Add Google Analytics code on blogger blogs

Some of my friends were asking my help for adding Google Analytic code on their blogs. So friends, here it is.

Slow sync flash

Using my SE K810

Ouch!

Reliance Energy - Google Power Meter supplier

Reliance Energy has partnered with Google to provide Google Power Meters in India. The initial phase will start in three states - Mumbai, Delhi & Orrisa. Google Power Meter will be made available to a limited group of customers now but will expand its roll out later this year.

For those who don't know about Google Power Meter, its an electronic power meter which shows your electricity consumption in a secure Google gadget on your iGoogle page- now, don't ask me what is google gadget?



To know more about the Google Power Meter and other global challenges addressed by google using the power of information and technology, visit Google.org.

Raining in andaman

Now, this is how it rains in andaman. All shots were taken from my window, couldn't go out.

The Marina @ Port Blair

View of the Andaman Sea behind the Netaji Stadium from Atlanta Point

The Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex

The Ross Island, was once the administrative head quarters of British rulers.Some scenes of the song uiren uiren(khaka Khaka) were shot in this island.

Inside the Marina Park

Statue of Rajiv Gandhi

The Aberdeen Jetty near the statue of Rajiv Gandhi. You can get a boat ride to the Ross Island from here

The road along the Marina shoreline. I come here everyday in the evening to relax. The cool breeze and the sound of the waves hitting the wall is really inviting. You can also catch fish here:)

A decommissioned battle tank - Vijayantha, in the Marina Park.

Road between the Rajiv Gandhi Velodrome and Ramakrishna Mission. Beautiful coniferous trees and a statue of Subash Chandra Bose (left) pointing towards Delhi.

Note: Click on the images to see full size pictures.

I received an IDBI Bank phishing email

A couple of hours before I received an email stating that my net-banking is suspended due to a password mismatch and I have to re-activate my online account. I knew that its a phishing email but to know, how they trick people to provide their banking information and part with their hard earned money.

When I clicked on the link, firefox blocked access to the website as it was reported for web forgery. I turned off the web forgery reporting and tried again, the link took me to a page designed to look like the IDBI net-banking login page.

I opened the IDBI net-banking in another tab to compare both and found that the similarities (including the verisign logo) were good enough to fool people who don't have much knowledge about the online threats. On the other hand, there were enough differences, like the missing virtual keyboard and some excise duty related information and a different verisign logo. The easiest difference to spot was the URL of the website, I suggest people to check the URL before clicking on any link. All secure URL's start with https not http and no bank will ask you your net-banking credentials.

As soon as I entered some random numbers in the form and submitted, surprisingly, it redirected to IDBI bank's Regulatory Updates page.

Chennai bus and train info on your mobile

Many a times, when I was searching for job, I used to wonder which bus to take, to go to the interview venue. And I am sure many of you would also have been through the same situation, may be for a different purpose like to visit a friend or relative, to see some one at a hospital etc.

So, what if you have the whole chennai bus route info in your pocket, I mean in your mobile? Yes, you can now download applications for Chennai bus and train routes on your Java based mobiles phones, which includes most of the Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Samsung phones.

You can download these application from www.chennaibus.info and www.chennaitrain.info. After downloading the zip files extract it and upload the .jar or .jad file on your phone. Some phones work with .jar some with .jad, check on the net which one your phone works with. For all SE phones, you can upload the .jar file.

Before you start using the applications, you have to register. Don't worry, its free. When you start the application for the first time, it will show you a License Pin. Enter the License Pin at the respective websites - chennaitrain and chennaibus, to receive a User Pin. Once you enter the User Pin in the application, you can start using it.

And if you find any bugs or errors in the application, or you want to send a feedback to the developers, just navigate to the "Contact Us" option in the application on your phone. I know many of you will download these applications and start using it as soon as you read this post. Please do inform the developers if you find any data inaccuracy in the bus and train route.

Tata Nano - a helping hand in the times of recession

Tata Nano a.k.a people's car makes a perfect entry into the automobile market, when those effected by the recession are thinking of cost cutting in every possible way.

Tata Nano fills the gap between the average priced two wheelers and low priced cars. The car is been designed with spacious passenger compartments with enough leg space and head room. So, you can travel comfortably in a car smaller than the Maruti 800 and easily find some parking space in the city.

