smandal_biomed

A Trip to Tipu's Fort

smandal_biomed — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:06:00 GMT

A Trip on Dussera: Jamalabad Fort
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Overlooking the Arabian seas and nestled by the garland of the dotted hills of the westen Ghats the Kudremukh range forms an unique outback with deep valleys and steep precipices. Herein lies a Trekker's delight yet 'undiscovered' by the tourists...a secluded hill station , retaining it pristine and profound natural beauty.

The high rock forms a part of the Kudremukh range of hills near Belthangadi. It is surrounded by lush green flora on all frontiers with the top veiled by the mist and the cloud....

On the top of this single piece of granite the fort of Tipu Sultun was built...the same ..our destination on the day of Dusseera..........here the Biomeds go..on ...and on ...&on...

                                                                                      .......Conquering the Gateway .........

After a three hour long journey ......with lots of intro and technical and HR stuff on the way ......and few puri bhajji and masala dosas gulped down ........Baseer bond fasting..huh ..(a big respite for many..no acknowledgemens and inspirations here) ........we did reach to out first halt...the base where we start of wih out expedition towards the unknown ........the Gate is here...whats inside .???...lets walk in ...statistically not much ....a couple of miles of walk ...another couple climbing the slippery ,mossy ,grassy, watery granite stones..........chale chalo .....!!!

The History behind Genesis

The fort was built by Tipu Sultan in 1974 and later renamed after the name of the Sultan's mother Jamalbee. The stories are numerous centred round this mostly unknown fort but as history goes...the fort was once captured by the British but again Tipu snatched it back ...and remained in his possession till 1799 ..till his defeat and demise in Fourth Mysore War and in the following year in 1800 the fort was remanded back under the queen's authority.
As of the present state it lies unattended , totally derelict and in utter relics ...only the Archaeological Survey of India proudly announcing ..something was here and it is being preserved for the future(:) but it never tells...it needs to be present at 'present'..)

                                                            The relics still stands tall ...a testimony of a glorious past...

                                                       Upholding the fighting spirit...in remission ...for centuries now....

The Journey to the Summit

A journey too tought ...but there are some to whom the road never seems unsurmountable ..no target unachievable ,failure and retreats may be the story of the day but there were some who could carry the FLAMES to the top ..and yup ..they did it ...kudos to those Bravehearts..

In the End...it doesn even matter...

Someone wrote.."men may come and men may go , but i go on forever..." ...life is eternal and endless in its many forms and frequencies.....some people come ..some go ..some empires rise ..and they rise to fall one day ...but some truth remains unfazed by these vicissitudes ...
.........a new life generates from the relics ..and newer life forms ..and fresh youthful energy is drawn to the destination to taste the adventure , the fun , the dogma of uncertainty ..and thats whats unites us ..lets us grow into manhood...and thats what matters at the end of the day ..and nothin else.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........the obligation of endure never dies....

Mahalaya....the invocation of Power

smandal_biomed — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 21:28:00 GMT

"Ya devi sarbabhuteshshu,sakti rupena sanksthita
Namasteshwai Namasteshwai Namasteshwai namo namaha."

[Story in FLASH]

Storms of the summer have waned off ,the dripping rains of the moonsoons gradually gives place to the crystal clear sky as only fleecy clouds flow by the glassy firmament...the gentle lull of the gastly wind passes by the green fields creating a wave of lively dance....the grass seems greener as ever swiveling in the breeze busking in the golden sunshine...slowly as the days pass by the white 'Kash Phul" starts to blossom in the endless stretches of land- the people know its autumn again...and its the month of 'Ashwin' ,the time of mother's home coming....
The time has arrived for the mother to come ..for the people to meet their beloved ones ..and to worship the Power ..and the glory of "Streesakti"(women power)...as the Devipaksha(the term of the mother) takes over Pitripaksha (pitri=father) for the time onwards...
Durga - Goddess of deliverance - comes to earth on the seventh day after the autumn new moon. Seven days before Her arrival starts the Devipaksha. The day is being observed as ‘Mahalaya’, the day of invocation. In the dark night of amabasya (new moon), people pray to Goddess Durga to arrive in the earth to ward off all evils. On the dawn of ‘Mahalaya’, homes in Bengal resonate with the immortal verses of the ‘Chandipath’ (chanting of the hymns of ‘Chandi’).

