Monthly Archives: November 2006

Tango with Micro(soft)

THE ZUNE

Zune is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iPod and for those of you who have been hiding under a rock for the past few years the ipod is a portable media players and was so much of a success that this generation is deemed to be referred as the iPod generation. Microsoft Zune was introduces in the US market as a 30 GB model on November 14, 2006, with a price tag of $249.99.

Zune comes equipped with a 30 GB hard drive, built-in FM tuner with Radio Data System, 3.0-inch screen, and Wi-Fi networking. For audio, Zune supports MP3, WMA and AAC. Zune supports Microsoft’s WMV movie format, and the Zune software will transcode MPEG4 and H.264 video to synchronize onto the device.

The key difference between Zune and other competing players is its Zune-to-Zune Wi-Fi feature which enables the limited sharing of songs, recordings, playlists and pictures with others. Tracks received from another person can be played for up to three days or three plays, whichever comes first, after which it expires unless purchased or downloaded via the Zune Marketplace online.

For those of you who have been awfully good in the past and whose parents have made the awful mistake of buying you an Xbox 360, I have good news and that is that Zune syncs up with the 360 and hence gives you an all round entertainment experience if your TV is connected with Bose speakers or the like. Imagine….Bliss.

Another key feature in the Zune is the fact that its wall paper can be changed to any user-specified image which is something that’s isn’t possible in an ipod. Weighing only 160 grams the Zune can turn out to be the iPod killer in the distant future if Microsoft spends heavily on advertising and coming up with “cool” advertisements, which is highly unlikely.

Anyhoo, Cnet gives the gadget an 8 which is quite good. So, if don’t own a portable media player as of yet, you do have one more option rather than one less to jump onto the bandwagon.

Stay Tuned

–Manas

Exun 2006 – A big success

I think – Gursartaj and Dhruv did an extremely great job during Exun 2006 inspiring all the members by truly following the Exun motto – “We Not I”. On behalf of the School and Exun, I congratulate both of them and wish them the very best in their careers.

Sidhharth and Mohit worked like the backbone during both the major events Roboknight and Exun – Thanks.

I cant miss out the silent worker at registration desk – Yes I hope you know this person very well whose work speaks on its own – I am extremely impressed by Rohit.

The presidents have already given an excellent and realistic views about each members’ contribution during Exun 2006 – I too share the same with them. A big thanks to each member for their contribution in making Exun 2006 – A Big Success.

I thank all my department members – Suji Gopalan, Mohitendra Dey, Romi Sharma, Sangeeta Rana, Anita Rathi, Shalini Harisukh, Manisha Vedehra, Sarika Kaushal, Ajithkumar K.G. , Arbinda Mohanty, Manpreet Kaur, Richa, Shekhar Sharma, Anup Jacob, Diny Mathew, C.A. Thomas, Dilbagh Singh, Gunanand Tiwari, Vijay Lal and Shankar Giri for their support in making this event – simply terrific.

I also thank all the support staff of the school for their great contribution (Special mention – Bhim, Makan, Ram Singh and Ramjas).

I thank the Principal for her constant inspiration, guidance and moreover for providing us a free platform to turn our dreams into reality.

Lastly, I thank Mr. Nitin Heeranandani, HP for the sponsorship and his presence during Exun 2006 Inaugural and Concluding functions.

We work as a TEAM – we Excel

Mukesh

Exun 2006

For the people who made Exun a success

Adideva Sekhri
Hes the youngest Exun member and probably the cutest so far. I would like to thank him for the humour he put into the whole event. Go Adi!

Shubham Goel, Rishabh Marya and Tanay Padhi
These three new-comers did a phenomenal job. Every task assigned to them was completed on time and with great care. Their enthusiasm was inspiring. These three truly are among the rising stars of Exun. I am happy to say that the future of Exun is in safe hands.

Aditya Jain, R. Dwarkesh, Sobhagya Jose and Sakshi Gupta
Escort duty: One of the hardest and most demanding duties that can be given to an Exun member. It is the true test of an Exun member’s dedication and willingness to work. All of them passed this test with “flying colours”.

