Nauman (recluze) on Computing, Philosophy and more.

'recluze was here'

2006-08-15T09:50:00.000+05:00

I moved my blog recently to Wordpress.com. http://recluze.wordpress.com Although the design on wordpress isn't anywhere near my liking, it allows you to download their blogging software and run it on your own host (which means lots of customization). See you there.

Me in City University

2006-03-12T21:45:00.000+05:00

I'm about to finish my class in Brains Degree College. I think I'll be teaching VB.NET for the next 100 years. I've already got another one in City University. It's a BCS and MCS merged class of about 25.

I've taught them for four hours and they already think I'm too tough on them! Let's see if they can hate me as much as my Brains class.

CSS Heaven, Dreamweaver 8!

2006-03-02T16:29:00.000+05:00

Just tried Macromedia's (now Adobe) Dreamwever version 8. It's simply great. It's the only editor I've seen so far which manages to capture the soul of latest developments in CSS. It creates CSS layouts automatically! Hand-code a CSS page and you'll see why I'm so excited.

Quarks in Flash

2006-02-18T10:21:00.000+05:00

I've been busy as a bee trying to finish the flash verion of Quaks website. It's almost finished now. The skeleton is up and only a few screens remain. It's basically just text that remains now. Even that is ready. I just don't have it with me right now.

Anyway, if you don't know what Quarks is, head over to www.quarksweb.com to find out. Sorry, Uzair. I couldn't hold it in any longer. It's a wonder I've been able to keep it shut for this long.

Finally, a Class!

2006-02-13T21:13:00.000+05:00

I've finally managed to attend a class (as a student, that is). My MS classes have started today. For those who don't know (and for some obscure and unfathomable reason, still care) I've gotten myself admitted in MS programme in City University. It's a research based programme and it'll take two years. Inshaallah! I've got a vague idea of what I'll be doing for research. Don't want to give it away right now though.

CSS Layout

2006-01-27T18:40:00.000+05:00

I've finally finished writing (and publishing) my article on "CSS Layout". I've converted it into a handy PDF all pretty and formatted. Took me two days just to format it in InDesign. (I had to learn the tool while doing it!) Here are the details. Article Abstract Tables are a powerful way of creating complex page layouts. That’s why many people simply refuse to let them go. Now, CSS designs have come a long way and have the same sort of power. Let go of your tables and come see how powerful CSS has become. The main problem I faced when I started learning CSS designs was how to get some of those DIVs floating to the right position while still keeping others in their place. HTML tables made it so easy but they have their drawbacks. I decided to redo my weblog template and write a small article in the meantime. There are a lot of CSS tutorials out there. I’m not going to go into the details of CSS. I’ll just take a design and implement it with precise values to show you just how it’s done. Having said that, be forewarned, this tutorial is not for the faint of heart. File size: 374 KBs Number of Pages: 6 Download it here along with the resource file.

Backrub

2006-01-14T18:28:00.000+05:00

Google's orginal research papers (when it was called BackRub)! I'll give them some time too. I just have to at least see these papers, even if I don't understand them.

WebBase Research Papers

Macromedia is now Adobe

2006-01-13T18:29:00.000+05:00

Just went to Macromedia's site. Adobe's completed the merger and Macromedia is no more! I love Dreamweaver and Photoshop. Just hope Adobe keeps the good features of Macromedia. It'd be a waste if they decide to ditch Macromedia's interface in favour of their palette system.

Eid Mubarak

2006-01-11T14:29:00.000+05:00

Wish a very happy eid to all my friends and readers. (Whatever few there are.)

This also gives me the oppertunity to test Performancing for Firefox which I've just installed. Let's see how it works.

Internet through Power Cables

2006-01-07T21:30:00.000+05:00

We still haven't got DSL here and I hear they've started offering internet through power cables! Current Communications have partnered up with Google too. Take a look at How It Works. I'll try to find some technical details about this.

Analyze your site

2006-01-05T12:10:00.000+05:00

Ok, webmasters who haven't used Google Analytics yet need to wake up and give it a go. It's a very useful tool for visitor tracking. Reports about pageviews, visits, loyal visitors, useful content, referrers and other such useful stuff are so easy to manage. It's a must-see for those who run a site and don't have a very powerful statistics software.

I'm back

2006-01-01T08:53:00.001+05:00

I'm back. With a new template. It's not fully functional yet so, bear with it for a while.

