Google Logo on Oct 2nd

October 2nd - Its Gandhi Jayanthi, as always Google changed its logo on Oct 2nd 2009, In memory of father of nation. :-)

IFB Washing machine - DeScaling

Model: IFB Senorita washing machine

Complaints:

1. Not drying cloths properly, it use to be wet after the the spin.


2. Makes too much noice during spin dry


3. use to have an bad smell

Called up IFB customer care, engineer visited and mentioned it needs descaling, put 2 packets of descaling and switched ON the m/c and cleaned it.

After descaling, cloths drying did improve, bad smell gone, but still the drum noice during spin is still there.

Outcome: Descaling is needed for these machines atleast once in 6 months.

Do It Yourself - Cleaning Kitchen Chimney

Kitchen Chimney Model: Ultrafresh Tulsi
Chimney needs cleaning ever 4th month, here is the process, putting it as done by the engineer today, when googled for the process couldn't find any, hence publishing it, if u find this useful, pls leave an comment below.

• Removed the plate which holds the filter
• Removed the 2 fan covers which is inside the chimney, 4 screws will be holding, which needs to be unscrewed, u need an screwdriver.
• Put the fan cover in a bowl of water add washing powder (surf excel) and boil it for abt 5 mins, this will remove the dirt stuck in between.
• Remove the plate and wash it under running tap water, which will clean remaining dirt
• Repeat the same process for the 2nd fan cover
• Remove the filter screen from the plate, wash it using hot water and washing powder, use an plastic scrub to remove the dirt stuck in the filter, u will have to struggle to remove it
• for cleaning metal parts service engineer used turpentine, took some turpentine on some waste and wiped all the metal parts both internal and external
• For the cleaning the plate exterior, which is directly facing the stove, where lot of oil gets deposited, he wiped with turpentine and then scrapped it to get rid of the dirt.

HTH

Optical Illusion

check out this Optical Illusion, got an mail with several Optical Illusion pictures, but this one was amazing, click the image below to see larger image and follow the instruction provided.

Spark - Speech by Chetan Bhagat

speech given at the orientation program for the new batch of MBA students
Symbiosis, Pune, July 24, 2008 by Chetan Bhagat.

---

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated.  The first day in college is one of them.  When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost.   So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing – to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure – a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes – Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark – don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said – don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things – reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember – if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment' s cousin is  Frustration, the second storm.  Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to  a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life – friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness – this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is Isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms – disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful  years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying – I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You.

Lovely world

Visit places across world through these photos, systematically organised site, good for reference.

 

This beautiful World at your finger tips
 
I have forwarded  you many emails.
Probably this one is one of the best.
It can be very useful and informative both for the adults and children as well.
You may like to keep it handy on the screen....
See it for yourself....
 
Click on the following link and have a nice trip!

 http://alovelyworld.com/index2.html
 

Source: Forwarded mail, Thx Major Rao uncle.

Born to do something EXTRA.

The day you feel miserable.. just go out and see how you can help others...

One of the purpose of human life is to help others, Mr. Krishnan of Akshaya Trust is one who lives for others.

 

