems and swap space to separate partitions or disks.
• Tailor the design to the intended use of the system.
• Ensure the /boot partition conforms to the hardware architecture requirements for booting.

Terms and Utilities

• / (root) filesystem
• /var filesystem
• /home filesystem
• swap space
• mount points
• partitions

---

102.2 Install a boot manager

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to select, install and configure a boot manager.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Providing alternative boot locations and backup boot options.
• Install and configure a boot loader such as GRUB.
• Interact with the boot loader.

Terms and Utilities

• /boot/grub/menu.lst
• grub-install
• MBR
• superblock
• /etc/lilo.conf
• lilo

---

102.3 Manage shared libraries

• Weight: 1
• Description: Candidates should be able to determine the shared libraries that executable programs depend on and install them when necessary.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Identify shared libraries.
• Identify the typical locations of system libraries.
• Load shared libraries.

Terms and Utilities

• ldd
• ldconfig
• /etc/ld.so.conf
• LD_LIBRARY_PATH

---

102.4 Use Debian package management

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to perform package management using the Debian package tools.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Install, upgrade and uninstall Debian binary packages.
• Find packages containing specific files or libraries which may or may not be installed.
• Obtain package information like version, content, dependencies, package integrity and installation status (whether or not the package is installed).

Terms and Utilities

• /etc/apt/sources.list
• dpkg
• dpkg-reconfigure
• apt-get
• apt-cache
• aptitude

---

102.5 Use RPM and YUM package management

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to perform package management using RPM and YUM tools.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Install, re-install, upgrade and remove packages using RPM and YUM.
• Obtain information on RPM packages such as version, status, dependencies, integrity and signatures.
• Determine what files a package provides, as well as find which package a specific file comes from.

Terms and Utilities

• rpm
• rpm2cpio
• /etc/yum.conf
• /etc/yum.repos.d/
• yum
• yumdownloader

---

Topic 103: GNU and Unix Commands

103.1 Work on the command line

• Weight: 4
• Description: Candidates should be able to interact with shells and commands using the command line. The objective assumes the bash shell.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Use single shell commands and one line command sequences to perform basic tasks on the command line.
• Use and modify the shell environment including defining, referencing and exporting environment variables.
• Use and edit command history.
• Invoke commands inside and outside the defined path.

Terms and Utilities

• .
• bash
• echo
• env
• exec
• export
• pwd
• set
• unset
• man
• uname
• history

---

103.2 Process text streams using filters

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should should be able to apply filters to text streams.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Send text files and output streams through text utility filters to modify the output using standard UNIX commands found in the GNU textutils package.

Terms and Utilities

• cat
• cut
• expand
• fmt
• head
• od
• join
• nl
• paste
• pr
• sed
• sort
• split
• tail
• tr
• unexpand
• uniq
• wc

---

103.3 Perform basic file management

• Weight: 4
• Description: Candidates should be able to use the basic Linux commands to manage files and directories.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Copy, move and remove files and directories individually.
• Copy multiple files and directories recursively.
• Remove files and directories recursively.
• Use simple and advanced wildcard specifications in commands.
• Using find to locate and act on files based on type, size, or time.
• Usage of tar, cpio and dd.

Terms and Utilities

• cp
• find
• mkdir
• mv
• ls
• rm
• rmdir
• touch
• tar
• cpio
• dd
• file
• gzip
• gunzip
• bzip2
• file globbing

---

103.4 Use streams, pipes and redirects

• Weight: 4
• Description: Candidates should be able to redirect streams and connect them in order to efficiently process textual data. Tasks include redirecting standard input, standard output and standard error, piping the output of one command to the input of another command, using the output of one command as arguments to another command and sending output to both stdout and a file..

Key Knowledge Areas

• Redirecting standard input, standard output and standard error.
• Pipe the output of one command to the input of another command.
• Use the output of one command as arguments to another command.
• Send output to both stdout and a file.

Terms and Utilities

• tee
• xargs

---

103.5 Create, monitor and kill processes

• Weight: 4
• Description: Candidates should be able to perform basic process management.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Run jobs in the foreground and background.
• Signal a program to continue running after logout.
• Monitor active processes.
• Select and sort processes for display.
• Send signals to processes.

