Swap’s Blog

Ah, it feels good to be on a safer, faster and a friendlier OS. It was high time I quite windows and moved on to better systems. To clear it out, I am not Anti-Microsoft. I still use their products and of course the Xbox 360.

But Microsoft clearly need to work on their product and interact with customers closely. I would prefer to go back to Windows XP than work on Vista. It’s buggy, is heavy on resources and unstable. Their piracy division is a joke. I would advise them to spend more time speaking to customers than working on how to beat piracy. A live example:

I got a fresh Windows XP license for my Macbook (backup OS). When trying to activate online, it didn’t accept my product key saying it’s invalid (WGA says pirated). I called them up and the rep said it’s pirated. When I contacted them by email, they said it’s a case of hardware change and advised me to call up again and inform the hardware change that took place.

In my defense, it’s the first time I ever used the product key. Second, I wouldn’t be crazy to tamper my Macbook hardware (except perhaps RAM). From what I’ve seen you system validates computers running pirated version of Windows. So, dear Microsoft, it’s time you scrapped the WGA program and spend your resources on something useful such as making a stable (original) OS.

It’s a bitter good bye to a long relationship and probably for the good, hello Mac

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Swap

I was having a useful discussion on email signatures with @Aditya over Twitter. For those who don’t know, most people who email using their PDA or other handheld devices (fine, let’s count those smartphones as well!) add a signature saying “Sent from blah blah Device”. I for one had one for my iPAQ which said “Sent from my iPAQ”. However, I still use it at times when I am on move and using instant messengers; wireless connectivity.

Aditya asked why would anyone add an annoying text like that at the end. Although I don’t use it anymore (trust my typing), I still feel it’s a good way to notifying the receiver that the sender is on the move and may have typed it it in a hurry (ignore the typos, grammer, etc); more like a courtesy text. It’s also inbuilt into various mobile emailing clients.

I would love to hear other opinions on this but then again I rarely get comments on the blog I did note a  fellow twitter user’s opinion on it: http://twitter.com/inko9nito/statuses/871467586

I’ve been waiting too long for my Scotland snaps and it’s high time I get back to blogging. So, here’s a short post on the best trip I’ve ever had. It lasted just 9 days but I would probably need a blog post for each day!

Me and Sandeep (my  bro, sponsor, chauffeur :P) first visited the London eye to get a beautiful view of London and hopped on to the big bus. We utilized the full validity of the 24 hour ticket to go through both the routes. Take my word, it’s the best way to tour London. Next up, we went to Scotland to visit Glasgow, Edinburgh. The castles and finally the stay in a caravan at Inverness was just spectacular.

We spent the weekend at our cousin’s place playing my Wii (reluctantly gifted my brother) with the Kids and our brother in law. The sunday started off with a disappointing Asia Cup final to be quickly forgotten with the excisting Formula1 race and the icing on the cake being the best Wimbledon final. My only regret was not being able to watch the race or the tennis live being so close to both venues.

Just before leaving, we did a Lords tour which is a dream-come-true for Cricket lovers. We also met some English cricketers and I had a urge to scream Yuvraj when I saw Stuart Broad practising but I resisted it The last attraction that could fit into my itinerary was Madame Tussauds. I was expecting it be like an art gallery but it turned out to be a rocking party albeit with wax people

I’ve uploaded some moments of my London trip to flickr:

It’s tough to describe what I liked best, the food at Bella Italia, the cars (check out the Lambo in the set below), the chilly weather (chilly for me, hot for Londoners), people, the architecture. So, I decided to go for my brother without whom this unforgettable trip would have never happened! Oh, he also got his spanking new BMW (I missed it by a week!).

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Swap

My last night in the United States with a wonderful (could have been better) trip coming to the end. I haven’t had much spare time for blogging and other activities as I was busy with work and family. Photos and description of places I visited on previous weekends:

NASA Space Center

Visit of a lifetime! I’ve always been fascinated with Space and Rocket Science. What better a place can be than NASA for a space enthusiast? I had great fun on the tram, landing a space shuttle perfectly on the strip. The best part was the session at the control room. I am disappointed to have not noted the speaker’s name but it was one of the most inspiring speeches I’ve heard in quite sometime.

Kemah Boardwalk

Although not as grand as Moody Gardens, I had much more fun. I wish I had more time to go on all the rides and attractions.

I’ve be boarding my flight to London tomorrow where awaits my actual vacation, can’t wait! Then again, there’s always the nostalgia when saying good bye to home.

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Swap

After 3 days of stay in Houston, I am back in Baytown. I was attending the cPanel Conference ‘08 in the heart of Houston city, Westin Oaks Galleria.

Westin Oaks Galleria is one the best locations in Houston. It comprises of the Galleria (the best mall I’ve ever been to) and two grand hotels. I was staying in Westin Oaks, and the heavenly trademark they use for every part of their decor is worth it’s tag. Albeit, it did burn a rather large hole in my wallet

The cPanel conference took place in the same hotel mainly on the 3rd floor; with some sessions on the roof (21st floor). I was covering it live on twitter and will hence cover only some key points here.
cPSS (cPanel Server Suite) for Windows would be available later which is mostly a clone of the Linux version. The only noticeable new feature is the reseller center which allows nested resellers. The training sessions were of intermediate level. I did attend exhibitor sessions and liked Aplicure’s the best out of them. Their sessions lacked a technical details but their product is promising.

The food (thanks to SohoLaunch, Microsoft & cPanel) was great. I was not too comfortable with the American food but it was delicious; desserts were mouth watering! The only let down I experience during the 3 days of the conference was the interaction. Most of the cPanel staff and attendees kept to themselves and were not hospitable and friendly to first timers. I had traveled almost half way across the globe but didn’t expect that to happen. However, my stay and the conference was a great experience. I have uploaded an album on flickr comprising of both the conference and the Galleria snaps.

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Swap