"TechPoint" - The techie edge

Beware of facebook apps that ask for your cell phone number

2009-03-19T13:27:00.010-06:00

So the other day, I was playing this game on facebook and I was prompted to enter my cell # to see my score. I did that and then it told me I'll have to put in the confirmation # that they just texted me. :-/ I did that. I know! I know! I was gullible!!! I usually never do this - but just did it for this one. Ever since then, I've been receiving a tonne of spam texts on my cell phone. I called AT&T to stop this mess and found that I was subscribed to a 3rd party content provider (Playphone, Inc.) at $14.99 per month. Weirdos!!! AT&T canceled my subscription, refunded my money - so everything was good.

Did you know this???
Third party providers often offer content which can include Text and SMS content like Alerts/Horoscopes/Trivia/Jokes, downloadable content like Ringtones/Games/Graphics, and other informational content.

There is the option for one-time purchases or sign
up for monthly/weekly subscription plans which allow you a package of
downloads before being charged at a per download cost. These purchases
can then be billed to your wireless phone bill through your cell phone carrier.

These subscriptions do require that the phone user accept the offer for the
"free" ring tone or message either by text message or on the web site to
start the subscription.

Obviously the app gave me the wrong reason (to see my score) and then subscribed me without telling me.

Just wanted to warn you all. Don't ever give your cellphone numbers to any facebook app or website. I am not going to "Allow Access" to any apps either - don't trust'em.

Related story:
Use Facebook? Beware identity theft
Experts: Beware of Charges "Crammed" Onto Your Bill

BMW 3-Series torque Test [Ansiguy]

2009-02-26T21:05:00.003-06:00

This video was shot in early 2006, when the 3 series just came out with a completely new design and won so many accolades and awards.

At high speeds 100-110-120 mph, watch the torque how effortlessly it gives in. If I were to do it on the tracks, it would be so easy to get this to max speed. Too bad, these things have an electronic limit of 130 mph. ARGH!!!! But you can get that removed if you get hold of the right people ;-)

2009 528i XDrive Sedan Quick Tour ~ Brand New!

2009-02-21T22:05:00.001-06:00

The BMW Ad 2006

2008-10-24T15:02:00.003-05:00

I love this creative ad.

BMW GINA - This is called thinking outside of the box

2008-06-11T18:05:00.002-05:00

Cars don't have to be made out of metal.

Here's BMW thinking outside of the box.
Flexibilty is the key, letting you change the shape of your car everday!

Check it out. Its also called as the cloth car.

Read more here.

The new Mercedes C - Class might get some attention from BMW buyers

2008-01-19T16:30:00.000-06:00

Talking about the "which is better" of the two German luxury car rivals BMW and Mercedes is just about a never ending thing. So I am not even going to go there.

BMW released its all new 2006 3 series with so many wonderful features that it sold more than ever. Mercedes C-Class was left far behind.

Now 2 years after the new BMW 3 series came out, Mercedes released its all new 2008 C Class. Mercedes proudly claims they worked on it for seven years. Its a little silly when you look at the vehicle. What were they thinking? I can almost say that they took a 3-series and worked their way. And still, no run flat tires on the Mercedes yet.

Anyway, I have to say that I do like the aggressive AMG body styling of the new C-Class with sports package. Here's a three-pointed star that will appeal to the younger generation.

Sales numbers for 2006 in the US.
BMW 3- Series: 120,180
Mercedes C-Class: 50,187
Audi A4: 49,862

I am expecting this might change a little in favor of Mercedes. C-Class "might" eat some of BMW's share and Audi's share. But Mercedes is still not lease friendly compared to BMW.

Related:
CNET reviews the 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport. (See where they placed the auxiliary jack. funny!)

