59PC!

If you have even been to 59PC you will relate to this a little more than others but this is an informational blog and 59PC holds a special place in my heart. 59PC for the lesser informed is the place where most people land up to meet up with friends and have a good time. Also known to host movie premieres as well as preview shows, its a place where booze tends to find its own way in not to mention "piggie fests" when certain guests are in town! Aite, aite, its my pad, my place of residence, my personal heaven on earth.

I have hosted my share of parties over the past few years, mostly with the help of my friends. Am gonna mention a few names who have not only instigated me but have helped me on my way by way of preparing funky invites, assured participation and most importantly sourcing of both food and drink! Let me name the chosen few who have had a hand in making 59PC what it is! First and Foremost, Shyam "Jack", Tanya "NOT SPOILT", Mekhala "Mekhu", Madhav "Jackass" aka Bodo, Dheeraj "DJ", Debahuty "Piply", Madhur "Madzy", Anuj "Sunny" (who knew his name was Anuj?). Guest Appearances from Arjun "Arjun" Mohanrao, Meenakshi "Meen", Dilpreet "Preeto", Jaspreet "Jas" (yeah idiot), Aman "The dude" (He let me drive his civic), Saurabh, Sorabh "My man" Mohey, Utpal "Uppu", Sahil "Idiot" Butz, Jauymini "JB". Food provided by Usha Aunty and the SAC's Hut! If i have missed your name please forgive me. But right at the end, i must mention one more name without which 59PC could never have been the place it is now. That name is Krishna "Kicha" Menon. Ma brudder is the guy who has showered his "love" (means gadgets) upon me. Heck some of them he dont even know about!! :)

Anyway coming back to the place. Well 59PC is located in the New Delhi cantonment area. Indirectly it means that the surroundings are nice and green and the weather is cooler (temp wise) than outside the cantt area! Most of the time my friends are able to enter the cantt area without a problem but on occasion i have had to pull my weight (which is a lot) to get them in. Even after entering the cantt people tend to get lost inspite of enough signages, because of the multiple entry points into the area. Like typical armed forces accomodation it has been painted every year but still manages to look bad after the monsoon. I live on the first floor but with some amazing luck, i have rarely had neighbours! Even when they have been around, its always been for short duration. Short enough to give them the impression that the party must be a one off thing! :)

Anyway, other than being a party destination, 59PC also tends to multitask as a halfway house for me parents and Krishna. Aside from this the guesthouse is in full force for atleast a few months every year. The cab service run by yours truly runs through the year. I do it with a smile on my face because i have no other option! :) (see still smiling) Its a price i am very willing to pay for having the place to myself the rest of the time!

Of the parties that have been hosted on the premises a few very distinctly come to mind. These were those parties which took some planning and also led to shyam being sick for the next few days :P An example of his would have to be the "Bar Mitzvah" held in honour of Shyam and my birthdays. That was an awesome party although it ended a little early for me on account of the wastedness. Both hosts were out first!! We owed the continuation of that party to other people!! :D
Another awesome party was a brainchild of Shyam (Technically, he used to make all the invites) "Sharabian Nights" aka Beer and Biryani night. Ruddy brilliant concept and execution.

Of course the last big party of that nature was on Premiere Night. No invite was prepared but it really wasn't required. A big bunch of us got together to premiere "Life, Love & All That" and preview "Crouching Deepak, Hidden Shanbhag"
This was a quintessential shi shi fu fu party (thanks DJ) with some superb snacks presented even more superbly. It was night to remember, especially since it was also a farewell party to Shyam who is currently pursuing his Masters in Communication (Advertising)in the land down under!


Anyway let me close this post by saying that in all likelihood, 59PC is going to be invaded by parents by end of the year or i will have to let it go, so until then i am throwing an open invite to one and all to visit and enjoy the wonders of 59PC. I promise you a great time!

Cheers!!
Jack to you!



p.s Names in this post are a figment of my imagination. All the hard work and creativity is mine! :P JUST KIDDING! The names are not in order of preference! ;)

An iphone forward!

I received this forward some time back and sent off a rebuttal soon after. Here's the uncensored version! My apologies for the bad language.. Nobody disses the iphone that much! :D

Good Evening,
As a huge apple fan, i am completely disheartened with their decision to launch the apple iphone as a luxury phone! I mean 31 and 36k. No way i shall be buying it anytime soon. Yup, no 3g either in india. 3G here refers to the kind of gsm network. The data speeds are somthing like 10times faster than the current 2.5G we have.

Howvever, dissing on the iphone using the indian mentality is something which i wont stand for so here are some points which you may call as my rebuttal. My comments are highlighted Below. Some of the points made are valid but others are just plain dumb!!

Read on for further information.

Cheers

Your friendly neighbourhood Neo


On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 3:50 PM, Somebody wrote:

Hi All,
Read before buying your 3G iphone in India for 31000 and 36000 for 8 Gb and 16 Gb respectively !
Somebody.

