I was playing with Windows Live Photo Gallery & Microsoft Image Composite Editor when I came across Microsoft’s HD View. This new technology allows you to view High Resolution Pictures & Panoramas with fluid ease. In fact, I found it so cool that after looking at examples, I decided to try my own hands on it. So, I dug few panoramic images in my archive that I had taken back in 2007 during my Sarpass trek of YHAI. And here is the result. Tell me what you think of it.

 

The total size is around 3.5 Megabytes so don’t worry about it. The updated version has more depth as  the stitch is created from ~20 original images of 2048px X 1536px. The total dimension of final image was 7458px X 1974px @ 14.04 MP which was then cropped down to 7298px X 1075px @ 7.48 MP giving a total size of ~11MB. Now that’s something to worry about if you have limited bandwidth.

 

 

Click here to visit the full view page.

You will need HD View installed on your system. Also, this feature is currently available only on windows.

I’ve finally decided my plan for Total Solar Eclipse of July 22, 2009 which is going to be visible across(well almost!!!) India. The eclipse, in India, starts from Surat in Gujarat but the Sun would be at ~2 degrees at totality. Also, recent weather conditions have revealed that the coastal regions in Gujarat have been under the wraps of monsoon rain lowering  the chances of observing the eclipse.

 

As you very well know, India will be having it’s monsoon around mid July lowering the possibility of visibility of eclipse across India. Now, I’m not reach enough to shell out INR 79,000 for a fancy flight across the path of totality. So, I had to stick to the ground and find for a good location to observe it.

 

As per Jay Anderson during a Workshop at New Delhi, based on last 20 yrs collective record, Indore (Madhya Pradesh)  had the lowest cloud cover, followed by Surat, Gujarat. Also, the Sun would be at ~5 degrees at Indore, giving a little more advantage over Surat. While Surat is quite close to my city, I wanted a place that wouldn’t be too far(coz of my budget) yet not too close (due to Sun’s low altitude). After weighing my options, Indore turned out to be the best option for me(actually, I can tell you this only after eclipse is over :D :-s). So, we, a group of 18 consisting of me and other members of Big Bang Astronomy Club will be heading for Indore to observe The Longest Eclipse of Century.

 

Here are some details of totality conditions at Indore, based on Xavier Jubier’s (another speaker at the above said workshop) Google Map for TSE of July 22nd, 2009.

 

First Contact: The first contact is expected to occur at 00:00 UTC(05:30 IST) when Sun would be around ~5 degrees below horizon. Therefore, first contact won’t be visible at Indore.

 

Second Contact: The second contact is expected to occur at ~00:52 UTC(06:22 IST) when Sun would be around ~5 degrees above horizon. If we are lucky enough to not to have have clouds near horizon(which is highly unlikely because of ongoing Monsoon Season), second contact will be visible to us which also marks the start of ~3 min totality. During this phase one can observe Shadow Bands, a phenomenon still strange to our modern world. We are planning to observe and record them for Dr. Hari Om Vats’s Shadow Band Campaign.

 

Totality:  The totality is expected to last for 03 minutes and 06 seconds. This phase is the most important phase of the eclipse. The Sun would be ~5 degrees above horizon. It will be the best time to observe & photograph Solar Corona.

 

Sky during Totality at Indore

 

Third Contact: After 3 beautiful minutes at 00:55 UTC(06:25 IST), when Sun would be at ~6 degrees, the totality will end with a beautiful diamond ring which again would be visible if there are no clouds. Shadow Bands can be observed during this phase.

 

Fourth Contact: At 01:52 UT (07:22 IST), fourth and final contact will mark the end of The Longest Eclipse of Century. The Sun would shine at ~18 degrees with no part covered by Moon.

 

There are other parameters like intensity of light, temperature, cloud cover etc that we are planning to observe and maintain a record of each of them during the eclipse. But, these are, as of now, just ideas. Can’t say until eclipse is over.

 

So, if you are observing this beautiful eclipse from anywhere, All The Best to you. Don’t forget to tell me how it went for you ;)

 

Other Resources

AAA, Delhi

Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum

Bangalore Astronomy Society

Solar Eclipse Surat

Have you ever wished, while using Orkut, to write scraps and your profiles in different font styles without any third party application that shamelessly accesses your friends list and manipulates your updates???? or without logging into  third party sites that are totally not reliable in the first place???

 

Well, even I used to ask the same question to myself. But hey, I can create a client application on my own. All I need is different font styles. And after scouring internet for few hours, I settled with 15 different styles. And I created this small application that writes in your chosen style, on the fly i.e. as you type. Isn't that something? Also, it allows you to copy the whole text to your keyboard while you type, all along, keeping your application window on top. So no more window switching and no more Select All-Ctrl+C or Select All+Right Click+Copy. Just focus on what you have to say and leave styling part to this little application.

Requirements

• .Net Framework 3.5 Runtime. Click here to get it.

A Request

I would really love to add more styles to this application. But, for that, I’ll need help from you, yes, the users. If you know of a good font style, please let me know by either leaving the URL as comment or by creating a format string for that font style.

 

To create a format string, all you need to do is create a styled string of A to Z in lower case. For example, for style number 2 in the this application…. I formatted this string

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

into this

αв¢∂єƒgнιנкℓмησρqяѕтυνωχｿz

So, next time you come across a new style that you want to be included in this application, please leave the link or formatted string in the comment. I’ll try to include it in my next release.

 

Download

Download Stylish Font Writer

Sygate Personal Firewall had been my favourite free firewall for Windows XP box since ages and I’d been using it even after Symantec took over Sygate and discontinued the products, including the personal firewall. If you still want use the firewall for your Windows XP box, it’s latest version is still available at Softpedia.

 

Okay, so back to the main topic. Since I got my Dell Studio 15(pre-loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium) in early April, it had been a nightmare for me to use my BSNL Broadband connection because Sygate Personal Firewall is not compatible with Windows Vista. And therefore there was no way to put check on bandwidth eating softwares like Adobe Acrobat who aren’t courteous enough to ask for your permission before downloading updates and therefore my bandwidth used to get wasted. I tried to use Commodo firewall but it sucks like hell and and leaves a mess when you try to un-install it.  Me and my two other friends had to reinstall OS just to get rid of the mess created by Commodo Firewall.

 

So, after getting my bandwidth wasted and paying for extra bandwidth for two continuous months, I struck upon Vista Firewall Control by Sphinx Software. God bless them. I had totally lost hope on finding a decent firewall that would be able to replace SPF but after using Vista Firewall Control, life had never been easy. The software isn’t that complicated. Infact, I just wanted that all outgoing connections should go through my approval and permanently block the applications that are rejected. And, Vista Firewall Control does it very smoothly. With size under 1.5 MB, the application is very light weight on system(so unlike Sygate Personal Firewall!!!) So if you want a firewall that should control which applications should connect to internet, Vista Firewall Control is there for you.

 

 

Regards,

Mayank