2011
Adobe Acrobat Reader X – Sticky Notes
I have seen many people use Adobe Acrobat pirated version only to add sticky notes and comments to the PDF document. When it comes to Mac, Preview gives the luxury of adding / creating new PDF documents. For Windows users there is a good news for people who are looking out for adding comments / sticky notes to the PDF document. The newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader X is supporting sticky notes and adding notes / comments to the PDF document.
Few features included with Adobe Acrobat Reader X as mentioned on Adobe website:
Simplified user interface
View information more precisely and efficiently. Choose reading mode to fit more content on the screen or two-up mode to view page spreads. Use keyboard shortcuts like print, zoom, and find within the browser.
Enhanced commenting tools
Make notes and share your feedback with others by marking up PDF documents using the Sticky Notes and Highlighter tools.
Comprehensive file searching
Find and retrieve any PDF document or phrase within a document in seconds. Search for words in page content, annotations, bookmarks, form fields, or document metadata within any PDF file on a local computer.
So if you are using Pirated version of Adobe Acrobat stop using them and get genuine. Just a thought.
2011
Facebook Deprecated APIs wont work
I got information that Facebook’s REST based API stopped working. Yes, it was true. Checked few popular apps and everything looks screwed. Mainly when it comes to iPhone it is really a pain to undergo this change and plan a release exclusively for Facebook change. However Facebook says them as part of the road map but most of the developers gets confused or unaware. You can find them on http://developers.facebook.com/roadmap/.
One fine morning developers who gets negative rating because their iPhone facebook sdk (not Facebook iOS sdk) does not work anymore. This brings a public nuisance and mainly for developers. I also think from the Facebook end. Managing and informing all developers to upgrade to their newest SDK is really a pain. However, rather than discussing this topic I would encourage my fellow developers to fix the facebook stuff and release them again to the app store to keep the apple reviewers busy.
Even top apps on the app store suffer this damage. Some of them were CNN, Weather Channel …
A note to the users to the above mentioned app. Dont rate the app negatively, rather intimate the developers to they can find the right fix for the same.
Hope this helps to my fellow iOS developers.
2011
Sync your Bookmarks – Google Chrome
You will be able to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Wherever you browse and add bookmarks you will be able to add them to your Chrome Bookmarks. The best part is that you will be able to sync them with your google account. I know this information is not new for many people. I have found handful of my friends who struggled to organize the bookmarks.
Try to sync your bookmarks today. Kindly ignore if you know this trick already.
2011
Weird bug during Software Update – Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.x)
Err is human. I know most of us make mistakes. As far as I saw and heard about Apple was really great to hear. First time in my lifetime on Mac I started to see issues. May be it is known for longtime users. But still I love using my mac. This morning I tried to update my mac, I saw a weird bug. You also have a look at the same below:
Finally it is not the end of the world. Apple should have some good people like me to showcase the issues what I face day-to-day in life using a mac.
2011
Mobile Apps Usability Review (iPhone / Android)
I am not an usability guru or an expert in usability arena. But I would like to share my thoughts when I had an application which my team developed for review with few iPhone users. Surprisingly, I could see lot of things on how people react to the usability of the application. The group ranged from sparse users to best users of iPhone.
I had to admit that I was unable to digest all the feedback given by the users. But still I feel all the points given by the users has got a huge value. I would like to quote some examples from the review. The application had barcode scanning, the user took the iPhone device and started to place the camera of the iphone to very close to the barcode. However, after sometime the user managed to scan a barcode. I felt the necessity of placing a help mechanism to get the users right at the first time. Again that is subjective to the users whether they opt of reading through the help.
Another issue on usability was throwing a registration screen in front of the user. We had a registration screen and users did not know how to navigate through it. If we wish maximum number of people to use our application we should cater to the weakest or dumbest request of the user.
