PC specs

So after all my research and money in my pocket, I finalized this configuration


Tomshardwar website has a detail view into each item and suggestions:
Link to processor chard of Q3 2008: Link

Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz)
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q PRO
RAM	1x2GB (800MHz)
Harddisk	120GB SATA (8200 rpm)
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 (19dBA)
Graphic Card	NVIDIA Geforce 8600 GT SLI 256 MB / 512 MB
Cabinet Chassis	CoolerMaster Elite 331
SMPS (PSU)	Coolermaster Real Power 550W / 500W / 420 W ATX 12V 120MM Fan
Monitor	ViewSonic's 19' VX1932wm
Keyboard + mouse	Microsoft
Accessories	Memory Card reader SD/CF

The fight begins.. CRT vs LCD

Its time for me to get a new monitor, and I am stuck between LCD and CRT. Color calibration, picture contracts, etc etc.

Still not sure which one to buy:
Dell / HP /AOC /Samsung / Viewsonic
LCD widescreen or normal size

Research:
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2005/all_about_monitors.asp
http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00JiBt

And the saga continues....
Video Editing teams opinion

Lets talk Java theory

Garbage Collector (Algorithm used)
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-jtp10283/
http://java.sun.com/docs/hotspot/gc1.4.2/faq.html
http://www.petefreitag.com/articles/gctuning/

Synchronization (Mutex, Semaphore & Monitor):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_exclusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaphores
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_(synchronization)

Java Code tuning:
Tuning Java Code
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/java/news/jptsummary_1100.html
http://www.javaperformancetuning.com/

Networking:
Three stage handshaking
http://en.kioskea.net/contents/internet/tcp.php3

Sync server timing Linux

Ok... you have to sync your Linux servers...

use ntpdate or ntpd -q
few links:
http://www.galsys.co.uk/categories/linux/linux-time-sync.html
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2003/01/02/ntp.html

Its the time to SAMBA

I ain't a Network Admin, but was too tempting to give it a try:
Link to help Samba installation

Sequence of rpm installs:
libtalloc1-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libtalloc-devel-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libtdb1-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libtdb-devel-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libsmbsharemodes-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libsmbsharemodes-devel-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libwbclient0-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
libwbclient-devel-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
samba-client-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm
samba-3.2.4-0.1.130.i586.rpm

This link came handy: link

Talk SVN

After CVS its time for SVN

Main site:
http://subversion.tigris.org/

Some tutorials:
http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.1/svn-book.html#svn-ch-3-sect-5.4

- Use tortoise SVN for client
- Integrate it with Eclipse with Subclipse

Basic for users:

"svn update" brings changes from the repository into your working copy. I

For each updated item a line will start with a character reporting the action taken. These characters have the following meaning:

A
Added

D
Deleted

U
Updated

C
Conflict

G
Merged

Extracted from the SVN book:
http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.1/svn-book.html#svn-ch-9-sect-1.2-re-update

Unix command to find thread count in a process

Ok... this is really stupid to put it here. But I need a quick reference, as I lose this tiny little command.

ps -eLf | grep "__process_name__"

Remember.... tiny command tiny "eLf" as in the little angles that will help you to find Threads. Elves are tiny and have a pointed.. long L.

Rahul's Portfolio

My old buddy Rahul has been into model et al since quite sometime now. We got together this weekend and did a photo session. My artistic selections are as follows

Neha's Portfolio

A few months back, I identified this girl to have a good potential to be get a portfolio done. I was pretty happy with the results.

What is suspension

I was about to give my car Fiat Palio for servicing and, I knew something was not good about my shock-absorbers or suspension. So, to understand the mechanism better... I went through a few pages on web. This what I saw...

http://www.carbibles.com/suspension_bible.html

Let's talk about HD

Hi Shirish,

Mast re... Ekdam uuche prashna vicharle ahes tu....

You will have nearly all the answers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_video

A few quick answers inline, in the mail below. :) After reading this you will be enlighten :) There is not of jargon in there, but the whole idea is HD will give you an awesome quality of video. Even if you just ignore all this jargon stuff, just record a small clip from an SD and an HD and see the difference, in color, contrast, and sharpness.... you will love HD.

I have spent quite some time writing this email and with your due permission, I want to put this thread into my blog, http://pramodgoggi.blogspot.com

Regards,
Pramod

On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 2:26 PM, wrote:

Pramod,

Thanks for the info.I had a look at the models u have mentioned below, and I have some questions. Pls let me know if u have answers / pointers to the answers for these.

1. Exactly what image quality diff is there between the ‘Secret desire’ video and commercial cam video? Was it in terms of fps (Frames / Sec) and/or resolution?

Not just about 'Secret Desire', but to talk SD vs HD --->
Both resolution and fps, SD works on 720x480, fps:i30 at max (480i30). Where HD works on 720p28 or 1080i50 or 1080p30... etc

Where:
p: progressive scanning
i: interlaced

Please read p and i, on the website.

25p fps = 50i fps

1. 
   
2. What’s the FPS for commercial quality video? I think it’s 25 fps for PAL and 28 FPS for NTFS, pls correct me. Where does 30 FPS video fall in this scenario?

NTSC and PAL are standards, predominant for viewing, Don't record video at those resolution, convert them into NTSC or PAL for viewing. Just get the resolution and fps stuff clear for video recording... And I would suggest record in HD :)

I like this image from the same site

See this image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Common_Video_Resolutions_2.svg

1. 
   
2. I understand that HD standard renders video in a resolution of different dimensions than standard video. What’s the screen size for each frame of HD video? What’s the frame rate? Is it again different like NTFS and PAL?

