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Showing posts from September, 2007

The best mobile development platform for hobbyist programmer

This is something I have been thinking for a while so here it goes. This is a list of platforms I know of and my choice of what makes sense for a hobbyist programmer like me. Let me first list down all the possible platforms and then list down the pros and cons that I feel are associated with each platform. Java ME (The platform formally known as J2ME) Windows Mobile Linux Palm Brew Symbian Blackberry iPhone iPhone Let me start with iPhone the darling of the media and blogger's till about a fortnight. I had real expectations from iPhone as a platform but the way its been going so far I would never bother developing for it. Officially there is no SDK with which one can build applications. What ever tools the community had built have been rendered useless with the iPhone 1.1.1 software upgrade . The community might be able to hack a version for 1.1.1 but without any support from almighty apple its just a cat and mouse game. With every minor release the applications

Blog editor for the J2ME or Symbian

Lately I wanted to blog using a client application for blogger but I have been unable to find a good application. I really hate logging into the interface using my phone. I just wish I had a good phone based application that did such a thing. Lets see if I don't find one it will go into my TODO list. I will probably start an application that does this. Not sure how many people would want such an application but anything till I find one I can think of developing one myself. Also I really miss a nice little desktop blog client. All of the ones I've seen are bloated and take a while to startup. I had planned to start work on one about 2 years back but that idea went nowhere. Lets see till when I can stick with these things.

The saga of the iPod accessories by HCL

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And after getting the USB cable for the iPod I had figured out that things would turn out well. But unfortunately that is not how this story has to end. The sub standard product (iPod cable) made by HCL failed to install. This is what I get when I try and connect my iPod using it. I really don't want to start another thread of how HCL sucks . But all I can say is that the stupid cable did not work, and to top it all I threw away all the packing thinking that it will work. Now as I can do little or nothing this just goes to prove that try not to buy things online. But, but incase you do make sure you try it before you throw away the packing. Just make sure you never buy any of the cheap accessories by HCL. They are cheap in every possible sense.

Comics I like to read

These are links of comics which I love to read every morning. Wizard of id Dilbert Garfield Pearls Before Swine B.C. Brewster Rockit The list is good but there is a slight problem. I use http://my.yahoo.com to manage them. But this is turning out to be flaking these days. I can have a maximum of three comics on the homepage and that kinda sucks. So I came up with this page that lists my favorite comics on one page. I only have to open one page and all my comics are there for me to view, in a nice orderly fashion. http://vivekjishtu.com/comics

Spider Pig by Hans Zimmer

All thanks to Ananth this stupid song is stuck in my head and no matter what I try its going to remain there. The simpsons movie was great and after that this song is awesome. The music by Hans Zimmer is haunting and really addictive. Lets see till when it remains in my head/ipod. Incase you've not seen it till now here are some of the spider pig shots I got from youtube.

Future bazaar and the saga comes to an end

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To get a better perspective of this post you would have to go through " Futurebazaar sucks big time " and Future bazaar sucks big time - II . All's well that ends well or so I would want to believe. I have finally got the delivery of all the products, the wire in the photograph was delivered just minutes back. Though I have the products but I cannot help notice the quality of the products. This time future bazaar is not to be blamed. I always thought that HCL was selling Apple authorized products. I have the photograph of the original cable with the HCL cable. The HCL one looks cheap and really ugly. Though the products I have got were exactly the ones I had ordered but if I had a look at them in a brick and mortar store I doubt I would be tempted to buy them. These ones look like a cheap rip off. Well they are cheap so cannot blame them. But still I expected a little more from HCL. I also finally got the delivery of the Kingston 2GB Micro SD card. This time the lady fr

Twisting and turning in my bed

Its around 1 AM and have been in bed for the past 2 hours, I have been unable to sleep. I am typing this blog post on my phone using opera mini using a nokia E61i. So far i love the keyboard on this phone. I also love the huge screen and wifi. UPDATE: This post was written when I was unable to sleep so it hardly makes any sense whatsoever. Though I still like my phone.

Boosting the volume in VLC

Just a quick tip in increasing the volume to 400% in VLC . Press Ctrl + Up Arrow to increase the volume of a movie/song to upto 400%. I was just watching a movie right now but the overall volume was low so went looking out for a way to increase the volume and this is one cool hack for movies, while watching them on a laptop.

