The Beast – TB (Tera Byte)

 

Latest addition to my gizmos – Seagate FreeAgent 1TB – Classic Desktop Drive

Finally I bought it. I was thinking about this one for quite some time now. Is that true ? Not really. I wasnt thinking about buying 1TB drive. But I was surely bothered by my data lying scattered at 4 different places ( 2 IDE’s, 1 mobile drive, my laptop, and pen drive). I was surely looking for a solution – storage solution.

 

Seagate 1 TB Classic Desktop Drive

I looked at 

Western Digital – My book versions – some of them have RAID support too but were equally expensive.

Maxtor – One touch 4 plus  - has a cool backup software.

Seagate – FreeAgent Pro – Firewire ports & Advanced backup software

Transcend – Portable 320 GB drive

Seagate – FreeAgent 1TB Classic Desktop drive.

I also considered NAS (Network Attached Storage) solutions but i guess those have to wait for now.

Finally i chose the product that offered maximum capacity and at a lowest price & that was Seagate FreeAgent 1TB Classic Desktop drive. It cost me a heavy 10,500 Rs.

But then these drives have a big big disadvantage. They are not so portable drives. And require external power for operation. To ward off against the power blues, i.e voltage fluctuations and electricity cuts, I bought an accessory to support my 1TB beast …. APC 500 KVA UPS.

Infact, APC is good looking and very smart. It has nice, neat and no nonsense looks + it has 2 separate sections Surge Protection & Battery plus Surge Protection. Also in the Surge Protection area, i do not need to switch the UPS ON and still it completes the circuit if anything is plugged into. That means I can plug in my computer based TV, Printer etc into the surge protection area and need not switch my UPS ON for these devices to work.

 

APC 500 KW UPS

I worked around 7 hours continously with the beast and it worked without generating any noise or heat. 

Though the software that comes with the drive left a lot to be desired. It has backup option which is quite simple but is minimalistic to say the least. It doesnt backup hidden files & folders. No option to schedule a shutdown after the backup is complete. I am sure, as i use it more, i will find many more features that are missing in the software.

All in All, a good buy and a good experience & for the statisticians, my drive is 77% empty as of now. ! It should serve me a long time. ! Why not? TB is not a small denomination. !

-livin.

Nokia E51

This is not an entry i planned, but I am forced to write this. I am forced by the sheer joy coming out of the usage of this phone. (Did i say this phone?)

I bought Nokia E51 last sunday i.e 20th April 2008. And it has been a revelation since then.

Nokia E51

Let me describe the sources of joy or the features.

Nokia E51 belongs to the E Series /Business Series of Nokia. (http://asia.nokia.com/A4183017 or http://www.nokiaforbusiness.com/)

The Phone has multitudinous features. To get a glimpse go here
http://www.nokia.co.in/A4598141

It supports/sports
- S60 3.1 Edition (Symbian based phone)
- GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100 MHz.
- 3G, HSDPA, or WLAN connection

- 2 megapixel camera
- FM Visual Radio
- Video streaming and playback with H.264 (MPEG-4), 3gpp, and Real codecs
- Video recording in H.263 (3gpp) and MPEG-4
- 2″ (240 x 320 pixels), active-matrix color display supports up to 16 million colors

- Push to talk feature
- Email with support for POP3, IMAP4
- Email client
- (x)HTML web browser
- GPRS/EGPRS (Class A, multi-slot class 32)
- HSDPA (high-speed downlink protocol access) up to 3.6 Mbit/s (3G)

- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, Infra Red

- Quickoffice (Word, Excel, PPT)
- Adobe PDF Reader
- Printer support
- Zip Support

- Good Battery life

The phone opens an infinite number of possibilities. I will show how.

All the following feature requires 3G/Wi-Fi/GPRS connection.
Fact 1: I have a Wi-Fi connection at home and office both.

1. I have installed Gmail client application. I can access my email/ write mails on the move.

2. Installed Google Maps. I can see all the maps and routes on my phone.

3. Fringe – !!! – This is a google talk client/ MSN and Skype rolled into one. With this I can make VOIP calls free of cost. i.e using my skype account on my phone. I can also talk over gtalk and text chat too with my friends – all this on the move.