Terms and Utilities

• &
• bg
• fg
• jobs
• kill
• nohup
• ps
• top
• free
• uptime
• killall

---

103.6 Modify process execution priorities

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should should be able to manage process execution priorities.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Know the default priority of a job that is created.
• Run a program with higher or lower priority than the default..
• Change the priority of a running process.

Terms and Utilities

• nice
• ps
• renice
• top

---

103.7 Search text files using regular expressions

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to manipulate files and text data using regular expressions. This objective includes creating simple regular expressions containing several notational elements. It also includes using regular expression tools to perform searches through a filesystem or file content.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Create simple regular expressions containing several notational elements.
• Use regular expression tools to perform searches through a filesystem or file content.

Terms and Utilities

• grep
• egrep
• fgrep
• sed
• regex(7)

---

103.8 Perform basic file editing operations using vi

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to edit text files using vi. This objective includes vi navigation, basic vi modes, inserting, editing, deleting, copying and finding text.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Navigate a document using vi.
• Use basic vi modes.
• Insert, edit, delete, copy and find text.

Terms and Utilities

• vi
• /, ?
• h,j,k,l
• i, o, a
• c, d, p, y, dd, yy
• ZZ, :w!, :q!, :e!

---

Topic 104: Devices, Linux Filesystems, Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

104.1 Create partitions and filesystems

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to configure disk partitions and then create filesystems on media such as hard disks. This includes the handling of swap partitions.

Key Knowledge Areas

• ext2
• ext3
• xfs
• reiserfs v3
• vfat

Terms and Utilities

• fdisk
• mkfs
• mkswap

---

104.2 Maintain the integrity of filesystems

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to maintain a standard filesystem, as well as the extra data associated with a journaling filesystem.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Verify the integrity of filesystems.
• Monitor free space and inodes.
• Repair simple filesystem problems.

Terms and Utilities

• du
• df
• fsck
• e2fsck
• mke2fs
• debugfs
• dumpe2fs
• tune2fs
• xfs tools

---

104.3 Control mounting and unmounting of filesystems

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to configure the mounting of a filesystem.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Manually mount and unmount filesystems.
• Configure filesystem mounting on bootup.
• Configure user mountable removeable filesystems.

Terms and Utilities

• /etc/fstab
• /media
• mount
• umount

---

104.4 Manage disk quotas

• Weight: 1
• Description: Candidates should be able to manage disk quotas for users.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Set up a disk quota for a filesystem.
• Edit, check and generate user quota reports.

Terms and Utilities

• quota
• edquota
• repquota
• quotaon

---

104.5 Manage file permissions and ownership

• Weight: 3
• Description: Candidates should be able to control file access through the proper use of permissions and ownerships.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Manage access permissions on regular and special files as well as directories.
• Use access modes such as suid, sgid and the sticky bit to maintain security.
• Know how to change the file creation mask.
• Use the group field to grant file access to group members.

Terms and Utilities

• chmod
• umask
• chown
• chgrp

---

104.6 Create and change hard and symbolic links

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be able to create and manage hard and symbolic links to a file.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Create links.
• Identify hard and/or softlinks.
• Copying versus linking files.
• Use links to support system administration tasks.

Terms and Utilities

• ln

---

104.7 Find system files and place files in the correct location

• Weight: 2
• Description: Candidates should be thouroughly familiar with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), including typical file locations and directory classifications.

Key Knowledge Areas

• Understand the correct locations of files under the FHS.
• Find files and commands on a Linux system.
• Know the location and purpose of important file and directories as defined in the FHS.

Terms and Utilities

• find
• locate
• updatedb
• whereis
• which
• type
• /etc/updatedb.conf

DIY wall decor

These days I am so lazy and opt for home delivered food a lot. Hence I have a lot of those containers in which pasta and such are delivered. So I thought, why not try to make some sort of wall decor using them.

You will need, any kind of container with a transparent lid, knife, scissor, glue, sellotape, both side glued tape and most important of all, a painting/photo/collage of magazine cutouts, anything you would like to see on your wall.

Step 1: Find the container, cut out the painting/photo/paper to fit the size of the container.

Step 2: If you are using a painting or a photo skip to step 3.

