My brother-in-law intoduced me to this website. He got a very good deal on a pair of shoes and I was tempted. I logged in to jabong.com and instantly an ecoupon was delivered to my inbox. The coupon can be used four times until 31st may 2012, with a discount of 500 rs each time. I need to shop for 1500 rs or above each time, which is not such a huge sum considering the deduction after coupon. I had a quick look on the products and found that the catalogue was quite extensive. They sell major brands online, not some cheap stuff sold at fashion street. You can buy anything from clothing, fashion accessories, house hold furnishing, fragrances etc.

Payment options are by credit card, Cash on Delivery or net banking. Quite impressive. Don’t miss it. It won’t hurt to have a coupon in your inbox in case you feel like shopping online in near future.

I may not be the richest kid in the town but I sure love to buy what my heart craves. I have seen many people flaunt their expensive high end mobiles or those iPads. But when it comes to using those gadgets, they limit themselves to making calls or just watching movies or browsing he internet. The true potential of that device remains unlocked, almost always. It’s very disheartening to find out that people buy high end android phone and play tetris on it.

If you read the autobiography of those devices, you’ll know that they feel their life’s wasted.

Not with me. I try to live my life with technology the fullest and get every bit of juice out of it. And to keep in line with that, I just bought the active 3D glasses for my Samsung SMART TV.

Found a very good offer on ebay.in and decided instantly that I had waited long enough. The seller shipped it to me within 3 days, enough time for me to download two 3D videos. The model number for these Active 3D glasses is SSG 3050GB and is compatible with D6000 and above LED TV released in 2011 and D490, 550 Series and above for Samsung Plasma TV released in 2011. The glasses came in cute packaging and the seller took extra care to pack it in a plastic container to avoid damage. Included in the pack is a short, multilingual, handy operation manual, which doesn’t specify if I should remove the plastic protective covers on the glasses. I guess I have to. The box also contains lint free cloth for cleaning the glass and a non rechargeable battery(standard 3V CR2025). Insert the battery and the glasses are ready for use.

Since this glasses use active shutter technology, you require a dual frame video(L/R). Sadly, we do not have any 3D transmission in India as of now, but the glasses also work with the video running from a pendrive. All you need to do is switch on the glasses using the white poser button on top and place them neat the TV. This will enable the glasses to pair with the TV and once paired, the TV will display a message confirming the pairing. After that, the video can be viewed from a distance of about 2 m to 6 m. For 3D effect, the 3D button on the remote should be pressed and the L/R image mode should be selected.

I had no problems whatsoever in carrying out the process. The pairing went on smoothly and before I realised, I was watching an IMAX video in 3D. The glasses can get a bit uncomfortable due to its weight. Also since there is no provision for recharging, the battery needs to be changed after about 150 hours. Also the design of these glasses is not exactly orthodox and for some they may look strange. But for me, they are entertainment at the fullest.

One drawback of using a data card dongle has been the non availability of network on a single card throughout India,  reason being the flawed licensing methods of our governing bodies. They may have their reasons for doing it their way but being a consumer, I feel cheated when I need to possess many data cards if I roam a lot. Data cards, though bought in bulk for very cheap by the operators, are sold at a premium to the subscribers without any add-on. That’s the second level of cheating we are forced to endure. Then these cards are locked to the operator’s network even though the consumer has paid for it in full. Take these three levels of cheating schemes to the US of A and all the Kokomos and Fairtels and Bodafones will be biting dust. But we are Indians and we are born to suffer.

There is a way out. Infact two ways, one legal, and one not so legal. These methods use the fact that all the data cards use SIMs(Subscriber Identification Modules) to gain connectivity. The legal way is buying network free data card dongle that supports the 3G SIM of the network which you want to use. SIMs are very cheap and one can afford to possess many at a time. Install the SIM in to the data card, activate a good 3G data plan and you are good to go. Few top data cards are described here.

(Disclaimer : The above method is not yet tested by me hence the compatibility of SIM with card should be checked by interested user.)

The other method is unlocking your data card dongle.

(Disclaimer : Legality of this method needs to be checked but I think if you have paid for it fully, it should be legal. These methods are not for novice and may brick your data card if not followed properly. Again, the reliability of this method should be check on internet)

In this method, the IMEI number of your dongle is used to get the unlock code online. Once you get the code, you swap the SIM and connect the dongle to pc. Once it asks for unlock code, enter the generated code. Follow steps as detailed here.

Alternatively you can use this website to download the software for unlocking.

I myself am will be trying the first method soon. Go ahead, unlock your connectivity options.

This particular bird seemed to have, waking me up, on its to-do-today list as a top priority. It kept on chirping outside on my bedroom window sill relentlessly until I woke up. Mind you, alarm clocks don’t wake me up so easily. But this one wouldn’t give up and finally I had to wake up and record its performance.(The real reason behind this continuous show is the reflection of the bird on my mirror glassed windows). Whatever be, this is a very good example of what nature has provided.

I wouldn’t use it as a clock though, as the bird appears at its own time and that would require synchronizing the punch in machine at my office with the bird.

All the 361 London tube stations have been renamed after the past and present great sportspersons of the olympic games. A rare and bold feat, ahead of the opening of the 30th games on 27th July this year. Legends like Muhammad Ali, Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Nadia Comaneci figure in this list.

The point of interest for us Indians is the inclusion of 3 great players of Indian hockey, Dhyan Chand, Roop Chand and Leslie Walter Claudius. Dhyan Chand, Hockey ka Jyadugar( the wizard of hockey), is a well known name in Indian households. Anecdotes about how he was asked to change the hockey stick during a game, fearing that it had some kind of magnetic power in it, are well known. We even had a lesson in our hindi text, entirely dedicated to him. I remember the name Roop Chand referred in some context, I think in one of the Kaun Banega Crorepati episode. But I am not sure. I definitely did not hear about Leslie Walter Claudius. After reading about his exploits in the Olympic games, I was surprised that I read the name for the first time. Or maybe it’s me who is ignorant. And the worst of all, I didn’t know the details about their exploits. Nor did I try to find out, with wikipedia being at hand. Such is the pitiful state of the knowledge of our national game among the current generation. I hate cricket, for being a bat-centric game. I always feel that hockey is being neglected by the current generation. I myself do not take much interest in watching the game. Hockey has been neglected. I believe, or have been led to believe that the team is being mis-managed.

It is heartening to find out that the people who were left mesmerized by the great Indian sportsmen, have not forgotten them. The gesture of renaming the stations is really sporting and I hope that the inclusion of Indian names will rekindle the flame for Hockey amongst the youth of India.

Read Details : The Times of India