4. World Mate application – It tells me time around different cities of the world. Converts currencies, gives me weather updates (voice based). Paid features includes updated flight informations.

5. Wattpad allows me to read ebooks on my phone.

6. Video player allows me to watch movies/clips on my phone. Video recorder allows me to make movies.

7. Youtube allows me to see streaming video – directly on my phone.

8. Oxford dictionary allows me to do what a dictionary does.

9. I can see the ppts, docs, pdfs, xls all on my phone and edit them.

10. I can browse the whole world wide web on my phone.

11. The best of all – (i saved it till the end) – Virtual Radio – It allows me to hear Live Kirtan From Shri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar – Live – all the time – on the move directly on my phone. !!! What better can i ask for.

There are 100’s of other features which I have still not used. I am still in the discovery mode. But it has been such a pleasurable journey.

Moreover, While using all the above, I have felt that this smartphone is just like a mini laptop in my hands. I have felt with so much of ease. It has never given a hint of problems while doing all of this. It has been superb.

And all of this, with just a cost of 11599 INR or 289$.

Nokia rocks… !

-CD>

- Well, the bad news is that I lost all the contacts in my previous phone. Kindly be generous to share your contact number(s) with me at chetandeep.singh@gmail.com

- (Please help me in my discovery by telling me more applications/resources which I can use on my phone). The comments/suggestions are most welcome.

PGSEM 2008

Test for admission (not the sole entry criterion i.e scores of CAT AND GMAT also work) to PGSEM course by IIMB was held this sunday i.e 2nd March 2008.

Around 1000 young and old experienced geeks had thronged Christ College, Hosur Road, Bangalore on a relatively bright morning with a lot of less traffic on the roads well known for chaotic traffic.

Test started at 10:00 instead of scheduled 9:30. And it had 2 parts. We were all accustomed to 1 part exam but this time it had a surprise element… 1/2 hour Subjective type Case analysis question… Now how’s that… !

10:00 to 12:00 was a usual objective type test divided into 3 sections having 115 questions in all.

Test in brief

Part 1 – Objective type

Section 1 : English 30 questions: 3 RC passages(3*5 = 15 questions), 5 Parajumbles, 5 Vocab usage questions, 5 Sentence correction questions.

Section 2: DI/LR: 30 questions :2 logical reasoning, 4 DI types, 1 Set theory based.

Section 3: Quant: 20*1 markers = 20 questions. 5*2 markers = 5 questions, 10 marks

Overall difficulty level for the whole test was quite less as compared to CAT (like CAT 2005,2006,2007). Infact it was no where near the CAT level. English was a bit tough but still far away from CAT. DI and Quant were miles miles away from CAT difficulty level.

Infact, it closely emulated the sample test paper sent by PGSEM 2 days before the test in terms of difficulty level.

But, this doesn’t mean what the pattern /difficulty level of future PGSEM’s will be. It may be as tough as CAT next year or may not be.

Sectional Details:

Section 1: English

This was the first RC:
“”
The moving parts inside your cells
World’s smallest motors, springs and ratchets propel the engines of life
By Kathleen Wren
Science
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077512/
“”

Second RC: Didnt attempt so do not remember

Third RC:
“”
The Relevance of Preservation in a Digital World
Paul Conway
Head, Preservation Department
Yale University Library
http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets/6Reformatting/04RelevanceOfPreservation.php
“”

5 Easy and Moderate level Parajumbles

5 Vocab usage based questions

5 Sentence corrections

Section 2: DI/LR

2 of the DI sets were like this:

A Table with a lot of rows and columns was given.
For eg: 1st set:

rows: 1-22 numbered athletes.

columns had their ‘parameters’ like weight, chest size, height etc etc.

Now questions were like this:
How many athletes are such that weight is at max 80, height is at max 150 etc etc.
Which athlete has height less than 150, weight more than 80… etc etc

2nd set was similar just that it had different type of foods (corn flakes, raisin flakes etc etc) and parameters like fat, sugar, calories etc etc and the questions were similar to the first set.

