Planet Pranav » Blogging http://planetpranav.com Pranav Shah on travel, photography, art, technology, India, etc. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:27:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2008 >>> 2009 http://planetpranav.com/2009/01/01/2008-2009/ http://planetpranav.com/2009/01/01/2008-2009/#comments Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:26:13 +0000 pranav http://planetpranav.com/?p=180 Happy New Year to you! I can’t believe you actually read my blog :P  

2008 was the year of travel for me. Roughly 26 weekends outside Hyderabad city limits!

I want it to be 40+ weekends this year. I don’t think it will be difficult :P

This map shows the places I travelled to in 2008.

In 2009 most of the public holidays are on Fridays, ideal for travel. This has to be another year of travel. A greater year w.r.t. travel. I will be travelling mostly by trains and other means of public transport. Very very rarely, I will use flights. Travel = trains. The maximum luxury i will indulge in, is occassionaly booking a 3rd AC train ride back to Hyderabad, in case I have had a rugged weekend and want to be fresh for work on Mondays.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2009/01/01/2008-2009/feed/ 1 India’s first real HD tv channel is putting me on TV! ! ! http://planetpranav.com/2008/12/05/indias-first-real-hd-tv-channel-is-putting-me-on-tv/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/12/05/indias-first-real-hd-tv-channel-is-putting-me-on-tv/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:47:59 +0000 pranav http://planetpranav.com/?p=161 The channel is doing a show on blogs and is covering www.IndiaDailyPhoto.com and I have this opportunity to promote the photoblog on TV. Our 2 minutes of fame. Afrin is also here and speaking about her blog . And I am gonna hit the Publish button while its recording live in about a min.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/12/05/indias-first-real-hd-tv-channel-is-putting-me-on-tv/feed/ 1 And I am back! http://planetpranav.com/2008/12/01/and-i-am-back/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/12/01/and-i-am-back/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:52:00 +0000 pranav http://planetpranav.com/?p=148 Now, I will blog soon, sooner than you think. Tons to blog about…

  • travel
  • IndiaDailyPhoto.com
  • observations I’ve made
  • some interesting websites
  • books
  • movies
  • people (lost & found)
  • plans for the future
  • plans to save and change the world, etc. etc.
1 thing I can tell you, in this last stint of hibernation from the blog, I have experienced a lot lot more than any previous stint ever. Diverse things, people and places.
As a random thought, after several months I finally changed my default browser on my default machine(T61 laptop) as Chrome from the old friend Firefox. I haven’t migrated completely, I probably never will. More on browsers in my next post.
]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/12/01/and-i-am-back/feed/ 1 Locked out of the house… and my keys are with me! http://planetpranav.com/2008/09/02/locked-out-of-the-house-and-my-keys-are-with-me/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/09/02/locked-out-of-the-house-and-my-keys-are-with-me/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:35:22 +0000 pranav http://planetpranav.com/?p=146 I live in an independent house, the landlord has generously rent out 2 rooms of his house and the terrace to me. The landlord however has access to my section of the house via a connecting door. I leave the connecting door open so that the maid can enter my section of the house and clean the house in my absence.

As it turns out, the maid locked my entrance door and now I am locked out till the landlord returns.

I left the wifi router on in the morning. So, now I have internet access sitting outside my house! I wish I had a password for the door the way I have one for my router. I find it compelling to blog about this situation. Hell, even my torrents are downloading as I type.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/09/02/locked-out-of-the-house-and-my-keys-are-with-me/feed/ 1 Gravatar Plugin for self-hosted WordPress authors http://planetpranav.com/2008/07/19/gravatar-plugin-for-self-hosted-wordpress-authors/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/07/19/gravatar-plugin-for-self-hosted-wordpress-authors/#comments Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:36:20 +0000 pranav http://pranavshah.info/2008/07/19/gravatar-plugin-for-self-hosted-wordpress-authors/ WordPress > WP-Gravatar > WordPress Plugins. If you are running an install of WordPress (not WordPress.com) then you must consider activating this plugin which provides support for Gravatar, MyBlogLog, OpenAvatar, Wavatar, Identicon, monsterID or Favico.ico files with your comments.

This plugin has tons of option, you don’t have to activate all, just the ones that suit your theme.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/07/19/gravatar-plugin-for-self-hosted-wordpress-authors/feed/ 0 The ONE BIG difference between Microsoft and Google http://planetpranav.com/2008/07/08/the-one-big-difference-between-microsoft-and-google/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/07/08/the-one-big-difference-between-microsoft-and-google/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:31:42 +0000 pranav http://pranavshah.info/?p=92 There are millions of differences. I work at Google and often (un)willingly use Microsoft products every day. Once upon a time I didn’t know about GNU-Linux and I actually liked Windows. I still prefer to use Excel. I am not an extremist, but do not really like Microsoft and I absolutely love Google, I loved it even before I started working here. In fact, what got me through in the interviews must be the passion and the industry info. But, I digress.

