Naveen's Blog

I was scanning a book and wanted to make a PDF from all the scanned images. I searched the SourceForge and found this tiny software, which worked perfectly. I was able to turn all the images into a nice PDF.

This tool is called “Image2PDF,” a project on SourceForge. It is a free software. It is a Java-based command line tool. It also has option to rotate the image to best fit the image. You can specify if the images be turned to landscape or portrait while converting into PDF.

Usage: img2pdf [options] {image file name} [[options] {image file name...}] {output PDF file name}

Options:
-landscape        Force subsequent pages to landscape orientation.
-portrait         Force subsequent pages to portrait orientation.
-noimagerotate    Don't rotate the image orientation to best fit on the page.
-autoorientation  Force subsequent pages to portrait orientation. (Default)
-autoimagerotate  Rotate the image orientation to best fit on the page. (Default)

For example, if you have put this single .exe file into a “Test” directory in “C” drive, you need to put all images into that and supply the below command (of course, you need to be in the command line window and change the directory to C:\Test):  Assuming here all are jpg files.

img2pdf *.jpg MyBook.pdf

The above command will convert all jpg files in the C:\Test directory into MyBook.pdf

If you have trouble with this command line stuff, post queries in the Comments and I will answer them.

I started this blog in March 2007 after I acquired this domain name at SnapNames. I hosted this blog on DreamHost until November 2010. I then moved to HostGator to get rid of problems I was experiencing there. It has been a year since I moved to HostGator, so decided to write a review of these top brands in ‘shared hosting’ arena.

When I started learning web designing and hosting, I only had one domain, this blog. It was running smooth on DreamHost. Then, after a year, I bought couple of domains and started experimenting and developing to learn various Content Management Systems.

In 2009, I was hosting nearly 10 domains on it with two sites getting good traffic. Others were in development and were receiving few visitors. In the middle of 2009, my blog and another site were getting around 2-3k visitors per day along with 1k visits from all other domains. This is the time, DremHost started to put me in trouble. Sites started to load too slow or broke up in the middle of loading. 4k visitors a day is not at all a heavy traffic that a shared hosting cannot handle. These sites were running on WordPress, Drupal, and MyBB with catching mechanism in place.

When contacted the DreamHost, they started to tell all the nonsense things. They were pointing to one or another plugin saying that it will cause problem on shared hosting and consumes too much resources. Though I disabled the plugins they pointed to, sites were showing up “500 internal server errors.” My blog has started to show empty page few times a day. The reason for it was killing processes automatically on the server and they showed the reason as excessive usage of memory. Just google the words “dreamhost killing processes” and you will see ‘n’ number of complaints.

Then, I decided to move to another host and read a lot of good things about HostGator. I signed up with them and moved all my domains to them. My blog has started to receive more and more traffic along with few other domains, which were in development earlier. Now, these sites are getting around 7-8k visitors per day without any problem. It has been a year now and I am really happy with the HostGator.  I never experienced a single problem with their shared hosting.

DreamHost
Pros:

• Easy-to-use control panel.
• Free Domain

Cons:

• Only good for static sites.
• Can’t handle more than 2-3k visits.
• Downtime issues.
• No telephone support (chargeable call back service available).

HostGator
Pros:

• Can handle heavy-traffic sites.
• Cheaper than DreamHost ($95.52/year with 20% off coupon)
• Faster response to tickets.
• Chat support.

Cons:

• Nil (at least for me)

In conclusion, HostGator is the best in shared hosting industry. Never, signup with DreamHost, you will end up moving to another host when your site gets decent traffic and it will be a headache at that time.

Shampoo, toothpaste, and soap are made of chemicals and they are harmful in long term. Just google the words “personal care products harmful ingredients” and read. We know about it, but we still use them as we don’t know the better harmless alternatives, don’t have the access to them, or just simply they are easy to use and carry.

I looked at the natural alternatives to the daily chemicals we use in the form of toothpaste, soap, and shampoo. Asked my grandma about the alternatives they were using for these products when they were young. After a bit of research and use of few of natural alternatives, I ended up with the following products that I am using now.

Sunni Pindi (Bath Powder) – replaced the soap. I was using Pears before I adopted it. It was a hard move as I used Pears for almost 11 years. Sunni Pindi is a Telugu word for bath powder made of herbs, green gram, turmeric, camphor, etc. A better recipe can be found here: http://sree-firststeps.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunni-pindi-preparation.html – Download the post in PDF form. Thanks Sree!

You won’t see lather with it. You will feel a soft skin that you can’t get with any soap and a fresh aromatic fragrance. You can get Sunni Pindi from Sahaja Aharam in Hyderabad if you want a ready to use mix.

Dantachurna, Herbal Tooth Powder – replaced the toothpaste. We used to use Close Up and also sometimes, Himalaya. Now, we are using Dantachurna of Venkateswara Ayurveda Nilayam, one of the most trusted oldest pharmacies making Ayurveda formulations and also an exporter of Ayurveda preparations. It costs Rs. 67 for a 120 gm bottle. It is a mix of lot of herbals.

You won’t see lather when brushing and looks like Dabur Red Powder. You will find it hard to use for few days, then you will get used to it.

Venkateswara Ayurveda Nilayam has an online store, but shipping is a bit high. Their online shop is at: http://ayuraarogyam.com

Soap Nuts (Ritha) and Shikakai – replaced the shampoo. Shampoo usage is widespread because of its easy availability, small sachets readily available everywhere for a mere 50 np, and extremely easy to carry. To use soap nuts and shikakai, you need to get them and powdered. You need to soak it in the water at night to use it the next day morning. Due to this process, you may find it difficult to adopt.

