Shift + Delete.. Wait.. Why???????? :’(

Exams are over. Time to get back to the stuff I was working on before the exams (No not studies. I was not studying before the exams. That was done during the exams). Time to get back to that simple stock keeping application I was making for my Dad. Before the exams I had completed quite a lot of the basic aspects of the software that kind of made it a basic and functioning stock keeping software. When the exams started I had no choice but to leave it till the exams got over. So now I was with my exams over, ready to get back to working on the software. I was happy until….. that Shift + Delete Syndrome came over me. So here’s what happened.

Why WindowsPhone can rule them all

In an earlier post, I wrote how iOS is better than Android and how it will be ruling the smartphone arena for some time to come. I regret to say that it is not the case anymore. Android has already overtaken iOS in terms of total market share around the world and has as many apps. However, still I believe that none of these two will rule the smartphone kingdom. For me, the winner in the long run would be WindowsPhone.

Click on image to enlarge

Microsoft announced the WindowsPhone7 (WP7) in December 2009 and even arranged for a symbolic funeral for iOS and Android indicating it's intentions to kill. The first devices running WP7 were released in the Europe and USA in October-November last year, whereas in India the OS has been launched officially only very recently.

For starters, let me first tell you some background history around the WP7 development. Microsoft earlier had it's Windows Mobile platform in the market which was aimed more at enterprise users rather than the youth and the man in the street. When Apple introduced iPhone which was followed by Google launching Android, Microsoft decided to go back to the basics and start from scratch. After some time of hard work WP7 was born.

Improving Cricket Games: Miscellaneous

There is Batting, Bowling and Fielding... But there's more to cricket, at least in a video game. So here I'll be talking about all those "other" things.

Improving Cricket Games: Bowling, Fielding

After looking at batting, I would now like to discuss about the two other pillars of the game- Bowling and Fielding.
Bowling is more or less quite good in most games and there is little room for improvement but still i would like to suggest some changes.

Improving Cricket Games: Batting

India loves cricket. I love cricket and you are reading this so i will suppose that you also have a soft corner for cricket in your heart. As popular cricket is in real, the video games have not been able to transform that charisma into a good game, more often than not. I have played EA Cricket 04, 05, 07 and also Codemasters’ Ashes 2009 but somehow my appetite for a good game was left unfulfilled.
This post and other in this series are more an attempt to define what according to me should make a good cricket based game and though many features might be present in different games by different studios, most of them aren’t.

Changing the face of Public Transport in Delhi

As a college student, I travel everyday to and from my college by bus. Last week when I heard that DTC buses will be fitted with GPS modules (read our earlier post to know what GPS is) and the info regarding arrival of a bus will be displayed on a screen at the bus stop, the news was welcomed by all because this will help DTC to improve their service and overall commuters' experience. Bus drivers will drive with more caution and responsibility because every movement of each bus will be monitored using satellite navigation system.

Since then, I have been thinking about what more can be done in addition to all this to make travelling by a DTC bus more technically rich and a simplified process.

I have come up with some ideas:

Can tablet devices bring the much needed educational reform?

Tablet computing devices had been around for quite a long time but then, they used to be sluggish with unimpressive features, were poorly designed and low in sales figures. The iPad was launched in 2010 and revived this genre. What followed it was a big bunch of similar products running on Android by different manufacturers. 2011 is no different as we've already seen the launch of iPad2 (in the US and European countries) and tablets by Samsung, LG, HTC and other manufacturers as well.

The other day, I was playing with my 4 year old niece and the toy she was holding in her hands was the iPad. I was amused at the ease with which she was accessing games, pictures and videos on that device and that incident made me think if tablet devices can bring the much needed change in educational system in India. When i was 4 year old, we did not have the computer at home but when one was bought in the year 1999, it took me some time to get used to those strange things called mouse and keyboard. Today, with tablets in the market, the children don’t have to worry about those peripheral devices as all the operations are touch based.

Why I think iOS is Better than android

The leading smartphone operating systems at the time are the iOS and the Android while Nokia seems to be lagging behind as people still not consider S60 5th edition or S^3 as user friendly as the Android or iOS and the much awaited meego is still nowhere to be seen.
The Blackberry phones have their own target audience and so for a general smartphone user, the two main choices are Android or the iPhone.

My personal opinion is that iOS is better than android though presently Android has more devices and is the hot thing right now.

Sudden transition to liking FOSS

Yesterday I was writing my first post on the topic why I am not really ready/willing to switch to FOSS platform and abandon my windows OS. This post was never published as my phone on which I was writing the post crashed. I wrote in it about how unexciting the concept of FOSS seemed to me. How I didn't really like any FOSS software...

I am not going to write that post again because suddenly I feel my perception to FOSS has changed.... Today at college we had a workshop on php and drupal where we were given a basic intro to these softwares. I knew php earlier too but, what really changed my perception to FOSS is drupal. It is from this package only that I am really able to appreciate the concept of FOSS... Drupal is a great tool for creating great looking websites in minimum time span. Using drupal you don't need to worry much about the technical implementation details of your website.

Now, before I proceed I would like to give a brief intro to what drupal is... Drupal is basically a content management system(CMS) for your websites. It allows you to manage and organize all your website content and put them up on custom 'themes and modules' based web pages. These themes and modules are the main reasons that I think make drupal a really exciting tool to use. There is a huge community base supporting drupal who are constantly providing newer and newer themes and modules for drupal. Its not been much time since I have started using drupal(not even a full day) and I already am in love with it. I love its simplicity, innovation and expandability...

I was planning on a full fledged post on drupal today, but midway through the post I realize that I am not yet fully equipped with knowledge to do that. But, in the coming days(when I am better equipped) I will definitely have a full fledged post describing all its features...

So that was my first post on this blog. Should have been the second but.... technical reasons!! So goodbye friends, and do post your views in the comments section.
Saurav Deb P.