Mingku

Mingku!

I am writing here after 496 days.

By this time, I was engaged in filmmaking, losing my friends & weight, and achiving the quality of being more snob. Need more excuses?

• Now visit a website claiming the Longest Domain Name. (www dot the longest domain name in the world and then some and then some more and more dot com) This site applied for its record breaking domain to Guinness World Record. Guiness rejected: "there is no merit" in this effort. :(
  
  
• Republicof Benny André Lund - This man claims himself a micro-nation to fully define the autonomous individual. :|
  
  
• You have friends. You write e-mails. Now please read a tutorial on how to lose Friends with e-mail. It worked in my case! :) A good satire to people who don't know (or misuse) the e-mail etiquette.
• Email misunderstanding - "When electronic communication generates more questions than answers, it's time to re-evaluate our habits." [via poynteronline]
  

Reading:
Margin of Margin: Profile of an Unrepentant Post-Colonial Collaborator

• | intro 1 - bangla pdf (623K)
• | intro 2 - bangla pdf (174K)
• | book - english pdf (840K)
• | supplement - english pdf (151K)
• | review - english html
  

[thanks guruchandali]

Zicobaji : Bangla Unicode Setup Guide

Can you see the bangla text like the image above?

No?

Probably your computer is not ready to render bangla unicode script.

Tune your computer to enjoy any unicode-compliant bangla website. Follow the steps below (Windows XP only):

► Step 1 | Enable Complex Script Support
Install iComplex Full version - 4.43 MB.

► Step 2 | Install Unicode Bangla Software
Download Avro Keyboard Standard Edition

► Step 3 | Replace Old Vrinda Fonts
Download the new version of Vrinda font.
Delete old vrinda font from Windows\Fonts\ folder. Copy the new one.

You can download and run the Font Fixer software.
And download more Bangla fonts.

► Firefox Browser Configuration (optional)
- Click on Tools > Options > Contents Tab
- Click on "Advanced" button in fonts & colors section.
- Select Bengali from this list in "fonts for" section.
- Select Vrinda in Serif, Sans-serif and Monospace option fields below.
- Click OK.

► Font Smoothing in Windows XP (optional)
1. Go to Control Panel > Display Properties > Appearance > Effects.
2. Choose "Standard" in "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:"
3. Click OK > Apply > OK.

Any better suggestion? Please share your ideas.

► Alternative | Bangla Unicode Setup Guide:
@ TechTunes Bangla Help
@ Bangla Wikipedia
@ Bangla Cricket
@ OmicronLab
@ Sachalayatan
@ Somewhere...in Blog
@ Computer and Electronics Blog

[Page Last Update: 1 September 2008]

Excuse Guide

I might've-- I don't know, I screwed up and all. What I'm not really saying very well is, I feel really bad about it. You know, sorry sorry sorry. Is that doing it for you? [unscripted excuse]

I am overloaded with questions. Most frequently-asked questions are:

• Why did you join the meeting before after 30 minutes?
• Why are you reluctant to reply your emails?
• Why don't you update blog frequently?
• Why don't you upload new photos?
• Why is the article not finished?
• Why are you so l-a-z-z-y?
• Why, man, why?
• Y Y Y?
• Y?
  

Well, people, like me, need new excuses now and then.Excuse-o-mat helped me out!

According to the site, it can generate 3.6 million different convincing, ready-made excuses. Select the type of excuse -- distraction, medical, insulting, moral failure, self loathing or unscripted. Press "create excuse" button!

Best of excuses! :D

More excuses

• The Mother of All Excuses Place
• BOFH one-line excuse generator [with PHP source]
• BBC Excuse Generator
• Random Excuse [by RandomExcuse.com]
• List of Excuses [txt]
• Tomorrow's Sicky Excuse [by sick-o-matic]
• All about Excuse [by answer.com]

Playstation game targets Bangladesh

SOCOM 3, an action-based video game designed for Sony PlayStation II, included Bangladesh as a militant country. This version will be released in August 2005.

Sony Computer Entertainment America(SCEA) described the mission of the game in this way:

The world's terrorists have targeted America and her allies. As an elite SEAL commander, your team's orders are simple. Strike targets of importance within 12 intense international missions quietly and successfully - and protect freedom across the globe.

