Press SHIFT+yes too all
Suse Linux in Tamilnadu Government
March of the penguins 🙂
Tamil computing needs.
- A free and robust optical character recognition software. The one we have now, Ponvizhi, is inadequate.
- A text-to-voice converter for Tamil to help blind and dumb people.
- A voice-to-text converter for Tamil to help deaf people.
- A spell checker module – both online and off line.
- A Multilingual-Tamil- Multilingual dictionary module – both online and off line and also for electronic dictionaries.
- A Multilingual – Tamil – Multilingual machinised translation software.
- A Tamil specific search engine to search online and off line documents using any encoding.
- Tamil specific keypad designs for mobile phones.
- Tamil input and display software for mobile phones.
and more if only software students, professionals and bureaucrats of Tamilnadu focus on the needs of the local people than writing applications for a global client.
Reading and typing Tamil online and off line, Tamil blogs and aggregators are not milestones of Tamil computing !!! They are just localization of a global phenomenon called Internet.
Tamil in computers – Facts
- You can type, read Tamil in any computer with any operating system like Windows, Mac, Linux.
- You don’t need to buy any software or new keyboard to type in Tamil. You get free softwares to do it and you can use the same qwerty / asdf English keyboard that you have to type in Tamil. You don’t even need to have stickers of tamil letters on your keyboard to memorize the Tamil keyboard layout. Just looking at a print out of Tamil keyboard for 2 days would help you memorize.
- Typing ammaa to get ????? is not the only way to type in Tamil. That is called anjal / romanised / thaminglish keyboard. You have more and better ways to type in Tamil. I recommend Tamil99 keyboard layout.
- You can type in Tamil in any computer application – Both off line and online.
- You can have a free and complete Tamil interface for your computer if you use Linux.
- You can name your files and folders in Tamil.
- You can print Tamil documents without any problem.
- You can search the internet in Tamil in any of the search engines like Google, Yahoo.
- You can write and publish websites in Tamil.
- You can send and receive emails in Tamil.
- To read Tamil you don’t need to install any fonts.
You can but only if you will !
Tamil99 testimonials
Testimonials from friends who changed to Tamil99
I have already changed to tamil 99. it looks really intelligent keypad. Stopped using **** after reading your article. Very valid point that in future understanding tamizh in terms of english letters is equivalent to slow poisoning. – சத்தியா
20 ஆண்டுகளாக பழகியிருந்த ஆங்கில தட்டச்சு முறைக்குக் கூடுதலாகக் கற்றுக் கொண்ட தமிழ்த் தட்டச்சு முறை இப்போது தன்னிச்சையாகி விட்டது. எண்ணம் போகும் வேகத்தில் தட்டச்சிட முடிகிறது. சராசரியாக நிமிடத்துக்கு 20 சொற்களுக்கு மேல் உள்ளிட முடிகிறது. இது நானாக எழுதும் கட்டுரைகளுக்கு. எதையாவது பார்த்து நகல் செய்தால் 30 சொற்களை எளிதாகத் தொட்டு விட முடிகிறது. ஒரு மணி நேரம் தட்டச்சிட்டால் 1200 சொற்கள் சுலபமாக உருவாகி விடுகின்றன.எண்ணிக்கையை விட கை விரல்களுக்குக் கிடைக்கும் ஓய்வு முக்கியமானது. தமிழ் 99 முறையில் தட்டச்சிட்டால் தமிங்கில முறையுடன் ஒப்பிடும் போது கை விரல்களுக்கு வேலை மிகவும் குறைவு. தமிங்கில முறையில் அடிக்கும் போது நமது மனம் சிந்தனைகளைத் தொகுக்கும் வேலையுடன். தமிழ் சொற்களை ஆங்கில எழுத்துக்களாக மாற்றும் வேலையையும் கூடவே செய்ய வேண்டியிருக்கும். அதனால் மூளையின் processing திறன் பிளவு பட்டு விடும். தமிழ்99 முறையில் தமிழில் சிந்தித்து இடைத் தரகு மொழி இல்லாமல் நேரடியாக தமிழிலேயே உள்ளிட்டு தமிழ்ப் படைப்புகளை உருவாக்கலாம்.
– மா. சிவக்குமார்.
Tamil99 is the Keyboard I use for writing Tamil contents in computers and it is very good. Try it if you have not. -Sethu
Shortcuts / Syntax that Tamil99 users should know
Tamil99 users should be aware of some shortcuts / Syntax.
1. To write க்க just type க க in sequence. No need to press f after first க to bring the dot over க.
similarly, த+த = த்த, ம+ம = ம்ம.
2. For frequent combination of letters like ந்த, ஞ்ச, ன்ற, ண்ட, ங்க, ம்ப the same rule applies. Just press ந த in sequence to get ந்த. No need to press f after ந.
3. To write நத்தை, press ந+அ+த+த+ஐ.The அ after ந specifies that it is ந and not ந். If you just press ந+த you will get only ந்த. Similarly for தத்தம், தத்தை etc.,
4. Works only in Tamilkey firefox extension and NHM Writer – To write அஃது, எஃகு etc., – ஃ following a உயிர் or அகரமல்லா உயிர்மெய், you need not press SHIFT+f to get ஃ . Just pressing f would bring ஃ in these places. Because the natural key output for f, the புள்ளி cannot occur after உயிர் or அகரமல்லா உயிர்மெய் according to tamil grammar.
