Well this dates back to the time I was perhaps in my 2nd year of engineering.
My 6 year old monitor had gone bad. So I went out and got myself a cool 19 inch widescreen Samsung flat screen. I had initially planned to get only a 17 inch screen but decided to go for the widescreen one after checking the price difference between them.
So, I come in and plug the beauty to my CPU. The screen glows up and it looks awesome.
But there is something amiss. The screen looks all distended. "Hmm ... Got to do with the widescreen resolution I thought". I went and checked out all the resolutions available. None of them looked fine. On digging further, I found out non of the resolutions available were wide screen(16:10). My immediate thought was.."Driver update".
Upgraded to the latest driver available on the Asus website (my mobo maker). It would not work. Tried different versions..Nothing would work. It did not take me long to realize that nothing would do. Every piece of hardware comes with the firmware that makes it possible for it to talk to other hardware and upper layers of software. Dirver only enables you to speak to this firmware.
In my case, I was running a mobo with on-board graphics and the BIOS did not support widescreen resolutions. And no software upgrade on my OS would fix it.
This meant I had to look for a BIOS upgrade. Asus had stopped releasing updates for my motherboard long back . Even the last BIOS released did not support widescreen resolutions. As you would expect, there was this guy in Finland who had patched the BIOS to support widescreen resolutions. I downloaded it right away.
Now came the difficult part.
I had never done a BIOS upgrade. Back in those days, a BIOS upgrade was considered a thing you would never do.
But I thought, what the hell. This is one part I have never tried on my PC. Come what may, I want to enjoy my new monitor. I am gonna upgrade to the new BIOS.
I was too eager to give a deeper thought.
Off I was to the Asus website, to download the flashing utility.
There were 2 options : Windows flashing utility
A DOS based flashing utility.
I chose the Windows utility. Took a backup of the current BIOS.
I chose the patched BIOS and selected "FLASH".
Next on the screen :
1. Erasing current version a.b.c.d .... Complete
2. Flashing new image version w.x.y.z .. Complete.
3. Verifying image .... Verification failed!.
"Oops..Maybe something went wrong. Let me try it again", I thought.
I did the sequence n number of times. And it would say the same thing everytime.
I knew I was in deep trouble. Atleast I was running Windows and my BIOS would not be rquired till the next reboot. So I started googling for solutions. After 3 hrs of surfing, I realized there was no other go apart from flashing from an external programmer.
And I eventually pressed the shut down button. And as expected, my system would not come back from the next boot.
I called up the supposedly best Computer Service guy and explained what happened.
He asked me to get the system over. I clearly told him that I just needed an external programmer to re-flash it.
But after 3 days of waiting, this guy tells me. Sir, the Display Chip is damaged and that is why the system is not booting up.
I argued enough to explain what the problem was.
I was cursing myself for taking the system to him.
I got back the system immediately.
I then called up Asus support . Atleast the engineer there clearly understood the problem. But due to my misfortune, my mobo was very old and they did not have any programmers or my mobo model.
If they had one, I could have something called hot swapping.
So, what exactly is hot swapping.
Well it is basically taking the bios from a non-booting system where the bios flash went bad or was the wrong version and reflashing it on a working system that has a compatible chip.
I even went to the extent of calling up the vendor who had supplied my PC to check if anyone else had got the same system around that time so that I could flash my BIOS chip on his system. I reached a dead end again.
Eventually, I had to contact a person who was involved in Chip level service to get it flashed.
The fix was a matter of 5 minutes. All I needed was the external programmer.
And I had to shell out 500Rs for it .
Later I came to know that most of the old motherboards shipped with faulty programmers.
So the next time around you want to flash the BIOS of your old system, ask yourself ..
"Do I really need this BIOS upgrade??"
Well, if you are running a reasonably new machine, there is no reason for worry.
Asus motheroards now ship with something called Crash Free BIOS and Gigabyte mobos have dual BIOS chips so that you can boot from the other when 1 crashes. And every motherboard vendor now has one or the other thing to handle Bios flashes going awry.
