Date: 06/10/06     Keywords: blogging

I have been exploring externally managed commenting systems (example) and so I revisited Haloscan (registered in my blogger blogging days). The funniest part was their support forum. Their answers are distributed thinly across the forum. A consolidation post, by a “satisfied customer”, will aptly illustrate the challenges of using Haloscan. 1. Help! My old comments disappeared [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/why-haloscan-sucks-free-commenting-system-for-blogs/

Date: 06/09/06     Keywords: php

Using cURL (in PHP) to access https url is often not as simple as using the proper url. Using it for authentication is also not very clearly documented. This is a mini tutorial for both accessing https url’s as well as for http authentication. The following is a simple example which show the most common options [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-use-curl-in-php-for-authentication-and-ssl-communication/

Date: 06/07/06     Keywords: technology

Intel officially launched its first Broadwater chipset, the P965 Express. It is pitched at the upcoming Core 2 Duo dual-core processor - ‘Conroe’ operating on a 1066MHz frontside bus. P965 supports dual-channel 800MHz DDR 2 SDRAM with bandwidth-optimising Fast Memory Access (FMA) technology. via RegHardware

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/intel-launches-first-broadwater-chipset-p965-express/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: software, java, web

What is my agenda for Simple Thoughts blog? What are my goals? My goal is to provide accurate and quality information on java and web technologies. It includes providing code samples, software, wordpress plugins, software reviews, news and views, architectural discussions and much more. I share my experiences, my aha moments on software development and also [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/my-simple-goals/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: programming, java, yahoo, google

Java continues as the leading programming language according to TIOBE index updated on June 2006. Java is rated at 21.128%, an increase of 2.56% from June, 2005. The ratings are based on the world-wide availability of skilled engineers, courses and third party vendors. The popular search engines Google, MSN, and Yahoo! are used to calculate the [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/java-continues-as-leading-programming-language/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: google

Google Spreadsheets provides a online collaborative spreadsheet alternative to popular Micrsoft Excel. This is an overview of the features of Google Spreadsheets. Creating spreadsheets Create basic spreadsheets from scratch. You can start from scratch and do all the basics, including changing the number format, sorting by columns, and adding formulas. Upload your spreadsheet files. Upload spreadsheets or worksheets from CSV [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/google-spreadsheets-features/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: no keywords

Overview Socket hijacking allows you to override a server socket opened on the same port by a different process. There are several good uses of socket hijacking like developing a port blocker application (poor man’s firewall) and some bad uses too. Normally the operating system doesn’t allow you to open a server socket on a port [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-server-socket-hijacking-in-java/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: technology

Toshiba has claimed a first with its MK2035GSS 2.5in notebook hard drive which uses perpendicular recording technology to achieve a massive 200GB of storage. It can withstand 325g operating shock and 850g non-operating shock. It has a 4,200rpm spin speed, a SATA II interface, 8MB of cache and an average seek time of 12ms. via RegHardware It [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/200-gb-notebook-drive-from-toshiba/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: web, microsoft, google

Google released a limited test version of Web-based spreadsheet program to make it simple to edit and share lists and data online. It comes barely months after Google bought a small Silicon Valley company called Upstartle, creators of a Web-based word-processing program called Writely. And you thought only Microsoft was targeting Google’s turf? Google Spreadsheets, is [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/google-spreadsheets-takes-on-microsoft-excel-with-online-collaboration/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: no keywords

Apple admitted that “some MacBooks may have left the factory with a thin piece of clear plastic covering the rear vent”. If your sparkling new MacBook is overly warm laptops and / or has constant fan operation then check if you have a thin plastic covering the vent. The solution is simpler than you think. Apple [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/too-hot-macbook-with-core-duo-chips-shed-the-plastic/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: no keywords

IBM is spending 6 billion USD in the next three years to extend and improve its Indian operations. In the last three years IBM has already spent 2 billion dollars in India. IBM chief executive and chairman Sam Palmisano, speaking in Bangalore, said: “India and other emerging economies are increasingly (becoming) important part of IBM’s [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/ibm-is-spending-6-billion-usd-for-indian-operations/

Date: 06/06/06     Keywords: java

Often we need to create a (client) socket connection in java but we do not want to wait indefinitely for the connection to open. We need a way to timeout socket connections. Two solutions and recommended code. Previously the only way was to create the socket in a Thread. And then kill the thread if it [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-open-client-socket-with-timeout/

Date: 06/05/06     Keywords: web

Texas will enlist web users in its fight against illegal mexican immigration by offering live surveillance footage of the Mexican border on the internet. The plan will allow web users worldwide to watch Texas’ border with Mexico and phone the authorities if they spot any apparently illegal crossings. The cameras will cost $5m to install and [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/texas-employs-web-users-to-protect-borders/

Date: 06/05/06     Keywords: web

Tom Raftery has recently been severely stressed by O’ Reilly media’s cease-and-desist letter for using the holy word Web 2.0. I knew people ages faster with stress (white specs in my beard bear testament to the fact). However I never could have guessed how much you can age in a single day. You can clearly [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/tom-raftery-ages-in-a-day/

Date: 06/05/06     Keywords: web

O’ Reilly initially coined the term Web 2.0 which came to symbolize newer breed of rich web applications - tags, ajax enabled and the works. Now is the time to move even further beyond Web 2.0 as a serious flaw of Web 2.0 has emerged. It appears that O’ Reilly media has a “pending application for [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/time-to-move-beyond-web-20/

Date: 06/03/06     Keywords: spam

I have been getting a deluge of spams in the last 7 days or so, 19434 spams so far in Akismet queue of this blog alone. However something very interesting happened. Immediately after I changed my commenting policy to block comments from open / insecure proxies, my spams have gone down dramatically. When I implemented the [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/waiting-for-20-000th-spam-in-7-days/

Date: 06/02/06     Keywords: apache

As I mentioned previously my Apache server was inexplicably hanging every morning (PST). And in panic I had to restart my VPS, whenever I could find it. It is clearly not an acceptable situation. And then I found the solution thanks to WestHost technical support. Apparently my server’s maxclients parameter in httpd.conf (Apache configuration file) was [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/the-mystery-of-hanging-apache-server/

Date: 06/02/06     Keywords: no keywords

I have been using WestHost VPS for ages now (5-6 years). I have upgraded to their best plan. Recently I am noticing significant degradation of their service. Almost every morning (US - PST) my servers goes down once or twice (and probably more when I am not monitoring). The load isn’t that high. My bandwidth [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/when-to-go-dedicated-server-route/

Date: 06/02/06     Keywords: no keywords

So you would like your blog readers to contact you? You have dutifully setup a contact form, probably using the wp-contactform plugin, and yet your are still unsatisfied. You miss the voice of your fans telling you how much they love (or hate) your blog. Here’s what you can do. Head over to Odeo and create [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/allow-your-blog-readers-to-send-you-a-voice-message-podcast/

Date: 06/02/06     Keywords: web

I have added a contact me section on top of each page of this blog. It allows you to contact me directly by either: 1. Filling out a web form 2. Sending me a voice message 3. Emailing me ( angsuman[at]taragana[dot]com ) Your feedback is appreciated.

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/contact-me-section-for-simple-thoughts-added/