Firefox Add-ons that I use!!

Listed are the firefox add-ons that I have been using for some time & I think browsing without them now would be impossible!!

All-in-One Sidebar
All-in-One Sidebar (AiOS) is a sidebar control, inspired by Opera's. Click on the left edge of your browser window to open the sidebar and get easy access to all your panels. It lets you quickly switch between sidebar panels, view dialog windows such as downloads, add-ons, and more in the sidebar, or view source code or websites in the sidebar. It includes a slide-out button and a toolbar, all of which can be extensively customized.

Classic Compact Options
To unlock the full potential of Classic Compact and all of the optional settings (including Firefox 2.0 toolbar buttons, the new keyhole arrows, OS native scrollbars, support for dark OS background colors and more), install the companion extension "Classic Compact Options" which can be downloaded from the official Firefox Add-ons site.

Colorful Tabs

DownThemAll!
DownThemAll (or just dTa) is a powerful yet easy-to-use Mozilla Firefox extension that adds new advanced download capabilities to your browser. DownThemAll lets you download all the links or images contained in a webpage and much more: you can refine your downloads by fully customizable criteria to get only what you really want. DownThemAll is all you can desire from a download manager: it features an advanced accelerator that increases speed up to 400%, it allows you to pause and resume downloads at any time and, last but not least, it's fully integrated into your favorite browser!

Fission
Fission combines address bar and progress bar - Safari style, as did Fusion:

FoxClocks
FoxClocks is simple but powerful: if you like, you can just have your local time in your statusbar. Or you can keep an eye on the time around the world with multiple clocks. You can set each clock's colour individually, or have a clock change colour during certain hours: for example you can make your Tokyo clock turn green when it's a good time to Skype your friends in Japan.

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
Foxmarks is a free add-on for your browser that syncs and backs up your bookmarks across multiple computers and more.

Gmail Notifier
Allows checking for new Gmail messages for multiple Gmail accounts directly from the browser's UI. A status bar item will show once installed, and a toolbar item can be added by customizing the toolbar.

Tab Mix Plus
Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox's tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, plus much more. It also includes a full-featured session manager

Tab Scope
Tab Scope is a Firefox extension which enables you to preview and navigate tab contents through popup. Major features are:

Tweak Network
Firefox has a couple of hidden network settings. With this extension, you can tweak these settings, and you might be able to speed up the loading of web pages. You can also increase the maximum number of simultaneous downloads from a site (the default is only four).

Microsoft Outlook, Red X on first pic in email

This has happened to me quite a few times & I found this solution. I thought of sharing it with you all so that you might not have to do the repetitive search ;-)

In Microsoft Outlook, after some time, all my mails that have embedded picture's in them were showing a peculiar behavior. The first image in the email would show a red x & the rest of the pictures would show up just fine. If there was only one picture on the email it would show up as a red x.

I searched & found this as the solution.

1) Open Regedit.

2) Browse to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security

3) Copy the value of the 'OutlookSecureTempFolder' key.

4) Start->Run

5) Paste that value & open the folder

6) Delete all the files in this folder.

7) Everything should be fine now.

Nice website!

 

A nice website that I came across while searching for 'Blocking Vs Non-Blocking' architectures.

 

http://netbook.cs.purdue.edu/

MF's Vs ULIP's

I have been hanging in this deli ma for quite some time now. Is MF better or ULIP better for investing my money in. After quite some time of market research & talking to at least a dozen investment agents, & then finally calculating all of it by myself, following are my observations & conclusions:

1) With the same amount of premium (45000p.a.)
-- MF over a period of 20yrs @ 6% give a return of Rs.12,65,991
-- ULIP over the same period of 20yrs @ 6% give a return of Rs.15,54,398
-- Difference - Rs.2,88,407
-- Fund Management Charges (FMC) in case of MF over the same period - Rs3,05,534

2) With the same amount of premium (45000p.a)
-- MF over a period of 5yrs @6% gives a return of Rs.2,43,054
-- ULIP over a period of 5yrs @6% gives a return of Rs.2,33,993

Conclusion

1) If investing for a period of less than 7 yrs MF is a better option.
2) If invested in MF do not keep the money invested for more than 7 yrs, because then the FMC would start eating into your corpus.
3) If investing for a period of more than 7yrs ULIP is a better option
4) If invested in ULIP do not take out your money before 7years because in that case the returns would be lower than iin the case of MF's.

Slumdog Millionaire - My thoughts!

