Flickr provides mainly four types of public photo feeds. You can display your own public photos, your friend’s public photos, photos from a group pool or favorite public photos of a specific user. Each has a number of options that you can customize. This plugin supports configuration of feed properties using an administrative panel added to the WordPress console. You can find more details of various public Flickr photo feeds here.

You can edit the included styesheet file to completely customize the gallery look and feel. For example, you can use the hover property of the anchor link to change the border color when mouse pointer is moved over an image.

Please see the Flickr Feed Gallery Plugin page for more details on the plugin including the download link. If you find this useful, please rate the plugin on the official WordPress page.

Enabling GPRS access on Prepaid BSNL Mobile connection

To enable GPRS access on a prepaid connection, send an SMS message GPRSPRE to the number 53733. After sometime you will get a confirmation message indicating that the GPRS service is active. If you haven’t received confirmation in 24 hours it sometimes helps to resend the SMS message. For postpaid connections you need to use either GPRS49 or GPRS199 depending on the plan you need(see the tariff chart below).

Once you activate GPRS service, you need to configure your mobile for accessing Internet over GPRS and also settings for MMS. You can either do this manually or use the self service portal. To configure GPRS settings/MMS settings manually please refer to this page. You will need to select settings specific for your zone (north, south, east, west).

Another way to configure your mobile for GPRS is to use the self service portal. This will automatically send settings to your mobile. Unfortunately even self service portal URL is dependent on your zone. You can find the self service portal URL from this page (at the bottom). For example, for Kerala the URL is http://218.248.72.246/msp/html/.

Click on the self service portal URL and enter your mobile number. Immediately you will get a one time password in your mobile. Use this password to log-on to the self service portal. After logging in click on the “device management” link on the top. Then select your phone manufacturer and model number from the list boxes provided. Then click on “configure my phone” at the bottom of the page. You will get four settings automatically sent to your phone. “Accept” from your mobile to download settings for bsnl-wap (WAP settings), bsnl-Internet (Internet connection settings for advanced mobiles), bsnl-mms (for multimedia messaging) and bsnl-portal (to download portal content such as music, wallpapers and ring tones).

You can also use the same portal to configure services available(such as alerts, astrology, cricket etc.) under “cellone” in your mobile. Click on the “WIB services” link to configure them. Use the “Update SIM” at the bottom of the page to apply changes directly to your mobile.

GPRS access tariff plans on BSNL Mobile

What makes BSNL GPRS so special is the unlimited access offered on post paid. By paying a monthly charge of Rs. 199, you get unlimited access. There is also a Rs. 49 plan under which you get 5MB free download. See below for complete details of Post paid GPRS charges.

Unfortunately under prepaid scheme there is no unlimited service plan. There is only a fixed charge of Rs. 0.05 per 10KB of download. This is same even during roaming. Still these are high charges and hence you should only use GPRS as a backup/urgent Internet connection.

Using BSNL GPRS Internet from a computer

You can use the BSNL GPRS service to access Internet from your laptop/computer.  To do this, you will have to configure your mobile as a modem in your PC/laptop. If your computer and mobile supports Bluetooth, this can be done without any direct connection or wires. Following example shows how this can be done under Windows Vista.

Step 1 : If your laptop doesn’t have built-in Bluetooth, buy a Bluetooth adapter and connect it to the laptop (you will need to install its drivers). Now using Bluetooth on your mobile, connect to your laptop. See the documentation with your Bluetooth adapter/mobile for more information.

Step 2 : Once your mobile phone is paired with your PC/laptop using Bluetooth, setup a new Internet Connection. Click on Control Panel->Network and Sharing->Setup a connection/network. Select “Connect to the Internet” option. In the next page select “No, create a new connection”.  Then select “Dial-up” in the next screen. Select your “Bluetooth Modem” in the next screen. You will now see the “dial-up” screen. Enter *99# as the phone number and save the new network connection (skip connecting part).

Step 3 : Click on Control Panel->System->Device Manager. Expand the Modems list. Right click on the modem entry representing the Bluetooth device. In the advanced tab enter AT+CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”gprssouth.cellone.in”. The quotes are necessary and to avoid character conversion problems, it is better to type in than copy this.

