Typical ASIC Workflow

Posted by anasimtiaz on Jul 10, 2010 in Geek Speak | 7 comments Recently I was tasked to recode a very small piece of hardware with some changes that will potentially optimize its present state. What seemed like a pretty easy and straightforward task turned out to be a nightmare for two days. Since it wasn’t critical I was hellbent on doing it all myself without asking anyone for help. Although it was a very small hardware unit, it involved the complete...
read more

Joys of being an ASIC Designer

Posted by anasimtiaz on Jul 1, 2010 in Geek Speak | 2 comments After spending hours and hours of deciphering a set of specs written by someone else you start writing code for hardware that will perform a certain set of operations. Usually the specs contain inputs and outputs and a lot of details of how things should be processed in between. Translating the pseudo-code in hardware is not an easy task. Usually something is missing in that doc. Anyway, you code...
read more

Programming is like Sex because…

Posted by anas on Nov 1, 2009 in Geek Speak | 9 comments Sex is usually considered the most enjoyable practice on earth, programming comes in a close second or maybe shares the same spot with sex. Here are some of the similarities between the two practices that I’m copying from different sources on Internet. One or two may be my own here, while you can add your analogy in the comments. Programming is like sex because: Once you get started,...
read more

One-Click AND Drag-and-Drop Attachments in Gmail!

Posted by anas on Jan 1, 2009 in Geek Speak | 14 comments Attaching files using the web-mail interface can be, and surely is, a painful task especially if you have an obsession of keeping files in deep multiple levels of hierarchy. The most arduous part is extracting the file from that tenth level deep folder while browsing and selecting file to upload. It is especially redundant when that particular folder is already open in your Windows Explorer with...
read more

My First WordPress Plugin! [Comment Replacement]

Posted by anas on Sep 16, 2008 in Geek Speak | 8 comments Last night someone posted a profane comment and I was forced to replace that comment with a warning that the comment has been removed for so and so reasons. A friend (Awais Karim) then commented asking whether I modified that original comment or was it a feature of the blog? With an empty stomach and a lot of time for Iftar, an idea of automating this process with the help of a WP plugin rushed...
read more

Set Firefox 3 to Launch Gmail for mailto Links

Posted by anas on Sep 16, 2008 in Geek Speak | 4 comments How many times have you cursed Outlook for opening up when you click on an e-mail address linked on a website? In fact, I began to wonder if those mailto links were of any use if someone doesn’t use an e-mail client like Outlook or Thunderbird?? But the problem is solved now! Clicking on those mailto’s will open up your Gmail with the intended address in the To field in your Firefox...
read more