Moving on

I really don't know how you are here. Really. You never came when i was here and not doing anything and now I've moved on to brijeshtripathi.com/blog - probably I'll continue not doing anything there too (and pay for that).

anyhow, without babbling much, I'd end this post right here.

See you on the otherside

Transit of venus - June 6, 2012 - watch it upclose

So I just, through a tweet, got to this blogpost which explains step by step instructions to watch this phenomenon using binoculars.

Interesting - now only if I can spare some time, this looks like a good DIY project - it's not time consuming at all - to get to make this contraption.

What's this astronomical event? Well, go here for more info (again taken from Ian Musgrave's blog)

What, you don't have binoculars? Go get them - may I suggest playgroundonline.com for that - decent price ( at about 2k you can buy the one I bought a few weeks back - solognac 200) - will put the link later. Gotta go right now #ShutterDown, @dukaan band

Go go - you can also click some pics (says Ian's post) - let's see if I get to do that. If I do, you know where to find them ( hell, I need to stop talking to myself -- sometimes it's like no one's here and I'm still ranting about it - something like Google +)

Lanka - Bollywood movie

Saw the movie a few days back on YouTube - worth a watch if you ask me. If only for Manoj Bajpai. Story was more or less predictable but turned out to be different than what I'd thought, so yeah, not really as predictable.

There are new-comers Arjan Bajwa & Tia Bajpai in the movie (wikipedia tells me that she was the finalist of reality show sa re ga ma pa) - and naah, as I incorrectly thought, doesn't seem to have any relation with Manoj Bajpai.


Both have acted fairly well and look good on screen, Manoj Bajpai however, steals the show.

Then there's Yashpal Sharma (the Gangajal guy, besides his many other movies) and he is as good as always.




As you would gather after hearing the storyline, the name of the movie points to a story of a girl who is held captive by a gangster in a small town in UP - Bijnaur, and yearns for some saviour to rescue her from this Lanka.

 Sad part is that she has no 'Ram' to do that, 'Vibhishan' will have to come to the rescue. It really doesn't make sense the way I'm pitting it and yeah, that's not exactly the plot to be precise.

 
Go watch it, it's there on YouTube - here's the link

You already saw it? How did you find the movie?

the new iPad in India - launch & price

Okay, so the wait is finally over.

The new iPad (gasp, the revolutionary resolutionary Tablet) is finally here in India. Ok not yet, but by tomorrrow, it's here in India.

Good news is that it is here so soon, in about 40 days, after its global launch on March 16th, 2012 [this is like the fastest product to be launched in India after its global launch]

Man, really looking forward to it.

Ah, the bad news (or rather not so good news) is that it starts at INR 30,500/-, which is the base model - 16GB wi-fi only.

But you would do better to buy a 3G version (ummm, no 4G here in India, although I'd heard of rumours that 4G service has been tested/made live in Kolkata), which starts at INR 38,900/- for the 16 GB model.

Also, the iPad 2 costs have been cut and starts at INR 24,500/-for the 16GB model.

and frankly if you don't have an iPad (1 or 2), you would not really make out the great difference in resolution on the new iPad but if you do, then it's going to be really tough. The difference is same as between iPhone 3G/3GS and iPhone 4/4S - retina display (or as @vineetbhatnagar says, lickable display)

Retina display, some people wonder as and "is it just that it is better resolution, is that it?"

Well, yes, that's it!

And that's a lot - you have not seen anything as sharp or as fine as it.

To really get the essence of retina display - you need to see it. I saw it on the iPhone and trust me, no other phone display has ever looked as good till date. Now I see pixels everywhere - even on the computer!

So it's just about looking good, is it?

Well, yes - and that is remarkable.

oh, it's awesome and once you start using the retina display, everything else, even the devices that seemed so normal earlier (iPad 1/2, iPhone 3G/3GS) will look all pixelated. 

Retina display is seriously resolutionary - go for it. If you have any questions, shoot them at the comments.

Be warned though, once you lay your hands on it, it will be very difficult to stay away from it.

Darn, and just now @neosthrash tweeted that it's been postponed to 30th April...will be able to tell tomorrow only!