'Mahalaya' is not an myth but a concept ..and a tribute..to the primeval source of power..the qualities of all inundated in form of one shaki ..one Nari..the unity of power, energy and enterprise within one soul one body..she is manifestation of the same individual in different forms and different names....She is one and yet known by many names. She is Narayani, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Shivaduti and She is the fierceful ‘Chamunda’, decked with a garland of skulls...the godess of power is eternal ..she has no birth ..no specific physical form ...but is an manifestation of majestic might..an unified strength..preeminently materialised to protect humanity ..and restore normalcy in the process of creation from the evil incernates......

Windows Vista: The RC1 is ready!

smandal_biomed — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 13:20:00 GMT

Windows Vista: The RC1 is ready!

The final major pre-release of Windows Vista – Release Candidate 1 (RC1) – is now available for download!

Please use the link below to access the download site, and install this release as soon as possible.

Go to the country selection to choose your download or order location!

The Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation provides the foundation for building applications and high fidelity experiences in Windows Vista, blending together application UI, documents, and media content, while exploiting the full power of your computer. The functionality extends to the support for Tablet and other forms of input, a more modern imaging and printing pipeline, accessibility and UI automation infrastructure, data driven UI and visualization, as well as the integration points for weaving the application experience into the Windows shell.
The Windows Vista Developer Story includes content for developers, and other technology experts and managers, interested in an in-depth exploration of some of the new and extended features in Windows Vista. It is released to the Windows Vista Developer Center in the form of brief articles, published approximately once every two weeks. Those articles are only a summary of the Windows Help file, which can be downloaded here.
We remind you that RC1 is pre-release software and you should not run this on production or mission-critical PCs. Support will be limited to newsgroups, and you may have to do a clean install to move from this release to the final release of Windows Vista.

Finally the long awaited Windows vista is poised to come.The new windows is made dynamically beautiful and interactive breaking the myth that Microsoft has been averse to developing aesthetic desktop computing.The whole of the world is just frenzy awaiting for the release..delayed twice. The RC1 infuses a new hope in acceleration of the release process.
Till then the original version is released the user grievances are to be catered by RC1.
Do pour in your bug reports to make Vista a really big product and an industry milestone.

Age of Robots...launch of Microsoft ROBOTICS STUDIO

smandal_biomed — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 07:36:00 GMT

Wow..what a pleasent surprise..Microsoft finally jump starts its activities in the robotics community with the Robotics Studio. The launch of the August CTP ..the community technology preview as it is called now not only a community preview of the Microsoft enthusiasts but also an cradle of the new robotics revolution...
The RedmondMag.com has well given a detailed insight of Microsoft vision behind the whole project...a few glimpses of the september issue retailiates the same views...

'What persuaded the Microsoft power elite, which had just shunned a grid-computing initiative, to back Trower's robotics play? Two words: The future. Trower believes that robots are the natural successor to PCs, and he's convinced his bosses to adopt his view, or so it would appear.

To make it happen, Trower knows that robots must evolve beyond the limited capabilities they possess today. The new programming framework coming out of the Robotics effort is intended to do just that.

"It goes beyond robotics. There are implications for other areas," he says.

The framework could help Microsoft and others develop "remote presence" kinds of applications that could, for instance, help monitor aging adults who need around-the-clock care, Trower says, via some kind of "telepresence devices." Robotics programmers could develop new kinds of security sensors or maintenance applications for mundane chores, such as cutting lawns and cleaning pools.

While the Robotics Design Studio is Microsoft-developed code, the company is taking pains to make it work with non-Microsoft languages including JavaScript, Carnegie Mellon's Alice language and others, Trower says.

"The perception is that Microsoft focuses only on our core businesses," Trower notes. "Robotics is still five to 10 years away from realizing its full potential, but Microsoft's executives understand this. This is an investment in the future."

So far as the perception behind the innovation and the inception of the technology goes...the ulility and the application of the same reigns supreme.

What is Robotics Studio..???

he Microsoft Robotics Studio is a Windows-based environment for academic, hobbyist and commercial developers to easily create robotics applications across a wide variety of hardware. The Microsoft Robotics Studio Runtime is a lightweight runtime written for CLR 2.0 that provides support for creating, hosting, and managing such applications.