In fact, I have flashed my new Asus P6T Deluxe several times and never ever faced an issue.
I have to mention that I have left out many specifics in this article to keep it concise....
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
A Dependency Is A Major Weakness
Swami Gulagulaananda said:
"There is no greater weakness than dependency"
I'm sure most of you are aware of this by experience. A dependency is something that will always pull you down. It is something that makes outcomes of certain events uncertain, and makes certain otherwise strong individuals weak.
This post discusses about dependencies in general, and also why auto rickshaws in Bangalore continue to be a problem.
So, what's a dependency?
I am sure that such incidents would have happened with you or you would have been around or heard about incidents such as the following. A group of children are playing cricket, and one of the children brings his brand new bat. This is the only bat for the group of children to play. When the kid who brought the bat gets stumped and becomes out, he refuses, and says he wants to still bat. The rest of the children disagree, and tell him that it's the next person's chance to play. At his, the kid says that he is going to go home, and take his bat along with him.
Now it's the turn of the other children to be stumped. If they ask him to get lost, they end up with no bat, and cannot play. If they allow him to play, he is obviously taking undue advantage by using the bat as a leverage.
Dependencies exist everywhere
Just look around. A man tells his wife to do something. The wife refuses. The man says that he is not going to give her any money, because he is the earning member of his family, and she is just a housewife. She has no other source of income, and finally has to yield to his whims, whether or not she likes it. He uses money as a leverage, while she succumbs to dependency.
Many software applications don't run properly, because certain dependencies (files) are missing. You then have to start hunting for ocx and dll files, register them, etc. If there were no dependencies, life would have been smoother.
Coalition Governments are perhaps a perfect example. For the government to sustain itself, a lot of people need to be kept happy. If they are not happy, they will walk away, and the government collapses. As you can see, as long as the government is dependent on them, there exists a weakness.
A group of people, A, B, C and D decide to work on a project. A, B and D might be very efficient, while C is not good. The work is divided among themselves, and the sequential stages of work is completed by them, in that order. Now, the project will never get completed, as long as they are waiting for C to complete the work.
Autorickshaws in Bangalore are rude, overcharge, don't come to places you ask them to, use rigged meters, etc. And yet, when it is raining, or when you are running late for a meeting, you pay more and hire an autorickshaw. This is because you don't have another option. And so on... There are countless examples for this.
How do you battle dependencies?
The only ways to fight dependencies, is either to be independent or to create alternate solutions - not as simple as it sounds.
You first need to develop a mindset against it. A strong will to not succumb to dependency. And I am saying this, only in places where it is not impossible. For example, when I have to cover a distance of four kilometres, and there are no buses in sight, I walk. And I am talking about times when I don't have meetings, or any time limit. You might ask "What's the big deal in doing that?" The answer is simple - A person such as an autodriver develops an attitude to refuse to go to a place where you ask him to, or develops an attitude of overconfidence or arrogance or complacency only when his stomach is filled. He has the idea that - "If not you, someone else". Every time you walk manageable distances, you are denying him of some money, while it is not a major hit to you. Imaging what will happen if this gets multiplied by a lot of people - Auto drivers will start feeling the pinch. They cannot afford to refuse getting hired.
Have a look at BMTC buses - There are two types, the normal ones and Volvos. The bus conductors and drivers of normal buses are inherently rude. They talk roughly all the time, and the reasons are that they see a lot of people and the buses are overcrowded all the time. They are able to meet the targets set by BMTC - this is because the fares are lower, and so, many people board the buses, and targets are met. So, they even have the audacity to skip bus stops leaving eagerly awaiting commuters high and dry. Volvo buses on the other hand can't afford to do that - Their fares are higher, and so, very few people board them. If they create a negative attitude, existing commuters may find alternate ways. If that happens, they cannot meet targets set. And this is the reason why they stop even when someone stops them.
