The Song Jago Re Jago re from Lagaan has always been my way of waking up, what better than to tell you to Wake up. The only way I could do this till now was to load the Mp3 into my phone, and use the phone alarm clock, which by no means matches a real alarm clock. With my fondness of Retro Hardware, the Clock above, seems to be on my wishlist now, don't know how I will lay my hands on this.
Via: Engadget
GS
Satellite Internet makes a lot of sense, though India is wiring up, and Broadband is becoming a reality for most of us across the Country, but still there are areas where broadband connectivity is not possible, the only alternative has been Satellite based Internet. Indian Players have included Bharti, Hughes, Shyam and an International Player based out of Singapore called Speedcast has wrapped up and ran off, the problem is, that all these links need an uplink from a regular ISDN / static IP line for the link to work, now if you had ISDN, why would you want to setup a Satellite link.
A great feasibility is to use your DTH Reciever coupled with a GSM Modem for the uplink to do an Internet Downlink, but I think the day before DD / Tata or Zee offer this is long away.
This news inHT Mint Live, brings a hope of relief for all those living in far of places and looking at hooking onto the Internet on high speed.
GS
I am not sure if you would believe this, but this is right out of the horses mouth. I checked out each Sub Distributor in Nehru Place Market, The Largest Computer market in South Asia, and you can't find any HP entry Level Laser printer (USB or Network) in the market. Some Model revision, and there are no stocks.. Unbelievable that the largest selling Indian Laser Printer brand is out of stocks, for atleast 2 weeks.
GS
WOW is what I can say, and am working on making myself one, if I do manage, then you will see the pictures here in a few days, but I find tihs a very sensible move, to manage the heat under the laptop, with my old habbit of not switching off the machine, and at times leaving it On in the Office, with Delhi's heat, this is something I really need to work on.
For more information on this DIY, read it online at Life Hacker
GS
I have been both a big user, and a big fan of the Ubunut Linux and the whole concept is appealing to me. While going through a series of regular blogs / howto websites that I visit, I noticed that Ubuntu's variant for Artists (Graphic / Sound / Video), is out, so now if you are a startup and don't have the money to spend on all the software that is charged for on the Windows platform, and want to keep away from piracy, check out Ubuntu Studio.
If you need help in configuring it, for your environment, check out the article at HowtoForge.
GS
Wiki Mania, if you love the wiki pedia, you will love the wikimania. The 3rd Annual Wikimedia conference will be held in Taipei this year between August 3 to 5, and the event is now open for Early registration. If you are there, let me know.., I may just bump into you in Taipei.
GS
Minglebox, is an upcoming Social Networking site from India.
Direct Post from Aloo Techie, read on.. it's interesting.. Also check out the link sequoia, incest, & india
GS
Back in January 2007, I had an article on 7 Gadgets for 2007, and spoke about the Info SD Card, a lot of people told me that this was Crap and never going to work, the reason I thought it was going to work was because to check how much capacity you have free in a Thumbdrive / Memory card, you actually need to plug it into the device, well Lexar, finally announced a Thumbdrive with a Capacity Meter.
GS
Via Engadget
Via Engadget,
The relatively small Uruguayan town was thrown into a mild frenzy as a batch of shiny green and white OLPC XOs showed up.
Yahoo, yes the biggie in the Internet space, has started a huge advertising campaign for it's Yahoo Groups. People who have been a Yahoo user, would have seen the groups have been there for a long time, so what is the new proposition, well the above ad speaks everything, though it is not a Social networking site, but being a part of a group, can make you listen as well as give you a chance to talk to individuals, and connect with them.
GS
Esys, One of the emerging IT Distributors in the country (Others, Redington, Ingram Micro, Rashi, Neoteric, Cyberstar), has been in and out of controversies, and has also managed to create a dent in the market. Currently being pitched as one of the best Distributors for Sun, Microsoft, and Samsung, Esys recently launched it's retail online initiative called Cafe Gadgets.
