{balki Blog}
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Have you browsed the SkyMall in-flight magazine lately?  Holy molly!!  The magazine is filled with enough electronic gadgets to bankrupt me overnight.  Each tool claims to automate or entertain you in ways you could not imagine in your wild dreams!automate some activity!

Here’s a short list of geeky gadgets that could activate an instant orgasm even in the most practical non-nerds among you:

Tool	My compelling reason to buy the tool
A virtual (projected) Bluetooth keyboard (HS1101J) : 169.99	I feel a very compelling need to upgrade my foldable wireless keyboard for the smart phone since it is cumbersome to use on my bathroom walls.
The Marshmallow Shooter (71405J): 24.95	I hate marshmallows and I need to shoot them out of my sight??!?
The World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle (66813J): 29.95	I always wanted to do crossword puzzles and this is a good time as any and I am known to aim high!
The Backpack Bicycle (74217): 249.95	I do not have a way to carry my regular bicycle in the car … the 3.5 times I use it per decade.
Home Theater Watch (TA457J): 119.95	It has been more than 2.68 years since I started reading news on my computer watch and it is time to upgrade to color.
Animated Hitch Critters (AUB101J): 24.95	Our SUV needs a hitch to get a more manly look and we need something girly to decorate that hitch.
Trailer Hitch Hammock Chairs (HKA102J): 199.99	We need these hammock chairs for our romantic drive-in theater experience (planned for August 24th, 2025, our 25th anniversary)
Scrolling LED License Plate Frame (12018J): 59.95	I can think of some creative and spontaneous phrases, if you know what I mean
SkyRest Travel Pillow (99010J): 29.95	People don’t make enough fun of me in public places.  I need a prop!!!!
Picture Frame HDTV Antenna (A515-1018J): 49.99	(I might actually buy this; so no comment)
CatGenie - Never touch cat litter box (PTN101): 299.99	When you get pregnant, we cannot afford to hire a cat-sitter everyday.
Upside down Tomato Garden (67403): 74.95	… because growing the tomatoes in a regular fashion (upside up) is just plain lame!

What reasons do you use to buy gadgets?

I just came back from a Bank of America ATM and believe me when I claim “depositing checks (and cash) was as easy as it could get!”

The process was pretty seamless (and flawless).  These were the four steps as specified in the flyer and I did not have problem following those instructions:

1. Insert card (as usual)
2. Choose “check”, “cash” or “both” and insert your cash or check (THE BEST PART: NO ENVELOPE REQUIRED!!!)
3. You get to see the image of the check on the screen (again the kicker is the check amount is automatically scanned… even for HANDWRITTEN CHECKS!!!)
4. And print your receipt (which includes the deposited check image)

I think I am falling in love with Bank of America (and smart ATMs) again :) 

“You can now receive coupons for Hollywood Video on your cell phone now“. If that piece of news does not give an orgasm then there is definitely something wrong with you!

When I received an unsolicited email from Handango a couple weeks ago about CellFire, I was more annoyed than excited. However, I added the link to my TODO list and over that weekend had a few minutes to explore new and noteworthy stuff. I started looking at the CellFire website and I really started digging the idea. Especially after I realized I could get online from my smartphone only using my laptop’s internet connection. I installed the special smart phone version of the software on my Cingular 2125 and have not looked back since.

Here’s a quick screencast on CellFire works:

Money saved per month because of CellFire Hollywood Video coupons: $15.16
The amazed look on the clerk’s face when validating my CellFire coupon: approx. $220.00
The embarrassment in my wife’s tone when she blurted out, “My husband is a freak!”: Priceless

Technorati : CellFire, Coupons on mobile phone, Hollywood Video, smartphone
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When I first bought my smartphone, I signed up for the Unlimited Data plan (20$/month) so I could stay connected all the time. But after a few months I realized that the unlimited data plan was not paying off as I anticipated for a couple reasons:

1. My laptop (with a internet connection) is handy 95% of the time so the internet connection on my smartphone was simply redundant
2. Even for the remaining 5% of the time (e.g. while driving) I never desperately needed to be online to get some urgent info

So, I canceled my data plan a couple months ago and life went on happily until I came across CellFire! (please await more info about the goodness of CellFire in an upcoming blog entry). In essence, I needed internet connection on my cell-phone to be able to leverage cellfire.
I desperately searched all over on google to see if there was a way to cheat and connect to the internet by piggybacking on the host computer’s internet connection. There were several posts that claimed this was possible but somehow the steps they listed did not match what I saw on my smartphone. A couple hours later I figured out how to accomplish the result:

Step 1. On your host computer, make sure your File -> Connection Settings -> This Computer is Connected To: is set as “Internet”

Step 2. Connect your smartphone to the computer via ActiveSync.

Step 3. Follow these steps on your smartphone to use the passthru internet connection!

