Enjoying showers in Select City Walk

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Saurav Srivastava.
Categories: Life, Videos.

Yesterday I went to Select City Walk Mall in Saket with a friend. I wanted to see places in Delhi, specially the ones with good Architecture. This was made by her Nokia N73 ME, the video recording quality is much better then my K750i. Even more reasons to buy Nokia N82

Why I like DRM & Internet based distribution

Posted on August 9, 2008 by Saurav Srivastava.
Categories: Computer & Internet, Life.

It’s been 2 months since I am in Delhi & distances are quite long here, it’s hard to do all things at one time. 24 hours in a day seem less to me sometime. Why don’t we have 8 hrs for work, 8 hrs for our personal stuff, 8 hrs to sleep & 4 hrs for traveling from one place to other?

Life is following a static cycle but its good, what else will I do in my free time?? There is nothing much to do. Sometimes I feel bored on weekends. My roommates wait for weekend to finish their pending work, I don’t. I do what I have to do even if it is a weekday but due to all this I don’t have time for time pass. I get weekends but that is passed in doing pending work like shopping etc which means I work, work, work….which is what I hate. I like to work & I don’t sit Idle but I need breaks too. I like being social, meeting people, making friends but I am unable to due to all the work. This isn’t a problem with just me; everyone these days in a Metro City like Delhi has this problem. A person doesn’t know the other & doesn’t even give a damn about him. Lucknow was better, people were better there or maybe I have yet to understand Delhi people. Here, if someone doesn’t know you then talking to you is like a crime for them they don’t want to commit. I even had to initiate conversation with my neighbors here myself.

Entertainment is something everyone needs. For me it is more of a distraction then entertainment. When I am out of my home then either I am talking to a friend on phone or listening to Music as it keeps me distracted from rest of the world. After coming to Delhi only I have realized the worth of “Content on Demand”. I don’t watch TV as there are not many shows which I like so I don’t need a physical TV or DTH here. News I get from RSS feeds of Indiatimes.com or NDTV Delhi which I access in my K750i as well as my Dekstop so I don’t even need news paper, however I do watch some TV shows such as Heroes or House but like I said, I don’t have time to watch House every week on AXN at 11 PM as I have office next day. This is why I prefer IPTV or Internet based Distribution.

Everything is available on Torrents & considered piracy but I would actually like to pay for it if I get a proper distribution system via torrents. If the companies charge me Rs 200 monthly for a subscription based service like we have with DTH of a TV show in 720p HD resolution which should be about 500 MB then I would gladly pay for it because then I can download the Video file even when I am in the office & then watch it on weekend, in my phone or anywhere else as I “own” the file. I don’t mind them putting DRM on it as Piracy is wrong & it is something you realize when you are yourself making such broadcast content but implement the DRM in a better way. Microsoft has playforsure DRM which is available on a wide range of Devices due to which if you buy a song from a Playforsure service provider then you can be rest assured that it will play on any compatible device. I would urge other device manufacturer to provide support for playforsure or some other unified DRM system.

Today I bought a game from Nehru Place for Rs 120 & it is not working. Now, I am not going to go back to that shop keeper & fight him for Rs 120 but I paid him so I need service at least. Valve has been distributing games via Steam & those are original games tied to your account which means you can download & play the game at any computer provided you are logged in with your steam account. I just love this concept. I can simply download the game without thinking of all the hassle or running to the shopkeeper then praying that the game works. I am going to download the same game from Torrent but I am all in for legal digital distribution. Give me a proper & legal digital distribution system for games, videos & music & I am all in & will be the first one to opt for it. Since I like a mobile phone to do everything for me, including if possible, baking cookies once in a while. I have decided to buy Nokia N82 because with it I can download a whole 500 MB House Episode HD rip via torrent in the phone itself using SymTorrent or even Rapidshare & other such file sharing networks with an Unlimited EDGE connection from Idea for Rs 600 a month.

I have a computer which is my TV, Gaming Machine, Web browsing device, Bank & Finance management, account management, Media Center, Video Player, Music Player, Picture Organizer & Album etc etc etc. My Workstation is the center of all my digital needs. I use it for everything so why not enhance it further. Learn something from Microsoft, get your ass up & listen to the customer. We need one, yes just one DRM scheme out there compatible across all devices. You don’t want us to distribute our songs & videos to curb piracy, well….then lock the content with a Login Key. Like I should have one Windows Live ID which I can enter in my computer & it will play all my DRM based files in my computer, I should also be able to enter it in my Mobile Phone to play the same & I should be able to enter in a PMP like iRiver Clix using a software in the OS after which I can play the files in PMP too.

