Evolution of connectivity in India

First of all, let me apprise you of the provocation for writing this article. A new unlimited internet connection has been activated at my place. My joy knows no bounds, today!! I think it's the best gift a techie can ever receive !!

So, India, indeed, has come a long way in providing internet connectivity to the common man. You can say that my family has been quite progressive in terms of technology, if not at the forefront. We were never able to afford things ahead of their time, but have mostly benefited every time some technology has just started to become commonplace. And so has been the case with net connectivity, as we have charted the progress over the past 11 years..

The story begins in 1997 when we first got the Internet connection. It was a 100 hour pack, purchase from then VSNL. The connection: 56 kbps dial-up. A new connection or purchase of the pack required a visit to VSNL's downtown office, something very, very far from the suburbs where I used to live. 100 hours might seem like a joke today. But, in those days, we used Outlook Express to check mail and there were only a handful of sites to be visited anyway. Remember, I am speaking of the days when there was no Orkut, Facebook, YouTube, etc, etc.... Those 100 hours used to be consumed thriftily, trying to prolong the renewal as far possible.

Another killer was that we had to pay uptime charges to the telephone operator
, for using the landline. The charges levied were the same as you being on a regular phone-call for that long !! So, using net meant having to pay VSNL, as well as the telecom company.

There's a certain patch after this that I don't remember. However, when we shifted back to Kandivli, we got ourselves a post-paid MTNL dial-up connection. It cost less than the setup at Vasai, but it was still time-metered. Then, under a new scheme, we bought a new landline number, one that offered unlimited Internet, ofcourse at 56 kbps. This setup continued for about....2 years, if I'm not mistaken.

The next wave of the true New India, hit us with the introduction of 256 kbps ADSL connection by MTNL. The old 24-hour line was disconnected, and replaced with an ADSL connection on the same line used for making regular telephone calls. An old single-port router was replaced by a new 4-port ethernet router, when we subscribed to IPTV service. This was the realisation of the full Triple-Play service envisioned by the telecom authorities.

Later on, the 256 Kbps connection was upgraded to a theoretical 2 Mbps connection; a move made by MTNL at no extra cost to the subscriber. It provided a realistic speed of 0.9 Mbps, and was quite satisfactory.

Then, tragedy struck. MTNL was continuing with its sloppy attitude towards customer management. The QoS of IPTV never stabilised to a point where it could be classified as acceptable. Frustrated, we replaced the service with the completely reliable TataSky, and have found no reason to complain in the 2 months that we have been using it.

Now see an important point here. Technologically, it is such that the IPTV service rides on top of a broadband connection. So, all IPTV users must be broadband users of the same service provider. However, now with the IPTV service gone, broadband was no longer a compulsion.

One Sunday (04-May-2008, precisely), I happened to read a newspaper insert by Hathway - a local cable-internet service provider. On offer was an unlimited 256 Kbps connection, at the price of a 1 GB connection offered by MTNL. No reason to switch? May be. But MTNL had fallen back on its promise of 2 Mbps. The connection speed had been down to about 240 Kbps in the past month. And there were growing concerns being voiced publicly that MTNL was unable to upgrade and expand its network as it waited endlessly for its chartered equipment supplier to deliver the new machines. The time was ripe, the opportunity was irresistible.

I decided to take the jump. The connection has changed from 256 kbps 1GB limit to 256 kbps unlimited. Those in advanced countries might not appreciate the speed; but what is of essence here is that its an unmetered connection ! Now I can actually get those podcasts, the iPlayer news, movies and all the media I ever wanted, but only window-shopped till today!

I'm really happy I made the change. I look forward to Hathway to provide a reliable service and live up to my expectations....

A taste of Java ME

I returned home from college on Thursday (17th April 2008), after completing my Sem-6 project. And I immediately set to work on the B.E. project. The first task was to grasp the structure of Java ME.

Started with it that very day, and made great headways.
Continued my upstream struggle for the next two days, and today,
I am sitting comfortably, 
with significant knowledge of the platform
to atleast begin designing my project in a native fashion.

------------------------------------
This article is only for chronicling purposes

Java EE installation problem on Fedora 8

Java EE server may refuse to install on Fedora 8. You end up clicking on the link, and nothing happens, ever. So, here's what you do.

Open the terminal. Become root. Invoke the .bin file of Java EE from the terminal itself. You are likely to get a 'no such library' message. The library is something related to C++. Now, unfortunately, I forgot to blog when I had actually found the solution to the problem. So, I am not listing the steps below, as I usually do, but instead, all I can say is that please google the complete error message you get at the terminal. You should find the solution in a few clicks.