Learning is fun. I understood that the touch screen users try to use their click click mind on a touch and expect it to work as they do in desktop. This needs to be kept in mind of the designers / developers of mobile application. Hope this might add 2 cents to someone who needs something about usability on mobile phones.
2011
Cool App for Macintosh :: Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac
I wanted to give a shot on how Microsoft Office 2011 looks. I was blown by the rave reviews from various Journals published on the site. Interestingly, I downloaded it and saw it to be true. First in my list was Word 2011 and I was blown out by how the Notebook Layout looks.
Here is something about Powerpoint where you can insert video / audio stuff.
So finally Microsoft Office 2011 has got lot of cool features. Check it out yourself 
2010
Travelling to Chicago?
Here goes my story as first time traveler to US. My wife, father, sisters came to drop me at the airport as it used to be a practice/tradition (at least for me) that family and loved ones come for a send off. My flight was scheduled at 3 am on a Sunday morning. After entering the airport we could see there was some renovation happening at the Chennai airport. So all the family members were forced to send me off at the entrance of the airport. I am remembering an issue that happened when I went to London couple of years back. I was on a business visa to London. I was about to get the boarding pass. An airline authority asked for my identity proof of my company. My bad, I have not taken my identity or my business card. Fortunately I had my family waiting for me till I clear security checks. My father drove back home and got me the identity card of my company.
I point I was trying to make here is that remember to take your business cards / identity cards (I would prefer Identity cards) especially when you are on a business trip. So coming back to my trip to Chicago, I was expecting someone to check my identity card / business card / invite letter. No one did check the same. So after all the checks I was waiting for my turn to get into the gate where my flight is docked. My Flight was Gulf Air and I started my journey to the first stop to Bahrain.
Bahrain airport was good. But was not that busy at the point of time I went. I had to wait for couple of hours for the next flight. One good thing is that one of my colleague was moving to some place at US at the same time. So I had my breakfast at Bahrain and then continued my journey from Bahrain to London. Then in London I completed all formalities of baggage and security check and headed to collect my boarding pass. After couple of questions I got a new boarding pass for getting into American Airlines. And another level of security check before I head to the aircraft, I finally boarded the flight.
Finally after a long journey I reached Chicago O Hare Airport around 7:00 PM. Fortunately, the weather was good at the time I landed. After finishing all the security and visa checks I was allowed to step out of the airport. Moving all my luggages I was looking for a taxi. I wanted to go to Extended Stay America hotel located at Buffalo Grove. I got a taxi @ 9:32 PM and hopped into it. Being the first time I was not aware of any systems around. I had to pay a higher price for it. I paid $63 to reach Buffalo Grove. Later I understood that there are taxi services which takes to the place for half the price. Based on the recommendation from Extended Stay America hotel, I got used to hire American Call Taxi.
I reached the hotel and payed my initial payment for the stay and additional $5 for one time internet setup. Here are the checklist of items you would require if you travel to a place like Chicago.
- Jerkin
- Thermal wear if you are here in Winter (Lucky me, I did not carry one and the weather is pleasant)
- International power adapter if you are from other countries.
- Sweater
The Extended Stay America was Cheap for stay. However, I had potential problem of travelling to work. There are no public transport available especially when you are having work outside Chicago downtown. The place I had to work does not have a public transport and I had to rely heavily on taxi. Taxi charges heavily and it sucks all your money. So always try to stay at a place very closer to your work place. So as I had to travel by taxi, I wanted to move closer to work location. I got another place which is within 3 miles from my work place.
It was Mariott’s Residence Inn at Deerfield, IL. The rooms are clean, tidy and comfortable. The hotel provides a complimentary breakfast, shuttle service, internet service and gym facilities. So while you travel to Chicago be warned that you will need to stay closer to your work place or choose a hotel which offers free shuttle service for commuting otherwise it would be a hard time and a pain.
So now I am in Deerfield, IL and hope this help at least to an extent.
2010
Live Recording!
