tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245297462024-03-06T23:48:02.688-08:00Personal TechThoughts on some things tech...Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-12978956076122080112011-11-04T11:28:00.000-07:002011-11-04T11:28:24.129-07:00Diwali Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
Finally caught up with some reading over Diwali - here's what I read in no particular order<br />
<br />
<b>Steve Jobs' Biography by Walter Isaacson </b><br />
<br />
Must read - don't care if it gives a balanced or otherwise view. Very well written - not sure if any one else could have done justice to this book. Can understand why Steve Jobs chose Walter Isaacson to write it. If there is only one book you read this year - let it be this one<br />
<br />
<b>The Facebook Effect - David Kirkpatrick</b><br />
<br />
David's been one of my favorite technical writers - and if you want to catch up with something beyond the "Social Network" movie - go for it. Lots of stuff to learn from this one as well.<br />
<br />
Some fiction that I caught up with<br />
<br />
<b>Noah Boyd - The Bricklayer </b>- keeps you (gripped is not the right word - but it comes close) engaged and is a good distraction<br />
<br />
<b>Chetan Bhagat's new book - Revolution 2020</b><br />
If you like Chetan Bhagat's books - then go ahead and read it - don't expect anything new or different. Although the preface does not beguile the fact that you notice Chetan Bhagat's ego seems to be in an ever expanding state .. ;-)<br />
<br />
J<b>ames Patterson - Lifeguard. </b><br />
Nothing stands out from this book - but it does hold you through till the end. If you have it lying around - go for it - don't buy it though!<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-5634338839069270362011-10-25T00:00:00.000-07:002011-10-25T00:00:13.871-07:00Testlink + Google Apps Authentication<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been considering using testlink (<a href="http://www.teamst.org/">www.teamst.org</a>) for test case management at work, and one of the things I was looking for was authentication using Google Apps. (Entrib runs Google Apps). Our mediawiki site also uses Google Apps authentication and I thought it would be great if testlink also supports this (but it does not).<br />
<br />
Long story short - I was able to take the mediawiki Google Apps Authentication (actually Google Apps Authentification - yes the "fication" is what you should search for if you want Google Apps authentication with mediawiki) and integrate that with testlink. <br />
<br />
Here are the steps I did (post a comment if you want the code)<br />
- Replaced the password check with my own function that called the GoogleAuth code<br />
- If successful - retrieve the email address, First Name and Last Name<br />
- Create a user in the database with the credentials got (if the user does not exist)<br />
- Create a session and redirect to index.php<br />
<br />
Will post the code when I get the time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-83384048749274822462011-09-17T02:52:00.000-07:002011-09-17T02:52:44.345-07:00The Techcrunch "Editorial Independence" Drama<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">If you have not been following it - here are quick links<br />
<br />
Posted by MG Siegler<br />
<br />
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/06/the-end/">http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/06/the-end/</a><br />
<br />
Michael Arrington is leaving not leaving not sure<br />
<br />
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/06/editorial-independence/">http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/06/editorial-independence/</a><br />
<br />
Erick Schonfeld is the new Editor<br />
<br />
Paul Carr leaving<br />
<br />
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/16/last-post/">http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/16/last-post/</a><br />
<br />
Erick Schonfeld accepts Paul's resignation<br />
<br />
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/16/paul-i-accept-your-resignation/">http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/16/paul-i-accept-your-resignation/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-20272134563101062672011-06-09T09:56:00.000-07:002011-06-09T09:56:06.445-07:00iTunes - That's Entertainment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">That's embarrassing...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOK_YqPErCSSrdVMf2v8onSL_ggk-BLKbwfvmUxrBlXSBC0-E9WJNP6oZaNDIibwQoYCNaWAkk3wUDjhAfKj8VvpjpfTC2PstZu6-Bm4EPc0PRT3Q0JBslgGsWqaG1B6Wq_7oL5g/s1600/itunes+embarrasing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOK_YqPErCSSrdVMf2v8onSL_ggk-BLKbwfvmUxrBlXSBC0-E9WJNP6oZaNDIibwQoYCNaWAkk3wUDjhAfKj8VvpjpfTC2PstZu6-Bm4EPc0PRT3Q0JBslgGsWqaG1B6Wq_7oL5g/s640/itunes+embarrasing.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-44498408696932428112011-02-27T09:41:00.000-08:002011-02-27T09:41:59.188-08:00Boxee and the art of watching movies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.boxee.tv/htdocs/images/home/home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://www.boxee.tv/htdocs/images/home/home.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Image courtesy - www.boxee.tv)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Finally got myself a <a href="http://www.boxee.tv/">boxee box</a> (Dlink Boxee Box) after an endless discussion with myself. And the fact that my good friend and neighbor happened to be in the US at that time had absolutely nothing to do with it!<br />
<br />
Amazon did a fantastic job of delivering it in 2 business days and I had the boxee with me in 4 days from the time I ordered it!<br />
<br />
I'll be honest and say upfront that I was disappointed with the initial experience. I did use the Boxee app a lot in the US - the experience there was fantastic.<br />
<br />
