Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

The book's name grabbed my attention as I was browsing the books at Om Book Shop. Intrigued I picked it up and started to read the first 2 pages... and I was hooked. This was a man working on a mission ... trying to get literacy to the schools of Nepal and then the rest of the world.

Have just read a few chapters, and it is hard to put down. I highly recommend a read and also check out the foundation : Room to Read.

Edit : 12/10 Finally finished the book yesterday. This is a great book. John Wood, ex Microsoft started an organization with the aim to provide books to children in various places. Its a touching book - descriptions of how the people reacted on getting the things.

Takeaway from the book.

• If you find your calling in life - its the best you can give in your life. Finding it means that you achieve more than what you can ever hope to do. John was a great exec, but once he found out his inner calling - he became a positive force of change for the unprivileged children.
• When you do something will all your heart - people around you get influenced, and help you do better. 
• Its better to concentrate on the good stuff rather than to criticize. e.g. in the book he mentions that some NGOs use pics of crying kids to get grants on the basis of pity. He on the other hand used pics of happy children going to their new school or reading a book. 
• You dont have to be a billionaire to change the world.

Loved the book. I recommend it to everyone. 

Ebb and Flow of the Yamuna

Took this pic a few days back from the Delhi metro as it enters the Yamuna Bank station:

The river was full and filled with water from bank to bank.

Today, the river looks like below:



there is a large island formed in the middle due to all the silt deposited by the flooding river. The area around the river would have been very fertile if the river had been allowed to overflow the banks - but now its all concrete and houses.

The Roger Federer Video

Just wow ! Thats what happens if you are able to reach the pinnacle of your profession

Jailbreaking the iPhone

Ok. So I finally succumbed to jailbreaking my iPhone. The main reason is being that I am now in Singapore, and the 'unlocked' iPhone I bought in India does not accept a SIM from singapore. What a stupid thing !

After a few days of carrying two phones, one which was actually 'unlocked' I decided to jailbreak the iPhone. As per a recent US Ruling, iPhone jailbreaking is legal.

Scouting around the web, the easiest way to jailbreak is to just browse to Jailbreakme.com. It shows a nice page with a "slide to unlock" . Ho ! this is going to be easy I thought. But just before doing the jailbreak, I thought about doing a backup... and thats when things went horribly wrong. So, this blog post is also an attempt for people who may face the same issues.

The adventure started with the update. I did not realize that a new iOS4 version ( 4.0.2) had come up, and without thinking I cliked 'update'.

Now, the 4.0.2 version from apple is a sneaky piece of software - it only blocks the jailbreak hack. So, ofcourse Jailbreakme.com did not work. Looked around on the web, and the only way forward was to downgrade the iphone.

Here is how you do a downgrade.

1. Download the relevant build. Go to this page to download the relevant firmware. Choose 4.0.1 (thats the latest as of now which can be jailbroken).
   
2. Start iTunes.
   
3. Connect your iPhone and select it.
   
4. You will see a button which says 'Restore'.
5. While pressing SHIFT click on Restore. This will prompt you which firmware version to restore to. Select the firmware you downloaded in 1 above.
   
6. The restore process takes some time. Go make some tea or something.
   
7. Once restored to 4.0.1 , navigate to Jailbreakme.com in the browser on the device. Slide to start the jailbreak process.
   
8. Jailbreak is just part of the process. What it does is opens up the iPhone to be able to install other 3rd party apps which is not part of the Apple Store - cause apple does not allow applications which messes with the system internals. The next step is to open up the SIM.
9. In point 8, one new app gets installed. Its called 'Cydia' which is an app store not controlled by Apple. Search for ultrasn0w in that. This is the SIM unlocking software. Install it.
   
10. Now you are good to go. Change the SIM to a local one.
    

Have fun now.

Issues etc.
One has issues with supported software, and here we are talking about unsupported software. So there are bound to be issues. Here are a few things that I faced.

1. For some firmware versions ( e.g. 3.1.3 ) you need to put the phone in the DFU (Device Firmgrade Upgrade) mode. If you are not able to get out of this mode after putting in the firmware, you will need RecBoot installed to get out of that mode.
   
2. Sometimes you get an error ( error code 10) during the downgrade portion. This will kind of leave your device in the hanging state ( happened to me). If this happens, disconnect the cable from the computer to the iPhone and use it on another USB port. Also make sure that the cable is the original iPhone one. I am using a different cable which was cheaper, but that causes problems.
   

Resources:
I did not dream up this process. The following sites were incredibly useful. Check them out:

• U.S. declares iPhone Jailbreaking Legal, over Apple's Objections : recent ruling in the USA makes it legal for users to jailbreak the iPhone.
  
• Rolling back your iPhone 3G to OS 3.1.3 : If you are not happy with the iOS4 as it really slows down the device, you may want to follow this guide to downgrade to 3.1.3. Just make sure that you download and install RecBoot before you begin the process as you are definitely going to need it.
  