I started to do my Live recording with the instruments / gadgets available at the place. I wanted to help my fellow musicians / sound engineers / hobbyist to learn 2 cents out of my experience on live recording. Intially I thought it was a easy stuff to do a live recording. Later I came to know the problems we should understand before getting on with Live recording.
Tip 1:
Always try to maintain the master level in your recording software / gadget between -6 to -4 db. It always helps us to avoid clipping of audio data. It is very hard to restore a clipped / badly distorted audio data.
In my first Live audio recording with the help of 16 Channel Allen & Heath -> USB Audio interface (MAudio FastTrack pro 4×4), I was able to make a good recording of the Live Worship. There were ofcourse some grey areas where I have missed few things because of clipped data.
So always maintain audio levels at the optimum between (-4 to -6 db).
Tip 2:
Try to use a powered public address system if you feel that there are some ambient noise at outdoors. The sound from the powered public address system would reduce some amount to ambient noise from outside.
This idea I gained when I was recording a live worship. It was raining heavily outside. The recording did not happen in a recording studio, rather it happened in a house. because of the Powered PA system the recording went on fine. Nothing wrong in trying it, if you felt that this tip was useful. leave me a comment.
Tip 3:
If padding option is available in your audio interface. Better use them when you do live recording. It may look like your recording volume seems to be very low. When you normalize the audio data then it would become a clean recording.
Tip 4:
For heavy metal, rock music / aggressive vocals you may consider using a compressor / limiter.
As my knowledge improves I would try and update this post
Happy live recording!
2010
Blogger: No more FTP support!
Yes, blogger a famous blogging platform is going to stop their FTP Publishing services on March 26, 2010. I was using the FTP solution of Blogger. I was happy using them. Unfortunately this announcement made me feel that I might lose my blogs. I was aware that I would not be able to continue using Blogger as they do not allow subdomains to be added to their custom domain service. I never got down as I had my wordpress handy.
You know what I did? I deleted all my published blogs. Downloaded WordPress and started to install on my subdomain. It took a total of 12 minutes to move all my blogs to my new wordpress layout. Yes, now I am running WordPress 2.9.1 and I am enjoying the same.
I like the new wordpress layout as it is very much sophisticated and easy to install and use. Google Blogspot is coming up with new changes shortly in few months let me wait and see what they have got for me.
Are you Genuine?
Remembering the days 10 years back .. I was using all the latest version of software. I used to hack around the products and make sure they are cracked and available for me to use it. I dont remember so far that I have earned few bucks out of it. But now I feel guilty that I was not genuine. Do you feel what I am trying to say? Are my words pricking your mind? Till 4-5 years back I was happily using pirated software. No one in the world knows that I was using pirated software. No one managed to ask a question to me that I was using a pirated software.
The Lord my Saviour put a thought in my mind. It was kind of a question which raised in my mind. The question was “Are you Genuine?”. I have heard many people saying that Microsoft is a big company, they have lots of money and they are stealing money from people and it is not a problem if I use a pirated software. But the actual issue is not with the question people ask.. rather the genuineness people need to maintain.
I started to use genuine software and I am kind of feeling confident about the thing I am using. I feel I am genuine! It is really a great experience to have a genuine software. We are earning a decent amount for our living. We don’t steal clothes, we don’t steal food for living, we don’t steal money for spending rather we work hard to get all those. The same holds good for getting a genuine software for your computer.
There are great products available for Low cost. I am listing a few which will make your lives different from others. For Sound editing instead of getting on a costly gear you can go in for Ardour, Reaper, Audacity .. it ranges from free to very low cost. When it comes to video editing you can get premiere elements, Final cut express and so on … likewise for image editing you can use Paint.Net, Photoshop elements, gimp and so on .. there are lots of alternative for you to get genuine. Control yourself from this kind of lust and make yourself clean and genuine.
Happy Computing!… hope this blog would have a small entry in your heart. Leave me a comment if you want to change yourself. God bless you!