The solution basically involves adding the C++ library, which is a measly 250 KB (approx). Then, try running the .bin file again. It should work this time....

Skype 2.0 on Fedora 8

It turns out Skype 2.0 has a hell lot of problems getting to work on Fedora 8. You need not get into the root cause of all those problems. Just implement the fix given below.

Please note:

1. Although the Skype 2.0 download is about 14.3 MB in size, the 'fix' is a staggering 59 MB. Ridiculous !! But there's no alternative I could come across either.
2. The entire process of getting Skype 2.0 to work on Fedora 8 may take hours. So, please be patient, and either have some work to do, side-by-side, or sit with your iPod, 'cause you are sure to get bored. However, do not leave the system unattended, except when downloads (esp the 59 MB jumbo download of QT4) are in progress, as your authorisation, and some other actions from your side, will be required time and again.

So, here we go:

Step 1: Download the libsigc++20-2.0.17-1.i386.rpm package:
# wget http://fedora.osmirror.nl/extras/5/i386/libsigc++20-2.0.17-1.i386.rpm
# rpm2cpio *.rpm | cpio -idmv

Step 2: Create directory /opt/libs32/ if you don't have it yet:
# mkdir /opt/libs32

Step 3:Copy libsigc-2.0.so.0 and libsigc-2.0.so.0.0.0 to /opt/libs32/ directory:
# cp ./usr/lib/libsigc-2.0.so.0 /opt/libs32/
# cp ./usr/lib/libsigc-2.0.so.0.0.0 /opt/libs32/

Step 4: Install everything that has anything to do with Qt4:
# yum install qt4*

Step 5: Download the skype-2.0.0.27-fc5.i586.rpm rpm package from http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-2.0.0.27-fc5.i586.rpm and enter command in terminal:
# rpm -i --force --nodeps skype-2.0.0.27-fc5.i586.rpm

Step 6: Give the path to those libraries:
# export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/libs32/"

Step 7: Now you can run skype by typing:
# skype

The section mentioned above will only get the application to install and boot up on your system. In no way does it guarantee a problem-free run. Try making the Skype Test Call. If you are able to hear the sound as well as record and hear your own voice, congrats !! However, the chances of this occurence (of Skype running straight out of the box) are minimal, if any.

Here's the most likely condition. Skype Test Call fails to load, citing 'Audio playback problem'. To fix this, go to Options -> Sound Devices. The default 'Audio In', 'Audio Out' and 'Ringing' devices are unlikely to work. First, we will fix the 'Audio Out' problem, so that we can atleast get started with the Test Call. Select an option (apart from default) from the 'Audio Out' device menu. Click on Apply. Close the Options box. Try to make a test call. Keep repeating the procedure until the error message disappears, and you are able to at least hear the lady's voice.

Then, comes the next problem. The call might terminate due to 'Problems with Audio Capture', as shown in the call window. Again, go to Options -> Sound devices -> Audio In. Here, usually, the same option that worked for 'Audio Out' is likely to work for 'Audio In' as well. So try that option first. If it doesn't work, go ahead and try each of the other options one by one, just as you did for 'Audio Out'

After doing all this, you should be able to hear and record your own voice succesfully. In case it still doesn't work, maybe you could try invoking skype with this little piece of code i found somewhere on the net....

$ pasuspender skype

Happy Skyping !!

-------------------------

Some content used from the following sites:

http://www.sinoberg.com/blog/article.asp?id=13
http://www.pulseaudio.org/wiki/PerfectSetup#Skype

Full credit to the authors of the articles on the above mentioned sites

Installation Instructions for VLC Player for Fedora 8

Become root. Execute the following commands at the terminal:

#> rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm
#> yum install vlc

VLC player supports almost all input streams, and contains decoders for almost every codec one could possibly come across, today. One stop solution for all your media playback issues in Fedora 8...

Flash player installation for Firefox and Opera

Instructions for setting up flash player plugin for Firefox and Opera:
----------------------
1. Login as root
2. Unzip the tar.gz file onto the Desktop
3. Rename the extracted folder as 'flash'
4. Copy the folder into the /opt directory
5. Create a link to the 'libflashplayer.so' file
6. Copy the link file into /opt directory
7. Rename the link file to 'libflashplayer.so', that is, without the 'Link to..' part
8. For Firefox, copy the link file into the 'plugins' directory of your current firefox version
9. For Opera, copy the link file into the /home/USER_NAME/.opera/plugins directory, for every non-root user, and in the /root/USER_NAME/.opera/plugins directory for Root. Create the 'plugins' folder under each of the usernames, in case it does not exist.
10. Restart all browsers for which you have installed Flash
11. Test the working, and let me know if there are any problems

Log: Fedora 8 installed

Not much time to write, but just that I installed Fedora 8 on the evening of Saturday, 15th March 2008. Bought the DVD from a pirated-DVDs vendor sitting at the GKB Optolabs corner ;)

Pulling the plug on Orkut

Drat ! I had written a really lengthy article under this heading....only to realise that my logging out from orkut caused me to loguout from blogger as well !! When will service providers stop this stupidity? Why does the average Joe need to know that orkut and blogger are both operated by the same company, namely, Google Inc, and that all sites belonging to them store and delete a login cookie bearing the same signature?

