How did this Credit Crisis Happen ?

As a Business Owner, I ask myself this question a number of times the whole day, what happened, how did it happen, why is it that every one is affected. I read the paper, talk to people, but when I hear terms like CDS / CDO's / Sub Prime Mortgages, it some how flies over my head.. I just can't understand how it affects every one and what does a CDS or a CDO Means.

There are two brilliant videos on Presentation Zen a blog on the art of making presentations, one by Johnathan Jarvis, which is brilliant and explains everything you wanted to know, and one by Paddy Hirsch.

Here are the two of them for you to watch.


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

How Long Does it Take to Transfer

Whenever you have to download a large file, this becomes a persistent question, how long will it take to transfer. Last Night I wanted to download EBS 2008 Trial CD/DVD From Microsoft. It consists of 3 DVD's and 1 CD Image, Approximately a Total of about 12 GB. So the question again arises, how long will it take to transfer.

Since India is still in the age, where 256 kbps and 512 kbps is called broadband (and lucikly I have more Internet speed than you can think of), I thought of doing this article.

Assuming that there is no packet loss, i.e there is no loss of packets, by default the calculation works like this

1 Megabyte File = 1 * 8 Megabits File = 8 Megabits File
So If you had a 1 Megabits / second connection, it will take you 8 Seconds to download it.

Some Pictures to Demystify the story








Now this is not really true, you have to bear in mind, that the speed your ISP says, say 256 kbps is the speed from your home to his office, the speed to the Internet will be governed by a number of other factors.

Also the fact that when a File is transferred, using TCP/IP, the Data is bloated by 40% (L3 Headers and L2 Packet Framing).

Hence a 1 MB File becomes 1.4 MB

Assuming 256 kbps is the Internet connection speed, and you averagely only get 80% of the speed, with a 140% file size, the graphs take a different twist






So Next Time a Friend calls you to ask you to download him that big file he is unable, don't just say 10 minutes, do your math.

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Me @ Freed.In 2009

I was a speaker at Freed.In 2009 This year. Though a bit out of place in a developers conference, but met some wonderful people. Following are some pictures from Freed. Will upload my presentation by end of day today.

Freed In 2009 Managing Datacenter

View more presentations from gagandeepsapra. (tags: managing data)

For More pictures from the event Freed.In @ Flickr

Image Courtsey: Niyam Bushan

Kudos Rahman & Company - 8 Oscars for Slumdog

He has done it.. yet again.. AR Rahman spins magic.. ever since he has been on the music scene, he has been the envy of every other music directory, achieving some brilliant milestones, like the beautiful rendition of "Jana Gana Man", the National Anthem of India and the music he has done for movies, yesterday All India Radio called him, a Sufi, Rock, Pop, Star who has done some brilliant music.

Slumdog (Haven't seen the movie as yet), has been the topic of discussion ever since it came out.. and now 8 oscars, including the first one for India.

AeyRahman, Mera Tujhe Salam

TOI: 8 Oscars for SlumDog

Storm Clouds over the iPhone - Review, Blackberry Storm

When I was supposed to upgrade my phone late last year, my wife suggested that I buy a new BlackBerry. But I decided to wait for the BlackBerry Storm to come to India. Though, in the meantime, I changed my mind on getting a new BlackBerry, I still wanted to review the Storm to help you decide whether it was better than the iPhone. I am not covering the other competitors, because I think only these two have got it all right — music, phone and email.

The Storm clearly looks like it was inspired by the iPhone. Research in Motion (RIM) has replaced its popular QWERTY keyboard with a 3” touchscreen, but not at the cost of the BlackBerry mission.

RIM has always been building serious business phones and the Storm does not change anything. If you are looking for email and messaging as your first use on the phone, the Storm wins hands down. I know some of you will say the iPhone has a better text input, but I think it is a matter of getting used to the phones.

But if you are looking for a phone that will be good with music, games and browsing the Internet then it is the iPhone that you should go for. The Storm does not live up to expectations on this front.

