Wisetechie Blog : Ctrl your Tech Life

Rediff Ishare lets you share videos and audios with your friends. But what if you want those MP3 songs or videos for yourself ? , its really very easy to get these files. We will post a step by step procedure to taking the files pretty soon. Till then keep waiting !

Also we will tell you how to get a Contact Us form for your own site, without knowing or using any PHP. Also we will tell you tips on using the tool further….

The great tech season has just begun ! , also we might just review the iPhone pretty soon.

Employers all around the world are keeping a closer watch on their employees, whether its sneaking on their web browsing habits or reading their personal and corporate email. While there is little you can know about how they are tracking and using your web browsing habits. Your IT Hub system administrator knows about your browsing habits. He knows how much time you spend on Orkut or Facebook. Perhaps he is the one who told the company about the man hours wasted on Orkut and Facebook, which led to the sites being banned.

There is an easy way to track your email and to see if its being read by someone else. The easiest way is to send an email to yourself with a picture hosted on your server.Include words like secret and classified documents in the email. Dont post actual company secrets. Dont read the email yourself, and see in stats if that particular image was requested. You will also be able to see the IP address of the person reading your email. Doing a WHOIS on it, you will be able to tell whether its someone in the office who is reading your email or whether its a friend who has been able to guess your password. I am saying this from personal experience , guessing passwords isnt so tuff.

Its official the company is dishonest, i had registered for Do-Not-Disturb, but i am still receiving messages from Airtel which are complete spam. Airtel India should act responsibly and own up to this. I called up the customer care and asked them if Do-Not-Disturb is just another scam and i was disconnected by the person monitoring the call i think. I called again and this time did not use the word scam, i told the customer care executive to transfer me to his supervisor.

I told the supervisor about the problem and he has told me that within 48 hours my number’s spam will be gone. I really hope so. I can imagine why people get so frustrated with Airtel’s substandard service. The person told me that it could be a technical fault from their side and my complaint has been forwarded. Lets see, keep watching this space to know what comes of it.

LCD screens can get dirty easily, but they require extra care when cleaning them, otherwise you can do more harm than good. LCDs are easily damaged by a lot of things and factors. Your notebooks, Ipods, mobiles all have LCD screens. LCD screens do not need anti glare stuff no matter what your PC salesman tells you, so dont get cheated.

LCD monitors are also very delicate.

Cleaning an LCD screen

Never use alcohol, detergents or even mild soap for an LCD screen. All good LCD screens have outer protective coatings which can get damaged by abrasives, so always use a soft cloth (muslin), never use a scrubber. First switch of the LCD monitor and disconnect the power supply. Now wipe the screen with a cloth and gentle strokes, do not apply pressure or you may damage your screen. In case you see some dirt sticking, put 3 drops of water on the cloth and clean gently. Dont use too much water also.

Pressure on an LCD

Never press on LCDs too hard. Pressing too hard can permanently damage LCD pixels in that area.

Same image for so long, LCD Burnouts

LCD burnouts are another huge problem. Those who use CRTs are not aware that using LCDs can cause burnouts if the same image is displayed for a long time. Like my monitor has a weak imprint of the firefox browser, which basically stays there. That area also has become more prone to future burnouts. I was stupid. One should always use screensavers on LCD monitors, keep the waiting time as 2 minutes only so that screensaver is deployed quickly.

Extreme Temperatures

Never keep your LCD monitors directly in the sun, heat will damage your LCD monitor. Always keep the LCD monitor in a cool and well ventilated area. Also never use the LCD monitor in snow or sub-zero temperatures. It can cause permanent damage to the pixels.

Handle Carefully

Although it may not appear so, LCDs have glass too. Shocks to the screen can cause it to break and render your LCD useless. Sometimes cellphones in pockets get so much pressure that their screen just cracks and you have to get an expensive new screen.

Dont stick stuff to it

This might sound stupid, but NEVER stick post its to your LCD, the glue will damage your LCD monitor. I have seen people doing it.

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Keep these things in mind and enjoy your new LCD monitor. Remember LCDs save money compared to CRT monitors and produce lesser heat helping you save on AC bills too.