Setup was good and quick - but it did take a few hits and misses for it to pick up movies from my Linkstation Live LS-CHL. Lack of DLNA (uPnP) definitely was disappointing. I had to connect to the SMB share by typing in the IP Address and then it worked fine. The fan noise is also almost a deal breaker for me. I am sensitive to noise and any humming is definitely a no-no. There's a good discussion on this elsewhere on the web...<br />
<br />
Other things that didn't go well:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>No Power-on button on the remote!</li>
<li>Standby mode just switches off the display - everything else (including the fan) is pretty much on in standby mode</li>
<li>User experience through the remote was ok - with the keyboard on the reverse side being the face-saving point</li>
<li>iPod Touch remote app did not work (still does not - need to figure out why)</li>
</ul>All was not lost however - and things started to change the moment I upgraded it to the latest version. Contrary to most folk (or at least from what I've read on the web) - I love the new interface. Since I mostly watch locally stored movies - it was a joy to watch Boxee play any format that I threw at it!<br />
<br />
I even tried an online video - it was a Nat Geo/Discovery kind of movie and it played beautifully (took a few seconds to buffer - but the video quality was great!). Even my VCD stored format plays decently through the Boxee. The browser app is a mess - but gets the job done. It is a pain moving the mouse around through the remote.<br />
<br />
For improving the boxee box experience - some suggestions I would have:<br />
<br />
- Have a sleep mode that will only be woken up by the remote<br />
- A new browser app (I might build one myself)<br />
- Power button!!!<br />
<br />
Overall the gizmodo review pretty much sums up my experience - "<a href="http://gizmodo.com/#%215697736/boxee-review-good-at-one-thing-bad-at-everything-else">Good at one thing - bad at everything else</a>". I think the box is slowly growing on me - although it is far from being a cord cutter I thought it would be... <br />
<br />
<br />
Links:<br />
http://www.boxee.tv/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-12325572023122940242011-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:002011-02-24T08:30:23.988-08:00Apple refreshes the MacBook Pro line<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
As highly rumored, Thunderbolt (earlier called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Peak">Light Peak</a>) makes its way into Apple's MacBook Pro family. A quick look at what is new:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Intel Sandy Bridge - quad core i5 and i7 on the 15inch and 17inch models (13inch gets dual core i5 and i7 options)</li>
<li>AMD Graphics (Radeon HD6490M on the 15inch and AMD Radeon 6750M on the 17inch models) Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics on the 13inch one. Goodbye NVidia!</li>
<li>HD Camera (for better Facetime)</li>
<li>Thunderbolt I/O</li>
<li>Multi-Touch Trackpad </li>
</ul>There is no Display Port (not even mini-HDMI/DVI) - and that's what's interesting about Thunderbolt (apart from "speeds up to 10 Gbps"). You can now <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/24/apple-unveils-thunderbolt/">connect devices with HDMI, DVI, and VGA over DisplayPort interface</a>s to the Thunderbolt port. Of course, this means a whole lot of HDMI/DVI/DisplayPort adapters to buy! Nothing surprising here - given Apple's penchant for getting you to always buy some kind of adapter.<br />
<br />
All other things are pretty much the same - aluminum unibody, glass display and trackpad, although an intriguing thing is that Apple has not gotten rid of the Firewire port. With Thunderbolt coming in - I would have pretty much assumed that Firewire would die out...<br />
<br />
Overall, the 15inch model looks highly tempting! I wish the 13inch one got these specs - I would have arranged for the small crack on my existing 13inch white Macbook to take its toll faster, thereby "forcing" me to upgrade ;-). <br />
<br />
On a side note the 13inch White Macbook doesn't seem to have got any serious upgrades.<br />
<br />
Which one will you be buying? <br />
<br />
Links:<br />
<a href="http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features.html">http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/24/apple-refreshes-macbook-pro-family-with-sandy-bridge-processors/%20">http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/24/apple-refreshes-macbook-pro-family-with-sandy-bridge-processors/ </a><br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-18813010006867913512011-01-30T10:01:00.000-08:002011-01-30T10:01:15.819-08:00Back to blogging!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Back to getting this updated after almost nine months (nothing symbolic here to see - move along :-).<br />
<br />
So what have I been doing you ask? Here, in no particular order, is a list of things that have kept me reasonably busy<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Switched from a full time job to a part-time consultant!</li>
<li>Gadgets - acquired an iPad (no surprises), upgraded my Macbook to 4GB RAM (no I did not buy the RAM from Apple, but it is Mac Certified), upgraded to Snow Leopard, realized that I lost iPhoto (and couldn't find the original DVD for re-installation), waited for the Mac App store to buy iPhoto, tried to buy an Apple TV (thrice, without luck and now targeting a Boxee box). Also installed iWork and am getting used to Pages, Numbers and Keynote!</li>
<li>Became a fan and avid user of <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox.</a></li>
<li>Upgraded my Broadband (BSNL) to a 4Mbps plan! I'm getting upto 3.2Mbps on that - so can't really complain. Although the upgrade process caused some downtime on the internet (1 weekend - apparently BSNL changed the username password and forgot to inform me :-)</li>
<li>Got healthy - got a bicycle, joined the gym (on and off - mostly off). </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Last, definitely not the least, Co-founded <a href="http://www.entrib.com/">Entrib Technologies</a>!</li>