If you are doing a collage with magazine cut-outs, paste your cut-outs on the paper. Add some words. Colour the free space. Use some glitter here and there. I found only a wedding magazine around, so I cut out a few which looked good to me. I wrote "Two souls, one heart."  (French saying used on poesy rings). I used pink and blue color pencils on the empty space too.

I didn't really put a lot of effort in making it, maybe you can do a better job. There could be many themes like pets, your religion, food and drinks, beauty and cosmetics etc depending upon where you are planning to hang it...

Step3: Now we need to stick the paper to the container. Stick the sellotape to the paper and the container as shown:

Cover the container with the paper and put sellotape to the other end of the paper too:

Cover the container with its transparent lid:

Step 4: Stick the double sided tape to the bottom of the container, this part goes to the wall:

Remove the paper and stick it to the wall!! That is all!!

I hope you try it too... Have a nice day <3

Pressure makes Diamond!

(contd from Gratitude prayer...) It is difficult to not to complain about the problems in life and you are asking me to thank for it?! Yes, with out challenges you won't grow or learn. There is a beautiful metaphor, Butterfly struggle story. Read it here.

You know how a caterpillar has to break out of its cocoon with its young tender wings before transforming to the beautiful butterfly. Why does poor caterpillar have to go through all these struggles? The cocoon should crack open on its own right? The caterpillar's struggle to crack open the cocoon with its tender wings gives its wings the strength to fly out, else it would remain a worm with weak wings.

Tell me, do you want to escape all challenges and be weak or go through it and be strong? Let us endure all the struggles and be the tough person who can tell difficulties that I am too difficult for you! When it seems too tough, remember... you have faced struggles before... you have survived all those and you are still here... These too shall pass...

Do you pray everyday?

Do believe in God? Are you sure God exists? Do you trust God or Do you doubt that God may abandon you on times of difficulty? Do you pray? Does your prayer contain anything other than your needs and complaints?

Even if your answer to the above questions are no, I recommend that you pray everyday before going to bed. It does not have to be related to your religion. If you at least believe that you and the world you live in has a creator, Is it too much thank that creator for what you have received and receiving daily? Gratitude is an important value. If you remember and appreciate every little thing in your life that make your life easy, you can lead a content life - rather than fussing over what you don't have always :-P

Okay, If you think this makes sense, take a minute before sleeping to silently pray or just talk to your creator. Thank for everything, everrryyyything. I pray something like this, You can come up with your own.

We seldom think about the nature, right? Imagine a day with out sun, clean air and water! Yes, those are gifts we are receiving since ever. Let us thank for it. Food, clothes and shelter... what would we do with out these? Let us not forget to thank. We should be thanking for being alive itself, for our healthy mind and body as well. How can we not thank for our loving family and friends? <3....

It is difficult to not to complain about the problems in life and you are asking me to thank for it?! (contd to Pressure makes diamond....) ;-)

And most of all, we should thank God for the unconditional Love. I think It is the greatest blessing of all. Whatever you do, God will still love you. (Not that you are licensed to do anything :-P, be a good child and don't hurt others... and be true to your conscience...) God keeps you in the middle of palm and watches over you 24*7. You will never know what it is like to be abandoned by God. Let us love our God too...

Gold N' Pink Glittery Nails!!!

Golden at the top of the nails, merging to the pink at the bottom - coated with silver glitter polishes.

You will need!!

Base coat, Pink nail polish, Golden color polish, Silver glitter polish.

Apply the base coat. After it dries, apply pink nail polish at the bottom 1/4 of the nail. Wait for it to dry. Then take a little of the pink polish and apply small light stokes from the bottom of the nails to 1/2 way up to create a smudging effect. 

Like wise apply the Golden on the top half. Apply the silver glitter on the pink portion.. yeay!!

Energy of mind.

To be having a mind full of energy is vital for any success or progress you wish for. Journey to any achievement involves tough path where it takes every bit of energy you have to keep you moving forward towards your goal. While physical illness, negative thoughts, negative energy of others can reduce your energy, you may need to put some effort to flush out all these with positive thoughts and keep going. Telling your mind consciously how much happiness a success can bring and how things can change will boost your energy.

