Today Microsoft announced grand plans of digitizing India's vast geographical maps and survey information. For this it has signed an MOU with Government of India. This is good news, not because MS is involved , but because this might finally evolve into a website that will allow me to search and access quality maps for India. Everytime I see Mapquest or MapPoint or hundreds of other maps website for USA, I envy the US for having excellent maps including driving instructions readily available. In contrast, in India we don't even have one single website providing comparable service.

The other news here that makes me feel happy is that, Microsoft Research Lab in India which will work on this, is headed by Microsoft's P. Anandan, who is a native of Chennai (My Home Town) !

Microsoft has a dedicated website “Windows Server Feedback” for people to post their feedback about Windows 2000/2003 Servers and suggestions for upcoming releases.

Couple of months back I posted a suggestion for a feature in Windows Servers that will enable easy replication across Web servers - both web content and IIS/ASP.NET settings. Honestly I didn't expect much and the feedback to be lying in some Microsoft Mailbox/Database Server dormant; it is going to be one among thousands of feedbacks. Yesterday I was surprised to receive an email from Windows Server Feedback Response Team acknowledging that the feedback was “interesting” and it is being sent to the Product Team. WOW!, I just hope the feedback will make it in the next release(s).

Open Source proponents, may say the above surprise is unnecessary if I am using an “Open Source” OS like Linux, where I can develop this feature myself and need not wait till the software giant does it. But my whole point is, I don't want to re-invent the wheel, waste my time/resources in developing this feature. I want to simply buy it off-the-shelf; and focus on my core-business.

MS has posted a fix for this at KB 890175
Also available from Tools->Windows Update, option from IE. 

I read yesterday about the recently discovered Security Problem (Command Execution Vulnerability) with IE and wanted to do a quick fix to protect my machine. Actually the problem is not with IE, but with an individual ActiveX control (Microsoft Help Control - hhctrl.ocx, found in C:\Windows\System32 folder) which allows any command to be executed.

So the first step, I did was to login to my PC as Administrator, then Run the command Regsvr32 /u c:\windows\system32\hhctrl.ocx. Though this protected me from the vulnerability, F1 key (help) in all applications in my PC didn't work. So I reverted back by doing Regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\hhctrl.ocx.

Then I figured a simpler solution, I remembered that Windows XP SP2 (which I was running) has the option “Manage Add-ons” (which I have talked about earlier). I went to Secunia.com Vulnerability test page, did the left click on the link as wanted; the page happily complained that I had the vulnerability. I was expecting this - but what I was after was to get the hhctrl.ocx loaded. Once it was loaded by IE, I went to “Manage Add-ons” dialog in IE and disabled for good the hhctrl.ocx. I went back to the test page, this time it throwed a script error - no more vulnerability!. This setting affects only IE and so F1 is available in other applications as usual. Try this and post your comments below.

Remember, this is only a QFE and you should use it only till the time MS hasn't released an official patch.

I have written about Spywares and tools to remove them couple of times in my earlier posts. Now the fight against Spyware seems to be getting decisive - Microsoft finally is wagging a full “War” against this threat. First came Windows XP SP2 with Security enhancements in base OS and in IE. Now MSFT has come out with a tool to detect & remove Spywares. This tool is the result of their acquisition of an Anti-Spyware company called “Giant” less than a month ago. You can download Microsoft Anti-Spyware (Beta) from here.

I downloaded and have installed it yesterday. My first impression seems to be favourable, that unlike other Anti-Spyware software it doesn't complain (with big red marks) all the cookies as Spywares. Though there are privacy issues with Cookies, I feel many tools seem to blow it out-of-proportion and scare Normal users. Also it seems to have a simple User Interface that will make users comfortable. Let me see how it really scores in the long run it comes across Spywares and with compatibility to other applications and websites that I use.

Contrary to popular belief, Spywares don't come only when you read an email or browse to a malicious website. Many of them now come piggybacking applications that we install – these are like Trojan Houses. Sometime back I downloaded and installed an IM Enhancement software called “MSN Messenger Plus”. During installation it seems to ask for permission to install some additional s/w thru' an innocuous dialog. First time when I installed it I missed the option and I got left with a plethora of Spywares in my machine. It took couple of hours to figure out it was because of this. Even uninstalling didn't remove everything; I had to “Windows System Restore” to restore the machine to the point before I installed the software to get rid of everything.

Thinking about this I realized that this incident could have happened to me on any Operating System – though Windows now happens to be the target for most of these attacks because of its popularity. This is because to install a software I needed to have higher privileges and when we do install a software with those privileges we should be aware of the risks as  well of installing Software from unreliable sources. So in this direction, it is good to see Microsoft investing effort & money against Spywares, and lessons learned here are going to be useful to Computing Industry in the long run.

Though I wished I could start my first post for the new year with a “Happy” posting, it is about Tsunami everywhere – Radio, TV, Newspaper, Friends, Neighbourhood & even in office. So I toe the line. 

