After much deliberation I finally picked up an HTC G1 andriod phone. A month into using it, my first impressions are GOOD.
I was a Sony Ericsson (not smartphone) user for a long time. I tried various other models and none seemed to match up to the Sony Ericsson in terms of usability. I think the interface was simple, placement of menu items was very intuitive and in general just easy to use.
The Android OS does just that. Everything is laid out in easy to read, intuitive places, Menu options are short and do not overwhelm. Enabling and disabling services is easy.
Most of the things I dislike about Android aren’t really the OS’s fault. It is the HTC G1. It is big and bulky, feels cheap and just lacking glam. However, the OS isn’t without its flaws. Considering it is currently at 1.5 I understand it has plenty of time to develop. However
* There is no support for WPA-Enterprise. The browser doesn’t support bookmarklets. I think these and others like these are basic functionality and needs to be addressed.
* The menu button provides additional options for the app or the OS in general. For one, this isn’t intuitive. Moreover, the options are still very basic. Furthermore, the options cannot be user configured. For example, if you are using the browser and want to go to the home page, you need to click Menu -> More -> Home page. If I want Home page to show on the main menu, there is no way to do this.
* The battery like is terrible. Not the OS fault but it contributes. Backgrounding processes keeps them running and keeps the battery draining. I’m not a fan of push notifications really, but something needs to be done.
* Wifi pickup is weak. Don’t know what the cause is but at coffee shops where my laptop works fine, the G1 doesn’t pick up the SSID or picks it up briefly then drops.
There are tons of other minor things but I suppose those exist with every phone out there.
It’s not all grey. As a smartphone, Android is great. It’s interface is clean. The usability is great. Most apps in the market are free and good. There are tons of those great little features that I really like and make the phone fun to use.
Overall, I’m sticking with it. Since I haven’t used the IPhone intensely, this won’t be a shootout. But I dislike the way Apple arm-wrestles the market, the apps, and its users and I don’t want any part of that.
Finally, one thing to point out is I’m using the G1 with no data plan. While most people I met say this defeats the purpose, I disagree strongly. Wifi is predominant in most places and increasing daily. Besides the two places I spend most of my time has wireless access. So I don’t miss out on anything.
Overall rating 3.5 stars.
I’ve been looking for a solution to make my music portable. I’m slowly converting all my CD’s to mp3/flac to have them available in digital format. However, I find there aren’t many choices when it comes to media servers out there. Most web based players have one inherent problem. Everyone has a specific preference when it comes to music player (either because of ease of use or user interface or preferences it offers) and hence the web-based players need to replicate that functionality. This makes no sense since the players are already there. All you need to do is provide a protocol for the players to access that music.
Looking out for pure media servers, I found Firefly Media Server. Compared to some others I tested, I found Firefly very easy to install and configure. It is very basic in what it offers and that probably its beauty. Since most of the complicated stuff should be left to the player itself, all it needs to do is serve the music is a reliable way. Using DAAP protocol, I can connect using a variety of players to access my music. Players could be desktop based or web-based and gives you plenty of options. There is even a DAAP client for the iphone (though not very good).
I currently use Songbird with Sonbird DAAP Plugin to access all my music. I’ve also set up a server side frontend to the server so I can access my music when I don’t have my client of choice with me. I’m very pleased with how this has turned out. My main concern with the setup is DAAP isn’t a widely used protocol. So for example, I can’t use it to stream music directly from the receiver. Also, there aren’t other hardware devices that can do this either (Roku probably is one that supports this).
Overall, Firefly media server get an enthusiastic thumbs up.
I recently discovered portable apps. And I couldn’t be happier. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is precisely what the name suggests. Applications written with portability in mind. You can copy the app to your USB drive and move it to another PC and there you have it; setup exactly the way you want it, all set to go. I’ve spent hours working on other people’s PC, downloading stuff I need, configuring, setting everything up and then having to clean up everything when I’m done. No more. Just plugin a USB drive, everything is all set and ready to fire. Firefox alone, with addons saves me tons of time. Better yet, whenever someone remote tells me their firefox isnt working as desired on certain sites, I say download mine and run it. See if it works. And it usually does. Also, I don’t now need to carry my PC around when I travel. With all my apps on a USB, all I need is a host PC on the other end and I’m all set.