</ul><br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-53675390027182048082010-04-02T19:42:00.000-07:002010-04-02T19:42:09.792-07:00iPad - Review of Reviews!<div class="MsoNormal">So the iPad has been out for a week... "No!" I hear you say - "it's out tomorrow (Saturday) - have you been smoking pot?".</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well - it's out today (Saturday) for the common masses (actually, let me correct that) - for the the "Early Apple Adopters", but it has been out for a week for some very select tech reviewers (before you start - No, I did not receive one - contrary to expectations). Hey - I can dream, can't I. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since I can't post a review here - I thought I'll do a "review of reviews". </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I got the basic list from <a href="http://theappleblog.com/2010/04/01/roundup-ipad-previews-around-the-web/">here</a> - (The Apple Blog).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here are my thoughts (in the order that I reviewed)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Read <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/technology/personaltech/01pogue.html">David Pogue's review</a> for the NY Times first. Good take on doing two reviews effectively: one from a tech perspective and the other from a layman perspective. Not much depth - but good reading. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I then moved on to <a href="http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976935-1,00.html">Stephen Fry's review for Time Magazine</a> - loved the review, if only for the complete background and the humor. Also loved Jonathan Ive's take on why No Camera, No Flash, etc. Obviously we are talking total Apple fanboi here - so not much negative. The whole review is more on philosophical lines, and I totally get where he is coming from. Makes me want to get the iPad today!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next, on to <a href="http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100331/apple-ipad-review/">Walt Mossberg's review</a>, by far the most boring review. Actually put me to sleep while reading.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362042,00.asp">PC Mag review</a> is a true technical review - listing all features in detail. Even talks about stuff like the ambient senser light detector, etc. By far the most comprehensive review out there. <b>Must read. </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Also liked the <a href="http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2010/03/dr_mac_apples_ipad_is_better_than_expected.html">Houston Chronicle review</a> - especially the quote <i>“Speaking of my wife, prior to our iPad’s arrival she said she didn’t understand why anyone would want or need an iPad. Now she just keeps saying, ‘No, you can’t have it back.’” </i>I can pretty much visualized the same scene here at home.<br />
<br />
Speaking of which, my request for an iPad got turned down by the <strike>bitter</strike> better half. Tried the - "let's get it for Mom" approach, that too didn't work as mom overheard and shot that down as well :-(<br />
<br />
Any suggestions? Need a good convincing <strike>excuse</strike> reason to get an iPad. Now!Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-12202381655502093932010-02-11T10:13:00.000-08:002010-02-11T10:18:19.957-08:00Quest for the right DNS Service<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I've (had) been using OpenDNS for the past year or so. It worked great for me in the US - and I wanted to continue using that here in India as well. This is a tale of domain names, pr0n sites (or my attempt to provide a safe internet at home), latency, youtube and privacy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To those not in the know, DNS or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System">Domain Name System,</a> essentially maps a name like www.google.com to the actual IP address of the machine(s) that www.google.com resides on. So instead of remembering 209.85.153.104 you remember www.google.com. I'm simplifying this - but it gives you a fair picture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The DNS lookup happens through a series of servers on the internet. When you configure your computer (or your router) to connect to the internet - you specify something called as a Primary DNS and a Secondary DNS (some routers even offer a Tertiary DNS). Usually these DNS servers are hosted by your ISP.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sometime down the line there came third party DNS servers like OpenDNS (<a href="http://www.opendns.com/">www.opendns.com</a>) - based on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium">freemium</a> model. Recently Google also launched their free DNS service (8.8.8.8).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The big question is - Should you be using one of these? Or do you stick to your existing DNS service.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When in the US - I had started using OpenDNS - primarily because it offered better response times, some level of adult content blocking (by virtue of not resolving said domain names), and well, I like to try out new stuff!. The adult blocking worked well in the US - but India was another story and I'll come to that in a bit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus began my quest to answer the question "Which DNS Service should I use in India". The network at home looks something like this. I setup OpenDNS - and things seem to be working fine - till I noticed youtube performance not really being upto mark. I even got my broadband speed upgraded to try and deal with that - but the problem continued.