uBid-iPod Auction

I recently came across an iPod Auction through SocialSpark.The auction is being organized by uBid.There are over 1,000 iPods up for auction which means that anyone who bids has a good chance of getting an iPod.All auctions will start at $1.This means that bidders will decide the worth of each iPod.This means that you can get a great deal through uBid.Trust me,nothing's wrong with the iPods.Its just that one of their partners had a ton of excess inventory iPods and uBid is helping them liquidate the iPods.

uBid-About the Company

uBid.com sounds like something similar to ebay but is different.uBid is a 'Business 2 Consumer' site while eBay is a 'consumer 2 consumer' website.uBid offers a 100% fraud free guarantee and good customer service as uBid only deals with businesses.uBid is basically your inside connection to excess inventory from the world's most trusted brands.The uBid team works really hard and goes to wearhouses to get the best deals for its consumers.So hurry up and bid for your favorite iPod.

Using Your Motorola Phone As a Modem in Linux

I have a nice Idea GPRS plan through which I get unlimited surfing at a low rate.My Airtel Broadband was down yesterday for a while so I decided to use my Motorola L9 as a modem.On windows,the process is really simple.You just need to install Motorola Phone Tools from the CD bundled with the phone.Rest of the process is like an automated procedure.

Motorola Phone Tools is not built for Linux.I did not want to use emulation because I felt that there has to be something simpler and I found it.I found out that I was basically looking for 'wvdial'.Ubuntu has wvdial installed by default if it isn't installed,you can get it by running

sudo apt-get install wvdial

Now connect the phone to the computer in Data mode.Your next job is to edit the file wvdial.conf.To do that,run the following command in a terminal

sudo gedit /etc/wvdial.conf

Delete everything from the file and paste this into it-

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=3,"IP","*GPRS APN*",,0,0
Stupid Mode = 1
Modem Type = USB Modem
Phone = *99***3#
ISDN = 0
Username = *your number*
Password = *Passoword*
Baud = 460800

GPRS APN for Idea is "internet" and for Airtel,it is "airtelgprs.com".You can always check it up with your provider.The password for Idea is 1.Clarification:You have to replace *GPRS APN* with internet for Idea and airtelgprs.com for Airtel.

You can also run wvdialconf to make sure your Modem,Baud,Init1 and Init2 settings are best suited to your phone.Just run this command in your terminal

sudo wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf

The configuration part is done now.To connect to the internet,with the phone connected in Modem mode,run the following command in a terminal

sudo wvdial

I hope this guide was useful and if it was,Happy surfing.

Windows Vista On SocialSpark

Recently,I was shocked to see a few Windows Vista sponsored posts on Social Spark.I guess Microsoft wants to create some buzz about latest offers from Windows Vista.Perhaps they want some positive reviews about Windows Vista.Thus they are even offering huge bonuses to good posts.

I'm not sure what exactly Microsoft can gain form Social Spark advertising.Perhaps this is an experiment to see if it works.Blog advertising is much cheaper many other forms of advertising but a company as big as Microsoft doesn't need to worry about advertising budget.I guess blog advertising is very effective in spreading buzz.Another interest could be of driving bloggers towards Windows Vista and convert them into Vista users by exposing them to various offers.They even have $50 posts for bloggers using Windows Vista.If that's the case,the attempt was useless in my case.

When people read articles/posts written by normal people and not Microsoft or their support staff,they believe what's written and understand it properly.Perhaps Microsoft want to reduce the anxiety in people's minds towards Windows Vista.

Good Web Hosting Reviews

It is difficult to look for a good web host without reading a few reviews.It is difficult to look for reviews of different hosts as not many websites review all popular hosts.But Web Hosting Geeks is an exception.The website has reviews of most of the top hosting providers.This makes the task of choosing your web host much simpler.

If you are looking for a good webhosting plan,use Webhosting Geeks to check out some great hosting reviews.You can have a look at their Bluehost Review to see the quality of the reviews.The reviews even have comments from actual customers so their accuracy can't be questioned.

Firefox Did It

Its official.Firefox 3.0 has set the Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours.Firefox was downloaded 8,002,530 times on download day(17th June 2008).If you've helped Firefox by downloading Firefox 3 on download day,you can download a certificate for your contribution.

