Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

A very meaningful line for a true relation

''Hurt me with Truth.....
But never satisfy me with a lie''

Amazing but true:

There may be more than 8.5 billion people in this world..

But, sometimes you really need just ONE....!!!!

How To Load Youtube Faster On Slow Connections [Tips & Tricks]

Youtube is an integral part of our lives now a days, whether we need to watch the trailer of upcoming movies or want to watch some education videos, Youtube is a place we need to be but majority of people in India are yet to have High speed connection and that's why watching video online is not a easy task for us.What i usually do is download youtube video
and then watch it offline but do you know that there is another version of Youtube which will make video loads faster and with lowest possible latency.

Youtube is having a alternative version called Youtube Feather, it increase youtube Site Speed so videos will be much faster and thus helpful for slow internet connections or hand held Devices.To achieve faster speed Youtube disable many not so useful features like search suggestions, posting comments etc.

An Experiment by By Alex Chitu revealed that Feather is quite effective, the resources downloaded when you watch a video in Youtube Feather is only have 52 KB, instead of 391 KB

Once you activate Youtube Feather you will see an option to switch back to regular Youtube in the right sidebar.I am using Youtube Feather for quite sometime and the thing I love the most about Feather is that it keeps things simple and clean. It's not bogged down with icons or comments or all that other stuff most people just don't care about.

To Enable Youtube Feather for your Computer just visit Youtube Feather page and click on "Join the Feather Beta" Link

Apple -MacBook Air Launched

             Expect everything.From a notebook
                  that weighs almost nothing.
                            With the latest-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, high-speed
                                            Thunderbolt I/O technology, and all-flash storage,
                                                       MacBook Air isn’t thin on features.

Intel Core i5 and i7 processors.
Performance that shouldn’t be taken lightly.Both the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air now feature the latest generation of Intel processors, the Core i5 and i7. With speeds up to 1.8GHz and faster memory, the new MacBook Air gains up to 2.5x the processing performance over the previous generation.¹ MacBook Air also features the Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor, which includes an on-chip engine for video encoding and decoding. That means you experience video playback and FaceTime calls that are smoother, more responsive, and more true to life.²

Thunderbolt I/O. Lightning-fast data transfer.

With one port, MacBook Air gives you access to a world of high-speed peripherals capable of transferring data up to 12 times faster than FireWire 800 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0. Or use the Thunderbolt port to connect the new Apple Thunderbolt Display and transform your ultracompact MacBook Air into a complete desktop workstation. Power over 4 million eye-popping pixels while enjoying some major benefits: Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, an additional Thunderbolt port, three USB ports, a FaceTime HD camera, 2.1 stereo sound, and a built-in microphone. The display even charges your MacBook Air, so there’s no need to unpack and unravel your power adapter. With two quick connections — the MagSafe power cord and the Thunderbolt cable — you’re up and running in seconds. Unplug them, and you’re on your way just as fast.

All-flash storage. Instant-on gratification.

Devices like iPhone and iPad have already demonstrated the advantages of flash storage: reliability, speed, and efficiency. So the decision to use flash storage in an ultracompact notebook like MacBook Air made perfect sense. With flash, your computer starts up in almost no time and accesses data quickly. Flash also gives MacBook Air the astonishing ability to remain in standby mode for up to 30 days.³ Which means your MacBook Air snaps to in an instant, whether you open it tomorrow, next week, or next month.

Backlit keyboard. What you see is what you type.

As incredibly compact as MacBook Air is, it still manages to fit a full-size keyboard that makes typing as natural as it is comfortable. And now the keyboard is backlit, so you can type with ease in even the dimmest light. A built-in ambient light sensor detects changes in lighting conditions and adjusts the display and keyboard brightness automatically. From a seat in a sunny café to a seat on a cross-country red-eye, you’ll always have the perfect lighting for any environment.

Long-lasting battery. Instant on. Even after a month off.

Since space-saving flash storage leaves room for a bigger battery, you can devote more time to the things you enjoy most. Things like browsing the web, editing photos, and watching videos. Get up to 5 hours of battery life on a single charge on the 11-inch model and up to 7 hours on the 13-inch model. Put MacBook Air to sleep, and it enters standby mode to conserve battery life for up to 30 days.³ When you come back to your MacBook Air and open it up, it’s on in an instant.

Considering a Mac

Display

11.6-inch (diagonal) high-resolution LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors

Supported resolutions:
1366 by 768 (native), 1344 by 756, and
1280 by 720 pixels at 16:9 aspect ratio;
1152 by 720 and 1024 by 640 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio;
1024 by 768 and 800 by 600 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio

Price
$999-$1599

Size and Weight

Ultrathin and ultralight
unibody aluminum construction.

Height: 0.11-0.68 inch (0.3-1.7 cm)
Width: 11.8 inches (30 cm)
Depth: 7.56 inches (19.2 cm)
Weight: 2.38 pounds (1.08 kg)¹

Storage
All-flash storage.²
64GB                                           128GB 64GB flash

                                                    Configurable to 256GB flash storage,
                                                  only at the Apple Online Store.

Processor and Memory
Powered by a dual-core Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and DDR3 memory.
Processor
1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache

$1199 model configurable to dual-core 1.8GHz
Intel Core i7 with 4MB shared L3 cache, only at the Apple Online Store.
Memory
2GB ($999 model) or 4GB ($1199 model) of 1333MHz DDR3
onboard memory

$999 model configurable to 4GB, only at the Apple Online Store.

Graphics
Advanced Intel HD Graphics 3000.

Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor with 256MB ($999 model)
                                  or
384MB ($1199 model) of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory³

Video Support and Camera
Built-in FaceTime camera.

FaceTime camera
Dual display and video mirroring:
Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

Connections and Expansion
USB 2.0, Thunderbolt, headphone port, MagSafe power port, SD card slot (13-inch model).

Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
Thunderbolt port

Battery and Power
Advanced lithium-polymer battery with MagSafe power adapter.⁴
Wireless web
   Up to 5 hours

   Standby time
Up to 30 days
35-watt-hour; 45W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management system; MagSafe power port

Wireless
Latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.
Wi-Fi
802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking;⁵ IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible

Audio
Stereo speakers, microphone, and headphone.
- Stereo speakers
- Omnidirectional microphone
- Headphone port
Support for Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic

Electrical and Operating Requirements
- Line voltage: 100-240V AC
- Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz
- Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
- Storage temperature: -13° to 113° F (-24° to 45° C)
- Relative humidity: 0% to 90% noncondensing
- Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
- Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
- Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet
  
  In the Box
  - MacBook Air
  - 45W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord
  Printed and electronic documentation
  
  Configurable Options
  Purchase from the Apple Online Store to upgrade processor, memory, and flash storage.
  - 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
  - 4GB memory upgrade
  - 256GB of flash storage
  - Apple USB Ethernet Adapter
  - Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter
  Apple Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter
  
  Configure your MacBook Air with even more options, only at the Apple Online Store

Friday, September 30, 2011

Google Command Line

It is more a geek tool but if you are familar with command line more, then Google command line tool may able to speed your search up. On top of normal search command, it also has some shortcuts for using Google services like translation, PDF search, specific OS searches etc.

