Sameer Panchangam

I'm writing... again!

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:20:00 +0000

Go over here!

http://thegreendotguy.blogspot.com/

Faster/Better Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:54:00 +0000

Think I've never watched a video, online, that's not had to fetch before playing.

Office, Home, No-where.

When's the internet getting faster?

Try and see if it works for you.

http://www.randomyoutubevideo.com/

Afternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:41:00 +0000

Time

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:20:00 +0000

For the love of Yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:13:00 +0000

For the love of red

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:56:00 +0000

Ideal Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:24:00 +0000

Processor:
Having used 800Mhz Samsung Spica for close to 2 months now, the processor seems to be ok/fine. Though it could be better. Has to kinda do with both H/w and S/w. So with FroYo it might get better. Will have to wait n see. So a 1Ghz Snapdragon seems to be ideal at this point in time.

RAM:
Spica has 128MB RAM which I've never felt was enough. I guess the whole multi-tasking thing would get better if there were more memory to play with, and one wouldnt have to worry about having to kill apps to save memory, and let them run in the background. 512MB RAM seems ideal.

Display:

AMOLED - 320x480 is kinda ideal size.

e.g. Nexus One

http://www.google.com/phone/static/en_US-nexusone_tech_specs.html

ROM/Phone memory/Built-in/SD Card:
It'd be nice to have 1GB in-built memory for apps and rest can go on the SD card. Dont really need 8GB inbuilt memory and have it all there. Though having say a 32GB built-in will make it way more faster. But cost then would shoot up just for that case. So have a reasonably good amount of phone memory like 1GB (like some Blackberries have) and put the rest on the cheap SD-cards.

e.g. Blackberry Bold 9000
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrybold/

Looks/Build:
I totally loved the build of iPhone 4G. Love the un-rounded edges. Sleek but tough.

e.g. iPhone 4G
http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone

Hardware accelerator:

Gotta have some kinda 3-d accelerator built-in to do all the good stuff. The benchmark would be a point

where it can play divx content with ease. Samsung Spica already does that and I totally love that fact. The phone needs to be DIVX approved.

e.g. Samsung Spica

http://www.samsung.com/ie/consumer/mobile-phones/mobile-phones/touch-screen/GT-I5700UWAXEU/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=spec&fullspec=F

Wifi:

Need wifi-n and not just b/g.

e.g. Blackberry Pearl 3G

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrypearl3G/pearl_specifications.jsp

Camera:
Need a min 2MP front camera. The one at the back has to be 5MP or more with Carl Zeiss lenses. Else go the N8 way, and put in a 12MP carl zeiss with xenon flash. That'll be a killer.

Audio jack:

3.5mm

Speakers:

3D - Stereo Speakers

Maps:

Ability to loads maps from Google maps on the phone. Not to be dependent on network. Liked OVI maps the best.

e.g. Nokia N8
http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-n8/specifications

FM-Radio:

Absolutely need this.

FM-Transmitter:

Nice to have, but the fact that I have it on my N79, I wouldn't want to lose out on it.

e.g. Nokia N79

http://www.nokia.co.in/find-products/products/nokia-n79

Front buttons/keys:
Just having a single press button/key like iPhone is sooooooo #FAIL. Spica has a bunch of good ones. Need quick buttons like they have it blackberry. Mail/Music/Camera/etc etc.

e.g. Nokia N70
http://www.nokia.co.in/find-products/products/nokia-n70-me

TV:

DVB-H receiver in-built

e.g. Nokia 5330

http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-5330-mobile-tv-edition/specifications

IR:
Did they say Google-TV?
Yes, need to use it as a TV remote control.

GPS:
A-gps is almost a standard now.

Battery:
1500mAh or higher

Accelerometer:
Must have. Almost a standard now.

Bands:

All 3G, HSDPA and all the bands. Almost a standard now.

Software:
Android / iPhone OS 4

So what have I missed?

Comment to add. I'll update the post with your suggestions.

Bottle o'life this summer

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Fri, 14 May 2010 08:13:00 +0000

Just Chill

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:04:00 +0000

Good morning sunshine

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:49:00 +0000

MeeGo & Intel(R) AtomTM Developer Program Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:50:00 +0000

Live blogging from Meego Intel Developer Event at Taj Banjara, Hyderabad on 28th-April-2010, 10am-4pm
4:00pm

http://twitpic.com/1j2lm3 - Last but not the least, Meego tee for all attendees :)

3:30pm

And with that (Mono), you can go ahead and run it on every possible platform, including mainframes! #Novell #Meego #Intel

Mono helps all you run all the good stuff from .Net on Linux #Novell #Meego #Intel