Here's my certificate-

Firefox Download Day

Its Tuesday 17th June 2008.Those of you who didn't mark this date on your calendar,let me remind you,its 'Firefox Download Day'.All you have to do is to Download Firefox 3 to help Firefox create a world record.Just head to this site for further details.

I hope Firefox manages to set a new world record.That's all I can write from my mobile after a long journey.

384-256+512=640

A few days ago,while I was browsing/blogging/studying for BITSAT(I don't exactly remember),Firefox crashed followed by GNOME crashing and the login window appeared.I logged in and checked System Monitor immediately to see what had gone wrong.It displayed

Memory:128 MB

No,there's no typo there,I actually had 384 MB SD RAM(128+256MB).I immediately realized that there was something wrong with the 256 MB RAM.I talked to Ankur about it and we concluded that the RAM had died of an overdose of current.

I took out the RAM and saw a sticker and a hologram with 'Lifetime Warranty' written on it.It was manufactured by a company called 'DIGITAL Memory'.I realized that I had bought it from my Mama(Mom's Brother in Hindi).I called him up and asked him the exact meaning of 'Lifetime Warranty'.It turned out that Lifetime meant till the product is manufactured.

For noobs,a SD RAM is legacy stuff and almost nobody manufactures it anymore.Its the old stock which is sold these days.Anyways I sent it to him(He lives in Jaipur) through a relative(Uncle) of mine who had to go there to organize the IPL matches there.My Mama sent it to the company to claim the warranty.In the meantime,I had to work with 128MB RAM.Using my computer was an unpleasant experience.My sister used Windows and it was damn slow.Firefox took a complete minute to start.I booted up Ubuntu and was surprised to see that Ubuntu was pretty fast even with 128MB RAM.

Coming back to the main topic of discussion here,the warranty.My mama sent it to the company and told me that they would reply in a day.The next day,my Mama called me up telling me that 256 MB RAM is no longer manufactured.

Sad News?Not exactly....Read on.

The company thus sent a 512 MB RAM which is still manufactured or is still in stock(no sure about this one).

Hooray!

I was thrilled to hear this.I had already planned to buy a new RAM module and had no hope of getting 256MB back.

So this is the situation now,I will have 640MB RAM in 4 days from now.Effectively,I exchanged a dead 256MB RAM for a brand new 512MB RAM for free.All's well that ends well.

PS-You can boil your head on Vivek's blog for some action packed stories related to warranties.

Windows+Ubuntu=Wubi

I received my Ubuntu and Kubuntu 8.04 live CD yesterday via Shipit.I had already upgraded my 7.10(Gutsy) installation to 8.04(Hardy) using the alternate CD.I was waiting for the CD to try out Wubi.Wubi is a great innovation which allows you to install Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu inside windows.Its like installing an application on windows called Ubuntu.Basically its Ubuntu on an NTFS partition and is best for noobs who don't know anything about ext3 and other UNIX type filesystems.

Installation
Installing Ubuntu through Wubi is extremely simple and quite fast.The install has a simple 2 step process.You first need to pop in the CD in windows and select Install Ubuntu inside Windows.You need 6GB free space on a partition.Select the partition and the install size.The installation files and images will be created.Here's a screenshot of that step-


The step will also install GRUB bootloader to complete the installation.The CD will eject out when this process is completed.It takes about 6 to 7 minutes for the process to complete.You will be asked to reboot your computer,do so.When you reboot,you will be given a menu.Select Ubuntu to start the second step of the installation.This part will take care of all the partitioning and all you have to do is to wait.You might have to wait for about 5 minutes at the 'Formatting Swap Space' stage.The second stage will end in about 10-12 minutes.The whole process should take about 20-30 minutes.This is about the time required to install GTA San Andreas on my computer.

Looking for more steps?You're installing the wrong OS if you want more steps.I later checked out my partition on which I had installed Ubuntu.Ubuntu got installed in a folder called Ubuntu.You won't find the filesystem inside it but there are some files including the un-install file.

Un-Installation
It might seem that uninstalling an entire operating system is complex,I also though so.In order to uninstall ubuntu,go to Add/Remove from Control Panel or simply click on the Uninstall file.The wizard prompts you to save a backup of the installation before starting the removal.The process of uninstallation took just about a minute to complete which is pretty good if you consider the the size of the operating system.

I would recommend Linux noobs to try Wubi for their first experience of Ubuntu because its really very simple.

