lifeOmaniac

Introducing To You, HCK.IN

2010-02-02T20:38:00.004+05:30

Its gives me immense pleasure to announce the launch of HCK.IN to my dear readers.

HCK.IN will soon be offering exciting ethical hacking tools and security services. Our first service is the HCK.IN Forums. HCK.IN Forums is a forum for everything related to security - from softwares, to scripting languages, to hardwares; oh and did we forget, gaming consoles even.

We are very close to releasing the next service to the public, so visit the HCK.IN Forums and signup to get an exclusive sneak-peak of our upcoming service - only for our registered forum users! :)

Waving Goodbye to 2009

2009-12-22T11:52:00.002+05:30

Here is a great video created by the guys at Whirled Interactive. It captures a few important events of the year 2009. The interesting part, if you notice in the video, is that there was not a single positive thing that happened in the year 2009! Nice.

Anyways here goes the video.

It's an amazing video in terms of creativity but only if somebody could make a video on how to really use Google Wave easily!

Do Not Buy A Dell - Here's My Story

2009-12-16T15:57:00.007+05:30

I had ordered a Dell Studio 1555 because they are the only company in India that I know of who offer customizations on orders. I received the product on the 14th of November, 2009.

I was very happy with the order and delivery process. They were very nice and fast. On my first run I noticed a dead pixel on the WLED screen. So I mailed the support team asking for an explanation as I found the dead pixel on the first run of my brand new laptop. Alas, I got no reply.

The problem did not finish here. After a few days I noticed that the charger adapter would make sparkling sounds once the laptop's battery finished charging and then it would become so hot that one could make a hot cup of soup on it. So, on the 4th of December I called the Dell Support as the last time I did not get a reply through email. They were ready to replace the battery adapter but were not ready to replace my WLED screen(now that explains why they didn't reply to my previous email) as they claimed that 1 dead pixel is not covered under warranty and that it is a factory standard to have 1 dead pixel. Alright wait a minute here, I have been a Compaq, HP, and Acer, Sony, Samsung and LG customer for many years now and have never ever seen a single dead pixel even after using them for long periods. Apparently, Dell laptops have Samsung's WLED screens.

Coming back to the topic, the customer care representative explained that I needed to have at least 6-7 dead pixels on my screen to get a replacement. Hearing this I reminded them of one more incident. My uncle has bought the same Dell model a couple of months before me and he too had a dead pixel on his laptop's screen in the first run. For his case too, Dell was not ready to replace his laptop or even the screen for the first attempt from him. When he asked for a money back, they said they cannot do that as the 30 day money back period was over. Kindly keep in mind that it was the Dell guys who took more than 30 days to solve his problem. After he sent a long email to Dell USA's top executives(don't ask me how we got their emails) explaining about their service, a few people from Dell started calling him and offering a full product replacement. Look at the sudden change in their attitude. My uncle realized that for a high-end product which cost him near about USD 2,000 Dell created so much issue solving a small problem that too in the first month using the product, what would they do after the warranty gets expired, so he asked for a money back and went on to buy a HP laptop again as we have been a customer of HP for a long long time.

After hearing this the representative I was talking to, did not have anything to say and asked me to be on hold while he spoke to his senior. After a long hold, he agreed to send me replacement of both the power adapter and the WLED screen.

The replacement arrived on the 8th of December and a technician came to my office to replace the WLED and the power adapter. So the real story begins here!

The engineer who came was a newbie sort of a guy, he was damn slow at his work and at every step on opening my laptop, was figuring out what to do next. Anyway, I just sat there staring at what he was trying to do and he replaced the WLED after about 45 minutes or so. When he handed me the laptop to check it out, I noticed that He had not fixed the WLED cover and my keyboard properly. So I had to point it out all to him and he was looking a bit surprised on how he missed fixing those properly.

After the technician went I noticed that he had left lose a small portion of the WLED cover which I hadn't noticed before. So I called the Dell customer care helpline and they said that they would send yet another replacement to fix the problem. I had made them aware of their technicians professionalism and had requested them not to send the same technician the next time.

