User:Balasankarc/GSoC 2013 Application Balasankar C: Developing Malayalam Calendar Support

I am Balasankar C, from Kalady (Ernakulam Dist.)

I am studying for B.Tech (third year) at Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology (under MG University).

I took a deviation (rather set my path straight) to open source when I was introduced to Gnome localisations done by SMC. I started using Linux OS ever since and did some tweaks and experimentations on it. I found it far batter than other propreitary operating systems and started loving it. Then I was introduced to python programming language, which instantly gained my attraction due ot its simplicity and the smaller code snippets it needed.

Email : c.balasankar@gmail.com IRC Handle : balasankarc (freenode) Github username : balasankarc Blog : www.balasankarc.comule.com

I am quite thourugh in C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, VB.NET and ASP.NET. I also have experience in Python, Java, JS and jQuery.

In your project proposal let us know about your programming experience. Many of our students start fresh. We will teach you what you need to know.

I use Linux platform to code. Though I use multiple editors like Vi and Gedit, my favourite is geany because of its built in compilation and debugging facilities and it also provides a good graphical interface.

I am quite fluent in reading, writing and typing malayalam. I am also a reviewer of SMC's Gnome Localisation Team and am an administrator of Malayalam Wikisource.

Some softwares I have created includes an image to DJVU converter (written in python), a tax calculator for college teachers (written in VB), a library management software (work in progress) and an agricultural information website.

I have been working with SMC for about 1 year in its Gnome localisation team. Anything related to Malayalam and Computers attract me. I like the idea of having my computer displaying stuff in my native language and SMC is doing the same. Moreover it is an open source initiative so that I can also participate in that.

I have used and am currently using git for controlling and distributing the softwares I develop

I have proposed an idea of developing a calendar applet for Android, but then I changed my mind about Android and decided to go with Malayalam Calendar for KOrganizer. I intend to add a Malayalam (Kollavarsham) Calendar to KOrganizer where it is displayed along with the Greogiran and Saka Calendar. Users should be able to do all calendar activities like marking to-do, setting up remainders etc on the basis of Malayalam Months and Dates. I always dreamt of doing this and as I often say, my aim is a day when we set up remainders for each 'Ekadashi'. I believe I am eligible for this project due to my knowledge in the astronomical field, mathematics and algorithm formulation and I am also familiar with GUI programming. There were several works done in this area, but most of them are database-centric and hence applies only between a specific range of time. I intend to do it in an algorithm-centric way so that it will be efficient always.

I intend to spend 5 hours a day for this project considering my studies and college work. Even if the project is not accepted for/completed within GSoC, I am planning to go ahead with it and complete it ASAP.

I am also interested in the Internationalisation of Silpa using Wikimedia jQuery projects.