Top 5 Bon Jovi Songs

There are lot of top 5 or top 10 of everything, and I think there is no harm in adding one more to the list. This is a list of my favorite Bon Jovi songs! Enjoy and post your favorite songs too!

5. Dead or Alive

This song is kind of iconic! I talks about Bon Jovi's life and his stardom. If you are a guitarist and a biker, then you will feel the lyrics touching some unexplored areas in your heart. I used to hear this song while riding my "steel horse".


4. Thank You for Loving Me

What else we can say to the person who means everything in our life? Can anything compensate the unconditional love? I sometimes wonder whether this song also talks about the divine love too! Over all a rock tribute to timeless love.

3. Always

This song also talks about love. But a bit twitchy love. Love that is too hard to hold on but too good to lose, and the after thoughts about the missed chances. Over all a very long but fulfilling musical treat spiced with great guitar riffs, drums and keyboards. A true rock ballad!


2. Two Story Town

Nothing to do with "The Tale of Two Cities". This song is all about the good and bad faces of each of us. We live our life hiding our dark desires inside and pretending that we are yet another face in the crowd (which is no one!). The lyrics seems to be a casual sub-urban rock, but if you give it a thought, you know it is about you!



1. Bed of Roses

This is bit the reverse of "Thank You for Loving Me". This song talks about the love of self to the other person. Even if it goes unnoticed, ignored or insulted, love remains. When you take all the blame to make the other person feel comfortable, this song will heal your wounds.

Ubuntu 14.10 - Utopic Unicorn Review

If you have 14.04 LTS installed and upgrading to 14.10, there is not much to notice except the performance and power management improvements which are under the hood. Ubuntu 14.10's blueprint has only 35 items while 14.04's blueprint had 117 items. It seems Ubuntu didn't want to leave a bad taste in the minds of users on its 10th birthday. It has become a new norm in GNU/Linux community to militantly oppose any major change.

Things that are new include, improved support for hardware, power management, SSD optimization using TRIM, better Btrfs support, all of which are due to the Linux kernel update to version 3.16. 

Now let us see what Ubuntu 14.10 - Utopic Unicorn can deliver to end users against other OSes.

Ubuntu is a trusted name among GNU/Linux users. It is well known for its ease of use, good support and stability. Also even after 10 years, the release cycles of Ubuntu went like clock works and the users are provided with latest and greatest software!

Compared with proprietary operating systems, Ubuntu stands top in addressing security issues. It supports most of the latest hardware components like sound card, USB devices, laptop hot keys etc. Most of the proprietary OSes require you to install drives separately.

The centralized software management (which is common to all GNU/Linux platforms) is also a key in maintaining the system. Everything from your core operating system to browser will be updated in one shot!

So this is not a compelling update for 14.10 LTS users. But if you think there can be any thing new in 15.04 or 15.10 or even 16.04, you need to upgrade to 14.10 now. Else you have to wait till 16.10 to get any thing new that may come in between like GNOME 3.14 or Unity 8 or Mir.

But for users of other proprietary OSes, this is a compelling release. People are waiting for a newer version of windows just for a start menu button lately! But with Ubuntu you have various choices of desktop environments which can meet our taste. Also you don't have any attached guilt of pirating the OS or wasting your money on a disk of 0s and 1s :)

Ubuntu 14.10 – Steps to Upgrade

As discussed earlier in a previous blog post, Ubuntu 14.10 is out! Finally the wait is over. Before you are going to upgrade your OS, keep in mind that 14.10 is a regular release and 14.04 is a Long Term Support release (meaning you will get security/critical updates for 5 years). So if you want the LTS to stay, don't bother updating your PC/laptop until 16.04, the next LTS version, which will be release around April, 2016. With that said, for those who always want the stability of Debian with cutting edge packages, can proceed with upgrading their OS.

Steps to Upgrade:

First update your machine. Open terminal, type the following command

sudo apt-get update

This laptop was bit outdated!

Type in the password. After completion, run

sudo apt-get upgrade

Depending upon the number of packages you have and the interval of update it can take few minutes to update your OS to latest available packages.