Apparently auto drivers in Mumbai are very polite. This is obvious - People there go by local trains largely. They also have buses, autos and taxis as other means of transport. If they are not being competitive, they lose out. In Bangalore, if not for BMTC buses, there are no alternate means of transport for Bangaloreans that take them to the interiors. So, auto rickshaws continue to show attitude problems.
"There is no greater weakness than dependency"
I'm sure most of you are aware of this by experience. A dependency is something that will always pull you down. It is something that makes outcomes of certain events uncertain, and makes certain otherwise strong individuals weak.
This post discusses about dependencies in general, and also why auto rickshaws in Bangalore continue to be a problem.
So, what's a dependency?
I am sure that such incidents would have happened with you or you would have been around or heard about incidents such as the following. A group of children are playing cricket, and one of the children brings his brand new bat. This is the only bat for the group of children to play. When the kid who brought the bat gets stumped and becomes out, he refuses, and says he wants to still bat. The rest of the children disagree, and tell him that it's the next person's chance to play. At his, the kid says that he is going to go home, and take his bat along with him.
Now it's the turn of the other children to be stumped. If they ask him to get lost, they end up with no bat, and cannot play. If they allow him to play, he is obviously taking undue advantage by using the bat as a leverage.
Dependencies exist everywhere
Just look around. A man tells his wife to do something. The wife refuses. The man says that he is not going to give her any money, because he is the earning member of his family, and she is just a housewife. She has no other source of income, and finally has to yield to his whims, whether or not she likes it. He uses money as a leverage, while she succumbs to dependency.
Many software applications don't run properly, because certain dependencies (files) are missing. You then have to start hunting for ocx and dll files, register them, etc. If there were no dependencies, life would have been smoother.
Coalition Governments are perhaps a perfect example. For the government to sustain itself, a lot of people need to be kept happy. If they are not happy, they will walk away, and the government collapses. As you can see, as long as the government is dependent on them, there exists a weakness.
A group of people, A, B, C and D decide to work on a project. A, B and D might be very efficient, while C is not good. The work is divided among themselves, and the sequential stages of work is completed by them, in that order. Now, the project will never get completed, as long as they are waiting for C to complete the work.
Autorickshaws in Bangalore are rude, overcharge, don't come to places you ask them to, use rigged meters, etc. And yet, when it is raining, or when you are running late for a meeting, you pay more and hire an autorickshaw. This is because you don't have another option. And so on... There are countless examples for this.
How do you battle dependencies?
The only ways to fight dependencies, is either to be independent or to create alternate solutions - not as simple as it sounds.
You first need to develop a mindset against it. A strong will to not succumb to dependency. And I am saying this, only in places where it is not impossible. For example, when I have to cover a distance of four kilometres, and there are no buses in sight, I walk. And I am talking about times when I don't have meetings, or any time limit. You might ask "What's the big deal in doing that?" The answer is simple - A person such as an autodriver develops an attitude to refuse to go to a place where you ask him to, or develops an attitude of overconfidence or arrogance or complacency only when his stomach is filled. He has the idea that - "If not you, someone else". Every time you walk manageable distances, you are denying him of some money, while it is not a major hit to you. Imaging what will happen if this gets multiplied by a lot of people - Auto drivers will start feeling the pinch. They cannot afford to refuse getting hired.
Have a look at BMTC buses - There are two types, the normal ones and Volvos. The bus conductors and drivers of normal buses are inherently rude. They talk roughly all the time, and the reasons are that they see a lot of people and the buses are overcrowded all the time. They are able to meet the targets set by BMTC - this is because the fares are lower, and so, many people board the buses, and targets are met. So, they even have the audacity to skip bus stops leaving eagerly awaiting commuters high and dry. Volvo buses on the other hand can't afford to do that - Their fares are higher, and so, very few people board them. If they create a negative attitude, existing commuters may find alternate ways. If that happens, they cannot meet targets set. And this is the reason why they stop even when someone stops them.