BMW concept CS - 4 door coupe

2007-06-26T15:57:00.000-05:00

"A synthesis of luxury and sportiness, comfort and dynamism, the BMW Concept CS is so different, it could lead to the creation of an entirely new category of automobile" - BMW Magazine

BMW unveiled this BMW Concept CS, a premium luxury sports coupe, in the shanghai Auto Show

BMW-Google innovations - The beginning

2007-06-25T21:25:00.000-05:00

BMW and Google have partnered based on their common vision for a network-connected world. One of the products of this collaboration is based on a simple thought. Lets say you were browsing the internet and found a restaurant at google maps that you'd like to go for dinner. You could jot it down and then take it to your navigation system and punch it in, but there are better ways. What I usually do is send an sms to my cell and then punch in to my GPS. BMW and Google have come up with a nice feature so that you can send the address to your BMW's navigation system directly from Google maps. Here's a video demo of this feature.

It's comedy time again

2007-06-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Would this make a good comic strip for your cubicle? omg...FOCLMAO

Are you a right clicka or an ibook flippa?

2007-06-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

Apple has been making the "I am a Mac, I am a PC" ads for quite sometime now. Their brand new ads are here.

Check this out, a rap video spoof of Apple's advertising campaign.

Microsoft Surface Computing - Paradigm shifts!

2007-05-30T09:51:00.000-05:00

Microsoft's been working hard on a project called Milan. In short, it is a multi touch sensitive computer. The possibilities are nerve wrecking. Expected to cost anywhere from $5,000 and $10,000. Microsoft plans to sell these units to Corporate customers towards the end of 2007. This is some of the things that Bill gates talks about in his books "The Road Ahead" and "Business at the speed of thought" where he predicts the future where we'll use digital news papers and that sort. He also mentioned about future of advertising, he wasn't talking about google adsense, but paradigm shifts. The ability to point something on the screen while watching a movie and finding more about it like the brand of the shoe or clothing, etc. Its already possible to find out about the location where a movie was shot etc in HD-DVDs.

And here's a Microsoft Surface teaser video.

Check the possibilities at http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

Gizmodo has more details here.

Microsoft Surface on Wikipedia.

Most of these are possibilities and may take a few years to develop depending on consumer feedback.

And the winner is .....

2007-05-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

This result is based on visitors for the past one week on my blog. I had 3,738 visits of which 1,733 (46.02%) are Firefox/Windows users. Followed by Internet explore/Windows 1,484(39.41%). So guess what? At least to my eyes, Firefox has overtaken Internet Explorer. However, this is often the case with most blogs that deal with technology.

If you're still not using Firefox, go here to download and see why everyone's crazy about this browser.

Statistics from my http://blog.ansiguy.com

DVD vending machines - cheaper than cheap!

2007-05-22T10:32:00.001-05:00

I came across so many of these DVD rental vending machines many times in grocery stores in the last few months.

Last night, I thought I'll just give it a try. I went up to a Walgreens redbox DVD rental vending machine(redbox). It gave me about about 80 or something titles to pick from. Most, if not all were fairly new releases.

I picked a title, swiped my credit for just $1. In about 8 secs, the machine spits out the DVD. It also offered me an option to get the receipt by email, as opposed just printing(very good, no waste of paper). And the email promptly arrived with the $1 charge.

Although they advertise as $1 + tax, the tax amount was zero on my receipt. No complaints :-)

Redbox advertises, as no late fee, the catch here is every day you keep the DVD after the first day of rental will be at $1/day extra until you reach the cost of the DVD.

However, this will not totally take over blockbuster(BBI) store rentals or netflix (NFLX) online rentals right away. But once it creates more awareness among customers and more titles start appearing, this little DVD rental machine can definitely be a big threat to them. The $1 thing will definitely get most people.

I've spotted these DVD rental boxes in Chicago at Jewel, Dominick's, Walgreens, McDonald's, etc. In New Jersey, it's available at Stop & Shop. It is not available in Michigan yet.

If you'd like to try it free for one day, just put in your email here and you'll get an email like this.

Welcome to the unpredictable, wild and mildly remunerative world of redbox email. You'll now be receiving regular to semi-regular emails from redbox. Perhaps even a random delivery or two to keep you on your toes. Redbox will be sending these emails to you at: myemail@myemail.com. You might want to alert your spam nanny so that valuable codes for free rentals and critical new release information are not unduly delayed.

Now to the good stuff. To redeem your one night's free rental, please enter the following promo code at any redbox.

