Customize your Holidays

     
    "Customize your holidays" , well that what I felt when I saw the site first. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you might wanna take a look at it here . Even I came across this well structured site recently, to give a proper review on their new "Create your package tool", and boy it didn't disappoint.

                   The site provides a whole lot of holiday packages, well that wouldn't actually attract too many people cause there definitely will be a whole lot of sites and agencies that provide a fixed holiday package. From my last trip one thing I learned is that fixed packages really miss out on certain spots of personal interest, may not be appealing to majority of the tourists and will be neglected from the main package. So I would suggest you do your part of research too on the places you're gonna visit just so that you could avoid "Oh, I was there and never knew that such a place existed". But of course most tourists would be content with the usual travel/holiday packages. Anyways this site, with this customize option lets you actually customize, or rather hand pick yourself what you wanna do, where (all)  you wanna go, where you'd like to stay ( for you wouldn't wanna be complaining if you end up staying in a hotel that ultimately haven't satisfied or met your expectations), the vehicle you'd like to hire , pick up and drop and all those sort of small but really important details. And yes, all that without even having to consult anyone, cause its all well briefed in the site. It's actually plain simple to use and I haven't run into any crashes or errors in between which has occurred a couple of times on other sites.


                          I would recommend you check out the site yourselves, for I wouldn't want you to miss out on this. Personalizing at its best. For you no longer have to bear with the preset accommodation, be on the lookout for cabs once you arrive at the Railway station or Airport and succumb to their demands. You pay extra and customize, you make the best out of it yourself. A perfect tour package that you've made for yourself. It just doesn't get any better than this does it?


                Well that's about it, a short review on the really impressive feature of "Create your package" functionality available on "Must See India". I loved the idea and I hope you do too. The next time you plan a holiday for yourself or your family, why not handpick places of interest and make your very own holiday package.

                         

                  

Smartphone : What smartphone?

                                 Smartphones have been present in the markets for a few decades now, but it's only in the past couple of years that they've really took the steam and surged right upto the extent that people started preferring one over a laptop. Right, if laptops brought portability, smartphones now bring with them extreme portability, ie they can be carried around in your pockets. In fact a smartphone can take care of all the usual things that you do on a laptop, from surfing the net to playing HD games, unless of course you want to specialize in something. Anyways the smartphone market has sure put a dent in the laptop market. So you've a smartphone I presume or you intend to buy one pretty soon. I shall give you a realistic user's long term review on a few of these smartphones


                               The market has gone highly inflated or something, because back in those days only iPhone used to cost around 35k and very few would actually have spent that kind of money on a phone. I still remember the times when buying a phone at 15k was very expensive, then the bar was raised to 25k and as time passed, to 35k. Nowadays the flagship models of almost every major maker has a price tag around 40k. And over time I've realized that spending than kind of money over a phone is not really worth it, cause when you go to sell after 2 or 3 years how much do you think you'll get for it? Technology is advancing at such a fast rate that all these high end phones of the present will be the base minimum after 2 or 3 years.


               Nokia used to be the symbol of trust and reliability back in its days, it's a pity to see a company that was once the market leader go down like this and finally end up being brought by Microsoft. Windows phone was present for a really long time, in fact more than Android or iOS for that matter, but they still fall light years behind those two market leaders. Credit goes to Nokia for sticking with an unknown OS, when they could've very well joined the Android bandwagon and flourished. In fact Nokia put serious effort into Windows phones that you'd rather buy a Lumia than any other Windows phones just cause of the exclusive apps available that're really good. The Nokia Music Store is pretty new yet it has almost any song you would want to have. Nokia phones were always well known for their great cameras ever since N8 came into the fray and it continues to do so in the Lumia series as well. But the thing that really impressed me is the Windows Amber update. I used to hear people complain that Lumia 920 doesn't have an FM radio, it has only a great camera and nothing else. But the update brought by Amber, actually brought in an FM Radio capability, the camera was improved further, technically the ISO levels were raised from 800 to 3200, and that actually puts the Lumia on par with my camera. And the double tap to unlock feature that came with the Amber update also amazed me. Then again the complaints that have been going on around are true too, had to get it replaced once and also the apps available are quite less but that will change soon enough.


               So pitting iOS against Android n WP8, both iOS and WP8 are silky smooth and are really easy to use. Android may be a bit complex for the older generation of people to use, but customization wise Android and iOS are miles ahead of WP8, though you can't do anything much unless you jailbreak an iPhone and Android can be to a great extent even without rooting the phone. So if you're looking for completely personalizing your phone Android is just the right thing for you. Where as if you want an easy to use phone to gift someone then go for an iPhone or a Windows phone.


                  Haters gonna hate, that's the case with iPhone, its true that iPhone 5 never lived upto the expectations and it surely was overpriced too for that matter, but in reality it is an awesome phone in fact the perfect phone if only it were priced appropriately. No matter what I say fanboys will be fanboys and will argue for their phones. I have used all three over the last 2 years, during that time the iPhone 4 and the Lumia 920 had to be replaced once inside its warranty period. The Lumia still has sometime left in its warranty, but then there is my phone, LG Optimus 2x, a phone that I brought at a time when Android was just blooming, and cause S2 and Xperia Arc were out of stock everywhere. We never really trusted Samsung or LG anymore cause of the previous experiences with normal phones and buying an LG now when all the previous purchases were always a Nokia phone was like blind move. But I'll never regret having that phone, even if I may wish at times that if I had brought an S2 I could've used it a bit longer cause of the 1GB ram in it. Anyways after 2 years of using it, all I can say is that it never really ever had any issues, by now its battery may have passed its life span n cause of which it gives a really bad standby as well. And this is also another in favour of the iPhone, Android phones as of now can't really match the standby of an iPhone.