Alexa's New Ranking System

Recently,on 16th April 2008 to be precise,Alexa changed its traffic ranking system.It is much better now.Earlier,Alexa's ranking system was based on information collected from users of the Alexa toolbar.This was because Alexa wasn't meant to be this big when it was launched.Now,Alexa has understood that the information collected from the Alexa toolbar is not necessarily a barometer of the traffic a page gets.Alexa now collects information from other sources in addition to the Alexa toolbar.The new sources have not been revealed by Alexa and it is likely to remain a secret.Your guess will be as good as mine in this regard.

The reason given by Alexa for this change in ranking system is that they had received too many suggestions from Alexa users for the ranking system to change.Well I think that Alexa has probably given up on the issue of Alexa toolbar as many malware removers call it 'Spyware'.Who wants spyware on their computer just to help Alexa with its ranking system?Nobody sane.

My CPU Overheating Problem-Solved

Very recently,my CPU developed a problem of beeping loudly when I played games or did other things which required high memory usage.I immediately asked my pal Ankur about it and he told me that perhaps some dust has deposited on the RAM and I should clean it and retry.Well,it didn't work.I checked my fan speeds and they were pretty normal.Ankur suggested me that I should check the CPU temperature when the computer beeps shouts to get an idea about the problem.I installed SpeedFan to monitor my CPU temperature.My warning temperature is 70degree C.When I booted windows and checked the temperature,it was 65C.As soon as it got up to 70C,the CPU started beeping like hell again.

Ankur told me that perhaps the thermal paste had dried a bit and was reducing my processor's heat conductivity.A few days later,I decided to have a look at my processor to confirm the diagnosis.While opening my cabinet,I realized that I had never ever unscrewed the fan on the top of the processor.My computer is 6-7 years old.I knew the problem now.I disconnected and unscrewed the fan to find this piece of dust under it which was blocking the air supply.



I have an Intel Pentium 4 Processor and thus the fan isn't too big.This dust was completely blocking the air supply.Basically my heat sink had completely failed and I'm amazed that my computer could easily run for hours if I didn't play games.

I removed this piece of dust and booted up windows.Speed Fan displayed my CPU temperature as 45C.An amazing 20C fall in temperature on removing this piece of dust.I've learnt a lesson from this incident.If you didn't,read the line below.

CLEAN YOUR HEAT SINK REGULARLY

Finally Transferred To GoDaddy

This is a delayed post.I forgot to post this as I was preparing for the AIEEE.As I had mentioned in an earlier post titled 1&1 vs GoDaddy,I was fed up of 1and1 and had decided to transfer my domain to GoDaddy.Read the post for the explanation.

Well,the transfer was pretty simple but took a long time because of 1and1's policies.Transfers from 1and1 always take 5 days to complete.I'll explain the procedure of a transfer.Once you unlock the domain and give the authorization code to the gaining registrar,the registrar send a request to the domain registry.The domain registry sends a request to the current registrar which is 1and1 in my case.The current registrar has 5 days to reply to the request from the registry.If it does not reply,the domain registry automatically releases the domain to the gaining registrar.This is what 1and1 does.It does not reply to the request from the domain registry.Thus I had to wait for 5 days for the transfer to complete.

Here are some tips if you are transferring a domain form 1&1.First of all you should disable Private Whois and set the registration to 'Public'.Then unlock the domain so that it can be transferred.Note that 1and1 does not ask for confirmation to transfer if a domain is unlocked.If it is locked,it denies transfer automatically.Wait for 5 days after the request is sent to 1and1.When the transfer is complete,configure it.The next step is vital.You will now need to cancel your 1and1 package.So login to http://cancel.1and1.com and cancel your package.1and1 has a reputation of charging for empty packages.Make sure the package is canceled properly.That's it,your transfer is successful.If you have any problems,feel free to contact the support team of your previous and new registrar.

1&1 vs GoDaddy

This was a thought that recently struck my mind while browsing GoDaddy.I registered my domain via 1&1 last year.They had a nice discount on .com domains and also provide good services.I bought namanb.com for $5.99.I think I made the right decision at that time.Now its time to make another right decision.I've noticed that 1&1 rarely offers any good discounts on domains and hosting.1&1 doesn't allow manual renewal of domains and has a package system in which billing is done monthly.This means that there's no possibility of cheap or discounted renewals.Hosting is also charged on a monthly basis.This might be convenient to some people but I find this inconvenient.I've read too many negative reviews of 1&1 and its policies.Basically,1&1's service is unsatisfactory for me.