CSS Designing Intro

2005-11-16T17:10:00.000+05:00

I have completed my article on CSS designing for the experienced HTML coders. I've submitted it to A List Apart. I hope to get it published there. If it doesn't I'll publish it here instead. (It won't nearly be as good but still, have to put it somewhere.) I'll also be applying my new design on this here blog. You'll see it in a week or so, inshaallah.

Me on vectors

2005-11-15T20:41:00.000+05:00

I'm into Illustrator now. Here's my description of my first work in vectors:

This is my first (serious) work with vectors. This was one category of modern (digital) art I never tried. Well, not 'ny more. I'm sorry if this piece is too cliché. I have no idea about vectors and I haven't done any tutorials. So, even if it IS cliché, it isn't.

You can see it on deviantArt or Gfxartist.

css Zen Garden

2005-11-10T21:04:00.000+05:00

Take a look at CSS Zen Garden if you're still working with Dreamweaver and bloated HTML tables for designing your sites. Honestly, you need to stop. I'm surprised Dreamweaver's still using that technique for screen design. Then again, Macromedia's a business. I'd expect that from them. Anyway, CSS design (and seperate code through XTHML, by the way) is the way to go. If you don't know anything about this stuff, I suggest you head over to A List Apart and take a look at their articles. I'll be posting some of the very useful ones here at times as I come across them. I'm also doing a redesign of my blog template and I'm planning on posting a tutorial about it. That should give you a headstart on this design with CSS thing.

Completed Test Walk

2005-11-08T18:36:00.000+05:00

I finished the test phase of my Ultimate Walk on Monday. The walk was from Nowshera to Peshawar. Here're the details: Start Time: 7:22 AM End Time: 2:39 PM Duration: 7hours, 17 minutes Total Distance Covered: 35 kms No. of Stops: 3 Stop 1: 10 mins Stop 2: 35 mins (The guy took half an hour to make a cup of tea!!) Stop 3: 5 mins Notes: The walk was pretty good. I had to do it alone so it was a little harder. I got through but I have to get myself more suitable footwear before trying the final walk. My nails hurt! Here's a view of the route. I know the distance looks small in this image but this is taken from an altitude of 60miles!

Singularity - An OS in C#

2005-11-04T20:37:00.000+05:00

Microsoft research is working on Singularity which, if I gather correctly, is an OS written in C#. They say it's about reliability more than performance. It has to be if it's going to use .Net's CLR. That thing is bloated! Singularity wouldn't be a very good name for an OS. Especially for Microsoft who already has a bad image as a monopolistic giant trying to extend its monopoly from desktops to the internet. (I'm talking about the theoretical physics meaning of singularity. That's a place where space/time come to an end.)

Back to Work

2005-11-03T20:21:00.000+05:00

I'm finally feeling a little better. Been quite ill the past half a month. I couldn't do anything. No AI, no LISP, no Photoshop. No designing! All I have been able to do is read and blog. Better get back to work now.

Windows Live!

2005-11-02T20:48:00.000+05:00

Windows Live
Yes, Microsoft's reply to Google's Personalized Homepage. I didn't think I'd have to say this but Microsoft's finally beaten Google at something. (Well, ever since Google started rolling anyway.)

The page is clutter free, fast and yet pretty. It doesn't work well with my Firefox or Flock but on IE, it's pretty good. There are some features Google guys need to "borrow" now like the search box and the simple styles which don't look crude!

Also go to ideas.live.com to see more of "Windows Live". Social bookmarks, messenger, Office. Microsoft's looking for Web2.0 dominance now. So long desktop!

Yay! I won!

2005-11-02T20:24:00.000+05:00

deviantART: sirgerg: Contest Results

Well, first competition I've participated in and guess what! I won! Even got praise from my fav artist: Greg Martin. True enough, not many people participated but hey, top's top.

Xen - Linux's VM

2005-11-01T21:05:00.000+05:00

Computer Laboratory - Xen virtual machine monitor

Gotta check this one out. Red Hat's trying hard to get this thing to go into the linux kernel. So, there's gotta be something to it. I'll have to install a copy of Fedora Core first though. *sigh*

4D Photography?!

2005-11-01T20:52:00.000+05:00

Light Field Photography with a Hand-Held Plenoptic Camera

That's what I read it being called but I'm not so sure about the 4th D. This is a pretty nice concept though. Very nice if you know about focus in photography. This could mean a lot of saved shots.

