For those Techie Gray Cells - IV

1o Reasons why PCs crash

7-Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

250+ Tech ebooks online

I have links for more than 250 tech ebooks and I will be posting 50 links in each post. 50 links for this post are -

1

10 minute guide to lotus notes mail 4.5

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

2

10 minute guide to Microsoft exchange 5.0

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

3

10 minute guide to outlook 97

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

4

10 minute guide to schedule+ for windows 95

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

5

ActiveX programming unleashed

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

6

ActiveX programming unleashed

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

7

Advanced perl programming

http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

8

Advanced PL/SQL programming with packages

http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

9

Adventure in Prolog/AMZI

www.oopweb.com

10

Algorithms CMSC251/Mount, David

www.oopweb.com

11

Alison Balter's Mastering Access 95 development, premier ed.

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

12

Apache : The definitive guide, 3rd.ed.

http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

13

Beej's guide to network programming/Hall, Brain

www.oopweb.com

14

Beyond Linux from Scratch/BLFS Development Team

http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/linux/Administration/Beyond_Linux_From_Scratch/

15

Borland C++ builder unleashed

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

16

Building an intranet with windows NT 4

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

17

Building an Intranet with Windows NT 4

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

18

Building expert systems in prolog/AMZI

www.oopweb.com

19

C programming language

http://book.onairweb.net/computer/pl/C/The_C_Programming_Language_by_K&R/

20

C Programming/Holmes, Steven

www.oopweb.com

21

C++ Annotations

www.oopweb.com

22

CGI developer's guide

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

23

CGI manual of style

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

24

CGI manual of style online

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

25

CGI programming

http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

26

CGI programming unleashed

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

27

CGI programming with Perl, 2nd.ed.

http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

28

Charlie Calvert's Borland C++ builder unleashed

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

29

Client/server computing, 2nd.ed.

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

30

Client-server computing, 2nd.ed.

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

31

Common LISP, the language/Steele, Guy

www.oopweb.com

32

Compilers and compiler generators : an introduction with C++/Terry, P.D.

www.oopweb.com

33

Complete idiot's guide to creating HTML webpage

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

34

Computer graphics CMSC 427/Mount, David

www.oopweb.com

35

Configuring and troubleshooting the windows NT/95 registry

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

36

Creating commercial websites

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

37

Creating web applets with Java

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

38

Crystal Reports.NET

http://www.crystalreportsbook.com/Chapters.asp

39

Curious about the internet

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

40

Curious about the internet?

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

41

Dan appleman's developing activeX components with Visual Basic 5

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

42

Dan appleman's developing activex components with Visual Basic 5.0

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

43

Data structures CMSC420/Mount, David

www.oopweb.com

44

Database developer's guide with visual basic 4, 2nd.ed.

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

45

Database developer's guide with Visual Basic 4, 2nd.ed.

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

46

Database developer's guide with Visual C++ 4, 2nd.ed.

http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

47

Database developer's guide with Visual C++ 4, 2nd.ed.

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

48

Design and analysis of computer algorithms CMSC451/Mount, David

www.oopweb.com

49

Designing implementing Microsoft internet information server

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

50

Designing implementing Microsoft proxy server

http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

Want to make an Autorun file for your CD?

If you want to make an autorun file for a CD you are ready to burn just read this...

1) Open notepad

2) now write : [autorun]

OPEN=INSTALL\Setup_filename.EXE

ICON=INSTALL\Setup_filename.EXE

Now save it but not as a .txt file but as a .inf file.

But remember! The "Setup_filename.EXE" MUST be replaced with the name of the setup file. And you also need to rember that it is not all of the setup files there are called '.exe but some are called '.msi

3) Now burn your CD with the autorun .inf file included.

4) Now set the CD in you CD drive and wait for the autorun to begin or if nothing happens just double-click on the CD drive in "This Computer"

For those Techie Gray Cells - III

10 Reasons why PCs crash

5-Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6-Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

Some excellent antivirus programmes are McAfee VirusScan-2009, Norton AntiVirus-2009, Kaspersky-2009, ESET NOD 32 4.0.68.0 Beta, BitDefender-2009 etc.

More reasons in my later posts.........

Want to learn Maya?

Check out the tutorials here.

How to make your own Radio Station

Want to start your own radio station and host it on LAN? Check this out-

Must HAVE Winamp (Any Version)

First, things First your speed has to be at least 256/64 kbps (which means Dial-up users, will have alot of latency, just dnt bother)

Second, your going to have to have a domain, an updated one with the current i.p active. (Could be anything e.g. My sig)

Now, You have to download the Shoutcast Files.

Go to www.shoutcast.com to get the files.