3:00pm

http://twitpic.com/1j2a2y - How will Novell India help? #Meego #Intel

Intel Atom is a specialized form-factor, not necessarily a low-cost form-factor #Meego #Intel

http://twitpic.com/1j28tw - Meego open source principles #Intel

Meego would replace a lot of FreeDOS deployments on netbooks #Meego #Intel

2:30pm

Tea break. Phew! Qt toolkit session was great! #Meego #Intel

http://qt.nokia.com is the one stop for all Qt resources #Meego #Intel

Demo on Qt Quick for Meego coming up. It will be released with 4.7#Meego #Intel

1:30pm

Qt --> Intel AppUp Center or OVI store #Meego #Intel

http://twitpic.com/1j205p - Meego in Nokia's software strategy#Meego #Intel

12:30pm

Qt 4.7 will have you build canvas based UI. Declarative language to help do that. #Meego #Intel

Test cases available with Qt kit instead of building your own. Makes life easier. #Meego #Intel

http://twitpic.com/1j1xv0 - Qt Development tools #Meego #Intel

Qt has full support for Webkit #Meego #Intel

The GUI classes on Qt make the app look very native #Meego #Intel

Qt is a holistic framework, not just a UI framework #Meego #Intel

http://twitpic.com/1j1vgk - Qt Architecture

Qt is pronounced 'Cute' and not 'Cutey' #Meego #Intel #AppUp #Maemo #Moblin #Hyderabad

Next session: Meet Qt - The cross-platform application and UI framework #Meego #Intel #AppUp #Maemo #Moblin #Hyderabad

11:30am

http://twitpic.com/1j1q4q - Meego sample device. Observe multiple firefox sessions running in the toolbar. #Intel #Maemo #Moblin #Hyderabad

There are certain bonuses from the Million $ Program. So you can get bonus amounts of $500 or more even before your first sale#Meego #Intel

This thing is even there on @secondlife ! #Meego #Intel #AppUp #Maemo #Moblin #Hyderabad

Avg app review time would be 4 weeks #Meego #Intel #AppUp #Maemo #Moblin #Hyderabad

Payments back to Indian developers already setup unlike the Android market with Google Checkout which doesn't support India.#Meego #Intel

@sujamthe Apps not limited to India. Event is happening in Hyderabad, India. Hence the tags.

Intel App Developer Program: http://appdeveloper.intel.com Enroll for Free! #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

www.Ideateup.com dedicated for #India related apps. #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

Atom developer program has a fee of $99 but waived off right now. Developers can submit apps for 1yr for FREE! #Meego #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

Fee waived off for the first year. Can submit unlimited apps. Intel AppUp center in Beta. Multiple stores via OEMs/Service providers.

@normaltusker Yes. Downloads are already open.

One of the best things for a developer is that you can even submit components and not necessarily complete apps. Reusability! #Meego #Intel

@piyushgupta @normaltusker will try and get better pics. They just have one device here. Too many trying to get their hands on.

http://twitpic.com/1j1ecl - Netbook usage models #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin
@normaltusker There's just one device to play with. I'll try and get better pics.

11:00am

Interestingly initial target market is for netbooks, and then the other devices. #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

http://twitpic.com/1j1cun - That's the sample device to play with. Resistive touch, Pointer based device. #Meego #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

No upfront fee for developers #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

http://twitpic.com/1j18rk - Freedom to build and monetize #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

Intel AppUp center provides the channel to market Intel based devices from OEMs/Service Providers #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

Initial OEMs is LG, not Nokia. Partnership is with Maemo, not Nokia!#Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Maemo #Moblin

Revenue share for Meego: 70% goes to developer. #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Nokia

Roadmap: Meego 1.0 launched in April. New releases every 6 months. #Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Nokia

Multiple Operating System vendor to help you develop the app in a much better way including some add on components and maintenance #Meego

Any app that is on the top 100 list has atleast 2 million downloads!#Meego #Hyderabad #Intel #Nokia

10:30am

Done with brief overview of #Meego including architecture etc. Next up app development.

10:00am
I'm at Taj Banjara Hotel Hyderabad (Road Number One Banjara Hills, Hyderabad). http://4sq.com/a3hR8R

How-to meet or exceed by wide-margins

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:55:00 +0000

To meet or exceed by wide-margins to a client, here are the requirements to meet:

1. When asked a question, provide a clear answer.

2. Stand by your firm’s work, regardless of changes.

3. Put the client first. Be aware of and sensitive to the consequences of missing deadlines, waffling an answer, or changing staff. Care about causing adverse consequences to the client.

4. We expect the team to be representative of your best people.

5. Be open, transparent, and forthcoming about internal firm difficulties that may impact us. You expect the same from us – transparency must be a two-way street.

My Google Voice Number

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:15:00 +0000

Got my google voice number, so I now have a permanent US number to receive calls, or voice-mails at the minimum.

