Plus the new Orkut is not even uncluttered, the huge advertisement on the right column has been shifted to the top and adblock no longer kills the whole element so there is a sick huge void in my Orkut window when I use Firefox. The huge ads are the biggest turnoff in the new Orkut.

The menus are less intuitive, took me 2 days to figure out how to use the communities section and get the latest post times from my various communities. Friend updates it seems are no longer optional, despite having them disabled in the old Orkut I am thrown this huge list of status updates from friends which tries to mimic Facebook but is very unfacebook at the same time especially with all the junk HTML Orkut seems to allow.

Orkut went down the day it allowed all the junk HTML and javascript coding. Compared to that facebook has a much better style and restricted media options and thats what makes it cleaner. Hope the Orkut devs are taking notes

We had Kapil Sibal come across with a good proposal to raise the bar for IIT entrances to 80% in class 12th examinations. His comments were criticised heavily by leaders mostly from 4-5 backward states who claimed that their state boards actually give lesser percentages hence attaining 80% was tough. I could not disagree more. 80% is very easy to achieve in boards even for decent students, let alone the bright ones who are IIT material. What these people are worried about is that with these so called aspirants forced to study for school also, they might not be able to edge past the bright minds who actually deserve that IIT seat more than a person who just beats the system.

The 80% rule if it comes into affect will solve more things than the 2 year limit to JEE did. These days majority of the JEE toppers are from Kota and there is a good reason for that. These students arent exceptionally bright or gifted, but yes they are extremely hard working (I am sure we are mature enough to know the subtle yet very apparent difference).

The industry in Kota works as follows, the coaching centers have tie-ups with local schools who are somehow affiliated to CBSE(God knows how). Anyway, these students don’t even have to goto school for a single day and spend every living hour either eating, sleeping or studying for the IITJEE. Now most of these students are those who have sold off a lot of property in order to afford the 2 lakh rupees they need for a 2 year course. The problem is not with these students getting through the JEE exam. The problem is with the mockery that has been made of 11-12th class education.

11th and 12th class are supposed to be the specialised years in school, in major good schools a lot of emphasis is put on performing in these classes in order to succeed in life. But what the Kota system essentially does is that it provides the students with a short cut, the students are told to skip school and just study for the JEE thereby giving them an unfair advantage over possibly brighter students who might have been involved in their school academics as well as the JEE. Everyone knows these schools are fake, everyone knows these schools are flouting rules but still no action is taken. for these ‘special’ JEE students, no classes are there, no attendance requirement is there and no practicals are there. Only requirement is to mug up the guides in the market in order to get 60% marks in final board exams, all other exams may be optional.

By ensuring an 80% cutoff for the JEE, these schools will no longer be allowed to make a mockery of our education system. Equal emphasis on the boards and entrances would ensure that the hard working and bright students get through and not only those who chose to take shortcuts or go around the system. The coaching institutes are to blame for this mess and the only way to salvage the JEE is through the shutting down of these coaching institutes only.

This post is not a personal attack and please do not take it in that way in case you fall into the above category, its an attack on the system.

The trail keeps getting murkier as I continue to press the Tata communications customer service for answers.  Here is stuff I have been able to uncover so far that should make you reconsider your decision to get Tata Indicom Broadband Wimax service , their more4sure offers are just bait to get customers for long term without the added constraint of having to keep them satisfied:

1. They don’t care about customer feedback. I have given them so much feedback on problems with their prepaid broadband policies but all I get are stupid answers regarding backend people and their engineering work (@Tata – please hire better engineers). I have been told not to complain about matters which are their policy. I asked if I could get in touch with anyone who can listen to and act upon feedback and someone who actually has power in the company, I was told the answers would be the same no matter who I call. So all customer feedback basically ends up at the same place.

2. Tata Indicom broadband prepaid wimax officially does not support VPN, so forget working on your office Network/RAS. This was confirmed by their customer service :

With reference to your mail, as per the resolution for the complaint number 1083xxxx regarding VPN Connection we would like to inform you that you account is Pre paid and we cannot provide the service without SIP .

Also notice the lovely English.

3. Tata Indicom Wimax will logout in 11 hours or 10 minutes : Here is another stupid feature implemented by an overzealous program manager at their company perhaps. The timeout for logging out your session is just 10 minutes of no activity. If your internet is not used for 10 minutes it will be logged out. Also there is an 11 hour full logout. Even if you keep using your account, you will be logged out in 11 hours no matter what.

