Flickr, step-by-step

This blog is supposed to serve as an introduction on using Flickr. Originally made to explain different options available in Flickr for the members of CUMECH group. So this has been purposefully made simple and short.

As I explained elsewhere, a Yahoo id may be required for using Flickr. The site is available at http://flickr.com/

You will be then presented with a log in page.

After the successful signing in, Flickr takes you to your home page. Here you can see different options for uploading photos, link to different uploading tools, accessing your own photo stream, photos from your contacts/friends and a random collection of public photos which are available in Flickr.


There are many ways to upload photos to your Flickr account. One simple option is to use the "Upload Photos or Video" in the browser.


However if you have large number of photos to be uploaded, you may try special upload tools available with Flickr. I use Flickr Uploadr, a third party software available for free download here. This software gives you an option to right click on any picture and send it to your Flickr account. A one time authentication is required. Additionally you can set privacy options as group or on individual photos.


Once the uploading is completed, the photos will be available in your account. In case if you want to know more about the picture, you may click on the photo to get it enlarged.



On the right side of the picture, just below "Additional Information" you can see a small green square. This indicates that this particular picture is public, simply means anybody who is having an Internet connection will be able to view this picture. You can change it by clicking on "edit" next to the green square.

Usually when you place an interesting photo in Flickr, one question you can expect is about it's location. With your photo, uploaded in Flickr, all you have to do is to "geo tag" , Flickr term for placing the photos on a map. This option is available just below the privacy edit link, we have just seen. Explore the map, find your place of actual shooting, zoom it to a good resolution, click and drag the thumbnail of the photo out from the tray below and then drop it on the map.


Sometimes you may wish to see detailed description of a particular photo like which camera is used to click the photo, time of shooting, exposure mode and many more. This is possible by accessing the "EXIF" data of an image, which is automatically saved along with the original "JPEG" files in almost all new digital cameras. View this data by clicking on "More Properties" further down "Additional Information".
Well, you can always hide this information from being displayed in Flickr, in case if you do not want to share your photographic knowledge free of cost.


It makes sense if you can tag your photos with relevant key words. Here in this picture I have tagged this bird with it's common English name and scientific name by clicking "Add a tag" located right side bottom of the picture. Now, all of a sudden, it becomes a serious new learning experience.
If a single tag consists of more than one word use " ".


The tag enables you to search all your photos with similar keyword. You can easily extend your search to all public photos available in Flickr. Follow "See all public content tagged with ......"
Feel like your next generation may not get a chance to view this bird in the wild?


All done, your photos are on Flickr with appropriate privacy settings and tags. You may add titles or descriptions too.
Just above each photo in your photo stream, you can see "Send to group" icon. Click on it to get it extended. All your groups will be loaded in few seconds. Once it is loaded, click on the group name you wish to send the picture to. Here I have selected CUMECH.
See the yellow small square instead of the green one on right side of this picture. This photo has a privacy setting that allows only "Friends/Relatives" to view it. However, as I have added this photo in to a group (CUMECH in this case), all members of that group will be able to view this, irrespective of it's original privacy settings.


Voila!! the picture is now available in CUMECH with a highlighted "NEW".


You may care to flag your photos with appropriate safety level. This will enable Flickr to issue a warning when someone with a different comfort level stumbles on your stuff.

Would you like to comment on this picture? you need to log in first >>

Finally, all these options and many more are available once you click on "Organize". Have fun experimenting.

Bonsai, 盆栽

Many of us who maintain a private garden or interested in gardening would have wished for having a bonsai at a prominent place. However buying a good bonsai is an expensive affair. A good bonsai need not be genuinely very old, but it should resemble an old and matured tree . A bonsai typically takes many years of careful nurture, often goes well beyond the limit of our patience. It is especially true when you try to make a bonsai by planting a seed or a small sapling in a Bonsai pot. Because of the inherent lack of freedom to grow in small pots, these saplings take many years to be considered as a Bonsai. However, this approach gives lot many options over many years, to control the growth precisely and the overall shape of the tree. Additional techniques will be sometimes required to make the branches look older than they actually are.

There exists an easier method to have a bonsai in every garden. Even though it may not look as beautiful as the one which has been nurtured over many years, it can still serve the purpose.

With some simple tools and time to spare, you can also boast of having a Bonsai in your garden.

Few things you ever need is a shallow clay or ceramic pot and a pair of scissors or a knife. Even though plastic dish will also do, it may look artificial and thus not preferred. But this plastic pots are having an obvious advantage of being non-porous and inexpensive.

Having these basic things ready, you can look for the right kind of sapling. This may appear as the most difficult job, but with good observation, this could be done in a day. Look around any ruins or old (government) buildings, you may find a ficus (Ficus benghalensis) tree growing in the creeks. It often starts it's life as an epiphyte on the crevices of other trees and then as it grows, strangulates the host tree.