The New Year celebrations this year was anything but Jubilant. In Chennai, just couple of hours before the midnight on 31st I drove down to several parts of the city - Mount Road “Spencer Plaza”, Radhakrishnan Salai, Pondy Bazaar, Panagal Park, Nungambakkam, Marina Beach and other normally “Busy” districts. Normally on a festival day/holiday these places will be crowded with people, flashing lights and colourful display in every shop, hotels and bars overflowing with music & with people. But all this was absent this time. Many hotels cancelled their New Year parties; government too cancelled all its New Year celebrations.  Understandable!. How can you celebrate when in the first place you are still unable to come to terms and comprehend the happenings of December the 26th.

In all the media – Radio, TV & Newspaper people are being encouraged to look forward to the new year with hope for better. I feel this positive outlook itself is for better – when media is not reporting about human killings (terrorists, bombs, human destruction), wars, political fighting’s and corruptions. For someone like me who is born and brought-up in India, Government Machinery’s inefficiency, bureaucracy and its in-humane attitude is common. Even when a tragedy happens, the machinery doesn’t change its behaviour. But all this seems to be “untrue” for the Tsunami relief efforts. Though initially media claimed slow response from government machinery (across the sub-continent), everyone seems to be acknowledging now that it has improved for better drastically. It seems impossible for anyone (even the UN) to have comprehended the scale of the disaster as it happened and to react.

It is also satisfying to see the entire world to have responded immediately and comprehensively to help the victims. Right from USA to Japan, Russia to Australia, governments, NGOs, individuals are all helping the victims. In fact, even though it was affected India has pledged US$25 Million to help Sri Lanka. Almost all the websites from Google to Chennaionline , Microsoft to Apple carried links prominently calling for help. In a BBC interview yesterday, I saw Sri Lankan Health Minister acknowledging the international help and he said they have already got adequate medicines and pharmaceutical supplies to tide over this devastation (the speed at which Aid has come for Tsunami is really surprising, if this is the result of Technology/Communication and Globalization; then I am in full favour of Globalization).  Tourists are coming back to Thai Resorts – though no “Resorts” exist now, they are coming back so that the people who live there, who depend on Tourist/Foreigners’ money can have their livelihood. Almost all the tourist who come are turning into volunteers.

Near home, even in the street where I live, the local “Exnora” (A neighbourhood association) volunteers yesterday came door-to-door collecting aids/utencils/food/money for the victims. They are going in person to villages in Nagapattinam (in South Tamilnadu) and distributing the aid.

All these show signs of caring and co-operation across the world, a sign of true brotherhood and friendship. Probably what years of round table discussions, United Nations couldn't achieve is now achievable b'cos of a tragedy. I feel, like how “9/11“ changed the world order forever, the Indian Subcontinent Tsunami is changing the world for ever. If 9/11 helped us all understand the evils of global terrorism, the Sumatra Tsunami is helping us all to come together as “Humans“.

Tsunami related links:

• About Earthquakes for Children – A Childs' view of Earthquake
• How Indian Ocean Tsunami Occurred? – An animated view from BBC
• Tidal Tragedy Tsunami Report from: M S Swaminathan Research Foundation

Oh what a year this has been.

• Smooth elections for two world's biggest democracies (India & USA), Peace between India & Pakistan;
• Worsening of Iraq Situation, Rise of Oil Prices;

But the year has ended with a sad note - with the terrible South Asian Tsunami claiming thousands of lives.

If you wish to help for the Tsunami victims you may contribute to Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers Public Relief Fund or India Prime Minister Relief Fund.

Anyways, let us all join in welcoming 2005 with open arms - hoping that will bring peace and prosperity to all.

Happy New Year 2005.

Many times I was left scrambling to figure out, on what a particular DLL file does, its purpose or for god's sake why does it even exist?. It will be good if we can have a central database of all DLL files (atleast the popular one's).

And this is precisely what Microsoft's DLL Help Database does. It is a database of all DLL files released with various products of Microsoft. Give it a search like 'MSO9.DL' and it comes back with this result page. Very useful, especially when you are debugging a fault or a bug.

As a related site, there is this 3rd Party site , which has a collection of hundreds of DLL files that you can download. Useful when a file is missing and you are not able to find the original source (CD). Since the site is not recognized by any of the leading software vendors, apply care before use.

My years of waiting for a good Smartphone running Microsoft Windows OS is finally over. Till now MS Smartphones were lacking behind Nokia Phones in terms of ease of handling and convenience; they were mediocre port of Desktop Windows.

In the last two years, after trying many of the new phones launched in India by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, PocketPCs, I was more than convinced that as a Nokia user, it will be impossible for me to move to any other phone, other than a Nokia.  All this became thing of the past, with the launch of O2 XPhone II. Last week, I bought my own from Funan IT Mall, Singapore for SG$789 (INR 21300).

