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Icewind Dale

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Original Images in Flickr

I hope bloggers who have pictures on flickr (www.flickr.com) find this 'Interesting'.
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Flickr by default reduces the sizes of images to standard sizes (small, medium ). The images with the medium size are the ones that get linked to your blogs.

However, the site does keep the original copy of the image in its database. This blog details a way (a soon to be obsolete one, if someone at flickr reads this ) to access the original image.

For example, my picture on flickr is:
photo Id no - 236393

Original image: - www.flickr.com/photos/236393_o.jpg
//--
Original Log changed here ... see end of this log for more details !!
//--

Medium image - www.flickr.com/photos/236393_m.jpg


Small image - www.flickr.com/photos/236393_s.jpg



The site is still beta, and i do expect the guys @ flickr to fix this (Ie, make only the medium image accessible online). Maybe i am supposed to tell them about this, but i think its better if they read my blog and make it popular :-)

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Note added on 10th December 2004

The guys @ Flickr seems to have found out about the original images. Now, they append a randomly generated number to the filename. They do this to all the files (original, medium and small ) but i assume that, for the medium and small figures, they link the existing path to the new ones to provide 'backward compatibility'.

Catch is, they use the same random number for all the three figures !!

So, I do the following:
  • Go to www.flickr.com/photos/236393_m.jpg
  • The site gets linked to http://photos1.flickr.com/236393_1fb3a622c4_m.jpg
  • The original filename is http://photos1.flickr.com/236393_1fb3a622c4_o.jpg


Ta daa !!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Cabin berth

Excerpt from an incident which took place last weekend, when i had gone to my hometown with a friend, to attend a common friend's wedding !!!

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"What the &*@# !!", i almost blurted out, when they said that i had NOT booked any tickets on their bus. I had booked the tickets weeks in advance, and they had called me yesterday to confirm my tickets.

I took out my mobile and showed the evidence in the received call list. The guy just smiled sheepishly and said "SORRY".

This word ought to be banned from the english literature !!! at least you won't have people saying "Oh !! I am reeally sorry that i pissed you off .. you see, my friend needed these tickets badly"

Desperate times call for desperate measures !!! I would go in the Cabin.
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The structure of the buses which take me to my hometown are quite simple. There is the all-famous cabin, no bigger than a study table, where one driver sits, the other driver sleeps (they work in shifts) , a third guy keeps the driver company, and where guys like me sit/stretch/sleep.
Behind the cabin, the passengers sit on the many rows of chairs, which can be pushed back for a comfortable sleeping posture. There would also be a movie playing, that one can watch before going to sleep.

There were four of us in the cabin, besides the three drivers.

Having said that (and having sat in the Cabin for lousy 8 hours), let me tell you about the unique 'features' of the cabin:
  • A very good view : Of the road/buses/lorrys in front of you. Enjoy a STIMULATING time while your driver plays carmageddon.
  • Air conditioned : For heating, move your body forward so that you are sitting over the engine. For cooling, move backward to enjoy the chill air from the windows.
  • Cushioned seats : You will never feel anything ( Numb )


You feel so refreshed the next day that you drop right to sleep !!!