Though from the look of it, someone has used a CMS to make the site, as most of the pages are in HTML, but very interesting options, pricing is not that affective, but keep a look out, you never know, when you maybe able to steal a deal from here.
GS
2 Days Back, on Tata Sky, you had that same silly yellow postal envelope popup, to tell you "TATA SKY LAUNCHES 7TH CHANNEL WITHIN A MONTH", now I wonder what do they mean by 7th.. Check the details and it talks about only 3, BBC Entertainment, BBC Ceebees, and India TV, though the release of AIR Jallandhar Radio Station (Because they discontinued ETC Punjabi) & Akash Bangla, was never flashed, but this makes a total of 5, and not 7. Does someone at Tata need to learn counting again, or is the 5 a new 7 ?
Ohter Interesting Reads this week: Govt - TDSAT differ on DTH Pricing
List of New Channels allow to downlink to India
GS
A great discussion on India Broadband Forum, if TRAI should play a regulator to see that all DTH Operators, and CAS providers carry all signals, that means all brodacasters to compulsarily give signals to CAS and DTH operators, and Customer to choose, would love to see what comes out of it.
G
I am no big fan of the Pearl or the 8800 but all I can say after looking at the Curve is WOW. Yes, It's brilliant, RIM, finally adds the features we all wanted
1. The Phone can now work as a Modem, so no need for an additional Data Card
2. Expandable Memory
3. 2.0 MP Camera with Flash
4. Media Player
5. Blackberry Maps
WOW
Price: Unknown
Availability in India: Not Yet
Wishlist: Yes (7290, it's time for you to go)
A bit late on my blog, but a serious news, TRAI and ISP's will now share 6% of the Revenue, (Did I read that right, 6% of the Revenue, and not Profits) WOW, and we talk about making this country internet Enabled, with forcing higher fee's and this Revenue Share structure, I think the ISP community of small rural ISP's, and small town ISP's will finish, I agree that there is a lot of Grey / Illegal Voip Connectivity happening in the name of ISP's, but sadly, raising the fee, and introducing a rev share is not the way to do it.. somone listen to me.
As reported in Hindustan Time on Thursday 10th May 2007.
G
PC Magazine India, yes, it's a reality, wait for June 2007, and PC Magazine India shall hit the market shelves pretty soon, Arindham Chaudary's Planman Media, is bring out the magazine and has already started huntin for Advertisments for the first issue.
I have always Admired Arindham as a visionary, and his work with Planman, and the magazines he has brought out, has made me put him on the spot.
GS
A few days, back, when Tata took off some of the Zee stable channels, and Tata' service still not stabalising, a lot of people have come upto me and asked me a question, should we switch, or maybe get this box too. I thought the whole concept of going DTH / CAS was to bring your cable bill down, in my case it has taken it up, since the same content is not avialable (well 80% is same) but the balance 20% (Dish has the zee channels, has MGM, B4U Music, Total TV, India TV and Tata Sky has BBC Entertainment....and nothing), my bill is now going up to 300 for Tata, and 300 for Zee, so a total of 600, and when MTNL IPTV does finnaly launch or I mean is available where I Live, I will be down a 1000 bucks, for the same thing that I was getting for 200 a month.
Anyway, a good news for all you Tata Sky customers, TDSAT has announced that it is working on resolving the Pricing formula for DTH users, and also Issued a notice to Tata Sky, to start beaming down India TV and Total TV. Thanks ET, and good work people filing PIL's..
GS
Well, no jokes, a few of my friends have been after my life to help them hack a Tivo and get it into India, to work in India to record programs. Digital Video recorder market in India is still starting up and the only solutions available right now (other than PC based DVR's) is the LG's Time Machine which includes a Hard Disk based recorder built inside a TV, though this will not be able to tune your DTH reciever, or the Dish TV DVR, which though will work with the Zee Dish TV, but sadly I have not been able to buy one, after repeated calls, and requests to Zee Group. Anyway, a few days back, while browsing through the immense world of technology sites, I came across an Interesting Indian company called Keen Pvt. Ltd, and is building a DVR called Wizo. Though it is not commercially fully launched as yet, this basically means, you can't go into a store and buy it right now, but look out for it, Anil Gupte, the guy who runs Keen is working hard to bring this to market.