It had been 5 days now and I hadn't heard from anybody regarding the new replacement which was supposed to come in 2 days as said by them. On 12th December I received a call from Dell that they were short of supplies so they were not able to send a replacement. He said that the replacement would be shipped soon and that I would get it on the 14th positively. On 14th I got a call from them that they yet again had a problem with the supplies so I would get it on the 16th.

Today, 16th December, I finally get the replacement but guess what? Even after me requesting not to send the same technician who had come before, they sent the same technician. Anyway, that was not a big issue. The time the technician had come was 10:30 am.

Now the technician started opening my laptop and while replacing the old WLED panel with the new one, the technician pressed the screw on one side of the WLED so hard that the screw got hollow in the middle and got stuck. Great! Now the technician was trying to take the screw out with a scissor-plas. I was so surprised at this, I called the Dell customer care right then. I explained the whole story to them about what had happened till now and the representative asked me to hand the call over to the technician at my place. The representative had asked the technician his name and his employee id and then asked what his problem was. The technician was now literally shaking and sweating. He could explain the problem properly so I had to explain the problem to the representative. After hearing me, the representative asked me not to sign the service paper if I was not satisfied with the outcome.

While I was talking to the Dell representative, I saw that the technician was literally trying to pull of the WLED panel out by his hand. I am pretty sure he broke something inside while doing that. I asked the almost crying technician to put back the old components of my laptop and go as I would not be signing the service sheet. He asked me give him just a few more minutes so that he could solve the problem. I said OK. While yet again trying to fix the problem, he broke the inside plastic part of the display cover. Now I was tearing my hair apart. He then tried hiding the broken piece from me and called by some senior guy. Somebody came after about half and hour, and they were discussing what had happened. After some time, the senior technician fixed the problem is just under 15 minutes with the old components of my laptop. He did not use the new replacement parts which they had bought.

I was finally relieved that I could get back to work. The time now was approx 1:45pm. Basically Dell cost me almost 5 hours of time and money which I would have rather used doing my business if I had another company's laptop.

When I was checking my laptop this time, I noticed that the display panel's cover was still a bit lose but I didn't say anything as I did not want to go onto yet another adventure. And when I closed the screen and picked it up vertically I noticed that the display panel was now a bit loose - the display panel would try to open itself a bit when picked up vertically. I pointed that out to the technicians and they said that was not a new problem and that happened with every laptop available in the market. NO! It doesn't happen with any of the laptops I have used yet and it did not happen with this laptop before these guys came today. Anyway I was happy that my laptop was now atleast in a working state so I did not tell them anything.

The whole story in a few lines: I get a dead pixel on the first run of my new Dell Studio laptop. I complain about it through email. Get no reply. The power adapter has a problem after a few days. I call Dell to replace that, they agree but not for the display panel. They claim dead pixel counts under 5-6 are not covered under warranty and are according to the factory standards. I tell them my uncle's experience with his Dell laptop which is returned back eventually tired of Dell. They agree to replace my WLED panel too. A technician comes but does not do the job properly and leaves the panel loose. I call and complain to Dell about it and they send another replacement taking a week. The same engineer comes and this time he stuck a screw while replacing the panel and breaks a plastic part which is inside of the panel cover. He calls for another technician who comes and fixes the problem with the old panel and does not use the replacement part which had arrived. They leave the display panel loose this and claim it is normal. They leave after about 5 hours of wasting my valuable time. The problem is solved (oops, I am lying )

Now Dell, I must say you guys do a great job providing customized solutions to your customers and I find your products a great value for money, BUT. After I spend a hell lot of cash from my pockets to buy your laptop, you provide me with a very bad customer support. Is that a good sign?

I was about to place a bulk order of desktop computers and laptops to Dell for my new office but I don't think so I would go with you guys now. I would rather go with HP or even somebody else with whom I have had very good experiences in the past with not a single problem, and an adventure like this.

Just trying to open your eyes.

To my friends out there, for now, do not buy Dell. For now. Its just an advise. All up to you. But here I am, one unhappy customer.