                  My personal view : I don't like Samsung, but I loved S2 , Galaxy Nexus and Note 2. Nevertheless Samsung does make good phones, but their so called budget phones are overpriced and if you're looking for good phones go for the high end ones, because there are way too many others out there like Micromax, Karbon, etc which make phones which have similar features and are available for much lower.


                   

Internet Life

                  Internet Life ? What kind of life is that? What do you mean by that? The fact that you're reading this is proof enough that you've an internet life, how else would you ever come across this article that I've posted and of course me not being on the upper echelons of the blogging world would also mean that very few people ever pass by what I blog on. Nevertheless I write, though I didn't start out to impress others cause when there were no readers there was no burden of "what will they think?" or that sort of questions. But as time passed, it became more or less to get them to like it than what actually flowed out. I'm definitely better off writing without thinking much and this post I hope goes the way its meant to be.

                                        Internet as you know has become life itself or in fact even took over the actual life you live. And with the arrival or smartphones it only blossomed more, especially since having an Android phone or an iPhone without an internet connection is pretty much useless. You really can't utilize all the features that they provide and if you don't wanna, then you're better off with a Nokia Asha phone or a low end Blackberry. As if that's ever gonna happen anymore, cause even 5 year olds seem to demand for an iPad nowadays. Where is the future headed to? Smartphones and tablets have to a great extent killed the Laptop market. Why buy a laptop when almost everything you want can be done in your palms and can be carried in your pocket right?


                        Internet is one of the best creations of man and I doubt very few will deny that. But are you actually using it in the best possible way? Do you really know what all can be done through the net? The possibilities are endless. From gaming to social networking to finding jobs and matchmaking , to finding solution to any problem you face, learning anything you want with video tutorials and assistance, audio and video chatting with your loved ones across the globe and much more. And obviously the dark sides are there too, after all every coin has two sides.

                   Most of us have spent a whole lot of time on the internet or our internet life and by now you realize what all can be done if you utilize this properly. In fact the answers to any problem can be found on the internet.

            Here is what I made this post for, its one of the ways in which I recharge my phone online and that too free of cost - Amulyam. And yes they're offering me quite a recharge amount for this which I can't resist after all, that amount can even last a year for me.
And you could also help me out by joining Amulyam using the following link :
http://www.amulyam.in/signup.do?id=625b17ad-8788-44c5-9310-b556979b7ed9  and you in turn can invite your friends too. After all people would do anything for a free recharge and that is why Hike and Zomato grew popular after all.


    Since I've written this on internet life, here's a few tips for you people if you're searching for something online.

-       Programmers and Developers might as well go search stackoverflow first and you'll most probably find your answers there or you can ask your own questions and people there will definitely help you out.
       
-           If you are searching for online video tutorials and if you don't mind spending on it, then Lynda is the site for you. You'll find almost tutorials on anything you want over there and yeah of course if you want free there's always YouTube.

-           I don't need to mention anything about social life do I?  Anyone reading this will obviously be having a Facebook id or something of that sort. And if you want more specific social sites there's OMGpop which is more gaming based, there's Indiblogger which is by far the best I've seen for bloggers all over the world, there are many more like this.

    So my dear netizens, if you've any question please do ask, if I've the answer to it I shall definitely give it to you.
                                         

End of the Road

              So this is it eh, I don't have to come back here anymore, as per what they requested I still had to come till the end of the month which was supposed to be a Tuesday, but since I had to take a leave on Thursday which couldn't be avoided no matter what, they relieved me 4 days sooner. And well told not to tell anyone about it either, to save themselves the trouble adjusting with all the after effects. Now that I look back at it, I never really told anyone I'm going and will never be coming back there again, at least never again as an employee. I just had to go out the door silently without any proper goodbyes or anything, of course leaving from here, none would cry out for me as it is the case with everyone, they'll all be rather be happy that I'm out of this pit finally. I did tell just a few, that this is it, I'm free from this once and for all, seeking pastures new. 

                      Come to think of it, it wasn't actually the hell anyone working there would say, though they still have lots of issues from the management side of things, as none really ever took any effort to see to it that the employees are happy working there, all they cared about was getting the work done, even if you skip food and sleep. Of course, I never had to go through that much of hell, I was always the one lazing around yet somehow managed to get things done, thanks to having my own laptop, so I did all the stupid work usually at home, behind the scenes, so none actually appreciates that cause they don't see it right. For me the only time I study, if you're wondering what study here - I though screwed up my life cause of my blunder of thinking that a job was the most important thing and neglected studies especially in the last semester, where I had to work at night and sit in class during the day, which actually meant the maximum sleep I ever had at a stretch was under 3 hours a day, you can guess the strain that will be having on you when it goes on for months; so well never mind that the context was to the fact about the earnings to the working ratio. I have a strange habit or I don't know yet if its just in my mind or what, I can only study in the early morning, otherwise I tend to forget the stuff during exams, no matter how thoroughly I study, but none really accepts that, but for me it's so. And working for that matter, I even went to that extent or working up late night the day before exam cause it was so important to get it done, so literally that exam was screwed cause I never woke up in the morning, for the record I try to sleep at around 8pm to wake up at 3 to study 3 hours straight with no disturbances or distractions, but sleeping after 11pm well that blew it all. The result was obvious. 