This little smart car with an unimaginable price tag(Rs. 1.3 lacs) will soon compete with its counterpart from Bajaj and Mahindra. So, these small cars will revolutionize the way average middle class people commute but, this will also increase traffic congestion and pollution.

If you want to buy Tata Nano, it can be booked starting from April 9th at Tata Motor dealers and SBI bank branches with an upfront payment of Rs. 70,000. You can also book it online at www.tatanano.com. The cars is really a budget car but it misses some standard ferures like radio, power stearing, ABS and has analogue speedometer, odometer and fuel gauge and a single windscreen wiper. Extending your budget a little will fetch you a car with the standard features and some extra. So, will you buy the Nano or go for a Swift, Santro, Indica or i20.

Reliance Netconnect Broadband+

Here comes the boss of all wireless Internet connections - Reliance Netconnect Broadband+. Wireless connections have now evolved from the sluggish 20-30 kbps to 144kbps to, hold your breath, 3.1 Mpbs.

Yes, this is what the Reliance Netconnect broadband+ boasts of. It will cost you Rs.3500/- to get the USB Modem and along with that you get complementary unlimited access for 2 months, which is worth Rs.3500/-

Coverage is excellent, covers 35 cities, 20,000 towns and 4.5 lac villages and has national roaming on all tariff plans except one. You can experience 3.1 Mbps downlink speed and 1.8 Mbps uplink speed.

I am sure this will give a tough competition to BSNL EVDO and Tata Indicom's Photon. If any one has subscribed to this service, post comments on your experiences, which will help others to make a decision.

Oscar fame lost in sex trade

Preethi Mukerjee a.k.a Puja, one of the most highly paid sex workers in Kolkata's Sona kanchi was watching A R Rahman receiving the Oscar statuette. She knows how it feels because she also walked on the same stage to collect the Oscar with Zana Briski, director of the oscar winning documentary Born Into Brothels.

Preethi was one of the nine child artists involved in the documentary in 2004. She with the other children were taught photography to get a view of their world. The children's work was exhibited, and one boy was even sent to a photography conference in Amsterdam. The film won 20 international award excluding the Oscar and the directors flew the children to LA to collect the award.

Stay back and study in US - sounded like dream for the children but this is what they were offered and some did accepted but Preethi backed out. The children who accepted the offer are now studying in New York University and Preethi is in touch with them.


"At this age, I have a flat in Salt Lake, a laptop, expensive phones and lot of money. What do I lack?", says Preethi. She is in touch with director Zana brisky who was upset that preethi joined the trade like her mother. "But this trade has really paid off for me", she says.

Her mother Rakhi, who never wanted her daughter to join the trade, has a photograph of Preethi with the Oscar statuette stuck on a wall.

Gmail offline 0.2

Google has upgraded its offline Gmail to 0.2. With this comes the option of specifying size for synchronizing. Those who are having 0.1 version, will see a "0.2" near the sync icon. Just click on the icon to upgrade your offline gmail to version 0.2.

On the Offline settings page, you can see an option "Specify maximum attachment size". You can even set it to "no attachments" - helps if you are on a very slow connection and do not need attachments while offline. If you have any issues installing the 0.2 or upgrading from 0.1, post your question on Google Groups for Offline Gmail.

Any guesses on which features Google will add to Offline Gmail next?

At last, 3G is here

After a long wait, BSNL has launched the third generation mobile service in Chennai. On 22 February, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu , Mr M. Karunanidhi, launched the service with an inaugural call to the Union Minister for Communication and IT, Mr A. Raja. Chennai Telephones has installed 25 stations in the city for the initial launch and would add more soon.

The new service will offer data speed of 2 Mbps against 144 Kbps available now over the GPRS and EDGE enabled mobile networks. This makes possible video streaming applications such as Live TV, movie downloads, high speed data download on mobile phones. Callers can also see each other on their mobile phone screens using video call service.

Chennai Telephone has also announced the tariff plans for 3G service. New initiatives such as bringing down tariff to 40-50 paise a minute and mobile number portability are in the pipeline.

Are you ready to reap benefits from the next generation service?

AR Rahman wins Oscars

AR Rahman has won two Oscars for his work in Danny Boyle's Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman took one Oscar for the best score and another for the lyrics of the song Jai Ho, along with Gulzaar. Rahman is among five Indians to win an Oscar. Gulzar and Resul Pookutty, picked up Oscars for original song and sound mixing. Rahman also gave a nice little speech at the oscars.



