Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Poster campaign
With the impending state elections in TN and the curb by the EC on advertising in public walls, the political parties have gone haywire in trying to reserve private properties and walls to do their campaign. I am surprised why the parties still haven't embraced other forms of campaign. At the least in metros, e-campaigns should take precedence. Bangalore is no exception. Even with the advent of multiplexes, one can see a lot of cinema posters all over the city. It really gives an ugly look to the city. Over the years, I haven't decided on the movie to watch by looking at the posters. Probably the poster campaign could work only in smaller towns where the e-media still nascent.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Photo blogging tool for camera phones
Couple of months back myself and Gops were thinking of writing a small app to upload photos from camera phones to blogger. The idea is to experiment and understand the capabilities of J2ME and getting exposed to atom specs/Blogger API.
We did start with some prototyping. Then the project went on hibernation as both us were occupied with office stuff.
Nice to see that ShoZu really implemented the complete solution. I guess this is the second time I came so close to conceiving a brand new product idea and failing to capitalize on it.
(via)
We did start with some prototyping. Then the project went on hibernation as both us were occupied with office stuff.
Nice to see that ShoZu really implemented the complete solution. I guess this is the second time I came so close to conceiving a brand new product idea and failing to capitalize on it.
(via)
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Telecom tariff tumbling
The Telecomm tariffs India are in flux. The tariff are tumbling down like an avalanchee. When there is a competition, the subscribers are most benefitted. Close on the heels of every service provider providing One India One Rupee tariff, the Reliance Infocomm has spearheaded another tariff cut. Now with reliance you can enjoy 40p per min to any Reliance number across the country and 75p to any other number in the Joy 499 plan.
Reliance customers are getting the best deal out of this tariff wars.
Reliance customers are getting the best deal out of this tariff wars.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Not a surprise
Google is known for its pamper. It doesn't come as a complete surprise when I saw pug speak at Official Google blog. Even I remember Oracle Japan having a dog listed as their employee.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Spirit of Entrepreneurship
Over last week, I read an article on Rediff about how people take chances for pursuing their dream job. There were clear statistics showing people leaving their well-paid risk less comfortable office job to pursue their real interests. In a sheer coincidence, I learnt that Gopal (via) has relinquished his job to pursue his dream company for full-time. Eminent Infotech which has been nascent for a while is set to ramp up its operations. (the website is partially complete, hang on for while)
This initiative does answer my quest on India born tech companies rolling out its products and securing market leadership. I wish Eminent Infotech the very best in all their endeavors. And I hope to see another Joel in Gopal sooner. (Now I get a better chance of having shares in Eminent Infotech IPO !)
Jokes apart, the sheer experience that this exercise will bring is unquantifiable. This also reminds me of an adage, "Taking no risk in life is a big risk on it own".
This initiative does answer my quest on India born tech companies rolling out its products and securing market leadership. I wish Eminent Infotech the very best in all their endeavors. And I hope to see another Joel in Gopal sooner. (Now I get a better chance of having shares in Eminent Infotech IPO !)
Jokes apart, the sheer experience that this exercise will bring is unquantifiable. This also reminds me of an adage, "Taking no risk in life is a big risk on it own".
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Motivation - Failure is your friend
(via)
Failure is your friend
It is really a motivational article on Failure. To be honest, something has been bugging me down for the past couple of weeks. It was related to an attempt (I know this is vague but can't reveal anything more) I made, that got flopped drastically. Though I am convinced that the decision gave me a very good learning expertise on various fronts...Still there is a pinch of feeling that I miscalculated a lot of stuff while taking that decision. I had failed to give due significance to a couple of factors or suggestions that came along my way.
A quick read of this article really made me feel consoled. I hope this learning experience will help in the future!
Failure is your friend
It is really a motivational article on Failure. To be honest, something has been bugging me down for the past couple of weeks. It was related to an attempt (I know this is vague but can't reveal anything more) I made, that got flopped drastically. Though I am convinced that the decision gave me a very good learning expertise on various fronts...Still there is a pinch of feeling that I miscalculated a lot of stuff while taking that decision. I had failed to give due significance to a couple of factors or suggestions that came along my way.
A quick read of this article really made me feel consoled. I hope this learning experience will help in the future!
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Design caveat
Have you ever observed a coffee vending machine making a huge noise while delivering hot water? I could not understand why it makes such a loud grinding noise as if it is crushing coffee beans.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Messy Education System
This post is a rant about the illogicalness of the state board education system. For those uninterested turn away!
Over this weekend, I had a chance to meet a couple of people doing their Higher secondary study. With the academic calendar closing up and the imminent board exams has thrown a cover of anxiety over them. They are grappled with fear of performance and there has been a lot of pressure put on them to score good marks in the exams. The marks single handedly decides your career path. If your exam score is excellent, you are deemed to get enrolled into a top-notch college in the state and at the end of the four year degree course you get a placement in IT company.
First thing, I noticed in them is their lower fitness level. They look very lean and the stress has got enough energy out of their body. Their are completely occupied by studies (I won't be surprised if they tell me that they sit with their syllabus books all through their day) and look tired. They fail to understand the significance of mental and physical health. All that is going in their mind is to study, mug and vomit back in the exam. Nobody is really interested in learning things, rather only point is to score marks in the exams.
Even the case was same a decade ago when I prepared for the board exams. Competition has increased many folds now and it is more tough to perform.
The point of contention is that the students aren't developing critical and logical thinking. The sole purpose of Education is to make you to think, which gets beaten up. They won't be able to solve problems on their own and put to use the concepts that they have learned during their school times. There will not be any application of the basic learning that has been done. I feel it is real waste of time and childhood.
Though the state gov has come up with various committees to suggest revisions to the education system, until now none has helped to revive. Unless the education system is revived sooner than later we would be losing the potential younger generations who has to shoulder the burden of the country in the years to come.
Over this weekend, I had a chance to meet a couple of people doing their Higher secondary study. With the academic calendar closing up and the imminent board exams has thrown a cover of anxiety over them. They are grappled with fear of performance and there has been a lot of pressure put on them to score good marks in the exams. The marks single handedly decides your career path. If your exam score is excellent, you are deemed to get enrolled into a top-notch college in the state and at the end of the four year degree course you get a placement in IT company.
First thing, I noticed in them is their lower fitness level. They look very lean and the stress has got enough energy out of their body. Their are completely occupied by studies (I won't be surprised if they tell me that they sit with their syllabus books all through their day) and look tired. They fail to understand the significance of mental and physical health. All that is going in their mind is to study, mug and vomit back in the exam. Nobody is really interested in learning things, rather only point is to score marks in the exams.
Even the case was same a decade ago when I prepared for the board exams. Competition has increased many folds now and it is more tough to perform.
The point of contention is that the students aren't developing critical and logical thinking. The sole purpose of Education is to make you to think, which gets beaten up. They won't be able to solve problems on their own and put to use the concepts that they have learned during their school times. There will not be any application of the basic learning that has been done. I feel it is real waste of time and childhood.
Though the state gov has come up with various committees to suggest revisions to the education system, until now none has helped to revive. Unless the education system is revived sooner than later we would be losing the potential younger generations who has to shoulder the burden of the country in the years to come.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Google Page Creator
Probably I will be the last soul on this earth to report Google introducing Page Creator. Google has released it in beta and due to enormous response, Google has limited the access to the page creator. But is there any significant difference between page creator and blogger?
Update: Page Creator is intended for hosting webpages of small business organizations. As per statistics, there are 45% of small business which doesn't have a website. (via)
Update: Page Creator is intended for hosting webpages of small business organizations. As per statistics, there are 45% of small business which doesn't have a website. (via)
Tech makes work harder
I some how had the feeling that technology is making life more miserable. From a common man's point of view, at the outset technology could help in doing things much faster and better. But at the end of the day, the satisfaction and happiness is less and cribbing about life is more.
CNET has an article published on this topic. Some excerpts from the article
"Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
"It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something."
"We think we're faster, smarter, better with all this technology at our side and in the end, we still feel rushed and our feeling of productivity is down," said Maria Woytek, marketing communications manager for Day-Timers, a unit of ACCO Brands.
Companies that are flexible with workers' time and give workers the most control over their tasks tend to fare better against the sea of rising expectations, experts said.
CNET has an article published on this topic. Some excerpts from the article
"Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
"It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something."
"We think we're faster, smarter, better with all this technology at our side and in the end, we still feel rushed and our feeling of productivity is down," said Maria Woytek, marketing communications manager for Day-Timers, a unit of ACCO Brands.
Companies that are flexible with workers' time and give workers the most control over their tasks tend to fare better against the sea of rising expectations, experts said.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Is there a cutting-edge technology company from India?
I was having a pep talk with my colleague. I really wanted to record his observation.
"Name one(some) of the cutting edge technology company that has originated in India and are the market leaders in the world? "
I could not answer. I do not know one such company.
"Name one(some) of the cutting edge technology company that has originated in India and are the market leaders in the world? "
I could not answer. I do not know one such company.
Windows XP rules
I was going through the site analystics of this blog. The traffic to this blog is very minimal. I manage only getting very few hits per day. But even with this minimal traffic certain facts stands tall. In the OS category Windows XP rules. I guess for a normal PC user still Linux sounds geek.
Google Chat in Gmail
The integrated Google Talk in Gmail is a bonus for users. There is an article about this in The Hindu which pointed out that this integration does away with the dependence on installed chat programs when one has to browse from internet cafes or parlours. This is a very common scenario in India and sharing PCs are very normal. The automatic saving of chat text within Gmail and making it searchable is a real candy.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
What do project managers ask?
When you sit for a project meeting with project manager you deemed to face these questions
When can we expect this task to be complete?
Any timelines for this?
What is the status of this task?
How much percentage is this task complete?
What are the blocking issues?
Is this task in critical path?
...more to come :-)
When can we expect this task to be complete?
Any timelines for this?
What is the status of this task?
How much percentage is this task complete?
What are the blocking issues?
Is this task in critical path?
...more to come :-)
Friday, February 17, 2006
Unconscious thinking
Nice article published in rediff.
I am going to quote heavily from the article, mostly for people who are lazy enough to click the link and read the article.
The study argues that difficult decisions are best handled by our unconscious minds.
The study -- published in the journal, Science -- showed that conscious thinkers could make the best choices about simple products, while unconscious thinkers could make the best choice among complex products.
Apparently, thinking about things consciously means a person can only focus on a few things at once. When it is a tough decision to make, therefore, the mind can sometimes give certain factors undue importance. Thinking about something for too long can also lead to different evaluations and inconsistencies. Unconscious thinking, on the other hand, can handle large amounts of information that can lead to a fairly evaluative summary judgment.
I am going to quote heavily from the article, mostly for people who are lazy enough to click the link and read the article.
The study argues that difficult decisions are best handled by our unconscious minds.
The study -- published in the journal, Science -- showed that conscious thinkers could make the best choices about simple products, while unconscious thinkers could make the best choice among complex products.
Apparently, thinking about things consciously means a person can only focus on a few things at once. When it is a tough decision to make, therefore, the mind can sometimes give certain factors undue importance. Thinking about something for too long can also lead to different evaluations and inconsistencies. Unconscious thinking, on the other hand, can handle large amounts of information that can lead to a fairly evaluative summary judgment.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Reliance and their strategy
As I had been scouting over the various phone service providers, I decided to check on Reliance and their "One Nation, One Voice and One Rupee plan" with the fixed wireless phone. In this activity I did attain my goal but also suffered some brunt.
The Wireless handset that I picked is LG 350R which is quiet sturdy with all mobile type applications and options in it. The voice clarity is good and the instrument weighs light compared to the one supplied by Tata Indicom Walky. It has a built in Lithium ion battery and when it is charged to complete, the phone automatically switches to use AC power for its operations until it plugged out from the power.
I have been using it for more than a week now and I didn't face any poor signals or call drops. A good sign of service.
But the strategy that reliance opts for this service is bit weird. The model of service is based on the type of residence you have. It is not purely based on your salary or your capacity to pay the bill. For instance since I stay in a rented house along with my friends, I had to pay advance rental of Rs 1000 and the credit limit for my connection is just Rs 1000.
When I reach this credit limit, I need to settle the bill with the reliance and then renew my credit even when the billing cycle is not complete. Basically this is done to prevent defaulters from getting a connection, using it to maximum limit and then running off. This rule doesn't suit to every other customer.
Certainly the One nation tariff has lesser impact on one's pocket with increase in the call volumes. To prove my claim, let me assume that I make 1000 mins of STD calls.