Future bazaar sucks big time - II

Continuing on with my woes with future bazaar I have still not received the goods. I am still waiting for the call they promised, but thankfully I got an email. I have changed the color to red to lay emphasis on the reason for delay. Dear Vivek , Greeting from Futurebazaar. com This is with reference to your Order Number: ****** on www.futurebazaar.com. We are sorry to inform you that due to certain unavoidable reasons there has been a delay from our end in dispatching the " HCL Nano Small FM Transmitter Mp3 Access "," HCL Iwoz( USB Cable) Mp3 Accessories "," HCL-Ipod Ear Phone I Bud Mp3 Accessories ". However,we are making best possible effort to deliver the product at the earliest. We regret the inconvenience caused to you in this regard and sincerely apologize for the same. Assuring you of our best services. Thank you again and enjoy shopping! For help or information please contact us via phone or email. Email: support@future

Futurebazaar sucks big time

I have been holding myself back for a long time now. I don't want to bring anyone down but given the kind of service FutureBazaar provides I have been forced to write this blog post. Hopefully someone at FutureBazaar reads it and figure out the poor service they provide. I bought a Nokia E61i from them around 3-4 months back and it took 25 days to be delivered. After numerous calls I finally got the mobile. I paid Rs. 1500 over the market price for a phone and it was delivered after 25 days and to top it all the free 2 GB Micro SD card was missing. I again checked the website and all evidence of the 2GB card was erased but luckily for me I had taken a screen shot of the web page when I had ordered it. I called them up and they acknowledged that they had removed the 2GB offer but since it was advertised when I had ordered it they would provide me the card as and when they have it. After a few weeks they sent a 2GB SD Card . The dimwits at futurebazaar had sent a SD Card inste

The addictive line game

I rarely play games but I really liked this game. You can play this game in fullscreen . The game is really addictive.

Apple giving $100 credit to early iPhone buyers

Last night I was thinking about the apple fiasco. And wow they have really done what I was thinking. I was somehow sure that apple would give out a discount coupon or something similar and all the fanbois would be happy. Not that its apple's problem but I somehow felt that giving a $100 rebate just makes sense. The apple sheeps have to buy more apple products in sense Apple keeps their flock happy. In a way I've started thinking like Steve Jobs :) but I guess this was the best way to deal with this situation. I really love the way this whole fiasco has been managed. In the end everyone is happy. The fanbois get a $100 rebate, apple still gets to keep its flock intact. Just to clarify had this been done by Microsoft the same boi's would be running out with their torches and trashing it right left and center. And the $100 would be way too little. I love the way things are for Microsoft and Apple.

Multiple ID's with Yahoo

You can create multiple email ids on yahoo, and all the emails will end up in the same email address. To create more yahoo ids goto http://edit.yahoo.com/config/list_alias?.src=ym Log into your primary email account and you can create more email ids. All the mails will go into your primary account. So if you are stuck with nameless321_2000@yahoo.com you can finally change it to firstname.lastname@yahoo.com All your mails will still land into nameless321_2000@yahoo.com but you can give out a better looking email address. I saw this last year and somehow forgot the URL. This post is more of a bookmark for myself.

Just got a mail from Hajia Mariam for a shot at $12.6 million

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Normally these mails land in the Spam folder so I rarely get to read them. But today this landed right in my inbox. And since I spent 2 minutes reading it and it seems so funny I could not help but post it here. Reply to all Forward Print Add Hajia to Contacts list Delete this message Report phishing Show original Message text garbled? from Hajia Mariam reply-to hajai_mariam0@yahoo.com.hk to undisclosed-recipients <> date Sep 1, 2007 6:14 AM subject Please Reply ASAP With Your Telephone Number. Hello.. Due to the sudden death of my husband General Abacha the former head of state of Nigeria in June 1998, I have been thrown into a state of hopelessness by the present administration.I have lost confidence with anybody within my country. I got your contacts through personal research, and had to reach you through this medium. I will give you more details when you reply. Due to security network placed on my daily affairs I cant visit the embassyso that is why I hav