Monthly Archives: March 2009

Trouble with twitter

Posted by on March 31, 2009 1 comment

 

Many of my friends are on twitter these days & twitter is said to be the next “Next big thing” in Web 2.0. Maybe it is good but I just don’t get Twitter’s Hype. I don’t want to tell everyone what I am doing at any given time. If I have a friend who I want to tell something, I will simply call him or her & say it.

Twitter is for Microblogging, ok..this I get but at least for me it has no use at all. I got real life friends who meet me in real life & I find real life with them better then virtual life.

I found this funny video of twitter troubles on Youtube.

You can follow me on Twitter though at http://twitter.com/gx_saurav

Real life is indeed better….

Polishing Chrome for shine

Posted by on March 30, 2009 1 comment

 

Google released there own browser few months ago which was the first product in ages to come out of the famous Beta tag of Google within 2 months of release so as to appeal to the OEMs. Despite of Google’s stupidity of saying “Windows 7 users should be asked to select there default browser on each startup”, Google Chrome still is making noise in the browser market & is touted as the next best thing after Sliced bread.

Google Chrome is based on Webkit Rendering engine which was created by Apple which Apple copied from KDE’s KHTML engine. Webkit has gained so much momentum that people forgot about KHTML & now use Webkit only for there browser development. Webkit is also powering the mobile browser of iPhone & Symbian S60 OS.

Google added there own faster Javscript Engine called V8 to it which sparked the era in all the browsers to provide faster Javascript performance as most of Web 2.0 is based on JavaScript. Even in the company where I work we have stopped using Flash in favor of Javascript & ASP.net. Even the banner ads we create are made using JS. Its just better & works everywhere, even on mobile phones as JS is better then Flash when it comes to resource usage.

Firefox is the regarded as the best browser out there due to its Open Source structure, Extensions & 3rd party Extensions support. Firefox has indeed managed to crack the market share of Internet Explorer but now we have Chrome in the block which is eating the market share of Firefox. Firefox looks kind of ugly on Windows & its not a native windows browser, instead it tries to shove XUL all over. The good part of Chrome is that it is made with Windows in mind & so far follows many Microsoft recommended ways of creating an application for Windows platform.

I used Google Chrome for 3 days as my primary browser & I am already missing many features. Although Google Chrome is really fast to execute & open pages, it still lacks features which I need.

So far this is my take of Google Chrome.

1. No Extensions support. Although it is being said that Google is planning to support extension support to Chrome.

2. No Ad blocking support. Google is a company which makes lots of money through AdSence so obviously they would want there browser to show all the Ads. I was however able to find a good ad blocker for Google Chrome called Ad sweep which is like Adblock for Firefox but will work with many browsers.

3. After some searching on Google I was also able to find some tutorials to use Google Chrome as Power users

4. My 3rd party plug-in don’t work, yet. What I miss the most is AI Roboform, Orbit Downloader, Microsoft File transfer manager, something like Configuration Mania for Firefox & something to block or unblock Adobe Flash. Rest all is already there & the UI of Google Chrome is already simple & minimal.

5. I like the Omni bar. One bar for address & search. However, in Firefox if I write something in the AwesomeBar & press enter, I am automatically redirected to the website which is most relevant. When I write gxsaurav in Firefox awesomebar I am redirected here but in Chrome it opens a Google Search Page. This I don’t like.

6. Google Chrome is the browser I have given to my Sister & dad to work on there user profile in my Shared PC. They like it as it is very easy to use.

7. Its wrong for Google to install Chome in the user folder instead of Program Files in Windows. On Windows Vista Chrome is installed in

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

After installation just copy all the files from this folder to your program files Folder after creating a folder named Google Chrome. Copy all the files from the version # number folder to the root folder & then use Google Chrome.

Google Chrome has a long way to go. It does looks promising & the fact that Google is advertising Chrome like anything, it can indeed create a serious dent to even Firefox. Now, I am just hoping for 3rd party developers to release plug-in for chrome soon.

Update : You can run Google Chrome as a portable standalone application now, thanks to Devrexster.

The Small Wonder : X-Mini Max

Posted by on March 23, 2009 4 comments

It is very hard to believe that despite of using computers for almost 10 years , I never purchased speakers. I am not that much into music & movies & watch them once in a while only so my primary source of Audio is my Philips SHP8900 Hi-Fi headphones.

Due to all this I never had good experience with speakers. I wanted to buy small portable speakers for my Nokia N79 which can run on battery & provide enough volume & loudness for 1 room. I don’t want to disturb the whole neighborhood so wanted something which is small, can run via battery, can be charged quickly & which can be carried to small parties in a Cargo Short’s pockets or a simple Backpack.

I found X-mini Max Stereo Speakers but wasn’t expecting them in Lucknow but I found them in Jumbo Electronics in Fun Republic. Jumbo Electronics is indeed a good place for such kind of fancy electronics items which are usually hard to find anywhere else in Lucknow. I was surprises to find X-Mini Max there & after a bargain I was able to buy it at Rs 2,200.

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X-mini Max is available in a cylindrical packaging as shown above which is quite compact. The speakers look like a small bomb form a Sci –Fi movie when they are both connected together. Many eyes were looking at us when we were trying them in McDonalds :D .