Technorati : CellFire, internet passthru, smartphone
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1. In-built FM radio: An FM radio that can display artist and album information (and of course, the cover art) using the RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data System) information just like the Microsoft Zune. (even better, if the iPod can double up as a satellite radio receiver!)

2. Wireless sync with iTunes: Wireless sync with iTunes is just a no-brainer. I don’t know why Apple is not introducing this feature yet. I don’t need anything fancy like internet access, or music sharing with other players or even automatic firmware updates. All I care for is my iPod to sync with iTunes without having to connect using the clunky USB cable.

3. Expanded search and track organization: The search interface and the play-lists are organized based on the US music market but that is not a holistic solution. For example, the music industry in India is heavily dependent on the movie industry and we have more soundtracks than original albums. Also, the music director is an important element in the soundtrack. There are multiple singers not only within the album but also within individual songs. I want to be able to search (and organize and navigate) based on the cast of the movie as well. In essence, I like to see Apple think outside the box and understand there are other countries that listen to music in different ways than the US music lovers.

4. Easy cleanup of missing tracks in iTunes: It is amazing how hard it is to clean up missing tracks. iTunes does a good job of recognizing and marking missing song tracks but when I click on one of these music tracks, I would like an option to remove all missing tracks rather than having to re-select the track from the file system. Also, I cannot delete a track while I am browsing within the play-lists. Why do I need to be at the root-level of iTunes to be able to delete duplicate or unwanted tracks?

5. Better integration with home theater system: I have been in search of a good tool that lets me integrate my iPod with the home theater system. The A/V kit from Apple only lets you browse the photos and watch videos. What I want is to see the exact same User Interface and navigation control on my plasma TV as it is displayed on my iPod screen (again, I have an OCD for album cover art and ID3 tag info. It is very important that I can see those on any display interface from the iPod). The closest I found is the DLO HomeDock Deluxe. It has a reasonably good User interface but is not the same as the iPod. Plus, it does not display album cover art

6. Dolby Digital / DTS Surround sound output: I am not sure of the technological feasibility of this feature but I would love to hear the music in full Dolby Digital or DTS Surround sound quality on my Bose audio system. This feature would simply blow my mind away!

7. Karaoke-enabled lyrics: I see an occasional article about synchronized lyrics and karaoke-enabled music players but I think developers are still in the dreaming stage and they are working against huge technical and legal barriers. Personally, I would have a blast lip-syncing to Butterfly by Crazy Town and Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta from the Office Space soundtrack on my favorite music player of all-time, the mighty iPod.

8. Better integration with Car Audio system: I wish Apple or another 3rd party vendor could come up with a flawless, easy interface to any car audio system that works with my iPod(s) and provide at least CD-quality audio output, if not better. Meanwhile, the best I can do is a lousy Belkin cassette adapter with even lousier music quality and frequently dying battery (because I forget to turn-off the iPod and it won’t switch off automatically, when I stop my car or switch off the audio system).

9. Multi-user capabilities (especially w.r.t. song ratings): My wife and I are on the opposite ends of spectrum when it comes to taste in music (and movies and food and everything else; a subject for another day!). I made several attempts to consolidate our music ratings while listening in the car with very poor results. I decided that the best thing would be for the iTunes/iPod combo to provide separate ratings for me and my wife so we can create and listen to different play-lists based on our personal star ratings. That feature would be fantastic because I am tired of the horrible renditions of “I’m a Salve 4 U” and “I Love Rock N Roll” by Britney Spears showing up on my 5-star play-lists

10. Automatic ID3 tagging using GraceNote MusicID technology: This technology is way too cool to pass up! Quoted from GraceNote: “…Using audio waveform fingerprint technology, MusicID can identify individual songs or albums in a user’s collection regardless of source, format or tag information.” And that means no more meaningless Track01s in my music collection. Every single track would have the correct cover art, artist and album information! That’s enough eye candy to instantly cure all of my OCD!!

What are your wish-list features for your favorite music player? Start commenting away now!

Technorati : iPod, iPod Nano
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While planning my current visit to India, I wanted to stay in touch with my US-based friends, colleagues and clients. So, I researched various options and narrowed down to Vonage V-Phone (mostly based on their ubiquitous ads). I picked one up at the local Best Buy and subscribed for the unlimited calling plan at Vonage.com. The enrollment process was straight forward and mostly uneventful. I got my new phone number almost instantly.

I made a few calls with the V-phone powered by Comcast broadband and the sound quality was impressive. I attributed this quality to the strong underlying broadband connection and was still skeptical about the quality in India (where reliable Internet connections are still a premium). I got my first chance to verify my skepticism during my layover in Frankfurt. I paid a nominal fee to get Internet connectivity from a T-mobile Hotspot in the airport terminal and made some calls to the US and India. The sound level was a little low but the quality was first-class.

