The Unaddicted Blogger

Subject: PERSISTENT problems with TRIBAND – 2890****
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 22:54:17 +0530

Subject: The Xperia X1
Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 10:41:31 +0000
Hi,
I waited for nearly a year for the launch of the X1 in India and bought it the very next day after the launch. I was genuinely please by the phone and continue to feel proud owning one.

But, the phone has not come without it’s share of issues.
1. Within 3 months of purchase, the paint of the optical pad started peeling off. I got this sorted at the service centre who changed the entire front panel. But the following day of collection of phone from the service centre, I noticed a yawning gap between the screen and the top panel. I was told that the service centre could not close it properly like it had been closed during manufacture.

2. The paint of the back panel peeled off and resembled a 3 year old phone within 3 months of careful use. I got this replaced as well but within a month, the paint on the new panel also peeled off.

3. The touchpad under the keyboard stopped working and had to be replaced within a year. It’s been a year since the replacement and the keyboard is acting up again. I have to put too much pressure to type and many a times, the types key causes multiple characters to print in screen.

4. The latest and current issue : I can’t hear a thing when I make/receive a call. If I use the speaker/handsfree unit, I can hear clearly but the earpiece has conked off.

After paying such a heavy price for the phone, it’s really disappointing to find the phone causing so many issues. My last phone – the w800i – is eight years old and hasn’t had any such issues yet.

I request you to look into this if possible. Regardless, my next phone will still be a SE.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers.
Claude Veigas

After this mail, SE got in touch with me and resolved my issues.

As the population of Bombay increases, nature is being pushed to the brink of extinction. Unfortunately, we fail to realise that by doing so, we are resigning ourselves to the same fate.

People come to Bombay from all over India and most of them end up living in shanties with no basic amenities. Many of these shanties are built by reclaiming land from the sea and by destroying the mangroves without any realization of their importance.

Simply put, mangroves provide the sponge effect to absorb water during high tides which would otherwise flood the coastal regions. They also maintain a wealth of marine life and are key to this eco-system.

In a few years, the group of seven islands which became one, may soon find itself submerged below sea level with no shanties or even tall buildings in sight. The state government of Maharashtra has to take measures immediately to rectify  the situation as planting of trees is possible but planting of mangroves isn’t.

For out own sakes, we NEED to act now.

And how difficult is it to implement an online admission system ?

We could start by assigning each student with a unique student number right from grade 1 (or use the unique identification number being implemented by the central govt.). This number will hold all qualifications by the students in a central database irrespective of whether the student finally decides to do a diploma, a degree or a phd.

After 10th grade, students who have passed should be able to login to a system and just select their preferred colleges. The marks would automatically be accessed from the system.Employers could use the same student number to verify student qualifications.

Technically, this is very easy to implement as all you need is a database and a web based user interface and would not take more than a month to develop. But, since we still depend on the state governement to sort this out, it may be sometime before this is fully implemented.

Students who have passed 10th grade are still awaiting the results of a court case to get admissions and resume studies. Couldn’t the government have anticipated this so that students don’t suffer ? Why are policies like best of 5 implemented at the last moment without any thought given to the repercussions ?

Tariff for autorickshaws was implemented but 4 days later, we still do not see any of the new tariff cards.

The government definitely needs a team to analyse the effects of each policy implementation objectively instead of first implementing something and then backtracking.

A few days back, I had mailed the Joint Commissioner of Police – Traffic to consider changes in the half-yearly PUC procedure for vehicles. Here’s what I suggested :

When person comes for PUC the following can be checked :
1. Car Emissions
2. All 3 mirrors should be in working order
3. All indicators and lights such as brake lights, head lights etc should be functional
4. Insurance papers of car should be in order
5. License of driver should be valid
6. Decibel levels of engine – especially taxis and autos should be within a prescribed range
7. Tyre threads to ensure that the vehicle does not skid in case of emergency braking

Some other points :
1. This checking can be done annually instead of doing it every 6 months
2. Car license plate + date of PUC can be fed into a computer system. Over time, a complete database will be built. Officers can have hand-held devices where they can punch in the license plate of any vehicle and obtain the PUC information.
3. 3-4 weeks before the next check, an sms, email or mailer can be sent to the car owner to get his vehicle checked
4. Make it illegal to run a vehicle without the above certificate
5. If a car is found not to be road worthy but possesses a PUC certificate, the person issuing the certificate can be taken to task.

All of the above will help bring some order to the chaos and help our city to be less polluted.

- Claude Veigas

The only way forward has to be paved green. Here’s a work-in-progress compilation of ways to be save the environment.

Water
Don’t keep the tap running when brushing
Use a bucket instead of a shower or take shorter showers
Replace faulty/leaking taps
Use washing machine only with full loads
Use Rain Water Harvesting techniques for flushing, gardening, washing cars
Use grey-water recycling techniques
Use washing machine only with full capacity

Electricity
Turn off all electrical appliances when leaving a room
Switch to LED/CFL/Tube-lights in that order
Raising the temperature of the air-con by even 1 degree saves electricity. Start by setting it to 24 degrees and raise the temperature as the room cools down

Vehicles
Try and join a car-pool program
Opt for auto-rikshaw / cab -sharing
Cycle to work
Use public transport
Use hybrid cars

Use Solar / Wind energy :
- for powering lights
- for heating water

Gas
Cook in utensils with closed lids
Invest in some thermoware which keep food warm. That way you do not have to reheat food often

A Christian dies and is escorted by angels to the pearly gates to face the Maker. Out of the blindning light, comes the booming voice of God asking “What God did you worship when you were alive ? Which religion did you follow? ” (For argument sake, let’s assume that the all-knowing God does not know the answer to this particular question)
The Christian replies “Jesus Christ” and suddenly he finds himself being dragged to hell. He protests saying that he was a good Christian throughout this life and never missed Sunday Mass and always donated in church. He had expected a comfortable after-life in cosy heaven that his religion had promised. God replies “That may be true but your religion also taught you not to worship false gods. Unfortunately, your God was the false one. You worshipped a false God all your life and hence you are sentenced to Hell. The only true god is Brahma and that’s me”.

