Lemuria or the Kumari Kandam, the myth as it stands!

Hi,

Lemuria or Kumari Kandam or Land of the Civilized or whatever!

It makes up for an interesting read! Sure! But much has been already debated and discussed around this hypothetical, supposedly a sunken kingdom (as it stands now! ). It is not yet proven (like giving any stone works or archaelogical excavations attributing to the then existence of Kumari Kandam or Lemuria or whatever! ) This is not about debunking it! This is just about not getting misguided! Few may claim to debunk it myself. But always understand its called "Burden of Proof" for the person who claims it and not for the the person who debunks it. And this is no different from Santa Claus or Apocalypse myth's. We are fascinated by many fictional stories but that should not construe or influence any part of our belief systems!


Few Wikipedia articles: (Also read through the Extended links)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuria_%28continent%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumari_Kandam

As of now its a controversy, its a paradox.. Its a myth.. I just wanted to share this because, I have seen people, whenever they talk about history, whenever they speak about our ancient people, they come up with 'this' (here 'our' stands for the tamil people!).. And thats always gonna weaken the cause !! Beware of myths!
I rest my case :)

*I am open to any suggestions, criticisms or any interesting proofs or sources.. After all, we are all learners. Right?!

Thanks and Regards,
Sugavanesh

Ayitham (Aayutham) Edition 1

      After much delay, it was released successfully. And here is the soft copy of the magazine for your grab. First Edition of Ayitham (Aayutham), an Inter-college Tamil Magazine, first of its kind! Need I say more?! Comments are welcome...

Contacts in .xls (excel sheets) to Android mobiles through gmail

Hi,

I just bought a new Android mobile, Samsung Galaxy ACE. Since I have stored my contacts in many places, I need to go through a hectic process to have all the contacts back in one place, my phone. Few were in Facebook, gmail, which didnt take much time to sync with my mobile contacts.. 

Though the problem was with the ones I have placed offline in groups and excel sheets.. I kind of googled and figured out that there is no possible direct way to transfer contacts in .xls to Android without trying to convert it to either Vcard or .csv or using some other accounts. I would rather go to gmail. 

So in gist, this is what is supposed to be done.. 

1. Convert your .xls to .csv format

2. Upload to gmail. (Optional: Merge duplicate contacts)

3. Sync with your contacts

Step 1 : Convert your .xls to .csv format

Thanks to ubuntu. I dont want to go for some online service neither use some other faulty scripts nor do i need to download some software. 

This is what to be done...

1. Install catdoc.. 

 $sudo apt-get install catdoc

2. Use the tool 'xls2csv' (How cool ?!) to convert your .xls sheets to .csv format

$xls2csv your_contacts.xls > some_file_name.csv

[**Before that, Make sure that you have proper headers for each column.. like use 'Name' and 'Mobile Phone' not just 'Number'.. It wont work when you import in gmail.. To check whether your headers are right in gmail format, export some contact in 'Outlook' .csv format to your computer and check whether the headers match with the headers in your excel sheet.

FYI,  this is the list of  few of the headers as accepted in gmail..

  Last Name
  First Name
  Title
  Home Phone
  Mobile Phone
  e-Mail Address
  Work Phone
  Home Address

]

Step 2: Upload to gmail

1. Choose Contacts from the left side options.. 

2. Choose More and then Import.. Upload the file and your contacts will now be added to your gmail contacts.

Step 3. Sync with your contacts 

 

Now you are good to go to sync contacts with your android, which can be done  by,

 Settings->Accounts & Sync and Sync gmail.. 

 

To the person I look up to, My Dad...

I got the notion of sharing this article when I was returning to Chennai, the other day with few hours remaining for me turning into an adult from a teen.. It was the time for some realizations, commitments, blah blah.

I have never been close to anyone like my parents lest few friends.. But, I have been always more close to my Mom, sharing everything with her and asking for guidance more than my father.. This is not about how relatively I like my Mom and Dad.. This is about what I have realized or say felt about my Dad !! Originally, I wanted to write something about my Dad on Father's Day but I was waiting for his birthday.. In the end, settled for mine.. Ah, lets cut the crap.. and dig into my thoughts to see what I actually wanted to say!!

#NOT.. BUT.. SO..

I look up to my father all the time, not because he is successful but he is CONFIDENT that he can be successful even after years of toil, not because he is rich but his wisdom, situational abilities, rich circle he has surrounded himself with (few trust-worthy friends and many notable acquaintance ), not because he is a genius but he is passionate about what he does ( only when he does ), not because he is a celebrity but because he and mom always made me and my bro feel we are special, not because he is in a responsible position but I saw a reformer in him.