Some people don’t like DRM & in a way I find DRM restrictive too. There are two things a company can do now, either stop supporting any DRM & give content without DRM as today with torrents, DRM content isn’t making any money anyway or Provide a standard DRM scheme tied to one particular Login Account which is compatible across a long range of device out there.

Getting Internet is P.I.T.A

Posted on July 26, 2008 by Saurav Srivastava.
Categories: Life.

I did not know that getting internet in Delhi is going to be such a P.I.T.A. I got one Airtel net connection at home by Navjot’s Name but we are unable to share it. My roommates just won’t agree to share it with switch and all as we need to keep both computers on to use net if we use switch. The airtel guy even agreed to upgrade our plan to 512 KBps unlimited so that we can both share 256 + 256 kbps connection but roommates are sill not agreeing to it.

Now I need my own individual net connection at home but for that I will need to give 2 months rental in advance & my own address proof which I don’t have. I am trying to get an address proof made from office & will go the airtel way after returning from Lucknow only. The last Option would be to go with Sify Internet which is going to be slow but well…better then nothing.

What ever connection I take, I will use it only till I get my Nokia N82 as after that I will use Idea EDGE service only.

Technology Rox…..even in flirting

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Saurav Srivastava.
Categories: Life.

Today on my way to office I took a bus from Pragati Maidan, as usual. It was the Red A.C. Bus. so even with crowd it is cool from the inside. Two girls were sitting there so I just stood next to them waiting for any seat to get empty. An Aunty left the seat so I said to one of those gals “Nisha, can you shift to that side?” That girl looked at me all amazed & shifted, then said “How do U know my name?” with a bit of anger for stranger on her face. I said I got 6th Sense to which she made a weird face & gave me the “look”.

I finally said “It’s nothing, U were transferring songs to your friend’s Nokia 6300 from your Sony Ericsson W580i. I turned on bluetooth of my phone & searched for devices & it found your Phone by the name Nisha’s W580i. People usually give there phone a name in it’s bluetooth profile by there own real name so I got your name”.

Lolz…the look on her face was something to see….Seriously, Technology sometimes makes such blunders that it is something to look at…

Pappu is on TV….So I am on Meow 104.8, on Air

Posted on July 13, 2008 by Saurav Srivastava.
Categories: Life.

Today was going boring as usual. I planned for some shopping after getting my salary but the plan was ruined due to rain. It stopped in the evening but since it was too late I went to shop in the near market only instead of buying cargo & T-Shirts today.

On the way back I was listening to Meow 104.8 FM & the Anchor Divya was talking to people on the topic “Has there been any situation in your life when you have defied your parents, teachers or anyone by doing something they said you can’t do?” This was something which I am doing since I completed my class 12th. I got nice marks in 12th but instead of doing engineering which my dad wanted me to do; I opted for simple B.Com & did my course from Arena Multimedia for Animation. Then I left for Bangalore, came back to Lucknow to follow the crowd to pursue MBA but I failed in that & now back to my Job. One thing I realized that I can do only what I am meant to do. I am not meant to be a Manager right now; I mean I just don’t see myself fitting there at this age.

I talked to Divya at approx 9:05 pm & accidently called her Ginni, damn….she was like so furious & she wanted me to sing a song for her. I am pathetic singer so she started singing “mujhse shadi karogi” herself…lolz, she does have a lovely voice. I said the message which I wanted to say to everyone, “Do something which you think you can do instead of following the crowd. At the end of the day its satisfaction which matters & when your return home you are not tired because you have been doing something you enjoy to do.” Luck is nothing to rely on & God doesn’t exist so don’t rely on him for anything. This is what I have been doing & I am happy for it. Whatever it is, success or failure….it is something I did on my own. Being a self made man is something I like.

I guess it was a clear line today due to which I was able to get connected to the channel because usually the line is always busy as many people are calling in. Few days back my MVP Lead Abhishek Kant was also on Air at Ginni’s show at around 6:15 pm talking about blogging & Delhibloggers.in. It was nice listening to where blogging has reached today due to the internet revolution. Listening to FM on the way back to home or when going to office in morning is my favorite time pass, & I will be making frequent calls to FM now. I like to talk, let’s just talk then. I called Priya, Praveen & Shailja to tell this, & they were not only shocked but also happy for me.

It’s good to be different & do something on your own. Yes, you have to struggle a lot in the beginning but you can’t succeed unless you work hard. There is no shortcut to success. I have been winning the MVP award for 3 consecutive years, this isn’t small. I am working at a good pay (although I require more in Delhi. Boss….if you reading then plz hike my salary & give leave on Saturday to all the employees) & I am not going to stop here, this is just the beginning…..Redmond, Washington is something I aim for as a UI designer for Microsoft Windows Platform.