How to make a ZIP file

Today my friend called me to ask how to make a Zip file. I answered her query. I am explaining that same process with help of some screenshots for better understanding.

First of all, you need a Program/Software that compresses files and bundles them together. This is mainly used to reduce the file size. It can be used on single file as well as several files. The most common software is Winzip. This can be easily obtained from web if you don't have it. Just search Google for Winzip download and you will get several sites allowing you to download Winzip. Download the installer file and run it. It gets installed very fast.

If you already have Winzip, launch the Winzip program by double-clicking on the icon. And you will get something like this.

Now click on "New Archive" which will take you to new dialogue box as follows.

In the File Name window type the name of the Archive file, In the above example it is "New Package". The File type is by default "Zip file". Also check save in window contains the right path where you want to save your zip file. Now just click OK to create a new zip file. and a new dialogue box will open to add files to your newly created archive file New Package.zip. This looks like the image below.

Now here you need to select files which you want to add to the new archive by simply clicking on their name. change the path, if needed, to get your desired file/s. Select one or more files by holding ctrl key and then pressing arrow key. Once this selection is done click Add button. That's it. you have successfully added files to the newly created ZIP file.

If you wish to modify existing Zip file just double click on that Zip file icon to open it. It will open winzip program. Now select the desired action either to delete, extract, or add files to the existing Zip file.

I think this explanation will help you in enough the next time you want to use this facility.

And please go ahead and try new softwares, that are sitting on you desktop or in your computer for ages. Just explore what are they there for. If you can not understand ask google and you will be answered immediately. Never stop exploring....

Bye and take care.

Are you married to the Internet Explorer?

Are you? Because, we Indians are known for showing this much loyalty only to our spouses. For most of us Internet Explorer is “the Internet”. That’s the ultimate brand loyalty. We have to understand that ‘Internet Explorer’ i.e. that small 'e' sitting on your desktop is one of the many browser programs. These Internet browsers are designed to make our surfing experience easier and faster. Your browser should remember the sites you visit, should remember or should offer to memorise your passwords and user ids, should block irritating pop-ups, should provide you with a search toolbar without you having to download one, should let you open web pages in different tabs of the same window and most important is, if you accidentally close your browser window, it should save all the web pages you were surfing automatically and prompt you next time if you want to restore previous browsing session.I know many of us don’t use these tools at all. But I am sure once you get used to, you can’t do without.

I am going to talk about one such Internet browser that is already catching on. That is Mozilla Firefox. This is owned by Google. The current version of firefox available for download for free is Firefox 2. Click here to download. It is a very fast and easy download and installation process is quite user friendly. When you finish the installation and launch it first time, you will be taken to the Firefox Homepage. Here you can read about different features of firefox.

And stop worrying about some buttons having different names or some menus occupying different place on the page. Firefox is like Internet Explorer and much more. Just try it, explorer it and if you get stuck somewhere ask me. I would be very happy to help. (Having said all that just remember that some sites are specially designed keeping in certain browser in mind. So make sure that the site you are trying to load through Firefox should not have a warning message like “Best viewed on Internet Explorer 5.0 or above”)

So move aside Explorers, Firefox Brigade is coming to beat you…

Shootout at Murud, Photos

To view these and other photos click here.

Shootout at Murud - Travel

I finally got a chance I was craving for last 2 weeks. To take my new Canon S5 IS on a location. I went to Murud on Friday, April 18, 2008 with my colleague and friend Muneera and her son Aquib. This place is near Alibag. A peaceful village on the West cost of India South of Mumbai. It has not-much-crowded, beautiful sea front, clean roads, reasonable lodging and dining options. Most exciting thing is, you can reach there by Catamaran from Mumbai, though not directly.

The Ferry services from Gateway-of-India, Mumbai will take you to Mandwa Port in 50-55 mins. The tickets are ranging from Rs.65/- for simple ferry service to Rs.110/- for A.C. Catamaran. This ticket includes the bus fare from Mandwa Port to Alibag. This bus journey will take appox. 20-30 min. After you reach Alibaug, there are number of options like autos, State transport buses or 6-seater autos. Murud is another 30 Km. from Alibaug. By bus it will take another one and half hour. It’s a picturesque bus ride. The road goes along side the sea in many areas with beautiful scenery. This area is also rich in coconut and beattlenut cultivation. So both sides of the road are lined with tall beattlenut tree planted in front of small houses. Even in this April Sun we never felt hot, thanks to this lush greenery.

