lConnect

Are unit tests the right level of test for doing TDD successfully?

2011-03-05T23:08:00.000-08:00

Andrew Binstock points out that the right level to work at before writing code is the acceptance test. He also mentions that unit tests remove only about 35% of defects in software. This number rises to 40% if the tests are written before the code.

Read http://drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/229219511 for more information.

Memorable quotes from "Big Fish"

2010-10-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Norther Winslow: I've been working on this poem for 12 years.
Young Ed Bloom: Really?
Norther Winslow: There's a lot of expectation. I don't wanna disappoint my fans.
Young Ed Bloom: May I?
Young Ed Bloom: [Edward reeds the poem on the notebook ] The grass so green Skies so blue. Spectra is really great!
Young Ed Bloom: It's only three lines long.
Norther Winslow: This is why you should never show a work in progress.

2010-03-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

You Don’t Need Math Skills To Be A Good Developer But You Do Need Them To Be A Great One

2009-05-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

Funniest Marathi Call Center Conversation

Leaves fall for good

2009-04-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the last time I experienced summer this way. Though it was hot but not like this summer. Not only me but my friends will agree with that too. It's different than just the change of seasons than I have seen in previous years. Leaves are falling. Yes they are. At least we were aware of this fall long time back.

But, Leaves fall for good.

2009-04-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

Virtualization: The key to a green data center?

Subtitles in Vista Media Center

2009-03-20T03:40:00.001-07:00

I know that by now, you must have got very excellent skills in handling and using your Vista Media Center PC. But, one of the missing features in it really keeps it low - "display of .srt subtitles".

But, when there is a will; there is a way. Check out the - Media control plugin which helps you to enjoy your Non-DVD movies with subtitles.

More of a deadly virus (II)

2009-02-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

A) There are three boxes, the labels on it shows 1. Apple 2. orange 3. Apple+orange. The labels are wrong means box with apple label may contain orange or apple+orange like this. All boxes are sealed , you have to paste all labels on right boxes by openings only one box. how will you do it ?

B) You have unlimited water. There two cans of water one of 5 liter and 3 liter. Now you have to measure 4 liters of it.

Paid downloads on YouTube

2009-02-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

Soon, you should be able to charge for your contents on YouTube. Right now, only few partners can do that. But, hopefully it should be available to everyone. Let's prepare yourself to create some interesting stuff. It is an opportunity for people who always dreamed big; but with small tools.

A Deadly Virus

2009-02-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Recently, we (my officemates) got infected by a very deadly virus - "Puzzles". Some of those are as follows:

A) I offer to play a card game with you using a normal deck of 52 cards. the rules of the game are that we will turn over two cards at a time. If the cards are both black, they go into my pile. If they are both red, they go into your pile. If there is one red and one black, they go into the discard pile.

we repeat the two card flipping until we've gone through all 52 cards. Whoever has more cards in their pile at the end wins. I win if there is a tie. if you win, I pay you a dollar. how much would you pay to play this game?

B) The farmer is taking his fox, duck and corn to market. He is currently stuck on the left bank of a major river. The good news is that he has a boat available. The bad news is that the boat will only hold him and one other item for each crossing.

He dare not leave the duck alone with the corn (corn would get eaten) or the duck alone with the fox (duck would get eaten). Also the farmer knows from prior experience that he cannot leave the corn alone on the right bank of the river since a large flock of crows is waiting to devour it.

Can you help the farmer get everything across the river safely?

C) How do we measure forty-five minutes using two identical wires, each of which takes an hour to burn, however the wires burn non-uniformly (sometimes faster, sometimes slower). We have plenty of matchsticks.

D) A blind man was handed a deck of 52 cards with exactly 10 cards facing up. How can he divide it into two piles, each of which having the same number of cards facing up?

E) A duck swims in a perfectly circular pond. There is a fox at the shore, afraid of water, that plans to catch the duck when getting out. The land speed of the fox is four times as high as the water speed of the duck, however, once the duck reaches the shore without the fox in its immediate neighborhood, it can hide and escape. Can the duck reach the shore safely?

2009-01-30T01:34:00.000-08:00

My "stack" really "overflowed" after reading this Big O thing

Amazing tweak in Windows 7

2009-01-27T00:50:00.000-08:00

It is true that good things comes in small packages. Microsoft came up with the huge list of small enhancements in 7. Out of all those, I liked Black box recorder very much.

I hope after that every developer will get the bugs with proper reproducible steps and logs.

My first HTPC

2008-10-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

Since last few weeks, I was very much obsessed with building my-very-own-first-HTPC. If you haven’t heard the term before; Google to know more about it. For me, it is simply a device like DVD player which plays all kinds of media formats plus has some thinking ability (CPU) so that you can extend the media experience.

Imagine - The movies you downloaded using bit-torrent (which may be in Terabytes) stored at one place, all of your photos stored in a central location. You have that device connected to your HDMI LCD TV and you can play it whenever you want. And, as that device has the thinking ability too, you can extend the functionality of it as well (in other term – Automate your way of life). For example, you can extend the HTPC so that it will record your TV programs in the time-frame you set. So, even if you are not there during that time; you can still watch it afterwards at your comfort. The possibilities are endless.

Finally after lot of R&D, my obsession came to reality. And oh boy !! What a reality !!

I searched a lot and came across - CODING HORROR. It really helped me out to get it done. I was able to get almost everything mentioned on the site.

I built it using -

1. Motherboard: Gigabyte GA - MA78GM - 780G HDMI
Cost: Rs. 4700
Note: This motherboard is a must must element. Because it has an HDMI Output on it and it peforms like - Wow!!!

2. Processor: AMD Athlon X2/2.1 GHZ
Cost: Rs. 2900
Note: We don't need a powerful processor. Because, we won't be doing much calculation sensitive stuff with it. We will be mostly doing graphics processing. Mentioned motherboard is capable of doing that.

3. DVD: Lite-On 20x
Cost: Rs. 1200

4. HDD: Segate 500 GB SATA
Cost: Rs. 3000
Note: The motherboard has 7 SATA connectors. So, you can go ahead and play with lot of storage.

5. Cabinet: iBall Baby 306
Cost: Rs. 1650
Note: A very cool looking cabinet. You can place it in your living-room and still get the appreciation from your neighbors :)

6. RAM: Transcend 2 GB 866 Mhz
Cost: 1900

Thats all. Well, almost.

7. Windows Vista Home Premium
Cost: You know that
Note: I am recommending this OS because it comes with Media Center application. And, that is the only application that you will need to have your HTPC work for you. You can either go for Linux as well. Linux OS do have some open source media center like softwares.

Optional but nice things which you can add are:

8. HDMI Cable: to connect this CPU to your LCD TV. Costing around from Rs. 250 to 1000 in India

9. Pinnacle Remote Kit for PC: This will help you to control your media center application with remote.

This entire thing will cost you around only Rs. 18,000 to 19,000 for the life time of adventure. The adventurous part is - you can extend your Media Center to automate your life, home and digital contents.

First post

2008-09-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

So finally, I decided to apply the philosophy of DFS in life. It is nice in a way. Having one finger pointing to everything you ever discovered or want to discover. May be I want some kind of direction in life now (It looks quite unstructured to me. Need that kick again!!!). So, just an effort to live the way in the right way.

Let's see where it leads to.