Sign Into Your Google Account on Public Computers Without Typing Anything

This is why I love Google. Absolutely ingenious and so useful. I have just tested it, from my own computer of course, but it works like a charm. Amazing!

http://lifehacker.com/5876559/sign-into-your-google-account-on-public-computers-without-typing-anything?popular=true

Google now censoring some websites

[Photo credit: http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/Do%20no%20evil_5798]

My outspoken disgust for Apple and iPhone does not stem from personal reasons and as such it does not stop as a particular company or product. My objection, vehement and strong objection, is against limiting the users, restricting how they can live their lives. I have never been a big fan of Flash, I have never been a Flash developer and frankly I hate those annoying Flash ads that you have to watch on some websites. But I despise that Apple should decide whether users can have Flash on their devices or not. NO! It's the user's right to decide.

So when Google starts acting like a big brother and starts with censorship, no matter how small, no matter how benign in appearance, I wouldn't stand for  it. As of now, I am looking for a new search Engine. The link below is an article that'll explain why.

http://torrentfreak.com/google-now-censors-the-pirate-bay-isohunt-4shared-and-more-111123/

Google+ - Can you believe it?

43 Million users in one week!!
According to this story, Google plus got a 1269% increase in users since it was opened to public.
I, of course, was on it weeks before when it was in invitation-only stage. *smug smile* So I guess I would be one of those "influencers" and "early adopters" that the story talks about.

Now that Google+ is open to public I am expecting to have a bigger friend list and a more active Stream. So far I like Google+ as compared to Facebook, with the only problem being having more friends on Facebook as of now. That will change. Even though I use Facebook, I really hate it. It's only because of boredom that I ever even open it, mostly on my phone .

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_plus_traffic_went_up_1269_last_week.php

Android Market's Refund Period

Android Market used to be a wonderful place where you have a plethora of free apps for your phone and quite a big selection of paid apps starting from under 1 GBP to 20GBP and more. Something that I really liked about this market was that you could download and install an app, try it out and if it turned out that it was not suitable for you, you could uninstall it and get a full refund quite easily right from your phone. Within 24 hours.

Today I downloaded an app from the Android Market, noted the time as just after 10 AM and proceeded to check the app out. This was a lock screen app so I locked/unlocked my phone quite a few times to test it, and then suddenly realized that it was letting me unlock the phone without actually using the unlock slider. That's not what I wanted! So, I tested it a couple more times, confirmed that it didn't work and decided to return it.

Oh, I was in for a rude awakening! I uninstall the app but didn't get the "Uninstall & Refund" button, just "Uninstall". I didn't think much about it. But then, I checked my email and the "refund confirmation" email didn't arrive. Hmmm, curious!

I checked the email that was sent to me when I bought the app and in there was a link for the Refund Policy. I clicked that and suddenly was confronted with this text:

"You have 15 minutes from the time of download to return an application purchased through Android Market for a full refund."

15 minutes?!! Now that's what I call absolutely ridiculous! The 24-hour window for refund was reasonable, you could try out all kinds of apps in that time, even complex ones. 15 minutes is not nearly enough for anything like that. Of course, there are enraged Android users all over the world!

Much as I love Android and Google in general this is absolute bullshit!

Needless to say, I wouldn't be buying any more paid apps from the Android Market unless they have a trial version I can use first.

Rant over!

Addendum:
About the same time as when I wrote this post I sent the app developer an email stating the facts and saying that I am aware of the new refund period but I want a refund. I asked for their policy on the matter.

In response, a few hours later I got two emails. One from the Android Market telling me that my app purchase order had been cancelled. Second also, from the Market informing me that I was refunded in full for that purchase.

So, despite the 15-minute policy I got a no-quibble refund from the app developer company which makes me happy. It was not a big amount of money, it was just the principle of the thing. And I am happy to see that developers have good ethics and cooperative policies.

However, this doesn't change my decision to not buy any paid apps from the Android Market as long as the 15-minute refund period is not changed to something more reasonable. 

Gmail Motion

Google is awesome. They have done it yet again:
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

Now what is this thing called elgooG?

Click on the image and find out. I think it's pretty funny.

Try two things while you are there:
1. Do a search on any search word
2. Read their FAQ

Android Waale Baba Ki...

Year: 2069 AD
Place: Baba Sunilanand ka ashram

Baba ke bhakt (more women than men) holographic ghaas par apne-apne PIACS (Personal Information And Communication System, much advanced and portable version of laptop) liye baithe hain. Aashram ki rooftop par badi si dish lagi hai. Wifi signal is strong. Kaune-kaune mein mobile charging points bane hue hain.

Baba ke aane ka sanket hota hai. Bhakt apne PIACS par jalte diyon aur agarbattiyon ka holographic display chaloo kar dete hain.

Baba Geruye rang ke suit mein andar se nikal kar aate hain...

"Baba, Sunilanand ki.."
Crowd shouts, "JAI!"

"Bolo Android waale baba ki..."
"JAI!!"

Somebody plays "Jai ho, ho, ho!" on his device. Kuchh yuvtiyan ek do thumke lagaati hain, then stop.

Baba aasan par sthaan grihan karte hain. Baba ke handsome, tejwaan chere ko dekhkar kuchh yuvtiyaan aah bharti hain. Baba ke kaan mein advanced bluetooth v51.0 ka handsfree laga hai. It can hook up with baba's mobile phone, read his email from his PC, connect to the Ashram PA system wirelessly and is thought-activated. Saath mein machchhar bhagaane ka kaam bhi karta hai.

Baba pravchan aarambh karte hain.