Signing off.

A not-so-proud customer of Dell.

One customer lost, a hundred customers lost.

Anybody who wants to discuss about this can contact me here.

Greatest Freak Out Ever!

2009-07-04T16:01:00.003+05:30

Apparently the kid's mother canceled his World Of Warcraft account his brother plants a camera in his room just before he completely goes crack. You should see what follows!

It's a LOL¹⁰ video. :P

GoDaddy against .tv domain: The island is sinking!

2009-05-01T13:04:00.005+05:30

Want to buy a .tv domain name? Read GoDaddy's recommendation:

GoDaddy recommends against purchasing .tv domain names. The island is sinking!

via Wreck & Salvage

Playing For Change

2009-04-29T13:39:00.004+05:30

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race.

Their first production "Stand by Me" bridges the physical distance between the many musicians and cultures of this planet.

As Gizmodo says, "If this video doesn't bring a tear to your eyes and makes you smile for the rest of the day, you are a cold hearted b**tard. Watch it from beginning to end—you won't regret it."

Four years ago while walking down the street in Santa Monica, CA the voice of Roger Ridley singing “Stand By me” was heard from a block away. His voice, soul and passion set us on a course around the world to add other musicians to his performance. This song transformed Playing For Change from a small group of individuals to a global movement for peace and understanding. This track features over 35 musicians collaborating from all over the world. They may have never met in person, but in this case, the music does the talking.

Which platform would you choose for your personal blog?

2009-01-10T13:39:00.001+05:30

Which platform would you choose for your personal blog where you would just share a few links, vids etc?

Vote here: http://twtpoll.com/jlgrhj

Gadget Orchestra

2009-01-06T16:55:00.005+05:30

I came across this amazing video on YouTube and could not resist sharing it here.

This guy here is using just a few gadgets to compile a trance music!

The gadgets used in the above video along with the their softwares are:

Korg Kaossilator Dynamic Phrase Synthesizer
iPod Touch with Mokugyo
iPhone with Bloom
Nintendo DS Lite with Electroplankton
Nintendo DSi with KORG DS-10

Amazing?

He finally did it!

2008-12-19T18:00:00.002+05:30

The Escape key has made it out of the keyboard, and started the big journey of his life.

via Flickr.

Google Logo = Birthday Gift?

2008-11-23T19:22:00.001+05:30

Probably the most weird gift request I have ever heard of.

Will the kid have his birthday wish come true?

Google Logo = Birthday Gift?

Physics Doesn't Exist, Its All Gnomes

2008-11-07T18:33:00.004+05:30

I came across a super interesting Facebook group which is seriously one of the weirdest group I have ever seen anywhere. It's called "Physics Doesn't Exist, Its All Gnomes" and their group description is worth reading even if you don't want to join it.

Here are a few things from the excerpt I liked:

We believe that all the main physics principles can be explained away by the existence of tiny gnomes.

Electricity:
Inside cables there are hundreds of tiny gnomes 'high-fiving' each other and running around swapping messages. This transfer of messages allows things to work, e.g. the gnomes in a plug socket tell the gnomes in the wire, who eventually tell the gnomes in (say) a kettle to fart in the water allowing it to boil.

Computers:
Computers are run by tiny gnomes. They do all the work sat at tiny desks inside your PC. When you turn it off they can all go home and have a rest before they are needed again. The screen is in fact an arrangement of gnomes wearing different colour hats.

Atoms:
Atoms are infact miniscule gnomes, all holding hands and feet etc together to form an intricate web from which nearly everything in this universe is comprised of. Radioactivity occurs when a rebel gnome is catapaulted by his freinds from their structure. Should this gnome come into contact with the gnomes from our body, he will offer them beer, thus making the local area benign or 'cancerous'.

Gravity:
As we are all well aware gnomes like the ground. They all strive to be in the ground, and this is where the basic theory for gravity comes from. Gnomes throw tiny (obviously unseen to the human eye) ropes to the ground. These ropes attach to unseen hooks allowing the gnomes to pull themsleves towards the ground. There is minimal gravity away from bodies (e.g. in space) because very few gnomes have long enough ropes. All bodies have a gravitional attraction to each other because gnomes are sociable creatures and enjoy large gatherings.