Another obvious advantage is that since apps are not installed on the PC, your registry stays slim and running faster. the files are not scattered all over the place, only where you installed it. Uninstalling is as easy as deleting the folder where you installed it. No more registry cleaners, orphan files all over taking up space. Overall, I find my system snappy with little to no bloat and yet everything there at my fingertips.
Now, if only everything else in life was portable. At leasy potty is.
We all know and love/hate Apple fanboys. These guys are willing to look past the obvious evilness and daylight-robbing techniques used by Apple and just pay up their hard-earned paychecks to buy themselves some goodlooking goodies.
Now, we have a new wave of Apple-hating Google fanboys. Google’s evilness has been slowly but surely growing and with that is an increasing number of followers who swear by the google way. Andriod is the latest in this wave of followers which includes editors for the Washington post. If Apple introduces a hidden kill-switch on the iPhone, its baaaaaad. But Google does it, anounces it (they obviously know it will be found and don’t want the Apple bad publicity) it is great. Infact, it is for the better good.
Hmmm.. And the logic is even better. Google system is open and so people could exploit users but putting out malicious software that users can install and cause havoc. Where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, every OS in the world connected to the internet download stupid stuff like Anna Kournikova naked apps. Hmmm, I wonder how the Washington Post would like Microsoft to automatically delete software they bought just because they think it will be malicious.
Mac (Tiger/Leopard), Windows (XP/Vista), Linux (Ubuntu). The whoz who of OS, take periferral. This is a desktop shootout because in my opinion, the server shootout is pointless. Linux wins hands down there. So lets take aspects of desktop needs and compare the OS’s.
Eye Candy
Out of the box, Mac is a clear winner. It’s clean, functional and good looking. The dock, minimalistic yet functional toolbar, gorgeous icons are all craved for and replicated across other OS’s. Ubuntu comes in at a distant second, closely followed by Vista. XP just looks plain ugly out of the box.
However, when it comes to customizing the UIs as per user needs, Mac provides little help. Ubuntu comes with compiz, AWN/cairo docks (among several others) and plenty of other UI tools providing the user with a ton of options to tweak the UI as needed. Vista/XP also has freeware apps such as Uxtheme patch + msstyle themes, docketdock/object dock and freeware shell replacements that provide plenty customization. If done right, I’d say Ubuntu is a clear winner here. Mac still comes in second and XP/Vista last because of the lack of good/reliable freeware apps. However is you are willing to pay for software, XP/Vista are just as good if not better than the competition.
Winner
Novice: Mac
Expert: Linux
Ease of use
This one is a toughie. In my opinion, Windows is probably the winner here. Out of the box, its just plain usable. Installation compared to other options is a breeze. Program locations are in a simple start menu. Mac is a very close second. Although the layout of mac is better, apps such as Finder do a poor job of File System access. Spotlight is great but a little messy is showing the data and doesn’t search system folders by default. Ubuntu has come a long way from its Linux past. Gnome’s bloat is reduced, the layout is clean and thunar/nautilus are good file managers. Apt is a good installer app, but problems with installation means digging into the CLI and figuring out what happened. For beginners, this usually equates to game over.
The other aspect of use is what happens when you hit issues. Web searches will usually reveal good solutions for Windows. Ubuntu forums are quite good but novice users will find it hard to fix some complex issues. Mac, in my opinion is the hardest to find help online. The search results don’t usually yield good results.
Winner
Novice: Windows
Expert: Linux
Software
This is easy. In my opinion, Windows is a winner by a long shot. People have been making software for windows forever now. Which everyday apps is a close call, specialized software is almost always made for windows. For example, cell phone sync software, universal remote software, firmware upgrade for audio/video compoenents, wireless etc. However, if we narrow the field down to freeware standard software, I think Linux wins. Almost any software for windows has a free mac equivalent that work as good, if not better than its windows counterpart. Mac is probably lacking here overall. This is some really good stuff on Mac that is better than Windows/Linux but a lot isn’t available at all. However, with the switch to Intel hardware, this is changing rapidly. I think pretty soon, they’d reach parity. However, Mac will face similar issues as Windows where you will have to pony up the dough for the good stuff.
Winner: Linux
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Yeah. So I don’t have a pet, nevermind. Besides how does one figure out what their pet’s favorite color is anyway. Security questions that most website rely on to retreive lost usernames/passwords are retarded. I mean, most questions don’t apply to me and they don’t let me choose a security question I’d like to have myself.