Should I put this into Wishlist, why not, Anil Said, that he would love to have me as a customer when he does the full commercial launch, here is Cheers to a brilliant Indian company, an Indian working hard to bring out the next Generation DVR, tuned for you in India.
GS
When DTH actually became a reality, and CAS took a beating, a lot of people called in on my show on Radio Mirchi, and asked me on why they can't choose a single channel, or a set of channels that they want only to pay for on DTH, which is what they could do with CAS, After all they should all be comparable services.
Till a few weeks back TATA Sky did not offer any other subscription plan, while Dish had some plans, but under pressure started sellling only one Plan. Now both of them have some plans, but you still can't choose. The news that Subscribers will go through a PIL to get this, was expected, and May 7th's Hindu reports
Coming out against the packages of pay channels thrust by the DTH (direct-to-home) service providers on the viewers, the subscribers have demanded they should have right to choose the pay channels they want to see.
If you are a Joost user, you must have felt this too, and I see this happen to a lot of Joost Users, Airtel is blocking Joost servers, you are not able to sign in, to watch Joost. Is airtel nearing it's release of the IPTV, or is it only to save on International bandwdith. If you don't know what Joost is, head on to Joost.com
GS
Buing a Suitable cellphone for your Dad, or your Grandparents is not really the easiest thing to do. Some of them dont' want to learn how to use a new technology, and some of them can't see that sharply to use the smallest of cellphones available today. I was faced with a similar delima sometime back and decided to check out the market for a suitable cell phone for the elderly from the available phones, my article in Express Money, with the Indian Express, on Monday the 7th May.
Alternatively you can read it online here
GS
PS: this is my last article in Express Money, sadly the Money Marketing team has not been able to cash in on it, and hasnt' managed to make money with advertising to support it, My fate with express is a bit unclear right now, but will keep you posted.
I have been a big fan of the Netgear SC101, and have been selling it at my company like crazy, I think we must have sold over a 100 Units in the last year, and also promiting the Use of this Device. Sadly, we could never buy one for our office, or my home use, as we have a Linux + Windows Mixed Network, and SC 101 supported only Windows PC's.
The Latest news from Netgear, that they have acquired Infrant, made me sit up and read it carefully, not only does Infrant have a good Home Solution but also a great solution on the Workgroup front, waiting for the device to land in my hands. If you think you need Scalable Storage for your network, call System3, and we will come and give you a solution that works for you. Alternatively if you are looking for some free advice, well Send me a mail
GS
From July 1, the most talked about scheme in Power will be implemented. If you are a large Establishment (Current Definition: A hotel, an Airport, or a Metro, etc). You will be able to choose your Distributor, BSES or NDPL. Also another part of the news is, you will be able to buy power from an Agency, as a third source. Read more by clicking on the above graphic.
Source: Hindustan Times, 7th May Print Edition
GS
I am not sure if all this news is only to Drive up the Share Prices or to rig the market, but Business Standard today reports, that the talks between Microsoft and Yahoo are no longer active. But MS is still open to possibilities of work together.
What would be the name if they merge it, Microoooo or ????
GS
Well, this is not such a big news but still with quite a few people using Reliance Phones, this was always an issue, roaming across the world, where CDMA / GSM networks co-exist, and keeping the same number. Reliance has announced the World Roaming, and comparitivley, the Tariff also looks interesting and lower than the competition, will it work, won't it, I will need to wait for someone to review this, till then.. Good work ADA. More Details here
GS
Recent News on Gizmodo, Asustek / Asus to build a $249 PC, Intel watch out, another contendor in the OLPC Segment (though this is strictly not OLPC), but with a7" LCD at 800x480, an Ultra-Low Voltage (ULV) Celeron M 900 with no L2 cache, and 256MB of DDR-II, presumably with a version of Windows embedded in memory, this sure looks hot.