• How to Downgrade Your iPhone 3G[S] from iOS4 to iOS 3.1.3 : Similar to the one above, but has a good video of how to get into the DFU mode.
  
• RecBoot : Download RecBoot from here.
• iPhone firmware files : List of all firmware restore files.
• How to Unlock the iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G using UltraSn0w.
• iOS jailbreaking : Wikipedia article on jailbreaking.

Hello World - in Android

Its been quite some time since I coded something in Android after setting it up. In the meantime, my system got formatted, and change in office project meant I was not getting much time to work on programming. After all, Managers don't code - eh ?

Well, I dont know. I like coding. Its an itch I have to take care of. So, after the initial Android examples, I tried a little change in the Android's Hello World. I was awake anyways watching the Uruguay vs Netherland's World Cup match! :)

The code changed a bit from the default 'Hello World'. Instead of static text, I added a edit box and an 'ok' button. Clicking on it will make an alert box pop up with a small message.

Its a small piece of code - about 40 lines. However, the API is a bit confusing for me, especially since I am also relearning Java as I go along.

Next on the agenda - make a small graphics app.

Microsoft's Kin is no more

It looks like Microsoft has pulled the plug on developing their own phone - which they had named Kin. There are a lot of theories around why it did not do well, and why they shut down the Kin.

I think that the KIN was killed due to 2 major reasons :
1. It was not doing well.
2. Politics.

1. It was not doing well

Here, I think that the problems were 2 fold.

First the shitty name which no one can identify with. It just does not sound cool. The chap doing the branding , he is not worth the money that was being paid to him.

Two, it was being targetted at the teenagers - but in a way that is patronizing. It was supposed to have all the wow features - facebook , twitter integration etc. However, I doubt they even tried to look at the psychology of teenagers. Teenagers hate it when people tell them what to do - and that was exactly what Kin was doing. Teenagers love to be treated as adults - which Kin was not doing. Teenagers go for brands and cool names - the Kind did not have that.

However, I dont think that this was why the Kin line was pulled up. Microsoft has very deep pockets and can afford to have a loss making product in the market for quite a long while - as one can see from the xbox.

So, my hypothesis about pt 2.

2. Politics

I think internal egos and politics killed the Kin. The people in the Windows mobile had much more of a say than the people developing the Kin. There would have been a power struggle behind the scenes - and Kin eventually lost out. Interestingly, people seem to shun talking about office politics - its taboo to speak about it - but not speaking about it does not mean that it is not existing.

Now, I got a bad feeling about the 'Kin'nect - the motion detection stuff that Microsoft is building. They should change that name to something else ...

How Google can clean up the Android Market

Google has an application market just like Apples AppStore called the Android Market.

Apple naysayers have been touting the benefits of the Android market saying that it is open and anyone can submit apps to it, quite unlike the draconian process for the Apple AppStore. This has lead to its own problem with a deluge of apps on the store which are malicious or substandard.

Om has written an article on ways to clean up the Android Market.

I have a different take on it.

Google can ill afford to go the Apple way and start certifying all the apps. Neither can they go putting the kill switch on the apps. What my suggestion is that Google go the way Twitter has and start to certify legitimate apps.

The process will be simple.

The company which wants it apps to be certified will submit its application to Google. Google after its due diligence can certify it, or point out what is wrong with it.

For making this work, Google will have to :

• Setup a system for recieving applications.
  
• Setup QA for certifying the apps.
  
• Make a few changes to the market application (both web and mobile) to show that an application is certified.

This will go a long way towards making sure that people can get around all the fluff that is there and be sure that genuine applications exist.

At the same time, it also allows developers to put their app onto the market even if they have not been certified - giving a better time to market.

Related Posts :

• Jon Lech's : Google's Mismanagement of the Android Market
• Om's : 4 Ways Google Can Clean Up The Android Market
  

9 Lives

9 Lives is the latest book by William Dalrymple. I have grown fond of his readings after reading City of Djinns, The Last Moghul and In Xanadu.

When I got the book ( borrowed from my cousin in exchange for the Last Moghul), I was wondering what the book would be about. It was about 9 lives - or people that was clear. But what was not clear was how it would be played out.

Well, its simple really. These are 9 different lives. Its like the biographies of 9 different people. Each life is contained in its own - a separate story.

Each story is about a religious sect - which you may heard of, but in the urban worlds we live in, these are shunned. Its a peek into the lives of the sadhus and other holy men and women of India. It delves into their psyche as to what makes them do the things they do. Be it a Jain nun, or a Tibetan Monk or a Tribal Singer or a Tribal dancer. Following these unlikely people and learning about their lives , WD has presented a look into a world we know exists, but never bothered to find out about.