We took the first ferry at 6.15am from Gateway-of–India and reached first to Mandwa jetty/port and then by bus to Alibaug by 8.15am. The ferry ride was quite eventful as we were able to see huge ships anchored, fishermen collecting the catch from their nets and also the high tech speed boats of the rich and famous of Mumbai parked near the cost. For a photographer in me, it was the ideal time, Sunrise. I did not let my camera to rest at all and got quite interesting shots (posted in Shootout At Murud-Photos).

After having a quick breakfast at Alibaug, we sat in a 6-seater auto as the State transport buses did not have any empty seats. These 6-seater autos are really cheap in fares but they don’t go all the way, so you have to break the journey. We change the auto twice till we reached Murud, our final destination, by 10.15am. The State transport buse fares are Rs. 40/- from Alibaug to Murud and they take you in an hour. So to avoid the disappointment of not having a seat to go to Murud, one can book the tickets in Advance from Mumbai as well.

After reaching Murud, we checked in a budget hotel ‘Sahil Lodge’ as it was recommended to us. There are number of other motels available from Rs.500-2000 per day. After spending some time roaming on the beach front we decided to eat our lunch in a restaurant “Patil Khanawal” offering a fixed menu or Thali (Rice Plate) system. As this was a long weekend due to many offices being closed from Friday through Sunday, the restaurant was quite crowded and this hampered the service. The food was OK. We liked the Bhakaris or Rotis made of rice flour very much. And the vegetarian Rice Plate had my favourite sweet dish ‘Gulab Jamuns’ which I relished. Veg Thali is for Rs.40/- and Fish or Chicken or Motton Thali is for Rs.80/-

After lunch, we arranged for a 3-seater auto to take us to show around Murud. The main attraction here is the Janjira fort which is 9 centuries old fort, built by an African Muslim King, in the sea. It’s a huge fort having area of 22 acres. You have to go there by sail boat. The entry fee for the Fort is Rs.110/- per person, which includes the boat fare also. The sail boat journey was quite an experience for us. I sat in a sail boat for the first time. We had around 25 other passenger with us in the boat. Yes it was quite a big boat. It was fun watching the operators maneuvering the sails as per changes in the wind direction. The boat operators work also as guides and show you around the fort. There are number of canons, watch towers, 2 huge water lakes, an old Temple and a Mosque inside this fort. From highest point you can see the entire 22 acres fort as well as big area around it.

After coming back from the Janjira fort in the same Sail boat, we were taken to see the old Mosque and a Temple of Dattatreya. This is an open Mosque which is an Idgah-where Id prayers are offered. Both these places of worships are on top of separate hills, from where you can view Murud and the beautiful beaches encircling it

After completing this little sight seeing tour we went to the beach. There we stayed even after sunset enjoying Ice-golas, crushed iced squeezed around a stick, sprinkled with orange or any other drink of your choice. There is nothing better you can do to beat the heat. We get all the junk food like Batata wada, Bhajis, Dabeli as well as Chinese food along the beach front. But we were glad to see that despite number of carts selling such food items, there was cleanliness around and the beach was super clean with pollution free water. This beach is regarded as a very safe beach for swimmers with gradual slops. We did not carry our swimming gear and hence did not venture in the water. Though, we did promise ourselves that we would soon return to Murud, equipped with our swimming costumes.

At the sunset, I again got an opportunity to click numerous shots in the pleasing light. I tried to do justice to the beautiful surroundings.

After a satisfying dinner at the restaurant ‘Anand Vatika’ we retired early to sleep. It was a very long day for us as we got up by 4am. Murud is so clean that apart from few areas you will not encounter mosquitoes at night and can peacefully sleep leaving the windows open.

Next day on Saturday, April 19, 2008, we caught a bus from Murud at 6.15am to Alibaug. From Alibaug we bought a Ticket of PNP Catamaran. We reached Mandwa Port by 9am and from there it took us another 40 minutes to reach Gateway-of –India. We had to hurry as we had to reach our office by 10.15am. after dropping Aquib on his way to home.

Canon S5 IS

I started searching for a new camera from November 2007. My cousin owns a Sony Cybershot DSC-H2, about two years old. He suggested me to check out their new model, Sony Cybershot DSC-H7. The price was about Rs.16500/- in a grey market and around Rs. 19000/- inclusive of 1 GB Memory stick in the authorised showroom.

I started reading the user reviews on dpreview.com and found out as follows
Pros : 8 megapixel , 15x Zoom ie 31 - 465mm (35mm eq.), zoom feature while movie recording. Lithum Ion Batterry, Image ascpect ratio 4:3, 3:2, 16:9., Video out : Normal and HD
Cons : Screen resolution is only 115,000, Design, No horse shoe for external Flash, Difficult menu system. Memory Stick as a memory storage.