/translate languages:language url – Translates text or an url using Google’s translate service. If you wish to translate an url, it must start with http://, otherwise it will be considered text.
/pdf string – Searches for documents in Adobe Portable Document Format (old Acrobat) .pdf
/linux string – Searches for pages related to the penguin.
/mac string – Searches for pages related to Apple©, Mac OS© and other Apple products and sites.

Here is the introduction from them:

Google Command Line is a command-line based interface to Google’s services. With it you have fast and easy access to many Google services, such as the default search, the image search, the maps, the language tools, etc. All in the best geek way.

Full command list are at the following link:

Google command line – [felipc.com projects]

New music management system for iPod

If you don’t like iTunes for one reason or the other, you may have a better alternative. We have found Winamp iPod Plugin which allows you to manage your iPod from within the winamp media library. It supports all versions of iPod, from generation 1 up to the iPod shuffle.

Latest version 1.20 includes following changes:

Autofill for iPod Shuffles
Advanced naming of files copied to iPod
Sync now updates modified songs
Last played and playcount updated when playing songs via mlipod
Reads play counts from the iPod Shuffle
Optionally detect “Fake” iPods
Switched to a better random number generator for playlist shuffling
Fixed send-to from playlist (and associated length error)
Fixed hitting Cancel during a transfer
Fixed ratings sync
Fixed ipod size statistics

Download
Documentation
Discussion Board
ml_ipod Winamp plugin Home Page

Tips: How to put MP3 on the Net into a “Personal Podcast”

Have you ever come across an mp3 file on the Internet and wanted to download it and put it on your iPod, but didn't have time to deal with it?
This happens to me all the time.

So I heard of a cool way to do this and just tried it tonite and it works great.
If you find an mp3 file with its own URL, like my MP3 of the Week, simply tag it in delicious with a tag that is clearly your own. For example, I use "fred'spodcast" as my tag. Feel free to tag mp3s with that tag if you want me to listen to them.
Then you take the RSS feed for that delicious tag, in my case http://del.icio.us/rss/tag/fred'spodcast, and burn that as a Feedburner feed.

Make sure to enable that Feedburner feed with their SmartCast service.
That creates a new feed. In my case, it's http://feeds.feedburner.com/Delicious/tag/fredspodcast.
Then you put that podcast feed into iPodder, iPodderX, or some other podcasting client.
That's it.

The next time you synch your iPod, all the mp3s you tagged will be in your iPod.
So start tagging and sharing mp3s with me and your friends. This is a great way to get into delicious an enjoy great music at the same time.

Apple user: How Quicksliver can change your OS X life

The Apple Blog has a lengthy introduction and tutorial on how does QuickSliver work and how does it help you to speed up your operations on OS X:

…
OK, what does it do?!
Short answer: It’s a launcher. It allows you to open files from a keystroke instead of clicking through the Finder for them.
Long answer: What doesn’t it do? QS indexes your hard drive into a Catalog. That Catalog is available at a single keystroke and then allows you access to everything on your computer. Not only can you open applications, but using QS, you can move files around, append text to files, locate a file and attach it to an email…The list goes on and on and on and…

Quicksilver Changes Everything – [The Apple Blog]

Send email to the future

There is a service called FutureMe.org which you schedule a date and send an email on that particular date. It can serve as a very simple reminder service through email; you want to send an email to your friend on a specific date; or you want to send your-future-self an email:

… two fellas started this so that you could write yourself a letter to be delivered at a later date. we’ve all had to do them in high school and college. it’s sorta cool to receive a letter from yourself about where you thought you’d be a year (two years? more?) later. FutureMe.org is based on the principle that memories are less accurate than emails. we strive for accuracy…

Send email to the future – [FutureMe.org]

Tips: New system tags in del.icio.us for fetching filetypes and podcast

From the del.icio.us blog, Joshua mentioned he has done a new feature called system tags which add support for finding medias:
There are couple of extra tags you can use now:

The tag "system:media:audio" includes

*.mp3 tagged as "system:filetype:mp3"

*.wav tagged as "system:filetype:wav"

The tag "system:media:video" includes

*.mpg tagged as "system:filetype:mpg"

*.mpeg tagged as "system:filetype:mpeg"

*.avi tagged as "system:filetype:avi"

*.wmv tagged as "system:filetype:wmv"

*.mov tagged as "system:filetype:mov"

The tag "system:media:image" includes:

*.jpg as "system:filetype:jpg"

*.jpeg as "system:filetype:jpeg"

*.gif as "system:filetype:gif"

*.png as "system:filetype:png"

The tag "system:media:document" includes:

*.pdf as "system:filetype:pdf"

*.doc as "system:filetype:doc"

You can also getting RSS feed for podcast etc if you go to http://del.icio.us/rss/tag/system:media:audio for example. Pretty useful feature!
Casting the net wider – [blog.del.icio.us]

Save time on Firefox with GreaseMonkey

Introduction to GreaseMonkey:
Sometimes when you use a web service, you thought wouldn’t be faster if the developer has added this button so that you don’t have to go thru all those navigations.
Like me, I find it very harsh by not having a delete button in my Gmail account. Everytime I need to delete an email, I need to go to the pull down menu and select “Move to Trash”.
Recently I have discovered GreaseMonkey extension. It allows users to use customize scripts, or even code on your own (if you know javascript) and able to add/improve feature on website – especially on web site usability and its navigations.
Instructions:

Install GreaseMonkey Extension Updated: 2005/07/22
After restarting firefox, come back to this page and right click on the script link below. You should able to see “Install User Script…” on the popup menu. Click that to install the script
The script will then install into GreaseMonkey. By default, the script should be automatically included with one or more web pages.

Recommend scripts
For end user without programming experience, don’t worry. There are whole stack of scripts already available for you to just install.
Here’s my top recommendations:

Gmail Smart-Delete Button Modification: Enable to add a “Delete” button on Gmail interface! (more..) Updated: 2005/05/28
Ta-Da List Enhancements: “This script will add your lists to the right hand side of the list page.” (more..) Updated: 2005/06/02
CustomizeGoogle – enhance Google search results by adding links to other useful services.
Webolodeon – keep you out of meaningless web surfing. (more..)
Del.icio.us popularity: Sort listed entries by number of linkers! Very useful.
Bloglines Sidebar Squeezer: If you have so many blogs in bloglines like me, you really want to see more sites on the sidebar. This script able to remove the extraneous header and squishes the text of the sidebar so you can see more feeds at once.
Google Image Re-Linker: “It’s purpose is to make links in Google Image Search point directly to the image, instead of loading up a thumbnail in a frame.” (more..) Updated: 2005/05/28
Hotmail Single Window: Remove the javascript wrapper around hotmail external links which spawn new windows.
Del.icio.us Skinner: Able to beautify del.icio.us.

