by Sujoy on April 10, 2008
You must have noticed that my last post was on the 1st of April. And it has been 9 days since. Where was I? Was I locked in Sona? Was I stranded on an uninhabited island ala LOST? Naah! My previous laptop was a work laptop which had to go. And I was waiting for my Dell Vostro 1500 to arrive. I ordered it through a friend in the US and the configuration specs of my Black Mean Machine is as follows.* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5470 (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
* Genuine Windows® XP Home
* 15.4 in Wide Screen XGA+LCD (1280×800) Display w/TrueLife™
* 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
* Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
* 250G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
* Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
* 8X CD/DVD Burner w/ double-layer DVD+R write capability
* High Definition Audio 2.0
* Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card
* 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
* Dell Wireless 355 BlueTooth Module, (2.0+EDR), for WindowsXP
* 2.0 Megapixel Integrated Webcam
So here’s the deal. I added an extra 60$ for upgrading from the default processor of 1.4 GHz. Added the Bluetooth hardware for another 20$, and the Webcam for 30$. It costed me a total of 725$ inclusive of all taxes and free shipping to NY in the next 3-5 days. And now that I have my machine for quite a few days, here’s my review of my New Dell Vostro 1500.
First Impression-BUILD AND DESIGN:-
It is colored in IBM Black and that is a welcome change from the dirty grey Dell Inspiron . The build is sleek, smooth and rugged. It looks quite big compared to my previous Thinkpad T42, primarily because the screen size here is 15.4″ compared to the previous 14″. This weighs somewhat similar to the R-series of Thinkpad series . Enough with the first look, let’s open the lid.
Complaint 1: The Lid doesn’t close tight enough to make the Laptop feel like one piece. The monitor still has some space to move (however very small) even after the lid is closed. But leaving that aside, just another glance at the build, this one’s really a Black Beast. I can’t stop commenting on the color which makes it look as sleek as a Business end-user laptop and not as flashy as the VAIO shiny ornaments. The black matt surface on the back of the screen and the shiny silver buttons aren’t flashy at all, and add to the overall style statement. However the lower half of the laptop is the one which feels thick, and you know where the weight is coming from. [Continue Reading]
by Sujoy on April 1, 2008
An early morning dose of 440 volts ran down my spine when I dragged my drowsy eyes on the front page of TimeofIndia. The headline read-CAT to be held online from November 2009: IIM. And I said to myself -nothing. So finally it has happened. At par with the other global examinations for graduates applying for B-Schools, in India CAT is synonymous to GMAT multiplied a million times in terms of difficulty, prestige and desire. I know it because I have appeared for it twice, both attempts failed miserably. However, this year the exam goes ahead to adapt the online format being followed by other well known tests like GRE, GMAT , IELTS and TOEFL.The problem however is the format that is being speculated. Unlike GMAT or GRE, CAT used to be a one day in a year affair (more like a annual festival for veterans like me). But with the current scenario, it will be impossible for CAT to be held on a single date. Primarily because every year hundreds of thousands aspirants appear for it. The numbers speak for themselves. 2007-2.3 lakh (230k)appeared and this year the estimated figure will be almost 3 lakhs (300k).
With that many students hopeful to appear online simultaneously, the immediate pressure is on the infrastructure required to conduct an online test of that proportion. Not only providing enough machines for the examinees spread across different centres in the country, but also the subsequent evaluation process. In case the test has to be made available on the same day, at the same time, the servers have to be robust enough to support the procedure(given the fame that IIM servers hold during the results announcement time that sounds a huge task to do). And as predicted, this procedure is going to be outsourced to a third party vendor, however IIM will have the supreme authority.
Consequently CAT will no longer be a one-day affair and shall now span across a set of dates in a month or months. Yet another addition to the format is the single paper format is now being modified into different papers similar to GMAT( which actually boils down to the same stuff coz there were different sections previously, now it’s papers.) But unlike GMAT, the results here will not be announced instantly. So there’s still the scenario of the almost two months of dreaded wait.
Other issues facing the exam’s new format might be Security. The stringent security policy which has been synonymous with CAT for so long, might face a big question mark now that the test arrangements are being done by a third party vendor. Not only tha, how secure would be the online security is another question. Seems like all coaching classes are soon gonna install computers and start simulating online mock CATs and come November, we might actually get to see the very first online CAT. Meowww!!
Image Source:inthebag.golf
by Sujoy on March 6, 2008
As Bill Gates gets dethroned from his spot as the World’s richest man, Microsoft has launched the new version of Internet Explorer ( aka the IE 8 ) at the MIX08 conference. The beta is out for download for testing purposes. Though at the MIX08 conference, the browser has been shown to have passed the Acid2 test, some users aren’t still happy about it. Phillip Lennsen writes :-
You know you’re installing an important program when you need to reboot your computer to finish the setup. When you need to reboot twice, you know you’re installing something really important. Well, that was what happened when I just installed the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta on Vista.
Neither do I have Vista running on my laptop, nor do I have any affinity for the new IE8. Especially after hearing of the dual rebooting requirement. The interface from the pictures available online doesn’t seem different from its predecessor.
So what’s new about it? [Continue Reading]
by Sujoy on February 7, 2008
Now Mixx has been around for quite some time now. I have been an avid user of this social bookmarking/networking website and I quite loved the services that it provided. It’s user friendly interface and user-base made up for almost all of its shortcomings. But yes, the need for a Mixx Mail Service was felt. Not anymore. Introducing, Ladies and Gents! the Mixx Mail.
Now you can send a Mixx message or mail to your Mixx friends, as you do on other social bookmarking websites. I have quite a few friends on Mixx, and have always felt the need to communicate with a user before adding him/her up. Now, I can do that easily. The Mixx Mail service can be used by clicking on the little mail envelope icon that appears next to your User ID on your profile page. You can select whom to send the message, and even conveniently select all of your friends. There’s no CAPTCHA code here. Good Thing-Bad Thing, You decide! As far as I am concerned, I think Mixx is consistently working to improve its services and I’m loving it. More so because, it’s easier now to share stuff now on Mixx, now with a personal touch. What’s more lovely is the way Mixx Mail looks when you send a message across many friends. It could actually turn out to be like a discussion thread with the latest post in the bottom. So forums, messages and discussions all covered at one single strike.Go Mixx!!
