We will of course be using the Search Giant Google for it. Google allows you to specify that your search results must come from a given website. For example, the query [ twitter site:ujjwol.com.np ] will return pages about Twitter but only from ujjwol.com.np.

So to search the your twitter timeline,

just query [SearchKeyWord site:twitter.com/UserName] in Google and it will return all the statuses of the username typed in query.

See the Screenshot below:

Screenshot of Using Google to search twitter timeline

life
n. the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally

the general or universal condition of human existence

Contents of the poster by Brahma Kumaris Om Shanti Studio.
Positive Reflections For The Day – October 31, 2009

Download Poster as Inkscape SVG

Dig Tsho Glacier Lake (4,365m) burst on August 4, 1985 spilling an estimated 200 to 350 million cubic feet of icy water with a flood wave 35 to 50 feet in height. It partially destroyed a hydro-power project, 14 bridges and various trails and patches of cultivated land roughly 55 miles below and likely to burst again if climate change glacial retreat continues.

Nepal is a small landlocked country in South Asia. The nation of the Mount Everest and the great Himalayas is now facing several consequences of climate change.

“No country on earth has some much natural diversity and no where apart from the poles is climate change happening so fast. The glaciers are retreating, the monsoon rains are becoming more intense and farming is getting harder than ever.”

Although the share of Nepal in the global emission of greenhouse gases is negligible, many bitter consequences having started ruling Nepal. In the recent years, Nepal is witnessing continuous disturbances in its ecology due to climate change resulting floods, severe landslides, soil erosion and effects of the climate change.

Climate Change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. The changes are attributed directly or indirectly to human activity which alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability.

This bridge, at Phunki Tengi in Sagarmatha National Park, was destroyed in a flood in the summer of 2007.

Climate change is also responsible for erratic weather patterns such as the thick haze that covers many parts of the southern plains of the country during winter seasons which destroys crops and livelihoods. The intensified monsoon is also creating hundreds of different environmental refugees. The unpredicted rainfall is making farming difficult. Thousand hectors of agricultural lands have turned into sand bank. Nepal is on the front line of climate change and variations which for some people the changes are catastrophic.

The rain is now very different and are increasingly unpredictable.It’s more concentrated and intense. It means that crop yields are going down. Many cultivable land are being progressively washed by big and small rives like Narayani river,Koshi river, Tirshuli river and others. Observations records that some of the fastest long-term increases in temperatures and rainfall is seen in Nepal. At least 44 of Nepal’s and neighbouring Bhutan’s Himalayan lakes, which collect glacier meltwater, are said by the UN to be growing so rapidly they they could burst their banks within a decade. Any climate change in Nepal is reflected throughout the region. Nearly 400 million people in northern India and Bangladesh also depend on rainfall and rivers that rise there.

Street in Gaighat. This was taken during the rainy season in Nepal. The flooding is not usually too severe in Gaighat, but it can ruin fields and destroy crops in the nearby villages.

Causes of floods in the country are often triggered by rapid melting of snow and ice in high mountain regions. The increasing melting of the Glacier Lakes in the Himalaya due to exposure to warmer temperature, is main cause of floods in the nation. Due to this, several people are killed and thousands are rendered homeless in this nation adding to the poverty of this poor nation.

Rise of temperature in the capital city of the nation, Kathmandu is also a severe consequences of the global climate change in Nepal. The mean temperature during summer and winter season raised by more than 1 and about 2 degree Celsius progressively in recent years. This is an severe consequences of the human induced climate change. Similar trends are seen in southern Terai plains. In these regions extreme temperatures including heat wave and cold stream are witnessed frequently during summer and winter season respectively. Loss of
human lives due to cold stream is always reported every year in Nepal.

A group calling themselves Climate Change Refugees gathered on 17th Avenue in Calgary, Alberta on December 8th, 2007 for the International Day of Action on Climate Change

The increasing developments that causes emission of green house gases in the developed countries is resulting is a severe environmental problems in many poorer nation like Nepal. The shift in weather conditions causes these nations to face several calamities like flood, droughts, landslides, soil erosion, shift in farming practices and productivity and many other social consequences. With further increase in global temperature its impacts on human being is increasing tremendously.So this is time that we realize the impacts of the global climate change and start action to counter attack it.

Today on the Blog Action Day ‘09 Climate Change, I am writing this blog to call to take action. It’s now time to act on Climate Change. Time is running out, and our planet can’t afford to wait.

