if you follow the happenings of the web closely, you’d already know everyone is up in arms about Gawker getting hacked.

password management and security is like flossing before sleep. It’s a pain but you know you have to do it.

this is an opportune moment for me to point to my fellow nerds that i recently started a new blog called K’s Coding Corner where i dish my learnings on programming. i recently wrote a post on how to store passwords in a web application correctly and would like to smugly shamelessly state that Gawker should have read my post (muhaha).

i mean seriously, this is Gawker! the same people who run Lifehacker, not to mention sites like gizmodo. they should know better than to have such a half assed method of storing passwords.

for the normal ones that want to know why this post is on my personal blog, here’s my recommendations that even Jeff Atwood misses on an otherwise clear and detailed post:

• Do NOT keep the same password for all sites
• Use a password manager like KeePass (what i used in my PC days), LastPass (what i currently use after moving to a Mac) or 1Password.
• Keep one super strong Master password for the above mentioned services and let them worry about your passwords

i cannot possibly stress these points enough. a post on Quora ( slamming the use of OpenID-different topic though) suggests otherwise i.e. using same username/password for multiple sites. this is simply bollocks. when you have such awesome password management services like LastPass which are absolutely free, you shouldn’t do such crazy things and the Gawker password incident is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t.

so gentlings learnings for the day:

• DO NOT use same username/password for all sites
• Use LastPass (or KeePass or 1Password) instead to manage them for you
• if you’re into programming/coding read my other blog – K’s Coding Corner

Peace.

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1. are you a coding monkey?
2. do you like to blog?
3. do you have an ocr disorder for keeping things organized?
4. do you swear by simplicity and all that zen

answering yes to any of the above means you most definitely have to check Markdown by John Gruber of Daring Fireball. markdown is basically a method of writing text or what geeks like to call a markup language. writing in markup becomes almost natural once you get used to the syntax. the advantage here is even if you have to pass this text to someone who has no clue about markdown, he can easily understand the text. the biggest feature though is instant conversion to html.

i’m writing all my .txt files now completely in the markdown script. should i want to convert any of my random notes to a blog post, simply use the converter and i have ready-made html for my blog. HUGE amount of time saved in pesky html tags and formatting. yeah!

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Haven’t seen too many people use this feature. Google Calendar provides an option to send SMS reminders for all events in your Google Calendar absolutely FREE (unless of course you have a shitty telecom provider that charges for incoming SMS).

Here’s how to get it setup (Follow the links for detailed instructrions from Google Calendar):

• Register for Google Calendar Services
• Make your first Calendar

• Register your Mobile service

  These are the list of supported mobile providers. Even if your provider isn’t listed give it a shot and enter your number. Zain for Kuwait wasn’t listed originally but still worked.

• Customize your event notifications-Now for any particular event/calendar you can add “SMS” Reminders.

A pretty nifty feature, if you want to make sure you never miss an appointment.

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What is Google OneBox?

Sometimes the very first result Google shows, is in a nice formatted stand out type of box called OneBox. For e.g. try “1KWD to USD”. Google instantly gives you the conversion of 1 Kuwaiti Dinar to US dollars. Other similar uses include finding the local time: “time kuwait” gives this OneBox result :

A new option of Google OneBox that has been doing the rounds now, is finding the time of Sunrise and Sunset of your location. For e.g check the screenshots I took for Sunrise and Sunset times in Chennai:

I live in Kuwait and so tried “Sunrise Kuwait”, unfortunately the option didn’t seem to work. But a little more digging and trial-error resulted in this:

Google OneBox stands most relevant for the State/City rather than the Country. Kuwait is a pretty small country and doesn’t have very clearly defined “states/cities”. But the capital of Kuwait is supposed to be “Kuwait City” which is basically like an area, hence the mild confusion. So try your Google OneBox searches against the City/State rather than the country.

What am I going to do knowing the timing of Sunrise and Sunset :P ?

• Planning for Camping,hiking,outdoor activities.
• Photography-knowing sunrise/sunset timings is critical for planning a good photo-shoot.
• Astrological Calculations in Hinduism (Horais) are calculated based on this
• Prayer timing for Muslims – Salah

Other Cool Google OneBox queries

• pizza in kuwait city – Notice you have to put city/state here again
• weather kuwait
• time delhi
• time india

The Google Operating System blog has a comprehensive post on some of the other useful Google OneBox searches.

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Studies shows we humans require a minimum of 7 hours to function at our prime (brain gets all swooshy and muddled without 7hours of quality shut-eye). My work starts at 7:00am and it takes me about 15 minutes to get to work. This essentially means I NEED to sleep by 11:00 pm and be up by 6:30am. The latter tends to be a problem since i’m not very diligent about the former. So I had to find the perfect alarm system for waking up in the morning.

I prefer to use my phone for the Alarms because a) It’s portable and b) it isn’t another device i have to chug along when travelling. But most default alarm bell tones are as good as silent to me when I’m in REM mode. I researched the net and found the “perfect alarm ringtone”. One that’s loud enough to wake the bejesus out of you while at the same time just keeps you clear of the Cardiac Emergency Room (can’t guarantee latter). Download the Ultimate Alarm Bell Ringtone here. I also use the Stock Buzzer Alarm that comes default with the Nexus one. I set two alarms to make sure I don’t snooze my way to sleep-dom.

• Morning Alarm 1 (Wakey Wakey) [6:00 am] – Buzzer Tone (comes default with the Nexus 1)
• Morning Alarm 2 (Fire Fire!) [6:30 am] – Ultimate Alarm Bell (this is the shit bro!)

Having two alarms help because, let’s face it, everyone needs those precious 5 more minutes of bliss. It’s critical for me though that the two alarms have different ringtones. This indicates the time without having to take a look at my phone (not to mention finding those darn spectacles). So even if i snooze of Alarm 1 and don’t realize it, when snoozing or switching off Alarm 2 i know i’ve reached my limit.

Discalimer: Use the Ultimate Alarm Bell at your own risk. Seriously people it is “alarming” and not for the weak hearts (better wake up late than in a hospital).

Any suggestions?

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