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+

There were days in the past when any one tried to call BSNL customer care the phones were not at all picked up and even if they were the customer was bounced like a throw ball across various lines. That was so frustrating roaming around various departments of the telco just to get a minor issue resolved.

Now there has been a turn around. Called BSNL’s 9400024365 to convert from 2G to 3G and I was instantly with an executive. No waiting at all that too on a Thursday. The executive gave detailed information about everything and told what all was needed to be done. I was so happy with the change in the way BSNL looked at its customer service. Currently I would rate it among the best in lines with Vodafone and Airtel. Reliance still sucks big time. They never can pull up any customers info and site the problem that they don’t have access. Why do they make such call centres where they cant even give information to the customers.

BSNL rock for now! Share your experiences with BSNL with us.

* with respect to BSNL UP EAST circle.

Reviews

Real INDIA

April 13, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

Stumbled upon an episode of Thousand Places to See before You Die. And this episode has India. The guide shows to the tourists Albin and Melanie Ulle the uncontrolled traffic, the crowded streets, the child hawkers, the garbage dumps along the sides of the roads and people n children in and around the garbage along with the pig and the cows as if they are our national animals. The guide keeps insisting that this is the real India.

Is this what we wanted to be the image of India? To foreigners India is all about poor and dirty people. Long gone is the image of India as a land snake charmers but still we are looked upon as such despite being the second fastest developing nation of the world.

We would like to have your comments on this.

Internet

25 startups that would shape the web

April 13, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

The organizers of The Next Web 2010 say they have reviewed 245 submissions, looked at 73 one-minute video pitches and ultimately selected 45 companies for a back-to-back interview round. In the end, 25 startups made the cut – they will get the chance to talk up their company on the main stage, after which a jury of professionals will jointly decide who delivered the most convincing pitch.

Read here

Abstract

People and Things

April 11, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked stone & scratched lines on the side of the car.
In anger, the man took the child’s hand & hit it many times, not realizing he was using a wrench.

At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father….
With painful eyes he asked ‘Dad when will my fingers grow back?’

Man was so hurt and speechless. He went back to car and kicked it a lot of times.
Devastated by his own actions….. . sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches, child had written ‘LOVE YOU DAD’..

The next day that man committed suicide. . .

Anger and Love have no limits; choose the later to have a beautiful & lovely life…..

Things are to be used and people are to be loved,

But the problem in today’s world is that,

People are used and things are loved…..

About me

The 2 most beautiful years of my life

April 1, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

June 3, 2008 was the day when it all started. Fate had decided for me to be a management guy. Started of as a MS aspirant, took German as a language and dont know when I landed up in this MBA stream.

I made some weird choices not according to me but people. Still Im loving it. A geek at heart I knew that the normal marketing and finance wont be my cup of tea and at the same time I got to know this unheard of college called SCIT which claims to a premier IT B school. The course was all that I had learned in the past with one or two unknown courses like HR, marketing, accounting etc. I made my choice and decided to choose it over all others. Left a couple of colleges better than this Premier B school and landed here in Pune for the first time in my life.

I always had thought about living a life of obscurity in the campus playing my games and doing what I wanted. Attending classes was never on my agenda. All was going well but somewhere it went wrong. I just dont get it when it happened. I was noticed by most but how that is still unclear to me.

The advantage of being here in Pune was the exposure to the industry, the people and the environment. Here I realized that I can do any thing but I also realized that I should not do everything. I got to attend so many conferences, Barcamps, Blogcamps, Ideacamps, club meetings and met some cool people like Rohit Srivastava, Navin Kabra, Anant Srivastav, Amit to name a few. Also got the opportunity to be the organizer for a couple of Barcamps and the experience was too good.

I always fell short of attendance due to these but it was worth it. Apart from all this I tried my hands at every committee in college and finally landed up with the entrepreneurship cell and I still am there with iT ELF. All this exposure and experience had given me the spark to be an entrepreneur some day.

