Longest TS session ever

Troubleshooting can be one hell of a PITA. But there is also this sense of accomplishment when all goes well. With nothing going, job or college, all I'm left with is an internet connection and some books to kill time with. Nayeem brought in his Dell laptop two days ago... the Vista OS wouldn't boot. The boot files had gone corrupt apparently. He wanted a clean reinstall but with the data backed up. It took about 5 hours for the full install. I've illustrated the process in the flowchart below.

DJ NYK: A fresh new start?

Indian remixes struck me as being vocal heavy or too garish. Some Djs like Suketu and Aqeel(and Bally Sagoo long before that) gave us a few hits but have long gone silent. One is busy doing gigs and no new productions and the other is getting high and bloated.

Bhaiya introduced me to this new album, Absolute NYK by newcomer(relatively) DJ Nikhil Sahni a.k.a DJ NYK. The beats are awesome and synced perfectly to the vocals. There are only about 18 tracks but they're playing on loop on my player now.

Sajna aa bhi ja(donno what movie it is from) has some awesome vocals and equally peppy beats to match.

This is the first "Indian" post on my trance thread.


Sajna Aa Bhi Ja Vs Milano ( Dj Nyk Mashup Mix ) by djnykproduction

New train to Manuguru!

Announced two years ago by Lalu, it took it's sweet time coming. The new train Secunderabad-Manuguru Superfast is now a reality and flags off on it's first journey today. The details are vague but going by the new time table, it takes about an hour less for the full journey. The tri-weekly schedule is a dampener for many and the odd timings(starts at 1905 from Secunderabad and reaches at 0230!) are not helping either. One the plus side, we no longer have to make do in a meagre 6 bogies for the Machilipatnam express to drag.

http://indiarailinfo.com/train/13997

http://indiarailinfo.com/train/13996/835/2648

So a new engine, more bogies, faster speed.... can't wait to check it out!

Samsung Galaxy Tab: Video Overview

Bhaiya got himself a new toy last month. Samsung's foray into the hot-and-happening tablet market, Galaxy Tab is a refreshing new device from the giant . Samsung's forte has always been heavy marketing and they left no stone unturned in India(rotten Apple snubbed us, remember?). There are network packages too with Aircel doing well. I've been meaning to play with it for a while but with the CEED exam coming, I thought better of it.

This is not a review per se. Just some observations by a rookie. There are too many reviews out there by too many biggies. This is kindof a like a "local" review but better than "kya tablet hai baap!!!"

The device. First thing that strikes is the solid build. The weight is just perfect and the plastic top notch. the four touch sensitive buttons on the botton are responsive but the glass on the front bezel is a fingerprint magnet. Steve Jobs called 7 inch tablets "Dead on Arrival"...to hell with him! I think 7 inch is just the right size to pack it away in a jacket, backpack or even a purse. Try doing that with an iPad. The back is a glossy white with some text on the bottom. I'd have preferred black anyday.

To review a device, it's applications are taken into consideration. Tablets are a problem. There are no applications for tablets that make them indispendible. Not that I know of anyway. So I made this list of things tablets do better and tried them on the Tab:

- Videos: One word. Awesome. Though the format suppport needs improvement(one FW update away) there isn't really much to complain here. Youtube on my 2mbps wifi had trouble with HD but the videos played fine. The 1024 x600 screen is a a tad on the lower side but for a 7 inch screen it's good enough.

- Sketching: Still looking for a tab optimised App from the appstore so watch this space.

- Browsing: Browsing is a mixed bag. The inbuilt browser does a pretty neat job but flash heavy content is laggy. I was thinking it was my connection that was at fault but other biggie reviewers who said the same thing can't be wrong.

- Gaming: Android has some very good games for android phones but it narrows down condesiderably when it comes to optimised apps for tab's 7 inch screen. Angry birds was wicked fun on the Tab. Need For Speed plays awesome too. The control looked a little too rigid but overall it is a fun experience(watch the gameplay on my overview video)


I only got about a day to play with this baby so I'll keep it short. Bhaiya himself told me a few issues he's faced with the device which I'm listing down under pros and cons.

Pros:
- Compact with great build.
- Responsive, bright touch screen.
- Latest Android OS.
- GSM SIM slot.

Cons:
- Needs Samsung kies to enable USB mass tranfer mode.
- PDMI Connector for charging and Data(not very easy to find).
- Some apps don't scale.
- Battery nonreplacable.

I've also made a simple little overview video with text overlays for my observations. For the narration track I used Paradise Lost my M6 :-)

Back

Webcam Barcode Scanner

After fooling around with one too many Barcode software on Android, it suddenly struck me to try it on PC today. I'd already torn apart the webcam bhaiya gave me last month. Turned out, the 300k pixel count is too noisy, and the video quality worse.

I'd planned on installing it as a surveillance camera but the filed of vision was too narrow. It ended up with the rest of the junk in my DIY box.

The lens element has a rotating outer glass and I managed to manually focus it to about 2-3 cms for optimum clarity.


Then I loaded up GuruLib a flash based scanner. I scanned in a Listerine bottle which was
lying nearby and the software read the code perfectly. The item wasn't on the database but that's another issue.

It's kindof weird why there aren't any decent software out there for Windows applications....

Bliss

My first Paronator track was Sunset which was awesome. Northern Lights from the Album Flowers of Life is progressive at it's best. The slow buildup and the mild beats make it that rare track which, instead of making your legs move, makes you want to close your eyes and lie back....

Goes without saying, you need the right gear to enjoy it.... and patience.

So long, K770i

A couple of big falls, software bugs.... my Sony Cybershot K770i took them all and survived. But it was no match for a cup of garam chai. The once awesome phone is now reduced to a flickering, dying mess.

For those who came in late, I've been using this phone for over two years now and I can safely say this- it is a smartphone in it's own right. It may not run iOS or Android but it served me in every way possible for a phone. Calls, Awesome camera, music, internet... hell, even a flashlight!

After the aforementioned mishap, I opened it for cleaning but not before the whole thing had dried up. I had to use a mild solvent to wipe of the sticky sugar on the keyboard membrane and motherboard. But it was too late for the screen. The liquid had penetrated through the layers rendering it beyond repair.

After reassembly I switched it on again and was greeted with some messed up lighting on the keypad accompanied by a demo video on the screen. Then nothing. Not a single key works.

I think it's done for good now... gsmarena, here I come!