Play Things

Want the music on your friend's ipod? Here's how to copy it all without iTunes!

Sidin Vadukut — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:27:00 GMT

Last weekend a dear friend called up to say how his laptop had crashed and how he can now never take a backup of the music on his iPod. That's because, and most iPod owners know this, there is no way to actually copy back the music on your iPod. It only works one way: PC to iPod. Apple has deliberately created a convuluted database structure that prevents you from hooking your iPod to your PC and then copying back the mp3 files and videos and so on.

If you own one of those regular USB or flash-based players you know how easy it it to just drag in and drag out your music.

Presumably Apple does this to stop privacy and prevent you from sharing tracks with less moneyed and more fiscally prudent mates.

In reality this whole setup is a colossal pain in the service entry.

So last night I decided to see what I could do to avert the problem. I carry all the music I own on my iPod and can't imagine never being able to take a back up from time to time.

The beauty of this solution is that now you no longer have to borrow your friends iPod at work to listen to that rarely Aslam Sabri track or hilarious NPR podcast. With a little piece of software called Yamipod you can copy which ever track that takes your fancy from anyone's iPod and make it yours. Also if you want to simply stream a track off your iPod but dont want to download buly iTunes, yamipod works perfectly too.

Yes, the potential for piracy is rampant. But then in all good things there is a little bad. Like Sreeshant.

Click here to download a copy of yamipod. It worked fine with my newish iPod classic and seems to updated fairly regularly.

This is what the developers site lists are its major features:

stand alone program, no installation required

iPod is automatically recognized

mp3 and AAC files can be copied to/from iPod

read/write access to mp3 id3 and AAC infos

playlist support (On-The-Go included)

playlists import (PLS,M3U)

playlists export (PLS,M3U)

full unicode support

auto-download new versions

advanced song import/export settings

2 restore features

built in music player

iPod informations

2 search features

remove duplicated tracks

find lost music files

easy ratings edit

PC to iPod synchronization

create and edit notes (with unicode support)

automatically update song playcounts

News RSS and podcasts to iPod upload

Growl support (Apple only)

export song lists to HTML or plain text files

multiple iPods support

Last.fm support

Your mp3 player causing problems? Want to backup DVDs? Trouble with external hard drives? Drop us a message and we'll give you a solution or find someone else who can!

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Your mobile talk plan may hold a nasty surprise

Sidin Vadukut — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:54:00 GMT

There is no denying it. The economy is in tatters. The sensex is in doldrums and my mutual fund investments evoke two words: Bear Sterns. Good times, though, for HR people everywhere who can't wipe the smirks off their faces as they begin long, sorrowful all-employee emails with the line: "Now that ICICI Bank has slashed bonuses we have decided to rationalise our compensation structure by..."

In stunning irony, this will lead to an immediate saving in manpower cost which is the number one deliverable on your Vice President HR's performance evaluation this quarter leading to a 100% bonus for him or her.

But for those among us who are not in HR and not loaded with inherited wealth it is a time tighten those purse strings and hunker down while the winds of recession and inflation blow past.

So today I have a tiny little tip for those with mobile phone connections they have been loyal to for many years.

Now I've been using my particular cellphone connection for around three years now. In order to prevent any legal issue I will not be referring to said service provider by name. But we will only refer to it by the ambiguious, fictional name: "Sodafone".

So I'd picked up a Sodafone connection many moons ago, way back when it was still known as "Mausambi" as part of the corporate package of my then employer. I was given a nifty talk plan with cheap rates, free STD/ISD and all that. Of course back then there were so many talk plans and confusing options that I once had the memorable opportunity to inform my mobile salesman the benefits of the plan he was trying to sell me:

Sidin: "So I get free roaming?"
Salesman: "Yes. I think so. The brochure must have it?"
Sidin: "Does it?"
Salesman: "Doesn't it?"
Sidin: "Wait yes it does. It says so here!"
Salesman: "See! I told you."

And then, like most of us I am sure, I kept using the phone number over the years without ever giving a thought to my talk plan and tarrif rates. My bills seldom surprised me and I am not a huge mobile user anyways.

So last weekend I decided to log on to the Sodafone website to switch off my clogged and unchecked voice mail service and decided to give my talk plan a quick look see.

