My Sudoku Solver - Next Version.

I am happy to share with you, my next Sudoku Solver - Beta2


In one of my previous posting, I told about the first Sudoku solver I had developed. Well, I could improve something and I think this is more helpful.

Unlike the original (beta), this new one (beta-2) do the solving in real logic. And is Interactive. I mean, the user can choose to explain the logic of each step. I think this will help the beginners very much. Also for others, it can come as handy if they are stuck at any position.

Click the above picture to go to the Downloading page..
or select Beta2 from http://www.esnips.com/web/Sudokusolverbeta/


Its was fun making this. I think its worth the sleep I lost over this, if atleast one person found it useful... Hope it does..

Its already early morning 4 'o clock.. I need to go to bed atleast now..

VOIP Options that I find useful. Cheap and Free calls!

I have used couple of VOIP sites and I found it useful. So I thought of sharing these with the feature to you all..

First of all I will list a few sites with similar options..

www.voipcheap.com
www.voipcheap.co.uk
www.voipbuster.com
www.freecall.com

This is especially useful if you are in Europe or US.

Minimum registration charge = 10 Euro.
This can be utilised for changed calls.

The intersting features..

1. Its absolutely FREE for so many Phones.. For eg, All the land line phones of almost all countries in Europe, All Mobile & All Land Line numbers in USA, China etc.. If you are a registered user, U can use it unlimited for all these free numbers.. YES, UNLIMITED & FREE! (free countries and call rates may differ between sites. Pls check individually for ur best option)

2. I have found that u may need a broadband connection with about 500 kbps min to have decent quality calls. But if you do not have that and you are in any of the 'Free Countries', you can use he 'Direct Call' option. In this option, your internet speed, rather the lack of it, will not affect the quality because will be calling from say your land line to another phone. There will a nominal charge (normally 5 cents) per call (not per min). So if ur from-number and to-number are free numbers, you have a charge of 5 cents for one call, no matter how long it is.

3. This can be useful for calling India and other Charged calls as well. Normally people go for the Calling Cards. These will give around 6 cents per minute. But My problem with these are the lack of consistancy. I mean, they say you have 30 minutes call credit to a certain number and after talking 5 min. your credit will be 20 minutes or less. So, even if this rate is slightly higher than the calling cards, I will get what I have to. There is 100% call record, and you get what you see!.

4. Using this you can call from PC, anywhere in the world to any free numbers unlimited if you are a registered user. (that means from India to UK, if there is good internet connection).

Each site allows you to have some free calls for testing purpose.
Test today!

Also there are VOIP Phones available. You can use any of these accounts and use that hardware instead of the PC. These VOIP-Phones does allow you to configure better so that even with very low internet speed, it functions good!

Valentino Rossi is all set to win the championship Again !

Valentino Rossy, "The Doctor", just finished second in an Incredible, a dramatic race at Portugal, the penultimate race of the Season of MotoGP.

I just like this guy.

He started the race from Pole, but behind in points (12 points) to Nicky Hayden of Honda in the Championship points. But during the race Nicky Hayden was taken out by his team mate.. Hayden was livid !! Then Rossy was leading the race.

But there is another twist.. at the last moment Tony Elias took the lead in the last lap. He has nothing to loose, but Rossy has everything at stake.. So you would expect Rossy to sit back and allow himself to get the second position.. That is where Rossy is different. He put everything on line and made a pass thru somewhat risky move. Rossy is leading in last corner.. But Tony had other plans. He, unbelievably made the pass after the corner.. Rossy tried all he could, but was a bit too little. 0.002 seconds to be precise.. what a race..

He still has the child like enthusiasm.. and of course the skills better than anyone..

He was not disappointed to loose the first, because he had given everything he had.. Hopefully he can pull it off at the last race as well.. One more crown.. Gooo Rossy...

Footnote: everybody wants Rossy these days.. He had tested for F1 and there was a rumour that he will switch to F1 soon.. don't know what is the current status. But there is another news. He will be racing in the RALLY this year end, in Nov at New Zealand. He will take part privately in his own name, and will use Subaru Car.. I am waiting to see how competitive he is out there..

Few puzzles for you..

1. A father and his son are involved in a car accident, as a result of which the son is rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. The surgeon looks at him and says "I can't operate on him, he's my son". Explain.

2. A man is replacing a wheel on his car, when he accidentally drops the four nuts used to hold the wheel on the car, and they fall into a deep drain, irretrievably lost. A passing girl offers him a solution which enables him to drive home. What is it?