Like the iPhone, the Storm’s screen flips from vertical to horizontal as you rotate the phone. This is a brilliant feature, and the Storm’s new browser makes Internet browsing a good experience, but it does not match up to the brilliance of the iPhone. But I liked the click on the Storm. It uses a touchscreen, as well as a pressure switch matrix at the back of the screen to give a good tactile feedback.

I have been using a BlackBerry for years now, and the biggest plus for me has always been the QWERTY keyboard. So the touchscreen is a no-no for me. However, it works fine and has a keyboard layout similar to that of BlackBerry Pearl and Bold.

The Storm’s best feature has to be the battery, which lasted more than a day. The iPhone on the other hand had to be charged by mid-afternoon.

I am confused how ultimately BlackBerry turned out to be the iPhone killer. Apple should be making plans to make a BlackBerry killer.

While the Storm is available only on Vodafone now, most service providers have the iPhone in their stables. But what wins it for the Storm is its price of Rs 27,990. However, the BlackBerry services will cost you about Rs 1,000 a month, while the iPhone package costs just Rs 500. But, I will still stick to the BlackBerry.

--
The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 22nd February 2009

What If - Computers Were as Simple as Blocks

The value of unlearning is very big. A concept introduced to me by a great friend of mine, and it has helped me progress, as my friend said, the importance is not to learn, but to unlearn. Our lives have become complicated with things around us, technology, cultures, television, media, all trying to teach us something, making it more and more complex. Any technology that makes life simpler, and easier, is something that I welcome with open Arms. This year at TED, David Merrill presented a Talk on Siftables (tiny blocks of computers, that interact with each other). Though in very early stages of development, but this talk will show you endless possibilities that you can think about.

David's presentation is just 7 minutes 9 seconds, and uses both videos, stills and talk to deliver a message, that makes you think. A Must Watch



Want More details, check out www.siftables.com.

PS: You can't buy them right now, I know, I also want them.

The rogue quartet

Last week, I told you how to save your computer from viruses. This week we will take a look at the top four viruses and malwares infecting computers in India.

Autorun malware
The most common infection is the autorun malware. Autorun is a brilliant utility built into all Windows systems, but sadly it has been causing more harm than gain in the last few years. Autorun enables designated files to run when an enabled drive (a CD or USB thumbdrive) is inserted into the computer. If your thumbdrive is infected, it will automatically run an installer infecting the PC. The autorun malware will usually download more malware, additional backdoors and password stealers, most of which also have the capability to disable your anti-virus, leaving your system vulnerable. The best way to tackle the malware is by disabling autorun.

IE start page changes
Spyware and adware often change your browser’s start and search pages. Even if you remove the malware using your anti-virus software, you will still need to reset the settings of Internet Explorer, so as to get your default pages back. For Internet Explorer 6, right-click the IE icon on the desktop, choose ‘Properties’, click the ‘Programs’ tab, then the ‘Reset Web Settings’ button and click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’ to reset settings. In IE 7, click Tools/Internet Options in the Internet Explorer menu, click the Advanced tab and click Reset.

Downadup/Conficker
If you are on a network, or have a PC that often links to one, there are chances you may get infected by Downadup, a malicious worm that uses your computer resources to replicate, and make copies of itself. It can also include other malwares that damage both the computer as well as the network. Once executed, it disables a number of important Windows services, including automatic updates, security centre, Windows defender and Windows error reporting. After infecting and shutting down services it uses your Internet connection to download more malware. However, removal tools are available.

W32/Netsky-P
Ever wondered why there is spam being generated using your email address? Most probably, you are using Peer-to-Peer Networks to share files, or to download pirated music or movies and may have infected your PC with W32/NetSky-P. The worm copies itself to your P2P shared folders and adds files such as ‘britney spears song text archive.exe’, ‘harry potter all e.book.doc.exe’, ‘microsoft office 2003 crack best.exe’ which steal data from your local files and spreads by emailling a copy to your colleagues, with subjects such as Re: Thank you for delivery, Re: Status, Re: Notify. The worm is also known to delete registry entries. Tools to remove the worm are available on the Net.