Those of you who know about this 'Fourier' stuff, tell me how this thing actually works.

Not Another IQ Test!

2005-10-30T20:47:00.000+05:00

No, this isn't just another average IQ test. I came across this test (or rather, these tests) a year and a half back. Most tests I've seen are more about understanding of English than about intelligence. This one (although I still don't see how a test can measure intelligence) is far better. Take the "Ultimate IQ Test" and see if you score higher than me. I got a 139 last time I took it. Do tell me if you even attempt the "Test for Exceptional Intelligence". That one's sure to give you a headache.

International High IQ Society | Free IQ Tests

Creating Icons

2005-10-28T21:39:00.000+05:00

SimpleBits | Anatomy of an Icon

If you're like me, you've always had trouble creating icons. I'll create all the huge paintings and designs but a 32x32 icon beats me! Well, here's an article by SimpleBits to the rescue.

Fontography!

2005-10-28T21:29:00.000+05:00

A disagreeably facetious type glossary

From Microsoft. Pretty dry but to the point. I'll be reading it myself. I already know the basics but maybe I'll find something interesting in it.

ClearType Configuration for XP

2005-10-28T21:11:00.000+05:00

ClearType Tuner Step 1: Turn on Windows XP ClearType

This is a fairly nice tool for optimizing ClearType on a Windows XP machine. It has better configurability than the Desktop Configuration tool.

You need Internet Explorer as browser to use it though. It works using an ActiveX cotrol.

A Free Offline Explorer

2005-10-26T20:48:00.000+05:00

HTTrack Website Copier - Offline Browser

This is for everyone who's used Offline Explorer and wanted a free software equivalent to it. Use this HTTrack and tell me if it's any good. I just don't have time for offline stuff. Good luck.

New Yahoo and Hotmail

2005-10-22T20:30:00.000+05:00

They say stuff like "Gmail's blown away" and "Much superior to Gmail" but the only thing I see is that they've turned the usual web-based mail experience to the usual desktop experience. Find screenshots of Yahoo Mail beta and Hotmail Beta and it looks just like Outlook.

Now I agree that the message preview pane is very helpful but Gmail's conversation view and tag system for archiving mails is very very useful. Why not incorporate those too? Web2.0 apps almost all seem to be using tag system simply because it's way more powerful and usable than the folder hierarchy system.

Just for the record, I find Yahoo's tab system very good too. I'll just have to wait to see how it actually works. I've only seen screenshots as of yet.

Linux back in demand

2005-10-22T20:19:00.000+05:00

Microsoft's in more trouble. Google's great work with linux has finally convinced the computing giants that Linux is the only possible replacement to Microsoft's monopoly on desktop operating systems. Linux is now being backed by IBM, Intel, HP and others. I believe linux is the best replacement for Windows. If only the GUI was a bit stronger (and faster).

Some really good fonts.

2005-10-20T00:53:00.000+05:00

These fonts may not be very versatile but they're good for formal stuff. Especially if you can't spend a fortune on Adobe's Fontfolio. Vitaly Friedman | Blog: 20 Best License-Free Official Fonts

Bookmarks on the Web

2005-10-19T11:58:00.000+05:00

I've been looking for an online application for storing my bookmarks for ages and it was sitting right under my nose. del.icio.us is just the thing I wanted. I have yet to see though, how it imports my hundreds of bookmarks already sitting in my Firefox Bookmarks folder. The import feature is down for maintenance. *Waits*

ComponentArt Webui 3.0 and AJAX

2005-10-19T11:51:00.000+05:00

If you haven't used WebUI3.0 for ASP.NET, you're missing a very neat component. Do give it a try. Neat menus, grids and other controls. This article gives an introduction to the AJAX features of the tool. ComponentArt - Online Documentation

The New Microsoft Office User Interface Overview:

2005-10-17T20:59:00.000+05:00

The new Office (version 12) sees a total rewamp of the UI. I don't think this would be such a good move. People don't accept changed easily. As me and some of my friends are used to saying: "Never underestimate the stupidity of general public". Anyway, the change is going more towards Macromedia's Dreamweaver style tabs to group similar commands together. I think this will be welcomed by the geek community in general. Take a look at the new UI. It's only a preview. The New Microsoft Office User Interface Overview:

Windows Vista Build 5231 Screenshots

2005-10-10T09:31:00.000+05:00

Joe Cashman's put these screenshots of Windows Vista Build 5231. Although you can only see the interface changes from these shots, they look pretty cool. I wasn't much for the XP interface but I think I'm going to move away from the Windows 2000 interface if I get something like this on my desktop.

