Just to let you know I no more blog here. Blogger is good for starters. I started this when I was a kid, guess back in 2006.
On 5th November 2008, Microsoft unveiled DreamSpark - a software giveaway for an estimated 10 million eligible students in India. DreamSpark will provide students access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge.
Microsoft DreamSpark will be available to all students whose studies touch on technology, design, math, science and engineering. The software available to students will include:
Microsoft developer tools
Microsoft designer tools
Expression Studio 2, including
o Expression Web
o Expression Blend
o Expression Design
o Expression Media
Microsoft platform resources
Training Resources
This broad range of professional-level software will be available both online via www.dreamsparkindia.com; and in offline format via DVDs distributed by program partners NIIT, Aptech and Hughes Net Fusion Centers. A student merely needs to offer a proof of identity at a branch of these institutes to avail of a DreamSpark DVD. There are 125 NIIT, 175 Aptech, and 200 Hughes Net Fusion Centers participating across the country.
These program partners will also provide technology training on the DreamSpark software tools at a nominal cost; as well as have the option of soft skills training in languages like English and Hindi. Microsoft India is also working with academic institutions, government bodies and student organizations across the country to ensure that all students get a chance to benefit from DreamSpark.
The DreamSpark program in India is tailor-made to join the dots between software access and employability - which means making training and enablement complement simple access to technology.
DreamSpark will also facilitate student participation in Microsoft’s annual marquee contest, Imagine Cup, through various contest categories such as software design, short films, photography etc. Students from India that qualify for the Imagine Cup 2009 World Finals will get to travel to Egypt. Selected teams will also get the opportunity to get mentored by the Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM, Ahmedabad.
Addressing students and academicians at IIT Delhi – where the DreamSpark program was unveiled - Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp, said, “We want to do everything we can to equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyze economic growth. Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional-level tools that we hope will inspire students like you to explore the power of software and encourage you to forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs.”
NOW,, to make students learn using the developer tools provided by Microsoft, this is where we Microsoft Student Partners come into picture :)
Got an overhauling response from users for my opensocial web app TAG friends- 10M visitors in 3 months, but I must say I screwed it all together.
Was it MySQL? my database practices? the application’s framework(or the way its structured!) that made it prone to more bugs? Joyent? exams? ……..
Summing it up, its all due to lack of EXPERIENCE. I am STILL a kid :)
NOW. Mistakes won’t be repeated. I will be more productive, more tests, more carefulness, more caffeine (to keep a lazy guy like me awake!).
--Some learnings---
It sucks when users want to access your application and the server just rejects the request. Performance is the key to success of app provided your basic idea is good/unique/innovative enough.
Performance>functionality>UX>base idea
Performance and functionality are the areas to be looked into constantly as the app grows. Users need something new, something exciting every time they checkout the app.
BUT
![clip_image002[4]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_HRUrN96dDd8/SRNuV4pV-nI/AAAAAAAAAD4/W291l9xRpII/s1600-h/clip_image002%5B4%5D%5B2%5D.gif "clip_image002[4]"){kind=small}
A momentum has to be maintained to make sure users check app regularly.But while rolling out new features for the app, there impacts on performance have to be taken care of.
To improve some performance I am using memcache on my Joyent accelerator. Memcache is used to store objects in the RAM. Basically it builds a hashtable of queries and there results in memory.
TO start the memcache daemon on solaris on joyent i did
sudo svcadm enable memcached
if you are on any other linux flavor checkout here, for windows here.
Once the daemon is up and running, to use it with php an extension memcache.so is required, for which you may need php headers and compile based on your server OS. I have upload my binaries below which work with php 5.2.4 on a joyent accelerator running Sun Solaris 11.
Now you in php first you need to check whether the results of a query are there in memcache or not. If not there, automatically fetch from MySQL and store it in cache. The functions for this are very well described over here.
I can see some noticeable performance improvement after Memcache implementation.
Last but not the least, are the error logs, they speak of the mess that took place. Here is my the full apache error log of stuff that went wrong. Lots to digg in…
I will be using TAG friends as a test bed for trying out new things,technologies and nuclear experiments :D
SORRY users :( u got pwned!!
I will post more things in coming days about my experiences running this app, Google app engine, cloud computing.
My iPhone is taking a break, while i test some REST ;)
P.S. I am working for silicon valley based startup BitRhymes Inc.
Lifes Beautiful, Namaste :)
I have been holding off from posting about the new PWNAGE tool as initially both the 2.0 firmware and pwnage tool had a lot of bugs..
Few days back i pwned my oldest 1st gen 4GB iPhone to 2.1.. gotta say this firmware is very much stable and i can recommend updating to it.
Here’s how-
### only for 1st gen older 2G iPhone ###
Recommended iTunes version:7.7
To downgrade to a 1.X.X firmware use itunes <= 7.5
Definitive guide to putting iphone in DFU mode. NOTE: don’t use software like ZiPhone or iLiberty for putting iphone in DFU mode, thats not the real DFU mode.
if you get errors during firmware flashing, look for error codes here and keep trying..at one point you will succeed :)
ZiPhone / iLiberty are useless for 2.X.X firmwares
AS of writing this post there is no real sim unlock solution for newer iPhone 3G, please don’t pay anyone for this..
Hacking the iPhone is my hobby, I am not a professional iPhone repair guy.
A lot has happened in last 3 months.. some of which may go to this blog if time permits :) http://aakash.me redirects to this blog now..
Now that you done with a Simple Hello World, Move on... try some advanced example. Here is one such example on fetching friends and pinging remote server.
Before starting on project search the containers directory's to check whether the same idea app is existing or not. The chances of finding your idea on facebook directory is high, if you find an app like your's take hints from there ;) and stats associated with it. There are a lot of best practices for building a app enlisted here
You can always monetize your apps using advertisements on CANVAS view.
Use the application's persistent data storage for caching profile view, storing user preferences.
Initially for testing things you can go with a free webhost like awardspace.com.. when the application scales go for dedicated server. You can get 6-month free hosting from joyent.com with your MySpace or hi5 API key. It is running good for me since a month and you have complete control over it from SSH client. SIGN requests to your server whenever possible. If you have access to the Google app engine preview release and know python well then give it a try too..
Performance is the key for success of app. USE Y!slow plugin to see your performance, firebug to debug javascript [console.log(obj)],CSS. Here is a good guide on improving your app's latency.
Making the app spammy for virality has a negative effect on its popularity. Use the viral channel's wisely.
After the work is finished submit your app to the containers, wait for around 1 week on Orkut, 3-4 days on myspace, hi5 for approval.
Posts
All Comments