This would be the ultimate nightmare for a believer of a certain faith. There is no test to ascertain that your God is the true one. What would be the fate of Hindus if they are greeted by Jesus after death ?

Wouldn’t it be much simpler to just lead a good life instead? To touch people’s life as you make this journey from life to death. To make a difference with everything we do ? Wouldn’t a sensible God allow you into heaven if you’ve led a good life but never prayed to him ? Wouldn’t the fact that you helped your fellow human beings tilt the scales in your favour ?

If not, then why should we worship such an egoistic God who cannot see our goodness if we do not worship him ? One who will punish us for helping others just because we decided to spend Sundays helping people in need instead of going to church ?

Time to think again…

- Claude Veigas

As kids, our parents taught us that there was a God watching us when they weren’t watching us themselves. We in turn, will teach our kids the same. Each generation has been brainwashing the next into believing that they are being watched by an entity called God. This ‘benevolent’ God is not happy just existing in everyone’s minds. He needs to be worshiped and praised, failing which HE (always masculine) has serious ego issues and could unleash his wrath on you.

As a child, if I was taught that there was a teaspoon orbiting in space which governed the entire universe and any utterance against it would mean losing my life, I would have believed it. I would teach my kids the same and soon there would be thousands of spoon followers.

How difficult is it for people to understand that they are being taken for a ride in the name of religion ? It’s not enough to be a good person anymore. If you don’t worship one of these egoistic Gods, your life & afterlife are both damned. It’s faith, I hear someone say. I asked my friend is he wanted watch the movie ‘Angels & Demons’ and he quite bluntly refused saying that the storyline was against his faith. I wonder how strong his faith is, which could be shaken by a fictional movie.

As an atheist, if I die and and I’m taken before a God, I’ll be surprised that he exists. As a theist, if you die and you don’t see a God, you will be shocked. You spent hours everyday worshiping someone who does not exist and isn’t going to be standing at some pearly gates to welcome you. If you do see a God and he turns out to be the God of a different religion, you are damned anyways for worshiping a false God all your life. If everyone seriously believes that all Gods are the same, we would have seen far more religious tolerance.

God is a convenience that we need when we are alone and need to talk to someone. He is an invention by humans to keep people in check. If he did exist, how could he tolerate my writing when in the ‘olden days’, I would have been struck down by plague or fire from the sky, for lesser ’sins’!!! All you need to do is think logically and question everything that you’ve been taught. Those who taught you about God haven’t seen him and neither have the ones who taught them. Yet, you believe or are frightened into believing. The truth is out there. You just have to ask the right questions.
- Claude Veigas

I think I’ve cracked it..the reason why so many drivers are in a hurry to overtake, given the narrowest of spaces on our already narrow roads. The call of nature. The desperate need to use the restroom as soon as they are in the driver’s seat makes them do what they do. But can just better bladder control reduce our woes ?

The driver gets into his car and drives to the building gate and sees the oncoming traffic because a signal at the end of the road has just turned green. Within a few seconds the signal will turn red and the traffic will ease but Mr. Driver still inches ahead as far as he can onto the road. Firstly, he blocks the footpath and all pedestrians now have to walk on the road in oncoming traffic to accommodate our driver. The oncoming vehicles now notice the driver and have to slow down and move slightly to their right to accommodate this one vehicle and the pedestrians.

Mr. Driver has reached the set of traffic lights down the road which are about to turn red. In India, the yellow/orange light does not mean ’stop if you’ve just reached the signal’. It means move faster because you still have time before the lights change to red. Nevertheless, this time our driver does not make it in time despite his speed and the power of his horn. He stops the car but so far ahead of the white/stop line that all pedestrians now have to walk in between all the stopped cars rather than walking straight on the zebra crossing.

Finally on the main road, the driver whizzes in and out of lanes, overtaking from left and right to reach his destination and relieve himself. It’s left to the other drivers to guess his next move. Driving like this is so much fun as all other drivers have to be ready for Mr. Driver’s next stunt. I’m sure research will prove that driving sharpens your brains more than Sudoko. Mr. Driver also takes care of his indicator lights by never using them. Rear view mirrors are kept folded to be used only in case of emergencies.

Ideal situation:
1. The driver reaches the gate and FIRST makes sure that the car does not block any pedestrians or endanger them by making them walk on the road. Employ the services of your watchman, if you cannot see the oncoming traffic. Pedestrians have priority on the footpath – they don’t pollute, you do.
2. At junctions, if you’ve not reached the traffic lights and they have turned orange, STOP. The orange light is for traffic already in the junction to clear off. Stop behind the white line at the signal. This is usually well behind the zebra crossing. Let pedestrians cross where they are supposed to.
3. Stay in lane. If you have to turn left or right, move to the appropriate lane by indicating. Remember that you are on the road and not an airstrip – your vehicle’s tyres should be within the white lines and you should not be driving over them at any time except while changing lanes.
4. Let everyone know of your intensions well in advance by indicating and/or using hand signals. When indicating, make sure that the person behind has seen your signal and knows about your intentions. Very often, drivers start moving into your lane as soon as they start indicating. Remember that indicating does not give yoU the right to change lanes.
5. If there are three lanes, there should only be three lanes of traffic and not six.
6. And most important – Don’t drink and drive.

-  Claude Veigas