Install Microsoft XNA 4.0 refresh without VS2010 for VS2015

My previous article http://t.co/XamFah9e8V shows how to install Microsoft XNA 4.0 refresh without VS 2010 for VS2013. In the meantime, Microsoft is kind enough to release a Community Preview version of VS 2015. And boy it looks amazing. It is fast, has a lot of functionality, and I basically am in love with it! Also Microsoft has released VS 2013 Community Edition which again is amazing. In short, Microsoft is going a very long way to please individual developers/hobbyists like me to lure them back to developing Windows (Store/Phone/Game) Apps. And I am happy that they are doing it. But back to the topic, installing XNA 4.0 refresh is a breeze for VS2015 as well. Of course we need to change the script a little bit. So here it is.

 

%~dp0XNAGS40_Setup.exe /extract:%~dp0XNA
%~dp0XNA\redists.msi /passive
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Setup\XLiveRedist.msi" /passive
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Redist\XNA FX Redist\xnafx40_redist.msi" /passive
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Setup\xnaliveproxy.msi" /passive
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Setup\xnags_platform_tools.msi" /passive
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Setup\xnags_shared.msi" /passive
msiexec /a "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Setup\xnags_visualstudio.msi" /qb TARGETDIR="%~dp0XNA\VS Tools"
xcopy "%~dp0XNA\VS Tools\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\XNA Game Studio 4.0" "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\XNA Game Studio 4.0" /e
%~dp0XNA\arpentry.msi /passive
%~dp0FindAndReplace.exe "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\XNA Game Studio 4.0\extension.vsixmanifest" "10.0" "14.0"
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" /setup
rmdir %~dp0XNA /s /q

 

Enjoy your VS 2015 Experience!

Dhanteras–First day of Deepawali!

Today 21st October 2014 is an auspicious day for Hindus all over the globe. This is the first day of Deepawali commonly known as Diwali for this year. Deepawali is a 5 day occasion with each day signifying various aspects of spiritual/social life culminating into the super festival of Deepawali to celebrate the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14 years of Vanvas (exile) in the forest. I will write about that story shortly.

But for today, Dhanteras also known as “Dhanatraydashi” or “Dhanvantari Trayodashi” is celebrated with pomp and devotion all across India and everywhere else where Hindus have made their homes. Dhan means wealth and teras means 13th. Hindus have their own calendar and all festivals are celebrated according to that. Hence it seldom falls on the same date/day year on year.

On Dhanteras we pray to Lord Dhanvantari who is an incarnation of the ever prevailing Lord “Vishnu” and who it is said came out of the great churning of oceans carrying the pot of “Amrut” (elixir, which gives eternal life). Lord Dhanvantari is also given the title of universal healer as he is the carrier of “Amrut”. There is another story where the son of King Hima has a weird horoscope. According to the horoscope, he will die of snake bite on the 4th day after his marriage. His newly wed wife came to know about this after marriage. So on that particular day, she didn’t allow him to sleep neither during day nor during night. At night time, she put all her ornaments and gold/silver coins at the entrance of the door and lit thousands of lamps. And then she started telling various stories and folklores to her husband. It is said that Yama (God of Death) came in the form of a snake to bite the son of Hima but was so dazzled by the light from the lamps and gold and silver that he could not enter the room. He also sat there the whole night listening to the stories and folklores and left in the morning.

People celebrate Dhanteras by praying to Goddess Laxmi (Goddess of wealth), do pooja (prayer), make rangoli (colored drawings), etc. Dhanteras is also an auspicious time to buy gold/silver/property. This day is also called mini/minor Deepawali. More details on wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhanteras).

Happy Dhanteras to all and May Lord Dhanvantari and Goddess Laxmi bless you and your family!

Ganesh Chaturthi Speical: The Ganesha Story!

Today 9th September 2014 will be celebrated across India as the Ganesh Visargan Day i.e. the day when the idol of Ganesha will be immersed in flowing water in the belief that he will re-unite with his parents, the great Lord Shiva and Parvati. We had the opportunity to celebrate Ganesha festival for the first time ever in Sweden on 29th August in Malmö thanks to Skåne Hindu Center (SHC). At that time, I had prepared a presentation with a short story of Ganesha and its importance in our lives. One of the ideas was to get children and adults alike to understand the story and learn the moral values from it. I was not able to present it on that day as we were running late with different things but below is the story. Hope you enjoy it.