               Then they used to have those special exams, well most of which I skipped cause of the 10x raise in exam fees per paper all of a sudden. And if at all I went to write, would try to hurry back to office so never really bothered sitting there in the hall much longer, gave more importance to being in the office. Guess it was my bad not realizing what was really more important. And on top of all that I had to work with my own laptop in office, well ain't that amazing? Most offices will never allow such a thing, but I just had to choose it cause I was denied my rightful chance to get day shift, and I badly needed it at that since exams were approaching and I couldn't afford to work in night shifts during that time, ever since then for the rest of my working career there, I have been working on my own laptop, wouldn't it have been better if I worked from home then? Considering the salary, more than half of it was spent on travel alone, which even prompted dad to say, even the carpenter earns 30k per month and the staff working in our own shop earn more than what you do. That's the state of an IT engineer in the present day world. All you could proclaim out was "I am Software Engineer working in Technopark", the ones who have never been inside doesn't have a clue that its worse than the other jobs out there which people may consider to be cheap. 

                      Thanks to the extensive working environment here, people who have left for pastures new never found the work there extensive and they all have flourished. Earning over double the salary with just half the workload. Though I broke up with it then and there, for there was no future for iPhone development beyond 10 years at max, not that I was looking so far ahead into the future, I was made to look beyond and so I chose to part ways with my job once and for all. 


                        It was dad's cousin who emphasized on it. And one thing that I've to state for and against what's happening around. It's really hard to find a job out there, there's just too many people trying for that single spot and getting a job is really hard. And the other side of the coin, you're taken in only if you've the skills and its always mutual, if the employees aren't there, then there is no company. We earn our salary from them, but its our hard work which lets them get all the profit. No company is ever going to take you to be a loyal dog, you've to be useful for them and its always been mutual. No one would leave a perfect working environment, everyone works to earn money for a living. You can't be miserly about that and then complain that you traitor you left, you could've asked for a hike if you wanted, like that ever did any help until they've got a new job. Besides which company ever does tell you to ask for a hike? Isn't it the managements duty to hike the salary after the proposed time period? Never mind all that, I think it's working better right now, can't say anything. As far the working environment is considered, none would've left if they were paid appropriately for their work, that I can guarantee. 


                          Truth be told, I never expected to leave so soon in the first place, and even more I never would've even thought about leaving if no one ever left, but money is all we need and that's why we are working hearing all the firing and shit in the process. If the employee feels he ain't getting paid for it, that's it. I'll miss that place, and all the people there, made a lot of friends there and it sure was hell lot of fun, especially during night shifts. And the only ill feeling I've is that, I was kind of rated the worst out of our group, everyone knew who worked hard, but putting me last, after all this sure hurt, and that coupled with something else kinda made me burst in office for the first time ever. I rarely ever get angry, and I hate getting angry which eventually makes me feel guilty and I cry for loosing control of myself. 


          So that is it, I left even before my bond period which was due to be completed after one more month. Without saying goodbye to anyone, the friends in office nor the friends I made in the bus. It was a cursed fate that day, when I left as for some reason the direct bus home showed up so late and the cloudy sky made me get in that bus and go home. Thanks to all of them for the support from the start till the end. 

           I don't feel guilty that much anymore cause I'm not jumping ship lured by money, I'm abandoning the entire trip and taking a U-turn drifting away from the originally set destination.  I never had a choice in case of quitting the job for I chose to work during college days and screwed up my career working, in the sense of the degree. A lot of lessons learnt, a unforgettable experience.


      I may have to go there one more time, after all my certificates are still there, for the final goodbye, if they don't send it over like they told they'll. 

               

The Blogger

                    "170+ posts huh? And most of them don't make any sense anymore....". When I'd started writing, the state of mind I was in was completely different to what I'm in now. In fact, most of the early ones that none's read were written as Notes on Facebook, back in those days, when I still had my best phone with a normal keypad. Times change and you have to adapt to it, so its no longer with me and as the whole world has now moved into the ,"Touch this, Touch that ", smartphone generation, so have I. With the phone went the perfect typing, the perfect companion with whom I could freely express the rarest of the words which I could glimpse. Typing has never been fun on a touchscreen, and you'd need an iPhone or something of equal standards to get the best of touch, but still nothing comes close to that of a physical number-keypad.