I was paying, dear reader, a criminal two bucks a minute for local calls to other mobiles. And had been doing that for years and years. It was most shocking. Here I am beaten and broken by the economic downturn and my mobile provider slyly overcharges me for my patronage. I'd never bothered to keep a track of latest talk plans most of which had become much cheaper over the years. And Sodafone had no incentive whatsoever to tell me either.

So if you want to immediately shave a few bucks of your monthly expense budget I suggest you give your talk plan a look see. If you've been using the same plan for years... you're probably wasting precious currency that you should use to subscribe to mint instead.

Which will eventually lead to bigger bonuses for me. Alternately you can be nice and just send me the cash.

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So how much is the iPhone 3G really going to cost in India?

Sidin Vadukut — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:08:00 GMT

That is the question on every mobile-flouting, credit-card-maxed-out, gadget-obsessed, marriage-in-doldrums-due-to-wife-not-getting-enough-attention tech geek's mind of late. Now upfront I will confess that I have no idea myself. Friends keep calling me and to ask what the "business media" thinks will be the price of the "God's own gadget".

(This is because they assume that due to my presence in one forlorn corner of the mint newsroom I somehow have Nostradamus-like insight into the future. In reality all I do is drink green tea and watch youtube. All my articles have been outsourced to a content development BPO in Manila. But not a word to the mint top brass please.)

Still no harm in pulling together all the news that is out there already on the iPhone 3G already to get a sense of what will hit us later this year, rumours say Diwali, when Vodafone and Airtel will launch the device. Now experts have already figured out that the there is more to that $199 price tag than meets the eye. The Machinist blog at Salon.com did all the hard work for us:

As I calculated it, the new iPhone would set you back $40 more than the old phone over two years. Now Gizmodo has a new calculation incorporating other charges; it shows that the new iPhone costs $1,975 over two years, compared to the old phone's price tag of $1,815 over two years -- in other words, the new phone is $160 more than the old phone.

Farhad Manjooo refers to the contract plan set up they have in the US where you get the handset cheaper as long as you buy into a long term deal. (Of course we don't have that system in India among GSM operators.) But the news from New Zealand and Mexico is not any better. To quote Apple Insider:

Vodafone New Zealand is also offering the iPhone 3G without a contract at $740 (NZD $979) for the 8GB model and $853 (NZD $1129) for the 16GB model.

Don't even think of converting any of those numbers into Indian rupees. Perhaps you don't know about journalist salaries but most of us make ends meet by working hard, putting in over time and then selling body organs.

New Zealand will get the iPhone 3G first on July 11th.

Rumours are rife in India: Which version of the iPhone will they launch? How? At what price? Will there be a contract? Will the price be subsidised? Which kidney should I keep? (I like the left one personally speaking.)

Thankfully we have a couple of people who think they know what they are talking about. The first is Business Standard who has the most dissapointing headline I've read in years and year, 'iPhone to be costliest in India on lack of subsidies':

According to industry sources, prices of the latest iPhone (Version 2.0) would be at least double the amount of that in the US. The 8-gb version of the gizmo is likely to be priced between Rs 16,000 and 18,000, while the 16-gb would cost around Rs 24,000 to Rs 28,000 in the country.

According to sources, Airtel and Vodafone are unlikely to subsidise them as bundling is not a "successful formula" in the country and penalty clauses are not strictly adhered to leading to lengthy court battles.

Geek.com has even worse gossip:

Another rumor states, the 8GB iPhone will launch in September with a price of between 27,200 and 28,000 rupees, which at current exchange rates translates to $685 to $710. If that’s the case, Vodafone will be making a bit of money on the device (even if there is revenue sharing), and the company may also get a chunk of the Australian market as part of the deal.

This is all very depressing news indeed. Secretly I'd been hoping to fork out around 15,000 bucks or so for an 8GB 3G phone. But like one of our readers mailed in a week or so ago: "Admire it from a distance for a year, and then buy it cheap, and perhaps illegally from Alfa in Andheri."

Secretly I am hoping Vodafone gives me one for review. And then I will relocate to Dubai without telling anyone. But with an iPhone. Muahahaha...