Shiva is ‘shakti’ or power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity (Brahma – the creator, Vishnu – the sustainer and Shiva – the destroyer). Known by many names – Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath – Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities.

Shiva is also the great ascetic, abstaining from all forms of indulgence and pleasure, concentrating rather on meditation as a means to find perfect happiness. Parvati/Shakti is an inseparable force of Shiva. Shiva’s wife is Parvati, often incarnated as Kali and Durga. Both live in Kailash Mountain (a part of Himalaya mountain range in India). Shiva is always meditating on Kailash mountain. Lord Shiva has a very faithful servant named Nandi (who is a bull). He is always by his side and ready to do whatever Lord Shiva asks him to do.

One day Goddess Parvati was at home on Mt.Kailash preparing for a bath. As she didn’t want to be disturbed, she told Nandi, her husband Shiva’s Bull, to guard the door and let no one pass. Nandi faithfully took his post, intending to carry out Parvati’s wishes. But, when Shiva came home and naturally wanted to come inside, Nandi had to let him pass, being loyal first to Shiva. Parvati mata was a bit surprised and angry when Nandi disobeyed her commands. Of course Parvati wanted somebody on whom she can rely and also provide her company when Shiva is away meditating.

So, taking the turmeric paste (for bathing) from her body and breathing life into it, she created Ganesha, declaring him to be her own loyal son. And next time she wanted to take a bath, she asked her loyal son Ganesha to stand on duty. As Ganesha was made by Parvati Mata out of turmeric paste while preparing for bath, Ganesha had never seen his father Shiva/Mahadev. So again it happened that one day, Parvati mata was taking a bath and Lord Shiva came back from his meditation. And Lord Shiva wanted to go inside the house.

But Ganesha immediately resisted and told Shiva that Parvati was taking bath and he will not allow Shiva to Enter. Shiva found it very strange that he cannot enter his own house and some strange boy is telling him to leave! When all the persuasions failed, furious Shiva ordered his army to destroy the boy, but they all failed! Such power did Ganesha possess, being the son of Devi Parvati herself!

Low and behold, everybody standing against Ganesha were defeated. Even Lord Brahma and Vishnu were defeated! This surprised Shiva. Seeing that this was no ordinary boy, the usually peaceful Shiva decided he would have to fight him, and in his divine fury severed Ganesha’s head, killing him instantly. Nothing can stand in front of Lord Shiva when he gets angry!

Hearing about this Parvati became very sad and started crying. She was so enraged and felt insulted that she decided to destroy the entire Creation! All gods prayed and pleaded that she reconsider her drastic plan. She said she would, but only if two conditions were met: one, that Ganesha be brought back to life, and two, that he be forever worshipped before all the other gods. Shiva agreed and sent Brahma out with orders to bring back the head of the first creature he crosses that is laying with its head facing North.

So who did Brahma find? Lord Brahma found an elephant who was the first creature and as ordered by Lord Shiva, Brahma soon returned with the head of the strong and powerful elephant, which Shiva placed onto Ganesha’s body. And then Brahma gave life to the body of Ganesha with the head of an elephant. Low and Behold! Lord Ganesha was born. And he is always the first lord to pray in any occasion. So now Parvati mata had both her promises fulfilled, Ganesha was alive and he is the first lord to prayed for on any occasion. Due to this, Ganesha also has the name “Vignharta” – Destroyer of hindrances in ones life.

Breathing new life into him, he declared Ganesha to be his own son as well, and gave him the status of being foremost among the gods, and leader of all the ganas (classes of beings), Ganapati. Ganesha was not only blessed by Shiva and Parvati but also all the gods present. The story by itself is very charming, shows the love of a mother for her child, shows the greatness of Lord Shiva and shows a son’s dedication to his mother’s commands! Going apart from the literary view, the story has a deep spiritual reverence.

The story shows that however powerful one is, he/she is not invulnerable. Ganesha had to loose his human head. The human head of Ganesha shows the concept of “Ego”. People small and big all have Egos. And the Ego grows with power. Sometimes it grows to such lengths that one is not able to recognize the supreme paramathan (supreme lord) who is the creator and destroyer of everything.

Lord Shiva chopping off Ganesha’s human head signifies that no matter how powerful, we are, we need to severe our ego. If we don’t do it ourselves, the Lord will do it for us. Ganesha was fortunate enough to get another head but not everybody is so fortunate. So we need to lower our ego and delve ourselves into bhakti of the lord to attain Salvation.