Apparently auto drivers in Mumbai are very polite. This is obvious - People there go by local trains largely. They also have buses, autos and taxis as other means of transport. If they are not being competitive, they lose out. In Bangalore, if not for BMTC buses, there are no alternate means of transport for Bangaloreans that take them to the interiors. So, auto rickshaws continue to show attitude problems.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
KFC(C) Fou(w)l Play
Swami Gulagulaananda said:
"When you see a dog in the manger, throw a stone at it"
The Kannada film industry has put a limit on the number of theatres showing non-Kannada movies. The reason? People are watching more non-Kannada movies than Kannada movies. So, basically, if the plants in your garden look like they are dying, then go and wreck your neighbours' garden - Why? Hell, I don't know. Somehow, the KFCC is managing to make their idea not sadistic at all...
The idea of movies, people and popularity is simple - Make a good movie, give proper publicity and people will watch it. Why will they not want to watch a good movie? Instead, pathetic movies are made, that get pathetic reviews - Whichever star you pick (As you know, Sandalwood has every actor named like "[Put star Title Here] Star " which could be golden, silver, bronze, crazy, wacky, rebel, mutineer, or whatever... the movie never seemed to get more than one star in ratings, no matter how many super stars you put.
And don't even get me started on the songs - The only good thing about Kannada songs, is that the music is really good these days. But the lyrics makes me puke... every single day. And the radio stations in Bangalore don't know when enough is enough. With their crappy clichéd catch phrases (sakkath hot maga,whatte fun, aithalakadi morning, etc.) they play songs with hopeless lyrics day in and day out. When I started going in Volvo buses, I used to see many people listening to songs from their phones and iPods, and I used to find it strange - Hey, the radio is on, and it's playing refreshing songs with their refreshing RJs. After a really short time, I got it. Most RJs are really annoying, boring and overzealous, jumping to conclusions all the time, and the songs are worse.
The point I am making is this - Yeah, I do agree that you need to have a variety of songs. But the stuff that is being churned out by the industry doesn't qualify to be called as songs. And for all the ruckus that they raise about being true to Kannada, most of these songs have non-Kannada words in them very often. And the Kannada they speak is sub-standard, with no difference existing between alpapraanas andmahapraanas. If you disagree with me, here are some lyrics -
- Swalpa soundu jaasthi maadu, thumba oLLe songidu, ondu roundu hodedu nodu, bhoomi thumba saNNadu
- Yaakoooo, thumbaaaa, bore uuu, erade eradu steppu kuNidu bidoNa...
- ardha litre petrol iththu gaadinali...
- thale baachkolo powder haakolo...
- haLe paathre haLe kabbiNa haLe paper...
This list will be made longer... (You can contribute) And they have the audacity to arrange for best song awards among these... Reminds me of the IgNobel prize.
The point is not that - The point is, instead of making better movies, they are blocking other movies from screening. This is highly unfair. It is very similar to Auto Drivers who drive away private vehicles and other means of public transport after some time at night, so that all the business comes only to them - So that they can charge one and a half, or double! Dogs in the manger you say? Don't succumb to them - Do what I do... I boycott autos completely. You should never allow mediocrity to prosper. So next time you see a rabid dog in the manger, throw stones...
Monday, October 11, 2010
Life is a short mystery...
Swami Gulagulaananda said:
"I continue to wonder what exactly is life... It's the strangest thing that I don't quite seem to comprehend. And then there's death"
We all live lives - We have dreams, ambitions, wishes, desires, friends, work, parents, relatives, loved ones, enemies... We laugh, cry, shout, shove, fight, beat, run, fly, eat, sleep... And then we die.
Frankly, till date, I have never understood what life is all about - We all took birth, we live a life filled with some or all of the above, and then there is death, which will hit everyone.
Some people say life was an accident - that due to some random events, life just appeared. Possible. Some say that God created life. Possible. Whatever may be the reason for life, one thing continues to haunt me - What is the purpose of life? If you say that life was an accident, get over it, then I disagree because if it was, then there should not have been such an instinctive drive in all of us to survive and plough through. In the end, death will hit all of us, then why should the strong desire for survival exist in each of us?