Now look deep into your heart and tell me how much you are ready to cough up for the iPhone 3G in good old Indian rupees. The closest bidder will get a surprise low-price but high-intrinsic-value gift from me.

Picture courtesy Apple.com

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Five Firefox plugins (with one bonus) you must have

Sidin Vadukut — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:57:00 GMT

As you may have gathered from my last blog post, I am a big fan of software apps that are portable and installation-free. Especially when they are light, bloat-free and do what they do without a huge hue and cry.

If someone asked me "Which bollywood star would most resemble the software you like?" I would have to say Irrfan Khan. (Did I get my F's right?)

Which is also why Firefox, and to a lesser extent Opera, are my browsers of choice. FF comes with a wonderful array of plugins and add-ons that extend the functionality of FF way beyond that of a fast, efficient browser. Not only is there a great range of apps to choose from, but they are a snap to install, use and even discard if you don't like them. And most plugins add no noticeable bloat to FF.

If you're new to Firefox or to plugins in general here is a quick guide to finding them, installing then and a list of my fave five pieces of code goodness.

Installing:

1. Get Firefox. Dowload it. Install it. And don't worry about installing the latest version. All the add-ons that matter have already been ported to the latest version. Go to www.firefox.com to get your copy.

2. Next you need to find a whole bunch of plugins to choose from and install. Thankfully the firefox guys have thought of that too: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/.

3. When you find one you like (my recommendations below), click on the Add to Firefox button on the side. It should install in a flash. Most add-ons are easy to setup and use and, if things get too complicated, to trash too.

The only issue I normally have with adding a list of add-ons is that you need to restart firefox to get the plugins to start working. This author has remarkably little patience you see.

Recommendation:

Here are my top 5 Firefox extentions and why I love them. And you may too:

1. Del.icio.us bookmarks: I use the del.icio.us service to manage all my bookmarks and even to publicise the sites I like and the articles I have written on my personal blog. (Check out the lists on the right side bar.) This plugin for firefox makes bookmarking and retrieving them a snap. Perhaps a detailed blog post on how to really get the most of del.icio.us is due. Expect that soon. The plugin is here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3615

2. Twitterfox: If you're not on Twitter, well you are a Web 2.0 nobody. Think of Twitter as an instant messenger where you get to broadcast your thoughts to all your friends in one shot and your messages are saved online for posterity. (Not really private, you have been warned.) Twitter may seem pointless to start with. But its not just good fun but pretty useful too. The twitterfox plugin helps you interact with your friends and keep abreast what everyone is upto in the comfort of your firefox browser window. Highly recommended for Twitter junkies. Get it here: http://www.naan.net/trac/wiki/TwitterFox

3. Screengrab: If you're a blogger, journalist or anyone who needs to ocassionally save the odd screenshot or web image then Screengrab is the perfect add-on. The plugin sits in the bottom right hand corner of your screen only popping up when you want to take a screenshot of something. And its got great option that let you grab only a little piece, which you can highlight with your mouse, or the entire screen from top to all the way to the bottom. You can then save the image on your hardrive. The files come as PNG. Remember to rename them! Its among the first plugins I install along with Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146

4. Foxytunes: I don't use this as mush as I used to. Ever since I got my Ipod my windows media player has been lying somewhere in the PC rusting and disintegrating into little useless slivers of corroded code. But if you still like listening to music while browsing the net then Foxytunes is perfect. It helps you control your media player (it handles most) from the comfort of your browser window. Takes some getting used to: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/219

5. Adblock Plus: My IT guys and marketing boffins will kill me for doing this. But sometimes websites have ads and animations that are annoying, heavy to download and kill your entire online experience. Adblock Plus zaps out all those banner ads and leaves you free from the evil money-grabbing hansd of capitalists: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

Bonus add-on: This is only for bloggers who post frequently using one of the popular blogging platforms like Wordpress, Blogger, Movable Type and so on. Zemanta is difficult to explain in brief. But what it does is amazing. As you write your blogpost (online on the blogging interface I mean. Not in MS Word or anything like that.) Zemanta scours the net for related free-to-use pictures and related links to news, blogposts and so on. Click on any of those images to incorporate them into your blog without worrying about rights and other legal hassles. Zemanta will also automatically add a line of acknowledgement at the bottom of your post and caption your picture.