The Intelligent Door Handle

2005-10-09T05:59:00.000+05:00

Now that's putting technology to use! If that 'added advantages for elderly...' wasn't there, I would've said someone needs to get a life! As it is, it's a pretty neat trick. The Intelligent Door Handle: "Poromenos writes 'Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed the intelligent door handle. It combines a camera, buzzer, RFID locks and various other systems inside the door, making keys obsolete. RFID chips for opening doors will offer 'added advantages for elderly or handicapped people, saving them the trouble of wielding keys or holding the door open in order to get inside the building.''" - Slashdot

Google Reader

2005-10-08T23:21:00.000+05:00

Google's awake again. This time it's the RSS feed aggrigator. I've seen the famous Newsgator Online and I must say, although Newsgator probably had more features (although not apparent), the Google interface is much faster and easy to use. It's another step towards Google's online software. Looks good. It's still in the Labs though. Google Reader

Web 2.0: The Buzz

2005-10-07T05:28:00.000+05:00

The Web2.0 Conference has just finished. What's Web 2.0? It's an idea (for lack of a better word) that people should be the publishers of content on the internet as well as the consumers. Here's a Wired news article on the conference. Lots of good links in the article. Follow the links to see more of the latest on the web. Wired News: Are You Ready for Web 2.0?

Amazing Blurred Backgrounds

2005-10-04T06:01:00.000+05:00

Here's for those photographers who've been visiting my blogs. There must be someone. How to Create Those Amazing Blurred Background Photo Portraits by Wikihow. It's a nice enough article but assumes you know a little about technical stuff like aperture and f-stops.

Atlas Project

2005-10-02T19:33:00.000+05:00

Of course, soon we're going to need an IDE to do all things AJAX for us. Microsoft's started working on this with Atlas Project. I bet Dreamweaver will have some support for it in the very near future. Probably as soon as version 8. In the meantime, we're going to need to know DHTML and Javascript to do everything by hand. I hate hand coding Javascript! Here's another cool tutorial on DHTML from Sitepoint. Search on webmonkey for a DHTML tutorial too. I love webmonkey's tutorial.

Another AJAX tutorial

2005-10-02T19:23:00.000+05:00

Well, since no one's paying any attention to my questions regarding the use of AJAX, guess I'll have to go along with the current implementation of the technique. For that, I've found another thorough article. Ajax Tutorial: Ajax What Is It Good For? Please let me know if you find anything regarding AJAX. Tools, tutorials, discussions. But only if they're useful. I've seen lots of boring stuff around.

Adsense and Google

2005-10-01T17:51:00.000+05:00

I recently came across this article that explains a lot about how Google's primary source of income Adwords works. Give it a read. Although it doesn't explain anything about the algos, the logic is pretty interesting in itself. Click here to see the article.

Must see ... if you haven't seen the real thing

2005-09-24T07:31:00.000+05:00

Satellite images have always been my favourites. Now I've got a way to get all I want. And what beter way to start than with MasjidulHaraam and Masjidun Nabi? I'll give you a brief introduction to the images. Click on a thumbnail to view larger version of the image. Makkah Mukarramah

The first image is from around 17mi elevation of the eye. This just gives the feel of the place as you can't see much besides the Holy Mosque itself. The second image is from around 40,000 ft high. I just couldn't go any closer without loss of quality. It's a pity really because all holiness aside, the place is beautiful! Third image is of 'Mina' - the tent village used during Hajj (pilgrimage). The whites you see in the image are tops of the tents. It's spans many square miles and during the days of Hajj, you wouldn't see anything but heads bobbing up and down as people walk from one end to the other (South East to North West). The last image is of the sacred grounds of Arafa. Madina Munawarrah

The first image is, again, a bird's eye view. Notice how the whole city sort of diverges towards the Prophet's Mosque (Sallalahu alaihe Wasallam, may peace be upon him) The second image is of the Prophet's Mosque (Sallalahu alaihe Wasallam). To the left, you can see Jannatul-Baqee' - the graveyard where many of the sahaba (Radhiallahu Anhum)and many many scholars and leaders are buried. Third, fourth and fifth are other views of the mosque. You really have to be there to appreciate the true beauty of the place though. I'm just glad I could get better pictures here. The last one shows a close-up of the mosque. To the top-left is 'Gumbad-e-Khazra' (that's 'the green dome'), the resting place of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Salallaho Alaihe Wasallam).