Just imagine you're writing an exam, and the teacher says that all of you are going to fail the test, no matter what you write (Reminds you of VTU?). Will you have the motivation to study hard? When the end result is known, you will definitely lack the desire to work hard - The mindset would be that - "I'm going to fail anyway, why should I work?" And similarly, if you know that you are going to die, why do we all struggle so hard to live? Are we hardwired to do something, that we seem to be missing?
I'm not being a cynic who says - "Hell, we are all going to die anyway. So, let's not work hard to achieve something in life. What's the point?" No, I am not saying that. I am asking you to think and ponder over it. It is interesting, as an intellectual problem - Perhaps, the strangest mystery that keeps me thinking so often. What is death? The absence of life. So, what's life? What is missing between a person who's alive and who's dead? Why should a person die?
We often take certain things extremely seriously, and often forget to respect and enjoy the smaller things in life. Every minute of your life is precious - Believe me, you will not get to do this again. Live every moment, cherish every moment - You never know when it's your number next...
I continue to believe in - Study and work like you are going to live forever. Don't develop an attitude that you are going to die, and it's pointless. Just stick around. Some day, you never know, Swami Gulagulaananda might answer your questions :-)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Life with the Connors.
My name is Billy. I turned 6 last month. We had organized quite a party and I was the centre of attraction. It felt so great. But yesterday, my world crashed around me. I accidentally found out I was adopted. I felt so confused. My parents tried consoling me, saying they I was with them since I was very small. Hell, I'd been with them even before we had Jamie.
Enter Jamie, I still remember, the first time I saw him when mom got him from the hospital. We'd hit it off from the very beginning. We'd go to school together, play together, even sleep together. Those days were fun. And then came the flu. It spread so fast, that we were caught unawares. It took away Jamie from us. Dad and mom were heartbroken. Some friends and relatives blamed my constant presence around Jamie as a possible cause. But Dad rebuffed all such claims.
Once Jamie was gone, however, life wasn't the same anymore. There was no one to play with. Sure I was pampered. But the odd night, I could hear mom quietly crying herself to sleep. I tried a lot to amuse her with my antics, but they were of no use. Molly, my mom, was broken from the inside. I couldn't really understand why she was so sad, after all, she did have me.
When I came to know however, that I was adopted, did things become a bit clear. Jamie was their biological child. I wasn't the same. I still felt the same amount of love towards my parents, but I wasn't sure they felt the same anymore. I felt like running away from here, my mind a confused mess of sadness, and bitterness. I finally decided that everything would turn out fine with time and that all these emotions were to complicated for me to understand right away. After all, I'm only a cat.
Enter Jamie, I still remember, the first time I saw him when mom got him from the hospital. We'd hit it off from the very beginning. We'd go to school together, play together, even sleep together. Those days were fun. And then came the flu. It spread so fast, that we were caught unawares. It took away Jamie from us. Dad and mom were heartbroken. Some friends and relatives blamed my constant presence around Jamie as a possible cause. But Dad rebuffed all such claims.
Once Jamie was gone, however, life wasn't the same anymore. There was no one to play with. Sure I was pampered. But the odd night, I could hear mom quietly crying herself to sleep. I tried a lot to amuse her with my antics, but they were of no use. Molly, my mom, was broken from the inside. I couldn't really understand why she was so sad, after all, she did have me.
When I came to know however, that I was adopted, did things become a bit clear. Jamie was their biological child. I wasn't the same. I still felt the same amount of love towards my parents, but I wasn't sure they felt the same anymore. I felt like running away from here, my mind a confused mess of sadness, and bitterness. I finally decided that everything would turn out fine with time and that all these emotions were to complicated for me to understand right away. After all, I'm only a cat.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
"Pirates of the Silicon Valley" ... The Afterthoughts
Happened to watch the movie "Pirates of the Silicon Valley" a few days ago.