You can also use any of those "Related Links" you like too. It really all very smooth and cool. Makes blogging a whole lot easier. Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself. The Zemanta plugin will sit in Firefox and automatically add the requisite functions on your blog post composition page. Its like magic: http://www.zemanta.com/download/firefox/

Tell me what your fave Firefox add-ons are. And always remember that this blog is always open to post ideas.

Ciao my dahlings.

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Does your office IT villains not let you install anything?

Sidin Vadukut — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:18:00 GMT

Pardon the blase headline. I am trying to experiment with blatantly obvious headlines to see if that helps create more traffic and perhaps a few more comments. (Serious guys. I could use some dialogue in these parts. Comment is free.)

Okay so how bad are those villains in your IT department? Do they make you send an email to the "IT helpdesk" and then fill out a form and ring up several faceless fiends before sending over some one to "log in as Administrator" on your computer? And all that drama just to install that latest version of Firefox or a simple little unzipping application?

Well don't tell anyone but I have the perfect solution for you. A solution so obvious, so simple that when it occured to me I slapped my forehead with my palm and immediately decided I must share it with you "Play Things" readers.

Now first we will aquaint ourselves with the concept of Portable Apps (PA). PAs were initially developed for people to carry certain applications on their pen drives. This way, when they travelled somewhere and had to use an alien computer, they could just plug in their pendrive and power up their favourite browsers, Skype clients and such like even if it wasn't on the host machine.

The applications resided on the drives and ran without any need for installation and configuration.

Usually, when you install apps on a PC, they do all sort of mysterious things like creating folders and copying files in all sorts of hidden away places on your PC. (You normally need to login as Administrator to do this. And therefore the IT Deparment imposed slave-dom.)

But PAs are packaged to run without any of these mysterious activities. All required files and configuration are pre-saved in neat little folders. When you double click a portable app it starts as usual but without using any info on your PC. The pen-drive has everything it needs to run. It installs nothing.

So one solution for you is to carry a pen drive with all the portable apps stored on them. Plug it into your office PC and use the app you like without IT knowing a thing.

The even smarter thing to do is to download these PAs and then just unzip them into folders on your PC. The PA can't say the difference between your PC or a pen drive and creates all those neat little folders right there on your desktop. Peep into the folder and voila! you have the app you need right there, souped up and ready to go. Double click and you have Firefox or Skype or Opera in all its glory without any need for installation.

Because the PA has everything it needs in the folder on your desktop, it bypasses all the usual installation activity.

Go to www.portableapps.com to download an array of apps that run out of simple folders like I mentioned. Tomorrow I will put up a tutorial with screen shots on how to do it yourself. Drop a comment if you need any further help.

Have fun freaking out with all sorts of apps in your office. And please be smart and make sure you aren't downloading viruses. The IT guys tend to frown upon such things.

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Copy Cat(ch)

Sidin Vadukut — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:37:00 GMT

It's been two weeks or so since my last blog and I am entirely at fault...but not really. The IPL completely hogged my time. Around 4 PM everyday match fever overtook the newsroom, most notably from the corner which houses the desk of the right honourable Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, cricket scholar, opinion pages editor and coconut water addict sans compare.

But now that the tournament is complete and the Chennai Superkings (yay!) have lost to the Rajasthan Royals (boo!) life can get back to normal and I look forward to having meaningful conversations with the missus again.

Today we will deal with an issue that plagues most journalists and editors of newspapers: How do we convince the in-laws that we make enough money? (Answer: Drop names of people you have interviewed till they finally relent to your non-monetary greatness.)

No, I am talking about the evil of plagiarism: When writers shamelessly lift lines, paragraphs, entire sections and sometimes complete articles from other places and try to pass it off as their own. Not only must journalists not commit it (not that we do, wink wink) but also prevent our contributors and other colleagues from defiling our pages so.

But its also important in your company if you work in one of those content-centric outfits like consulting, research, analysis and so on where the client is paying through this teeth for your powerpoint presentations and neatly bound reports. Not to mention in academics.

So here are a few neat ways of checking up on content you handle to see if it's been a little too "inspired" (a la Opal Mehta) by someone else:

1. Google it: Yessir. Just copy a chunk of text from the piece and drop it in the Google search box. The search engine is remarkably good at throwing up similar if not, god forbid, identical text.

