Distaster...

As I mentioned in my previous post, the registry of my laptop got messed up yesterday and I spent whole last night collecting bits and pieces of any of my data I could back up. At around 4 in morning, I was able to start the fresh installation of OS. Halfway, I realized that I forgot to back up some important files and designs... Its just not a stupidity but its a huge disaster for me... I have to check all my past backups (spread over many CDs and external hard drives on how much is retained there) and with the time running out of my hand, its further disaster...

I also forgot to back up all wireless connections profiles and now, I am stuck with only few connections whose passwords I remember. Since this laptop does not have my favorite firewall and Linux, I will have a hard time in riding public WEP protected networks.

Anyway, better I spend time in restoring my backup...

My stupidity

Few days back, I received Adobe CS3 Master collection and tried to install it. Just before this install, I had installed Symantec End Point Protection 11.0 and my original AVG updated its virus definitions that morning. Things started going wrong after these installs and at one point of time, I could not even connect to my office wireless router. Turning off the firewall and other processes, I could connect to the router but that was not something I was prepared to do every time. So, last night, I started checking the registry and I found so many wrong and unwanted entries in it. I also found few entries which showed some intrusions in my computer. So, I cleaned up those entries manually. Later, when I rebooted the machine, it started popping up lots of error messages... Thinking that I messed up with the registry, I restored the system to couple of days back configuration to rule out any issues with Symantec End Point Protection or Adobe CS3 collection. This system restore reported renaming of many directories and Adobe CS3 was part of it. Once system booted to normal, when I tried to connect to my home wireless router, it did not. After tweaking a bit with the wireless setup, I could manage to connect but then I could not browse to any web sites. It was strange that I could ping to all those web sites though. So, till 3am this morning, I tried to fix all different problems and ended up with further messing up the registry.

This morning, with a cool head, I tried to see the damage and found that while I cleaned up some entries of registry, auto update brought some fresh entries in the registry which created conflicts for Windows Installer and InstallShield uninstaller. It left me in such a mess that I could not uninstall Adobe components.

Since most my design outputs are PDFs, I have to have Adobe's PDF maker/Distiller in working condition. But Outlook, Visio, AutoCAD and all other software could not load any of Adobe Plug-Ins.

I tried to run few registry repair software but none could help.

So, now, my laptop is undergoing a format and reloading of OS and all other software... After installing these software, upgrading them to the latest ones from Internet would be the next step and then would be the restoration of the backup...

I am getting prepared to spend another night in front of my laptop...

Unlocking the locked ones

Few days back, I got a locked N73 and the main challenge was to unlock it.

N73 is a different model of Nokia and can not be unlocked as easily like unlocking Nokia's old models like 6230i etc.

Most new generation Nokia cell phones are using Symbian OS and since I am very little exposed to this OS, I could not do anything to log on this phone and check any loop holes to unlock.

So, I searched on the Internet and came across a site on www.imserba.com at http://www.imserba.com/forum/showthread.php?t=110552&page=2.

Its indeed very interesting forum and there I found out a techie word "unbranding".

I followed the instruction mentioned on this forum and tried to unlock my N73 but it seems my N73 is as adamant as Sissie that it just does not want to unlock/unbrand...

I contacted the forum creator "joneywalker4u" and he suggested few additional steps to perform. This evening, I performed those steps but the phone is still in Sissie mode...

Below are some of the pictures of this process for "joneywalker4U" to review the process and suggest me next method...

Above screen appears as a result of *#7370# to reset the phone. It then asks for the security code and then resets the phone.

After reset, the phone boots with original O2 card and since this SIM does not have a roaming activated, it failed to register to my local network.

NSS generates some messages as shown on "SCAN".

Phone Info on NSS generates above screen. You will notice the product code, HW version and other details as I issued 'read' after changing the product code.

I later used product code 0543843 derived from a friend's unlocked N73 and then wrote that product code in the phone.

 
NSU detected the phone and suggested the latest firmware version to be 4.0750.31.2.1. Since I did upload this firmware earlier, current and update versions are same in above screen shot.

As I did erase earlier version from the cache, the firmware was downloaded from Nokia site and then on the phone.

After downloading the firmware, NSU updated the software on the phone and finally produced below screen shot. 

I then replaced original O2 SIM card with my local Airtel one and rebooted the phone with a hope that the phone would accept this SIM... But unfortunately, this N73 is no different than Sissie as it still wants to remain unlocked with a message "SIM card not valid!"...

I will write to JoneyWalker4U again and send him this link so that he can suggest something.

