Fine tuning the world :)

Avatar Movie Review

Tuning — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:01:27 +0000

Unfortunately, you cannot be told what Avatar is; you have to see for yourself.

Well that sums up my experience watching AVATAR. Like many others, I too recommend watching this film in biggest screen available. If you are living near an IMAX theatre (Unfortunately, where I live there is not), I recommend investing some serious time getting tickets for this movie. You won’t be disappointed. The visual effects alone is worth your money.

As I write this post, Avatar climbed to #21 position in Imdb.com among the top 250 movies of all time. This alone gives you an idea how good the movie is.

Btw, you won’t be amazed if you watch this in 2D. It would be just another movie with visual effects. It is the 3D version that is awesome. Hence, if you can, watch it in 3D. Also, do not waste time downloading this movie from internet, this is the movie that you should watch in big screen.

Let your mind go blank.*

* – only if you watch in 3D

Avatar Movie Review is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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Matrix & Me

How to Setup BSNL DataOne Broadband Connection for Maximum Performance

Tuning — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:38:12 +0000

Noise is the culprit!

First of all you need to understand that BSNL DataOne services are working on ADSL technology and even slight noise in the telephone line can severely affect your quality of connection. Your modem comes with various stats and that is more than enough to identify the noise.

Log-in to your modem’s admin panel and click the summary link. [Type in your browser 192.168.1.1 and use user name / pass as admin/admin]
You will see similar screen there.

As ADSL technology uses two different spectrum of frequencies for upload and download, you will see two different stats for upstream and downstream.

Here are the explanations of the different terms:

ADSL Link Speed:
The speed at which you are connected to BSNL servers. This does not necessarily be same as your allocated speed.

SNR: Or Signal-to-Noise ratio. Better signal and less noise implies high SNR.

Attenuation:
Decrease in signal strength due to scattering, resistance and other natural effects. Higher attenuation means lesser quality of signal.

The noise level can be clearly understood by checking SNR. You should be having average SNRs around 30. Lesser means you have some noise in your telephone line and you should contact BSNL to get the noise cleared from the telephone line.

Normally noise appears when there are joints or when the cable is exposed to environment. Rainy season brings rust to exposed parts and result in noise.

Noise can also happen if you have a faulty telephone. Faulty telephones can interrupt your signals and result in noise. It can also be the result of ADSL splitter being faulty.

Next thing to check is the Attenuation. Your average attenuation should be around 15. Higher attenuation means signal is loosing strength. (Possibly due to longer distance (Resistance) from telephone exchange). Lower quality of signal means, frequent slow down and interruption.

Once you are satisfied with SNR / Attenuation values, let’s go to the WAN settings.

Let the settings be same as there except for DNS. If your DNS is in disabled state, enable it and move to DNS link.

Insert the following values as in this screen shot. We will be using the DNS service from OpenDNS; which is found to be better than BSNL’s own DNS servers.

After doing this, you will see improvement in your connection speed.

TIP: 3 Ways to Improve Your Browsing Speeds.

How to Setup BSNL DataOne Broadband Connection for Maximum Performance is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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New iMac, The Best One You Can Get

Tuning — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:24:37 +0000

Apple yesterday announced launch of their next generation iMacs. Here is a picture of one.

As you might have understood, everything is on the screen. From DVD burners, CPUs, cameras and USB ports, everything is on this thin screen. New iMac comes in two different sizes. 20″ & 24″.

Apple Computers even have a comparision picture to show how less cluttered the new iMacs are.

Honestly, I think this will kick start the design & production new generation of PCs mounted on screens. I can bet you will be seeing a Windows based one in about a years time.

Congrats Steven Jobs. Apple products rocks!

New iMac, The Best One You Can Get is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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Matrix & Me

Tuning — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:06:49 +0000

I’m big fan of Matrix movies and I must admit that I may have seen “The Matrix” 200-300 times. Rest of the sequels were not that big as The Matrix, but still I have seen them around 30-50 times. I own DVDs of all Matrix movies.

Things & beliefs inspired by Matrix

1. I own several domains that starts or ends with Matrix.
2. The first term I searched in Google is Matrix.
3. The first DVD I bought is of ‘The Matrix’.
4. Inspired by “Neo”, I decided to use “Tuning” as my psuedo name.
5. I do have an forum avatar inspired my Matrix.

6. I have read the screenplay of “The Matrix”.
7. It took several sessions for me to understand the concept of Matrix. (95% of people around me still cannot understand the concept of this film. )
8. Computers in my office network are named after Matrix characters including the network name being “Matrix”.
9. I watch The Matrix when I’m depressed.
10. I strongly believe we are in a type of Matrix created by God. Instead of machines, everything here is controlled by God.
11. I love Matrix’s Japanese Martial Arts.

Now you know I’m Matrix Crazy.

Matrix & Me is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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Vote For Taj – Make Taj One of The New 7 World Wonders

Tuning — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 04:54:09 +0000

Are Indians too lazy to vote for Taj ?

It seems so. Our Taj Mahal is sitting at 14th position in new 7 wonders poll.

Now stop being lazy and Vote For Taj. Remember, India is the second most populated country in the world and if even 2% of them really take part in this poll, Taj would be at #1 position.

Now stop reading and take the time to vote. ( Poll ends on July 7 ) Here is the link:

Vote For New 7 World Wonders

Vote For Taj – Make Taj One of The New 7 World Wonders is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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Vista Wallpaper Experiment

Tuning — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:31:47 +0000

Inspired by Windows Vista wallpapers, I just tried shooting wallpapers in this rainy day. Even though this does not come anywhere near Vista wallpapers, I hope these would be refreshing to your desktops.

Click on these images for high resolution wallpapers.

