Ogay. So i haven’t been on my blog for a long time. I know, my readers now hate me [not that there are any readers, im just being optimistic]. But here’s my third jab at the rebirth of this blog since this was created. Please excuse my earlier posts for they were just nonsensical obscenity.

As for where I was all this while, I was posting here: http://aischronicles.wordpress.com/ [Polybloggy IS allowed [except in Afghanistan maybe]]

And then, of course, came the exams. Even though they are of no consequential value, scientists cannot quite properly explain why people are afraid of them so much. Is it the sitting-for-three-hours-staring-blankly-at-the-sheet-bit? Or is it then the waiting-so-much-for-independence-day-bit? Well psychologists who study Indian student behavior haven’t quite found out  because they were bunking when they had to do the research.

Then i know you won’t ask, but ill force it upon you anyways, “How did I spend my prep leave?” Well mostly on Facebook, then a lot of watching TV shows (South Park, Top Gear especially), gaming and playing soccer.

And since I haven’t the expressional motivation at this point and I haven’t worked on this blog since a long time,  I couldn’t think of a good enough ending that’d make pants fly off and brave men cry. So while others would have written at this point something mildly irritating and needlessly stuffed in, I decided not to write an ending. Let brave men not cry for a day and let pants stay where they are, Change is good for all.

And I KnOw you’d fink, “Blog post without an ending? That’s like a pen without a tip!” or sime other smartass shit. And I didn’t see how I could defend my argument, so I decided to sneakily sign off. :P

[the following was written in a state of drunken euphoria]

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First of all, no, my blog is not closing. I was away for an extremely long time, but I’m back [with a bang I hope :P]. I always love parodies and this is my shot at a parody. The original song is So Long and Thanks for all the Fish and in case you haven’t heard it,  here’s a vid:

So long and thanks for all the hits
So sad that it should come to this
I tried to warn you all but oh dear?

You may not share my wackiness
Which might explain your disrespect
For all the great technoogies that
develop around you

So long, so long and thanks
for all the hits

The blog’s about to be destroyed
There’s no point getting all annoyed
Lie back and let the URL dissolve

Despite those lots of stupid comments*
We thought that most of you were sweet
Especially tiny noobs and your
poignant laymen

So long, so long, so long, so long, so long
So long, so long, so long, so long, so long

So long, so long and thanks
for all the hits

(yeah)

So long and thanks for all the hits
So sad that it should come to this
I tried to warn you all but oh dear?

(oh dear)

Despite those nets of tuna fleets
We thought that most of you were sweet
Especially tiny noobs and your
poignant laymen

So long, so long, so long, so long, so long
So long, so long, so long, so long, so long

So long, so long and thanks

for all the hits

*DISCLAIMER: no offense intended, lets see you try to make a parody of a science fiction movie song and base it on your blog

PS: A big thankyou for the 9,000 hits

Have we ever wondered how strange we would look to the people of the last century? We roam around with silly things in our ears connected with wires. Now imagine, if in the future there were smell sensors which digitally stored smell signatures. These files could be played on any smeller (speaker type thing).

Then all the things that happened with music will happen to smells. Smell piracy, smell bands, smellios (like radioes), etc. Apple would tap into the market and launch oPods(o stands for olfactory):- oPod Snuffle, oPod Classic and oPod Touch would be all the rage, complete with noseplugs and earphones (no earphones in Snuffle, though, only smells and no music!)

So what would it be like then? We would walk around with noseplugs pushed into our nostrils. And smell CDs would be sold and the popular smellback (playback->smellback, get it?) format would be .op3. There would be olfactory advertisements and commercials (hard to imagine how they would be, ain’t it?) too. And of course, oTube.

oPod Ideas (click to enlarge)

We all love animals, whether we accept it or not. So, here is a collection of the cutest and weirdest animals of the world.  And I thought that I had seen them all, until I started scouring the internet. Believe me, you’ll be amazed.

The Cutest

The decision was tough, but pretty straightforward compared to the next section’s. The other cute animals which I shortlisted are at the end of this post. And the cutest is definitely the panda. Here are some videos:-

The Weirdest

There are a lot of weird animals in this world which we haven’t even heard of. And when we see them for the first time, they always strike us as weird. In the gallery at the end of this post, you can see them all. And because of so many worthy candidates, I *diplomatically* decided that they all won. (Some of them looked really creepy and threatening to me, I had to declare all of them as winners or fear the wrath of creepy animals)

Tarsiers

Aye Aye

Axolotl

And here’s the gallery of the cutest and the weirdest:

[Click for enlarged pictures and a slideshow]

Conclusion:

The animal world is full of surprises, weird animals just waiting to be found. But it turns out looks don’t really matter in the animal world, skill does. Though some animals are really cute and cuddly, most of them aren’t.