2. Copyscape it: Go to www.copyscape.com if you want to check if something on your blog or your corporate website (or any other website) has been plagiarised. Drop in the url you think has been ripped off in the search box and the site will immediately throw up all possible plagiarism possibilities.

3. For a really comprehensive check of word documents and websites go to www.plagiarismdetect.com. You do need to sign up, something I hate doing for short online activities, but the facility offered is pretty good. You can upload your documents, cut and paste text or even drop in a URL.

Between the three of those methods you should have zero trouble catching CTRL-C --> CTRL-V boffins in the office.

A word of warning though. Not all Plagiarism cases necessarily need to be bonafide -> http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/06/14/plagiarism/print.html

Ciao. I will now go get a haircut.

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God will roast their stomachs

Sidin Vadukut — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:49:00 GMT

Today we have both food for thought and food for err... eating.

Turn back time, oh dear reader, to the very beginning of the latest US invasion of Iraq. When the Americans rumbled into Iraq with several "Mission Accomplished" banners in their backpacks ready for the unfurling.

One of the highlights of contemporary television media at the time was the venerable Iraqi Minister of Information Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (MSS). MSS enthralled the world media with his articulate press conferences where he made accurate predictions of the outcome of the war. For instance this description of the US-led attack:

"They are retreating on all fronts. Their military effort is a subject of laughter throughout the world."

and this:

"We're going to drag the drunken junkie nose of Bush through Iraq's desert, him and his follower dog Blair..."

He also made this completely false, inaccurate and outright ludicrous statement:

"Bush is a very stupid man. The American people are not stupid, they are very clever. I can't understand how such clever people came to elect such a stupid president."

Wait a minute...

So while we are now celebrating the fifth anniversary of the liberation from Saddam to the peaceful forces of civil war and sectarian violence it might be good to relive some of the best moments of comrade MSS. Check out all his best utterances and perhaps even buy some tastefull MSS t-shirts and cups too, all at this link: http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/

The above was the "food for thought" bit of this post. Now for the real food bit.

The French Laundry in the Napa Valley is widely considered one of the best restaurants in the world. Reservations are difficult to get and if you call some two months in advance they will probably not laugh loudly in your face.

But thanks to your intrepid blogger who sits late into the night browsing food blogs and gawking at food images you no longer have to shell out the $240 or so to even get a look in at the French Laundry. Instead you can whip some of chef Thomas Keller's delicacies safely in the comfort of your home.

Carol Blymire religiously cooks and uploads eight or so recipes every months from the 1999 bestseller The French Laundry Cookbook on her blog "French Laundry At Home". Her banter is infectious, photos gorgeous and the foods looks stupendous. (She also recommends music to accompany the cooking.) Even if you don't intend to cook any of it just reading through the recipes, especially just before lunch break at the office, can set that appetite on fire in no time.

How can you possibly say no to Pear Strudel with Chestnut Cream and Pear Chips?

Ok now back to my lunch of exquiaite Garlic Chicken sandwich and Snapple at Cafe Coffee Day. Sob.

Picture courtesy: www.frenchlaundryathome.com

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Tipping Mondays - 2

Sidin Vadukut — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:46:00 GMT

I know it's a Wednesday (two-days to weekend!) but why fret over the day of the week when we have such spectacular things for you to do in the office for ~~utter criminal timepass~~ to enrich value in your organization. Well not entirely. This blog always to strives to dilute its fun quotient with some utility as well. "Just enough utility to satisfy the Deputy Editor" is the central moral tenet of this blog.

So first of all I am going to tell you how to easily handle that little conundrum when you want to take the screenshot of that website which you just HAVE to use in a presentation or report. But how to do it? That "Print Screen" function is messy and takes forever. You need to paste it in a document, then somehow extract the image in a format that is usable in your PPT or PDF. Well there is a solution at hand. First convince the IT guys in the office to let you install Firefox. "But it is just a harmless free browser you thick, dense fellow!" is a good way to convince them.

Then install the Screengrab addon. Once you do you will see a little icon in the bottom right corner of your browser window. Click on it and you can save the whole website, just the part you can see or even a little selection. Whatever works for you. And now with those IPL cheerleaders in the news Screengrabbing is a necessity for the modern office-goer.

