I recently purchased a new laptop, installed oracle 10g express (because it was free) in it. But when I tried to connect using client utilities, I was getting this annoying, ORA-06413 "Connection not open" error. I found the reason! I am having a 64 bit OS and by default, all 32 bit apps are installed in the path, c:\Program Files (x86). Oracle 10g doesn't support special characters like "(", ")" in it. So I have to uninstall the software and reinstall it in a different directory.
If you have any questions regarding this, post me a comment! I will not promise that I will give you an answer immediately, but I will try to answer as quickly as possible.
See you in next post!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Mojave Experiment!
I have windows Vista installed on my laptop and I never had any serious problems with the operating system itself. I had some minor issues with McAfee av which came pre-installed with the laptop, but in general, I like the OS. I also have 2 desktops with XP installed. I had a lot of pain while upgrading to WinXP sp3, but upgrading my laptop to Vista SP1 was very easy! Most of the problems which people face in day to day life with vista is because of an incompatible driver or a pretty old piece of hardware.
Coming to the title of the post, the perception people gave in general about Vista is, "It is a buggy OS", "It is very unstable", "It will not run my applications properly" etc., etc., People will have to understand something: "Change". Are they expecting the PC's like the first desktop I had, 32 MB Ram, 256 MHz Processor, 2 GB HDD , which was originally designed to run windows 98, to run Vista? Common, give me a break. 4 years back, you wont need 1 GB RAM for bare browsing, but now, You need atleast 1 GB ram to just browse the internet. This is no joke, Regardless of browser you have, when you are broswing the internet, you need that much amount of RAM to properly render the web pages. So, what is their problem??
People have a misconception from Apple's ads that Vista is bad. So, they are reluctant to buy vista. What Microsoft did for thsi Mojave experiment was, they selected people from different age groups. Fist they were asked about their opinion about Vista. Everybody gave negative comments despite the fact that they have never used Vista before. Then they were shown a new operating system called "Mojave", and they were demonstrated about the feature of the new operating system like Windows gadgets, Windows media center, System Restore options, Aero theme etc., Then they were asked to give feedback. Surprisingly, all of them gave positive feedback ! and they even told the study organizers whether they can get this OS for money somehow etc., Very funny, as a matter of fact, they all were shown a demo of Vista and it's features! So, when they don't see the name "Vista" in the OS, they think that it is the best operating system they have ever owned.
Now I will have to talk a few words about the apple's Damn Operating system. It is in early early "adaptive" phase. Even though apple ships the operating system in it's own piece of hardware, it still has HARDWARE INCOMPATIBILITIES. It will not detect some printers, it will refuse to do a file sharing with other os's. And last but not least, it has lot more bugs than ever. It also has a hell lot of security vulnerabilities. You know the reason, Apple doesn't know which direction they are going. They have dedicated most of their resources to iPhone development , iPod development etc., and to my opinion, They are not doing good in OS innovations as they did before in 1980's and 1990's.
My friend, who bought a Mac book air, now regretting his decision. He is even trying to sell the damn computer on eBay, but nobody is ready to buy it unless for a ridiculously low price. Overall Macbook air is a good computer, it has a decent battery life of about 25 minutes, it doesen't have a DVD player, perfomance is top on the low end laptops, WOW! Apple is following what we call "Defacement Marketing". It is one of the industry recognized unethical marketing technique, which involves defacing competitors product for improving own sales. Apple's famous PC vc MAC ads lineup is an example for this.
There are certain things we will have to learn from Microsoft's Mojave Experiment: People will believe whatever they hear on TV/internet. If you tell the same lie several times, people will accept that it a truth.
Disclaimer:
The above post is purely my opinion about things happening and not related to any thing else. Microsoft, Apple and other copyrighted words belongs to their respective owners.