The CES wasn’t as good this year, nothing groundbreaking was made in 2008. But, considering the ongoing global economic crisis, it showed that technology will stop at nothing. Also, there were many products that any common gadget lover can buy and use, you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to like the CES. Here are my top 10 for the ces 2009’s new gadgets and technologies:-

[Click on any of these pictures to see a slideshow of the whole gallery]

Number 10: Shuttle All-in-One

The Shuttle AiO

As AiOs become increasingly popular, here’s another new innovation. This one can be carried around by its handle without a case, just like a briefcase  -now thats portability. Actually, it is an AiO desktop that can stand up like a picture frame. Priced at $499, it runs Windows XP and includes a Dual-core Atom Intel 945GC processor, 1GB of RAM, an 80 GB hard disc drive and a 15.6-inch, 1,366×760 touchscreen.

Number 9: Yahoo Widget TV

Good news for all those Yahoo Widgets fans. Widgets can now be installed on your TV! Yahoo has announced the Connected TV Widgets platform that can be installed on any Internet connected TV. You can now watch YouTube videos or access eBay content right from your own living room.

Number 8: Pocket Camcorders

Kodak Zx1

The kodak Zx1 is the new weather-resistant, 720p high-def-recording pocket camcorder by Kodak. Priced at just $150, it comes in a range of colours, an HDMI  cable and rechargeable AA batteries. It stores footage on a SD or SDHC card.

Number 7: Harmony 1100 Touchable Remote

Logitech Harmony 1100

Finally, touchable TV remotes. This sleek black remote with its 3.5 inch display is here to revolutionize TV-viewing (or controlling to put it correctly) experiences. There are 15 programmable and customizable icons and it is compatible with a RF extender, but priced at $500, its way too expensive for a remote, no matter how cool.

Number 6: Asus Eee Multimedia Keyboard

Asus Eee Keyboard

This is one great keyboard- it combines familiar Intel-based netbook specs, wireless HDMI, and a 5-inch touch screen that can show the full Windows XP desktop. It will be released this year end, maybe even running Windows 7.

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Number 5: Wireless Charging

Wireless Car Charging

Now, this is one of  my favourites. You’ve probably heard of wireless battery charging technology, but soon you might just see it showing up in your car. Fulton Innovation has teamed up with Leggett & Platt to bring eCoupled Intelligent Wireless Power Technology to your mobile phone, MP3 player, radar detector or just about anything else that needs electricity.

A few products from Wild Charge are already on sale for recharging small devices like phones and game controllers, by laying them side by side on a charging mat. Perhaps more interesting is some of the bigger equipment which was on show at CES, including power tools and blenders.

Number 4: IHome iP1

IHome iP1

Frankly, I don’t know how much of this is true. The makers of the new IHome iP1 is an iPod dock boombox claim that turning music into MP3 files diminishes its sound quality by flattening out its dynamic range and that the IHome restores the files to their original glory as it plays them. But whatever, the idea sounds great and the device looks good.

Number 3 : Samsung’s MBP200 Pico Projector

Samsung Mobile's MBP200 Pico Projector

Compact and lightweight, the portable MBP200 can connect to mobile phones and laptops and by utilizing the DLP® pico chip from Texas Instruments it allows users to transform their traditional two inch screen to a 50-inch viewing screen allowing others to share in the video experience. In addition, users can easily transfer files and project content independent of an attached source via the microSD card slot. The MBP200 has a simple shape and design with touchpad controls on the right side of the device for easy navigation and a 2.2-inch QVGA LCD screen which allow users to view content privately.

Samsung’s MBP200 offers the latest entertainment features and independently supports standard Microsoft Office and PDF formats for display. It also has external speakers and a music and video player. from now on, pocket projectors will no longer be just business accessories.

Number 2: Intel Core i7

Intel's Core i7

The core i7 is the new overkill processor for ultra-hardcore gamers. Read about more at gizmodo.

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Number 1: nVidia GeForce 3D Vision Glasses Kit

nVidia GeForce 3D Vision Glasses Kit

The moment we have all (well most of us, really) been waiting for has arrived. Put your hands together for the nVidia GeForce 3D Vision Glasses Kit.

