One of the major troubles with downloading stuff from filesharing websites is that almost all of them do not support download managers like Orbit, FDM (a personal favourite), Flashget, DownThemAll and DAP (if you’re still using it!). Also, they do not support resuming downloads. Not to mention the CAPTCHAs and the forced waiting period between [...]
Retrieving PNR status in C#
One of the very first applications I found to be extremely useful on my Windows Phone was the IndianRail app. I had been looking into APIs for PNR retrieval, and found that none exists. I wanted to simulate the app, and ended up doing just that in .NET, using C#. Note: This method involves scraping [...]
Haters gonna hate – Why do so many North Indians hate Chennai?
I’ve had enough. I see a lot of North Indians making snide remarks about Chennai everywhere – work, Facebook, Twitter, food courts, shopping malls, trains. And today I will try to drill some sense into their heads. There is always a “Oh wait a minute, I forgot you live in Chennai!”. The next time I [...]
How to recover photos and videos from memory cards
Recently, I had accidentally deleted a very important video from my camera, and was looking for ways to somehow recover it. After trying out a bunch of useless applications, I stumbled upon the misleadingly titled PhotoRec. PhotoRec comes from Christophe Grenier, the same dude behind TestDisk, which had saved my ass more than once in [...]
XSearch is a very powerful search tool for Windows
Hard disk prices have come down to rock bottom, owing to the consumption of digital data. Every computer contains hundreds of thousands of a variety of files, all across various locations. It is here that the user needs a good search utility. While the Search feature built into Windows is quite adequate, it needs the [...]
Add custom presence states to Microsoft Office Communicator with Communicator Custom States (CCS) Tool
Next up in my series of homebrewed software is CCS — Communicator Custom States, a simple standalone tool for adding your own status messages, or, presence states to Microsoft Office Communicator. Many corporate offices use Communicator, and this is a great tool for anyone willing to get a little creative! Note: This tool needs to [...]
How to start Windows services using a batch file
Many applications install a bunch of services when installed, which in most cases, are needed to be run only when the application is run. However, these services are set to start up automatically at logon, which can significantly affect startup performance, leaving you to watch the waiting cursor while a bunch of useless (at least, [...]
Why you should go on a Turtle Walk
A couple of weeks ago, I was informed of the “Turtle Walk”, that has been happening for the past 20 years on the beaches of Chennai, from January to April. I was told that we’d get to release new-born turtles into the sea at midnight, and it sounded like a great experience. And I went. [...]
How to configure the NETGEAR DGN1000 wireless router for BSNL DataOne
Lazy weekends, you know how they are. Me and my equally ultra-lazy friends decided to try out Counter Strike. I had been trying to convince them to play with me over Hamachi, but they just wouldn’t listen. I had been using a NETGEAR WG111 USB adapter as a WiFi router using Connectify (if you have [...]
What’s new in Firefox 4?
Already having a market share of over 20%, the latest version of Mozilla’s web browser is touted as being “faster, easier and more awesome than ever”. Available for download right now, Firefox 4 has gone for a complete overhaul of the UI, and is also sporting a completely fresh JavaScript engine. Read on to find [...]
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