birds from japan

A Curious Development in Japan: "On a university campus in Japan carrion crows and humans line up patiently, waiting for the traffic to halt. When the lights change, the birds hop in front of the cars and place walnuts, which they picked from the adjoining trees, on the road. After the lights turn green again, the birds fly away and vehicles drive over the nuts, cracking them open. Finally, when it’s time to cross again, the crows join the pedestrians and pick up their meal."

cricket : ashes : quotes

a lot has been seen and said abt the ongoing ashes. here are a few famous quotes about the series.

"Freddie is a big unit and likes to get very animated
when he is appealing, which puts extra duress on the
crotch area of his trousers."
Andrew Flintoff's trouser manufacturer explains why
the big man needs a reinforced crotch

"Yeah, I think I owe Kevin a beer or two."
Michael Clarke thanks Kevin Pietersen for dropping him
when on 21

"I just try to bore the batsmen out. It's pretty
simple stuff but the complicated thing is to keep it
simple"
Glenn McGrath reveals his formula, after marching into
the exclusive 500 club

"I'm not much of a show-pony, but today I thought I
deserved it!"
Glenn McGrath justifies a swift change of boots midway
through his first-day spell at Lord's. The new
versions were gold-trimmed with "500" emblazoned on
the side

"Sex, drugs, cricketing things. You name it - he's
been through it."
Kevin Pietersen on Warne's mentoring skills

gandhi

"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they
fight you. Then you win."
- Mohandas Gandhi.
how cool is that statement?
have to admit, i was pretty impressed by that!

blogging

recently a lot of bloggers that i follow have written posts that say they havent posted in a some time and they are not going to apologize for it. i say sure. go ahead and do what u want. its ur blof after all.
in recent developments, ive started working as ecc secretary for the summer and fall. its not easy and its not as fun as avi food systems but its okay, lesser work than avi.
so when i was collecting mail for the bosses i hapenned to read an articel about blogging. a blogger, stuart berman, wrote "being in a profession that involves a lot of conceptual and symbolic work, there is somehting very satisfying about using your own hands to produce a tangible result". i thought it was appropriate ad liked it a lot. my sentiments are the same.
as frank stubbs says "you know it makes sense"

google moon

those guys over at google are cool. allowing some part of ther time to go to personal projects always comes to cool effects that ppl do. think of being paid to do something new and interesting. so when they came up with google moon, i was laughing. it looked nice. i was expetcign them to do someting similar when they had the mars landding. maybe that's an idea for them. those guys are funny too. if you zoom in close enough, you'll see that the moon is made of cheese. ha ha. funny guys. it made my saturday morning and mind to blog about it.

harry potter and the half blood prince

one of the finest books ive ever read. its a monumnet to books. all the adjectives are less than what can be potrayed by this book. this would easily rival and beat the best of frederick forsyth. the plot , the way ppl read, the mania behind potter in the book and in reality, all are beautiful. in a very easy, uncomplicated way, jkr has eastiablished herself in the hearts of millions. look at the figures. "6.9 million in the us alone in 2 days are figures that cannot be ignored" assaid by the advert of a finance company. the last 150 pages are thrilling and are a class of their own. there is emotion, love, hatred, excitement, sadness, loyalty, betrayal. everything i expected and more.
i finished the book feeling sad for harry and the order. and the fact that there is one coming in only 2 years and none after that seem to be bring some more sadness to my heart.

stages of arc

started out well...then things went kinda wild at the end

batman - 2 versions

jet ski

my own creation in paint

canon a510 specs

i think this is a cool camera. this is what im getting mom.

qsh

my java pet project for a shell emulator has finally take noff. after waiting for 2 weeks for approval, sourceforge has kindly granted to give me space and access for my project to grow to bigger realms.
i am hoping it will continue to grow to bigger things and i can get ssh in there. that will be a really cool feature and i think i will make that release 1.
wow..to think of it makes me shudder. it will take a lot of time. :|

whistling loudly?

the post for bewaarz that i had posted to learn how to whistle has spun off in a big way. i got a lot of traffic fromjust those terms. surprisingly. yahoo has my site as one of the top authorities on whistling. i feel guilty as i wasnt the guy who actualy wrote the article. i put up a link to him ,so i guess i shudnt feel too bad.

harry potter

with the upcoming harry potter book, i was browsing a few websites to catch up on the mania. here is a very interesting article which discusses as to who will die in the book. kinda spoky, but has to be discussed
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20050620_107702_107702
ha ha

frasier

tech tip for web developers

A web-performance tip: When generating hyperlinks, always include a trailing slash if possible. For instance, navigating to http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie takes one more roundtrip than http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/. When the browser navigates to the /ie url, the server merely sends down a 301 to the /ie/ url. Both links work, but the second version is faster

kelley's island

i dint know this photo was taken. but obviously it was, since i got it in my e-mail. maybe i come out better in photos i dint know were taken. ha ha..