2 LR sets were there.

One was a usual set like ABCDE r 5 friends, they do a job of XYZPQ, one more parameter GHIJK. Lot of conditions were given, we had to identify the correct pairs in these 3 sets.

2nd was similar but a tad difficult. Again 5 friends were there, they took diff exam, like JEE, CET-M, etc… and they got some ranks. We had to find out who gave what based on the given conditions.

One set was based on Set theory.

Another set, we had mobile phone SP’s subscription level in different circles. Find out the growth rates etc.

One more set was there. Don’t remember it. It has a DI based set had a table mentioning lot of data.

Section 3: Quant:

First 20 questions were 1 markers. Next 5 questions were 2 markers.

1 markers:

1. An equation in log x was given. To find the solution for x.
2. A does work in 4 days, B in 5 days etc.. When will the work get finished.
3. Tea A price is x/kg, B is y/kg. Sold on z/kg and a profit of 10% is made. Ratio had to be found out.
4. 10 persons ran in a race. In how many ways first 3 places can be took.
5. 3 equations in 3 variables were given. Had to find out whether it is case of infinite solution, no solution…
6. M is a point of intersection of a pair of lines, N is a point of intersection of another pair of lines. Had to find a new line equation for MN.
7. A gemstone of Rs 81000 broke in ratio 2:3:4. Find the loss of worth of gemstone.
8. Average weight of class of 20 students is 50. A student is replaced and average weight now is 50.25. Find the weight of new student.
9. A circle is cut out from square. Find out the loss in area.
10. 3 digit number when reversed is reduced by 297. one more condition was there. had to find out the middle number.
11. A book uses 1890 digits in printing the page numbers. find the pages of the book.

There were more questions of the similar difficulty level.

2 markers:
2 questions were function based. One was very easy other was a bit tricky.
1 question was based on area of rectangle and triangle.
1 was a magic square based question. One number was missing. sum of all rows, columns and diagonals is same. find the missing number.
1 was AP series question of +ve integers. sum of 10 terms is = the 58th term. find the smallest ‘a’.

Part 2 – subjective type case analysis.

It was 30 mins written test.

The case I got was:

Tata Nano has been recently launched. Ms Sunita Narain, Director of Centre for Science and Environment has raised some concerns over the concessions given to Tata’s in terms of cheap land, interest free captial, one time tax on car owner, infrastructure development and traffic control.

More small cars by other manufacturers are also expected.

This would add to congestion and pollution. Public transport will get a hit.

Write in max 250 words each to address the concern of Ms Sunita Narain if you were,
1. An advisor to Tata’s
2. A policy maker of India.

Hope this description of the test help the future generations, as when I was searching for the pattern/type of questions, I didn’t get them.

-CD>

V for…

‘V’ for Vendetta… nahi.. V ‘for Valentines day…

ah… ! another V’day arrives. How is it different from the previous ones… or how it will be different from the coming ones….. one difference which is quite apparent is that it was not as commercialized as it is now and it will be even more commercialized in the coming years.

On an Economic front, Valentines day is a huge success and a boost to the economy… It falls under the category of “non essential” purchases. and the most consumers are young. As they say ” Tap into them now(young), and u capture their lifestyles for entire life… non essential purchases sometimes riding on bad credit… can lead economy into a plunge… but thats not the point here…

…but on the social/cultural front, it’s a disaster. Well, I am not a fundamentalist beating the drums of ‘Indian Culture spoiled by West’. But the point is different here.

Okay, The Idea… (Ideas are bulletproof… as V in Vendetta said)… “Love is a verb and not a noun”. Love and hence the act of showing love is based on actions and not on saying “I Love You” with a red rose in a perfect ambience.

Love is a feeling which can be and has to be expressed through out the year and not on a particular date. Why wait for 14th Feb to come and then in some sort of style express ur love.

The V day we celebrate is a overly marketed concept. It is based on hype, false notions, a concept well sold by companies to love deprived consumers.