Link Resources for GreaseMonkey:
General and Scripts:

Development on GreaseMonkey:

Blogs and News on GreaseMonkey:

More and more resource will be added. Stay tuned more on how to speed up your web broswering.

Download of the day: FreeMind

Today download of the day is called FreeMind which is a free mind mapping software which is written in Java.

FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click “fold / unfold” and “follow link” operations.
So you want to write a completely new metaphysics? Why don’t you use FreeMind? You have a tool at hand that remarkably resembles the tray slips of Robert Pirsig, described in his sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance called Lila. Do you want to refactor your essays in a similar way you would refactor software? Or do you want to keep personal knowledge base, which is easy to manage? Why don’t you try FreeMind? Do you want to prioritize, know where you are, where you’ve been and where you are heading, as Stephen Covey would advise you? Have you tried FreeMind to keep track of all the things that are needed for that?

I really like this piece of software as it follows how your brain thinking process. Here I want to quote Peter Russuell on advantages of mind maps to illustrate this point:

Mind maps work the way the brain works — which is not in nice neat lines.
Memory is naturally associative, not linear. Any idea probably has thousands of links in your mind. Mind maps allow associations and links to be recorded and reinforced.
The mind remembers key words and images, not sentences — try recalling just one sentence from memory! Mind maps use just key words and key images, allowing a lot more information to be put on a page.
Because mind maps are more visual and depict associations between key words, they are much easier to recall than linear notes. (For example, although you may not have studied it in depth, see how much of the Home Mind Map of this site you can recall in your mind’s eye.)
Starting from the center of the page rather than top-left corner allows you to work out in all directions.
The organization of a mind map reflects the way your own brain organizes ideas.

In FreeMind, you can visualize the linkages between important keywords by linking them as a tree. By using this program, the information will become more clear for your brain and help you memorize and increase creativities.
lifehack.org rating: 5/5

Download FreeMind

FreeMind requires Java 1.4 or higher.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Quick way to test dead pixels

“I don’t want to install any software to test my LCD!”
“I don’t want to click whole bunch of wizards or dialogs to test my screen!”
I have a solution for you. There is a web site that you only need to click once to test your screen. Remember to clean dirts on your screen before testing it – those dirts on your screen may look like a dead pixel! ;)

So you just bought a superb ultra-flat 25″ LCD monitor, but it looks like there are a few ‘spots’ on it. Depending on how many and it’ll mean return to the vendor or live with it. Or you could be about to buy one in a store and want to make sure there aren’t any dead pixels. Just come to this page !

Dead Pixels Test – [Guillaume Dargaud]

Chrome – Google’s browser is here!

It looks like the beta version of Google’s new browser is available starting today. Haven’t spotted the beta download yet, but Google has attempted to explain the project in an online comic.

The browser’s called “Chrome.” The download page is supposedly here, but at the moment that just redirects to the main Google search page.

Humor: Software Development Cycle

Software doesn’t just appear on the shelves by magic. That program shrink-wrapped inside the box along with the indecipherable manual and 12-paragraph disclaimer notice actually came to you by way of an elaborate path, through the most rigid quality control on the planet. Here, shared for the first time with the general public, are the inside details of the program development cycle.
1. Programmer produces code he believes is bug-free.
2. Product is tested. 20 bugs are found.
3. Programmer fixes 10 of the bugs and explains to the testing department that the other 10 aren’t really bugs.
4. Testing department finds that five of the fixes didn’t work and discovers 15 new bugs.
5. See 3.
6. See 4.
7. See 5.
8. See 6.
9. See 7.
10. See 8.
11. Due to marketing pressure and an extremely pre-mature product announcement based on overly-optimistic programming schedule, the product is released.
12. Users find 137 new bugs.
13. Original programmer, having cashed his royalty check, is nowhere to be found.
14. Newly-assembled programming team fixes almost all of the 137 bugs, but introduce 456 new ones.
15. Original programmer sends underpaid testing department a postcard from Fiji. Entire testing department quits.
16. Company is bought in a hostile takeover by competitor using profits from their latest release, which had 783 bugs.
17. New CEO is brought in by board of directors. He hires programmer to redo program from scratch.
18. Programmer produces code he believes is bug-free….

MySQL 5.5 and Semisynchronous Replication Available

The new 5.5 is now available with “Semisynchronous Replication”. This comes as an addition to the built-in asynchronous replication. MySQL replication is asynchronous by default. Events written to the binary logs on the Master server being retrieved by the slave server(s). Unfortunately, the Master server has no knowledge of when the slave has retrieved or processed these events. As a result, when Master crashes, transactions committed on Master, might have not have been committed on the slave server(s). In other words, there is no guarantee that any event will ever reach any slave.
In case of “Semisynchronous Replication”, the Master server blockes the transaction commit until at least one of the slave servers acknowledges the it has received all the events for that transaction. Obviously, this is great for consistency, however it brings up questions about replication over the WWW which isn’t an uncommon practice. In case of hitting the timeout limit (in case of no response from any of the slave servers), the Master server reverts back to asynchronous replication.
From MySQL support:

""To understand what the “semi” in “semisynchronous replication” means, compare it with asynchronous and fully synchronous replication:
* With asynchronous replication, the master writes events to its binary log and slaves request them when they are ready. There is no guarantee that any event will ever reach any slave.
* With fully synchronous replication, when a master commits a transaction, all slaves also will have committed the transaction before the master returns to the session that performed the transaction. The drawback of this is that there might be a lot of delay to complete a transaction.
* Semisynchronous replication falls between asynchronous and fully synchronous replication. The master waits after commit only until at least one slave has received and logged the events. It does not wait for all slaves to acknowledge receipt, and it requires only receipt, not that the events have been fully executed and committed on the slave side.""

JProfiler: Getting Started

JProfiler helps you find performance bottlenecks, pin down memory leaks and resolve threading issues in your Java application. JProfiler combines CPU, Memory and Thread profiling in one application and is developed by ej-technologies. The latest version at the time of this article is 6.0.

Create and Apply Patch in SVN

Creating a patch file
Creating a patch file is really easy. First, check out the most recent version of the code from Subversion using the ‘checkout’ command.
Make your changes. Then, in the root the project run the following command. It will store the patch file in your home directory. Make sure to give it meaningful filename.

svn diff > ~/fix_bug.diff

The file has the .diff extention, which stands for differences. This extension is recognized by many text editors and enables ’syntax highlighting’ automatically. (Give it a try with TextMate and you’ll know what I mean.) You can send the diff-file to the author of the project by email, or you can create a ticket in Trac and add it as an attachment. The author will review the changes you made and possibly apply them to the source.