Step 4 : You can now connect to Internet using the dial-up network you have created in Step 2. If you are using Bluetooth adapter, you might need to connect using the software provided by adapter manufacturer. The second diagram above shows the option in BlueSoleil adapter software.

Additional Notes

• If you are using GPRS on a prepaid BSNL connection, you need to have at least Rs. 50 balance (for portal services the minimum balance is Rs. 200) in your account. If your account balance goes below Rs. 50, GPRS access will be deactivated. Interestingly recharging your account won’t bring back the full GPRS connectivity. I found that it takes about 2 days or more before GPRS access is restored to the normal speed. Also you will need to switch off your mobile once.
• I found that YouTube is almost usable under BSNL GPRS. You can watch low resolution videos without much problem where the signal is strong. But regular use obviously is not possible due to high usage charge.
• Another cool service you can access with GPRS is the location services. Please see this post for more details.

Additional Reading

• Official BSNL GPRS FAQ (This seems to be updated regularly and strangely is in Microsoft Word format. Read this carefully since any new limitations or feature changes are usually documented here)
• BSNL News Archive (Monitor this page for any changes in GPRS plans or tariff)
• Tariff card for BSNL post paid services
• Wikibook Article – GPRS access using BSNL Mobile Connection

First a bit of personal background. My wife is 8 months pregnant and she is going to Thrissur for delivery. She had a serious medical condition during the pregnancy and we are all worried. Since she is going for a long period, there is plenty of luggage to carry as well.

I decided to book tickets on the two tier AC compartment in the Mumbai express train (two tier allows you to carry more luggage). This train starts from Kanyakumari and reaches Trivandrum at 8AM. In India, luxury in train means some extra space to keep your luggage and some cheap curtains for privacy which is non-existent. But it is not something majority of Indians can afford. I belong to the lucky group who can afford it once in a while.

Since we had so much luggage, we looked around for a porter. The porters in Trivandrum or for that matter any railway station in Kerala is notorious for “fleecing” the passenger. But today, I was ready to pay the money. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a porter and since there was not much time left, we decided to carry the luggage in two trips. Usually the hassle of carrying your baggage is much lesser than the mental tension and stress you suffer when you fight with a porter.

I went to the information counter. Usually you find two or three persons in it. But today there was only one girl. I asked her where the Mumbai express would arrive. She said that it is on platform 2. Now I wanted to be double sure since getting onto platform 2 was not easy today. I asked her again and she said “of course, it always comes on platform 2″.

In India, crossing from one platform to other requires crossing via an overhead bridge. For a pregnant woman, it is not easy.  In India, we don’t create subways since it usually ends up in the hands of criminals and anti-socials (metros is probably an exception). People usually just hop across the platform tracks which obviously is risky and lot of people die after hit by a speeding train. Crossing like this is illegal and sometimes some special squad will come around and arrest some poor souls. Laws like these ensure that 99% of the Indian population almost on a daily basis break laws. You have no other option.

It took a while for us to cross the bridge. We waited on platform 2, number 5 location where the 2AC compartment would halt. At around 7:50AM an announcement came. It is usually not audible, but today it was clear. It said the Mumbai express would come soon on platform 1. WTF?

Suddenly a lot of idiots like me who asked the information counter and ended up on Platform 2 started jumping across the tracks to Platform 1. It is not easy to cross like this either. There was no time to think. I asked my wife to walk over the bridge as fast a possible. A woman who was cleaning the station, seeing the dire situation I am in, helped me to carry the luggage.

Now when the train came it turns out that the compartment locations are in just the opposite directions. So our compartment was somewhere near number 20 not number 5! It is sufficient to say that somehow we managed to get into our compartment just in time. Now started the real fun. The train was missing our compartment!! There was no 2 tier AC compartment in the train.

I asked a railway employee in the train. He said – “Don’t worry, adjust somewhere. Ticket examiner will refund you”. WTF?

It turns out that there is a shortage of 2AC compartments (for a department which makes 20,000 crore rupees in profit!). Luckily it was not a busy day and we could sit in a 3AC compartment. The Ticket examiner came and gave a certificate of cancellation. He said I need to collect money from IRCTC in Delhi. That means it would take months before I get the refund.

