What’s good in Steganos Online Shield 365 -part 3

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 5/17/2013 5:49:00 PM

'In part 3 of the Steganos Online Shield 365 we are going to explore if there are any quirks which we have to watch out for.  Oh yes, there are a few. BTW let us be very clear here - even though I’ve been offered an year’s free subscription of Steganos Online Shield 365 worth $79.95, my policy is to test out the (any) software in and out, and list out problems, if there are any. The reasons are two.  One, a wishy-washy review does not do the readers any justice.  Two,(...)'

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What’s good in Steganos Online Shield 365 -part 2

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 5/17/2013 1:26:00 PM

'The second part of tryout with Steganos Online Shield 365 takes a look at how good is the software in practical terms.  The first part of the review is here. Connection Speed: Anyone who has used a VPN or TOR from India would know the frustration of slow speeds, drop/cut-off connections and timeout errors while using them.  With Steganos Online Shield, though there is a slight drop in speed , it is barely noticeable.  My 4 Mbps download line behaves better than a 2 (...)'

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What’s good in Steganos Online Shield 365 -part 1

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 5/17/2013 10:24:00 AM

'As I wrote a couple of days back, everyone will and should start to use a good VPN service soon.  And as luck would have it, there are no good, free (cheap) Virtual Private Network (VPN) services available in India. In this situation, when I was offered a chance to review Steganos Online Shield 365 (with a complimentary one year subscription free), I jumped at the offer - only some family health issues hindered putting out the review.  So here is how Steganos Online Shiel(...)'

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Why everyone should use a VPN

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 5/14/2013 5:05:00 PM

'The internet is an evolving environment and the proof is to think back on all the new tools, techniques (and ‘apps’) we use today when compared to a few years back.  Another way to look at the evolving nature is to look at the protective security measures we’ve to adopt. Ten (or even 8) years back, a simple anti-virus was considered enough to secure our life online.  Today, anyone venturing online (or even staying off the net) without a decent Security Suite would be cons(...)'

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Why TC 01B ‘MAHASEN’ will skip Chennai

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 5/12/2013 12:33:00 PM

'It is a scary and sad thought that the developing Tropical Cyclone 01B, named ‘MAHASEN’, is forecast not to approach Chennai.  The models suggest that TC 01B MAHASEN would veer off North-Northwest after making a CPA of about 650 km from Chennai, thus avoiding the TN and Indian coast altogether. But this skipping of Tamil Nadu by the TC 01B MAHASEN should gladden the hearts of some people in the state.  You know, the so called Tamil activists (actually chauvinists) who hav(...)'

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Won’t TC 01B ‘MAHASEN’ hit Chennai

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 5/11/2013 1:33:00 PM

'Almost 6 months to the day, there is another Deep Depression in the Bay of Bengal (BoB), which has actually intensified and been officially christened ‘MAHASEN’.  In November of 2012 there was a Deep Depression 03B which acted as though it was interested in lashing Chennai.  Sadly, it thrilled only to deceive and dissipated without intensifying into a Tropical Cyclone. After 6 months, the only other Deep Depression to intensify into a Tropical Cyclone named MAHASEN, sadly(...)'

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Are Che Guevara, Unicef T-shirts terrorist uniforms

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/24/2013 2:36:00 PM

'The contributors to Reddit did a lot of good after the terror bombing at Boston Marathon.  They organised housing for those stranded in Boston, sent pizza deliveries to Police and hospitals, and the like. But Reddit, the portal,  didn’t cover itself in fame with the mis-identification of innocents as suspects.  No wonder they published a full fledged apology today. If you had been reading the comments and contributors posts during those tense hours (days!), you woul(...)'

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Sunil Tripathi is Not the Boston Bomber

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/19/2013 12:55:00 PM

'In some ways the man hunt for the Boston Bombers resembles more the bumbling of Indian Police rather than a professional, thorough, analysed one by FBI.  For in India we are used to leaks about almost everything on an investigation. Back home, almost every aspect of the investigation, any investigation, is somehow leaked to the media - especially TV channels.  People learn the names of victims through TV channels and not through a polite, sympathetic official call. But i(...)'

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Google plus comments skrews Disqus on Blogger

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/19/2013 8:25:00 AM

'From yesterday (today, for us in India), Google Plus has taken forward its integration with Blogger to a new level.  In the words of Yonatan Zunger of Google, “ starting today, you can bring Google+ comments to your Blogger blog.  Once you’ve enabled the feature through your Blogger Dashboard, you’ll enjoy a number of important benefits”. Bringing together Google+ and Blogger with the integration of Google+ comments is in one way a huge step.  But after trying it out(...)'

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Will Akshaya Tritiya 2013 see a Gold crash

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/16/2013 5:41:00 AM

'In 2013 the Akshaya Tritiya day occurs on 13 May.  Just look at the date - 13 May 13 - with two thirteen in it.  Though the number 13 is not considered an outright taboo in India, people do have an anxiety about it.My own phobia is of a 13 falling on a Tuesday, which in the past has been the day when big lifestyle changes - both good and bad - have occurred.  Fortunately Akshaya Tritia on 13 May 13 is a Monday and not a Tuesday.  BTW there is only one Tuesday the(...)'