It is easier said than done to keep an energetic mindset always. Sometimes we even lack the energy to crawl out of bed the day on a rainy day. Or to go for that outing when you are just not feeling well. Sometimes we just want to stay dormant. It is not that bad, is it? I mean it will be weird if we run around 365 days full of energy. Just remember to come off the phase quick and return to the hyper-active busy body you are... :)

EXPLORE.DREAM.DISCOVER

 People in general do not like change. We find it tough to step out of our comfort zones. Whenever an opportunity knocks our door, we tend to think "Hmm, why should I go for this?, I am fine this way...". Years later when you look back, you might even think "I could have done something while I had better health and opportunity"... Do not let that happen!

 
Even you are very busy, squeeze in some time for some fun! Learn a language, Join some club and do some activities, go for some sports, find a new hobby... any, spend time with family(parents,spouse and kids), sing, dance, try everything you have talent for and those you don't. Last but not the least, dream about achieving one step higher than what you have already and achieve it...

                                                     EXPLORE.DREAM.DISCOVER.

DSL at 100Mbps?!

DSL (Digital subscriber line) is a family of technologies that provide internet access by transmitting digital data over the wires of a local telephone network. The data bit rate of consumer DSL services typically ranges from 256 kbit/s to 40 Mbit/s, contrasting to a 100Mbit/s of an optic fiber transmission. While running fiber to millions of individual homes is one expensive construction project, Alcatel-Lucent() announces commercial rollout of a latest DSL technology, called VDSL2, with vectoring. VDSL2 vectoring can use legacy telephone access networks with a data rate 3 times of conventional DSL i.e; 100Mbps!

Michael Peeters, chief technology officer of Alcatel-Lucent’s wire-line division, says "Cross talk limits bandwidth by corrupting the signals that are transmitting information.Cross talk can be eliminated by estimating how much one line is leaking into another and then cancelling out that interference with calculations performed by hardware installed in the street cabinet. Cross talk estimation uses what’s called an error vector, which is sent from a user’s home equipment back to the cabinet. The receiving equipment there knows what the signal should look like, and the difference is a good measure of the amount of cross talk between a wire and all the wires around it."

A basic vectored DSL system.

The term vector is used because the DSL’s individual physical layer voltages can be viewed as a coordinated set or vector of voltages. The group or vector is processed by a common signal processing device for downstream transmission and also for upstream reception as shown in Figure. Essentially, the vector/MIMO processor performs pre-processing of the transmitted signal in downstream transmission via pre-coding or linear pre-filtering, and joint processing of the received signals in the upstream via receive filtering and successive cancellation. This group processing allows cancellation or removal of crosstalk. The gain from the vectoring is largest when all the lines in the binder are processed simultaneously, but even partial vectoring or independent cancellation by different operators provide significant improvement over non-vectored systems.

Level 3 DSM is known as vectoring (Ginis and Cioffi, 2002) and allows for special processing methods in a DSLAM to essentially eliminate all crosstalk between lines, leading to 100s of Mbps speeds in DSL.

get the list and status of device drivers(modules) loaded

The command "lsmod" lists the loaded modules and their status. It prints the content of  /proc/modules file.

#lsmod [-h, -V]

It outputs the following columns:
Module, Size, Used by.
(name of the module; it's size; number of referring modules {use count}and list of referring modules).

Eg:
=====================

# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
af_packet              27392  2

======================

To unload a loaded module:

#rmmod [modulename]

rmmod  will  refuse to unload modules which are in use(use count != 0).

-w --wait option:  rmmod will isolate  the  module,  and wait  until  the module is no longer used.

-f --force option:  rmmod removes modules which are being used, or which are not designed to be removed

 or have been marked as unsafe. It has no effect unless CONFIG_MODULE_FORCE_UNLOAD was set

 when kernel was compiled.

Tokyo Sky Tree

"Tokyo Sky Tree" is located in the Narihirabashi/Oshiage area of Sumida Ward, Tokyo in 2012. It reached its full height of 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the second tallest structure in the world after Burj Khalifa (829.84 m/2,723 ft).