The computer
Takes Data –> Processes Data –> Gives Result –> Stores Result

Some Computer Terms
Hardware: the physical parts
Software: the instructions that tell the computer what to do and how to do
Data: the thing entered given to the computer
Information: data which has been tuned into a useful form
Default: the unchanged settings of the computer

How is computer great ?
Speed
Reliability
Storage
Versatility

Operating System Concepts
Operating System is the bridge between hardware and the user. There are many types of operating system. Among them Linux, Windows and Mac are the known one. It provides program a way to work and user a platform to enter data and get results.

Switching on/off
A computer can be a gateway to the world, but it has to be turned on first. Consider the following steps for switching a computer ON:
- Check to ensure the power cord is plugged in
- Press the power button
Note: Some have a power switch at the back (or side) of the case, some have a single button at the front etc

To turn off the computer follow the following steps:
- Shutdown using the operating systems buttons
- Once the shutdown is done unplug the power button and you are done

Note: Example of using shutdown by operating system: On Windows XP machine click on Start Button and then Shutdown Logo and Shutdown Button.

Login/Logout
When a computer is turned on you may be asked to select the username and enter password. Only after this you are allowed to use the computer. This processes of getting in through a user is called logging in. And logout refers to the process in which you just log out from the particular user session that you used to logout but not turn the computer off. Other user or you can still get into the system.

Desktop
The desktop refers to the interface provided by the operating system in which you(the user) can use the computer by a set of unifying concepts of graphical user interfaces. Generally, the workspace of the computer given by OS is called desktop. The desktop in itself is also a file directory. From the desktop user can use and get into the features and options given by the use and task that can be done by the computer in a modern GUI operating system.

System time/date
The computer keeps tracks of time round the clock and passing of days on the calendar. This is done by the CMOS battery. This works even when the computer is turned off, so it can keep track of the time. The system time is typically shown on the task bar of the desktop. On most cases the date is either shown as tool-tip on mouse hover or displayed along with time. Clicking on the time displays a monthly calendar. To adjust or change the time and date right-click and click on the adjust or change date and time and then enter the desired input on the new window.

Application menu and Icons
The application menu refers to the menu button on the task-bar of desktop which lists the program in the computer and other options. From the application menu the user is supposed to access all the installed program and even data in most cases.

Icons are the small graphical image representing something on the computer. Icons on desktop can be used to access the files, directories and even programs.

Both application menu and icons can be used to access the program and data. Both lead to a program that allows you to use your data and information.

Files/Directories
All the data stored by the computer. Computer files can be considered as the paper documents which traditionally are kept in offices and libraries. Depending on the types of data there are many kinds of file. Some of them are; image file, audio file, video file, text file and others. The files on most cases contains an extension to represent them. For example, .txt, .jpg, .png, .mp3, .ogg and others.

Directories (commonly folder) is a container of files and other folders called sub-folder.A typical computer file system may contain thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of files and folder.

(Note: This above guide is intended for those who have never used computer before or do have have the idea of this machine. The is for establishing basic ideas for absolute beginners and may not interest you. THIS GUIDE IS POSTED HERE JUST FOR THE PURPOSE OF ARCHIVE OF MY WORKS.)

Change | (CC) Image from Flickr

“The army that will defeat terrorism doesn’t wear uniforms, or drive Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn’t have a high command, or high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it reminds them of their responsibility.”
- Author Unknown

Seen on: http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.baltics/browse_thread/thread/54a9013690d42cf8#

Splash Screen of Opera Mini 5

After installing, the new Opera Mini 5, I started the application. The first thing I noticed was the splash text writing Opera Mini in bigger size than the previous release and a black theme rather than a bright white splash of the previous version. And as usual, after about downloading 100Kb of data for initializing the browser started and ready to use.

Start Page of Opera Mini 5

The first thing noticed on the startpage was the dark black theme which was simple yet elegant. And the search box was brought to the same row as that of address bar. And speed dial with preview of the website was shown as in it’s desktop version. And I selected the address bar and started typing the web URL.

Pop Displaying Letter Choices

As soon as I entered the first keystroke from my keypad, a small pop-up was displayed showing the letter choices as it in the keypad which was a great usability improvement. And as always the address completion feature was also useful.

