How to Hide the Dirty Secrets in your Gadget

Last week, friend of my brother, Chembu, smsed me at night. He asked me if i had ever stored a personal email as a wordpad document. He said he found one while rummaging in a folder in his computer, which he had copied from my computer when i gave it to him for some repairs. I said yes and asked him to delete it as fast as possible. I hope he did that, because that was a rather embarrassing letter to "A".

So, i wanted to give a few points to gadget users, to avoid embarrassing situations.

How to Hide the Dirty Secrets in your Gadget

• Never ever store porn in your mobile. How ever deep you think you hid the folder. There are people who can always find it, especially those who look for them. Like me.
• Never leave the phone alone when you are in the midst of reading something racy in it. Don't minimize the OperaMini or pdf reader and give it to someone. Its always safe to exit. People will never think its a plot in the story you are reading. To them, its just erotica.
• Do not, for the love of god, create folders inside folders thingy. Easiest trick on book.
• Personal letters, passwords, other details... store it in google notebook or just in your mail. And at least never lose the google password.
• Do not surf your files while in front of 15 year old cousins. Or do it carefully. I still remember them laughing as a naked chest of this dude came on screen.
• Always, always clean your download list. And/or torrent list. Name is more than enough to get the wrong idea to anyone who checks.

Now a few tricks to evade detection. Old school, but effective, i think. I am not saying i use these.

• Racy reads (including erotica) if in word format, store it after a very normal text and save them together. No one is going to read till the end of anything to find what is in it.
• Videos, to save them from appearing in media search, store as winrar. And take it out when you want to see. (this one was all thanks to a friend of mine who does not wish to reveal his name.)
• Photos can also follow the above option. Especially if its nekkid pics of you. I personally suggest not to save any nekkid things of you anywhere. Its not worth the humiliation on detection.

Life Changing Device

(Written for Life changing Device challenge at Blogadda).

I am literally going to go with life changing device and not a particular incident.

A few note worthy points before i start.

1. I have never owned a blackberry. because,

a) i don't trust CDMA because i have this freedom to change sim notion, which is ironic since the last sim change i did was 3 years ago.

b) i am poor.

2. I love gadgets. But don't own many. Refer to point (b) for why.

So it is my last phone, Sony K750i, he Life changer. It was rather a beginner's mobile, though i bought it after selling an S60 device. I dont think many goes back to just sony OS and java after using a symbian. But i did.

It might look lame but it is one of the most sold mobiles in the country(used to). However much i don't wanna be in a crowd, this was worth it i think.

This mobile becomes special because it was bought by my internship money. Which was not much, if you know anyone who has interned at a hospital. I wanted to get a sony walkman series, but this was all i could afford. But this has pretty much all the specifics but less looks, so much like me. (Backhanded compliment to self. Yes.)

How this mobile changed my life

I was in the last legs of college life and was getting to know Internet. Even though i had my laptop then, i used to hook to Airtel net using this phone here (word of thanks to airtel,unlimited net at 250 rs per month, it was a great plan, if a little slow). So i got into this whole social networking/blogging/just browsing all through this phone. This phone pretty much taught me how to handle internet. And have a social life and almost everything i know about web and mobile web.

After college i was really lonely. Having studied your entire life away from home will make you pretty much friendless in your hometown. This phone kept me busy. I had net, i had the phone. So i always had something to read or someone to chat to.

I reinvented my love of reading in this device. And through wattpad. Its not so awesome now, i hear, but it was great then. College was somewhere i got lost myself as a person. I found books via this phone. And its going great these days.

I had a best friend whom i only knew through chats. And my job don't allow me to carry the lap. So you can guess. The ebuddy and nimbuzz rocks.

People who know me will always complain i don't keep my eyes off the phone. I always carry it around. Its true. Its because i have so so much to do in it! I was never bored with it. And even when i bought my next mobile, i went for a better Sony phone. With 3g and all, (stupid, since no carriers for the network in my town) but i was pretty much comfy with the sony's style of doing it.

That phone made my life happy, and better and whole lot wise. Any day i would call it my EFB.

Electronic Best Friend.

Elmo- a review

No its not Nemo's young brother. :P

Elmo is my nickname for my new phone SE Elm. Cool huh? [My bro Aqqui says i use the term COOL! too much. Humph!]

So i thought i would list the cool stuff and a few disadvantages.. you know, to prove that i am actually an average techie.