GoDaddy on the other hand has a great reputation and offers great discounts and coupon codes.They have cheaper hosting and allow manual renewals.I came across an offer which was perfect for me.They are offering .com transfers at $6.99 with free 1-year extension.Every GoDaddy domain comes with free hosting which means I can host my own files.Obviously I decided to transfer my domain to GoDaddy.I'll be doing so very soon.

Conclusion-GoDaddy rocks but you can follow the path I followed for best pricing in case of .com domains.Note that your domain needs to be at least 60 days old for ICANN to permit you a transfer

2Mbps Dial-up?

Have a look at this picture for now.



One fine day I was using Rapid Uploader to upload a video to rapidshare.I was using my dad's laptop.I connected it to my mobile phone to connect it to the internet.I was surprised to see the speed,it read 264.26 KB/s.Something was definitely wrong with Idea.I've never got the chance to use 2Mbps Dial-up after that day.

Esnips-Download Free Music

There are many ways to download free music from the internet.P2P(Peer to Peer) applications like Limewire,Ares and using torrents is one such way.These are a bit of a pain for Windows users as they have to worry about viruses and other Malware.One thing I like about these applications is that all sorts of songs are available in different formats.Here's a tip for Limewire(Windows users,follow it at your own risk)-Search Limewire for Limewire Pro,download the crack and upgrade to Pro for free.

There are a few websites which provide free song downloads but there is a restriction to most of these.Cool Goose Cool Toad is one such website.You won't find too many songs there but you might get some Hindi songs.The interface of this website is horrible and search is a pain in the neck.You need to sign-up to browse and download song.In short,Cool Toad is useless.

There are some other websites like Fun Maza and Masti4India which provide free Hindi songs for download.Note that these websites provide songs only in real media format(.rm) and you need Real Player to play these songs.

Now,let me come to the main topic of this post.Esnips is a website for sharing all kind of media like songs,videos etc.This website has none of the drawbacks mentioned above.You can find all sorts of music and videos in different formats.You can even get free E-Books there.

Till a few days ago,you needed to signup to download songs.But they have changed their policy.Recently,they have removed the download option and only streaming is available.You can use Firefox add-ons to download the songs but I have an even simpler fix to the problem.

You don't need to be a member to download songs.All you have to do is to search for the song and when you find it,look at the address bar to find the URL.For example if GQ wants to download RATM's Renegades of Funk,the URL is- http://www.esnips.com/doc/18.....Funk

Now all you have to do is to change the folder.Change 'doc' in the URL to 'nsdoc'.Thus to download,the URL becomes-
http://www.esnips.com/nsdoc/180....Funk
or simply-http://www.esnips.com/nsdoc/180...77

The download will start.This even works with mobile phones and I do this with my Mobile Phone Browser-Opera Mini.

P.S-Esnips has stopped working properly these days.So,this method might not work temporarily.There's another website called Aimini from which you can download free music.

If you wish to stick to esnips,here's a suggestion-Some people with better brains have uploaded songs in archives which you can download without even signing up.Promote this idea and you'll be able to download as many songs as you wish to.

Ubuntu 7.10 Review

I recently upgraded my OS to Ubuntu 7.10.I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and am in a position to write a review.Ubuntu 7.10 has many more new features which are great.You might face some problems with it if your PC is a bit old so you can refer to some of my older posts labeled Linux.

First of all,the desktop environment-Gnome-2.20 is much better than the previous version in terms of performance.Ubuntu Gutsy also integrates the NTFS-3g project and thus enables NTFS writing which is a great feature.But you need to be cautious while dealing with NTFS partitions if you are using Windows in dual booting with Ubuntu.You need to properly shut-down windows in order to detect your NTFS partitions.Ubuntu 7.10 does not detect NTFS partitions if Windows is Hibernated or is not Shut-Down properly.

Another change is that Compiz Fusion is includeed by default which is the fusion of Compiz and Beryl.The desk bar search applet also comes in handy at times.You might have problems with the usplash screen at startup for which you can refer to this post.

An alternative to usplash is splashy.You can check it out and install it as it is in the Debian repositories.You can try these commands after changing your boot-up resolution to 1024X768 using this procedure-

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install splashy splashy-themes

Ubuntu Gutsy uses Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6 as the default web browser and Open Office.org 2.3 for all office needs.I'm glad that Pidgin and not Gaim(the older version of Pidgin) is the default IM client.