Ficus is good for making Bonsai, as it develops aerial roots easily for that much desired "old" look. It is also tolerant to hard pruning and drought, in case if you forget to water it for a few days.

Care should be taken in selecting the sapling. The one with thick main branch and roots that have not reached the ground is preferred. Once the roots reach the ground this tree grows rapidly and the trunk becomes fleshy and fat and looses the appealing old trunk look. More than that it will be then hard to contain the plant in the limited space of the pot. Make sure you do not damage the main trunk and main root while dislodging the plant.

Once the sapling is ready, the next step is to prepare it for planting in the shallow pot.

To accommodate the plant, the thick older roots are cut leaving only the main root.

Pruning of the old roots stimulates the plant to produce smaller fibrous root, which are more efficient in absorbing the nutrients.

The main root is then bent around using the inner wall of the pot as boundary. If necessary the root is to be wound with a thick copper wire. This will help maintain the shape of the root once it is bent along with the wound wire.

As you can see in the above picture, all thick roots are not removed. The plant can now be easily accommodated in the limited space of the pot. It is not difficult to identify some roots which are more appealing when it is exposed above the soil. These when properly arranged, simulate the presence of aerial roots.

In the next step, an 80:20 mixture of top soil and farm manure is prepared. This is then filled in the pot while holding the plant upright or at any desired angle which may look more attractive.

Once the filling is completed, it is to be compacted around the root so that the plant will not get uprooted by any kind of small disturbances. Additional support can be made till the roots carry the weight of the plant by their own. Water it well regularly.Keep the plant in a shaded place till it develops a strong network of roots.

Generally the branches are not cut or bent till the plant recovers from the pruning of the roots. Once the plant develops a strong root system, it can be transferred to outdoor. It is observed that plants kept in the shade develop big leaves for absorbing all the available sunlight, while those are kept in the sunshine will have smaller leaves.

Once the roots are fully developed the branches can be cut, bent or modified.


Picture courtesy: Resmi K R

Auto Expo 2006

This years AutoExpo in Delhi has provided a chance to see this beautiful car. Fiat announced a plan to co-operate with Tata Motors. Large number of service centres of Tata which spans through out India are now available for Fiat to market it's cars in India. For Tata this tie-up will provide some access to Fiat's huge amount of technical knowledge.

Remember, Alfa Romeo started making cars around 100 years ago while Tata started some 15 years back.

John Deere

After waiting for more than 6 months, we received this cute vehicle to test our newly developed electric power steering.
me and my friend jose were surprised to see the wide low pressure tire of this vehicle, which demands fairly high steering effort on tarmac while standing still. Anyway this vehicle is designed for golf courses.

Christmas 2005

Turkey.
Plum pudding.
Waiting for Santa.
Midnight mass.
Candles.
Christmas carols.
Christmas cards.
Overstuffed stockings.
Silent night.
Jingle bells.
Hot, buttered rum
A warm fireplace
Chimneys
Long Christmas lunches.
Pullovers.
Family.
Rudolph the red nosed rein deer
Gingerbread men.
Old friends, new ones
Dear ones, forgotten ones.
More Christmas cake
Dancing under mistletoe
Confetti.
Chaos.
Calm.

Meeting with Prof. Shiba

Yesterday we had a meeting with Prof. Shiba, one of our mentors. The programme was organized for celebrating a major milestone we have achieved. With the prototype in hand we just crossed the very critical “Technical feasibility” stage. Now it is the time for "Market feasibility". This one starts with Observation of the customer - inside out. The golden rule, as taught by our mentor, is to observe "Periphery" before getting into the "center". And what is periphery? Everything else we usually pay attention to keep it in good shape. Peripheries are three, Physical, Psychological and Time. In our case production line is an example of "Physical" center and the stockyard is periphery. We will be evaluated on the basis of how we keep our stockyard in good shape. CEO is example of “Psychological” center where security staff is periphery. Today is “Time” center and 5 years before or after are periphery, future is more important, as you are having better control over it. We have to plan for next 5 years.

Ranthambore

What is it about the tiger that leaves such a powerful imprint on the human imagination? Is it the fear that this supreme predator evokes or the courage that it inspires? The outrageous beauty of its colours and stripes? The sheer perfection of its design? The elegance of that stride? The searing intensity of those eyes?
Whatever the cause the effect itself is beyond dispute.


THE HINDU, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2005
ECO-WATCH
VIJAY MENON

agent orange

Today I read an article in “frontline” about the victory of Vietnam over the US. The highlight is the column by S. Chatterjee about the use of the infamous dioxin called agent orange ..

“ A quote from Colin Powell may be worthwhile. In his February 5, 2003 speech, made as the US Secretary of state he told the United Nations Security Council: “ No country in the history of chemical warfare has had more battlefield experience with chemical weapons since the first World War than Saddam Hussein’s Iraq”. No, Powell was being modest. That distinction truly belongs to the US”