All posts by vyom

Nine rules for how to effectively manage an FB page

I have been an admin of a page for quite a while now. I wanted to document some points that one have to take in mind while posting on pages. Cause with greater power comes greater responsibility.

1. Don’t Spam:

A page should have interval between posts. No one likes an endless stream of posts consecutively over a short period of time. You can use apps such as Hootsuite to schedule posts over optimal intervals of time for a greater impact.

2. Try to engage readers:

Ask for feedback, like, ‘do you think…’, ‘will you…’ etc in the end of your posts.
Don’t post a link directly as a post. Always give a preview of what the link is about.
Instead of “Checkout this link for new Samsung S4″, you can post something like this, “Samsung S4 seems a really cool gadget that have taken us for a ride ever since we have got our hands on it. It has this and that feature. You can checkout this link for a hands on review…”.
Point is to make a user “engage” and get their attention and if you get successful in doing that, your reader will automatically want to read more.
Remember, readers don’t like posts to which they can’t connect to. While on the other hand they don’t like posts which sounds too artificial too. So, try not to overdo it!
Continue reading Nine rules for how to effectively manage an FB page

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

I had low expectations from the movie before I went to watch it on Friday night with 3 of my friends. Owning to the title of the movie and Bunny (Ranbir), I thought this will be another cheesy bollywood rom-com film. First half of the film was right upto what I was expecting. Typical masala type movie with a dance number and awesome larger than life “Hero” character. But the humor didn’t disappointed, and there were many instances were we got the opportunity to laugh. Specially the tomboyish character Aditi (Kalki Koechlin, I like her), and his dialogues.
Yeh-Jawaani-Hai-Deewani-3 Continue reading Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Looper (2012)

Genre: Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Looper

If you know me any better you would know that I love Science Fiction. And Time Travel stories is what I live for. Maybe that’s why I was excited beyond my wits when I went to watch Looper.
Rian Johnson‘s Looper is a Sci Fi thriller based on the aspects of Time Travel. I won’t reveal the plot apart from quoting IMDb:

“In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to ‘close the loop’ by transporting back Joe’s future self.”

You get to know the plot in the first 10 min itself as a self narration by Joe played by “Joseph Gordon-Levitt” as a lead role. And then begins a story set 32 years into the future. It doesn’t take long before we encounter “Bruce Willis” played as the future Joe, which sets the  story in true motion.
What strikes the most is the low budget of the movie. With less than half of the budget of Unbreakable (another Bruce Willis movie from 2000 and the closest movie with which I can compare the two in terms of production value) I did feel it lacked the glam of Hollywood. But that doesn’t mean movie is bad. In fact story of Looper is quite original and which stands it out from the crowd of sequels/prequels that have engulfed Hollywood today.
Continue reading Looper (2012)

Guide to Backing Up Your Android Data


Cause data = “My Precious”!
 
Little did the founders of Android know that this Linux based Operating System would become the world’s leading smartphone platform when the first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008. When compared with the now legacy OS like Nokia’s Symbian, BlackBerry OS and iOS, Android was able to dent the mobile OS market rapidly and with a greater success than others that came before it.
Being an open source OS helped Android and as it’s approaching to Jelly Bean it’s becoming more stable, reliable and fluid like never before. But as of ICS, there are a few nooks and crannies that a user experience over the course of using it. And as such Google have make sure all the data is safely backed up on clouds of their servers a user has to make sure it’s working like it’s supposed to.
 
In this guide I am going to mention some steps that you can take in order to make sure majority of data is backed up or the clouds or on the card, since precaution is always better. And in case you are doing hard reset or just plunging into the rooting and custom ROM’s venture, backing up data is and should be at the first priority. So here we go:
 
1.  Contacts backup:

The first time a user starts his Android phone he is greeted with a Google Sign-in screen. And although the phone can be used without signing into your Google account, it’s a great step to make sure your contacts are not backed up!

So, if you haven’t signed in, do that now. And make sure “Sync Service” is enabled. You can check that by going into, Settings -> Accounts & Sync and making sure your Google ID is listed on the page and Sync is turned on. This will make sure all your contacts are backed up, which you can check by going to Gmail and observing the “Contacts” page.

The Amazing Spider-man

Watched The Amazing Spider-Man today morning.