The package contains the speakers, one connectivity cable & one small pouch to keep the speakers while traveling. When the speaker is inside the cloth pouch, it is still very small to carry in your Cargo’s side pocket.

My primary purpose of buying these speakers was to use with my N79 & once in a while with my PC when I have many people watching a movie in my room.

This is how I use my Nokia N79 & X-mini Max when playing music

This is how I use my Nokia N79 & X-mini Max when playing a movie

I captured some videos during video & music playback with my Sony Cybershot W80 Digicam.

 

Don’t compare these with full blown speakers like Creative T40 or iTrigue because they are real PC speakers & they are indeed better if you plan to use them on a PC only however they are not as portable as these X-Mini speakers.

X-mini gives sufficient audio to completely fill a medium size hall with audio. Whether you are listening to music on PC or using a digital audio player or mobile phone, the X-Mini will indeed give you sufficient audio. However, don’t plan to use them in Outdoor environment as due to open area the audio will spread in all direction & overall volume will decrease. The speakers are marked at 3.5W RMS each.

The only thing I have to which I can compare the sound quality of these speakers is my T.V’s speakers. Compared to them the vocal dialogs of T.V shows wasn’t that loud. The audio doesn’t distort up to 90% volume level but does distorts at 100%. Make sure you close the Bass accordion when watching movies as movies usually have dialogs more then music at which Bass can produce bad audio with these speakers.

Audio when watching movies is better when the speakers are placed on a 90 degree angel facing you.

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The speakers provide a playback time of 8 hours with a full charge & take 2 hours to charge completely. They can be charged either by connecting to a PC via USB or a USB Wall A.C adapter. They can also be charged using D.C batteries if you have a portable travel charger with a Mini USB connector. I found one on ebay & have ordered it. During charging the light turns to red, when fully charged or playing they turn to blue. Light blue means battery is low.

Overall, if you are looking for big full blown speakers & if you are an audiophile for which even a point increase in treble means a lot, then buy these speakers after checking properly. However, if you are looking for something portable to use with your Notebook or Netbook PC, or Mobile phone or iPod or something else portable then X-Mini Max stereo for Rs 2,200 is a good purchase.

BSNL 3G : It works

Posted by on March 19, 2009 301 comments

Finally, I got BSNL 3G USIM in Lucknow. Right now 3G is quite costly but the BSNL Voice calls costs less then Vodafone. You can read the tariff of BSNL 3G here.

Note : I am no longer using the BSNL 3G USIM. I inquired the information & did all the research for this service so this content & discussion on this blog post can continue.

 

3G is automatically activated when you activate the SIM using Rs 350 or higher activation voucher. To configure your phone for 3G Data Connection, just create a new connection with Access point “gprsnorth3g.bsnlmobile.in” or “bsnlnet” & leave all the other settings at default. Name it “BSNL 3G”. Then go to your phone’s “Network selection” menu & Select UMTS instead of GSM/Dual Mode.

If 3G isn’t available & if your phone is set in Dual mode then your SIM will automatically work in 2G mode. In that case the tariff will be same as 3G

The speed of BSNL 3G is HSDPA compatible & although I am not getting 3.6 mbps but the speed is still quite good at 512 kbps easily. Here is a screenshot which I was able to take of Symtorrent just before the speed throttled. The speed is 48 KBps or 384 kbps. To test the speed of your GPRS/EDGE or 3G connection check your DSL Report’s Mobile Speed at http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed

 

1) IMAP & POP3 E-Mail is supported. I am able to access my E-mails in my N79′s inbuilt E-mail client.

2) HTTP is supported. I am able to log in to chat networks using Slick.

3) FTP is also supported. ftp.gxsaurav.com works too using Webkit Browser.

4) Fring works fine, I can even make calls to people using Google Talk & Skype on computers.

5) SymTorrent works fine for downloading Torrents.

6) I am able to connect my PC to BSNL 3G using Nokia PC Suite’s One touch access.  

There is a great handy software called JoikuSpot Premium using which we can connect a PC to 3G internet of a Mobile phone. JoikuSpot turns your phone to a secure mobile WLAN HotSpot. No need for USB dongles, cables or Bluetooth. The light version is pretty much useless so premium is all you should buy if this is what you need. However, if you have Nokia PC Suite, you can also use to connect Mobile to PC to Internet. This is the speed I get.

 

BSNL has data plans starting with lowest denomination at Rs 250 in which you get 300 MB bandwidth. Now, for casual users this is a lot of bandwidth & they will only use 50 MB in a month when using Data services only in Mobile phone. BSNL also has a trial Pack of Rs 60 in which you will get 50 MB bandwidth but this trial pack can be used only once in any USIM & is valid for 15 days only. I would really urge BSNL to make this trial pack a proper 3G data pack in which for Rs 60 the user will get 50 MB bandwidth for a duration of 30 days. This is something every 3G subscriber will surely buy as most people associate 3G with High Speed Internet, but they forget that 3G is also about a better network connectivity & voice quality.

I was also able to make a video call to a friend Shuvadeep from Durgapur. He is using HTC Touch Diamond. I was able to take a screenshot during the video call but for some reason the screenshot application didn’t capture his video.

Me in 3G

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