Anti-matter:
Now this is a little more complicated. There are evil gnomes. These make up anti-matter. Done.

Gnomes:
So what are gnomes made up of themselves? They are surely not fundamental? They are comprised of billions of even smaller gnomes. These smaller gnomes are known as 'Super-gnomes'. Super-gnomes are made up of billions of even smaller gnomes known as 'Hyper-Gnomes'. Hyper-gnomes are the fundamental building block of everything.

Now that we have covered the basics of gnome theory we are going to discuss and 'explain away' certain physical phenomena.

Mobile Phones:
'Scientists' may try and fool you with talk of 'waves', but please dont believe these distacting and frankly stupid theories. Mobile phones are built (by gnomes) to incorporate a gnome catapault. These devices are worked by gnomes in your mobile phone (which coincidently is made up of gnomes) to fire their gnome freinds upwards when you place a call. The gnomes are fired into space where they land on 'satellites' (also made of gnomes). The gnome satillites then catapault seperate gnomes to the mobile you are trying to contact (if you are attempting to 'connect' with a land line the gnomes are fired at a landing station where they run and hi-five down wires to the other phone reciever). When the gnomes reach the reciever you are connecting with there is an exchange of messages, hi-fives and presents (the unwrapping is the crackle you hear). More catapaulting occurs back to the satilite and then to your phone. This process continues so that what you say is 'transmitted' to the other phone and vice-versa (the process is VERY quick, as these gnomes travel at the speed of light-gnomes). A call 'breaks up' or has no 'signal' when the presents exchanged are so good the gnomes dont bother coming back, but just sit and play.

Alcohol:
As all things are made of gnomes, it follows that even alcohol is made of gnomes. These are without doubt the rowdiest of all gnomes (except anti-gnomes). Alcohol gnomes divide into several groups. The first type look kindly and loving (which they indeed are) but have a stupendous sense of humour and love to play practical jokes. They will quickly travel to the brain gnomes upon arrival in the body and will wreak havoc with the head region; taking other gnomes clothes while they are in the shower, throwing eggs at nearby gnomes and the like. This causes the brain gnomes to become distracted, so the body doesnt work as efficiently as normal running. The senses become distorted (e.g. vision) and the human seems to think they are invincible, and the other sex is more attractive. Wine is mostly made up of these gnomes and Females are particularly succeptable to this type. The next type are Beer (subdivided into Ale and lager subspecies) gnomes. These gnomes produce similar effets to the wine gnomes (especially if mixed - gnomes love to party) but...(read the rest of the description on the Facebook Group)

Haha! The group's creator really did some hard work writing the description of the group.

Nominate me for TwitterGuru!

2008-11-06T17:34:00.007+05:30

Hey all my Twitter friends! Nominate me(@Archit) for TwitterGuru so that I can be called India's TwitterGuru.

iTwote has come up with this award concept and as they say on their website:

Our first campaign is for the most popular twitter user from India. And by popular, we do not mean the user with the most tweets, but rather the one who's so popular on twitter, that everyone loves him.

Oh, we're calling him TwitterGuru.

So help me become the TwitterGuru by first following @itwote and then tweeting "@itwote #twitterguru @Archit" without the double-inverted commas(ofcourse!). Thanks!

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter too!

Yahoo! Profiles Getting Spammy?

2008-11-02T12:04:00.006+05:30

I got am email from some *spam* Yahoo! Profiles user telling me how hot I am looking in my profile's picture. Thanks, but the thing is that my profile picture is my logo! LOL! and I haven't uploaded any of my pictures on Yahoo Profiles.

This is the screenshot of the email I got:

For more Internet and Technology related news, visit my newest tech blog TechPlug! Don't forget to subscribe too!

Today is Blog Action Day!

