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Heads up from Rearset's blog
Monday, February 4, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
New Year..Yawn
Okay so, at the outset, a happy new year to all of you. What did you guys do? Personally, I made a wise choice in staying back home and napping it away (my sister, wiser still, spent it studying). Anyways it was wise because:
1) I saved a lot of money sleeping instead of spending it on a 'bash'.. which is overpriced, overrated, and a general waste of time anyway.
2) Money saved is money earned
Therefore, from 1 and 2, I got paid to sleep on new years eve.
1) I saved a lot of money sleeping instead of spending it on a 'bash'.. which is overpriced, overrated, and a general waste of time anyway.
2) Money saved is money earned
Therefore, from 1 and 2, I got paid to sleep on new years eve.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Shopping for a comp?
I never buy anything without doing a tremendous amount of market research on it. So here I was, shopping for a laptop for my sis - and here's my tips to buying computers in India.
Firstly: Assembled or Branded?
This is a no-brainer. Unless, un' the very less, you really know the assembler, as in beer buddies/best pals.. do not trust any assembler. There are folks who swear by proffesional assemblers and for the most part they appear to have no problems - but they do eventually. I now think, that may be more due to the rampant use of pirated software especially among assembled pc's.. be that as it may, but I don't trust just anyone.
Branded folks..
Ads keep coming in newspapers - Dual Core Pentium for 30,000.. Vista PC for 35,000 etc. Things to note..
In the Indian scenario, no matter how you look. The best value for money pc/laptop, as of 14/11/2007 is..
A Dell.
Pricing is spot on. Go to their website and you'll see the professionalism lacking in the sites of Acer, Lenovo, Zenith and even Compaq/HP.
They advertise prices including OS, monitors, and peripherals. And best of all, its all customizable.
There were some battery issues with Dell Laptops so I'm given to understand that has given them some flak. But they have also provided replacements promptly, as I know from a friend of mine who has one.
Here's the config. Remember, its for my sis who's use it for academic purposes (I hope!)
Dell Inspiron 1420 Notebook
Intel Core2Duo T5250
Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1" Widescreen Display
1GB RAM
Intel Integrated GFX X3100
160GB SATA HDD
8x DVD R/W
McAfee Security Center
Bluetooth, WiFi,
Remote Control
Belkin Messenger Bag
Price: Rs.41,500. (tax included)
Oh yeah, and it's pink.
Firstly: Assembled or Branded?
This is a no-brainer. Unless, un' the very less, you really know the assembler, as in beer buddies/best pals.. do not trust any assembler. There are folks who swear by proffesional assemblers and for the most part they appear to have no problems - but they do eventually. I now think, that may be more due to the rampant use of pirated software especially among assembled pc's.. be that as it may, but I don't trust just anyone.
Branded folks..
Ads keep coming in newspapers - Dual Core Pentium for 30,000.. Vista PC for 35,000 etc. Things to note..
- Is the monitor included?
- If it's a Pentium.. is it a 'Dual Core' or 'Core2Duo'? BIG difference
- How much RAM? Minimum 1 GB in today's scenario.
- Is the OS included? Which one is it?
- Integrated Graphics or Standalone? Not very relevant unless you're a hardcore gamer.. in which case you wouldn't even be reading this. Anyways, Integrated graphics are pretty good these days so not much worries..
- Peripherals like speakers..
- Which sound card?
- 160GB Hard Disk is minimum
- Bundled software to be noted
- Bluetooth and WiFi are MUST.
- What are you paying for? Mobility at the cost of features or vice versa? Do you really need the slim Vaio or a chunky but full featured Toshiba/Lenovo?
- Consider the price of a good case as well.
In the Indian scenario, no matter how you look. The best value for money pc/laptop, as of 14/11/2007 is..
A Dell.
Pricing is spot on. Go to their website and you'll see the professionalism lacking in the sites of Acer, Lenovo, Zenith and even Compaq/HP.
They advertise prices including OS, monitors, and peripherals. And best of all, its all customizable.
There were some battery issues with Dell Laptops so I'm given to understand that has given them some flak. But they have also provided replacements promptly, as I know from a friend of mine who has one.
Here's the config. Remember, its for my sis who's use it for academic purposes (I hope!)
Dell Inspiron 1420 Notebook
Intel Core2Duo T5250
Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1" Widescreen Display
1GB RAM
Intel Integrated GFX X3100
160GB SATA HDD
8x DVD R/W
McAfee Security Center
Bluetooth, WiFi,
Remote Control
Belkin Messenger Bag
Price: Rs.41,500. (tax included)
Oh yeah, and it's pink.
Happy Diwali?
So? Did you burst firecrackers this Diwali?
Look at this.
Our great apartment-society decided that the basketball court would be the ideal place to let tenants burst their god-forsaken fireworks.
