All posts by Utkarsh

Solution designer with Firstsource solutions. A post grad in Networks and IT Infrastructure. Technology enthusiast, blogger, webdesigner, Network security aspirant and in love with electronics and gadgets. This blog is an attempt to share what I find interesting... almost anything @Mtaram on twitter and Google+

QR codes, or quick response codes, is a type of 2D bar code that may be decoded using your smartphone with a QR code reader. From being a tracking mechanism for auto parts, QR codes have proven to be very useful in marketing and convenience related applications that is more suitable for smartphone users. In the recent months, we have seen QR codes show up on marketing materials such as movie posters, promotional posters for various products, billboards, flyers, among other things. These have also been seen on newspaper ads, business cards, artwork, and other everyday things.

There are two main things that you have to have when you deal with QR codes:

1. A mobile phone with a camera and Internet connectivity
2. A QR code reader

Most smartphones coming out nowadays have a QR code reader already installed. For some, you would need to download the reader and install it yourself.

After you have you have your reader installed, fire up the application and snap a picture of the QR code. Make sure that your hand is steady and that you are able to include the whole code into the picture. There will be some instances when the scan would fail, do not worry, just keep on snapping.

Depending on your software, it may take some five to thirty seconds for the application to resolve the link for you. That is to say, to decode the information written behind the code. If it is a URL, the QR code reader will open your browser and let you surf the mobile site the code links to.

If it is a VCF card, a file that contains a person’s contact information, it will offer to save the information into your address book.

You can generate codes using QR code generator. Go to that page and generate codes that allow you to send a message text, write an email or go to specific url.

You don’t have to be a business owner in order to benefit from the emerging QR code technology. However, if you ARE a businessperson, it is an incredibly versatile and cost effective technology that is available to you. A wave of acceptance is sure to hit this part of the world as soon as more people become aware of its great many uses.

Ordinary people can generate a QR Code for free and get other people or customers to go to your website, blog, business social media profile, product pages, articles, media sites, your own personal Facebook or other online social networking sites, among other.

It also acts as a business card. Some people are already beginning to generate a QR Code and printing them onto their business cards too.

With QR Codes, it simply means that you now have a bridge between your offline product with online information. The separation between the two is now blurred. What’s more, with mobile phones like smart phones, you can get connected to anything that is online, no matter where you go.

source

Android, How Tos

Samsung Galaxy 3 Froyo Upgrade

March 24, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

I wanted to upgrade my Galaxy 3 to Froyo but could not find how to do it. Couple of days of online research and I landed on this beautiful explaination. The linked page gives every detail and it helped me upgrade to froyo in just one day with some hit and trial.

The linked page gives all the details as to how to froyo your galaxy 3.

Here I would just mention my own experience of upgrading.

I downloaded ODIN multi downloader, ops file and the Froyo rom along with the default factory rom for my phone, just in case something goes wrong.

I factory reseted my phone, connected it to laptop and fired up odin, after lots of trial and error I am now sure that to get to the ROM download mode you have to press – Menu + Home + Volume down + Power on Galaxy 3.

It takes less than 5 minutes to copy the ROM.

And then it takes 4 to 5 minutes to restart and Voila! You have the colourful froyo.

A warning though… Froyo is not meant for low level hardware. At times Galaxy 3’s 667 MHz processor and 256 MB RAM fail to cope with Froyo.

Android 2.2 needs a decent hardware to run in full glory with all bells and whistles.

I first of all configured my office exchange email and suddenly I noticed all the things becoming dead slow and later a intense search online revealed that exchange has issues with Froyo. I did factory reset my phone more than 10 times and it was still the same.

I guess it was time to unFroyo and be back to éclair. The process was simple, only the ROM package was the one that I downloaded just for this situation.

One thing that I would like to confess is that after seeing Froyo with all its colors and menus I just wanted to go back to Froyo and was thinking how to go about it.

Today I did it again but this time I just copied the ROM with Odin without the factory reset.

All was going well but in some time the processes started to fail and I thought of rolling back to éclair, but just to be sure for the final time, I did a factory reset, installed improved email from market, configured exchange and somehow it didn’t slow down the phone,

Now here I am with Samsung Galaxy 3 running Android 2.2 Froyo with exchange email and the other 2 most popular apps Dailer one and Handcent SMS. The battery life is better and the interface looks really vibrant. At times the phone becomes slow but I can live with that as I have installed Advanced task killer.

Apart from all this I still am unable to root this phone on Froyo, It will be great if any of you could suggest how to root it. I have already tried super one click root and z4root.

This is so far my experience with Galaxy 3 has been satisfactory, although it’s my first android, I learnt a lot from it. I am looking for a new android and would buy a new one soon that can run Gingerbread without sweating itself out.

General

10 Great Ways to Surprise Your Spouse

March 9, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

Are things getting predictable between the two of you after all those years together? Do you both feel like you’ve hit a dry-spell in your marriage?

It sounds like it’s time to spice things up. Don’t wince! It’s not going to cost you too much, and somehow I think you’re going to come out ahead with your better half. After all, if they’re happy doesn’t that mean you will be as well?