How To Whistle Loudly

Disclaimer: I didn't write any of this I just copied it from the web somewhere. I can't find the site again now so I thought I'd put the text I copied up. If this is your text and you've put your site back up again let me know and I'll replace this with a link to your site.
For more information you may want to check out the Orawhistle Global Whistlers Forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Orawhistle/

Intro: Before you begin
Method 1: Fingered whistle
Method 2: Fingerless whistle
Introduction

Your fingers, washed (if you're starting a practice session)
A mirror (optional)

Practice 5 minutes a day in the mirror, and you'll have it in a few weeks (at the most)

Bevel: a sharply angled edge which air flows over and produces a tone. In the case of a whistle, the sound is created by the upper teeth and tongue forcing air on to the lower lip and teeth.

Sweet spot. the bevel's area of maximum efficiency, where the air is blown directly over the sharpest part of the bevel. Once you locate the sweet spot, your whistle will have a strong, clear tone, as opposed to a breathy, low-volume sound.

Whistling is a funny skill: folks who can whistle, wonder how anyone could have a problem with it. Folks who can't, wonder how anyone could ever produce such a sound. For those of you who can't, consider learning--a quick, loud, penetrating whistle has many useful applications and can be mastered with relative ease. (Note: there's nothing here on whistling Dixie or any other tuneful amusement.)

You'll be shown two techniques for whistling: one that uses your fingers, and another that doesn't. Say it's raining, your arms are full of shopping bags, and you need to flag a taxi. This no-hands whistle will allow you to emerge victorious in this situation and others. But the fingerless whistle is a little trickier to master, so you should practice the fingered whistle first. Just practice a little bit every day; soon pets and taxis alike will be at your beck and call.

Familiarize yourself with the different parts of your mouth, and get a feel for how they work together. It's mostly a matter of practicing whenever you get the chance: for example, walking a dog, applauding a live performance, or...flagging down a taxi.

If you can't produce any sort of whistle at present, maybe just loud wheezing sounds, you may want to try the fingered whistle first. Some say it's easier than the "no-hands" technique; others say they are equally easy (with practice.)

If you've set aside time to practice (highly recommended) then wash your hands first. It's good to be picky about what you put inside your mouth.
Method 1: Fingered Whistle
Tuck away your lips

First, your upper and lower lips must reach over to cover your teeth and be tucked into your mouth. Only the outer edges of your lips are visible, if at all.
Choose your finger combination

The role of fingers is to keep the lips in place over the teeth. Experiment with the following combinations to discover which works best for you, depending on the size of your fingers and mouth. Regardless of your choice of fingers, their placement is the same: each are placed roughly halfway between the corners and center of lips, inserted to the first knuckle. (Again, this will vary depending on the size of your fingers and mouth.)

Your options are:
# a U-shape created with thumb and middle finger, or thumb and index finger, of either hand.
# right and left index fingers.
# right and left middle fingers.
# right and left pinkie fingers.

Now that your fingers are in place, be very clear on these two matters of form:

1.) Your fingernails should be angled inwards, towards the center of the tongue, and not pointed straight in and towards the back of your mouth; and 2.) your fingers should pull the lower lip fairly taut.
Draw back the tongue

Now comes the crucial part of the whistle.

The tongue must be drawn back so that its front tip almost touches the bottom of the mouth a short distance behind the lower gums (about 1/2 inch/1 cm). This action also broadens and flattens the front edge of the tongue, allowing it to cover a wider portion of the lower back teeth.

The sound is produced by air flowing over a bevel, or a sharply angled edge. In this case, the sound is created by the upper teeth and tongue directing air onto the lower lip and teeth.
Blow

Steps 3 and 4 follow each other very closely, if not simultaneously. Inhale deeply, and exhale over the top side of the tongue and lower lip, and out of your mouth. Some extra downward and outward pressure by the fingers onto the lips and teeth may be helpful. Experiment with the position of the fingers, the draw of the tongue, the angle of the jaw, and the strength of your exhalation. Adjusting with these will bring success.

Start off with a fairly gentle blow. You'll produce a whistle of lower volume at first, but you'll also have more breath to practice with if you don't spend it all in the first three seconds. As you blow, adjust your fingers, tongue and jaws to find the bevel's sweet spot. This is the area of maximum efficiency, where the air is blown directly over the sharpest part of the bevel. Once you locate the sweet spot, your whistle will have a strong, clear tone, as opposed to a breathy, low-volume sound.