5. To write Tamil numerals, press ~ key followed by the number without any space in between.
Windows to Ubuntu Converts – Beginner questions
Why Should I use Ubuntu?
It is easy, fast, better, safe, simple, update and free.
Should I delete Windows to install Ubuntu (or any other Linux)?
No. You can install Ubuntu without uninstalling Windows. While you boot your system you can choose to either Ubuntu or Windows.
How to install Ubuntu?
Download Ubuntu here. It is around 700 MB. Write the downloaded file as an ISO image. Help for this here. Now this CD is called Live CD. Load this CD in your CD drive and restart your system. While restarting press F8 and choose to boot from CD/DVD. This will give you a feel how your system will look like if you have Ubuntu installed. Now you can choose to install using the install option in the Live CD.
How long does it take to install Ubuntu?
Around 15 minutes or less. While the installation goes, you can carry around your normal work in the system, so installation won’t bore you. Isn’t it cool to use the OS even before installing it?
What should I take care while installing?
If you have installed windows already, you should take care while answering the disk partition question while installing. Choose resize option if you want to keep the data safe in your windows partitions. If you choose erase disk, then some data might be lost. So, be careful here.
Why am I not able to connect to the internet through USB?
This has to do with the USB driver specifications. Search for Linux drivers for this or any hardware which refuses to run in Ubuntu.
Some hardware like web cam, music instruments don’t run in Ubuntu? So, is Ubuntu inferior?
No, this is not a problem of Ubuntu but of the hardware provider who failed to give drivers which run in any platform. Write to that hardware provider to support you or ask in Ubuntu user support forums. Some one might find it for you or write a driver for you. When you purchase any hardware in the future, take care to verify that it is Linux compatible.
What anti-virus software can I use for Ubuntu?
Ha ha. There is no virus in Ubuntu (or any Linux). So you need not install any Anti-virus software.
How do I install new software?
Go to System-admin-synaptic package manager, search for the software you want and install them.
Can i access my Windows files from Ubuntu?
Yes. But you cannot access Ubuntu files from Windows. Write to Bill Gates if you need to 🙂
Don’t I have Yahoo / MSN messenger?
No. But you can use GAIM from which you can access all popular chat clients like GTalk, MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger, IRC channels all at one place. You cannot voice or video chat in these programs though. You have separate Ubuntu-Ubuntu compatible programs for Voice and Video Chat.
�Can I view / write Tamil without problem in all applications in Ubuntu?
Yes.
Tamil Blogs statistics
Statistics from Thamizmanam.com , leading Tamil blogs aggregating portal. Accessed on June 15th 2007.
Total blogs listed : 1944
Posts in last one month : 4578
Posts in last one week : 1008
Posts in last 24 hours : 138
Average number of posts per day: 153
Well this could reflect 98% scenario of Tamil blogosphere as there are very less number of blogs not aggregated by Thamizmanam.
Positive impact of Tamil blogs:
1. People who might otherwise not write Tamil in their life ever, even in paper, have started writing in Tamil. Mainly the Non-resident Tamils. And they write better Tamil than that found in TN mass media. Tamil blogs play a major role in kindling people’s curiosity to learn Tamil typing in computers.
2. An open environment and equal chance to discuss sensitive and taboo Tamilnadu issues which is not possible in mass media.
3. Register of thoughts, news, events, places, topics hitherto not covered by Tamil mass media. From Newzealand to nano technology, now we can get to read through Tamil blogs.
4. Wider and faster Coverage of News. Movie reviews, Calamities get reported the moment they happen.
5. Social networking of world wide Tamils.
6. Chance to meet popular writers through blogs.
How to make Windows run faster?
To make Windows run faster, FORMAT your hard disk and load any Linux OS ! Serious !
My Windows was damn slow. I tried uninstalling unwanted softwares, clearing the start-up programs, clearing the system tray, running spybots, defragmenting disks, cleaning up disks. But nothing helped much. Got annoyed to see even My computer taking minutes to load I decided to format my hard disk. Only when i decided to format the system, I realised how much crap, junk I have loaded in it. My backup was not more than 8 GB and few MB of essential programs.
Already I was familiar with Ubuntu 7.04 . Now i installed it too in dual boot allotting more partition space for it. Only after re-installing Windows I realised how faster it can be without all these junk programs. I need windows only to run my research software. Apart from that all other activities can be done in Ubuntu. So I intend to keep Windows this way without loading any new programs. It is better faster, safer than being bulky and it will be a REAL “computer”for my computing needs in research. Even if I need to use some like skype sometimes, I intend to have the skype.exe file stored in a CD and install it every time i use it (once in a month?!) and then erase it from the system.
Next I need to format and re-install two more messy things – 1. My Room – One of my friends from spain is visiting me next week. 2. My life !! Its not gonna be as easy as formatting the system 🙂 !!!
Lines I like from The Alchemist
It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.
Never stop dreaming.
Not everyone can see his dreams come true in the same way.
Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
The world’s greatest lie: At a certain point in our lives we lose control of what’s happening to us and our lives become controlled by fate.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything because it’s all written there.
If you can concentrate on the present, you’ll be a happy man