If you are wondering where I got the Ubuntu title font,used in the first line from,the answer is simple.Ubuntu users have a simple way to get the font.Just type this in a terminal-

sudo apt-get install ttf-ubuntu-title

Overall,Ubuntu 7.10 is a great operating system to have.This release is very user friendly and there's hardly any thing which can't be done without using the terminal.I'm sure that Windows users with the bare minimum knowledge about computers won't find it difficult to use and will love it.The whole system is really fast and the start-up and shut-down time is significantly less.

I recommend you to order a free CD and at least try the live CD.I'm sure you'll like it and install it.

When Computers Don't Boot

How often has it happened with you that all of a sudden your computer fails to boot?I've had this problem countless times and have solved it each time successfully.Today I'll give you some advice for such situations both for Windows and Linux.

If you are using Windows XP and no other OS and your computer refuses to boot,it is perhaps because of some problem with your main partition called the C drive.Follow these steps to solve the problem(note that you need to have a Windows XP CD)-

• Boot from the CD.If you can't boot from it,check your BIOS settings.
• When prompted,press 'R' to get to the recovery console.
• In the recovery console,type 'chkdsk' and hit the return key to check your windows partition
• CHKDSK will remove errors from the partition and now your computer should boot normally
• If your problem is still not solved,try 'fixboot' or in extreme cases 'fixmbr'.Note that this step is recommended only if Windows is the only OS in use.

Suppose you are using Linux(I'll take Ubuntu as example but you can do it with almost all distros having live CDs) in dual booting with Windows and you want to correct your windows installation using the above procedure you will face some problems.When you insert the Windows CD into your drive and boot from it,your MBR(Master Boot Record) will be re-written as windows can't tolerate the existence of another OS with it.

Most Linux distros like Ubuntu use GRUB boot loader which is an intelligent boot-loader and can manage different Operating Systems simultaneously.The windows CD removes GRUB from the MBR.Now you need to reinstall GRUB in order to detect the installed Linux OS.You can do this by following these steps-

• Boot form the Ubuntu live CD(other live CDs can also be used).
• Go to System->Administration->Users and Groups.
• Change the root password to anything of your choice.
• Open the terminal or the console or in KDE language, Konsole
• Type 'su',hit the return key and enter the password you just set.
• Now type 'grub' and hit the return key.You will get a grub> prompt.
• Type 'find /boot/grub/stage1' to find the partition which has grub installed.You will get back the address like (hd0,0) or as (hd0,1) it depends on the partition.If you get multiple results,don't worry you need just one as GRUB is really intelligent.If you have GRUB installed on 'hda3' or on 'sda3' on the first hard disk,the address returned will be (hd0,2)
• Now type 'root (hd0,2)' or whatever applicable and hit the return key as usual.
  
• Now you have reached the final step in which you have to install GRUB to your MBR.Type 'setup (hd0)' or whatever applicable in your case to install GRUB to the MBR of your hard drive.Note that 'hd0' represents your 1st hard drive and 'hd1' your second one and so on.In this step GRUB will be setup and it will also detect other operating systems.
  

You computer should boot without any problems now.Note that if you are using dual booting and have lost grub due to other reasons,I would suggest you to follow the same procedure.You should be thorough with the procedure for installing GRUB as you will need to do that every time the silly Windows fails to boot.

After reading this post I'm sure you would agree that Linux is far more superior to Windows as far as the boot-loader is concerned.If you have any other questions regarding reinstalling GRUB,you may leave a comment.

IDEA NETWORK-THE WORST!!

I used to use Reliance till a while ago when I bought my new phone-Motorola L9. I’ll write the review of the phone in a few days. The dealer at HotSpot persuaded me to try Idea. This was the biggest mistake of my life. I’m totally fed up of Idea’s services. I’ve been using Idea for a few months and can’t stand it anymore. I really appreciate the patience of people who stick to Idea.

A few days ago, I was sitting in my room when my phone went out of coverage. This is normal with Idea and it usually gets a signal in a few seconds. But that time was different. I tried restarting my phone but it didn’t work. I had to wait for 30 minutes before my phone was back in coverage area.

Another fact that I hate about Idea is the GPRS and WAP connection which refuses to load many WAP sites and is charged at Rs0.02 per KB which is too much as compared to Airtel’s 1.5p/KB. This means that using applications like Cellity Free SMS is impractical on IDEA.