Coming to the title of the post, the perception people gave in general about Vista is, "It is a buggy OS", "It is very unstable", "It will not run my applications properly" etc., etc., People will have to understand something: "Change". Are they expecting the PC's like the first desktop I had, 32 MB Ram, 256 MHz Processor, 2 GB HDD , which was originally designed to run windows 98, to run Vista? Common, give me a break. 4 years back, you wont need 1 GB RAM for bare browsing, but now, You need atleast 1 GB ram to just browse the internet. This is no joke, Regardless of browser you have, when you are broswing the internet, you need that much amount of RAM to properly render the web pages. So, what is their problem??
People have a misconception from Apple's ads that Vista is bad. So, they are reluctant to buy vista. What Microsoft did for thsi Mojave experiment was, they selected people from different age groups. Fist they were asked about their opinion about Vista. Everybody gave negative comments despite the fact that they have never used Vista before. Then they were shown a new operating system called "Mojave", and they were demonstrated about the feature of the new operating system like Windows gadgets, Windows media center, System Restore options, Aero theme etc., Then they were asked to give feedback. Surprisingly, all of them gave positive feedback ! and they even told the study organizers whether they can get this OS for money somehow etc., Very funny, as a matter of fact, they all were shown a demo of Vista and it's features! So, when they don't see the name "Vista" in the OS, they think that it is the best operating system they have ever owned.
Now I will have to talk a few words about the apple's Damn Operating system. It is in early early "adaptive" phase. Even though apple ships the operating system in it's own piece of hardware, it still has HARDWARE INCOMPATIBILITIES. It will not detect some printers, it will refuse to do a file sharing with other os's. And last but not least, it has lot more bugs than ever. It also has a hell lot of security vulnerabilities. You know the reason, Apple doesn't know which direction they are going. They have dedicated most of their resources to iPhone development , iPod development etc., and to my opinion, They are not doing good in OS innovations as they did before in 1980's and 1990's.
My friend, who bought a Mac book air, now regretting his decision. He is even trying to sell the damn computer on eBay, but nobody is ready to buy it unless for a ridiculously low price. Overall Macbook air is a good computer, it has a decent battery life of about 25 minutes, it doesen't have a DVD player, perfomance is top on the low end laptops, WOW! Apple is following what we call "Defacement Marketing". It is one of the industry recognized unethical marketing technique, which involves defacing competitors product for improving own sales. Apple's famous PC vc MAC ads lineup is an example for this.
There are certain things we will have to learn from Microsoft's Mojave Experiment: People will believe whatever they hear on TV/internet. If you tell the same lie several times, people will accept that it a truth.
Disclaimer:
The above post is purely my opinion about things happening and not related to any thing else. Microsoft, Apple and other copyrighted words belongs to their respective owners.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Microsoft's funny licensing terms
I have a Dell inspiron 1520 Laptop, with OEM version of Windows vista home premium (32-bit). . I decided to add up some additional memory to a year old laptop to keep it up to speed. Well the problem was, I already had 2 GB RAM, and I have 32 version, which supports only up to 3.2 GB RAM. So I had decided to upgrade my OS to 64-bit which supports way more RAM. I saw on a Microsoft web site that I can get a 64-bit version of the OS which I already own, if I am ready to pay for the shipping charges. So, I happily called customer care to inquire about the offer. I came to know that that is not applicable for the OEM versions. The OEM version owners will have to get a retail packaged version of windows Vista 64-bit, if I need 64 bit. (What the hell)... So, in essence, I will have to pay for the same operating system twice.. How nice??? It really aggravates me. While there are other operating systems which are free, for this OS, I am paying extra money to get it pre-installed in my computer, still I have to pay some money for getting the 64-bit version of the same product. Microsoft and their strict licensing terms really hurts the genuine customers. All the pirates really benefit out of these. They can install whatever version they want, but still we, the genuine owners will have to stick to their "flavor" of vista, in whatever architecture I have bought. Even If I am ready to pay more money, I will not get what I want. That's Microsoft for us..
