mY bLoG

No more blogging

2009-04-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hi frndz,

I am no longer going to update this blog. I dont have time to spend on this and life is very boring these days. Nothing special happens now.

bye...
Jain

Rapidshare downloader - Perl+Bash

2008-06-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

Update: RS redesigned their site and this script no longer works. (July 3, 2008)

Hi frndz,

Today I wrote a Perl script to download a set of files from www.rapidshare.com at "Happy Hours" for free users. This works in Linux/Unix only and only if you have a pppoe connection. It uses WWW::Mechanize module which is not available with standard Perl library. You will need to install it separately. This script works with current design of rapidshare site. If they make changes in site, this may fail. The usage is:

perl RSDownloader.pl [-d download_directory] links.txt

This program will wait till "Happy Hours" (will check every 10 mins) and will start downloading rapidshare links in links.txt. The program will ignore blank lines and lines starting with a '#' in the input file. If -d flag is omitted, files will be downloaded to current working directory. You can also group your downloads simply by putting a name in one line and all following links till next name will be saved to a directory with that name. eg:


In.Harihar.Nagar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/115665/In.Harihar.Nagar...part5.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/115685/In.Harihar.Nagar...part6.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/115448/In.Harihar.Nagar...part7.rar
Aaram.Thamburan
htt...rapidshare.com/files/101625/Aaram.Thamburan...part01.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/101841/Aaram.Thamburan...part02.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/101856/Aaram.Thamburan...part03.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/101869/Aaram.Thamburan...part04.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/102124/Aaram.Thamburan...part05.rar
Punjabi.House
htt...rapidshare.com/files/94088/Punjabi.House...part01.rar
htt...rapidshare.com/files/94095/Punjabi.House...part02.rar

Here is the code...


#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use WWW::Mechanize;
use Getopt::Std;

my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
my $pwd  = `pwd`;
chomp($pwd);

if (getopts('d:')) {
    for (my $i = 0; $i <= $#ARGV; $i++) {
        $ARGV[$i] = $pwd."/".$ARGV[$i] unless ($ARGV[$i] =~ m{^/});
    }
    chdir "$opt_d" or die "Couldn't cd to $opt_d: $!";
    $pwd = `pwd`;
    chomp($pwd);
}
else {
    die "Error in option? $!";
}

while (<>) {
    chomp;
    # if input line is not a url, treat it as a directory name to create and cd.
    unless (/http/) {
        chdir "$pwd";
        mkdir "$_", 0755 or warn "Failed to create directory $_: $!";
        chdir "$_";
        next;
    }
    
    print "Trying to download $_\n";

    $mech->get("$_");

    if ($mech->response()->content() =~ m{h1>Error./h1>}) {
        print "Some server error. Skipping file: $_\n";
        next;
    }
    
    $mech->submit_form("form_number", 2); # click the "Free" button
    print "Selected Free download.\n";
    $data = $mech->response()->content();
    if ($data =~ /Happy Hour/) {
        print "It\'s Happy Hour!\n";
        if ($data =~ /form name="dl" action="(.*?)"/) { # get file url
            print "Got free link.\n";
            `wget $1`;
            print "Reconnecting pppoe after 1 minutes.\n";
            `poff -a;sleep 1m;pon dsl-provider;sleep 4`;
        }
    }
    elsif ($data =~ /reached the limit/) { # didnt get new ip. try again.
        print "Reached free user's limit.\n";
        print "Reconnecting pppoe after 2 minutes.\n";
        `poff -a;sleep 2m;pon dsl-provider;sleep 4`;
        redo;
    }
    else {
        print "Not happy hour :-(\nRetrying after 10 minutes\n";
        for ($i = 1; $i <= 10; $i++) {
            `sleep 1m`;
            print " $i";
        }
        print "\n";
        redo;
    }
}

GNU/Linux package installation without Internet

2008-06-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

Now, I found out a better simple solution for this. You can use an online tool described here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=3742162&postcount=11
Updated on July 4, 2008.

Hi friends,

Many of you may be in a situation that, you installed GNU/Linux in your computer but couldn't setup internet in it and many of your favorite packages are not available in the installation media. Package installation in GNU/Linux system is a bit difficult if you don't have Internet and don't have complete local repository, because you will have to resolve all dependencies yourself.

