Hyperspace Fast Boot

Phoenix Technologies is offering a 21 day trial pack of their fast boot product called Hyperspace. I dowloaded it but then it requires XP + SP3 which i dont have on my laptop. So till i get to SP3..id have to wait to evaluate the fastboot. 

Picasa Photo Viewer

Image via Wikipedia
The Picasa 3 has a nifty new feature called the Photo Viewer. Click on any image and this is what it will look like.


Its got a very cool effect to it and looks rather snazzy. I feel its got a very 'mac' look to it.

You can zoom in and out of the picture by using your mouse or the up and down cursor keys.

Chrome Bugs and the opera connection

That Chrome incorporates a lot from Opera is not very good news. So google themselves did a Microsoft dint they? (for MS having taken a lot of Apple Mac features). Well the bad news certainly stems from the fact that are we running out of ideas and features for browsers? Even if they had launched 6 months later but with features that were really unique and enhancing user experience, it would have well been the effort. Well the fact also is not many use Opera and hence using chrome would definitely provide a enhanced and newer experience for the user.

Well news is also that there are bugs in chrome (of course) and they are coming out fast. People are going to tear chrome apart especially for the fact that its a BIG product launch from google.

Google Chrome Vs Firefox

Image via Wikipedia Googles official announcement about the impending launch of Chrome, their own scratch up browser. Well what does this do to Firefox? The second ranked browser in terms of market share has never had it going so good. A recent record number of downloads for Firefox 3 and the new features have only added to Firefox'es popularity. Well now with chrome coming out, what does this do with google's association with FireFox? Google being inherently more popular than the Firefox brand, a download chrome link on their main page may get a whole lot of users trying out their new browser. This will of course impact Firefox and even IE, but then users will really decide that. 5 years down the line, will Firefox and chrome compete? will they merge into one? will Firefox fade like how Netscape did? or will users simply reject chrome? Not every Google product is successful and well that might simply be the answer.

OTOH, if chrome is a really good design and can fit into embedded devices as much as it can into PC's them well it may well still be a really successful browser.

My Maruti Swift Breaks down

Image via WikipediaThis happened a couple of weeks back. I was planning to drive down to the Kamat's Restaurant on mysore road (About 65KM from Bangalore on the Mysore Highway). Diya had lost her shoes and we decided that we better get a new one before we started on the drive. So we drove up to the IBP petrol pump in Koramangala, filled up the tank and then bought her a pair of shoes from the Kids n Gifts Shop. As we were returning home to pick up my parents, my car (Maruti Suzuki Swift VXi) suddenly stopped...i mean it just lost acceleration and power and the engine just switched off. I luckily managed to park the car on the roadside. I just dint understand. I tried switching on the engine but it dint budge. I was bewildered. I just couldnt grasp what happened. The car was having power, i could use the power windows, the viper but the engine just wouldnt start. I'd filled the tank up so there wasnt any question of low fuel. For a second i thought, maybe i filled diesel by mistake. But then i had paid the price of petrol, so there wasnt a question of filling the wrong fuel. I asked Megz to go back home as there was no point spending time in the car and not knowing what to do. I then walked to the petrol pump near Raheja Arcade and asked if anyone could help. It was a sunday and of course there wasnt anyone to help. As i walked back, i called Kunaal. He asked me to try calling Just Dial. I called Just Dial and they were of immense help. They provided me numbers of 24 hour breakdown services in koramangala. In the next couple of minutes i got a call from one of them and they offered to send one of their mechanics to check the car. I immediately told OK and got the mechanics mobile number. He was on Airport road and told it would take about 45m to reach my car. I decided to wait. As i rummaged through my documents, i realised i had all the phone numbers of Mandovi Motors from where i bought the car. They also had a 24 hour breakdown service number. I called the guy and he said it would take him quite a while to come to Koramangala and that it would be better if i called the call centre and informed them. They would send the nearest mechanic. I was anyways waiting for the first person and thought i'd try this option later or if things dint work out too well. As promised , the mechanic and his partner turned up in a van about 40m later and then started checking the car. After about 10m, they told that something was probably wrong with the Fuel Pump of the car and that petrol wasn't being pumped to the engine. I was completely shocked. They said they would have to tow the vehicle to their service centre. i wasn't too happy to hear that and thought i'd use the second option of getting mandovi motors to check the car. I asked these guys if they could tow the car back to my home but they weren't very willing and ultimately said no because i wasn't sending the car to their workshop. i then called the mandovi emergency number and he again asked me to call the call centre. Finally i called the call centre and they registered the complaint and told a mechanic would reach withing half an hour. Half an hour passed and apparently i gave them my phone number while i was using Megz's phone. So calls to my phone went unanswered. Meanwhile Megz got the managers number at Mandovi whom we had met during our decision making on which car to buy. I called him and Mr Samrat was very helpful. He advised me to give the car only to Mandovi (Also because its registered in my company's name) and told he would talk to the Mandovi emergency guy (by the name John) . I called John again and asked him for a rough time when he could attend to my car. He said it would take about 1.5 hours, so i went back home, had lunch. Called John again and he said he would reach in 15m. I took an auto to get to my car and J arrived as expected. John and his partners rechecked the car and confirmed the suspicion . T fuel pump did seem to be the problem and they had to tow the car. They said they would tow it to Wilson Garden where Mandovi Motors has a workshop. They provided me the service document and then i came back home heavy hearted not knowing what had gone wrong. It less then 2 years since i bought this car and it never had given me any problem whatsoever. I just couldnt belive for the fact that something had gone so wrong.

SMS Advertising

I noticed quite a few auto rickshaws carrying an ad for mginger. I dint know mginger until one of my friends (Kunaal) told me about it. mginger does sms advertising. Basically they send ads to your mobile phone and you get paid to read those ads. Ive just registered to receive their ads and and well i dont think id be a member for long. I'm just trying to get a feel of how things work. :)