What was I looking for?

Unlike Windows, I believe macOS does not need a lot of maintenance, however, I wish somethings could have been handled better like a clean uninstaller and non-app store updates.  So I was looking for a reliable, authentic tool that understands the semantics of macOS and not some useless bloatware. macOS to me is all about being clean, minimalist and secure. Quick research on several sites leads me to just one name, it is CleanMyMac X.

The best part that let me try CleanMyMac X is that it is notarized by Apple. That cleared my concerns about the security of the app. (i read in few articles that some so-called macOS cleaners are not safe at all).

The first impression:

The interface of the app is so minimal, elegant and felt it was designed as per Apple design standards. It is very smooth, intuitive and easier to use. Instead of throwing up some advanced options, the app simply suggests you scan your system for any potential cleanup and improvements. That’s the first win! Be it any application, the first impression should not let the user get lost or at-least make the user wonder what to do.

My first action:

As soon as I hit the beautiful round scan button, it started to scan my system, a delightful experience indeed to see the beautiful animation during the scanning process. At this point of time, I am still not sure of the actual capability of the app, but the UI was so good so far :p

Tada! the scan was over in less than 3 minutes, then comes the result screen.

Again a winner! Instead of showing an advanced report and making user wonder what action to perform, it simply shows what you need to clean up, status about the protection of the system and some performance improvements. The classification of this report & feature is very user-centric. I am surprised and happy that I have about 10.84 GB of junk files to potentially clean. However, with a slight doubt and curiousness, I clicked review details to make sure this app does not remove any important files accidentally.

so if you are wondering what those junk files are? See the above screenshot! They are mostly user cache files which took a lot of space. So my mission accomplished finally and I was content of the results.

Other features:

Primarily scan button is your one point button that takes care most of the cleaning things, however, this app offers much more than cleaning such as neatly categorised features called Protection, Speed, Applications, Files along with Cleanups.

Cleanup lets you clean system junk, mail app attachments and emptying trash bins as we saw above. Protection allows scanning your system for malware removal and removing private data such as browsing history, auto-fills, browser saved data and chat history. Speed provides the option to manage launch agents, login items and heavy consumers. Maintenance does free up your ram, purgeable hard disk space, flush DNS cache, rebuild launch services, reindex spotlight, repair disk permissions and optimising time machine snapshot.

My favourite feature is uninstaller and updater, which I believe should be part of macOS natively. It does a clean uninstall of any app you want to remove, plus the updater feature keeps tracks of the latest update of your apps even if they are not installed from AppStore. See below an example of one such update prompt for Sketch app.

The best part is, it shows a release log which comes handy when you are not sure if you want to update. Other features include extensions which let you manage extensions and plugins installed in your laptop including your browser.

Some other essential features include Space lens which gives you a visual size comparison of your folders and files for quick tidying up, large and old files to identify large files and folders that we did not open for months. Shredder is a very essential feature which you can use to delete any confidential file without leaving any trace in your hard disk.

Verdict:

CleanMyMac X is an essential tool for any mac users, which at the first place should be a part of macOS system itself. You can download from here.

Cons: The AppStore version of CleanMyMac X does not let you use your activation key, you need to download a direct version from the site to use a license key. Not sure if it is an AppStore norm, but it is not a big deal!

Credits: Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

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Credits: Photo by Adam Przeniewski on Unsplash

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A message or notification is waiting for you. Say, “Play my messages” or “What are my notifications?”

I tried to read my notifications by saying above commands but still, the yellow light did not disappear and Alexa said there are no messages or notifications.  So opened my Alexa app on the phone, to see if I can manually delete or read the notification but no it did not help and I cannot see any notifications or messages.

I finally said this command and

Alexa! Delete all my notifications

voila the ring did not appear anymore.

Credits: Photo by Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash

The post How to clear Amazon Echo yellow blinking light ring appeared first on Sankaranand Balaradjou.

Finally, a solution posted by a user in LastPass community forum worked for me. All I did was remove any auto-fill information stored in my vault and the update went through.

The post LastPass not updating in Chrome appeared first on Sankaranand Balaradjou.