Sorry for calling you crazy, but there is no sane person in India who would buy an Iphone. I know a few friends(rich and a little ignorant about technology in general) who have bought the Iphone from America or asked their uncles to bring the Iphone to India during their next trip. Most of those who already have got the Iphone in India are banging their heads on the wall. Because even after weeks of its launch , they still cant make it work on Airtel or Hutch. The iPhone is just a paperweight or an iBrick as some people prefer to call it

Despite our warning in our previous post, one of the readers bought a phone, and wrote to me. He thanked me for the good advice and then used the choicest swear words for me saying i should have been more clear that he should not have bought an iPhone, so here i am being more clear, if you are an Indian living in India, dont buy the iPhone just yet.

Thats the truth about mobile phones and the Indian people. Most Indian teens watch Gadget Guru on NDTV and feel they are topshot techies. Well here is an eyeopener, Gadget Guru wont make you a techie, maybe a tech salesman. Sometimes i feel if i had the budget of NDTV and i was asked to make a show like Gadget Guru, how much i would do. A Tech show should cater to a tech audience not a general demographic as Gadget Guru does. Ok, enough of NDTV bashing.

Again i repeat, unless you have 20k rupees in spare, dont buy an iPhone in India

The Department of Telecom in India wants you to help it. Everytime you get an ISD call and the number you see is an invalid one or a local one, someone is cheating the Indian companies of their money. I myself have noticed sometimes when i get calls, invalid numbers are displayed, like 00310 or 911123456 etc.

So i received an ISD call, the number was invalid. I decided to be a good citizen and report it, i had received the following SMS recently

Dear Customer, if you receive an international call 4 which the CLI displayed is similar 2 a local or national number, please inform at toll-free number 1800110420 - DoT.

I called the number 1800110420, you yourself can hear the message, earlier i was hearing an engaged tone. The engaged tone was recently replaced by a temporary disconnection notice, the kind given to people who do not pay their bills. so what happened , did the Department of Telecom run out of money ??? The nation is being cheated out of valuable foreign exchange by operators of other countries, and such essential numbers aren’t even working.

I had ordered another product from Futurebazaar, the 1st purchase had come to me in 3 days, so naturally i was expecting the same blazing fast delivery. When even after 7 days i got no confirmation that my shipment was ready, i wrote to Futurebazaar customer care, No Reply after 24 hours even, i was worried, another email shot to them.

Then they replied, they told me that my order was still under process and they were yet to charge my Credit Card, this was strange, as i dont think they can store my Credit Card information, plus i enter Credit Card information only at the ICICI bank Credit Card gateway.

So i wrote an email to HDFC Bank, asking about the status of the charge, this is what they replied :

At the outset we wish to clarify that HDFC credit cards are accepted at all Merchant Establishments affiliated to Visa/MasterCard International. Consequently, some of the charges incurred by our cardholders are presented to us by the other banks affiliated to Visa/MasterCard International. The transactions are processed to the card account as and when the same is received from another member bank.

While we have received authorisation requests for the amount of Rs.xxx and the same was approved, our records indicate that the transaction has not been processed to your card account as on date. In absence of any charge being processed to your card account for 20 days, the authorisation amount blocking the limit will be cancelled.

Should you require any further assistance or clarification please do not hesitate to contact our service representatives at any of our 24 hour Call Center telephone numbers given below.

Assuring you of our best service at all times.

Sincerely,
Customer Service Officer

So basically the amount is already approved by my bank, but its waiting for a formal request from their bank to send the money. This is quite an interesting strategy, as in case they run out of a product or fail to deliver , they just dont process the charge and you get your money back automatically.

But anyway, I would only give futurebazaar, 3 out of 5 for this particular shopping event, i hate waiting, and i hate not being replied to early. Otherwise the shopping experience is a 4.5/5, they just gotta work on their CRM. My last product came with a certificate of authenticity, this one did not though.

But anyway, futurebazaar.com is looking really promising , their product portfolio is pretty good and i daresay their prices are tempting, and also they themselves sell their products, unlike Indiatimes, where people sell grey market fakes and smuggled goods often.

Rating:

Well if you would have read the last post, you would know that our Harry Potter was delayed by TNT Couriers Delivery agents without a reason. When i didnt get my book on Sunday also, i had decided to write about my experience. I tracked the Airway Bill Number and was shocked to see it was released for delivery on Saturday morning itself. For once Indiatimes hadnt goofed up, but TNT had. I felt sorry about telling that Indiatimes guy his shopping portal wasnt of much use.
So as i wrote the TNT blogpost, i wrote in anger that it should not be used. Basically my sites often work as a bridge. Once Indiatimes was not replying to my emails about one of their cashback schemes, one blog post, 10k visits to that post in 1 day, and i had Indiatimes topshots calling me to clarify and apologise. This blog also gets around 10000 hits a day, so it reaches a lot of people.