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The above story was printed in the Indian Express on Sunday 15th Feb 2009.

Goodbye TV, hello streaming - The Telegraph Calcutta (Kolkatta)

Another story done by Rahul Jayram of the Telegraph, about the trend of people watching Television shows online. I as most others, am a great fan of you tube, but with itunes having so much digital content available and high speed bandwidth availability (atleast for some of the lucky few), I have also moved quite a bit to watching digital media, than regular Television. Though a meeting with Niyam Bushan, had us discuss the penetration of Television being much higher than Print or Online, and how the next destination for all of us should be the Idiot Box, this is an interesting story.

I have highlighted my comments with in the story for my readers

Goodbye TV, hello streaming
Indians overseas can catch their favourite television shows online, reports Rahul Jayaram

It’s 10 pm on a Tuesday in Singapore. Chennai-raised company executive Laxmi Sivakumaran is itching for her favourite Tamil soap. A key moment in Selvi, the current Tamil mega serial, is set to unfold. A house is about to be divided. It’s Indian television entertainment at its melodramatic peak. What happens next?

“I log on to the Net,” chuckles a chatty Sivakumaran. “I get online and don’t even need to download the episode.”

Welcome to watching your pick of the soaps on the Internet. Sivakumaran is one among many users abroad who go online to view soaps they’re addicted to. Portals such as www.idesitv.com, www.muft.tv, www.yupptv.com, www.biggboss2.in.com and Network18’s www.in.com have become the go-to zones for Indians abroad who’ve been longing for a slice of desi masala. “I don’t have a TV, so the Web is a boon,” says Sivakumaran.

In faraway Glasgow, Scotland, Mumbai-born Rajesh Pathak, a catering professional, kept up with all the juice in episodes of Bigg Boss 2 on the show’s website www.biggboss2.in.com. “Indian TV channels are quite expensive here, so I prefer to view Indian shows online,” Pathak says. Sneha Mathur, a Mumbai-born medical student in Austin, Texas, stresses that the web is how she catches up with Indian shows. She left India in the middle of last year but caught Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’s final episodes on www.muft.tv while in the US.

The USP of most of these sites is that viewers can watch their favourite shows without having to download a video clip, courtesy video streaming — a technology that enables you to watch an audiovisual clip online. To view such a clip, you just go to a website and get registered (in most cases for free, though some have charges), click on the language of your choice, move to the TV serial link and get a list of the most recent episodes of your chosen show. Depending on the website, the quality of the clip and the strength of your Internet connection, the streaming begins. It’s also an option for those who live in India but have missed an episode of their favourite show.

However, the bulk of these sites resides in a shadowy zone as far as the legality of their uploaded content goes. While there are no figures to establish how many users actually avail of these services, technology and cyber legal experts admit that it is as well-established a phenomenon as downloading films and music from the web.

“These websites are culpable under the Information Technology Act of 2000,” says cyber affairs lawyer Pavan Duggal. “But this law basically takes into consideration e-commerce-related electronic data and information issues. When this law was framed in 2000, few were concerned about matters pertaining to uploading videos of TV channel shows,” he says. “People can be charged with hacking, or with streaming illegal content or violating copyright. But cases are few and far between as it’s very difficult to catch portal hosts.”

Gagandeep S. Sapra, technology columnist and CEO of System 3 Group, Delhi, adds that users can’t be identified unless they are using a credit card for payment. “Second, who will share this information with the authorities? The biggest problem is that users don’t know whether this is fair play or piracy and hence litigating the user becomes very difficult.” The Telegraph technology columnist Tushar Kanwar points out that most of these websites have been put up outside India and under fictitious identities.

