All Wi Fi-red up

After years of deliberation, finally bought a DLink WiFi router and set it up at home. I was skeptical whether it would work with the ISP that I have, but after checking out the manuals, it did seem that it would work. It did not take much time to setup, though I had to perform some of the steps differently than as outlined in the manual. It worked on first attempt, but then I had some trouble (my folly) to get my Android work via the WiFi. In the process, I hosed the settings on the router, and was unable to do anything with it.

Finally, did a hard reset (pressing the Reset switch for 20 seconds), restored to factory settings, and then performed the setup again. Since then its working like a charm. Even the Android works well with it.

Now, consider this: 20 minutes into installing the new router, I had to go ahead and reset it. Wow! It might be the first time that I took down something new so quickly.

Started a new tech blog

Started a new tech-related blog over at Wordpress. This is because Blogger does not support PDF attachments (remember the previous post about LaTeX). To all my computer-savvy readers, figure out where it is. Hint: There has to be a Unix connection for the name, and devices are an eternal favorite along with the fascination for 0.

Sorely missing Linux

I have been using my new desktop (bundled with Windows 7) for a while, but I am sorely missing my Linux (especially Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Debian). And with that, I am also missing all the wonderful utilities that GNU brings along. Not to mention LaTeX (not the material, but the software). Its a pleasure to read documents that are typeset with LaTeX and variants. With a lot of (non-work related) material to be put into document form, I finally installed ProTeXt for Windows. While it seems to be working fine, I still miss my Kile -that fine KDE-based software with which I had typed my entire master's thesis.

I am also looking at trying out writing some mini (or maybe pocket) books. Looking over my disk archives, I had found a wonderful way of combining LaTeX for A5 sized paper with some nifty Linux shell scripts (psnup  and what not). This would produce a booklet, but still be printed on a standard A4 paper, but the pages would be laid out such that when printed it could be stitched like a look. Really love the idea, as well as the output quality. Another point is that most of the cheat sheets that I had prepared while doing my academics were typeset in LaTeX.

Now, I know there are a lot of GNU utils available for Windows (GetGnuWin32, Cygwin, etc.). And I do not think any other software (at least the free ones) can match the quality of LaTeX. I think it is better to get Ubuntu installed (maybe using Microsoft Virtual PC or other virtual machine). So that's what's happening now - a download of the Ubuntu 10.10.

Update (2011-02-17): Yeah! just finished installing and firing up the Ubuntu 10.10 on a VirtualBox. This update is being posted from the VM running Ubuntu. Had some problems with the VM crashing while installing initially and later the display res, but things have been sorted out. Works like a charm!

Shweeb: cycle your way in a capsule

Google's 10^100 project had invited people to submit ideas that could change people's lives. One of the chosen entries was Shweeb in the transportation section. The below YouTube video shows how much fun it can be to commute to work. Of course, the below ride is currently only deployed at a park in New Zealand.

Microsoft Kinect

Recently attended a Microsoft session where they touted the yet-to-be-released Kinect game controller. The video at YouTube about this commercial says it all. Quite impressive.

Discovering the joy of eBooks

Until recently, I used to prefer the printed books. That way, one could refer to them anywhere even where there would be no access to an electronic device. Probably this also had to do with the lack of widespread use of personal computers we grew up. The problem with printed books related to computer technology is that most of them become outdated very quickly. These also tend to take up a lot of storage space (a premium in Mumbai).

I had recently ordered a newly released book for which there was no Indian reprint. In it, I found that they (the publishers) had offered the buyer of the printed book, a free download of the electronic version (PDF) of the book. I found it to be quite handy, for I could start reading it anywhere I had access to a computer (work or at home) without needing to lug it around.

I also realized that publishers now actively encourage readers to buy the electronic versions of their books (of course, not all books are available in their e-versions yet). One reason is the "go-green" effect to save paper (forests / trees). I also found that I had another very good reason to buy these...one could get the newly released books immediately (no need to wait for it to be shipped - all one needs to do is to download them).

With these enticing reasons, I have just completed buying 3 e-books today. Not only are the costs lower, but also I have these books for reading immediately.

Experiences with iPod Shuffle

Usually, I've tried to stay away from technical posts in this blog of mine. But since this is also related to the iPod Shuffle I bought recently (a mention of which was made in my previous post), I thought I'll mention it here.

The iPod Shuffle was bought from J. J. Mehta, Dadar(who maintain a wonderful website, and are sellers of cameras and related equipment). The iPod Shuffle came in a nice packed / sealed case. I rushed back by train to my home quite excited. When I reached home, I plugged it into the USB to charge it. After charging it for a while, I decided to fill it up with some songs. My laptop (2 years old) came with a pre-installed version of iTunes. However, when I tried to connect the iPod to the laptop, iTunes complained that it was unable to communicate with the Shuffle (and that I must install a new version). Tried downloading iTunes from the Apple website, and realized that it was more than 60 MB. This would take at least a few hours to download from the slow internet connection at home.

WTH? I thought to hell with iTunes. Just booted my laptop into Ubuntu Linux, installed gtkPod, and loaded the Shuffle with a basic set of songs.

So that's how GNU / Linux helps us...in very small, subtle ways. Nice! And, like I mentioned earlier, my home PC hasn't seen Windows running for more than 2 years now. Everyone at home now uses Ubuntu (well Kubuntu) Linux.