I was a big fan of Microsoft so far for their extremely friendly os. I have been using microsoft products since they have released Windows 3.11 for workgroups. (Yes! that's true!), Now I am seriously considering other open source operating systems because of this. Seriously Now I am feeling bad for choosing Vista. VISTA doesen't really suck, It is the stupid Licensing terms which really SUCKS!!!!
So far I have tried solaris in virtual machine, and it works like a charm, I have decided to move to any LINUX distro which supports my graphics card (8600 GS)
Disclaimer: Whatever mentioned in this blog is purely my opinion about the company. Microsoft is registered trademark of microsoft corp, US., All other copyrighted words belong to the respective copyright owners.
I was a big fan of Microsoft so far for their extremely friendly os. I have been using microsoft products since they have released Windows 3.11 for workgroups. (Yes! that's true!), Now I am seriously considering other open source operating systems because of this. Seriously Now I am feeling bad for choosing Vista. VISTA doesen't really suck, It is the stupid Licensing terms which really SUCKS!!!!
So far I have tried solaris in virtual machine, and it works like a charm, I have decided to move to any LINUX distro which supports my graphics card (8600 GS)
Disclaimer: Whatever mentioned in this blog is purely my opinion about the company. Microsoft is registered trademark of microsoft corp, US., All other copyrighted words belong to the respective copyright owners.
Any one know how to try not to sleep in workplace
My Work place is very fascinating. I am feeling asleep very often.. Any help from anyone is much appreciated...
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Deals Websites
Need to buy something?
Be sure that visit below websites before you buy something!
Deals2buy - www.Deals2Buy.com
Deal Catcher - www.dealcatcher.com/
Deals of america - www.dealsofamerica.com/
Tech Bargains - www.techbargains.com/
e Deal info - www.edealinfo.com/
Fat Wallet - www.fatwallet.com/
Airlines / Hotel / Car rental deals :
Priceline - http://www.priceline.com/
Expedia - http://www.expedia.com/
Hotwire - http://www.hotwire.com/
Hotels - http://www.hotels.com/
Be sure that visit below websites before you buy something!
Deals2buy - www.Deals2Buy.com
Deal Catcher - www.dealcatcher.com/
Deals of america - www.dealsofamerica.com/
Tech Bargains - www.techbargains.com/
e Deal info - www.edealinfo.com/
Fat Wallet - www.fatwallet.com/
Airlines / Hotel / Car rental deals :
Priceline - http://www.priceline.com/
Expedia - http://www.expedia.com/
Hotwire - http://www.hotwire.com/
Hotels - http://www.hotels.com/
New to U.S and Getting a new mobile connection ?
Welcome to my blogs again! I know that life without a cellphone is very difficult to imagine, and no wonder when you come to U.S for the first time, you would desperately need one.
Your friends or people who are already here might ask you to get a new connection from Mr.Sunny Singh(At least I have been asked). I have lot of things to talk about this gentleman who goes by the name Sunny singh, has a wireless shop in the address, 99 Wall street, New York city. If you are going to get a new wireless connection from him, please read below:
If you are getting a new mobile connection and if you are new to U.S, you can get a connection from him. No issues. But be advised that you will be paying approximately $ 100 more than other T-mobile shops/ Kiosks. Also, he will be promising 6 months contract from T-Mobile. But keep in mind that there is no 6 months contract option in T-Mobile. I myself got the phone from him because I didn't have an SSN and no credit history. When I attempted to cancel the connection, I heard from T-Mobile Customer care that actually I was signed up for a 2yr contract, and I was asked to contact the dealer directly. Then I asked Mr.Sunny Singh to cancel the connection. I was levied $200 early termination fees (Yeah Baby!).. When I contacted Mr.Sunny Singh, he promised that the money will be refunded to me in 48 working hrs and T-Mobile will send me a cheque for $200 (Which didn't happen till now, i will edit the post if it happens.) Even after reading this if you are still going to take a connection from Mr.Sunny singh, Please make sure that you ask for waving off the activation fees of $36. You are paying more money anyway, so get the maximum out of it. On a serious note, I am not writing this because of any vendetta against Mr.Singh, but to advise others of the trap doors in getting connection from him.