Probably everyone knows about Palin’s email being compromised. Maybe not many know how. A hacker simple clicked on the forgot password link, and sat there figuring out where she met her fiance and what school she went to. In today’s day and age, there questions are easily answered. Between Wikipedia and facebook and most people pets, schools and practically their entire life history is there for everyone to read. An someone like Palin, who has been in Alaska, oh wait, probably never gone outside of Wasilla her whole life, security questions are a few minutes of guesswork. So what’s the point of strong password generators and software that charges you to keep track of them, when you have weak workarounds to get by them.
The solution you ask. I don’t know! But maybe email my temp password to a secondary email, let users personalize the questions, etc etc. Maybe you have better ideas.
Well, it is that time of the year again. Preseason hype about the best teams in college football, how the SEC is the strongest conference, how the PAC-10 has no contenders other than USC, and how OSU is the team to watch out for and so on. Well, its all so last year.
The truth. No one knows. Inter-conference games are so few and far between, it is impossible to compare teams across conferences. The debates will never end. I’ll address a few but I’m no genius here
SEC plays the strongest schedule, best defense.
The first part is true. There are many good teams and anyone can beat anyone. Then again, on any given saturday, anyone CAN really beat anyone. Despite the schedule, predictably, the best teams in the SEC at the start of the year make it to the bowl games. How is this any different from any other conference then?
The defense bit is relative. If all teams play good defense and (relatively) average offense, then the defensive numbers add up. If you go by the stats of SEC teams against SEC teams, you can see good defensive numbers overall. But what happens when these teams play good offensive teams. The numbers then, don’t look as impressive. But out of conference games are few and far between to make much sense out of these numbers.
PAC-10 plays no defense
I guess this relates to the previous point. PAC-10 puts up some impressive offensive numbers. Its hard of teams to keep the defensive numbers low. So compared to the others these may seem low, but then again, no ones saying the offensive numbers are very high and hence PAC-10 plays the best offense. When PAC-10 plays the SEC, the offensive numbers may not be as good, but then again the defensive numbers might look much better.
OSU/Texes/USC/… whoz better
No one knows. We need more inter-conference games, BCS playoffs etc to really make sense of whoz who and whatz what. For now, the broken system provides little insight with teams left hanging on the sideline hoping to play for the championshop when less deserving teams make it there. No system is perfect, but its clean the current one is far from it.
In conclusion, don’t give me conference statistics. Don’t tell me SEC this, PAC-10 that, Big-10 whatever. I don’t want to hear your skewed theories. Let’s just wait and see what another season brings up. You can bet I’ll be there every Saturday cheering on the Trojans.
So we are at the hospital doing an ultrasound and the doc’s like ‘You sure you wanna know?’ and the two of us nervously nod yes. Then she plays around with the machine for a while and comes up with an image on the screen and says ‘This one is easy, see, its a boy’. Snap! That would be photo 3 from the bottom she was pointing at.
So it is now down to the enormous task of naming the kid and my sis is throwing out the names from some online site. Anyway, listen to some of this. Achutya (poor kid will kill himself before high school) and Achintya (more mockery for him) and Balachandra (which decade are we in again).
Anyway, I think I’ll stick with VinVin’s suggestions. Yashwanth Anna and Balaraj Anna. Both so good, which one do I pick.
Tom Selleck set the bar for the moustache. Nowhere is it more evident than in Friends when Matthew Perry (Chandler) wants to grow one just to look like Tom Selleck (Richard). I guess if they had a moustache school, Selleck would be the poster boy.
Anyway, my dear friend VinVin is all psyched out about one since he saw Matador. Pierce Brosnan is no Selleck but still VinVin seems to be all taken in. Sooooooo, to prove to him how ridiculous he would look, I took on my own little photoshop project.
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| Oooh! | VinVin Before | VinVin After |
Hmmm.. very interesting. I think VinVin looks really good. I think he should go for it. Heck, I think I should go for it. In my case however, a year would not be sufficient.
As you probably know I just got married. But there was one scary incident just before I did. I was sitting at home one day just thinking about my marriage and so on, basically the usual, 1 girl for the rest of your life and commitment and stuff, and I stated to feel something. I couldn’t quite place it but it was an uneasy feeling. I was starting to cringe. I had cold feet!
I was just begining to panic and my sis walks in. I told her I was thinking about the marriage and I had cold feet. So she turned off the AC and I felt better. Stupid AC.