With Airtel :
Rental : 150 + 50 (clip) + 75 (STD pack)
Call charges: 1000 * 2 = 2000
Service tax: 227
Total: Rs 2500
With Reliance:
Rental: 499 + 50 (clip)
Call Charges: 1000
Service tax: 155
Total: Rs 1700
So ultimately this exercise will save me Rs 800 per month and I recover the installation charges within the first month. All provided I make 1000 mins of call. The more the call volumes the cheaper the rates will be.
The Wireless handset that I picked is LG 350R which is quiet sturdy with all mobile type applications and options in it. The voice clarity is good and the instrument weighs light compared to the one supplied by Tata Indicom Walky. It has a built in Lithium ion battery and when it is charged to complete, the phone automatically switches to use AC power for its operations until it plugged out from the power.
I have been using it for more than a week now and I didn't face any poor signals or call drops. A good sign of service.
But the strategy that reliance opts for this service is bit weird. The model of service is based on the type of residence you have. It is not purely based on your salary or your capacity to pay the bill. For instance since I stay in a rented house along with my friends, I had to pay advance rental of Rs 1000 and the credit limit for my connection is just Rs 1000.
When I reach this credit limit, I need to settle the bill with the reliance and then renew my credit even when the billing cycle is not complete. Basically this is done to prevent defaulters from getting a connection, using it to maximum limit and then running off. This rule doesn't suit to every other customer.
Certainly the One nation tariff has lesser impact on one's pocket with increase in the call volumes. To prove my claim, let me assume that I make 1000 mins of STD calls.
With Airtel :
Rental : 150 + 50 (clip) + 75 (STD pack)
Call charges: 1000 * 2 = 2000
Service tax: 227
Total: Rs 2500
With Reliance:
Rental: 499 + 50 (clip)
Call Charges: 1000
Service tax: 155
Total: Rs 1700
So ultimately this exercise will save me Rs 800 per month and I recover the installation charges within the first month. All provided I make 1000 mins of call. The more the call volumes the cheaper the rates will be.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
BSNL OneIndia tariff put off
There is going to be some more posts on the telecom tariffs.
The earlier post I did pointed to the proposed OneIndia tariff by BSNL. It now seems that BSNL will not be launching this tariff any time soon. When I read through a couple of articles on that area, most of them pointed out that it is hard to slash the STD rates to 1 Rs per min. The minimum tariff for STD cannot go below 1.85 Rs per min. But I wonder how Reliance manages to support OneIndia tariff. How does Reliance recover the loss? Through higher call volume and higher rentals?
The earlier post I did pointed to the proposed OneIndia tariff by BSNL. It now seems that BSNL will not be launching this tariff any time soon. When I read through a couple of articles on that area, most of them pointed out that it is hard to slash the STD rates to 1 Rs per min. The minimum tariff for STD cannot go below 1.85 Rs per min. But I wonder how Reliance manages to support OneIndia tariff. How does Reliance recover the loss? Through higher call volume and higher rentals?
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Turning the heat on
When I was scouting through the tariff plans of various phone service providers, I was wondering why BSNL didn't bring down the tariffs of their conventional fixed line phone (FLP) to current trend. Though they were competitive in reducing their CellOne tariffs, they didn't touch the FLP tariffs. Just today came the answer.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Just in words - Reliance Infocomm
I was pretty interested in checking up the reliance broadband as a fail over option in our house. Yesterday I went to Reliance Webworld in BTM II Stage to enquire about the various plans. To my surprise the helpdesk guy told that the broadband hasn't been commenced yet and will start soon. But he is clueless about how soon?
Secondly I started asking him about the Fixed Line Phone(FLP) with One India tariff. He denied reliance providing such service. The helpdesk guy had no clue about FLP, though I asked him to check up their website.
Then I asked him about One India tariff plan with Fixed Wireless Phone (FWP). Again this plan seems to be not supported in the FWP. I do not understand to whom these tariff plans are provided.
After analysing Reliance's One India plan, I understood that for high volume users it works out cheaper when your call terminates with in reliance. Otherwise BSNL is much cheaper than Reliance.
Secondly I started asking him about the Fixed Line Phone(FLP) with One India tariff. He denied reliance providing such service. The helpdesk guy had no clue about FLP, though I asked him to check up their website.
Then I asked him about One India tariff plan with Fixed Wireless Phone (FWP). Again this plan seems to be not supported in the FWP. I do not understand to whom these tariff plans are provided.
After analysing Reliance's One India plan, I understood that for high volume users it works out cheaper when your call terminates with in reliance. Otherwise BSNL is much cheaper than Reliance.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Tariff wars
Reliance Infocomm spearheaded another tariff war this January with their One India tariff plan. With One India tariff plan, customers enjoy the privilege of paying a single charge to any number they call within India associated with any service provider. This plan at large simplifies the complexity in understanding the tariff plans and chossing the better that suits the individual needs. It also allows people to enjoy greater talk time for high volume users.
Close to the heels, BSNL also came up with a similar plan whereby you end up paying a single charge to any number you call within India within their network. It really surprised me when the state-run company came up to this competition much ahead than one would have expected. Observers accounted that these could revolutionize the telecom sector. But nothing changed in Airtel or Hutch or with other players over the past month.
As a customer of Airtel, it is really frustrating to see that the provider not keeping up with the tariff cuts. I have to pay nearly 60% more tariff for STD calls in comparison to choosing One India tariff plan. It is high time that Airtel should consider slashing their rates, otherwise they are going to see their customer base getting eroded by Reliance and BSNL.
Close to the heels, BSNL also came up with a similar plan whereby you end up paying a single charge to any number you call within India within their network. It really surprised me when the state-run company came up to this competition much ahead than one would have expected. Observers accounted that these could revolutionize the telecom sector. But nothing changed in Airtel or Hutch or with other players over the past month.
As a customer of Airtel, it is really frustrating to see that the provider not keeping up with the tariff cuts. I have to pay nearly 60% more tariff for STD calls in comparison to choosing One India tariff plan. It is high time that Airtel should consider slashing their rates, otherwise they are going to see their customer base getting eroded by Reliance and BSNL.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Paritrana
The new political outfit started by five IIT alumni. They have formed the party to fight out current political stigma and bane suffered by our country under the selfish politicians. Hats off to these guys for their courageous move to clean the political system in the country and bring out relief to the suffering.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Off from tech savy world
It was a rejuvenating weekend. Took off on friday to grab a long weekend. Spent half the time at my maternal grandmother's place in a rustic village farm house amidst raffling sound of tree leaves and unheard bird sounds (which one can not have in the chaotic city life). The peaceful atmosphere kindled a lot of thoughts. When you stay calm for a while in this kind of a place you start hearing your inner voice. You could think profoundly and make critical decision in an easier way.
For the rest of the period did a lot of talking (all due the lot of thinking) leaving my parents sullen.
My dad got a TVS Star City(deluxe) bike and I did most of the test ride over the weekend. The feel of the bike resembles much like Splendor. It is as light in weight as Splendor but with more engine power. The gear shifting is in the same fashion as Splendor (shift from the traditional TVS way). Will get some pictures next time.
For the rest of the period did a lot of talking (all due the lot of thinking) leaving my parents sullen.
My dad got a TVS Star City(deluxe) bike and I did most of the test ride over the weekend. The feel of the bike resembles much like Splendor. It is as light in weight as Splendor but with more engine power. The gear shifting is in the same fashion as Splendor (shift from the traditional TVS way). Will get some pictures next time.
Monday, January 23, 2006
iLap - innovative and useful laptop stand
The other day when I was using Dell D610 laptop at home, I nearly got my lap burnt due to excessive heat emitted from the laptop. I was twiddling as I could not sit with the laptop supported at my lap. I was going through a Apple's site on their Mac Products guide when I saw their accessory laptop stand for Mac books.
The product is named iLap, has innovative and thoughtful features considering the heat dissipation and ergonomics factor.
The product is named iLap, has innovative and thoughtful features considering the heat dissipation and ergonomics factor.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Spruced Up - Part 2
Added a new header image with link to my blog mainpage. Moved out blog description to the sidebar. Seems pretty neat now!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Spruced Up!
For those reading this post through RSS aggregators, I have spruced up the face of this blog.
The idea behind this page layout is to display post contents in a broad space and stick to the conventional method of displaying profile and links on the right side of the page. This mostly involved hacking a bit of CSS from the Minima template.
It is not over yet. Some more sprucing up is on the anvil.
The idea behind this page layout is to display post contents in a broad space and stick to the conventional method of displaying profile and links on the right side of the page. This mostly involved hacking a bit of CSS from the Minima template.
It is not over yet. Some more sprucing up is on the anvil.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Necessity is the mother of invention
The other day, myself and krish were talking about designing a helmet with built-in head-phone in it. This will enable us to listen to songs in our mp3 player while commuting to office. The conventional ear-phone get away when you wear the helmet.
I am quiet surprised when another guy in the blogsphere shared the same idea.
I am quiet surprised when another guy in the blogsphere shared the same idea.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Dublin too crumbles in traffic
I was interacting with an Irish person from Dublin. He was complaining about traffic snarls in Dublin. The pictures shown in the link doesn't really do justice. In my perspective, dublin traffic is very less compared to bangalore.
These infrastructure problems in upcoming cities seems to be common. But how well and quickly the city copes up is to be watched.
Infy has pointed out that all its expansion for 2006 would take place out of bangalore and consultants have predicted that bangalore will loose its percentage of expansion. Will ever bangalore political honchos pickup these clues.
These infrastructure problems in upcoming cities seems to be common. But how well and quickly the city copes up is to be watched.
Infy has pointed out that all its expansion for 2006 would take place out of bangalore and consultants have predicted that bangalore will loose its percentage of expansion. Will ever bangalore political honchos pickup these clues.
Monday, January 09, 2006
WinXP login screen titbit
Have you ever noticed WinXP login screen prompting Caps Lock turned on for your password field?
It is a nice thoughtful titbit that WinXP has provided. Most of the time you unlock and just type in your password without noticing that Caps is on and get your password denied. After trying couple of times you get to notice that Caps is ON. Even you can end up in your account being locked. All these hassles are prevent by this little titbit.
See how a small feature improves usability.
It is a nice thoughtful titbit that WinXP has provided. Most of the time you unlock and just type in your password without noticing that Caps is on and get your password denied. After trying couple of times you get to notice that Caps is ON. Even you can end up in your account being locked. All these hassles are prevent by this little titbit.
See how a small feature improves usability.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Spam
Most email systems ardently fight to protect your inbox from spams. AOL reported last year that it has blocked half-trillion spams over the year. Out of these, majority of the spams are porn related or sexually suggestive. Though the article suggests that such sexually suggestive spams took a tumble last year, I am not still spared.
I am more conservative in revealing my gmail address. I give out only to legitimate sites/person so that I would not end up using it as a junk box. Still I get close to 5 spam mails per day and out of which at least one in sexually suggestive.
I am more conservative in revealing my gmail address. I give out only to legitimate sites/person so that I would not end up using it as a junk box. Still I get close to 5 spam mails per day and out of which at least one in sexually suggestive.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Got my camera back
Just got it repaired back. After an arduous wait of over 2 months, I got my Canon Powershot A70 camera returned from Canon Service. As I reported earlier (link to my earlier post) it was down with the CCD manufacturing defect.
Though I had to wait for a long time, I am quiet satisfied with the service. The Canon center representative was approachable and cooperative. They gave me the status every now and then. Even the delay was attributed to CCD out off stock as there was a large number of turnout for the CCD replacement.
I haven't tested the camera completely, but took a couple of shots at the service center to confirm that it is working. I am quiet pleased with the handling too. No scratches or rough handling.
The crux of this exercise is that I haven't spent a penny from my pocket, everything is taken care by the Canon Service. This is an exemplary of QoS.
Though I had to wait for a long time, I am quiet satisfied with the service. The Canon center representative was approachable and cooperative. They gave me the status every now and then. Even the delay was attributed to CCD out off stock as there was a large number of turnout for the CCD replacement.
I haven't tested the camera completely, but took a couple of shots at the service center to confirm that it is working. I am quiet pleased with the handling too. No scratches or rough handling.
The crux of this exercise is that I haven't spent a penny from my pocket, everything is taken care by the Canon Service. This is an exemplary of QoS.
