Naushad . Product Designer

Author: Naushad

  • Learning Python

    Thanks to Coursera and faculty from University of Toronto, i have signed up for “Learn to Program: The Fundamentals“.

    It all begins with a brief introduction to what are programs and how they interact. Next, we go ahead to download the Python installer from http://www.python.org/download/releases/3.2.3/.

    I installed the Python 3.2.3 ver and started IDLE, the GUI environment for Python.

    Python as a Calculator,

    In the beginning, we are learning the use of Python as a Calculator by using operators such as

    • addition +
    • subtraction -
    • multiplication *
    • division /
    • exponentiation **
    • integer division //
    • modulo (remainder) %

    What above operators do is we can just use them normally similar to command line to get the output of the calculations. Modulo was something unique, it gave us the “remainder” from a division calculation. I could remember my basic mathematics where i had learnt:

    Dividend= Quotient*Divisor+Remainder.

     

    The two types of Numeric Types which i understand is the way to display numeric information:

    int: integer
    float: floating point number, an approximation to real number.
    

    I will continue this post soon.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Reset Windows 7 Admin Password and Safe mode on Asus Motherboard
    
			
    Reset Windows 7 Admin Password and Safe mode on Asus Motherboard
    

    Forgetting your account password is the worst thing that can ever happen to you, moreover its weird and crazy when you forget a password that you had changed in haste.
    

    Same happened with me, few days ago i changed my Admin account password on my Windows 7 Desktop for some…. reason and guess what. The next day, i was out of it.
    

    I did not remember the password as i had changed it in haste, and when i changed the password, i had created a new “Home” account for home users with no admin privilege (another blunder).
    

    My admin account has the essential stuff that i require to work, and i could not stay out of my admin account.
    

    So the options were:
    

    1. Format the C drive, thats the UNIVERSAL Solution to ALL windows problems.
    

    But i could not afford losing the data in C drive (much less data but most importantly setting up a new Win 7 machine is painfull, the softwares and all.), though my data is stored on other drives (accepted good structure to store data, in case you need to format PC anyway)
    

    Im a geek, but not an expert, so i reached out to Gaurav (Big Geek 😀 ),  and asked him a solution, he suggested that.
    

    2. I use command net user administrator /active:yes. I got this version of command from this blog. But this resulted in Permission Error as the “Home” user did not have admin privilege.
    

    So this option only works if you have more than 1 Admin accounts and forgot password for one.
    

    4. Bootup in safemode to see if i have a New “Administrator” account as we used to have in Windows XP. But this account did not exist.
    

    5. I called up my relative whos a System Technician, he suggested that. I reset the CMOS as it will reset the admin password requirement in Safe Mode and then try accessing “Safe Mode”. However it still did not work as i was required to enter the password and did not accept blank password.
    

    6. “System Restore” (hoping that you have a restore point) will not work as it will ask you for Administrator privileges.
    

    7. Finally, i stumbled upon a blog post, which said i can user the option “Repair your Computer” while installing Windows 7 via DVD and then use System Restore. (Pls visit the blog for detailed instructions, its really simple)
    

    So i followed the steps and i successfully restored the system to previous version which had earlier account and password, and YES, do remember the Old password. :D. Done.
    

    Regarding accessing Safe Mode on Asus motherboards, please know that you need to Restart your system and keep hitting F5 key (key differs for Intel Or Gigabyte oR other).
    

    You will receive the option to logon to “Windows 7” and below that will be a “Memory Diagnostic Tool”, however if you read carefully you will see “use F8 for advanced options”
    

    Then, you should receive the multiple options of logging into safe mode, thats it access as you wish.
    

    Thanks for reading.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Reinstalling Stock ROM on Galaxy Ace
    
			
    What i Did,
    

     
    

    tried to flash as per instructions from Yagya Gaire. Nothing happened, phone was on lock screen only
    

    when Odin showed PASS, i removed phone. and restarted, but CM10 was still there.
    

     
    

    Then went into recovery and Wiped, Data Factory/Reset and Wipe Partition, now i am with a new ICS screen. 🙁
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    The BitNami Soda Cans-Making Cloud easy and accesible for non-techies
    
			
    The BitNami Soda Cans-Making Cloud easy and accesible for non-techies
    
			
    Cloud is THE thing to consider when you are about to launch your webap, website, etc. Because it gives you:
    

      

    • Scalability
      • 

    • Reduced Costs
      • 

    • Increased Storage (Easily Scalable).
      • 

    • Low Latency (Availability in many continents)
      • 

    

    But all above is not as simple as it sounds, Cloud Computing is “Infrastructure As a Service” without any support (In some cases its Premium but the costs are too high). In simple terms it means that if you wish to run a simple PHP based application with MySQL, this will take you at least A week to get it up and running and few weeks understanding the Infrastructure itself.
    

    The problem is not in the concept or its usage, but the problem lies in incorrect Marketing Strategies, which show that cloud is just “Install in few clicks“. Companies (Yes,AWS) are attempting to sell services to users which are actually intended towards “Developers”. Check out this tutorial by AWS, however this just gets you started and nothing beyond that. What if you wish to do a Custom Install ? How do you configure the server ? What about Backups ?, What about updating the Application ? What about security patches ?
    

    But, there is a company which has made it possible to use Cloud services with really making the process simple and acheivable in few clicks. Yes, its BitNami.
    

    In one sentence what they have done is “Making Open Source Applications easy to install and use across platforms and on cloud services”.
    

    BitNami, is really good at making AMIs (Amazon Machine Image), which is just an OS with some specific features out of the box. No hassle, no configurations, click click click click ( a few more maybe :)) and you are done.Or lets say Opening a Soda Can and ready to serve as their marketing images showBitnami OpenSource simplified
    

    I have no prior experience with server administration and i have tried my hands on few cloud providers AWS and RackSpace the most popular ones. It took me some time to learn and understand the AWS infrastructure (like 4 days or so) and installing apps was a breeze once i was aware of BitNami AMIs. I could literally run WordPress, Drupal and Joomla apps All in One Or seperately in Max 5 minutes. Thanks to BitNami.
    

    Managing these apps was also simple, like pointing the domain name, update, etc. Bitnami has losts of easy to follow instructions to accomplish the most essential tasks and your questions are answered quickly at their answers.bitnami.org
    

    When it comes to RackSpace, i couldnt even get started installing my app because RackSpace does not *currently* provide Preconfigured Images with Server setup. I had to launch the server and then hunt down 8-10 tutorials on “How to Get Started with Ubuntu server”. And i could not get started with the server (yet). RackSpace support said “technically they cant help me with the process but they have documentation which we need to follow”.
    

    Most importantly BitNami is providing this as a service also, where in we can select each oour requirement and create custom servers with specific applications and every thing is handled by Bitnami with APIS (currently AWS), from the Bitnami control panel we can increase the Disk size, schedule/take backups, change the type on Instance (RAM). They offer fremium plan, free for developers to experiment and then pay, have a look at their site
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Windows Azure adds most expected feature- Linux VMs
    
			
    

    Windows Azure now introduces Linux Virtual Machines on Azure platform, this is interesting and obvious. Microsoft clearly understood that Linux is the most demanded and used Server OS in use and many would like to use it on Azure.
    

    This feature addition to Azure, ensures that developers and companies now wont ignore Azure for deploying their apps.