Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

Recently, while browsing on my Android Samsung M21 mobile, I noted that the About page on my spiritual blog, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/about-ravi-s-iyer.html was showing in a lighter black colour than a post on my software development blog, https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/03/ravi-s-iyer-software-field-biodata.html . I think I had fixed an issue like this in the past but something I did later on seems to have broken it. I could not find a post explaining how to fix this issue and do did some experimentation, and then got the fix. This post provides the fix in case the dark text setting for blog posts gets inadvertently changed (again?), along with info. about fix for quoted text shown large in Contempo Light theme.  To change the text in blog post to dark black colour, choose Theme -> Customize -> (left panel) Advanced. This will show blog post text in right panel provided window width is large enough. Now click on the dark black colour in 'Theme Colors'. The b...

Readers may want to see: List of my posts related to H96Max (H96 Max) Android TV box, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/list-of-my-posts-related-to-h96max-h96.html  , 26th Jun. 2024 Summary H96 Max worked as expected in recent tests. It can be used as a decent speed but unsafe for private or sensitive data, Android based Internet browsing device run on voltage stabilizer, with its core OS functionality not being impacted by sudden power loss. For package updates, UPS may be necessary to ensure normal shutdown if mains power is cut. But UPS will not be needed for using H96 Max with currently installed versions of its software packages. The big issue with H96 Max is it being a rooted Android device and so being vulnerable to various malware including keylogging software. A keylogger could help malicious agents to crack some userid password typed in the device. That’s the big risk, I think. And so one should not use any of one's regular ids on H96 Max. Accessing some sites an...

Readers may want to see: List of my posts related to Thinvent Micro 5, a low-cost Linux mini PC based on Tanix TX 3 Android TV box,  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2022/08/list-of-my-posts-related-to-thinvent.html , 8th Aug. 2022 Summary Micro5 worked as expected in recent tests. It can be used as a safe but slow Linux based Internet browsing device run on voltage stabilizer, with its core OS functionality (root filesystem) not being impacted by sudden power loss, unless default mounting of root filesystem is changed from read-only to read-write. Typing in data on local files is fast though local data may be lost/corrupted on sudden powercut. For software upgrades, root filesystem will have to be mounted as read-write and so UPS will be necessary then to ensure normal shutdown if mains power is cut. But UPS will not be needed for using Micro5 with currently installed versions of its software packages. Detailed Notes 22 Jun. 2024 After many months, I removed the Thinvent Micro ...

Note: Readers may want to see:  List of my posts related to H96Max (H96 Max) Android TV box, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/list-of-my-posts-related-to-h96max-h96.html , 26 Jun. 2024 List of my posts related to Thinvent Micro 5, a low-cost Linux mini PC based on Tanix TX 3 Android TV box, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2022/08/list-of-my-posts-related-to-thinvent.html , 8 Aug. 2022 Micro5 AC adapter output is 5V 2A (5VDC - 2Amp.) H96Max AC adapter output is 5V 2A. The standard mini-UPS models seem to be 12V or 9V DC types which are used for routers.  But there seems to be at least one 5V DC option too: Starwatt 5V 2A Mini UPS – Uninterrupted Power Backup for WiFi Routers, Cameras, Biometrics, Arduino & More | 3-10 Hours Backup | Replaceable Battery, https://starwatt.in/product/5v-2a-mini-ups/ . It is priced at Rs.1499, with 1 yr warranty, and its replacement battery is advertised at Rs.899 “With Reverse-Pickup across India”. I saw a strange video of a pow...

Last updated on 28 Jun 2025 Using two monitors for development: Wireless Display, USB to HDMI adapter, H96Max Android device etc., https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2025/06/using-two-monitors-for-development.html , Jun 2025. Quick relook at H96 Max Android TV box,  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/quick-relook-at-h96-max-android-tv-box.html , 26 Jun. 2024. 5V 2A Mini UPS possibility for Thinvent Micro 5 Linux mini PC and H96 Max Android TV box,  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/5v-2a-mini-ups-possibility-for-thinvent.html , 26 Jun. 2024. Some thoughts on low-cost Android devices (incl. H96 Max) and teaching computer usage on them to children from poor rural communities in India, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2022/08/aakash-rs3000-failed-indian-govt.html , published 13 Aug. 2022 Screen mirroring from Samsung M21 phone to H96Max display using ‘Smart View’ app on M21 (not Samsung Smart View feature) and AirScreen on H96Max, https://ravisiyer.wordpress.co...

I have been using the web app:  https://bloggerfeedtobook.netlify.app/  mentioned in my post given below, for a few months now. I find it useful for creating HTML backup of recent posts, and for searching through posts in a blog in a single HTML page of matching posts. The app is quite stable now. The post: Blogger Blog Feed to HTML Book; Useful for Recent Posts HTML backup and Searching Posts,  https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/04/barebones-blogger-blog-feed-to-html.html  . 

Readers may want to see my recent blog post on another blog of mine: Updated Roadmap and Extensive and Well Organized Notes for Learning Full Stack (MERN) Web Development Beginner Level through Free Online Tutorials,  https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/03/updated-roadmap-and-extensive-and-well.html . 