HDR on iOS

High Dynamic Range photographs - Simply put what it does is take a couple of photos, one under-exposed, one over-exposed and lay them on each other.

The effect, for some photographs, can be remarkable. The amazing part is that you have to do nothing extra, or as Steve would say, nothing new to learn. Just click and get that better picture.

Here are some examples, which, while may not be the best, do showcase the capabilities of HDR photography.

The normal picture, without HDR - looks fine (click on the photo for bigger version and toggle between the HDR & non-HDR versions):

Until you see this, HDR photo:

Another similar example, non-HDR photo:

The HDR version below 

A slightly different example, the non-HDR photo:

The HDR version of same photo:

Now for some moments (and i'll just show one note really that uncool example) when HDR may not be a good choice - movement - remember, it takes multiple photographs, of the same picture?

naturally, if there is movement in those multiple pics, the stitching of those different photographs is not really going to be beautiful (artistic in some cases, yes)

So, here's the normal one:

 and now for the HDR one, the birds are visible in this one (yeah, you can't see them on the Non-HDR one), but Sekhon's feet, they blur out.:

Just in case you are wondering where the pics are from, it's Lodhi garden in New Delhi.

Mac or PC

Q: Which is better, a Mac or a PC?
A: Depends on your needs. And taste.

The Mac is not so popular just because of some great, crazy marketing. It is loved because it is a beautiful machine doing the same job as a PC, much more beautifully, besides the crazy, brilliant marketing.
Cost is a big difference when you compare the two categories so it really depends on what you want.

If you just want the job done, without having to give time to learning new things (despite the 'there's nothing new to learn' mantra, there are a few things a Windows user would take time getting used to when starting to work on a Mac), at a lower cost, go for PC, case closed. Given the market share of windows vs. mac, it is more likely that you have worked on a PC (unless it's your first computer) and thus you would be better off with another, better performing PC if you are short on time & money. You would get standard software (more easy), more standard connectivity options on a PC.
So what is so great about this Mac that people keep raving about?
[Ok, I have been using a Mac (book Pro) for little over a year now and have had to use PC for somethings that I do not want to use the Mac for]

The Mac, as you must have heard from fans, is a quality computer, performing consistently, reliably and does whatever it does, in style.
Reason: it is made & controlled by a single company in the world - both the hardware & software. So the software is designed for the hardware and vice-versa. No confusion, no compromise on performance of either and standard, specific functions for each component - hardware or software.
I'm a fan. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. More so, if you are using a Mac, you can really not be a not-fan!

But I do agree that it is not the best choice for everybody. For eg: I want to end the problems my dad has with the PC - virus, windows threats, crashing etc. and I know Mac wouldn't have as many problems as the PC, but I do not think a Mac would be good choice for him - there is a learning curve that I do not want my dad to go through - plus the problems (Mac too has some issues, sometimes) would be better solved by the 'local engineers' if it is a PC.
I say that cause I remember the faces of my office tech staff when I asked them to help me with printer set-up on the Mac.

PC is inexpensive - it is everywhere (read standard plugs/jacks/software & most importantly help from people around) - so for a computer that does your tasks and does not cost too much, PC is the thing.

ok, enough backdrop, now about the Mac & what I really like about it. Some things great about a Mac are:
- Great quality of hardware: High quality materials used, premium quality components make a Mac. Look at the machine underneath - it is nothing like I have ever seen on a laptop. The battery life - it's amazing. You know the stuff is great when you see the machine - no compromise.
- Clean, no jazzy stuff: No lights/LEDs for wi-fi, battery, blue-tooth - nothing! it makes a great difference to me, now that I observe it. No stickers of 'intel inside' or 'high capability wi-fi antenna' etc.
- The software: the animation, is beautiful. The way the desktop is displayed, the way screens change.
- The no-mouse usage: is great. I just can't work without a mouse on a PC. On the Mac, I rarely have found a need for one. The track-pad is another awesome part of the MBP.
- The service: If under warranty, there is no comparison of the level of service Apple provides. It is again, marvelous.
- Plus many small things which, if I mention here, would feel little crazy. To me.