The latest version of SOCOM includes missions in Bangladesh, Morocco, and Poland. The look and feel of each location was heavily researched during trips to each area, resulting in some very realistic and varied battlegrounds. [via GameSpy review]

According to another game review by GameDaily:

Russ Phillips - the art director of Developer team - stayed Bangladesh, along with his small team, for 10 days. He captured thousands of digital photos as reference points for the game's design. A Sony sound technician accompanied the team to record actual background sounds that were incorporated into the game.

I am not a game enthusiast. But this is an important issue of Bangladesh's image towards the world. What do you think?

Looking forward to listen your valuable opinion. [Read some comments of Bangladeshi people]

Update: Sony will remove any reference to Bangladesh from the final version of SOCOM 3. This decision was taken following protest by Bangladesh and a threat to file a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice, if Sony refuses. [detail news: The New Nation, 23 April 2005]

Must-Read Articles

• Bangladesh as militant country in video games
  by Jahangir Alam Jewel
  Type: PDF / Language: Bangla / Size: 211 Kilobytes
  published in Shaptahik 2000 magazine (1 April, 2005)
• Sony computer game portrays Bangladesh as terrorist state
  by Nashir Uddin
  published in The Daly New Age (19 April, 2005)
  

Related Websites

• Game Fact Sheet - SOCOM 3: US Navy SEALs
• Game screenshots - 24 images
• Game Developer - Zipper Interactive
• Game Publisher - Sony Computer Entertainment of America
• Previous version - SOCOM 2

Knowledge-based

• PlayStation 2 - Sony's second video game console
• U.S. Navy SEALs - a SEa, Air, Land team of the United States Navy
• U.S. SOCOM - United States Special Operations Command

Special Thanks (for highlighting the news in media)
# Bangladesh ICT Journalist Forum

[Last update: 23 April 2005]

March Filler: Mistake

Recieved a e-mail poem by mistake:

If a barber makes a mistake,
it's a new style
If parents makes a mistake,
It is a new generation
If an engineer makes a mistake,
It is a new venture
If a doctor makes a mistake,
It's an operation
If a politician makes a mistake,
It is a new law
If a scientist makes a mistake,
It is a new invention
If a tailor makes a mistake,
It is a new fashion
If a teacher makes a mistake ,
It is a new theory

If a student makes a mistake,
It is a mistake!

[link update: 8 April 2005]

Free the Iranian bloggers

Today I am dedicating this blog to "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day".

Arash and Mojtaba are Iranian bloggers. They are both currently in prison. Committee to Protect Bloggers, a group to unite the blogging community, has started its first campaign to free these bloggers.

There are several ways to join this movement; at least you can add a link back to the campaign site. Paste the following code in your blog entry:

<a href="http://committeetoprotectbloggers.blogspot.com/2005/01/committee-to-protect-bloggers_20.html"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/QueenofSky/ctpb2-1.gif" /><br /></a>

Well, this is not the first time Iran authorities arrest for blogging. At an earlier time, Sina Motallebi, another Iranian journalist, was sent to jail for his personal weblog (Persian language). According to the BBC report, Iran is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to keep blog.

Amnesty International says: people in China, Syria, Vietnam, the Maldives, Iran, Cuba and Zimbabwe are detained or imprisoned for spreading their beliefs or information through the internet.

What's about my country, Bangladesh? Do we have the media freedom? Bangladeshi bloggers haven't imprisoned or charged for their online opinion yet. But journalists are being subjected to killing one after another especially in the Khulna region. Journalists in other parts of the country are also being threatened, attacked and implicated during their professional duties.

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) emphasized that the Armed Islamic militants is responsible behind press freedom violation in Bangladesh. RWB updates a Press Freedom Barometer, world map, where Bangladesh falls under "Difficult situation" category.

Recently Forum to Protect Journalist(FPJ), newly formed group of newspaper editors, organized protest rallies to raise their voice against the series of attacks on them in Bangladesh.

