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For You
The Evolution of the iPod Nano
Nov 22nd
Through all these years (since the last quarter of 2005) we’ve seen a number of revisions of the most popular mp3 player Apple still sells like hot cakes. The iPod Nano released its updated 6th generation a few days back and left us bewildered with the features it mashed up in the Nano-s all along. This infographic (an old one), devoid of the updated 6th generation, clears all doubts we’ve had regarding the iPod Nano-s. The latest Nano (2011) version comes with only a software update that can be done on the older 6th generation Nano and revised prices.
The latest OS (2011) for the Nano basically comes with 16 new clock faces, improving its appeal for the ubiquitous Nano wrist straps we find all around the internet these days. Check out an older post where I covered the wrist bands (The best way to cheat in exams)
Manage and Hide desktop icons efficiently
Nov 22nd
Even after years of polishing the Windows user interface, I think Microsoft has never been able to deliver a quick way to organize/manage the clutter that builds up on your desktop. A long time back I covered a review of the BumpTop 3D desktop which was under testing at that time. It had an amazing concept rolling, but the software package (free) couldn’t deliver exactly what users would find easy for daily use. It wasn’t very intuitive in the first place. A new version of it is available and I’m yet to try it. I’ll review it when I’m done with an exhaustive test.
Fences on the other hand, a free utility by Stardock corporation is something I have found very promising all along. A perfect example of a one-trick pony application. The charm of a clean and light user interface that blends into the default Windows desktop is very pleasing. It divides your icons into separate fences (boxes). These fences can be moved, resized and arranged independently. Giving you the power to manage the icons in a very efficient manner. The color of these fences, their transparency and labels for each of them can be changed from the right click menu. You can also have icons outside these fences which arrange dynamically when you try to overlap them with a fence. On the whole the application is pretty easy to use and configure for daily desktop use.
Another great feature of this utility, I find very useful is the ‘quick hide icons‘ option. It is this can hide all your icons with a single button on your keyboard or a double click in an empty space on your desktop. Exceptions can be added in the configuration pop out. If you are using Windows and are constantly troubled by the mess on your desktop I’d suggest you install it right away. Search no more.
[FENCES]
Nvidia GeForce Graphic Cards performance Chart
Nov 15th
ATI‘s Radeon series graphic cards have a simple linear kind of naming. It’s easy to guess the performance of an ATI card by just looking at its name.
On the other hand, selecting an Nvidia card for your desktop can be a headache, thanks to their confusing naming hierarchy (used to be much better when the series went as 8600GT, 8800GT, 9800GT etc…). With the present naming system it is just impossible to make up a chart in your mind to find a rough performance of the card. This performance chart from the GeForce website could help you find the right card for your PC. Make sure to get it printed and keep it with you when you go out shopping for an Nvidia GPU.
Related articles
- Explained: The future of PC graphics (techradar.com)
- NVIDIA Offers Guides to Building A PC Worthy of Battlefield 3 [Battlefield] (kotaku.com)
- Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards Tested (games.slashdot.org)
Backdoor Trick to Enable Facebook Timeline (If you haven’t done it yet!)
Nov 14th
How to enable FB Timeline for your profile (if you haven’t done it yet!) in just 8 simple steps.
1. Search for the “developer” app in the search bar above. Make sure before doing this you have a phone number confirmed. You can check this by going to Account settings>Mobile.
2. Allow the app to access basic information from your account.
3. Click on the “Create new app” button. Top right.
4. Use a unique app name and app namespace. Tick I agree.Click continue and type in the captcha.
5. Click on “Open graph” in the left side bar.
6. Fill in the blanks in the following page and click “get started” button.
7. Click on the “save changes” button at the bottom of the next pages. No need to edit any content. Click on “finish” at last.
8. Now go to your profile and see a new box that says “enable timeline” Enjoy 
The video here shows the steps:
Related articles
- Facebook Announces Timelines and Improvements to Open Graph (hubspot.com)
- Backdoor to the New Facebook – Timeline (cayobuay.com)
Symbian Vs. Android
May 28th
Presently I own a Nokia N-97 – serves fine. Pretty much a lot to me, as it is the smartest phone I ever had, relatively. This post is a Symbian vs Android comparison to help a buyer decide which one to buy (more of a Buy-Android-post).
Okay, here is a hard fact I’d like the post to open with. Symbian OS – Series 60 or S60 is outdated. The reason it feels very outdated must be the deprecated feel Nokia bears with it in the present time. Nokia isn’t very enthusiastic about releasing anything into their ‘old’ OS, proved time and again after the release of Symbian^3. New universal applications, updates and good support are hardly there for S60.
But, if I’m comparing Android with Symbian it has to be the new Symbian^3 OS. S^3 is much more efficient than any other mobile OS. It can run good even with a smaller processor and lesser RAM. I agree its good to be efficient, but that is not even a proper excuse for anything. Though S^3 – the new OS, has a much better UI and gets almost everything that other mobile platforms get, but you see it won’t be long before S^4 comes in. The same trend is projected to continue with the release of Symbian^4 as we saw when it went from S60 – S^3. I don’t see why I’d buy a Symbian^3 based phone today just to wait for some months and find out that I don’t have an access to any of those latest applications.
Even standard applications (mail/chat/blogging etc) in the OVI market for S60 OS are cheap rip offs of Android or iTunes store. They seem to have been developed by a bunch of amateurs. While Android and iPhone get such polished applications. Very small design details (which make a big difference) and UI intuitiveness goes with each and every application (mostly iOS, due to their vigorous app screening before releasing). You’d definitely want to have that after you’ve paid so much for your beloved phone.
Image via CrunchBase
Android gets everything. You name an app and the market has it. This is because, it is new. Developers are enthusiastic to develop great applications trying to utilize the immense potential the OS has packed in it. The trend is going to be like that or better for some time now. It won’t get old like S60 anytime soon.
You won’t miss out on what the whole world is following, if you use the today’s world standard – Android. If you want to get the full use of your smart phone and keep in touch with the latest innovations you should get an Android based phone.