So off with the list:

Cool stuff aka adv.elmo(its Wimbledon :P)

[I am only stating the non obvious like wifi 3g etc]

• The inbox appears as conversations. which is very cute. and reading it is rather like (google) buzz.
• The phone looks handy, easy to hold, feels a bit mouse-like. Very easy on hand.
• The twitter app is really good. Then again, its facebook app totally kick you in the nuts, but thats in lame stuff list.
• Its made of recycled plastics and is totally recyclable, which somehow pleases me extremely. The green heart initiative phone also comes with loads of greener ideas. Eg: the users manual is in the phone.
• You can play the music in background when on call. Works good on people in long distance relationships i hope.
• The sound clarity is something to be desired. Music and talk. Awe-quiteabit.
• The phone is apparently water resistant. I have not tested it yet.
• The picture quality is good when in Macro, close shots and landscapes.
• All the online reviews says the usual sony adapters and data cable cant be used on elmo. Its NOT true.
• They also say you cant watch YouTube stream videos when in wifi. You CAN.
• Email to inbox, uploading to web albums or blog etc are as good as every above average Sony phone.
• The MediaGo is quite something according to buzz. I haven't bothered to find out. Yet.
• The track ID(TM) is awesome. You switch it on, record 5 secs of any media thats playing and it will tell you the album, singer etc :D works when listening to radio or a familiar tune you cant place :)

Bad stuff aka Adv.other phones

• The camera is NOT state of the art. Even though the macro landscape awesomeness happens, it also takes bad pics in dim lights and you have to get used to steadying your hand as it can get shaky. But you get used to it soon :) Eg: 1 2 3. i took these.
• Obviously its not a smartphone. I guess me being smart counts for something :P But this does generate a lot of difficulties.
• The flash is not even xenon. Come on sony!
• The facebook app is delete worthy. But sad thing is, you cant even delete it. i hope they upgrade it soon.
• I cant find where to switch off the cell info display, but thats my problem :P
• The light decrease and increase according to the light in surroundings, but you cant switch this facility off.
• When a java app is running in the background, the phone will never go to full sleep mode. it will lighten up occasionally. So you are just compelled switch off what ever app that is running.
• When in video ringtone mode, the phone does not play video when the call is from someone whose photo you have saved with number. It just plays sony tone or the ringtone you have assigned to them.
• The menu doesn't feature File manager. And has calender. Why sony, why?

Hmm. These are all i could manage. I am berry berry happy with elmo as of now, especially since skyfire is being banned in India. :D If anyone asks, i would recommend elmo only because its easy on pocket. Value for money is the essence of elmo. And GreenHeart.

Boo!!

This is what is written on the incognito window of google chrome.

You've gone incognito.

Pages you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history,

and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you

download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.
Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software.

Be wary of:

• Websites that collect or share information about you
• Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
• Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
• Surveillance by secret agents
• People standing behind you

The last one simply cracked me up =))

Disclaimer-This does not in any case goes on to prove that i use incognito window for terrorist activities. Or any other activities. I am just observant, thats all :) This also does not mean i hate chrome. Infact i only use chrome. And to point out, its not because of the incognito.

My Twitterverse

The first i saw twitter, was in eM's blog. I thought what the hell and moved on. The next time it was in CNN IBN on a show about bloggers. This happened in august 2008, around the time i was giving serious thoughts into blogging. So i thought, this can be used for mini blogging, for small topics, quotes etc. Yet it took me another 6 months to start a twitter account. Then i promptly forgot about it. So when did i got interested in it? I followed the fake @ShahRukhKhan whom i didn't knew was fake, and he followed me back. And me, the "twitter-virgin" thought Oh-Sweet-Mother-Of-God-SRK-Is-Following-Me-I-am-Gonna-Die!! Actually i think that was on of my first tweets. (I said twitter-virgin, so you cant sue me)
So i continued, with lame tweets and following some lamest of the celebs, like @ddlovato @taylorswif13 @colesprouseofficial etc etc (Admitting all these takes a lot of courage, so i am actually not expecting that smirk on your face). And i never followed @mileycyrus, @kimkardashian @britneyspears @parishilton(though i did @perezhilton for a while) so, i was not THAT lame u see..(I unfollowed all of them you know,except TaylorSwift, i love her).

That all was before twitter hit me. HARD.

So after one month anniversary of my twitter, @MTVindia joined twitter. (I joined before the frikking MTVindia, and i consider that well ahead.) So after that, i started seeing all the social networking that is going on in twitter. Methinks, WhatTheEff! Twitter is mini blogging, and i am not going to chat to strangers there!! Never!! I have an account in every social networks for that! (My Twitter buddy who is reading will be smiling now. Don't do!I will tell @pallaviade ..)

So where was I? Ah.. my denial phase. So i restricted myself to minimum personal interactions, and did perfect mini blogging. Then my best buddy joins as @i_bleak (who deleted that account and resurfaced as @i_nemo and @rudramishra later. Thus i started talking to him, and another fab girl, @cookie_crumbles and blogger buddy @fishdoodls occasionally. Still, minimum talks, major silence. Then @madguy000 happened. (that was before twitter got banned in his office, now i tweet more than him)

After that, its all a blur.. I met some awesome people, @pallaviade @sizzler_chetan @KirtiB @shamz911 @softykid....Huge list, to which i will get later.