Since landing in Hyderabad, I have been using the V-Phone on a 256kpbs DSL connection and am extremely pleased with the consistent sound and connection quality. I love the device itself and the seamless process of making free calls to the US and beyond.

Here is some obvious (and subtle) goodness in the device / service:

1. Completely divorced from any single computer system: Works like a charm on any computer as long as the computer is on a decent Internet connection (128kbps or better speeds recommended)

2. No footprint software: I just connect the USB dongle to any internet-enabled computer and the computer instantly recognizes the phone and is ready to make calls within 5-15 seconds. When I am done, I simply remove the device and there is no trace left on the system.

3. Great form factor: I like the orange color for the dongle and the blue LED light (that represents a successful connection). The included headset provides superior sound quality and the cable is long enough to allow me to move around comfortably without ripping out the dongle from the USB port.

4. Additional 256MB space on the USB drive: I do not carry the V-phone everywhere I go but can see how the additional space on the USB could come in pretty handy when you are on the go. The included key ring is cute and convenient.

5. Auto Load and Unload: This is my favorite feature. The soft phone keypad launches automatically when I insert the USB drive and disappears after I remove it. No worries about corrupting the drive or annoying pop-up warnings.

The only shortcoming I can think of is that there is no facility to import or leverage existing Outlook contact details. This is my biggest annoyance. I have enough devices already that force me to reenter my contact numbers and the V-phone is the worst offender of all. There is no interface to import contacts from anywhere. I really hope Vonage adds the import facility in their next version. Another minor annoyance is that the cap is really hard to remove from the device. I can understand their concern the cap might be lost, but there are other ways to secure it rather than making it impossible to pop it open.

If you travel international (or even domestic but worried about running over your free minutes on the cell phone), do try out the Vonage V-phone. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Technorati : V-Phone, VOIP, Vonage, hotspot
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Yes! The “2GB 1st generation Black iPod Nano” arrived yesterday at the auspicious time of 11:35am yesterday! Exactly the one I wanted.

All this excitement might sound so 19th century, but you need to know the full story to appreciate the unrestrained fervor…

I already have a 2nd Generation iPod Color with Photo that I share with my wife. I am a great fan of the iPod + iTunes combo and an avid listener of several podcasts. But every time I am enthused about listening to some new podcast, my wife sneakily steals it away for her morning commute, even before I wake up. I have filed several petitions with her to acquire another iPod (a Nano this time, because I wanted to use it for my so-called workout sessions). But she rejected them all, claiming that we already have one and do not need to waste any more money on a music device (she did spend a cr*p-load of money on some “groceries”, “cleaning supplies” and “cat litter” though)

In the end, I did any honorable, law-abiding, well-bred citizen would do; I started a collection at work around a year ago specifically targeted to raise $199.99 within 2 months. Initial results were very encouraging (colleagues generously threw pennies and nickels into a pan I carried to all of the meetings) and the mug I used for the collections started filling up fast. But as people started “having kids”, “getting married” and “pursuing other jobs”, they completely forgot about this splendid cause. The last contribution to the mug was an “IOU $76.39″ note from Kevin Ombler!

So, I switched strategies and started looking for ways to get an iPod Nano for free and came across this promotion from TD Ameritrade: Fund 10K in an account and get an iPod Nano FREE. It was that simple! All I needed to do now was start a collection for $10,000. Just kidding! I was planning to divert some of my funds from an existing account to an investment portfolio anyway. This was a perfect opportunity.

Subsequently, 6 weeks of restless waiting and sleepless nights later, the iPod Nano Black 2GB arrived via UPS yesterday and am having a blast showing it off to everyone. (Also by sheer chance of luck, the stock market has done mightily over the last few weeks so I also made over 500$ on my original investment)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot… I added $5.45 to the collection at work, to buy a $6.95 clear hard case for the iPod. So, thank you, my beloved and generous colleagues in contributing towards my iPod collection. The fund did serve its grand purpose… sort of.

Technorati : Apple, Free iPod, Nano, eTrade
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SmartphoneNotes : The default one that syncs up with Outlook Notes just does not cut it.
Oxios ToDo List : Lets just say Oxios ToDo list is the native Outlook ToDo list on high-performance steroids. The freeware application “Oxios Tasks Plugin” is just icing on cake.
PhotoContacts : Unfortunately, this is another app that Microsoft should have provided by default but does not. Provides lots of configurable options to show the caller’s picture for incoming calls.
Google Maps Mobile (via Midlet manager) : Enough said!
Google Mobile (Personalized Home) : Optimized for viewing on small screens
WordBook (talking dictionary/thesaurus) : I just love the way I can tease and correct my wife’s pronunciation.
AbstractStart (freeware) : Takes the stress out of navigation by putting the most used programs first on the start menu. Simple concept; right on the money.
PMRecorder (freeware)* : Very handy when you want to record those phone conversations with untrustworthy customer service reps.
Wapedia : Wikipedia on the go!

