chandanlog(3C): Goodthings: The Greatest Invention since Bell's Telephone..

29 Mar 2008 Goodthings: The Greatest Invention since Bell's Telephone..

No, its not the iPhone, nor VoIP and forget the cordless phones.. A while back, shopping for a land line phone. I would ask the shop sales folks if they had anything which had:

quick dial - i.e ability to directly dial a handful of numbers quickly (max one or two button press)
mute button
speaker phone
no AC adapter or batteries

I am surprised that there are really advanced phones (phones with bluetooth, skype etc.,) which don't even have quick dial settings. (I returned a good glossy black Philips Skype phone because it had no quick dial!) At first it did not seem possible for me that such a phone could exist, because the smart sales folks at Fry's or BestBuy told me that they had never seen aything like that. The closest they could get was a Panasonic It did not have an AC adapter but needed three batteries.

Then recently I stumbled upon this GE phone at OfficeDepot. (There is also an Activa branded one which is exactly the same model) It provided all the features I was looking for without an ugly AC adapter or batteries. I couldn't believe it, I unpacked it in store to double check what it claimed on the carton. Apparently it is powered by the telephone line! It doesn't have glossy black designer finish, but it gets my nomination for the greatest invention in telephone hardware since Alexander Gram Bell's phone.

A cordless phone which adds two more cords at poor voice quality isn't an advancement, a 500 number phone book which gets erased every time the power gets disconnected isn't an advancement, but a phone which gives more features without retrogression is worth a praise.

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09 Mar 2008 Goodthings: Daylights

Things that deserve appreciation, should be appreciated, however trivial they are. For what ever its worth, these notes of appreciation may help those in making decisions when needed. I recently replaced all old electric filament bulbs at home with Compact Fluorescent Lights.

The prevalence of Edison era dim bulbs in USA surprises me. Bulbs are rare in India, as most of Indian households use Fluorescent Lights. --> Insert Asrani's classic "Ram laxman Bulb dena " commecial here <--.

Even with Energy Saving CFLs with PG&E Rebates available in plenty harware shops, most give a dull yellowish light. Beware of the words "soft white light", it means "dim". The good lamps are those that say "daylight" or 5000 K+ ratings. Some shops don't even keep stock of them and PG&E doesn't seem to give a rebate on them. They may be couple of dollars more, but are worth for their natural light. Also look for lamps that say faststart or quick start, since ordinary CFLs take time to get to their full brightness.

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16 Oct 2007 Night on the Royal Highway or El Camino Real (ell-ka-mi-no-rree-yal)

It was about 10:30 in the night. I was about to park my car inside our garage, then the cool October night with a crescent moon tempted me to continue riding down the empty street.

El Camino Real or 'The Royal Highway' is only a furlong away from our house. At night, while most of the shops were closed with lights off, few restaurants were still open. There were people cleaning the footpaths and picking garbage like zombies; homeless people pushing shopping carts in search of a place to sleep.

As a kid I had a BMX bicycle. While it was fun riding something that looked like a miniature motorcycle, I never had thought that some people could be using them to commute to work. All long the road there were many peddling down the footpath on a BMX bicycle. Some may have been riding it for miles from affluent parts of the bay area towards slums. Life on the The Royal Highway at night didn't look as cheerful and colorful as it looks during the day when car showrooms sport balloons and real estate agents wiggle signboards like clowns.

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05 Aug 2007 iPhone and The Dog That can do Many Tricks

Saw an iPhone in an apple store in San Jose. There was a small crowd gathered around it. I had to wait for my turn to examine this wonder gadget that is making news, or made news, since the hype has subsided.

iPhone seems like just one centimeter away from my vision of an All-in-one card. Many other smart phones in the market today are also that close. My an year old Linux phone Motorola MING, though lacked wifi, seems to have everything iPhone has hardware-wise. Interface on iPhone is much better, though navigation is confusing at times. iPhone is like a dog which can do many tricks, but crippled because the owner wanted to sell a wheel chair service plan with it :-(

Mobile communication industry in USA lags behind rest of the world by years - limited choice, lack of competition, poor coverage, legacy protocols and services like SMS and mutimedia, still seen as premium features!!. I am hoping that iPhone and immitations would bring changes.

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21 Mar 2007 Up the Raisina Hill

Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace) in New Delhi, is majestic and grand - a building fit for the President of a wast country. We entered through one of the side gates. Unprecedented Presidential security welcomed us! It is not open to public, entry is by invitation only.