I still haven't fully harnessed the Mac - the graphics, the video rendering capabilities of it - and do feel that a lower powerful machine could suffice (heh, never felt that the machine was powerful enough, whenever, whichever PC I have ever had)

What's bad with a Mac?
- Games: there are hardly any. Or hardly any that I enjoyed playing earlier on a PC
- Price: you have to think before buying. Are you sure, a Mac? Why not PC?
- Emotional: You tend to get emotionally attached to the machine. Not good.

All in all, go as per your suitability but be forewarned, once it is a Mac, it's very difficult to get back.

Wonderfully done Steve & Apple. It shows.

First take on OSX Lion

Okay, so I just installed OSX lion.
Actually finished with it last night, just didn't get time to use it.
Well, had it not been for my office, with 10+ mbps connection, which is accessible in the late hours of the day and a meeting that kept me late in office yesterday, I really don't think I would have been able to download it in once day. At least not from my home connection, which is supposedely 1mbps unlimited download connection, but with Airtel-fair-usage-policy it turns out my speeds reduce to 256 kbps for most of the month.
Yeah guys sitting in the USA / anywhere else may see this as something unimaginable, but here it is stark reality. Here in Gurgaon, one of the Cyber-city, getting consistent speeds above 4mbps - just doesn't happen.




Anyhow, downloaded the OSX lion and was just waiting waiting waiting (meeting actually, but then waiting at the back of my head).
I'm not a geek, which is proven by the fact that I just installed it, checked out a few things and dropped the lid back on my  MBP (it was about 2300 HRS by the time I finished with installation, which was simpler than installing an app actually)

Back in the morning, here are my first few thoughts (and these would mostly be appearance wise):
++
- Awesome gestures (or rather the effects with which they fade/arrive)
- Full screen apps. Was looking forward to these and they exceed my expectations
- Transitioning between apps is again quite smoother, seamless-feel
- Reverse scrolling - although I'm yet to fully get used to it, it feels much more practical now
- Mail app -- I barely used mail on OSX Snow Leopard. On OSX, it it quite appealing
- Photobooth: For a moment it felt as if I was in a photo-booth! (Snow leopard didn't give that feel)
- $30 - [this, btw, is the first time I have ever bought a software, besides apps for mac / iPhone] - It feels much better to have bought this software than it ever felt when I had software for FREE - weird, I know.

--
- Gestures won't work on twitter for mac!
- Browser-wise safari has nice forward/back pages gestures, but not chrome or FF which I predominantly use do not support that (btw, these gestures for Safari rock)
- I don't know if this is particularly with me, but time machine is taking a hell lot of time (it's been more than 3 hours since I've been backing up, can't abandon right now)
- Have to unlearn the gestures that I was used to with OSX snow leopard - will happen in a while.

I guess I should have more to write, if I feel like, in some more time.
Till then, it's roaring time.

Mac Links - A collection of blogs with apps to make the most out of your mac

So you have a mac?
Well, congratulations!

Here are a few links to help you make the most out of your mac - be it apps for productivity, or for utilities like p2p, file-handling, IM clients - the list goes on.

Without further ado, here is the list
(thanks to @vineetbhatnagar for this!):
1. http://macspecialist.org/content/articles/essential_apps/
2. http://weblog.mrbill.net/essential-mac-software/
3. http://blog.leeane.com/2008/12/10-of-the-best-tools-for-web-development-on-a-mac/
4. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-apps-to-get-more-out-of-your-new-mac/
5. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-essential-mac-apps-to-install-after-a-reformat/
6. http://www.designer-daily.com/mac-apps-1915
7. http://macromates.com/
8. http://mactech.ca/freemacapps/
9. http://www.noupe.com/tools/15-incredible-mac-apps-for-freelance-web-designers.html
10. http://justinlilly.com/blog/2008/nov/02/most-used-programs-an-index/
11. http://skitch.com/
12. http://culturedcode.com/things/
13. http://shawnblanc.net/start/
14. http://daringfireball.net/   (mac related news)
15. http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2008/11/12/How-I-Use-OS-X
16. http://ciaranwal.sh/2007/11/01/customising-colours-in-leopard-terminal
17. http://www.panic.com/coda/
18. http://minimalmac.com/


Well, as such mac is bundle-packed with almost all that is required and if there is anything that you may require, the links above would help.