ENETUNREACH – Network unreachable issue

Initially, I thought the network was probably down. The error logs simply show the above error and no trace of any other useful information to debug. A google search of the same ended up showing several different answers such as FileZilla update error, firewall issues, etc

Quickly I realized my other sites having different credentials using the same hostname is working which means there is no issue with the hostname or network and the site appears to be online only.

How did I solve it?

When I copy pasted my username and password from Evernote, I noticed there is an extra space in the username. Not sure what this extra space is filled with, maybe some special characters or some junk value or even space? The ideal scenario is that I should be prompted with incorrect credentials message, however, FileZilla does not know how to parse this text and that’s why I ended up getting the above issue. A quick copy paste of the username in notepad or a browser window allowed me to copy the plain text without any special characters and it works like a charm.

In case, you come across the same issue as me, just try checking the username, password and hostname are copied properly in plain texts.

The post Resolving ENETUNREACH – Network unreachable issue with Filezilla appeared first on Sankaranand Balaradjou.

• As soon as the router is reset, allow few minutes for it to boot up.
• Once the router finished rebooting, access the router configuration page (by default it should be 192.168.1.1). In case if you have changed the router IP, figure it out by accessing your network settings and see which gateway IP you are connected. If you are directly connecting to the airtel VSDL modem without any router in middle, then usually your gateway IP will be the router IP, in case you are connecting to a primary router which is bridged to your airtel VSDL router, then I suggest looking into the WAN settings of your primary router to figure out the gateway IP your primary router is connecting to.
• The default username for your VSDL router is “admin” and the password should be “your airtel account no.” or “admin” or “password”. (Reset if you cannot find your router password)
• After logging into your router, Click  Setup -> Wan as shown in the screenshot below
• Go to the WAN Interfaces Table below and select PPPoE2. On clicking the radio button, you will be able to edit the configuration in the same screen above. If you do not see PPPoE2, then use the form above to create one.
• Ensure the following settings are configured correctly
  • Default Route Selection: Specified
  • Channel Type: PTM
  • Channel Mode: PPPoE
  • Check Enable NAPT and Enable IGMP
  • Username: Call customer care to get it. It should be usually in the form of the following format 0413123456_tn@airtelbroadband.in (Where the numbers indicate your phone no with std code and sometimes it is also different than your phone no. second “tn” indicates your circle state.)
  • Password: your account no which you used to login your router
  • Type: Continuous
  • Default Route: Enable
  • Click Modify to save it.
• Restart your router, you should now be able to connect.
• If you still face problems, then please sort it out by calling airtel customer care. They will send an onsite technician to configure your modem again.

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I am writing this post to share my experience about Experts†Global, an EdTech firm that helps MBA aspirants maximize their chances of securing a seat at their preferred business school, by providing professional MBA admission consultation.

Experts†Globalâ€s GMAT software was developed entirely in-house and has played a pivotal role in helping students to conquer the GMAT. Their training has helped students from fifty nations secure admits to some of the worldâ€s best business schools. In fact, ten percent of all Indians studying in the top fifty American business schools are an Experts†Global alumnus. The firm offers a number of services, designed to perfect any aspirants MBA candidature. Here is a brief overview of their offerings.

About the Company

Founded by Mr. Mayank Srivastava, Experts†Global is an EdTech firm. The central idea behind this firmâ€s conception is to utilize cutting edge technology for the purpose of education. For the last ten years, Experts†Global has been guiding students worldwide, helping thousands in securing admission to some of the worldâ€s top institutions. The firm boasts of the most complete and exhaustive GMAT training software

GMAT Online Preparation

The cornerstone of Experts†Globalâ€s repertoire is their GMAT Online Preparation Program. This program is incredibly extensive, with over three-hundred videos, which explain every concept in the GMAT syllabus and over four-thousand questions, designed to test the studentâ€s absorption of those concepts. Experts†Global has taken great care to replicate the actual GMAT experience in these questions. The question screen is built to closely resemble the one employed in the GMAT exam, so as to familiarize students with the GMAT setup. The program also features a rigorous diagnostics feature, which pinpoints the areas that the students are struggling in. This makes it that much easier for the students to target and overcome their weaknesses.