Being a company of global repute, TNT Courier also contacted me to sort out the matter, Mr. Saikin Bose was instrumental in this. Dont know how he discovered this blog, but like a responsible employee and human being, he contacted me and offered to help me. I exchanged a few emails with him and a few phone calls (with customer care) later i had the package in my hands in the evening.

So basically TNT’s customer service is top class, the person i got connected to on Sunday was a little rude about Sunday being a holiday and his office being closed, but today has been a good day. I was told the book would be sent to me in an hour, and surely after 1 hour and 15 minutes(cut them some slack !), i saw the delivery man. Did i mention i was waiting for the book desperately in my balcony, i nearly thought the India Today courier was a TNT courier earlier.

The net conclusion is that TNT is a world class company with a great CRM, their franchisee who had to deliver to me though is another story. On enquiring about my delivery, he told me that a ‘new boy’ must have come to deliver and not found my address, no apologies from him. Now i live in a very prominent part of New Delhi, getting to me shouldnt be a problem for anyone who is in the express courier business. God knows how many Fedex and DHL receipts(and digital machines too sometimes) i sign weekly and how many home pickups i get done by them.

To hide his mess up, the franchise had written that the consignee had moved his residence. This status change was done at 14:25 today. I am tech savvy, i track my items on-line, i call customer care. But i feel sorry for people who are not tech savvy. Their consignments would have been returned saying that they didn’t live at the address given.

However i have been assured by the company that a thorough investigation will be done into the incident and loopholes shall be covered. For the moment though :

Thanks TNT for my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. with employees like Mr. Bose, you cant be going in the wrong direction. Also people don’t worry about using TNT couriers, they are pretty good in what they do!

We have not received the book till Monday afternoon (3rd day after Harry Potter Release), 2:15 pm, someone from TNT India Courier has offered to help after reading this post as you can see in the comments, we will keep you updated.

Dont use TNT Couriers in India, they are THE worst courier company in the whole wide world. Just look at the stats of my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book. Looks like the delivery person might have stolen the book or delivered it someplace else. I remember the person delivering my TNT couriers looked like a street side vendor. Compare that to DHL’s couriers who are always smartly dressed.TNT Courier’s Delhi office is closed today, lets see what happens tomorrow, but please punish this company for its irresponsible attitude by choosing some other logistics partner. My experience with DHL has been awesome in comparison.

Its high time companies in India owned up to their responsibility to consumers ! , Spread this info plz, lets make India a consumer friendly place. Also if you have any complaint against any company in India, feel free to write to us.
xxxxxxxxx Details
Reference xxxxxxxxxxx
Pick up date 20 Jul 2007
Destination New Delhi
Delivery Date
Signatory

Date Time Location Status
21 Jul 2007 09:09 Out For Delivery
21 Jul 2007 09:05 Delhi Consignment Received At Transit Point
21 Jul 2007 08:49 Shipped From Originating Depot
21 Jul 2007 06:42 Consignment Received At Transit Point

I am one of the Harry Potter fanatics who have actually pre-ordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Indiatimes. But what Indiatimes does not tell you is that its not selling the books, but a store called Prakash Book Depot whom i assume must have paid a LOT of money to Indiatimes to be able to advertise like that on their shopping portal. And with the lakhs of pre-orders they got they kept slashing the prices, from Rs.780 to Rs.731 to Rs.634. I had ordered when the price was 780 (Ouch !). Just hope i get my copy of the book tomorrow, nowhere on Indiatimes do they say that the book will be shipped ASAP and will reach on 21st July 2007 (The Release Date). So all those who had pre-ordered through Indiatimes, keep your fingers crossed, hope the seller (who is not Indiatimes) actually delivers on time. Bluedart is usually punctual , lets hope they are used.

Last time, Indiatimes had shipped the books at 12:00 am to be able to reach us in time, i had got it at 9:00 am.

Indiaplaza.in was having a better deal on the Harry Potter pre-order, but i went ahead with Indiatimes as i had a gift voucher to use on it.