Tablogging

After hanging around almost 3 weeks with my new Tablet - HP Touchpad 32GB, I have finally managed to break my silence on Blogger. Today I foray into a new world, something which I have coined as "Tablogging", Blogging through Tablet.

Within a span of 3 weeks, I have already void the warranty by installing Android on this Tablet. But really finding value for my Tablet with so many Apps available for Android. I guess my decision not to go for iPad was right. Have just installed the Blogger App on my Tablet. Hope to contribute more on Blogger in the coming days...

Cya :-)

Beware of Bogus PC Security Alert Calls!

I received a call a few days back from a lady who claimed that she was from Microsoft and that my Laptop is infected by a serious Virus. She had little bit of Chinese accent. She was probably unaware that she had called a person who is an Information Security Specialist. I thus cross-questioned her and asked her what version of Windows I am using, she answered saying that I am using an Adavanced Version of Windows. I again asked her which place she was calling from, she kept quite for a while and then just disconnected the phone.

This post is directed towards non-techhies. Whenever you receive such calls, don't panic, be smart and cross-question the caller. Never ever divulge your personal details like your - Name, Phone Number, Credit Card Number, Birthday, etc.

Be alert, be careful, have a safe IT experience!

Rediffmail - Lightning Corrupt Mail Server

Rediffmail - Lightning Corrupt Mail Server - Yes, that's the truth now. A service which advertised as Rediffmail - Lightning Fast is soon turning out to a nightmare for me. I started using Rediffmail way back on the year 2000 when it was really fast. One of the reasons I operated Rediffmail was not only because it was fast, but also because the interface was clean, simple and I could keep mails in different folders.

But apparently from the past 4-5 years I have had several cases of Mail corruption. Since it is a free service, you can't have assured Technical Support. The latest case was when I tried looking for my user id which was sent out to me when I registered in one of the websites, the mail wouldn't open at all. I had such corrupt mails even before. Strange that such a large and reputed company cannot provide a reliable mail service.

I am definitely very disappointed and am considering another mail service which is reliable, simple and provides folder structure.

Memory Card to Pen Drive (Best out of Waste)

Just when you are about to throw your old Camera/Mobile Phone memory card (MMC, SD, etc.) think again. Buying a simple 1 £ multi-card reader could give your memory card a new life and turn it into a Pen/USB Thumb drive. In UK cheap multu-card memory readers are available online as well as Pound shops for just £1. I had an old 512MB MMC card from my old Nokia 6260 (year 2004) phone a 512MB Micro SD card from my old Noia 6110 Navigator (year 2008) phone. If you remember few years back phone companies just provided 512MB cards with phones. If you haven't disposed off your old cards, you have a new Pen Drive already with you. Isn't this cool!

Getting best Exchange Rates while transferring money to India

It's been almost 2 months for me in the UK and have been researching on getting best exchange rates while transferring money from UK to India. There are multiple methods available to transfer money from UK to India and some of the most commonly used methods have been using remit2india, money2india, Citibank International Transfer by my friend circle. The method involves initiating the money transfer request from UK to India in these services and later on transferring money from your local UK Bank Account to their UK Bank Account.

The only issue is you get the exchange rate of the day when the money is received in the Bank Account of the local service providers. For example, the remit2india service have an Account opened with Deutsche Bank, London. So you get the exchange rate for the date when Deutsche Bank receives the money from any other Account. Though money transfer within the same Bank is instantaneous in UK, it is surprising to find that in UK you don't have an option to transfer money across different Banks within the same day which is a FREE service (it is possible only in very limited Banks). In India the NEFT and RTGS systems have been in place for many years and from past 2-3 years the transfer happens within the same day if you initiate the transfer request before 10:30 am.

Anyways, can't change the system, so the best method is to find an alternative cost effective method. In UK I hold an Account with Citibank and they can transfer money to a non-Citibank account on the same day using CHAPS transfer. But, but, but this is not free. It comes for a fee of £20, which really sounds absurd to me. So the trick is book your transfer request in remit2india and do a CHAPS transfer to transfer money across different Banks. The benefit is you get the exact rate offered by remit2india and also is cheaper than Citibank International transfer which gives exchange rates which are almost INR 2 less than the prevailing RBI exchange rate. Just remember the CHAPS transfer in Citibank UK can only be done via phone, which is also quite funny.

Do try my method and get best exchange rates while transferring money to your near and dear one's in India.

End of a successful year 2010

Just few hours left before I say bye-bye to what has been a very successful for me. After a fight of almost 6 years, I am finally in UK, or to be more specific ONSITE. Onsite is a buzzword in Indian IT industry and there is severe fight to travel, especially in IT Infrastructure domain, since there are less opportunities. Not to comment more on politics behind the scene which prevents deserving candidates in getting those onsite opportunities. Ooooh! I am speaking too much, which I can't, since many who have already got those opportunities without much struggle would not accept my theory. Anyways, the story has ended and as is rightly said..."allz well that ends well", same does it apply in my case.

Did a lot of tech shopping in UK during the Christmas and Boxing day sale. It's better to wind up shopping by 4-Jan-2011 before the VAT increases from 17.5% to 20% in UK. My year has been quite pleasant in the new country, hope to have a similar experience in the next year.

Pray for all success of my lovely readers in the New Year.

Have a prosperous New Year 2011!