Listen for these sounds: as you practice, your mouth will learn to focus the air onto the bevel's sweet spot with increasing accuracy. You'll probably hear the following: a breathy, low-volume tone that suddenly, as you adjust your fingers, mouth, or jaw, will switch to a clear, full, high-volume tone. Success! You're on the right track--your task now is to reproduce the mouth and hand position that led to the better whistle.
Method 2: Fingerless Whistle

The fingerless whistle is a natural outgrowth of the fingered whistle. In the first method, you use your fingers to keep the lip taut and in place. With the next method, you remove your fingers and don't use them at all (except to cross them for good luck). Instead of using your fingers, you rely on your muscles in your lips, cheeks, and jaw. Since this technique requires greater control of those muscles, it may be easier to master the fingered whistle first, and then move on to the fingerless method.
Draw back lips

Begin by extending the lower jaw slightly, and pulling the corners of your mouth back a bit, towards your ears. Your bottom teeth should not be visible, but it's fine if your upper teeth are.

Your bottom lip should be quite taut against the lower teeth; if you have need help with this movement, press an index and middle fingertip on either side of the mouth to draw the lip slightly out to the corners. Note: this action is not an insertion of the fingers into the mouth, as the first method indicated. In this instance, you're simply stretching the lower lip a bit, and the fingertips aren't in the airstream.
Draw back the tongue

Now comes the crucial part of the whistle.

The tongue must be drawn back so that it sort of floats in the mouth at the level of the lower front teeth. This action also broadens and flattens the front edge of the tongue, yet there's still a space between the tongue and the lower front teeth.

The sound of the whistle comes from air that is blown over a bevel, or a sharply angled edge. In this case, the sound is created by the upper teeth and tongue forcing air on to the lower lip and teeth.
Blow

Steps 2 and 3 follow each other very closely, if not simultaneously.

Inhale deeply and exhale--the air should flow under your tongue, up through the space between the tongue and teeth, and out of the mouth. Experiment with the position of the fingers, the draw of the tongue, the angle of the jaw, and the strength of your exhalation.

Start off with a fairly gentle blow. You'll produce a whistle of lower volume, but you'll also have more breath to practice with if you don't spend it all in the first three seconds.

Using your upper lip and teeth, direct the air downwards and towards your lower teeth. The focus of the air is crucial for this technique--you should be able to feel the air on the underside of your tongue. And if your hold your finger below your lower lip, you should feel the downward thrust of air when you exhale.

As you blow, adjust your tongue and jaws to find the sweet spot. This is the area of maximum efficiency, where the air is blown directly over the sharpest part of the bevel. This results in a strong, clear tone that's constant, as opposed to a breathy, lower-volume sound that fades in and out.

Listen for the following: the sound you'll start with will sound as if you're letting air out of a tire. Every now and then, the clear and full tone will come through, and you'll know that it's only a matter of time before you're hailing every pet and taxi in your community.

how to remove the ie icon from the desktop?

alternate question:
-how to remove the Internet Explorer icon from the desktop?
-how to remove the unused icons from the desktop?
-how to unclutter the desktop?
relevance
-windows xp home/professional(tested)
-windows 98(untested)
-windows 2000(untested)

solution
1. right click an empty area on the desktop.
2. click on properties
(2.5. wait for the box to open up..twiddle you thumbs..play with your
toes...if you can do both then you need an updated computer..it
shudn't take that long)
3. click on the Desktop tab at the top of the box
4. click on the Customize Desktop button at the bottom of the box
5. another box should open up
6. you should see an area that has a bunch of check boxes. a couple of
them should be ticked and few unticked.
7. here you can choose which default icons you want on the desktop.
-tick means stay on desktop
-no tick means remove from desktop
i personally like my computer and the my documents icon on the
desktop. no IE and Network Places.
8. you can also change the icons used by windows for these default icons here.
9. click on apply to see the changes immediately
10. click on ok for the desktop items box
11. click on ok in the display properties box.
voila! you're done!

tips and tricks

i've been working with computers for some time now. i know most of the tips and tricks one can use to get the stuff done quickly, efficiently and easily. i've thinking for some time as to how to share this info. and what better way than my blog. maybe it will help get me a few hits as well. as of now ill start off with the windows tips and slow move on to linux/ unix environments.
watch out for the first tip later on today

summer is here

summer is here. i can feel the heat searing already. a week back we almost had snow again. and now we have the heat of the year. this is ohio, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to the most fickle place in usa. the semester has also ended. so summer session will start soon