In fact, Love is God. Love is a quality, feeling and emotion which is equivalent to God as God is nothing but an unconditional love. “Love thy neighbour (especially if she’s a girl , Love thy enemy and so on… and but a Truth…

Love is universal. No bars of caste, religion, age, gender… do we see this love flowing. No. Countries go to war, people suffer. There are millions of people marred by poverty, childern by malnutrition and million other ailments. All they need is our love. Through actions and not words. And not on V day but all around the year and years to come.

It’s not that if I had been on the other side of the fence (i.e had a girlfriend), i wudnt have these thoughts. I still wud have stood my ground but celebrate V day in some other way, If i had too….. That still can be done.. like the munna does in MunnaBhai MBBS by hugging a sweeper in the college.

In this age of ultra modernationisation, we have forgotten how to love (except on V day). We are having big bungalows (okay, say posh apartments), big cars, all kind of gadgets, but we donot speak to our neighbour, or friend because he once spoke rudely to me… Is this love or arrogance? Is this humility (the greatest of all virtues)? This is false ego, based on false notions and false love.

Love should be unconditional.. like “I love because I love you. There is no reason required to love”. and under whatsoever circumstances just like God who loves us under any condition.

As an uncle told me a quote… “Agar tu mujhe paana chahta he to mere bando se pyar kar…If you(human) want to achieve me(God), the only way is… love humankind”…

The true achievement on V day wud be when we shun our arrogance, false egos and love all the humans irrespective of the social status. And love not thru words but by actions.

Disclaimer: I donot ‘hate’ V day.. as it wud be against ‘Love’ and the spirit of Love.. Infact, I enjoy the mood although artificial created by the people around me.

-CD>

Monkey vs. Maa Ki

Tests are over and the controversy too has ended. But the end to the battle off-field has been really tame. The whole thing has been reduced to the muscle power of money and power. Well, it’s good for all that the racist banner has been lifted off Bhajji but I am not convinced by the way it has ended.

The whole thing has been settled by:

1. Bhajji denying completely saying the Monkey and instead agreeing that he said “Teri Maa Ki”.

2. Symonds not remembering the exact words that Bhajji said.

3. Bindra going to watch the last test match and holding talks with CA to sort out matters.

4. Sachin and Ponting writing to the judge, urging him to reduce Harbhajan’s charges to that of using offensive language.

5. Withdrawing charges against Hogg by Indian Team.

6. Biggest of all-> BCCI holding ICC to the ransom. Remove racist tag else tour is canceled.

The main objection to this is:

Why this “Teri Maa Ki” thing came only in this hearing. Why it was not brought up in the first hearing itself. Why did Bhajji had to go thru the charges and the ban and then admitting that he said “Teri Maa Ki”.

Earlier, Bhajji had maintained a stand that he said nothing of the sort. But now what started as the internet joke reached them, this has been brought up as the main defence. I bet to anyone of the foreign language “Maa Ki” and “Monkey” wud sound pretty similar…

This shows 2 things:

1. Bhajji did say something resembling “Maa Ki” or “Monkey”. Because now he agrees saying “Maa Ki”

2. He didn’t say “Maa Ki” but “Monkey” because he didnt claim it in the first hearing.

and Moreover, if he wud have said “Maa Ki”, he wud have said “Teri Maa Di” and not “Teri Maa Ki”, because he’s punjab ka puttar and no self respecting punjabi wud abuse in any other language than Punjabi… ! It’s just because be it a person of any origin/nationality, whatever language he may speak, but while abusing… since it is instinctive..comes naturally in the mother tongue…

Well, I hold nothing against anyone.. but just logically speculating and guessing that what exactly did Bhajji say?

Coming to the Racism…I dont know what the term “Racist” means but Indian system is well known for their Caste System, Quota Reservations and lot more social stigmas…

Anyway, All well that ends well. It has certainly ended in good for all especially Bhajji, BCCI, CA and ICC. What about “Justice or Truth or Morals or Ethics”.. well, that is an endless debate especially considering that Aussies are the Masters of this game… sledging… no, Cricket I mean… !!!

Disclaimer: This piece of writing is not intended to hurts any body’s sentiments. The author apologizes in advance for any such eventuality.