Related

• Web Debate: Blogging vs. Journalism (collection of links)
  
• UPI Report: Words are weapons for Iranian bloggers
• BBC Report: Global blogger action day called
• RWB Report: Free the cyber-dissident in Iran
  
• OJR Interview: Sina Motallebi
  
• RWB Annual Report: Press Freedom 2004 in Bangladesh
• The Daily Star Report: Try Killers of journalists, FPJ demands
  

More Links

• Committee to Protect Bloggers - month-old non-profit organization to unite bloggers
  
• Reporters Without Borders - News site working on world press freedom
  
• International Bloggers’ Bill of Rights - Global petition to protect bloggers at work
• Amnesty International - Working to protect Human Rights worldwide

Google Tools

PageBoost gives only positive reviews for your website. ;)
Spam-o-matic generates unwanted junk mail for your product. ;)

More interesting tools using Google API.

What is Google?

Blogging and Journalism

Right now I am eating two articles from Poynter Online. You can taste also:

[ J--> B ] What Bloggers can learn from journalists
[ B--> J ] What Journalists can learn from bloggers

Eating Out
# Cyber Journalist
# Online Journalism Review
# Blogger Con III
# Poynter Online
# Editors Weblog
# Blogsperiment: blogs & journalism
# Blogger, Journalism & Credibility
# Articles on Web Journalism (by JD Jasica)

Already Eaten
# A Bloggers' Code of Ethics
# Journos and Bloggers: Can Both Survive?
# What blog can do about journalism?

Dessert [updated]
# Bloggers vs. Journalists is Over (PressThink Article)
# Bloggers vs. Journalists is NOT Over

Who let my blog out?

Happy Victory Day of Bangladesh.

Due to my ongoing monthlong exam, I can't keep pace with my regular online tasks: reading weblogs around, googling, writing emails, so-called social networking and so on.

Today while I was checking my site statistics, I found most of the visitors coming here from a specific link. Ah, Asia Blog Awards 2004 voting started, I see! And you'll be shocked that Notes from Dystopia has nominated under Best Bangladeshi/Sri Lankan Blog category. Other nominated Bangladeshi blogs are:

- Busy Minds in a Lazy Shell
- Insert Clever Title Here
- Moodlogic
- The 3rd World View
- The Color of Rain

Yes, I have the same question. Why is my blog there? Well, don't be puzzled. Just think non-negative. The answer is blowing in my mind. [Hint: To find the best one, sometimes we need to compare with the worst one. That's why... Voila!]

I prefer The 3rd World View, a personal blog with the sense of e-journalism, maintained by Rezwan.

His writing are balanced between personal belief and a journalistic view; content is well-written and easy-to-understand for the international audience. The con, as a surfer I felt, is its blog design. He uses so many free stuffs & links in a single page, viewers might get pointless.

Moodlogic, another Bangladeshi blog by Wamy, has more or less the similar flavor of The 3rd World View. This blog design is ergonomic enough. I like his writing style except some of his politically-slanted articles.

Well, you can help my another friend, Qeta, by Inserting a Clever Title Here. Interesting blog where every post is untitled. Her writing is grammatically correct with a dramatic approach. Beside reading her candid daily log, test your English vocabulary at the same time. :)

Busy Minds in a Lazy Shell is a busy blog by Kazi Rubaiat Imam. Frequently updated. Text written in a most informal way. Unlike Qeta, like me, he ignores the blogger knowledge of grammar.

And don't miss the Color of Rain. A Bangladeshi teenager, Nashat, shares her life and adventures there decently. Well-written posts.

Okay. Now vote, explore and discover other blogs in Asia!

Related Links
# List of Bangladeshi blogs (compiled by Rezwan)
# Weblog Awards 2004
# Asia Blogs Award 2004
# Best blogs in Asia Directory

Disport with Passport

NATO Passport Record Bureau has full record of everybody in the world who owns a passport.

Eh, really? Well, if you have a passport, just browse this site: www.humnri.com/enter/passport/

Enter your first and last name exactly written in your passport. And see what they know about you. And I was flabbergasted! ;)

By the way, John Perkinson snapped this cute photo of his daugher. Expression is copyrighted. :-)

Interpretations of Resistance

Yesterday Chobi Mela III has started in Dhaka. This biannual international festival of photography is the third effort by Drik, based on the theme 'resistance.'