Conclusion : Its imperative to consider the fact that all the above things are the result of only 1 stupid Tata Wimax feature i.e. the Javascript Login Page. If they could remove that and have automatic login for all users, things would be so much simpler for everyone. All the above problems will be solved. But the main problem is perhaps getting past the 1st level customer care to the people who actually have the power to take decisions.

If you know nothing about computers and just want to check your email etc., then this is probably the connection for you. but if you are a power user, give this a skip and get Airtel or MTNL.

If you have Tata Wimax and a postpaid/static IP account, please do not bother posting comments on this post, they will not be approved.

DilSeBol is the first company we review in our series on the Indian Customised  Merchandise market. We found the customer care from DilSeBol to be very kind and warm and they were happy to arrange a review item for us

Now for the review :

Firstly, DilSeBol has a very responsive customer service and staff. We got quick replies to all our needs and questions. On the products front they offer everything from T-Shirts, Mugs, Coasters, Tiles  to Caps,Calendars, Key Chains etc. Of course all the products are customisable to your needs.

We ordered a two tone mug from them which is a fairly standard item for most merchandising companies. In-fact we plan to use this product as a benchmark to compare quality and service levels of various online Merchandising companies. We will be judging the companies on a variety of factors.

The site was easy to navigate and we were off in a jiffy to their design tool. Their design page is a flash application that allows you to design a number of products each with its own kinds of customisations.

However this is where we noticed the first flaw, the design isn’t as intuitive as one would like it to be. Its easy to skip the other side of the mug as we did (stupid us). Also you cannot apply a continuous graphic going over the whole mug. You are presented 2 distinct sides to the mug. This might seem like a feature to some.

On the design tab you can add text and images to your design, the site has a good collection of clip art like images for various occasions and themes. You may also choose to get your own photos printed on the mugs.

You can order the design right away or save it to your account by creating one. Saved designs are also emailed to you so that you remember about them.

Ordering : We cant really comment on this as the review item was directly sent to us.

Shipping was fast and the product was printed and shipped within a day. We received it the next day via a fast national courier.  The package was sealed nicely and was filled with thermocol to prevent damage to the cup.

The final mug was excellent in quality of the mug as well as the print on the mug. It didn’t have any damage whatsoever. The mug was used with both hot and cold drinks and seems to be holding in well with the utility factor also.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience with DilSeBol, the product ordered was of good quality , as per the description and they didn’t have any nasty surprises planned along the way.

Pros:

• Good and Warm Customer Service
• Good Product quality, sharp images on the mug.
• Fast delivery and good packing to resist damage

Cons:

• The design tool could use some better descriptions.
• There is no option to continuously cover the mug as competitors have.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

So the next time you are planning to gift your loved ones on their birthday or anniversary, give the flowers and chocolates a miss and try customised merchandise.

Next in Line to be Reviewed : Itasveer

So finally I got a chance to play my review copy of GI JOE generously sent to the Wisetechie team by EA and RocketXL. I have fond memories of having so many action figures and vehicles of GI JOE and also watching the cartoon every Saturday and Sunday morning with great zeal and vigour. So naturally when I came to know that EA was releasing the GIJOE game along-with the cinematic release of the GIJOE movie, I was thrilled.

Hits :

The game hits at quite a few places, firstly the whole GIJOE franchisee is reason enough to take the game.  JOE fans will love the game with its array of characters and so many levels and stuff to unlock. You can also play with Storm Shadow after unlocking the character and claiming his dog tags.

You also get to drive the classic GIJOE vehicles . Voice and music too are well researched and blend in well with the game.

The gameplay comes across as a normal shooter, nothing too special, but ok.

But sadly thats all the Hits.

Misses :

The game does disappoint at a lot of places. First and foremost are the graphics. The game does not make full use of the capabilities of modern day consoles, the graphics are blotchy at places and seem to be from a 2001 game rather than a 2009 game.

The game also loses out on camera angles and the so called auto-aim feature. The auto-aim is hard to use and plain irritating at times. The auto aim usually selects the foe you don’t want to kill and couple that with the camera problems and you have got a recipe for disaster.