To be or not to be...

Suicide! Yea, to be or not to be... big question any suicide attempter would ask himself/herself at least thousand times before performing the act.

Few days back, I thought if there is any meaningful information available on Internet about this Final act... I Goggled it and found many links of this topic. I tried different search terms like "Suicide made easy", "Quick Suicide Guide" and even "Suicide for Dummies" and to my surprise, I got plenty of listings in all these search. It seems suicide market is in very demand.

Actually, in someone's words, one needs "balls" to dare the suicide and its true. Even with a tiny scar on the skin, people make a loud cry and to end one's own life demands lots of courage...

Spiritually, no religion approves suicide and religions especially Hinduism, Buddhism and some doctrine of Christianity believes suicide as a biggest sin. Even Islam forbids its followers for suicide and Judaism also consider suicide as a crime. Though, number of suicide deaths are increasing every year and rate is increasing at an alarming speed...

Of course, there is a difference between a suicide and a self killing. Self killing is what we otherwise call "suicidal terrorism". They kill themselves to kill others. Its not suicide. Suicide is much more dignified than the self killing.

Out of many ways to suicide like hanging, drowning, poisoning, electrocuting or self killing by bullets or weapons, to me, hanging is the best and quickest way to end the life. Electrocuting is also quickest one but not easiest. Self killing by bullets should work good too but one needs to have a gun for that. While self killing by weapon is also not a bad way, its not practiced that commonly.

Before committing a suicide, one should make his/her will so that his/her suicide does not force others to commit a suicide. So, if I have to make a will, I make a will of what? I possess nothing! Nothing belongs to me... not even my under garments... If tomorrow, I am thrown out of 11KKN, I have to search for tree leaves to cover myself...

Its a good practice to leave a suicide note so that guilty are punished and innocents are spared.... So, if I had to write this note, should I write it in English, Hindi or Gujarati?

Where should one commit the suicide? Of course, not inside the house you (and your family) live... Else, you will render your suicidal room useless and your ghost will haunt there forever.

Anyway, there is a lot more to write about this topic but its time for me to go now.

The Stopover

Sometimes, even a small event can make the day itched in your memory... This evening, while returning from Sarangpur after a meeting, we stopped by for a cup of tea. Though these roadside stalls make very nice tea, I just don't prefer it. So, while other gang members were enjoying the tea, I used the time available to capture some of the moods around.

He sells instant slush and fresh lime soda...

This old man was expression-less when he saw me taking this picture...

Water melons and chikoos... Its a summer here!

The cobbler polishing a pair of sandals...

Another old man selling fancy hats and bangles... Look at his total stock...

Hotel Milan... Once it used to be popular for its Gaathiyaa...

Bhavani - A drink parlor... Orange is spelled Oring...

Khodiyar Pan Parlor...

मेरा भारत महान!

Usually, I post single entry at a time but I could not resist posting another one right now!

Couple of days back, I got my new VoIP box and I configured it yesterday. I tested it and it was working fine. This evening, I called Singapore and the voice quality was crystal clear as if I am calling over land line.

Just now, when I tried to make a call to US, I found out that the device had no dial tone. I logged into the device and saw that it could not connect to the server. I called the customer support of the VoIP service provider on its US 1-800 toll free number and after couple of minutes of waiting, some guy called "Max" picked up my call. After verifying my contact details (US one), he had to check something on his server and he asked me my contact number in case line got cut. I gave me my Airtel number and you know its a very amazing number :)! So, he ends up "Oh boss! क्या नंबर है! (What a number)!" Wow!!! My call ended up in India and my reaction to him was "मेरा भारत महान (My Great India)!" He then helped me out with the connection/registration problem and he also showed me few tricks to play with in case VoIP port gets blocked...

Similar incident happened few years back when my laptop's CD writer stopped working. It was a year 2000 and I was in New Jersey that time and I ended up calling Dell customer support. I logged a complaint and since I had a Next Business Day warranty for that laptop, Dell asked for the address where it would ship me a replacement drive. I was planned to be in Chicago for next day and thus, I gave my Chicago address. Next day, the drive did not reach on time and I was back in New Jersey in the evening. I called Dell next morning about the replacement drive. The person other hand checked the record and found out that the drive was delivered to that Chicago address around 5pm. Well, it was late as I already had left for the airport by that time. So, he processed another replacement drive to my NJ address. I asked him about how to return the drive which was received in Chicago and he goes: "कोई बात नहिं, आप उसकोभी रख लीजीयेगा!...(Never mind, you keep that drive too)!" And at that time too, my reaction was "मेरा भारत महान"!...