Source: Forwarded mail

He gave up a 5 star hotel job to feed the mentally ill fellow citizens from his dear mother land Madurai which is located in our dear land India.   Image: N Krishnan feeds a mentally ill person on a Madurai street 'I don't feed beggars. They can look after themselves. The mentally ill won't ask anyone for food or money,' says N Krishnan who has been feeding them thrice a day for the past seven years. We proudly launch our Independence Day special series: Extraordinary Indians. N Krishnan feeds 400 mentally ill people on the streets of Madurai three times a day, every day, all 365 days of the year. The 28 year old has been doing this for seven years via a charity called the Akshaya Trust. A look into the kitchen reveals a spotlessly clean room. Sparkling vessels stacked neatly, groceries and provisions all lined up in rows -- rice, dal, vegetables, spices -- all of the best quality. One would think this was the kitchen of a five star hotel. Maybe Krishnan achieves that effect because he was once a chef at a five star hotel in Bengaluru. "Today's lunch is curd rice, with home made pickle, please taste it," he says, serving me on a plate made of dried leaves. The food is excellent. "I change the menu for different days of the week. They will get bored if I serve the same food every day," he says with an enthusiastic and infectious smile.     Image: Krishnan's wards often approach him when they see his food-laden van   Krishnan feeds 400 mentally ill people every day Krishnan cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner with the help of two cooks. He takes it himself to his wards on the street each day. "I don't feed beggars. They can look after themselves. The mentally ill won't ask anyone for food or money. They don't move around much too. I find them in the same place every day." That morning he put the food in a large vessel, the pickle in a smaller one and loaded it into a Maruti van donated by a Madurai philanthropist. Ten minutes later we stopped near a man lying on the ground by a high wall. Krishnan put the food next to him. The man refused to even look at it, but grabbed the water bottle and drank eagerly. "He will eat the food later, looks like he was very thirsty," said Krishnan. At the next stop, he laid the dry leaf-plate and served the food. He then scooped some food and started feeding the mentally ill man himself. After two morsels, the man started eating on his own. We then crossed a crowded traffic signal and stopped the vehicle. On seeing Krishnan, four individuals moved slowly towards the Maruti van. They stood out in the crowd with their dirty, tattered clothes and unshaven beards. They knew this Maruti van meant food. But they did not hurry, knowing that Krishnan would wait for them. Krishnan served them under a tree and carried water for them. "They are not aware enough to get their own water," he explained. And thus we went around the city till the Akshaya patra was empty. Of course, it would be full again for dinner later in the day.     Image: Krishnan often feeds them with his hands   A ritual for the past 7 years As we returned, a startling fact hit me. Not a single mentally challenged person had thanked Krishnan. They did not even smile or acknowledge him. Still Krishnan carried on in a world where most of us get offended if someone doesn't say thank you, sometimes even for doing our jobs. The food costs Rs 8,000 a day, but that doesn't worry him. "I have donors for 22 days. The remaining days, I manage myself. I am sure I will get donors for that too, people who can afford it are generally generous, particularly when they know that their hard earned money is actually going to the poor. That is why I maintain my accounts correctly and scrupulously." He then pulled out a bill from the cabinet and showed it to me. It was a bill for groceries he had bought seven years ago. "This bill has sentimental value. It is the first one after I started Akshaya." The economic slowdown has resulted in a drop in the number of donors. Earlier, they sustained meals for 25 days. Software giants Infosys and TCS were so impressed with his work that they donated three acres of land to him in Madurai. Krishnan hopes to build a home for his wards there. He has built the basement for a woman's block which will house 80 inmates, but work has currently halted due to a lack of funds.   It began with five Idli's This, however, is not the sum of his good deeds. Krishnan also performs the funerals of unclaimed bodies in Madurai. He collects the body, bathes it and gives it a decent burial or cremation as the need may be. He gets calls, both from the municipal corporation and general hospital for the funerals. He recalls with a little prompting how one day he saw a mentally ill man eating his excreta. He rushed to the nearest restaurant and bought the man five idlis. The man ate voraciously, and then smiled at him. The smile made Krishnan want to do it again and again. Krishnan has not married and wonders if anyone would want to marry a man who spends his days cooking food for others. He is firm that his life partner has to agree to this kind of life. His parents were initially shocked, but are now very supportive of their son. They advise him about the cuisine and also about how he can streamline the process. One wonders why he left his job in a five star hotel to bury the dead and feed the mentally ill. To this he just smiles and says, "I like doing it." For more information on N Krishnan's trust, log on to: http://www.akshayatrust.org

Story of Narayana Murthy And Sudha

Story of Narayana Murthy And Sudha

One of the well known couples in Bangalore IT sector are Mrs and Mr. Narayana Murthy of Infosys, Sudha ji has an hobby of writing, which I keenly follow, here articles in Times of India is where it started to read more about her, here is the love story of the Murthy's from her autobiography.

Worth reading... Story of Narayana Murthy And Sudha

No Header or Missing Header in Microsoft Word

No Header or Missing Header in Microsoft Word

Have noticed this quite freqnetly and users have reported it, Header and footer is there, because we can see it in print preview but not in Print layout view.

Open Word, Click Tools-Options-Vew tab
under Print and Web layouts options
click - white space between pages (print view only)

headers is back

Export contacts from Nokia to Blackberry

After my post about Exploring contacts from Blackberry to Nokia got couple of queries on how to transfer contacts the other way around, Nokia to Blackberry.

I found it quite easy to transfer contacts to BB from an Nokia,
1. Connect your phone using the USB cable and start Nokia PC Suite
2. Go to Contacts, Select all contacts or press Ctrl+A
3. Now click on the selected contacts and drag it to your desktop, this will save your contacts as VCF file (Vcard file)
4. Now open Outlook and drag and drop the above VCF file into your contacts
5. Once you have contacts in Outlook, you can sync your blackberry with outlook using BB Desktop Manager, this will update all your contacts on to your blackberry device.