This is from my I.T. guys, and pretty authentic. Please share with your friends'
BUYERS BEWARE!!

Friends ...those of you in India planning for iPhone... THINK TWICE BEFORE MAKING A DECISION... The shortcomings of iPhone are endless...

(as is with this email, jackass)

* No video calling oh yeah, i was just video calling my buds in blore! I haven't really seen this as an issue before? since when have we indians bothered to make video calls? you really think our network is that fast? The call wouldve ended before the damn video comes thru

* No AD2P on the Bluetooth,

* CAN'T share ANY (mp3, images, videos....) files via bluetooth, if you have ever read about an ipod, iphone you will know, that it is a secure device, not meant for sharing? Anyone buying an ipod aint buying it so he/she can share with her friends. In anycase the previous point merely reflects the same thing

* Can't use as a wireless modem, (you pay ridiculous data charges to activate internet on your phone , but cannot connect it to your PC and browse when you are at home) (the first porion of this point is bang on, you can't use the iphone as a modem. but the second portion just pisses me off! Who is paying ridiculous data charges? FYI, airtel is gonna give iphone users 500mb/month free data and then 50p/mb thereafter for 12 months. Sweet deal if u ask me)

* No copy and paste, (cannot copy a part of a.... Say... email & send it....have to type it out yourself) (Well smarty pants, if you are in IT i pity the company you work for. Ever heard of fwd? no copy paste is true but i think its more relevant when talking abt sms. Oh and BTW as another downer there's not forwarding of msg's)

* No 3.2 or 5 mega pixel camera, (the 2MP camera it carries is worst camera I've ever seen... photos look like they have come out of a VGA camera) (I see that you haven't really used an iphone? Ask anybody who has ever used an iphone, they will vouch for the fact that inspite of having only a 2 mp cam, the iphone snaps are awesome. I guess you are still using your VGA camera phone which came out in 1999. Move on dude. Not every phone can have a 3.2 mp camera. BTW you forgot to mention no Flash)

* No video recording with camera,

* No front camera, No flash. (well i guess i jumped the gun. You seem to break one issue into 3 to make this email seem endless. Again, front camera is for people who want to video call and as i explained earlier, its not something that's a deal breaker)

* No JAVA support (It's only a software issue man, i am sure if there is massive hue and cry they will fix this)

* No physical keyboard (BELIEVE me! this alone is a deal breaker...touch keyboard as good as it looks...once you use it then only you come to know about the importance of having a hard keypad) (No physical keyboard is a deal breaker? Again, this is not a regular phone. Its an apple iphone, its new, its swanky is funky. I like the touch keypad/keyboard. Takes getting used to but grows on you! )

* No 3G network yet in India, so why pay for expensive 3G phone if you cant use its 3G services ... so, for India, iPhone 2.0 is no better than its first version ( Well 3G is likely to roll out by mid next year. They are clearly stating there's no 3g. Atleast being honest right? Technically speaking both iphone versions cost the same so whether they sold a 2g or 3g version it really doesnt make a difference. Atleast now when they roll out 3g you will have a compatible phone but oh wait, u havent even used an iphone much less bought one, so my bad man, my bad)

* No removable battery. (You cannot change battery. Have to send it to apple outlet.. Come on now!...This is not an iPod. It is a bloody phone. You cannot live without phone for 2-3 days) (Well i dont have statistics but i am thinking that the iphone battery conking off is not that common. Its like the ipod battery. I havent really heard anyone complain that the battery is messed up and needs a replacement.)

* No haptic feedback and cannot send MMS, ( well there's no way of knowing this, but i dont think JIMMY knows what Haptic Feedback is? I din't. Had to google it. You should too. IMO not required really)

* can't use as external storage device (16 GB of utter waste. Next time you go to your friend's house & find some interesting songs, movies , etc...Sorry you cannot connect your '16 GB' phone and share it! Apple apparently has a solution.. ' BUY MUSIC & MOVIES FROM iTUNES STORE '...... Give me a break will you APPLE!!!) (Yea, apple give JIMMY a break. I really dint know that I could buy music and movies from the itunes store in india. Next time you go to your friends house and find some interesting songs, movies etc, make sure you have a PEN DRIVE. Its this small USB device that will fit in your pocket. It comes in various storage capacities from 1gb to 32gig )

* No FM radio, (yea, i have an ipod and i wanna listen to the radio. Get your priorities in order. Maybe its just me but i prefer to be in control of what music i am listening to)

* can't use your mp3 files as ring tones,(This is heights man!!!) (agreed, this is quite sad)

* Cannot insert any other SIM card…. (Duh! Locked stands from something man!)

* Completely tied to iTunes... Connect to your friend's iTunes & you risk erasing everything on your phone. (Be a little smart and don't connect your iphone to another computer without making sure that he auto sync is disabled)

List goes on & on & on….

* We Indians are used to these features. Most of our phones already have these features. & we cannot do with out them.... I mean can you imagine paying so much for a phone with which you cannot transfer files via Bluetooth. What age is this ...STONE AGE???