Shahidul Alam, the Festival Director, wrote:
When globalization has become a euphemism for westernization, it is this dissolution of borders, this resistance to consumerism, this dream of a world where the might of a few can be effectively challenged, this belief that tanks and stealth aircraft and media spin will not subdue an indomitable spirit, that characterizes this festival. ...the festival is a call to resist, and a declaration of the resistance to come.

And I found there some simple lines written by a student of Class Five at Karachi High School on Earth Day 1991:

But I will not...
I will not stop throwing paper on the ground
I will not stop using plastic bags
I will not go to clean the beaches
I will not stop polluting
I will not do all these things because I am not polluting the world

It is the grown-ups who are dropping bombs
It is the grown-ups who have to stop
One bomb destroys more than all the paper & plastic that I can throw in all my life.

It is the grown-ups who should get together and talk to each other.
They should solve problems and stop fighting and stop wars
They are making acid rain and a hole in the ozone layer

I Will Not Listen to the Grown-Ups!

****
Then listen to me, please.

If you love photography AND/OR/XOR live in Dhaka, you can join the fest according to this schedule. Or if you live inside net, click on the photographers' list and see how they have interpreted the word resistance. You may read the Picture of Resistance from Star magazine.

Login Overloaded

For writing purpose, last month I had to login these domains:

Internet Service Provider
BDCOM, Grameen Cybernet, CyberX, Agni, HRCworks

E-mail
Gmail, MyRealBox, Yahoo, Hotmail, Walla, Rediff, Hotpop, Deshmail, Popmail

Blogging Related
Blogger, bloglines, furl, LiveJournal, Xanga, Bloglet, BlogRolling, kinja, technorati, w.bloggar, Atomz, Feed Burner, Site Meter, Tag-Board, Feedster, Blogger Forum

Photo Sharing
Flickr, pnavy, Photobucket, Yahoo! photos, hello, dotphoto, Fotki

News Groups
Yahoo! Groups, Google groups 2, dummies eTips, BBC

Social Networking
Orkut, DotNode, paltalk, Skype

Misc
Wikipedia, Experts Exchange, HOTorNOT, long4net, dropload, BYF

Special thanks: BugMeNot. It helps to quickly bypass the login of some websites that require compulsory registration.

October Photo Quiz

0. What's the screen name of this boy?
1. And the real name?
2. Who was the photographer?

Hints
# I didn't take this snap. Someone else, believe me!
# This still-image is grabbed from a film, my favorite film.

Answers (Update)
0. Apu (from Pather Panchali directed by Satyajit Ray)
1. Subir Banerjee
2. Subrata Mitra

Give me a name, please...

[Update: 28 December 2004]
Thanks everybody. Now you can call me Tushki. Visit my profile at Catster.

Mew News: They are now safe

Hey,

I just forgot that I have a blog! Kidding.

Many things happened this week:

# I was bit excited. I got, after bought, a professional 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder (review of Panasonic NV-GS400GC).
# Now doing some experiment on videography, direction and real-time editing.
# I choose cats as my second-documentary subject. Hopefully this one also will not be finished due to my dilatoriness. By the by, have anybody seen my first unedited unreleased docu-fiction?
# I learnt today: My cats are very-very-nice, but they are not suitable for shooting subject. They feel uneasy while recording themselves. Gheu!
# So right now I am taking still photos of cat-kitty to enhance the storyboard.

Photo Credit: Ishtiaque (16 September 2004)
This kitty (should I locate which one?) was born on 21 August 2004, 9 PM. I was watching the TV news, the horrible video of wounded people in grenade blast at AL Rally. Oh thanks, cats don't have any idea how much inhumane man can be! ( Mew News: Both the Cat and the kitty are safe. They are now sleeping. Keep silence, pleeeaaasseee. )

Related Jump
# Eejit's Guide to Filmmaking (4/5)
# Norman's guide to Digital Photography (4/5)
# A Short Course in Digital Video (3/5)
# How camcorder works? (2.5/5)

Biznas: Cheat in the name of IT education

Recently Shaptahik 2000 (Bangla Weekly magazine) published four investigative featured articles on Multi-Level Marketing(MLM) companies in Bangladesh.