Failure in the White House

2005-09-23T07:35:00.000+05:00

Looks like machines are finally starting to get more intelligent than humans. I came across this on Google's own blog. Do a search on ' failure ' in Google and see the first result that comes up. Seems like Google's search engine thinks "Biography of President George W. Bush" is the 'top result' for failure. I wonder why that is!!

Calculus and Me

2005-09-22T17:44:00.000+05:00

I've been working on Calculus and Analytical Geometry for about a month now. I've used lectures by Dr. Faisal Shah Khan of VU, Pakistan. I would rank him with some of the best teachers I've ever studied under. He built up the subject very nicely and has given me a thorough understanding of the matter. I just wish I had his email to send him a note of thanks. Also, thanks to all the friends who've helped me in any way for this course. This is supposed to be a milestone in my understanding of computers and Maths. So, thanks to them for those notes and for the CDs. I won't forget you when I become a billionaire. *Grin*.

That was cruel, Rowling

2005-09-19T18:46:00.000+05:00

(Ok, must say this. This is a spoiler, so to speak. So, don't read this if you haven't already read Harry Potter 6.) Just finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Left me sad. Dubmledore was my favourite character from that book. In fact, I liked him more than I liked Harry. And not just dead but at the hands of someone he trusted. I couldn't believe it. I kept thinking he'd come back somehow. Right to the very end but I guess he is dead. Very good book, I must say. One of the best I've ever read. (The fifth was even better though. ) *Sigh*

Got Harry Potter 6!

2005-09-15T19:34:00.000+05:00

Accio Book! Yes, I've finally found Harry Potter 6. I'm going to read it in a few days. I'm just too tired right now. Returned from a tour of Lahore. 48 hours (on and off) of travel.

Challenging Internet Explorer

2005-09-11T15:11:00.000+05:00

You keep saying I write nothing about non-Google stuff. Here it is then: I've been flirting with many browsers since a long long time ago. Just couldn't find anything that could make me stick to it for more than a day or two. I've been using Opera for a long time now but just for checking my secondary mails and stuff like that because it remembers my passwords (the wand is great). Firefox has been there for a long time and is fast becoming the sweetheart of geeks all around the world (if only because it's the only one to come near IE. I've been using it for two days now and must say: it's actually better than IE in some ways (especially with the extensions). I've already found out ways to enhance my Google search experience and a double click dictionary system! And of course, web page rendering's absolutely the same as IE. I've been thinking of putting a 'Firefox' image on my blog/site.

XForms!

2005-09-11T05:54:00.000+05:00

For my web developer friends, XForms technology is something that you can miss, but not for long. This is what ASP.Net's server-side forms are all about. W3C's working hard on this and it's going to be in as quickly as XHTML took over from HTML. Don't get left behind if you're planning on staying in web development. I stumbled upon a basic intro. Find out more and let me know too.

What does Google do that Microsoft doesn't?

2005-09-10T21:30:00.000+05:00

Well, maybe Microsoft does do it. Just not that openly. Google makes sure it can attract the best of brains from computers and business. How? By telling them they won't get the one worst feared thing: boredom! For those who're up there in the high IQ range, boredom is the monster. Google doesn't just play jokes, it also makes sure that the corporate culture remains as stress free as possible. I hear Microsoft does that too. It's just that you never actually see them doing it.

Blog Markup Language

2005-09-05T21:26:00.000+05:00

Darren Neimke has done wonders. Dunno why it took so long. Maybe because so much's happening on the commercial side that the Giants are not very willing to invest time in something as 'small' as blogs. Service independence with blogs is what we needed. Neimke has given it a start. Now it's upto Blogger, Wordpress, Movabletype and such to take it further.

Microsoft learns yet again from Google

2005-09-04T12:59:00.000+05:00

Out of Microsoft Sandbox comes Start.com. Take a look and tell me this isn't taken straight from Personalized Google. I mean, come on guys. Do some innovation. It won't do much good simply following Google's tracks. That was what other companies were doing when Microsoft was innovating back in the 90s!

