Golumolu's Blogs

Elections 2012 & voter list information

ajadmin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:55:57 +0000

The Election Commission has announced the poll schedule for five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa.

While Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttarakhand will see a single-phase election, Uttar Pradesh will witness seven phases of polling. The counting will take place on March 4, 2012.

Poll schedule is shown below:

Manipur January 28, 2012
Punjab January 30, 2012
Uttarakhand January 30, 2012
Goa March 3
Uttar Pradesh Starts on February 4, ends on February 28.
The seven-phased polling in Uttar Pradesh will be the longest in any state in the country so far.

How to check if my name is included in the voter’s list?

There is a way to check on the following websites about a lot of information regarding elections - checking your name in the voter’s list, information about your constituency etc. Shown below is the information about CEO (Chief Electoral Officer) website for each of the states

Follow the instructions at the following link to see if your name is in the voter list:

http://www.indg.in/e-governance/check-your-name-in-electoral-rolls#

Chief Electoral Office Websites:

Uttar Pradesh
Punjab
Uttarakhand
Goa
Manipur

Wah Chef, who me?

ajadmin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:27:09 +0000

Interesting things have happened in these 6 weeks or so. Not sure how, but I seem to have suddenly developed a keen liking for Cooking!

I am one of those typical IT professionals who work so hard during the week, and weekends are basically for chilling out and getting your energy back, spending quality time with Family etc. Well, something more happened during these 2 months. I have prepared the following dishes and the family is loving it:
Chinese Haka Noodles
Chinese Schezwan Noodles
Chinese Fried Rice, Schezwan Fried Rice
Tawa Paneer
Hari Chutney Paneer
Paneer Makhni
Fruit Salad with Custard
Egg manchurian
Veg Sweet Corn Soup
Veg Clear Soup with Noodles
Penne Pasta in White Sauce

I am surprised & at times even stunned that I, a person who has never cooked more than an Omlette whole of my life (am 38 now), can come close to preparing some of these dishes. Its been interesting how I tried something new one fine day and when that came out fine, kept trying newer recipes every weekend. And guess what, I am enjoying it. Its fun!

Well, how did I go about it? What are the secrets to becoming a good cook. In my 60-day experience, I have learnt that you can pretty much cook any exotic dish that you order at a fancy restaurant. You simply need to follow the recipe very religiously (step by step) and very importantly - use common sense. The latter will help when you notice something amiss or think how much is enough? YouTube has been a great help. Lot of recipes out there. All I do is watch the video at first, if it looks interesting then keep my laptop in the Kitchen and pause the video while doing the actual cooking and go about the different steps. Sounds so simple isnt it?

And the biggest realization me has been that Cooking is no rocket science. You just need to have the ingredients and cook exactly like what the recipe suggests - step by step. Thats it! Of course you need family members to help you when you dont know how to differentiate between a garam masala & a chaat masala or Roasted Cumin powder vs cumin seeds

So here I am - one who thought he would never do something like Cooking, but is now always looking forward to the weekend to try out something new and surprise kids, wife & my mom (who of course is surprised too). So, You guys out there and girls who dont know cooking but have always thought its something difficult or you cant do - naah! Go for it and I bet you will surprise yourself

My favorite Tweets

ajadmin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:23:15 +0000

Amazing story on 26/11 and the “the Taj Way” - “The Ordinary Heroes of the Taj” - Harvard Business Review:

Nice article on Parenting http://t.co/pzS4DmBg

Imagination, Innovation, going beyond limits http://t.co/IAVb0esy

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Masala Mushroom Indian Recipe

ajadmin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 08:54:35 +0000

Credits for this recipe - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEZUKcuZQck. I am simply providing a written version of the same as you cant afford to prepare this dish watching a 10minute video. so here is a quick step-by-step procedure:

Lets start with the ingredients:

1 Bay leaf (Patta Leaf)
1 Cinnamon Stick (Patta)
4 Cloves (Lavang)
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 1 Large (finely chopped)
Garlic - 1 Tbsp (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
Green Chillies (1 or 2 - to taste)
Tomatoes - 2 small (finely chopped)
Cumin Powder - 1tsp
Red Chilli Powder - to taste (1/4 tsp)
Dried Fenugreek Leaves (vendayam/Methi) - 1 tbsp
Mushrooms - 10 button size (cut into two, dont cut too fine)

Preparation

1. Take a medium sized pan and keep a medium flame
2. Add two tbsp of cooking oil
3. Add Cinnamon stick, cloves and Bayleaf and stir fry for a few seconds
4. Add turmeric & immediately add onion and continue to stir fry (4-5 minutes) till you get a good mix
5. Add Salt and mix well
6. Add garlic & green chillies and stir fry. Cook for 3-4 mins
7. Now add tomatoes and mix well
8. Cover the lid and cook for 8-10 minutes till the moisture in the tomatoes is gone. Should almost look like a paste
9. Add cumin powder and red chilli powder and mix well
10. Now add the Mushrooms and mix it well. Cook for about 4-5mins
11. Now add the Fenugreek leaves by crushing and rubbing them b/w your palms and allowing the powder to fall into the pan
12. Mix well

Your dish is ready. Serves as a great starter. You can decorate the plate with a slice of tomato and raw onions!