Priced at $199 and a combination of high-tech wireless glasses and advanced software, GeForce 3D Vision automatically transforms hundreds of PC games into full stereoscopic 3D. All you need is an nVidia 8800 GT or better graphics card and a 120-Hz monitor, HDTV, or projector, and you’re ready to roll. This one is by far, my favourite.

But don’t forget, there are pros and cons of everything. Here are the top 10 useless gadgets at the CES.

This is a true event which happened yesterday.

The tennis coach was teaching us that deciding the type of shot beforehand will ensure better shots. So, he asked us to shout out loudly the type of shot we are going to hit before hitting the ball, “down the line” or “cross court”. We all did the same, but one boy shouted “out” before hitting and he did indeed hit an out ball. We all burst out laughing and then asked him why did he do that. To that he casually replied, “because I knew that I won’t be able to hit a correct shot.”

So, the moral of the story is that we must be optimistic. And, more importantly, never annoy tennis coaches otherwise you would have to do 20 pushups and 5 laps of the court afterwards.

Thinking of buying a graphics card? Thought you’ve decided what to buy? Check again.

From www.hardware-revolution.com,

Avoid these 6 mistakes when buying a video card:

1- Buying a video card based solely on the amount of memory.

More is better, right? That’s their excuse when you have to justify your purchase to yourself or to your geek friend.

Well yes, but not if you base your purchase solely on the amount of RAM. A video card performance is based on many other factors, such as the GPU chip model, the frequency of the GPU/memory, the memory bus width, etc.

A good example of this would be someone buying a 8600GT 512MB over a 8800GT 256MB. Sure, it may have more memory, but every other factor will limit the card performance in comparison.

Also keep in mind that you won’t need the extra memory unless you play at very high resolutions, such as 1920×1080 and/or with AA/AF quality filtering. Why? Because your video card won’t need/use it.

2- Buying a lower-end new generation model over a higher-end old generation model.

It’s newer, so it must be faster!

Not so quickly. When in the majority of cases, this is true, it is not always true. So? Well, you might miss out on a really good deal, as stores tend to lower prices on older generations, to get rid of their old stock, to make space for the new stock.

Now, the mistake some of you make is to choose your card by using the generation number first. You’d think that a 4xxx card from ATI is automatically faster than a 3xxx model. If you take a Radeon 3870, it’d trash a Radeon 4350 or be faster than a Radeon 4650.

Let me quickly explain how model numbers work, using ATI’s 4850 model as an example.

4850: The first number refers to the generation of the card. A higher number there means that the video card is based on a more recent generation, which always brings in improvements over the previous generation.

4850: The second number refers to the range of that card. Same here, higher is better. In Ati’s case, for the 4xxx series, it goes mostly like this:

• 3: Low end
• 6: Mid range
• 8: High performance

4850: The last two numbers refer to the place of that model, within the hierarchy of that range of video cards (See second point, for the “8″); within a generation (See first point, for the “4″). In the vast majority of cases, a higher number means higher performance, but both ATI and Nvidia tricked people in the past with crippled GS/SE models, so keep an eye open for the suffix if there’s one. No, SE does not mean special edition!!

Although ATI don’t really use suffix on their newer models, Nvidia still are. Here’s a quick reference, from slowest to fastest, when you compare two identical models otherwise:
GS<GT<GTS<GTX . Now, even this is not always true, if you take the 8800 model example. Some of the older GTS models are slower than the newer GT. Confusing, isn’t it?

Just keep in mind that many older generation, higher-end models are often faster than some of the newer models, so make sure to google benchmarks and to compare prices!

3- Not considering the space/power requirements.

So you’ve avoided the two first mistakes, ended up buying a Geforce GTX280, are eager to play the newest games…only to realize that it doesn’t fit in your case! Good job =P

This is especially true when you have a small format case, a HTPC or if you buy a high-end video card.

Lesson here: Measure the space available for the video card in your case (Usually from the back of the case to the hard drive cage) and double-check the length of the card, which is usually found under the specs, before buying it. Check reviews and/or contact the store if you’re unsure.

You’ve bought a great card, it fits in your case, but now you’ve one or several of the following problems? :

• Your video card needs extra power connectors and you don’t have them.
• Your computer won’t boot.
• Your computer boots but crashes under games.

I’m afraid that your power supply may not up to the task of powering your new video card.  Now, that’s most probably it, but it might not be it, make sure to troubleshoot before buying a new power supply.

4- Teaming a powerful video card with a slow Cpu

Yay, you’ve got that new Radeon 4870X2 and you’re ready to dominate the virtual world. Only to see that you’re framerates are no where what you expected to be, according to all those reviews.