The overall goal of robotics applications is to consume sensory input from a variety of sources and orchestrate a set of actuators to respond to the sensory input in a manner that achieves the purpose of the application. An example of a simple robotics application is shown in Figure 1. It contains a simple bumper (sensor) that reports when it is hit, a message box (actuator) that controls the display, and an orchestrator that connects the pieces together.

Figure 1 The "Hello World" application equivalent in the robotics world. The orchestrator listens for input from the bumper (sensor) and controls the message box (actuator).

In Figure 1 the orchestration is simple but as applications grow, there may be any number of sensors, actuators, and orchestrators communicating with each other to perform complex operations. An example of a more advanced robotics application is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Slight more advanced robotics application with three sensors and three actuators.

While each of the sensors and actuators are similar to the ones in Figure 1, the orchestrator now has to manage six components. In addition, there are several things that distinguishes the application flows illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2 from many other "Hello world" applications:

Handling of sensory input and controlling actuators must be dealt with concurrently as otherwise actuators can get starved and sensors ignored.
Orchestration is a critical part of the application, especially as the number of sensors and actuators grow and the orchestration becomes more complex.
Autonomous and collaborative orchestration requires that components can be distributed and made accessed over the network.

Given these requirements, the purpose of Microsoft Robotics Studio Runtime is to facilitate building, monitoring, deploying, and running robotics applications by providing the following:

Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR) enabling coordination of messages without the use of manual threading, locks, semaphores, etc. The CCR is based on asynchronous message passing and provides an execution context for services including a set of high-level primitives for synchronizing messages.
Decentralized System Services (DSS) providing a service hosting environment and a set of basic services facilitating tasks such as debugging, logging, monitoring, security, discovery, and data persistence.

The Microsoft Robotics Studio Runtime has been designed to support a wide range of robotics applications ranging from in sophistication from simply observing sensory input, to drive-by-wire, to autonomous operation, and even to cooperation between multiple autonomous robots.

Furthermore, the runtime can be used in scenarios ranging from robots connected directly to a PC (using the serial port, Bluetooth, USB, etc.) to robots that has an onboard PC, to simulated robots that can be manipulated as they operate in a simulated world.

Dont believe in words ..see the real robo in action....!!!

Robotics Connection
Robotics Connection featured a tracked Windows XP-based robot utilizing one of their Serializer .NET Robot Controller boards, using Robotics Studio-based services.

anyways..are you really bored of the junk and scrap i scribbled down in my blog?? then its time for some action...dont miss out the action at channel9.msdn...

Channel 9 Interviews the Microsoft Robotics Studio Team
See Microsoft Robotics Studio demos first hand and listen in as Channel9 interviews the Robotics team

Finally a word of cautions and yup..its a secret..huh..sush..dont honk..!!..

Unlike PCs, however, robots are calling on the ingenuity of people from wildly diverse backgrounds: biologists are teaching robots to move, entertainers are teaching them how to amuse us, statisticians are teaching them when to ignore data, computer scientists are teaching them how to think, and materials scientists are inventing new composites that make them light on their feet.

Robots are about to be unshackled from forced labor. Expect them everywhere.And once freed from the shackles of ignorence and control they may overtake the masters to take on to the human race....are you heading towards the matrix???

Then how would the be the next generation of coders..the new channel niners...will it be something like>>>>

am skeptical ...but stopping the technological development..no way..let the race continue!!!

Imagine Cup Community @ Orkut

smandal_biomed — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:20:00 GMT

Imagine Cup Community @ orkut.com

Orkut is an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends.We are committed to providing an online meeting place where people can socialize, make new acquaintances and find others who share their interests. Join orkut to expand the circumference of your social circle.

The orkut user base began with its creator, Orkut Buyukkokten, who invited his friends to join. They in turn invited their friends, and soon the network was born. While we'd love to include everyone who wants to join, we're trying to ensure that orkut remains a close-knit community of friends.
We have seen many students who has been eminant performers and achievers in Imagine Cup being avid users of orkut also.We also moticed a varied range of Microsoft related communities in Orkut..but no such student communities dedicated to Imagine Cup was traced in Orkut.
So we are Happy to initiate a new community of Imaginers on Orkut..
All on Spoke having an Orkut account are cordially invited to join.....
Please join us at.....
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=19549662

See the screenshot of the community page....