2008-10-15T00:01:00.001+05:30

Those of you who serve the web frequently and drop by different blogs must have come by something called Blog Action Day. This year the topic is Poverty and so I will blog about something which will help us to help the poor, something that can help us make this world a better place.

All of you must have heard about the One Laptop Per Child Foundation whose mission is to ensure that all school-aged children in the developing world are able to engage effectively with their own personal laptop, networked to the world, so that they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning.
The OLPC Association focuses on designing, manufacturing, and distributing laptops to children in lesser developed countries, initially concentrating on those governments that have made commitments for the funding and program support required to ensure that all of their children own and can effectively use a laptop.

A single laptop costs $100. A donation of $200 will pay for and deliver one XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, $400 will pay for and deliver two XO laptops, and so on. Your entire contribution will be tax-deductible. So To give a laptop to a child in the developing world, please visit Give a Laptop.

The OLPC Foundation has volunteer opportunities too. Please visit the Participate Page in for more details.

Let us join hands and make this world a better place. Visit the One Laptop Per Child Foundation website today or read more about it on Wikipedia.

No More Tech Blogging Here

2008-10-14T18:08:00.002+05:30

As I wrote in my previous blog post that I had one more announcement to make, I am writing this post to say that from now onwards I will not blog about Internet and Technology on this blog so those of you who have subscribed to this blog for Tech related stuffs, please subscribe to TechPlug's RSS Feed as from now on I am going to blog there on Internet and Technology related stuffs. It would be the same as here just at better and bigger!

Why are you doing this?
I am getting too busy with NextPlug.in now and don't have too much time to maintain 2 technology blogs - this one and TechPlug which is a part NextPlug. And it doesn't make any sense maintaining two technology blogs as it just drains out both the blog's capabilities.

So what now?
Subscribe to TechPlug's RSS Feed for updates on Internet and Technology. Regarding this blog, it is going to be my personal blog from now on where I will post my personal views about anything which I may like, be it the Internet, technology, gadgets, life and bla blas.

Site Overhaul - Finally!

2008-10-13T19:45:00.004+05:30

Those of you who visit this blog regularly must have been sick of the plain old them this blog had. I did not change the theme since one year now - you may say I was just too lazy to do that.

But today, finally lifeOmaniac gets a new design! Customization is almost complete with just a few more changes to be made.

Please let me know in the comments how you like the new design and what else would you want in the design to be introduced.

I have one more announcement to make but that'll be in another post later this week.

NextPlug.in Launched!

2008-09-22T10:44:00.007+05:30

One of the world's first single-domain blog network has launched - NextPlug.in.

I am the founder of NextPlug.in and will also be blogging at TechPlug.in which is a part of the newly launched network.

We are also looking for more bloggers so that we can expand the network. So if you have read the About Us page of NextPlug.in and think that you can also blog like the way we do, just mail us and we'll get back to you asap.

So please visit the site and let us know what you think about it.

Cheers!

Creative Commons - Building On The Past

2008-09-16T12:31:00.003+05:30

We just found this brilliant video in the videos section of the Creative Commons website and couldn't resist sharing it with our reader. This video basically demonstrates how CC works.

So what do you think about the video and do you use CC on your blog or website?

How Google Chrome Stores Passwords

2008-09-15T15:00:00.000+05:30

How Google Chrome stores passwords.

Private Mode Coming to Firefox

2008-09-14T22:38:00.003+05:30

At one time, it was tough to cover your tracks after visiting some, uh, questionable sites, but now it’s getting easier than ever. According to Mozilla, Firefox is joining Safari, Internet Explorer 8, and Google Chrome in providing its users with a "private mode" that will not collect any of your browsing history or cookies in the upcoming release of Firefox 3.1.

read more | digg story

The Morph Concept - Future of Mobile Phones

2008-09-14T11:24:00.011+05:30

Nokia recently launched a new research project called The Morph Concept device which would be a bridge between highly advanced technologies and their potential benefits to end-users. This device concept showcases some revolutionary leaps being explored by Nokia Research Center in collaboration with the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre of UK.