To mention a gist of what I had written in the previous article, I've finally decided to quit orkut, owing to their lack of concern for safegauarding the privacy of their users, as also a complete loss of relevance of the services it offers, as seen in my rapidly evolving context.

I bid adieu at 19:27 on Sunday 23rd March 2008...

MP3 support in Fedora

I really don't know what took me so long to figure this out (again). Since my latest installation of Fedora about 2 months back, I've been trying to hard to get it to play MP3s. Not that I didn't know how. I had done that before, 'N' times. But I just couldn't manage to do it again!!

Finally, cracked it today. Here's how:

$ yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly

That's it! Yes, that's it. Just answer with y (yes) whenever your permission is required to proceed. Download size is just under 1 MB. It will enable MP3 support in Rhythmbox, the default media player under Fedora (GNOME)

Regional language (Indic scripts / Complex scripts) support in Fedora

The following instructions have been tested to work correctly only for Devnaagarii script.

To enable Indic support, you need two things:

1. A font having Indic character definitions
2. A 'complex script' rendering engine

The first part is taken care of by the Arial Unicode MS font (see my Windows fonts tutorial). The complex script rendering engine in Fedora is called pango. I dont't kno about other applications, but its certainly required for Mozilla/Firefox.

Now Firefox can be 'built' from its source code either with the pango engine, or without it. The ordinary version that you download has been compiled WITHOUT pango. And although the source code is freely available for everyone to comiple, trust me, trying to compile it yourself is no easy task.

A better option is to use whichever version of Firefox that came with your Fedora installation.Such versions (1.5.0.7, in my case, on FC6) have been compiled using the pango engine, and that should make your task easier. However, you must take care to see to it that you use the older version only when you need Indic support. Older versions can have security vulnerabilities that can put your computer/data at risk.

A thing I consider extremely worthwhile mentioning is that multiple versions of Firefox can peacefully co-exist under Fedora. All you need to do is keep them in separate folders. You can make the default link poin to the latest version, and run the old version manually by executing

$ FIREFOX_HOME/firefox

where FIREFOX_HOME is the directory where your old Firefox installation resides. In my case it is /usr/lib/firefox-1.5.0.7

That done, you should be able to view regional scripts (Indic) correctly...!

Windows Fonts support in Fedora

To install Windows (.ttf & .fot) fonts in Fedora, do the following:

1. Install MS Office in Windows XP with 'Complete' configuration
2. Copy the C:\Windows\Fonts folder onto a removable media
3. Log in to Fedora
4. Insert the removable media
5. Go to System > Preferences > Fonts > Details > Go to font folder
6. Drag and drop the font files from the removable media directly into the 'Fonts' folder that opens
7. Restart the system
   

(Tutorial courtesy: http://www.fedorafaq.org)

Derby Basics

Once ij is set up, you can try the following commands at ij-prompt:

Creating a database 'MyDB'
ij> CONNECT 'jdbc:derby:MyDB;create=true';
ij (CONNECTION1)>

Opening a database
ij (CONNECTION1)> CONNECT 'jdbc:derby:MyDB';

Creating tables, inserting records and displaying records is as per standard SQL command set

To close a connection:
ij (CONNECTION1)> DISCONNECT

Java DB / Apache Derby Operating Instructions (Fedora)

ij is an interactive SQL scripting tool that comes with Derby. It can be used with the Derby Embedded JDBC driver or with a client JDBC driver, such as the Derby Network Client.

Upon setup of Java EE SDK (as per my tutorial), do the following

$ export DERBY_INSTALL=/opt/SDK/javadb
$ export CLASSPATH=DERBY_INSTALL/lib/derby.jar:DERBY_INSTALL/lib/derbytools.jar
$ echo $CLASSPATH
/opt/SDK/javadb/lib/derby.jar:/opt/SDK/javadb/lib/derbytools7.jar:
$

Now,
$ java org.apache.derby.tools.ij

This will start IJ, with the IJ prompt ij>

Play MP3 in Fedora without hassles

After fiddling along with GStreamer, Totem, Rhythmbox and more such stuff, I discovered an easy way to play MP3s (though not AAC):

Use LimeWire's in-built media player. Its a simple solution, and I really dont know why it took me so long to figure that out. For those heavy-users of LimeWire, its a handy tool, and avoids the mess of having to install MP3 codecs for hte default players.