You have to download 2 shoutcast softwares namely Shoutcast DNAS and Shoutcast DSP.

Ok After downloading these, installing Both of them in any order i dnt care. Go to START>PROGRAM FILES>SHOUTcast DNAS>EDIT SHOUTCAST DNS CONFIG.

Ok your gonna have to Configure it:

Go Down and where it says password: change (that means your gonna have to change it to whatever, make sure u remember)

The Portbase: change it to whatever port you want it

Maxusers: (lets be realistic here, dnt put in 10000, like NXS's radio station) your bandwidth has to be extremely good, if your cable, 50 user max is ok, ADSL should stay below 10 users, and T1 connections should do whatever tickles there fantasy.

Open winamp, RIGHT CLICK>OPTIONS>PREFRENCES>DSP EFFECT> and choose the NULLSOFT SHOUTCAST.

Go to OUTPUT, and then click on Connection, Through the ADDRESS, type your address which you have done through www.no-ip.com, PORT NUMBER, whatever u did in the EDIT.txt, and your password.

Then go to Encoder, and choose your quality of your music. Go back to OUTPU>OUTPUT CONFIG> YELLOW PAGES. this is your advertisemant information. dow hatever you like there.

Now Connect. to check that your Radio os on-line go to http://(your address that you added in the prefrence)

Delete an "Undeletable" File

Method-1

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.

Close all open programs.

Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE

Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.

Leave Task Manager open.

Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in.

At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.

Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.

Close Task Manager.

Method-2

Open Notepad.exe

Click File>Save As..>

locate the folder where ur undeletable file is

Choose 'All files' from the file type box

click once on the file u wanna delete so its name appears in the 'filename' box

put a " at the start and end of the filename

(the filename should have the extension of the undeletable file so it will overwrite it)

click save,

It should ask u to overwrite the existing file, choose yes and u can delete it as normal

Method-3

Here's a manual way of doing it. I'll take this off once you put into your first post zain.

1. Start

2. Run

3. Type: command

4. To move into a directory type: cd c:\*** (The stars stand for your folder)

5. If you cannot access the folder because it has spaces for example Program Files or Kazaa Lite folder you have to do the following. instead of typing in the full folder name only take the first 6 letters then put a ~ and then 1 without spaces. Example: cd c:\progra~1\kazaal~1

6. Once your in the folder the non-deletable file it in type in dir - a list will come up with everything inside.

7. Now to delete the file type in del ***.bmp, txt, jpg, avi, etc... And if the file name has spaces you would use the special 1st 6 letters followed by a ~ and a 1 rule. Example: if your file name was bad file.bmp you would type once in the specific folder thorugh command, del badfil~1.bmp and your file should be gone. Make sure to type in the correct extension.

For those techie Gray Cells - II

10 Reasons why PCs crash

3-BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4-Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

More reasons in my later posts......

How to search on Google

Google is undoubtedly the best search engine out there but not if you can't exploit it properly and use it to get whatever you want. I am gonna help you find stuff on google. :D

Getting movies,MP3,Games...

You want movies, mp3 and games and don't know where to get them, well, there is google.com.

Goto www.google.com and put this string in

"parent directory " /appz/ -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " DVDRip -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory "Xvid -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " Gamez -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " Name of Singer or album -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

Notice that I am only changing the word after the parent directory, change it to whatever you want and you will get lots of goods.

Another way to find MP3 really quickly

Another good way of finding MP3s (or other formats) is using Google and typing the following:

parent + directory + mp3 + OR + wma+ #dido#

Replace #dido# by whatever artist you wish to find, for example:

parent + directory + mp3 + OR + wma+ #Lamb#

You should get plenty of dirs with MP3s or WMA files (you could add OGG, etc. to the query).

To find serial numbers/CD keys using Google

If you are looking for a serial number for nero (for example) goto google.com and type

nero 94FBR

and it'll bring it up

this works great in google

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

Quite simple really. 94FBR is part of a Office 2000 Pro cd key that is widely distributed as it bypasses the activation requirements of Office 2K Pro. By searching for the product name and 94FBR, you guarantee two things.

1)The pages that are returned are pages dealing specifically with the product you want a serial for.

2)Because 94FBR is part of a serial number, and only part of a serial number, you guarantee that any page being returned is a serial number list page.

I hope this trick helps you in finding your cd keys easily. :)

More useful stuff in my future posts. :D

For those Techie Gray Cells - I

Hey all,
For all you gizmo freaks techie people out there, I am gonna post a series of articles having lot of tricks and tweaks related to computing and stuff, computing basics, what do these technical terms mean etc... So enjoy...........