Varun Khetarpal, Sahil Bajaj and Bharat Agarwal were responsible for updating the www.exunclan.com in real-time as the results for each event came out. With the able guidance of Varun, the persistence of Sahil and Bharat’s willingness to work, the website was always updated on time. Bharat who is traditionally not a “web” person, I’m sure, has discovered a new niche for himself in handling such tasks.

Ishaan Chugh, Akul Dayal, Anant Jain, Aayush Kumar, and Abhijit Das
They helped around everywhere, wherever they were needed. They even filled in at the registration desk, the help desk and even helped out with the famous food duty.

Vansh Muttreja for managing the Help Desk with Rasagy and helping to coordinate the Group Discussion. Way to go Boy.

Rijul Jain and Ankit Srivastava handled Judge Care and judging by the judge’s happy faces, they must have done a brilliant job.

Aviral Goyal and Gaurav Misra
Credit for all photographs and videos of Exun goes to Gaurav and Aviral, the two guys who could always be seen carrying a camera in their hands, clicking away relentlessly.

Utkarsh Ohm
Also on escort duty, Utkarsh managed the participants with aplomb. Guiding them from the registration desk to the AVH, he worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone knew where to go. His dedication also served as inspiration to everyone else.

Kartikeya Asthana, Ananth Govind Rajan, Sajal Jain and Arjun Kumar
These are four new exun members who got in during Tech Quotient 2006. What’s really impressive about them is their team spirit and their ability to work hard, together.

Arshiya Sibia, Akriti Gaur, Kanika Singh and Mini Saxena
What impressed me most about them was their willingness to do any kind of job, and that coupled with their immense amount of enthusiasm to learn more and more. Great Job, Girls!!

Akshay Talwar and Srajan Mani
This inseparable duo of hardware fanatics conceived the HardOC event, in keeping with the Exun tradition of pioneering and setting trends rather than following them. They woke early, stayed up late and did everything within their capacity to make this new event a major success. Hats off to them.

Shrey Verma and Radhika Malik
I actually have no words for them. They did their duty of the announcements and the speeches flawlessly.

Raghav Khullar
If you know Raghav Khullar, you’ll also know that it’s impossible to dampen his spirits. Come rain or storm, he was always there with a broad smile on his face. He assisted RG at the registration desk and ensured the whole process of registration was a breeze.

Manas Gautam
Personally, I like to call him the Gentle Giant. Although physically tall, large and imperious, this guy was always accessible to everyone, including his juniors. His experience of organizing numerous events in the past, no doubt, helped him make the Gaming Event a successful one.

Abhishek Suri – The Big One
He made a guest appearance on Sunday and stole the show. His ‘massive’ presence added to the event. Also, his massive presence ensured decorum at the Domino’s stall.

Rohit Garg – RG
I knew that he is beyond doubt the most resourceful person I have ever met. I also discovered that this thumb-drive wielding shy-guy is also dedicated and hard-working. He was at the Registration Desk, working away quietly at his terminal, without making a fuss about anything. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear him talk too much, though. As the famous saying goes, “RG is da man!”

Mohit Taneja
He’s obsessed with hardware. That’s why he was supervising the HardOC event. He was also on roaming duty, trying to iron out kinks that might have emerged in our otherwise well-oiled machine.

\n\n

Ah well, there is so much to say for this person, but so\nlittle space. He left his mark everywhere on Exun 2006. Let\’s just say that\nExun 2006 would never have been possible without him. I salute you, my friend.

\n\n\n”,0] ); D([“ce”]); //–>Siddharth Nangia – Sid
Ah well, there is so much to say for this person, but so little space. He left his mark everywhere on Exun 2006. Let’s just say that Exun 2006 would never have been possible without him. I salute you, my friend.Rasagy Sharma
Our very own Head of Programming. He’s also like the Jack of all Trades. He can probably do anything that you want him to do and this year he was asked to “man” the Help Desk. Sure enough, great job at that.

Now moving on to our teachers

Sangeeta Rana Ma’am and Shalini Harisukh Ma’am – thank you for managing the certificates. We didn’t have to worry about that part at all.