Have you ever tried calling an Idea phone when it is switched off? The message is- “The Idea you are trying to call is either switched off or out of service area”. They don’t even get to know whether the subscriber has switched off his phone or is out of service area. This is not what a national mobile network should be like.

Another reason why Idea is the worst mobile network in the country is that they charge 26% taxes on top-ups.I recently topped up with Rs100 and received a talk-time of Rs74.Isn't is disgusting?What sort of top-up is that supposed to be.Reliance charges about 11.5% and Airtel prepaid about 12% but 26% is too much.Idea customers should have a national protest against this torture.

People in my family have tried all sorts of mobile networks. Airtel and Reliance are a class apart when compared to Idea. Vodafone is much better than Idea but ranks lower to Reliance and Airtel. My dad has even tried MTNL’s Trump connection and it is much better than Idea.

Overall, I would advise you to stay away from Idea even if you desperately need a mobile connection and have no other option. If I were asked to write a positive sponsored review on Idea for $50 I would never do that in public interest.

I have an advice for all current Idea users. Throw away your SIM card immediately and switch to Airtel for GSM and Reliance if you want to use CDMA.

PORTABLE DVD PLAYERS

Portable DVD Players are an excellent source of entertainment.My cousin has a portable DVD player and today I'll tell you where you should get your own one.It doesn't matter where you live.You can get a portable 10 inch DVD player shipped to your house if you order one from Digital Framez.They have a good range of Divx capable portable DVD players.They even have TV tuners.

The thing I like most about portable DVD players is that they entertain you in the most boring times like a long journey.I really love the picture quality they offer.These can be used to play CDs containing almost all kinds of files like MP3, MP4, VCD, DIVX and even JPEG.They have an anti shock suspension which is ideal for kids.Another feature I love is the LCD display and superior video quality.Like the video quality,the audio quality of these is excellent.

Thus,I would suggest you to order one immediately from Digital Framez.They offer all kinds of payment options like PayPal,VISA and Master Card.

DPS VK WEBSITE MAY HARM YOUR COMPUTER?

While browsing today,I just noticed that according to Google,my school's website-http://www.dpsvasantkunj.com(click at your own risk) can harm your computer.The website is maintained by Mr Satpal who is not a proper web designer.Something should be done about this.GQ told me that the source code is very long and has too many useless lines in it.Here's the proof.I even have screen-shots to show you.Here are they I have even taken a screen-shot with the snap preview to clarify that this has in no way been edited.Special thanks to the Snap Shots add-on for Mozilla Firefox for this one.Here they are-


Here's another one-

Click on the screen-shots for a better view.This is what Google has to say about it.It's up to you to believe it or not.It's better to play safe if you are a windows user.

After a discussion with GQ,I inferred that a possible reason for this can be the spread of Brontok viruses through the school network.A tip to every student who uses pen drives at school-Be careful before inserting the pen drive and scan your pen drive later.This obviously is insignificant and doesn't make sense if you are a Linux user like me.

3rd AT TECH EDGE

Birla Vidya Niketan,Saket held its annual computer symposium on 25th July.I went there for senior programming.This was my first competition in 6 years.Considering that, I did pretty well with a third position.My school's web designers got the first prize in web designing.It was quite a hectic day.

The reporting time for the event was 8:30am.But due to some confusion about the bus we had to travel in,we left the school at 8:20.We reached BVN at 9:00am in the school ambulance.There was some confusion about the number of students so we ended up in the school Ambulance.

When we reached at 9:00am,I saw an entry made 2 minutes before our arrival, in the entry log.It said that the judge had arrived.I had a feeling that we weren't much late.We had to wait till 9:45am for the event to start as one of the judges hadn't arrived.

The programming competition was from 10am-12pm.There were 5 questions carrying 60,100,200,200 and 300 marks.The last two questions were based on graphics,so I immediately ruled them out.The marking was based on attempts and time elapsed.I did my best or perhaps I could have done a little better.But,at the end of 2 hours I was satisfied with what I had done.

We just had enough time to wait for the prize distribution as we had to catch our school bus.The Code Warriors president and my buddy-Ankur Banerjee a.k.a GQ had convinced me to go for this competition and after it I feel that he did something really nice.

PS-Today,my English teacher agreed to forgive me for not doing my homework due to my absence in the class when I told her about my third position.