I decided not to buy this one because of reviews that the screen resolution is horrible and it is difficult to see when you are in open. The other point is this camera uses the memory stick to store images which is Sony's Proprietary Memory. I would not have been able to use my SD memory cards, of all sizes, which I have collected all these years.

Then I moved to Paasonic Lumix FZ18. This was available for Rs.18500/-

Pros : 8 megapixel , Image aspect ratio 4:3, 3:2, 16: , Screen resolution 207,000 Lithium-Ion rechargeable Battery, Everything like Sony H7 but the Zoom range is out of this world 18x i.e 28-504mm (35mm eq.), Excellent Image Stabilization.

Cons : No zoom in Movie Mode, No horse shoe for external Flash

This camera had excellent user reviews on www.dpreview.com. There are several video review available on Youtube as well. Also a review at www.cameralabs.com was very informative. But as I use movie mode quite often, not having a zooming facility while filming was a deal breaker.

While searching for a a camera with good screen resolution , zoom facility in Movie mode I came across a video on youtube.com for CANON S5 IS, which was posted from Cameralabs.com. This was as detailed video review as you can do. The presenter discussed about the camera features at length and then the camera was taken to locations and the movie was taken of Paragliding adventure. We were shown how the image stabilizer works. How silent is the zoom in movie mode etc. This sealed the deal for me. Why?, you may wonder...

Last year i.e December 2007 I went to Panchgani (Maharashtra, India), where I experienced this Paragliding adventure. That time my husband-not a camera enthusiast- shot a movie of my jump, with the old Nikon coolpix 3700. It was heartbreaking to come back from such adventure to find that its nothing but huge camera shakes. When I saw the movie about the paragliding less camera shakes I did not wait a second to take my decision to buy CANON S5 IS. I have just started learning about different features, I haven't got a chance to take it out. But whatever little I have used it I think I like it.

This camera was available for Rs.15,000/- in a grey market and for Rs. 20,000/- in the canon authorised shop including Batteries, Charger and a camera Bag.

Pros : 8 megapixel , 12x Zoom ie 36 - 432mm (35mm eq.), zoom feature while movie recording. Best feature is the Tilt screen which can be rotated any way, Stereo sound through 2 microphones placed on either side of the lense, Horse Shoe for external flash, SD Memory card.

Cons : As per several user reviews on www.dpreview.com the lense cap does not stay on the lense. I don't find that much of a problem. For me AAA batteries was a major put off. I somehow loved the Lithium Ion Flat Battery of Nikon Coolpix 3700.

I will write about the features more in other posts.

So. Keep in touch.

My New Canon S5 IS

I bought a new camera on March 31st, 2008. It's a Canon S5 IS. It is a one of those prosumer superzoom digital cameras. I bought it for Rs.15000/- from a

I bought a new camera on March 31st, 2008. It's a Canon S5 IS. It is a one of those prosumer superzoom digital cameras. I bought it for Rs.15000/- from a Photography equipment shop "Angel Foto" in Fort.

I owned a point and shoot digital camera for last 4 years. I was using a Nikon Coolpix 3700. This was a 3megapixel with 3x zoom. In 2004 I paid Rs.16000/- for this one. I was pretty happy with the results. Since I was not able to afford a Digital SLR which was costing nothing less than Rs.40000/- I had to settle for a point and shoot. But the rise of the superzoom camera raised my hopes of owning a decent zoom camera where I can compose images, rule the shutter speed and aperture setting and control focusing manually.

I did extensive market survey before buying this camera. That is a subject for another post. Keep in touch.

This is my first ever post on a blog. I am just aout learing how to blog and also to make it interesting for visitors. I was actually fed up of meeting my friends via emails. It's kinda become boring, isn't it?

So I decided to create a blog of my own, where I can share my thoughts. I am not going to limit my blog with any one subject for a simple reason that, I have wide verieties of interests from Sports especially Cricket, Books, Cimema, Music, Photography and Gadgets and New Technology. It's very difficult in this fast paced world to share your interests with your friends, in the traditional ways. So now all my friends and family members can visit me any time of the day as per their convenience and find me there waiting for them. I also request all of you to add your comment or two whenever you visit. Click on the different categories of subjects, Like Internet, Photography, Music, Cinema etc, and you will be transported to a new world. (Right now I have added posts only to the Photography Blog).

So start clicking.