Mulki Chariot Festival - (Prathishta Punnav) -

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Beware of VisaBillPay.in

At the first sight of it VisaBillPay.in looks like a service offered by a reputed payment solutions company in league with Visa, that promises to may bill payments a breeze.

I am sorry to say that i got conned by the image and the promise offered by the brand. My bills of Reliance Mobile (my wife's and mine) were presented on the site, and i decided to try its service. I made a payment through my Visa credit card on VisaBillPay.in, and the same was acknowledged through respective transaction IDs, with a status of Paid.

However, even after 3 working days, i keep getting calls from reliance mobile's aggressive recovery center for the amount. 3 days and more for electronic payment, through an approved credit card, is ridiculous.

Things are in a mess with one lesson learnt.... Make your bill payments, no matter what, without any intermediaries, no matter how big their names are... In this case the big name is a big Con.

Update - the payment finally went through after three agonizing days and after passing on the payment reference numbers to Reliance.

Turning One over the Hill of 30

Here is an account the beginning of a not so loud, but well-spent birthday


"Dont think that you are thirty year old. Think that your 18 year old with 12 years experience".. was among the most memorable b'day wishes i received from a dear sister this birthday.

Much to the relief of my imaginative world, the child in me refuses to grow even above 15. And much to the horror of my "real" and "practical" world, I wonder, when will i mature. Net of both, i like to stay in my own imaginative world, many times irked and adjusting to the whims of the real one.

How the day began:
1. It was Gokulashtami, and the frequency of the bus i take to office was halved, in spite of almost all offices working in Mumbai. I was glad to see my violet chinese chariot, read: one of the latest AC buses in BEST fleet, come towards me..I waved at it, requesting it to stop..... It gave me a royal guard-of-honor salute, and whizzed past me.

"There was ample space within, why did the B****d not stop!".. The parade of mental abuses began. It roped in the BEST corporation, the guys who declared Gokulashtami as a partial holiday, few more individuals and corporations, and finally Lord Krishna himself for being born on a partial government holiday, that too on my birthday!

Luckily the next bus came just around, and did stop for me despite being totally packed. I entered the bus, grumbling at how my birthday began, ignored a couple of calls that meant to wish me. Squeezed my way into the bus, through a group of grumbling Page3 dressed thane women, to whom i grumbled back with a stare that could kill. I finally managed to take the call of my Mother-in-law (could i ever miss that one?!!) and my disgust leaked verbally.

After i was done with the phone call, a man in his fifties, seated just beside who had been noticing me closely, offered to hold my bag. In a couple of stops he asked me to sit, saying that he would be getting down in a few stops, which turned out to be quite a distance. This is when i felt, my day was actually getting special.

I apologized to Lord Krishna, and accepted that since he was the creator of the universe, he was free to be born on a semi-bank-holiday. I thanked him for the b-day gift of a comfortable seat, that did arrive after a small squeeze.

And yes! I did feel privileged to share this year's birtday with Him!

I got Mac

No. I am not talking about McDonald Burger and Fries.
And I ain't talking about a rubber raincoat invented by Charles Mackintosh.

My wildest dream finally came true with the arrival of a MacBook. It was a dream indeed since i couldn't afford the price of it and would simply stare and fantasize at the ads of Apple Macs.

I managed to snatch it out of dreamland, thanks to my brother-in-law. Two years back based on my recommendation he purchased the machine powered with Core2 duo 2+ gigs with 2GB RAM from Russia, where he was posted. A month ago he procured the latest version of the mean machine, cast in a single block of aluminium, and decided to hand the older one to me for a steal.

And here i am now enjoying the best ever experience of human interface in computing. I have now with me 4 operating systems at home - Ubuntu, WinXP, Windows Vista, and the Mac OX leopard.

Let me romance with the new machine and OS, and await my review on the same.

