Things that crossed my way!

Hi guys,

I have been wasting the past three days watching TV, surfing and roaming outside. It is quite bad that my classes begin day after tomorrow.

A Live Accident

My last exam was on July 2. Exam was over by 1 pm and I along with my friends was standing at the bus stop by 1.15 pm. We missed a bus narrowly and had to wait for the next bus which was only 1.45 pm. My friends Jegan and Rajesh were irritating me by discussing answers for the questions. Already the exam was tough and discussing answers made it worse. Around 30 students were there in the bus stop.

It was 1.30 pm and we heard a crashing sound some 100 meters away. A middle aged man was lying on the road and his Honda Activa was a few feet away. At the same time a Mahindra Scorpio was flying away. We realised the driver of the car was the culprit and before we could stop him, he drove away. We were waiting for the fallen man to get up, but he wasn’t getting up. So a group my college mates went to help him. We followed the first group.

We learned that he had stopped his vehicle since a dog was crossing the road and in the mean time the car hit him. There was nothing serious. He had little bruises in his leg, apart from a hamstring. His vehicle was quite badly damaged. It was 2 minutes before he got up and we guided him to the nearby shop and made him sit there. He was mentally shocked. He was sitting there until we caught the bus by 1.50 pm.

Movies I watched

I watched many movies in the past week including Ocean’s thirteen, Night Train, the Hills have Eyes, Raavanan and Panic Room. Ocean’s thirteen was as good as the first two parts. Night train was not a great movie, half the story was not clear. The Hills have Eyes was a horrific movie. The movie was as terrible as ‘Saw’ and I won’t recommend this movie to anyone. There has been mixed reviews about Raavanan, but I liked the movie to a certain extent. The second half was good, the first half was boring. Panic room was a good movie. It revolves around a mother and her daughter being locked up in a safety room, because of three robbers in their house. It was a good thriller movie, though the final scenes were unexciting. Of all the above, Ocean’s thirteen and Panic room are very good movies.

Improved settings in Apple’s new software

In my Apple creating headaches post, I mentioned the troubles with iOS4 software. Recently I found that the settings feature has been improved in this OS. Apple has paved way for Bluetooth in iPod. We can create playlists in iPod itself. Lot of settings have been improved. So, my anger with Apple has subsided a little.

If you give advice, then you must follow it

This happened to us a fortnight back. We were travelling back in a city bus after the exam. My classmate Sudarsan took ticket for four of us. Each ticket was Rs.4 and he gave Rs.20 to the conductor. The conductor gave four tickets, but didn’t give the balance. So Sudarsan asked for the balance. The conductor started to advice, ‘இன்னைக்கு சில்லறை நாலு ரூவா தரலைனா எப்பிடி இருக்கு உங்களுக்கு. நாளைக்கு அதிகாரி ஆனதுக்கு அப்புறம், நீங்க அஞ்சாயிரம், பத்தாயியாம்னு லஞ்சம் கேக்க கூடாது' (‘It hurts you when I don’t give balance today. Tomorrow when you become officials, you shouldn’t ask 5000 or 10000 as bribe’). He was continuously advising for 10 minutes, until we got down. The biggest comedy is that he never gave the balance. If he was really advising, he should have given back Rs.4. But his actions seem to show that he wanted the 4 Rs for himself and hence he blabbered.

That’s it for now.

Happy Reading!!!

Apple creating Headaches!

Hi Guys,

A few days ago in my review of iPod post, I mentioned that I was having headaches with iTunes. Yesterday again a frustrating thing happened. Here, let me present you the problem that occurred to me yesterday night.

My iPod belongs to the second generation. The software version is 2.1. When I started using iTunes, update for version 3.1 was available (the one used in 3G iPod). Apple was asking me to update, but I preferred not to do. In the recent days, Apple has introduced iOS4 software for iPod touch and iPhone. Apple website claimed that the new software has many advanced facilities. So I thought of downloading the newer version.

Yesterday night, I opened iTunes and connected my iPod. I clicked the update software tab. iTunes said for downloading the software, I must update my iTunes to version 9.2 (mine was 9.1). So I updated iTunes first. The size of iTunes file was 80 MB. But there was no big difference between the two versions. This process took 20 odd minutes.