Traffic woes back in form
In the last two weeks of december, the traffic woes has come down drastically as majority of the people has gone out for vacation. This trend points us how much tourism industry is picking up in India. With good pay checks and LTA (Leave Travel Allowance) at their disposal most of the IT employed people look for lucrative offers from tourism sponsored states. As well it symbolizes that the western life style is picking up.
With vacation coming to end, the traffic woes are back in form. You could see bumper to bumper traffic in all signals. Commuting is a pain in bangalore.
With vacation coming to end, the traffic woes are back in form. You could see bumper to bumper traffic in all signals. Commuting is a pain in bangalore.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Ending the year on a high note
Year 2005 has been remarkable for me in many ways. Both personally and professionally I have tasted both success and failures. Here I am trying to be more pragmatic in accepting the failures.
In terms of blogsphere, I had a 'joshful' year. I had been bloging through the year capturing vivid memories of happenings, thoughts and perspectives. It is quiet eventful to end the year on a high note, look at the graph to see for yourselves.
In terms of blogsphere, I had a 'joshful' year. I had been bloging through the year capturing vivid memories of happenings, thoughts and perspectives. It is quiet eventful to end the year on a high note, look at the graph to see for yourselves.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
slap on the face of politicians
Infosys chief and mentor Narayana Murthy while delivering his alumni address at NIT bangalore, delivered slur against the inexplicable corrupt politicians of the state.
Link to rediff article
The highlight of the address is the stat
"Indians, the chief mentor of the Nasdaq-listed IT major said, spent over Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) in bribes and illegal payouts in 2004 -- close to one per cent of the country's GDP."
Could our mighty politicians who trumpet their own virtues answer this one?
Link to rediff article
The highlight of the address is the stat
"Indians, the chief mentor of the Nasdaq-listed IT major said, spent over Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) in bribes and illegal payouts in 2004 -- close to one per cent of the country's GDP."
Could our mighty politicians who trumpet their own virtues answer this one?
Monday, December 26, 2005
Tamizh Murasu
"Tamizh Murasu" is the new tamil evening news paper from Sun TV group. Sun TV and all their associate channels are doing major ad campaign for this eveninger. In the recent times it has been under the controversy of blowing out the chennai relief stampede death victim number out of propotion.The ad campaign for this paper shows people reading the paper while traveling back from work in a (uncrowded) Pallavan bus (seeing such a lightly crowded bus is quiet impossible). Though I could not imitate to that extent.. at the least I read it along the streets in TNagar area of chennai. Photo courtesy by Arun.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Addiction to Coffee
The smell of the roasted coffee beans is very hard to resist. Though I try to keep my addiction to coffee as low as possible but sometimes the smell turns me down. I had to resist myself getting addicted to coffee as more caffeine leads to migraine.
For the past few weeks I am breaking the rule at least once. I see a very bleak chance of avoiding coffee in the days to come.
For the past few weeks I am breaking the rule at least once. I see a very bleak chance of avoiding coffee in the days to come.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Grunt work at MS
Via plaxoed
An excerpt from a post relating to work done by a college hire in MS
I've seen many college hires at Microsoft put into positions where they are taking care of build scripts, fixing bugs in code they didn't write, and setting up test machines - basically doing the "grunt work".
This answers the question that I had in my mind for a long time. It also raises another question, who really does the core work?
An excerpt from a post relating to work done by a college hire in MS
I've seen many college hires at Microsoft put into positions where they are taking care of build scripts, fixing bugs in code they didn't write, and setting up test machines - basically doing the "grunt work".
This answers the question that I had in my mind for a long time. It also raises another question, who really does the core work?
Contribution to NGO
Depending on the government to do good things or improve infrastructure is not going to materialize. Even public private partnerships initiated by the Karnataka gov is faltering. The best example is the Bannerghatta road where the relaying of the whole road has started with gov and private constructions partnering. But the work has stopped in between and the whole road is again a mess.
NGOs has done a great amount of good work for the benefit of the society and people. I feel that some NGOs could also take up the work of building infrastructure in cities. In order to pool money for such noble cause, the citizens should have privilege to contribute a part of their taxes to the NGO of their choice. That way there will be much more accountability to the tax money that we pay and much more transparency in the work that has been carried out in our tax money and better infrastructure.
The million dollar question is whether the gov and politicians agree to this?
If by all wonder this happens, how are going to prevent corrupt politicians by starting NGOs on their surrogate names?
NGOs has done a great amount of good work for the benefit of the society and people. I feel that some NGOs could also take up the work of building infrastructure in cities. In order to pool money for such noble cause, the citizens should have privilege to contribute a part of their taxes to the NGO of their choice. That way there will be much more accountability to the tax money that we pay and much more transparency in the work that has been carried out in our tax money and better infrastructure.
The million dollar question is whether the gov and politicians agree to this?
If by all wonder this happens, how are going to prevent corrupt politicians by starting NGOs on their surrogate names?
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Posting from desktop posting tool
via plaxoed
I just read about w.bloggar in a post by Mark Jen. Thought of trying though I had skepticism whether Blogger will be supported. It is cool... blogger has exposed a set of predefined APIs for these kind of desktop posting applications and w.bloggar perfectly implements it.
This pretty app gives us control to draft and store the posts even when you are not connected. Once you get connected, you can upload the posts in a click. Quiet awesome.
Need to try how this copes with photos.
I just read about w.bloggar in a post by Mark Jen. Thought of trying though I had skepticism whether Blogger will be supported. It is cool... blogger has exposed a set of predefined APIs for these kind of desktop posting applications and w.bloggar perfectly implements it.
This pretty app gives us control to draft and store the posts even when you are not connected. Once you get connected, you can upload the posts in a click. Quiet awesome.
Need to try how this copes with photos.
Monday, December 12, 2005
On the verge of loosing credibility
I had been to chennai over the weekend to attend a friend's marriage. We made this trip even with the forecast of cyclone "Funoos" making a land fall on Saturday between Chennai and Nagapattinum and prediction of heavy rainfall on the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.
Sun TV has been showing footages of flood ravaged chennai for the past few weeks stating that major parts of the city has been marooned with flood water. Sun News channel showed raining footage on Friday evening. These footages gave us jitters as there was an imminent cyclone waiting to hit and we need to make sure that we return to bangalore on Monday.
I was quiet relieved when I landed in chennai to see that the main parts of city was pretty dry. There were hardly any water logging and felt that even if it rained heavy for the next day or so, there should not be any problem for us. Luckily the Rain God gave the much needed respite to chennai with very little showers on the next two days.
In my perspective, Sun TV has blown these flood related incidents out of proportion. They have created huge hype as if Chennai is under water and the state gov has turned deaf ears towards these pressing issues.
This is not the first time that the Sun TV network does this mistake. Yesterday, Sun TV showed a flash news stating that there was a major bomb explosion in London which has been extensively covered in their evening news paper "Tamil Murasu". In a short while most of the news channels reported that the explosion was in a oil depot with no casualties reported. In order to publicize and sell their news paper, such hypes are created. Sun TV is quiet on the verge of loosing their credibility !
Sun TV has been showing footages of flood ravaged chennai for the past few weeks stating that major parts of the city has been marooned with flood water. Sun News channel showed raining footage on Friday evening. These footages gave us jitters as there was an imminent cyclone waiting to hit and we need to make sure that we return to bangalore on Monday.
I was quiet relieved when I landed in chennai to see that the main parts of city was pretty dry. There were hardly any water logging and felt that even if it rained heavy for the next day or so, there should not be any problem for us. Luckily the Rain God gave the much needed respite to chennai with very little showers on the next two days.
In my perspective, Sun TV has blown these flood related incidents out of proportion. They have created huge hype as if Chennai is under water and the state gov has turned deaf ears towards these pressing issues.
This is not the first time that the Sun TV network does this mistake. Yesterday, Sun TV showed a flash news stating that there was a major bomb explosion in London which has been extensively covered in their evening news paper "Tamil Murasu". In a short while most of the news channels reported that the explosion was in a oil depot with no casualties reported. In order to publicize and sell their news paper, such hypes are created. Sun TV is quiet on the verge of loosing their credibility !
Thursday, December 08, 2005
What do you watch in TV?
From 8:30pm to 10:00pm every week day is the prime time for TV channels when the viewership is maximum. During this period, tamil cable TV channels show up their addicting mega-serials. The channels come up with their best, to hook the viewers to their channel and maximize ad revenue. I guess the ads shown during these prime times are booked at max cost per second.
Of all the tamil channels Vijay TV some how doesn't understand this simple logic. They show unattractive and stupid programs during these periods except for a mega serial by name "Ethu ooru kadhal kadhai" in the slot of 8:30pm to 9:00pm.
Sun TV captures the whole viewership by hosting some variety programs for 8:30 to 9:00pm slot and with "Kolangal" during 9:00 to 9:30pm slot and with "Selvi" during 9:30 to 10:00pm slot. Most of the households are hooked on to these mega serials. Even our house inmates are hooked recently to these serials as there is no other good programs to watch at that time.
Some facts to ponder about mega-serials:
Before we started with these tamil mega-serials we use to watch "Full House" played by Zee English. In recent days we have turned to tamil mega-serials, donno when it is gonna make us boredom.
Of all the tamil channels Vijay TV some how doesn't understand this simple logic. They show unattractive and stupid programs during these periods except for a mega serial by name "Ethu ooru kadhal kadhai" in the slot of 8:30pm to 9:00pm.
Sun TV captures the whole viewership by hosting some variety programs for 8:30 to 9:00pm slot and with "Kolangal" during 9:00 to 9:30pm slot and with "Selvi" during 9:30 to 10:00pm slot. Most of the households are hooked on to these mega serials. Even our house inmates are hooked recently to these serials as there is no other good programs to watch at that time.
Some facts to ponder about mega-serials:
- Even if you miss a couple of episodes, you won't feel the gap.
- The whole story can be told within a A4 sheet
- The whole story revolves around a central character/cast
- All situations and turning points affect only the central character.
- As expected the central character comes out in flying colors at the end
- Off late most of the central characters are being done by women (best way to hook the households)
Before we started with these tamil mega-serials we use to watch "Full House" played by Zee English. In recent days we have turned to tamil mega-serials, donno when it is gonna make us boredom.
Monday, December 05, 2005
KPN monopoly and pathetic customer service
KPN Travels India Ltd is one of the most prominent night service travels that connects Bangalore to almost every other place in Tamil Nadu. Though there are quiet a few other travels (Sharma, Conti, GokulRaj, etc) they do not provide connectivity to the extent KPN provides. It is fair to say that KPN is a monopoly operating regular night bus service to various places from and to Tamil Nadu. For those who are not familiar with KPN, it is something similar to GreyHound services in US.
With the IT boom, KPN has also grown over the period of time. With their business flourishing and growing leaps and bounds and with no competition in the field they had started taking advantage of the situation.
Firstly the ticket charge is very hefty compared to train charges. There is no control over the ticket charges and the customers are left to the mercy of the management. They have kept revising the rates often. For instance, three years ago, the ticket fare to Erode from Bangalore is Rs 190 (distance is 280 kms). Now it stands at Rs 250. Train fare is just 180 Rs. And during festival times when most of the people move to their hometowns, you need to really haggle around for the tickets as the cost skyrockets abnormally.
Secondly they never manage time properly. You would be asked to report at a particular time and the bus will arrive to pick you up an hour or so later. Until then you need to wander aimlessly on the pavements along the road or wait in the dungeon that KPN madiwala provides. For instance this week I was made to report at 11:00 pm and the bus arrived at 12:00 am. One hour I had to stand on the pavements.
Thirdly they do not have any proper hassle free arrangements to enable customers board the bus. Since there are umpty buses leaving for different places at the same time, it is left to customers responsibility to go and find their own buses. KPN management doesn't provide you either a boarding pass with bus number or other means to properly identify a bus, nor there are any public announcement to help the inconvenience. It is always a mystery. This has let many passengers missing their buses for which management claims no responsibility.
Fourth, they have very little respect for the customers as they are under the pretext that even if one turns away, there are much more unsavy customers to pick up the seats. This happened to me over the last week. My seat was in the last row and behind my seat in the empty space they have filled luggages in such a way that I cannot push-back my seat. Even after complaining to the ticket checker, nothing really happened. They did not even mind if one shouts.
I have seen unruly scenes almost every time I travel through KPN for one reason or the other. It is a total pathetic service worth nothing for the big bucks you spend. I have made up my mind to move away and I swear that I will not travel by KPN here after. I knew a couple of my friends keep up this promise for quiet a while. It is time to move on and teach them a hard lesson.