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Finally, Dead-Man’s Switch from Google

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/14/2013 8:27:00 AM

'Not a pleasant post for the Tamil New Year today. But what has to be said has to be.  Few years back, when I was really afraid whether someone would actually dare attempt to kill me, I was looking for Dead-Man’s Switch.  What I was looking for was a way to alert my family when I didn’t or couldn’t log in to one of my ‘digital’ life after being dead. For instance, at that point in time, I wanted to write out a ‘WILL’, leaving my estate (whatever meagre it is), to my famil(...)'

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mothers right clavicle dislocation

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/12/2013 10:18:00 AM

'here is the xray picture of the dislocated / fractured right clavicle of my mother.'

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When mother is hospitalized

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/12/2013 3:05:00 AM

'It is not a great way to end the last Tamil Year, when your mother has to be hospitalized after having a fall.  To a medically half-trained Sailor's eyes, it looks like a dislocated right shoulder.So till she comes back home safe, I don’t expect to blog much about anything.What it means is there will be no Moodle for the Tamil New Year.:-(Do me a favour and pray for her to get well soon.(image courtesy sodahead.com)Tags: mother'

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Firefox 20.0.1 fixes address bar problem

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/11/2013 7:50:00 AM

'Mozilla has released a bug fix version of Firefox in a minor version update with 20.0.1.  This latest release of Firefox fixes the problem experienced by some Firefox 20 users with a non-working address bar. It appears that enterprise users with a roaming profile were experiencing problems with the address and search bars with Mozilla Firefox 20.0. That issue of non-working address bar and another bug which irritated corporate users of Firefox by preventing SPNEGO (Simple and(...)'

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Happy Ugadi, Gudi Padwa Moodle for Google Doodle

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/11/2013 4:01:00 AM

'The spring is here - actually Chennai is sweltering as we have only summer, rains and a bit of winter - and the cuckoos are announcing it.  With the spring comes the New Year festivals and holidays for all the people of India, usually around the new moon day in April.Today is Ugadi - the New Year day for the people of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as also Gudi Padwa - the New Year day for the people of Maharashtra.As has been customary for the last 3 years (2010, 2011 and 2012),(...)'

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Mamata Banerjee finds her own medicine distasteful

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/10/2013 2:59:00 AM

'Ask any citizen in India about Mamata Banerjee and 9 out of 10 people outside West Bengal would label her political style as rabble rousing and confrontational.That her style is confrontational is undeniable.  Even her own party workers would  concede that Mamata Banerjee’s political life consists only of confrontational, in-the-face, no-holds-barred, brash style of functioning.As for ‘rabble’, she can rouse her party workers to raise a ruckus and rumble with half a tantru(...)'

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What’s up if Google gets WhatsApp?

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/9/2013 5:10:00 PM

'The whole of online world is abound with the buzz and the subsequent denial that Google is in the market, actually talking to, WhatsApp to take it over.If the denied (by Neeraj Arora of WhatsApp) deal goes through, it will be the next biggest acquisition by an internet major after Facebook's takeover of Instagram.In December 2012, there were similar speculations that Facebook was in talks to acquire WhatsApp. The latest rumour is that WhatsApp is playing harball - even though the ac(...)'

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Thatcher of ‘Milk Snatcher’ fame dies

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/8/2013 1:38:00 PM

'Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher (1925 - 2013) has died peacefully at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke today.  Margaret Thatcher was suffering from Alzheimer's for several years. Lady Thatcher was the Tory prime minister from 1979 to 1990 and the first woman to become the Prime Minister of UK (and till now the only one).  Margaret Thatcher actually challenged former prime minister Edward Heath for Conservative Party leadership in 1975, and became the Leader(...)'

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Panguni Amavasya Tharpanam procedure in Tamil

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/8/2013 8:25:00 AM

'Wednesday, the 10th of April is the Panguni Amavasya (பங்குனி அமாவாசை).  In the Sanskrit it is also referred to as Meena Maasa Amavasya (மீன மாஸ அமாவாசை).As has become usual practice, the Tharpanam procedure in Tamil for the Panguni Amavasya is posted here - both in PDF and in EPUB formats.  The EPUB format has been redone with heads for better navigation.The PDF and EPUB file links are given after a screenshot of the EPUB file opened on my Android phone.PS:  Tuesday,(...)'

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Will Femen’s Topless Jihad provoke protests in India

Author : mad madrasi      Blog : www.madmadrasi.net      Date : 4/4/2013 3:14:00 AM

'Looking back over 20 years of political and social transformation in India, one fact stands out.  To an observer it must appear as if India has become a protest democracy.  Practically everyday there is a protest rally or gherao somewhere in the nation - whining, moaning, screaming, shouting, even physically attacking and assaulting - for real or perceived offences.  Too many times it doesn’t concern India or Indians directly.Whether it is protests against suppression(...)'

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