The second service I am highly taken with of late is Slideshare. Slideshare lets you embed slideshows (duh) into your webpage, blogs and such like with just a few clicks. People are calling it the "Youtube of Powerpoint". (Which is some indication of the way the modern metaphor is deteriorating.)

Here is one I thought was all round good fun: Panipuri - An introduction to perfection in food design

And before closing I have help for all those people eager to learn a foreign language, communicate with foreign people and somehow convince them to go to Goa with you. If you have an ipod and have a rudimentary understanding of how podcasts works, then this link gives you a link to dozens of podcasts that will help you learn languages. Listen on the commute and in just a few weeks you will will be saying things like "Lady I like you, go Goa with me, hot lover I am." like any native speaker of Finnish who is terrible with the ladies.

And if you need any other help with techie and web-ish things in the office or at home drop a line and this blog will be happy to oblige!

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How to make friends, mix drinks and pass out

Sidin Vadukut — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:37:00 GMT

I don't know about you, but a lot of people down here in Mumbai are loooking forward to the holiday tomorrow. Time to kick up those tired feet, load a Ram Varma Gopal ki Aag DVD and throw back a few mid-week cocktails.

But I am guessing that you've been tippling on those same old cocktails you learned to mix way back in college on that hostel terrace: 2 parts Marco Polo beer, 3 parts Romanov Vodka and a dash of whisky from that fellow who brews it fresh in his room. Throw in a pineapple wedge for class. A little AIRQUOTE seasoning AIRQUOTE on the side, Floyd on the speakers and you have a party on!

Thankfully your interpid blogger is not one to sit on his cocktail mixing laurels. Cuba Libres (Coke, Bacardi, Ice) may be easy as hell and kick-ful but nothing can beat a nice...

Blue Sky Cocktail

Chill cocktail glass. Prepare as follows:

Coat inside of cocktail glass with framboise liqueur. Moisten rim of glass with Dry Sack and coat with coconut snow.

In pre-chilled cocktail shaker combine

1½ oz Marsala
1 oz Rhum Negrita
½ oz lime sherbet
1 tsp. orange juice
1 tsp. Aperital
3 dashes Tia Maria

Shake with coarsely crushed ice to a rhumba beat.

Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Now before you go around saying that I'm all pretentious and hoity-toity with my liquors let me gently point out that the Blue Sky cocktail was generated, just a few moments ago, by the online Mixilator - Random Cocktail Generator. Based on a simple online interface, a vast database of liquors and spirits and the guiding hand of David A. Embury, the Mixilator conjures up cocktails at your bidding. All served by a comely female robot who speaks with a somewhat philosphical digital voice.

(Embury authored the 1948 classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks that outline several fundamental principles of cocktail making. A very worthy and precious work if there was one.)

So next time you're waiting for guests to arrive and have absolutely no idea how to combine tequila, tabasco, beer and Kerala Palm Toddy into a classy concoction at least you can't blame this blog for not trying to help.

Happy mixing!

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I am a Guitar Hero

Sidin Vadukut — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:03:00 GMT

The missus recently brought home that Guitar Hero 2 game for the PS2. It costs some 5000 bucks for the whole set, little guitar and game DVD, and is completely NOT the sort of thing she'd buy in the regular course of affairs. But, as regular readers are no doubt aware, the birthday is around the corner. And that is as good a time as any for some good natured largesse.

A few days later we're both staying up till midnight playing Anthrax, Primus and such heavy duty rock bands on the guitar.

GH2 sold over 3 million copies worldwide mainly by being deceptively simple to learn and extremely addictive even to gaming newbies. The game comes with a little toy guitar with five coloured buttons on the fret board and a little white bar for you to strum on. You plug it to the PS2 and then choose a song to play. (Most of the tracks are popular numbers. To rock fans at least.)

As the song plays you are expected to hit the right coloured notes (displayed on screen) and strum at the right time in order to keep up. Sounds completely juvenile and pointless right? But give it a go yourself. It is, to put it mildly, freaking awesome dude. By the time you play up the hardness levels and start to play some hard core music the skill required is simply insane. But enough gabbing, check out this Youtube vide of an expert GH2 player cracking a tough track on the expert hardness level.