                               "You should get into blogging....", a friend said to me when I was in school. I knew I was not so bad with the language, and I had more affinity to English than any of the Science subjects, which I started screwing up badly ever since they decided to split it into three.And of them all, Physics was my arch-nemesis, right from 8th grade. I used to be near perfect in Math till upto 10th grade. It was not to be so from the next year on, more tuitions thanks to Entrance preparation coupled with bad teaching or un-interesting teachers in school, compounded the misery on Maths, and my favorite subject was turning to the other extreme. The Sun was setting, but the moon had to rise, under the shades of the light cast by the Sun with exuberance rose a New Moon, shining like a new star in the sky, spreading light that could rival the Sun. Thus English rose from nothing to one of my best.

                                Along the path, I did get misled, the curios nature of the child in me wanted to explore the world, and I lost my way thenceforth, seeking the sparkling miracles of life.

             I've never resisted anything really, except for my incredibly awesome and picky eating habits, that parents told me to, but that wasn't the case now. For the first time, I really told I don't wanna do this, I knew I would never make it, that engineering wasn't for me, for I loved animation. But I couldn't change anything, guess what was meant for me couldn't be evaded, destiny? Fate? Who knows.

                 I lost track of myself yet again, for the pursuit of the truth was never fulfilled in my previous quest, for it faded off in some fashion that no one ever noticed it. There was no pain, the most important lesson to be learnt, at least not just yet. How long could I go on without feeling that? Not too long, how could it possibly leave me alone, when the rest of the world has, is and will be experiencing.So I too had to be a part of, otherwise it just wouldn't make any sense anymore. There I was, where I wanted to be, experiencing the best feeling in the world, at least till that point of time. But as the story of my life goes, with great happiness follows great suffering.It didn't take too long for the other half of life to show up, the one thing I've been missing all this while, cause I was always in solitude and numb to that feeling, the feeling of pain.

                       That commenced the birth of a new Blogger in me. A dreaded poet was born out of pain. The best of me shows how long I've lived on feeding on those feelings, that just wouldn't let me go. Life as a whole was crumbling right in front of my eyes, and all I could do was stand there and watch it collapse bit by bit, for this shack of mess was beyond repair.

                        "Just look the blog now, would you? What a total mess it is now, just like me..". I've lost my way again, I've lost the feel in the words, it just isn't happening anymore. Have all the feelings burned out now? Or have I turned immune to the everlasting pain, that I can't feel it anymore? I've lost the art of writing completely in the process, trying to please the readers with my words, that I completely forgot the feel in it. The fact that even I don't have the feel good factor in what I write nowadays is an iterating testament to what I've turned into now. Everything that I've done reflects back as a mistake, turned more of a jack of all trades, but a master of none. I've lost myself somewhere, that even I don't know what it is that I seek anymore to drive me on ahead. Guess I'll by stuck with a "nearly-" tag, like a nearly-engineer, nearly-blogger, etc. For I never do give it my all to anything it seems. The path ahead sure looks dark, and I seem to be running out of candles to lead me out of this pitch black. I no longer see the day where I could rightly proclaim that "I've made it!". I'm that nearly person who loved doing everything but never actually finished doing anything, photographer, blogger, engineer, lover, and most of all a "liver" of life.Ever so knowing that "You only live once".

                   The blogger in me that was born with the feelings of pain is dead now, as the feelings have numbed now, leaving me more or less "Just another blogger" on the internet.

Sharing

      Again here I'm with another random thought that just came to me yesterday while talking to someone over twitter. Felt kinda refreshing after talking to her and I ended up thinking stuff or rather quotes when suddenly this came into my mind. I had seen it somewhere before and it's true.

    Sharing it is then, you too must have heard this "that only one who knows what it is like not having will understand the pain of someone else who doesn't have it too"  ain't that so? . My views are the same too but then with a few limits like you can't share everything or rather should not share everything you have in excess right.

     Only one who was poor and rose to become rich will understand the pain and hardships of the poor.  The ones born rich will never do, n since I'm more from a middle class I can only guess how hard it may be for them just cause even we have lots of issues but it will all be actually nothing compared to then though. The rich have excess of money and they could actually share some with the poor and help reduce the poverty of the nation. But who cares huh, who among the rich has the time to share the time or money with the poor. In fact they look down upon then just cause they are born poor and in the slums, and who is actually responsible for this? Some maybe cause of their own fault at misusing and lavishly spending money, but most are cause of the government and the politicians, the taxes and all these, none of them are actually of any aid to the poor and once in a while the government does something for the people to keep their trust do that they can win the next elections and feed on the national treasure which is the hard earned money of the common public and what did the politicians do?  Buy huge mansions of houses and luxury cars to travel around in style when an average man barely manages one days meals.

   I really can't do anything about it anyway so let the government go. Then there's the rich celebrities who could actually bring about change, for they earn so much and has already spent so much on luxuries. I simply just have a simple question for you, what good does it do keeping so much money with you anyway huh  so many houses and cars :/ that too the top of the line, it's Ok still maybe you love them and guess I can't stop you from having what you really desire but will this greed never end or what. I really wish I could make a difference out there,  but with all these loans I'm in no state to do anything, n guess I have no right to complain either do I.