Hope I have been able to correctly narrate the story and its importance. Would be nice to have your suggestions and comments. And last but not the least, “Ganpati Bappa Morya, Adhu Laddu Chorya, Pudya varshi Lahukarya, Ganpati Bappa Morya”!

Jai Ganesh Deva.

More Swedish than me!

Interesting times these are in Sweden. We will have one of the most anticipated elections of modern times in Sweden. The people of Sweden need to understand that whatever and whoever they choose this time will set the tone for the future of Sweden. If Sweden wants to go down the path of full fledged development, reverse its decline of revenues, empower its youth and pave the way for the future generations, all of these and much more depends on the outcome of the elections.

One thing that everybody agrees on is that Sweden has an unrestricted policy of providing support to refugees. When looked at it from many different perspectives, there are multiple feelings being voiced by both native and non-native Swedes. Getting a huge number of refugee inflow not only negatively affects the growth rate, but also has cascading effects that leads to all kinds of ghettoism (religious, nationalistic, racist, etc). The refugees on one part are non-productive (especially the women, children and old ones) and on the other hand are a drain on the social environment of Sweden. This fact is now being recognized and a lot more people are aware about the kind of indifference that has been seen in the ruling government who is not taking any steps to remove/reduce the negative effects.

Parties like SD, Skåne Partiet, etc. are in one sense, raising awareness of the problem which needs to be addressed albeit in the wrong way! Sometimes the speeches given are seen as vomits of a raving lunatic though they hold some truth in there. As the government is not taking any note of the problem nor acknowledging the existence of the problem, the Swedish people feel betrayed. These feelings of betrayal are more prevalent across Sweden though most of the people are still afraid to raise their voices in public. Differences between refugees and immigrants have been reduced and most of all black haired guys are seen with only one lens which is very harmful in the long run for the country.

No doubt that SD will come out most probably as the 3rd largest party in the elections (and maybe 2nd largest if we are to hear the hidden opinions of most Swedes), the crucial need for both parties like SD and ruling government is to acknowledge the facts.

1. Sweden has problems with refugees
2. Sweden cannot continue sustaining the refugee inflow and still follow the socialistic society model
3. Refugees are different from Immigrants who in most cases have migrated to Sweden for other reasons and not war!
4. Parties like SD needs to make sure that they do not invoke hatred between people, instead they should address the real problem

Now why am I writing all these? Well, I was walking down a road when suddenly a drunk lady of around 50/55 stopped me and started talking to me. The questions started with very basic, who are you, what language do you speak types and nationality. When I said I am Swedish, she suddenly shot back, oh but you know, I am more Swedish than you!

Probably she is right but then what kind of Swedish is more Swedish than any other Swedish? This is the question that we need to answer. As a Swedish citizen, I would like to see my Sweden:

1. Having equal opportunities for everyone
2. No racial discrimination based on color of skin or religious following
3. Everybody contributing to the economy i.e. by working and paying taxes
4. Leeching of economic benefits should be stopped i.e. reducing the refugee intake, reduce unemployment, reduce the benefits given to people who are not positively contributing to the society
5. Open society like Sweden used to be
6. Fastest growing economy in the EU 
7. Reduction of ghettoism and implementation of methods to make the people already in Sweden productive
8. Curb the religious extremism that is fueling in the 2nd generation Swedes (refugee children) who are now full fledged youth

All the parties needs to take up this issue and try to come out with implementation of proposals for the betterment of Sweden. It wouldn’t do Sweden any good if SD comes to power harping the same tune that it is harping now, or if the SoCDem comes in coalition with some other parties doing what it is doing now and not addressing the refugee problem. Finally, I would like to tell all my Swedish brothers and sisters that we are all Swedish be it from different skin colors, religion and even different culture. Sweden is as much a home to me as to you and other Swedes.

Personally, I would have voted for SD but I need to hear more plans on what after they curb the refugee issue or how they are going to curb it and what actions they are taking to reduce the hatred that they have brew up and what kind of Sweden will they give to the citizens. SocDem has failed on each and every issue especially this boiling one. Other parties either have agendas which are counter productive or extreme left which is no good for Sweden. Guess the outcome will tell us who Sweden chooses but I  do hope SD does much better and brings an overall inclusive growth in their agenda instead of racist hitting.

All the best Sweden!

Challenges that must be faced!