Is there any essential app/link that was missed?


(Image courtesy  http://www.weirdasianews.com )

(Like the image? -- well, I took it from here - go read the article to see how to grow you own Apple apples!)

World In Sport: World Cup Failure Should Lead to Reform at Home

A nice post on the recent FIFA host announcements

Do you agree?

World In Sport: World Cup Failure Should Lead to Reform at Home

Ayodhya Verdict & SMS Ban

Some relieving news that came, whether or not you were interested in the outcome, was about the forced ban by GoI on bulk SMS/MMS push. To most this would be a great relief - the no. of SMS (Spam) in their inbox reduced to 0 from whatever level (I personally get to see about 30-45 SMS every morning that I wake up) - and then for some this would be bad news - the businesses that depend on this, the people who utilize application SMS service (read Free SMS or SMS communication through websites/applications) and in general as intimation through SMS for things like flight ticket booking confirmation, transactional SMS, alerts...list goes on.

Strange that some are genuinely happy about it and some are genuinely sad about it.

Go Argentina

(Image: Credit here )

 Here is a quick one for Argentina - the team I'm following this world cup.
And their first match is today, 12th June, against Nigeria.

Next matches
17th June - South Korea
22nd June - Greece

So, which team are you going with?

Football Fever

Is about to begin, even for those like me, who wake up only during these world cups and think that these other football fanatics are exactly that, fanatics.

Who are you betting on this world cup is the question that pops up everywhere...and we know it that it doesn't matter, it is about the duration, the games, the exciting equal-par matches, the breath-taking, ever-to-be-remembered moments.
Of course who wins in the end brings a lot of excitement and satisfaction to the ones who had predicted that earlier ("see I told you, Italy is going to win"!)

There are so many things happening around the world cup - the sound tracks (I must include that I detest the one for the current WC - it's too bland, low energy - emotional / motivational -- all right. The best, in my opinion, was Ricky Martin's - the song gets your blood pumping man!)

Then there are the t-shirts & clothes that come this reason-season. Best part of this information highway life that we live in is that information is actually quite easy to access to and there are different modes - yeah, we primarily rely on our own eyes-watched matches and they are the ones that excite us really, there are newpapers where we dig into the sections to find out the stats (ok, i'm talking about ppl like me, not fanatics like you!), TV channels, special programs on TV -- these are all traditional (and good, comprehensive)
The quickest and instant, however, is the new media - internet & mobile. The best part about this media?
It gives you information even if you forget it (or say, slips out of your mind) it is like automating a module to receive information - there are feeds / updates on mail / IM / SMS, besides websites (and their mobile website counterparts)...
where are you getting the information from?
Get football news sms for free. just sms footballnews to 092234 92234 (powered by Tagg.in)

It is the drag that I hate

(All rights reserved to the pic, dare you publish it, post it elsewhere without due credit to yours truly)



A plain yes or no, happening or not happening, doing it or not doing it, seeing it or not seeing it, speaking it or not speaking it -- is something that makes things very clear, easier, simpler and better...but that is not the way it is.

It's many-a-times like this, and looking back it can be good or bad, but it gets things in motion (or completely out of it). It is the drag that we drag in life that we are not very happy about, uncomfortable with. It is the drag that I hate

And who's to say what the ways or the mantra of life is?

It's anyone who is living a life, one can have his own way of life no matter how philosophers / gurus / elders / successful people look at it and comment on it -- one needs to be clear on the way one's life is and reasons for it to be that way.

I'm not the last one who should say it, just like I'm not the best person to say it...but then that's what it is - say your say - FTW

Facebook + Blackberry = Calendar Screwed

So I got this app called Facebook for BlackBerry and was happy that I'd stay connected...Little did I know my calendar is going to be totally screwed. The calendar was full of events I didn't know or care about and there was nothing that I could do to delete them from my BB.