Applying a patch
You should never apply patches from any person other than your development team without first reading through the changes, apply them locally and test your application and then commit them. Patches can not only include bug fixes, but also alterations to create back doors or add other exploits to your code.

Always read through a patch before applying it!

When you are sure the patch will bring no harm to you, your application or your customers, go ahead an apply it to your working copy. Here, I assume that you downloaded the patch file we previously generated, and placed it in your home directory. In the root of your application now run:

patch -p0 -i ~/fix_bug.diff

This will apply all the changes in the patch to your source. The -p0 option makes sure that all files can be found correctly (this has to do with something called ‘zero directories’, I won’t get into that right now). The -i option tells ‘patch’ what to use as input, in this case the ‘fix_bug.diff’ file in your home directory.
With the code changes in place, run your tests and make sure everything works as expected. If it does, commit your changes.

MySQL: Number of Databases

The query to find the total number of databases can be found by executing the following query:



select count(*) from information_schema.SCHEMATA where schema_name not in

('mysql','information_schema');

MySQL – Poor Man’s Profiler

Rationale

Sampling tools like oprofile or dtrace’s profile provider don’t really provide methods to see what [multithreaded] programs are blocking on – only where they spend CPU time. Though there exist advanced techniques (such as systemtap and dtrace call level probes), it is overkill to build upon that. Poor man doesn’t have time. Poor man needs food.

Method

For a poor developer to understand what a program is doing, he needs to see stacks. Once upon a time (back in Linux 2.4) there was a ‘pstack’ tool for that, Solaris has it too.
Modern Linux systems though do not have such facilities, and one needs to improvise, like.. use debuggers – they can walk threads and provide stacks.

Technology

Getting stacks:

gdb -ex "set pagination 0" -ex "thread apply all bt" \
  --batch -p $(pidof mysqld)

Or for version-impaired (gdb 6.3 and older):

(echo "set pagination 0";
 echo "thread apply all bt";
 echo "quit"; cat /dev/zero ) | gdb -p $(pidof mysqld)

Collapsing traces (awk!):

BEGIN { s = ""; }
/Thread/ { print s; s = ""; }
/^\#/ { if (s != "" ) { s = s "," $4} else { s = $4 } }
END { print s }

Full technology demonstration:

#!/bin/bash
nsamples=1
sleeptime=0
pid=$(pidof mysqld)

for x in $(seq 1 $nsamples)
  do
    gdb -ex "set pagination 0" -ex "thread apply all bt" -batch -p $pid
    sleep $sleeptime
  done | \
awk '
  BEGIN { s = ""; }
  /Thread/ { print s; s = ""; }
  /^\#/ { if (s != "" ) { s = s "," $4} else { s = $4 } }
  END { print s }' | \
sort | uniq -c | sort -r -n -k 1,1

Output

291 pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2,one_thread_per_connection_end,handle_one_connection
 57 read,my_real_read,my_net_read,do_command,handle_one_connection,start_thread
 26 pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2,os_event_wait_low,os_aio_simulated_handle,fil_aio_wait,io_handler_thread,start_thread
  3 pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2,os_event_wait_low,srv_purge_worker_thread
  1 select,os_thread_sleep,srv_purge_thread
  1 select,os_thread_sleep,srv_master_thread
  1 select,os_thread_sleep,srv_lock_timeout_and_monitor_thread
  1 select,os_thread_sleep,srv_error_monitor_thread
  1 select,handle_connections_sockets,main,select
  1 read,vio_read_buff,my_real_read,my_net_read,cli_safe_read,handle_slave_io
  1 pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2,os_event_wait_low,sync_array_wait_event,rw_lock_s_lock_spin,buf_page_get_gen,btr_cur_search_to_nth_level,row_search_for_mysql,ha_innodb::index_read,handler::index_read_idx_map,join_read_const,join_read_const_table,make_join_statistics,JOIN::optimize,mysql_select,handle_select,execute_sqlcom_select,mysql_execute_command,mysql_parse,dispatch_command,do_command,handle_one_connection
  1 pread64,os_file_pread,os_file_read,fil_io,buf_read_page_low,buf_read_page,buf_page_get_gen,btr_cur_search_to_nth_level,row_search_index_entry,row_upd_step,row_update_for_mysql,ha_innodb::delete_row,handler::ha_delete_row,mysql_delete,mysql_execute_command,mysql_parse,Query_log_event::do_apply_event,apply_event_and_update_pos,handle_slave_sql
  1 pread64,os_file_pread,os_file_read,fil_io,buf_read_page_low,buf_read_page,buf_page_get_gen,btr_cur_search_to_nth_level,row_search_for_mysql,ha_innodb::index_read,handler::index_read_idx_map,join_read_const,join_read_const_table,make_join_statistics,JOIN::optimize,mysql_select,handle_select,execute_sqlcom_select,mysql_execute_command,mysql_parse,dispatch_command,do_command,handle_one_connection
  1 do_sigwait,sigwait,signal_hand

Success stories and references

We hear this technology has been used by performance engineers at Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, Intel, Sun Microsystems and other places.

Baron Schwartz
Mikael Ronstrom
Mark Callaghan

Credits
PoorMansProfiler on Facebook
Originally this technology was released as a collaborative effort by Mark Callaghan and Domas Mituzas

Extract RPM package without installing it

Extract RPM file using rpm2cpio and cpio command:



$ rpm2cpio any_rpm_package.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idmv

Check Ram Speed and Type

How do I check RAM speed and type (line DDR or DDR2) without opening my computer? I need to purchase RAM and I need to know the exact speed and type installed. How do I find out ram information from a shell prompt?



$ sudo dmidecode --type 17

dmidecode is a tool for dumping a computer’s DMI (some say SMBIOS) table contents in a human-readable format. This table contains a description of the system’s hardware components, as well as other useful pieces of information such as serial numbers and BIOS revision. Thanks to this table, you can retrieve this information without having to probe for the actual hardware. While this is a good point in terms of report speed and safeness, this also makes the presented information possibly unreliable.

Limiting Pause Time with G1 Collector

G1 collector is concurrent and parallel with more predictability and better useability. It splits the heap into regions and young and old generational spaces are organized in sets of regions. This eliminates the need to fine tune “NewSize/MaxNewSize”. G1 also provides incremental compaction in those regions by “evacuating” the regions that are full and fragmented. To try this G1 collector, you’ll need the aforementioned Fix Pack/Update and the following JVM options:

-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+UseG1GC
In addition, the following options can be used to adjust G1′s characteristics:
To set the max GC pause time goal in milliseconds that G1 will attempt to meet:

-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis
To set the time interval over which GC pauses totaling up to MaxGCPauseMillis may take place:

-XX:GCPauseIntervalMillis
For more information about G1 (how it operates, more options, etc.) see Java HotSpot Garbage Collection.

