Rss Feed

October, 2008

  1. Plug your Blog on ProBlogger

    October 26, 2008 by Prasanna

    Blogosphere is filled with tons of very interesting blogs and downright extraordinary people. One of my favorite blogs around is Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger. When I wanted to start my own blog and started looking for stuff I should be aware of, tips on the best blogging platform etc, ProBlogger was one of the first I found, and there is some solid help provided in this area in the site. The passion with which he writes is very infectious!

    He is probably the last person needing a plug on a startup casual blog like this, but he posted a really nice post over the weekend. Being a top guy in a very competitive niche, he gets bombarded with requests for links in his blog, and obviously to keep the quality of his blog, he needs to turn the requests down. What he has done in this post is to let any readers comment on the post, giving a short write up about their own blog, for 48 hours.

    It’s a great opportunity for anybody who wants to let their blog be known to everybody interested, also that’s some great marketing right there. Right now, there are 1153 comments and counting. Do write up a small intro of your blog if the time has not run out. If not, just have a look at the blog. Some great tips on blogging there.

    Category blogging, problogger | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Cinema Cinema

    October 21, 2008 by Prasanna

    RV has sent a tag our way! And to be done in Tamil. Apologies to the readers (plural – I am optimistic), who don’t speak or just don’t read Tamil.

    ???? ????? ????? ?????????????? RV ?????????????, ??? ???? ??????????? Google Transliteration-??????? ?????. ??? ????????? ???????? ?????? ????????????, ???? ????? ????? ?????? ????????????? ?????? ?????? ????????. ????? ???????? ????? ?????????? ????????? ???????? ??????? ?????????. ??????? ????????? ?????? ??????????, ????? ???????????? ??????????.

    1. ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ???????????????? ?????????????? ???? ????? ??????? ???? ??????????????

    ??? ????? ????? ??? ???? ??????????? ????????????.

    ?????? ???????.

    ??????? ???????? ????????? ??? ???? ????????????. ??? ?????? ?????. ????? ????? ?????? ????????? ????????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ?????????? ????????. ???? ?????????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ????????, ‘????? ????? ???????’?? ????? ????? ?????????? ?????… ??????? ?????????? ????!

    ????? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ??????? ???? ???? ?????????.

    2. ???????? ???????? ???????? ??????? ????? ???????
    ??????. ??? ???????!

    3. ???????? ????????????? ??????? ????? ?????? ???, ?????, ???? ??????????????
    ??????. ??????? DVD ??????? ?? ??? ???????????????? ?????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????. ??????? ????????? ?????????????. ??? ????????? ???????????????? ???????. ??????????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ????????? ????????????? ??????????? ??? ?????? ????????????? ?????? ???. ??????? ???? ???????????. ??????-???? ????????? ??????? ??????.

    4. ?????? ??????? ??????? ??????????????
    ??????. ????? ???? ??????? ????????? ?????? ?????????. ????????? ????, ????????? climax ?????????????? ????????? ??????????. ???????? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ????, ??? ????? ?????????. ??? ????? ??????? ??????? ????? ??????. ??????????? ?????????. ????, ??????? ?????????? ???????? ???????.

    ????? ?????, ??? ?????, ?????, ?????? ????? ??????? ????? ?????????.

    ??????????? ????? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ?????.

    5-?. ?????? ??????? ??????? ?????????????-??????? ????????
    ?????? ??????? ?????.

    5-?. ?????? ??????? ??????? ?????????????-??????????? ????????
    ?????? ????????????? ????????????, ?????? ?????????????? ??????? ????? ???????????????. ???? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ????????? ??????. ????????? ?????. ????????? ?????? ???. ??? ?????? ???? ???? ???????? ??????? ??????????? ????? ????????. ?????, ???? ???????????? ????????? ???????? ????????.

    ??????????? ??? ???????? ??????????? ‘???? ???????’ ???????? ??????????? ???????? ??????????? ?????? ??? ???????.

    6. ????????????? ????? ??????????????
    ???????? ?????. ????????? ???????? ????????? ????.

    7. ????????????? ????
    ????? ???? sale ??? ?????????? ??-????? ?????? ????? ???????? ??? ????? ??????? ????????? ??? ??????? ??????????. ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ????????????.

    8. ????? ???? ???? ??????, ??? ???? ?????? ?????????????? ?????? ??????? ????????
    ??????, ?????? ??????? ????? ???????????.

    ???????????? Aviator, blood diamond, cast away ????? ??????? ????????? ?????????. ?????????? dark knight, Taken ??????????- ???????? ???????? ???????. ??? ???? ???????? ????????? ???????????. Incredibles, Cars, Wall-E ??????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????? ??????? ?????? ???????, ????????????? ????????? ?????????.

    ?????????? ?????? ?????? ????? ??????. DDLJ, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ????? ??????? ?? ???? ??????????????????. ??????? ??????? ??????? Taare Zameen Par, Chak De India, Dil Chahta Hai ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ???????.