Here's the number: (484)-843-1550

So call me! :)

Movies I like

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Consider this as a post that's been missing from my blog.

Movies I've liked the most.. due to some or other reasons :). The list is in a kinda random order. So this is in no way a top 10/20/50 or something.

And this list will keep getting updated as and when I remember to add to the list. So feel free to bookmark and visit.

Bollywood:
1. Swades (2004) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367110/
Consider this as SRK's best ever performance.
2. Paheli (2005) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451850/
Another best. Love the way the movie has been made.
3. Bluffmaster (2005) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476527/
Love everything about the movie, right from the characters, the score, music, theme, to the plot.
4. Johnny Gaddar (2007) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1077248/
One movie that you just cannot miss! Totally out of ordinary. If I hadn't watched this, I wouldn't have watched Pulp Fiction which kinda sits on top of my Hollywood list! Love the vintage treatment and references are made to classics.
5. Bunty Aur Babli (2005) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448206/
This movie just feels so close to my heart, for some reason :)
6. Om Shanti Om (2007) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024943/
Love it for its Pop Culture of Hindi Cinema - Mothers of 70s ringing temple bells, cute sidekicks of 80s, bell-bottoms and lots more.
7. Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2003) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374887/
For its simple message of 'handling' things, the happy way, in Life.
8. Don (2006) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0461936/
Excellent re-plot of the original.

At this point I'm wondering how I have 4 SRK movies in the list out of 8 and not even one from Aamir or anyone else! But this list will get updated over time.

Hollywood
1. Pulp Fiction
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
5. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
6. Goodfellas (1990)
7........ To be Contd

Well I realized the Hollywood list is gonna be huge.. and will have most of IMDB Top 250. So I'll leave it at there.

Please leave a comment if you happened to read up to here :) Thanks!

4 Colour Sun Wheel

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:54:00 +0000

4 Colour Sun Wheel
Originally uploaded by e s c h e r

Brilliant colors of nature!

I need to upload my designs album one of these days!

Time to take pictures with my new N79! :)

Flickr

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:53:00 +0000

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Embracing Imperfection

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:16:00 +0000

Well this post is the most perfect way for me to continue blogging. It's a nice email forward I received this morning, and thought it's best for the whole world to read and embrace!

Do read and take care!
----------------------

Embracing Imperfection

A story by a girl.

"When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner
every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made
breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my
mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned toast in front of
my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was
reach for his toast, smile at my mom, and ask me how my day was at school. I
don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember Watching him
smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!

When I got Up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom
apologize to my dad For burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he
said: 'Baby, I love burned toast.'

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if He
really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, 'Debbie,
your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And
besides-a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!' You know, life is full of
imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or
cook.

What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's
faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is the one of
the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting
relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good,the
bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of GOD.
Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a
relationship where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to
any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship,
be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!! "

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket but into your
own."

The Real End

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:13:00 +0000

These days I micro-blog here: http://twitter.com/psam

If you don't have a twitter account, you should get one today and follow me!

Me Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Candara Twhirl

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:40:00 +0000

Looks awesome!

Hiring strategy for Startups

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:49:00 +0000

Last Saturday, the Pune OpenCoffee Club invited 4-time entrepreneur Nickhil Jakatdar to give advice to Pune’s entrepreneurs on the DOs and DONTs for startups. Shashikant Kore, co-founder of Pune-based startup bandhan.com has written up this report of the meeting here: http://punetech.com/nickhil-jakatdars-advice-for-entrepreneurs/

What I liked most was about hiring the "early" employees:-

"On building the team with right chemistry, he said hiring early employees is “tricky.” People are good at cracking interviews. Hence interview need to be rigourous to weed out those who are not passionate about the startup. They put together a hiring process to ensure only the people with right attitude are hired. First interview is on phone where Nickhil offers reasons not to join the startup saying its risky and might fail. If the candidate is still interested technical rounds are conducted to check the competence. The third round is a presentation by candidate on a topic of mutual interest. The team attending presentation is diverse so variety of questions are tossed. If the candidate handles the team nicely, he/she is a right fit. The fourth round is introducing candiate to each member of the team to see if anybody spots a red flag. In the final round he offers candiate two options - high salary with low options and low salary with option heavy package. Those who prefer salary are rejected. In one year of running current startup, they don’t have any attrition till the date. That is a proof of their hiring process being strong."

TFN Poster in my Cubicle

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:33:00 +0000

So Typical of an Indian IT Services Company

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:51:00 +0000

Impact of Crisis in IT Employee’s Family

Sekar (Calling his family from Amsterdam): Good Evening Mom and Dad. Where is my wife Sheela?

Dad: Just now I called her. She is on the way to home after taking our grandson Rahul from his school.