Hung, Deadlocked, or Looping Process

Print thread stack for all Java threads:
- Control-\
- kill -QUIT pid
- jstack pid (or jstack -F pid if jstack pid does not respond)
Detect deadlocks:
- Request deadlock detection: JConsole tool, Threads tab
- Print information on deadlocked threads: Control-\
- Print list of concurrent locks owned by each thread: -XX:+PrintConcurrentLocks set, then Control-\
- Print lock information for a process: jstack -l pid
Get a heap histogram for a process:
- Start Java process with -XX:+PrintClassHistogram, then Control-\
- jmap -histo pid (with -F option if pid does not respond)
Dump Java heap for a process in binary format to file:
- jmap -dump:format=b,file=filename pid (with -F option if pid does not respond)
Print shared object mappings for a process:
- jmap pid
Print heap summary for a process:
- Control-\
- jmap -heap pid
Print finalization information for a process:
- jmap -finalizerinfo pid
Attach the command-line debugger to a process:
- jdb -connect sun.jvm.hotspot.jdi.SAPIDAttachingConnector:pid=pid

Post-mortem Diagnostics, Memory Leaks

Examine the fatal error log file. Default file name is hs_err_pidpid.log in the working-directory.
Create a heap dump:
- Start the application with HPROF enabled: java -agentlib:hprof=file=file,format=bapplication; then Control-\
- Start the application with HPROF enabled: java -agentlib:hprof=heap=dump application
- JConsole tool, MBeans tab
- Start VM with -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError; if OutOfMemoryError is thrown, VM generates a heap dump.
Browse Java heap dump:
- jhat heap-dump-file
Dump Java heap from core file in binary format to a file:
- jmap -dump:format=b,file=filename corefile
Get a heap histogram for a process:
- Start Java process with -XX:+PrintClassHistogram, then Control-\
- jmap -histo pid (with -F option if pid does not respond)
Get a heap histogram from a core file:
- jmap -histo corefile
Print shared object mappings from a core file:
- jmap corefile
Print heap summary from a core file:
- jmap -heap corefile
Print finalization information from a core file:
- jmap -finalizerinfo corefile
Print Java configuration information from a core file:
- jinfo corefile
Print thread trace from a core file:
- jstack corefile
Print lock information from a core file:
- jstack -l corefile
Attach the command-line debugger to a core file on the same machine:
- jdb -connect sun.jvm.hotspot.jdi.SACoreAttachingConnector:javaExecutable=path,core=corefile
Attach the command-line debugger to a core file on a different machine:
- On the machine with the core file: jsadebugd path corefile
  and on the machine with the debugger: jdb -connect sun.jvm.hotspot.jdi.SADebugServerAttachingConnector:debugServerName=machine
libumem can be used to debug memory leaks.

Java: Insufficient Memory

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM)* has the following types of memory: heap, non-heap, and native.
Heap memory is the runtime data area from which memory for all class instances and arrays is allocated. Non-heap memory includes the method area and memory required for the internal processing or optimization of the JVM. It stores per-class structures such as a runtime constant pool, field and method data, and the code for methods and constructors. Native memory is the virtual memory managed by the operating system. When the memory is insufficient for an application to allocate, a java.lang.Out OfMemoryError will be thrown.
Following are the possible error messages for Out Of Memory Errors in each type of memory:

Heap memory error: When an application creates a new object but the heap does not have sufficient space and cannot be expanded further, an OutOfMemoryError will be thrown with the following error message:



java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space

Non-heap memory error: The permanent generation is a non-heap memory area in the HotSpot VM implementation that stores per-class structures as well as interned strings. When the permanent generation is full, the application will fail to load a class or to allocate an interned string, and an OutOfMemory Error will be thrown with the following error message:



java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space

Native memory error: The Java Native Interface (JNI) code or the native library of an application and the JVM implementation allocate memory from the native heap. An OutOfMemoryError will be thrown when an allocation in the native heap fails. For example, the following error message indicates insufficient swap space, which could be caused by a configuration issue in the operating system or by another process in the system that is consuming much of the memory:

j

ava.lang.OutOfMemoryError: request  bytes for .

Out of swap space?

An insufficient memory problem could be due either to a problem with the configuration — the application really needs that much memory — or to a performance problem in the application that requires you to profile and optimize to reduce the memory use.

You can find more information at http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/J2SE/monitoring/

Check Ram Speed and Type



$ sudo dmidecode --type 17

15 Coolest Firefox Tricks Ever

Everybody’s favorite open-source browser, Firefox, is great right out of the box. And by adding some of the awesome extensions available out there, the browser just gets better and better.

But look under the hood, and there are a bunch of hidden (and some not-so-secret) tips and tricks available that will crank Firefox up and pimp your browser. Make it faster, cooler, more efficient. Get to be a Jedi master with the following cool Firefox tricks.

1) More screen space.
Make your icons small. Go to View – Toolbars – Customize and check the “Use small icons” box.
2) Smart keywords.
If there’s a search you use a lot (let’s say IMDB.com’s people search), this is an awesome tool that not many people use. Right-click on the search box, select “Add a Keyword for this search”, give the keyword a name and an easy-to-type and easy-to-remember shortcut name (let’s say “actor”) and save it. Now, when you want to do an actor search, go to Firefox’s address bar, type “actor” and the name of the actor and press return. Instant search! You can do this with any search box.
3) Keyboard shortcuts. This is where you become a real Jedi. It just takes a little while to learn these, but once you do, your browsing will be super fast. Here are some of the most common (and my personal favs):

Spacebar (page down)
Shift-Spacebar (page up)
Ctrl+F (find)
Alt-N (find next)
Ctrl+D (bookmark page)
Ctrl+T (new tab)
Ctrl+K (go to search box)
Ctrl+L (go to address bar)
Ctrl+= (increase text size)
Ctrl+- (decrease text size)
Ctrl-W (close tab)
F5 (reload)
Alt-Home (go to home page)

4) Auto-complete. This is another keyboard shortcut, but it’s not commonly known and very useful. Go to the address bar (Control-L) and type the name of the site without the “www” or the “.com”. Let’s say “google”. Then press Control-Enter, and it will automatically fill in the “www” and the “.com” and take you there – like magic! For .net addresses, press Shift-Enter, and for .org addresses, press Control-Shift-Enter.