Here are a few suggestions to get things fun again.

The Love Note – Stuff the note in their wallet or purse or maybe tuck it under a windshield wiper or their car’s visor. If they work at home you could even leave the note at their usual work area, whether it is a desk or in the kitchen. You don’t need to be a poet, a simple ‘I love you’ works. Corniness is its own sweetness. Sticky notes can add a bit of fun to the event.
The Computer – Change their desktop wallpaper to a cute photo of you two. It could be your engagement photo or a wedding photo. Or perhaps it could be the photo of that certain vacation spot that took your breath away. Anything that says, “I’m thinking about us.”
Music, Music, Music! – Burn a CD with tunes from your dating days maybe even starting off with your favorite song, or the song you two danced at your wedding reception. Here you might even put one song that is particularly yours because it will make them think of you when you’re not around.
Ah, The Moon! – Find out when is the next full moon and celebrate together with champagne and maybe some cheese and home-baked bread. If you want to be really be romantic how about setting up a table outside in full view of the moon with some candles. You don’t even have to light the candles. Got a telescope?
Their Favorite Thing-Not Yours! – They just love basketball, but you can’t stand it, or their favorite movie is the “Sound of Music”, while you would rather watch “Transformers”? Go out and get those tickets, one for them and one for you.
Breakfast in Bed? – That’s way too predictable. How about dinner in bed (and who cares about the crumbs). So you’re not a cook. Have fun with a TV dinner. Remember, it’s the thought, right?
Introvert or extrovert? – If your spouse is has an introverted personality, then time alone is a great surprise. Take the kids out of the house for a couple of hours so they can have some peace and quiet. If they’re a extrovert who loves to have people around, invite a bunch of friends over for a night of fun. Let them be the life of the party.
Let Them Know You Were Listening – What have they complained about lately? Is their pillow getting flat? Does the garage need some cleaning? It’s always a great surprise to come home and find out that your spouse not only heard what you said, but did something about it.
The Big Split – Go shopping with them at a bookstore or music store together. Now split up. Buy something you know they’ll love. Then wrap it and surprise them.
Give them a Weekend Getaway– Provide your spouse with the opportunity to spend a weekend with their best friend, sibling, or the old college dorm mate. Nothing shows you care more than saying, ‘I want you to have fun.’

The idea is to always keep them guessing. The fun is the surprise. Still water certainly runs deep but it’s just still. Stir it up. Maybe doing these things might provoke your creative juices, or something unique about your spouse will require an adjustment to the ideas above. Are they an intellectual, enjoying a thought-provoking book? Take the note suggestion, and The Big Split and go find that book they told you about and put the note in it before giving it to them. The surprise should always communicate your love and appreciation for them.

Originally from: Todating sites Blog
posted on authors request.

Continue reading 10 Great Ways to Surprise Your Spouse →

Reviews

Samasung Galaxy 3 User experience

March 2, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

Bought me a Samsung Galaxy 3 as a Valentine ’s Day present, had waited too long to get hands on an android and Angry Birds made this inevitable.

It took me just 5 minutes to buy the phone and I was online, no settings needed and all contacts sync on the phone while I was happily chatting my way through on the talk application.

A call landed on my phone and wow it showed the name of the caller along with photo. I didn’t do anything, Google sync is surprisingly wonderful.

I launched maps and was happy to see the quick response of GPS assisted with data.

However by the time I reached home, a couple thousand contacts from Google and face book had been synced, yup I did download the Facebook app on my way home.

I tried calling my parents and it revealed the dark side of Galaxy 3. The phone application sucks big time. It took me almost 30 seconds for the contacts to show up. No matter what I did it remained slow. I finally fixed it today after 3 days and night of extensive research and hit and trail based tweaking.

The music player is great, it says 5.1 on the top right corner but till now I have not been able to play music in that mode, I always get the error that 5.1 mode is only supported when effects are off, and till date I have not been able to find the way to turn the effects off, ma be I would read the manual when I don’t have anything to do or get fed up playing around with my droid.

Coming soon – how I made my galaxy 3 Shine.

FUN n TP

Rules of Men

February 25, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

Crying is blackmail

Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one:

Subtle hints do not work!

Strong hints do not work!

Obvious hints do not work!

JUST SAY IT!

Yes’ and ‘No’ are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for

A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

If you think you’re fat, you probably are. Don’t ask us.

If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both.

If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we

ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings.

Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that

If we ask what is wrong and you say “nothing,” we will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, expect an answer you don’t want to hear.

When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.

You have enough clothes AND too many shoes.

I am in shape. Round is a shape.

General

Angry Birds for PC

February 19, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

The most popular bird catapult game for phones, the one that was the sole reson for me to buy an Android, Angry Birds has finally arrived on PC (Windows 7 and Windows Xp) and its available to download from the Intel App Up store (Intel App Up is a new app store for Windows-based netbooks.).