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BUT, I asked myself the same question that you're wondering - how does a DNS service make a difference to overall throughput? You're right - it shouldn't (apart from the time delay introduced due to the initial lookup), but what happens is this: If you observe the bottom of the browser window - when you click on a youtube video - you will see a series of look-ups happening - this actually will slow things down if your DNS takes time to respond to each of the look-ups. This <a href="http://consumerist.com/2009/05/mystery-solved-using-opendns-results-in-glacial-youtube-downloads-for-qwest-customers.html">article</a> explains this in a more detailed manner. Essentially, as per the article, there was a problem early on with OpenDNS and youtube. I was not sure if that was also affecting me. The other problem I noticed was that OpenDNS did not block adult sites as effectively as it did in the US (I was just testing - honest!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Around the time I was struggling with this - Google announced the launch of their <a href="http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/">DNS service</a> - so I quickly switched to using Google DNS (hey - google pretty much knows everything about me - so why not even everything I browse as well :-). I did notice youtube performance improve - a couple of days after I switched to Google DNS. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Still not being truly convinced - I continued the quest for the perfect DNS for my network and ....I 'll conclude the results of that in my next post: Benchmarking different DNS servers (expect some nice graphs in that one :-).</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-51021927712849799572010-01-28T08:49:00.000-08:002010-01-28T08:49:18.708-08:00Nexus One in India - First Impressions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1xmAVEhJc9XM0xRgVga0ceag2dhoDqKdA1cFIAAWFvprwDafMPsCIPYJt4sAw8I2uePn0OuOCiHJIg8JjQZqoec56NQf8HfpkCOkPHvq8jAF-byIyoRVLUY9tbUe4hG5tdjFHQ/s1600-h/Nexus+One.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1xmAVEhJc9XM0xRgVga0ceag2dhoDqKdA1cFIAAWFvprwDafMPsCIPYJt4sAw8I2uePn0OuOCiHJIg8JjQZqoec56NQf8HfpkCOkPHvq8jAF-byIyoRVLUY9tbUe4hG5tdjFHQ/s400/Nexus+One.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">No - the Google Nexus One is not yet available in India. BUT I did manage to get one shipped to India (thanks to a friend).<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of course the Nexus One was not for me. Now why would you think that? It is, and always was, intended for the <strike>formidable</strike> better half :-). As a gift. (As are all the gadgets that I end up fancying).<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I got the phone last Friday - gift wrapped it in a fancy box, and sprung it on her (she did not know that I had bought the phone, so it was a good surprise - the additional diamond earrings in the box had nothing to do with that ;-).<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Installation was a breeze - though I do not have data enabled on the service plan - I was able to insert the Airtel SIM card easily and switched it on. Got a signal almost immediately - which was very surprising considering the signal quality at our house is pretty flaky. Will most likely switch to Idea Cellular as Idea's data network seems to be pretty reliable.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is a list of first "impressions". A quick interview with the missus gave the following points<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like:<br />
</div><ul><li>Feels good to carry around (won't be surprised there, as the last phone was an ancient Nokia 6610i)</li>
<li>Gorgeous Display!<br />
</li>
<li>Fast (snappy), responsive<br />
</li>
<li>Gmail experience is good</li>
<li>Search (esp. phone numbers) is very handy<br />
</li>
<li>Applications are very intuitive (call log, contacts, etc)<br />
</li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not Like:<br />
</div><ul><li>Unlocking takes a bit getting used to (can't really do it fast)</li>
<li>Need to press the top ringer button to switch the phone on (from standby) - unlike the iPhone/iPod touch where you press the home button.<br />
</li>
<li>No pinch zooming (lack of multi-touch sucks)</li>
<li>Google Voice app disappeared once I put the SIM card in (as Google Voice is not supported in India). I will try the Truphone app though - and see how that works. <br />
</li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All in all she seems very pleased with it. So these were the first impressions. Will follow this with a detailed review once I get her to switch to Idea (waiting for MNP) and enable data.<br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-70546036645628973682010-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:002010-01-27T11:35:14.760-08:00iPad - Quickview at specs- 9.7 inch IPS display<br />
- .5 inch thick/thin<br />
- 1GHz Apple A4 chip (yes - that is Apple's own newly designed chip)<br />
- 16GB to 64 GB Flash storage<br />
- 10 Hours battery life<br />
- 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR<br />
- Accelerometer, Compass<br />
- Speaker, Microphone, 30-pin connector<br />
- iPhone Apps work straight off (including in a pixel-double mode - basically doubling the pixels and hence the screen size)<br />
Update: Wifi + 3G (GSM unlocked with new micro SIMs)<br />
STARTS at $499!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
16GB - $499<br />
16GB with 3G - $629<br />
Accessories - Keyboard and Doc - Image Courtesy Engadget. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPG78UskTFN4Xbr70gQ-5KqswLGno7wL9IVIGRiU1O90TuQjG-ggQpyC4dKJxpOtN0NVlJZsNFrrquz_KhVEi3yfLsbZXty5xScJCOKgp_OurNAiqHe16Brn4rtwjn8wmtFrI7w/s1600-h/apple-creation-0387-rm-eng.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPG78UskTFN4Xbr70gQ-5KqswLGno7wL9IVIGRiU1O90TuQjG-ggQpyC4dKJxpOtN0NVlJZsNFrrquz_KhVEi3yfLsbZXty5xScJCOKgp_OurNAiqHe16Brn4rtwjn8wmtFrI7w/s320/apple-creation-0387-rm-eng.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-53440953996568561792010-01-27T00:09:00.000-08:002010-01-27T00:09:47.906-08:00Tablets and SlatesWow ! The hype and the news on the soon-to-be-announced iTablet / iSlate is really amazing.<br />
<br />
The latest I read is here - http://www.cringely.com/2010/01/apple-tablet-twit/<br />
<br />
If this is what it is - then "meh".<br />
<br />