Somehow we, the awesome twitter people formed the #DDgang aka DESI DILWALE.. I don't know the member count or every single person in it. It is an ever increasing gang of desi people from all parts of country, who tweets together or #twugs each other. How can i describe it? Its total madness!!

So i some of my closest #DDgang members:

@pallaviade- We started slow i think. Rather unknowingly we became friends. And today i think am closest to her. We write long letters to each other and refrains from any other contacts than in mail and twitter. She would be the BOSS in DDgang. Masakali is hr name, which doesn't get wasted on her. Kickass dudette!

@sizzler_chetan- My twitter brother. Rather, i am his #twister. He is very sweet and innocent. Our Happy Dent. Cant stay away from twitter. And rather well-versed in web for a dental student(wasn't that funny?)

@softykid- My every day is incomplete with a fight from nabeel. Absolutely infuriating, irritating, leg pulling guy from TN who doesn't know tamil. Calls me fak doc, makes fun of chetan and don't have any respect for her Holiness ie me. Still i wont exchange him for a 1000 followers.

@shamz911- Fellow mallu, tweeting from qatar. as we both are from around same place, gets each other very well and have mallu conversations in gang, which brought him to gang i think.

@kp1200-Kanishka is a constant presence. He refrains from fights i think Dignified Thakur that he is.. He is the most successful guy in DDgang i think, but really modest and simple. Long live Thakur!

@KiriB- Kirti aka sunshine is one who lives up to the nickname. Everyone's laadli, she is super sweet and is the first person in the gang i talked to.

Hmm.. i think that's about it. Still there are countless members like @manushee (who is architect by profession n is totally cool) @_AtikiN (who is very bubbly n lively) @AanchalM (eclairs, which is rather @softykid's favourite sweet) @ashkd and @smilinggal (who needs a room, seriously)

The list goes on...

So does the fun..

Coma. To Blogging.

So why i am not doing the single most thing i love the most? (Its Blogging, before you strain your brain.)
So, the bane of my existance, the love of my life, my most priced possession is not working. And that would be my laptop. And every word i said about it is true. I am pretty attached to it. Literally. (And yes, i do read trash novels a lot. :| )
So, fingers crossed. It will take two weeks. Damn! Cant wait to blog!
Sigh.

BSNL is all you need!

Finally i was so damn happy when BSNL broadband landed home. After months of waiting and countless calls to authorities.. it came. My heart was singing actually. I couldn't stop grinning and i actually scared RB with my too cheerful mood i think. Well, i was literally jumping up and down! 

 Bsnl is likely the No.1 company in India who is not at all bothered about their customers and still survive. How this company still makes profit is a national wonder, more spectacular than the Taj, albeit the ugliness. So the boasted speed of 2 mbps super speed, bsnl is all you need was not there. So what? What if the speed is not even 1 mbps? Who wants that much? I am open to negotiations! And it was great compared to my connection. I mean, i could watch youtube! Yes, old connection was pathetic. So at the end, i was happy even though the packet was a bit wet.

Well, as the nature will have it, every good thing must come to an end. So Smalltown Girl slept with a smile at night. And restrained herself from using the net the whole day, and connected it around evening. The thing with broadband is, i don't even know what the problem is, which totally sucks. In the dial up connection, i am usually the expert and scaring the airtel customer care people was my hobby (:O). Since the broadband of bsnl has apparently no customer service, i am literally stuck. If you google for help, you would have to be an expert in the area or it would be like watching Ram Gopal Verma ki AAG. Frighteningly unfamiliar.

For a global thing, Internet is remarkably complicated and i seriously wonder how it gained this much popularity.

The worst thing is, i couldn't even connect dial up, so the frustration of venting it in blog was also diminishing. As you see currently, i am not even angry, but actually quite happy and content that at least my old dial up is working.. :D

Way to go bsnl, this is how you teach people to be patient and peaceful with life. We should introduce the system amongst Al-Qeida. Then Mr.Bin Laden and the Dalai Lama would become best friends. And world peace will be the next possible thing.

Spicing Up The Blog..

Since crossing the 50 posts dead line i have been thinking about changing the looks of my baby..(the blog.since its my creation and i have created pretty much nothing in my whole 26 years [:( i will never get used to 26!], this is my brain child.

So i searched for good templates all over google. Left right and central. I tell you, its a jungle out there. Especially if u would have a 2 column one. I was dead set on 3 column, and 2 templates which almost made me give up on 3 column were 

1.

2.

Then i found this Goddess who makes the cutest themes ever! Gisele (Isn't that a cute name!) She has the absolute cutest 3 column templates, i got this one..

How is it?? Should i change? And suggestions are welcome too.. I do think the font is quite small..

Anyone know how to edit its html?? Impart that gyan too..

So.. cheers to more cute ways of blogging!!!