The facelift...

Last evening, I happened to be at Ahmedabad's domestic airport and to my very surprise, everything there has changed so much...

Ahmedabad airport is one of those airports which are getting modernized by Airport Authority of India. This airport's modernization is not subcontracted to any private company but you still can feel the professionalism in its appearance. Its just inaugurated few days back and may be that's why, it looks so clean. Lets hope it remains such clean all the time. The arrival terminal now has three international sized conveyor belts for luggage and thus, passengers are relived from the pain of those decades old 25 feet long conveyer "rollers" at old arrival terminals. Those of you who had arrived in old terminal building, while waiting for your luggage to arrive on the belt, you would have felt the terrible smell of the nearby restroom. Now, in new terminal, restrooms are far enough and are of international quality.

Since photography inside the terminal seemed not allowed, I did not dare to pull out my iPhone camera for the details of interior of arrival lounge.

Its lucky to be a man...

Men Are Just Happier People - What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $500 0. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. !

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your cl0thes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes. One color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

(Text courtesy: A forward from a female friend)

Saga de Dubai

It was Tuesday 11pm when my Emirates flight from Nairobi landed at Dubai. Luggage arrived very quick and so quick was immigration check. I was out of airport in 20 minutes. My hosts Sarju and Jayesh came to pick me up. Sarju (nicknamed "Chewing Gum") and Akshar grew up together in Bhavnagar under Shilpa's loving care. When she came to know that I am coming to Dubai, she just ruled a decision that I will be staying at her place. She lives in Sharjah which is just a bridge apart from Dubai.

We talked talked that night for quite late as we were meeting each other almost after 15 years. First time when I met her was back in 1989 when she was 2 years old. Now she is 21 and married...!

Next day afternoon, Chewing Gum and me went to Dubai's famous Desert Safari. We returned late night. Below are some of the pictures of this Safari...

Road to Safari reminded me of our drive to Grand Canyon...

Sarju with Land Cruiser V8... It was manual drive and only manual one would be able to drive through sand.

The driver released almost half of the wheel air pressure to make them flat for sand driving.

Bunch of drivers... The center one with glasses looked so mean :)...

Sand dunes... They looked so beautiful...

There were two desert bikers doing different stunts...

The driving in sand was very exciting...

It is said that woman's brain (intelligence) resides in her feet... For her, its in sand now... :)

After few stops in desert, we ended up at the camp site.

Camel ride was one of the attractions there but they were so stinky...

It was nice walking uphill  in the sand...

Camp side and our vehicles... from the uphill.

In the camp, there were different stalls for entertainment, photography in Arabic costumes and some bird show.. Hawk is Dubai's National bird but here, it was tied and looked very tired...

Next day was a shopping day and Piyush - a long time friend of RG and now a very devote family member came to pick me up from Sarju's place. We went to couple of electronics mega stores to look for some land line phones for the office. Unfortunately, none of the models were available. I found that Dubai is way behind Singapore for such electronics items and its expensive too. Piyush wanted me to stay at his place all the time but he understood my situation. He wanted me to spend a night at his place before I flew back to Ahmedabad but since Sarju would not give up that easily, we had to find out a way for that. Before dropping me at her place, we decided that he would come in evening to attend the assembly and then take me to his place...

Later in the evening, Piyush sent his assistant Vivian to bring me to different shops for those phones I was looking for. None of the shops in Sharjah had those ones and we ended up going Dubai to check few outlets there. We managed to get one of the phones from Carrefour.

That night, in the assembly, I met many devotees and was touched by their dedication and devotion for Satsang. They are so brave to do satsang even in such staunch Islamic country. The gathering continued till 2am!

Later, seeing my need to stay with Piyush, Jayesh convinced Sarju about it and I moved to Piyush's place which is one of the posh locations of Dubai. We reached his place at 2:30am and then talked talked talked long way.

Next morning, Sudhanshu - Piyush's son became a cool friend with me and he showed me all his toys.
His trampoline jumps tempted me to do few but I am now too old for that...

Just outside Piyush's house, one can see Al-Burg.. World's tallest tower under construction...

I had to catch a flight at 3pm and thus, we left for airport at 12:30pm. Immigration check and other formalities were over in few minutes and I was again at the same place I was few days back... I found other phone in one of the shops there and though it was expensive, I was advised to bring it with me.

