Air...Water...Food...Shelter...Mobile phone?

Flash news: Scientists are planning to update the necessities of life list(air, water, food and shelter)... The new member that's going to be added is Mobile phones :lol: ;)
Yes, mobile phone has become a very essential part of our lives these days... Even the people who lack two basic necessities like food and shelter, have mobile phone ;) Every inventor's dream is that, their invention should reach common man! In that way, Martin Cooper (considered to be the inventor of first practically usable mobile phone) must be a very happy man :D His invention has reached beyond imagination :)

With the invention of mobile phones, communication has become much easier and better. For eg: When I was a kid, during the "unplanned leave"(IT professional you see ;) ) of the servant maid, I would be promptly sent to her house(which would be close-by) to know her whereabouts. Now, during her absence, am spared... Thanks to Martin Cooper ;) She'll be directly contacted through her mobile number and also would be given an earful immediately ;) But seriously speaking... Servant maids are very busy people these days... When my servant maid works, she'll get umpteen number of calls(she also has a personalized ringtone)... she'll keep giving continuous instructions, make next appointments at houses, what not!...Uffff... At that time, I'll look at my phone longingly..I wouldn't have got even a single text message from morning ;)

Communication has become considerably cheaper. With a simple text message, your communication can be made(but ensure that your message is conveyed within 200 sms, else u'll have to call, owing to the TRAI rule ;) ) I had an aunt who had this unique form of communication. If she has to call her driver to her house (he'll be standing at the parking lot, in the basement)...She'll give him a missed call! Immediately, the driver will give a missed call back as an acknowledgment... This missed call game will continue, till he reaches her home! In this case, communication is made without spending even a single paise! Technology has improved so much, you see ;) lol:D

Smart phones have made us smart and the kids, smarter! I was completely spellbound when my nephew,who is just in playschool,quizzed me whether am using an android phone :) Smart phones have made life easier for us but difficult for many industries... People have started opting for mobile phones which acts as a camera, music player...more like a mini computer, rather than a specialized device for each! So these industries are forced to innovate their marketing strategies to keep up with the competition!

On a serious note, there has been a huge rise in accidents. 80% of accidents are caused due to the distractions of driver. Mobile phones are major distractions while driving. Even after repeated instructions, people fail to follow them, resulting in accidents.

Use mobile phones wisely
And drive safely :)

Cool :)  dis makes a gud txt msg 4 me to fwd 2 my frnds 2day(sms language impact ;) )

 

Humanity...!?!

It really feels great to blog today...I dedicated my entire day to restyle the look of my blog :) I categorized my blogs into various pages, grouped them, ungrouped them,designed the header image...Uffff.. It was a lot of work! But I enjoyed doing it ;)

After I was done with it, I took a stroll down my street to a nearby shop. When I was about to step down from the shop, I found an old man(rag-picker) stumbling on the other-side , far-end of the road. Eventually, he fell down. I was shocked to find that everybody around, ignored him. Nobody even bothered to look at him. As I crossed the road and was making my way towards him, I found 4 guys returning from tuition in their bicycles. They immediately stopped their cycles, made the man sit and gave water from their bottles. By that time, I reached there and came to know that he hasn't eaten anything from yesterday. There was a small hotel nearby where I got him something to eat and left the place. The boys continued to stay there when he was eating.

I was completely irritated by the way people around him acted. They branded him a 'drunkard' without even making an effort to go near him.The basic humanity that was present in these kids was lacking with others. What happens to this humanity when we grow up? Does our helping tendency pop out only when the person is well dressed and good looking?What makes us so selfish and self-centered? Points for us to ponder...

The "Best" hotel!!!

"Its Weekend!" Every single person is bound to be happy on hearing this sentence :) I am no different. I too had many plans for this weekend and for once executed it too :P Exploring outskirts of chennai was something that was at the top of my to-do list this weekend.

I found that the places outside chennai had no influence of the busy-life here. It was lunch time and we started hunting for a restaurant in that town. After few inquiries and research we landed in the so-called "best hotel" in that town. This "best" hotel had  4 sets of tables , 2 fans that hardly gave out any clue of its existence until and unless we look up at it, a radio that played songs to remind me that films existed centuries ago too, a cashier who kept counting the few set of notes again and again giving me a feel that it is the toughest job to do and to top it all a board that gives out the "best dishes" of the hotel that can put even multi-cuisine restaurants to shame ;)  While I was examining the "best qualities" of this hotel, a waiter interrupted my thoughts by placing few glasses(tumblers) of water with a thud( reminding me that he too played a major role in the "best" hotel). I asked for a mineral water and was greeted by the thud of the bottle in no time. He narrated the menu,breathless, with such an eloquence and in a sing-song way, as if he has been giving out the same menu since ages. Though I couldn't decipher a single item, I ordered dosa as I was sure it must have been an integral part of this breathless menu. He immediately continued to exhibit his skill by giving out the varieties of dosas available,reminding me that its "the best" hotel in town. To his dismay, I stopped him abruptly and ordered "plain dosa". He immediately shouted out the order to the "invisible cook" who existed behind a curtain.