This was a major complaint of many of my friends who are new to GNU/Linux. MP3 support, video codecs etc. are not usually available in the installation media. This is also the same with Ubuntu. "Ubuntu looks good but it can't play my MP3s or videos". :-) I recently got a nice solution for this (from different sources in internet). Local update and install for APT. This trick will work on all distributions with APT as its package manager (Debian, Ubuntu etc.). You will need to work in command line a bit. But it's easy. Here is how to do it in Ubuntu 8.04:

1) You need to enable repositories and get packages list. Usually you do this by opening System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager and selecting Settings->Repositories and then enabling universe, restricted, multiverse etc.

The package list is located in /var/lib/apt/lists/ directory. So, you can simply copy your friend's(who have internet in Linux) package list(all files in the above directory) to your system. Make sure that your friend also uses the same version og Ubuntu as yours. To paste files into this directory, you need root privileges. To get a file browser with root privileges, type:
sudo nautilus /var/lib/apt/lists
in a terminal.

If you have to download the package list yourself from another system or from MS Windows, then you can do this:
Enable the repositories you need. Then type:
sudo apt-get update --print-uris > ~/Desktop/update.txt
in a terminal.
This will give you the list of files to be downloaded in the file update.txt in your desktop. Here is the format of each line in that file:
'download_location' filename 0
You need to download each file and rename it to corresponding "filename" and then copy them to /var/lib/apt/lists/ .

I haven't tested this offline APT update. But I hope that it will work.

2) Now you can download packages. Use synaptic package manager to find out the name of package you need to download. Here, I am gonna install "cheese" (a software to capture video). Use the --print-uris option to get the list of packages to be downloaded.
sudo apt-get install cheese --print-uris > ~/Desktop/packages.txt
The packages.txt will contain the packages to be downloaded. Download all those packages and then copy them to /var/cache/apt/archives/

Then, we can install the package without Internet.
sudo apt-get install cheese

That's all.
Have fun with GNU/Linux. If you have any doubt, leave a comment.

Best of luck to Yahoo! Interns

2008-05-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

Jithin and Vineeth reached Bengaluru(I too started using the new name) yesterday and their internship will start tomorrow. Best of luck to them. And I am sitting here having nothing to do. No... I have things to do... I started downloading movies(after reading IMDB reviews as Syam used to do) :-) I am gonna be very busy from tomorrow onwards.

I will be joining Yahoo! on 28th July(most probably) as Kurian also selected that date. So, we have about 3 months. I know I wont get such a long vacation in the near future. Have to utilize it wisely. I resumed working in RentACoder and now taking only Perl projects. Best way to get used to Perl. I need to learn Bash scripting too. Now I know only some bits and pieces of shell scripting. Jemshad bhayya used to say "read 'man bash'". Yeah, I am gonna read it for the first time.

I am also interested in Python. But no use of it in Y!. So not stepping into it now.

Eagerly waiting to hear Y! experiences of both Jithin and Vineeth... :-)

Back from dead

2008-05-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hi friends...

It's been a long time since my last post. I was very busy with exams and some personal matters. So many tensions in my head and I was not in a mood to write anything. :(

Now, everything cleared up and I am back to action. :) S8 exams are over, except of course the back papers. :) So theoretically, I am now a BTech. But Practically, not! lol. Being a graduate is a great feeling. But leaving college is not. I didn't make many friends; I made a few very good friends. Leaving them is unbearable. Hmm... have to leave, hoping to bump into each other (in Kiran's words) again.

I have 3 more months before joining Yahoo!. What should I do? Take care of my body (:D)? Sharpen my Linux skills? I have no idea. Btw, I installed Ubuntu hardy Heron and PC-BSD 1.5.1 in my system. Will talk about it later... bye...

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas is not cold enough. Lowest temperature 21 degree Celsius. Christmas eve must be cool. at least at night. 21 degree is not enough. Now it is 11:30 PM. I still feel very warm in my room. I joined the carol group from my parish. But could not finish it. I had to quit it after 2 hours of walking - my legs were not allowing me to walk more. Now going to go to church for the holy mass. Time to leave...

MTHSSK get together

2007-12-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

MTHSS Kaprassery 2002-04 Physical Science batch had a get together today at my house. We contacted almost everyone... but only 14 guys came up. :-( MG University has exams now. So, most of the bujjis and gals were busy with their studies. Anyway, we had a good time today. Chatted a lot... and had lunch at hotel Royal, Aluva.

It's project time again...

2007-12-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

It's time to start working on the main project. Jithin, Kiran, Ambily and Sunil are in my group. We are going for something big - working in Linux kernel for the first time. We are gonna implement BSD style 'Swapout Clustering' in Linux. It is a better paging mechanism. None of us have previous experience in kernel.

