Cinema Cinema

Oct 21

Posted by Prasanna in cinema, tag, tamil | 2 Comments

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.

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How to get the best out of your iPhone

Oct 17

Posted by Prasanna in apple, iphone, technology | No Comments

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!

Experiments With Food

Oct 13

Posted by Prasanna in Cooking | 3 Comments

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.

Stupid Web Apps

Oct 1

Posted by Prasanna in Richard Stallman, blog backups, cloud computing, mobileme, web applications, web safety | No Comments

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!

Gotcha !

Sep 25

Posted by Prasanna in Gotcha call, John So, Matt Tilley | 2 Comments

What do you call a person who is completely laid back; for whom nothing is sacred, nobody too big? You might use a 17 letter tongue-twister or you might use a simpler and more accurate word – ‘Aussie’.

Have a listen to this Gotcha call for some first hand proof. Some background information, before you go though…

Dr. John So is the Lord Mayor of Melbourne city. The man I have heard is probably the most famous of Mayors Melbourne has ever had, and was named World Mayor in 2006.

My first memory of him is from the closing ceremony of 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne. On stage in company with the then Victorian premier Steve Bracks and the Australian Prime Minister, John So beat both of them hands down in the appreciation showed by the Melbourne crowd. At every mention of his name, the applause kept increasing, and after the completion of the games, there were even some John So for PM t-shirts seen around the city. So, you might say he is one of the most influential men in the country.

Gotcha call is a rather famous section in the breakfast show of Fox FM in Melbourne. It is the equivalent of candid camera, for radio. People give information about their friends, usually some queer thing about them, and Matt Tilley, the co-host of the show, calls them up and torments them with the information, usually impersonating as someone else. What keeps the show interesting is Matt’s quick wit and the many variety of voices he can impersonate (He does a great Indian accent, the character Ajeeb he does has achieved near cult status).

Last friday Matt decides to call up the Lord Mayor’s office impersonating, president of a local football team, who was going to run for Mayor, but withdrew at the last minute because of his commitment to the Hawthorn football team. The poor unsuspecting Mayor is in for some shock!

Warning: There is some coarse language. It can be noticed that John So, being of Chinese origin is not fluent with his english. So, go have a listen. Look for the one titled Gotch Call – Matt gets Melbourne’s Lord Mayor John So singing. Here, the link again.

Only in Australia! If it had happened in India, the radio station would have been history by now!

The thousand other things

Sep 23

Posted by Prasanna in effectiveness, productivity | No Comments

Action is highly overrated.  
A scientist is highly active with her work.  So is a doctor, a software engineer or a writer.  But, so is a gambler or a couch potato.  She chooses all the wrong things to act upon.  So, the challenge is not action, it is the choice – What do I act on now?

Every day, every moment, we have this choice to make.  But this choice is rarely as easy as choosing between something important vs something frivolous.  
Do you spend your free time learning more about the programming language you are working on or about the brand new programming platform that looks like the next big thing?
You have chosen what you are doing right now over a thousand other things you could be doing.  You could be out learning a new skill.  You could be spending quality time with a family member or a loved one.  
Does the thing you are doing at any point of time deserve the precedence over all the things that you could be doing?  If no, make a different choice now.  If yes, are you putting in the kind of effort such a thing deserves ?

Just the start

Sep 17

Posted by Prasanna in Sachin Tendulkar, cricket, interview | No Comments

I found this nice little video recently. Sachin, barely 16 giving the interview before his international debut.
He hasn’t developed much interviewing skills or tact in answering questions then. What confidence, though !
My favorite part is when he is asked if he is tired of all the people asking him a lot of questions and he answers in a matter-of-factly tone, I think it’s just the start.

What a legend!

The 20 Rupee Misadventure

Sep 15

Posted by Prasanna in Misadventures | 6 Comments

Do you have a friend who you can show the photograph of, if someone asks what a smart-ass means?
Symptoms of such a person might include
  • getting himself (and you) into situations where you are inches away from getting your ass kicked – on a fairly regular basis,
  • asking questions non-stop to the lecturer who is taking her first class ever, causing her to seriously consider other career options
among other things.  My guess is, you did. I did too – unfortunately, a few of these. But nobody comes close to perfection at this smart-ass thing as this friend of mine, lets just call him S.
This once, I remember the details only vaguely, but I think we were looking to have a good lunch having cut the classes to go to a movie or something. This was in Coimbatore when we were in college, me and S had already been going to school and college together for about 6 years then. I drive into a petrol station to fill up my motor bike. The guy finishes filling the tank, I pay and we are ready to go.
There was this salesman selling something to the guy in the next pump. He just finished up his sale, saw an opportunity to make another quick sale, and came to us before we would leave. For those who are not familiar with this situation, it is nothing new, it happens all the time in India. We have salespeople selling stuff everywhere. We don’t get annoyed at this, in fact we get rather offended if the guy doesn’t come over to us, because they only do that when they think you can’t afford to buy their stuff.
Now, this guy is the super-exuberant salesman kind. I hated this kind. It is most difficult to decline a sale from one of these people. They are very convincing with whatever they are selling, and I end up buying something that I don’t need or can’t afford (there weren’t really many things that we could afford then). I am sure he has used this technique many times before and he had the confidence of someone who knew it works.  But he had no idea how lucky he had been to be in the same city as S and to never sell him anything…
The salesperson starts by quickly explaining what he was selling, God-send for every biker, a cloth that is a cleaning cloth as well as a polishing cloth, at the same time.  Apparently it can be stored away very easily behind the vizor of the bike until you need it next time and so on…  
I am engrossed in the live demo of this amazing product, when S rudely interrupts by asking how much?  The salesman hadn’t really been focussing on S, but replies just 20 rupees sir! and tries to continue with his presentation.  Now, 20 rupees is not a lot of money.  But we hadn’t had our lunch yet, and we didn’t have much more money than what we needed for that, and S knew that too.  When I was all set to excuse ourselves, and drive away, S says to the salesman, what? 20 rupees for a piece of cloth?  Thats far too much, I will take it if you give it to me for 10 rupees.  