5) Tab navigation. Instead of using the mouse to select different tabs that you have open, use the keyboard. Here are the shortcuts:

Ctrl+Tab (rotate forward among tabs)
Ctrl+Shft+Tab (rotate to the previous tab)
Ctrl+1-9 (choose a number to jump to a specific tab)

6) Mouse shortcuts. Sometimes you’re already using your mouse and it’s easier to use a mouse shortcut than to go back to the keyboard. Master these cool ones:

Middle click on link (opens in new tab)
Shift-scroll down (previous page)
Shift-scroll up (next page)
Ctrl-scroll up (decrease text size)
Ctrl-scroll down (increase text size)
Middle click on a tab (closes tab)

7) Delete items from address bar history. Firefox’s ability to automatically show previous URLs you’ve visited, as you type, in the address bar’s drop-down history menu is very cool. But sometimes you just don’t want those URLs to show up (I won’t ask why). Go to the address bar (Ctrl-L), start typing an address, and the drop-down menu will appear with the URLs of pages you’ve visited with those letters in them. Use the down-arrow to go down to an address you want to delete, and press the Delete key to make it disappear.

11) Add a keyword for a bookmark. Go to your bookmarks much faster by giving them keywords. Right-click the bookmark and then select Properties. Put a short keyword in the keyword field, save it, and now you can type that keyword in the address bar and it will go to that bookmark.

12) Speed up Firefox. If you have a broadband connection (and most of us do), you can use pipelining to speed up your page loads. This allows Firefox to load multiple things on a page at once, instead of one at a time (by default, it’s optimized for dialup connections). Here’s how:

Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit return. Type “network.http” in the filter field, and change the following settings (double-click on them to change them):
Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true”
Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true”
Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to a number like 30. This will allow it to make 30 requests at once.
Also, right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0″. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

13) Limit RAM usage. If Firefox takes up too much memory on your computer, you can limit the amount of RAM it is allowed to us. Again, go to about:config, filter “browser.cache” and select “browser.cache.disk.capacity”. It’s set to 50000, but you can lower it, depending on how much memory you have. Try 15000 if you have between 512MB and 1GB ram.

14) Reduce RAM usage further for when Firefox is minimized. This setting will move Firefox to your hard drive when you minimize it, taking up much less memory. And there is no noticeable difference in speed when you restore Firefox, so it’s definitely worth a go. Again, go to about:config, right-click anywhere and select New-> Boolean. Name it “config.trim_on_minimize” and set it to TRUE. You have to restart Firefox for these settings to take effect.

15) Move or remove the close tab button. Do you accidentally click on the close button of Firefox’s tabs? You can move them or remove them, again through about:config. Edit the preference for “browser.tabs.closeButtons”. Here are the meanings of each value:

0: Display a close button on the active tab only
1:(Default) Display close buttons on all tabs
2:Don’t display any close buttons
3:Display a single close button at the end of the tab bar (Firefox 1.x behavior)

Got any favorite Firefox tips or tricks of your own? Let us know in the comments.

iPad 2

Apple released their redesigned iPad, the iPad 2 featuring dual camera, faster A5 1Ghz dual core processor and thin form factor and available in WiFi or WiFi + 3G models.

Specs sheet of iPad 2 is as follows,

A5 Dual Core 1Ghz processor which is 2x faster in speed and 9x faster in graphics as compared the predecessor iPad
512 MB RAM
9.5 x 7.31 inches size, and only 8.8mm thick weight only 1.33lbs
10 Hours of battery time
Storage capacity 16 GB/ 32 GB / 64 GB
Connectivity has Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology and 3G
9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with 1024 x 768 resolution
Back camera can record HD 720p video upto 30fps with audio and still camera has 5x digital zoom, front camera is VGA quality and can record upto 30fps with audio
30-pin dock connector, 3.5mm stereo headphone connector, built-in microphone and speakers
Accelerometer, gyro and Ambient Light Sensor

Apple has made their new iPad 2 33% slimmer than previous iPad. New iPad is much more powerful because of the new A5 dual core processor, this new A5 has two cores on a single chip so twice the work can be done in time taken by previous iPad. A5 processor is also much more powerful in-terms of graphics. iPad 1 has 256 MB RAM in it but this new iPad 2 has 512 MB RAM which also makes it faster than before.

Even having such power and slimmer design than previous iPad, new iPad 2 will still offer 10 hours of battery time while continuous use with WiFi turned on and while using 3G network battery will last for about 9 hours. As for the camera fun, iPad 2 has front face camera also which will now let you do video calling, so now you can video talk face to face.

iPad 2 supports 9.7 inch LED-backlit display with resolution of 1024 x 768. This multi-touch display will turn your touch in lifelike experiences supporting the pinches, flips and swipes like touches and with the sensors of iPad2, it will move as you say. You can rotate iPad 2 in landscape or portrait mode. Also these sensors will enhance your gaming experience while sensing where the iPad is heading is where it is turning.

LaCie Little Big Disk

LaCie has introduced their new external hard drive product named as Little Big Disk a 240 / 500 GB SSD or 1TB 7200rpm Hard disk featuring Intel Thunderbolthigh speed data transfer interface. This LaCie Little Big Disk will be able to exhibit the lightening speedsof 10Gb/s offered by thunderbolt interface which makes sure that a full length HD movie is transferred in less than 30 sec.
LaCie Little Big Disk has Aluminum heat sink design for fan-less, quieter operation. Little Big Disk supports 2 thunderbolt interfaces on its back which provides the ability to connect up to 6 computer peripherals in a daisy-chain. Featuring such lot of interface speed combined with the speed and reliability of SSD enclosed in LaCie Little Big Disk this product is ideal for multimedia professionals. Little Big Disk is expected to hit markets in 2nd Quarter of 2011.

Hidden attribute in folder options is disabled

Yesterday I attached my USB Flash drive containing important data to a friend’s computer and when took back, my computer’s antivirus, Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1000 alerted me that USB Flash drive is packed with viruses. After cleaning USB from viruses I realized that all folders having important data are now hidden. I tried to change hidden attribute of folder my right clicking it but found out that folder hidden attribute is disabled by Virus.
So, to unhide all of the folders / files of my USB I used the DOS attrib command. Simply using attrib –h on any folder / file will clear its hidden attribute. But in cases like these where viruses changes folders / files attributes it’s better to clear Read Only, System and Hidden Attribute from your data. To illustrate in more detail what I did in my scenario, below are the steps.

Goto command prompt
Change your working directory to driver letter of USB drive, for example type H:
Now type the command attrib –r –s –h /s /d

Where,
-r will clear the Read Only Attribute
-s will clear the System file Attribute
-h will clear the Hidden file Attribute
/s will apply above command to all files in working directory (USB drive H: in our case)
/d will apply above command to all folders in working directory (USB drive H: in our case)

Intel 510 Series SSD

Intel announced its brand new Solid State Drive 510 Series products, ideal for gamers, media creators new SSDs are SATA III interface supported and are available in 120 GB and 250 GB capacity.

Intel new 510 series SSD product line will truly harness the high speed SATA bus interface of new 2nd generation Intel processors. As 510 series SSD has 6 GB/s interface, it will truly in outperform the traditional 10,000rpm HDs by 50% in fast performance. SSDs are a lot faster than magnetic hard drives causing reduce system boot times, launch applications and files faster, resulting in noticeable improvement. As SSDs have no moving parts so they runs quitter and cooler and are more reliable.

