Sunday Surfing and thoughts

Having nothing to watch on tv at times can be a bliss. As today was the case I immediately turned towards my pc for my daily surfing exercise.

I thought "Hey why not have a look at what the other blogs are saying" , so after a quick browsing sesssion on del.icio.us, I came on this blog called cool hunting which was showing how to dissapear completely . Its basically about using sheds for hideouts ,well that was the bizarre blog of the day.

Afterwards I came across a site or more precisely a project online called The Gutenberg Project , its kind of a collection of free literrature mostly in Text format , that you can download and read without having to pay for anything , I just downloaded The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and The Best American Humorous Short Stories both less than a megabyte in Zip format. Its nothing compared to reading a physical book (unless you print it of course) , but still its better than nothing.

Talking about litterature its astonishing to see the amount of people rushing to their book stores to get hold of the Da Vinci Code . The book is already one of the best "best-sellers" of all time. Even here in Mauritius lots of people of both sex keep gossiping about it.

I have a feeling that despite it having an intriguing and fascinating story, that this book has become more of a trendy object that one would showcase on one's desk or library than anything else. Of course there are many people who do enjoy the book for its content rather than for the trend.

Anyways I haven't read the book nor am I thinking of doing so , I prefer watching a nice documentary on National Geographic channel or BBC . Although reading such books is good , entertaining and greatly improves your imagination and vocabulary , i believe that one gains considerably less than learning about true stories of people , animals , insects , forests ,fish and places ,things that you learn by reading scientific/economics litterature or watching docs.

Coming to think of it even Leonardo Da Vinci had a well developed general knowlege of the world around him.

 

Category: Novel , Mauritius , Book , Blog , DaVinci

Live 8 - help reduce poverty in the World

If you are in Paris , Philadelphia , rome and other places in europe and america , you must have heard about it Live8 concert is to be held on the 6th of July . This is concert which is held at different places in the world simultaneously to help poverty stricken countries to fight this plague. Frankly i find it a very noble gesture and if you get the chance to go then dont hesitate.

Here is a list of artists perfoming at different places around the globe (source About.com):
Berlin - Brandenburg Gate

* A-ha
* Crosby Stills and Nash
* Brian Wilson
* Green Day
* Lauryn Hill
* Bap
* Die Toten Hosen
* Peter Maffay

Johannesburg

* To be determined

London - Hyde Park

* Mariah Carey
* Coldplay
* Dido
* Keane
* Sir Elton John
* Annie Lennox
* Madonna
* Muse
* Pink Floyd
* Razorlight
* Scissor Sisters
* Sir Paul McCartney
* Joss Stone
* Stereophonics
* Sting
* Robbie Williams
* U2
* REM
* Velvet Revolver
* Bob Geldof
* The Killers
* The Cure
* Snow Patrol

Paris - Versailles Palace

* Jamiroquai
* Craig David
* Youssou N'Dour
* Yannick Noah
* Andrea Bocelli
* Calo Gero
* Kyo
* Placebo
* Axelle Red
* Johnny Halliday
* Manu Chao
* Renaud
* James Brown
* Sheryl Crow
* Cure

Philadelphia - Museum Of Art

* Will Smith (host)
* Bon Jovi
* Maroon 5
* P Diddy
* Stevie Wonder
* Jay-Z
* The Dave Matthews Band
* Sarah McLachlan
* Rob Thomas
* Keith Urban
* Kaiser Chiefs
* Destiny's Child
* Linkin Park

Rome - Circus Maximus

* Duran Duran
* Faith Hill
* Irene Grandi
* Jovanotti
* Tim McGraw
* Nek
* Laura Pasini
* Vasco Rossi
* Zucchero

There will also be live transmission on M6 for people like us who never get to go to these types of events ;) .

Category: live8,concert,M6

My move to ebene cybercity

ebene cybercity
Originally uploaded by baadaal.

Today is my first day in the ebene cybercity building dubbed the most intelligent building in Mauritius and in Africa in general.