Ujjwol.com.np in Opera Mini 5

Once, the first site was loaded on the new browser with pretty decent speed, the browser provided me a virtual mouse. The virtual mouse was not so different from the previous version. The RSS or Atom feed link of the website was just displayed below the title. After that I clicked the Menu and saw a bran new menu page being displayed.

Menu Page of the browser

The menu page consisted of icons of SpeedDial, Next/Previous Tab Arrows, Reload and Exit with a plus sign in above for adding new tab and a down arrow for dropdown menu.

The new tabbed browsing

The tabbed browsing on mobile with Opera Mini was a great experience. But the in tabbing browsing the pages were not loaded simultaneously on different tabs(or at least I did see that in my mobile). And the process of switching tab is confusing for the first timers.

Drop Down Menu

The dropdown menu on the menu page consisted of Bookmarks, Find on Page, Saved Pages and other available options. This dropdown menu was great for faster access to the functions available.

Using Find in Opera Mini 5

The find on the page was faster ,more easily accessible and better in results than in it’s previous versions. Saved pages features could have come hand but it did at least for me on my S60 v2 as J2ME program are unable or have difficulty to access the phone memory.

Settings in Vertical Mode

With a sleek and smoother look and feel altering many settings under Settings was easier. The change from landscape to vertical mode was also faster and better. Speed Dial was improved to easily add sites faster. The bookmarking system was also great and the nice history listing added to it’s improvements.

Drop-down Search Selection

The search bar was also improved with a drop-down menu on same page itself rather than another page as that of it’s older release.Clearing Privacy and other stuffs was also a addition to this gem including the brand new Password Manager. The inline editing making the mobile browsing much easier and less annoying. Even the pop-up menus for confirmation saw great improvement.

Though this version of world most used mobile browser brings improved user interface with more usability and tens of improvements, there has been a significant degradation in performance of this browser. Including the startup time, response time and making the use of functions and overall browsing experience is degraded in terms of speed and performance. As the product reviewed was a beta, we hope to see a performance improvement in the final release. And with great features this browser brings more web 2.0 to your mobile.

In its fifth-generation version Opera Mini is staying true to the promise of a superior Web experience on a mobile device.

Pros

• Smooth and great user interface
• Improved functions
• Faster and Easier Accessibility

Cons

• Slow startup and response time

Rating: 4 out of 5

Some Screenshots of the Opera Mini 5

Zooming In the page

Wikipedia with Feed Below Title

Showing History

Showing Bookmark

Options in the Drop Menu

Showing the speed dial selection

Failed to Access the disk

Confirming the exit

Sharing your mobile browsing experience with us. Share the pros and cons of your mobile browser. Where do you think the mobile browsing is going ?

Screenshot taken by Screenshot for Symbian OS (GNU GPL)

Cinema Industry in Nepal was started in 1951 by the release of the film D. B. Pariyar’s Satya Harishchandra. From black-and-white era to the color there have changes in movie making, distributing and viewing. Portraying the nation culturally the cinema has played an important role in this nation’s transition. But now, Nepalese cinema industry is believed not to have changed and is loosing it ground stand as it is now not considered a strong medium to get into masses.

­The Mumbai based cinema industry today dominates the cinema in Nepal.  Nepalese movies these days are limited to certain class of people. Youth of today hate even talking about Nepalese movies. Why is this so? There are many reasons for Nepalese Cinema lacking industry.

I read somewhere that a typical Nepali Movie consist of a producer or producer’s relative being the protagonist with some characters of family and the story of Ram and Sita where Ram saves her love Sita. The other aspect of movie making like script writing, cinematography, screenplay and others is the job of almost one person and based on desire of who invests on it. This is main reason behind the lack of quality movie being made which can stand out fierce competition from big cinema industries like Bollywood. Adding to this problem, a typical director, script writer, music director and other technical person including the actors and actress work on more than at least 4/5 movies resulting a lack of concentration on their working which at last produces a old stereotype movie.

The prime reason for decline of Nepalese cinema is also the conflict throughout the nation. The start of the Maoist revolution was the start of the downfall of the Nepali film industry. That resulted in lower budgets and even lower performances, which resulted in even smaller audiences, which is still showing it effects. The government should also show some responsibility towards the industry to grow again.

Many youth point out that the use of old technology in making movie is also one of the prime causes of the decline of Nepalese movies.  Technology used in making a typical Kollywood movie is obsolete which is directly reflects its lack of viewers.  Though recently some HD movies have started appearing, the Nepalese Cinema is still using the 16mm Arriflex cameras of 1950’s even today. This result in the poor quality of the video. With this technology Nepalese Cinema do not even match the international standards of movie making resulting of them being displaced even in its own ground.