Baba uvaach:
"Bhakto, we are living in difficult times. Microsoft has announced 267th security breach in their operating system last night. We must keep patience. It will pass.

Bhakto, samay bada kathin hai, achchhe log kubudhi ka shikaar hokar apna maansik santulan kho rahe hain. Jis par Apple ki mahadasha chal rahi hai usse sirf Google hi bacha sakta hai.

Apne man mein Google ka jaap karo aur achche, sundar (baba looks at the front row which is full of beautiful bhaktins), vichaar rakho.

Ab question answer."


Ek bhakt aage aata hai, "Baba, naya PIACS liya hai, Windows ka kaun sa version install karoon?"

There's a gasp from the bhakts around him.

Baba uvaach, "Windows nahin, baalak, Google Chrome OS 17.3 install karo. Tumhara kalyaan hoga."

Another bhakt asks piteously, "Baba, MacBook Pro ek week mein teesri baar crash hua hai. Kuchh upaay bataayein, baba."

Baba nods solemnly, "Tum par Apple bhaari hai, beta. Chrome PIACS 5 mein invest karo. Sab theek ho jayega."

There is a commotion in the back. Some disciples come forward dragging another bhakt by the collar. They throw him down in front of Baba's aasan. His device is clutched defensively in his hands. It's showing a Microsoft logo on the screen.

"Baba, he had Windows Vistaria installed on his device!" They shout accusingly.

Baba raises his hand and looks up to the sky, "Forgive him, O divine Cloud, he does not know what he is doing."

There's a puff of smoke, 3.9 seconds later, when the smoke clears the Microsoft logo has been replaced by Google logo on the man's device. There's a collective gasp in the crowd.

The accusing disciples shout vehemently, "Baba ki..." "JAI!"

"Android waale baba ki..."
"JAI!!"

Baba smiles softly.

Baba stands, two bhaktins stand on either side of Baba, Aarti starts, "...Red, green aur yellow ki mahima jo koi gaave..."

Search and ye shall find...me!

Today when I searched for Sunil Goswami on Google (My Firefox Google toolbar is set to search Google.co.uk by default), I found that all 10 results on the first page were mine. I am going to record this momentous victory with this post.

In the screenshots you can't see all the 10 results, so just trust me. :) Or do a Google Search.

Eating an elephant!

Question: How do you eat an elephant?

Answer: One spoon at a time!

No, no, that's not my way of saying that I have turned non-vegetarian. I am still quite strictly vegetarian other than having an occasional omelette, but I found this English expression quite funny and very apt for what I am about to tell you.

I suddenly got it into my head that I want to be a pilot!

When I took my first, very first, plane journey to US from India, I was quite excited! I loved the feeling of taking off, being airborne and even landing. It was a good landing. But since then I have lost count of my plane journies (nothing phenomenal there, most people do after 6), and during all these air voyages I have had some unpleasant experiences. No, nothing too bad, nothing extraordinary that would get in the newspapers, just simple stuff like weather turbulence where the plane drops for 10-20 seconds at a time straight down and you start looking for something to plug into your mouth (like a shoe) just so you can keep the heart down ; or the landing where the pilot brakes hard immediately after the rear wheels touch down like he's riding a bicycle. Stuff like that has made me kind of...well, not afraid of flying but kind of apprehensive, even during takeoffs and landings, normal ones.
So acting on the age-old wisdom of "face your fears" I thought I'd go for some flying training. Which is kind of weird coming from me as I don't even like roller coasters. That heart-in-your-throat feeling is not very good! Other than that though, flying training in England, (I am sure, everywhere), is quite expensive. I can't afford it! It'd be a huge project for me to take up. The best idea for a huge project, if possible, is to take it in small steps - so I am starting my training from the computer. There are several programs available that simulate the flying experience, some of them free like FlightGear, most of them paid like Microsoft Flight Simulator, arguably the most popular of them all. It's marketed as a game but it is in fact so accurate in its simulation that people do, all over the world, use it as a training aid, before, during or after their real flying training.
Then there are books available for real as well as simulated training which help you understand the concepts and acquire the related knowlege. And believe me there's an enormous amount of knowledge to acquire, it's not just holding the stick (the control column) and moving it back and forth!
During my research on the topic (you are right, it started from www.google.co.uk) , I found this community or rather communities of people who fly a plane on the computer and then online, using software programs to interface with other pilots and even real, live ATCs! I was amazed! Look at www.vatsim.net if you are interested! So, that's the next step of my training ladder. Then there are other things to do, until, step by step I build up my skills on the ground and hopefully also my fund for my real training.

That's why I call it by the funny title, breaking a huge task into very small, minute, doable parts and then tackling them one by one. That's how you eat an elephant....one spoon at a time!

Edit: Thought I'd put a picture there to spice things up. It's a beautiful picture and courtesy of fellow VATSIM pilot Jordan Jafferjee.

Does your SatNav cover this?

I am sure your SatNav or GPS doesn't cover this map:

http://www.google.com/mars/

More Google on April 1st, 2008

With Google Australia gDay you can search for web pages 24 hours before they are created.
http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gday/press.html

Organizing the world's laughter with Google Dajare in Japan.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=990

Sending emails back in time with gmail Custom Time
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html

I am going to Mars

Well, didn't you know Google is planning the first permanent human colony on Mars? Here's the low-down on it, check it out and join it.
http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html
 
 
I tried but this is the assessment I got.
 
Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life. If you're determined to give Virgle a try, though, you can submit your video here.
 
Oh, these guys are just too much! I could not help laughing aloud when I read their questionnaire and the hilarious multiple choice answers