Devices used for this task:
Blackberry 8300 with BB Desktop Manager 4.2.2.12
Nokia N73 with Nokia PC Suite 7.0.8.2

Mapinfo: MapCAD Features

MapCAD OEM

40 new functions for designing (CAD) in map windows with MapInfo Prof. 9.5
Copy Object to Stamp
Snap to Lines
Paste Object from Stamp
Snap to Lines [Set]
Replace Object
Mirror horizontally
Copy Style
Mirror vertically
Paste Style
Move
Select Objects by Style
Rotate
Create Parallel
Align horizontally
Split Region/Line
Align vertically
Calculate Angle
Fillet/Chamfer
Calculate Direction
Intersect Arcs
Add Nodes
Right Angle
Create Line/Polyline
Perpendicular
Measurement
Create Circle from 3 Points
Line Intersection
Create Arc from 3 Points
Polar Append
Create Circle from Database
Text in Table
Create Polyline from Database
Create Line from Database
Help
Convert to Rectangle
Split to Lines
Convert Polylines to Lines
Move duplicate nodes in different Layer
Split to Sections
Reverse Line Direction
Settings
Exit

New Object Buttonpad for MapInfo Prof.
Set Target
Polyline split
Clear Target
Overlay Nodes
Combine
Clean
Disaggregate
Smooth
Buffer
Offset
Convex Hull
Convert to Regions
Enclose
Split at nodes
Driving Regions
Check Regions
Voronoi
Snap/Thin
Split
Unsmooth
Erase
Rotate
Erase Outside
Convert to Polylines

IE7 Open Links in new TAB

New stuff in IE7 are Tabs, they are gr8, avoids cluttering desktop, by keeping all windows in tabs
By default, links open in new Windows, instead To force IE7 to open new links in tabs.

Click - Tools - Internet Options
Under Tabs click Settings
Under "When a pop-up is encountered" click "Always open pop-ups in a new tab" (see snapshot below)

This will open links in new tabs instead of new window.

There is also option to open the new tab next to the current, tick the option "Open new tabs next to the current tab"

Lizard Story

Hi Guys, its story time, I do come across several stories, but forget most of them, but this one stuck me the most, the message was very clear and it applies to many people.

This was told by an AoL DSN Teacher to a workaholic doctor. The doctor had a hospital running in his home town in Andhra Pradesh, he was so much concerned about his patients, that he would never ever take break, thinking that what would happen to his patients, if he goes on break.

Story begins:
Once there two lizard friends, who were happily playing together, one day one of the lizard climbed the wall went towards the ceiling of a room and sat there, other lizard was waiting for his friend so that they can play, but the lizard didn't come back, it waited for 1 day, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 a week and two weeks. it was still sitting on the ceiling of the room. Lizard couldn't wait for a long time and went to his friend and asked, what are you doing sitting all the day here, why don't you come down and play with me.
To which the lizard told, no, no way I cannot move out of this place, see the roof is going to fall, and I am holding it, if I move out, entire roof will fall down.

Look guys, the lizard thinks that it is holding the roof, actually it’s the roof which is holding the lizard, which it failed to realise.

Now coming back to the doctor, this story stuck to him very much, its only after that he realised that the hospital can run even without him, he appointed junior doctors and started to take rest, thus he got his break and couple of junior doctors also got opportunity to work.

-*-*-*-*-
Working on how to use blackberry to connect to internet.
-*-*-*-*-

Restore Nokia 5310 to Factory settings

Restore factory settings for Nokia 5310 XpressMusic phone

To restore the phone back to factory conditions, select
Menu > Settings > Rest. factory sett.

and from thefollowing options:

● Restore settings only — to reset all preferencesettings without deleting any personal data

● Restore all — to reset all preference settings anddelete all personal data, such as contacts, messages,media files and activation keys

Phone will prompt for Security Code: default code is 12345

enter the code, phone will reset and restart

Gurus

Gurus, Masters.....not just one or two.... we have many saints, guru and masters, each one of them are helping people in reducing their tension and live an healthy n peaceful life. It just that I came across one guru who's teachings are simple and without any restrictions and I follow him. He is "Sri Sri Ravishankar" of Art of Living (AoL) The best part of AoL is it allows me to follow my life as usual with out any restriction, and brings in the rich culture and tradition of India and helps us to take care of ourselves, I impressed with its simple teachings which has benefited my family.

He is not the only master who has come into our lives, we hear and see several such masters, like Shirdi Sai Baba, Putapatri Sai Baba, Osho and several enlightened masters.... and each one of them have helped several people in their own way.... Shirdi Sai Baba says all guru's are well connected to each other and they take care of each other disciple as their own, there is no difference. When this is the case I fail to understand why there is so much difference among the people who say my guru is great then yours, can't every one co-exists. Guruji teaches us to accept people as they are, and I do accept them, I am fine if he/she is following an certain other guru, his teachings are also based on our ancient scriptures which is what every master refers to.

After getting in touch with Guruji, I come across teachings of several other masters
Paramahamsa Nityananda
Sukhbodananda
Jaggi Vasudev
Puttapatri Sai Baba
all their teachings are similar, its knowing about yourselves, know the power of yourselves, putting you on the right path...

When goal is same, its just the path is difference.... Lets not be in-different, all Guru's are for the same reason.....Let's realise that...