GoogleNet! Sounds interesting.

2005-09-04T12:54:00.000+05:00

I was wondering what Google was doing with a web accelerator. Sounds like they're heading into the ISP business as well. Seems like a very good idea since they're already offering ad-based services and (as many are predicting) going for the browser and operating system market, an ad-based internet service would be a very nice way to plug everything into the Google Browser. Not just one but many are saying it and I believe Google might just be upto it. It sounds so much like Google of today.

Massachusetts and MS Office

2005-09-04T12:24:00.000+05:00

The home of MIT has some more problems for Microsoft. Just recently, Massachusetts government proposed a plan to use OpenDocument format (open source and based on XML) for all official purposes. I don't know about Microsoft, but this is a very good step towards standardization of not only applications but also data. If we can have a standard for web pages (HTML and XHTML), why not for all the other formats too. I believe this is would also be helpful in the process of standardization and independance of services online as well.

Service independence in online applications

2005-08-31T08:06:00.000+05:00

One of the things that all the internet-enabled applications need right now is service independence. This is to say that the way we connect to a certain application should have no effect on who we can communicate with. As in email, if you're using Hotmail or even your local ISP's mailbox, you can still communicate with any other mailbox. Why not the same with IM or voice chats? IRC started this sort of thing but didn't get too far. The different networks still remained separate even though servers did collaborate to allow users to communicate with other servers' users. Google's shown the intention to pursue this with their proposed sevice independence with Talk. We can only hope that Microsoft and AOL (among others) create a scenario together where an MSN user would be able to communicate with a Google or AOL user regardless of the client they're using. With Microsoft and others going for improving voice capabilities to hold their market share, this needs to be addressed as much as VoIP. What do I care if my friend's using AIM or Talk? I just want to have a conversation.

"Stop Saying 'Like'"

2005-08-30T10:46:00.000+05:00

I came across these posters on SquareFree blog. I know a few people who can learn from this. You can replace 'like' with 'you know' too.

My new artwork on Gfxartist.com

2005-08-28T22:52:00.000+05:00

I uploaded another artwork on Gfxartist.com after a very very long time. Sami's new camera did a real nice job with a steel glass. I called it Dark Crescent. I'll upload another one soon.

WordPress

2005-08-28T22:18:00.000+05:00

I was surfing and came across this really nice-looking blog. I just had to find out how the guy had made it and guess what! It's a free software. Written in PHP and MySQL, it's a very nice software with the best front-end themes I've seen for blogs. It's a pity that I don't have MySQL in my hosting plan or I'd be hosting my own blog. Oh well, I'll keep this in mind and when I get my new hosting plan, I'll be porting my blogs there! Inshaallah.

Paul Graham and Stefan Marti

2005-08-27T23:04:00.000+05:00

Just came across these really good links. The first one is for those who hate writing (or are bad at it). Take a look at some very good pointers to good writing: http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html This second one is a real weird link: Stefan Marti (an MIT student) designs a squirrel to answer his phones for him! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4749507.stm

Footnotes in XHTML and CSS

2005-08-27T11:44:00.000+05:00

Just came across a very good link for inserting footnotes in web pages. This is extremely useful pages publishing researches and articles. Take a look: Format Sidenotes with Javascript and CSS.

Google OS and Microsoft's .NET

2005-08-26T21:46:00.000+05:00

Take a look at this: 1. Google: A company that's been free (to use) and thought of as the darling of the computing community as a whole and who looks really good to challenge the Giant Microsoft. At least in some areas. This company develops (is developing, rather) applications and systems that make people more and more reliant on Google's so-called online operating system. So much so that it's made people develop a 'history of the future' that describes how people grew (will grow) dependant on Google's OS. 2. Microsoft: The company that's thought of as monopolistic and as "closed-source" as it gets. This company develops a software architecture (.NET; especially ASP.NET) that enables all companies to deploy their own web-based applications and sell subscriptions thus reducing Microsoft's own monopoly of operating systems. Albeit from the customer's PCs only if not from the servers. Pretty ironical, don't you think?

Hotmail Beta

2005-08-25T23:39:00.000+05:00

Finally! something about Microsoft too! The guys at Microsoft are working on a new interface for the Hotmail engine. It's called Wave 11 and the system is called - as of yet - Hotmail beta! Great codename, eh? Anyway, here're a few screenshots of the system. While you're at it, take a look at the new MSN Messenger 8 too. I hear it's for Windows Vista but can't hurt to take a look at it, right? I believe they're using AJAX technology for Hotmail Beta. If they're not, Microsoft's just wasting her time with this new interface. Hotmail Beta: 1 2 3 MSN Messenger: 1

Some great links about the future of the web

2005-08-25T22:53:00.000+05:00

In my opinion, creating a cental, free, cross-platform operating system lies in the very near future of the web. (That free part being optional actually but I like putting it in there.) Take a look at these articles. Some are pretty old but they give a very nice view of the idea: http://www.kottke.org/05/08/googleos-webos http://www.kottke.org/04/04/google-operating-system Will be putting the latest ones in as I find em.

Google Desktop 2 and Google Talk

2005-08-25T22:27:00.000+05:00

I've been working on these two for the past few days and I must say that Google's softwares are only getting better! A lot better. Google Desktop is the search solution for my money. (Actually, it's free. So...) It searches in real-time. Just start typing what you want to search for and you get the results instantly. Google Talk is a real early beta but it still shows it's Googleness. It's totally uncluttered, fast and very easy to use. Although there aren't many features in it right now but that's only because it's a very beta-ish release. Hope to see it upgrade quickly! Wish Google will give me a break so I can write about some other company too.

Google goes instant!

2005-08-24T19:37:00.000+05:00

Well, it's finally here! Google's instant messaging software. It's called Google Talk and from the look of it, it's pretty cool. Just a 900k download taking less than 5 minutes even on the slowest 28k connections, it installs like a breeze. (When I started using Hello, I was thinking it was going to be used for Google's IM. Well, Talk is better!) Just added the friends to my list. They'd've got the invitation by now (hopefully). One thing I liked from this very very early view of the software is the way it incorporates the Gmail contacts. Very easy to search for any contact from within the main window. Now if only the Google's Desktop search and the web search could be made available in the same way. (I know it's going to be done. After all, this is a very early beta). It does do all the stuff that Gmail Notifier used to do. (Check for new mail and stuff.) The software also includes a voice chat system. Only problem is that you have to have a Gmail account to use the software - let alone the voice chat. Again and again while reading about Talk, the name of Skype (the voice communication software) comes up and the rumours about the buyout keep surfacing. It's not that unlikely. Speaking of buyouts, I believe Google's got an eye on Wikipedia too. It might be just a hunch but I think this one may just turn out to be correct. Here're a few links to read up about.

Download Google Talk.
Timesonline article about Google Talk.
Talk support site.

One final thing: Ever got sick of MSN Messenger telling you to update it like 20 times in a month? Well, take a look at what Google has to say:

Google Talk auto-updates, so you don't have to do anything to get the latest version.

I just hope it works that way.

By the way, if you need a gmail account, just message me. I have tons! (You can do that by posting a comment here).

Harry Potter: Book 6 is out!

2005-08-20T19:57:00.000+05:00

Yay! JK Rowling has finally finished the sixth book and from what I hear (er, read), this one's even better than the first five. Can't wait to get my hands on this one!

XML Hardware Processing

2005-08-19T20:39:00.000+05:00

Ok! NOW we're talking XML. Intel's started worrying about hardware processing XML data. This should lead to all sorts of interesting stuff. Hardware actually understanding data! http://news.com.com/2061-10798_3-5839599.html?part=rss&tag=5839599&subj=news

More evidenve in favour of browser based "AJAX"

2005-08-18T08:36:00.001+05:00

Here's a lil more evidence in favour of my last post. This is Scott Isaacs, a web guru, talking about the problems faced during development of AJAX based apps.

However if you are building a large scale web application there is more to consider when using AJAX than how to create a function that hides the differences between the XMLHttpRequest object in IE and Firefox. Problems that have to be solved [or at the very least considered] include
How to abstract away browser detection from each page in the application
How to make the site accessible or at least work on non-Javascript enabled browsers
How to efficiently manage the number of connections to the server created by the client given the "chattiness" of AJAX applications compared to traditional web applications
How to reduce the amount of time spent downloading large script files
How to create permalinks to portions of the application
How to preserve or at least simulate the behavior of the browser's 'Back' button

Now, see: If the browser based Partial Content Update was done, almost all of these problems will be abstracted out. The browsers (already optimized for most of this stuff) will handle the requests allowing easy devlopment for the web app developers.

AJAX: Is it really that hot?

2005-08-16T21:57:00.000+05:00

I've been reading a lot about this AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML). Just recently I discovered the process by which it works and I was astonished to see that it took people so long to actually realize this possibility. I'd put forward this proposal quite a long time back (Althoug I must admit - not that seriously) of loading only partial content in a webpage much like in frames. (For those of you who have no clue what AJAX is, here's a link: AJAX tutorial . Google's Gmail and A9.com are taking this quite far) Anyway, the purpose of this post is to point out another way to do the same thing. Here's the thing: The purpose of AJAX is to load partial content into an HTML page (basically inside a div's innerhtml). This is done through Javascript's XMLHttpRequest object. The browser loads the xml that is requested by the javascript and then the javascript loads it into a div's innerhtml (or whereever, for that matter). Now, here's another option for doing this whole thing that takes at least a few lines of javascript code:

<a href="codepage.php?var=value" target="divName"> Click here to load VAR</a>

Now, I know that this can be a little difficult when the variable's value has to be decided by javascript but even then, why not just set a property 'location' of a div to the desired URL instead of going through the XML routine. This would:

Enable easier creation mechanism (even for novice web designers who aren't good with Javascript).
Let the browsers do what they're good at! Fetching and displaying data.
Not just XML but any form of data, specially binary data can also be retreived on-the-fly.

To explain 3:

<a href="nextCar.png" target="imageID"> Next Car </a>

The same dynamics work for any HTML tag. Another option can be to set not just the default property but ANY property of ANY HTML element.

<a href="divStyle.php" target="DivID.Style">Change Style</a>

I'd love to see comments on this post. Tell me if I'm mistaken. Tell others if I'm right.

Designing - 2D and 3D

2004-08-30T15:51:00.000+05:00

This blog is designed to be a source of sources of inspiration/education for upcoming artists/desgners. It'll cover both traditional art and digital art (2D and 3D) Starting Date: August 29, 2004 Url: http://designerhelp.blogspot.com/

Artificial Intelligence - A roadmap

2004-08-29T17:18:00.000+05:00

A blog about my doings with Artificial Intelligence. It's supposed to be used to educational purposes. As well as to keep myself organised. Starting Date: August 29, 2004 Url: http://ai-roadmap.blogspot.com

Art Galleries

2004-01-04T12:14:00.001+05:00

I really can't manage to put my artworks here on my own site. First, it's too annoying. Second, I won't get many views and comments. I publish my artworks in two galleries as of now. Gfxartist: My username there is recluse and I've been there for ages! deviantArt: As a deviant, I'm recluze. I like this site too. Leave a comment here about any of my artworks or if you can, post comments on gfx or dA.

Extras

2004-01-04T12:14:00.000+05:00

These are works which can't be categorized in any of the other places. I'm planning on doing some research in my MS. Those papers will get their own section. These are papers/articles or other stuff that I did as a hobby. Papers [papers here]

About Me

2004-01-04T11:35:00.002+05:00

Foremost I am a Muslim and Pakistani. And I am a student/designer and just recently, I've finished my B.Sc (Hons) in Computer Science. I was born in '83. Do the math to get my age.

I have a lot of interest in philosophy and psychology (though I'm not very good at them!). See my CV if you absolutely have to find out what I (can) do.

(By the way, I don't run an institute, so please stop mailing me about the courses I offer.)

My Hobbies

My hobbies are reading books, designing and programming and, since recently, trying to get my skill upto the level where I can actually do some research.

Contact Me

Cell: +92 321 90 66 275

Email: contact@recluze.net

Web: http://www.recluze.net

Gfx Gallery: http://recluse.gfxartist.com

deviantArt Gallery: http://recluze.deviantart.com

Links

2004-01-04T11:35:00.001+05:00

[This page is also a work in progress ....] Here's a collection of some of my favourite links. I've arranged them in categories. Take a look at my del.icio.us account too. It's got some pretty useful stuff. Friends [stuff here] Favorite Artists [stuff here] Programming [stuff here] Designing [stuff here] Others [stuff here]

Portfolio

2004-01-04T11:35:00.000+05:00

[This page is a work in progress....] I've done work in many fields. I'm good at some of them and not so good with some others. Take a look and leave a comment if you like something. Papers [work goes here] Designing [work goes here] Programming [work goes here] Research [work goes here]