Suji Ma’am – Thank you for the great job with the opening ceremony(The credit for that actually goes to all teachers) and overall management of the event.

Anita Ma’am and Romi Ma’am– Thank you for helping out with the invigilation and the checking of papers. It really helps to have veterans around.

Mohit sir, Arbinda Sir and Sarika Ma’am – Thank you for helping out with the food duty(as always!)

Vijay Sir and Tiwari Sir– Yes, it is because of them that our event was successful. They stayed back in school to ensure we could get everything done. Thank you!

Joseph Sir, Diny Sir, Anup Sir and Thomas Sir– We are extremely grateful for their support with everything.

Shankar Sir– Probably the most indispensable person during Exun. You ask him for something, and you’ll get it without even worrying about it for a bit. Any words for him are too less. Hats Off!

And finally,

Mr. Mukesh Kumar – The Head of Exun. Period.

I am hoping nobody has been left out. Once Again, Thank you for making Exun such a big success. I truly feel it has been the “Golden Year of Exun”

Cheerio
Dhruv & Gursartaj
Presidents
Exunclan

TCS IT Wiz 2006

The TCS IT Wiz Quiz Competition was held for the first time in Delhi this year. More than 400 teams from schools in and around Delhi participated in the event. Three teams from school had participated, which are equally good but sadly only one team could qualify per school. And as a matter of fact, I have a feeling that only one team from all Delhi Public Schools qualified for the finals.

Let me introduce that team for you
1. Gursartaj Singh Nijjar
2. Dhruv Kumar

And now let me also introduce the winner of the award for the most stupid person on Earth
1. Dhruv Kumar

Dhruv Kumar conveniently decided to go home since the results were taking too much time. And when our team qualified I was left with no other choice but to go on stage alone.

The Quizmaster was Mr. Giri “PickBrain” Subramaniam. He was a fine chap except when it came to cracking jokes.

The preliminary round consisted of 20 questions which were quite simple according to many of the regular quizzers, and we later found out that all the finalists were separated by just 1 point.

Then, it was time for the finals. 6 teams qualified to battle it out on stage-
1. Amity International, Gurgaon
2. Mother’s International School
3. Sardar Patel Vidyalaya
4. Amity International, Saket
5. Apeejay, Noida
6. DPS, RKP!!!!!

I will again remind that Dhruv had decided to ditch me. Dhruv is in trouble. Period.

The quiz had 6 rounds, three of them being buzzer rounds.
The first two rounds were a bit of a letdown with our team scoring just 20 points and MIS and Sardar Patel getting way ahead of us. The “Lone Warrior”(thats what the quizmaster decided to call me) was in third position practically throughout the quiz. And well, that was the case almost till the end of the quiz. But a quiz is never over till the last question and thats exactly what happened.

It was the last round, 2 questions left. Tension was thick. Blood Pressure High.
Sardar Patel 70
MIS 50
RKP 35

It was a buzzer round, with each question worth 15 points but it was -10 if you got it wrong
The question is on the screen, the tension is too much. The lone warrior presses the buzzer and answers only to be greeted by a very surprised look on Pickbrain’s face almost killing the lone warrior. However, the surprised look was overpowered by the applause of the audience as the lone warrior was right.
MIS 50
RKP 50
So close.

The competition between MIS and RKP now.
The question is again on the screen. The lone warrior doesnt wait for the Pickbrain, presses the buzzer, pauses for a second and answers. The pickbrain tries the trick with the surprised look again. But alas, the lone warrior knows he is right and the audience just goes into fits of overwhelmed applause. The lone warrior has done it. He does it for DPS RKP.
DPS RKP manage second position and the final score was 65, just 5 points behind Sardar Patel and thus missing the national finals at Mumbai.

But wait, it wasnt over yet. The Pickbrain and everyone from TCS are just flabbergasted and they have no words for the Lone Warrior.
The Lone Warrior is declared as the “Gladiator of IT Quizzing of Delhi”.. *takes a bow*

Plus, I will be flying to Mumbai to witness the Finals and probably have dinner with the CEO of TCS, Mr. Ramodorai(I dont know the spelling)

And I forgot about the prizes.
We received
1. iPod Nano 2 GB
2. Tata Indicom Mobile Connection
3. A Titan Fastrack Watch
4. And lots of other Goodiess..