GS
About an Year back I was seriouslly contemplating getting into Solar Power Production, and while reading up on it, I found that the only possible way of doing solar power production on a full day basis would be to have a tower with solar panels all around it, something like a cylindrical tower, but this idea found on BBC is great.
GS
PEOPLE DO not have a fundamental right to electricity, the Delhi government told the Supreme Court on Friday The statement - in a season of scorching heat and frequent power cuts - came during the hearing of a public-interest petition on the city's power crisis.
I have never been a big fan of the Microsoft Search Engine. I think Hotmail is a good product, but it got shadowed out under MS. Also Yahoo, has not been my search engine since the early days, I was more of an Altavista/Digital to a Google fan now.. In between I swinged to Yahoo to use their calendar, which still has a lot of my data on it, but then, Google Consolidating everything together moved me.
Today's news in Economic Times caught my eye, and at approximately 50 million Dollars, Microsoft will surely get an edge if it acquires yahoo, but will then Yahoo stay yahoo, we have to debate that.
G
This news is of No Surprise, but yes, Google is has been named as the Best Place to work for IT Guys, while Goldman Sachs is the Best place for Finance guys, as per "The Universum IDEAL(TM) Employer Survey- MBA Edition 2007"
Links: Economi Times, Financial Express
Refer to my posting, Today Tata Sky released the Advertisments for the multiple price packages that they have. The Ad also mentions 5 New Channels, 2 I spoke about yesterday, wonder what the other 3 are, and when will they announce it.
BTW TATA ji, the first icecream (Starter) is pretty Sour.. and it's 160 a month.. :(
G
Tata has done it, finally, they woke up and realised they need to offer multiple packages, as the price of Rs. 300 flat was a little turn off for some people. Now they have three packages other than the flat 300 bucks a month pacakge, and details are available here.
Packages are called, Starter @ 160 / Family @ 250 / Western @ 250 / SuperSaver @ 300
Also today, Tata Sky announced two new channels, 205, BBC Entertainment, a Hillarious channel with a lot of Brit comedy on it, and 6xx, CEEBies. BBC entertainment is available between 6PM to 6AM, and Ceebies, the Preschool kids channel, between 6AM to 6PM.
I dont' recall the Channel number for Ceebies, but will update tomorrow.
Something which is amazing is, BBC's website is not updated about today's launch of BBC Entertainment in India, also Lyngsat is not showing this as a Channel.
A recent few other channels added included MH1 Shradha, and Aakash Bangla. With Tata Loosing Some of Zee's Channels, they need to work hard to retain their customers.
G
Earlier on about Last year or so back when I saw the iMac, it immediately grabbed my attention and I seriously started looking at thinking on buying one for my bedroom, but then did I really need a Mac... I was unsure.. I have been gradually moving my whole organisation to Linux and have been an early adopter of Linux for my Desktop / Laptop for quite some time, playing with different distros. Anyway, a post on the Internet somewhere brought me to a gadget / a pc I had not seen, this is not the first try of a similar platform, but what HP has done is amazing.
What I Like, "Sleek, stylish, space saving, clutter free—the HP TouchSmart IQ770 PC will help you organize your life and shine as the centerpiece of your digital lifestyle."
Go Check it out. Sadly not availbale in India as yet, but My Next Drool Machine, but sadly, I will need M$ on it :(
G
I have been a big user of Google Earth since the day it came out, I played around with all that came and went, and now well into it's version 4, a great thing that has happened, India is mapped, yes street's, buildings, parks, and not by the community which was always there, this is done by google. Though some small mistakes, but National Highways marked as NH, streets' named and everything going online, in a Few days my next hill station holiday may just get planned here online using Google Earth.. If you haven't seen it / used it in sometime, I think it is time you checked it out.
G