Windows Vista/Get the Beta..for free//at your doorsteps..

smandal_biomed — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:19:00 GMT

What do you need to run the new windows......

A new PC that carries the Windows Vista Capable PC logo can run Windows Vista. All editions of Windows Vista will deliver core experiences such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability. All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum. Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista—like the new Windows Aero user experience—may require advanced or additional hardware.
A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:
A modern processor (at least 800MHz1).
512 MB of system memory.
A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

If you still wanna have a better vista experience lets go for an small upgrade...
A Windows Vista Premium Ready PC includes at least:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1.
1 GB of system memory.
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)2, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive3.
Audio output capability.
Internet access capability.
Windows Vista Aero provides spectacular visual effects such as glass-like interface elements that you can see through.

Can the Windows Vista experience vary on different PCs?
Yes. Windows Vista is the first Windows operating system with a user experience that adapts to take advantage of the capabilities of the hardware on which it is installed.

Use Flip 3D to navigate through open windows using the scroll wheel on your mouse.

Finally Windows Vista can be yours ....free of cost ...delivered to your doorsteps...

Your beta experience...

The new generation of Microsoft Windows and Office is about to be launched. Get in on the act right from the start. Follow the new products as they go through to the finals. As a member of the Beta Experience with Windows Vista and Microsoft Office you will benefit from valuable resources, specialist knowledge and additional bonus material. And of course you will be provided with the opportunity to download or order the 2007 Microsoft Office release Beta. (Windows Vista Beta is not available anymore). Your subscription will include regular issues of the Beta Experience Newsletter containing specialist knowledge all about Windows Vista and Microsoft Office.
http://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/enin/

Take a time out to test your knowledge of the Windows Vista..........

http://www.microsoft.com/india/offers/vista/quiz.aspx
(offer valid in India only)

Take the quiz.....get your copy of Windows Vista Beta 2 CD...delivered to you by Microsoft..lolz!!

Do take care...
`You need to answer all questions.
`Post completion of the quiz, you’ll be redirected to the registration page. Please fill-in all the requested information to enable smooth dispatch of CD.

..........try out the new beta....best of luck for the quiz........!!!!!

More offers.....no piracy please..........

Obtain a whooping 50% discount on Windows Vista as you complete the quiz..........
---successfully take the quiz
---use an original Windows XP Pro ...upgrade at 50%

Microsoft Software Assurance is a maintenance offer that helps your organization get the most from Microsoft software through a broad range of benefits. From deployment planning and staff training to product support and software upgrades, Software Assurance benefits help you increase worker productivity, accelerate organizational performance, and realize a return on your software investment faster.

Get Ready for it.............
for more updates click here.....

Blogging@ Microsoft

smandal_biomed — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:10:00 GMT

The Technology behind Blogging.......

Blogging...as it is famous as ...an online publication tool to express oneself..make an individual an universal entity .......but the technology behind the blog is often missed out..or rather unappreciated. But as of the technology ...it makes life simlier ..and the most easier is the blog the more difficult is to make it happen on the tech platform...
blog of late has become an high tech affair esp when we peep into the msdn blogs...the channel9 blogs ...and try out this... www.joelonsoftware.com ..this cool dude have a lot to tell you if r a geek who dont wanna miss out the changing global economical scenario also...
as blogging gets into deeper social intricacies as customisable , personalised web interface of your personality ..its importance increases ..and security is curtailed...
but technology is one entity which cannot be curtailed n any form ..it evolves ..and effects revolves round the society....
.........the major technologies operational to make the lives simplier..........

RSS is a family of web feed formats specified in XML (a generic specification for data formats) and used for Web syndication. RSS delivers its information as an XML file called an "RSS feed", "webfeed", "RSS stream", or "RSS channel". These RSS feeds provide a way for users to passively receive newly released content (such as text, web pages, sound files, or other media); this might be the full content itself or just a link to it, possibly with a summary or other metadata (data describing the content).

In the typical use scenario, a content provider publishes a feed link on their site which end-users can add to an aggregator program running on their machine; periodically (typically every 60 minutes or every day, though most aggregators make this user-configurable), the aggregator asks all the servers in its feed list if they have new content; if so, the aggregator either makes a note of the new content or downloads it.