The weather here at ebene is really very cold and there lots of wind.Its cleaner than in port-louis and its certainly beautiful with lots of flowers , and grass.

There are loads of other buildings under construction right now around the main building it seems that if all goes well this business park may prove to be very interesting.

The Ebene Way is where you would like to be to get hold of a nice lunch or dinner , there are about 5 different restaurants from typical indian food , to chinese noodles , + there is also pizza hut. I just had a chicken cutlet with bread (long one) for rs45 so its not that expensive although i can't see myself eating there everyday.

There are lots of other facilities in Ebene Way including SBM and MCB cash ATMs , a barclays bank outlet , Video/DVD rental stores , Supermarket , shops , even surprisingly an aquarium shop .

Its is not allowed to take pictures inside the building itself for security reasons so dont expect me to be posting any, but mark my word its cool.

Resource:
Ebene cybercity : http://www.e-cybercity.mu/

Cybercity, Mauritius, Ebene

Checkout codes from subversion using Ant 1.6.2

Below is a target that you could add to your ant build.xml file to checkout codes automatically from subversion (svn). I had a lot of trouble finding the svnant.jar file necessary for this target so i thought i could share it online with others.

<target name="checkout" depends="init">

<taskdef name="svn" classname="org.tigris.subversion.svnant.SvnTask"/>

<svn username="javed"

password="pass">

<checkout url="http://10.12.5.19/svn/MyRepository/trunk" destPath="${basedir}"/>

</svn>

</target>

Do add the svnant.jar to your ANT_HOME/lib directory.

Category: Subversion,Ant, Build

Nomad Office offered by NetWork Plus

Mauritian company Network Plus is offering a service called Nomad Office. This service allows you to stay connected to the net even if you dont have a telephone nearby. It uses Wimax technology , allowing wireless connectivity to the web. All that you need is simply a modem and your pc/laptop.

Currently the Nomad Service is available from Grand Baie to Vacoas. The rest of the island still needs to be covered , so you just can't be that nomad after all :) .

Two types of connections are offered 128kb and 512kb. Whats good is that Network Plus allows you to temporarily shift to 512kb if you are on 128kb if you need , you just pay extra for the number of hours you increase your bandwidth.

Its the price which unfortunately leaves a salty taste in the mouth,you need to do a rs2000 deposit , rs 300 monthly for

rental and rs 1710/monthly for the 128kb connection whilst the 512kb is at rs 3240/monthly + 15% TVA (VAT). At this price , i

find servihoo's packages really better given the fact that mobility is really not and issue for most individuals.

The service is supposed to target offices , but i dont think that offices would require such a service in Mauritius. We all know how dangerous wireless connections can be . I personnally think its safer to use a wireless LAN in the office with

connection to the external environment via optic cables / telephone lines than relying solely on wireless Wimax connections.

Category: Mauritius, Technology,
Review

The e-Electoral Campaign on Dodo island

As you are aware of it the general elections are due soon and political websites have started to spring up on the web. Its a pity that there is no blog however , would have been a pioneer step by our politicians.

Here are some sites which i found whilst reading l'express:

1. http://www.msmmmm18.com - MSM/MMM ward 18 website.
2. http://www.bizinchanger.net/mlp - l'Alliance sociale (OOps not working!)

By the way right now there are all kinds of ribbons around lamp posts and buildings in Mauritius , its really looking like a big party is taking place. Political discussions are in the minds and heart of many . Just this morning i heard that
poitical activists from opposing camps had started a fight last night and gun shots were heard.

Category: Mauritius, Elections

Back Again

I know , i know i was away for a while from my blog , but thats what you get when you work in the private sector in Mauritius ...very little freetime. So i'll try to forgive myself with some articles on what is happening in the country.

Its getting colder here and my fingers are starting to freeze . Days are shorter and the sun is most of the time playing hide and seek behind the clouds , ideal time to go to the beach if you dont like being roasted and tanned.

Category: Mauritius , Blog