That First Email

Do you remember you very first email that you sent?

I do. The year was 1996 I think. Or 1997 maybe. I had never used the internet before but was eagerly waiting for it. I wanted to send a quick email to someone, anyone and I chose a cousin sister who lived in the UK. So I went to this place where they offered internet browsing but it was so expensive back then. So instead I asked them if I could send an email to a relative using their business email id. They said sure and I typed a small email that was like 2 or 3 sentences and one of the guys there showed me how to send it.

I must have spent about 10-15 minutes talking with the people who run the store when they told me that there was a reply back from my cousin so I got it printed out and paid for the time spent and left. My cousin had written a paragraph or two about she, her brothers and sisters were and enquired about my family and other relatives back here in India. I read it back home and showed it to my mom as well.

How things have changed since then! Also I no longer talk to that cousin, neither do the rest of my relatives speak to her or her family either.

Star Trek : Renegades

So we have yet another fan film (or in this case a series pilot) based on the Star Trek universe. This is the 4th that I have watched and one that I like a lot just like the other 3. Star Trek: Renegades is a fan film based upon the Star Trek franchise that features several characters from commercially produced Star Trek series, played by the same actors who realized them for film and TV. Made on a budget of roughly $375,000, the film was largely funded through crowdsourcing, and the film’s producers claimed they were going to submit it to CBS as a spec TV pilot (however CBS have turned down the offer to make it into a series). The completed pilot film was released for public viewing via YouTube beginning August 24, 2015. Plans have been announced for a web based series, much like Star Trek Continues.

It is about 10 years after Voyager comes back to earth. A now 143 year old Admiral Pavel Chekov, head of Starfleet Intelligence, is worried about the crisis that the Federation is in as an unknown alien force is destroying the Federation’s main suppliers of dilithium crystals (the primary catalyst for the fuel used in faster-than-light travel). Space and time have folded around several planets, isolating them from outside contact. The phenomenon is unnatural – someone or something is causing it to happen. Chekov gets a message from his friend Admiral Satterle (Herbert Jefferson Jr.) that he is on to a conspiracy within Starfleet and that he is to trust no one. Before the message is over, Satterle is killed in an explosion, which Chekov knows is sabotage. Not knowing who he can trust within Starfleet, Chekov enlists Commander Tuvok, the current head of Section 31, to put together a covert renegade crew of outsiders who will have to find out the people behind this. Tuvok knows of an able leader – Lexxa Singh, a descendant of Khan Noonien Singh – but who is in a Federation prison!

Tuvok gets Lexxa to agree to the mission, dangling the hope of finding her older sister, and she is released from prison and joins her crew of outcasts – Dr. Lucien (Sean Young), Ragnar (Gary Graham), Icheb (Manu Intiraymi), Fixer (Edward Furlong), Jaro Ruk (Kevin Fry) & Ronara (Chasty Ballesteros) – on board their ship, The Icarus and head to investigate. They must evade the USS Archer led by Captain Alvarez (played by Corin Menec) who is unaware of the nature of the Icarus’s mission and stop the aliens led by Borrada (Bruce A. Young) before they can destroy earth using two weapons that case the folding of space. Robert Picardo has two brief scenes as Dr. Lewis Zimmerman while Richard Herd does a brief appearance as Admiral Owen Paris. From Star Trek Continues we have Grant Imahara as Lt. Masaru & Vic Mignogna as Garis coming in to support the Renegades team. Lexxa and her team are able to stop the aliens in time and also uncover a couple of conspirators in Starfleet.