HD 16:9 aspect ratio. NTSC and PAL are SD (Standard Definition) 4:3 aspect ratio

Size is given above. Frame rate can be anything above 24p... that's just fine.

I personally want to record a slow motion video at 240fps and convert it into 50fps, and majja bagachi ahe... ki how does a high-def slow motion video looks like!!! :)

1. 
   
2. There are 2 high def video standards – HDTV and Blu-Ray. Does HD video on the camcorders mentioned below support both of these? Since Blu-Ray is Sony specific, will Sony cams support HD mode as compatible to Blu-ray only?

Blu-Ray is disc format. HD is video standard. HDTV is television standard. A Blu-ray disc can store an HDVideo that can be viewed on HDTV.... Kitti confusion kela ahe re Sony ni!

1. 
   
2. The reviews for below mentioned camcorders do not mention frame rate and lines per screen (which, according to my understanding is close to 1080 lines /screen in case of commercial quality videos). Can you elaborate?

1080 line is HD.. right... anything above 24p fps is just fine. Elaborate....by now you must have already know many things.

1. 
   
2. If the HD video supported by camcorders mentioned below an ‘authentic’ HD video (in terms of lines per screen / frame rate / resolution), or a stripped down version? If it’s authentic, what does a commercial HD cam possesses in terms of video quality, which these do not have?

A movie or commercial documentaries are made on 'film', this is something like a 35mm camera file, include slots of audio, etc etc... So each film will contain one frame :), imagine how big a 3 minutes documentary will be :)... and imagine the quality!!!

I understand your question... commercial HD cam's... Well its something like comparing:
1. mobile phone camera (8 Megapixel)
2. A digital SLR (8 MegaPixel)

Even though both are producing a 8 MegaPixel image... that doesn't mean they are having the same quality of image. Its just that the size of end-pixel are same, but the quality of the image will depend on many parameters... like lens, aperture size, medium storing this data.. etc..etc. So HC9 costs 50K in India is the basic HD handycam, while there are Rs.5Lack HD camera that give professional quality. On a different note....believe me HC9 is an amazing handycam.

There are no HD DVD cameras (only blu-ray disc's and other that are extremely costly). And its said that our dear old Mini-DV (tape) is the best medium to store high quality videos. Surprisingly, people buy a HDD (Hard-disk drive) or DVD handycams for nearly 50k, but people aren't aware that a HD handycam of the same price will deliver outstanding results. But, they are cosumers, not amateur short-film makers :) Anyways... HD HC9 is not available in Pune, because there are not customers for this camera :( :)

Also it will be huge pain editing these video, as you will require higher configuration PC's :)

Have a great time reading about videos and filming awesome short-films

Cheers,

Shirish Deshpande

From: Shirish [

fyi ------------- Hi Preetam, The handycam details that I promised to send..... these are just my scratchpad details, see if you can make sense of these details. Sony HDR-HC9 or Canon Hv30, is a decent enough camera to start with a short-film ------------- HD handycams: -------------- Profession : -------------- $5000 --> Sony HDV V1 --> Profession HD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hKv7xqhdhc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qayetW8rflI [setup] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPAsZnPB40 [ Slow motion ] $4000 -->Sony HDR FX7 -------------- Pro-Consumers --------------- $900 - $1000 --> Sony HDR-HC9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwJG8kgRy5g http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-detailsInactive.asp?Sku=S08-3424&SRCCODE=WEBTV&CMP=OTC-WEBTV $1000 --> Canon HV30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74LH8khNYPA --------- Misc: ------------ $1000 --> Sony HDR-HC7 --> Pro consumer camera $800 --> Sony HC3 --> Consumer HD camera http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam- hdr-hc3/4505-6500_7-31749257.html $1300 --> Sony Handycam HDR-SR7 (Hard-disk) http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam- hdr-sr7/4505-6500_7-32427828.html?tag=also Sony HDR SR1 ----- -- Regards, Pramod Goggi

Out-of-Office

I am using 2 email accounts and wanted to auto-forward from one emails to other.

Link

Let's talk about Linux

http://nixcraft.com/

Did you have this problem that you want to collect data from multiple Linux box and consolidate / automate a few stuff... I sure had this issue. A few resolution are here:

Link

Quick steps (Command to run from the box you need to write your script):

> ssh-keygen -t rsa
> scp .ssh/id_rsa.pub 'user'@'machine_address':.ssh/authorized_keys2


Linux commands: a practical Reference
I love this reference, surely helpful:
http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html

VI Editor

I was not sure if I had the VI Editor common commands list in my blog, this help people who are uncomfortable working in UNIX/Linux and the vi editor

http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.pdf

Send email from UNIX box

Automated email sending from Unix command line. We have been doing this from year, this page is a good reference, for attachments handling.. etc

http://www.shelldorado.com/articles/mailattachments.html

Happy scripting

Ghost and the Darkness

As teenagers, Rahul and me, loved reading man-eater stories, primarily Kenneth Anderson, and we still search for Kenneth Anderson books whenever we get the chance.

"Ghost and the Darkness" is one movie that we really liked. This movie is based on a real story of Tsavo maneaters (South Africa), two lions who attacked the builders of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in 1898, killing about 135 of them, and the subsequent hunt to kill them.

About the movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_the_Darkness

Watch this movie here:
http://www.watch-movies.net/movies/the_ghost_and_the_darkness

The actual book written by Lt.Col. J. H. Patterson:
http://robroy.dyndns.info/tsavo/tsavo.html

Video: Achmed: The dead terroist

Education system Vs Creativity

Ken Robinson talks about today's Education system killing creativity