Then I downloaded the software. Initially I thought the process will take around 15 minutes. But the file size was 315 MB. It took 90 minutes to download the software. After downloading the software, the iPod was restored and then the newer software was installed.

The worse thing was that all the songs, movies and photos were deleted. The newer version is not as fast as the older one. Album grouping is also poor. Songs in a single album are shown separately.  There was no great difference between the versions.

I was frustrated at the end. The whole process took 400 MB data and 2 hours to download. Other than that I have to copy the songs newly. Installing windows 7 was much easier than this.

The lesson is ‘Don’t fall into Apple’s trap of updates’.

Happy Reading!!!

Things that crossed my way!

Hi guys,

I was quite busy for the past two days as I went to and fro to college and bus stand to initiate the steps for getting my bus pass for this academic year. Amidst all the wanderings, I had free time to view three movies.

Finally, a solution for album titles in iTunes

In my previous post A Review of my Apple iPod Touch, I mentioned that I was having a head ache with the iTunes. One main problem I faced was the inappropriate album titles. Finally, I got a solution for the problem. The first solution I found was inside iTunes.

·         Right click a song and click ‘Get Info’. Click Info tab

·         In the Album column, delete the current name and type the name of the movie or album.

·         This will be enough for classification, though you can add all other details if you would like.

The second solution was outside iTunes. Before adding the song to iTunes, do the change as follows

·         Right click the song and choose properties (in main folder itself).

·         Click Summary tab and click advanced.

·         Now click the mouse in album title and you will be able to alter the album title.

·         Now, add the folder in iTunes and you will find the song at the right album.

Changing the album title also helps you when creating a playlist in your mobile phone music player.

Tedious processes in getting a bus pass

As I said in the beginning of this post, I have been wandering for the past two days solving the issues for getting a bus pass. First, we have to get a certificate from the college to prove that we are studying there. On giving this proof, we’ll be given a form in which we have to get from Principal again. On giving this form back, we will be given the ID card in which we have to get sign from Principal for the third time. Now, we have to get sign from the issuing officer the ID card has to be laminated by us. After all these things, our monthly slip will be given. So if we plan accurately we need to go to college four times and bus stand four times. The office will be open till 1.30 pm only. To me, half these things are unnecessary. Anyway all these difficulties are worth it, as you can travel at one third of the actual fare.

Movies I watched

I watched two movies yesterday and one movie today. I watched Prince of Persia- Sands of Time in my iPod. It was great watching it in iPod. The movie was also nice. Generally movies are converted into video games, but in this case the famous video game has been converted into a movie. The story is based on the sand inside a mysterious dagger which is capable of reversing time.

Then I watched Ocean’s eleven and Ocean’s twelve. It is a series of movies. Without watching Ocean’s eleven, you can’t watch Ocean’s twelve. The story revolves around a group of talented guys, who focus their talents on robbery. If you love, con movies don’t miss this stuff.

Some Screenshots of my iPod

An Interesting Message I received in my Phone

In Electrical Machines Practical exam, External examiner to student, ‘Why does a capacitor blocks DC, but allows AC to pass through?’

Student replies, ‘See Sir, a capacitor is like this.

‘DC comes straight like this and capacitor blocks it.

‘But AC goes up, down, up, down like this and jumps over capacitor’

Examiner is shocked.

Happy Reading!!!

P.S: In the SMS, I received symbolic diagrams, which I've replaced by downloaded diagrams.

A review of my Apple iPod Touch 2G!

Hi Guys,

I got a new Apple iPod touch from my brother. Actually he had got it for me when he was in US. Since his stay in Uruguay extended much longer than he anticipated, he made it reach me through one of his colleagues in Uruguay, who came back to India a few days ago. After a little fumbles I was able to contact his colleague and got the iPod a fortnight ago. So, first a big thanks to my brother for this wonderful and expensive gift, ‘Thank you dear brother’.

It is an Apple iPod Touch 2G with 16 GB capacity. I’ve been using it mainly to hear music. For people saying, ‘what else can u do with an iPod?’ Read further. I’ll be writing review to the iPod as likes and dislikes.

Likes

Appearance

The first thing I liked about the iPod was its appearance. It is slim and beautiful and resembles an iPhone in its model. Its metallic grey color is impressive. The buttons and spaces for earphone and USB cable for invisible. It has just two buttons (sleep and volume control) and a center wheel for home.