    Then what else can you share? You certainly can share happiness and love right. At least you're not expending anything here are you? So why not show the world some love ha?  At least in these two I can try something and I am doing it for my friends. They sure have taught me a lot. The happiness I feel when I can make them happy knows no bounds. Even helping random strangers and if they thank you with a smile it's one of the best feelings I've ever known. Of course I've been selfish and ignorant at times but the times I've actually helped someone keeps popping up in my mind and really makes me wanna keep continuing to help others. But there is a big issue in this, I've had negative reactions too, maybe cause they feel I'm helping them to get something in return, well taking in general most people help others with something in mind definitely, some favor, but I really don't,  I don't even expect to see them anymore in my life, just go with the belief that if I'm good to others someone somewhere will help me out too just like me. People are pretty cunning you know, in this competitive world guess they have no other choice to survive I guess. So they step over anyone they can to climb up the ladder. But you really can share some of your care and love you know to make people happy. Guess most of us aren't willing to, or rather well tend to say you got no time for such stuff right. I can only request you to help those in need, can't force you you know.

        And then I do have an example of what you shouldn't go about sharing. Secrets are one thing that aren't meant to be shared, if you're sharing what's the big idea of it being a secret huh, and besides someone entrusted it with you and what do you think you are doing to him or her. And also another thing you can't share if at all you've it that is lol, arms :p, if you got a license to keep stuff or that you might as well be responsible enough right, so we'll I know none would but just making a random example of what should not be shared if you got it in excess.  

   So would you actually mind sharing any of these with people who need it. I would be kinda grateful to you if you do it, or rather do it for the sake of humanity. Beggars I don't know what to say if then, some may really be deserving but can't distinguish anymore because most of them beg and at the end of the day spend it on liquor. I don't wanna support such people anyway. But you know where you can find the people right? There are many organizations that work towards the same goal but then corruption does exist in them too. Guess everyone has to be a little selfish at times huh.

  Anyways I'm done with his, if you do spot any typo or mistakes do point it out, this is like the first blog post I'm doing completely from a touch screen phone and the ability to flow actually made me do it. Thanks guys, do enlighten me with any ideas or suggestions you have.

Nokia Lumia 920

Well odd isn't it, that I'm actually writing about a phone now. The thing is that, I just can't stand by a let such a smartphone go unnoticed, well the sparkling colours will definitely catch anyones eyes, that aside, people have all shifted to the overrated Samsung Galaxy series of phones. I have now turned more of a Samsung Galaxy hater, but in truth the Galaxy S2 was the best phone that they ever made, and ever since whatever came was overrated and continued to eat up the market. Anyways I'm going to take a walk-through of my life and show you the various phones I've tried in between and finally came back to Nokia.

          Remember a few years ago? When there weren't any android phones around, everyone had a Nokia phone.Rarely could you see people with LG or Samsung phones, and having had at least one LG and a Samsung, the impressions they had on us weren't complimentary.

        The first iPhone was revolutionary, it changed everything. When it came out it was really the best thing that could've happened to smart phones, but it brought about a strange revolution in phones, now everything looks the same, you never get to see those really weird and stylishly shaped phones anymore, even sliders and clamshells are gone, sadly, I loved sliders.

      And taking a closer look at India alone, what Nokia was back then before the rise of Android, everyone knows. Nokia was the brand everyone could trust blindly when buying a phone, no second thoughts when its a Nokia, they would last, they are durable and had the best customer care.

    The twist in life came with the N8, we ran after it for so long, but the AMOLED display shortage kept it out of reach, weeks and weeks of running behind it, finally let me give into some shopkeepers advice that, Sony Ericsson Satio had a better camera. That was the worst ever mistake for me and dad, my friend did warn me that its resistive touch, and guess what I tried the screen of Nokia N900, it was resistive but I didn't know it had the best ever resistive screen that comes closest to capacitive screen. And I expected the same from the SE phone, but it wasn't so, and having Symbian S60 when competition were sporting Android and Symbian os^3 wasn't much more of an inspiration, but the strong side of it, it was the only other phone which sported a 12mp camera and boy it truly had one of the best cameras I've ever seen on a phone,in fact, its top view is reminiscent of a Sony digicam. Now I truly miss that phone for its sheer awesome camera. This as I told was the turning point of it all, dad saw the Xperia Arc at that time, and he loved the screen. For the next phone we went seeking that, same situation, not available anywhere :( , again forcing into an equally similar mistake, the same shop, they showed the LG Optimus 2X, they told you can have a look at it,take it if you like. I had seen the phone, and knew it was the first phone to sport a dual-core processor on-board, and then I simply asked them if Galaxy S2 was available, unfortunately it was out of stock, and they just had Galaxy S, and Nexus S then. I was so damn excited, cause it was a dual core phone, and it was also cheaper than the Arc, so took it, mistake or not, who knew back then, wondered if we would regret again. And I was almost regretting when other phones started rolling out Jellybean updates and here I still hadn't got ICS,but the use of custom roms kept me happy with my phone, it was just what I wanted. And just when all hope was lost, LG finally released ICS sources out for devs out there to build on it, thank God, a new lease of life for my capable phone which was left to rot even by LG. I love it, and when my friends have had broken screens and hardware failures in Samsung devices, I've never had any problem with my phone even after falling on top of it in an accident. Samsung does release software updates and scores over LG there, and their Ui's were pretty much equally bad back then, but in build quality LG had finally delivered. It ain't a paperweight phone made of plastic,it was made to last.