It was a big day when the Narendra Modi government was sworn in the Indian Parliament. Never before had India seen such a great victory for a single democratic party! Never before did people celebrate on their own free will when the elections were over! Never before was the happiness levels, expectations and aspirations at their all time high for an average Indian! Even the Indians outside of India who were no longer technically Indians (having renounced their Indian Citizenship) were so very happy, outgoing and celebrating. I myself had distributed sweets in my entire team and with tears in my eyes, had prayed passionately and was thankful to God to finally free “Bharat Mata” from the clutches of evil, immoral, corrupt, blood sucking nexus that was the previous government.

I as many other Indians was expecting the new government to take bold decisions. Decisions that will instill a measure of confidence in an average Indian, decisions on issues that the previous government will not even think about talking, decisions which are bold, decisions that provides for safety, security and prosperity not only to the rich but to the poor of the poorest, decisions on economic policies which will not only increase the life for the miserable poor but make them at par and remove the levels/barriers between rich and poor. But like many Indians, my impatient nature is now really doubting if the change that was promised will come later then expected. Beware that I am not at all doubting that change is coming, I am only uncertain of the time frame of the changes happening.

As I have said many times, the first 6 months are very crucial for the Modi government. The Modi government very well used the information & social media to raise the hopes of Indians in India and abroad. The same media was also highlighting the failures, social and economic issues of the previous government. Tremendous people participation and social movement raised the general political knowledge of an average Indian. It seemed that everybody knew what they wanted and what the country wanted. And after giving the obvious majority that was demanded, I see things not happening at the pace I would like it to happen. And in no way I am saying that the wheels have stopped rolling, I am just saying that they are rolling at a very slow pace.

There are quite a few issues on which at least discussions should start in the Parliament. Now is the chance when the Modi government could undo a lot of wrongs that were done in Bharat. Below are a list of top priority things that I feel the Modi government should immediately take a stance on and provide a roadmap/plan of implementation.

1. Article 370: The topmost priority for the nation is to work towards removing article 370. My displeasure right now is that the new government hasn’t even started discussions or started motivating the information/social media on why it is a blemish on Bharat Mata.

2. Safety of women and children: Looking at the amazingly strange and bizarre cases of rapes and violence happening against the length and breath of India when it comes to women and children, I am surprised that the government has decided to face in the other direction. A debate, national awareness, again using the power of information and social media to educate and bring awareness in the public will help instigate confidence that the government is at least looking into the issue and will provide for the required safety net.

3. Revamping of the Judicial System: The Indian judicial system is a mess when it comes to dispatching justice in a timely manner. Even in the cases that are dealt with, the actual accused are released on account of old outdated laws which hold no relevance in criminal situations. Example is the prime accused in the “Nirbhaya” case that got away as he was 17 and considered juvenile. The crime committed was of course not something that even an adult could do. No discussions are started in the Parliament for changing these archaic laws.

4. Bangladeshis’ in Bangladesh: Everybody is aware of the huge inflow of illegal bangaldeshi immigrants in India. Many state governments like the one in West Bengal have legalized these illegal migrants who are now on a rampage to shred Bharat Mata to pieces. According to an estimate, there are more then 4 Million illegal bnagladeshis now living in India. My heart bleeds when a patriotic government is not even trying to bring this issue on the hotlist.

5. Straitening of Bureaucracy: Last and not the least is to remove the babu culture and make sure that existing bureaucracy is serving the people properly and is aware of the repercussions if they don’t till the new system is in place.

I know Modi is much more advanced in his thoughts on how he would like to see Bharat Mata. But I think that Modi should again start using the information and social media to start raising awareness on the issues. Awareness will lead to debates, debates will lead to opinions and opinions will lead to decisions. Ultimately, the whole game is about taking the rational decision at the right point in time. The public involvement is needed even while running the government. Development should be a focus, but development without security is too short a goal even to aim for. Modi government should initiate the debates and take decisions in the right direction even if they are unpopular or might create a little friction in the country. Not even God can keep everybody happy but Modi can keep the majority happy and below the “frustration threshold” taking the hard decisions and facing the challenges. Challenges that must be faced, challenges that can’t be put away with and challenges that will not go away with passing time but instead will become more of a bigger problem.

We are with you Modi Saheb. Keep up the good work. Take bold decisions and provide for the prosperity, harmony, stability, safety and freedom that Bharat Mata demands for. Jai Hind.