Wednesday

Here's the deal. I'm procrastinating!!! well, not really (the only thing i'm procrastinating about is the requirements because i have time to do them(on the bus)...other stuff i won't have the time until after next week). well, a 4 day weekend is coming up for me, and i'm taking care of my daugther all day friday, we're going to bday party on satday and i'm organizing a community volunteer group to do some hard labor around the community (that'll probly be on satday as well).

To do list for this weekend:
right up the requirements,
call up more dictionary folks,
call up a professor's son (my best friend in punjab who i haven't talked to in 12 years),
and work on the dictionary (add) tool.

Katrina and the gas prices are really putting a damper on things. :(

8/24/05: A constant Reminder

I work right across the Hirshorn Museum of Contemporary art and they have a big piece of art in the front of their building...hanging...well since past week they've had this writing that says "Don't be afraid" in lot of languages. If you notice there're more than a couple of Indian languages...and what's missing? you guessed it GURMUKHI!!!!! it's really inspiring...everyday i see this and i just stare at it as if to expect that i might find it on there. I don't. it's not there. For whatever reason, propoganda, politics, our own insecurities our GURMUKHI isn't there. I can go on and on on this topic...

So let's get off of it...By the way in the 60's it was "Peace" and now it's "Don't be afraid". I love this country so much and it's the best country to live in the world. ( sikhs can wear turbans here and go around this country (even in the south) and they'll feel less threatened here than they do in India. When I saw those Sikh protesters getting hosed I was reminded by the 50's and 60's in the US and how they treated blacks. That's how the indians treat sikhs. ohh yeah, we're free over there alright! we're as free as the blacks in the north and west in the US were in the 60's) But we as americans are so afraid...everything we do/buy is because of fear. hopefully that'll change one day. i went off on a tangent there sorry...

anyways here it is see for yourself

8/23/05-busy

Things are getting busy for me. I had to take care of my daughter all weekend. the wifey had some class to go to. I did get some work done but not on the dictionary. I have my hands in like 10 things right now. One of them: is a kirtan with it's translation( translating what they're singing). I was working on that. It actually required math :) so that was cool. but it wasn't my idea someone mentioned it on mrSikhnet. so i ran with it just like the dictionary idea. problem i'm having with the Kirtan is that the file size is sooooooooooo big we're talking in 100's of megs. so there's gotta be a way to reduce the size of the file so i can share.

Dictionary project: I'm going to need some money to buy the words as it turns out. So Sat Guru provided me a way. I got a call from my old job asking me to moonlight with them. I said sure...
sometimes one has the will one but has to be shown the way...

So there's a Kirtan project, Dictionary project and my super secret surprise project and ohh the web site...

Well, we're going to need everyone's Pub(licity) skills when we're done with this.

Let's see, my schedule....well, if I moonlight that means that i'll have no time to work on anything for a couple of weeks but it'll also mean that i would have the funds to really do all the things all at once...so let's see what happens...

Sat Nam!

8/19/2005

No update...this's been a busy week and 'm hoping to get some work done this weekend. meanwhile i'm looking for some contractors to work on my other projects for project:gurmukhi. there's more to project:gurmukhi than the dictionary that i'm working on...
see you guys soon!
Sat Nam!

Day 18: Early Start

I just found out from Dr. Lehal of Punjab university that they'll be launching an elearning website for Gurmukhi/punjabi in a month. That's great news. Does that mean i'm going to stop working on this project and others...NO. But I will be helping Dr. Lehal with theirs.

peace and love!

Day 17: End of Hot days

Finally! some relief coming our way!!! ohhmygod!!!! it's not the heat it's the humidity that kills you!!!

anyways, no development done today...probably not going to do much during the week until the weekend/friday.

Day 16: Another hot and humid day

not much actual development...but.......i'll tell tomorrow...(waiting to hear from bunch of folks regarding something other than the dictionary project)...

Day 15: HOT and HUMID

well i got a lot done today. i actually started looking at future projects to include in "project: gurmukhi". i think i'm going to like doing them...actually i can't do them myself i'm going to have to hire someone to do them. they involve some artistic ability. any artists out there?

anyways i've set a deadline for myself: September, 10 2005. With Satguru di mehar dai naal we'll have something substantial up and running on the web by then. today i got the mockup of the screens done and finalized the database and now will be shipping to gurpreetSS.

(well, the reason i got a lot done today was cuz you have to be insane to go outside these days...it's just plain nasty! it's soooooo hot and sooooooo humid...we had a really bad winter that wouldn't go away and all of a sudden we hit the 90's and 100's and never really had a spring...so i can't wait till the fall. everyone's favorite season in the north east usa. i love fall or autumn as they call it in some parts of the world. )

anyways it's pretty late here!

Sat Nam!

Day 14: Lot to do

Sat Nam!
Here's my todo list for this weekend:

• Call Dr. Lehal
• Call Amanpreet
• Build the server that will host this app(for development phase at least)...so far I was hosting the SQL Server and Apache/IIS servers on my old laptop but it's not working out...that machine's had better days
• Install mySql, Oracle, Apache, IIS, Java 2, CF MX, PhP Nuke
• Send my schema to Gurpreet Singh (problem's been exporting the schema from my laptop)...i may just have him over he lives a mile from my house

Also, I'm going to be super duper busy next week with my work...so i'm most likely not going to be working on this project. i have to finish a project by the end of fiscal year...so i'm going to be in a daze for the next month or so...