We all got books on 'Kernel Programming' and started reading it. But I don't know how many of us will read it in this Christmas vacation. Jithin upgraded his system to Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz and Geforce 8600GT. So, he will be busy with his games. I think he is playing 24hrs a day. He finished crysis in 1.5 days.

I am busy with my cousin's wedding. So I don't think I will get lot of free time. hmm... no idea when we can start the project and when or whether we can finish it. Yet, I have lots of confidence with me. :-)

Trip to Illithodu

2007-12-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

Illithodu.... wow! what a cool place!!! Like to go there again and again...

Last Tuesday, the boys gang of our class went to Illithodu, a place near Malayatoor in Ernakulam Dist, Kerala. The main attraction there is river Periyar flowing through the forest. We have to walk a bit through the forest to reach the river.

I couldn't see much people coming there. It may be because it is a dangerous place. Some people died there some time ago and last week, there was a cyclone. But these didn't stop us from going there. I had some hesitation to go there. But after the trip, I realized that it would have been a great loss if I didn't go there. Furthermore, this was the last tour in my BTech life :-(

The trip was all fun. From the beginning to the end. We first went to Malayatoor "thazhathe palli" and prayed to make our journey safe and entertaining. Then wen went to Illithodu and stopped near a Toddy shop. Please don't call us drunkards. It was just to eat "kappa & erachi" and to drink some kind of water we get from there. Pavam piller... alle? Here are some of the gang:

Then we went to the forest. If you have to see the beauty of plants and trees, you have to go to a forest. I can't express it in words...

The river was splitting to many branches. In some places, the water was almost still and in some other places, it was a little fast and in most of the parts, it was flowing very very fast. I took some photos using my friend's camera. Here are some random shots:

Yahoo! offer letter and treat

2007-12-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Kurian and I got our offer letters from Yahoo! and all four of us got lunch buffet at Casino Hotel. Rohit, last year's Yahoo buddy, came with the offer letters.

See the pic. It says "Handle with care. After all your big future is inside". It was a box and there was an LDR and microchip inside it and it said "Yahoooooooo!" when opened. There was the offer letter, a very long NDA and a black T-shirt.

The treat was awesome. A buffet of 375 bucks. Here are the pics at Casino.

Mee too Mobile!!!

2007-11-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

Angane njanum mobile ayi ;-)

Today I resigned from AMA (Anti Mobile Association). I bought a Nokia N73.
I was looking for an all rounder phone with good camera. N73 has a great 3.2 MP camera. Everything looks great and I like the silver/plum color.

My Gutsy

2007-11-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

My Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon desktop after some customization. I used mac4lin package and AWN dock. mac4lin is great. It did everything perfectly, I like the theme, icons and all. But awn has to improve much. It looks great but not so stable and not much customizable (when compared to object dock and rocket dock in windows).

The screenshot shows the stack applet(started to fade off when I pressed 'Prt Scr' key) of AWN. In Leopard, there is a "fan view" for stacks. It is not there in AWN. I hope, it will come soon. I like it. :-)

Compiz-fusion is also enabled. But I am not gonna write about it coz, you see it everywhere.

:o 91% :o

2007-11-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

I got 91% internals in my 7th sem. First time in 90's..... still can't believe.....

hmm university exams start tomorrow. :-(

Back to studies :-(

2007-08-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Until today, it was like a long holiday. After the S6 exams, I didn't study any academic stuff seriously. Came to college only for getting the attendance. Only Yahoo! was in my mind. Now the things changed.

Currently, my aggregate is 66% and have 3 standing supplies. (pavam njan!!!)
Now I need to clear all my supplies and have to reach 70% before leaving the college. I haven't seen 70% in any semester till S5. And I don't expect that in S6 also. So I have only 2 semesters left. hmm... tough job ahead :-(

Assignments, tests etc are coming this week and seminar on next week.... Busy schedule starting tomorrow. (deep sigh)

My Yahoo! Experience

2007-08-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

BSNL DataOne

2007-06-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

To make the router autodial (any modem):
http://www.calcuttatelephones.com/dataoneinstall/menu.html

To revert the changes made:
Restore factory defaults of the modem.....there may be a button on the modem.....or read the manual.

Schedule router disconnect and dial in Linux and Windows:
http://vinuthomas.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=6369.html

I recommend you to leave the modem in bridged mode and use a software dialer to connect. I had some troubles when using the scripts from the above link. Sometimes after running the script, the modem failed to work. But it was OK after reseting the modem and leaving it OFF for a few hours.