#AURA

I have never seen him cry nor sit dull even at the toughest of his times that I have witnessed him in.. He always had that calculative mind which clicked most of the times.. Though he was out of business due to unexpected reasons (which happen to occur most of the times), I have never seen him broken nor did he yield in to any other stuff (uknowwhatimean). The loss he has seen, the failures he has gone through, Man it should take a lot of confidence ( I have a better term in Tamil - 'Nenjazhuththam' ) and he perseveres it yet..

#PURE LOVE

I have never seen a man who doesn't sleep for more than 2 hours for 6 months in continuum.. I saw a devoted son doing the same, my father as a devoted son to his father.. I have my grandpa saying to my Mom, "Please leave me in Ashram, I ll manage with somebody's help over there.. I can't see my son's toil and sleeplessness for nights...." Well, we hear (or atleast I have) heard even the richest ignoring their parents. though they love them, they just cant bare the pain in serving their parents.. But here was my Man, doing what is unmatched service ( who cares about literature.. I saw one in my home!! ). My grandpa was well-built and composed. I would see my father carrying his father as a child around places.. Kaana kann kodi thevai irunthathu!!

I would never have used the pc cam for a better purpose than picturing my father taking care of his.

#INTIMACY

Now, it has been one year since my Grandpa's demise and there broke a fight between parents over an issue about his clothes. And all I could see in my father was the pure and atmost love to his father in the fight.. And that was what my Mom was trying to overcome.. Who ll know this man better than she does?!

#ABILITY

Due to his procrastinating nature, he faced failures in many ventures irrespective of his hard-work, effort and intelligence.. This lead to a lot of criticism from the relatives whom are less talented than my father in many ways (which I say with 'garvam' ) which was unbearable and remains that way for me and my Mom.. He seldom cares about that.. And thats where the spark for other fights raise between my parents.. When we know he deserved enough credit for what he has done but was neglected or not given the same, we can never feel good about it.

#DECISION MAKING

Not just through his character and way of life, but also through his guidance through the life he has inspired me a lot and made me feel he is the man I look upto.. Even during adverse situations, he has always said, 'Never indulge in anything or never buy anything which doesn't give u 100% satisfaction.. Never haste into any decisions just considering few factors compromising ur satisfaction for it.. ' Damn!! Those were the lines driving my life!! '

#REFORMER

Thinking back, I would say My father was the first reformer, I saw. And the second one would be my Mom. While, it is not customary to allow women work in my relational circle aka caste ( as i perceive ), a man who encouraged and supported my Mom to work who in-turn supported the family economy, was my father. And I take pride in saying that he was more excited in our success while he was least bothered about his own though he saw and cherished our success as his own. 

#UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Still remember the reaction of  Prakash Raj on his child's cry ( from the Movie : Abhiyum Naanum ) And such was the love he has always shown to me and our family. Though we never really shared many pleasantries (which i sometimes feel bad about), Our conscience knows that We are there for each other all the time.

When all these thoughts ran through my mind with few more incidents (which I have avoided to defy from vagueness ), for a few moments, my throat choked... I felt like having tears (I actually had).. And that was the moment I decided to share this amazing feeling with others.. 

Love u Dad!! This is for u :-) You are my first mentor, friend, above all my beloved father :-)

Emacs in Maximized mode by default

I hope that many would agree that emacs is one of the greatest editors made by the one and only R.M.S!!

 

It happens to be  my favorite too..

 

Well, one of the problems i face,when i use emacs in interactive mode is.. i need to press maximize icon everytime to go to full screen..

 

And thats when python came to rescue..

Open the config file of emacs.. That will be there in your home folder..
If you prefer terminal, then,

1.  Type cd
    
         **-desktop$ cd

2.  Open .emacs file

         **-desktop$ emacs .emacs

If you go by GUI, then,

1. Go to your home folder
2. Enable 'Show hidden files' option in View menu
3. Browse through the folder to find .emacs and then open it.. 


Add this code in the file...

(defun toggle-fullscreen ()
  (interactive)
  (x-send-client-message nil 0 nil "_NET_WM_STATE" 32
        '(2 "_NET_WM_STATE_MAXIMIZED_VERT" 0))
  (x-send-client-message nil 0 nil "_NET_WM_STATE" 32
        '(2 "_NET_WM_STATE_MAXIMIZED_HORZ" 0))
)
(toggle-fullscreen)

Now that should open emacs in Maximized mode with all the icons  unlike -fs mode which disables few toolbars..

Voila!!

Coutesy: Source of this code :)