Ubuntu 9.01: Jaunting with the Jackalope

Disclaimer to linux gurus and open source experts: You may find this article too noobish

My first tryst with Ubuntu, one of the most popular flavours of Linux operating system, was about a year back based on the recommedation of my brother-in-law. For the uninitiated, Ubuntu is a 100% free, operating system that is much more stable and secure than the farthest Microsoft can get. And thats not an exaggeration. I can tell you that after seeing successive versions of MS Windows getting more unstable, more resource hoggy, while offering no significant performance/ utility improvements. Guess what - you need a license to own a piece of porous operating system which gets heavier and buggier with every bundle of patches.

Ubuntu comes to you as a free download. You can even order a free installation CD, and i have read they deliver it in India too! You can have a fully functional trial of the operating system, by simply booting from the "Live-boot" CD, as it is called. The operating system, including key software like Open Office Suite, runs from the CD itself, without affecting your existing windows installation.

If you like the experience, you can go ahead and install ubuntu on your hard drive on a separate partition, and run a dual boot with windows.

Teething Troubles

The first version i used was Ver. 7.10 nicknamed, the Gutsy Gibbon. Ubuntu versions are named cutely after an animal preceeded with a rhythmy rhymie adjective. (Hardy Heron, Feisty Fawn are some other names i recollect). I had initial teethers to get used to the new file structure and with the fact that for installation of some software i had to use command prompt.

Inspite of being a total newbie, with a decent level of computer literacy, i was able to find my answers on the forums.

Ubuntu clearly gave me freedom from viruses, and visibly faster internet browsing speeds. (most of the virus writers are busy proving microsofts security claims wrong, and find it tough to crack linux )

Jackalope is here:

I was happy to find the latest release of Ubuntu - 9.04 aka Jaunty Jackalope, which has better wifi abilities among various other improvements. This development came just days after i upgraded my home PCs to wifi . I had a preview of the latest release through the live CD.

Open office suite thats bundled with the operating system seems to be much more convenient than the badly screwed up Microsoft office 2007. It contains most of the features that i use in MS Office (older version than 2007, thank heavens) I am itching to make the Jackalope jaunt on my machine.

My Gadgets- episode 1 - HTC 3400i

2008-09 happened to be quite a gadgeted year for me. Not that i went on a buying spree of some of the most expensive flaunty devices around, rather settled for some devices that had genuine utility. Some of my real gadget freak friends would dispose these as cheap as compared to the "deeply desirables" in the market. But these devices have really helped me in my day to day.
The first gadget, i would like to feature is HTC 3400i, a windows based touch-screen smart phone. Priced at Rs.9000+, you will find this on the entry level pricing as compared to other popular touch phones from the stable of HTC as well as others.

Features that i recall instantly : The phone is equipped with reasonably good browsing capabilities that helps you surf the mobile web. It has MS office and outlook which helps you handle docs, spreadsheets and check your email. If you have a windows live (hotmail et al) account you can send and receive emails pretty fast. But be warned, the whole list of your wanted and not wanted MSN messenger contacts barge into your phonebook the moment you map your windows live account.

The 2 megapix camera can help you click some good photos on the move just for snippets, rather than exploring finer photography.

How the phone helps me:
1. The first thing i do on my morning bus to office is check the Reuters India Mobile site for the latest news with least noise and celebrity crap that you find in other dailies.

2. I use Fring, a gem of an application that helps me logon to Gtalk, Facebook, orkut, and my latest favorite - Twitter. Most of my tweets you would find talk about my long bus journey back home. Once it did happen, that my wife and i tweeted the same thing, She from our home pc and me on my mobile.. ahh how romantic that was!

3. GMail and google search - Use these occassionally on the phone. Great utility

4. Quick Photography of things - funny and notable, on the road

5. Oh yes i make and receive phone calls too!

I haven' t tried watching movies or hearing music on the phone as yet. Since i use my laptop and Sony walkman mp3 player for the same. The phone is however loaded with windows media player, with alternatives of better mobile media players available.

Disadvantages:
1. The phone navigation could take you some time to get used to, since it doesnt have blackberry-type Querty keypad or for that matter even a mechanical key number pad.. In the beginning you would be too dependent on the stylus, which can cause finger fatigue after sometime.