Earlier Oscar winners from India were costume designer Bhanu Athaiya for her work in Gandhi in 1983 and director Satyajit Ray, who won a lifetime achievement award in 1992.

British director Danny Boyle has won best director for Slumdog Millionaire and the film also took best picture. Altogether, it bagged eight awards.

Actor-director Aamir Khan said he was thrilled by India's successes at the Oscars. "It is great to see Indian talent being recognised internationally. We are no less than anybody else," Khan told TV channels.

Another film with an Indian connection, Smile Pinki won the best documentary short Oscar.

Isn't this something we have been waiting for a long time?

Sony Ericsson Idou

The death of the digital camera moved a step closer after Sony Ericsson unveiled the world's first mobile phone with a built-in 12.1-megapixel camera. The slick device, codenamed Idou (SE will release the phone with a model number or a name which we can understand.) was announced at the MWC(Mobile World Congress) show. This is the coolest phone I have ever seen, uber cool. With Symbian OS and an impressive 12 megapixel camera with powerful Xenon flash,a 3.5-inch touchscreen with 16:9 aspect ratio, wow!, it has really raised the bar and will compete directly with Apple's hugely popular iPhone (We know who's gonna win).


The device also has capabilities of Sony Ericsson's Walkman series phones, which means its also good in music and video playback department. SE says its a sensible choice for people who want a high-end camera and a fully-featured MP3 player packaged in a robust mobile handset.

Its time to take the next step.

Friends of BJP - sms campaign

Few days I back read on Shalin Jain's blog about online banner advertisements promoting L.K. Advani as a Prime Ministerial Candidate on SourceForge.net. I have subscribed to My Today, a popular SMS subscription service. At the bottom of every message you receive, it has an advertisement and guess what, the sms I received today had an ad promoting Friends of BJP. You can even subscribe to the group.

I then googled friends of BJP and stumbled upon their website.This is not BJP itself, its a group of educated civil society comprising youth and professionals that is BJP-leaning, and willing to be vocal about it. They intend to support the BJP in 3 ways: Outreach, Ideas Bank and help BJP win more (urban) seats. Here is a snippet from their website:"We are neither all signed-up members nor agree with everything and everybody in the party has always said. But we firmly believe that, in 2009, the BJP and LK Advani are the best hopes for India. We have a clear short-term goal, and a grander long-term vision for Friends of BJP."

I wonder if every political group starts promoting themselves this way, it will help in raising the employment rate of our country. Could be a good job opportunity for web developers, content writers and SEOs.
Note: I am not promoting BJP or any other political party in any way. This is what I came to know about, was quite surprised and decided to let others also know about it.

Same charging socket on all mobiles by 2012

Major mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to have same type of charging socket by 2012. The GSMA(GSM Assocoiation) has zeroed on Micro USB to be the universal charger socket, which is already used on digital cameras to transfer pictures to a PC.

Major players like Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have signed the agreement. Operators such as AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, T-Mobile and Vodafone are also part of the initiative.


The GSMA also expects that the manufactures will eventually ship mobile phones without a charger because everybody would have one. This should also lead to less waste and could yield energy savings.

ahref - tinyfy long URLs

http://ahref.in, a product of Tenmiles Corporation tinyfies long urls. There are some other webapps on the Internet which also do this. So, whats unique in ahref, how is it different from other URL tinyfiers? First of all, its ad free and has a clean and simple interface, good looking too.

There is nothing new or unique in terms of features but we hope new features will get added later. You can post a comment in here to report bugs on http://ahref.in

Tata Indicom's Photon+

Tata Indicom(TI) has introduced a truly wireless solution for broadband connection using High Speed Internet Access. They have named it Photon+ . Its truly wireless because it connects to the base station without wires and also supports Wifi. So, you can connect to the photon device(router) using wifi.


This will really bring down the time and effort required for installation but TI has not mentioned the bandwidth(speed) available with this service. Their website says "Upto 2.4 Mbps Downlink speed . Actual internet speed will depend on multiple factors like time of the day, number of simultaneous users, web page accessed, etc." Well, here speed depends on too many things:)

You have two devices to choose from, a USB data card or a Wireless router. You have to pay Security Deposit of Rs.6999 for the router and Outright Cost of the USB data card is Rs.3500. If anyone has subscribed to this service, leave a comment on your experience with Photon+.