Clearly, it’s not easy for television channels to take action. “We routinely put out legal notices to websites to take down content which infringes on our copyright. However, many such websites are very difficult to trace and may be registered in jurisdictions where copyright enforcement is extremely difficult,” admits Sameer Rao, senior vice president (strategic planning and commercial) of STAR India.

Giving a fillip to the phenomenon is the fact that video streaming is as easy as uploading a video on a Facebook profile. For the former, the connection is between the user’s computer and television set, instead of a digital camera and a computer.

To upload TV show episodes, the TV and the computer need to have compatible TV tuner cards. Once the connection is set, and as a serial begins live on TV, it starts getting converted into a video file on the user’s computer. When the video file is complete and transferred to the PC, the user logs in to any of the websites mentioned where he or she is a registered member and uploads the video. Most users, it appears, upload just for the fun of it — though some websites may hope to make money from advertising if they can capture enough eyeballs.

In the case of websites such as www.biggboss2.in.com, there are daily uploads of the current day’s episodes. Other websites, including www.yupptv.com and www.idesitv.com, upload serials more irregularly.

To combat unlicensed streaming, STAR hopes to put up its own shows on approved websites. Rao says the channel has entered into licensing deals for their content with several established websites such as www.rajshri.com, www.mypopkorn.com, Bigflix and Eros to show both full length episodes and clips.

Some TV channels, in fact, believe online video streaming can lead to an increased global reach. “We’re going to see a growing merger between multiple media platforms such as Internet and TV. In a bid to expand our reach abroad, we have tied up with outlets like BigFlix.com to stream some of our programmes so that legally registered viewers can view them,” says Gaurav Gandhi, executive vice-president, business operations and content sales, NDTV Imagine.

Sapra stresses that video streaming is on a high. “India will soon see this come up in a big way. We’re soon going to be in a situation where two years from now you’re riding on the Delhi Metro, have high speed Internet available on the train, and then watch TV on your hand held PDA, laptop or cell phone, without having to download — that’s the potential of streaming. TV sets are going to have a hard time selling,” he says.

“The distance between the TV and the PC appears to be collapsing,” says Kanwar. Sapra adds there are “very exciting days ahead.” Laxmi Sivakumaran would raise a toast to that. Selvi is just a click away.

--
The above article appeared in the Telegraph Calcutta Edition, on January 11, 2009, and the rights for this story lie with The Telegraph. I am not an author of this story, it is replicated here, only for the purpose of reference to G-Spot readers.

Laptop Nanos - Telegraph Calcutta (Kolkatta)

The Tata Nano brought in the revolution to mini / small / sub notebooks. The Atom Revolution. Rahul Jayram, with the Telegraph had done a wonderful story in August 2008, that I forgot to publish here on the blog. The Story had my interview / comments in it, and I have highlighted those in the middle of the blog post for my readers, who don't get the Telegraph

Vikas Kumar, 32, a middle-level executive at an information technology (IT) company, all too often hits the road. Little surprise then that the Delhi-based Kumar has long had a love affair with computers and has saved up money to buy a laptop, perhaps a Dell Inspiron. But now that he has heard of low-cost laptops and computers that are soon to hit the stores, he’s prepared to wait. “There’s every chance of computer prices crashing, so I'll bide my time” he says.

Kumar is being prudent. In a bid to reach out to the mass market, computer makers have embarked upon a quest for lower priced personal computers and laptops.

In January, Chennai-based Novatium Solutions launched a Rs 4,999 desktop called netPC and has now inked a distribution deal with state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. On June 23, software giant Intel launched what was perhaps the world’s smallest processor, the Intel Atom processor, which will power low-cost desktops (called Nettops) and super-light laptops (called Netbooks).

To begin with, the Nettops and Netbooks will be produced by three Indian companies. While Zenith is already out with its Nettop PC, Wipro and HCL are readying to storm the market with Nettops and Netbooks. A Netbook will carry price tags of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 while the bill for a Nettop will range from Rs 11,000 to Rs 15,000. The prices will be considerably lower than the current prices of a desktop, which now costs about Rs 35,000, and a laptop, which comes for about Rs 45,000, both depending on the configuration.

