banner with imagemgick convert

To create a banner with mirror effect!!

convert -size 600x130 xc:transparent -font forte -pointsize 72 -fill "#cccccc" -annotate 0x180+12+80 "Pamela's Gallery" -gaussian 0x2 -stroke black -strokewidth 1 -fill "#ff3600" -stroke black -strokewidth 1 -annotate 0x0+12+55 "Pamela's Gallery" -draw "line 0,68 570,68" banner.png

ssh and scp

Via tunnel

scp -P 2222 font_slewed.gif santm@localhost:/tmp/banner.gif
ssh -p 2222 santm@localhost

nomally :

[How To] Puttygen Puttssh for ssh

1. Run PuttyKeyGen
1.a Make sure you choose SSH2DSA at the bottom
1.b Click on Generate
1.c Move Mouse as mentioned.

2. Once the key is generated
2.a Put proper comment for Key username and hostname
2.b Type your Password please try to choose a proper password i.e. with number, special character, upper case hard to guess
2.c Save the public and private key I saved in
C:\Documents and Settings\santanu.misra

3. Now add pageant.exe to your startup programs as shortcut.

4. In the property box modify these
4.a In “Target” Box add the Private-key file name
4.b In “Start in’’ Box put the directory where you stored the public key ; look at step 2.c
4.c Make “Run” to minimized

5. Right click on pageant and you will see there is an option for adding the key.
5.a Choose your private key file that was generated with “PuttyKeyGen” and it will ask for the “Passphrase” enter the password you entered in step 2.b
5.b You can see your key with “view key” option. There is a option to delete your key as well.

6. Now we need to configure putty to work with our public and private key. The screen shoots are quite self explanatory.

How ever I did modified “ScrollbackLines” for putty with regedit as I like to have more scroll back line; default is only 200. The ket is located in
MyComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuttY\Sessions\Default%20Settings
For quick access to known servers you can do this to automate login via (ssh)
ssh-add -L >> .ssh/authorized_keys

Back to Work

When I was on my vacation last week in Spain and Portugal, was thinking about to write down all that we had experienced there - the places we visted and food we tasted and others. But back to work it is such a Dilbert place that I can not explain with my logic.

Also I need to find a cheap solution to restore pictures from Smart Media. It looks like there is a well suited option commercial for 40 Euros. But I am still looking around for a free one if I can as I am not going to use the same again.

Stay tuned for experiences from Madrid, Granada, Seville and Lisbon.

Lost Pictures Recovered

After discovering that one of the SmartMedia Card from my Camera not working at Seville we were really very heart broken and anxious. It had pictures from our first three days of our trip. And in those first three days we traveled from Madrid to Granada. We had captured lots of evening pictures in Madrid and sunset view of Alhambra at Granada.

But we kept our nerve cool and continued with other media cards and tried our best not to remember about the same. Getting home and after finishing lots of house hold chores at late evening we started trying Google for an answer. And quickly it became clear that we were not the only one with this problem. The commercial solutions offered were OK but bit pricy($40) for one time use. Since those pictures were precious to us, so I tried to buy the same over internet and my credit card got declined.

But today my luck was better as I found a better web site with lot of good links(shareware) for the same. Check out, if you happen to have same problem in future (touch wood).

http://www.jr-worldwi.de/photo/index.html?SmartMedia_recovery.html

Well time to go to bed and prepare pictures for posting them on web. Adios

Hotel Train Lisbon to Madrid

We were at the very last phase of our vacation. We took train back to Madrid tonight as from there we had our flight back to Paris.

We booked the train ticket long back; I went in-person to get the same from Spanish Railway ticket office based in Paris. The office is kind of hidden by all the stores near to Boulevard Haussmann; ever busy shopping place.

Being Indian it was a really something new although we had experienced few other different night trains in Europe. As this was a Hotel Train, there are mostly 4 kinds of tickets in this night train which connects Lisbon and Madrid. The cheapest one being the chair car, next one is four person cabins where passengers are divided according to gender. Then there is two people's cabin, there is also two kinds of the same. One being first class with attached personal shower and loo while the other one is only with personal wash basin. These cabins are maintained and operated by Accor Hotel Group, one of the largest hotel chains in continental Europe.