     If you're buying an Android phone, I would only suggest HTC, it packs both software updates and build quality in one, plus it has the best UI of all android phones, its pretty much the easiest to use aswell. Anyway never count the iPhone out, Apple have put so much in it, that we even wonder, if they had put in sandpackets in previous versions of the phone that, now they are adding in more hardware and yet reducing thickness and weight. Apple may not give you many issues, but it too has flaws, the most important are the hardware buttons. They spoil pretty easily and all you can do is get your phone replaced. If you're gifting a phone to your parents or elders, iPhone is the best smartphone you could give, cause it may be a bit hard at first to use, but its the easiest of all smartphones to use, and dad just loves it so much that he wouldn't even let me have his for a day. He says its so easy to use, its true.

          Here we are, back to Lumia, and why? Dad saw the Lumia 920 and loved it. Spec wise even I thought it would be a good buy and since he wanted a phone with a big screen to watch movies, it would be perfect. The reasons for going back to Nokia? Its pretty simple actually, of all Nokia phones we have ever had, only my 6210 Navigator had issues, that too the display strip and quick draining battery. Uncle gave me an N95 8Gb like way back in 2008 beginning, and guess what its still running well, and for a slider phone, no issues with the strip or the battery, its still got a pretty good standby time. And then dad had a 5800, which is also still here, and everyone knows whats the 5800 known best for, yeah, its speakers and sound quality is unmatched, and that phone too never caused any issues. So when you look at durability, Nokia wins leaving all competition behind. I did love the Lumia 800 on first sight, its design and smooth interface was comparable to the iPhone's. But with Lumia 920, its gone a level up, sporting ultra sensitive touch for the first time on a phone. It really is sensitive, unless your nail tip is pointed :p, like a needle that is. And if you're buying Lumia, do go for the ones with Windows Phone 8, Wp 7.8 is more or less a dead end and you can't move up to 8 anyway. One of my Windows dev buds told me the architectures are completely different and so WP 7.5 apps won't run in Wp 8, well thats a shame.

           Windows 8 may not have been much of a hit, mainly because of its user interface which doesn't actually suit desktop PC's unless you got a touchpad or a touchscreen monitor. But Wp 8 is superb, from my experience I can say that. It's just growing, apps are coming in slowly and it has the potential to outdo the competition too.And sporting a Carl Zeiss lens, you know what that means, I'm sure it will take better pictures than the new smartphones coming out with 12 or 13 Mp ratings. Low light photography is just mind blowing, without flash it even outdoes my Sony Digicam, thanks to optical image stabilisation,which is also pretty exclusive.

               Good apps are on its way, and there are a couple of good ones out there too, plus the Xbox app features a lot of awesome games too. If you had Saavn on your iPhone or Android, you'll know just how good it is right? For atleast one year after purchasing your Lumia, you wouldn't need any app at all, thanks to the awesome Nokia Music app, which has it all, any song you want, the option to listen to radio mixes, to create your own mixes or even download your favourite songs, and its all in one app. Thats like, Saavn, Tunein Radio and an mp3 downloader, all in one. The camera is awesome by itself and with the lenses feature, gives you a lot much more. Instagram is missed thou, Nokia is trying every bit from their part to get the devs to develop one for WP 8 too, not that there ain't apps which let you apply all these effects.

         So do you understand why switch to Lumia? You are all missing out a lot due to the overrated Samsung phones which took over the market overnight when Nokia were stuck with Symbian, remember Symbian was once vouched for by all of you.

    And finally, my deepest respect to Nokia, for choosing it the hard way, by choosing a sinking WP OS into their own Titanic and managing to steady the ship once again. For they could've just chosen Android and beat all competition in a flash, but they didn't. I hope to see Nokia back on top once again, and in Lumia 920 is a bright future ahead for both Nokia and Microsoft.

       Thanks for reading through all this, its all my own views and your views may differ, I didn't mean to hurt anyone,especially the Galaxy users. If you are happy with it, why give a damn, but please do check out a Lumia phone, cause Nokia still has it in them to make the best phones around. I believe in Nokia.

Love

What do you want,
You want love,
What do you got,
You got love

Then why do you cry,
Like you lost love,
For you still've got,
The needed love

What have you lost,
Just some love,
Why do you care,
For useless love

What do you got,
You got love,
What do you have,
You got me

Dedicated to my besty Kittu.

How safe are you?

     

            "How safe are you?" What would you answer, if I ask you this question? Have you ever wondered or asked yourself "How safe am I?" anytime in the past couple of months? If you are a girl you surely must, taking into consideration all the events that has been going on in our country for some time now.


               I do ask myself why I keep writing on this topic over and over again, haven't I had enough of this already, as you can clearly see that nothing has changed since then, seems like everyone forgot it ever happened or maybe its cause it didn't happen to them that they should be so worried about it. One or two days of public show to show they care? How different am I from all of you I wonder..... I didn't show no protest, nor did I take part in any of those public shows, all I do is sit and think, and if I get time to write it down I pen em down, nothing more. Of course you share your sympathies with the victims and their families, but you still seem to be missing the point. You are all more focused on your rat race to outdo your competition and earn more money, but for whom? Yourself?, you can't take the money you make with you when you die. Your family?, you are ignoring their safety trying to make money and if you end up loosing them, then what? You can claim to be optimistic and talk of moving on by marrying again, for your life or for the sake of your children, but how safe are your children now? These vile animals are not differentiating between babies and grannies and preying on them alike.