The Morph concept technology carries numerous interesting features for future mobile devices:
1. Newly-enabled flexible and transparent materials blend more seamlessly with the way we live.
2. Devices become self-cleaning and self-preserving.
3. Transparent electronics offering an entirely new aesthetic dimension.
4. Built-in solar absorption might charge a device, whilst batteries become smaller, longer lasting and faster to charge.
5. Integrated sensors might allow us to learn more about the environment around us, empowering us to make better choices.

In addition to the advances above, the integrated electronics would cost less and include more functionality in a much smaller space, even as interfaces are simplified and usability is enhanced.

You can watch a video of the Morph Concept which would give you a picture of what exactly they want the future of Mobile phones to be:

Your Views
So what do you think, is this the future of mobile phones or will it just remain as a vision, a dream, a concept?

Note: If you have subscribed to this blog's newsletter you may not be able to see the video widget in your email issue or feed syndicate. Please visit this page to view the video.

Google Is 10 Years Old, And Growing

2008-09-08T19:19:00.007+05:30

When Larry Page and Sergy Brin, two geek graduates of Stanford University, started a search engine called BackRub, they had no idea it would go on to become Google, the world's biggest search engine, and would land them in Forbes's richest peoples’ list. And now the search engine has completed 10 years of reigning supreme in the virtual world of Internet. On Sep 7 1998, Page and Brin erased the phrase "lack of information" forever for anyone who owns a computer and an Internet connection.Ranked number one in India and the US as the most visited website and settling for the second spot globally right after Yahoo!, Google has rushed towards its success considering the company is just a baby with only 10 years of experience to boast about.

But it makes up for it more than enough in its revenue sector. Only last year Google reportedly earned $16.5 billions.

From only 10,000 search requests in 1998, it is said that Google handles 235 million searches in a normal day in 2008. But this is one query on which there is "no information" on Google.

Only last week, Google decided to extend its tentacles and launched a brand new web browser, Chrome, which is causing ripples across the net community already.

For some, Google has become synonymous with any Internet search or query. And as for students, who trust nothing except Google to complete their assignments, it is like a second teacher.

"The best thing about Google is that it is fast and easy. It sorts out things in the order you want them and makes searching for advanced topics very simple. Plus for students like me, who need complex diagrams, Google's image search option is really helpful," says Jyoti, a zoology student of Delhi University’s Hans Raj College.

And if you are still in doubt, just "Google" it!

[From Thaindian.com]

Enable Chrome's Best Features in Firefox

2008-09-07T19:30:00.003+05:30

From incognito browsing and the streamlined download manager to URL highlighting and improved search, let's take a look at how you can bring some of Google Chrome's best features to Firefox.

read more | digg story

Start Using Greasemonkey in 4 Minutes

2008-09-07T08:36:00.006+05:30

Greasemonkey is a powerful Firefox add-on that lets you change the appearance and functionality of almost any page on the web. Most people don't know how to write Javascript, though, so we end up using the Greasemonkey scripts developed by other people who do. There are lots and lots of scripts that have been written and they are fun, useful and easy to run.

read more | digg story

Google Chrome - Good or Bad?

2008-09-02T20:15:00.008+05:30

Everybody is talking about about the new browser by Google - Google Chrome. What do you think - Is Google Chrome browser good for everybody (net users, developers, etc) as a whole?

From a normal net user's point of view:
Yay! We'll have another interesting browser that we can choose. This browser add up the browser war competition which would force the competitors to make something even better. Good for us I guess!

From a developer's point of view:
Isn't Google trying to become the largest monopoly of web(ospeher)? You need Internet Explorer anyway since microsoft sites won't work best on others; Firefox, known as the best browser in world; Opera, known as the best for mobiles and NOW, Google Chrome, to run Google products better?

Google has told that they have made a new coding structure for their browser unlike the rest of the browsers. Does this mean we will loose standardization? Wouldn't this add to all the developers' headache of making a different plugin for the browser which obviously would have millions of users because of the brand name? You decide.

Your view!
We want to see what our readers think about the browser. Vote on and if you want to give us a reason, comment here!

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