Also observe how excessive gaming can turn you into a complete moron. Play till the end to see his flourish. The guitar owner's reaction is priceless.

I present someone called Freddie playing the rock instrumental "YYZ" as made famous by Rush in the 1981 album Moving Pictures:

(Can't embed. Don't know why. Pshaw!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua3hZXfNZOE

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Wifi hacker tera mooh kaala

Sidin Vadukut — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:29:00 GMT

What hot-blooded youth with a bent for technology has not wished a wireless network for himself at home? Exactly. All of us. Including me.

So almost a year ago, after much research and development, I decided to install one of those cute little Netgear wirless modems at home. (They look white and nice. Exactly like set dosas when you order them by parcel and they get all lumpy in the banana leaf.)

Setting it up took another week or so. (It was a saga. You can read about it on my other blog here.) And then it seemed to work well enough for a few months.

Till the greedy neighbours got wind of things. Now every night when I go back home someone has tried to hack into the router and get on to the internet. I need to reset the router and set up the broadband connection all over again. It's driving me insane. I don't mean to over-react or anything. But I want to walk into their homes ane eliminate them. Fire bombs come to mind.

Though if you're using a wifi network at home here are a few tips to keep it secure:

1. Always change the default admin and password. As soon as you can.

2. Rename your network SSID to something besides the default entry. When vile neigbours see default labels anywhere they assume you are a newbie and begin attack. Use something hifi instead, something exudes techie sophistication. Example: Hyperthread Large Hadron Collider Inter-network Architecture. Or something.

3. Enable MAC level access on the router. Your PC wifi card has a unique identifier called a MAC label. Tell your router to only let computers with that MAC to get hooked up.

4. Enable security settings on the router and demand a password for hookup. It may sound redundant if you have MAC control. But still don't take chances. My neighbours stop at nothing.

5. Switch it off when you're not at home.

Okay, now off I go to google up "firebomb".

p.s. If you don't understand any of the terms here, then you don't have a wifi network. So chill.

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This day that year... look here

Sidin Vadukut — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:19:00 GMT

Ok I am not trying to put what they call in Mumbai "ganda senti" or anything. But we all must remember that in just two weeks an event of epic proportions will unfold: my birthday.

Not that birthdays have ever been particularly awesome for me. I always get some form of tummy upset or the other and once in a while I forget that its my birthday altogether. This year, however, it will not happen. I have put a reminder in my Google Calendar. (I know this makes me sounds all rought and tough and rugged. Its true. I am.)

Anyhow today's post is about a very important question we all think about come birthday time... Which song was top of the charts the day I was born? In the US? In UK? Stupid question? Not for me.

Ever heard of a band called "Peaches N Herb"? No? Well they clearly had few hits like "Reunited" which topped the US charts in 1979. Blondie is a much more popular band name. So little wonder that they topped the Aussie charts on the same day with the track "Heart of Glass". (Which incidentally went back on the charts in January this year after being used in a Gucci ad!)

Art Garfunkel, who needs no introduction, (the non-Simon half of Simon and Garfunkel) topped the Brit charts on the same day with the super hit "Bright Eyes".

Knowing all of which is completely pointless. Except to remind you that the world is a very different place today than it was the day you emerged pure and fresh.

And how do I know all this? Of course I have an encyclopedic knowledge of music. Sigh. No. I actually went to this site here and did some quality timepass in the office. You should too.

Quick... before the weekend is upon is and we have no illegitimate reason to goof off.

p.s. Surely you can work out my birthday now. Send money. That is always the best gift.

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Espionage for dummies

Sidin Vadukut — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:01:00 GMT

Today we will depart a little from our usual agenda, unproductive timepass in the office, and instead look at how to keep a tab on all those pesky co-workers you have sitting around you making your life fairly painful.

Now let's, first of all, face a few facts. Coworkers, even if some of them are harmless, ultimately are a threat to our career development in our workplace. They may look all nice and sweet and helpful, but never forget that one day, as you move up that ever-narrowing org. structure, they will compete with you for the same position. But by then it maybe too late to manage things through blackmail and character assasination.

So start early.