In the end the Icarus crew is given two extra crew members to replace the ones they lose in this mission & their freedom in exchange for the occasional covert operation; they will never be part of Starfleet or having any status in the Federation and in fact will be hunted down as only Chekov & Tuvok will know of their arrangement. Sounds like a good premise for a regular tv series. What did I like about the show? The choice of main cast was good, having Picardo, Russ & Chekov was a huge plus. Wilkinson looks great as does Chasty B but I think Manu as Icheb was just excellent as was Edward Furlong as Fixer (check out the surprise about that character). Some of the others were really not good, including the crew members of the Icarus that die, the villains and what the heck is with that great great granddaughter scene with Chekov? That was my least favourite part of the movie. Make isn’t the best but hey they barely had a budget and that also shows on the sets where they have to be on planets. Starfleet headquarters and the Archer’s interiors looked very tacky to me. However the space scenes and battles were awesome as were the CGI effects on Icheb’s new enhancements. Very well done.

I’d give this movie / pilot a 7 outta 10, maybe an 8 considering the budget.

Bought Another 1TB Hard Drive

So I was running outta space for my files – movies, photos, television shows, music – and hence I just bought another 1TB Western Digital hard disk from an online shopping site called Snapdeal. So that makes it my 3rd 1TB drive; I also have a 160 GB drive that serves as a back up for my mp3 files and a 350 GB drive that has mostly movie files.

All the music that I listen to is on my laptop and also saved onto 2 of my disks – one a backup and the other is the backup for the backup. I currently have a little over 60GB worth of music on around 11,000 mp3 files. I have something like 850 movies (most of which I have only watched once) shared on two hard drives and my laptop’s drive. I’m not sure as to how much GB that is (or TB). I have several tv show seasons also on the two 1 TB hard drives, some of which, just like the movies, I also have on dvds (don’t have a Bluray player as of yet). I also have roughly 70GB of my own videos, shot on my phone, which I upload to Youtube, as well. That will certainly increase as the months go by.

I thought of getting a 2TB drive but I thought I’d wait as I also plan on getting a new laptop in a month or so. I will save up some cash for it, though I plan to by it on EMI off my credit card.

How Do You Use Facebook?

I use it a lot like most people do. I share some thoughts and comments. I share news articles and I often share funny pics that other people, groups or pages post. I share some funny clips and trailers of upcoming movies that I think would be awesome and ofcourse I share my favourite music videos.

Some people only add their close friends in real life, cousins, uncles, aunts and other relatives who they are close to as their Facebook friends. This is a close section of people and means secrecy is involved. There are usually few surprises and arguments because these people know you well and they expect or share several of these ideas and views of yours. I on the other hand, like a lot of people on my Facebook friends list, add a lot of people I have never met in real life before but have met and become friendly on other Facebook groups, blogs, Twitter etc. The problem here for some of us is that these people will only share one of our interests/views but do not have the same interests or views in several other things.

It depends, sometimes you make a lot of good friends that way and they remain friends for a long time while others end up pissing you off or unfriending you because of things you disagree on and say nasty things about you when they get upset.

Prompt from The Learning Network at The New York Times

How Should Parents Address Internet Pornography?

How Should Parents Address Internet Pornography?

I remember having this very discussion on a Facebook post that I shared where a former schoolmate of mine, a mother of a teenage boy, was furious that I had mentioned that I didn’t want to ban pornography. Her argument was that young kids would see it and get affected by it. Another friend joined in the discussion and he was with me : we don’t want to ban pornography but we don’t want kids to be exposed to it. If you are worried about your child watching porn online, monitor their internet usage and be more active in controlling what your kid sees online.

I honestly believe that if you have young kids at home and you plan on giving them a laptop / desktop with Internet access, do not give them the connection in their room. Keep their personal laptop or tab with them but restrict their internet usage to a system kept in the living room or dining table or whatever, in plan view of the rest of the household. Be near them when they have to go online. Put parental locks or controls or whatever needed to restrict certain websites.

Look at the end of the day, he or she is going to see something that you don’t want them to see. Either by accident or they might be with a friend who has unrestricted access to stuff online or otherwise. Educate your kids, let them know why you don’t want them to watch this stuff. Tell them that there are genuine concerns that could affect their thinking. Do something constructive and treat them like you respect their opinion too but care for them.

Prompt from The Learning Network at The New York Times

It’s A Text, Text, Text, Text World

How do you communicate differently online than in person, if at all? How do you communicate emotion and intent in a purely written medium?