10 Reasons why PCs crash

I am gonna post 2 reasons in each post. The first 2 are as follows-

1-Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2-Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

How to close multiple windows?

Note : works in all versions of Windows
If you just opened a number of separate, related windows (a folder inside a folder, and so on), there's an easier way to close them all than one-at-a-time. Hold down the Shift key as you click the X caption button in the upper-right corner of the last window opened. Doing so closes that window and all windows that came before it.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows key + R = Run menu

This is usually followed by:
cmd = Command Prompt
iexplore + "web address" = Internet Explorer
compmgmt.msc = Computer Management
dhcpmgmt.msc = DHCP Management
dnsmgmt.msc = DNS Management
services.msc = Services
eventvwr = Event Viewer
dsa.msc = Active Directory Users and Computers
dssite.msc = Active Directory Sites and Services
Windows key + E = Explorer
ALT + Tab = Switch between windows
ALT, Space, X = Maximize window
CTRL + Shift + Esc = Task Manager

Windows key + Break = System properties
Windows key + F = Search
Windows key + D = Hide/Display all windows

CTRL + C = copy
CTRL + X = cut
CTRL + V = paste

Also don't forget about the "Right-click" key next to the right Windows key on your keyboard. Using the arrows and that key can get just about anything done once you've opened up any program.

[Alt] and [Esc] Switch between running applications
[Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter
[Ctrl] and [Esc] Open Program Menu
[Ctrl] and [F4] Close active document or group windows (does not work with some applications)
[Alt] and [F4] Quit active application or close current window
[Alt] and [-] Open Control menu for active document
[Ctrl] Lft., Rt. arrow Move cursor forward or back one word
[Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph
[F1] Open Help for active application
Windows+M Minimize all open windows
Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windows
Windows+F1 Open Windows Help
Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons
Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box

Acessability shortcuts

Right SHIFT for eight seconds........ Switch FilterKeys on and off.
Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN....... Switch High Contrast on and off.
Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK....... Switch MouseKeys on and off.SHIFT....... five times Switch StickyKeys on and off.
NUM LOCK...... for five seconds Switch ToggleKeys on and off.

Explorer shortcuts

END....... Display the bottom of the active window.
HOME....... Display the top of the active window.
NUM LOCK+ASTERISK....... on numeric keypad (*) Display all subfolders under the selected folder.
NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (+) Display the contents of the selected folder.
NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (-) Collapse the selected folder.
LEFT ARROW...... Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.
RIGHT ARROW....... Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.

Will post more in my upcoming posts. :)

My Creations

I love poems and these are my creations. I am a bathroom poet. :P I have written some more poems but they are not with me right now. Will post them as soon as I get them.

For ur Best Friend
U can dedicate this poem to ur best friend, NOT BF/GF.

Just when I think I've lost my way
Something illuminates the dark
There you are leading the way
Love shining from your heart

Many friends have crossed my path
And I thank God for them all
But I got an extra special blessing
When your friendship answered my call

So much that I can thank God for:
My family and health
But when He blessed me with you
He gave me more than wealth

You understand my wonders,
And listen to my dreams.
You listen to how I feel about life and love,
And know what it all means.

As we walk our path of life,
We meet people everyday.
Most are simply met by chance.
But, some are sent our way.

These become special friends
Whose bond we can't explain;
The ones who understand us
And share our joy and pain.

For ur love
U can use this poem on Valentine's, or to impress ur angry/sad BF/GF.

For the first time I felt,
This true love in my heart,
It is buried so deep,
And that I would always keep.

You have such a sweet face,
But you are so much more,
You’re my friend & I love you,
Your flaws I ignore.

For the first time in my life,
I found my love and my life,
Without you I will cry,
For you my love, I will die.

When I lay & think, in my bed at night,
The day you’ll arrive, seems nowhere in sight.
I toss and I turn, dreaming of you,
Opening my eyes..., checking if my dreams came true.
It didn’t, again, and a tear starts to roll,
Weeping quietly..., my pillow I hold.

This is how I feel for you.
I’ve known it all along,
You are my one true love
My world...My heart...My soul.

Birthday poem

On your birthday I wish you much pleasure and joy;

I hope all of your wishes come true.

May each hour and minute be filled with delight,

And your birthday be perfect for you!

Instead of counting candles,

Or tallying the years,

Contemplate your blessings,

As your birthday nears.

Think about the memories

Passing years can never mar,

Experiences great and small

That have made you who you are.

Consider special people

Who love you, and who care,

And others who’ve enriched your life

Just by being there.

So for you, the birthday person,

Here’s what I want to say:

I hope this birthday’s the best one yet,

In every delightful way.