As you can see above the XPhone II is a black beauty. It is small, compact, weighs light and fits in your hand conveniently. It comes with a cute little belt holder that makes carrying the phone a breeze. The phone responds swiftly to all the commands thanks to TI's powerful OMAP730 single chip that powers it. The XPhoneII features Bluetooth, USB, Infrared, HTML/WAP browsing, MSN Messenger, Pocket Outlook, VGA Camera, Polyphonic Ringtones, Speakerphone, Conference, MMS, Windows Media and more...

What I personally like about the phone is the brilliant colour display, its excellent reception and voice quality (after all a phone should work the best for speaking and hearing, isn't it?)

Today I presented in Tamil Internet 2004 conference held at Singapore, on counting the number of letters/alphabets in an Unicode String. The problem is that if we use the string length functions included in major programming platforms we get only number of characters based on storage sizes. They don't understand the language and so don’t return letter (எழுத்து) count, instead they return only count based on character storage. You can read my earlier post for more on this.

To come up with a reusable solution to this problem, I presented today a paper in TI2004 with implementations in major programming platforms like Microsoft .NET, JavaScript and PERL.  My full paper (PDF) can be downloaded from here, the presentation (PPT) from here and the generic implementation with full source code for all the 3 platforms here (ZIP) .

Tamil Unicode has always been a issue of heavy discussion, today Badri Seshadri chaired the session well; gave oppurtunities to everyone to express their views without allowing the core focus to be lost or the time to exceed. Thanks Badri. If you want to read more about TI 2004, don't forget to visit Badri's Blog and the TI 2004 Photo Gallery.

இந்த வாரம் புதன் கிழமை நானும் நண்பன் இ.ரவியும், காரில் காஞ்சிபுரம் சென்றோம். சென்னையில் இருந்து காஞ்சி, சுமார் 75கி.மி., ஒன்றரை/இரண்டு மணி நேரமாகும். நாங்கள் காலை 9:30 மணிக்கு வீட்டைவிட்டு கிளம்பி, மதியம் 3:00 மணிக்கு திரும்பினோம். காஞ்சி செல்லும் சாலை, பிரதமரின் தங்க நாற்கர திட்டத்தின் கீழ் வருவதால், பல வழி (சில இடத்தில் ஆறு வழி, சில இடத்தில் எட்டு வழி) சாலையாக மாற்றும் பணி நடைப்பெறுகிறது. இதனால் பல இடங்களில் இடஞ்சல்கள் இருந்தும், வேலை முடிந்த சில இடங்களில் 100 கி.மி.க்கு மேல் செல்லமுடிகிறது. முழுப்பணி முடிந்தால் நாட்டிலுள்ள சிறந்த  சாலையாக இது வரலாம்.

திடிரென்று நாங்கள் காஞ்சிக்கு போன காரணம், இந்த வாரம் சக்தி விகடனில் காஞ்சி கைலாசநாதர் திருக்கோயிலின் சிறப்பைப் படித்து, கைலாசநாதரை தரிசனம் செய்யவே. திருக்கோயிலின் சிறப்பைப் படிக்க சக்தி விகடனின் இந்த வலைப்பக்கதிற்கு செல்லவும்.

காஞ்சி மடத்திலிருந்து 2 கி.மி.க்கு குறைவான தொலைவில் கோயிலுள்ளது (மடத்தையொட்டிய சாலையில் சென்று வலது திரும்பி நேர் செல்ல வேண்டும்). கோயில் மிக அழகாக இருக்கிறது, மிகச்சுத்தமாகவும் பரமரிக்கப்படுகிறது - நன்றி இந்திய அரசின் தொல்பொருள் துறை (ASI). கோயில் சுமார் 1600 ஆண்டுகள் பழமையானது. இன்றும் சில இடங்களில் அந்த பழைய வர்ணங்களை நாங்கள் பார்த்தோம் (கீழ் படம்).

நாங்கள் சென்ற சமயம் கோயிலில் வெளிநாட்டினர்களைத் தான் அதிகம் பார்க்க முடிந்தது (ஏன் நம் இந்தியர்கள் இங்கே வருவதில்லை?).  

கைலாசநாதரின் மூலச்சந்நிதி மற்றும் தினப்படி பூஜைக்கள், 1600  ஆண்டுகளாக ஒரே குடும்பத்தினர்களால் செய்யப்படுக்கிறதென்று எங்களுக்காக அர்ச்சனைச் செய்து, அழகான பிழையில்லாத பிரிட்டிஷ் ஆங்கிலத்தில் விளக்கிய கோயில் குருக்கள் சொன்னார் (1600 ஆண்டுகள், ஆச்சரியம் தானே?).

ஒரு விடுமுறை நாளில்,  சென்னையில் இருப்போர் சுற்றிவிட்டு வர காஞ்சி ஒரு அருமையான இடம். சென்றுவிட்டு வந்து, உங்கள் அனுபவத்தை கீழேயுள்ள கருத்து தொடுப்பில் எழுதவும்.