I forgot to mention that Dr. Lehal told me something interesting that he HAD done the dictionary and it WAS online but when he left his previous job, the dictionary went off line too. that's so sad. it would be nice if i could take a year's sabatical to go work in Punjab....:(

Sat Nam!

Day 12

nothing new to report

Active Tuesday: Day 11

guess what???? Dr. Lehal wrote back! and i'm going to be calling him... i'll be shipping some design work over there(for this site) to some creative Sikh (to start off with to see how good they are). because i got another contract that i turned down yesterday worth $500...it was a simple web site in flash...anyone could've done it...

i have to post some link here...for other techie sikhs...but i'm kinda busy with the whole database/unicode/regular font issue...

talk to you soon...

SAT NAM!!!

Day 10: Lazy tired monday

Sat Nam!
not much happened today. still haven't heard back from Dr. Lehal. 'doubt i will again. heard back from amanpreet singh. kinda confused by his email. but i'll call him(in punjab) instead of replying to him. still have to send the schema to gurpreet, hopefully i won't feel like this tomorrow (the database is on another computer than this one)...

Sat Nam!

Second Sunday: I spoke too soon

Sat Nam!

Gurpreet called and is willing to help with the database stuff. I had designed the database in sql server but since he'll be helping i'm going to give what i have to him and he'll convert it to Oracle. it's cool cuz i have Oracle as well.

Second Sunday

Sat Nam!!
Ummmmm, well i don't think i'm gong to go play golf. it's way too hot out there. but AmanPreet Singh Alam wrote back and sent me the dictionary with 4000 words in it. But it got cut off at the letter "M". so probably a few thousand more...that's a good start right? plus he said he would help with the dictionary. so that's good!! :) i'm probably going to show him my schema and make him an admin on this blog. He's really smart and loves Gurmukhi. He's from Moga, Punjab. And they're starting their own company that develop punjabi software.

i haven't heard back from Dr. Lehal. but i'm not waiting either...

i've been working on the web site design...it's going okay...i'm never happy with my first few iterations.

also, i've been STUMBLING using a cool super cool tool called StumbleUpOn!! it's sooo neat, it's really coming in handy with this project!

Ps...i don't go to the gurdwara much for very very personal reasons(that i'll go in to when i start my personal blog..probly after i'm done with this) but i think i'm going to start going really early in the mornings to beat the rush (but that'll also mean that i will miss the program(which i usually like)...hmmmmm what to do...we'll figure something out)

Sat Nam!

End of Day 8

Well, I found the punjabi dictionary(list of words) but I can't open the darn file. GRRRR! I emailed the person who built it. Hopefully he can help. He lives in Punjab. It's so nice to talk to a techy sikh in punjab!!!! I can't wait to go back and do some networking. Maybe next year.

i feel like doing a barrak...but maybe i should save it until i'm done with this project.

okay, i basically had no time to myself today...so tomorrow i'm going to go play some golf. it got a lot better here than it's been. ohh we have a microcenter here...can you say The Geek Capital!!! OMG!!! that was my first time...i felt so unTechy it's not even funny!

and i can't get in touch with gurpreet so looks like I'm the general and the army all in one/an army of one! :) but i don't mind at all, as long as i don't let myself down because no one demands more from me than myself.

all in all it was a productive day...i don't know about tomorrow though..if i go play that's 4 hours right there...poof! gone!

OOOOOOOOPPPPSSSS!!!!I'm so stupid!!!

The person that I was "talking to" was DR. LEHAL!!! of PUNJAB UNIVERSITY!! I totally didn't make the connection until someone else mentioned his name on one of the forums. DOH!!!!! i'm an idiot. what a guy though! my heart always fills up with joy whenever i meet a successful Sikh. i was so happy to see that article about those kids that won that NASA competition that I mass emailed it to everyone at work. it's so cool!

anyways i'm working hard on this project today...and i have to go now to put some air in my wife's car. :( and i need to go buy a mother board for my sweet machine (that's probably where this project will be hosted).

I'll post some websites that are being run in Punjab by Sikhs...please contribute to them...as you know $5 is 250 over there.

see you soon...

End of Day 7

I wasn't expecting to do much but I lost my internet connection and so started doing design mockups in photoshop. hopefully tomorrow will be a better day coding wise...must go respond to emails...i'm so tired...taking care of a baby is hard work!

Waheguru Sat Nam phul chuk maaf karni!

News for this project

Sat Nam!!!
I finally recieved a reply from Punjab from the people who're trying to do the exact same thing as we are (minus the collection tool, which I still think is a great idea and hopefully will be utilized by many).

I'm going to offer my help on their project and ask what they can do to help us (i'm going to call Gurpreet Singh today and see if he can take over one of the sections (db/sql, web design, coding(in c#)) at the same time I'll continue to work on ours here.