Trending topic on <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%22Apple%20Tablet%22%20">twitter</a>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-74796197011690241622010-01-18T07:14:00.000-08:002010-01-18T07:14:47.430-08:00Podcasts - Or How I keep my sanity while driving...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<insert here="" photo=""></insert><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Driving in India is, to put it mildly, stressful and chaotic (understatement) - more so in the city of Pune which is seeing unstructured unprecedented un-whatever growth (basically more of everything on the roads). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although my commute to office is 20 minutes at most - I realized that I missed listening to the radio while driving in the US (the local Pune FM radio stations are not per my listening tastes, basically making me feel OLD). I primarily listened to <a href="http://www.npr.org/">NPR</a> in the US. So that got me on a quest to see if I could start listening to some of the shows that I enjoyed there. I pulled out my old iPod mini (1st generation) plugged it into iTunes and set about subscribing to podcasts (iTunes + iPod is the easiest way to go about this).<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's what's on my podcast subscription list: <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- <a href="http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=35">Wait wait don't tell me</a>! - A really amazing radio show that is an "informative news quiz" show with some great news & media personalities at their humourous best! There hasn't been a single podcast that hasn't got me chuckling... A tip though - Keeping current with what's happening in the US helps in "getting the jokes".<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/rss?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=hp&utm_campaign=radiolab">WNYC's Radio Lab</a> - Another great show - on very insightful topics - ranging from Animal minds to great things about Numbers. I've recently started listening to this based on <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/">Seth Godin's</a> <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/the-best-podcastradio-show-of-all-time.html">recommendation</a>. In his own words <i>"The content of each show is a unique mix of science, pop culture and relevance. I guarantee that they will make you smarter. That's a lot to promise for a radio show, but I think it's true."</i><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>- </i><a href="http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=1019">NPR Technology podcast</a> - Allows me to listen to interesting things happening on the tech side (that's what this blog is supposed to be anyway about). If you've listened to NPR before - this is basically "All Tech Considered" from the "All Things Considered". Good weekly snapshot on happenings in the tech world.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- <a href="http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510208">CarTalk</a> - If you are a car buff - you will enjoy the lively "<a href="http://www.cartalk.com/">Click and Clack</a>" brothers dishing out advice on cars, car repairs and troubleshooting! Guaranteed to put you in a lighter mood!<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other subscriptions including <a href="http://feeds.wsjonline.com/wsj/podcast_wall_street_journal_tech_news_briefing">WSJ's daily tech briefing</a> and the occasional <a href="http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=13">NPR's fresh air</a>! <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My driving has definitely gotten better! Try it - you wouldn't be disappointed, it will, at the least, <i>make you smarter!</i><br />
</div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-8332636014582069812009-12-27T10:09:00.000-08:002009-12-27T10:10:10.774-08:00T400 - First ImpressionsSo finally got my hands on the T400 I'd ordered for my significant other (every gadget I order is generally for her ;-). I had debated and researched (meaning browsed the net a lot) on whether to go in for the 13 inch Macbook Pro or a T400. The primary driving factor turned out to be the end use of the laptop (development machine - .NET to be precise). Got a good deal through deals2buy.com (with a 128GB SSD to boot!).<br />
<br />
Here are the specs for the T400:<br />
- 2.26 GHz Intel Core2Duo (P8400)<br />
- 3GB RAM<br />
- 128 GB Solid State Drive (Samsung)<br />
- 14.1 LED Backlit - WXGA+ TFT, W/ CAMERA<br />
- Windows Vista Home Premium (yeah I know)<br />
<br />
The only reason I got Vista Home premium was that Windows 7 had not been released when I ordered. Though I now have the option of ordering that online (some free Lenovo upgrade program - free as in beer + shipment). Haven't got around to doing that yet.<br />
<br />
So - first impressions: The machine feel light, in fact feels lighter than the 13" macbook that we've got. <br />
The display is really good - had a direct head to head comparison with the macbook and the Dell Latitude 620 (my office notebook) and it is bright!. The machine is also fast! Owing to the fact that I haven't loaded anything on it yet, I guess. Not too impressed with Vista though - can't wait to get my hands on Win 7. The plan is to then load all the development software after that. Battery life seems to be pretty decent (on a 4 pack li - it now shows 3:57 mins left, after 20 odd minutes of typing).<br />
<br />
The machine is really quiet! In fact it is more quite than the macbook. The keyboard is great (tactile feedback is really good). I had read about flex issues with T400 keyboards - don't find any flexing here. The only thing I don't like is the noise the keyboard makes. I would be ok with it - can't say the same about someone sitting next to me though. The keyboard light (a nifty little feature that I haven't seen on other laptops yet) is also pretty decent - it casts enought light to be able to type in darkness.<br />
<br />