I must admit that the director has done a decent job narrating the history of the present day PC.
My intial impression was that it would be closer to a documentary than a movie.
But that was not to be.
Have just started thinking after watching the movie.
They say history repeats.
Is Apple iPhone v/s Android a repeat of Mac v/s PC.
Is Google doing what Microsoft did to Apple during the 80s ?
Is Google 'stealing' from iPhone ?
Will Android take over iPhone.
These are some questions that popped into my mind immediately after watching the movie.
There is no doubt that the mobile platform (netbooks, tablets, iPad, mobile phones etc) today is creating a revolution that is no lesser than the personal computer revolution of the 1980s.
Many companies that did not ride the wave during the PC revolution are today history or a faint shadow of their yesteryears.
So the giants today are more wary abot neglecting the mobile platform today.
I see that Intel is concentrating on its mobile platform more than ever. The space has been dominated by ARM for a long time.
That reminds me of the age old battle "PC v.s Mac".
I have heard people go gaga over the Macs features, boot up/shutdown time etc and complain about Windows' instability.
But what we tend to forget is the way that a Mac is designed is completely different from the way Windows is.
A Mac has its hardware and software tightly integrated. Each hardware that goes into a Mac is thouroghly tested.
On the other hand, Windows is written in a more generic way allowing compatibily for scores of devices.
Windows as such, I feel is not so unstable. What makes it unstable is the drivers that are written for the Operating System and the various different combinations that exist which certainly cannot be tested.
So, the way Windows works makes it possible to have a whole lot of devices to work considerably easily on Windows. But this is also the factor that introduces instability.
On the other hand, since Mac software is written with the hardware specifically in mind, it is very stable.
Each device that is Mac certified is tested thourougly.
This was the reason Microsoft introduced driver signing. This has improved things to a large extent but still cannot solve the problem entirely.
So, it is basically a trade off between device compatibilty and system stability.
The same applies for phones today.
On one hand, you have the Apple iOS with Apple strongly controlling the software that you can install on the iPhone.
All apps go through a serious approval process before being listed on the Apple Store.
A major reason for this, apart from a few others, I think is to ensure system stability.
On the other hand, you have the open Source Android being customized by each vendor for his platform.
Every vendor has his own UI running over vanilla Android.
While this introduces variety, you will still have stability issues.
And maybe, sofwares running on Android customized by one vendor may not even work on another's.
Over the past few days, Android has bee winning significant market share and has overtaken Apple iPhone.
As I sign this off, I am still wondering ,
Does history repeat ?
Is Apple iPhone v/s Android a repeat of Mac v/s PC.
Is Google doing what Microsoft did to Apple during the 80s ?
Is Google 'stealing' from iPhone ?
Will Android take over iPhone ?
Will the entry of Windows Phone7 change things in the mobile space.
Will there ever be a single platform leader for mobile devices like Windows for Pcs
We have to wait and watch ...
Would be nice to have you opinions/comments on this.
-Abhishek
I must admit that the director has done a decent job narrating the history of the present day PC.
My intial impression was that it would be closer to a documentary than a movie.
But that was not to be.
Have just started thinking after watching the movie.
They say history repeats.
Is Apple iPhone v/s Android a repeat of Mac v/s PC.
Is Google doing what Microsoft did to Apple during the 80s ?
Is Google 'stealing' from iPhone ?
Will Android take over iPhone.
These are some questions that popped into my mind immediately after watching the movie.
There is no doubt that the mobile platform (netbooks, tablets, iPad, mobile phones etc) today is creating a revolution that is no lesser than the personal computer revolution of the 1980s.
Many companies that did not ride the wave during the PC revolution are today history or a faint shadow of their yesteryears.
So the giants today are more wary abot neglecting the mobile platform today.
I see that Intel is concentrating on its mobile platform more than ever. The space has been dominated by ARM for a long time.
That reminds me of the age old battle "PC v.s Mac".