So happy birthday to you.

Have lots of birthday fun!

May your birthday wishes all come true,

Even if you have a ton.

Brighter years are ahead for you,

Your dearest dreams will surely come true.

I wish you the best, and I also wish to say,

From the bottom of my heart,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ur precious comments/compliments are most welcome. :)

Some Myths about Chemical Engineering

If you are asked to make a choice between Computer Science/Electronics/Electricals & Chemical Engineering, you would definitely choose one of the former options. Why??

Because you feel chemical engineering has no scope or one needs to be a "chem-worm" to be a good chemical engineer etc etc...

MYTH
Chemical Engineering is pure chemistry.

TRUTH
NO.
Professor Lewis Norton of Massachussets Institute of Technology, USA introduced the first formal degree for chemical engineers and then other universities like Penn and Tulane Universities followed.
Chemical Engineering is known so not because it involves chemistry but because when this branch was invented, they had to give some name to this branch of engineering. And they didnt name it Physical or Mathematical Engineering just because the chemistry portion in this branch is slightly more than the physics/maths portion.
You produce ammonia in lab using a test tube and a beaker. That's chemistry. But what if you have to produce tonnes and tonnes of ammonia to be used as fertilizers for lakhs of farmers in the country? This is what chemical engineers do. It takes a whole different techonology, process and a huge plant to prepare such a huge amount of ammonia. Chemical Engineers are also called Process Engineers.

The ammonia plant is one of the numerous tasks a chemical engineer performs.

Achievements of Chemical Engineering -

1-Atom as large as life
2-Plastic Age
3-Human Reactor
4-Wonder Drugs for masses
5-Synthetic fibres
6-Liquified air
7-Food Processing
8-Petrochemicals
9-Synthetic rubber...And the list goes on.

Related fields/thrust areas-

1-Computational Fluid Dynamics
2-Membrane Processes
3-Microfluids
4-Nanotechnology
5-Biochemical Engineering
6-Biomedical Engineering
7-Fuel Cell Engineering
8-Virtual Reality in Chemical Engineering

MYTH
Chemical Engineering is a new branch and it has no or very less scope.

TRUTH
Chemical Engineering has a very good scope. Some of the top employers of Chemical Engineers are-

Du Pont
NASA
General Electric
Shell
BASF
Dow Chemicals
Exxon
General Motors
Boeing
Reliance Petrochemicals
IPCL/SPIC
BARC
HPCL/BPCL
ONGC
DRDO/CSIR
TOYO/UHDE/CHEMTEX
Larsen & Toubro
IICT etc...

A survey of average salaries of various engineers was conducted in USA-
Engineering branch-Average Salary-Increase/Decrease from last year

Chemical-$55,900- +4%
Electrical-$52,899- +3.5%
Mechanical-$50,672- -0.3%
Computer Science-$50,046- -2%
I dont have exact data for other engineering branches but this data is sufficient to tell you the exact picture of chemical engineering in global scenario. Sadly enough, such surveys are not conducted in India.

After reading this post, I think you will now think twice before completely ruling out the option of chemical engineering and make a more intelligent choice.

Your comments on the post/chemical engineering/other branches of engineering are most welcome.
All the Best!!!

Can Marks really judge a student??

Well, merely by looking at the heading, most of you must have already guessed correctly about the matter in this blog.

Let’s start with an example-

A student called Mr. A. Passed his XII in 2008, a so called IIT aspirant (nowadays anyone who wants to be an engineer is called an IIT aspirant). Has already written many competitive exams like JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, Manipal, VITEEE etc.

He is sitting in his room, trying to crack a hardcore physics problem. His dad surfing the internet, actually public portals meant for students and going through the posts in which different students from all over the country have posted the marks obtained/calculated by them in different competitive exams.

Just then A shouts on top of his voice “Yes, Yes. I did it. I cracked one of the toughest problems of mechanics which none of my friends could crack.”(I will mention about these friends later in this post)

Dad: Why are you shouting so loudly?? Its OK if you have cracked this problem but lemme tell you one thing. You don’t stand anywhere in comparison to different students all over the country.

A: Huh??? What do you mean by that???

Dad: come here and see the marks calculated by these students. This guy is getting 323 in BITSAT, he is getting 366, he is getting 320 and look at this guy, he is getting a mammoth 412. And look at your score. A paltry 295.

A: But dad, I have already told you a hundred times that it was not my fault. The chemistry portion was too much knowledge based and a lot of questions asked the information not given in the chemistry books I have.

Dad: Whatever!!! You always have an excuse. Alright then, look at their AIEEE and IITJEE scores. Most of them in 200s and some of them even crossing 250. And look at your scores. AIEEE-165 and IITJEE-182.