I hope next year, our team qualifies and both the participants are present on stage and they win the regional finals and then win the National Finals as well.

Till then
G

Wide open mail relay servers

First of all, congrats to all the exun members for making exun2006 a success. Although I didn’t attend it on the second day but I know u guys would have worked as hard as u did on the first day.
So coming back to the topic, this topic which I am going to talk about will allow u to send anonymous e-mails. Well for years we have been receiving spam e-mails on our e-mail inbox but have never wondered how is it possible to create e-mails in which the source is not given and the subject has names such as “agaggasdahsdhfd”. Well I’m going to answer them today.
The p.c. has 2 types of ports- internal and external. Internal ports are the one’s which are used by the system to carry out transactions on the internet and one such port on the system is port 25 or smtp port. It is the port which is used to send mails from u’r system to another system whereas on a server it is used to carry out the process of sending and receiving mails. So here is u’r simple answer, ”just get into the server and write forged e-mails.” But I guess that would be illegal.
So we have found a totally legal way by which this can be done. Here is where the term “open mail relay servers” comes into play, these servers allow free public access and are not password protected. NOW if karan is reading this post then he should definitely concentrate on this part and the next one too…
I had got this idea of writing this post bec’z I have come across a whole new list of open mail relay servers, which is over here “ http://www.theorem.com/spam/openservers.htm ”
So how can u write an anonymous mail, well I’m going to explain that by using my favorite smtp server (and probably shocking to karan) “smtp-roam.stanford.edu”
1) open the run box and type the following “telnet smtp-roam.stanford.edu 25”
2) now something known as a banner saying “smtp Stanford” would appear(if u don’t get this then probably u’r using sify or some very bad internet connection)
3) Just to check whether everything is working type ”help”, to get a list of commands.
4) Now write “helo microsoft.com”(to pose yourself to be an employee of Microsoft, u can write anything u like)
5) Write “mail from:” this address can be a forged one too. Try anything u like and it will work
6) Write “rcpt to:”(write karanmisra to send it to karan or name of anyother person u know in Stanford).
7) Write “data” to write the message and when finished just put a full stop in the next line in order to stop and send the message.
So now u can send an anonymous message to karan. U can also use the list (http://www.theorem.com/spam/openservers.htm ) which has open relay servers to send the users of those servers a forged mail. My personal favorite in that list is “smtp.prioritycomputer.com” , it’s a company in noida.

Ankit

Exun 2006, Day 1

The first day of Exun 2006 just ended. Participants from schools from all over Delhi battled it out in the Senior Quiz Prelims, Junior Quiz Prelims, Crossword Prelims, the Group Discussion Prelims , Swat the Bug and the Surprise Event. The finals for the Group Discussion were also held yesterday by the judges, Vibhas and Viksit. The results for all events conducted on Day 1 are available here.
Registration started at 9:00 AM and was followed by the Inauguration, which was attended by the Principal, the Vice Principal, Mr. Mukesh Kumar, the entire computer department, Mr. Nitin Hiranandani (he was also the Chief Guest for the occassion) and of course all the participants.
Immediately after the inauguration, the events started. The first event to take place was the mighty Senior Quiz. 8 teams qualified for the finals.
Soon after, the Junior Quiz and Crossword prelims were also conducted in the classrooms, simutaneously with Swat the Bug in the labs and the Group Discussion in the AVH.
A new event introduced by Exun, HardOC turned out to be a success and was praised by all the contestants. HardOC continues a trend of starting new events, as Exun always strives to create new standards and set benchmarks rather than follow them. This trend started with Swat the Bug, which is now a regular event at any Exun symposium. Click here to find out who won this new event.

The points tally shows that Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj has taken the overall lead and it is being closely followed by Apeejay Noida. Day 2 will witness Programming, Crossword finals, the Junior Quiz finals and the Senior Quiz finals. By the end of the day, one team will win the overall trophy. Who will it be?
Be there on Day 2 of Exun 2006 – eX marks the Spot!