Penne Pasta in White Sauce, Simple preparation

ajadmin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:45:11 +0000

Pasta for Amateurs, newbies

What are the Ingredients I need

1. Penne Pasta (I like the bambino one. No, am not advertising )
2. Olive Oil
3. Oregano leaves
4. Cheese - any cheese will do (parmejan etc)
5. Mushrooms
6. Spinach (palak, cut into pieces)
7. Whole Milk (fancy word…well, I just use raw milk..)
8. Garlic (cut about 7-8 cloves into small pieces)
9. Black pepper
10. Heavy cream (Fresh cream is what I use)
11. All purpose flour (Maida)

Preparing the Pasta

In a large pan, add 5 litres of water. Add 3-4 tbsp of Salt and a few drops of cooking oil. Once water starts boiling add the pasta. Stir occationally. Cook until pasta becomes soft,good enough to be eaten. Now drain the water.

ACTUAL PREPARATION
==================
Take a large pan and add 3-4 Tbsp olive oil. Once it is hot,add garlic pieces and keep stirring. Once the color of garlic changes,add the onion. Stir fry until onion becomes light brown in color. Add the mushrooms and stir fry. now add 2-3 tsp maida and quickly stir-fry so that there are no lumps. Add Salt to taste (2-3 tsp)

Add 1 cup whole milk, 3-4 Tbsp of Cream and stir fry. now add spinach, 1tsp Oregano leaves, 1tsp black pepper and occasionally stir fry. After a minute, add shredded cheese and cook the entire mix for about 3-5 minutes. Towards the end the entire quantity will shrink and it will look more like a paste.

Now add the pasta and mix well. Well, thats it..

I first saw this recipe on Youtube put up by Ms.Anupma - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQVjHR12Rw. So the credit is due to her if you like this dish.

Haka Noodles Recipe Indian style

ajadmin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:50:47 +0000

Haka Noodles for Dummies, Amateurs

If you are sick and tired of making the Maggi Instant Noodles and want to make Noodles the way it is made in restaurants, read on –

What are the ingredients I need

1. Noodles (Not the instant one, regular plain vanilla noodles)
2. Onions (make long & thin pieces)
3. Capsicum (make long & thin pieces)
4. Cabbage (again, long pieces)
5. Carrots (dont try to cut, but use a shredding plate to get thin threads)
6. Spring Onions (only the stem)
7. Vinegar
8. Soya Sauce

Making the Noodles
Assuming you are making this for 2 people, take half a packet of noodles (medium size packet) and boil it in a big pan with plenty of water so that the noodles is immersed completely. Keep checking how much the noodles is cooked. Stop boiling once you see that the noodles has become slightly soft but not fully cooked. Drain the water completely. Add butter or oil to the noodles to make it soft and non-sticky. You can do this with your hand.

Actual preparation

Take a Wok (Deep Pan with a long handle in the front, preferably) or our regular Indian pan with two small handles on either side. Indian style pan makes it hard to toss the noodles as compared to the Wok.

Add 3-4 Tbsp cooking oil in the pan
Add onion and keep stirring/frying (whatever its called!) till they turn light brown in color
Add Cabbage, Capsicum, Carrot, spring onion and cook
Now add the noodles, 1tsp Soya Sauce, 1 tsp vinegar
Start tossing the noodles so that the vegetable and noodle get mixed well
Let the flame be med-high while doing this

Do this for about 2-3mins till you see the noodles mixed well and shining. You can add tomato sauce to taste.

Should be a good enough dish for an Amateur to be proud of

You may also want to watch Sanjeev Kapoor’s video for professional advice! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27oHn30Az4E

BSNL Broadband Connectivity problem

ajadmin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:08:57 +0000

BSNL Broadband connection keeps going down very often these days. I found out this was happening because the DNS servers were down or not reachable.

Solution — For people who are well versed with computers, change the DNS for your network adapter (LAN and/or wireless) from “Automatically detect DNS” to “Use this DNS” and provide the IP address as “8.8.8.8″ which is the Google DNS.