I would highly recommend using application like PCM Keyboard which helps you type with your fingers, much better and accurate. The keyboard application does have a hyper allergic auto-correct, which you would eventually get used to.

2. For all you guys waiting for 3G service.. the phone doesnt have 3G capability. It doesnt have wifi too. It does have bluetooth for wireless data exchange.

3. The phone is a bit bulky compared to the newer and slimmer models coming up

4. Well its a windows phone.. do i need to spell it more? Alright.. the phone sometimes does hang, and unlike your PC here you dont have CTRL ALT and DEL. But it doesnt hang too often though.

In case you are looking for trying out a good entry level smart phone with web browsing capability, HTC 3400i is definitely a great value for money buy.

Face of America (or the lac of it)

Many citizens in the US may wonder, why do so many people in the world dislike them? why is their innocent presence at the crosshairs of terror attacks? Inspite of being a great icon of freedom and democracy, what's the problem with people around the world?

When you look at the US as a lay outsider with some facts from history, you would come across a behavioral pattern of fear - of losing the superpower status, fear - of inability to feed the gluttonous US consumption, someday.  It is this fear that makes US today:

1. The country with the maximum weapons of mass destruction, which is on a desperate hunt to disarm the rest of the world

2. The only country that used a weapon of mass destruction

3. The country that aided creation of Taliban, to counter the soviet "threat"  - Was silent during its conquest of afghanistan. And today the militia is the biggest threat to the US and the good world. 

4. The country with a greed to keep its citizens consuming, invaded Iraq with a mask of fighting terror, only to gain control on oil and to boost its war-driven economy.

Here's an example of a country that showed itself to its citizen as a great idol of freedom and democracy. While to the rest of the world it pressed upon its tyranny.

Will change arrive in the US with Obama at its helm? At least the first hundred days of the charismatic leader indicate otherwise.

आज मैंने ऊँगली की - मेरे देश के भविष्य से

पहली बार ज़िन्दगी मैं, हमारी राष्ट्रभाषा मैं ब्लॉग लिखने की कोशिश कर रहा हूँ।
हिन्दी भाषा के प्रेमी, विशेषज्ञ, और बीते हुए कई विद्वानों की आत्माओं से मैं अपनी कच्ची भाषा की माफ़ी चाहूँगा।

आज हमारे देश के केंद्रीय चुनाव का चरण, मेरे शहर मुंबई मैं हुआ। काफ़ी दिनों से तमन्ना थी के मैं अपने देश के भविष्य मैं कुछ ऊँगली करूँ। आज मुझे ऊँगली करने का अच्छा अवसर मिला, वोह भी बीच वाली ऊँगली करने का!
सबसे अच्छी बात यह थी के अन्य जगहों पर ऊँगली करने से काफ़ी अलग, यहाँ, देश के भविष्य मैं ऊँगली करने के लिए केवल ३ मिनट का समय लगा।

३ मिनट मैं जितना ऊँगली करना था, हम कर लिए। सबूत के लिए, ऊँगली पर ऐसी दाग लगा दी सरकार ने के हम गाते ही रहगये - " लागा ऊँगली मैं दाग मिटाऊँ कैसे, घर जाऊं कैसे??"।
तीन मिनट से ज्यादा ऊँगली करने की सरकार ने इजाज़त न दी। उसके आगे पाँच साल तक ऊँगली करेंगे हमारे चुने हुए नेता। और हैरत की बात यह है के पाँच साल ऊँगली करने के बाद भी, उनपर एक भी दाग न होगा।

उम्मीद करता हूँ मेरे दोस्तों, आप सबने जी भर के ऊँगली की हमारे देश के भविष्य से। अगला मौका आसानी से हाथ न आएगा। और इस पाँच साल के दौरान, हाला के हम ऊँगली नही कर पाएंगे, हमारे पास होगा एक विशेष प्रजातान्त्रिक अधिकार। गांधीजी के प्रसिद्ध तीन बंदरों मैं से किसी एक का रूप और अंदाज़ धारण करने का हमें पूरा मौका दिया जाएगा।

याने - अगर सरकार और उनके शागिर्दों का किया बुरा देखे अथवा सुने, तो चुप्प रहिये। बाकी दो बंदरों के उपयोग का आप ख़ुद अनुमान लगायें।

आशा करता हूँ के आपके इलाके मैं सही ऊँगली-द्वार ,,, मेरा मतलब उम्मिद्वार चुन आए।

जय प्रजातंत्र । जय भारत माता । और पिता... जो भी चुन आए ।

Joy of a wireless home

I am obsessed with computers and the Internet and consider them to be my basic necessities after food, shelter and perhaps clothing ;-).

