Convert .tex to .pdf or latex2.09 to latex2e

I had to convert an old .tex file into .pdf on a Linux Ubuntu machine
The utilities I first used were tex and dvipdf but got a loads of errors and a blank pdf file.
A number of lines like the one below were thrown by tex program at me.

! Undefined control sequence.

After searching a bit, I came to know that its a version change problem
The new latex version LATEX2E didn't seem to be compatible with the old LATEX2.09

First of all finding a file in version 3.142 (as shown below) helped me to correct my .tex file in the following manner

-----------------------------------------
\documentstyle[12pt,psSouv]{article}
was changed to
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{psSouv}
-----------------------------------------
\setlength{\textwidth}{16cm}
was changed to
\textwidth=16cm
-----------------------------------------

Even then I wasn't able to recover from the old to new latex format conversion problem.

latex program was throwing errors like the one below

Underfull \hbox (badness 10000) in paragraph at lines 36--37
Overfull \hbox (45.60556pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 173--187

The statements above seemed more like a warning. Being curious about what is the generated output, I opened the dvi file using xdvi which displayed my content properly formatted

Now the path was straightforward
I went to File ->Print and chose the option "Print To file"

It gave me a file with extension .ps which I then converted to a pdf format using "ps2pdf"

I also came across the following program which might be useful to Windows users. (haven't tried myself)

Links that helped me
http://web.mit.edu/answers/latex/latex_2e.html
http://cs.anu.edu.au/software/shyster/output/report-1-tex.html
LaTeX Frequently Asked Questions

Links that may help you
Latex2.09 vs. Latex2e
TexPider program for Windows users to convert Latex2.09 file to Latex2e
Guide to TeX and LaTeX
Latex Terminology

Knols and knells

After a long spell of buyouts Google seem to have awakened to a possibility of hatching a chicken in its own backyard, THE KNOL.
Though, from its screenshot, its doesn't seems to be just props put around wiki, it does seems to be another gold mine digging plan as per the following blog entries.

• What Google Knols Can Teach You About Google’s Philosophy
• Google and theory of Mind

Despite of all these discussions, we cannot deny the possibility of Knol becoming due to google's cool brand status and other known factors.

If we go by Anil's and Michael's blog entries and the discussion thread following them, there seems to be a wonderful opportunity.
It would be great if some startup/software giant works on a knol like project where the authors are allowed to choose from a list of ad agencies (google, yahoo etc.) and the revenue can then be shared among the facilitator, author and the ad agency.

Till then, I hope that wiki is preparing itself for the coming storm.

Some handy links for SVN users

CVS and Subversion : Combined Tutorial

Subversion Cheat Sheet

Setting Up A Subversion Repository Using Apache
(With Auto Updatable Working Copy)

SVNServe vs. Apache

Subversion repository data transfer

Tuned Untuned Ubuntuned

Following some discussion threads on the distribution war between various linux flavors (as my professor used to term them), I have decided to tune into Ubuntu.

-------------------------------------------------

• My evolution in Desktop OS in chronological order of usage -
• Windows 95
• Windows98
• Windows 2K
• Windows XP
• Redhat Linux (7.2, 8.0, 9.0)
• Debian
• Ubuntu(OS to be)
• Other OS that I have used as a client
• Sun Solaris
• Suse

Health Search Engines

Health Search Engines - A compilation

• Medstory bought by [Microsoft]
• Healthline distribution agreement with [ Aetna , AOL, Ask.com]
• Kosmix RightHealth
  
• Healia bought by [Meredith Corp.]
• Google Health [to be launched in Spring 2008]
• CurbsideMD [Praxeon, online personal ]
• Evidence-based answers to real-medical questions
• Unique feature My Health News
  
• WebMD
• has host of other sevices ( eMedicine®Medscape®MedicineNet®RxList® )
  
• Aetna
• RevolutionHealth owned by [AOL]
• TauMed - A recent start-up
  
• Some more in Google's Directory Listing
• A host of others are trying to build communities around health issues, but don’t focus purely on search per se. - VentureBeat
• OrganizedWisdom
• WorldHealthCare - Provides Information on Hospitals for various diseases
• HealthCare - owned by Robert W. Monster - "goal .... new consumer-driven health experience"
• Some more altsearchengines
  
• HealthExcite
• MedlinePlus
• CognitionSearch
• GenieKnows (Health)
• MEDgle
• ReleMed
• MedWhat
• Diagnosaurus
• GoPubMed

comScore's health media metrics - as blogged by VentureBeat

Live presentations on web, WOW!

I was frustrated at the problems encountered in virtual conferencing during seminars till I searched google for live web presentations.

A good review/compilation of the web services available in this arena saved me a lot of time.

If you want to make a live/remote presentation on web, try one of them

• thumbstacks.com
• zoho.com
• slideaware.com

Cyborgs are not a distant dream

Wired has a very insightful article writen by Clive Thompson on the gradual effect of the gS(google, gadgets) and iS (iPod, IMs) on our brain's memory power.
In the writer's words, "...we've outsourced important peripheral brain functions to the silicon around us."

Though the concept of outsourcing has come recently in business, we have long been outsourcing our daily chores to machines at work or home. Memory is just one area where we have developed OUTBOARD counterparts. We have already become CYBORGS; its just that the machine part of ours is not onboard.

What earlier started as an exercise to ease off the physical burden seems to be reaching to a stage of human beings' mind and body being under-burdened to the extent of losing their potential gradually to the machines.
Thompson's article focuses on only one aspect of this evolution or rather devolution.
We have already seen our bodies slowly developing long term friendships with sweet diabetes and crunchy arthritis.
If just a simple memory stick can make us loose our capability to retain, what will happen when the agent technology succeeds in developing a virtual representative of our mind?

May be the Turing Machine test would have to be replaced by a Turing Human test!