         What could be the reason for this nature? The rise in crimes all of a sudden is prominently because the government ain't taking any action against the criminals for the crimes they have committed, but then again this was going on behind the scenes for a long time, just that the rate was much lower. Is there no way to stop it, or at least bring it down?

            Nobody has any time for this, do they? And then you can "Bloggers have all the time in the world to keep writing shit about the rest, what do you know about how hard it is for us trying make both ends meet". Is that an excuse for not being socially responsible? I am not that much of a good blogger, nor do I get time to write down most of what crosses my mind, but when something important comes I do try to make time to write it down, cause you people are not really bothered or rather give it way too less importance in your daily lives.

         You can think when you read or hear the news, "Poor girl how could it happen to her? Why ain't they being punished?". You seem to be forgetting one thing, India is a democratic country, we do have our rights and we chose our leaders. Why let them rule over us, if they can't even ensure our security, let aside making millions of bucks while in power. They have so much money, and they want even more, how cynical, the rich keeps getting richer and the poor, poorer. Let them have the money, but can't they do something for the public? If the people aren't themselves willing to change, you got to force it on them for the welfare of the entire society.

           I live in fear, that one day if I get married, how can I ever leave peacefully? Have to look after my wife and my kids, who else can ensure their security? The law enforcers are themselves being convicted of crimes, how can I entrust the security of my family to such people? You can argue that I'm  thinking too much or looking way farfetched, its true, it may not happen to you or me, but you never know what life has in store for you, do you?

                      Another shocking fact is the unwillingness of people to tend to the victims, of the Delhi incident, when they were lying on the road. None bothered to get them to a hospital, why? And the next day they were protesting with candles held in hands? Hippocrates ain't they?, they could've helped but stood watching and then they vouch for them the next day? Maybe its not their fault, that they stood there watching the victims cry out in pain like mere spectators. Maybe the thought of helping them might have crossed their minds but they couldn't cause if they took em to a hospital, they might have had to bear all the expenses, and worse the case could be hammered onto them instead. Who knows how the system works, the victim gets turned into the convict, then how can anyone take up courage to help them. The system needs to be fixed first, why do you have a hospital? To make money or to serve the people? The former makes more sense now, that you'll have to follow all the procedures of the hospital and pay the money first even if the patient is about to die. Talk about social responsibility and commitment.


              Then looking at a rather less significant side,the dressing style, although your sense of dressing and style may not have anything to do with what happens to you, cause if you were targeted, no matter what you were, they will hunt you down. But dressing does in a small way change perceptions. Why do we wear clothes in the first place? Its for protecting ourselves right? or wasn't that what it actually was made to serve as. The change in trend and fashion may have enticed you to shed more clothes and look more attractive than some other girl, or in front of someone special to you. It can all be understood, but don't you think your dressing has an impact on the viewers mind too. I have no clue as to what a girl feels when dressing up awkwardly trying to impress someone, sacrificing a lot in the process, its more of a prestige issue for them I guess. Their ego is way above their sense of security. Everyone has their preferences and likes, and their dressing holds a key to what they get judged as, just as a well dressed boy going in for an interview creates a good impression.

     I had more to say, but it may go well above my standards to even mention it, so I'm letting that pass for now. For all I wanted was to make you think of your life and how safe it is right now, in this country where law and order is out of order. So how safe are you?

Passion

I have looked,
Under the boulder,
And I have looked,
Over the fence

There existed no passion,
While looking under the boulder,
Nor did passion exist,
When I looked over the fence

I keep questioning myself,
Whats wrong with me,
And I keep asking myself,
What I'm missing in me

I had no answers to it,
Nor justifications to show,
I was blank inside,
Like a balloon filled with air

I kept following you,
Hoping you would take me,
Where I was destined,
Just to feel betrayed

Everyday I woke up,
With a new dream,
Instilling some home,
Of a happy future

Every path I take crumbles,
When I reach halfway,
Leaving me clueless,
Whether to take a step,
In the path I was on,
To explore unknown lands,
Or take the known path back,
To where it began,
Where I'd be comfy again

I kept seeking for answers,
I kept asking myself,
Why I can't take the course,
And reach the destination,
Why I've to quit halfway,
And return to nothingness

Is it the lack of passion,
If it is then I wish I knew more,
Starting with the very definition,
To finding out what mine is,
For if I don't know my passion anymore,
My life's gonna come to a standstill

Everything's Gonna Be Allright

Everything's gonna be allright,
Is all the words I get to spit,
Everything's gonna be allright,
Is all I say when I see you low

When the day starts to bloom,
You may be set to gloom,
But all I know is that in the end,
Everything's gonna be allright

When an incident turns against you,
You may be set to quit,
But at the end of the day,
Everything's gonna be allright

You may fight with your love,
You may fight with your buds,
But at the end of the day,
Everything's gonna be allright

You may want to quit,
You may want to give up yourself,
But you forget that in the end,
Everything's gonna be allright

Nothing Ever Changes

       


             Feels pretty stupid even writing about it, why should I, knowing that nothing is ever going to change in this country. The Delhi gangrape saga is going on, with people protesting against it, demanding action against the accused all over India, and guess what, it still doesn't make any difference to the peoples mindsets, in fact the lack of action on such a huge issue has made criminal minds confident that they can commit the crime and get away with it. The reported cases of rapes have been on the ascendancy since the incident it seems, everyday the newspapers are filled with more and more similar incidents. 
    