After this, go to “Software & Updates” click on the “Updates” tab and check the “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version:” option at the bottom. It should be set to “For any new version”.

Search for "update"

Check the last option in the "update" tab

Now go to “Software Updater” and it will notify you that a newer version of Ubuntu is available.

Search for "updater"

Wow! The wait is over!

 Click “Upgrade” and you will be presented with the release notes. Click “Upgrade” here too!

It will download the “release upgrade tool” which will take care of the remaining upgrade process.

The upgrade tool will do preliminary preparations for the upgrade and calculates the packages to update as well as size of download and approximate time to download. Ensure that you have enough time and stable Internet connection. If yours is a laptop, then don't forget to connect the charger! (But sadly, there was a power cut during my upgrade process and my modem went off. But thankfully the download started from where it was left in between!)

Click “Start Upgrade” and the packages will be downloaded. After that the required packages will be installed/upgraded and obsolete packages will be removed.

After everything is over, the upgrade tool will prompt you to restart your machine.

And after that!!!

The wallpaper looks awesome!

DIY Cap Gun

The fireworks season is on! Diwali followed by Karthigai followed by Christmas followed by New Year, followed by Pongal! WOW! For next three months, there will be lot of dazzling colors and sounds (and also smoke and bit of paper!). What to do if the kids are demanding for lot of crackers and sparklers? How to divert them to do something useful and at the same time less polluting and cheap? This Do It Yourself (DIY) cap gun is one. When I was a kid, during a Diwali time, one of my friend introduced this in our street. Soon, everyone of us were bugging our parents/brothers/friends to help us in making our own cap guns and we almost lost our interest in everything else (sweets are exceptions as usual!). Let us see how to make it!

What you need?

Things you need

1. A hollow stick (I don't know the name of that plant we used, but any hollow stick that is strong and not so thick is suitable)

2. A large nail (4 or 4.5 or 5 inch nail according to the size of stick or availability)

3. A small nail (1 inch nail)

4. A bicycle wheel spoke with the nipple (screw like part that connects the spoke to the rim)

5. A rubber band

6. A knife to cut the stick

If you are below 15 years old, you also need an adult supervisor (preferably parent/elder sibling).

Steps:

Don't forget to get adult(s) help in case you are younger than 15!

1. Cut a 2 to 2.5 inch wide rectangle in the middle of the length of the stick up to half of the thickness (refer image).

2. Insert the large nail in the stick through the slit which we have cut. The head of the nail should be facing the opening of the slit (refer image). You may need some bits of paper or card to hold it tightly in place. You can use any suitable thing like large screws, flat head pins etc, preferably made of metal, in this place if you don't find a suitable nail.

3. Drive the small nail on the stick so that it is in the opposite side of the large nail (refer image).

Nipple end should be straight...

4. Bend the bicycle spoke as shown in the image.

5. Insert the bicycle spoke in to the stick, with the nipple facing the large nail and put the rubber band over the small nail and bent end of the spoke.

6. Drag the spoke and insert a spot cap or a single bit of torn roll cap in the space between the nail and spoke's nipple. Release the spoke, “Tzzaap!”

You can try with different shape of sticks. Also you can paint your gun or stick some color papers to improve its look. I once tied an empty soap box to the bottom and pasted black paper to give it a better look!

Advantages:

This gun will soon break or may need frequent tinkering. So this will keep the kids engaged in taking care of their home made guns and improving the same instead of demanding  you to buy another 1000-wala. Also it will make them proud that it is the gun they themselves have made and hence their happiness is much more compared to those who own costly cap guns and crackers. As the parts are fully bio degradable and caps cause relatively miniscule pollution, this is Eco-friendly too! You can think of lot many improvements and other such DIY toys. If you have any ideas, you can also share it with others! So have a creative, safe and responsible festival season ahead! Enjoy!

Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn

Only two days to go, Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn is planned to be released on 23rd October 2014. If you expect either Utopia or a Unicorn, you will be disappointed for sure. But if you expect a stable and user-friendly operating system, you will never get disappointed with Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 14.10 is a normal release (supported for 9 months), unlike 14.04, which is an LTS (Long Term Support, supported for 5 years). So, if you are running Ubuntu 14.04 and not interested in upgrading your OS for next one and half years, without losing security updates, they you should ignore these versions till Ubuntu 16.04 comes to your rescue!