FireFTP tested for the first time (5th Dec 2007)

FireFTP, the Firefox-based file transfer utility was tested today

successfully. The test was carried out on the Brinkster-hosted
CSI-TCET website. This opens ur another world of opportunities, with
me now being able to manage a website, irrepective of the accessing
platform.

--
Sameer P. Karve
Mobile: +91-98-3344-2464

IEEE Member ID 80599447

--
Sameer P. Karve
Mobile: +91-98-3344-2464

IEEE Member ID 80599447

--
Sameer P. Karve
Mobile: +91-98-3344-2464

IEEE Member ID 80599447

Internet Messenger setup in Fedora Core 6

The built-in multi-protocol Internet Messenger GAIM is good enough for use with MSN, GTalk and Yahoo. Here are the settings you need to do for each of the serives. Firstly, go to Applications > Internet > Internet Messenger.

Yahoo accounts

1. In the Account dialog, click on Add
2. In the Add account dialog, select Protocol as Yahoo
3. Screen Name: yourYahooUsername
4. Enter the password, select 'Remember password.
5. Save. Your account is created. It will log in automatically

GTalk accounts

1. In the Account dialog, click on Add
2. In the Add account dialog, select protocol as Jabber
3. Screen name is your GMail ID, WITHOUT "@gmail.com"
4. Server: gmail.com
5. Under the Advanced tab, make Connect Server as talk.google.com
6. Leave other options unchanged. Save.
7. Your GTalk account will be activated

MSN / Windows Live accounts

1. In the Add account dialog, select protocol as MSN
2. In screen name, enter your COMPLETE Hotmail ID
3. Enter the password, remember password
4. Your MSN / Hotmail / Windows Live account will be created

This completes the setup of the most popular IM clients around

Network setup in Fedora Core 6

In today's times, being connected to the Internet has become probably as much as a necessity as food and water and air. Network setup in FC6 is easy, but different than what you've been used to in Windows. This guide is specific to the following environment:

1. Location:Mumbai, INDIA
2. ISP: MTNL
3. Service: Tri-Band ADSL
4. Router: UT-Starcom model UT-300R2U
5. Router pre-configured with DHCP, bearing local IP 192.168.1.1

Given this setup, you may proceed in the following way:

1. Switch on the router before you switch on the PC
   
2. Go to System > Administration > Network
3. Select Device eth0 and click on Edit
4. Under the Ethernet Device dialog, select Statically set IP addresses and enter the following Manual IP address settings
5. Address: 192.168.1.2
6. Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
7. Default gateway address: 192.168.1.1
8. Click OK
9. Now, back to Network Configuration dialog, select the DNS tab
10. Enter Primary DNS as 203.94.227.43
11. Enter Secondary DNS as 203.94.243.70
12. Click File > Save
13. You can start your browser and ride the waves of the internet !
    

Printer setup in Fedora Core 6

Printing with FC6 is really easy. Here's how I setup my HP PSC 500 Officejet:

1. Switch on your printer before starting your PC
   
2. Log in as root
   
3. Go to System > Administration > Printing
4. Click on New Printer
5. Printer Name: HP_PSC_500
6. Description: HP PSC 500
7. Location: Next to monitor
8. In Select Connection dialog, select HP PSC 500 LPT parport0 HPLIP
9. In Select Printer From Database option, select HP
10. Under Models select PSC 500
11. Once the printer is installed, the Printer Configuration dialog will be shown
12. Select Local Printers > HP_PSC_500
13. Click on Make default printer
14. Under Printer Options, select Page size as A4
15. Select Print test page under the Settings tab
    
16. If the page is printed correctly, no reason to worry!
    
17. Click on Apply and close the Printer Configuration dialog

The printer is setup. Although this guide is highly specific, I hope you have understood the basic steps in setting up a printer on Linux. You can follow the same steps (not literally) to setup your printers as well. A thing to note is that you should never be stuck with an old OS and a latest printer model, as that will mean the absence of the printer definition in the OS database. Ofcourse, there would be a workaround, but I haven't tried it out.

