Archive for October, 2006

Taming The Telcos - Make Mobile Calls Over WiFi Too

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 October 24th, 2006 Govindraj EthirajGovindraj Ethiraj
This is the first of a series of posts wherein I will freely expound on how our telecom companies should and perhaps could be tamed - by egging them to adopt and offer newer technologies and services that will make yours and my life simpler. And, of course, our monthly bills a little lighter.
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T-Mobile has launched a new service in the US that allows you to communicate over both cellular and WiFi networks. According to The New York Times, this is the first major network to offer such a service, presently available on a trail basis in Seattle. The interesting thing is that the (new) handsets link to both the T-Mobile’s cellular networks as well as WiFi networks. T Mobile WiFi is available at thousands of spots including airports, hotels and of course Starbucks. Needless to add, calls that go over the WiFi or the VoIP networks are much cheaper than the traditional telecom network. (more…)

Heading towards holocaust?

Monday, October 23rd, 2006 October 23rd, 2006 Priyanka Joshi

Have you ever imagined what could happen if your smartphones/PDAs/BlackBerry’s/handheld PCs begin to infect your laptops, desktops, workstations? Virus writers, hackers (whatever you choose to call them) are believed to be involved in proof-of-concept code for malware that can infect multiple operating system platforms simultaneously. This multiplatform virus can affect both mobile devices and desktop machines! (more…)

Is Mumbai decaying?

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 October 22nd, 2006 Guest BlogsGuest Blogs

A friend who works in US and is currently on a month long business tour of India wrote an email some days back lamenting that Mumbai was still the same as it was three years back when he left for US; but Delhi and Gurgaon were rocking and so much action and feel good was in the air. Reading his email, I wondered if Mumbai was on a downward spiral. (more…)

Consoles or PCs

Friday, October 13th, 2006 October 13th, 2006 Priyanka Joshi

Console gaming is presently one of my passions. I have had the chance to look at the Xbox 360, GameCube (though briefly) Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2), and now I also hope to lay my hands on the PS3, once it is out in India. But that does not mean that I am writing off PC gaming. A few industry analysts maintain that consoles will dominate the video game landscape hereon, but I would beg to differ. (more…)

We all bemoan those wires

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 October 10th, 2006 Priyanka Joshi

One thing that annoys me the most is jumping around my portable music player (SanDisk’s Sansa) and figuring what to do with the dangling wires. I tend to wrap them around Sansa itself, but that usually means I end up replacing earpieces every three months (the wires just snap so easily). And when the cables end up in a tangled bunch, it only adds some more decibels to my already high-pitched sound. (more…)

To speak or double-speak..

Monday, October 9th, 2006 October 9th, 2006 Barkha Shah

Here are some oft-quoted euphemisms. (more…)

Consolidation phase in the steel industry

Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 October 4th, 2006 Guest BlogsGuest Blogs

Global output of steel in 2006 is 1215 million tonnes (estimate). This represents an increase of 7.5 percent over the outturn in the previous twelve months and will be the fifth consecutive year that the world’s steel production has exceeded 5 percent.
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Why I believe Mumbai is still as unsafe as it was in 1993

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 October 3rd, 2006 G K Seshan
About a week and half ago, I began researching on cigarettes brands for a story. I was surprised to know that nearly eighty to ninety per cent of retail convenience stores (most commonly referred to as Pan and bidi shops) buy international brands of cigarettes from smugglers. Last week end, when I went mobile shopping with my friend to a market where nearly forty shops sell cheap, smuggled mobile phones  something started bothering me. As I read about the 1993 bomb blasts court proceedings, I realised what it was ….Smuggled Goods… (more…)

Can’t buy lingerie anymore

Monday, October 2nd, 2006 October 2nd, 2006 Kishore SinghKishore Singh

The other day, when my daughter dressed up to go to a friend’s party, I was intrigued to note two straps that ran up her back and were knotted behind the neck. “Is that a swimsuit you’re wearing under your tee?” I asked her. “It’s an inner,” she scowled back at me. “An inner,” I was intrigued, “is that like…?” “Yes, yes,” she said, clearly embarrassed by my interest in her lingerie. “But why is it knotted up behind?” I continued to probe further. “Because it’s a halter, get it?” she retorted, before stalking out of the room. (more…)