Well,our booking was two persons cabin with wash-basin. As a matter of fact we were kind of surprised with the hospitality and the cabin itself. It really worth the money we spent in fact I wish and wondered how much extra it would have been for the first class. With first class the dinner and breakfast were included but for us it was only breakfast.

So far I have seen this kind of train service in Hindi (BollyHood) movies experiencing the same in real life was a dream. May be our beloved Laloo-jee can travel once in this first class and he introduces the same service from Patna :))

Lisbon - Portugal

Second day at Lisbon, as we had covered most of the top attractions on day one we started our day in ease, but I am sure lot of people might not agree with us ;) on easy going part.

We headed towards Colombo Shopping Mall which is one of the largest shopping mall in Europe and built very recently. After being mall rats for a while we bought some and had lunch there in one fast food Mexican place. Depositing those shopping bags to hotel we went to Baixa again. We walked more in Baixa streets and then headed towards Belem. The weather in Lisbon being till far was with overcast all the time and temperature much lower than Spain, we took a long walk along the river side.

Before going back to Lisbon we entered the famous Paties House dating back to 1837. Oh! Those paties they are so good and mouth watering I feel like tasting them now as I am writing. Resturant is really big inside and with very reasonable prices. It should top the list for going to Belem.

For dinner we had some fusion food which had Indian spices with Portugal taste in Chaido. The restaurants are too small and packed so there is always someone waiting near the door.

Lisbon - Portugal

Well the over night bus journey between Seville and Lisbon was not very long one. We had an hour long stop as soon as we entered Portugal. The road condition was good and we reached the Oriental Stop of Lisbon at very early hours and the sky was still dark. From there it took another 20 minutes or so to reach the final destination near Zoological Garden. We took a taxi and the ride was a short one to our hotel for only 6 Euros. The driver was nice and he was mentioning about the drought Portugal is facing.

The Hotel (Novotel) was under renovation but the staff was kind enough to get us a room at 4:30 in the morning although we had by mistake booked for only one adult which we came to knew then and there.

After having rest for few hours we headed out from our hotel to Lisbon downtown by metro. It was a very cloudy day. I was feeling heavy headed and wanted to get some coffee.

After walking in Rossio Square for a while we bought day pass for Lisbon Trasport. The Metro system is run by the Government while the Bus, Tram and trolleys are run by a company. Lisbon have lots of trams and it seems like one of the attractions. Lisbon downtown is divided in three major part Bairro Alto, Alfama and Baixa. The first two one are on hills and the last one in the middle of the two.

It took us a while to figure out the starting point of Gloria funicular. We took it to reach the top of Bairro Alto Neighborhood. The ride is very small and full of tourists only. At the end of the 2/3 minute ride the people who bought a single trip ticket was wondering is it really worth or not.

Just getting out of the funicular on the right towards hill there is park, from there we get very nice view of the other part of the city and the river from there. There is also the ‘Porto’ wine collection place just across the street. Start walking downhill towards Chiado. Chaido is very happening place with lots of designer shops and places to east and drink. We visited Sao Roque Church which is very beautiful with lots of excellent tile and marble works inside; it was built in the glory days of Portugal.

We had lunch in one of the restaurant of big mall in Baixa Chaido. After that we took tram 28 for going to Alfama. This one is also a old tram most likely built in 1930s and it passes Baixa district. We visited the Caste of São Jorge. After spending a good time and taking the view of Lisbon & River Tejo we took the same tram back to Chiado. In Chaido we took Bica funicular which is like Gloria a old one but it is very stiff and goes down to the river front. The buildings along side are very old and in poor condition.

Once reaching the river front we took tram 15 towards Belem. There are both new and old tram on this track. Belem is 5 KM outside of Lisbon. On the way we saw 25th April Bridge, which just looks like Golden Gate bridge of San Francisco. The reason may be both are built by the same company. Belem tower and Monastery are the main attractions along with the ‘Monument to the Discoveries’.Well it was a quite a long day and we headed back to Chiado for dinner and then to Hotel.