Well for starters I do not use “emoticons” in real life. Or say LOL, ROLF or ROTFLMAO out loud. I also do not share funny pics and images as a reply to other people’s statements or questions. And I do not type ‘K’ online or say that in real life either.

I admit that my people are a text / SMS crazy lot and when Whatsapp came along that became like the thing to do and almost everyone who has a data plan is on Whatsapp as it is free and quite convenient to keep in touch and pass along information, images/photos and even video on it. Since you can carry it with you wherever you go, it has become close to essential. I myself am in a few groups and cannot escape from the almost constant barrage of messages being passed along on a minute by minute basis.

Prompt from the Daily Post at WordPress.com.

ROSHAN’S ELEVEN : Youtubers Whose Videos I Watch Religiously

I have a humble Youtube channel with a handful of subscriber but these guys really rock their channels with good content. These are the individually (or in some cases a small group) done videos not backed by a big production (Like Fung Bros or Buzz Feed) and in some cases are very simple with little to no editing done but they have fun, entertaining and interesting content. Therefore I watch them. I just realized that 11 is not a big enough number for me when it comes to channels I watch but for now these are the top 11.

Changes In Asianet’s Basic Unlimited Plans

Two  good things I  got to know this morning with regards to broadband internet in India. One : Even though the government haven’t taken any steps towards implementing it, the NTP 2012 recommendation of minimum broadband speed of 2 Mbps is supposed to be rolled out by 2015 year end. And two : my ISP, Asianet, has taken a self initiative to increase their unlimited basic broadband plan speeds. Now these are not blinding speeds that you usually see in developed countries in the West. But for me these match my current requirements.

For example the two Unlimited basic plans were the Rs.450 plan which had 512 kbps speed and the Rs. 510 plan which has a 700 kbps download speed (the latter is the plan I have signed up for). Asianet now offers, as of 12-Jan-2015, a 700 kbps for its Rs 450 unlimited plan up from 512 kbps and 1 Mbps for Rs 510 unlimited plan from earlier 700 kbps.

Post FUP speed for other unlimited plan still remains at 512kbps. These plans provide ultra affordable true unlimited broadband at decent speeds. Most ISPs were reluctant to increase minimum broadband speeds to current 512kbps when it was implemented last year. Even though NTP 2012 recommendation of 2 Mbps is still a long shoot, it is good to see a regional player like Asianet has made a small step towards it.

Updated : Mozilla Firefox 33.1

My system automatically upgraded to the new version, 33.1, of Mozilla Firefox. It has three new features:

Use Forget to cover your tracks or escape from sites you don’t trust

Remove browsing history from your computer
Erase website information after the fact
Add it above for quick, easy access

DuckDuckGo lets you search anonymously

Get great results with no tracking
Make it (or any other) your default
Find what you’re looking for, your way

Private Browsing: Our original privacy tool

Keep history and other info off your computer
Browse without recording where you’ve been
So others using your computer can’t see it

I’ve had some problems with Firefox for the past year or so and it has caused major problems with my laptop. So much so that I only use this browser for blogging, searching images & some news articles and my email (no Youtube or Flash heavy stuff). I hope this is a drastic improvement on previous versions.

Orkut Says Goodbye & So Long

Tomorrow, September 30, Google is going to shut down its Orkut social network as announced earlier. Orkut was the search giant’s first foray into the social networking space, which failed to take off due to tough competition from rival services such as Facebook and Twitter. Google later launched another social network called Google+, which has fared much better than Orkut although in no way is it able to compete with the popularity & useability of Facebook.

Orkut was launched in the same year as Facebook but struggled to get a fan based in countries other than India, Brazil and I guess the Philippines. Indeed almost every 2nd used was an Indian and the “hai friends”, “good morning friends” and “good night friends” posts kept on coming. I created my account or rather my cousin sister created my account for me one evening in late 2005 or early 2006. The main attraction was this family group filled with all my cousins that we used to keep track of one & another and share info. I barely used Orkut as I soon got tried of the format. I got bored with the constant drivel being shared back n forth among the users.