Supported Operating Systems

Windows 7
Windows XP

The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds’ eggs. Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortifications. Angry Birds features hours and hours of challenging physics-based demolition gameplay, with lots of replay value. Each level requires a mixture of logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy. Features 195 levels and lots and lots of Angry Birds!

Download Angry Birds. It is just for the sake of demonstration.

Android

7 reasons not to buy Samsung Galaxy 3

February 17, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

I bought myself a Samsung Galaxy 3 as a Valentines day gift 😉 . Yes I really did.

I needed a new phone, wanted to play angry birds and my Nokia E63 was not able to run my office email properly. So here I am with a shining new Galaxy 3.

I was very enthusiastic for this phone as this is my first android phone and yes the phone delivered on the expectations when it came to applications.

I switched on the phone and went online within 2 minutes. I got a call and it was already displaying the contact details, name and photo. Thanks to Google sync. The phone is great for applications.

But here comes the reality. I just want to share my experience because I am very demanding from my gadgets and their functions.

You buy a phone to make calls and text, right?

But this Galaxy 3 from Samsung sucks big time at it though it is to be considered a phone.

It took the phone almost over a minute to display the Contacts.

It is very slow for phone functionality.

It takes more than 20 seconds for the SMS to show up.

Phone application hangs with a Force close / Wait popup staring at you.

The phone hardware is just decent.

Samsung decided not to enable the Live Wallpapers.

Samsung Kies does not support connection over Bluetooth. (Who keeps the phone connected to the computer always?)

7 reasons to buy Galaxy 3

Android

7 reasons to buy Samsung Galaxy 3

February 17, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

Android is in the air and every one (well not every one) wants to have it in their pocket. The android phones in market now range from mere INR 7k budget phone to whopping burn a hole in your pocket price upwards of INR 30k.

There are some such cool apps for android that just want you to have an Android phone.

I had my radar on for a decent android phone that could play Angry Birds, yes, I bought the phone for the game. My prerequisite was the cheapest phone that can run the game. I settled for Samsung Galaxy 3 I5801.

It’s android.

It is a decent phone, can make you wonder with its application running capabilities.

Looks good.

Good camera.

Nice responsive touch screen.

And its not expensive, I got mine for INR 11500.

You can run Live Wallpapers on it. (Through a hack)

image : http://gsmarena.com

7 reasons not to buy Galaxy 3

Events

Happy Valentines Day

February 14, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

It’s More Than Saying I Love You
We give on this day candy and flowers,
But we never stop to say thank you for the many hours.
You have stood by my side and gave a smile,
As if to tell our hearts it’s been worth every mile.
No need to buy a teddy bear or even a card,
It’s pretty simple and not at all hard.
Just put your arms around me and hold me tight,
And say without words that in your heart all is right.
You may say I Love You throughout the year,
But on this day you need to make sure.
The words so sweet and straight from your heart,
That your life would be lonely without my part.
So put forth the effort and take the time,
Look me in the eye and say I’m glad you’re mine.
AngelWatchin

Security

Types of computer virus – An overview

February 1, 2011 Utkarsh Leave a comment

All the viruses that attack the computer system do not act in the same way; there are certain unique patterns that one follows in their contagious activity. There are numerous types of viruses that have come into existence that hits the security system of the computers. Behavior of the computer virus is troublesome as they delete or corrupt the data that are available in storage at the hard drive or interrupts the normal functionality of the operating system.

The catching bug gets downloaded from the external sources such as internet connectivity through hidden files together with downloads; email attachments, instant messaging services and via external drives that are used to carry data.

Computer virus protection desires antivirus software to get periodically updated on advanced level antivirus tools and latest virus information that are about to affect the PCs.

Some of the types of computer virus that affects the PCs in common are as follows.

Resident viruses: They inhabit in the RAM interrupting into the operations of the system such as corrupting the data in the files that are used in the recent activities. Some of other resident viruses include the McKlunky, CMJ, Randex etc.

Companion Virus: These types of viruses are typically spread into the MS-DOS creating a file with extension of .Com or .Exd, which is called defectively when a programmer runs his program with a similar alphabet of file name with either of these extensions.

Network Viruses: This virus spreads via the LAN connectivity as the network is used as a medium to spread through shared resources. It spreads along the PCs that are connected along jumping from one system to another to find a new potential prey. Nimda and SQLSlammer are the dangerous network viruses.

Polymorphic Viruses: This type of virus replicates by creating multiple copies of the file spreading along the computers linked. Every time the replication is done it changes the digital signature, this activity makes the virus easier to spread from one system to another. Only sophisticated and updated antivirus can detect the Polymorphic virus.

Trojan horse: These types of computer viruses are more harmful that makes its establishment into the system and starts the viral activity. They neither copy nor replicate but strike hard on the security system. The malicious functionality of the Trojan is tougher to get out of the PCs once acquired, as they are acquired from any program on downloads.

There are various kinds of viruses that play the role of computer cracking behind the screen, which is being used as a tool to hack and destroy the data that are available on a security link of an organization.

image source : http://hugepedia.com

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