Trouble browsing ebook

Got this article from The Hindu Business Line

Solution in case you are having problem in reading a book downloaded from the Internet.

"I downloaded some ebooks through the Internet. I’m unable to open some with the following extensions: .docx, .djvu, .chm.

If I open a problematic chm file, it shows a blank display, but I‘m able to open other chm files. Please suggest a solution.

Sunitha Krishnan

In Office 2007, Microsoft has added the new Office Open XML Formats in Word 2007, Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007 that includes extensions such as .docx,. xlsx, .pptx, etc.

Office XML Formats use ZIP compression technology to store documents that reduce the size of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and improve data recovery in corrupted files. To make use of Office 2007 files such as .docx, .xlsx, .pptx etc files, a free downloadable “Office compatibility pack” (Fileformatconverters.exe of - Size 27.5 MB) is available from Microsoft.

The office compatibility pack supports the previous versions of Microsoft Office 2000, XP, 2003 and can be downloaded from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923505.

The DjVu file format allows the distribution, on the Internet, of very high-resolution images of scanned documents, digital documents, and photographs.

DjVu achieves compression ratios that are about five-ten times better than existing methods, such as JPEG and GIF for colour documents, and three-eight times than TIFF for black and white documents.

Scanned pages at 300 DPI in full colour can be compressed down to 30 to 100 KB files from 25 MB. Black-and-white pages at 300 DPI typically occupy 5 KB to 30 KB when compressed.

To view a .djvu file, you can download Djvu Browser Plug-ins or Djvu Viewers from the Internet. WinDjView-0.5.exe (Size 508KB) is one such free Djvu Viewer windows application that can be downloaded from

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=114927.

Please note, there is no need to install it, you will have to only double-click WinDjView-0.5.exe.

MacDjView is a simple DjVu viewer available for Mac OS X.

The DjVu browser plug-in is also available for standard Web browsers on various platforms at this URL: http://djvu.org/resources/

The .chm file format is a compiled HTML Help file. After you install security update 896358 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), you may experience this problem of not being able to open HTML Help files from Internet Explorer. To resolve it, please follow any one of these two simple workarounds.

The first one is, double-click the .chm file. This will bring up an “Open File – Security Warning” dialog box.

Click to clear the “Always ask before opening this file” check box and click open.

Another method is, right-click the chm file, and then click properties.

Click the “Unblock” button and click ok. Now double-click the .chm file to open the file.

For more information, please look up http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902225.

Solution by M. Sampath"

India Today - Dec 31st Issue

Friends, Please don't miss reading this edition of India Today. This lists what the magazine considers to be the 60 important revolutions that happened in India that changed its destiny. I am learning new things about India just by reading this issue.

Happy reading.

India Today - 60 revolutions

Credit Card Primer

Tell me guys. I am sure quite a few of my readers are credit card users if not all...But how many of you know about it? Know its advantages and more importantly know its disadvantages. for eg. do you realize that you are charged 36% to 41% per annum if you don't pay credit card bills on time. That is substancial and you as a consumer should be aware of it.

Money Today, an India Today publication on personal finance has a fantastic primer and I would like each and everyone of you to read it and understand it better. Here is the link ---> Credit Card Primer

Is Time Travel possible?

Well the scientist in the documentary seems to think so. It is interesting. Do watch it.

Pareto principle - The 80-20 rule

This is definitely a dry topic but at the same an interesting one. It is called Pareto Principle.

From Wikipedia "The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., "80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients."

The observation was in connection with income and wealth. Pareto noticed that 80% of Italy's wealth was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied.

Interesting isn't it? Read more on Pareto Principle in Wiki

How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone:

* # 0 6 #

A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. when your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless.

You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.

If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

Please spread this useful information around.

NOTE: By the way this is my 800th post.

The longest word in English Dictionary

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust usually found in volcanoes'. It was coined to serve as supposedly the longest English word. The more general and widely used term for this condition is pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung disease.

WIKI entry

Quiz Question

This is a poem written by Emma Lazarus’. This poem is graven on a tablet in a very important monument. Name the monument.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Medical Refugees

Report from the Wired magazine.

As startling numbers of Americans go without health insurance, more of them see their only hope in fleeing to far-flung nations like India for life-saving medical treatments.

The dearth of affordable health insurance has engendered a new breed of what the New England Journal of Medicine classifies as "medical refugees" -- patients traveling abroad for heart surgery and other crucial procedures -- that has grown sharply in the past two years.

In 2005, 46 million Americans -- or about 15 percent of the total population -- lacked health insurance, according to a Census Bureau study. For families who don't qualify for Medicare but can't afford private coverage, a sudden accident or illness could lead to financial disaster.

The situation in the United States and other countries where health care is expensive will contribute to tourists spending $2 billion on medical procedures in India by 2012, according to a study by McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The phenomenon of "medical tourists" -- people who casually travel to foreign lands for face lifts or breast implants -- has been well documented. But the new exodus of patients are looking for more essential care. Indian hospitals welcome these sick travelers with open arms, often lavishing them with more attention than they could expect in their home country.

Read the full article. Very interesting.

Ten Top Hangover Cures

How many times you have been merry, got drunk during the night to get up to a head splitting hangover. Well don't worry. Read this >> Ten Top Hangover Cures

Courtesy : Forbes

Got this as a link in Gmail.

World champ Marykom recalls fight

Another Indian sporting great in the harsh world of Boxing >> MC Marykom, world champion for the third time on Thursday winning the 46 kg in Boxing.

You make me proud MC Marykom. Congrats and Best Wishes.

Watch the report here

Sun's surface - Spectacular Video

Ever imagined how sun's surface will look like? The only imagination that I had was what I had seen in Star Trek. The real thing is simply amazing.

Scientists in Japan have released dramatic video of the surface of the sun.

The pictures come from the Hinode (SolarB) satellite and show explosions above a sunspot.

Watch it here

Spectacular.

If only we could hear the sound associated with those blasts. I am sure it will be deafening. Though I don't think it is possible to capture it in space. My understanding is that sound waves do not travel in space since there is no medium. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Effects of Internet video

The past 2 years have seen a tremendous increase in video sharing sites and the usage of the same by people through out this world. The opportunities provided by the same are amazing and at the same time exciting. Anyone can create a video and upload it for the whole world to see. Any small incident can be captured. And also any big incident can be captured. The best example being the capture of the World Trade center tragedy by an amateur. Is it all rosy? Or privacy being negotiated due the advent of these technologies. There are incidents of events being created so that it can be captured on video and shared.

In a very interesting BBC report, Internet law professor Michael Geist wonders what effect ubiquitous cameras and easy ways to share video will have on notions of public and private.

Read the same here

Courtesy : BBC

Be seated correctly

People who contine to sit in the wrong posture while working in office will have severe back ache problems, scientists say. The secret of having a normal back is to sit correctly.



Read the BBC report for full details

Courtesy: BBC

How to take great photos?

Some good pointers for taking good photographs. Enjoy this and hopefully learn from it.

Novice Guide

Courtesy : CNN IBN