Instantly I was on crackberry forum, through google search but to no avail -- The solutions written there didn't work for me

Google again -- and thanks to this there seemed to be some light...
I tried and, Voila!, as one characteristic professor of mine would say, it was solved.

Basically I had to remove my calendar and re-synchronize again -- and in the way, I lost some information that I had stored in the calendar -- fault being mine, that I did not pay heed to the 'care to be taken' info.

Anyway, I'm a happier man now with the calendar all clean -- I did not expect FB to create something like this, I mean there should be an option that lets one avoid this...well, it's past now.

Things have changed

People are crazy and times are strange...

Beemp3.com is an excellent place for finding a song that may be ringing in your head, of course for the whole discographies and big ones, torrents are the solution -- I can't thank enough for the creators and contributors to this concept of Torrents -- it's a #WIN

	Bob Dylan - Things Have Changed .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Click on the PLAY icon to play the song!

And since I could not embed the Video from Youtube, here's the link for the awesome Video

That's all Folks...
(and yeah, I give all teh credits to all the links included here -- including Beemp3's song and the picture of the legend)

Hand Rolled Cigarettes OR regular factory made?

Firstly - Cigarette smoking is seriously injurious to health - yours and the ones around you.


Having said that, let us look into some questions on this new found love of mine:

>> Are hand-rolled cigarettes (HRC) less harmful?
-- NO, in case you do not get it, just google it man -- I did that -- no evidence of them being any less or more harmful (although the research does say, which is needless, that hand-rolled ones contain lesser chemicals)

>> Are HRC better in taste?
-- Taste, my friends, is a personal choice. Although I do find the taste better most of the times, I do feel like smoking a factory made one occasionally. Some people I've met swear by its taste (I use Golden Virginia tobacco)

>> Will trying to do this reduce or attenuate my smoking habits?
-- If that's the reason -- and the primary reason -- for you to take up rolling your own cigarettes, it would not really help unless you keep some principles embedded with it. I tried with the same intentions and have partially succeeded, since my principle was to not to buy and smoke and was partially administered. But I did smoke lesser since I have started this (been about 2 weeks)
Although I must say, it does reduce your smoking to some extent -- for the obvious reason that one needs to put in some efforts before he/she can light that stick.

>> Is HRC cost-effective?
-- A definite yes (of course with a disclaimer, unless you smoke more than what you'd've smoked on factory ones)
The reason is simple, you buy tobacco (about INR 200), cigarette paper (about INR 25 for small size - my preference) and it makes about 60-80 cigarettes. A lot of cost-effectiveness there (let's keep the future medical bills and their financial effects aside)

>> Does it make you feel better?
-- Better? - No.
Different? - yes. You see it takes time to roll a cigarette and with time you get better at it (not something that one may be proud of, but then better to be better at it if you are at it). Patience is another virtue the art of rolling cultivates -- and I have a desperate void for the virtue.

If you are a smoker who has been smoking cigarettes, do try rolling your own cigarettes and let me know if you need some help or your experience about it.
...Keep rolling

Kumbh Mela - Haridwar

The plan was quite whimsical, but had a long awaited desire to visit the place at this time - while the proverbial Kumbh ka mela was on.

To add to the occasionalability of the event, it was going to be a full-moon night when we reach, if we started off right then.

We - Khosla, Buddy, Kavita & me - were at A302.

We started off well from A302 - Buddy, Kavita and me -- then there were the chronicles of Badsra on the way.

Anyway, next scene, I'm on the couch and wondering how come I'm here, where am I?
after the regular-moments lasting balck-out, I realised I was at the Badsras' and certainly not anywhere near Haridwar.

But the plan was on!

So we started off at about 1200 Hrs on 28th -- although I was planning to head back to Gurgaon and get going with the regular, media exchange between hard disk, computer, TV, my head.
Good that I stuck on the Haridwar trip.

After 3-4 hours of driving (I was comfortably on the back seat though) we realised that we had traveled only about 60 kms - some wrong route that we had taken.