Intel SSD 510 Series 34-nanometer NAND flash memory to deliver 500MB/s sequential read speeds and up to 315 MB/s write for its high-capacity model. According to Intel 510 Series SSD of 250GB capacity is priced at $584 and 120GB at $284

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Rashid Minhas Shaheed

Army No:	PAF 5602
Rank:	Pilot Officer
Name:	Rashid Minhas
Awards:	Nishan i Haider
Arm / Service:	PAF
Operation:	Training Flight - 1971
Date of Shahadat:	20 August 1971
Place of Shahadat:	32 miles short of the eastern border

China supports Pak’s sovereignty, territorial integrity

ISLAMABAD: China on Tuesday categorically extended full support to Pakistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and vowed to work with it for progress and peace in the region and the world.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani who met the Deputy Premier of China Meng Jianzhu here at the PM House termed China as its close friend.

He said a friend of China is Pakistan’s friend, its enemy Pakistan’s enemy and China’s security Pakistan’s security. He said the two countries together can progress and prosper and bring the dividends of development to their people.

The meeting was also attended by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Ambassadors of both the countries.

Chinese Deputy Prime Minister said Pakistan was the only country enjoying all-weather friendship with China.

PM directs Khar to end US visit, return home

ISLAMABAD: In a sharply changing scenario in the backdrop of tense US-Pakistan relations, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Sunday cut Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's visit to US and directed her to immediately head back home,
Hina Rabbani has been on a US visit to represent Pakistan at United Nations General Assembly session. During her tour she also met the US President Barack Obama on Friday.

Today she was directed by the government to end her visit and come back to Pakistan for consultations in the wake of rapidly deteriorating Pak-US ties.

It is expected that Hina Rabbani will return home within the next couple of days.
Lets see what will be the next thing between These two Allies

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

ISLAMABAD: US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter met Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in Islamabad today at the Foreign Ministry, Geo News reported.

Bilateral relations, security of the region and the current status of ties between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

This was Munter's second meeting with the foreign secretary in 24 hours.

In Monday's meeting both the officials agreed on dialogue and deeper engagement at all levels.

The meetings come as ties between both the two allies are on a downward spiral following the US accusations of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) being linked with the Haqqani Network US blames for attack on its embassy in Kabul.

Pakistan has dismissed the US accusations and said these would only worsen the relationship between the two countries.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Amazing and Interesting

Man wins dumpling eating contest, dies

KIEV: A 77-year-old Ukrainian man won a jar full of sour cream for coming first in a dumpling eating contest and then promptly died, local media reported on Wednesday.

Ivan Mendel ate 10 dumplings in half a minute to win first place and a one-liter jar of sour cream in the contest held in the town of Tokmak in the southeastern Zaporizhya region on September 18, Fakty I Kommentarii newspaper said.

Shortly afterwards, Mendel became unwell and died, according to local news websites.

Dumplings, called "vareniki" in the former Soviet republic, are a staple of Ukrainian cuisine and are often stuffed with a range of fillings from mushrooms to cherries. (Reuters)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Welcome To Pakistan - The Land of Adventure and Nature

From the mighty stretches of the Karakorams in the North to the vast alluvial delta of the Indus River in the South, Pakistan remains a land of high adventure and nature. Trekking, mountaineering, white water rafting, wild boar hunting, mountain and desert jeep safaris, camel and yak safaris, trout fishing and bird watching, are a few activities, which entice the adventure and nature lovers to Pakistan.

Pakistan is endowed with a rich and varied flora and fauna. High Himalayas, Karakoram and the Hindukush ranges with their alpine meadows and permanent snow line, coniferous forests down the sub-mountain scrub, the vast Indus plain merging into the great desert, the coast line and wetlands, all offer a remarkably rich variety of vegetation and associated wildlife including avifauna, both endemic and migratory. Ten of 18 mammalian orders are represented in Pakistan with species ranging from the world's smallest surviving mammals, the Mediterranean Pigmy Shrew, to the largest mammal ever known; the blue whale.

Lok Virsa - Folk Festival

The largest cultural activity in Pakistan is the annual National Folk Festival (Lok Mela), held in October each year. Over the past two decades, this festival has taken on an international flavour and more than 20 different countries have sent their artisans and performers to participate in the festival. Nationally, the festival has become a thing of pride for artisans and performers, who come on their own to participate. Most important of all, the Provinces of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir put up beautifully decorated pavilions and visitors have the unique opportunity to see an assortment of Pakistan's traditionally rich culture in the federal capital of Islamabad for an exciting ten days. An exhibition of artisans at work under the banner of the Heritage Museum forms the core of this festival. The Research & Media Centre of Lok Virsa arranges groups of dancers that perform all over the festival grounds, inviting visitors to join in, and in the evening, arranges music concerts from all parts of Pakistan. Documentation of the festival is carried out by Lok Virsa's researchers, who interview all the artisans and artists.
Festival Highlights
Participants come from all over Pakistan. You would be able to feel and experience the variety in tastes, cultures and heritage of Pakistan all under one roof. One may find different pavilions displaying the crafts of their respective provinces. The Kashmir pavilion may display major crafts from Azad Jammu and Kashmir like Embroidered shawls, Namda and Gabba (floor rungs and wall hangings), wood works, basketry, metal crafts and jewellery etc. The Punjab Pavilion may host traditional food items along with singing and listening pleasures of Punjab folk songs. Punjabi style handicrafts also manages to catch viewer attention. From the Balochistan pavilion one may expect to get depictions of nomadic balochi life styles and traditional artisans displaying their skills of various Baloch crafts. Leather embroidery crafts and crafts using date leaves are also prime choices of interest in this pavilion. Apart from this one may expect to get a taste of Balochi folk songs and their all famous dish called "Sajji". The Sindh pavilion may offer depcitions of Sindh life style, village scenes and working men and women. Artisans preparing different crafts and their traditional folk songs and instruments. "Ajrak" a traditionally made shawl is by far the most highlighted attraction of this pavilion. The N.W.F.P Pavilion features the pushtoon culture, customs, crafts and cuisine. Glittering metal crafts of Brass and Copper are displayed in a great variety along with stalls of traditonally made baskets. Stone carving which was traditionally done on tomb stones is also shown in a diversified fashion which can be used on planters, table tops and wall hangings. Along with this Pathan dancers perform their famous "Khattack Dance" and offer their traditional "Chappli Kebab" for your eating pleasures. Apart from these pavilions one may witness all kinds of cuisine, musical galas, crafts bazar, lok virsa's display and sale stalls. A richly cherishable experience bound to create a lasting impression.