All in all - I think it has been a good buy (spent around $1200)- but time will tell. Next step is to load it up for the better half to get cracking on - and then I'll get my (ahem) macbook back!Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-51037604412776100832009-12-23T21:04:00.000-08:002009-12-23T21:04:36.473-08:00Finally getting CableOr rather DTH - Tata Sky.<br />
<br />
We've been cable (and dish free) for the past 6 years or so, ever since we moved to our (then) new house. The reason for getting cable is simple - I have my grandmother visiting us - and she definitely needs good old TV to keep herself occupied. I had actually contemplated getting BSNL's IPTV (and may still do that sometime down the road if they ever improve on their customer service - but that's another rant), but since we had installed Tata Sky for our tenants (when the house was on rent) - I just decided to enable that.<br />
<br />
I was pretty pleased with the way Tata Sky is setup. Within the space of half an hour, I was able to<br />
- connect the set top box to the TV (including crimping the required cable)<br />
- get the subscriber ID from the Digicomp set top box.<br />
- login to tatasky.com, recover the password,<br />
- recharge my account online (payment using credit card)<br />
- watch TV!<br />
<br />
The whole experience with Tata Sky was pretty positive! Although I have mixed feelings about going back to the world of TV. We did enjoy the hiatus though - always had more time to read books, play board games with the kids, watch movies uninterrupted, go out shopping (oh wait.. :-)...Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-90541127217791210692009-12-14T22:52:00.000-08:002009-12-14T22:56:01.267-08:00Free ebook - What matters nowFree ebook<br /><br />http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/what-matters-now-2.pdf<br /><br />To quote Seth Godin (from his <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog">blog</a>)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around. I hope </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.squidoo.com/Whatmattersnowfreeebook">a new ebook</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> I've organized will get you started on that path. It took months, but I think you'll find it worth the effort."<br /><br /></span>Download <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/what-matters-now-2.pdf">here</a>.Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-67486657954590390392009-12-14T21:45:00.000-08:002009-12-14T22:21:44.691-08:00FSJ and Digital Flash mobs..This is interesting. FSJ (aka Fake Steve) is proposing some sort of digital flash mob - <a href="http://www.fakesteve.net/2009/12/operation-chokehold.html">http://www.fakesteve.net/2009/12/operation-chokehold.html</a><br /><br />The target is, apparently, AT&T's network, and the statement made by AT&T regarding bandwidth usage (see Om's coverage of that here - <a href="http://gigaom.com/2009/12/09/att-exec-stop-streaming-dammit/">http://gigaom.com/2009/12/09/att-exec-stop-streaming-dammit/</a>).<br /><br />Will this work? Coverage for that seems to be increasing. (Click <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=Operation+chokehold">here </a>to check the latest Google search results).Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-79196251433700411662009-12-04T02:03:00.001-08:002009-12-04T02:09:03.777-08:00Google Launches Public DNShttp://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/<br /><br />I've been using OpenDNS for the past 6-8 months - works great, although I have not had good success in blocking dodgy sites. And 2 days ago OpenDNS would not resolved www.youtube.com for around 5 minutes.<br /><br />So, should I be considering trying out Google's public DNS service (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)?<br /><br />Some links for further reading...<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/15193/google_dns">http://blogs.computerworld.com/15193/google_dns</a><a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356618,00.asp"><br />http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356618,00.asp</a><br /><br />and OpenDNS' reply to Google DNS<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.opendns.com/2009/12/03/opendns-google-dns/">http://blog.opendns.com/2009/12/03/opendns-google-dns/</a><br /><br />Comments ? Thoughts?Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-46397441234412043502009-11-29T19:51:00.000-08:002009-11-29T19:55:05.746-08:00Some web coverageGot quoted at a couple of places - links below<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">VoIP: riding on UC </span></span><br /><a href="http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20091130/unifiedcommunicationsspecial01.shtml">http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20091130/unifiedcommunicationsspecial01.shtml </a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mobile UC: the next big thing</span></span><br /><a href="http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20091130/unifiedcommunicationsspecial04.shtml">http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20091130/unifiedcommunicationsspecial04.shtml </a>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-69328562418369971232009-10-05T01:24:00.000-07:002009-10-05T01:38:11.414-07:00Customer Service Rant #1 - Signature Kitchens<div style="text-align: justify;">This is what I hope will be a series of rants (?) on the whole Customer Service Experience in India or put more specifically - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Why Customer Service in India sucks!</span> It's been three odd months after my move back to India, so I'm sure there will be many posts on this topic - here is the first in the series...