Look at the smoke. Thats the pollution from each of the crackers.
This is the aftermath the next day.
Who gives a shit, huh. These fireworks have riduculous levels or toxins, heavy metals and phosphates; they pollute, deplete the ozone, trigger asthma, have illegal decibel levels.. and yeah, the child labour that goes into it.. our great democracy. Did anybody follow or even know about the 10pm deadline?
Please do not support the bursting of fireworks.
I'll leave you with this wreched sight.
Look at this.
Our great apartment-society decided that the basketball court would be the ideal place to let tenants burst their god-forsaken fireworks.
Look at the smoke. Thats the pollution from each of the crackers.
This is the aftermath the next day.
Who gives a shit, huh. These fireworks have riduculous levels or toxins, heavy metals and phosphates; they pollute, deplete the ozone, trigger asthma, have illegal decibel levels.. and yeah, the child labour that goes into it.. our great democracy. Did anybody follow or even know about the 10pm deadline?
Please do not support the bursting of fireworks.
I'll leave you with this wreched sight.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Handy-man
We are a nation of people lacking common sense.
I think in the good old days, when resources were scarce and customer service was poor, people used to DO things themselves. Like fix engines, clean drains, seal punctures, repair electronic items etc. Now, the Indian 'male' needs a mechanic to replace engine oil. Believe me, there'll come a time when you will call the electrician to replace a light bulb.
There's no such thing as a handyman nowadays. Sure, if you have the engineering student in your house, but nowadays they pass choots to become engineers anyways. What use are they.
So, it is in this scenario, that the somewhat typical Indian 24 yr-old.. (me).. found his fan not working one unusually hot and mosquito infested 4am morning. I got to know later that the 'capacitor', which is a cylindric device, had blown and probably needed to be replaced.
So then, as the prompt Indian male, I called the electrician who gleefully told me, yes indeed, the capacitor has blown, and it'd need to be replaced. Fucker. One of the disadvantages of living in a neighborhood where property prices have tripled in the past three years, is that every fucking bhikari thinks you are a millionaire. I bet he was counting the Gandhi's he'd get. I mumbled something about getting the capacitor myself and told him to come the next day.
Next day. The electrician is 'busy' at some other rich man's house and will take ten more minutes. That was 2 hours ago. As frustrated as I got, I looked around the fans in the other rooms and noted just how this capacitor is fixed. Pretty easy, there's just two wires which need to touch two small pins on top of the fan. I thought I'd give it a shot and guess what - fan's running.
I'm telling you. I am an idiot for not knowing something as simple as this.. The elec will come now asking for some sixty odd bucks and I'll tell him that the fan miraculously started working by itself.
Morals:
1) Replacing a capacitor is easy. DIY.
2) Learn some basic DIY fixes - people are around to fleece you.
I think in the good old days, when resources were scarce and customer service was poor, people used to DO things themselves. Like fix engines, clean drains, seal punctures, repair electronic items etc. Now, the Indian 'male' needs a mechanic to replace engine oil. Believe me, there'll come a time when you will call the electrician to replace a light bulb.
There's no such thing as a handyman nowadays. Sure, if you have the engineering student in your house, but nowadays they pass choots to become engineers anyways. What use are they.
So, it is in this scenario, that the somewhat typical Indian 24 yr-old.. (me).. found his fan not working one unusually hot and mosquito infested 4am morning. I got to know later that the 'capacitor', which is a cylindric device, had blown and probably needed to be replaced.
So then, as the prompt Indian male, I called the electrician who gleefully told me, yes indeed, the capacitor has blown, and it'd need to be replaced. Fucker. One of the disadvantages of living in a neighborhood where property prices have tripled in the past three years, is that every fucking bhikari thinks you are a millionaire. I bet he was counting the Gandhi's he'd get. I mumbled something about getting the capacitor myself and told him to come the next day.
Next day. The electrician is 'busy' at some other rich man's house and will take ten more minutes. That was 2 hours ago. As frustrated as I got, I looked around the fans in the other rooms and noted just how this capacitor is fixed. Pretty easy, there's just two wires which need to touch two small pins on top of the fan. I thought I'd give it a shot and guess what - fan's running.
I'm telling you. I am an idiot for not knowing something as simple as this.. The elec will come now asking for some sixty odd bucks and I'll tell him that the fan miraculously started working by itself.
Morals:
1) Replacing a capacitor is easy. DIY.
2) Learn some basic DIY fixes - people are around to fleece you.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Bikes of Lore
Why can't we have motorcycle ads like these?
It's because we don't ride bikes like these.
It's because we don't ride bikes like these.
Pics from http://www.reproductiondecals.com/vintageads.html
Monday, November 5, 2007
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