Seville - Spain

Last day at Seville... After checking out from the hotel we took a bus and got down next to the Casino of Exposition. But today it is a public holiday at Seville which we did not knew, so the roads were quite empty at 9 in the morning. After getting down from the bus we walked towards Plaza de Espana. Plaza de Espana was built for 1929 world expo. Lots of Latin American countries joined that expo. The world expo was not a success as that year was marked as first financial disaster of the Great Depression as U.S. securities lost $26 billion.

The famous tile work of Andalusia is at its best here. There are maps of Spain from that time; the benches, the small decorative bridges are really beautiful. We walked along the great corridors of Spanish Pavilion. From there we walked to Alcazar while we saw the university and the famous 5star hotel. The university used to be a cigarette factory before.

King Pedro Castile in the 1360's with his mistress Maria de Padilla, lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. Pedro embarked upon a complete rebuilding of the palace, employing workmen from Granada and utilising fragments of earlier Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia. The comparison between Alhambra is like comparing apple and orange. This is build with lot of confusing room. The outside garden is really beautiful which worth a stroll.

As that day was religious holiday with procession and big gathering of people around the cathedral. We walked along the cathedral towards city hall and further. After lunch we rested inside a café for 2 hours to beat the scorching heat.

We took a bus to visit Basilic of Macarena, the weeping Mary which is world famous. We walked back all the way from there to Plaza de Espana. It is better to visit west facing Plaza de Espana in the evening for photos.

After all that walking we were really tired and exhausted. We had tapas again for dinner next to our hotel. It was a better place with street side seating. We really enjoyed my food with cool breeze and watching people on the street.

Taxi ride to the bus stop for Lisbon was a good choice at late night. But waiting for the midnight bus was not fun. But the overnight bus ride was not bad.

Evening in Seville - Spain

Back from Cordoba around 4PM in the afternoon to Seville. We went to buy ticket for next phase of journey that was between Seville and Lisbon. Oh! That was too hot and sweating experience to summarize in short. Back to hotel being boiled with afternoon heat we got freshen up.

We started our evening stroll starting from Puente de San Telmo towards Triana around 9PM, the other side of the river a common Seville neighborhood. On our way we saw the ‘Torre del Oro’. After a while went to a tapas bar which was crowded with local people. Here the server notes down your order and price with a chalk in front of you on the desk while you have your food standing. Around midnight we left Triana as we could not find any flamenco music sounds. This is the only thing which we could not listen to in this trip of ours. We came back walking near to cathedral and took picture of the bell tower (in night mode). At this hour city was still crowded with tourists as well as locals giving a feeling that night is still young.

Cordoba – Spain

When we started planning for Andalusia we did not thought of Cordoba first. But later friends who had been there suggested visiting Cordoba.

We walked from our hotel on the busy morning streets of Seville to reach the train station. We bought ticket for AVE (fast train) to Cordoba. The fair is not at all expensive compared to French standard as it costs almost similar from Paris CDG airport to city center. The train service is really good and train travels in high speed.

Cordoba’s main attraction is its Mezquita(Mosque). This is a living history of Cordoba as it transforms from one culture and religion to other. It was one of the first big city that was built by Moorish rulers in Spain at 10th century. These leaders wanted to build a mosque for their religion. Earlier the mosque was small but with time as Cordoba prospered, it was extended to accommodate more people.

The double arch with red and white stripes makes a very immense effect to the visitors. These double arches are purely for decorative purpose but it is so unique. Later days when Christians gained their control over Cordoba this was converted to a Church with very little modification giving it a feeling of church inside the mosque.

The `Mihrab` traditionally had two functions in Islamic worship, first it indicated the direction of Mecca (therefore prayer) and it also amplified the words of the Imam, the prayer leader. But The Cordoba Mosque Mihrab looks south in the same way as the Damascus mosque and not south east in the direction of Mecca. This one is very beautifully decorated with Islamic arts of gold on marble.

From there we went around various streets exploring beautiful patios of Cordoba. Best time is early May to visit the same. There is a competition for most beautiful patio in Cordoba, which means lots of patios to check out in early May.

We had a light snack of fruits and juice near to Alcazar. The afternoon was scorching hot. After waiting a good amount of time for the public bus we took a taxi back to train station. The ride in the AC car was worth (4 Euros) every penny as the outside was burning at 40 C.