As usual, you won’t see lather, just little foam, but the results are good. I noticed that my scalp itching has gone, hair thickness is increased, and it reduced the hair fall.

You can also add fenugreek (methi) seeds while powdering the ingredients for a better formula. Soak it in water and keep it in an airtight bottle, so that it can be used for three to four days.

Today, I had to join around 20 .wav audio files into one. I have downloaded few free software and tested. The best one I have chosen is All Free mp3 Joiner with lots of options. It can convert files between various formats. Even, you can merge audio files of various formats and convert them into one format at a click. It can export the files into .wav, .ogg, .mp3, .wma. You can also change channels, sample rate, and bit depth. You can drag the files up or down to rearrange the order.

Get it here: http://www.allfreevideoconverter.com/freemp3joiner/index.html

Now you can port your health insurance to any health insurance company in India. IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) today released the advertisement to all newspapers about it.

You can now keep the credit gained in your existing policy even after switching to a new insurance company. You may be aware or not, all medical conditions and pre-existing illness are not covered by all policies. Only few high-premium policies cover those. All other normal health insurances will not cover them for the first two years. They are only covered after you paid your third premium. Suppose if you want to change the insurance company in the fourth year, you need to start afresh with the new insurance company and you will be covered for pre-existing and few complicated medical conditions only after paying third premium.

With portability, you can now change the insurance company keeping that “two-year-old policy” credit. You will be readily covered for all conditions by your new insurance company. If you don’t like your current insurance company or if you find a better policy offered at less premium, you can change it. You should apply at least 45 days before its renewal date.

The advertisement read as following:
•  Portability means transfer of the credit gained by the insured for pre-existing conditions and time bound exclusions if the policyholder chooses to switch from one insurer to another insurer or from one plan to another plan of the same insurer, provided the previous policy has been maintained without any break.
•  A break in policy occurs when the premium due on a given policy is not paid on or before the premium renewal date or within 30 days thereof.
•  A policyholder should apply to such insurance company at least 45 days before the premium renewal date of his/her existing policy for porting his/her policy.
•  The policyholder should fill in the Portability Form along with proposal form and submit the same to the insurance company.
•  If the insurance company does not communicate its decision to the requesting policyholder within 15 days of providing all the details as required by the insurer, the insurance company shall not retain the right to reject such proposal.
•  Portability is allowed to all individual health insurance policies issued by non-life insurance companies including family floater policies

I needed a US phone number to register with a site as it only allows the people from US with a valid US phone number. We can use a US proxy to bypass the country limit, but how can we get a US phone number?

I know that for a fee, I can get a US phone number from Skype, but I wanted a free one as I will receive call only once. I ran searches in Google to find a free phone service. There were lot of suggestions, which does not work well. Some were not working and some sites disappeared. Some methods required me to register with a free SIP provider and then forward those calls to a free phone number provider.

So, tried a number of services and the best I found was VoxOx. Very simple registration will give you a free US phone number that you can use to receive calls. By subscribing to their plans, you can even make outgoing calls and they were cheap too. There were wonderful plans like US & Canada unlimited calling at Just $2.45 per month (3000 minutes fair usage policy applies).

You need to configure the client correctly to receive the calls, otherwise it does not work well.

Register on VoxOx and download the client.

Install it, run, and login with your credentials. Click on File>Preferences and in preferences window, select “Phone.”

Modify the options as you see below and you are done.

Click for a bigger picture

Possible other uses:

• If you run a cybercafe, you can offer US Phone Calls at Rs.2/minue and make 6K by subscribing to unlimited US and Canada phone calling pack at $2.45/month (approx. Rs. 150)
• If somebody in your family is in US, give this number to him/her, so that they can call at anytime right from their mobile or land phone at a local call charge and you can also talk to them at just Rs.150 for 3000 minutes.

Testing Part:
If you want to see if it is working fine, use Evaphone to make a free call right from your browser.

Beetel, Bharti Airtel’s handset-making division unveiled a the cheapest Android-based tablet. It is named as “Magiq” and runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo). It is 3G ready and has all the latest features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Dual Camera, HDMI Port, and Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot. It has 7″ WVGA TFT Touch Screen and Stereo Speakers along with Track Pad and Comfy Stand. You can insert any SIM and make calls and connect to Internet.

The price is three to four times less compared to the recently launched Samsung’s Galaxy and Apple’s iPad as well as Motorola’s Xoom and BlackBerry’s Play-Book which are priced above 25k. Bharti wants to grab the tablet market share with its low-priced Magiq.

Within a week or so, Bharti will start selling these tablets and you can now book through their eStore.

I think this tablet will give a tight competition to the tablets that are already available in the market.

CutePDF is a free software to create PDFs from any Windows application. It installs a printer driver and shows up as a virtual printer when you print from any application. While giving the Print command (Ctrl+P), select the “CreatePDF Writer” as printer and it will create a professional quality PDF. I have been using it for years and helps me a lot.  It has endless possibilities.   I downloaded a free invoice template from Microsoft Office Templates.  I use it to prepare invoices entering all the details of customer, particulars, and bill amount and export it as PDF just clicking the “Print” button and selecting the “CutePDF Writer” as printer.  I can export the Wikipedia pages from browser as PDF files for storing.  I can print PDF from any application let it be Excel, Power Point, Firefox, medical dictionary, etc. etc. and it goes on.

CutePDF supports Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 (x86/x64). It requires PS2PDF converter such as Ghostscript.

Read more about it: http://cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/Writer.asp and get it at: http://download.cutepdf.com/download/CuteWriter.zip