Well, if you’re using such a powerful gpu with a slow cpu, lik an Intel E4300, it just won’t work as you want it to. Your cpu will bottleneck your video card performance, which mean that it won’t be able to keep up with it and your video card performance will be reduced as it always waits on the CPU.

Simply try to keep your cpu performance in balance with your video card. If you get a midrange video card (9800 GTX, 4850) , try to team it with a midrange CPU (E7400 and such).

If you use SLI/Crossfire or even better (or worse in this case), make sure to team up your video cards with a blazing fast quad-core CPU. Most games may not benefit from quad-core yet, but the video drivers and the cards themselves will. The new Core i7 cpus are a perfect fit here.

5- Buying an overkill video card for the games that you play.

If you play is Counter-Strike 1.6, WoW or the majority of games that are 2 years or older, you probably don’t need the lastest and fastest video card.

If you play on a 17″ or 19″ screen, you probably don’t need the lastest and fastest video card.

This is just like someone who buys a Mustang simply because they want more horsepower. Could they travel to work and do their everyday activities with a Honda Civic? Most probably.

You will waste a lot of money, both on purchase, power consumption and on upgrading the rest of your system (Cpu and power supply) if you buy a video card that is overkill for your needs.

Learn to listen to your wallet, think with your head and figure out how much power you really need for the games that you play!

Now, some of you may not agree with this, as you’ll say that it’s good to have headroom for future games. I don’t think so. Why? By the time that the new game is out, your video card will still be able to handle it, perhaps at lower settings but newer video cards that offer higher performance for the same price will most probably be out by then.

I think that it is better to upgrade at a low cost every so often than to buy some of the most expensive video cards all the time. Not to mention that higher-end cards tend to devalue faster than mid-range video cards. Just like higher-end cars.

Now, if you absolutely need the fastest and most powerful video card with every new release, just to strike your ego and brag about it, go ahead, just be prepared to pay the price!

6- Listening to the recommendations of only one person.

The last, but certainly not the least of the common mistakes done when buying a video card: Listening to the opinion of a single person. What’s wrong with that?

• The person may be a fanboy, who would recommend an inferior product from Nvidia or from ATI simply because they prefer that company.
• The person may not have a clue of what they’re talking about. Not everyone have vast knowledge on video cards.
• That person’s information may be outdated. After all, new video cards are released on a regular base (every couple of months, or even less)

Always make sure to get the opinion of many trusted people, ask around on forums, contact me, read plenty of reviews and comparisons. You’re going to spend a lot of your hard earned cash on that card, so make sure it is the right one for you.

Same goes for me. Don’t just listen to me, I’m human too hehehe.

Conclusion:

Buying a video card requires thoughtful thinking. With such a variety of cards available on the market, it may be confusing, so remember to avoid these mistakes, ask as many opinions as you can and shop around for good prices!

As the 3 day long weekend dawns, I decide to return to photoshop after a long time. Here are two wallpapers I made-

Wallpaper 1- Lumos

Wallpaper 2- Noisy

Which one is better?

In a previous post, I changed my desktop wallpaper, taskbar and shell components to resemble a mac and personalized it to suit my needs. This time, I did a makeover for my PSP. The basic element was changing the shell. I brought in a new Apple styled shell. The taskbar is a typical mac one but the icons are like the iPhone. And believe me, its ultra cool. EACH AND EVERY component of the previous shell has been changed. (I couldn’t take a good pic cos its tough to take a good pic of a screen of any sort)

The PSP Screen

And here’s the video:

[Many of my friends have complained that they cannot see the videos on my blog. Let me get this straight: you need java runtime environment and flash player (even class 2 kids know that but you have to sacrifice brevity for the dorks, if you want to be a good blogger)]

[Notice my apps too: Bookr (A pdf reader), Ultimate PSPTube (For watching Youtube videos), GPSP (GBA emulator) and PSP PDA (Obviously a PDA app)]

[Also notice the D-pad extender, its a great accssory to enhance the D-pad]

For my jealous fiends out there who have a psp and want to copy me, you’re free to do so. get the apps here.

[This post has just been written to clarify the doubts of some dorks]

My new domain name, http://www.akshatb.co.nr/ is just an address which redirects you to http://akshatb.wordpress.com/. I know its late to tell you, but I forgot to write a post about it. I would have preffered akshat.co.nr, but that was already taken. Agrim was much luckier than me. He got the domain name http://www.agrim.co.nr/. Well anyways, thats luck by chance.