The last financial year has been a year when i spoilt myself with quite a few interesting gadgets. The latest one was a wireless router that i decided to install at my home, to enable my 2 PCs and mainly a laptop to get connected to each other and share a network connection.

Three-four years back, I first experimented with a wired LAN, with cables running through my room. Made one of my machines as a gateway and shared the internet connection. I had considered later to buy a linksys wireless kit, but during that time it costed about thrice as much as the conventional cabled network.  Inspite of the cables being called "CAT-5", rodents were not scared to take a nice bite at 'em. Thanks to their ruthless attacks, house repairs etc, the cabling failed and i got too bored to restore it.

Wireless At Last!

Lower Price:

Meanwhile i found that the price of a wireless router and adapters had reduced drastically. I ran to a neighborhood shop and purchased a router like i would buy a packet of biscuit. The price difference between the shop and the computer hardware mecca of our city - Lamington Road, was a couple of hundred bucks. I settled for a D-link DIR-300 model that costed me about 2 grands. 

Configuration with your internet provider:

Initially i couldnt connect to the internet because of a software that my cable operator uses to connect me (called Cyberroam 24 online). I fixed this by requesting them to make some changes on their side, which would connect me based on my IP and MAC address and not the software.  

Wireless security:

It is absolutely imperative to password protect a wireless connection. Few simple steps provided in the router configuration made my network invisible to the mean bad world outside, and also password protected it, just in case they spotted my signal.

Presto! now i can access the net without wires from any part of my home. My rodent guests now have no other choice but to feast on the Rat-kill biscuits.

Obama ka Kaarnama - please pay exact change!

When Barack Hussein Obama succeeded George W Bush, the entire world celebrated with hope that sanity would return to white house, after two five-year terms of what i would call - The planet of the Ape.

So there we were -  an  "New and Improved"(american marketers favorite chant) President of the United States surfing high on a hawaiian wave of hope with a very promising punchline - The change we need is here. ( applause... encores...fireworks around the world.... hopes and promises)

An amazing punchline which no hyped advertisement in the debt ridden nation of the United States would ever like to miss.

As a foreign layman observer sitting at a point which wakes when US sleeps, i agree with Obama-Saheb. The change that US needs, but perhaps doesn't want  is surely going to arrive... 

The change is nothing but the sound of the last few coins (the change) in the american pocket, after they are done with printing dollars indiscriminately without any underlying national productivity/ wealth, just to feed those who are spending without earning as much....  After they have realized that the gluttony of debt in the country is leading them nowhere and ... they wouldn't have the rest of the world bail them out.... The music of 'change' chinking in the american pocket would arrive indeed!

The change is nothing but the coppers and nickels that would eventually remain clinking in the american coffers after funding its own enemies (and that of humanity) - militarily and humanitarian. You may not guess too hard who these enemies are. For all you know the blood thirsty, sheep-skinned 'allies' of the american war against terrorism will bring the situation of 'change' faster?

Long and Hot weekend in Mumbai

The topic of the blog may seem like that of a fantasy episode, but the underlying experience is far from that.   I tried twittering my thoughts, but 160 characters is too short, and i dont fancy writing in SMS mnemonics. So here are few topics running through my mind:

The Weather:

If someone asks me.. whats up? .. my answer would be the mercury.... and for "Whats hot?"... certainly something else is hotter than Bips and Bebo (eeks)

Mumbaikars, with what they have been facing for the last whole week, would understand and empathize with the topic quickly.