Apart from all this, I made so many, ya so many friends. Some of them would the ones for the life. Its because of these cool people that I am able to write this particular piece.

Its not the end but the beginning of my MBA. BTW I also got a good job [the very intent of doing MBA was fulfilled and the day I got the job since then I attended no lectures and that was 3 months without classes 😛

I am thankful to my parents, friends and all my readers.

Events, Sidebar Photoblog

Earth hour 2010 @ SCIT

March 27, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

The hour the world unites in a stand against global warming
Earth Hour is a WWF initiative where YOU can show your support for action on climate change by turning off your lights for one hour.

WWF’s Earth Hour is an inspiring message of hope and action – a global demonstration about climate change.

At 8.30pm on 27 March 2010, over 4000 cities and towns across the world will turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – sending a powerful message that it’s possible to take action on global warming. It will let world leaders know the world is still watching, following the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009 which leaves room for a better deal, we believe in not letting the spirits die.

Some of the activities by the Symbiosis Centre for IT’s Student Social Responsibility as seen by my camera.

SCIT SSR on Facebook

Earth hour Event

Sidebar Photoblog

Photo

March 15, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

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One fine morning we decide to go for a walk. Believe me, its a rare phenomenon for us because we sleep at 4 or 5 am so there are questions about our getting up early and going for a walk. But we did and this is what we get to see… Morning one of the best mornings… … . . . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Events, General, News

IPL : affiliations and IPR issue BUZZ

March 15, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

For Google, IPL’s YouTube partnership is so important that they have started promoting a specially created page for IPL.
Worldwide, Google has promoted a few products (like Droid) on the homepage, but I believe this is the first time, Google India is promoting a landing page from Google.co.in.

The special landing page created for IPL 2010 is nothing but a major attempt to promote the IPL’s YouTube channel since Youtube has grabbed the 2 year right to Exclusive web telecast of IPL. Worldwide, this is the first major sporting event to be live-streamed on YouTube and as part of the deal, YouTube will also offer users a exclusive unique feed not available on any other media platform of all IPL matches.

MAX, the official broadcaster of DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), has entered into an alliance with Sun Direct to telecast IPL matches in high-definition (HD) format on the Sun Direct platform. IPL cricket matches on HD broadcast will give a unique and new world-class experience to millions of passionate cricket lovers in India

IPL may be a hit among masses but we are sure that it’s a nightmare for marketing guys of all other channels (except Set Max). All major entertainment channels started preparing long back to counter IPL

India’s most popular and single-destination mobile value-added services (VAS) provider, Indiatimes 58888, has announced a tie-up with vRock Mobile Communications to offer DLF IPL content to its users.
The tie-up will enable Indiatimes users not only to enjoy live IPL action, including live mobile commentary, SMS alerts and interactive voice response, they will also get a chance to participate in contests and win attractive prizes.

ITV, the oldest television network in the United Kingdom, has been awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights for DLF-IPL III.
This is a landmark event. About 20 million households in the UK will be able to see the IPL III matches live with ITV’s free-to-air service. UK is the biggest market for cricket outside India and the IPL’s aim was to reach them.

Apalya Technologies, owners of the “MiMobiTV” service, partnered with Global Cricket Ventures (GCV), which establishes Apalya as the exclusive mobile, live video streaming provider for all Indian Premier League (IPL) matches for the next three years, including the forthcoming 2010 IPL season. The rights granted cover live video streaming for all mobile platforms worldwide for the IPL on an exclusive basis.

UFO Moviez is targeting a revenue of Rs 500 million by showing the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches across 1,000 screens in India, presenting a case for rich dividends in future from theatrical exploitation.
The company has so far signed contracts for 650 screens and hopes to seal deals that would enable it to spread its net across 1,000 screens during the course of the event.