Enjoy!

Vista Wallpaper Experiment is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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Happy Vishu ( Kanikonna Wallpaper Inside )

Tuning — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:22:11 +0000

Happy Vishu in advance.

Here is my “kaineettam” for you all.

*** drum roll please ***

Kanikonna Wallpaper!

Click on the image for full resolution wallpaper!

Happy Vishu ( Kanikonna Wallpaper Inside ) is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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Sancharam to Space

Tuning — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 10:43:23 +0000

Yes, you read it right. Sancharam ( The Journey ), a popular travel program in Malayalam television Asianet is about to be shoot in Space. The producer / director of this program, Santhosh George Kulangara got the biggest opportunity in his life time. He has been selected for the Virgin Galactic’s next space travel programme, SpaceShipTwo.

Whats the buzz?

1. He will become the first Indian Space Tourist.
2. Virgin Galactic authorities have agreed him to shoot the whole journey.
3. Santhosh has decided to sell the whole shoot to one of the popular television channels.
4. We can see everything one day on TV.

If you have seen sancharam atleast one time on TV, you may have opted to see it again next week. Thats the specialty of this program. You will be automatically glued to TV during the entire running time of this program. I have even thought of buying the CDs from the site. ( I’m still waiting for them to release the programs in DVD, CDs are the past media )

For those of who haven’t seen this program yet, tune to Asianet on Sunday morning @ 10:30 AM.

What is the specialty of Santhosh?

1. He has been travelling for about 10 years now.
2. He has visited 50+ countires in this short time span.
3. He is the producer / director and cameraman of the program Sancharam.
4. He is the MD of Labour India Publications.
5. He will become the first Indian space tourist.

More details of this space journey here.

Guess who is Santhosh accompanying in this journey ?
Stephen Hawking!

Sancharam to Space is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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ADSL Technology for Faster Internet Speeds

Tuning — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:07:42 +0000

Many of you may know that BSNL Data One services are based on ADSL technology. ADSL is the short form of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. This technology allows you to have two way traffic at different speeds. Usually the high traffic direction is used for downloads and low traffic direction is used for uploads.

The greatest advantage of ADSL technology is the ability to use your telephone & internet simultaneously. Thanks to the technology, where un-used frequencies are used for data transfer. Voice and Data are split using an ADSL splitter and is fed to telephone and modem respectively.

Advantages of ADSL

1. You can use telephone & modem simultaneously. ( Thanks to ADSL splitter )
2. Higher data rate; ADSL system can be used for upto 26mbps maximum wherever possible.
3. Uses normal telephone lines. Hence if you have wired phone, its quite easy to start using ADSL.
4. Always on connection.
5. ADSL modems are cheap and everyone can afford it.

ADSL Disadvantages

1. Your modem must be less than 5kms from exchange.
2. Small problems in telephone line can cause problem to ADSL connection.
3. Download rate will be greater than upload rate.
4. Upload rate is very much slower than download rate.
5. May experience slow bandwidth during telephone usage. (depends on signal strength and distance)

Types of ADSL
ADSL
Allows bandwidth up to 10mbps download.

ADSL 2
This next generation technology allows higher bandwidth up to 12mbps using single pair of copperwire and 24mbps for 2 pairs of copperwire bonded together.

ADSL 2+
This version allows bandwidth upto 26mbps with in 1KM from exchange and ADSL like speeds upto 2KM-5KM.

ReADSL 2
This generation ADSL solves some of the distance problem and allows comparably higher bandwidths at long distance.

Check out the following figure to know more about distance / bandwidth performance of different ADSL technologies.

You will be surprised to know that Japan & South Korea have better technology than this and their average bandwidth is 50/60Mbps.

Lets go Japan!

ADSL Technology for Faster Internet Speeds is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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See How Easily You Can Improve Your Internet Browsing Speeds

Tuning — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:37:56 +0000

Even if you have ultra speed broadband connection, you may find it difficult to access some web sites. Most of the time, your ISP’s (Internet Service Provider) DNS (Domain Name System) will be the problem. Otherwise your browser will be the culprit. Here is the 3 simple steps by which you can improve your browsing speeds.

Step 1 – Use Firefox

IE sucks. Not matter what Microsoft say about Internet Explorer, it sucks in functionality. I recommend you to use Firefox, the free, powerful browser from Mozilla.org. It supports many extensions (Add-ons) that will make your life easier.

Various tests have shown that FireFox 2 is better than IE7. In another test, it has been discovered that Firefox2 takes very less memory compared to IE7. Altogether it would be a wise choice moving to Firefox2.

Step 2 – Use Adblock Plus
Most of the websites contains some kind of ads. These ads usually takes a lot of time to load. By preventing their loading, you can improve your browsing speeds.

Adblock Plus is a Firefox extension that prevents the ads from loading. It uses a filter set ( you have to download this extension separately) to keep track of ad severs around the web. Just install these and you will see faster page loading.

Step 3 – Use OpenDNS

Slow browsing speeds are often happened due to slow DNS servers. DNS servers convert the domain names to IPs of the web hosting company, where the actual websites are hosted. Slow DNS means, it make take longer to get this data and thus slowing down browsing speeds. OpenDNS is the alternative solution to this problem. OpenDNS has their own DNS servers and it is faster than most local ISPs. Just add OpenDNS IPs in your internet settings and you are done. ( OpenDNS Configuring instructions here )

Bonus Tip – Block Images That are un-necessary
Most often images take huge bandwidth and slows down connection. By preventing images from loading, you can improve your browsing speeds. You can use Adblock plus to customize image loading.

See how easier it was!

See How Easily You Can Improve Your Internet Browsing Speeds is a post from: Fine tuning the world :)

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