Display

The next thing I like is the display clarity. IPod touch has 3.5” LCD screen. The clarity is great. It’s great for watching movies and photos. The sensitivity is good. When you turn the iPod the screen also turns accordingly.

Battery Capacity

IPod’s battery is so good. It allows 36 hours of audio playback (3G iPod Touch provides 30 hours only) and 6 hours video playback. This means you can hear songs for one and half days or watch 3 movies continuously. The battery gets charged in 4 hours (80% charge in 2 hours).Though, there is no separate charger. You need to charge it via computer only.

Music

Of all the good things, this is the most wonderful thing. What else is an iPod designed for? Music effects are great. There is lot of equalizer options and you can choose any of them (though I read in a forum that equalizers drain the battery).

Earphones

I said music is great. But don’t you need a perfect earphone to hear them. Apple provides a perfect earphone for the iPod. I’ve been hearing songs using the earphone and it’s a great experience. It has changed some of my views on certain songs. It provides you the complete dynamics of the song and music. It mesmerized me most of the times. In online forums, I read that the earphones provided by apple are very poor. But my earphone is rocking or maybe people are expecting more.

These are all the likes. Interested in iPod touch? Wait; there are equal numbers of dislikes too.

Dislikes

Problems without Wi-Fi connection

There are lots of inbuilt applications in iPod such as Mails, YouTube, Safari, Maps, Weather, etc. But you need Wi-Fi connection to use them. Where the hell can you get Wi-Fi connection in India? So you can’t use all these things. IPod’s front screen will be blazing with these apps, but you will never be able to touch them. But I hope this will be over soon as Wireless Broadband Spectrum auction is taking place.

Everything through Apple iTunes

Want to copy songs, photos or videos to your iPod? You can do it only through Apple iTunes. The software is free of cost, but its working is not so great. It doesn’t detect some of the songs in my computer. Syncing photos to iPod is also a problem. It’s not very comfortable using iTunes. I read a saying written by an anonymous person in an online forum, ‘If you buy an Apple iPod, Apple will make you their permanent customer. Whatever you need to do, you need to do it through Apple’. It’s quite true. You can’t even add an application that is outside Apple Store. In India, we like a lot of freedom in using things. Though, we can break our iPod, I’m not interested. I’m more happy hearing songs than use apps.

Very low speaker volume

In likes, I said earphones are great. But the speaker is pretty bad. The sound generated is very low. I understand that the less efficient speaker is due to thin nature of iPod, but still it could have been better.

Frequent Crashes

I’ve been using the iPod for a fortnight, but I’ve had two crashes in this span. The first time the applications (such as music, videos and photos) were not opening. It worked properly after restarting the iPod. The second time, the iPod crashed and nothing except a white screen was present. It was not getting switched off too. I was afraid and checked in online forums. Quickly I understood there are lots of crashes in iPod touch worldwide. I got a solution (had to press sleep and navigation button simultaneously) there.

Great Online Forums and Communities

Apple doesn’t provide a user manual with the iPod. But you need not worry, since there are lots of iPod touch forums online. The communities in Orkut are also good. When I checked online, I was amazed to see that Apple iPod touch is more popular than iPhone or any other iPods despite its cost and problems. Whatever the problem maybe you can get solutions in the forums. You can get it by just searching in google.

My Suggestion

If you are of the idea of buying an iPod touch my suggestion is to go ahead with it. Today 3G iPod touch is being sold (8GB, 32 GB and 64 GB are available). 4G is going to be out soon. It will provide you a great music experience.

If you are in India, I would advise you to look for Apple iPod Nano, which is quite low cost. It’s more suitable for Indian conditions (doesn’t have lot of apps). IPod Nano has FM radio and video recording in addition and is available in lively colors. A few of my friends have iPod Nano. The problem is it is very thin and short (at least iPod Touch is relatively long). If you carry it outside you need to be very careful, as you can lose an iPod Nano very easily (even if it falls when you take your hand kerchief, you can’t sense it). IPod Nano is already in its fifth generation.

Happy Reading!!!

P.S: G refers to Generation in iPod. It doesn’t have to do anything with G in mobile phone technology. There will be no great difference in iPod generations. 3G iPod touch is an improved version of 2G iPod touch (mostly software alone differs). Software updates are done freely by apple.