6.5k + Pageviews in a month ! Thank you all !

I was just looking at the analytics for this blog, and fell off my chair - I have 6.5k + pageviews in the month of March ! That is just awesome !

Thank you all for visiting my blog ! 

I am not sure why the spike ? The posts in march were not that many or that interesting.

The top post is - strangely enough - bugzilla installation post. It is not an original post - though I modified the post to be more readable and helped out in a few comments.

Also, looking at the top posts, it seems people are more interested in tech stuff.

Minimalstic Designs

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- Leonardo Da Vinci

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
- Confucius

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- Albert Einstein

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

- Antoine de Saint Exupery

 
I am becoming a fan of minimalism. Somehow the simplicity appeals to my aesthetic senses. So, in keeping with that, I worked out a simpler theme for this blog. Let me know how it looks.

Diablo3 and Endgame.

I see a lot of posts about Diablo 3 endgame all over. Recently Blizzard itself admitted that they are going wrong. Many such discussions and rants are on the internet, and I am adding my own as I am totally disillusioned with the crap game that is Diabo 3.

My thoughts on this is that Diablo 3 is not a game with end game. It never was. Will never be. It is not a World of Warcraft that there are end game stuff that has to be done as a progression. You kill Diablo and thats it.

However, that is not the reason for disliking D3. There are other problems with the game.

I think that the main one is that the game is too short. Playing the normal mode and you can actually finish off in just a day. And that when you are not even a pro gamer. I finished in 2 days as i had a lot of household chores in between. That is too short for a game you pay $60/SGD$90 for. Granted that you play higher difficulty levels, but the game lenght is just nuts. I dont remember completing D2 or D1 in a weekend. Also, Blizzard somehow has the nutty idea that getting killed more leading to a longer time in the game is fun!

Next, I would say is the randomizations of the maps is pathetic. The maps are just too small and there is really no visible randomizations. You always know where the exit to the map is. So, replayability is shit - and this coming from a game which touts replayability as its biggest unique selling point. A few events here and there are all that is new in each run.

The monster randomizations on the otherhand are overdone. With monster packs being tougher and you add random monds to them, which in some combinations are just unplayable takes away the fun from the game.

My 2 cents. What are your thoughts ?

Installing a custom Android ROM

Android is a phone operating system found on most smartphones now. It is developed by Google, and mostly used by manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola, HTC in their phones. Android is evolving at a very fast rate, and almost every year there is a new version available. However, most manufacturers do not support updating the phone OS. What happens is that you are left with older versions of the OS on the phone, while the world is moving ahead.

e.g. I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace with OS version 2.3 ( Ginger Bread) while the latest version available is 4.0 ( Ice Cream Sandwich ) while 4.1 (Jelly Beans ) has just been announced.Samsung is not supporting anything more than 2.3 citing hardware limitations.

The option is to get a custom ROM for your phone. These are not supported by the manufacturers and according to them, if you use the ROMs - you void your warranty. However, I find that not using these ROMs will significantly lower the usability of the phones.

Custom ROMs are specific to your phone. So first you need to find out whether your phone is supported. The two most popular sites are :
1. Cyanogenmod ( phone list )
2. Miui ( phone list)

If your phone is on the above list, you are quite in luck and the process will be straight forward. However, if your is not, then you will have to search a bit. The best place I have found for searching is Youtube ! You will find a video of how to install the custom ROM as well as links to downloading the custom rom. e.g. I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, which is not on the main sites, but a derivative was found on http://www.themythace.com/index.html website.

The Install Process

Installation of the ROMs is quite easy and step by step process, though you will keep holding your breath to see if it works or not.

There are 2 pieces of software that you need to download.
1. ClockWork Recovery Mode ( CWM) for your device.
2. The ROM for your device.

Download both of these using the computer and put them on your device's SD card.

Below are generic steps to follow - you should check the instructions for installing from the respective sites for your specific device in case it differs.

Make sure your phone is fully charged!

Step 1: Take a backup of your data. Mostly you would want to backup sms, photos, contact numbers, etc. If the data is on the SD card ( e.g. photos are on SD card) you do not need to worry. But anything on the phone memory will need to be backedup if you want to use it later.
Step 2: Copy the CWM and ROM zip files to your SD card using the computer.
Step 3: Now you need to first install CWM. This is done by going into the recoverymode ( usually home + power buttons), chosing to update from SD Card, and using the CWM zip file . See youtube videos on how this is done.
Step 4: Reboot again into recovery mode. Now the recovery mode is using CWM and you will see more options.
Step 5: Reset the data and the cache. This will wipe your phone totally, and hence the requirement of Step1 to take backup of your data.
Step 6: Once this is done, it is advisable to just reboot again into recoverymode.
Step 7: Now in the menu, go to install zip from SD card and select the custom ROM zip you have. This will start the process and you may have to wait from anything between 2 mins to 10 mins to startup. Usually first boot takes time.

There you go, your new OS is ready to rock and roll !

MIUI running ICS on Galaxy ACE

Leave any questions/comments below.