3. Three switches outside a windowless room are connected to three light bulbs inside the room. How can you determine which switch is connected to which bulb if you may enter the room only once?

4. There are 70 balls of same size. 69 Balls are of same weight and one is heavier. There is a two tray weighing balance. (compare the weight of A & B). You can use the balance 4 times and you should identify the odd one.

5. You have been given two threads. Both the threads takes 20 minutes to burn thru. The burning rate may not be uniform. (that is, the time taken is not proportional to the length). You have a match box and you need to identify 5 mintes with the two threads. How would you do it?

You can leave ur answers as comments..

Noam Chomsky - the phenomenon..

I had heard bit and pieces about him.. Not that, now I know a lot more, but the videos I saw in youtube and further googling revealed so much.. He Tears off the Western Greed and Hypocrisy with such ease !!

His new book "Failed States" is a huge success..

Surprising is not what he says, but the categorical way in which he says, I thought I should have been seeing him more often in the media.. does that means its a planned exclusion.. I believe that is case.

He talks about all geopolitical issues..
A SHOULD WATCH VIDEO, which I am sure will make u search more on this..


CBC interview 1 of 2


CBC interview 2 of 2


BBC Interview 1 of 3


BBC Interview 2 of 3


BBC Interview 3 of 3

Click here for a collection of videos on youtube..

Click here for one of the audio file of another interview..
Click here for a collection of audios/videos..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky

I wish I could get a copy of his book..

Couple of Footnotes:
1. This is not his primary area of specialisation..
2. One thing I appreciate about the US and Europe is that the people like him can have freedom of criticising, which I don't think will be case in any of Muslim world.. for that matter I heard the news about this Journalist who criticised Russia was killed a week back..

YouTube is gobbled by Google.

I Love this.. Hope I will have the same opinion after one year also..


Google and YouTube are my favourites and the acquisition should be better for both.. or is it? May not be the case always, but they say Google will allow to retain the signature of youtube and thats welcoming sign.. Hope youtube will be more enjoyable in future..

If you have seen my video blog, most of those are from youtube. The YouTube was started couple of years back and became the darling of the net quickly.. YouTube now streams 100 million videos daily to an audience estimated at nearly 40 million a day.

Now Google will buy it for $1.65 billion. Most say its a defensive rather than an offensive measure, because it wanted to have a major hold in that sector and you tube was the biggest and most threatening of the lot..

Lets see..

INDIA: A Superpower in the Making?

We, Indians have been hearing this for some time now. Will India be or Can India become a superpower. A few say India can, under certain circumstances, if everything falls in the right place.. But, really, do u believe so..

I was reading this interesting article about this issue and found it interesting.

One of the thing it is discussing is the possibility of Indo-China Union, something like EU. Of course, there are still some issues, but that will be dwarfed by the possibilities. Together it will account for almost HALF of world population!! (Ref 5). It may be to early to discuss, but its an interesting prospect. The author discusses this under "A Turning Point in Relations With China?". The same is discussed in a Rediff article as well..

Another interesting thing I found is the parallel he found between the world future and what Bible says. It may be a vague comparison, but interesting, nonetheless.

As an Indian, I do not want to believe that this is just a software boom. Among my friends, who have tested their skills with their counterparts in Developed countries like US or Europe, most would agree that technically they are no inferior to any one, if not better. Of course there are things that are still lacking, but no shortage of skills and abilities.. Not only India has a huge market, but a good percentage of aspiring young generation.. I too believe that there is no reason why India cant become one of the prominent forces in the world in near future.

Try reading this in (Ref 4)..
"What Would An Asian Face on Globalization Look Like?

Rising Asia will continue to reshape globalization, giving it less of a “Made in the USA” character and more of an Asian look and feel. At the same time, Asia will alter the rules of the globalizing process. By having the fastest-growing consumer markets, more firms becoming world-class multinationals, and greater S&T stature, Asia looks set to displace Western countries as the focus for international economic dynamism—provided Asia’s rapid economic growth continues"

Related Links and further Readings:

(1)http://www.realtruth.org/
(2)http://im.rediff.com/news/2005/apr/09athale.htm
(3)http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jan/13guest.htm
(4)http://www.globalsecurity.org/.../nic_globaltrends2020_s1.htm
(5)http://www.globalsecurity.org/.../nic_globaltrends2020_s2.htm#page48