I encountered a peculiar problem in a shell script that was used to find the yesterday's and tomorrow's date using the environmental variable TZ. The script that was previously written to find yesterday's date on a server that was located in EDT time zone was

YesterdayDate=`TZ="EDT+24" date`

But unfortunately the code failed to give the correct date of yesterday and instead it gave today's date. I thought of digging deep into this issue and logged in to a linux server to investigate the matter. After some long manipulations I observed something.


BST is 1 hour ahead of UTC $ YesterdayDate=`TZ="BST+23" date`

The script "EDT+24" gave only GMT/UTC time and inorder to get the correct timezone I needed to add the offset value for the particular time zone. After I made the changes the script seems to be working fine.

EDT is 4 hours behind of UTC $ YesterdayDate=`TZ="EDT+28" date`

CDT is 5 hours behind of UTC $ YesterdayDate=`TZ="CDT+29" date`

MDT is 6 hours behind of UTC $ YesterdayDate=`TZ="MDT+30" date`

PDT is 7 hours behind of UTC $ YesterdayDate=`TZ="PDT+31" date`

I'm still a bit confused as to why the $TZ is behaving so unexpectedly.

Note: I'm just a novice and not an expert in Unix or Shell Scripting. I just wanted to share my experience with timezones on linux servers.

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Last week I wanted to buy a mobile phone for my father and I was hunting for an economical music phone with camera and GPRS. Since I was buying it for my dad, I preferred Nokia because of the user friendly interface their phones have. When I inquired my friends, almost everyone suggested the Nokia 5130 Xpress music phone. I was convinced with the looks of the phone and bought it.

Pros

The Price of the phone is the crowd puller. With a 2.0 Megapixel Camera, 1GB microSD card storage, Bluetooth, GPRS and a sleek design, Nokia 5130 is a smart buy option.

I would give 9 out of 10 for the design and form factor. Everything is neatly packed, smoothly finished and custom fabricated with the buttons ideally located for a perfect music phone. The backlighting effect is appreciated.

I'm a person who prefers phones with a bigger display. Nokia 5130 display area is not the largest ever but definitely satisfying for a budget phone with compact design.

The music quality and stereo effects are good to hear in the headphone. The keypad is robust and comfortable to type.

Initially when the phone was introduced people complained about hanging problems and phone getting automatically restarted issues. Its been a week since I bought the phone and there are no issues till now.

Cons

The battery was a bit of a let down by Nokia. When I opened the back panel and found that the battery is the same old BL-5C that created a hullabaloo not long ago was psychologically disappointing.

The microUSB data cable that came along with the phone was incredibly short and there is absolutely no way I can place my phone on the table once I plugged it in the PC's USB slot.

Bluetooth is the only plausible data transfer option. The microUSB cable is short and there is no software CD in the package.

Inability to connect to Wi-Fi networks, lack of office tools, cheesy loud speakers at high volume, etc are desirable features missing on the phone.

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Virtual private network is a cost effective solution for companies to extend network connectivity to its employees in every corner of the globe. Consider a company sends an employee to another country that is far away from the company headquarters on a secret mission. There must be some way for the employee to retort to the company and access the private network of the company in a secure way. The company cannot install a private network across countries because it would be expensive. Therefore they must find a way to communicate with the employee in a secure manner using the internet. This is were a virtual private network comes in to the picture. A VPN is a private network connection that is virtual in the sense that there is no dedicated private physical network connecting the entities. But the traffic is sent via the public internet that is vulnerable to attack in a secure manner. Private traffic is carried on the public network in a safe manner using several technologies like encryption, firewalls, authentication, IPsec, etc. VPN gives an organization the freedom to clandestinely communicate with its outbound employees in an economical fashion.

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A housing complex in Kolkata is designed to tap solar energy and utilize it for household applications. It is also possible to feedback energy to the grid when excess power is available. The residents will also get paid for the power returned to the grid. This project is the first of its kind in the country and is expected to inspire the nation. This photo voltaic technology is already in use in Europe and other developed nations. Photo voltaic technology basically involves materials that emit electrons when light is incident on them. Our former president Abdul Kalam had also urged the young students of our country to research on photovoltaic energy. The solar tiles embedded on top of the roof in this complex are able to generate 2KW of power. When there is a shortage of solar power the grid will supply power and when solar power is surplus the reverse process happens. Tapping solar energy will bring down the internal temperature of houses during summer. Power will be available even when there is a conventional power cut. The most crucial aspect of solar powering homes is that it will reduce the amount of carbon emission which will have an impact on global warming. Cost is a major constraint in implementing the system in countries like India but things are looking up for the future.

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WaiverWire - the leading NFL resource on the web has launched a free tool known as "The Stimulus Package" to let NFL fans join the fantasy football bandwagon. The 2009 NFL season promises a visual treat to the fans and WaiverWire.com gives a bird's eye view of the NFL action on the web. Those who cannot afford the premium packages can access the tools and statistics offered by WaiverWire free of cost by signing up for "The Stimulus Package". My love for fantasy football is undying and my favorite NFL player is Knowshon Moreno. The high flying running back is a class apart and I love him for his on field acrobatic adventures. I'm expecting a brilliant show by my man this season and hopefully Denver can make it to the top this time. But my money is on Nnamdi Asomugha and he might turn out to be the extraordinary performer this season. Throughout this season I'll be keeping an eye on player statistics and rankings delivered by WaiverWire in the hunt for the best player of NFL 2009. People at my office often talk about their favorite players and flaunt their NFL knowledge. Now that I have signed up with WaiverWire, I can make use of the player comparison feature and give an apt repartee to them.

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Pasanga is an interesting film that touches the depths of childhood and school life. The film starts off in a wobbly manner with the kids being portrayed as naughty bugs and some of the scenes just fail to connect us to our own childhood. The director could have made a better attempt in depicting school life in my opinion. But the story settles down nicely interwoven with childhood egos and family sentiments. The love between Vimal and Vega is the most beautiful aspect of the movie. They are wacky yet passionate and capture our hearts with their sublime performance. The film has a strong message for parents. Parents must keep their own differences apart and encourage their children to succeed. The director has exhibited his true talent in the scene between the heads of both the families near a pond. The music is satisfactory with "Oru Vetkam Varuthe" and "Iraiva Iraiva" still lingering in my mind. Pasanga is a complete family entertainer and it is worth a watch.

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