With the IT boom, KPN has also grown over the period of time. With their business flourishing and growing leaps and bounds and with no competition in the field they had started taking advantage of the situation.
Firstly the ticket charge is very hefty compared to train charges. There is no control over the ticket charges and the customers are left to the mercy of the management. They have kept revising the rates often. For instance, three years ago, the ticket fare to Erode from Bangalore is Rs 190 (distance is 280 kms). Now it stands at Rs 250. Train fare is just 180 Rs. And during festival times when most of the people move to their hometowns, you need to really haggle around for the tickets as the cost skyrockets abnormally.
Secondly they never manage time properly. You would be asked to report at a particular time and the bus will arrive to pick you up an hour or so later. Until then you need to wander aimlessly on the pavements along the road or wait in the dungeon that KPN madiwala provides. For instance this week I was made to report at 11:00 pm and the bus arrived at 12:00 am. One hour I had to stand on the pavements.
Thirdly they do not have any proper hassle free arrangements to enable customers board the bus. Since there are umpty buses leaving for different places at the same time, it is left to customers responsibility to go and find their own buses. KPN management doesn't provide you either a boarding pass with bus number or other means to properly identify a bus, nor there are any public announcement to help the inconvenience. It is always a mystery. This has let many passengers missing their buses for which management claims no responsibility.
Fourth, they have very little respect for the customers as they are under the pretext that even if one turns away, there are much more unsavy customers to pick up the seats. This happened to me over the last week. My seat was in the last row and behind my seat in the empty space they have filled luggages in such a way that I cannot push-back my seat. Even after complaining to the ticket checker, nothing really happened. They did not even mind if one shouts.
I have seen unruly scenes almost every time I travel through KPN for one reason or the other. It is a total pathetic service worth nothing for the big bucks you spend. I have made up my mind to move away and I swear that I will not travel by KPN here after. I knew a couple of my friends keep up this promise for quiet a while. It is time to move on and teach them a hard lesson.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Air pollution check
The Hindu (30-Nov-2005) reported that in Bangalore "Care for Air" campaign has been launched. The report highlights that autos running on adulterated fuel causes major concern.
" Autorickshaws running on adulterated fuel are causing concern. Diesel and petrol are mixed with kerosene and used engine oils."
I would like to suggest an active feedback mechanism to check the air pollution caused by autos. Connect the auto exhaust to the driver. Autos has exhaust openings in the back. Extend that exhaust pipe and put it in front of the drivers face. This is the active feedback mechanism that I have devised.
I got this idea from software management process where active feedback about the process is considered as important. Similarly the auto drivers needs to know how much they pollute the air. Let them enjoy the nonsense they create. What say!
" Autorickshaws running on adulterated fuel are causing concern. Diesel and petrol are mixed with kerosene and used engine oils."
I would like to suggest an active feedback mechanism to check the air pollution caused by autos. Connect the auto exhaust to the driver. Autos has exhaust openings in the back. Extend that exhaust pipe and put it in front of the drivers face. This is the active feedback mechanism that I have devised.
I got this idea from software management process where active feedback about the process is considered as important. Similarly the auto drivers needs to know how much they pollute the air. Let them enjoy the nonsense they create. What say!
Monday, November 28, 2005
Bloglines feeds omit pictures
I have seen this happening multiple times in bloglines. When you have subscribed to a blog and if the post contains pictures along with text, the pictures are omitted. Often most of the pictures are missed. This little bug is pretty annoying as I need to get back to the blog the see the pictures.
Since this happens irrespective of the blog hosting sites, I am guessing that this issue has to do with bloglines and not with the webhosts or rss.
Since this happens irrespective of the blog hosting sites, I am guessing that this issue has to do with bloglines and not with the webhosts or rss.
First hand experience with Nokia 770
We had a non-boring weekend with a new gadget at our disposal. Nokia 770 Tablet PC gave us a good company. Usual lull weekends was replaced by active testing of Nokia 770. I am pretty spell-bound at looks of this pretty tablet PC.
The first thing that stuck me is that the tablet PC runs on a customized ported version of Linux. Pretty inspiring to get a feel of that. Second best is the highly usable UI in that platform. Hooking the tablet to internet using the Wi-fi is a breeze. With the stylus as the input medium you have choices of using a Virtual Keyboard or hand-written recognition as the input medium. You get the input medium popped up when you get the focus to a text-box where data can be entered. The hand-written recognition was pretty sturdy and handled the scribblings well.
The tablet PC comes pre-installed with highly used standard set of applications like PDF reader, Browser, Notes, Calc, Audio/Video player, Games (Chess, Majo, etc), Email and IM. One could also install applications of their own choice. Additional memory slot is available.
All together it is a handy gadget for frequent travelers.
A review of Nokia 770 from The Register, UK.
The first thing that stuck me is that the tablet PC runs on a customized ported version of Linux. Pretty inspiring to get a feel of that. Second best is the highly usable UI in that platform. Hooking the tablet to internet using the Wi-fi is a breeze. With the stylus as the input medium you have choices of using a Virtual Keyboard or hand-written recognition as the input medium. You get the input medium popped up when you get the focus to a text-box where data can be entered. The hand-written recognition was pretty sturdy and handled the scribblings well.
The tablet PC comes pre-installed with highly used standard set of applications like PDF reader, Browser, Notes, Calc, Audio/Video player, Games (Chess, Majo, etc), Email and IM. One could also install applications of their own choice. Additional memory slot is available.
All together it is a handy gadget for frequent travelers.
A review of Nokia 770 from The Register, UK.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Nat Geo programs sucks
I really mean it. I had a couple of such bad experiences with Nat Geo. They do not really produce the program up to their hype. It is not about the content they present but the way the program is produced. It really sucks :-(
Nat Geo Investigates:
Slot: Weekdays @ 10 pm
The much hyped series is about Nat Geo investigating and throwing some light on the complicated investigations of major/critical accidents or incidents.
This program runs for an hour with commercial breaks in between. And after each break they recap the incidents from zero. I bet if you turn on to the program even on the last minute you should be able to catch up the crux of the investigation. They drag the program with no contents to cover up the entire slot.
They dilute the entire contents though they use advanced graphics and other technologies to re-enact the incidents.
Nat Geo Mission Udaan:
Slot: Sundays @ 10pm
From their website:
"Bombing orders, strategy meetings, top secret briefings. Everything that happens behind the closed doors of the IAF is about to be thrown open. Hear directly from the Marshal of the IAF as he tells you, in his own words, what it takes to keep the IAF fighting fit. ThereÂ’s only one show in the world that can show you all this. Nat Geo, in association with the Indian Air Force, presents Mission Udaan. A unique reality series that will take you right into the heart of the IAF."
On their first show yesterday they didn't keep up their words. I got really frustrated. I am a bit excited about planes and jets. Given a chance I wish I could know more about IAF, its operations and the jets. Nat Geo opened the show with a footage from Kargil and how the IAF helped Army to recapture the peaks. That is the end of it.
Then they showed the history of IAF and pre-independence existence. The one hour show went on without telling us about the current status of IAF and their capabilities. The program then took us to the selection of cadres which Nat Geo has organized in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and their process.
Does this program stick to the statement that is given?
I feel it is not worth tuning to Nat Geo any more.
Nat Geo Investigates:
Slot: Weekdays @ 10 pm
The much hyped series is about Nat Geo investigating and throwing some light on the complicated investigations of major/critical accidents or incidents.
This program runs for an hour with commercial breaks in between. And after each break they recap the incidents from zero. I bet if you turn on to the program even on the last minute you should be able to catch up the crux of the investigation. They drag the program with no contents to cover up the entire slot.
They dilute the entire contents though they use advanced graphics and other technologies to re-enact the incidents.
Nat Geo Mission Udaan:
Slot: Sundays @ 10pm
From their website:
"Bombing orders, strategy meetings, top secret briefings. Everything that happens behind the closed doors of the IAF is about to be thrown open. Hear directly from the Marshal of the IAF as he tells you, in his own words, what it takes to keep the IAF fighting fit. ThereÂ’s only one show in the world that can show you all this. Nat Geo, in association with the Indian Air Force, presents Mission Udaan. A unique reality series that will take you right into the heart of the IAF."
On their first show yesterday they didn't keep up their words. I got really frustrated. I am a bit excited about planes and jets. Given a chance I wish I could know more about IAF, its operations and the jets. Nat Geo opened the show with a footage from Kargil and how the IAF helped Army to recapture the peaks. That is the end of it.
Then they showed the history of IAF and pre-independence existence. The one hour show went on without telling us about the current status of IAF and their capabilities. The program then took us to the selection of cadres which Nat Geo has organized in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and their process.
Does this program stick to the statement that is given?
I feel it is not worth tuning to Nat Geo any more.
ON@CC
One night @ Call Center is the novel that I read over the last week. It is by Chetan Bhagat, his second novel after the bestseller Fivepoint Someone novel. It is good to see an Indian writer writing novels targeting Indian readers and printed & published by an Indian publishing house (Ruppa & Co). The reason that I say that the novel targets Indian readers is because the story line is much more what you see around you.
In terms of my personal review, I feel that ON@CC has not made that good impact on me as Fivepoint Someone did. I think the following are the reasons
1. The author picks the same personal narrative style used in his previous novel. He tells the story through the character.
2. The qualities of the hero is as same as the one in Fivepoint Someone. An average guy who lacks self-confidence.
3. The hero-in fills the same quarters of the story as characterized in the previous novel. The hero and hero-in goes for dates and have physical relationships.
4. Finally the hero recognizes his potential gains confidence.
At the outset the storyline feels one and the same.
The usage of simple and less complicated words makes much sense for the Indian public as the majority are not that well articulated. The less confusing plot also adds up the point.
In terms of my personal review, I feel that ON@CC has not made that good impact on me as Fivepoint Someone did. I think the following are the reasons
1. The author picks the same personal narrative style used in his previous novel. He tells the story through the character.
2. The qualities of the hero is as same as the one in Fivepoint Someone. An average guy who lacks self-confidence.
3. The hero-in fills the same quarters of the story as characterized in the previous novel. The hero and hero-in goes for dates and have physical relationships.
4. Finally the hero recognizes his potential gains confidence.
At the outset the storyline feels one and the same.
The usage of simple and less complicated words makes much sense for the Indian public as the majority are not that well articulated. The less confusing plot also adds up the point.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Birthday
It is my 27th Birthday. The day break passed on smoothly without much fanfare which use to happen in college days. I guess all of us are growing up so no more bumps. Got a whole lot of wishes from friends in all circles.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Bangalore Traffic
I was not used to bangalore traffic until recently. My office use to reside pretty close (2-3 kms) to my residence and I do not cross major roads or traffic signals. When people complained about traffic snarls and crumbling infrastructure, it made very little sense to me. Though I understand their concerns, it wasn't pain in the butt for me.
Now I need to do a long (8-9 kms) daily commute to the office. And I go through Koramangala inner ring road, Domlur junction and Airport Road. All these roads are pretty congested during the peak hours and now I really feel the pain in the butt. On an average with average traffic the commute takes about 25 mins. The same commute during peak hours jumps twice that is, takes 50 - 60 mins.
I do see a lot many ways to improve the traffic congestion.
1. Sync-up the traffic signals
2. Place bus-stops at less congested places (Only in bangalore I have seen bus-stops immediately after a turn which adds up to the traffic woes)
3. Put proper medians along the road
4. Construct Fly-overs for congested junctions
The incessant rains has done enough damage to road surfaces. Take a look of the potholes that has been left in the city roads from bangalorepothole site.
Now I need to do a long (8-9 kms) daily commute to the office. And I go through Koramangala inner ring road, Domlur junction and Airport Road. All these roads are pretty congested during the peak hours and now I really feel the pain in the butt. On an average with average traffic the commute takes about 25 mins. The same commute during peak hours jumps twice that is, takes 50 - 60 mins.
I do see a lot many ways to improve the traffic congestion.
1. Sync-up the traffic signals
2. Place bus-stops at less congested places (Only in bangalore I have seen bus-stops immediately after a turn which adds up to the traffic woes)
3. Put proper medians along the road
4. Construct Fly-overs for congested junctions
The incessant rains has done enough damage to road surfaces. Take a look of the potholes that has been left in the city roads from bangalorepothole site.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Natwar in bench
You might be aware of the recent news about Volcker report and its repercussions. Natwar Singh has been striped off his external affairs portfolio, which literally means that he is in bench now.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Gmail down
It seems that GMail is suffering. I have never noticed this long down time period for GMail. I guess something majorly got messed up. I see lot of people also reporting the same.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
CellOne Plan 100 for Central/State govt employees
Quiet a novel and useful way to catch market.
