Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Pebble

Two weeks ago I bought a new watch. It is a Pebble (https://getpebble.com). Interestingly cool and worthy is my opinion. I did a lot of research on the kind of wearable technology (not many choices using an iPhone) between Galaxy Gear, Sony and Pebble. The former two do not work with iOS leaving me the only option of Pebble. 

It is a cool looking black watch (that is the color I picked) with just one color to display, like a kindle (eReader). Because of this battery life is really good. Though it advertises of 5-7 days, I observed that 4-5 days is really comfortable. It connects to your phone using Bluetooth which means that your phone battery is gonna drain a bit faster than normal.

How it works is that anything that is a notification on the iPhone is displayed on the watch and apart from this one additional thing that can be controlled is the music on phone (start-stop play-pause). It has a small vibrator too so, if your phone vibrates, so does this (depends on what is set on your phone to vibrate). 

It can support up to 8 apps (very limited but...) that includes watch faces and apps. There is an SDK (Software Development Kit) that will let you program it (not for the non-geeky kind). So, you can keep changing the watch face whenever your mood changes. Some apps that I seen are for running a chrono clock, score etc. Since it has a accelerometer, it can track your hand movement and so, comes really handy to track your calories and activity while running etc.

I own a Bluetooth headset too so this is the coolest feature is that I can put my phone in the bag and just carry the headset and the watch. The watch tells me who is trying to reach me and the headset to communicate. I keep my phone on vibrate mode most of the time without disturbing anyone. I can answer and reject calls from the watch too. Watch faces are just great and I keep changing them very often. 

Overall, priced at 150$, I would say its worthy of the price. I am not too tech savvy about the features it has but this works for me, so I am good.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

New age math calculations...

Well, this happened while I was in a bus.

This is the conversation between two guys after they purchased three bus tickets.The guys appeared to be 25-26 year IT professionals.

Guy 1: How much were the tickets?
Guy 2: 48 
Guy 1: So, how much is each (really??)
Guy 2: 3 tickets...48 Rs. So, that is 48 by 3...26...no...24...no..16. Yes, it is 16 Rs. (woahh.. Go home and open 4th grade math text book).

Me: With a really straight face and being as composed as possible (trying really hard). In my mind, I am like (ROTFL, LOL LMAO... #$%^&*)

So, in conclusion, 48/3 is a tough mathematical calculation....

Peace.

Monday, December 30, 2013

How many have used the feature of Mail Merge?

How many have used the feature of Mail Merge?

I remember the days when we were learning the science of computers in school and Mail Merge was one of the advantages of using a word processor on a computer.

I have been learning about computers since I was 11 years old (yes, I am a kid of the 90's) and I can honestly say that I have never used the feature till date. So, this is what I am gonna do for the new year. I am going to use the Mail Merge feature in Word and going to send out my wishes to all.

Take that...

Friday, December 27, 2013

So here's a solution to a problem...

Problem:

The macros I have written in my MS Outlook have suddenly vanished and don't seem to find it.

Solution 1:
Restart MS Outlook. Funny aint it? Yes. I think 80% of the problems in MS are solved by restarting, be is Windows or Outlook.

Solution 2:

The file VbaProject.otm is located in one of the below folder based on the OS.

Win XP: 
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

Win 8/7/Vista:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook
Backup:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Backup\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

So, just take the backup from folder and paste it. Make sure you do you it when Outlook is not running.

Start Outlook.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Okay, I just bought a pair the new ear pods from Apple and they are just fantastic. The bass and treble levels are just accentuated and give the right levels of music. It is just awesome to listen the music this way, the way you enjoy the most.

I always prefer to listen the songs that have high bass as it touches the music, I mean that's what get the heart vibrate to the beats of the song. There have been times I have placed my hands over my ears just to cancel the noise out and it was just an ecstatic feeling. 

Also, one other thing that I have noticed about the ear bugs is that, they are really comfortable to wear as they go into the ear and since it covers the ear canal completely, they automatically cancel the noise out.

Apple, you really out did yourself. I don't care that there are other products in the market that MAY be better than this but really, I don't care about them.

NM

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Credit History

Why do we need Credit History ? Is it to show our Credit Worthiness ? What if I choose not to pay something even if I was capable of paying it.

I've got couple of friends back home who do not have a credit card only because they think it is a liability. So, it looks that such people cannot exist here in the US. Well, they are not here anyway.

I am finishing this piece after a long time. I realize that Credit History is a double edged sword. You keep it clean, it helps you out otherwise you are in for big surprises. Surprises like someone else is using your credit worthiness to get services.

I think Credit History is a complex result of various parameters like salary, spending, payment etc. But, why keep it so complex that the common man find it obfuscated. Simplify it and make people understand what it really is and how one can nourish it.