If you are new to this country, but if you have a valid SSN, I would recommend you get a new connection from a genuine T-Mobile dealer or visit an AT&T store as they can help you if you don't have enough credit history. AT&T asks for about $400 as security deposit, but so far my friends without enough credit history have not been asked for any sort of deposits from t-mobile dealers.
What if you are into U.S on a short term trip??? Get a prepaid phone.. Seriously, It costs about the same money as the post paid, in worst case you will be paying $10 more than the postpaid customers if you are using the phone just to call your home. Please note that this option might become expensive if you take calls from offshore during your daytime!!
Also note that in t-mobile prepaid the night and weekend starts at 7 pm instead of 9 pm. See the below websites for more information:
T-Mobile go Phone :
Go to http://www.t-mobile.com/ and browse the prepaid plans. Rightnow here are the plan details:
As I had mentioned earlier, this is the plan details as of: 17 - Aug -2008. Things can change when you actually see it. If T-Mobile doesn't have coverage in your area, then try AT&T, about $10 more expensive for similar features, but you don't have a choice.
AT&T Go phone plans:
Visit http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/go-phones/index.jsp and see the available plans there.
As of 17-aug-2008, here are the plans:
If you pay $1 per day, you can talk to all AT&T users for free, Else if you don't want to loose $1 every day, choose the plan type 2. Tt is 25 cents per minute usage. I would recommend you visit nearest AT&T store to get the prepaid phone because they'll give you nice deals some times. For example, my uncle, who came to U.S for a short term trip, got a prepaid phone for $25& he got $50 talk time!!
Also, if you don't mind spending for the phone, explore Verizon prepaid plans also..
Finally it all depends on which provider does your friends have most. If everyone is having AT&T phone, I would recommend you to get an AT&T phone and vice versa.
Do leave me a comment if you have anything to say about this post!
Your friends or people who are already here might ask you to get a new connection from Mr.Sunny Singh(At least I have been asked). I have lot of things to talk about this gentleman who goes by the name Sunny singh, has a wireless shop in the address, 99 Wall street, New York city. If you are going to get a new wireless connection from him, please read below:
If you are getting a new mobile connection and if you are new to U.S, you can get a connection from him. No issues. But be advised that you will be paying approximately $ 100 more than other T-mobile shops/ Kiosks. Also, he will be promising 6 months contract from T-Mobile. But keep in mind that there is no 6 months contract option in T-Mobile. I myself got the phone from him because I didn't have an SSN and no credit history. When I attempted to cancel the connection, I heard from T-Mobile Customer care that actually I was signed up for a 2yr contract, and I was asked to contact the dealer directly. Then I asked Mr.Sunny Singh to cancel the connection. I was levied $200 early termination fees (Yeah Baby!).. When I contacted Mr.Sunny Singh, he promised that the money will be refunded to me in 48 working hrs and T-Mobile will send me a cheque for $200 (Which didn't happen till now, i will edit the post if it happens.) Even after reading this if you are still going to take a connection from Mr.Sunny singh, Please make sure that you ask for waving off the activation fees of $36. You are paying more money anyway, so get the maximum out of it. On a serious note, I am not writing this because of any vendetta against Mr.Singh, but to advise others of the trap doors in getting connection from him.
If you are new to this country, but if you have a valid SSN, I would recommend you get a new connection from a genuine T-Mobile dealer or visit an AT&T store as they can help you if you don't have enough credit history. AT&T asks for about $400 as security deposit, but so far my friends without enough credit history have not been asked for any sort of deposits from t-mobile dealers.
What if you are into U.S on a short term trip??? Get a prepaid phone.. Seriously, It costs about the same money as the post paid, in worst case you will be paying $10 more than the postpaid customers if you are using the phone just to call your home. Please note that this option might become expensive if you take calls from offshore during your daytime!!