BSNL CellOne has introduced a cheap post paid plan for Central/State government employess "Plan 100".
With monthly rental of 100 Rs and rest other deposits and connection charges waived off, this is quiet a good plan to opt for low call volume government servants. This will rake up the number of mobile connections that BSNL CellOne will own.
BSNL CellOne has introduced a cheap post paid plan for Central/State government employess "Plan 100".
With monthly rental of 100 Rs and rest other deposits and connection charges waived off, this is quiet a good plan to opt for low call volume government servants. This will rake up the number of mobile connections that BSNL CellOne will own.
Logistical failure of movie halls in Erode
Last weekend I along with my parents and brother went for a movie (Ghajini, the latest release in Tamil staring Surya and Asin) in Erode. It is very rare that we go out for a movie. One reason being that my parents are not movie buffs (they like to peacefully relax at home munching snacks in the evening).
So the evening unfolded as myself and my brother went ahead to book tickets for the movie. The movie hall doesn't have a booking. Second major logistical failure is that the tickets doesn't have seat number. So after getting the ticket you have rush to the hall to secure your seats. Pathetic :-). This rule is same for all class of tickets right from second, first class and even for Balcony.
One good thing is that TamilNadu government has banned smoking and spitting in movie halls. So the canteen no more sell Cigarettes, Paans and Gutkas. Way to go!
So the evening unfolded as myself and my brother went ahead to book tickets for the movie. The movie hall doesn't have a booking. Second major logistical failure is that the tickets doesn't have seat number. So after getting the ticket you have rush to the hall to secure your seats. Pathetic :-). This rule is same for all class of tickets right from second, first class and even for Balcony.
One good thing is that TamilNadu government has banned smoking and spitting in movie halls. So the canteen no more sell Cigarettes, Paans and Gutkas. Way to go!
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Ganguly hate site
Ganguly has gone to an extent of attracting a hate site in his name. Hate sites are very rare in India.
www.ihateganguly.com
www.ihateganguly.com
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Wi-fi access in Legend Koramangala
Just had been to the restaurant Legend in Koramangala. I am bit astonished to see that the restaurant being Wi-Fi enabled. It is free of cost. Carry your Wi-fi enabled laptop, get hooked to 512 kbps connection, carry on with your business while munching your lunch/tiffon.
Gmail Auto save feature
Gmail has a new Auto save feature. It is a boon. I use to loose mail contents that I had typed because of combination of enabling keyboard shortcuts and auto refresh of gmail.
Most of the time when I am mid-way typing the mail, a refresh would take the focus away from the TextField and Gmail web app responds to the keyboard enteries as shortcuts discarding the mail contents that I had typed.
The auto save feature saves a draft every few minustes and I will not be loosing contents badly as I was.
Most of the time when I am mid-way typing the mail, a refresh would take the focus away from the TextField and Gmail web app responds to the keyboard enteries as shortcuts discarding the mail contents that I had typed.
The auto save feature saves a draft every few minustes and I will not be loosing contents badly as I was.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
CCD advisory notice from Canon, Sony,...
Close on the heels of Canon's advisory notice to customers on faulty CCD in their camera's many other digital camera manufacturers have also provided advisory notices.
Canon
Sony
Fuji
Konica - Minolta
Olympus
Canon
Sony
Fuji
Konica - Minolta
Olympus
Canon Customer Service responsiveness
As I posted earlier about my camera problem, I had been in touch with the Canon Service Center representatives in India. They are polite and responsive. Approchable through email and you get prompt replies. They have adviced me to give my camera for repair to M/s Deendhayal camera & co in bangalore.
I am keeping my fingers crossed till I receive my camera back with free CCD replacement or repair.
I am keeping my fingers crossed till I receive my camera back with free CCD replacement or repair.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Darshan of Lord Muruga
Was on vacation over last week (12 to 16 Oct). Made a dashing trip to Palani hills to salvage the pilgrimage desire of my parents. The new addition to Palani is the Rope car facility (as I posted earlier, no photos due to faulty camera). Rope car makes the trek up the hill easier. It is the same one you see in movies that hangs and moves across valleys. The winch car is still operational, but used less as it is not that efficient in handling crowd.
The rope car is quiet fast as it takes 3 mins for one way ride and can carry 4 people. You have to shell out Rs 15 per head for the one way trip. Rest other things are as usual. Since this time there were less number of devotees, the place seemed a bit neat than I expected.
I had two good dharshans of lord Muruga.
The rope car is quiet fast as it takes 3 mins for one way ride and can carry 4 people. You have to shell out Rs 15 per head for the one way trip. Rest other things are as usual. Since this time there were less number of devotees, the place seemed a bit neat than I expected.
I had two good dharshans of lord Muruga.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Exporting RSS subscriptions using OPML
By now most of us would have got to know that Google has released RSS Reader beta. As usual I wished I could give it a try. I had been using bloglines for the past 6 months or so and wanted to checkout what google has in its store to offer.
Both bloglines and google offers you to export and import your subscriptions using OPML. Oh heavens..What a cool way to migrate things across products. I realized the power of open standards.
It will be really beneficial if even other competitive products start supporting open standards.
Both bloglines and google offers you to export and import your subscriptions using OPML. Oh heavens..What a cool way to migrate things across products. I realized the power of open standards.
It will be really beneficial if even other competitive products start supporting open standards.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Combo pack
During shopping in large shops/malls you always come across combo pack or offer. Say for instance you can get three tees for some money rather than picking them individually. Price wise it always makes sense, since it gets you the best offer, but on the choice wise you are fooled.
Out of the three tees, I am damn sure that one will be useless (bright red / maroon/ yellow color simply which you can not wear). What a trick these marketing guys play with you? They rip your money by getting you a simply useless offer.
Out of the three tees, I am damn sure that one will be useless (bright red / maroon/ yellow color simply which you can not wear). What a trick these marketing guys play with you? They rip your money by getting you a simply useless offer.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Canon Powershot A70 imaging problem
What to say... it is a pure coincidence.
I own a Canon Powershot A70 digital camera bought on Aug 2003 from US. It is pretty good in performance and quality of pictures. Over a past couple of months it showed me some signs of problem. Intermittently it failed to powerup properly, in the shooting mode, I will see blank screen on the lcd.
I guessed that it could be a problem related to Ni-MH recharagable batteries. After doing some research on the Ni-MH battery lives, I found that Ni-MH batteries do get crystallized over the period of use. Then I came to a logical conclusion that the batteries need to be replaced. I bought a new set of Energizer Ni-MH batteries for use.
Even after using the new set of batteries the intermittent problem still remained. Today when I powered on my camera in shooting mode, I saw a blurred image appearing through the lcd. That seemed to me as if the CCD has worn out. The photos that I took also came distorted.
When I started checking my bloglines today morning, I found from dpreview that Canon has advised users about the same problem that I am facing. They are offering a free service. But am I eligible is the million dollar question?
Since I bought this camera from Amazon through net shopping, I do not have a receipt for the same. I do have the order information and Voucher from Amazon. But still will it be a valid proof. I am planning to give it a try by calling their customer care.
Will update more as I go through this.
I own a Canon Powershot A70 digital camera bought on Aug 2003 from US. It is pretty good in performance and quality of pictures. Over a past couple of months it showed me some signs of problem. Intermittently it failed to powerup properly, in the shooting mode, I will see blank screen on the lcd.
I guessed that it could be a problem related to Ni-MH recharagable batteries. After doing some research on the Ni-MH battery lives, I found that Ni-MH batteries do get crystallized over the period of use. Then I came to a logical conclusion that the batteries need to be replaced. I bought a new set of Energizer Ni-MH batteries for use.
Even after using the new set of batteries the intermittent problem still remained. Today when I powered on my camera in shooting mode, I saw a blurred image appearing through the lcd. That seemed to me as if the CCD has worn out. The photos that I took also came distorted.
When I started checking my bloglines today morning, I found from dpreview that Canon has advised users about the same problem that I am facing. They are offering a free service. But am I eligible is the million dollar question?
Since I bought this camera from Amazon through net shopping, I do not have a receipt for the same. I do have the order information and Voucher from Amazon. But still will it be a valid proof. I am planning to give it a try by calling their customer care.
Will update more as I go through this.
Sleep Deprivation
I had been under sleep deprivation for the past couple of days due to some pressing work. Over these days the deprivation had a detrimental effect on my concetration and energy. I felt dousy all through the day and over the end of day I had very little concetration left with me. This made me to miss a couple of important points.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Monday, October 03, 2005
Form factor
As per Moore's law, every 18 months computing power doubles. I found a similar empirical formula on the form factor. Every 24 months the form factor decreases by 2 folds.
Here are some comparisons...
Canon Powershot A 70 camera (bought in Aug 2003) - uses 4 AA size batteries
Canon Powershot SD 300 (bought in Sep 2005) - uses Lithium ion battery
Both cameras roughly has the same set of features, but the form factor has decreased by a factor of 2. Even in this case I could say it decreased by a factor of 3 or 4.
Similarly the CF card
SanDisk 256 MB CF card - bought in Aug 2003
SanDisk 512 MD SD card - bought in Sep 2005
Both has form factor difference of similar calibre.
Apple iPod Mini
Apple iPod Nano
iPod nano has really flattened everything that Mini had. Nano even had a special flattened pin for USB connectivity.
Here are some comparisons...
Canon Powershot A 70 camera (bought in Aug 2003) - uses 4 AA size batteries
Canon Powershot SD 300 (bought in Sep 2005) - uses Lithium ion battery
Both cameras roughly has the same set of features, but the form factor has decreased by a factor of 2. Even in this case I could say it decreased by a factor of 3 or 4.
Similarly the CF card
SanDisk 256 MB CF card - bought in Aug 2003
SanDisk 512 MD SD card - bought in Sep 2005
Both has form factor difference of similar calibre.
Apple iPod Mini
Apple iPod Nano
iPod nano has really flattened everything that Mini had. Nano even had a special flattened pin for USB connectivity.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Google removes index size from its search page
Earlier Google homepage use to show the index size (some 8 billion pages) used in search. With the onslaught from competitors like Yahoo who claims to have indexed more than 20 billion pages and in the absence of standards in measuring the index size and its relevancy to search result, Google seems to have removed its index size in its homepage.
More news related to this in CNET. Moreover it is the 7th birthday of Google.
More news related to this in CNET. Moreover it is the 7th birthday of Google.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Google blog search
I can not resist from blogging this.
Google has joined the fray of blog search engines with its ultra-fast search.
Ok, What to try... I tried this blog and with sort of relevance, the Related Blog pointed out this blog clearly. Awesome.... But rest of the results seemed crappy to me as I was not related to any of those. I do not know how they rank those blogs high on the list.
I tried sorting by Date and there came the google with the bang. Almost all my recent updates are listed in the results section. Pretty fast though. So with google's entry the blog search arena will be hot and will also get a close watch.
Google has joined the fray of blog search engines with its ultra-fast search.
Ok, What to try... I tried this blog and with sort of relevance, the Related Blog pointed out this blog clearly. Awesome.... But rest of the results seemed crappy to me as I was not related to any of those. I do not know how they rank those blogs high on the list.
I tried sorting by Date and there came the google with the bang. Almost all my recent updates are listed in the results section. Pretty fast though. So with google's entry the blog search arena will be hot and will also get a close watch.
Friday, September 09, 2005
iAudioU2 Updates
In my previous entry I posted about my recent purchase of iAudio U2 mp3 player. Here are some more updates to it after a couple of days of use.
1. Firmware releases happen more often and contain handful of good bugfixes. The latest firmware version is 1.40.
2. The BBE options really rocks. iAudio is superior in sound quality compared to Creative MuVo and iPod Mini. I found that iPod Shuffle is better than iPod Mini.
3. The earphones doesn't really fit. It is very uncomforatble though the sound quality is good. So I started using my old Sony ear phones.
4. There is a cap of 175 on the number of mp3 files that you can have. If you exceed this number then the firmware starts misbehaving. Hope that future firmware updates will rectify this.
Yesterday myself and Gops did a cost-wise split-up to see how worthy the iAudio mp3 parts are. The split-up is very approximate based on the facts that we know.