SOMECODE

Enjoy!

Redbox thanks you for your participation.

OfficeMax donates 'W' Keys to the White house

2007-05-08T08:40:00.000-05:00

OK. This is ridiculously funny but true!

"It was reported earlier that the ``W'' key on many White House keyboards were possibly removed by unknown perpetrators."

OfficeMax has been very generous in donating the "W" keys to the white house. Press release at OfficeMax website here. Taking care of "W".......this should be the officemax tagline...

Adobe Coldfusion 8(Scorpio) conference in Chicago

2007-05-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

Event Date: May 7, 2007
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: International Academy of Design & Technology
One North State Street - Suite 324
Chicago, IL 60602

[RSVP this event]

Join Adobe Evangelist Ben Forta and others to discover some of the new features and technologies coming in Adobe ColdFusion 8 at the 2007 ColdFusion User Group Tour. The tour is visiting more than 40 Adobe ColdFusion User Groups over approximately six weeks, so there's most likely a group near you. Check the full list here.

Even before the release of the highly successful ColdFusion MX 7 two years ago, the ColdFusion team was already hard at work scheming, experimenting, planning, building, creating ... and the result is "Scorpio", the highly anticipated 8th major ColdFusion edition. Building on top of the powerful platform introduced in ColdFusion MX, and the solid feature set of ColdFusion MX 7, "Scorpio" piles on new features and technologies for developers, administrators, technical decision makers, and more. The official "Scorpio" release is scheduled for mid-2007, but you don't have to wait until then to see it for yourself. Ben Forta will be demoing lots of Scorpio throughout an extended user group tour in the spring, where attendees will get to see "Scorpio" in action, as well as gain access to the pre-release beta, and get the chance to win Adobe software. And since our user group is part of the Scorpio tour, plan on coming out for this special meeting!!

AT&T history

2007-05-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

A one minute demonstration of how the bells separated and came back together.

The old company was called AT&T and the new one is at&t :-)

More colbert report here.

Care to guess what this is?

2007-05-03T09:04:00.000-05:00

Interestingly this is a folding bike. Fits on your car trunk and easy to store. Bright color is a safety feature. Don't you want on of these? I am not sure if it's available anywhere for sale but you can read more here.

Update:
More detailed discussion here, disappointingly it's not something you can buy now. You can still find folding bikes but they may not be as fancy as this one.

While you were gone, I had been reading!

2007-05-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

For the past couple months I had been reading, reading and reading. Hey! its been ages since I finished a book, so...I'll excuse myself for doing something stupid like this :-)
Here is the list of books in the order in which I read them.

The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

- Talks about globalization in 21st century and lists 10 flatteners that make the world flat. Primarily focus is on IT and India. He also then talks about the unflat world. This is quite a read, it talks a lot about history and some interesting facts like UPS employees repairing Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba to expedite service. Pretty Interesting!

The 360-Degree Leader by John C. Maxwell

- Liked it. Shows how to emerge as a leader no matter where you are in an organization. Proves titles have no value in leadership. I recommend this to all of you. However, if you read this you must also read the next book The Dilbert Principle so you get the best of both worlds.

The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams

- While John C. Maxwell in The 360-Degree Leader conveys selfless dedication and talent will ultimately be rewarded, Scott Adams says No. Explains "The unskilled get promoted because higher they climb the lesser the risk of causing any problem". Scott Adams talks about his work days and a hypothetical company called OA5 (out at 5) where all employees must leave work at 5 to explain happy employees are more productive. Although written in the dotcom bubble era with unreasonable generalization, it still is interesting and humorous to read.

The Joy of Work by Scott Adams

- This is the book I read last, but probably the least I remember about. Scott Adams talks about boss managing strategies, getting your co-workers to do your work and a few other things so you can live a selfish and happy life. Read this for the humor but don't follow it religiously! Scott warns about it too!

Why doesn't Adobe.com use Flex?

2007-03-31T22:37:00.000-06:00

One of the all time most visited links in my blog is: Flex Vs Ajax - Which one is better and why? Interesting comparison though I don't provide an answer to the question since both flex and ajax have their own advantages and are good at them. And so I thought I'll revisit on this topic today.