Windows Communication Foundation, sometimes shortened to just WCF, previously codenamed Indigo, is a new communication subsystem to enable applications, in one machine or across multiple machines connected by a network, to communicate. It is a part of .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly called WinFX) - the new .NET Windows API to succeed Win32 with the release of Windows Vista. It will also be available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. WCF applications can be developed in any language which can target the .NET runtime.

WCF programming model unifies Web Services, .NET Remoting, Distributed Transactions, and Message Queues into a single Service-oriented programming model for distributed computing. It is intended to provide the rapid application development methodology to the development of web services, with a single API for inter-process communication in a local machine, LAN, or over the Internet. WCF runs in a sandbox and provides the enhanced security model all .NET applications provide.

WCF uses SOAP messages for communication between two processes, thereby making WCF based applications interoperable with any other process that communicates via SOAP messages. When a WCF process communicates with a non – WCF process, XML based encoding is used for the SOAP messages but when it communicates with another WCF process, the SOAP messages are encoded in an optimized binary format. Both the encodings conform to the data structure of the SOAP format, called Infoset.

The enhanced bloogging features may one day make it the main founadation of interpersonal relationship in the world ..where every person is an Universal individual with a niche of his/her own in the open cyberspace revolutionizing the press and print...which may well cease to exist by 2015.................

Thanks for inputs....
Mr Vivek Ravindran
Tech Lead , Microsoft Bangalore
http://vivekravindran.blogspot.com/

Basis of the Research work at IICB

smandal_biomed — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 01:33:00 GMT

Reactive Oxygen Specis and implications on Oncology Research

Reactive oxygen species are constantly formed in the human body and removed by antioxidant defenses. An antioxidant is a substance that, when present at low concentrations compared to that of an oxidizable substrate, significantly delays or prevents oxidation of that substrate. Antioxidants can act by scavenging biologically important reactive oxygen species (O2-., H2O2.OH, HOCl, ferryl, peroxyl, and alkyl), by preventing their formation, or by repairing the damage that they do. One problem with scavenging-type antioxidants is that secondary radicals derived from them can often themselves do biologic damage.
Reactive oxygen species are widely generated in biological systems. Consequently humans have evolved antioxidant defence systems that limit their production. Intracellular production of active oxygen species such as *OH, O2- and H2O2 is associated with the arrest of cell proliferation. Similarly, generation of oxidative stress in response to various external stimuli has been implicated in the activation of transcription factors and to the triggering of apoptosis.Free radicals induce DNA sequence changes in the form of mutations. deletions, gene amplification and rearrangements. These alterations may result in the initiation of apoptosis signalling leading to cell death, or to the activation of several proto-oncogenes and or the inactivation of some tumour suppressor genes. The regulation of gene expression by means of oxidants, antioxidants and the redox state remains as a promising therapeutic approach. Several anticarcinogenic agents have been shown to inhibit reactive oxygen species production and oxidative DNA damage, inhibiting tumour promotion. In addition, recombinant vectors expressing radical-scavenging enzymes reduce apoptosis. In conclusion, oxidative stress has been implicated in both apoptosis and the pathogenesis of cancer providing contrived support for two notions: free radical reactions may be increased in malignant cells and oxidant scavenging systems may be useful in cancer therapy.

Life in the campus..

smandal_biomed — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 02:03:00 GMT

The life out here at manipal has been unique ...unique in the sense that it has been very eventful...specially we have got to know diverse people and learn about the cultures and social features of a very wide community of students out here...spanning from all over Indian subcontinent...southeast asia,esp Malaysia..and the middle east..africa..and a reasonable large community from United States.the intermingling of this diversity has evolved a very culture of its own dubbed often as Manipal culture... but nevertheless life have not been rosy all the way through...leaving apart the burden of studies which an undergrad has to cope up with...the place has looked too small to navigate for the adventurous one..even with the plethora of facilities for fun and sports it has looked dull ..notably to the students coming from the mighty metropolis.... the experience at manipal is somewhat independent from all other place...the community has been strictly featured by its own ways and equations...atop the western ghats...nestled by the mighty Arabian seas...if u want something different as a student give manipal a look......sometimes

Health and Technology

smandal_biomed — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 23:52:00 GMT

Health as it has been said is wealth.......and much more ...as it is a thing which one should always nurture and protect for survival itself...the basic motto of life that is....so the technology we have achieved should work in the front of ensuring better health...healthy living..