1 GB CF memory - $45
4 line LCD - $10
Internal components - $20 (includes mp3 encoder/decoder, fm tuner, line in recoder, Direct MP3)
Earphones - $5
Casing - $5
Misc -$10 (includes cables, USB adapters, lanyard, Packaging)
Software - $15
Total - $110
On Stores -$160.
1. Firmware releases happen more often and contain handful of good bugfixes. The latest firmware version is 1.40.
2. The BBE options really rocks. iAudio is superior in sound quality compared to Creative MuVo and iPod Mini. I found that iPod Shuffle is better than iPod Mini.
3. The earphones doesn't really fit. It is very uncomforatble though the sound quality is good. So I started using my old Sony ear phones.
4. There is a cap of 175 on the number of mp3 files that you can have. If you exceed this number then the firmware starts misbehaving. Hope that future firmware updates will rectify this.
Yesterday myself and Gops did a cost-wise split-up to see how worthy the iAudio mp3 parts are. The split-up is very approximate based on the facts that we know.
1 GB CF memory - $45
4 line LCD - $10
Internal components - $20 (includes mp3 encoder/decoder, fm tuner, line in recoder, Direct MP3)
Earphones - $5
Casing - $5
Misc -$10 (includes cables, USB adapters, lanyard, Packaging)
Software - $15
Total - $110
On Stores -$160.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Dearer Foundation Ceremonies
Karnataka Govt has spent 3.1 crores on laying foundation stones and conducting inaugural ceremonies for infrastructure improvements and other programmes.
Source: The Week.
Source: The Week.
Monday, September 05, 2005
iAudio U2
Though Chandan suggests to be less materialistic in the 43things to do in life, I can not resist myself from buying iAudio U2. The frequent monotonic travel on road forced me to buy this.
Gops has already blogged an extensive rave review of iAudio U2. Rather than repeating the same stuff once more over here, I prefer linking to his blog.
To be frank, it was not my decision to go for this player. I blindly went ahead with Gops decision as I knew that he would have done an extensive analysis and has the experience of owning 2 mp3 players previously.
Gops, You need to take a pat on the back for this well thought decision!
The sound quality is cut above the rest. It is pretty awesome.
Gops has already blogged an extensive rave review of iAudio U2. Rather than repeating the same stuff once more over here, I prefer linking to his blog.
To be frank, it was not my decision to go for this player. I blindly went ahead with Gops decision as I knew that he would have done an extensive analysis and has the experience of owning 2 mp3 players previously.
Gops, You need to take a pat on the back for this well thought decision!
The sound quality is cut above the rest. It is pretty awesome.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Blog hit stats
This personal blog has been up for quiet some time now. I created it some time back in June 2004 and was in hibernation till Jan 2005 when I revived it back to life. From then on there is no look back, I had consistent postings about vivid topics. This post is my 100th post to this blog.
To keep abreast about the traffic, two weeks back I added a hit counter to this blog. Most of you wouldn't have noticed as it is a non-intrusive hidden counter. StatCounter is pretty good in features. It had everything I looked for. You can create different projects using the same login for different blogs. You can create html based, hidden counter and even set a blocking cookie so that you can prevent your visit from being counted.
For a free account, the stats collected are pretty good. I could get a summary of total hits per daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. A nice bar graph shows you the details of the traffic. I would prefer Line Graph instead of Bar and Area Graph. With Line Graph plotted over the period of time you can easily see the trend in the traffic.
Another interesting stat is about your readers location based on Country, State/Region, City and ISP. Majority of the hits are from India and US. Gulf and Europe provided minor contributions.
Browser based stats provided interesting clue. Though IE is predominant, but FireFox is catching up. Ahaa.. Safari also figured in, so somebody had a Mac OS.
OS stats reveals this. Again Windows is predominant. But where is Linux in the picture?
So on the whole for the past two weeks I have been averaging 77 hits per week. Will I retain and increase readers is a question that will be answered as time flies by.
To keep abreast about the traffic, two weeks back I added a hit counter to this blog. Most of you wouldn't have noticed as it is a non-intrusive hidden counter. StatCounter is pretty good in features. It had everything I looked for. You can create different projects using the same login for different blogs. You can create html based, hidden counter and even set a blocking cookie so that you can prevent your visit from being counted.
For a free account, the stats collected are pretty good. I could get a summary of total hits per daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. A nice bar graph shows you the details of the traffic. I would prefer Line Graph instead of Bar and Area Graph. With Line Graph plotted over the period of time you can easily see the trend in the traffic.
Another interesting stat is about your readers location based on Country, State/Region, City and ISP. Majority of the hits are from India and US. Gulf and Europe provided minor contributions.
Browser based stats provided interesting clue. Though IE is predominant, but FireFox is catching up. Ahaa.. Safari also figured in, so somebody had a Mac OS.
OS stats reveals this. Again Windows is predominant. But where is Linux in the picture?
So on the whole for the past two weeks I have been averaging 77 hits per week. Will I retain and increase readers is a question that will be answered as time flies by.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Airtel Services....
Really SUCKS :-(
My roommate Gops has narrated his experience with the shoddy Airtel Customer Service. Here is one that I faced in the recent past.
In our house, there are six Airtel connections and we live in prime residential area in Bangalore. Out of the six, couple of them are corporate connections. Often (almost every time) the call gets disconnected if we try to receive one from inside the house. The model of handset has no significance. The case is valid across both Nokia and Motorola models. One could see us rushing out of the house if a call comes in.
I had to receive an early morning call from my parents and the call dropped numerous times even when I moved out of the house to the balcony. It is frustrating when you had something important and calls drop off abruptly. It screwed up the whole thing.
Out of infuriation, I tried to reach the Airtel customer service to complain. The connection that I own is personal connection and I had a hard time crossing the Airtel tune to the customer helpdesk. Finally I broke and used Arun's corporate connection to reach the corporate customer helpdesk and got the call transferred to the regular customer helpdesk.
After hearing my complaint and threatening to move out of Airtel, they accepted to look into the matter and gave me a complain number(5492359, Date: 25th July 2005) stating that I will hear back from them in 24 hrs. The 24hr deadline is still approaching and I haven't received a call from them.
It would be better if Airtel stops bragging about providing network to remote areas and does something to help their pathetic services within the city.
I know that there will be numerous souls around bangalore frustrated because of Airtel and I am venting my anger out through this post.
My roommate Gops has narrated his experience with the shoddy Airtel Customer Service. Here is one that I faced in the recent past.
In our house, there are six Airtel connections and we live in prime residential area in Bangalore. Out of the six, couple of them are corporate connections. Often (almost every time) the call gets disconnected if we try to receive one from inside the house. The model of handset has no significance. The case is valid across both Nokia and Motorola models. One could see us rushing out of the house if a call comes in.
I had to receive an early morning call from my parents and the call dropped numerous times even when I moved out of the house to the balcony. It is frustrating when you had something important and calls drop off abruptly. It screwed up the whole thing.
Out of infuriation, I tried to reach the Airtel customer service to complain. The connection that I own is personal connection and I had a hard time crossing the Airtel tune to the customer helpdesk. Finally I broke and used Arun's corporate connection to reach the corporate customer helpdesk and got the call transferred to the regular customer helpdesk.
After hearing my complaint and threatening to move out of Airtel, they accepted to look into the matter and gave me a complain number(5492359, Date: 25th July 2005) stating that I will hear back from them in 24 hrs. The 24hr deadline is still approaching and I haven't received a call from them.
It would be better if Airtel stops bragging about providing network to remote areas and does something to help their pathetic services within the city.
I know that there will be numerous souls around bangalore frustrated because of Airtel and I am venting my anger out through this post.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
GREP
Many of us regularly use "grep" command day in and day out. It is such a common command. Do you know that grep is an acronym.
GREP - Global Regular Expression Print
Regular expressions are invented by Steven Kleene and "*" used in reg-ex is called "Kleene star".
GREP - Global Regular Expression Print
Regular expressions are invented by Steven Kleene and "*" used in reg-ex is called "Kleene star".
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Google Talk - Audio components
Have anybody checked Google Talk About box.
First thing, they include audio components from Global IP Sounds, seems they are pioneers with VoIP and voice over packet network. See their partners and customers page.
Secondly what is that about play 23 21.....
First thing, they include audio components from Global IP Sounds, seems they are pioneers with VoIP and voice over packet network. See their partners and customers page.
Secondly what is that about play 23 21.....
Monday, August 29, 2005
Hodophobia
I never came across this phrase until now.
Hodophobia - refers to an abnormal and persistent fear of road travel.
And because of which one of my friend doesn't drive vehicles. It seems to be a worthy decision considering the hetic bangalore traffic.
Hodophobia - refers to an abnormal and persistent fear of road travel.
And because of which one of my friend doesn't drive vehicles. It seems to be a worthy decision considering the hetic bangalore traffic.
Respite from spams in comments
Couple of weeks back I reported some spam being left in my comments. Blogger's jumped up to give us a respite sooner than expected. Go to your blog settings -> Comments tab and turn on "Show word verification for comments". By default it is turned off I guess.
This will help you to open up the gates for unregistered people to leave comments in your blog.
This will help you to open up the gates for unregistered people to leave comments in your blog.
Google Ads in Yahoo Flickr
Incidently got noticed that Yahoo! Flickr shows Google Ads. Where is YPN?
But for some pages I could see Ads by Yahoo too. What a mess!
Do users have control over these or is it just by mistake?
But for some pages I could see Ads by Yahoo too. What a mess!
Do users have control over these or is it just by mistake?
Friday, August 26, 2005
Google Talk - Voice chat
Yesterday I tried using Google Talk to do a voice chat with a friend in US (Ann Arbor, Michigan). I am spell bound and awe-stuck by the voice clarity. There is very little unnoticeable lag and the clarity is much more superior than I expected. Evidently Google has added another feather to its rich haul hat.
Google Talk is based on open source jabber (XMPP) spec. The interesting point to note is that the spec has been available since 1999 and google has implemented it to get it noticed.
Also the first line in the Google talk page is interesting.
"They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free."
Google Talk is based on open source jabber (XMPP) spec. The interesting point to note is that the spec has been available since 1999 and google has implemented it to get it noticed.
Also the first line in the Google talk page is interesting.
"They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free."
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Which is India's first Wi-fi city?
Nowadays, my office hour opens with a little tech-geek talk with Abhinav. We share little tit-bits about the tech stuff each day we come across. Our today's chat was about Google talk and Wi-Max technology.
In the course of the chat, he pointed out two things.
Mysore is the India's first Wi-fi enabled city. It beats India's Silicon Valley Bangalore and other metros.
Secondly, India is much ahead in mobile-telecom and Wi-fi incomparison to US. The reason being that we haven't invested much on the conventional wired lines and we are free to embrace mobile and wi-fi now.
In the course of the chat, he pointed out two things.
Mysore is the India's first Wi-fi enabled city. It beats India's Silicon Valley Bangalore and other metros.
Secondly, India is much ahead in mobile-telecom and Wi-fi incomparison to US. The reason being that we haven't invested much on the conventional wired lines and we are free to embrace mobile and wi-fi now.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Google spreading its wings
The much rumored thing is happening again. According to news reported by Reuters in LA Times, it seems that Google is entering IM and VoIP space.
When there is a healthy competition, quality is on the rise. The end users of these services are going to benefit largely.
courtesy: Plaxoed
Update: Till midnight yesterday, it was rumor, but today it is a reality.
http://www.google.com/talk/
When there is a healthy competition, quality is on the rise. The end users of these services are going to benefit largely.
courtesy: Plaxoed
Update: Till midnight yesterday, it was rumor, but today it is a reality.
http://www.google.com/talk/
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Web Popularity
You need not be a celebrity to be in a limelight, ofcourse it is a different kind of limelight. Being popular in Web world enthrals the same kind of experience.
With the search engine wars picking up, I tried to nail down "How popular am I in the web?", just by measuring search rankings of my petty blog contributions.
Search Engines:
Google
Yahoo
Preface:
I have been keeping this blog active with my own musings about the interesting stuff that I come across day in and day out. I haven't used any paid services or through other means of improving traffic to my blog. I have taken measures to popularize my blog only among a selected group of pals. I have added up Google Adsense to my blog which has started showing context sensitive ads very recently. Though I cannot confirm, google does seem to have a slight edge over other search engines in indexing my site.
With this setup, I used the same keywords in both google and yahoo search to analyze the search results. I have used both Web wide search and site specific search.
Keyword used:
rajakumar blogspot
Search Results:
Google Web wide search:
The first hit is a comment that I had posted in Govar's blog.