Next reason is that the hierarchy with which the movie is made is absolutely unprofessional.  The person who invests on the movie is always a big boss in the movie making hierarchy. He or she chooses almost all professional from actors to music directors, which the director must accept anyway. This causes hindrance for the director to expose their creativity and choose the perfect fit professional.  And this pattern must be changed to see a better change in screens. One should be given absolute freedom to their work. Directors should be allowed to direct with their ideas, and same applies for all other professionals too. But the professionals of the movie industry including the actors also must stay focused on fixed number of the movies at once rather than  working on more than five/six movies at a time which is happening now.

On the other hand, many argue that Nepalese Cinema Industry has creativity but what the industry lacks is the budget. In most of the cases, it seems true as the main reason which satisfies that producer himself being the boss of the hierarchy.  The way the mass is attracted to Bollywood they are not attracted to the Nepalese Cinema because of the lack of proper budget for cinema as that of it’s Bollywood counterpart. The people here now feel that with old industry methods, small budget and unprofessional technicians the industry has nothing to offer. Illustrating this, the Nepalese Cinema saw an overwhelming response to big budget movies like Kagbeni as it brought new standards to the cinema industry though the investment was a failure for producers.

The next big factor for decline of Nepali Cinema is the small screen. The potential viewers of movie are those who the viewers of small screen; the television. And in Nepal the small screen is dominated by Indian Entertainment Channels on the cable network, which reason for strong base of the Bollywood in Nepal. The un-flourishing entertainment channel in the television is the problem which needs to be addressed. This also adds to result that the Nepalese Cinema is unable to compete with Bollywood on it’s own ground. The booming news channels have nothing to offer for the cinema industry. And to see a flourishing cinema industry we must also have a flourishing small screen which is what Nepal lacks.

With all the reasons and suggestion for unchanging cinema in Nepal, the prime work to be done is change the mentality and start working. The Government should also start promoting the industry and clear out any hindrances in anyways possible. At last, we all Nepalese are also equally responsible to revive the nation’s cultural portrait, so let’s start to support the changes in cinema industry.

Book Cover of Karna Shakya's Soch

Karna Shakya…..an Environmentalist, Educationist, and a hotel entrepreneur

The following article is based on the interview taken by me and my other friends.

(This interview was taken in 2005 by editorial team(all students of Grade Nine) of the Root Magazine Published by Whitefield Higher Secondary School | Editorial Team of the Root: Ujjwol Lamichhane (Me), Anurag Rauniyar, Kripa Devkota, Suman Situala and Ashmita Maharjan.) (As the original interview is unvailable the below is as it was published in the magazine with added Introduction)

Introducing Karna Shakya
Eminent tourism entrepreneur Karna Shakya was born in 1943 in a goldsmith family. He has led the Nepalese tourism industry to a new height starting with establishment Kathmandu Guest House (KGH) in Thamel, turned Nepal into a tourism destination. His risk bearing capability helped to develop Thamel, most popular tourism spot within the valley.He has also written over half a dozen books on tourism and nature conservation, published several conecpt and propsals, research works and publications. His principle of working is

“Close the eyes, open the brain and follow the heart”.

Summary of the Interview
Cause of Ongoing National Crisis
The socio-political atomsphere in Nepal is full of pessimism and suspicion. There is constant struggle for power and wealth. There is no limit to selfishness. Interference is another greatest problem. Country lacks visionary and dynamic leaders. The nation is suffering from mental poverty. We completely lack the art of praising others, but blame and complain loudly.

Role of Students and Youths
People should broaden themselves mentally. Individual should be sincere and committed in discharging duties and responsibilities. We should stop coming out on to the street and should adopt more creative and constructive ways to find solution to the problem. The solution is within us provided we are faithful in finding it. The youths and students should invest their time in accomplishing education and avoid becoming full time politicians. We need to rise above the parochial notion and start thinking loudly and positively. Things will fall in their places eventually.

Resolution to Crisis
Looking at the present politician situation I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic. It is indeed a protracted problem. Events could twist or turn anytime. So I prefer not to predict anything. But I always pray fervently for real and perpetual peace in Nepal.

Note: I have posted this to document some of my school activities and other might find it helpful.