Verdict :

At its current price, GIJOE doesn’t seem like a very good deal, if you are a true blue GIJOE fan and would absolutely want to play it, I would suggest wait for a price drop or festive pricing before taking the plunge.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

God of war : Chains of Olympus  was one of the first UMDs I played on my new PSP which I had recently bought in the US and I can safely say that its one of the best strategy/action games available on the Portable PSP platform.

In God of War Kratos is back and he has to fight bigger and badder foes than ever before. The gameplay is very intuitive and doesnt take a lot to get used to for the pro gamer, although when I tried to teach my dad to play this game, it was another story. The ghost of Sparta is forced to journey to the underworld and try to save the ancient world from the Gods that wish to take over it.

The storyline is compelling and its very hard to put the unit down one you start playing. This is also a bad thing, since the game is pretty short, you do get over with it very very quickly. But no doubt this is one of the best PSP games ever made and if you have a PSP, you must play this game.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The game is unsuitable for a minor audience though, its M for mature

Update : By working with Ferns N Petals customer care, we have been able to bring this issue to resolution

Regular readers may remember a previous post on Ferns and Petals. This is in continuation to that, I will give a short recap anyway. So here goes, I had sent a bouquet of flowers to my dad on his birthday via Ferns and Petals‘s official website fnp.in. And it turned out to be one of the worst decisions of my life.

The flowers were decayed and browning, the buds hadnt opened in a number of flowers, they weren’t fresh and to rub salt to our wounds, the design was different from what was on the website. So going ahead, I wrote an email to these guys asking them to replace the flowers, got no response.

Then I filed a Paypal dispute against these thieves, I got a reply after a few days :

We have received a complaint from your side for the below order.

Please advice what will be the best way to correct the mistake done from our vendor side.

Awaiting for your reply.

Thanks and Regards

Amit

This had travelled a large way inside their company , anyway I asked them to send a gift of the same value as the flowers to my dad as compensation and to set things right so that I use their services in the future as well.

But by now they probably realised that Paypal disputes for Significantly not as Described arent handled unless they happened via Ebay, so I never got a reply .

New Update

They replied to me after I sent this link saying that they had never received my earlier mail, they sent my dad a gift of the same value as the flowers I has purchased earlier, my parents confirmed its of good quality. Hence alls well that ends well , maybe I will give them another try later on as eventually the customer care did come through even if it was after many days.

So we will brainstorming as to what should be the next product/service we review. So we looked into the past. We saw that one of our most popular posts (apart from the 100 or so comments Iphone ones) were the Snapfish and ZoomIn reviews. So we thought of reviewing the Indian online merchandise industry which quite frankly has always interested me a lot.

Online gifting has come a long way, from the flowers and chocolates from shitty websites like Ferns and Petals (never use them, more about Ferns and Petals and their low level of customer service and satisfaction  in the next post). I remember Cafepress used to be THE site for customised merchandise, and even then Indians couldnt actually order economically from them.

But we have come a  long way since those times. Online print merchandise seems to be the next big thing as far as startups and new businesses go. A lot of companies like Itasveer, DilseBol, Tshirts.in, ZoomIn etc. seem to be redefining the way business if done online. So the next time you have to send a gift to anyone, forget the flowers, and use one of these services. We will be reviewing many of these sites in the coming time. So keep a look out for them.

These guys always pick the wrong guy to mess with, I break their incompetence publicly and that just embarrasses them.

I have been using the photon+ service for over a month now. Today suddenly my photon+ stopped working. I promptly emailed the customer care with the error I was getting. In the afternoon I get a call that some papers are missing in my application thats why the internet is now working. Sure enough I called the dealer with whom I had deposited everything, all papers had been sent to Tata Indicom.

Then later I got another call from these morons. They claim that I am on a 2GB plan and have accrued a bill of 8000 rupees and hence my Internet is disconnected. My current month’s usage is around 4277MB BTW. What the Tata Indicom billing system does is that is charges 2 rupees for every MB will your bill is generated. After that it deducts 10GB of usage from the chargeable amount and presents the bill. So the amount keeps on accumulating till the bill is generated. But their own customer care cant understand that. Moreover the number from which I had received the call is now switched off.

God Bless Them, sending them this link too.

Apparently to them 10240MB is equal to 2GB or 4277>10240 , either case maths lessons are needed by TATA.