For people who are not computer savvy, do a google search “How to configure my DNS with a custom IP address” and follow the instructions and provide 8.8.8.8 as the DNS IP address

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Network signal and GPRS/Edge issues after unlocking IPhone4 with Gevey

ajadmin — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:39:25 +0000

If you are seeing one or two of the following problems after unlocking your IPhone4, then read on. If you wish to know how to unlock IPhone4 with gevey, then go to the end of this page.

Issue1: After unlocking, your network always shows a single Network signal bar
Issue2: Your Edge/GPRS i.e. internet connectivity is not working

Issue1: After unlocking, your network always shows a single Network signal bar

You will be able to make calls and the call quality will be good but your network will always show a single signal bar. This happens when you have unlocked your iphone; mine was unlocked with Gevey Sim.

The solution is to Install UnltrasnOw 1.2.3 and this will solve the problem. You can do this from Cydia. Follow the steps as shown below –

1. Launch Cydia on your jailbroken iPhone
2. Tap on the Manage tab followed by a tap on Sources section. Here you will see list of stock and custom Cydia sources
3. Tap on the Edit button on the top-right followed by a tap on Add button on the top-left. Enter http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com as Cydia/APT URL and hit the Add Source button
4. Now wait while Cydia updates its sources list. Once done, tap on the Search tab at the bottom and type Ultrasn0w in the search field
5. Select Ultrasn0w from the search results and hit the Install button on the top-right
6. Wait while Cydia installs Ultrasn0w 1.2.3 on your iDevice. After installation, tap on the Restart Springboard/Device button to respring/reboot your iPhone (if you reboot, you need to unlock again as per gevey standard instructions)

See this original article on the steps with screenshots on how to install UltraSn0w

Issue2: Your Edge/GPRS i.e. internet connectivity is not working

Once issue1 is solved; if your next issue is not getting Edge or GPRS, then you need to update the APN settings. Do the following —

1. Connect your iphone to WiFi and open Safari Browser
2. Go to the website http://www.unlockit.co.nz
3. On the home page, you will see a Continue button. Click it.
4. On the next page, it will show some details like APN, username, password. Choose your network. India networks will start with “IN”. Mine was “IN - Airtel”. You should be able to find BSNL, Vodafone etc.
5. Then click on “Create Profile”
6. This will create a APN app and click on download or Install
7. To verify if the APN got successfully installed, go to Settings>General>. You should see something called Profile. If you click that, in the next screen you should see “Verified” in green for APN Carrier Settings
8. You should now be able to use internet/data based applications

Also make sure that the following options are enabled in the Settings->General->Network page. Enable 3G, Cellular Data, Data Roaming - all of these should be enabled. Toggle the airplane mode to on & then back to off to reset the network connection. Edge/GPRS should start working now.

How to unlock IPhone4 bought in the US (or elsewhere) in India?

There is no software unlock for this as of this date. But you can do hardware based unlock. See following article for step-by-step process –

http://thetechjournal.com/electronics/iphone/use-gevey-sim-to-unlock-iphone-4-ios-4-3-1-4-3-4-2-1-4-1-without-jailbreaking.xhtml

Where to buy the Gevey SIM in Bangalore?
You can buy the Gevey SIM in Bangalore in National Market, near Majestic. Go to shop no. 6. You will see two or three Muslim guys in the shop. They are pretty good. The Gevey SIM should not cost you more than 600 or 700 rupees. If they charge more, then bargain or ask around. Some of them quote 1300 rupees.

Cydia install problems host not found

Assembly Elections in India 2011

ajadmin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:35:41 +0000

5 Indian states - West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and Kerala, are gearing up for the upcoming Assembly elections in 2011.

Tamil Nadu - Will Jayalalitha come back to power given the 2G scam and other corruption cases that DMK has been involved in? Both Karuna & Jaya have been competing with each other in offering freebies..Whose money is it after all.

West Bengal - Will Mamata topple the Left Rule?

voters needing to know if their name is in the voter list or not and the nearest electoral booth, refer this URL for more details - Voter list Details for different states

Lync Server 2010 Performance Tool

Asit — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:26:07 +0000

If you are looking to validate your performance of Lync Server 2010 deployment as per organization level requirement, then you have the good news. Microsoft announced the Releases of Lync Server 2010, Stress and Performance Tool in March 2011 along with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Capacity Calculator. They have just changed the name of the tool in Lync and OCS R2 it’s known as “Capacity Planning Tool”.

These tools are available in Microsoft download site along with documentation.

Here are the links.

Lync Server 2010, Stress and Performance Tool

Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Capacity Calculator