I deleted my account a couple of years back as I hadn’t logged into it since 2008. So Orkut, goodbye and so long – thanks for all the flashy glitter gifs!

Internet Hoaxes – Best National Anthem

As one more friend shared this stupid silly hoax message on their Facebook page I just must jot down my 2 cents about this issue. Since 2008 there was an email being shared around the net among Indians and on Orkut, Facebook & Twitter once Social media took off. On a design-less simple white background it says congratulations to all of us Indians as UNESCO has declared the Indian national anthem, Ja Na Ga Na Mana, to be the best national anthem in the world. It then says “proud to be an Indian” and to share this message.

First of all – what???!! What the fuck! And normally smart people have fallen for this hoax! It’s not real and yet this shit hasn’t died out since 2008!!! Alarmingly silly and shows just how easy it is to spread a hoax as long as it sounds pleasing and appeals to your ego. Nationalistic ego I might add. A little research will show you that the statement is not true and it is in fact a hoax.

India Today magazine, even wrote UNESCO about these stories and got a confirmation message from UNESCO that these messages are simply hoax, and that they did not select Indian or for that matter any national anthem as the best in the world.

Breaking The Ice

The internet has recently been swept up by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Is there a cause — social, political, cultural, or other — you passionately believe in? Tell us how you got involved — or why you don’t get involved.

I am actually trying to catch up with the videos of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I have seen about 10-15 so far and there are like 20 coming out each day from just the musicians, sportspeople and actors that I like. This thing is massive. I like the fact that this internet trend is for such a good cause and that it has been raising a lot of money for the ALS awareness stuff and I hope there will be a cure some day out there.

The first time I heard about ALS is through an RSJ article on guitarist Jason Becker who suffers from it. Becker was a prominent neo-classical metal guitarist who made his mark in the later 80s and was famous for his band Cacaphony which he has started with fellow guitarist Marty Friedman. After a solo album, he later joined David Lee Roth’s band and recorded one album with him. However, Becker’s success was hampered by his then-diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and he was given three to five years to live. In 1996, Becker eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Despite his disability, he continues composing by using a computer and has since released Collection, a “best of” album of his favorite songs and three new songs.

ALS is a crippling disease and seeing someone suffer from  it is difficult but nothing compared to the person going through the effects of it. I believe in this awareness drive and I hope scientists will find a cure and even a prevention for it. I haven’t gotten involved in this or anything like this, but might be tempted to do so.

Prompt from the Daily Post at WordPress.com.

Back Online With A New Connection From Asianet

It’s Done! Screw Fucking RELIANCE ASSHOLES! I am now on ASIANET BROADBAND! Hope this is a better experience.

Already a promising start, they under promised and over performed in terms of activating the connection for me. I had enquired about taking up a new connection from Asianet by calling their customer care call center a few days ago and they forwarded my number to a saleman from the area who called me later that same day. I told him that I wanted to wait for a few days to sort out the problems with Reliance and that I would call  him in a few days. Well I called him on Friday and later that night I met the salesman at 8pm at my residence and after I paid for the activation he said it would take 3 days, as per procedure, meaning Tuesday to get the connection up.

However on Saturday, the very next day, two guys showed up at my apartment and they setup the cable and even then they said that it would take time till Tuesday as Monday is a holiday. I said ok and called up their office number to confirm that the cable has been setup in my home. She told me that it would take time till Tuesday but that they would try and see if they could make it earlier. I was pleasantly surprised that the technician called me up this morning asking for directions to my place – on a Sunday! He came here by 12 pm with the modem and in a few minutes he activated  my connection and so yes my internet is up today – yes on a Sunday!

I am happy about it and the speed seems fine and I am not really noticing any difference from the higher plan and speed I had with Reliance. This is fine for now. By the 1st my old connection should be completely terminated and I can said a goodbye to them – don’t let the fucking door hit you on the ass on your way out!