Application

There are a lot of topics i would like to talk about in the coming days/months. They range from trivial to abstract issues.

For eg: “Application”, “Humility”, “Inequality”, “WiMax” , “Traffic” and more

So i would start by “Application” since this can turn out to be pretty abstract and i hope some abstract ideas don’t slip away.

Theory or Application. Which is more important? I think its similar to religion or science question because without theory there is no application and without application there is no usefulness of theory. Hence Application can be defined as “A theory put to use”.

The word “Application” has various connotations.

1. Application as in Computer applications or in today’s era Mobile Applications. These kind of applications are “enablers” for a particular technology. These act as an interface between user, who benefits by the technology, and the technology. So applications are “enablers”.

2. Continuing point 1, Applications generate revenue. Technology as such cant generate revenue but applications enabling a technology generate revenue.

3. Science has made progress in numerous fields like medicine, technology, space etc. These are all the results of Applications of a particular theory. And these applications in turn transform the lives of billions of people and humankind in general.

4. Application are the manifestations of intentions. I have an intent to do something, like taking a leave as in good old school days, i had to write an application. I have to get a phone connection, I give an application. So the blueprint in my mind, is translated into the reality through application. Still, “Enablers” of a different sort.

5. Applications as “enablers” of skills. Skills such as technical, or soft. To accomplish a task, we need to apply certain skills in a certain way.

6. Importance of Application in Cricket. The batsman has to “apply” himself in the middle, only then he get runs. Talent and ability is one thing but commiting to a cause and applying is equally important. Thats what we call ‘Attitude determines Altitude”.

Application requires a lot of intent, desire, passion, willingness, hunger, courage and most important of all self-discipline. Be it cricket, technology, or daily life, these characteristics are required for an application to be successful.

How to successfully apply or the application as in any of the above connotations, one needs to learn/develop certain skills (theory part). For eg, To be a successful manager you ought to apply certain skills in your daily interactions. So either you learn those skills, or develop the skills by experience.

Theory/Technology(Base) -> Skills(Learning) -> Applications(Doing) -> Transformation(Result)

So, lets start applying all the skills we have in our kitty and make this world/inner world a better place.

-CD>

Nano Impact

I think I am too busy to write a blog entry. The simple fact that this entry has been typed into my laptop for over a week and yet unpublished says volumes about my (un)effectivess to write a blog entry.

So without wasting further time, i would quickly finish this up and follow up with a couple of more entries.

Tata Nano has been much talked about and rightly so. The bottomline is that it’s a great idea, great design and innovation but the product has to prove itself in the market and only then it can be called a breakthrough or a revolution of sorts.

I tried to think from various angles on the impact of Tata Nano and here are the points. Mind you, these are personal thoughts and opinions. No prejudices against anyone (disclaimer).

Impact

1. The bottomline of two wheeler companies would be eroded, as more and more people will prefer buying Tata Nano rather than a bike or scooter.

2. Maruti 800 would be the worst to suffer. It has a higher price tag, an older look, less capacity (acc to the claims of Tata Nano that it even though it’s small it offers more space than Maruti 800). So why would people buy 800 when Nano is on the roll.

Concerns

Infrastructure shortage – Does India have enough Infrastructure to support a lifestyle revolution. I call it a lifestyle revolution because having a car is definitely a reflection of your lifestyle and for that matter which type of car do u own says volumes about ur lifestyle.

Anyway, coming back to the point of infrastructure. Does India have enough good quality roads.. Especially in rural areas if the revolution has to really affect the grass root levels which r still the villages.

Do we have enough parking lots? How about the traffic condition? Its already worse in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi and I bet all other cities.

About the traffic, my view is that it’s both the govt created and public created. govt created, why because of the lack in infrastructure. Why public.. Because I think we Indians lack discipline and courtesy to behave well on the roads.

So will Tata Nano affect the mindset of the people and teach them how to drive and behave in the public places. Too much to ask from a small car but still i feel that it will have some impact on the way people drive and behave. Atleast it should have.

