Port forwarding in BSNL Dataone

Port forwarding is mandatory to get good download speed with torrent. Let me explain the process of setting up.

1. Go to the "speed guide" under options in the bit torrent client.
2. Click on "test if port forwarded properly"
3. If it is OK it will say so else it will give a link to configuring it.
4. In case u have a UTStarCom Type IV connection. Follow the below process
5. Type http://192.168.1.1/ in the location bar and it will ask for login and password.
6. Once logged in. Go to "Advanced set up->NAT"
7. click "add" and then type some name say "torrent" in custom server bar.
8. Check your IP address of your computer. It will be 192.168.1.x, where x not equal to 1 if DHCP is configured.
9.in the port start and end column copy and paste the info about "current port" given in speed guide section (2).
10. Keep the same nos for both internal and external port start and end. Save it.
11. Then go to "settings" section below "advanced setup" and do a "save/reboot"

Now check the speed test and see if the port forwarding is fine. If not, you have not followed the steps properly try again :)

Firefox Simplified Search through keywords

This is one among the top feature i like in Firefox. (As i don't use other browsers i am not aware they also have). So let me explain how we do it and how it can be really useful.

Go to any search page. Say google, then on the search bar, right click and then click on "add a keyword to the search".. Add say a alphabet "g" and save. Now all you have to do whenever you need to search is use Ctrl+T (on a separate tab) or Ctrl+L (on the same window) and type "g Firefox" to search all about firefox.

This can be done for your favorite bookmarks also. In the bookmark, right click on say Economic Times and go to the properties. Here again you will find a keyword where you can mention say "eco". So next time you need to go to economic times all you have to do is use Ctrl+T (on a separate tab) or Ctrl+L (on the same window) and type "eco".

Enjoy a mouse free firefox use :)

How to change DataOne plan?

This is one of the most tricky thing. I had heard how simple it is to change the plan in Bharti Airtel. You get your plan changed in a day or two. But it is quite a tedious one in BSNL. You have to give a written request to the exchange from which you have taken your broadband connection!! I was thinking i will move to Home 500C or Home 500C+ scheme. But now i have to see when i can go to the exchange and do this tedious process. Also, once you give a request the change become effective from 1st of the next month. So plan to get a Home 500C on the day of applying itself.

Why Home 500C?
- You need not pay Rs 180/- as the telephone rental
- 175/- free calls compared to 50 in Home 500 scheme
- so effectively you get your broadband for 500- (180+175-50)=Rs 175/- cheaper than the Home 250 plan and if you are doing normal browsing 1.5GB limit is more than enough. but do your torrent downloads at night. And no gtalk/yahoo messenger talk daily.

I finally went and changed my plan to Home 500C. All you have to do is walk to your nearest BSNL local exchange and write in a white paper to commercial officer and submit it there. I was initially told that i had to submit this in the customer care center but i luckily asked a second person in the exchange and he told me that it indeed has to be submitted in the local exchange. So i submitted there and now one week after the submission i have moved to Home 500C plan

Bikes, Bangalore and Backpain

It is not that they have alphabet "B" common among them. Recently among my friend (and long back with me also), back pain issue is quite common. My analysis of my different acts on a regular day made me to conclude that bike is the culprit.

Bikes now a days come with awesome power and not not awesome shock absorber. And in Bangalore with the weird traffic, applying excessive brakes is quite common. This puts excessive pressure on the back. I think this as the key culprit as whoever had similar issue with back i suggested to minimize/avoid the use of bike and all of them recovered pretty well.

So if you are a new entrant into the club, just stop driving the bike, get some ayurvedic treatment. I did it at Kottakkal Ayurveda Hospital near Ashoka pillar, Jayanagar. This is opposite to the e-zone on the jayanagar BDA complex ashoka pillar road. Take complete rest during the time you have pain. Once you are done with the pain (takes around a week or two with medication) stop using bikes and do some yoga exercise which allows the muscle around the back to get sturdier. Do not do heavy Gym exercises. Also dont neglect it as it can get really painful and can turn into a slip disc issue which needs surgery.

The tale of three movies

Last week i had a chance to see three quite different movies. One was a Malayalam, another Japanese (with English subtitle), and third English. The first from a well known Malayalam director, the second one was by a world renowned director and the last from a "unreal" director (Has an animation director)!!

First one was Mayukham, directed by Hariharan, was a dumb squib. This can be a guide to "how not to make a movie". It was so engrossing story that i didn't even care to see the climax. Hackneyed plot with some slight twist cannot make a nice movie. This though amply proved again and again by the viewers somehow is not percolating into the director and producer community. But on the positive side, it is not as worse as many other Malayalam movie hitting the screens around that time.

Second one was "Finding Nemo". It is a story of a small "comic" fish who is lost because he did not give a heeding to the advice of his father not to go into deep sea. A valiant effort by its father finally allow (through a series of mind boggling animation and with lot of imbibed subtle values like friendship etc) finding that missing kid called Nemo. A must see and hats up to the producer Walt Disney for spending good amount of money on animation. This showed that movie without real character can be as good as a the contemporary non-animated movies.

Third one was a classic. Set in old Japan, it is a story of a percieved idiot called tram idiot who wakes up in the morning and rides his illusionary tram from morning till the night with the tram hum denoted by this kid as "Dodeskudan" (and that is the name of the movie). Made by world renowned director Akkira Kurasowa, it shows movie can be better than the written counterpart. This story is similar to "The idiot" novel by F. Dostovsky which itself is a classic, and Kurosowa has went ahead and brought more life to the protagonist than at least my imagination. The world around tram idiot makes you think that the "tram idiot" is the only sane person in that society!! At least he is happy and creates no problems for the rest of humanity.

Recommendation: If one gets a chance see the last two, and if one is really interested in becoming a director, know the pitfalls, so see the first to know how NOT to make a movie.

bookmyshow and free movie tickets

This is one among the top shot mistakes i have ever done. The concept was nice, economics was great (1 ticket free with every booked ticket for platinum card and 1 ticket free with every two ticket for a gold card), and so took the plunge and booked the ticket.

I was trying for a ticket in PVR, not just for me but for 9 people. After the discounts, it came to shade above 900. I tried the first time, it took me till the final phase of registration with even my card details given. and then it just does not respond. I frantically call the bookmyshow customer care. they responded and told me that the transaction is not done and you can try it again. I checked my credit card status online also. It showed no transaction.

Went ahead did the whole procedure again. Again it failed after my credit card details were given. Then i left it and we all ditched going for the movie. Then when i was going through my credit care statement the next day, got a real bad shock. Rs 1800 is debited from my account to bookmyshow. I call their representative. He maintains that no transaction is made. I called ICICI, they were mentioning the transaction was made!!

Now what?? i booked a compliant through mail to both ICICI and bookmyshow helpdesk. ICICI send me a note that they have tagged these transactions as "disputed" and i will get back the money in 60 days!!.. each time i send a mail to bookmyshow guys they tell they are working with the bank to refund my amount.. The key question: who has my money??

still waiting for the money.. hoping at least in 60 days i will get back the money.. so beware of free offers and dont take the first leap.. learned a hard way :(

I finally got back the money :)