* Some features may be activated by jailbreak... But why the hell should you risk losing your warranty after paying so much. (Do you know what jailbreak is?)

* And want to add third party software's??? YOU HAVE TO BUY THEM FROM iTUNES STORE ONLY!!! . (Shell out more money). Apple is a bloody control freak. Don't surrender your freedom to it. (uh huh! so that's where jailbreak is required)

* It's good for American market (who have no idea what mobile freedom/choice is) which is in stone age compared to Asian European markets. When they want to buy a phone, they have to go to network operators and buy only those phones that are available on that network. & stick to that company until their contract expires. You want to change carriers? Not before paying damages, & buying another phone on the other network again. (oh so americans have no idea of freedom and choice? Which planet you living on man. You can change providers at will, sure it depends on which contract you sign while starting out, how much you will pay while exiting. Its called a contract for a reason. You really don't have to pay for whichever handset you choose because of that same contract. The iphone is subsidised by AT&T to $199 but you can't leave the store without buying a connection which at minimum will bring the cost to over $500. That means that apple isn't really over pricing it that much here)

* On the contrary, we in India have so much freedom. We go to handset shops & buy whichever phone we like. Then go to carriers.. checkout the plans & buy SIM.. Don't like the plan or rival carrier came up with a better plan???? EASY .. just remove & replace the SIM.

* Apple is trying to IMPOSE THEIR MODEL ON US riding on the hype iPhone has created in the US (yes it was a flop in Europe ...that's why Apple never talks about its sales in Europe).

* Don't fall for the subsidized price of iPhone... CHECKOUT THE DATA PLAN ATTACHED TO ITS SIM ..they will recover the cost through ridiculous data plans. Bill might come to around Rs 2500/month.(ATLEAST AMERICANS PAY THAT MUCH) (hahaha, read a fricking newspaper, no subsidized iphone here. I would actually consider buying an iphone if it were subsidized. the monthly charges could thus be taken as a emi)

* Let me clear one thing though.. iphone is the best-looking phone (its touch interface is nothing like you have ever seen ), & best browsing experience out there no doubt .... (& others are fast catching up. check out the android demo at Google IO 2008).... BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO FUNCTIONALITY...

* Those of who buy it... You will be most happy for almost a week... & then, ...YOU START REGRETTING IT!!!

* My advice...WAIT FOR HTC DREAM (powered by android), NOKIA N96!! Still not convinced by then...by all means go for iPhone...

* So friends lets spread this info to all our friends and help them in making a wise decision..... & those of you who have bought unlocked versions already please share your experiences with others.

Whatever you might say or do. 1 thing is clear. The device is awesome. Some of the kinks can be fixed with simple software updates. It's really that simple. Other's like flash don't have solutions, but I can live with it.

If you think i was too harsh and dint make valid points! Well I don't care. Diss on it all you want. I am an apple fan. Steve Jobs has revolutionized the market with his ipod and iphone! You are the man!

An interesting piece of news. Bloomberg accidently printed a Steve Jobs orbituary by mistake yesterday!

ROCK ON!

Life since the iphone launch!

It has been a while since i posted. Coupla reasons for it which include laziness, boredom and well for the longest time I was just busy....

Well as you might know, the Iphone launched amongst a lot of buzz and boo's in india in august. Boo's because of mostly the price. I was totally against buying the iphone right out of the gates mainly coz we dont even have 3G in india. Iphone 3G is known for its lightning fast internet speeds. We are at 2.5G with 3G slated to get released sometime next year. Maybe then it will be a viable option especially because apple is well know for downing the prices every year and i suspect the same shall go down mid next year!

When the iphone was announced in india, there was a major buzz that every tushar, deepak and hrithik will have the iphone within a month of its launch. But frankly, i don't see it that much. Its mostly the rich brats (i dont know too many of them) or businessmen who seem to have gone in for the iphone. Heck, they have even stopped advertising the iphone on TV. Unlike the US where the iphone took the market by storm with people lining up like crazy to buy themselves a phone, here the launch was a quite sad and sales also i am guessing have been nothing to write home about.

I am quite happy though about one thing. In case you didn't know this already, I am a proud owner of an Ipod Touch (now 1st gen). One thing i hated abt the ipod touch was the fact that since i stayed in a country where the itunes store was not open, i dint have access to the games or apps as they are called. I have a wireless router at home so i can access the internet on my ipod but couldnt download some nifty apps which make it so much cooler. But now, i can download apps from the app store. By that i mean i aint paying, i am downloading the good free apps and games. I am hoping that soon we shall also have the itunes store open in india. It will give indian artists the chance to make some money. Sure the number of ipods in this country is miniscule but we are getting there. Also piracy is rampant, who knows it may actually help in curbing it to a certain level.

So life for ipod touch users has changed, but otherwise tushar, deepak and hrithik are still listening to music on their walkman phones!! :D