Update
Part V (10 September 2004)
Biznas: Atlast arrested (Bangla PDF)

Part IV (3 September 2004)
Life Line: Another Biznas.com (Bangla PDF)

Part III (27 August 2004)
Biznas: Fraud Number One (Bangla PDF)

Part II (20 August 2004)
Biznas continues cheating (Bangla PDF)

Part I (13 August 2004)
Smuggling in the name of IT education (Bangla PDF)

Related links
# Biznas dot com - Official Website
# Multi-level marketing - Knowledge-based article from Wikipedia
# What's Wrong With MLM? (written by by Dean Van Druff)
# Robbing with fantasy - (Article from The Daily Star / 8 August 2004)

Help Flood Victims and...

Dear readers(if any),

Sorry for my usual delay to blog.

Currently I am engaged with Flood Relief Operation Project(FROP) coordinated by our science organization Anushandhitshu Chokro. You can also help Bangladeshi flood victims by donating money or relief materials to any flood-aid fund like:

# EB2000
# SpaandanB
# SUST
# HSBC-IFRC
# Drishtipat
# Shopno dot org
# Bangladesh-America dot com

By the by, last week I watched, and enjoyed, a stage-play performed by Prachyanat theatre group. Well, I am happy to know that the ticket-money will go to a flood-relief fund. After my ongoing voluntary work, I'll write a detail review on that drama, so don't want to disclose more information right now. Please wait.

Okay. If you feel like browsing, leave my site and jump in following order:

# Google Guide (via randomwalks > librarian > rebecca)
# Flash fun: [740 KB] After loading the page, drag your mouse pointer all over the face. Try to click the nose. :)
# Back to the pavilion: Home. Home. Stupid Home.

Do you have any tombstone?

Dead people should care for their tombstone. Right? So if you think yourself a dead person (morally, I mean), make your own tombstone.

Thanks jjchandler.

Google still depends on Yahoo! Huh!

NFD Theorem
Google is not independent.

Proof
Here we'll apply the indirect proof(also known as Proof by contradiction) informally.

For convenience, first assume that --

Google is independent. Totally independent. It doesn't use any service from nth party.(where n equals 3) ... ... (a)

Now it will be sufficient to proof this theorem if we can show that at least one third-party service is used in Google website.

We can consider the index page of Google Press Center. There exists a subscription offer(at the left-bottom side) so that people, any people can get updated news about that company via email. Note that the official mailing list of Google Press is hosted byYahoo! Groups.

We get the same return from Google-Friends Newsletter service.

Now we know, all the email addresses subscribed to Google Newsletter are verified by Yahoo Groups.

Again, we know that

Yahoo! Groups is a service of Yahoo company. ... ...(b)
Yahoo and Google are different companies. ... ...(c)

It is clear from equation (b) and (c) that Yahoo Groups is not a service of Google, which contradict to our previous assumption.

Hence the only possibility, Google is dependent on third party service.
(Proved)

Corollary
# Google still depends on Yahoo, it's major rival.
# Google can't rely on their Google Groups 2 Beta which offers similar but better service to yahoo groups.
# Ishtiaque is very intelligent.


Geometrical Interpretation
Before:

After:

Surrender!

One of my GFs (I mean General Fan) wrote me:

...did you decide to make your blog totally technocentric instead of, I don't know, making it more journal like? That is a shame because I enjoyed reading about your very very exciting (at least to somebody as boring as me) day-to-day life.

Exciting? Oh no! Several times I've tried to blog about my day-to-day life in my earlier posts. And somehow, I don't know why, those soliloquy turned out hokum. Just browse my blog-archive!

Won't it be boring If I write like:

• Today I ate rice. Meao!


• Yesterday I didn't go to university. Gheu!


• Other day I got a phone call. Wheee!


• Right now I am readin' a book, text book. Grrr...

See Also: The Dullest Blog in the world (I stole this link from Savita)

So what do you suggest? Should I start again my life-prattle or This Is Okay?

Can you hear me?

Hello?