I have heard people go gaga over the Macs features, boot up/shutdown time etc and complain about Windows' instability.
But what we tend to forget is the way that a Mac is designed is completely different from the way Windows is.
A Mac has its hardware and software tightly integrated. Each hardware that goes into a Mac is thouroghly tested.
On the other hand, Windows is written in a more generic way allowing compatibily for scores of devices.
Windows as such, I feel is not so unstable. What makes it unstable is the drivers that are written for the Operating System and the various different combinations that exist which certainly cannot be tested.
So, the way Windows works makes it possible to have a whole lot of devices to work considerably easily on Windows. But this is also the factor that introduces instability.
On the other hand, since Mac software is written with the hardware specifically in mind, it is very stable.
Each device that is Mac certified is tested thourougly.
This was the reason Microsoft introduced driver signing. This has improved things to a large extent but still cannot solve the problem entirely.
So, it is basically a trade off between device compatibilty and system stability.
The same applies for phones today.
On one hand, you have the Apple iOS with Apple strongly controlling the software that you can install on the iPhone.
All apps go through a serious approval process before being listed on the Apple Store.
A major reason for this, apart from a few others, I think is to ensure system stability.
On the other hand, you have the open Source Android being customized by each vendor for his platform.
Every vendor has his own UI running over vanilla Android.
While this introduces variety, you will still have stability issues.
And maybe, sofwares running on Android customized by one vendor may not even work on another's.
Over the past few days, Android has bee winning significant market share and has overtaken Apple iPhone.
As I sign this off, I am still wondering ,
Does history repeat ?
Is Apple iPhone v/s Android a repeat of Mac v/s PC.
Is Google doing what Microsoft did to Apple during the 80s ?
Is Google 'stealing' from iPhone ?
Will Android take over iPhone ?
Will the entry of Windows Phone7 change things in the mobile space.
Will there ever be a single platform leader for mobile devices like Windows for Pcs
We have to wait and watch ...
Would be nice to have you opinions/comments on this.
-Abhishek
Monday, October 4, 2010
Computer Tricks & Tips
During our everyday usage of computers, we stumble upon many issues. Each of us knows a trick or two in these situations which can help in resolving/debugging the problem. We thought it would be a nice idea to share such tricks through this medium so that we could make a collection of such tips that all of us could use.
Let me start with one :
DNS Server issues.
Many a time, when I connected to the internet, I faced problems of being unable to browse sites with my browser. But my antivirus program would go ahead and update virus definitions.
On digging into the problem, I realized that the issue is usually to do with the Domain Name System(DNS) Server which translates the URL like www.google.com to an IP address like 209.85.231.104.
Usually the DNS server maintained by the ISPs are not online 24/7. Due to this, we will be unable to browse even though network connectivity is established. I have faced this issue a lot of times with my ISP (BSNL) and hence switched over to Open DNS.
Using Open DNS not only assures 100% DNS server uptime but also provides security.
Here is a link that explains in detail, the steps needed to switch your DNS server to OpenDNS.
I guess most of us know about this but it would be good to document it here.
Request others to contribute tips/tricks they generally use in their everyday usage of computers.
Let me start with one :
DNS Server issues.
Many a time, when I connected to the internet, I faced problems of being unable to browse sites with my browser. But my antivirus program would go ahead and update virus definitions.
On digging into the problem, I realized that the issue is usually to do with the Domain Name System(DNS) Server which translates the URL like www.google.com to an IP address like 209.85.231.104.
Usually the DNS server maintained by the ISPs are not online 24/7. Due to this, we will be unable to browse even though network connectivity is established. I have faced this issue a lot of times with my ISP (BSNL) and hence switched over to Open DNS.
Using Open DNS not only assures 100% DNS server uptime but also provides security.
Here is a link that explains in detail, the steps needed to switch your DNS server to OpenDNS.
I guess most of us know about this but it would be good to document it here.
Request others to contribute tips/tricks they generally use in their everyday usage of computers.
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