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Will start with the most freshest in mind:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Signature Kitchens India Pvt. Ltd</span>:<br /><br />My wife has been wanting to redo our kitchen for quite some time now - and we finally decided to bite the bullet and go ahead. Our visit to a mall, a few weeks ago, was fresh in our mind - and we remembered Signature Kitchens as an option. So my wife called them up - they said that they charge Rs.500/- as designing charges where in they would give us two design "options". Fair enough - this guy comes over, takes a few measurements and we give him our requirements (as in what all we need in the kitchen). Among other things - he hasn't heard of a Sink Garbage disposal unit, he makes a few suggestions that seem quite green (as in green behind the ears and not eco-friendly) and says that two design options will be emailed to us.<br /><br />So we get two designs - which have the following glaring lacunae:<br /><ul><li>Dishwasher seemed missing (we found it under the sink apparently they had raised the height of the counter - in spite of us giving specific instructions on the height)</li><li> No space for the Indian style mini-temple</li><li> We had asked for a kitchen table - that was completely missing</li><li> The Color scheme was good - but for a different house - it completely clashed with the tiles we have (The designer at SK had conveniently changed the flooring in the design to white from orange-brown). </li></ul><br />So my wife sends them a polite email saying that you've basically forgotten stuff- can you take care of these points. Then comes an email from their manager saying that we need to come down (their office is essentially at the other end of town - and those driving in Pune's sucky traffic have a pretty fair idea of the painful journey to go across). So we send her an email saying sure we can come down - but we want to see the proper designs first.<br /><br />Then, after a week of silence - we call up again. And the reply we get is that the "Company Policy" has now changed and we cannot send designs on email! Duh! After a week of silence - after calling them up - i.e. no proactive emails from them - we're pretty cheesed off! Here is a perfect case of a customer wanting a service - the SALE is NEARLY ALREADY MADE! All you have to do is not screw up!!<br /><br />Wanting to escalate - I call up the manager and basically she tells me that I can go do what I want. She refuses to even give me a number of anyone higher up to escalate. Final stinker that I send to them is reproduced below...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"<name></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Your service levels are pathetic!!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I have not experienced such rude and incompetent service (from <manager>). Looks like you people do not want any business.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Your designs have not met even the BASIC REQUIREMENTS stated by us. And in spite of that you have the audacity to say that we cannot escalate this up! You people (especially <manager>) don't know the basic meaning of customer service. I hope your Bangalore and Chennai service centers have some competent people at least!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Please refund the design amount immediately. If we have to come in to get the refund - we will be taking travel charges from you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This will be escalated and I can assure you that there will be negative publicity on this.</span>"<br /><br /><br />Three days later - get a call from an "Accounts Officer" quietly asking us how we would like to be refunded. Last update - he would be sending a guy with the money to me.<br /><br />Classic case on driving business away. No way in hell am I going to recommend Signature Kitchens India to any one!<br /><br />People just do not get what Customer Service is about!<br /></div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-48300357590204209732009-09-29T01:41:00.000-07:002009-09-29T01:45:10.537-07:00Upgrading my broadband connection...Upgrading my Broadband...<br /><br />Finally managed to upgrade my BSNL broadband from an unlimited 256Kbps to an unlimited 512Kbps (still dialup speed compared to the 6Mbps I had in the US)<br /><br />Before I left (for the US in 2007) I was paying the equivalent of $10 for an "up to" 2 Mbps connection (limited, of course, to some GB). My tenant "upgraded" it to an<br />unlimited plan after getting one shocker of a bill (around 20,000 Rs ~ $400) one fine month. Guess that comes with having teenage children..<br />That plan, unfortunately had a speed cap of 256 Kbps.<br /><br />Once in the US I was a little disappointed at the relatively high rates for broadband, not to mention that taking only Broadband was more expensive than taking a phoneline + broadband. So imaging my surprise (shock) when I get back 2 years later - Broadband has not gotten any cheaper - I cannot get a 2 Mbps connection (unlimited) without giving the proverbial arm and leg (or in this case at least the finger).<br /><br />After a few days of "research" - which mostly constituted visiting broadband forum sites - came to the conclusion that Airtel could be a good choice. But I did want to give BSNL a fair chance before that.<br /><br />Apparently you cannot submit a request online (the concept of doing anything online seems to be alien to BSNL), so after one false start on a Saturday that turned out to be the 2nd Saturday of the month (the BSNL office was closed) - went in and submitted an application (which was basically on a small slip of paper not even big enough to wipe your rear cleanly).<br />I was highly skeptical that the slip would make its way to the right place - so lo and behold my surprise when, on the following Wednesday, the net started feeling a little faster!<br />I found that it had been upgraded to 512 kbps. Miracles still happen! (I guess it is all about expectations!).<br /><br />One problem I did face though - and this was on Friday evening and Saturday morning, some websites were not accessible (I could access google, linkedin, and other popular sites - but some sites just wouldn't open). A quick net search followed with all suggestions pointing to try and change the MTU size to a lower value.