Readers may want to have a look at my recent post in another blog of mine: Upskilling to MERN web developer: Finished 2nd round of Roadmap to Learning Full Stack Web Development, https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/03/upskilling-to-mern-web-developer.html .

Last updated on 31 Mar. 2024 Common web feed formats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed states that the following are the common web feed formats: Atom,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_(web_standard) JSON Feed,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_Feed   RSS,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS Blogger uses Atom 1.0 feed format by default Complete Guide to RSS Feed on Blogspot,  https://www.innateblogger.com/2021/08/rss-feed-on-blogspot.html states that a feed URL like https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default will use Atom 1.0 format. To make it use RSS 2.0 format, ?alt=rss has to be added to end of URL like https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss .  Hmm. I did not know or did not recall that it was so simple to get Blogger blog feeds in RSS 2.0, which is the default format used by WordPress. Blogger Reference Guide, https://developers.google.com/blogger/docs/2.0/reference has the " Blogger query parameters reference "...

I recently created a shortcuts directory on my desktop for me to be able to easily access the latest versions of my Blogger and WordPress blog book gen(erator) programs. I then wrote an info.txt file explaining what the shortcuts are and how to use them. While these shortcuts are meaningful only on desktop, I thought I should put up this blog post version of the info.txt file where I replace the desktop directory and file names data with links to related Google Drive directory and file names. For Blogger blogs A) Generate Blog Book From Blogger Export/Backup XML file: VB.Net program location (info.txt file has the github link for the source code):  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zxJOGtFWXeKqH0LaJNnwMktnpo1BsDbK   Minor known issue: The footer in output file refers to an older post. It should instead refer to post mentioned below. Related blog post: Ported ExportFileFilterAndGenBook and ExportFileFilterByIndexList from VBA to BlogBackupToBook VB.Net single project of V...

Quick-Info WPBlogFeedToBook VBA program for WordPress blogs' RSS feed:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vGqaEQJmnfwpWPeEOuryW7ZhSqvm05kS?usp=drive_link BloggerBlogFeedToBook VBA program for Blogger blogs' RSS feed:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_DEvH8MHiXXMe-3htCPhnOB5nE0lSfN-?usp=drive_link Above programs may work for any WordPress and Blogger blogs respectively but I have tested them only for my blogs as that is my need. ------------------------ It would be convenient for me to be able to periodically create an HTML blog book of my recent posts in my ravisiyer.wordpress.com blog. This would be a useful backup file for me. The XML backup/export file for the whole blog is vital but it is for the whole blog and is not easily readable content. I can create a blogbook for the whole blog using a VBA program I had created some months ago  but that is more stuff than required in such cases. As of now, I do not have a filter program that filters the WordPress ...

BlogBackupToBook software creates HTML blogbook(s) from Blogger blog XML Backup/Export files. It also allows for filtering the output HTML blogbook(s) by content matching strings, by published and/or updated date range and by an index(es) list where the index(es) are positions of posts and pages entries in the Blogger XML Backup/Export file.  Github: https://github.com/ravisiyer/BlogBackupToBook As compared to release v3, the latest release v4 has undergone more tests but it has not been thoroughly tested. I do not have the time now to do that thorough testing and bug-fixing as I have got busy with other stuff. This is the release interested persons can try out and see if it meets their needs. If I recall correctly, the setup file program in v3 release had some issues which were not easily getting resolved. The setup file part has been dropped in this release v4 as I don't have time for refreshing where I was on it, and then taking it forward. This current v4 release does not have ...

BlogToBook, https://github.com/oormicreations/BlogToBook , seemed to be a promising software when I first came across it. My first attempt to install the software had failed some months ago, if I recall correctly. But when I installed it again today, it went through! I think the difference is that I now have Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition set up on my system and so it would have installed some libraries needed by the program executable. I also tried cloning the Github repo using Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition. Visual Studio said I need to install some more software and prompted me for it. I started that install but for some issue from my side (I was fiddling with the Internet link), the install tripped up. Perhaps if I try installing it again it will work (Visual Studio gives a link for the components to install). But is it worth it? While I may quickly browse through the C++ source code, I don't think I want to understand its working and attempt modifications. So I do...

I provide link URLs as directly visible content in my blog posts as shown in an example below: I think that is a reasonable assumption as Kalyan and Sopara of Thane district seem to have been more well known than Mumbai in this period. If this assumption is right then the rulers of Kalyan in this time would be same as in my blog post: Chronological list of empire/kingdom level rulers of Mumbai (Bombay) and nearby areas from 3rd century BCE (over 2000 years ago), https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2022/10/chronological-list-of-empirekingdom.html , October 2022.  --- end example --- Some readers may wonder why I do it that way instead of simply linking the url to the title of the post/page as follows: Chronological list of empire/kingdom level rulers of Mumbai (Bombay) and nearby areas from 3rd century BCE (over 2000 years ago)  (note that the url is not directly visible on the post).  To explain to such readers why I provide link URLs as directly visible content, I decide...