GMAT Practice Tests

The second major element of the Experts†Global GMAT training is their Practice Test series. The firm offers fifteen full-length mock tests, for their students to hone their capabilities on. This is considerably more than other firms in this field. Each one of the mock test questions has a video and textual explanation for its solution. These explanations not only help the students understand the questions that escaped them but also provide them with more efficient ways to arrive at the correct answers. These tests are also intended to be as close to the GMAT experience as possible. They have been written to mimic the GMAT questions, in terms of style, the scope of content, complexity, and overall difficulty. These mocks also employ the same GMAT-like screen and analytics software as the training questions. Even the scoring pattern has proven to be incredibly in sync with the GMAT, as countless students have marveled at just how well the mock tests predicted their GMAT performance.

Classroom Program

Experts†Global also offers GMAT preparation classes in Noida, conducted by the companyâ€s founder, Mr. Mayank Srivastava. As one who secured the Ninety-Ninth percentile on the GMAT and an MBA from Boston University, with a one hundred percent scholarship, Mr. Srivastava understands the GMAT like few others do. Mr. Srivastava teaches these classes out of a sincere love of teaching. According to his students, Mr. Srivastava is a highly devoted teacher, always willing to devote as much time to his students as needed as he teaches just 1-2 small batches per year.

MBA Admissions Consulting

Experts†Globalâ€s offerings do not end with GMAT training. The firm also offers end-to-end MBA admissions consultation. From the first profile evaluation to the final mock interview, Experts†Global is behind its students all the way. The admissions consulting services are boutique in nature. Only a small, pre-determined number of students are trained each year. This focus on quality over quantity has clearly paid off, however, as since 2008 Experts†Globalâ€s students have secured admits to each of the worldâ€s top one hundred and fifty business schools.

MBA Interview Preparation Module

As mentioned earlier, Experts†Global offers interview training, as part of its MBA admissions consultancy. This training is an excellent example of Experts†Globalâ€s methodical approach to admissions consulting. First, the students are provided with more than fifteen training videos, which cover all the basic aspects of good MBA interview presentation. After the videos, the students fill out an exhaustive questionnaire, based on the most frequently asked MBA interview questions. This gives the interview mentors a baseline understanding of the students†skill level. Finally, the student undergoes a series of mock interviews. These interviews are designed with their specific weaknesses and requirements in mind. Each interview is followed by an extensive feedback session.

ISB Admissions Consultation

With the popularity of the Indian School of Business amongst their students, the admissions teams at Experts†Global have made it a point to develop an impeccable understanding of the ISB admissions process. Since 2010, ninety percent of the Experts Global ISB applicants have been called in for an interview, by that coveted institution. The firm is so confident in their ability to crack the ISB admissions that they even have an ISB interview call guarantee.

Over the last ten years, Experts†Global has developed a well-earned reputation for excellence. Their consultation teams are extremely well-trained and dedicated. Their methodical approach to GMAT training and admissions, as well as their constant innovation, makes them the prime choice for every MBA aspirant.

The post Preparing your GMAT like a Rockstar with Experts’ Global! appeared first on Sankaranand Balaradjou.

Its been one year since I started working remotely and I am writing this post to share the pros and cons of becoming a remote worker from my personal experience. I decided to write this post after reading this interesting post on remote working. I started my full-time career in 2010 as a web developer in a French startup where I had to work about 9 hours a day for as low as 150$ per month. (Yes, you read it right “per month” !!). I have experience working in local as well as aboard another country where I had to overcome some challenges. My life changed when I decided to become a remote worker and be own boss.

Working in an office (Local)

Pros:

• You don’t have to commute too far
• Socialize at work
• Get to meet and work with people in person
• Team outing, Person – Person meetings
• Gossips, fun and some office fights
• Management Team, team workshops, training
• Sharing food and other office activities
• Water cooler chats
• Staying night to meet the deadlines
• Live with Family
• Home Food

Cons:

• Fixed working hours
• Dress Code
• HR and IT rules
• Whacky Computer Infrastructures (Raise ticket if your 6 year old headphone is not working !)
• Restricted Internet access
• Fixed holidays and leave
• People peeking at your monitor
• No privacy

Working in an office (Out of country/town)

Pros:

• Bigger package
• New lifestyle
• New Experiences to try

Cons:

• Relocation Costs
• Away from Family
• Eat out
• Alien to the place
• Feeling lonely
• Setup everything from scratch
• No friends at the beginning
• Start from scratch to socialize
• Plus all the cons of working in an office as above

Working as remote

Pros:

• Literally no need to commute (saves a lot of time)
• Work at your own flexible hours
• Everything is just an inch away
• Work in your own space with your own choice of devices
• Build your dream workspace as to your taste
• Sufficient time for other activities and social life
• Fat package

Cons:

• Lonely at work
• If you are a potato couch, you will have higher chances of exploiting your lifestyle
• If you don’t use a private space, you will be distracted by your family, kids and regular visitors to your house
• Lack of inspiration (if you don’t know how to organize your work and time, you will easily end up losing inspiration to work)

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The local sales rep has arrived on the appointment day not by the time he committed but late by a couple of hours i.e during the lunch hours. He quickly explained the product and suggested us to buy a variant which does not have UV.  I was keen to buy a water purifier with UV because my existing purifier has one and proposed my preference to them. I was recommended to buy Dr. Aquaguard Magna Nxt RO+UV. I did a quick research to see if the price they were offering was costlier than what I can buy from an e-commerce website, however, I was not able to find this specific product in any site probably because it was a newer model. The physical difference is the word NXT and some additional sticker on the product.

I was not shown any demo of the product and I really didn’t care because Aquaguard has my trust already. The most frustrating moment of discussion with the sales rep was when I was asking questions, he was very keen on filling up the form and getting the payment. By his attitude and action, I was hesitant to purchase it but then realized I don’t have to worry about the sales rep because I trust the brand.  I am buying this for my office and I gave all the details to him including my business card and GST details. I wanted to make sure I receive a GST bill, so my company gets a GST credit. The transaction was made and I was provided a debit card transaction slip. I was promised the product will be delivered within a couple of hours. They also charged another 500rs in cash saying they will give this to the installation guy.

Was hoping I would receive the product at least end of that day but there is no update from anyone about it.  I called the sales rep again next afternoon to remind him to deliver the product who told me it will be delivered in few hours but the same story continued. I did the same thing the day after morning and then finally they delivered the product by evening. I looked the invoice and noticed there is no GST number so I realized they forget to update my company GST number. While making the transaction, I wrote my GST number in a paper and sent the same in WhatsApp as well. I told him constantly to ensure he enters the correct GST number so my company gets GST credit, but it is a #fail.

I immediately called him and said I need a bill with my GST number in it. He assured me it will be provided by EOD. Here I am talking about 29th March 2018. After that, I used to call him every day in the morning as well as in the afternoon to remind him to provide my GST bill.

This is where things get intense. I called almost 40+ times in this 13 days and today is 11th April 2018 and I still didn’t receive a bill with GST. I get the same response from him every time I call and found there’s no use pursuing him. I was thinking about the nightmare of what will happen if I have a service issue and how long it will take? Because just for a bill I had to pursue these long.

Finally decided to call EurekaForbes Sales customer care. This is where the fun starts and a real test for my patience. My first call was to their online sales where they heard my whole story and handed me a number to which I should call because they can only handle online sales and not offline sales. So, I called the second number and after hearing the whole timeline of incidents, they gave me another number. I was like what the hell? I told them I was rerouted already and they said like no sir you have to call this number and register a service request. But after I insisted, they have raised a complaint and still asked me to send a message to that number to get my service request. While I still have no faith, I also raised my query to their twitter handle to ensure it gets the required attention. Finally, I got a couple of calls from EurekaForbes. One of the calls from their Chennai HQ branch was assuring and promising. They assured me the problem will be resolved within 24 hours and if not they asked me to return the product. Looks like it is not assuring as it sounds because nothing happened :(.

Today, it’s 12th April 2018. By 11.30 am, one serviceman from EurekaForbes visited thinking I have a problem with my purifier. Explained him the actual situation and he was kind enough to share me his superior number from Pondicherry.  He saved my day.