Coming back to the title of the post. I was having a conversation about spirituality with a friend’s cousin. I had no clue she worked for Microsoft. She was at my desk at work and we had a really good conversation. So, the first myth that I had in my head about Microsoft people being snobs has disappeared.

However, later when we were dining, I got to know that she works for Microsoft and I was shocked. Visibly shocked! After about 10 minutes, I recovered and started talking about what she does at Microsoft and how can she work at Microsoft and I even said, have you sold your soul to the devil? She replies, she is doing more damage to Microsoft by actually working for it.

She happened to mention a product she was working on and used the phrase, “feedback from our clients & customers”… this is exactly where the difference lies. Did you miss it? Read again, “feedback from our CLIENTS & CUSTOMERS.” At Google it is “feedback from our USERS.”

This is ingrained in the psyche and heart of every Googler. Users and User Experience. We always care for what will be best for the user. We have writings on the wall which say, “Focus on the USER and all else will follow.” Google makes products for its USERS and delivers it for free. Microsoft on the other hand makes products to sell them to its CUSTOMERS and also to compete with other companies. User experience is usually not a priority. They might have a specialist team focusing on user experience, but it is not in the heart of the developers and the employees.

That one phrase that I heard, helped me understand Microsoft better and put the company and its people in perspective. I almost feel that there is nothing wrong with Microsoft, they are simply doing business, they are really good at it. At the same time Google is different. Google is not a business enterprise. We(Googlers) are here for the user.

Now you know the one big difference.

PS: Blogging is important at Google and peers wait even past 10.45pm to let their friend finish posting.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/07/08/the-one-big-difference-between-microsoft-and-google/feed/ 5 Using mobile sites when on a dialup connection http://planetpranav.com/2008/04/19/using-mobile-sites-when-on-a-dialup-connection/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/04/19/using-mobile-sites-when-on-a-dialup-connection/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:54:56 +0000 pranav http://pranavshah.info/?p=79 I work at Google and enjoy the best bandwidth in the country. I also live on a hill in Hyderabad where no broadband provider is willing to provide me a reasonable connection. So after a lot of debating and decision making (within my head), I got myself a Nokia E61 and an EDGE connection from Airtel which roughly costs me 660 per month, gives me reasonable connectivity on the go and also lets me plug it in via a USB cable to my laptop and desktop to access the internet. However, the connection tends to become flaky during peak hours.

And I am sure everyone in India with a personal internet connection faces this issue. The speed goes slow. Packet loss, traffic congestion, whatever may be the case, you are connected, but its super slow. What do you do?

I suggest you use the mobile version of the websites you would normally use. For example, m.gmail.com, m.twitter.com, m.orkut.com, m.jaiku.com, m.facebook.com, m.dopplr.com and so on. These are the light and absolutely bare versions. In gmail you wont get the chat and AJAX features, but at least u can access the email.

Right now, I am posting via a mobile interface (of course i used a WP plugin to do it). Websites are adding a lot of clutter and intricate web-design and making the pages really heavy. AJAX, Flash and videos are great when you are sitting on a broadband hose but at times I just want the functionality, absolutely simple and that is exactly where the mobile versions come in.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/04/19/using-mobile-sites-when-on-a-dialup-connection/feed/ 1 Google Indic Transliteration http://planetpranav.com/2008/01/31/google-indic-transliteration/ http://planetpranav.com/2008/01/31/google-indic-transliteration/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:36:46 +0000 pranav http://pranavshah.info/?p=74 Google Indic Transliteration

अभी हिन्दी में ब्लोग्पोस्तिंग होता है ! ब्लॉगर पर बिल्ट-इन है और ईस वर्डप्रेस के ब्लॉग पर में ऊपर वाली लिंक से कॉपी-पेस्ट करता हूँ . अच्छा लगता है, इंटरनेट पर हिन्दी का चलन बढेगा.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2008/01/31/google-indic-transliteration/feed/ 0 What are the blogging services I use & how do I blog on them? http://planetpranav.com/2007/08/11/what-are-the-blogging-services-i-use-how-do-i-blog-on-them/ http://planetpranav.com/2007/08/11/what-are-the-blogging-services-i-use-how-do-i-blog-on-them/#comments Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:13:43 +0000 pranav http://pranavshah.info/?p=62 WordPress & Blogger :)
Never bothered to try LiveJournal or TypePad.
I blog on these platforms, either via email or through SribeFire, apart from the web interface. WordPress sidebar was another addon which i have used in the past. Blogger.com offers the email option which is not offered on WordPress.com but is available on the hosted version.

]]> http://planetpranav.com/2007/08/11/what-are-the-blogging-services-i-use-how-do-i-blog-on-them/feed/ 0 On Blogging (or rather not blogging) http://planetpranav.com/2007/07/01/on-blogging-or-rather-not-blogging/ http://planetpranav.com/2007/07/01/on-blogging-or-rather-not-blogging/#comments Sun, 01 Jul 2007 10:36:04 +0000 pranav http://pranavshah.info/?p=57 There should be a tool such that I could blog at the speed of thought. On second thoughts, there shouldn’t be. It could get bloggers into trouble. I’ve been busy as well as lazy.

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