But it can have a negative impact also. With many more cars on the road… its bound to create hell lot of traffic, accidents and frustrations for the commuters.

Having said that, by no means I want to negate any credit from Tata’s and Tata Nano. What I have just mentioned are a set of problems. Tata’s have done an excellent job and to repeat that I would sound clichéd.

More Concerns

- Petrol consumption would go high drastically. As the mileage goes down 60% if a bike is switched to Nano, petrol consumption is bound to go upwards. It will lead to increased oil prices, hike in fuel rates, increased threats from Left and instability in the political scenario.

- Pollution point is debatable as Nano meets all the emission standards and if a person switches from bike/scooter to Nano its difficult to say if it has any impact on increasing/decreasing pollution levels.

To finish of the entry, i would salute Ratan Tata, since he’s the real hero for million of Indians – persons who make difference in the life of common people – which i think is very important – given the state of inequality that plagues the world.

I sincerely hope that Nano delivers what it promises and tries to remove frustrations out of the life of million peoples.

-CD>

P.S Please feel free to comment/share your thoughts.

Here I come… back…

Well, this is supposed to be my comeback post. To start with, I had almost forgotten that I owe a blog and i ought to write. May be i was busy…. infact, I may have been lazy in the beginning but then i almost forgot it… Infact, I was surprised to c a good blog that belongs to me.

Enough of mumbling, now the real points.

I c that the last post is “Dolphins, Penguins and Tortoise”. I shall give a quick review of the things in past 1 year, so that I can make a case for comeback… afterall this is a comeback post and a comeback…

1. It was a good trip… infact, i have this feeling that whenever i leave something behind, I tend to feel nostalgic (right word?) abt it… like, Italy trip was too good. I enjoyed that part of the world… weather, food(not exactly), ppl, sight seeing… lot of memories from that trip….. as in it was a first onsite trip and as in it was Italy… and Italy is special.. (why? 1st onsite? may be…) but also because it has great tourist spots to visit…. it was 70 days trip for the record…

2. Went again in March-April07 for 19 days… same place… same ppl… but it was short and good.

3. Switch is the word.. or rather was the word at time… and after some transitions… i land up in a hip and hot world of WiMAX.

WiMAX is really hot. Recently, Cisco acquired Navini. I am not the part of both but another competitor and company with quite a legacy..Aperto Networks. It’s a small engineering team but quite competitive and I am quite bullish about our products and future revenue generating deals…

So, thats where I am.. in Bangalore. in WiMaX.. thats where the future of data communications… broadband lies…

so it shud not be far when u r reading this on a WiMAX connection and that too on Aperto’s products…

I promise to keep you posted about WiMaX and a lots more that happening over this side of life….

for now.. its goodbye from me…. and i promise to write often….

Love,
-CD>

Dolphins, Penguins and Tortoise

This sunday i visited Genova, a port city, very beautiful i must say. Excellent weather and a very cool city. The main attraction of the city: “Acquario di Genova”: A very big Acquarium, it reproduces a coastal atmosphere in 48 basins, four of which are oceanic and have two viewing levels.

It has seals, sharks, dolphins, penguins apart from countless other species, small and big. Very scenic, perfect place for photography, casual and professional both.

Do check out my “Genova” pics and Dolphin,Penguin, Tortoise movies.

And, dont forget to comment….

Ciao,

-CD>

From Milano

Hmmmm…. my first blog entry from ‘foreign’. Foreign not as in foriegn particle but from ‘Italy’ as a foriegn land.

Yes, I am in Milan(o). eggjactly in Vimercate, Milan, Italy (photo below).

It’s quite cold here as in 10-14 degrees C during the day. But during the night it drops down like a descending plane.

For the record, Stayed at a hotel (photo below) for the first 2 days.

Sunrise as from Hotel’s balcony. Sun rising here at 7:45 am. Dont know whether it will come out in Dec-Jan or will it simply freeezze.

Trying to learn Italian language. It’s fun to learn new languages. Already bought an Ingelese – Italian dictionary.

My blog entries will increase now, as i hope i wud get more time to write.

Until next time…
ciao
-CD>