Gadget गुरू's Mouthpiece: 2016

DIY: Resurrecting your legacy PC with Android

It's almost been 5 years for me when I bought the Lenovo IdeaPad S205 10 inch Notebook having dual core AMD E300 processor. While the Notebook ran perfectly till last year, but after the Windows 10 upgrade it slowed down significantly. The slow down is also owing to the fact that the processor is quite obsolete.

So do I throw away my lovely Notebook? Not at all!!!

Thanks to the Android x86 project, you can make your Notebook dual boot and have a significantly fast running Notebook. If you just want to use it for desktop computing, Internet browsing, Music and E-mails, then you no more have to shell out any money as the Android on the Notebook just runs absolutely fast. In few of the builds I find that the Graphics is not optimized and hence the Android only perfectly works with Audio apps and you can't watch streaming videos. However the Android on the Notebook works perfectly for any kind of Casting with devices like Chromecast.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and give your Notebook a fersh lease of life!

DIY: Restoring Windows Mobile Phone's original Firmware after a failed Windows Update

I have 2 Windows Mobile Phones - Microsoft Lumia 640 and BLU Win Jr. Recently Microsoft released Windows 10 Anniversary Update. While I was very excited to update my Lumia 640, the excitement became short lived since my BLU phone gave serious Touch screen issues post the update. The Phone sensed touch at incorrect places and was almost bricked.

I followed the Factory Reset process as mentioned on http://windowsphone.stackexchange.com/questions/1939/how-can-i-hard-reset-my-windows-8-phone-which-keys-do-i-press , but that did not work. Post the reboot the Phone continued to have the same Touch Screen issues. Later on I realized that the Windows 10 Mobile (10.0.14393.67) update for few non-Microsoft devices had failed. There was a similar problem when I update the BLU phone from Windows 8.1 to 10.

The only option which I now had was to go back to Factory Default Firmware which was Windows 8.1 (one version lower, since I had earlier updated the Phone OS to Windows 10). Though I have done rooting and firmware upgrades for Symbian, iOS and Android devices, I had never done an Firmware fix for Windows Mobile devices. But after researching quite a bit I found a Microsoft Tool which just makes it very easy to restore your Phone's Factory Default Firmware and that too it supports non-Microsoft Phones.

Welcome to Microsoft Device Recovery Tool. You may either have an unusable Phone like mine with Touch Screen issues or a semi-bricked Phone which shows a frowning icon :-( after a failed upgrade, and does not boot. In both the cases, first install the Tool, Launch it and Connect your Phone once prompted.

After you connect your Phone the Tool first detects and displays your Mobile Phone's details and then might ask you to select the specific Model Number for your Phone. While I have a BLU Win Jr Phone, it has 2 x variants X130E and X130Q whose information can be found in the sticker printed over the Phone's Battery (after removing the back cover).

DIY: Home Video Surveillance Solution with "IP Webcam" and ivideon.com

If you have always thought about having your own Home Video Surveillance/CCTV solution without any investment, then now is the time. All you need is an old/spare Android Phone, Tripod Stand and an always-on Internet connection to achieve this.

Steps -

1. On the Android Phone install "IP Webcam" by Pavel Khlebovich from Google Play Store.

2. Open the App on your Phone and configure the following -

a) IP WEBCAM SETTINGS -> Video preferences - Here you can configure which camera to use (whether Selfie or Main/Back Camera), at what resolution the capture should happen, etc.

b) CONNECTION SETTINGS -> Cloud streaming - Signup for a new account on www.ivideon.com using the wizard.

3. Once done you can now start the inbuilt Web Server within the App from SERVICE CONTROL -> Start server.

4. You can now press the Home button to ensure that the Server runs in background. You can also configure the App so that the screen can be turned off.

The live stream is now available to be viewed on your LAN or on the net from ivideon.com/my and then logging onto your account. You can also view the live stream through Android / iOS ivideon.com App. If the Internet bandwidth at Home is limited, you also have the option to remotely stop the camera and restart it through the App. To fix your phone properly, you can use a Tripod stand to set it in correct angle and also connect a phone charger if your battery is weak.

What I taught are only few basic steps, you can customize the IP Webcam App for Motion sensing, Video recording and various other features, for which you need to explore.

So now what are you waiting for, setup your Home CCTV solution and share your experience with me.

Tech Review: HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 4675 All-In-One Printer

So finally an IoT device arrived at my home few days back - HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 4675 All-In-One (AIO) Printer. Rather than explaining things in detail I would prefer to enlist the key features. To see the technical specifications on the scan/print resolutions and printer dimensions please refer to http://www8.hp.com/lamerica_nsc_carib/en/products/printers/product-detail.html?oid=7317527#!tab=specs

Some of the key products features are -

IoT (Inernet of Things) - It is an Internet enabled Wireless device
It can Print, Scan, Fax, Copy and also be used from Web

Running a successful Project Management Office (PMO)

Originally posted on https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/running-successful-project-management-office-pmo-baudhayan?trk=pulse_spock-articles

One of the key items to monitor the success of a project is not only by ensuring that the project is delivered within scope, but also that the revenue forecasts at the beginning of the project is realized. With Devices reaching End of Life, Company Mergers and Acquisitions, Business Transformations, Regulatory changes and various changes in market dynamics, IT projects are just increasing day by day and there is a growing need for skilled Project Management Professionals.