“The point about low cost computers is about entering the Indian household. There are only around 8 million home PC users in India, while around 30 million people still go to cyber cafes,” says the Mumbai-based entrepreneur and co-founder and chairman of Novatium, Rajesh Jain. “Low-cost computers like the netPC will make cyber cafe users buy these computers. The way to make that happen is by entering the market with a dramatic entry price point.”

The company has already sold around 7,000 netPCs. “We are looking at penetrating 100,000 households in the current financial year,” exults Jaideep Kohli, chief operating officer of Novatium in Chennai. Kohli is also clear that the Rs 4,999 product is aimed at the mass market. “The netPC is a simple, hassle-free machine to be used by children, youngsters and home makers.” So it doesn’t have a central processing unit (CPU), software, hard disc and random access memory (RAM). “All these reside in the central server at the administrator’s end,” Kohli explains.

Netbooks and Nettops fall in a different bracket. Though cheaper than most existing desktops and laptops, they’re not as inexpensive as netPCs. Netbooks are also small and convenient to carry around.

“The Intel Atom will lead to the availability of a range of affordable Netbooks and Nettops. These devices, enabled with broadband connectivity, will help bring the Internet and basic computing experience to many more people in India,” says R. Sivakumar, managing director, sales and marketing group, Intel, south Asia.

Rajesh Gupta, director, sales and marketing group, Intel, south Asia, Mumbai, explains that Intel wants to expand the availability of computers and the Internet to smaller towns such as Raipur and Rajkot. So it has been working with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). “In the interiors of states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra, we have a tie up with BSNL service providers. They are computer sellers and also our direct sales agents. So the BSNL outlet becomes a one-stop shop to get these basic computers and a broadband connection,” says Gupta.

The Netbook is light — 1.2 kg, versus a standard mainstream notebook’s 2.5-3 kg — and small, with a 10-inch screen size (versus screen sizes of 15-17 cm in regular laptops). It has a 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HDD and XP Home with an integrated web camera. It will be Wi-Fi enabled (by next year WiMax enabled also). That means you can use it without wires. And you can make phone calls over the Internet free of cost with software that enables you to do so.

The big question, of course, is whether the new laptops and desktops will grab hordes of buyers. Bangalore-based Ashok Tripathy, head, personal computing division, Wipro, believes that Netbooks are just right for first-time buyers, or those looking for simple Internet use and portability. “These Netbooks are ideal for people who want to surf, who want a second notebook at home, for travellers who want a light machine or for people who do office applications, e-mail and not too high-end computing,” he says.

Some technology experts, however, are sceptical. “The availability of lower powered machines at great prices will expand computer usage,” says Gagandeep S. Sapra, technology columnist and CEO of System 3 Group, an IT infrastructure and consulting firm in Delhi. “But to sell it you’d have to fight the typical Indian mindset. We think if it’s expensive, it’s good; if it’s cheap, it’s bad. The bada hai toh achchha hai mentality is difficult to overcome.”

Diptarup Chakraborti, an analyst at IT research and advisory firm Gartner Research, Mumbai, is not impressed by the prices. “At Rs.20,000-25,000, Netbooks don’t come all that cheap,” he says.

But Nettops are, and Vikas Kumar can go out and buy a laptop that may just be the industry's version of the Tata Nano.

--
The above story appeared in the Telegraph Calcutta, news Paper on August 3, 2008. The Story has not been written by me, and I am not claiming to be the owner of the Story. All rights for this story are reserved with The Telegraph.