One thing you must do in order to maintain this continuous supervision is to know what they are talking about behind your back. Perhaps they maybe discussing office gossip. Sometime it may involve you. Or maybe they are sucking up to the boss in the office. There is only one way to find out, electronic espionage.

And you don't need to be a genius to do it. Let me give you a simple method:

1. Obtain a cellphone that has an auto answer-feature. As in it will automatically pick up after three rings or so. Nokia has a few models.

2. Place the phone on complete silence. No lights, music or even vibration. This is critical.

3. Place said phone in the proximity of the subject of your surveillance. On their desk, near their cubicle, behind their computer. Somewhere like that. Not too far away. Not too conspicuous.

4. Now when you are away from the office, all you need to do is dial in to this phone from your mobile or landline. It will quietly ring thrice and then pick up your call.

5. Now, without a soul in the world knowing, you can check up on what your colleague is doing. The phone will pick up everything that is being spoken around it and transmit it clearly to you. Now you know what's really happening when that other deputy features editor is staying back late in the office.

Manipulate this information ruthlessly and voila! Career growth! Success! Fame!

Manage to get one of your spy phones into the HR department and you've hit the big leagues.

Best of luck. And, by the way, I absolve all legal responsibility for what may occur.

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Tipping Mondays - 1

Sidin Vadukut — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:24:00 GMT

What better way to start off the week than with a couple of tips that could save you a lot of time, bewilderment and general workplace headaches...

1. WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS A DOCX FILE? WHY ARE PEOPLE SENDING THEM TO ME!

Ans. Chill. If I had one dollar for every time someone asked me how to open a .docx file I'd have a lot of rapidly devaluing currency propped up on neo-con geopolitics heading towards certain recession. But the only reason people send you this mysterious format is because they have shiny new MS Vista enabled computers and use Microsoft Word to prepare their documents. Microsoft now uses an XML based standard for making files (blah blah blah) which means latest versions of Office save docs in this new Docx file. Docx open up neither in your old MS Word application nor on Gmail (if you do that useful click to view in HTML option).

So what to do? Besides panicking in the office? Simplicity. Go to Zamzar.com and convert it into a regular Word Document! Ta da! (No more screaming across the cubicle farm for help from someone.)

2. Why do nice, sensible people, send pictures pasted in word documents instead of just mailing the freaking images to you?

Ans. Because they are idiots. Maybe even neo-cons. But fret not. There is a simple enough way to get past that problem. (I've tried this in Word Documents and PPTs.) Open the file, admire the image and then "Save As..." the document. Not save. Save as. Save it as a Web Page. On your desktop so you can find it later. Voila! You should have a webpage (html file) there with a folder named just like it.

Open the folder and there is that image you want. There will be a PNG and a JPEG version of the image. Choose whatever that works.

Have a great week.

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Quit cribbing

Sidin Vadukut — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:38:00 GMT

Finally I've done it. I've succumbed to all the Apple iMarketing pressure and bought myself an iPod. Both the missus and I still hold great love for Creative and all their products, but spending just a few moments with a shiny new iPod makes you wonder how you lived without it in the first place.

Podcasts! My life is so much more meaningful with them!

But I know loads of people who refuse to lust after any of those Apple products. "Over-priced!", "All shine, no substance!", "Too rigid and close-courced..." and "Too popular to be cool anymore" are some of the cribs I get to hear. This also means that a lot of people LURVE to crib about Apple products as soon as they are launched.

Pogue, that NYTimes tech blogger of extreme fundooness, has a great post on the product-bitching tendencies of tech naysayers:

It was that way with the iPhone, in the time after it was announced but before it was available. “This will be the biggest flop since the Cube,” went the critics. “No removable battery? Nobody will touch this thing.” Etc.

The blogs were full of this stuff.

As it turns out, they were massively, humiliatingly wrong. Four million iPhones were sold in the first 200 days. Its sales surpassed Treos, Windows Mobile phones — everybody but BlackBerry.

Check his blog here -> Can Blogger-Bashers Predict the Success of a Product? Unlikely.

Scrolling down through the comments I came through this gem of a link. Its an online forum, seven years old, with reactions to the initial launch of the iPod. The messages are, in hindisight, pathetically hilarious.

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