One of the biggest flex turn offs for me is the way in which adobe promotes it. Pathetic! Since flex is a product of adobe, I've visited adobe.com many times to see what they are doing with flex, but I've always been disappointed because most part of their website still is in web 1.0; no flex nor ajax! Look at these pages: 1) registration page 2) forgot password . Traditional!

Adobe did do a good job at converting their website to coldfusion soon after the acquisition of macromedia. They believe in their product! Wait! Really? Do you think so? Because I don't!!!

I did hop in to a fairly decent adobe site, the adobe store. Looks good! The page is in coldfusion and pretty impressive. Do they have a page that is done in flex? (note that the extension for flex is .mxml). They could have done the adobe store in flex at least to showcase the power of flex. For example, the drag and drop shopping cart and all that cinematic stuff that can be done using flex.

Not seeing much of their own products in their website makes me think that they don't believe in their products or that they are planning on discontinuing some of their products.

Take Microsoft for example, their website serves as a good example of their products. Also take a look at http://expo.live.com/ Totally .Net Ajax!!!

Chicago Autoshow 2007 - Alpina is here.

2007-02-13T14:11:00.000-06:00

I visited the chicago auto show last saturday. The chicago auto show is the largest autoshow in the nation in terms of attendance. Over the past years I've always visited the NAIAS which is held at detroit. Detroit, however outranks Chicago in terms of total number of cars, introductions and media impact besides being the home of the big 3(Chrysler, GM and Ford).

The main differece I noticed between the two was that at the chicago auto show car makers such as Chrysler, GM and Lexus had their staff drive cars indoor showing off their power, performance and features. Guests, however, can only be passengers on the ride. There are tons of videos on you tube from visitors such as this one (Jeep test drive). Also check out this video(2007 Chicago auto show preview).

Interesting debuts include 2007 ES 350, pontiac G8, and the most awaited BMW's ALPINA B7 (supercharged V8, 500 hp, 0-60 mph in 4.8sec, top speed 186 mph, base price: $115K).

The BMW ALPINA B7 brings together the luxury, pioneering design, and advanced technology of the 7 Series Sedan. ALPINA was established in 1964 as an official and approved ìennoblerî of BMW automobiles. Their tradition is to take production BMWs and make them even more appealing to connoisseurs of automotive finery. The Alpina B7 has been on sale in Europe since 2004.

If you live in chicago, don't miss the chicago auto show at McCormick Place which ends Feb 18, 2007.

States I've visited

2007-02-13T13:53:00.000-06:00

create your own personalized map of the USA

Nice service, you must check it out. FUN!

iPhone - quick...Are you in or are you out?

2007-01-11T14:20:00.001-06:00

"Primarily, the iPhone is a phone, the other features are there if you ever wanted it. If you are trying to replace your camera or want to watch movies on a regular basis, this may not be the best device!"

Apple's iPhone has generated an insane amount of discussion on the internet. Is it because of the design or because of the nifty new features or simply because it's made by Apple or all of the above? Whatever the answer is, the bottom line is as a consumer, what is the first choice your heart makes? Quick.....Are you in or are you out?

Yes I am in!

1. iPod was kool, so will be the iPhone.

2. I carry my iPod and cell phone all the time, both in one - the iPhone is what I always wanted.

3. When I want to take pictures, even though it's only 2 MP, the assurance that a camera(built in on the iPhone) is with me all the time is a big plus.

4. I can browse the internet on widescreen and drag pages with my fingers (oh gosh, drives me crazy, love it)

Details here: http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Oh wait...On second thought:

1. What? I can only buy it through Cingular and I have to sign a new 2 year contract with them?

2. Apple is historically known to a) over promise b) release multiple versions of it soon, just like we had the ipod nano, mini, etc. c) Apple is known to make huge transitions without backward compatibility. So I should wait.

3. 4 GB or 8 GB is less. I bet 30 GB or more should be out pretty soon after initial release. So I should wait.