How to Reset Internet Explorer Settings

Malware / Viruses at times change the settings of Internet Explorer to change your start page and your search page. At times you don't notice this, and when you do, cleaning your pc using your antivirus will remove the worm, but the settings of Internet explorer remain the same, and hence your startup / search page are the ones that the worm wanted. To reset the settings, follow step by step

IE6

1. Close IE and all other applications on your PC
2. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop
3. Choose 'Properties'
4. Click the 'Programs' tab
5. Click the 'Reset Web Settings' button
6. Click 'Apply'
7. Click 'OK'

IE7

1. From the Internet Explorer menu, click Tools | Internet Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Reset.
4. On the Reset Internet Explorer Settings window, select Reset.
5. Click OK to exit the Internet Options menu
6. Close Internet Explorer and restart it for changes to take effect.

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How To Disable Autorun in Windows

Removable USB/thumb drives use the Autorun feature to load files when the drives are plugged into the USB port. Malware exploits the Autorun feature to spread from thumb drive to PC. Disable the autorun feature to prevent malware from spreading.

# The easiest and most effective means to truly disable autorun can be done via this simple autorun registry hack:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\Autorun.inf]
@="@SYS:DoesNotExist"

To use this method, Open Notepad and copy/paste the following into a text file:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\Autorun.inf]
@="@SYS:DoesNotExist"

Save the file as something.reg. (You have to be sure to change the "Save File as Type" to "All Files" before saving, or Windows will try to save it as a .txt even if you typed in .reg.

Locate the file you just saved and double-click the file to run it. You will receive a prompt asking if you want to add the data to the registry. Click yes to allow the modification.

The above method nulls any request for autorun.inf and works on XP Home or Pro, as well as Windows Vista

There are many other ways of disabling autorun, but this is by far the simplest.

G

I suck at Presentations (Read Power Point) Do you ?

Everytime someone told me, I need to make a presentation, I shook, it was stage fright, but as a Business owner, speaker, I have had to make my way around it.. This is something I have always done, get 3 Slides

Slide1: MY Name / Contact Info
Slide2: What am I speaking about (This is constantly on the screen when I am speaking)
Slide3: End, Thank you

Simple, very Zen, but does not work for all situations, situations when someone says, hey, can you email me a presentation.. NAAAA

I have always been a speaker, put me up there and let me speak, I will make sure you know what I mean, and what my story is.. but then.. making sure you have presentation skills is important.

I have been recently reading Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen Blog, and the Video below, from a Talk at Google makes you really see how to make a presentation happen.

So if you, like me, suck at presentations, take out an hour, and see this video.



This event took place on March 21, 2008, as a part of the Authors@Google series.

Nightmare - Acer Aspire One (AAO) Not Booting / No POST

Shocked / Screwed / ***k, what the ****, why .. why,,,, mar gaya, oh sh~t

That was the expression for me Thursday night. I had to travel to Suryavilas, in the Hills for a meeting, and my AAO (Acer Aspire One), stopped Booting, Switching on at 3AM in the morning. The machine is still under warranty but hey, I had a Train at 7:40 AM in the morning, and knowing the way Acer Handles RMA / Repair, I knew they would take 7 days to even move from their ***. So, what was the option, take my macbook along, or go without a laptop.. after all it was just for a day.. but this tech junkie, could not sleep.. a few minutes of googling around, brought me to a lot of other users making posts on similar problem faced, and then, yahoo (sorry Google), a solution found.

Turns out, this is a Bug with the Firmware, but luckily our friends at Acer, built in a recovery method, not sure if this is legal / legit, and it will not hamper my warranty, but it was the only solution available to me at 3:15 AM

Thanks to *macles, here is the excerpt, of what I did

1. Get a seperate Windows Laptop
2. Get a Thumb Drive (Pen Drive / Memory Stick)
3. Format the Thumbdrive (Dos / FAT Partition)
4. Downloaded the Latest Bios from Acer Taiwan
5. Downloaded UnetBootIn and installed it
6. Ran UNETBootIn with my Thumbdrive connected to seperate (working) windows laptop and made it bootable using FreeDos (see Screenshot below) / remember drive letter maybe different in your case