Indian Railways still runs on infrastructure planned and executed by British. It is a government department which was well disciplined simply because British had put in a very efficient command and control structure. British managed it so well that it stood without much problems for the last 50 years! However corruption, inefficiency and other usual Indian problems are creeping into Railways as well. It is more In Kerala, because Kerala also suffers from the “trade union problem”.  Kerala is probably the only place in the world, where organized thugs charge money for just watching while someone else actually does the work!

Most of the passengers in upper class compartments are railway employees. Many times they are traveling illegally and who cares?. But what is more irritating is the fact that they behave as if the compartment belongs to them and sometimes even misbehave with woman passengers.

The corruption is spreading slowly and steadily in Railways. Most of the high value corruption happens in the parcel area where all the money is (try transferring your bike or vehicle through parcel service). However, corruption is also rampant in passenger ticketing. Emergency quota, VIP quota and local station quota etc. are misused regularly.

In Trivandrum railway station, there are dozens of LCD TVs and plasma TVs. There is no use for these and usually run advertisements. Instead of giving better rest rooms and passenger facilities, they are going after high definition TVs all over the place! Railways have taken the advertisements to its extreme. Even important announcements are preceded by advertisements. In fact the premium number for railway information (dial 139) spits out advertisements when you call for some information. In Trivandrum railway station there is an air-conditioned waiting room and even upper class passenger need to shell out Rs. 10 for entry! The on duty person there has no uniform, no identity card. Here is a photo from the AC waiting room.

The LCD TV has been removed and the air conditioner is in urgent need of repair. And trust me, the room stinks like hell. Also you will find people simply lying down on sofas using it as some kind of accommodation (dormitories are intended for this purpose).

So far I have been talking all about things that only a few can afford. When it comes to general compartments, it is so bad I don’t know how I present it. Railways consider people traveling in general compartments as animals and accordingly provide facilities. Sometimes when I travel alone for short distances I take the general compartment. By the time I get down I am full of sadness and an unbelievable amount of rage at the Railway officials.

My only hope is that as I become older, I would learn to ignore all these.

Question: If you were to give a single reason why our society may disintegrate in coming years, what would that be?
Answer : No, it is not war, terrorism, religious fundamentalism or regional conflicts. It will be corruption.

One of the things that irritates me most in W705 is the lack of cell phone tower information. Whenever I was travelling to Thrissur in train, this feature in K750i was a life saver. Usually I reached Thrissur(Irinjalakkuda) in the early morning. Looking at my K750i, I could easily find out the location of the train from the tower details (it showed the name of the place where the cell phone tower is located). Indian Railways doesn’t give any kind of announcement or information display inside the train.

W705 has a lot of other cool new features compared to K750i. It has built-in WiFi support and it also comes with native YouTube streaming and Google maps service using GPRS Internet connection. While playing around with Google Maps, I suddenly noticed that the satellite map is showing my current location!! I was surprised since W705 doesn’t have any GPS service.

Well, it turns out that the latest version of Google Maps can use cell phone tower data to pinpoint your location to about 1500 metres. Practically this is as good as GPS. Unlike the earlier tower name display, it shows your location on the map. You don’t need to know all the place names anymore! Another cool thing is that for cities, you can use this to find driving directions (obviously not as precise as GPS).

Many people who own smart phones doesn’t realize that there are a number of highly useful features in new generation phones. For example, here is a list of cool things you can do with W705 (Walkman series),

• Use GPRS Internet with BBC news feeds to get the daily news delivered automatically to the mobile.
• Use the Walk Mate application to see how many steps you have taken per day. This can be used as a health goal. This application uses the accelerometer in the phone. To use this you need to start the Walk Mate application in the phone, put the phone in your trouser pocket and start walking. It will count the number of steps you have taken.
• Watch YouTube videos using GPRS video streaming. At home you can use faster WiFi connection.
• Use the Google Maps Location Services to know your location and for driving directions. This doesn’t need GPS feature in your cell phone.
• Get the mobile version of Gmail. Download the Gmail application to access email faster on the mobile.
• Listen to music, podcasts or audio books. This is one area where Sony Ericsson phones are really good at.

The following video provides a detailed explanation on how the Google maps work without a GPS connection.