Also note that in t-mobile prepaid the night and weekend starts at 7 pm instead of 9 pm. See the below websites for more information:
T-Mobile go Phone :
Go to http://www.t-mobile.com/ and browse the prepaid plans. Rightnow here are the plan details:
| T-Mobile Prepaid* | Pay By The Day | Pay As You Go | Sidekick® Prepaid** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited Nationwide Calling | Unlimited Nights 7 p.m to 7 a.m. Unlimited Nationwide Calling to any T-Mobile number | No | No |
| Cost Per Minute | 10¢ per minute all other domestic calls | $100 for 1000 minutes $50 for 400 minutes $25 for 130 minutes $10 for 30 minutes | 15¢ per minute all other domestic calls |
| Daily Access Charge | $1.00 only on the days you use your phone | No | $1.00 per day for unlimited nationwide e-mail, web browsing, text messaging and instant messaging |
| Gold Rewards+ | No | Yes | No |
As I had mentioned earlier, this is the plan details as of: 17 - Aug -2008. Things can change when you actually see it. If T-Mobile doesn't have coverage in your area, then try AT&T, about $10 more expensive for similar features, but you don't have a choice.
AT&T Go phone plans:
Visit http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/go-phones/index.jsp and see the available plans there.
As of 17-aug-2008, here are the plans:
If you pay $1 per day, you can talk to all AT&T users for free, Else if you don't want to loose $1 every day, choose the plan type 2. Tt is 25 cents per minute usage. I would recommend you visit nearest AT&T store to get the prepaid phone because they'll give you nice deals some times. For example, my uncle, who came to U.S for a short term trip, got a prepaid phone for $25& he got $50 talk time!!
Also, if you don't mind spending for the phone, explore Verizon prepaid plans also..
Finally it all depends on which provider does your friends have most. If everyone is having AT&T phone, I would recommend you to get an AT&T phone and vice versa.
Do leave me a comment if you have anything to say about this post!
Useful Links for Software engineers working in Banking and financial services domain
Before reading this small post, just a few questions:
Well, If you had answered "Yes" to all the above questions, then congratulations... You've come to the correct place. Here are some of the links which might actually help you.....
Last but not least,
Note: The information posted in this blog is just for informational purposes . I am not responsible for whatever consequences or losses you might incur because of using this information. Kindly respect the copyright laws. All copyrighted words belongs to respective copyright holders.
- Are you a computer programmer?
- Are you from Banking/Fiancial services Domain?
- And all you know about financial terms is "Nothing" ?
Well, If you had answered "Yes" to all the above questions, then congratulations... You've come to the correct place. Here are some of the links which might actually help you.....
- Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/
- Investment Education for the Individual Investor: AAII - http://www.aaii.com/
- NCFM (NSDL.co.in) : https://nsdl.co.in/certification/index.php
- Bonds Online : http://www.bondsonline.com/
- Investor Words : http://www.investorwords.com/
- CNBC : http://www.cnbc.com/
Last but not least,
- Google Finance : http://finance.google.com/
- Yahoo Finance : http://finance.yahoo.com/
- Morningstar : http://www.morningstar.com/
- Moody's: http://www.moodys.com/
Note: The information posted in this blog is just for informational purposes . I am not responsible for whatever consequences or losses you might incur because of using this information. Kindly respect the copyright laws. All copyrighted words belongs to respective copyright holders.
Computer prices in Chennai
Hi Friends,
Many of my friends have asked me the same question: "How much will this cost in Chennai (or) India??" If you need to know the price of any computer parts like processors or mother boards, please see this website: http://www.deltapage.com/. As mentioned earlier, I am not a promoter of this shop, but the real prices will be mostly close to the prices they have mentioned in this website. (Mostly it will be 5-8 % less) Enjoy!
Regards,
Dinesh.