7. Copied the .fd file extracted (version number will change) to Thumbdrive, and renamed it to ZG5IA32.FD
8. Copied Flashkit.exe (extracted from downloaded bios) to the Thumbdrive
9. Ejected and Inserted the Thumbdrive into Powered off Acer Aspire One
10. Connected Both battery and AC adapter (I had as usual, taken out the battery, tried to switch it on only with AC Adapter, then left everything disconnected for sometime)
11. Press Fn+Esc, keep it pressed and press the power button to turn the AAO on
12. When the power switch light started blinking after a few seconds, released Fn+ESC keys
13. Pressed Power Switch Again
14. Waited Patiently for 5 Minutes
15. Power Button Stopped Blinking (oh my god, yeh kya ho raha hai)
16. Machine Booted, thanked Google, my lucky stars, and Macles
17. Made Sure, I write this Blog Post on my return

AAO, you rock, but hey, if this bug hits, you.. you have the solution here.

G

Virus ahead: stay clear

Better safe than sorry. Here’s how to avoid virus attacks
Virus, the very word evokes hate and fear. Every time I hear about one, I hate the guys who made it. It is said that the first computer virus was made by a disgruntled employee in a large software company. But that is history. The fact is that as long as there is piracy on the Net and takers for it among us, our PCs will remain vulnerable to viruses.
I have often joined debates on what virus makers get from their misdemeanours. Is it just the kick, or is there a financial benefit? Conspiracy theories are aplenty and many believe viruses are created by Anti-virus manufacturers.

Today, I will stay away from the economics of viruses and advise you on how to fight the scourge. Since I have already told you how to clean your PC, I will concentrate on how to make sure you do not get infected. Let’s start with four golden rules:
*Stop downloading pirated music / videos / software.
*Stop borrowing software/MP3s etc downloaded by your friends.
*Have a clear policy on using all portable media.
*Know how to browse safely on the Internet.

VIRUS BUSTERS: First, if you think you are not infected, you should immediately get a good antivirus. Many basic anti-virus programmes are available for free edition such as the AVG Free (free.avg.com), while others have trial editions which can be downloaded without any payment. I find that Kaspersky (kaspersky.com) and Bit Defender (bitdefender.com) work as well as McAfee or Symantec Norton Anti-virus. If your budget permits, buy a genuine CD, make sure you register it in your name, and set a reminder to renew the license.

REGULAR UPDATES: Regularly update Windows and Internet Explorer. Schedule your computer to update at least once a week or once a month. That particular night, leave it online for updates.
SCAN DEVICES: From now on, whenever you connect an external device—a cellphone, MP3 player, camera, memory card or thumb drive—scan it with your anti-virus program. I know this requires a lot of patience, but let me assure you it will only save time and money at the end of the day.

USE CDs: Though writeable CDs have become cheaper, many of us have graduated to pen drives. But the CD still has an advantage: it can’t be infected once written. So, if you want to share data take it on CDs, at least you won’t bring home an infection.

FIREWALLS: To make sure you surf the Net safely, opt for an anti-virus with Internet security, or activate the Windows firewall. Alternatively, you can download a free firewall from zonealarm.com.
BROWSE SAFE: If you are browsing sites that offer free downloads of smileys and themes, chances are they are also downloading malware. There has been a long discussion about how Internet Explorer is susceptible and Firefox is not. But, the new generation of IE is smarter and an update will save you too. Though Firefox is faster and has better security, it’s better to play safe and consider each warning seriously. Remember, like with biological viruses, you have to play it safe with digital ones too.

--
The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 8th February 2009.

Why Should I pay for My Meal ? Sh. Lalu Prasad ji Aapki Rai Kya Hai ?

The meal that is served to you in a Train Journey, is either paid for, in the ticket (part of the ticket price), or you pay for it (In case you travel by 2nd Class / Sleeper AC).

This time around, I saw a few things, sorry for not bringing pictures of everything

Glass for Water, BRANDED and Sponsored by VODAFONE
After Mint, BRANDED and Sponsored by Wrigleys (They even went to include a Pamphlet of How Wrigleys is Good for you)
Tray Napkin, some Third Party
Napkin to Wipe your Hands, Wrigleys.