Last updated on 2 Nov. 2023 This post is based on a message I sent to a fellow Indian software techie who is younger than me perhaps by around two decades. Listed below are some of my blog posts related to tech. history where I felt I should write about it as I had some exposure to these companies/technologies in my industry career. In other words, I felt I should contribute my small bit to tech. history info. via just some blog posts (which are surely not in the class of serious academic history accounts or media history articles). Wang computers were a major technology for me in the initial years of my industry career which laid my foundation as a software techie. So I had felt an urge to capture Wang computers history in some looong blog posts. Naturally this history also covered history of the (main) founder of the company. The related posts are given below: Chinese-American computer pioneer An Wang (1920-1990) and Wang Laboratories founded by him: some aspects of their history of ...

This post tries to capture straightforward usage of Github for maintaining various versions of code, but without branches, and to make releases of setup files, using Visual Studio 2022 (Community Edition) and github.com Main reference: How to use Github with Visual Studio 2022,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWqpTpo1kfw , around 24 mins. From around 6 min. 48 secs: Simple Windows Forms app.  From around 7 min. 33 secs: Creating a github repository for above app. From around 8 min. 48 secs: Effect of creating and pushing repository to Github.com (master is main branch of repository); New repository can be seen in github.com From around 9 min. 50 secs: Commit a change to repository (1. Commit change to local repo, 2. Push change to origin (remote)) From around 13 min. 3 secs: When to commit (to local repo) and when to push (local repo changes to origin (remote)) ----- To make a release, use Releases (or Create a new release) link-button in home page of project in Github....

Last updated on 14 Nov. 2023 Note: This was an in-progress post around 19 Sep. 2023 but I moved on to other stuff and now in mid. Nov. 2023, I think I should mention that I do not have any plans to update or follow up on the main contents of this post. I ran into some issues with the setup file and as I now freeze the related VB.NET project software (for which I was trying to create a setup file) capturing what works in it, I felt it is best to drop the setup file from the project. I am leaving the info./knowledge shared below in this post as is without reviewing it now in mid Nov. 2023. Some useful links 1) Setup Projects section of article: Setup and Deployment Projects,  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-studio-2010/wx3b589t(v=vs.100) , dated 2012, is still a useful overview though the article is over 10 years old and so some parts of the section may be inaccurate now. 2) The section, "To install the Installer Projects extension" ...

Last updated on 21 Nov. 2023   BlogBackupToBook software creates HTML blogbook(s) from Blogger blog XML Backup/Export files. It also allows for filtering the output HTML blogbook(s) by content matching strings, by published and/or updated date range and by an index(es) list where the index(es) are positions of posts and pages entries in the Blogger XML Backup/Export file.  Github: https://github.com/ravisiyer/BlogBackupToBook Quick-Info: Top-level folder share: VB-ExportFileFilterAndGenBook,  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UU8pdbI-PJ_PgpuG01_xsL4biYEb_uMs?usp=drive_link Sample files: Input file: 20231113-ravisiyer-blog.xml (18.8 MB), (use download link to download to computer)  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OMMh9tUideo_hRYIzhiDHxxDibjxOQr4/view?usp=drive_link Output file a: Split 1 of 4 of HTML blog book with internal content links - 20231113-ravisiyer-blog-BlogBook-Split1wCLs.html (4 MB), (use download link to download to computer and view downloaded fil...

Last updated on 16-Nov-2023 16-Nov-2023 Note: This program functionality has now been incorporated into BlogBackupToBook VB.Net project. For details, please visit: Ported ExportFileFilterAndGenBook and ExportFileFilterByIndexList from VBA to BlogBackupToBook VB.Net single project of Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition,  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2023/09/ported-exportfilefilterandgenbook-from.html  . end-Note. Quick-Info: Top-level folder share: VB-ExportFileFilterByIndexList,  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WpCo5Iptc4Z72cT3RKAzrOOKKvjZ7BLv?usp=drive_link Version v1 sub-folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aBQ9T9k7LqgaOJrTPHeWHEjASXo_sXtP?usp=drive_link   v1/Info.txt: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JZDxr-yZ-mmyYqN1iZST6S-ABoCjZSkB/view?usp=drive_link End Quick-Info Recently I downloaded Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition (free download) and tried out VB.Net programs there. I was able to get off to a quick start using some we...

Last updated on 21 Nov. 2023 BlogBackupToBook software creates HTML blogbook(s) from Blogger blog XML Backup/Export files. It also allows for filtering the output HTML blogbook(s) by content matching strings, by published and/or updated date range and by an index(es) list where the index(es) are positions of posts and pages entries in the Blogger XML Backup/Export file.  Github: https://github.com/ravisiyer/BlogBackupToBook ============================================ I decided to put up and publish this post now on 5 Sep. 2023 while this work is in progress, as I wanted to ensure that whatever work I have done till now is available for interested readers.  Note: The earlier title of this post was: "Short User Guide to creating Blogger Blogbooks from Backup/Export File using ExportFileFilterAndGenBook and another VBA projects' macros/code (free and open source)" and its contents covered that. Later I ported the code of the two VBA projects mentioned, to VB.Net and consoli...