It’s been one year. Time. Heals?

Appa (1951-2008)

Last year, by this time it was all over. The end of a troubling and painful battle against nature and what was meant to be. He braved it all along and never really winced too much about it. It’s been a year since and I can only wonder what it would have been like if he was still around. Healthy, of course!

I looked at this photo for a few minutes today and in a flash, saw what I had seen of him in the last 27 years of my life. And it almost felt like he was looking back at me.

Three iPhone Apps and one complaint

Since I purchased my iphone ten days back, I have been downloading applications that I view useful and of course, those which are free. Here are my impressions on some of them:

1. Evernote: Evernote is a quick note making, idea jotting, photo spotting, audio saving application. This app on the iphone lets you save any text or photo or audio file to the iphone and automatically (Update: There is a setting which lets turn On/Off syncing through the Cellular Network) syncs the same with your evernote account online. I signed up for the free account on the web which allows upto 40 MB (monthly usage). I was also quite impressed with the way the Tips screen shows up. Though I haven’t used this app a lot yet, I imagine myself using it regularly in future.

2. WordPress: Thanks to my iPhone, I have started blogging again. This should continue and the iphone app only makes it easier. No more excuses. Let’s you capture a photo and create a new post about it right away. The interface is very clean and lets you manage your posts save drafts, comments and pages. You can even add another blog and start afresh. Here’s an example of a blog post (with photos) that was made by Shalin when we were at lunch a few days back.

3. IM+ Lite(iTunes Link): Need to have a IM application on the phone. For Gtalk particularly. After trying out Fring for a bit, I settled for IM+ Lite. Clean interface, ichat like chat window. I don’t make calls to my gmail contacts as much, and that is what made me switch from Fring to IM Lite. Fring looks like it is better if you want to make calls.

On the media and entertainment front, I tried MiniPiano, iBowl, Sleepmaker (this one works beautifully!) and Backgrounds (all iTunes Store links).

Any one know any applications that can monitor frequencies? Maybe I can find an iphone app which acts as a picth pipe and help when I tune a tambura!

One major complaint – I get about 50 emails a day and manage them on my Macbook and iPhone. Invariably all the emails I get during the day are seen on my laptop. However, once I open Mail in my iPhone sometime in the evening all the emails are downloaded again. Is there a “Mark All as Read” option available? I know my account is POP3 and having an IMAP account should solve the problem, but we had an issue once in the past making all the company accounts IMAP and that’s something we cannot try now. Any suggestions?

WordPress for iphone

This is awfully simple as I see it now. This post is from my iPhone.

And yes, I can even click a photo and add it to the post. See below. That’s how my office looks at 7.30 pm.

My iPhone, again

I had the first generation iPhone back in 2008. Needless to say, it was a god-awesome mobile phone and much more. I loved it and though it was beginning to show a bit of wear and tear, it was working just fine. 

I then lost it, during a rather unfortunate incident. But the missing iPhone was really the least of my worries then.

So, yesterday when Shalin and I discussed buying an iphone again ( he had one too and had an unfortunate incident of his own), we decided to check it out at Univercell Live. Retail tactics, an aggressive salesman and my urge to get one again meant that I had one again by the end of the day. 

The most exciting part of this second innings is that I can now download applications. There are so many of those out there, one for almost any reason you can think of. Here’s 3 free applications that I downloaded yesterday, 

1. Twitterific: I have been on twittering rather actively these days, realizing what a wonderful tool it is, and how it can help connect so effortlessly. So after a bit of hunt, Twitterific (Free) was on my iphone. Neat interface, much like the desktop one. And I really don’t mind the occasional ad.

 
2. Facebook: One follows the other these days, huh! Anyway, simple application for the iphone and a welcome change from the over crowded, uninteresting, news-fed homepage of Facebook on my browser. Easy to post status updates and see friends profiles. Btw, I couldn’t find a way to comment on my own Status again. Clicking on one of the comments goes to the friend’s profile page.

 
3. Twitter link: A small application which makes it easy to post a safari link to your twitter account. Generates a small URL and lets you add the same from within Safari. The setup process was a bit roundabout, but works well in the end.

I’m going to try and come back with more applications that I find useful in the coming days. Ah, I could probably try the WordPress app. Any other interesting suggestions? I know I will be downloading Evernote today.

Someone’s listening

Back in July, 2006 I put up a poll on our popular polling engine, Tezaa about the possibility of an ipod that talks.

And now, we have the third generation ipod shuffle, from Apple, which does exactly this.

Think the guys from Cupertino heard this?

Sad day for cricket and it’s fans – Sri Lankan players attacked

It is easiest to voice an opinion on something close to you. Cricket has been a sport I have played, watched and loved.

And the latest about the attacks on the Sri Lankan cricketers, is something that has been on my mind since today morning.

It’s an act which is bound to have dire implications. The loss of any kind of international cricket in Pakistan, and the surrounding areas, loss of trust on the board and its policies and possibly the end of careers for some Pakistani cricketers. 

Credit to the officials for acting immediately and moving the players to safety. I quite liked what Sangakkara had to say about the episode – “ We are shocked but apart from that everyone is OK. ”I don’t regret coming here to play cricket because that’s what we have been doing all our lives. That is our profession. But I regret this incident, what has happened and the situation that we have had to go through.”

Reassuring.

Where we go from here, only Time will tell.

The tight rope walk

People who know me and know what I do, know quite well that I have a day job with a creative and cool product development company, in Madras. They also know that I am a creative person by nature which I find opportunities to express through my music.

So, why do I do, both these?

This happens too

While I love doing both, a balance between the two is what keeps me going. A person who has varied interests is bound to have an interesting life.

Here is an article of mine that appeared in The Hindu a few years back,

IT by Day, Music by night – Hindu Interview, Dec 2005

When we look at various things in our life and draw energy and hope from one and transfer it to other facets, it can be quite refreshing.

Helpdesk Pilot – now version 4.0

It is a bit strange that I have never really written about the one product of Tenmiles that I have been closely associated with for a while now. Helpdesk Pilot. Helpdesk Pilot has now grown to be one of the most liked, preferred, easy to use, helpdesk softwares out there. We have just released version 4.0.0, counting all the way from 1.0 and even having some releases between integral values (err…did we have 1.5, 1.7, 2.2, more!).

With the new version also comes a new home for Helpdesk Pilot. A new website to boost the true wonders of the product.

Take a look at the website, its fun. And colorful. And if you are still there, give the demo a run.

Join the fun.

A new website

The time is finally here. After a lot of deliberation and coaxing. 

Visit http://www.swarnarethas.com

Music and thoughts, coming your way soon.

Cricket Celebrations

Not to be misled, this post is not about the celebratory status of the game or the cricketers. In fact, it could be quite the opposite.

Watching the intriguing fourth day play of the test match between India and England at Lords, some moments in the days play captured my attention. The way cricketers have come to celebrate mini and major milestones in the course of an innings has evolved over the years as has everything else. A batsman’s raised bat for a half century has now become a much more elaborate affair in recent times. The Australian method of the raised-arm-with-ball for a five wicket haul is setting the standards for the bowlers.

The way Kevin Pietersen celebrated his belligerent hundred, Monty Panesar’s excitement on picking up Tendulkar(is her ever calm after a wicket!) and Dinesh Karthik’s way of acknowledging his half century-these were the moments that caught my attention. A century is still a big deal in test cricket. A five for is also a worthy moment. But what about a half century? In an increasingly batsmen-oriented game, the half century moment needs to be placed with a little more perception. Any thoughts?