To ensure that Projects are properly managed, most organizations these days have a Project/Program Management Office (PMO). PMO is not just about having a large team of Project Managers setup and made available for Client projects, but also about having the correct framework and governance structure set in place to ensure that Projects are governed and executed in such a way that the top and bottom margins for the project have the least delta numbers.

I have worked across PMO's in multiple organizations and have found that PMO's with the best governance structure have better P&L figures. So even a PMO with lesser projects may perform far better than PMO with more projects due to proper governance structure and framework. But please make a note its not the tool which define a PMO's success, but the processes which define the success.

So what does it to take have a successful PMO running -

PM on-boarding for PMO - Ensuring that there is a defined PM on-boarding process where the PM is made aware of the company's tools and internal processes.
PM on-boarding for Project - Ensuring that a proper checklist is in place to handover project to PM from Pre-Sales team. No handover should take place using just an e-mail. PM on-boarding should definitely happen using a formal handover call with proper Minutes of Meeting captured.

Dynamic Roster Planner to automate Shift Planning in an Operations Team

This is continuation to my recent update on a Shift Scheduling Excel tool which I developed in 2005. I always believe in the statement "Necessity is the Mother of all Inventions" and this tool was basically developed by me due to a necessity.

I used to be the Team Lead / Operations Manager for my NOC team long time back. Most of you who have worked in 24/7 Operations will second me that it is very difficult to satisfy your team when you release the Roster for the next month. This tool basically tries to introduce what I called Shift Neutrality across your team and reduces conflict among team members.

Some of the key challenges addressed by this tool are -

Accidental allocation of a team member in multiple Shifts in the same day
Accident allocation of a team member on their planned holiday
Holiday Tracking
Visual Tracking of Sundays
Summary of team member allocation and total Working Hours
Flexibility in Shift Allocation based on team preference

While the tool is pretty easy to use, I have also included a worksheet which guides you with the process on how to configure the tool for the first time and then use it for recurring months for the mentioned Calendar year.

The tool was earlier known as "Auto Shift Scheduler" released in 2005. I have re-branded it and launched it with a new name Dynamic Roster Planner. This release can accommodate 28 x Team Members working in 4 x Shifts and it calculates Working Hours based on 9 hours per shift. I can customize to accommodate a growing team.

Download the tool from https://www.dropbox.com/s/jpr1ikkkytlifzt/Dynamic%20Roster%20Planner_r16v1.0.xlsx?dl=0

I am quite confident that you will find this tool useful, but will eagerly await to receive your positive / negative feedback of the tool.

Casting Videos of hotstar.com on TV through Chromecast

All television viewers in India might already be aware and might be frequently using "hotstar". Where you are able to watch recorded programs and live events (mostly Sports) either through the Smartphone App or through the Web browser.

The app continues to be promoted with the tagline..... "hotstar....go solo". Since it looks like the promoters - Star India Pvt. Ltd, want this app to be used for private viewing by individual users on their Phones, Tabs and PC's rather than having the option to cast the video on a Smart TV or a TV with a casting device like Chromecast.

Unfortunately I am big fan of watching recorded shows on big screen, rather than on personal devices. However due to the app limitation, there is no casting option available on hotstar app. I did try casting videos through PC using the Google Cast Chrome browser extension, but you may be aware that the "Cast this tab" option available with the Google Cast Chrome extension does screen replication and hence there is sync issues with Audio-Video on the TV. This is because the "Cast this tab" option merely does screen mirroring and hence the hotstar videos first get downloaded to your PC and your PC then pushes the same to the TV through Chromecast. This increases the bandwidth consumption on your Home Wireless Network causing sync issues.

After waiting for many months now I finally figured that Chrome / Chromium browser for Android now has the Cast option built-in. Hence when you view any streaming videos which are Chromecast compatible, you instantly get an option to cast the same to your TV. And yes, did I tell you that this casting is true casting and not screen mirroring. So as soon as you select the option to cast the streaming video, Chromecast immediately understands the link and the video is directly shown on the TV and the one playing on your Smartphone or Tab stops.

You guessed it right....this is the same technique I have started using to watch the hotstar videos on my TV through Chromecast. So next time you want to watch hotstar videos on TV don't use the hotstar app, rather use the Chrome / Chromium browser and use the Cast option.

Glimpses of Sajjangarh Fort (Monsoon Palace) - Udaipur

Enjoy glimpses of the mountainous journey to Sajjan Garh Fort (now called Monsoon Palace) and some breathtaking views of Sunset and Udaipur City captured from the Monsoon Palace. Video recorded by Baudhayan Lahiri using Sanyo VPC-CG20 Camcorder.

Rajasthani Folk Dance and Music - Rawla Resort (Jaisalmer)

Enjoy the highlights of Rajasthani Folk Dance (Kalbelia Dance) and Music recorded at Rawla Resort, Sam, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan during my trip in Nov'15. The video was recorded under low light conditions. Video recorded by Baudhayan Lahiri using Sanyo VPC-CG20 Camcorder.