Though 'm a end user of Microsoft products, 'm never a fan of Internet Explorer. I've always been looking around for browsers with tabbed interfaces and faster rendering of web pages, and Opera and Firefox suited my needs. Lately, 've been using Firefox and Flock web browsers, and 'm liking both in spite of them having a couple of disadvantages (heh, kinda' trivial problems: not able to perform certain online banking transactions). Firefox and Flock offer the same functionality, fast... Read Full Story

In my previous article, I was talking about how dejected I was with Microsoft Vista. I believe it was good in one way as it made me explore the latest version of a cool and elegant desktop Linux operating system (OS) - Ubuntu 8.04 LTS!. I'm not gonna talk much about the operating system; 'll just include some screen shots from my system so that you can get a clear picture of how good it looks - anyways, looks are subjective!! Read Full Story

During the last quarter of 2007 there were various offers by vendors such as HP, Dell and Acer, and my brother was wanting one Compaq notebook powered by AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor and 1GB memory. The good thing (at that time!!) was that the notebook was pretty cost effective and it included the Vista Home Basic 32-bit version, and a HP Webcam & HP stereo headset were complimentary. My brother and I were fascinated to lay our hands on a Vista-loaded computer, and finally we bought it!! We... Read Full Story

In India, still there are a few million people who look to TVs as general entertainment gadgets that can make you laugh or cry - by watching those good for nothing, anti-social mega-serials. These mega-serials corrupt your mind and make you think like a devil (or think evil?, coz there are good devils and bad devils too). There are exceptions though, but can they become rules!? NO. I would appreciate a lot more programs on sex and sex education, and people spending quite some time on these... Read Full Story

This is an ironic fact TATA SKY's online recharge never works properly when you want to recharge your account before your TV blacks out with no signal. This is ironic because Tata through its Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) provides premium IT services and solutions to businesses and organizations worldwide, however could not get a simple (correct me if it's a complex process for a multi-billion dollar IT services company) online payment system right for its own sister concern - TATA SKY... Read Full Story

It happened in 2005, when I first applied for my credit card - ahem, I know what you're thinking about; yes, 'm pretty late to this money borrowing business. Way back in 1999, when my father used to swipe his credit card for purchases, I used to drool at the glittering gold card gleaming with the name of my dad in raised letters. I yearned for one add-on card at that time, and my father said... Read Full Story

When I became an Orkuttant, the first thing I wrote was a small note, which in Orkut is called as scrap, to my friend who made me an Orkuttant. So reads my first scrap, "wassup buddy, hwz work?". FYI, he was in the seventh floor and I was in the sixth floor on the same building. I used technology to the fullest extent that the message got routed via a huge Google server farm in the US to the old creaky CRT monitor at my friend's desk - whoaaa, my first successful... Read Full Story

There are quite a few in my office who own diesel-powered cars and the street price of these cars are close to nine lakh rupees! It's sad to realize the fact that they will be paying lesser than most of those unfortunate middle-class people who yearned to own a car, putting a major portion of their savings on a good small petrol car. This is the kind of discrepancy that arises in a society that is neither entirely capitalist nor communist. The capitalist oil companies would want the... Read Full Story

From my vast experience of my encounters with dogs and traffic policemen, I never look at their eyes, and if I did, I've invited trouble already. One vague stare at a rabies stricken dog, it starts barking and comes running at you. It actually pains me to draw an analogy here, but... Read Full Story

The best way to start car pooling is among your colleagues. You'll obviously know who's coming from the same area as yours, and if you don't try communicating using the internal messaging medium like corporate instant messenger or mailing groups. This is basically the trust factor, and it works most of the time; a colleague would be more comfortable traveling with you (or vice versa) than traveling with a stranger interested in car pooling. This principle applies very much to women who will... Read Full Story