Many of my friends have asked me the same question: "How much will this cost in Chennai (or) India??" If you need to know the price of any computer parts like processors or mother boards, please see this website: http://www.deltapage.com/. As mentioned earlier, I am not a promoter of this shop, but the real prices will be mostly close to the prices they have mentioned in this website. (Mostly it will be 5-8 % less) Enjoy!
Regards,
Dinesh.
Legal Disclaimer
Hi all, Just to be sure, If you want to use any of the information mentioned in my blogs, please be aware that I am not responsible for any of the possible consequences or losses you may incur. Please use all the information at your own risk!
One day at Newark Penn Station
It was a plesant Sunday morning. I have a relative who lives in Yorktown, NJ. I haven't seen him in years so decided to go to his house. I called him to make sure that he was free and planned my trip very well. I was new to U.S and I wasn't aware the laws and regulations here. I took a PATH train from my home and I was supposed to take a train at Newark Penn station to Ridgefield Park, NJ and My relative had told me that he will pick me up over there.
I purchased the ticket and went to the platform where the train was supposed to come. I learnt from a "Nice" gentleman (some guy wearing a blue shirt) that I missed my train just now and the next train is 1 hr from now. Now that I know I have about 1 hr to waste, I was just "roaming" around in the station. I saw an AMTRACK train coming thought that was a nice scene and took a picture with my camera phone(Yeah I know., ). The next thing I know was, One station worker yelling at me saying I can't do that. I apologized and I told her that I will delete the pic from my phone. Still she wasn't convinced, so I deleted the pic right in front of her. She left, so I thought the trouble was over, not realizing that troble has just begun... Then I thought still I have about 40 mins to waste, I called up my friend in India. while I was talking to him over the phone, a battalion of 15 Port auth. Police men sourrounded me and asked me to get up. (What in the world..).. I wasn't very sure what was going on, Then I realized that the nice gentleman (Guy in blue shirt) was an undercover police officer and they asked me for some Id. Obviously, I wanted to safegaurd my precious passport, so I left it in my home. I didn't have any. After talking to me for a while they realised that I wasn't doing anything, so they decided to let me go.. I was happy then they said I can't take a train because I don't have any ID. Silly me! I tried to explain the pollice officer that Only way I can go home is to take a train from that station. (Later I learnt that if I give about 60 bucks to a cab, I could have went home). Then I called my relative and he drove about an hour to pick me up directly from Penn station..
Lessons Learnt:
I purchased the ticket and went to the platform where the train was supposed to come. I learnt from a "Nice" gentleman (some guy wearing a blue shirt) that I missed my train just now and the next train is 1 hr from now. Now that I know I have about 1 hr to waste, I was just "roaming" around in the station. I saw an AMTRACK train coming thought that was a nice scene and took a picture with my camera phone(Yeah I know., ). The next thing I know was, One station worker yelling at me saying I can't do that. I apologized and I told her that I will delete the pic from my phone. Still she wasn't convinced, so I deleted the pic right in front of her. She left, so I thought the trouble was over, not realizing that troble has just begun... Then I thought still I have about 40 mins to waste, I called up my friend in India. while I was talking to him over the phone, a battalion of 15 Port auth. Police men sourrounded me and asked me to get up. (What in the world..).. I wasn't very sure what was going on, Then I realized that the nice gentleman (Guy in blue shirt) was an undercover police officer and they asked me for some Id. Obviously, I wanted to safegaurd my precious passport, so I left it in my home. I didn't have any. After talking to me for a while they realised that I wasn't doing anything, so they decided to let me go.. I was happy then they said I can't take a train because I don't have any ID. Silly me! I tried to explain the pollice officer that Only way I can go home is to take a train from that station. (Later I learnt that if I give about 60 bucks to a cab, I could have went home). Then I called my relative and he drove about an hour to pick me up directly from Penn station..
Lessons Learnt:
- For God's sake, don't take any pictures in train stations in US.
- Carry a valid goverment issues ID proof always with you wherever you go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)