A: (was just about to speak but suddenly stops himself because he knew that his explanations will be of no use. Instead of making his dad understand his situation, they would only serve as excuses given by him for his poor performance)

Now something about A. No need to mention that he is a genius in physics and loves this subject but on the other hand, he is not so good in maths and poor in chemistry.

It’s a fact that we are all human beings and not robots and you can’t expect everyone to be perfect in all the 3 subjects. A’s case is not much different. He has a genius’ mind but as he is not that good in chemistry, he could not score well in his competitive exams and might end up with very poor ranks in almost all of them.

So does it mean that he is not intelligent, he is not studious, he is not hardworking?? Do these marks give any idea of his intelligence, hard work and dedication?? If he is getting low marks in BITSAT just because the chemistry questions asked the info he did not have in his books, does it mean that he doesn’t stand anywhere??

And now about his friends, almost all of them are getting marks higher than him in all the exams but none of them is able to do hardcore physics problems which A can do quite easily. But just because his friends will get a higher rank and higher scores in exams, does it mean that they are more intelligent, more hard working, more studious??

Well, a better question is-Can an exam judge a person in just 3 hours?? Is it possible to judge someone’s intelligence, I.Q., determination, sincerity etc in 3 hours?? Is it possible to judge the amount of hard work put in by anyone for whole 2 years in just 3 hours?? Who knows what happens in those 3 hours. There are several reason due to which many deserving people can’t get a seat in one of the India’s most prestigious institution.

What are those reasons??

Lemme take one more example. This time I will call this guy Mr. B.

His strongest subject-Chemistry and he is pretty decent in Maths and physics at least to the extent of clearing the cut-offs in the exams. He was pretty confident of getting a seat in IIT. But fate had something else in store for him.

To his bad luck, his family was full of IITians and people with excellent academic achievements/records. So the pressure of performing well automatically came upon him.

To add to his bad luck, his elder cousin got a rank of 52(rank changed to hide the identity but it is very close to the original rank) in JEE-07. Now his family’s expectations from him and pressure on him increased manifolds. Right from declaration of results of JEE-07 to JEE-08, the pressure kept on increasing constantly because of his family members who kept reminding him of their expectations from him.

And lemme tell you, his miseries are not over yet. He has a competitor also. His cousin brother, who has always been ahead of him in academics, has also given JEE this year. So now B has an extra pressure to perform better than his cousin.

So now, I hope that most of you can estimate the amount of pressure on B. And this pressure told upon his JEE-08. As soon as he got the question paper, his hands were literally trembling. He broke the seal of the question paper, saw the first question and imagine what? He was not able to recall even a single formula. He had to derive most of the formulae there only and that consumed most of his time. So this way, he messed up his first paper.

In the next sitting, the pressure was even higher as he had messed up his first paper but this time he was more determined to do well. He started off pretty well doing a majority of chemistry questions and some maths questions also but then he stuck some physics questions and the pressure started building again. He somehow managed to do the second paper better than the first one but his total marks are no where near the expected cut-offs.

So, you can clearly see that a deserving student who was confident of getting a rank in top 2000 in IITJEE would now hardly get any rank + his parent’s disappointment + embarrassment in front of his academically great relatives. And he was not faulty anywhere in his preparations. He is a mentally strong person but after all he is a human being and under such circumstances and pressure, a mental breakdown is not surprising.

An example of consequences of parental pressure .

Well, it is just one of the numerous reasons. I think this much is sufficient to start with. I will keep posting more such reasons and examples.

Common story of all IIT aspirants.

And lemme make it very clear that these examples are not my mind’s creation. These are real life examples of my friends, and different students I have come across till now. And to hide their identity I am using names like Mr. A, Mr. B.

I wanted a platform to express my views and that’s why I started this blog.

I can assure you one thing that you will surely find yourself in one of the examples I have posted so far /will be posting in future.

Now I am looking forward to your views. So feel free to express your views.

Can an exam judge a student’s real potential in 3 or 6 hours??? Are marks the only criteria which differentiate intelligent/deserving students with dumb people?? Is the selection of few thousand students out of lakhs on the basis of a 3 hour test justified??

In a nutshell, I want to convey this message to all the IIT-aspirants all over the country-

Never get demoralised if you fail in an exam. Don't think that you are worthless and worse/lower than IITians in any aspect. Greatdreams rightly said in his comment-

academic excellence is never ever = professional excellence.

If you are deserving, if you have talent, you will ultimately succeed in life despite numerous failures.

Success doesn't mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle. ~Edwin C. Bliss