This blog came up in third place (Hurray, I am not doing bad in ranking it seems)
There were total 19 results, out of which just these two were related to me.
Yahoo Web side search:
The first hit is my bloglines subscription export xml url
The fourth hit is a comment that I had posted in Govar's blog
And on sixteenth hit is this blog
On the whole, the total results were 26 out of which 8 is related to me. To my surprise the index page of my blog has been indexed by Yahoo search and I could see my comments in Gops, Vig and Smart Senthil's blog.
Thanks to Vig for exposing my CGPA to world wide audience and I need not blow my own trumpet :-)
Google site specific search:
In Google's index there is just one entry related to my blog.
This proves that Google adsense doesn't have any relation with search index.
Yahoo site specific search:
Yahoo wins hands down here. There are 7 entries related to my blog
The analysis that I had done doesn't consider factors that influence any of the search engines facility. All I did is from layman perspective. With the results I do not denounce or appreciate google/yahoo. It is just an exercise to find the popularity of my blog with respect to search index.
Comments are welcome.
With the search engine wars picking up, I tried to nail down "How popular am I in the web?", just by measuring search rankings of my petty blog contributions.
Search Engines:
Yahoo
Preface:
I have been keeping this blog active with my own musings about the interesting stuff that I come across day in and day out. I haven't used any paid services or through other means of improving traffic to my blog. I have taken measures to popularize my blog only among a selected group of pals. I have added up Google Adsense to my blog which has started showing context sensitive ads very recently. Though I cannot confirm, google does seem to have a slight edge over other search engines in indexing my site.
With this setup, I used the same keywords in both google and yahoo search to analyze the search results. I have used both Web wide search and site specific search.
Keyword used:
rajakumar blogspot
Search Results:
Google Web wide search:
The first hit is a comment that I had posted in Govar's blog.
This blog came up in third place (Hurray, I am not doing bad in ranking it seems)
There were total 19 results, out of which just these two were related to me.
Yahoo Web side search:
The first hit is my bloglines subscription export xml url
The fourth hit is a comment that I had posted in Govar's blog
And on sixteenth hit is this blog
On the whole, the total results were 26 out of which 8 is related to me. To my surprise the index page of my blog has been indexed by Yahoo search and I could see my comments in Gops, Vig and Smart Senthil's blog.
Thanks to Vig for exposing my CGPA to world wide audience and I need not blow my own trumpet :-)
Google site specific search:
In Google's index there is just one entry related to my blog.
This proves that Google adsense doesn't have any relation with search index.
Yahoo site specific search:
Yahoo wins hands down here. There are 7 entries related to my blog
The analysis that I had done doesn't consider factors that influence any of the search engines facility. All I did is from layman perspective. With the results I do not denounce or appreciate google/yahoo. It is just an exercise to find the popularity of my blog with respect to search index.
Comments are welcome.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
SuDoKu Program
I had posted couple of weeks ago about my intention to write a program to solve the sudoku puzzle. Now I have implemented it incorporating the Elimination, Naked Pair and Unique Member technique. I have also created a UI for the program to enable users to enter and solve the puzzles. I have to accept the fact that the UI is not that snappy, but it is good start to begin with.
Lang: Java 1.5
UI: Java Swing
UI Snapshots:
Puzzle fromThe Hindu (Dated 17-Aug-2005)
Shown are given values and the possibilities for the rest of the cells
Solution by using elimination technique
If you want to try your hand, do drop in an email/comment, I will mail you the binaries and the src code.
Lang: Java 1.5
UI: Java Swing
UI Snapshots:
Puzzle fromThe Hindu (Dated 17-Aug-2005)
Shown are given values and the possibilities for the rest of the cells
Solution by using elimination technique
If you want to try your hand, do drop in an email/comment, I will mail you the binaries and the src code.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Spam in my blog comments
Oops! I got a spam in my comments section. Though I had intentionally prevented anonymous users from commenting, this registered spam user somehow slipped in. Hey blogger guys, are you listening :-(
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Bloging captures Mangal Pandey
Mangal Pandey - The Rising is the latest historic movie from the bollywood releasing this week. It is no surprise that such a big-budget movie getting in all the hypes before reaching screens. The lead actor Aamir Khan has a blog about Mangal Pandey. Check it throu'
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
HSBC Preapproved Personal Loan
Today HSBC sent me a letter with a calligraphic certificate stating that being a priviledged customer, I am afforded a pre-approved personal loan. In that certificate they have stated my bank account number. Given the fact that this being sent in a snail mail/courier, it could have well landed in some wrong hands, exposing my account number.
For the sake of their marketting campaign, I cannot afford to loose my credentials. On the part of the bank's security lapse, I seriously condemn their carelessness in revealing customer credentials.
For the sake of their marketting campaign, I cannot afford to loose my credentials. On the part of the bank's security lapse, I seriously condemn their carelessness in revealing customer credentials.
Friday, August 05, 2005
MS vs Google
I wonder why Microsoft is competiting against Google in all segments. I could see some relevancy related to Desktop Search. But not in mapping and other services. I guess that these services does not pull any major revenue.
Is MS afraid of loosing its reputation and ground to Google? Or does it sound MS to be incompetent in terms of services? What is that they are going to achieve?
Is MS afraid of loosing its reputation and ground to Google? Or does it sound MS to be incompetent in terms of services? What is that they are going to achieve?
Mapping service for India
In the recent times there has been a spurt in the mapping services all over the world. Mapping service is also the recent buzz word of the technology domain. First there were yahoo maps, then came the Google maps, and their hybrids. Google Earth was launched later. More recently MS launched its Virtual Earth to add to the competition.
Not just the mapping service providers has increased in the course of time, but also their content of the service. Initially yahoo maps were used for the travel directions. Now mapping services has advanced to show you real pictures of the places along with the road directions. Even traffic updates could be got through these mapping services, so that we could take up alternate routes. In the blog sphere, these mapping services are used to locate blogger community in the neighborhood. Probably this led to the trend of Blog-Geek-Dinners!
When are these services going to come to India? Are there any organizations heading up that way! I have no clue.
On a lighter side, I could not comprehend the complexity and confusions that will arise when we try to map bangalore using the addresses. The street where I live is addressed as 4th Main, 1st Cross, Maruthi Layout. The street opposite to mine is addressed as 3rd Main, Kurupanpalaya. Not to mention there are already two 1st crosses in the same area. God Save!
Gops states that Europeans are much ahead in mapping services from the rest of the world. He states that Taxis in Finland run with a mapping service and GPS installed!
Not just the mapping service providers has increased in the course of time, but also their content of the service. Initially yahoo maps were used for the travel directions. Now mapping services has advanced to show you real pictures of the places along with the road directions. Even traffic updates could be got through these mapping services, so that we could take up alternate routes. In the blog sphere, these mapping services are used to locate blogger community in the neighborhood. Probably this led to the trend of Blog-Geek-Dinners!
When are these services going to come to India? Are there any organizations heading up that way! I have no clue.
On a lighter side, I could not comprehend the complexity and confusions that will arise when we try to map bangalore using the addresses. The street where I live is addressed as 4th Main, 1st Cross, Maruthi Layout. The street opposite to mine is addressed as 3rd Main, Kurupanpalaya. Not to mention there are already two 1st crosses in the same area. God Save!
Gops states that Europeans are much ahead in mapping services from the rest of the world. He states that Taxis in Finland run with a mapping service and GPS installed!
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Adsense magic
Hurray! Google adsense that I added to this blog has started working. It has started showing relevant text ads related to the first post I have in the page.
I need to reposition the adsense from the bottom left of the page to some where in the top. This should increase its visibility and usability (as adsense shows ad related to the first post in the page).
The ad-revenue share I have earned till now 0.17$ :-)
I need to reposition the adsense from the bottom left of the page to some where in the top. This should increase its visibility and usability (as adsense shows ad related to the first post in the page).
The ad-revenue share I have earned till now 0.17$ :-)
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Wi-fi Hotspot at our house
Yesterday was a grand day(night) when we finally enabled Wi-fi hotspot in our house. As I posted early about our intentions of enabling Wi-fi in our house, it all got resolved yesterday.
Machines:
Blog post from Atul Chitnis on W-B setup using similar topology.
The network topology at our house
Until now, I haven't come in close proximity of configuring any network, this time I had lot of surprises and learning. The end result is that I understood all the basics of network setup and configuration of routers. Thanks to Gops for patiently answering all the intriguing questions that I had thrown to him.
The basic purpose of a router is to route the network traffic according to a fixed set of rules. In our case the Huawei Router (BSNL DataOne router) acts as interface between the public internet and our private network. The Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router is used as internal router to enable Wi-fi. The linksys router acts as interface between the Huawei router and our PC/laptop.
The private network IP of Huawei router is 192.168.1.1 (default for most of the routers) to which the linksys router connects to. The linksys private network IP is set to 192.168.10.1 (luckily linksys allowed us to configure its private IP from default 192.168.1.1, otherwise our wi-fi intentions would have been grounded).
Routers provides a web interface to setup the configurations. The web application is a servlet/jsp application running at its private IP (192.168.xx.1). One needs to login as admin to change its configurations. The router comes with preinstalled OS which is used in routing the traffic (Cisco's Router OS is called IOS - Internetwork OS). Apart from the easy to use web interface for the configuration, the router also supports CLI (command line interface for configuration, mostly for advanced professionals) You can telnet to the private IP (192.168.xx.1) and connect as admin to get the CLI.
More updates will be posted as we explore the options in the routers...
Updates:
Now we are roaming around with 11 Mbps wireless connection. Configuring the Dell D600 laptop was bit tricky. You need to enable the WLAN adapter in the laptop using Fn+F2 key which failed to work. Finally we managed to install the QuickSet application provided by Dell to make it work.
Caveat:
Cisco VPN client failed to work with the WLAN for the first time. We need to uninstall and reinstall to make it work with WLAN.
Things to do:
Let me know if I have missed anything!
Machines:
- AMD Athlon based Desktop PC (using ethernet connection)
- Dell D 600 laptop (Wi-fi connection)
- Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router
- Huawei Router (BSNL DataOne router)
Blog post from Atul Chitnis on W-B setup using similar topology.
The network topology at our house
Until now, I haven't come in close proximity of configuring any network, this time I had lot of surprises and learning. The end result is that I understood all the basics of network setup and configuration of routers. Thanks to Gops for patiently answering all the intriguing questions that I had thrown to him.
The basic purpose of a router is to route the network traffic according to a fixed set of rules. In our case the Huawei Router (BSNL DataOne router) acts as interface between the public internet and our private network. The Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router is used as internal router to enable Wi-fi. The linksys router acts as interface between the Huawei router and our PC/laptop.
The private network IP of Huawei router is 192.168.1.1 (default for most of the routers) to which the linksys router connects to. The linksys private network IP is set to 192.168.10.1 (luckily linksys allowed us to configure its private IP from default 192.168.1.1, otherwise our wi-fi intentions would have been grounded).
Routers provides a web interface to setup the configurations. The web application is a servlet/jsp application running at its private IP (192.168.xx.1). One needs to login as admin to change its configurations. The router comes with preinstalled OS which is used in routing the traffic (Cisco's Router OS is called IOS - Internetwork OS). Apart from the easy to use web interface for the configuration, the router also supports CLI (command line interface for configuration, mostly for advanced professionals) You can telnet to the private IP (192.168.xx.1) and connect as admin to get the CLI.
More updates will be posted as we explore the options in the routers...
Updates:
Now we are roaming around with 11 Mbps wireless connection. Configuring the Dell D600 laptop was bit tricky. You need to enable the WLAN adapter in the laptop using Fn+F2 key which failed to work. Finally we managed to install the QuickSet application provided by Dell to make it work.
Caveat:
Cisco VPN client failed to work with the WLAN for the first time. We need to uninstall and reinstall to make it work with WLAN.
Things to do:
- Enable security options in the Wi-fi (IP based filtering and encryption)
Let me know if I have missed anything!
TOI bashing
I feel elated when people bash TOI. It is no worth to call it a national newspaper or even a newspaper for that matter. They make and retain huge subscriptions to their newspaper by thier tabloid supplements. The supplements pull all the strings on the celebrities and cover all the gossips going around. The classical example is the Bangalore Times which is added as a supplement almost everyday. If TOI stops their supplement, their newspaper revenue will fall down to earth.
It is no wonder that TOI published a half-a-page article on celebrities comments on not receiving TOI on 27th July when the whole mumbai realed under torrential rains. TOI nowhere reflects the sentiments of the people!