I am surprised not at the movie winning 10 Oscar nominations but the fact that people in India are so much impressed just by the fact that the movie has made its place in the Oscars, & without even thinking are giving it a rating of 5/5.

Obviously, they would enjoy it when the filth of our country is used as a tool for popularity, but, other than that I don't think there is anything so great about this movie.

If we compare it to some other good movies made in India, movies like 'Rang de basanti', 'Taare zameen par', & 'Aamir' this is just an average movie. I would rate it 2 as an average movie but subtract 1 because of the fact that it shows India too dirty. Not that it's not true, but, I just don't like the Idea of showing India so badly in front of the world.

I think it is high time we Indians realize that the Oscars are biased. Since, this movie was directed by a American director, it is doing so well in the Oscars. The pitiable part is that we without going with our instincts & rating this movie as an average movie, instead, are being influenced by the fact that it has won 10 nominations in Oscar & rating it as a very good movie.

I feel this is a very sorry state of affairs.

What's going on!!

 

These days I am reading a novel 'The 3 mistakes of my life'. I don't usually read too many novesl, but this one is special. My beloved wife got it for me on my birthday, so thoughtfull of her to bring me a novel so that I can read a little more & at the same time keep away from my computer on which I am glued all the time.

 

I have reached to chapter six as of now, get little time to read it in between my office timings & other things.

 

I am finding it interesting though.

 

Will keep posting as I progress.

Top 5 Flash Gaming Websites

Link for the complete article on Tech2.com.

 

Following are the top 5 websites as per the article (ofcourse they have listed network 18's 'in.com' as the top most)

 

1. IN.com

2. Miniclip

3. Yahoo! Games

4. PopCapGames

5. Games4Win

 

Although it misses some other very important gaming sites, few are listed below:

 

1. Zapak

2. PLAYCOW

3. Firewall.cx

Investment Articles - Business Standard

A couple of other good articles on Business Standard:

Achieve steady growth with balanced funds:
http://business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=346415

Numbers that matter:
http://business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=346414

Business Standard - Making the most of benefits

Typically, most people invest a large part of the money in Public Provident Fund (PPF) and the rest is taken care of by life insurance premiums and so on.

For someone, who has not started so far, here's some help on how to go about allocating this 80C limit depending upon your age.

Let's look at the options first. There are two options that you have

Investment    Non-investment oriented The Investment options would comprise of the following Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Voluntary Provident Fund(VPF)    Public Provident Fund (PPF)    National saving certificates (NSC)    Bank deposits    Life insurance premiums    Equity linked saving schemes (ELSS)    Pension policy premiums    Pension schemes of mutual funds    Senior citizens' savings schemes (SCSS) The non-investment options would include: Home loan principal payout    Children's school and college fees So how do you decide which 80C option to go for? For the employed, it's important to remember that the contribution that you make in the EPF qualifies for the overall limit. So, only the gap has to be invested prudently. Age 21-30: In the initial phase of six-seven years of this age bracket, most people are single and little or no dependents. If there are no dependents, it's not necessary to have a large life insurance. Instead focus on returns. Considering the state of the equity markets today, a substantial portion – around 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the 80C contribution can be made in ELSS, which invests primarily in stocks. This will ensure that you have started the process of investing for the long term. Also, since there is a lock-in of three years for these schemes, it will lead to a forced savings. When choosing an ELSS investment, look at consistency rather than a one-off performance. Go for fund houses that have a good track record over a long time period. The balance can go into VPF. That is, you can ask the human resource to cut a higher amount from your salary for VPF. The employer will not match this additional contribution, as in case of EPF. But the returns are higher at 8.5 per cent vis a vis 8 per cent in EPF. Age 31-40: By this time, you are expected to be married with small children. Also, there could be additional liabilities like buying a house or car. The first step that must be taken is to get life insurance, for dependents and liabilities. Make sure you cover all your liabilities so that dependents are not under any financial pressure, in case of an unfortunate mishap to you. Use a term plan to get the highest possible cover at a low cost. The home loan principal payout can form the second leg of the contribution for this age group. So, besides EPF contribution, life Insurance premiums and home loan principal should be sufficient to take care of the entire Rs 1 lakh requirement. If there is still any shortfall, look at ELSS investments and VPF. Age 41-50: You are probably at the peak of your career or moving towards it. Even children will be reasonably grown up. You would be paying college fees that can be included as a part of the 80C benefits. The last few years of this phase is when a lot of families plan and should retire their loans. It is also an age where life insurance is of extreme importance. Re-evaluate your need for life cover at this point of time. If you need more, increase it substantially. Also, lifestyle diseases, small illnesses and stress are taking a toll on many families in this age group. Hence, risk management is of extreme importance here. Once again, after you are well-insured, look at ELSS and VPF as the two instruments to park the balance. The exact contribution to ELSS, VPF and PPF is a function of your risk taking measure, expected returns and liquidity needs. Age 50-60: This is most likely the final phase where you earn a regular income. There is a good chance that loans have been paid-off by now and children are in the stage of becoming independent. In this phase, you must contribute as much as you can towards VPF. This is because it has maximum liquidity and you could withdraw these tax-free funds (as you would have completed the mandated 5 years). If you do not have VPF, go for PPF first and then invest the balance in ELSS. Senior citizens: In this age group, capital protection and need for regular income are two most important needs. You must first opt for a Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme that will give you this benefit. Since SCS is generally parked in a lump sum, look at fixed deposits only if they are giving you high interest rates. If interest rates are low, then you should opt for PPF, if you are in the highest tax bracket as liquidity is still the best (your account should have completed 15 years a long time ago) and you can withdraw tax-free amounts comfortably. A minor portion, around 10-15 per cent, of your investments can go into ELSS, as it has the ability to beat inflation and give you growth in funds. However, do this only after you have secured your income needs.