    ??? ??? ????????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? Infernal Affairs. ???????????? Departed ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ??????. ????? ??????? ?????? ????? ????. ???????????? ???????? ??? ???? ???????????????? ???? ???? ???????? ????????.

    9. ????????????? ??????? ?????????????? ?????? ???? ???????????? ?????????? ??? ???????? ???????????? ????????????? ?????? ??? ???????
    ?????????????? ??????? ??????? ?????. ?????? ?????? ?????? ??????? $15 ???????? ???????? ?????? ????????? ????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ????? ???? ?????????

    10. ????????????????? ?????????? ????? ???? ????????????????
    ?????, ?????? ????????, ????? ???????? ???? ???????? ?????? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????????, ?? ????? ??????? ??????.

    11. ?????? ??????? ??????? ?????? ????????, ??????? ?????? ?????? ?????????????, ????????? ??????? ????????????, ????????????, ?????? ???????? ?????????? ???????? ????? ????????????????? ?????????? ????????????????? ????????????? ???? ????? ????? ????????????????
    ????? ???? ?????? ??????? ????????? ??????, ??????? ???????? ????????????? ???? ??????.

    ????????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?????????? – ????? ????????. Blessing in disguise ????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??????? ??????????.

    ??????????? ???? ??????? ?????? ???????. ?????????? ????? ???????? ???????????? ????????? ????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?????????!

    Category cinema, tag, tamil | Tags: | 2 Comments

  3. How to get the best out of your iPhone

    October 17, 2008 by Prasanna

    Mobile gadgets are my favorite type of gadgets. You can be in contact with all your friends from anywhere you want, take all the music and movies you need with you, and more importantly if the gadget is cool enough you can show off quite a bit with it too!


    So, when my old windows mobile had been used to its maximum capacity, after a couple of battery swaps, I decided to look for a new phone. I have an idea that if you want to find the best product around in any field, all you need to do look around for the product that is being copied frantically by all the competitors. That, obviously would be an iPhone. From Nokia to Google’s android everybody seems to want a piece of the iPhone pie right now!

    So, when Apple’s iPhone was released in Australia this June, I was among the first to pick it up. After nearly 4 months of heavy usage, I must say I am a very pleased user. I can confidently say that this is easily the best phone I have ever used. The ease of use and the internet capabilities are unparalleled. But, I think there are some things that a user can do to get the best use of the phone. With these tips, I hope some of you will have an even better experience with the phone. I will try not to get into the specifics of any particular application here. This applies generally to the phone and its usage itself. So, here goes..

    • This is the most basic of all tips, but probably the most useful. Even though you can hold it in your hand, the iPhone is still a small computer. Like in any computer, the first thing you want to know is what to do when something goes wrong. As stable as it is, it can sometimes stop on its tracks. The first thing to try if an application freezes and would not respond to the press of home button, is to force quit the application. Anybody who has used Mac OS X will immediately recognize this command. This is the equivalent of End Task in windows, but one that will work everytime. iPhone has a simple of calling this command. Press and hold the home button for about 6 seconds. If the problem is something simple and specific to the application, the application will quit completely and you should go back to the home screen and when you open the application again, it should start afresh.
    • Sometimes the problem is not as simple as that. If the previous tip doesn’t work, try restarting the iPhone. To do this, press and hold the on/off button on top for about 6 seconds. You will see a slider bar named Slide to Power off. Slide and the device would be turned off. Just press the on/off button a couple of seconds to turn it back on.
    • If you think the phone is really messed up and it doesn’t respond to either techniques, you might have to reset the phone. This one, always works! Press and hold the home button and the on/off button on top together for about 6 seconds. The phone turn itself off and then on again. You should be ready to put the phone to spin again.
    • Alright, with the crisis management out of the way, we can work on getting some productivity on the phone. This one relates to the 3G network that makes the iPhone such a fast internet browsing machine. As great it is when it works, 3G is still a very new technology in many parts of the world. In Australia, I have seen users have dropped calls, because of this, and when I contacted Optus, my phone service provider, they actually confirmed there were indeed 3G issues. So, the tip is, turn 3G off when not needed. There are a couple of advantages to this. First, my dropped call rate dropped from more than 5% to 0% overnight, after I turned 3G off. Thats a lot of difference. Also, the 3G chip is very battery intensive and turning it off will make your iPhone run for much longer. To turn 3G off go to Settings>General>Network>Enable 3G, and slide to turn it off. If you need high speed internet you can turn it on quickly of course (Internet still works, just that it is slower).
    • While many apps that are available for the iPhone are great and adds to the experience of the phone, it must be realized that a very large percentage of them are developed by third party developers. It means that they are not all stable, and some of them might be more battery consuming than others, simply because of bad coding sometimes. So, when you install a new app, try it out and if it freezes your phone, you would want to wait until a bugfix is released. Bugfixes are rather quick if the developers are keen, and shouldn’t take too long.
    • If you do not need mails pushed to your phone, and you can open the mail app to read them, turn off push notifications, this might have a major impact on the battery life as well.