This book is definitely a must read. I am sure you will be touched by these lives, and would want to find more about India.

iPhone vs Android

For those who did not really like my write up :)

( Courtesy : Greywulf's blog )

In Xanadu

In Xanadu is William Dalrymples first book, and his 3rd book that I have read after City of Djinns and The Last Moghul.

Unlike the other 2 books, which deal more with the people and their lives, In Xanadu is more a personal journey story by the young William. In this book, he undertakes the journey following in the steps of Marco Polo all the way to Xanadu - the summer palace of the Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan. At the time of Marco Polo this route was a major route on the silk routes, but not much known to the western world.

At the time WD undertakes the journey, the world has transformed a lot. In giving descriptions of the places where they are travelling through and comparing with notes from Marco Polo one feels the differences that have undergone. Some routes are just too dangerous or just not doable due to political reasons which were part of the main thoroughfares. A kind of comparative history of the route takes place all throughout the journey.

Another feature that I felt was quite apparent was the differences in descriptions. While the world of Delhi was populated with colorful characters and you can imagine the various scenes in Delhi, the populance of the journey almost seems drab. It could also be because I am reading about places that I do not know much about. Ultimately, it felt to me, that India with all its shortcomings, is just a place which warms the heart more.

If you want my opinion of the book - I can say that you can give it a pass. Nothing really sticks to my mind about the book. Probably it is as I say before - I am unable to visualize the places that the journey took place through.

--

Next book is "9 lives" and the update will be up in a few days.

Android vs iPhone

Yesterday I got a chance to chill out with an Android phone - the HTC Desire. Its being used by one of my team mates (recently I have started working on a project with tenCube which makes the security software WaveSecure).

As a long time user of the iPhone (one and a half years now!), and having a good knowledge of current trends in the market I can say that I would passably know what I am talking about :)

At the end of the playtime ( which was like a few hrs since we were celebrating 5 years of tenCube in a lounge ) , I am left with mixed feelings. Let me elaborate.

What the Android has that the iPhone does not.

The biggest +like factor is the ability to multitask. That was like wow ! coming from the limitations of the iPhone. My colleages gtalk was working silently in the background, and he got an IM from another colleague from Singapore - which shows up as a scrolling text in the top status bar. I was like WTF ! cool !

Since its a google android, it works seamlessly with gmail. In fact - when you first start an android based phone, it will ask you for your gmail id - and if you are not using gmail as your primary email - you are not gonna enjoy the integration. But I suppose, if you are reading this post, you do have a gmail id.

Apart from this...

... nothing much.

Some comparison Notes

These are the things that I noticed while playing around with it.

iPhone has a kind of 'multiple desktop' concept where you can just scroll around by swiping left and right. In Android you require 2 steps : 1. click the button to bring out the list of apps and then scroll through them.

Android has the gadgets concept which is like the Windows or Google gadgets that you have on your PC. I think these are highly overrated as per screen you cannot really fit in more than 1 or max 2 gadgets.

Game quality on the iPhone is much superior to the Android. I have Assasin's Creed and Hero of Sparta on my phone, and going through the Android market I was not really able to find out any similar kind of game.

The Android market is tiny - and also not very well categorized. For instance, on the main screen you just have 'games' and 'apps' category. in games you just have some 4 different categories. In spite of what people may say about the android market place increasing - it still feels very limited and stifled.

Another annoyance is that the size of download is tucked away in the text and not shown at the top. Further it is greyed out - its like they want to trick you into downloading without knowing the size.

Form factor both were near enought. I guess thats cause of HTC engineering rather than Google.

Some pages have login screens with the login and password boxes. On the iPhone when you touch any of these, the page zooms so that you can easily see what you are typing in. On Android there is no such functionality. On top of it, double tapping does not work as expected. On the iPhone double tapping expands the table element , so for instance, if you double tap on a text column, it will 'fit-width' and you can continue with it. On android, it just zooms without looking at the element you are tapping. So most of the time, you end up pinching to zoom correctly.

The HTC also does not do landscape view - which is a mystery to me. Some text is still a bit small when you look at it in portrait mode. So, i am used to tilting to horizontal mode and can easily read it. On the HTC, I was not able to find such stuff.

The Facebook app for iPhone is much much better than that on Android. I think that the app is still new to Android and expect it to improve, but the one on iPhone is just better.

oh, and gmail integration is also doable on the iPhone by hooking up your gmail account as an exchange account. So that advantage goes away.

Conclusion.

On the whole - the User eXperience is much better on the iPhone, even now. Android has one upped on the functionality scale, but I have a big suspecion that the iPhone release ( on 7th June 2010) is going to blow away that advantage.

At this point I will not recommend any phone to you. Wait for the 7th , and i will be doing a review of the iPhone OS.

But one thing I do know - my iPhone 3G will not be doing multi tasking as apple is deliberately crippling that option.