Google and Pac Man

For those of you who didn't visit the Google homepage on Friday, 21 May 2010, I believe you missed one of the more innovative Google homepage designs. The page was dedicated to honour Pac Man's 30th anniversary.  I saved a screnshot of the homepage and was just lazy (as usual) to make a post out of it, until an incident at work really cracked me up.

 
I work at the library in my university, as the first point of contact for IT related issues on campus. I basically deal with issues ranging from, "Where is the Num-Lock Key" to managing issues with the university printing system.

There is a particularly funny Bangladeshi girl who frequents the library computers. She is notorious among my co-workers for her ridiculous questions, mostly because of her lack of knowledge in using computers. She came into the library today, just like any other day logged into the computer at a distance from me. Few minutes later, the girl is frantically running towards my desk, "I just wanted to search something on Google, but something happened to the computer! There is some black stuff that is moving. I think there is a virus on my computer!!"

At first, I didn't quite understand what was happening. In this confusion, she happened to peek onto my screen and turns out I was on the Google homepage myself. She goes, "Thats it! I also have that. What is that??"

I couldn't help but crack up along with some other students around who overheard her question. I thought the incident was equally worth archiving :)

PS: I wonder if she is hooked on to Pacman now. I should go check.

Time to Fix it?

Exactly three months ago, I wrote about how I managed to accidently destroy my cellphone - an instrument that I was never too fond of in the first place. But in all honesty, it really was an accident!

I also said that I would be trying to fix the broken screen of that wretched phone by purchasing  a replacement that I found on ebay. Although my annoyances with that phone were increasing as time progressed, I still wanted to fix it for shits and giggles! I knew from the very moment the phone broke that I had an excuse...for it was time to move on....upgrade my phone...and evolve (I assume only one of my buddies will understand the reason I use this word). 

As I was hunting for a suitably priced replacement screen for my LGU990, I was fortunate enoogh to also find my next phone, or should I say my iPhone! The 32 Gig iPhone I currently use has been my baby for about 2 months now. I can say without any doubt that purchasing the iPhone was one worthy upgrade. I often admire Apple for the way they implement complex ideas in an elegant manner. The more I use the iPhone and applications, the more I realize what an amazing machine it is. The Shapwriter application is one such application that brings out so much potential on worthy smartphones.

Also, it has been over a 45 days since I received the replacement screen for my damaged LG phone. Before I ordered the screen, I patiently took the phone apart to make sure I was ordering the correct component. Although I now know that the component I purchased is exactly what is needed, I don't seem to be motivated enough to see that phone function again. In fact, until today, the very thought of making an effort to fix the dismal LGU990 while my iPhone lays on my desk...inviting me to discover more features is actually rather demotivating. 

However, as I write this post I am feeling the urge to get the repair over with since I did make a $30 investment on the replacement screen anyway. Hopefully in my next blog post I will have pictures of a fully functional LGU990 taken from the very majestic iPhone.

Assuming I successfully fix the broken LGU990, what the future holds in store for it is rather unclear.
Suggestions are welcome

The Quintessential 'Post-grad Me'

At Drexel University where I completed my Bachelor's studies, class registrations would be quite frustrating specially towards the end of my degree. I almost always had this tough choice to make in my final years. On the one side, I could take a day class, with the 3-4 credit hour class split into two days - with a half decent professor (where I learn something) who would be an absolute grading Nazi. Or, I could take the same course which ran one evening per week (usually 6-9pm) - with terrible and boring professors who were generally generous graders. 

But now at ANU where I am doing my Post-grad studies, I usually don't have a choice. I seldom miss the choice I had at Drexel University, and when I do, the only thing I miss are the shorter lectures! It's usually just one professor who has designed a wonderful course and most professors are brilliant teachers. But even with good professors, there are those days when I get little or no sleep on the previous day and I then have a survive a 5-8pm lecture the next day. This last happened on March 4th when I had to sit through a very interesting class (and professor), but the tiresome was getting to me and I was becoming restless and itching to leave. The real me began to take over. The me who is generally goofy, playful, figity, distracted, not studious and waiting for the next opportunity to stay away from the books! 

 My laptop ran out of battery and so I moved to my next distraction. I pulled out my iPhone and began playing around with it. I then turned on the camera and took a picture that I will always remember for several reasons. I believe I have changed my ways during my post-grad studies. The new frame of mind that I have had during my studies here at ANU has been able to suppress what I have always called the real me. 

The Quintessential Post-grad Me

My friend coined the perfect name for this photograph and I couldn't agree more with the name given by her. The only item missing in this photograph is my laptop from which I am comfortably writing this blog :) I will be completing my degree in about 9 months (hopefully) and as much as I can't wait to graduate, I think I will miss college life. 

Maybe this tought is premature, but I do believe I'll miss the absolute freedom to do anything I want! I know I'll miss random late-nighters and sleepless nights followed by early morning lattes and flat whites or the third can of an energy drink. I'll miss the freedom to enjoy absolute nothingness. I won't be able skip classes soon or have the choice to sip on a nice hot coffee in class. Procastination will never be the same again and I won't have the project work or exam deadline tension. 

