when technology is a part of the whole!

In working with DNN 3.2 recently (that i upgraded from 3.1) I installed several custom developed modules. The ones that i did were: Forums Module Gallery Module There are many more in development. Now I faced issues with both. Forums: The installation of the forums module was with out any hassle. And the module came with extensive documentation as well making working with the module extremely easy. However after installation and configuration of the forums, it started throwing some foreign key errors upon trying to access the forums. Invetigation on the DNN forums revealed the answer and the link is provided here: http://forums.asp.net/1109287/ShowPost.aspx#1109287 The workaround involved running a DB script and then modifying the SP in the database. Gallery: Wudn't install. I needed it to enable avatars in the forums. The workaround was again available at: http://forums.asp.net/953782/ShowPost.aspx It just involved changing a single line in the .dnn file that came with the install

Microsoft released Beta of a Windows edition for High Performance Computing - "Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003" on Nov 15. Now this is something that should excite geeks and to be very specific the "Uber Geeks". Super computing is not something that people encounter everyday. It is the realm of the scientists and researchers working in a high security setup with a BIG breakthrough on their sleeves :).. but this post is not about the product... What is exciting is that MSM (Main Stream Media) (specifically TOI - the one newspaper most people have love-hate relationship with) published this story the day it was launched. It is especially laudable given our media's love for politics, crime and scams. I have to admit that ToI has been publishing a lot of tech articles (blogging etc) in the recent past. It is very noteworthy and shows immense thought leadership. A simple logic may be behind this interest - the penetration of PC is every increasing in India with

Ever since RSS has featured on the internet there have been numerous ways of consuming the feeds that have become available. I have seen: Blog Aggregators i.e. SharpReader, FeedReader etc Integration in applications e.g. Outlook, IE, Firefox Conversion of feeds into voice RSS Feeds and posts being emailed Today i come to know of a service that would send you an IM message from a feed service whenever a new post is made :).. now if you are someone who is always logged on to some IM service this is an excellent feature that would provide you some information apart from all the chatting :) The service is available for free at: http://www.immedi.at ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Microsoft has recently released its new suite of developer products namely: Visual Studio 2005 SQL Server 2005 The betas and CTPs have been around for sometime and the developer community has been able to play with the same. With CTPs around, feedback from the community were incorporated into the product thereby making the developer tools much better. As India prepares for the launch and Bill Gates, here is the website where all the exciting stuff's going to happen: http://www.microsoft.com/india/ready2005/ Right from registration of the launch event to the cool game, it is all hip and happening at the Launch Tour 2005 website. P.S. Don't miss the cool autorickshaw at "Hitch A Ride" animation :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

When i first heard it, i thought that an enterprise search engine (with MSN technology backing it up) has been released by MSN. on further research, i realised that is not true. It would be cool though to release MSN Search technology for enterprise deployment :) On deeper look, this enterprise version basically is a flavour of the MSN desktop search that promotes: Including Intranet Locations in creating search index Deploying the same through SMS or other software distribution methodology Use of APIs to build AddIns, filters and inclusion in custom application software More details on: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/enterprise ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

This vacation was a trip to my village called Khajauli in Madhubani district of Bihar. Now this village is tiny and still retains it pristine environment with modern amenities still a respectable "minority". Oh yes we have TV (via DTH) and radio (AIR). The internet is still missing. Mobile phones are again limited in no with govt. not allowing mobile towers to be put up on border areas (i am told that there is clearence from Govt. now to install mobile towers that might spring up in a few months). Here is a glimpse in the rural life of India from my camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddychints/sets/1345633/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Just came across this analytics tools made available by google. now i have just incorporated the same on my blog and still awaiting to view the statistics in next 12 hours :) then why this post? well, a neat feature captured my attention. the ability of a team to monitor the stats. Meaning thereby that now people who run their websites can objectively provide a third party resource that people can use to validate the site stats without fear of manipulation. It is very relevant to my job as we need to verify the site stats of people running various sites. Now we have a tool apart from alexa.com that we can rely on :) the analytics website is: http://www.google.com/analytics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Here's some interesting stuff. A whole blog dedicated to the going bribe rates in Delhi. http://bribedelhi.blogspot.com/ Here's my contribution to the same: I was trying to get additional booklet for my passport. The procedure called for police verification (mine was made in chandigarh initially and my residence has shifted to gurgaon from that time). The police chap quitely mentioned that Rs 500 is what poor people pay. You should pay more. With all the swearing under my breadth i shelled out Rs 600/- for my additional booklet when all my papers were in order. what was even worse was the fact that my police verification had still not reached the Passport office when i went there almost 3 weeks later :( And here's a tip, the correct way to ask if officer is interested is to say - "Is there any additional fee that i need to pay you for the police verification??" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided

This is ode to the outgoing blog description of mine that read: "Things are changing for me!! From being a .NET champ to becoming a champion of .NET champs - it is a trek in the unknown.. New faces, new things to do.. Blogging here I come!" to "I am in the IT field.. These are accounts of what I thought was of prominence in my professional field and littered it with what was beyond it. Here is my life and my musings.. Revolving around technology and the business of every day living.." I joined this fun filled job almost 2 years ago. Over the years I met with brilliant (and not so brilliant) people from all walks of life. I think i have evolved for the better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

chath7 , originally uploaded by buddychints . Amongst so many festivals in India, there is always a festival that is closest to the people of a state. Be in Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, Durga Puja in West Bengal, Onam in Kerala, Lohri in Punjab.. the list is as long as the no of states. In Bihar, the biggest of them all is "Chath".. this is is my view into the Chath festival.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddychints/sets/1346395/

Democracy is survived by elections and the choices electorate makes. When the "process" of making choices becomes subservient to the cause, the "process" itself is an hinderance. This time on vacation in Bihar, I had the fortune of witnessing the election process in the most "politically" aware state. The high point was listening to Rabri Devi in her public campaign who cudn't remember the name of the local MLA she was campaigning for in her speech. The work of Election Comission is laudable in rooting out bungling from the state that has played host to 15 years of tyranny by the Lalu-Rabri led RJD. Of what i am told EC had revised electoral rolls that has lead to removal of many bogus villages (that don't even exist) and more than 55,000 voters being removed from one such revision. Now know why RJD won even when nobody was voting for them? The wide presence of BSF, CRPF (all non-Bihar battalions) has lead to the right voter coming to fore rather

So haven't heard anything from me on the event??? Probably because i was busy arranging it that i didn't find time to blog! Here's the official version: http://www.microsoft.com/india/communities/southasiamvpmeet2005/ Details and inside scoop coming very soon.. right here.. If you attended the same, have you made a post still? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Diwali this year was good. The mood though was sombre. 2 days before there were blasts in the Delhi market at the busiest hours. More than 60 people died in the blasts. All innocent lives... :( I wonder why kill innocent people? If the movement (or whatever the extremesists call it) kills innocent people, I don't see how you can get anybody to agree on what you want. The only thing that blasts did for the terrorist outfits was increased survillance and crackdown. Maybe you killed 60 people and in turn might face extinction. Why do it? For now Delhi is back to business. I have not been to the blast site but saw numerous people checking on their families to make sure they are safe. Diwali shopping was fine for my family who bought all the things that you buy during Diwali - sweets, flowers, utensils, crackers, decorative lights, gifts, dry fruits etc etc. Delhi is back to business. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting is provide