The Vlog

The Xperia-nce

February 14th, 2008 Posted in Gadgets | No Comments »

Sony Ericsson - my favored mobile manufacturer - has just opened up their windows to Windows Mobile! They just lauched their new Windows Mobile operating line of smartphones, under the brand “Xperia”. The first phone in this line will be the Xperia - X1.

Sony Ericsson has never failed to impress me. Back in 2005, when we were just preparing for our final year, final semester examinations, they released the K750i. That practically kicked off the +1 megapixel revolution in phones. The first phone in the market to sport a 2 MP camera with autofocus, almost 3 years on it still has a faithful fan following. I spent a couple of months researching the phone before I bought it, and boy was I content with the purchase. Cost me a bomb at the time (INR 21,000) , but it was worth every penny. Phone lasted me 2 years before I decided to move to PDAs.

At the time I betrayed SE, they didn’t have a Windows phone in their stable.

But now they do. The new Xperia X1. The best part isn’t that they have Windows mobile. It sports, among other features:

• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional
• GSM Triband Support
• Edge
• HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps (3G!)
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• aGPS
• 800 x 480 pixels, 3 inches screen
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• Optical joystick navigation
• 400 MB internal memory
• 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA@30fps), flash; secondary videocall camera
• Motion sensor (with UI auto-rotate)
• New XPERIA panel UI (a potential iPhone take on)

This is, if I am not mistaken, the first SE to support GPRS, EDGE and 3G in the same phone. Of how I longed for one of these!

Definitely the next big thing in smartphones, can’t wait for the public release!

Watch out!
By the way, I forgot one big feature. This also happens to be my next phone!

What is with these telemarketers??

February 9th, 2008 Posted in Random | No Comments »

The other day, I got a call from a telemarketer (who, I later learned was an Airtel telemarketer). When I picked up the call, the only thing I heard was [translated] “Is this Vivek Hegde, do you have a Vodafone Billing Account?”. Our office has very poor network coverage. And as usual any call picked up inside the office gets dropped too quickly. This call dropped right after he said the above. I thought that was the end of it. I din’t know who he was or what he called for. But I didn’t really care - I knew he was some silly telemarketer.

A couple of hours later, while I was standing outside ‘chatting’ with colleagues, I got another call. This guy asks me “Sir, did you speak to someone earlier today about an Airtel Billing card”. WTF? I told him I did no such thing, and why on earth would I want an Airtel connection while I still have my Vodafone connection. This guy just “Okay” and let me be.

Another half hour or so later, I got another call. This time, the guy on the other end says…

Him: “Sir I need some clarification on your address”
WTF again!!
Me: “What address, what is this regarding?”
Him: “Sir, you had spoken to me to come meet you regarding a new Airtel phone connection”
Me: “WTF, I did no such thing. I never spoke to anyone. I already have a phone connection, why would I need another one”
Him: “No, you spoke to me in the morning. You told me to come meet you, since you wanted a new connection.”
Me: “Balls, I did no such thing. What’s the address you have anyway?”
Him: [ Mentions some vague address ]
Me: “I don’t know who’s address that is, I don’t know where that is, I don’t even work/live there. You’re just talking nonsense.”
Him: [A little agitated now] “What do you mean sir, you asked me to come here. THis is your address. I have come so far for this. Why are you now saying you don’t want a card”
Me: “If you think that is my address, go right inside, and sell me all your Airtel cards”
Him: “What?”
Me: Hung up the phone

What I don’t comprehend from the situation:
1) How did they get my number?
2) How did they know my name?
3) How did they know I had a Vodafone Billing Connection?
4) What makes them think I would need an Airtel connection when I already have a connection?
And the show stealer…
5) How in the world did he get that address, when I did not even speak to him. Some entity between me and him continued to talk to him while the first call was dropped, and gave him some ghostly address. Maybe someone from beyond the grave wanted him to get to that address with a whole load of Airtel forms, you know, those “Last wish unfulfilled” things. He needed to get an Airtel connection just before he passed away, and now he can’t pass through to the other side till he gets one.

How silly can telemarketers get? Or rather, how desperate??

The worst…

February 9th, 2008 Posted in Random | No Comments »

Had been having a few ‘Blue screen of death’ issues with my ‘OEM’ version of XP lately. Didn’t pay too much heed to it. It’s Windows afterall. We all grew up worshipping those blue screens. Incidentally, it just so happened that HP had to tell me about a BIOS update for my Compaq lappy while this was happening.

As usual, I woke up, did my early tasks from home, and started the BIOS upgrade.

Sector 17 installed, Sector 18…..19…….21…..22…..POOF…there comes the blue screen of death again. The worst has happened. My BIOS was installed half way, and my ssytem hung. I thought it was the end of it all.

But it was only the beginning.

It so happened, that, either the BIOS successfully installed, or my system managed with the old BIOS. I restarted, successfully into windows. I thought it was all over.

Till my 7th click.

There comes the blue screen again.

Another mandatory restart, more hope, but 5 clicks this time, and another blue screen.

Aaaarghhh.

The same sequence continued for the remainder of the day. Passed the lappy to Ravi (who admins all in office) and picked up an Acer to continue working. But I was missing my Laptop.

After I finished most my work, tried again. This time tried to do a ‘Compaq PC restore’, which basically restores my lappy to the original form. The system shut down, restarted into restore mode, with the Compaq logo et all, and there you go, ANOTHER blue screen of death.

The same procedure went on for atleast another 20 times till I gave up. Either XP gave me a blue screen of death or the PC restore screen hung on me.

We then took out the RAM and cleaned it,and started up. Worked well. Seemed to be working in perfect condition. TILL we tried to complete the BIOS update.

Started the HP update, the program started, 19—20—21—22…POOF…Blue screens again!

This was the last. No more. Not by choice. The BIOS was corrupted. Nothing we can do now.

I had officially spent all the day trying to fix a f&^$%ed up XP system. Wasted my time thoroughly.

To top it all, the night before, I probably slept in the wierdest posture - since I woke with a stinging back ache. Followed me the whole day. Even while I tried to fix the lappy.

And following that, I had Citibank calling me to try and secure a credit card payment. One which I had already paid, but was rejected due to some minor issue with the cheque. I have been paying religiously since the last 7 months, but the last delayed payment made them twitch. The only reason the last payment was late was because I was on vacation in the US.

There goes my card, It’s now blocked. Bye Bye Citibank, I don’t need a bank like yours, HSBC treats me like God. You have one more month to please me.

To top that off, I learn that my car’s security system is F&^$%ed. The lock button no longer locks the car. It just beeps.

AAARRGHHH.

I would’ve done something drastic if it wasn’t for HP to come to the rescue.

My laptop is actually 1.5 years old. Warranty was for a year. I paid for a 3 year extention. Now apparently they might have to replace the Laptop.

Believe me, It’s the only thing that kept me sane so far.

Finally there is something to see here…

February 7th, 2008 Posted in Random | No Comments »

Welcome to the Vlog, otherwise known as Vivek’s Log. I don’t think I’ll call it a Blog. I haven’t had too much luck with my previous ‘blogs’. Maybe if I call this one a ‘Log’, it might actually be populated more often than not. None the less, I think a ‘Log’ sounds much cooler anyway.

Anyways, nothing much to read yet. It’s 1:10 in the morning, and the only thought I have is sleep. So if you want to be left with a thought - start counting sheep!

Signin’ off on my first entry,
Vivek