    I am sure there are many more, but these tips I hope will make it using the iPhone a better experience for you!

    Do share any tips you can think of in the comments section, or about anything in the world for that matter. Thanks for coming!

    Category apple, iphone, technology | Tags: | No Comments

  4. Experiments With Food

    October 13, 2008 by Prasanna

    Ask any Indian who has migrated out of India and has been living elsewhere for over 6 months what they miss most about being away from India, and about 99% of them would give the same answer without a second’s thought – their mother… and they would be lying. Not that they don’t miss their moms much; just that they miss their moms’ food more.

    When you have such a ready source of great variety of food at home and anywhere else you go as in the case of India, you kind of start to forget that there in fact is a source! So, when I moved to Australia having decided to study here, it came as quite a shock to me that for some reason dining tables in Australia would not generate food every morning and evening like the ones in India did.

    I had never learnt even the basics of cooking when in India, because well, there really was no need for it until I moved out. I guess everybody needs a little push to get started – couple of days of bread and jam, oriental noodles, and potato chips from the supermarket did it for me.

    I would never forget the day, I think it was about a week in to being in Canberra and I couldn’t take it anymore, when I entered the kitchen with resolve and learned everything there was to know about lighting the burner. The landlord for some reason thought it was quite amusing that I would focus so much on a seemingly trivial task, trying hard to suppress his laughter all the while teaching me the nuances of lighting. About 15 minutes of constant practice later, I could at last light the burner without calling him or one of my house mates who were no better at this than me to supervise me. Yayy!

    It took many more sessions over a couple of years to learn cooking even modestly. But it is such a great hobby and I love it now. I probably can’t do without it. The good thing is I can now cook something edible nearly every time I start and all the utensils I start out with come out fine at the end of it!

    PS: The fact that I learned cooking enough to be a chef for a reputable restaurant for nearly an year, is simply a true testimony to the patience and skill level of the other chefs.

    Category Cooking | Tags: | 3 Comments

  5. Stupid Web Apps

    October 1, 2008 by Prasanna

    Richard Stallman has denounced cloud computing and web applications as a whole. “It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s a marketing hype campaign”. He has come out rather strongly about these budding technologies that many think could be the next big thing in computing. So, why are they thought to be so good and is Stallman right in saying that they are stupid?

    Apple made its foray recently in to cloud computing, and made the term famous with MobileMe. Update a contact or make a new appointment on the go with your iPhone, and the details are updated within seconds to your desktop and laptops at home and work. You accept an invitation for a meeting at work, and it is automatically updated on your phone, so you will be reminded wherever you are, not just when at the desk. Pretty powerful stuff.

    Popular e-mail applications, blogging softwares, productivity programs like Google spreadsheets are all examples of web applications. There are some great advantages to web apps over its desktop counterpart.

    • There is no need to install web applications on every computer you need to run it on. Its distributed over the network, and they are available out of the box.
    • You create a presentation, save it on your desktop and forget to copy into a flash drive. Every body has these stories. No such problems with web apps. Point to the same URL and you have the file anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection.
    • Upgrades and bug fixes are much easier to distribute. No need to install in every computer around. Upgrade it in the server, and the next time the users open the site, they find the changes. This in turn cuts costs for the service providers and so prices for customers are much cheaper. Many web apps to this date are free.
    These are just a few of the advantages. So, why is Stallman being so negative about these technologies? His argument is that, by storing our data with these companies, we are losing control over our data, and so we need to stop using them.

    There is no doubt that we are giving considerable control of our data to these companies, when we store data with them. But in my opinion not using web apps is as much a solution to this problem as stop eating due to the increasing costs of food (I think I took it too far too) !

    If we take some precautions, in my opinion we can save ourselves from this loss of control while also enjoying the advantages these technologies provide.

    • Use a software like Mail or Outlook. Get it configured with all your mail even if you never use it, and do not forget to have it started when the computer starts. In case you lose your mail account (this happens far more often than we realize), you have all the mails on your computer. You still need to let all your friends about your new mail address, but at least the glass is half full.
    • The fact that documents have been saved in Google Docs is not sufficient. Make frequent backups. The frequency depends on the importance of the documents you have stored there of course.
    • Try to use blog platforms that provide the option of automatic backups, and if possible exporting in XML format, so it is easy to import the complete blog into a new platform. WordPress does a great job of it. Have a look at this if you are looking for this plugin. I cannot find a feature that can export my blog in blogger. Can somebody please let me know how I can do this, if possible at all. Here is the second best solution.
    Some people have far too sensitive data and would have to take extraordinary measures to protect them. For the rest of us, I think the web is still a relatively safe enviroment. But, I think realization that these services are provided free (in most cases), and not to be taken for granted can go a long way.

    I am sure there are tons of such small techniques that can be used to ensure that our web experience is safe. Do share them in the comments section if you can think of some!

    Category blog backups, cloud computing, mobileme, Richard Stallman, web applications, web safety | Tags: | No Comments