I talked to the Superior and his accountant who resolved the problem in just 10 minutes. They felt very bad about the experience I had faced. I got my invoice within 10 minutes via email. I also told them the extra amount that sales rep charged which they said it is not necessary and asked me to get the money back. They assured me if he is not giving it back, they will raise a complaint to the head office and make sure I get it. That’s a bliss.

Finally, when I was writing this content, I asked myself why am I making a fuss out of it? For expression of my anger? I think it is more than that. Sharing experiences like this would be useful for someone who comes across a situation like this. And at least I get a chance to update my blog

The post My consumer experience in buying a water purifier appeared first on Sankaranand Balaradjou.

The Logitech M235 mouse was bought on a lightning deal for about 549 RS. After it stopped working,  I started looking for a similar mouse. It was one of my friend who advised me of its three-year warranty and the ability to get it replaced in Logitech Walk-In Center (WIC).  That’s where the problem is about to start.  While the product is just 549 Rs, I really don’t want to make a fuss about it. However, it is the experience that I had with these WIC in Pondicherry I wanted to talk about.

On a hot and sweaty weather of 5th October 2017 by the morning, I thought of visiting the one and only customer center available in Pondicherry listed on their official website.  Tried calling the no about 10 times only to end up no one picking it. The address is located just 3 km from my house, however, in usual traffic, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach the place. After having reached the place, I find no trace of such center. I roamed like a lost guy in a foreign land asking neighborhood about such a place. Using the Google Maps, I stumbled across several streets and finally after a 30-minute quest with no help from anyone I came to the same place again as listed in both the website and google places. Waited in the exact same location for about 10 minutes to see if I can find someone to ask.

Finally, an old man arrived, whom I went forward to seek assistance by showing him the name of the customer care center and a picture of the signboard I got from Google. He claimed that he is a watchman that works for this so-called place and handed me a visiting card saying that the place was shifted recently. He also said that they started taking requests from today since the shifting is all done. Finally, after an hour of pursuit, I found an answer to my quest.

I am sure Indiana Jones would have felt the same after finding the treasure.

Tried calling the phone number mentioned in the visiting card and again no one picked it.  After betting on my life, I now have to travel 4 km to their newest location. Yes, I am talking about something that takes 30 minutes in usual traffic to travel. With the intention to finish this task, I took the risk of going there.

That’s the second round of challenge in my pursuit to find my quest. I roamed around 15 minutes in the same street multiple times because there was no door number or no signboard or even any signs of such location.  The neighborhood has no idea about something like that. After doing my math (Counting the door no using Odd and Even formula) and trying to figure out the exact door no, I ended up in a place that looks more like a residential apartment than an office. I opened up a metal gate like a stranger who has no idea where he was going and went to the first floor. Finally !!! I reached where I should be “the Logitech WIC”.

With still the sweaty body in a hot noon weather, I entered the place where I got a straight to face answer that they cannot handle or take any request because there is no internet or network. It was a damn straight answer like a dirt was shovel upon my face. That’s when I realized I wasted 3 HOURS OF MY LIFE which I cannot get back. That’s when I realized I should probably write a blog about it. However, i never did.

Then one fine Saturday of 14th October 2017, I called the WIC office and this time I got lucky. Someone picked the phone. I told them I wanted to hand over my device.  The guy at the other end told me someone who takes care of this is away and suggested coming on Monday. I told him Monday is a weekday and would prefer to come the very same day. His next answer was that server is down and they cannot accept any requests. He also told me that the stock is available and I can get a new replacement immediately on Monday. I got surprised by his variable response. First, it was someone who is not available and then all of a sudden it was server that is down.

After appreciating myself for my level of patience, I had called again today to give one last try and got a response that I can come and submit my mouse for inspection. Finally, I took a 20-minute drive to reach the place. This time I need no directions or assistance as I know exactly where the place is. Went inside, waited for around 15 minutes and then signed a receipt and was told there is no stock and I had to wait 2 days to get a new one.

What ? Seriously? Just for a mouse that is worth 500 bucks, you want me to travel this many times? My hourly rates are nowhere near the price of this mouse but still what I am trying to emphasize is “the experience” one gets in believing it.

Sorry to say this Logitech but for being a long-term customer (Logitech Keyboards, Speakers, Mouse and Cam), this experience has changed my decision on not to rely anymore on your products.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

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