So if you are My Dear Mr. Prasad, Making money with the advertising, why oh why, should I pay for my MEAL ?


Other than this, Most of the restaurants, and Gyms now have those FLASH MEDIA and other company's Ads playing all the times. I pay for using those services. WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR MY MEAL, IF YOU ARE MAKING MONEY OF ADVERTISMENT, IS YOUR BUSINESS ADVERTISING, OTHER SERVICES, OR SELLING ME YOUR GOODS ? WHY OH WHY

Your Thoughts ?

Will This Help Clean the Railways Washrooms in India

While travelling by Train the other day, I had to badly use the washroom in the coach, and if you have ever travelled by Train in India, god forbid you have to use one of these, they are dirty, smelly and wet. I was wondering, how would it be, if this sticker, instead of being inside the washroom is on the door, with a button, I Agree, and you are legally required to follow these instructions.

People who choose not to agree, should not use the Washroom. Much more like the software, I agree EULA (end user license agreement)

Your Thoughts ?

PS: BTW the underlines that you see, are not something done by me.. I think another irritated passenger with the messy washrooms. Want to know the Train Name (Shatabdi Express to Kalka, starting at Delhi, Picture Took, half an hour after the train left).

Ultimate Music - Review / Bose Wave Music System

The Bose Wave Music System is expensive, but then it’s worth every penny
LAST year, I went to a Bose outlet and reviewed their Wave Music System. But the price tag did not justify writing about it. That was until last week, when I actually splurged and bought myself one, only to be proved wrong in my earlier judgement. Now, I know that if you are a music fan, and would like your music the way it is supposed to be and not reproduced the way your player wants, and don’t want to keep spending on better speakers, amplifiers and so on, then you should also walk into a Bose showroom and do what I did.

I have to accept that Mr Amar Bose has got it right, and no one, trust me, no one, can come even close. If you are a tech junkie, then you may not really be pleased with Bose’s KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle, but spend half an hour with the system — make sure you take your favourite CDs to the Bose Showroom when you go for the demo and not MP3s — and your opinion will change. The system plays MP3s, but data is lost in encoding such files and they never sound as good as original CDs.
The Wave Music System, has a CD player, plays MP3, and can store six preset FM and 6 preset AM stations. Nothing great you might say. So, what’s the take? What do I like other than the sound reproduction quality?

I love the speed with which it reads CDs, even MP3s, and changes from one track to another. The menu is simple, there is nothing much one can really screw up here — if the music sounds good, how many times are you going to adjust the treble or bass? The FM tuner is great — it is the first one that works inside my bedroom without an external antenna.

The station memory, clock and alarm settings are saved to a crystal clock inside — if you lose power in the middle of the night, it remembers the settings, though the alarm will not play. To add to the effect, the display dims when you turn off the room lights, and brightens as you turn them on. The other fine feature is that you can choose what music or station plays when it wakes you up in the morning. It uses a function called ramp up, which gradually increases the volume of the music, so you wake up gently and not startled out of your sleep.

The system is also child-proof in many ways, as there are no buttons on the player, just an LED panel that displays, time, song title, track and other information, two speakers with Bose’s wave guide technology and a simple slot load CD drive. I also like the fact, that the FM radio supports radio data service, which means that if your channel is transmitting information like station name, song title, artiste and album, the radio will display this in place of the frequency.

It’s not that I like everything about it. At the Bose store they have a stand for the remote control, I wish I had one. The player can’t play OGG, a multimedia container format, files and this is really bad, especially when we are talking about high quality music reproduction. And, I don’t like the fact that you have to pay Rs 7,763 for the iPod dock. But that is about it.

I wanted the silver version of the Wave Music System, but they have stopped producing it — the company now sells just white model (which tends to get dirty fast) and the black one, which I opted for. At Rs 33,638, I think the player is worth every penny.

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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 1st February 2009