Sekar: Let us wait for her few minutes and we will start this discussion.
(By the time Sheela entered in to the house.. Sekar continue the meeting)

I hope you know the Agenda of the meeting which I had mentioned in the meeting request. Even though let me read out the agenda once again
1. Status update/Discussion on Last Week Action Items
2. Family Strategy
2. Rahul’s Education
3. Medical Insurance for Mom and Dad

I hope every one have the printout of last week MOM (Minutes of Meeting).
Dear Mom can you please update the status of tasks which you are taking care of?

Mom: Sekar, I am taking care of kitchen module which involves making products like Sambar, Rasam, Curd Rice, Vegetable Biriyani.I am not comfortable in handling the tools for making Non Vegetarian products. You suggest some training in Hlite. However after making these products, I am giving to your Dad for Acceptance testing. Once he satisfied with the quality of taste, we pass it to Dining Hall. One more thing, I would like to share with you. As you have suggested during my appraisal discussion, now I have stopped crying while watching mega serials in TV

Sekar: Sounds Good.

Sekar: Now coming to Dad. Dad can you please update us?

Dad: Yes. My dear son. I have completed my tasks by paying the current bill and phone bill with in time.

Sekar: That’s good

Dad: But I couldn’t pay the premium amount of 9200.00 of the LIC plan which you had taken for tax reduction purpose.

Sekar: It doesn’t look nice dad. I have sent you the amount already and given clear instructions.
Can you explain to me what went wrong?

Dad: On Tuesday night suddenly one of our team mate (your mom) fell down on the floor when she was running to catch Rahul. Then we took her to hospital and spent that amount for her medical expenses.

Mom: Sekar, I would like to add on what your Dad said, that was true. I got heavy injury in my legs and I was in hospital for two days. So now we don’t have money to pay for the premium.

Sekar: Sheela..! Would you aware of this? As a home lead, I expect you to track these issues and send it to me on daily basis. What are you doing (With stress on ‘doing’) after coming from college?

Sheela: Will do it Sekar. You know that the college, I am working is very far from our home. Every day I come back home at 6 pm and sit with Rahul for assisting him for doing his home work.

Sekar: Ok. Coming to second Agenda point .Due to this financial crisis we need to change the strategy of running our family. I am looking for your cooperation in the following cost cutting activities. I want to see the cost benefit of 40 % in this month budget after implementing this
 Asking servant maid to leave her job
 Stop ordering Pizzas for dinner
 Avoid Tooth paste and use Neem sticks/Banyan Tree Sticks
 Switch on TV only for watching Sunday Movie and Friday Oliyum Ozhiyum(Well known program for film songs in Podigai TV)
 Wise to listen news from our near by portion when they watch news in TV
 Every Saturday visit our relative’s homes and spend the whole day including break fast, lunch and Dinner
 Don’t invite anybody to our home. Sunday our relatives might come to our house. Just lock the door outside and do your work inside silently.
 Everybody assemble in adjacent street Perumal temple on Sunday for breakfast. They provide ‘Pongal’ as ‘prasadam’ which is good in taste
 Sheela stop going for gym and Yoga class. Use Attural (Made up of Stone for making Dosa /idly dough), Ammikal (Replacement of Mixie) instead of grinder and Mixie. Mom please give KT to Sheela about this.
 Don’t buy excess of things and store it in Fridge. Use big Mud pots for cool water.
 Everybody go to bed early around 6:30 pm. Ask Rahul to do his homework when he comes back from school immediately during the hours sunlight is available. If not ask him to read under street light. He will become like Lincoln (Former US President) one day.
 Use as much of cycle for transportation to near by places(It will help you to reduce fat and Cholesterol content)
 I know you are eager to watch latest release ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’. Don’t plan for that. Wail till next year Diwali to watch the same movie in Kalaignar TV

If you have any clarifications contact Sheela@kitchen

Coming to second Agenda point. Sheela, can you please update me about Rahul’s Education. In which standard he is studying? Whether he got any double promotion? He was writing annual exam for third standard when I was leaving for Amsterdam.

Sheela: Sekar, I am bit worrying about his education. I have tracked his efforts, schedule in our OHM+ tool. I found 20 % in Effort variance and 35 % in schedule deviation. His learning curve goes down in the control chart which you can see in the report, I have sent you yesterday.

Sekar: Thanks for your measurements. I will review the report and we will discuss it on next week’s call. I have a client meeting now. So we will discuss the third agenda item next week. Mom and Dad.. can you please drop out from the call. I wanted to talk to Sheela about few personal things and Dad, don’t forget to circulate the MOM (Minutes of Meeting) to every one.

Sheela: Hello Sekar..

Sheela: Hello…Hello…

Sheela: Hello…

3 Idlies

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Google - I luv NY

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Panchangam) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:42:00 +0000