There is a gradual ramp that raises to the main building. We got down the car near to reception which is on the left of the grand stairs.

Several guards in Ghoorka attire were guarding the main building. We got in, wrote our names in the visitor book, checked in our bags and gadgets at the cloak room. A tour guide in dark blue Nehru suit accompanied us on a guided tour of the various halls and Mughal Gardens.

We entered a corridor which on one end opened up to left wing courtyard. The courtyard had a water fountain guarded by two snakes on high pillars.

Next we entered the Marble hall, which houses relics of British rule in India, portraits and statues of Kings, Queens and Viceroys. Benches with four lions as its legs were impressive. Down stairs is the kitchen museum with exquisite crockery collection. I was impressed with the dining table which harmoniously blended through the architecture - circular arches, lotus curves and bells.

Next we climbed to the first floor towards a room that displayed gifts received by Indian Presidents over years. On the stairs in a plaster of Paris statue of thousand handed Buddha gifted by Thailand. The room displays valuable gifts not just made with gold and diamonds, but also quite ordinary looking but important things like a soiled Tricolor flag that was hoisted on top of Mt Everest when Tensingh and Hillary climbed it for the first time.

Then we entered the grand Durbar hall, immediately below the dome. On the stage stood ancient statue of Lord Budhdha, like the epicenter of ancient wisdom, modern thought - light of Asia. Behind the statue was an elaborate crimson curtain.

Next was the Banquet Hall with life size portraits of past Presidents. On one end of the hall was an impressive portrait of Mahatma Gandhi with kites flying behind him. Gandhi had a naughty smile :-). Out of the window you could peek down to Mughal gardens.

Ashoka Hall is the most beautiful hall in the building. On its ceiling is a large and amusing picture of Emperor of Iran hunting with his 28 sons. After Ashoka hall, we entered a courtyard, with an Edward Luytens' bust overlooked his own building. Lueytens apparently also designed almost everything inside, furniture, door handles and lamps. Most furniture designs, lamps, crockery and even door handles are beautiful and wish there were replicated and available commercially.

Finally we were in Mughal Gardens with stepped fountains. There were beautiful bonsais of various kind. A kind of tiny orange tree full of tiny oranges adorned the sides of walkways. That was the end of our journey through India's past and present. We then got our stuff and walked out of reception desk towards the main entrance to take pictures of the huge and majestic building. We walked on the same grounds where foreign heads of state receive guard of honor from armed forces.
I have seen this place on TV news countless times, never did I imagine I would take a casual afternoon walk there! From there the Jaipur Pillar stood high up, while the main gate was clouded in morning mist.

We then proceeded to exit from front gate. Encountered massive pillars with gracefully standing elephants over them. We then walked down the Raisina Hill past ministerial offices and pillars which had ships on top pointing to Australia.

More Photos ...

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09 Oct 2006 Kennedy Meadows and Sonora Pass

A beautiful glacier carved valley, Kennedy Meadows is near Sonora Pass on highway-108. Last Friday night, we (an eight member trekking team from Stanford Outing Club) camped in Pine Crest campgrounds off highway 108. Temperature had reached subzero levels during night, and we could see ice formation on stagnant water. In the morning, mist was fuming out of a small lake next to the campgrounds - it was mystical!

On Saturday morning we found that Sonora Pass was closed due to slippery snow covered road. We turned back towards Kennedy Meadows. A small horse friendly resort camp, while far from the touristy Yosemite, reminded of the Yosemite Valley. An elderly gentleman on a bicycle recommended a hiking trail going south east on the meadows.

The trail frequented by horses had horse dung sprewn all the way. The unpaved trail with rough rocks on side had and smell of horse excreta created an old world aura. Imagine how it might have been when horses empowered travel and transportation.

Two foot bridges on the trail crossed the hilly Stanislaus River. High above our heads hovered snow topped mountains - Relief Peak (10530ft) and NightCap Mountain (10,000ft)

On the way out of nowhere appeared a totally closed PG&E cabin (can be seen on google map). It was picturesque. We stopped on top a boulder peak, which had mountains on all three sides and valley of Stanislaus river on the West. When we returned to the basecamp, the same gentleman was there to enquire if we enjoyed our hike - we certainly did.

Sunday we stopped at New Melones Lake near Tuttletown for a short hike. After having lunch at the lake shore picnic area, headed back home.

More pictures, Saurabh's Pictures, Sumanth's Pictures

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