Java EE SDK Installation Instructions

For as long as this link works, its a good generic reference for anyone wanting to update their JRE in Fedora/Linux. The steps below are specific to installing Sun's Java EE SDK (inclusive of JDK and JRE 1.6.0_06) on Fedora Core 6 32-bit i386. Should you be able to succesfully complete the following steps, you shall have the most enviable Java setups around. Here's how you go about it:

Before we begin, there are a few things you need to know. Whenever I mention something like:

$cd /opt

..it means that the command cd /opt must be typed at the prompt (so called as the dollar prompt) in the Terminal (that is Applications > Accessories > Terminal). Don't worry, you won't see a dollar sign in the terminal, but its just a convention of writing. Note that you must not type the dollar sign while entering the command.

Secondly, there is no such thing as a registry, in Linux. So you don't have to 'install' applications using an installer. You will generally get a .tar.gz or a .zip file from the download sites. These files must be simply extracted, and the resulting folder must be copied to any location of your choice. However, by convention, such folders are copied into /usr/lib/ directory under your file system. (The file system can be accessed from Applications > System Tools > File Browser). However, since there is no installation, some manual configuring effort is required. This effort is largely context dependent, and will vary as per:

1. Distribution of Linux (Fedora, RedHat, Ubuntu, Debian, Mandriva, Gentoo.....)
2. Version of distribution (Fedora 8, RedHat 10.....)
3. The hardware platform for the distribution (i386 in my case, for Intel 32-bit processors)
   
4. Application version you've downloaded
5. Where you've saved (or subsequently copied) the extracted folder
   

Thirdly, when performing setup operations, you must always login as root.

Now, with a basic understanding of these things, lets get to the real thing:

Stage 1: Downloading the correct file, to the correct place

1. Go to http://java.sun.com
2. Select Downloads > Java EE
3. Click on Download with JDK
4. Accept the License Agreement
5. Click on the link to Java EE SDK 5 Update 3 under Linux platform
6. If you are using Firefox with default settings, the java_ee_sdk-5_03-linux.bin file will get downloaded to your Desktop
7. Once done, copy the bin file to /opt (under your File System)

Stage 2: Installing the EE Server

1. Open Applications > Accessories > Terminal
2. $cd /opt
3. $chmod +x java_ee_sdk-5_03-linux.bin
4. $./java_ee_sdk-5_03-linux.bin
5. Now, Java's GUI installation will begin.
6. Proceed through the installation normally
7. At the end, click on Start Server. If the installation proceeded succesfully, you should see a "Your server is up and running" page when you type http://localhost:8080/ in your browser
8. Also, a SDK directory will be created under /opt

This completes half the story, that is, you built the environment. But still, other applications don't know of its presence, and, in my opinion, you should make it loud and clear! So here's what you do:

Stage 3: Setting up environment variables

1. Open Applications > Accessories > Text Editor
2. Copy paste the following things in a new (blank) file:

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/SDK/jdk
export JRE_HOME=/opt/SDK/jdk/jre
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
export J2RE_HOME=/opt/SDK/jdk/jre
export PATH=$J2RE_HOME/bin:$PATH

Stage 4: Configuring the environment for use throughout Fedora

1. Now save the file as java.sh in /etc/profile.d under your File System
2. Back, to the terminal, do the following things:
3. $source /etc/profile.d/java.sh
4. $which java
5. If you have proceeded correctly upto this stage, you should see /opt/SDK/jdk/jre/bin/java as the result.
6. Proceed ahead ONLY IF you get this result. Else, you've gone wrong and must retrace. There's no point in moving forward if you don't get this result.
7. Now, continue typing in terminal with the following commands:
8. $usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /opt/SDK/jdk/jre/bin/java 2
9. $usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
10. Type 2 and hit enter
11. $java -version
12. If installation is complete, it should give the following result:

java version "1.6.0_03"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_03-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.6.0_03-b05, mixed mode)

Stage 5: Installing the JRE plugin for Firefox

Now, the final stage remains that of hooking up the JRE with your browser. Assuming you have correctly installed Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9 in /usr/lib/firefox do the following:

$ln -s /opt/SDK/jdk/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so

Note that the entire statement above is on a single line, without hitting anywhere in between.

This will complete the entire installation procedure. I know its long and tedious, but trust me, its well worth the effort.

Four pillars of internet completed

The migration to Fedora has gained strength, what with the completion of construction of the four pillars of the internet:

1. Browser (Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9)
2. Messenger (GAIM; multi-protocol for GTalk and Yahoo)
3. File-sharing (Limewire 4.14)
4. Server (Java EE SDK, bundled with JDK+JRE 1.6.0_03)

Now, the full internet experience of Windows is available on Fedora! Detailed setup guides and installation instructions will be published tomorrow. (Its 1:55 midnight as I type) There are lots of them....and they are VERY important. Cya.