So I take a vow to enjoy the rest of my college life as much as I can right now, because as much as I will miss it, I don't intend to study any further!

Trivial, yet necessary design

"Design is art that makes itself useful."

  Die Neue Sammlung, design museum, Munich

Another fine day as I was maintaining my streak of being late for work, I made my way into one of Melbourne's trams. The heavily crowded tram could afford me only a little space to stand. As people got off along the way, I suddenly found myself leaning against something that immediately captured my thought. 

I can only hope my photograph has captured some of the essence of what I want to talk about here. I am unsure how this would be named in the manufacturing world, but for the purpose of this post, I'd like to call it a 'Rest'.

For the purpose of this post, I'd like to call this a 'Rest'

As simple and trivial as it may look, the idea of its design is what really was attractive to me. From what I know, the design of an object is characterized by its form (appearance) and function  (usability). While form and function are not exhaustive in characterizing design, they are not exclusive either. Their interdependence is hardly debatable, but the chicken and egg  precedence analogy has been consistently applied to form and function. 

No matter what took the precedence here, personally, I believe the 'Rest' is a wonderful...operational marriage between both form and function. Understandably, this might seem rather unconvincing for readers to appreciate based on a picture, but this is a really efficient solution for saving space on busy trams and subways while making sure passenger comfort is not sacrificed. If you are still not convinced, I'll try to be a little more vivid at the risk of sound like a pervert. Out of curiosity, I observed people (without prejudice) perch their buttocks on this 'Rest' several times and have never sensed a hint of discomfort. From what I see, it is quite a hit on the Melbourne trams. The shape, curvature, height and position of the cushion is most convenient!

My hometown Bangalore is slowly....really slowly inching towards its own Metro system and considering the sheer population, a crowded subway is anybody's prediction. I believe this is an arrangement that definitely needs to be considered by the builders of compartments.  Having a compartment with only seats instead would not only waste space, but also works against the onslaught of passengers wanting to step into or out of the train.

Crrrack!

It took me a good 11 months to overcome my laziness, launch this blog and write about my LGU990 interface woes. But I guess the universe has a way of conspiring against us all. I consider myself to be a fairly patient person, but  when certain circumstances prevailed, I was forced to channel my anger...I guess it was the 3G channel this time :)

That's what the phone looks like today

This is one hit the phone simply couldn’t take and I guess the picture speaks for itself. The display behind the touch screen is destroyed, although the touch screen is working just fine. Since I am still able to make and receive calls, I have set myself a personal mission of dissecting the phone and replace the screen with one I found on e-bay. It should be an interesting little assignment for me.

Hopefully I’ll have updates soon.

Disgrace to competition

The coveted iPhone has been making its rounds in my head. In early 2009, since I didn't have the money for an iPhone, I needed to settle for something else. That's when I bumped into this review. I was looking for a phone available at a subsidized price with a carrier contract.

LG Viewty KU990 was the phone I decided to get along with my phone plan. In my hurry, a brief scan of the review was enough to convince me to get this phone. This phone was expected to "take on the iPhone".

To my disappointment, this is one of the worst phones I have used until now. Its interface is so poorly designed, it feels like the phone was barely tested before it was thrown into the market as a so-called iPhone competitor. I've tried to compile a few annoying things I have noticed about the phone's interface.

• The T9 dictionary is the most annoying feature of this phone. It adds random words to the phone dictionary. I still remember how when I first used the phone and was typing the word 'check', the phone for some reason defaults 'Agdaj'. I don't know how that word popped in there, but I can never again type check directly. Unless I perform a clean reset of the phone, I don't think Agdaj is going away. 
  
• Notice the sentence case in this scenario. I want to type the word Manohar at the start of a sentence. I spell it out, and LG saves the word to its dictionary as Manohar (notice the case). So it doesn't matter if I want to type my name in the middle of a sentence, the dictionary only saves the word Manohar (and not manohar). My old Sony Ericcson T610 did a better job in 2004!
• The phone tends toggle the t9 on and off randomly.  On an average, 3 out of 10 times, the t9 is off when I want to type a text message. But what I have noticed is...when I want to type any password (Gmail, Skype etc), t9 is on at least 75% of the time. Believe me, it has no relationship with what/how I typed anything previously. 
• The alarm clock on the phone does not ring when the phone is on vibrate! I don't know if LG had this planned as a "special " feature in its phone, but I think it is really stupid to have to put my phone on ringer ever night only so I can hear the alarm the next day. 
• The phone boasts pre-installed Google apps (Youtube, Gmail, Blogger, Maps) etc. It can also support Skype and several other Java apps also. But here's the real killer. Imagine you are checking your Gmail and you need to check something on Google Maps. Oops, this phone can only run one app at a time! So guess what...you have to close Gmail to run Maps.
• The phone comes with a funky looking music player. But guess what, that is an app too. Remember? Only one app at a time!
• Wanna play a game? Oops! Quit any other app!
• I can't describe how to scroll through the screen on this phone, but different sections on the phone need a different technique for scrolling.

What I've written above are mere annoyances I have faced with this phone. It obviously does not constitute as a complete review of the phone. Apparently I tend to write partial reviews :)