My thoughts now:

I love the concept of the iPhone - it has everything I always wanted to carry with me. While still in its infancy, I would not make any bad comments about the iPhone. iPhone will definetly go through all the cycles that iPod went through, from color to size. Built in GPS would be nice, but then it's over killing a small device. Since it's a GSM phone, I'd expect it to work with any carrier by flipping the sim card rather than being tied to any single carrier.

I think its a great product if you look at it in the following perspective:

"Primarily, the iPhone is a phone, the other features are there if you ever wanted it. If you are trying to replace your camera or want to watch movies on a regular basis, this may not be the best device!"

So, How about you? Are you in or are you out?

A look back at the rumored iPhone designs

technorati tags:apple

Life without GPS Not worth it

2006-12-15T13:45:00.000-06:00

Being a voracious traveler, I had been using online mapping services like mapquest and google maps for a very long time. Even though I am not very bad with my directional sense, I've been lost terribly a few times with the printed maps. Carrying an atlas hasn't helped much either.

I recently bought a Garmin Street Pilot c330

This GPS unit is:
- portable (mountable on dash)
- preloaded with detailed maps
- touch screen display
- voice guidance
- vivid light sensitive graphics display

It's such a time saver. I just hop in to the car, punch in the address and the GPS tells me where to go turn-by-turn. I've been happy in terms of directions from Garmin as it sources from Navteq.
I am not sure where Magellan, Cobra and TomTom source from? I am very happy with Garmin and would like to hear about experiences from others.

I had been wanting to buy a GPS unit for a very long time, but kept procrastinating it for whatever reason. May be for the bells and whistles I wanted, the price was much higher. For me, the must features were, portability, touch screen, voice guidance, preloaded maps. Since I've gotten the unit, I feel stupid for not buying it early.

Anyway, the Garmin Street Pilot c330 has a retail tag close to $1000, but sells in amazon.com for just $299 with free-shipping and no sales taxes (Same thing sells in Best buy for $399 + sales taxes)

With the recent sales tax law, if a company has a physical location in a state it must charge sales tax on online sales as well. Amazon, however, does not have physical stores and so is not obligated to charge you sales tax :-)

If you are in the market for a GPS, I'd strongly recommend the Garmin Street Pilot c330 from amazon.

Free U.S phone number and voicemail

2006-12-14T08:50:00.000-06:00

OK. You're going to love this one. Netzero is offering free phone number and voice mail. I signed up a couple days ago, and it's totally awesome! You can pick any area code in the US and get alerts to your email/mobile and check them online when you receive a new voice mail. I guess foreign users can sign up as well and get a US number. The reason Netzero calls it private phone has to do with the fact that they do take your privacy seriously and do not publish your number to spam you. You can sign up and get a free number by clicking here.
-It can also be used as an audio blogging tool.
-Other uses include audio posts or voicemail on your Myspace, Friendster, personal website.
Here's a FAQ on everything you need to know about this service.
Get a FREE local telephone number to use online

Movie downloads via Xbox 360

2006-11-27T12:29:00.000-06:00

My new toy for this Thanksgiving is the Xbox 360 and I have it hooked up to my home theater system and HDTV. Totally rocks! The Xbox 360 was launched on May of 2005, so I am late. There is a new feature that was launched on November 22, 2006 for the Xbox 360. The ability to rent movies via your Xbox 360, making Microsoft the first to launch this feature. It is analogous to the iTV, a set-top box that is being developed by Apple for release in the first quarter of 2007.

You can rent a movie by paying using Microsoft points available for retail purchase. Another gift idea for someone who owns Xbox 360, Microsoft points! :-) The movie will be deleted automatically after 14 days or after you watch it once whichever occurs first. I was pretty impressed with the download speed through my High Speed Internet and was curious if the 360 uses bit torrent for its downloads.

In short, it is sort of like your cable Pay per view, but the only thing is you'll have to wait for it to download first. There are not a whole lot of movies available at this time, but I can see the list growing soon.

The ability to rent movies online without leaving your home or waiting for movies (netflix/blockbuster) to arrive is definitely a plus sometimes.