It was amazing. Despite that it was a reboot, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were various aspects which made this movie less dramatic but more closer to reality. I got to know a lot about Spiderman then the previous franchise ever told. Since the movie covered some aspects of the Peter Parker’s parents, it felt more involving. From the childhood to how he managed to become Spiderman, the character development seemed phenomenal. But the role of Irrfan Khan totally looked like it was for namesake.

Whoever saying it contains less action is disillusioned, or maybe skipped some scenes while buying popcorn or something I think the action was justified. Granted not a lot of action sequences were done in broad day light like it did in the former trilogy, but that played a little role in making the movie a little dark and grim.

One of the things that I missed in this version of the Spiderman was the quote, “With great power, comes great responsibility”. But I totally loved the humorous side of Peter Parker. The appearance of Stan Lee was also funny! And Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone) was a welcome change. She was cute!

Also, I would like to say that it’s better not to compare it with the original Spiderman. Both have their places. Personally I won’t be able to tell which of them is better until the end of the trilogy (if it’s done). But the after credit scenes guaranteed a sequel that seems worth waiting for.

Totally worth the watch for me. Might also go for a second time, with a friend. Rating: 4/5.

Prometheus (2012)

Plot (from IMDb): “A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.”Let me begin by saying that I haven’t watched the original movies of the Alien franchise, to which Prometheus is being regarded as the prequel too. So I didn’t have any expectations or pre notions about the movie. But I was aware of the basic plot of the previous movies, which involved gruesome ways of their attacks.The genre of the movie says, it’s an Action, Sci-fi and Horror. Sadly to me, it seemed to fit in neither of the three perfectly.The movie begins slowly. Too slowly. And it’s not a complaint. I have seen good movies with slow start. But this one just keeps on dragging.

There was no character development so to speak. Except that of Noomi Rapace (Elizabeth Shaw, in movie) and maybe of Michael Fassbender (David, in movie).
I didn’t felt the story either. And I won’t say screenplay was any good either.
Speaking of horror, there was maybe just a couple of time where I was spooked but overall, saying Prometheus a horror movie will be injustice. And that is coming from someone who is not a fan of horror movies just because they scare the sh!t out of me.
The built up which is developed in the first half of the movie just doesn’t justify the climax. Almost everyone who will watch the movie will agree that the climax could have been a lot better. The way it ended it looked like I was watching the first episode of a series.
Something which is good and which was apparent from the trailer was the cinematography. It was good. But again not something we haven’t seen before.
Maybe these kinds of movies are just not my type. Maybe the ones who like “Alien” and its sequels may relate something to it… but for me, Prometheus was one movie I could have easily skipped if I haven’t got the chance to get the premiere passes.
Rating: 2.5/5
Continue reading Prometheus (2012)

Mobile Internet : First Hand Experience of Me and My Dad


I am sitting on my berth in a compartment of a train which is scheduled to take me to my village. In my hands is my smartphone which have become the best companion of my life. And with me is my dad who is traveling along with me and who is familiar with the power of the little gadget I was holding in my hand.
Suddenly my gaze took me outside the window to the crowd on the station. Almost everyone could be seen with a phone in their hands. Some talking, some looking at the little screens while other busy passing time tapping their phones in the waiting area.
It was then when it struck me something. There used to be a time when people used to buy phones to talk and talk, and just talk. Phones were practically no other purpose. And they used to pay large amount of money just for that. Well, life have changed today. Changed to an extent that it’s nothing short of a miracle. Today talking is just one of the thing we can do with our smartphones. Today we have the kind of power that one could never imagine just a decade ago. Thanks to smartphones, we now have the power of Internet in our pockets, palms or wherever it could be carried.
Continue reading Mobile Internet : First Hand Experience of Me and My Dad

The Avengers

Plot: (from IMDb)

Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.

My experience:

“The Avenger” as I expected was an amazing ride into the awesomeness that the best of Hollywood can offer.
The moment I saw the trailer of Avenger I knew it was going to be a unique experience. Fortunately I got a chance to catch its premiere in PVR Plaza today. Not many movies are built up on the foundations of movies from about 9 years into the past. And not many movies do it as successfully as The Avenger did.

Movie starts quite slow and begins from where it left in Captain America. But it soon gain pace once our heroes are introduced. And from then on, it only gets better.
My biggest concern from the movie was how will the screen time be divided in all those super heroes. But the movie uses it for the advantage and tells us an incredible story.

