algorist - definition

One skillful in reckonings of figuring

HP Support is a USELESS piece of CRAP

I have a Business laptop which has a three year warranty. My Hard drive crashed so I called in to get it replaced and they were going to ship it for me. They got my name and address ( fourth time since I purchased my laptop ) and I got an email confirmation with a wrong name and a wrong address. So, I call back with the number in the email and for 90 minutes I am transferred from desktop, laptop, workstation, mobileOS, Technical support etc. None of their folks know which department handles this. Its a pity and I would never buy a laptop from these folks. The pain is worthless. Here are the following numbers in case its useful for any one else.

HP Service Status Team number: 1-888-886-3292 (select option 3)
HP Defective/Good Return Labels number: 1-800-717-5587
HP Technical Support number: 1-800-334-5144

Meaning of the phrase: "Cold turkey"

I came across this phrase while reading a book on turning to Veganism.  Copied from wiki it means:

"Cold turkey" describes the actions of a person who abruptly gives up a habit or addiction rather than gradually easing the process through gradual reduction or by using replacement medication

Check wiki entry for Etymology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_turkey.

punardarśanāya = GoodBye in sanskrit

In sanskrit the word for goodbye is punardarśanāya. You can also use Namaste but that is just a respectful
 greeting and does not specifically mean goodbye. punardarśanāya is 
the actual word that means goodbye.

Pandora + Rhythmbox - a dream combination!

I had to restart my browser so many times because other webpages with flash content messed with Pandora flash player. So I searched exhaustively and found out a way to play Pandora in Rhythmbox!! -- sweet!!

Here is the stuff you need to do:

You need to install Pithos first:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kevin-mehall/pithos-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pithos

Then you install this plugin:
cd && wget http://webupd8.googlecode.com/files/rhythmbox-pandora.tar.gz
tar -xvf rhythmbox-pandora.tar.gz
cd pandora && chmod +x setup.sh && ./setup.sh

Restart rhythmbox and goto Edit->Plugins->Pandora and select it. Give your pandora credentials and it should work like a charm.

Enjoy!!

Syncing bookmarks

I always had tough time synchronizing things between my laptop, desktop, workstation in the lab and found ugly solutions to overcome it for the past few years. Finally, I learnt about syncing google account with the chrome browser which syncs my browser settings, apps and most important bookmarks! Volla! All you need to do is goto preferences of chrome browser and in the "personal stuff" tab give your gmail credentials and you are good to go!! 

Your heart does not stop when you sneeze!