So: language C# (maybe some CF/PHP on the front end)
Database: SQL Server
IDE: Dreamweaver for just the web templates and design and that Microsoft .Net thing(for C#)
Adobe Photoshop for the graphics


ohh yeah i forgot to mention that so far this is going to be a c# effort because I couldn't find much in java. I'm a fan of java but if c# is going to save us time then so be it. i don't hate Gates that much!

for some reason it always takes 2-3 days for people to respond from india...don't know why that is.

Sat Nam!

End of day 6: was very very tired

i didn't get to do much today except look at some code. i was sooooooo tired all day it's not even funny...even now. ohh let me break down my day for you:

6:30 wake up (i'm following Guruka Singh's advise)
7:45 Leave for work
8:45 get to work (because i drove...i've been so bad, i should be taking the bus/train but i'm always late)
5:45 leave work
7:30 pm get home and take care of my daugther until 9 pm.
9:00pm got on gurumustak's blog
10:30pm got off gurumustak's blog and i'm swearing off his blog it's too adictive (it's like chat room for adults)

i should go to sleep now cuz if i'm off tomorrow and have to take care of my daughter all day long and will work on this project while she's napping. OMG Waheguru, please let her take naps tomorrow, long ones!!!! i don't have the energy to deal with that rugrat! i'll post a pic of her soon...actually she has her own blog...(since feb/march i think)...

End of Day 5: Coding

Well, at least I started looking at the code aspect of this project. Once you get into it it always looks better and less daunting. My motto or is it moto? is that "i'm not smart enough to think of something that hasn't been thought of before" so far in my career it's been true. even if i'm the first one people have done very similar things that you don't need to re-invent the wheel.

conversion code part 1 of 3

I think i missed a call from punjab today regarding this project...i left my phone at home...ohh well...jo likhya so hona...usually i don't buy that saying.

I created a new blog from Unicode Gurmukhi, i'll see how it looks from windows 2000 tomorrow.

Well it's late and have to get up in 6 hours...and the little one is teething...:(...which translates to 4 good hours of sleep for us.

Sat Sri Akal!

i just typed the below in unicode!!!! woohooo! go gurmukhi!

ਸਤ਼ਿਨਾਮ

End of Day 4: Digging

SAT KARTAR!

Well, I'm still in the process of collecting a lot and lot of information. I'm waiting to hear from couple of important(for this project) people. Just to clarify things for those of you who are actually out there listening. This started as a punjabi to english dictionary and a tool to collect words from the sikh community. Which is pretty easy to do (you macth a word with a word from the DB, throw a couple of forms to collect information and a couple of queries to "insert" it in to the dB....that's it folks that's what a db search and collection feature is).

BUT since i took on this project i've learnt that that's not what a dictionary is suppose to do. And there're so many of the simple dictionaries already out there that it would be a waste of effort if we just built a simple (select * from tbl_1 where word LIKE '%myWord%')...

BUT i do like the idea of having a collection tool, that's a pretty FAT idea! And the good news is that it doesn't take much to build a tool like that. BUT there's one problem and that is i basically have to assume that everyone is using a UNICODE font such as SAAB (is on windows xp). and do i want to prevent enteries if it's not a UNICODE font.

That's what i'been working on the past two nights. and i couldn't help it...i started designing the site!;p i tried to fight it but i think i have the logo down too...i'll unvail it when i'm good and ready...

Go DC public transportation/METRO!!!!(let's just hope no one jumps off any of the bridges tomorrow...)

i might try posting in SAAB or some other unicode font...

peace and love!

Sat Kartar!

End of Day 3: Digging

SAT NAM!!! WAHE GURU!!!!
ever since i can remember i would write
Å on top of my exam booklet or a paper before starting my exams (from KG to College) but i noticed i forgot to do it when i started this.

so...here's my prayer : "sat nam wahe guru ji, bul chuk maaf karni. sat nam wahe guru ji, bul chuk maaf karni, sat nam wahe guru ji, bul chuk maaf karni. sat nam wahe guru ji, bul chuk maaf karni. sat nam wahe guru ji, bul chuk maaf karni, sat nam wahe guru ji, bul chuk maaf karni."

They say that prophet Mohammed (may peace be up on him) used to ask for forgiveness 72 times a day from Allah...now if a great man like Mohammad asked for forgiveness 72 times a day...i must recite "Sat Nam" ten times in every single breath.

Wahe Guru!

Wow! I'm learning so much about how (the real) dictionary stuff works. Did you guys know that you can write code to transliterate ("That is writing the text of one language in another script...")...i had no idea. what a concept! :) i want to do it from english to punjabi (usually it's the other way around).

• we'll be using unicode font
• realized that i'm probably going to get another techy sikh, who can at least do one portion away from me (design, database or code)....CALLING any techies or web designers who want to help! anyone out there!!! (i'm going to ask gurpreet singh, whom i haven't talked to in ages or hit the sikhnet chatrooms)
• ohh last but not least i'm going to have to ask for lots of permissions (i'm keeping a list) because i finally got the list of words downloaded.
• i'm writing to someone in (south india) who's actually working on a project in gurmukhi.