Now it is normal to bargain with salespeople like this.  But to offer a price half of what he is selling for is a bit of stretch, even for S.  The salesman is happy that we are already discussing price, and says, its a very good cleaning material, very durable etc, and will sell it for the final price of 15 rupees.  S stays his ground.  Not a paisa more than 10 rupees, he says.  The salesman tries some more explaining, some more polishing of my bike and reduces the price to 12 rupees, saying that is his cost price, he can’t reduce any more than that.  No deal, says S.  
After going back and forth for another 5 minutes, the salesman comes down at last to 10 rupees.  Ok sir, you have bargained for so long.  For you, I will give it for 10 rupees, he extends a fresh piece of cloth to him.  Now, S goes, but you said 12 rupees was your cost price.  Are you making a loss??  I was pretty sure, we would get into trouble if we stayed much longer, I want to leave, but S continues..  I am pretty sure you are making profit even out of 10 rupees, and you wanted to sell this piece of cloth for 20 rupees!  All I can think is, ‘dude, seriously,  all this philosophy for 20 rupees ??’  

Now, the salesman is getting annoyed.  Not only are we not going to buy his product, we have also wasted about 10 minutes of his time, when he could have sold a couple of these things.  He grumbled something and turned around and started walking towards a new customer at the next pump.  As I am starting my bike, S calls the guy at the next pump and says pointing at the salesman, ‘excuse me! he would try to sell that cloth for 20 rupees, but he just offered it to me for 10 rupees.  Don’t get it for anything more!’.  

I wouldn’t know if the guy would have tried to hit us, because I was driving as fast as I can out of the petrol station.  

The Muralidharan Case

Sep 11

Posted by Prasanna in Adam Gilchrist, Australia, Matthew Hayden, Muttiah Muralidharan, Sachin Tendulkar, Sri Lanka, cricket, hard and fair, muralidhan throwing, spirit of cricket | 8 Comments

In my experience, one of the first things you notice about Aussies is how nice they are. They cheerfully wish the bus driver, the operator at the super market counter and apologize to you even when you bump into them with your trolley. I guess an average Aussie uses the sorry-thank you combo at least 50 times in a day. I don’t mean to generalize, but in my experience, they are great people to be around.
And then the cricket season starts. The politeness and niceness seems to evaporate in the heat of summer. A special breed of Aussies, answering to the name ‘cricketers’ become the torch bearers of this apparently great tradition of cricket, called sledging. In fact, there are talks of issuing R rating for all future interviews featuring Mathew Hayden.
To be fair, it is not all of these cricketers, there are still the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee who stay away from these behaviors. One only has to look at the footage of Sachin Tendulkar walking into the ground, to see the respect Aussie crowd has for overseas cricketers.

I would like to talk about one particular overseas cricketer, who has been a target of the unanimous animosity of Australian cricketers, crowd and media – Muttiah Muralidharan. Since the day, Darrel Hair called Murali for throwing in 1995, his career has been marked with controversy and more often than not, Australia has been involved.
Most recently, on the day Muralidharan clasped the wicket of Paul Collingwood to overtake Warne as the highest wicket-taker in test cricket, this is what an Australian newspaper had to say – “He doesn’t deserve it”. It doesn’t get any blunter than that, and that was the headline of the article announcing Murali’s record to fellow Aussies. This to me was the tragic climax to the decade long struggle.
Now that the race is at last over, here is hoping we take the lessons and move on.
You are playing it too hard when your loss is not graceful, and you are not playing it fair when a casual blogger has to remind you of it ! ;)

The ad that could have been

Sep 9

Posted by Prasanna in Microsoft, bill gates, jerry seinfeld, technology, yahoo | 2 Comments

So, the first of Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Seinfeld is out.  The campaign is expected to cost some $300 million.  Microsoft has been rather vocal about this campaign in the last few weeks, and frankly, I thought there was hope. Microsoft has not had much going lately. The list of its woes are growing long as are its emerging competitors, who seem to be able to innovate and release new products at a much faster rate. And the Yahoo deal isn’t helping.
I thought this could be a good first step. It was proof that Microsoft was not being defensive, and have decided to do something about these problems. On some level, it is in fact the first acknowledgement of a problem, and that is a very important thing.  

  
But even if these commercials are really good and are able to change public perception of Microsoft, they need to back it up with some really good products.  There doesn’t seem to be anything that MS can offer in the recent times, that excites people.  Every new release seems to simply change the user interface and the novelty wears off in the first couple of hours.  
All I can say after watching this first commercial is, well, the rest better be really good!   If it is funny, I do not get it. There is one advantage to this ad though – they have brought the expectations to a bare minimum on the future ads, and that probably was the strategy ?