<br /><br />After a couple of hours spent Saturday morning, which included changing the MTU on the macbook and the Dlink modem, I just gave up - but, lady luck was still smiling on me half an hour later everything was back online! I guess someone somewhere in BSNL must have reset some routers (I use opendns - so I don't think it was a DNS issue).<br /><br />Next stop - deciding if I want one more "backup" connection or maybe a data card connection...Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-20608567630512024282009-09-21T21:25:00.000-07:002009-09-21T21:37:14.124-07:00Replacing my Broadband ADSL modem<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The last week has been interesting. My ever so reliable BSNL broadband connection gave way. I guess I must have bragged about its stability one too many times :-( .</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The problem turned out to be in the modem (to be specific the power supply to the Modem). Didn't find this out easily though - after being shunted between the BSNL "Lineman" and the Broadband support guy (from a company called Syscon). After two days (and about 20 calls) the Broadband support guy finally shows up and confirms that the modem is out and I need to "come down to the BSNL office and get a new one". I tell him that if he can get me a modem - I'll compensate him for his efforts, as I really didn't have the time to go and buy a modem. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">So he does that - ever so diligently. He installs the modem when I'm not at home - so I tell him that I will need to observe the connection for 24 hours before I can pay him.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">I reach home after a hard day's work and find that the modem installed looks to be a used one (it even has a neat cut across the "Warranty void if seal broken" sticker).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">I get livid and the guy from Syscon keeps changing his story from "It's a rental modem" to "You can buy the modem". He has a fishy "friend" with him who has supplied him with the modem. Long story short I tell him to take the modem and put it in a suitable place. I then order a D-Link GLB 802C ADSL2+ modem (I already have WRT54GL - flashed with dd-wrt, a Belkin N1 and a Belkin 4-port Gateway router - so I really needed something basic).</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">But the modem configuration turned out to be more than the plug and pray I hoped it would be.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Here's what I ended up doing (after connecting it to the Belkin WAN port failed to get me on the net) - and after 3 hours of futzing around with Dynamic IP mode and PPPoE mode on the Belkin router.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Connected directly to the modem through the Ethernet port with my macbook.</span><br /><br /></div><ol style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-align: justify;"><li> Access the Web admin GUI (through 192.168.1.1) </li><li> Disable the DHCP Server (set the DHCP mode to none)</li><li> Enable the BSNL connection (by default MTNL was enabled). Access this through the Quick Configuration link.</li><li> Put the modem in a "Bridge mode" - the Belkin gateway would take care of setting up the PPPoE connection (basically user authentication).</li><li> Pray</li></ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">and it worked - I have my reliable net connection back!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Next challenge - figure out if the ~100 ms roundtrip to speedtest.net is ok.</span><br /></div>Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-65637567659418260542009-04-01T12:37:00.000-07:002009-04-01T12:41:03.445-07:00Google's April 1st Joke - CADIE<a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/cadie/index.html">http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/cadie/index.html</a><br /><br />"For several years now a small research group has been working on some challenging problems in the areas of neural networking, natural language and autonomous problem-solving. Last fall this group achieved a significant breakthrough: a powerful new technique for solving reinforcement learning problems, resulting in the first functional global-scale neuro-evolutionary learning cluster...."<br /><br />Yawn.... nuff saidKiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-40356160075690803212008-04-27T22:47:00.000-07:002008-04-27T23:01:46.771-07:00Why Apple bought PA?So why did Apple end up paying $278 mil for PA Semi? I read Sramana Mitra's Forbes <a href="http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/04/24/mitra-apple-pasemi-tech-enter-cx_sm_0425mitra.html">article </a>on this and also Bob Cringley's <a href="http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080425_004775.html">post</a>. While both have merits - and Bob's post does make more exciting reading than Sramana's all too simplistic explanation, here's my take on this:<br /><br />Steve loves to design, more importantly push the limits of design. The one thing he does not control now (in the iPhone and Mac environments - apart from of course the content - think Movies) is the chip design part - and he has to rely on a whole lot of other companies (right from Graphics, Communications to normal processing) to tell him what can be done and what cannot.<br /><br />Buying PA Semi gives him all the necessary brain power to find out if things can be pushed or not. So if Intel comes back with "It cannot be done this way" or an Infineon (a little exaggeration here) tells Steve that the latest 4G chip will consume X milli watts - Steve can very well extend the limits to what can and cannot be done here....Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24529746.post-53133465840240841672008-03-31T22:53:00.000-07:002008-03-31T22:54:07.061-07:00Google's April 1st jokehttp://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html<br /><br />As lame a joke as any?Kiran Natarajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798359477326610965noreply@blogger.com0