There are many references in the Avengers that alludes to movies which were a stepping stone to it. So the knowledge of all the characters will of course help to understand some of the subtle humor in the movie. Most of the humor was, as you could have expected, from Tony Stark aka the Iron Man. And many other are from the Hulk. And the rest was because of the cultural differences between the characters and was a bit foreseeable.

Visual effects was as expected mind numbing. Hulk showed a greater range of emotions due to the motion capture tech been implemented I presume first time in Hulk series. And we see Iron Man new ways to “Suit Up”! Speaking of Suit up.. we also have a character which was nice to have: Cobie Smulders (or Robin Scherbatsky) from “How I met your mother”! One sequence which send the shivers down the spine was when all the superheroes were shown one after another in once coherence fighting against the army of Loki. It was Epic! (and this is not a spoiler).

And one thing more. My 3D experience was not good. The active shutter glasses kinda felt like it absorbed all the colors from the movie. So I watched most of the movies without 3D and it was quite good. AFAIK, this movie was not meant to be 3D, and was converted later into one. So I felt it kinda ruined the movie for me.

I think it goes without saying that The Avengers is a must watch for all Marvel fans and anyone who have an appetite for a little super heroes! As for me, I am going to watch it again and this time in 2D since I feel it deserves a re-watch!

Windows Phone 7 Review (on HTC 7 Mozart)

This is my first full length review here, of something I am really passionate about, OSes. But before I start lets see what you should expect and not expect from this review:
Don’t Expect:
1. 100% accuracy (I can be factually wrong somewhere, and you can help me finding those out)
2. Detailed hardware review (Since HTC Mozart is already an obsolete product, I wont go in detail in it)
3. Grammatical correctness (I am weak in that so, pardon me please)
Do Expect:
1. A detailed opinion on software issues, the pros and cons of WP7 at this version (Mango).
2. Screenshots (Many are in spoilers)
3. Future additions of features in this review on request.
PS: I don’t own the device currently, so might not be able to entertain requests immediately. Let’s begun:

HTC 7 Mozart

The Hardware

The very first thing which you will notice with HTC Mozart is its 3.7” glossy screen on a body made from brushed aluminium with curved edges. It sports a big speaker on the top and 3 touch buttons on the bottom. The buttons namely Back, Start and Search, follows the standard specified by Microsoft across all Windows Phone devices and so would be your navigation partners in exploring the world of mobile windows.
Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Review (on HTC 7 Mozart)

The Must Have Android Apps

It’s been exact two months since I made a decision to buy LG Optimus One as my first smartphone. And I fulfilled the promise. I bought O1 from Letsbuy.com, and which was also one of the first online shopping experience for me.
 
My heart beats were racing on high rates while I was unboxing the package. Along came out the shiniest piece of gadget my eyes has ever experienced live.
And the rest is history…
 
While I would save the story for my feelings for the gadget for some other time this article is an attempt to list all the android apps that I have discovered over the 54 days of my use of the phone.

The list is not in any particular order, and the apps listed with the word [root] requires root privilege to work.
(Star means newly added, after writing the original article.)

 

Productivity

AndChat (Free) [The best IRC client]
ASTRO File Manager [The best file manager]
Camera360 Ultimate
Endomondo Sports Tracker [To track the distance or route you travel]
Dropbox [The best cross platform file sharing app]
FxCamera
Google Goggles [Best app to read those QR codes and search with images]
Hindu Calendar [Useful sometimes, when mom needs to know dates of some festival :P ]
iMobile [App from ICICI customers, very useful to me, I do prepaid recharge from this]
Indian Railway App – Disha [PNR check, availability checker, train schedule and more]
Opera Mobile web browser
SMS Backup + [Best app to take Backup of your SMS’s on your Google Account]
WhatsApp Messenger [Universal Bluetooth, as I like to call it Send sms, share pics etc…]
Remember The Milk [Cloud Mobile Task Management]
Pulse News* [Best news aggregator app]
Quick Boot* [Lets you reboot or shutdown, without using actual power button. For those, who fears they would break hardware button. Like me.]
Photo Resizer* [Does what it says]Astrid [Homage to this little To Do and Reminder app that was at pinnacle of its service, until it decided to shut down on 5th of August 2013. I will miss you.] Continue reading The Must Have Android Apps