At that time, few foreigners came into that hotel. The Indian in me got a little terrified as I feared the foreigner should not assume all the "best hotels" in India are just like this one. They gave a broad smile to everyone in the hotel. Even the ever-busy cashier looked up for a moment before resuming his counting again. I reciprocated with a short smile and quickly looked away, somehow feeling guilty of the state of the hotel. The waiter came and repeated the same routine. I wanted to tell the waiter to give them mineral water, but to my surprise one of the foreigners sipped the water remarking "Thank you.. We've been so thirsty". My surprise didn't end there. When the waiter narrated the menu in his style, they made him repeat it and recorded it in their handycam. The waiter was beaming with happiness. They asked the waiter to get him anything of his choice. The waiter quickly shouted out 3 different varieties of dosas to the "invisible" cook.

Meanwhile my dosa arrived, I started pondering over the hygiene of the plate and started pitying the foreign guests who were about to eat from similar plates. I started munching my dosa, trying my best to avoid contact with the plate. The waiter brought out the 3 plates of dosa and laid it in front of them. I was curiously waiting for their reaction. They took a bite and one of them exclaimed"Wow...This tastes like heaven". They were very interested to know the making of their "heavenly" dish. Soon, the cashier, who didn't speak a word till now, narrated the receipe in "tanglish" and dumb-charades, feeling very proud. The waiter who didn't understand anything, also had big proud-smile all through the narration. The smile was infected to me also. On the whole, everybody in the hotel was happy(may be even the "invisible cook"). The foreigners changed the entire atmosphere with their sense of  appreciation and thanks giving.

This made me realise that everything is a reflection of how we see it. If we see the best in it, it surely becomes the best. When I walked out of the hotel, I smiled to myself and said "Its indeed "the best" hotel in its own way!"

Tips and Tricks to make the most out of your Android phones

Been a while since I wrote a blog! So thought will write a useful blog for a change :P
Android phones have become very common these days as it is available at affordable prices.I just came across few tips and tricks for android phones that can help novice android users to work with ease!

1. Call your favorite contacts with one tap:Android allows you to create icons on your home screen for contacts. To add one press and hold an empty space on your screen. When the menu pops up select Shortcuts > Contact. You can then scroll through your list of contacts and tap the person you want to add.Ice Cream Sandwich owners have it even easier. You can add a contact from your home screen using the "Contact," "Direct Dial," or "Direct Message"widgets in your widgets menu. You can also group those contacts into folders.
2. Type with your voice: Many Android phones have talk-to-type built into the keyboard. Tap the mic icon and just talk. Android does the rest.
3. Sync Chrome to your phone's browser: With Google's Chrome To Phone app, you can send links, messages, and phone numbers from your desktop browser to your phone. Download the free app from the Android Market and the extension for Chrome.
4. Use your phone as a portable hard drive:When you plug your phone into your computer with a USB cable, you can activate Android's storage mode. This allows you to swap files between your computer and phone, making an excellent way to take files with you on the go.
5. Protect your phone from malware: Malicious apps are still a real problem in the Android Market. Because apps don't go through a vetting process from Google, some bad eggs have gotten through in the past. Download Lookout Mobile Security for your phone. The app scans everything you install and warns you of any potential malicious files.
6. Make multitasking easy:  Hold down your phone's Home button and a window will pop up with recently-opened apps.
7. Back up your phone using Dropbox:Check out the app DropSpace. It will sync files stored on your phone to your Dropbox account. You'll never have to plug in to your computer again.
8. Add the power strip widget:Since Android 2.1, a new widget that is a power control strip allows for the easy control of battery-destroying services such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. To add this widget, long press the Home screen and select Widget | Power Control. When the widget is added (Figure B, you can turn various services on and off with one tap.
9. See what's hogging your battery:Navigate to Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Useto see an organized breakdown of what’s using your phone’s battery. Applications and features will display in a descending list of battery hogs. If you see an application you barely use or a feature you never use (Bluetooth), uninstall the app or turn off the feature.
10. Automate any Setting with Tasker:You can automate pretty much anything you want—like turning GPS on only when you open Google Maps, turning on Bluetooth only when you dock your phone, and scaling back on data usage at night and much more using Tasker(or other similar apps like Locale and Settings Profiles).

Hope this blog was useful! :)