The base of the tower has a structure similar to a tripod; from a height of about 350 m (1,150 ft) and above, the tower's structure is cylindrical to withstand very strong winds. Needless to say. the tower is designed seismic proof. Officially the colour of Sky Tree is "Sky Tree White". This is an original colour based on a bluish white traditional Japanese colour called aijiro. At first site it looks silver or that kind of metallic white.

There are said to be two illumination patterns (sky blue and purple), but we will have to wait until the Tower opens on 22 May 2012 to know for real. Tower looks magnificient lighted up, they do a testing once in a while. A not-so-clear video is here:

 

Design Concept is said "To not only be the world's highest, but the world's most striking in appearance and affinity". And "To Be a New Symbol of Tradition and the Cutting Edge, To Be the Gate to Urban Revitalization, To Be a Tower Watching Over Safety and Security".

Here is the official website!

Sakura and Sky tree.

 

Crop top and Hem skirt by sbeautyqueen featuring vintage tops

Calypso St Barth vintage top
$295 - calypsostbarth.com

Motel sweetheart neckline top
£22 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Lightweight skirt
$25 - romwe.com

Fairy tale nail ;)

   I always loved experimenting on nails using all the nail polishes lying around. I started growing long nails since I was like 13 years old!, and that too on both hands!! While I did'nt have access to all these magazines and DIY tutorials, my mom's beautiful hands with long nails were my inspiration. She has such beautiful, young-looking hands <3....

Well, my art may not do justice to its name, but let me share with you my work :D

Ok, first I wore my nail color base coat. I have dark color separation where the nails starts to grow out. It shows when I am wearing a light polish. Hence, I wore a pale rose polish at the bottom, slowly blending it to the color of the base coat at the middle of the nail. I hope you can notice the color change.

Then I applied a coat of light gold colored polish with glitter, trying to retain the color of base coat near the cuticle and applying a little thicker towards the bottom. So far it has a nude look with glitter and a gradient of rose to orange from top to bottom.

Fairytale nails

To add more drama, lol, i lined the bottom with pink and applied some blue glitter on the bear pink area near the cuticle....  Do you like it?

These are the colors I used...

What is today's google doodle?

My day started merrily as the google doodle of origami greeted me on the home page of my browser. However I wondered what was special today? world origami day?? No, it was on Nov 11. A a quick googling taught me- today is the birth(and death) anniversary of renown origami maker Akira Yoshizawa. He is known as "grandmaster of origami" and "father of modern origami".

Akira Yoshizawa (14 March 1911 – 14 March 2005) has folded about 50,000 models, according his estimation in 1989, he is also author of 18 origami books!! He is the inventor of the “Wet Origami” technique, paper is moistened to give higher flexibility in making the models.

Akira Yoshizawa with his self portrait

In 1983, Japanese emperor Hirohito named him to the Order of the Rising Sun, one of highest honors that can be given to a Japanese citizen. The Yoshizawa-Randlett system of notations is a standardized way of diagramming the steps involved in folding a particular origami model.

 

12 Japanese zodiac signs folded by Akira Yoshizawa

The butterfly origami on the google doodle must have caught everyone's attention today. This origami butterfly is one of the simple yet great designs by Yoshizawa. If anyone who has never tried their hands at origami feel an interest in this art, get a piece of paper lying around and make a Yoshizawa butterfly today... Here is a super easy video tutorial by origami expert Rob. For the experienced hands, here is a pdf.

Well. I made a couple of them myself today :)

I love folding paper since childhood, origami became my hobby since I moved to Japan. Now gifts/decoration... for anyone/any occasion means origami for me...

Above are few of my best folded ones. I made all of these referring guides online. The bat and jack-o-lantern where decorations made for Halloween. The white spring that you see is an exceptionally difficult model to make and I am very proud of it!! Last waltz and ring box were gifts for my sweet heart. Rest are a penguin, swan, lotus, xmas star, flower and cranes. I usually watch tutorials on youtube rather than diagrams and my favourite origami channels are Rob, Happypuppytruffles, Jonakashima, Tadashimori etc.

I hope those who read this post develop a taste for paper folding and make origami their hobby. Hey, paper folding is said to relieve stress!! And if you have an unfulfilled wish, legend has it that folding 1000 paper cranes will get your wish granted...

Update:
Time Lapse of the google origami doodle: