Windows 8.1 download

Windows 8.1 is available to download:

Checkout this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/preview

Enjoy!

Getting a driving licence in Canada for international drivers ( Alberta )

I have recently move to Canada and thought to share the process of getting driving licence in Canada. I am in Edmonton, Alberta and pretty much similar process is applied in other provinces.

1. If you have are driving in your home country then get Driving Licence Extract from your local transport office ( RTO in case of India). This will help you in appearing road test, else the waiting period is applied.

2. When you are in Canada, go to your local registry and get driving rules book ( yellow book in case of Alberta) This book will help you clear the computer based test. There is no magic to pass this test! I just read this book once and I was able to clear the test in first attempt. 

3. Once you are ready for the theory test, visit registry and appear for it. It is computer aided and you have to get at least 25/30. Once you clear it you can apply for Class 7 driver (learner) licence. Submit your driving licence extract if you have it. Registry will verify your experience and may allow you for road test.

4. Take driving lessons if you want to feel comfortable during road test. I would recommend at least few hours of driving lessons.

5. Book your road test at your local registry. An examiner will accompany you on road test and he will take you in live traffic. He will observe you closely while you drive and give you points for each mistake. if you get more than 75 points then you are fail. 

Don't feel bad if you fail, Whenever you fail understand your mistake and improve on it. Remember it's good to fail and waste 89$ for exam to learn from mistake then involving in accident and harm some innocent people or yourself!  I also failed for the first time of road test but I am glad that I did so I can be a better driver in future! good luck! and let me know if you have any questions!

Happy and safe driving!

jQuery Intellisense in Visual Studio

Gusy, here is a way to get a Intellisense for jQuery  API like we get in our Visual studio for other .Net libraries.

Do you want something like this? then follow the steps below...

Steps:
1. Go to http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/11/21/jquery-intellisense-in-vs-2008.aspx and download VSDOC file.

2. Place the downloaded file in visual studio at the same folder where your jquery-#.#.#*.js resides and add the reference like this

for eg:

and that's it! Visual studio will automatically fetch it to give you Intellisense when you use jQuery functions next time.

Cheers!

Mobile apps development

Now a days many of us dream of having our own mobile app and it's so cool to have our own. Let me get you started.

For non developers:

Below websites offers easy online tools which 

1. http://www.appmakr.com/
2. http://appinventor.mit.edu/
3. ibuildapp.com
4. buzztouch.com
5. appsbar.com

For Developers: People who can code and understand internals of mobile operating systems, can use below frameworks:

1. Sencha Touch

First HTML5 mobile JavaScript framework that allows developer to develop mobile web apps that look and feel native on iPhone and Android touchscreen devices. Sencha Touch built like the ExtJS component, if have some experience with ExtJS I believe it will bring the advantage for easier learning and programming.

Download Page | View Demo

2. jQuery Mobile

I think this is the most awaited in mobile web application framework, because the popularity of jQuery, this framework is not the first but getting a lot of attention, jQuery Mobile: Touch-Optimized Web Framework for Smartphones & Tablets.

A unified user interface system across all popular mobile device platforms, built on the rock-solid jQuery and jQuery UI foundation.

Download Page | View Demo

3. WebApp.Net

WebApp.Net is a light weight, powerful javascript framework taking advantage of AJAX technology. It provides a full set of ready to use components to help you develop, quickly and easily, advanced mobile web applications.

Download Page | View Demo

4. DTHMLX Touch

DHTMLX Touch is an HTML5-based JavaScript library for building mobile web applications. It’s not just a set of UI widgets, but a complete framework that allows you to create eye-catching, cross-platform web applications for mobile and touch-screen devices.

Download Page | View Demo

5. jQTouch

This is not a framework but just a jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and other forward-thinking devices. Now this project a part of Sencha Labs, the company who developing Sencha Touch. I love the default theme that have black, dark look and feel.

Download Page | View Demo

6. iWebKit

iWebKit is a file package designed to help you create your own iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad compatible website or webapp. The kit is accessible to anyone even people without any html knowledge and is simple to understand thanks to the included tutorials.

Download Page | View Demo

7. Jo HTML5 Mobile App Framework

Joapp is a UI Widget Framework With a side of DOM, event and data stuff , Open Source Under a friendly OpenBSD License , Cross Platform webOS, iOS, Android, Symbian, Safari, Chrome, Dashboard Widgets. Light and Efficient Minified JavaScript is just over 8K with no dependancies, and compatible with PhoneGap Plus most other JavaScript frameworks

Download Page

8. iUI: iPhone User Interface Framework

iUI is a framework consisting of a JavaScript library, CSS, and images for developing advanced mobile webapps for iPhone and comparable/compatible devices. iUI has the following features: Create Navigational Menus and iPhone-style interfaces from standard HTML, use or knowledge of JavaScript is not required to create modern mobile web pages, ability to handle phone orientation changes, provide a more “iPhone-like” experience in your Web apps.

Download Page

9. Sproutcore

SproutCore is an HTML5 application framework for building responsive, desktop-caliber apps in any modern web browser, without plugins.

Download Page

10. Zepto.js

Zepto.js is a minimalist JavaScript framework for mobile WebKit browsers, with a jQuery-compatible syntax. The goal: a 2-5k library that handles most basic drudge work with a nice API so you can concentrate on getting stuff done. Zepto.js is created by Thomas Fuchs the author of script.aculo.us, the javascript user interface framework.

Download Page

I hope above information can help you get started!  Good luck!

TOAD message "Home is Not valid" (Oracle home is not valid)

I was trying to get my Toad running and it was giving me "Home is not Valid" error, This error doesn't give much information and finding root cause was not easy :( . Here is the thing that I was doing.

- My system had Oracle 9 client pre-installed. I installed Toad and it was giving me home is not valid error.
- My need was to also update Oracle so I went and uninstalled prior version of Oracle client. (remember clean uninstall of prior oracle client is very necessary. If you are expert then try to clear registry entry as well which oracle generally leaves after uninstall as well :( )
- After that I installed Oracle 10.2 and then Toad(9.7.2) but it was still giving the same error. I set the Proper system variables(PATH) and also put my valid TNSnames.ora in proper location, but no luck!!   then I uninstalled Toad 9.7.2 and reinstalled Toad 10.6 and after rebooting machine it's working fine!! :)

I hope this helps.

Also, Please note that I also follow below steps after installing oracle:

1. Add C:\Oracle\ORA10_2\BIN to your PATH environment variable
2. Install ODP dlls in your GAC 
3. Restore your project specific tnsnames.ora  to C:\Oracle\ORA10_2\NETWORK\ADMIN
4. If you are accessing Oracle from .NET web applications running on IIS 5, give IIS/ASPNET permissions on  your Oracle folder
     a.    Grant ASPNET user read/execute permissions on C:\Oracle\ ORA10_2
               i.    In Windows Explorer, right click on the Ora10.1 folder and select Sharing and Security…
               ii.    Click the Security tab
               iii.    Click "Add…"
               iv.    Type yourMachineName\ASPNET in the bottom textbox and click "OK".
               v.    Make sure the Read & Execute, List Folder Contents and Read boxes are checked. Make sure  permissions are propagated to all subfolders.  Click "OK"
    b.    Reset IIS
5. Restart Visual Studio, update your project references to use the new version of Oracle.DataAccess.dll, clean and rebuild your solution
 
 

Listing Date MCX IPO

Stock Market / IPO Open Date     22-Feb-2012 Close Date     24-Feb-2012 Allotment Date     05-Mar-2012 Refund Date     06-Mar-2012 Listing Date     07-to-09-Mar-2012 (Expected) MCX IPO Allotment status : http://mis.karvycomputershare.com/ipo

Appointment for Passport Renewal through Passport Seva Kendra (PSK)

Getting appointment for any work at Passport Seva Kendra is a BIG DEAL!! I had to renew my passport recently and when I got the appointment at Bangalore Sai Arcade PSK after hard try it was like winning a battle! :) I was in very hurry to renew my passport due to personal issue and I tried couple of days to get the appointment without luck :( . Brokers were saying me 1500Rs to get appointment and he promised me to get appointment at 4:00 pm, which is exactly 2 hours before the official time of taking appointment(6:00 pm). Finally one online friend help me in getting appointment.

I checked with inquiry section at PSK about the procedure to get emergency appointment and the person told me that in emergency cases I need to get a letter from Passport Officer of RPO. As I wanted immediate appointment I tried visiting Koramangala RPO as well but I was not allowed at entrance itself saying I need "Admit Card" from the office of PO to meet PO. Entrance security pointed me to the office number of PO and I tried calling them 60 times, 61st time a lady picked up the call and without listening to my situation she just said "We Don't issue appointment". I tried again and someone just picked the call and keep it aside :(. So getting a appointment to meet PO seems impossible to me.( unless you know him ;) )

Here is some information that can help people who are trying to book an appointment.


1. It is a myth that your online submitted application should be a week or 10 days older to get appointment. You can get appointment if you created profile on same day as well.
2. Be ready at sharp 6:00 PM and login to http://passportindia.gov.in( For Bangalore PSK, other PSK the timings are different! )
3. try your luck! :)

BTW, I was helped with some professional to get appointment.

Best Luck!