Sheel's Weblog

Test Drive: Google's OpenSocial

Wed, 2 Jan 2008 17:54:40 -0700

Test drive google's OpenSocial API.Google's openSocial provides set of API to add Google Widget to social networking sites like myspace.com , orkut etc.
I decided to try it on Orkut.com (own by google).
So I took a free JavaScript HangMan game and created the google widget.

Semacode for sheelblog.com

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:39:51 -0700

Here is sheelblog.com's semacode (URL 2D barcode).

US Open 2006 and Indian Flag

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:59:33 -0700

There was a news on rediff.com about US Open 2006 and Indian flag flutters alongside other national's flags.
One thing they didn't notice ..the flag was hosted incorrectly.
This is insult of Indian national flag and rediff editors did not catch it.
I guess they were more busy with Sania Mirza's story.

Making chroma key / blue screen video for $1

Sun, 6 Aug 2006 23:45:10 -0700

With the launch of google video and youtube.com, the web is new ground for home made videos. More and more people are flocking online to publish their videos.
How can you spice up your video to make it more attractive?
Well one of the way is to digital video software add some special effects to your video. You can spend somewhere from $75 to $750 bucks to get good video editing software.
But how can you do it for free?
Here comes Microsoft Movie Maker. A free software from Microsoft !!!
MM (Movie Maker) is very basic and simple to use video editing software. It is preloaded with some basic transitions and video-effects.
But you want to make star-wars style movie. So how can you achieve Chroma Key/Blue Screen Technology with MM ?
Here is the tip :

Install chroma key transition in MM :
In C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared folder create a folder AddOnTFX if it does not exists. Add a file called "chroma.xml" and add following text :
Now, when you start MM,you should see a "chroma" transition in Transitions section.
Set Blue Screen :
If you don't want to spend money on blue paint or cloth. Make a trip to dollar shop and buy a blue color shower curtain. Trust me, this is the only dollar you are going to spend to make a blue screen technology video.
Record your video in front of blue curtain.
This is going to be overlay video.
Editing :
Now add your background video/image to timeline and add your overlay video next to it. Between two videos add "chroma" transition. Thats it, you are done.

Sample chroma key video I made for $1 :

Note: In test, I didn't put lots of light so the quality of video is not as good as it can be. Make sure you record in bright light.

Now your "bathroom production" is ready to roll !!!

Krrish - Dil na Diya with Turkish Soundtrack

Fri, 4 Aug 2006 21:50:58 -0700

Krrish Dil na Diya is a straight rip off Turkish music.
Check out yourself.
Unfortunately, youtube.com decided to remove video because they think it is copyright infringement, but actually the video exposes the copyright infringement in Indian film industry.
The original song was a Turkish military anthem called 'Ceddin deden'.

Here is the original audio(mp3 file) which I googled and found on this website.

Windows Vista is here

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 16:38:00 -0700

As Microsoft Windows Vista is getting ready for public launch, I decided to try it out. Vista looks promising but has few annoying features. I put my old pc (Athlon XP 2500+, 768MB Ram and 128MB video card) under the scanner of Vista.
As you can see the Vista's performance rating for my pc is not very high,

I am not sure what these ratings means, but looks like Microsoft is planning to sell Vista compatible softwares/hardwares with some kind of rating system.
BTW, the Vista look and feel is refreshing and features in Windows Explorer is really good. The "bread-crumb" style menu in address-bar is useful.

But Now it is time to list some annoying features

User Access Control :
I am not sure what Microsoft was thinking when they introduced "UAC" (User Access Control) based security in desktop PC. In simple terms, they have introduced a "User" mode and "Administrator" mode for a logged in user. These means any operation which requires "Administrative" privilege, logged in user's session has to be switch in administrative mode. The Unix users, can relate these to "su" session. In Unix, the su session is remembered by the OS, but Microsoft made it annoying.
First of all, it popups a confirmation dialog window for any administrative stuff like something running in Tray, opening Control Panel applications etc. For normal users this is going to be very annoying, especially it does not remember the last action/password in current session. Also it prompts for the administrator's password if you are not administrator. So Even you perform same action 1000 times, it will ask for same adminstrative permission. Please put some "remember the action" feature in UAC.
In my opinion, this feature should be used only for installation of new application and not for every task. Also, Microsoft should seriously take some clue from SUSE's Yast in designing their Control Panel. It is simple login session as root/administrator and it can remember root's password for next launch.
Also, I don't see much use of this feature in stopping adware/spyware, if normal users were prompt for "Do you want xyz.dll to run", I am pretty sure their answer will be yes.
Note: You can turn this feature off but that is not what Microsoft wants.
Where is Programs Menu?
I found it very weird that Microsoft removed the concept of "Programs" Menu. Now every application is under start as "Tree" menu. I don't like the feature because I don't like scrollbars.
Note: You can switch to classic menu but again....
Vista Aero Vs Linux's XGL/Compiz
The visual effects in Vista "Aero" is not compelling as of XGL/Compiz. I am running XGL/Compiz on Suse 10.0 with 64MB video card and beats "Aero" in number of visual effects.
Currently, the number of visual effects in "Aero" is very limited compare to XGL. There is no wobbly window, thumbnail window or rotating mutiple desktop in Vista.
The window's zoom out/in effects are same as XGL/Compiz.
The Vista's Flip-3D feature :

Only drawback with Aero is that it is very resource-intensive.
Checkout Compiz-XGL effects (AVI file, 3.6MB)

SheelApps.com is up

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:55:47 -0700

Finally, I have launched my software site. Please checkout http://www.sheelapps.com for free softwares.
This is my contribution to the world of free softwares.

Jaheer Khan and his fan

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 20:39:31 -0700

Enjoy the flirting.

Google Pack Vs Microsoft Windows Live . Who will rule the World of "Web PC" ?

Fri, 6 Jan 2006 17:28:48 -0700

Finally,Google has step into the world of Microsoft. With the launch of "Google Pack" the war for ruling consumer desktop has started.
Right now, Google pack offers some basic software to end user but real competition starts when Google will launch "Open Office" through "Google Pack". That will be strike on Microsoft's bread n butter business, Microsoft Office.
Lets see how this war between "Google Pack" and "Windows Live" unfolds.

Weird Google !!!

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 20:41:56 -0700

'll say google is the best search engine.
Its not only fast, its accurate and shows only truth.
Search for "failure" on google.
See what is the "first" match.