We all share the same sentiments that TOI is not even worth to use as TOI(let) napkin. Such is the shoddy nature of the paper.
It is no wonder that TOI published a half-a-page article on celebrities comments on not receiving TOI on 27th July when the whole mumbai realed under torrential rains. TOI nowhere reflects the sentiments of the people!
We all share the same sentiments that TOI is not even worth to use as TOI(let) napkin. Such is the shoddy nature of the paper.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Determination
Past weekend I came across a couple of incidents that stood for the determination.
One is about a Fat man walking across US to reduce his weight. More details at http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/
Another is about Lance Armstrong who survived cancer and became seven time World champion in the Tour de France. Photos at CNET.
One is about a Fat man walking across US to reduce his weight. More details at http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/
Another is about Lance Armstrong who survived cancer and became seven time World champion in the Tour de France. Photos at CNET.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
SuDoKu
Offlate this japanese puzzle has caught a lot of attention! Thanks to all major leading news papaers across the sub-continent providing it as a daily feature. The Hindu has started publishing Su-Do-Ku in the main page. Like others it has also caught my attention and it has now become a habbit to solve it early in the morning. Now I can say that I am addicted!
I thought of writing a logic to solve any sudoku puzzle through means of programming. But it seems that I am defeated before contesting! Check the rediff news here.
I thought of writing a logic to solve any sudoku puzzle through means of programming. But it seems that I am defeated before contesting! Check the rediff news here.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Finally the rumble over college admission is over
It has been a long wait of three months for the students who passed out the higher secondary exams and the TNPCEE with flying colors. Though the results were published much sooner than expected, the rankings finally came in yesterday after a lot of deliberations. The single window system by which the students were admitted to the professional colleges has been on and off few times like every year throwing in a lot of confusions and questions to the students community.
Firstly now the single window system serves only 37K odd seats out of the 64K odd available seats, as the rest is under the management quota. The apex court ruled sometime back in favor of management of self-financing colleges to have their quota increased from 5% to 50%. You can see the peril of this ruling as most of the unaccomplished wealthy heirs could easily get a seat in any reputed self-financing colleges.
Every year something or the other comes up to jeopardize the admission system. This time it is the TN governments eleventh hour plan of demolishing TNPCEE effective from the current year to benefit the rural students. After a lot of arbitrations, the apex court came in to rescue the students and asked the govt to follow the old scheme.
The single window admission is set to commence on July 30 and will prolong for 30 more days. The colleges would commence in the first week of September. The settlement of all these legal issues took nearly 4 months which has thrown the students and their first semester into tangle.
With the admission system being juggled over by the political big-weights and bureaucrats, most of the self-financing colleges completed admission to their management quota and started classes for this academic year. The admission to these management seats are based purely on financial merit. Couple of days back, apex court ruled that the admissions to the management seats should be based on CET. The TN Self Financing Colleges Consortium which is deemed to hold the CET is now preparing for the exams on Aug 6,7 for the seats which are duly filled already. The CET is going to be an eye-wash!
Given the ranking, I wished if the students could know the tentative details of where they will be admitted, it would be great for them to decide on the alternatives. Luckily it didn't fell on the deaf ears, Anna university released the last year admission results in their website by which students can know in a particular college, for a stream and a quota which is the last rank.
Firstly now the single window system serves only 37K odd seats out of the 64K odd available seats, as the rest is under the management quota. The apex court ruled sometime back in favor of management of self-financing colleges to have their quota increased from 5% to 50%. You can see the peril of this ruling as most of the unaccomplished wealthy heirs could easily get a seat in any reputed self-financing colleges.
Every year something or the other comes up to jeopardize the admission system. This time it is the TN governments eleventh hour plan of demolishing TNPCEE effective from the current year to benefit the rural students. After a lot of arbitrations, the apex court came in to rescue the students and asked the govt to follow the old scheme.
The single window admission is set to commence on July 30 and will prolong for 30 more days. The colleges would commence in the first week of September. The settlement of all these legal issues took nearly 4 months which has thrown the students and their first semester into tangle.
With the admission system being juggled over by the political big-weights and bureaucrats, most of the self-financing colleges completed admission to their management quota and started classes for this academic year. The admission to these management seats are based purely on financial merit. Couple of days back, apex court ruled that the admissions to the management seats should be based on CET. The TN Self Financing Colleges Consortium which is deemed to hold the CET is now preparing for the exams on Aug 6,7 for the seats which are duly filled already. The CET is going to be an eye-wash!
Given the ranking, I wished if the students could know the tentative details of where they will be admitted, it would be great for them to decide on the alternatives. Luckily it didn't fell on the deaf ears, Anna university released the last year admission results in their website by which students can know in a particular college, for a stream and a quota which is the last rank.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Canon's beginner SLR site
Canon has come up with the novel idea of making its range of Digital SLRs popular with an educational site. This site is too good for a beginner to learn all the basics of photography. Canon has now become the market leader in Digital SLR category with its range of cost effective digital SLR. The prediction is that sub USD 500 digital SLR is not a distant dream. I am looking for the dream to come true!
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html
My notes when I browsed through the webpages...
Digital SLR cameras have a reflex mirror that swings up when you press the shutter button. It allows light from the lens to pass through to the sensor. The picture is then recorded. Since a single lens and a reflex mirror are used, this type of camera is called "single-lens reflex" (SLR).
While shooting in SLR camera, the scene is not displayed in the LCD. You have to use the eye-piece.
(This is really surprising !)
The shorter the focal length (mm), the wider the view will be. And the longer the focal length, the more telescopic the picture will be.
Shutter button is positioned right at your index finger.
Will there be a customization for a left hand person?
Larger the aperture, lower the f number, narrower the depth of field
Smaller the aperture, higher the f number, wider the depth of field
The range of acceptable focus is called the depth of field.
Changing the sensitivity makes it easy to photograph bright or dark scenes. The sensitivity is called the ISO speed.
Low ISO speed for brighter scenes (lesser noise and finer image quality)
High ISO speed for dark scenes (more noise and rougher image quality)
For capturing indoor sports, you use larger aperture and slower shutter speed during to less light. But with slower shutter speeds you get hazy picture. So use higher ISO and faster shutter speeds in those scenario.
ISO controls how the sensor becomes sensitive to light.
Wide angle - lesser the focal length
telephoto - greater the focal length
The 50mm lens is called the normal lens because it gives the closest perspective as seen by the human eye. Any lens with a focal length shorter than 50mm is a wide-angle lens, and any lens with a longer focal length is a telephoto lens. A wide-angle lens covers a large area of the scene, while a telephoto lens covers a smaller part obtaining a telescopic effect.
Wide-angle lenses exaggerates perspective,while telephoto lenses compresses the foreground and background.
A wide-angle lens covers a larger area of the scene, the perspective becomes more apparent.
With a large sensor, the size of individual pixels is also larger. The pixel's larger area is more sensitive to light, resulting in better image quality.
To make white subjects look white,increase the exposure compensation.
To make dark subjects look dark,decrease the exposure compensation.
For bright colors like yellow, increase the exposure amount.
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html
My notes when I browsed through the webpages...
Digital SLR cameras have a reflex mirror that swings up when you press the shutter button. It allows light from the lens to pass through to the sensor. The picture is then recorded. Since a single lens and a reflex mirror are used, this type of camera is called "single-lens reflex" (SLR).
While shooting in SLR camera, the scene is not displayed in the LCD. You have to use the eye-piece.
(This is really surprising !)
The shorter the focal length (mm), the wider the view will be. And the longer the focal length, the more telescopic the picture will be.
Shutter button is positioned right at your index finger.
Will there be a customization for a left hand person?
Larger the aperture, lower the f number, narrower the depth of field
Smaller the aperture, higher the f number, wider the depth of field
The range of acceptable focus is called the depth of field.
Changing the sensitivity makes it easy to photograph bright or dark scenes. The sensitivity is called the ISO speed.
Low ISO speed for brighter scenes (lesser noise and finer image quality)
High ISO speed for dark scenes (more noise and rougher image quality)
For capturing indoor sports, you use larger aperture and slower shutter speed during to less light. But with slower shutter speeds you get hazy picture. So use higher ISO and faster shutter speeds in those scenario.
ISO controls how the sensor becomes sensitive to light.
Wide angle - lesser the focal length
telephoto - greater the focal length
The 50mm lens is called the normal lens because it gives the closest perspective as seen by the human eye. Any lens with a focal length shorter than 50mm is a wide-angle lens, and any lens with a longer focal length is a telephoto lens. A wide-angle lens covers a large area of the scene, while a telephoto lens covers a smaller part obtaining a telescopic effect.
Wide-angle lenses exaggerates perspective,while telephoto lenses compresses the foreground and background.
A wide-angle lens covers a larger area of the scene, the perspective becomes more apparent.
With a large sensor, the size of individual pixels is also larger. The pixel's larger area is more sensitive to light, resulting in better image quality.
To make white subjects look white,increase the exposure compensation.
To make dark subjects look dark,decrease the exposure compensation.
For bright colors like yellow, increase the exposure amount.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Diving into GreaseMonkey
In the recent past, I came across the GreaseMonkey (hereafter GM) jargon multiple times. I didn't immediately throw myself into the investigation of finding out what it is and what it does. Probably the reason being that it is a scripting extension and I have an aversion towards scripting.
With the advent of Google and Yahoo maps and their bitter fight to establish their mapping service, there had been lot of talk going around about GM scripts. For instance the Craigs List webpages can be overlayed with Yahoo maps using GM scripts. Ah.. two web services are integrated using GM script! This really kindled my interests in GM.
GreaseMonkey extension provides a scripting option through javascripts to make changes to webpages. There are lot more you can do with GM. Dive Into GM is a excellent site that provides enough insight into GM and the scripts that you can write using GM. The only caveat with GM is that this extension is only for Firefox and is not supported in other Mozilla clones.
I had no intentions of stopping here. To try my hand, I wrote a small GM script for the Bug DB report that we have in our office. The report is a plain black and white html report. With GM script I have color coded the report based on the severity of the bug. It really improves the usability of the report. Just scan through the bug report you can get a feel of hot and cold bugs.
I least expected this utility to be appreciated. But on the contrary it was well received by enthusiastic firefox users.
Since our Bug DB being an internal tool, the GM script that I wrote has very less significance to be posted to whole internet community. If you are interested do drop me a note in the comments section.
With the advent of Google and Yahoo maps and their bitter fight to establish their mapping service, there had been lot of talk going around about GM scripts. For instance the Craigs List webpages can be overlayed with Yahoo maps using GM scripts. Ah.. two web services are integrated using GM script! This really kindled my interests in GM.
GreaseMonkey extension provides a scripting option through javascripts to make changes to webpages. There are lot more you can do with GM. Dive Into GM is a excellent site that provides enough insight into GM and the scripts that you can write using GM. The only caveat with GM is that this extension is only for Firefox and is not supported in other Mozilla clones.
I had no intentions of stopping here. To try my hand, I wrote a small GM script for the Bug DB report that we have in our office. The report is a plain black and white html report. With GM script I have color coded the report based on the severity of the bug. It really improves the usability of the report. Just scan through the bug report you can get a feel of hot and cold bugs.
I least expected this utility to be appreciated. But on the contrary it was well received by enthusiastic firefox users.
Since our Bug DB being an internal tool, the GM script that I wrote has very less significance to be posted to whole internet community. If you are interested do drop me a note in the comments section.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Low Cost Computing
It has been the need of the hour. With everything going digital way, low cost computer should evolve to occupy the vaccum. This step will surely improve the computer penetration into the masses. Mobilis by Encore Software is one such computer built with such envisage.
Does this mean that India has done its contribution?
I feel we still have miles to go ahead. Though we have raised the bar of affordability, we still need to catch on the usability of these gadgets. We should improve our network infrastructure so that all these pretty instruments could be hooked on to netwrok to unlease the power of networking to the common man. We could do wonders with these little gadgets and having them connected to internet.
Does this mean that India has done its contribution?
I feel we still have miles to go ahead. Though we have raised the bar of affordability, we still need to catch on the usability of these gadgets. We should improve our network infrastructure so that all these pretty instruments could be hooked on to netwrok to unlease the power of networking to the common man. We could do wonders with these little gadgets and having them connected to internet.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Online Tutorials
Came over this excellent tutorial site for all web related scripting.
http://www.w3schools.com/
Simple, elegant and to the point.
http://www.w3schools.com/
Simple, elegant and to the point.
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