Style On Wheels!!

Fial linea is here to rock. I love the looks initially.

Lord Macaulay's Address To The British Parliament, 2 Feb 1835

 

I am not sure how much truth is there to this picture. I received it in my email from my wife yesterday. But if it is true then it is really disgusting.

 

Outlook Issue!!

I was facing an issue with my Outlook 2003, wherein, the initial picture embedded in the email was showing a red X. After that initial picture all the rest of the picture's in the email were showing up correctly.

 

I was looking for a solution, & found that the reason for this issue is that the folder that holds the temporary files for Outlook attachments becomes corrupted.

 

1) Open regedit.

 

2) Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security

 

3) Look at the value for OutlookSecureTempFolder. This value is the location of your Outlook Secure folder.

 

4) Empty this folder (I did that when my Outlook was closed so that it does not causes any file permission errors)

 

Following the above procedure resolved my issue, & Outlook was indeed running faster now.

 

Just in case someone is facing the same issue.

I Wish I Was Him!!

Ryan Hicks, CCDE #1 - (well, "technically" #20080001) is a Senior Network Architect at Calence / Insight Network Services
<http://www.calence.com/> . He specializes in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting highly complex and/or sensitive networks
for customers spanning corporate, government, K12 and higher-education markets.

Over the past 13 years, Ryan has passed three CCIE labs (CCIE #5924), holding certifications in Routing and Switching, SNA/IP
Integration, and Security. He is also a MCSE with experience as a COBOL and C programmer and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business
Administration (focused on Information Technology at Colorado Technical University).

Recently, Ryan earned the title as the world's first CCDE (#20080001)

* Note #1: He passed on his first attempt.
* Note #2: He became the first CCDE in the world!

Not resting on his CCDE accomplishment, he is now studying for the CCIE Service Provider and CCIE Voice labs, while also hosting
Austin's Network Engineer User's Group.

http://ipexpert.ccieblog.com/2009/01/10/ipexpert-cisco-ccde-certification-ryan-hicks-ccde/

See how my Inbox looks!

When I checked my mails today, this was the view. Was a little amusing :-)

Test

This is test post. Ignore!

Carpet Area Vs Super Area Vs Plinth Area - Builders Loop to buck extra ?

Here is a quick run through the exact definitions you should know before diving in to scoop the best deal on property.

`Carpet Area' refers to the total usable area within the four walls of an apartment or a commercial space, as the case may be. In other words, it refers to the area for which a carpet can be laid if required by the owners.

`Plinth Area' refers to the entire carpet area along with the thickness of the external walls of the apartment. It obviously includes the thickness of the internal walls and the columns, if any, lying within the four walls of an apartment. The commercial space is not taken into account in calculating the plinth area.

`Super Built-up Area' refers to the plinth area of an apartment or a commercial unit as added by the balconies and other common areas like corridors, staircase, lift room, motor room, security room, meeting hall, gymnasium and an area reserved for indoor games.

The builders while advertising or quoting the rates for there properties tag the carpet area and print the rates of the same in there commercials and public issues. But what they usually sell you is the Plinth Area.
There has been a huge lot of roaring on this matter in past and yet the strength of the definition of Builder Area's is enigmatic.

How many of us really get into the carpet area?

We seem to simply go by what the builders say in terms of the saleable/chargeable area.