*Always follow legal advice before recording any conversations.

Technorati : Cingular 2125, smartphone, tools
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Last weekend I gave my wife a very nice surprise. It was a RAM aluminum bike mount specially designed for Garmin iQUE 3600 (my GPS). I was puzzled however when she not only hated the gadget but burst into a powerful tirade which involved phrases like “I will never see your face again if you do anything geekier than this!”, “You are a freak”, “Of all the geeky things you did so far, this is the freakiest”.

Two days later she changed her strategy and started debating the value of this gadget and challenged me to provide enough evidence that this tool will pay for itself, or else she would start investing in a Manolo Blahniks shoe collection. That ultimatum prompted me to start preparing this “top 10 list of benefits of riding a bike mounted with GPS”. I have been bike-commuting to work for the last 4 days, so arriving at this list was not difficult at all.

TOP 10 REASONS I NEED A BIKE WITH ON-BOARD GPS INSTEAD OF JUST AN ORDINARY BIKE:

1. How else can I save the world from pollution and depleting energy reserves? By riding a non-GPS enabled bicycle? No way!
2. How else can I save money on commuting costs? (based on various factors like my laziness quotient, the spot price for a barrel of crude oil, etc,. the bike, the GPS, accessories and the bike mount will pay for themselves within 28.764 years)
3. How else would I discover that, between our house and Corillian, the elevation ranges from 167ft to 249ft above sea-level?
4. How else would I discover that I can reach a top speed of 13.22 mph riding my bike? (top speed greatly assisted by the 24-ft elevation drop between Cornelius Pass Rd and John Olsen Pkwy)
5. How else would I reduce my cholesterol levels, and track my commute on a real-time 3D map?
6. How else would I catchup with the tons of podcasts that I greedily subscribed to over the last few months? (I have to finish listening to 134.4 hours/7.59GB/348items worth of my favorite podcasts)
7. How else would I reach work before 9am unless I adjust my pedaling speed based on real-time satellite-assisted GPS navigation?
8. What else can I brag about at the next Northern Hillsboro Geek Convention?
9. How else could I increase the odds of getting my own gym locker at Corillian to 1 in 11.75?
10. How else would I look geekier than I already am unless I add this GPS to my bike along with an iPod, a smartphone and a garage door-opener?

I am doing a power-point presentation to my wife using this list. If you can think of any other uses for my bike-mounted GPS, please add them to the comments section.

Technorati : RAM bike mount, iQUE 3600
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1. 320×240 QVGA screen: The 2.2 inch TFT active matrix screen is a treat for the eyes and I enjoy every minute I spend watching photos/videos and browsing the Internet on this awesome screen.
2. The 1.3 MP digital camera/video-recorder is not shabby either. Especially because I can immediately e-mail the pictures to friends and family using one of the messaging tools (hotmail, outlook email or any of the other email providers)
3. The flight-mode: Simple yet brilliant idea. I don’t need to shut off the phone completely while flying; I just need to change it to flight-mode so I can continue doing other geeky stuff using the phone.
4. Photo Contacts: Lots of cool features around picture caller Id functionality. (PS: I am still waiting for PocketX to release a version for Cingular’s QVGA screen).
5. Support from 3rd party developers: There are 1000s of 3rd party applications out there already and there is always a possibility of writing my own! In fact I have a wish-list of features which I might someday start working on if nobody else offers them for under 14.95
6. Windows Mobile Media Player 10: The media player on 2125 is no match to iPod/iTunes but it is a pretty convenient replacement when my wife steals the iPod on Fridays. I bought a 1GB miniSD card on buy.com for 20$ and now I can listen to most of my favorite music and podcasts on my phone
7. SmartphoneNotes and Oxios ToDo list: These are 2 of the most versatile replacements for Windows Mobile Notes and TaskList. I keep discovering new features with them every single day
8. T9 Predictive Text Input and Smart contact list: Go to contacts and start tying the first few letter of the contact name and boom I can locate the number with very few key strokes (just 1 key press per letter; I don’t need to press the 7 key four times to get the letter ’s’) . For a more detailed explanation of T9, go here
9. Google Local: Not sure how google managed to pull off this application but they have done a pretty darn fantastic job! I can locate just about any business address on the map quite easily (handy links to the phone number & directions to that location are just icing on the cake)
10. Automatic profile: What a brilliant idea! I stay on automatic mode all the time and let the phone take care of switching between normal and meeting modes based on my calendar. There are several applications that take this concept even further (features like changing to flight mode based on some keywords in the calendar, and changing to silent mode after a certain time every night) but I am still debating if I want to complicate this simple and elegant feature that already works like a charm.

Technorati : Cingular 2125, smartphone
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Technorati : Cingular 2125, smartphone
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