At the gate, I met this little nice Roohi... She was throwing similes all around but when she found me pointing the camera at her, she became a bit shy...

The flight was boring with nothing much to do. It landed five minutes before time. When I reached at the immigration counter, another familiar face there and he too asked me nothing... So last hurdle of Yellow Fever Vaccination got over without any problems...

I ended up this trip with a very firm conclusion that if He wants me to get something done, He would ensure I face no problems. If He does not want something to happen, no matter how hard I will try - for days, months or years, nothing will happen.

Saga de Aapharika

Last Tuesday, I received a call from Nairobi and in just few minutes, it was decided that I should be there during the weekend...

It was tough time getting the ticket but thanks to my travel agent that he got me ticket in time. Since Emirates flight was via Dubai, I planned to stop over Dubai on my way back. I checked on Internet and found that I will need Visa for Dubai and to get it in two days was just impossible. But Emirates' Dubai Stop Over program helped me to opt for it before flying from Ahmedabad and I got the visa before leaving Nairobi.

I was booked on Emirates' Friday early morning flight. That evening, I got a call from Dinesh in Nairobi and he asked me about my Yellow Fever vaccination. It was mandatory for any Indian nationals to have this vaccination if traveling to any African countries. I just did not know about it and when I checked about it with Dr VP, he said that vaccination is available only in Government hospitals and after injected, one has to wait for at least 12 days to get if effective... I had just few hours left for my flight and I planned to take a chance of traveling without this vaccination.

When I reached at the airport, there was a long queue at the entrance. While I was positioning myself in the queue, one of the Emirates girls noticed my Skyward tag on the bag and she pulled me out of the line. She escorted me all the way to Business class counter and hola! I got my boarding card in few minutes. Then, there was a long queue at the immigration check and again, another Emirates girl cut the queue for me and brought me straight to one of the counters. Immigration officer there happened to be familiar face and he just stamped my passport and let me go through!!! Bingo! One hurdle for vaccination was over...

When I entered the plane, I was a bit surprised to end up in a business class...
I first could not believe that I was upgraded to Business class as my boarding card was just ordinary economy class one... But my seat was in Business class and I think it was due to my Skyward miles, I was given a Business class seat...

The seat was very comfortable and had such large leg space...
It had lots of reclining controls that it was almost like a bed when fully reclined.

Since flight to Dubai was just 3 hours, I could not use the best of this Business class travel :(

My connecting flight to Nairobi was five hours later and I loitered in Dubai airport for a while.

This airport is rated as one of the best airports and its just like a shopping mall... Many duty free shops and international brands have their outlets in this airport.

Many promotions were going on and lots of people shopping there... I noticed that everything there was much expensive compared to their street prices.

While at the gate to board Nairobi flight, this little girl was so playful and naughty that it drew attention of many passengers... I liked her hairstyle and I found that it takes around half an hour to make it...

When landed at Nairobi, during immigration check, the officer did not even look at me and stamped my passport. She even did not put how many weeks I can stay in Nairobi... So, final hurdle for vaccination also got over without any problem! Friends at Nairobi were so surprised that I could make it there without Yellow Fever Vaccination...

Last year, almost same time, I was in Nairobi and had made few close friends here. People in Nairobi are very warm and kind. Nairobi resembles very much to Mumbai without Mumbai's humid weather. Each house here needs to have an electrical fence to safeguard it from any robbery. Each building has private (and armed) guards and even during day time, one can easily be robbed if not careful. I remember that in my last trip, we were driving a Corolla to downtown and at a traffic stop, a 10 years boy came and snatched away side mirror...  That's why, all glasses are itched with the vehicle number... So that next day, you go to flea market and pick up your glass by paying good money... :)

Next three days were very busy and we had to finish a lot in between. While all team members were amazingly receptive and active, our team efforts paid up and we finished all tasks beforehand.

One afternoon, we had a chance to have few sips of African coffee at Nairobi Java House - a popular coffee outlet.

One of the friends there is a local reseller for Dell parts and he forced me to upgrade my laptop to 4Gb RAM..

On last day, on the way to airport, I noticed this beautiful blue sky... I wish I had my DReb with me... but iPhone camera did good job in capturing the blue...

It was a five hours flight to Dubai and before boarding, I spent some time at Nairobi Java House in airport...

It was less crowdy and bigger compared to the one we went earlier.

The flight was uneventful except that I had a seat on a right wing... It was 2330HRS when I landed Dubai.

Its 30 minutes to midnight and I have to EOB here to finish my current design before calling a day.