          What is wrong with these people? I just happened to see that news reporter eve-teasing video aswell. That kinda settles it, seems everyone has now fixed their eyes for a chance? What the hell??? Whatever happened to our country all of a sudden? Maybe it has been going on all around without the knowledge of others, the actions might have been suppressed till now, but now the shocking reality of the mob is coming out. 

        Who is safe now? I guess not a single human born a female : a little baby, a baby girl , a teen , a lady , no one is safe anymore in this wretched country. I feel pretty ashamed to be a part of this country now, which was once a great civilisation that others looked up to. The culture has eroded with time, eclipsed by the wild wild west, in the name of modernisation. 


Here is something I just read which actually made me write this post :

‎4-year-old is latest rape victim in Kolkata


Amid the candlelight vigils and protest meetings being held almost on a daily-basis in different parts of the country, including Kolkata, in the wake of Delhi gangrape case, it seems that the social mindset about rapes have not changed.

Fearing “dire consequences”, it took a mother four days to complain to the police that her four-year-old daughter has been raped and assaulted by a youth. The complaint was lodged last Wednesday night at Kasba police station in south Kolkata after locals came to know about the incident and protested in front of the local police station.

According to police, the girl was allegedly raped on December 31 by 26-year-old Debabrata Das, who is distant relative of the victim’s family and had an access to the victim’s house. Das, a resident of Kumarpara, was arrested today.

“We have taken the victim for medical test. She has been tortured and assaulted. There are marks of assault on her face too. But her mother lodged the complaint after more than 48 hours had passed. She told us that she and her husband were threatened against lodging the complaint,” said a senior police officer.

However, locals alleged that the victim’s family members were given money to “suppress the incident”. Locals came to know about the incident after the victim fell ill on last Wednesday.

Doctors claimed that she had been assaulted physically.

Over 200 residents then demonstrated in front of Kasba police station demanding immediate arrest of Das. A group of women also reached the police station and demanded a written assurance from police about severe punishment for the accused.
When officials expressed their helplessness in giving such written assurance, the crowd turned violent. Suddenly, the situation spun out of control as they attacked police vehicles and pelted stones at policemen as well as mediapersons. At least, six vehicles were damaged. Police have arrested four persons on charges of rioting.


I still can't understand why Govt is still sleeping ? Can't we breath freely in open air for these devils ? I would like to know from u all what kind of punishment will u suggest for these rapists ? Wake up my frns , raise your voice for the right judgment.


So what do you think ? A 4-year old raped? WTF!!! How much more insane can people get? Seems like people are loosing control of their minds and bodies and just turning out into wild animals and hunting down their prey without any consideration. Inspite of all these protests going on, people still seem to be hungry for more. I friggin have no words to put this out on paper. Nothing ever changes. I knew it all along, though I still had a faint hope that atleast something may happen, guess I was wrong yet again. This country is going to the hounds, the deadly virus seems to be spreading widely and rapidly, hitting one state after another, the gangrape virus is on the move, injected by the Indian Governments muteness. Those corrupt leaders only speak of what women should do to avoid being raped than taking action against it. They blame it on the clothing, the walk in the park at night and so on, every Indian has a right, they seem to be stepping on it harshly. 

            I found too many articles about whats going on around India, right about now. The Delhi victim died, and I'm glad she doesn't have to bear this pain no longer. I can only pray that such incidents no longer occur, but I didn't realise that inspite of all this ruckus such incidents are going on all around even now. How shameless are they anyway? Do they have any moral senses or what, I doubt. Maybe they just take bribe from the accused and try to suppress the case or turn the case on its head against the victims, and this has been happening all over India for a long time now, turning the victim into the accused. 

              How can we change this trend of rapes from taking place? One thing is for sure, thats none of the accused in such crimes are afraid of the aftermath of the incident cause they know they can get away with what they do. Earlier when you misbehave badly to a girl or woman, we could ask them how they would feel it happened with their sisters or mothers, but alas , times have changed, even sisters and relatives aren't safe in their own houses anymore. 

        The picture I've posted is a banner stuck outside one of the companies in the IT park I work in. They took a resolve to do something about this, and am I glad to see it. See the response they have received, but a signature won't mean anything, there are lots of petitions filed, but seems like nothing is having any effect on the deaf ears of the Government. 

   If people really feel it from the heart, then we can surely bring about a change, for a change is needed to ensure the safety of the womenfolk in our country henceforth. If no action is taken, from here on we can expect newspapers to be filled with only rape reports daily and eventually the society will turn immune to rape and accept it as a necessary social evil. So I urge all of you to think about it and raise your voices, let yourself be heard, if not for your sake, atleast for the sake of your future child. 

 Nothing ever changes if you stay quiet and do nothing about it.
 Nothing ever changes if you think that it didn't happen to you, for you maybe next.