A laptop running Ubuntu

Ubuntu 14.10 will pack Linux Kernel 3.16 (I am already running 3.17 through openSuse Tumbleweed!) which is well tested up to Debian standards. So you get a latest kernel without compromising stability. Linux 3.16 packs better support for Btrfs filesystem, improved performance in ARM platforms (mainly for smartphones and tablets). This will aid Ubuntu to get a better ground in mobile arena.

Sadly on UI front, neither Unity 8 nor GNOME 3.14 is coming with this version. Also the uncertainty surrounding the new Mir display server also prevails. So, if you are looking for anything new in UI/graphic area, then you have to wait a bit (or even much more) longer.

But against all odds, Ubuntu is a trusted name among PC and laptop users. Its user friendly nature and bundled software make it default choice of people who want an OS that just works! This "just works!" mantra is what Apple uses to sell their products for sky rocketing prices. But Ubuntu gives you everything for free.

Rain Rain Go Away?

It is rainy season again. A good rain is what farmers need to grow crops, forests need to sustain the flora and fauna, people in cities need to replenish the ground water, power-plants need to supply us with electricity and the list never ends... The purest natural source of water, "The Elixir of Life" as told by Sir C V Raman, is rain. Nature itself distils the water! Removing salts, killing germs and leaving behind sediments, Sun works as a huge boiler that provides us with pure water. Whenever scientists look for life in other planets/moons they look for liquid water. As Valluvar said, "The world can't sustain without water!". But what our people think about rains? Some people like the "Little Johnny" want their life to go on as usual and feel rain as a spoiler! But for a "regular" life 365 days, we have to happily receive rain for at least 15 days!

Bad Roads?

A subway, completely submerged in water.

We should not be angry with the rain for bad roads. We should raise our voices in proper forums to repair the roads regularly before the winter begins. Also the sewer system should be prepared to handle rainwater and waste water efficiently. Rainwater falling on highways and other places like bus stands and railway stations can be harvested easily. Already government has started some initiatives like that, but due to bad maintenance, these systems are barely working. So stop accusing rains for bad roads!

Mosquitoes?!

Mosquito repellents are secondary!

Rains are not the "cause" of increased mosquitoes and mosquito borne diseases. It is human inefficiency to keep the surroundings clean of stagnant water which creates suitable breeding havens for mosquitoes. And one more thing, mosquitoes that cause diseases mostly breed in fresh water. They don't breed in drainage or murky waters usually. Also the water on roads usually dries in few days, hence mosquito larvae can't grow to mosquitoes in road side puddles. But on the other hand, water stored in tanks, pots, vessels are where these mosquitoes find fresh water to breed. Also places like AC machine cases, discarded tyres, broken plastic/glass articles can hold clean water for many days providing suitable space and duration for mosquitoes to breed.

Fever and Diseases

Maintain cleanliness!

With rain, we get more fever and diseases. It is not the rain water itself that causes the diseases. It is the germs which utilize the moisture in air and on surfaces to survive for longer periods and easily spread from person to person. Sunlight, which kills many germs in sunny days of summers is also scarce. So what can we do? By maintaining clean habits, one can protect himself and others from catching infections. Frequent hand washing, avoiding touching face/eyes/mouth/food without washing hands, sneezing in to kerchiefs, wearing shoes, avoiding urination and defecation in open etc can prevent lot of infections. Taking brooms in hand is not the only way to create a "Clean India"! Every person maintaining a good personal hygiene is a soldier in this fight against diseases.

Conclusion

Some believe that if people are upset due to rains, there will be lesser rainfall! I am not one of them. We can neither summon rain through rituals nor we can send rain away by wishful thinking. But what I mean by this article is, if we take proper steps and remain well prepared, rainy seasons are enjoyable. It is a chance to thank the Almighty for the divine providence. Next time when it starts raining when you are half way to office, just find a teashop, have a hot tea/coffe and enjoy the love of nature poured upon us!