In the last week we have faced temperatures soaring towards 40 degrees celcius, with high levels of humidity. The radiating heat during the day makes us realize what happens to our poor food in the microwave. Is this the revenge of the soul of the cabbage? Perhaps...I think soon we would be able to bake cookies out in the sun in ten minutes flat. No need to invest in an oven or the electricity/ gas to run it.

If Dr. Frost, the frozen villain of Batman, crept out of fiction, he would make millions for his freeze suit - i am sure!

Elections:

Olympics happen once in four years. We have a special sport in India too that happens once in five years (or sometimes bonus occurences to as much as 5 times a year).. They call it the union elections.. 

All of us know it is the biggest mockery of democracy, reoeating periodically ever since India became Independent from the Brits and then again enslaved by indigenous elements.  Ego's of individual voters are pumped to the extreme to tell them that the future of the country is in their hands, and that they have the right to choose..a goon or .. a goon.. and yet another goon.  and then for the remaining five years, they have no control on what happens in "their own" rule.

I would do my duty as a citizen for sure and vote for my favorite goon, while knowing that whoever wins would either split the country based on religion, or based on secular constitutional practices like caste reservations.  I will try and do my duty and worship the constitution that advocates for these practices;  and those holy people who make amends to this.

All set and done, election here is the biggest reality show, nothing gets more unreally real and raw as this.  You will find media sleeping with every possible politician. They would epitomize them now as much as they criticized and condemned their actions earlier- or perhaps vice versa. Now that political parties advertise and provide revenue to the media, in this recessionary times, their credibility and authenticity is certainly questionable. Nevertheless, news (read sensationalism)  in India with its overtures is meant to be consumed as entertainment rather than ... knowledge of whats happening. 

So grab your popcorn, get overwhelmed with the coverage, and get that purple stain on your index finger.

Long weekend

Idle brain and this hot and sultry weather gets the devil working. While the devil in your mind is busy, you get time to stay away from things that fatigue you otherwise...  For me.. its the terrible crowd, dust and pollution in this city. 

So here i am lazing and grazing on the Internet, keying some random thoughts.. 

For those of you who managed to reach so far... thanks for your time and feel rewarded for your patience levels! :-)

 

Anything but Pink, Honey

Valentine's day just went by and this time the fatigue for pink grew deeper. 

This season it wasnt just archies cards, rose vendors and red ribbon sellers who made money.  Infact their market share was grabbed by Kajori, Good morning, Lux, roopa, and many such undergarment manufacturers, who were busy catering to a growing demand for pink undies. If you dont know what i am talking about do a google search for Pink Chaddi Campaign

Pink turned out to be a color far more dangerous than i ever thought it would be, beyond my farthest imagination. The gurly and innocent connotations of the color, what once was, is never gonna be the same. 

One of the first victims of pink, i recall was Karan Jowhar, who had a pink-n-white pansy setup for his talk show - Kaufee with Karan. The color created an instant association with the buzz that suspected him to be a "Queen" to a king of the industry. Not a wonder, that his next season consciously avoided pink. 

Coming back to the recent happenings- 

First, it was pink slips raining all over the place in the wake of the global meltdown. People particularly in finance domain got scared of pink.

Then we had a bumper crop of strawberries, which made me see pink all over. 

And now.. its raining Pink underwears shed by pissed out pubbing women claiming independence from chauvenistic culture police, Ram Sene,  who recently assaulted women at a pub in mangalore and were determined to spoil V-day celebrations. I had some of my friends enroled in the group. When i said that i was amazed at the rate at which their group of pubbing women shed their pink precious clothing. They were quick to respond saying - we are a part of the group, but we dont drink... well just Juice. 

Ram Sene responds back with what could really bring a slowdown in retail cloth sales - They planned to give a saree in return of every pink chaddi received. Imagine - what could be more discounted than a nice handloom saree available for a new and cheaper currency - Pink Chaddi!

Things dont end there, there is yet another group of pissed out men conveying a mutual reciprocative feeling by starting a  pink condom campaign. 

Do a word search of pink on this post.. you will be fatigued i am sure.. imagine the pain of seeing it all over the news... media.. everywhere..... Terrible!