Karbon Mobile comes on as Operating sponsor for ipl for 3 years and also as main sponsor for ipl nights. biggest single sponsor of IPL

The News Broadcasters Association, the body of top news channels, announced that all its members would boycott the IPL. Talks between IPL and official broadcaster SET Max and the news channel broke down when IPL/SET Max refused to consider any of the issues raised by NBA and said the terms set down by them for coverage were non-negotiable.
This means there will be no surround sound about IPL matches on TV channels, although the game itself would be telecast by SET Max. This is bound to reduce the buzz around the IPL tournament as news channels not only report the matches, but also analyse the games.

If you have any grand plans of watching the Indian Premiere League (IPL) T-20 matches on the big screen, you can forget it if your favourite restaurant or mall there doesn’t have permission. You may also want to see. The permission has to be got from distributors holding exclusive live telecast rights for the matches starting March 12.

Right Ya Wrong’ starring Sunny Deol, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Isha Kopikar hits theatres on Friday, coinciding with the commencement of the IPL III matches, the famous director feels that notwithstanding the IPL fever, a good film will always draw audiences to the theatres.
No IPL can stop a good film from running. The love for watching films in theatres will always be there. After all, people too want to see good films. ‘… iski ticket ki bhi bahut value hain agar picture sachi hain toh’ (If a film is sincere in its aim to entertain the audience, its ticket hold a great value).

International news agencies including the Associated Press said they will not cover this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament later this month because of new IPL rules restricting where and how tournament news can be distributed.
The News Media Coalition, the international body that monitors attempts by sporting events to control news coverage, said a number of media organisations were concerned about the IPL rules.
“Newspapers in India and abroad are also known to be reconsidering their plans for coverage,” the NMC said in a statement. “As many publishers the world over rely upon news agencies for news material, the stance taken by the IPL can only serve to limit news and free promotional value of their event and brand.”
News agencies want the IPL to remove or change rules that forbid distribution of tournament coverage to subscribers whose business affiliations or publishing methods IPL finds objectionable.
The media also objected to the limits IPL seeks to impose on the frequency of news and photo updates posted on the Internet while matches are in progress.

And finally what the official IPL Tweeter Lalit Modi had to say. Social Media exploitation at its best.

We would like to have your opinion on the post. If we have missed out on anything please feel free to let us know.

Computer Troubleshooting

Removing a Boot sector Virus

March 14, 2010 Utkarsh Leave a comment

A boot sector virus is a virus that places its own codes and commands into a computer’s DOS boot sector or Master Boot Record (MBR). When a boot sector virus has infected a system, the MBR is usually corrupted and a computer’s boot sequence is changed. Since the MBR is located on the first sector of a computer’s hard disk, the virus is called a boot sector virus.
Boot sector viruses can be dangerous and prolific because they are loaded onto a computer every time one starts up. In time, they can spread to other readable disks. Booting problems and start up problems, problems with retrieving data, computer performance instability and the inability to locate hard drives are all issues that may arise due to a boot sector virus infection.
Fortunately, boot sector virus removal is easy. Using common antivirus software can remove the virus quickly and efficiently. However, it is important to find an antivirus software that is capable of removing the virus completely. Failing to do so can result in a partial removal, which can then lead to a different part of a hard drive being effected. Investing in an antivirus software can also help protect data and files during the removal process.

I would recommend that first you remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer and run a low level format. If that doesn’t help then proceed with the following.

1. Remove any important files and shut down the infected computer. You can not begin to remove the virus if it is in the RAM in your computer.

2. Get the instructions and the utility to flash your BIOS from your manufacturers website.

3. Flash your BIOS with the utility provided by the manufacturer. DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER UNTIL THE UTILITY TELLS YOU THAT YOU CAN. DOING SO BEFORE IT IS FINISHED MAY PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR COMPUTER.

4. Find out which company manufactures your HDD and see if they have a utility that will do a Low-Level format. This part is important because it deletes everything from your hard drive so that no one can get it back, including the virus.

5. Run the formatting utility provided by your HDD manufacturer.

6. Reinstall your Operating System of choice however you want to.

Enjoy 🙂

Events

Barcamp Pune 7 rocked m/