Anyway with a stop for samosas, fuel-refill we were there at the place by about 2030 hrs and the feeling was good.
The place was nowhere like I'd thought it'd be -- crowded, full of people and noise -- Probably it was the timing. The last pooja is at 1815Hrs so the crowd has dwindled -- although we did hear about babas and their shivirs which remain lively even after the last pooja, we thought we'd go there after our dips. The Dips, I must say were quite nice -- the water was cold and more than that the current was quite high. Much as I tried experimenting and applying different schemes to withstand the current, I could never stay there for more than 15s.

It was a full-moon night [Poornima, Poornmasi]After the holy dips - and the assumption that our sins have been washed away - we went out for pet-pooja.

Poori-sabzi, Khasta (kachori) chole, mal pooda halwa, kulfi, aloo-tikki, gol-gappe were experienced in our binge.

Despite having the tripod, could not manage to click the picture I had in my mind -- need to learn this stuff too!

Hashtags and the associated rage

Today I witnessed a Hashtag become a rage - just like any other day - the difference being it was relevant and I could easily participate and add some value to it.


The topic was Awesome Indian Things with the hashtag #awesomeindianthings where everything from celebrities (mostly the infamous ones) to cattle on road to samosa was entered.

The amazing part was it was a trending topic on twitter and for quite some time, was number one trending topic -- which, certainly requires a lot and lot of involvement from a lot lot of people.

Everybody I knew was stark raving mad on the trend and lashing out their creative best to add to the #

As it usually happens, sometime later it fell to number 2 and as I write this it's in number 5 and by the time you read this, it would be nowhere to be found -- such is the dynamic world of twitter -- millions of conversation about a particular thing for a brief period and then all dud! -- except for things like #nowplaying and day-wise trends (#ff #musicmonday et al)

What a phenomenon this twitter thing is -- and to the one who is un-participating or unaware, it is far from comprehensible -- why, I myself do get foxed by some trends.

Long live twitter -- till the time some other form of rage comes in!

What is twitter? trending? hashtag? -- I'm out of breath elaborating on this...go to wikipedia or google to know more -- but the fastest & best is to ask an avid twitter user -- will save much of your time while answering your new questions that may come up while he is answering the previous ones...but queries will be answered is my belief.
Image Courtesy: effingthedog

P.S. - Post writing this post, I witnessed bigger, better phenomenon once the #epic #hashtag #Thingswewantback was created by @tyagiG

Sunset in Gurgaon

Sunset view from Dubey's house...
Once I happened to be with the camera when this happened -- red red Gurgaon

How to automatically tweet your new blog posts, like this one!

Have a twitter account?
Have a blog?
You feel it would be nice if your new blog posts are tweeted automatically?

If the answer to any of the questions above is NO, please move on. There is not much that you can benefit from by reading the following. For others, here it is:

1. Go to twitterfeed.com. Actually the next steps below are self-explanatory if you are into twitterfeed.com, but I'll explain that anyway.
2. Get an account there - You just need an email ID
3. Twitter as a service is the default selection. No need to touch that!
4. Authenticate your twitter account, i.e let twitter verify that you would like to authorise Twitterfeed to publish the things into your twitter account. This is a one time activity
5. Having done the above step, Step 2 is shown- name feed and add source URL
6. Give the feed a name - If you are going to keep multiple feeds, it would be good if you keep each one in an organised manner.
7. Add Rss feed URL - this can be got from the Blog page of your blog.
- In case you have a Blogger blog, it should be something like this http://feeds.feedburner.com/YourBlogTitle
- In case it is a Wordpress blog, it would be something like this
http://YourBlogAddress/feed/Title
Pray, replace the YourBlogTitle and YourBlogAddress with your relevant addresses, in my case for this blog, the Rss feed URL is http://feeds.feedburner.com/Aurbatao


8. You can also test the rss feed by clicking the test button
9. Advance settings? Yeah, you can play with that to make customizations as per your whims. Like I have chosen to have each auto-tweet to begin with 'New Blog post:' Plus I also shorten the URLs using a service. Play around!
10. Click "Create Feed" -- DONE!
    

I hope this helped. If it did, I'd like you to show your gratitude. Pls leave a comment. I'd love to comment on that!