SIBI MELA

Sibi lies 163 Kms. – 3 hrs. drive to the south east of Quetta at the mouth of the famous “Bolan Pass”. Since the 15th century, this town has been the meeting place of all the tribal chiefs of the area. The British carried on this tradition in the shape of an annual “Darbar” or meeting, combining it with a ‘Mela” (fair) where thousands of Baluchi tribesmen gathered along with their animals in mid February. This tradition still carries on and every year during February, Sibi has its famous SIBI MELA, where tribesmen flock from all over Baluchistan, parts of Sind and Punjab with their animals. The salient features of this “Mela” are horse and cattle and cultural shows, tent pegging, camel races, animal markets and exhibitions of handicrafts, tribal dresses and folk dances.

Fairs & Festivals

The geographical area comprising Pakistan has been the cradle of some of the most ancient and greatest civilizations the world has seen, giving it a very rich and diverse cultural heritage which manifests itself in hundreds of festivals held all over the country, every year. The festivals are held not only in the cities and towns but also in remote villages at different times of the year.

These festivals and fairs include animal markets, horse and camel races, Camel wrestling, folk dance and music shows, handicraft stalls besides various other activities reflecting the local culture and customs.

As these fairs are held at different times of the year all over the country, a visit to one of these can easily be included in your tour program. Following are some of the interesting festivals held in Pakistan. Please contact us for full details and confirmed dates of the fairs and festivals.

Shandur Polo Festival

Polo at the peak

Passion for Polo will be the highest on the world’s highest Polo ground. Every year, Shandur (3,734 meters) invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament between the teams of Chitral and Gilgit from 7th to 9th July. The festival also includes folk music, folk dance, traditional sports and a camping village is be set up on the Pass.
Polo is an equestrian sport with its origin embedded in Central Asia dating back to 6th century BC. At first it was a training game for cavalry units for the King’s guards or other elite troops. To the warlike tribesmen who played polo with as many as 100 players to a side, it was a miniature battle. It became a Persian national game in the 6th century AD. From Persia, the game spread to Arabia, then to Tibet, China and Japan. In China, in the year 910, death of a favourite relative in a game prompted Emperor Apao-Chi to order beheading of all players!
Polo was introduced in South Asia, by the Muslim conquerors in the 13th century. English word ‘Polo” is in fact a Balti word meaning, “ball”. In ancient times, there was no limit to the number of players and no time limit. Whichever team scored nine goals first, became the winner. Today, there are six players to each side, but this is by no means a rule in local polo games. The game lasts for one hour with a ten-minute break.
Gilgit, Chitral and Skardu have always played the game of polo closest to its original form. In the past, local Rajas, Mirs and Mehtars were the patrons of the game. At times, more than 50% of the annual budget of their principalities was spent on supporting the game.

Highlights of the Festival
Passion for Polo will be the highest on the world's highest Polo ground. Shandur invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament between the teams of Chitral and during the 2nd week of July. The tournament is held on Shandur Pass, the highest polo ground in the world at 3,700 meters. The festival will also include folk music and dancing and a camping village is set up.

Background
Polo is an equestrian sport with its origin embedded in Central Asia dating back to 6th century BC. At first it was a training game for cavalry units for the King's guards or other elite troops. To the war like tribesmen who played polo with as many as 100 players to a side, it was a miniature battle. It became a Persian national game in the 6th century AD. From Persia, the game spread to Arabia, then to Tibet, China and Japan. In China, in the year 910, death of a favorite relative in a game prompted Emperor Apao-Chi to order beheading of all players!
Polo was introduced in South Asia, by the Muslim conquerors in the 13th century. English word 'Polo" is a Balti word meaning, 'ball'. Now a days, there are six players to a side, but this is by no means a rule in local polo games. There was no limit to the number of players and no time limit. Whichever team scored nine goals first, was the winner. The present game with a team of six players in a side, lasts one hour with a ten minute break.
Gilgit, Chitral and Skardu have always played the game of polo closest to its original form. In the past, local Rajas, Mirs and Mehtars were the patrons of the game. At times, more than 50% of the annual budget of their principalities would be spent on supporting the game.

Shandur Polo Tournament:
The first time a polo tournament took place at the Shandur Pass, was in 1936. A British Political Agent, Major Cobb, who was fond of playing polo under a full moon, had the polo ground near Shandur, named. 'Moony Polo Ground'.
The most exciting polo tournament of the entire Northern Pakistan, is played on top of Shandur Pass, around 3,700 meters above sea level. It is a place unique and exotic in itself, surrounded by some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. The event marks the annual rivalry between the polo teams of Gilgit and Chitral. The Polo tournament has some added attractions for the visitors; trout fishing at the nearby streams and lakes and a festival of folk dances and music of the Northern Pakistan.
The highlight of the festival is the final match between the Gilgit and Chitral teams. The final provides a most colorful spectacle. Supporters of both sides travel long distances from the remote parts of Chitral and Gilgit, to watch the thrilling game. The event, as such, offers a fascinating insight into the lifestyle of the people of this region. Their culture and indigenous customs are a delight to behold for the visitors.

Festival Information
It is advisable to be there one day in advance to enjoy all the offerings of the festival. Activities at Shandur includes dance and music performances by different groups, trout fishing, mountaineering, trekking, hiking and of course, horse riding. Crystal clear lakes, snow covered mountains, alpine flowers and vast stretches of green grass, are added attractions.

Facilities
A tourist tent village with restaurant facilities is sprung up during the tournament. Merchants from Peshawar, Chitral and Gilgit set up souvenir and folk craft shops. The tournament offers visitors and opportunity to mix with the locals.

How to reach?
The Shandur Pass lies almost midway between Chitral and Gilgit on a jeep road, traveling on which, is adventurous, to say the least. The distance from either side is 170 km. One can get to Chitral or Gilgit by Pakistan International's daily F27 Fokker planes form Peshawar and Islamabad. There are daily two flights from both destinations, subject to good weather. Visitors planning to go by air must expect adjustment of minimum 02 days in their itineraries just in case the weather does not permit flights to operate.

Access to Chitral by road is either from Peshawar or from Islamabad. Both these routes join up in lower Swat valley near Chakdara, from where you proceed via Dir over 3200 meters high Lowari Pass and on to Chitral. It will take about 11 hours for a direct ride, otherwise, a stopover in Dir is recommended. From Dir, you shift to 4x4 jeeps for your onward journey to Chitral and on to Shandur. From Chitral side, travelers can also enjoy overnight stay at Mastuj whereas from Gilgit side, Gupis is a suitable place.
Travelling by road from Islamabad, on the Karakoram Highway (the Silk Route), visitors can stop at halfway for overnight stay along the mighty Indus, at Besham.

Accommodation
For visitors to Shandur, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has set up its new motels with all facilities like, attached toilet/bathroom, hot/cold water, restaurant etc, at Panah Kot (Dir), Chitral, Bamburet (Kalash Valley), Besham (KKH), Barseen (KKH) and Gilgit, besides some private hotels. On the Pass, a tent village with all facilities is set up.

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