RockBox for iPod!!!

RockBox is a open source Firmwire for music players!
I was really bored of the Apple iPod's interface after using it for more than 2 years!! Recently found this firmwire with the following features really impressed me a lot :)

a) Supports players like Apple iPod, irriver etc.
b) Multi boot feature, which allows you to choose the interface you want - rockbox or apple original!!
c) Also one can play supported music files that are copied on the iPod using explorer!!! bye bye iTunes!
d) Supports themes!
e) Games which are in Doom mod's can be played on iPod...man..this is a cool one.
And lot more exciting things!!!

This should keep my fiddling fingers happy for few more days..hehehehe.

G1 is offically out.

Follow the link below for the official T-Mobile G1 site :)

T-Mobile G1

Those who are not being following with Google's OS - Android. G1 is the first device to have Android!!!
As rumored it is a HTC hardware.. comes with a 3 Mpix camera, comes with 2 email clients ( one for Gmail and the other IMAP) but it does not support microsoft Exchange server :(
Also it comes with Amazon's Mp3 store app, but it does not have a 3.5mm jack!!! one has to use the HTC proprietary USB-3.5mm convertor :(
It comes with Google Street view..which is pretty impressive. And believe it or not.. it does not support multi touch.
Some more on G1 soooonnnnn.

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

This book as been around for a long time, finally managed to get my hands on it :)
In fact finished reading it few days back. It is really the definition of power reading!!!
It is an epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

The story begins with Amir and Hassan growing up in Kabul. Amir is the son of wealthy business man and Hassan is the son of the Amir's fathers servant. How Amir betrays Hassan and his father Ali, and after that how that guilt troubles him all along. Later when Afgan is in trouble, Amir and his father move to US to have a better life. There he falls in love with an Afgan girl, they get married. But never have children, in the mean time in Afgan, Hassan also gets married. He had a son, Later Afgan had been in the hands of Taliban, during this time... Hassan and his wife are shot dead. Then Rahim khan who was Amir's fathers best friend and Amir's too, calls Amir to Pakistan after Amir's father died of cancer. Rahim khan tells him a truth, which was hidden from him from his childhood, he goes back to Afgan to get Soharb who is Hassan's son. Will he be able to get him back to safety??? Well have a read to find out.

It is a great read, I rate it 9 out of 10.

F1 Update

This was of real surprise, STR-Ferrari(Toro Rosso) is a part of red-bull racing...and they use this team to train new drivers, team members etc. It is just a second team for everything in Red-bull racing..and they won a grand prix... hahahaha. Shame on you Red-Bull..you have been ignoring the potential of these guys.
Sebastian Vettel really is talented young rookie...proved his talent :) made history by becoming the youngest driver to win a grand prix race!!!!
Also Toro Rosso team has been around for more than 15 years..this team never managed to win one race before..forget wining they never managed to get to pole position!!! Vettel managed both for them. He did not win by accident..this young chap really has talent. He lead the race from qualifying to finish.
In 2 weeks time, First ever F1 race under lights will be hosted in Singapore!!! So far this year has been really exciting for F1 fans!!!
Now to championship points, Lewis and Massa are seperated by just 1 point!!!! Man this is what is called nail bitting finish..4 more races to go; I am already at edge of my seat.
Wish Kimi comes back to top 3.

What a race!!!

This weekend race at Belgium was one of the most trilling grand prix race in living memory. It was a mixed day for Ferrari and Kimi. But Kimi really is running out of luck, engine blow outs...now a crash at final lap.
Kimi started the race at 4th position, did manage to be the race leader at 2nd lap. Was the race leader till 43rd lap, thanks to rain gods... with hot hard compound tires and water on track. It was like driving on ICE with diesel spilled all over it. At 43rd lap, rain started to pour and Lewis did manage to over take Kimi, but did make a error of cutting short on one corner, which costed him the first place!!!!
He was declared race leader but later a penalty of 25 secs was added to his race time, which made him 3rd!!!!

In middle of all the spins and overtakes, Kimi did push for the limit and managed to crash into a side wall :( and was declared 18th place for crashing at the last lap..poor Kimi. Being a Ferrari fan, I would have loved to see Kimi win. But hard luck, for Kimi.. but not totally for Ferrari...since Massa was declared as the race leader after Lewis was penalized.

This season has been really great, no clear race leader as previous years. Guess last race will be the decider. Hoping for a nail bitting finish at Brazil.
Go Ferrari Go!!!

Google Chrome

I have been using Google's all new browser called Chrome from 2 days now. Initial impression is Google has done a great job. But after using it on different hardware, guess the performance with plugin's like flash player is pretty bad. I did use Firefox 3 on the same sites on same hardware, performance of firefox was really great. Guess Google have to work on the fine tuning the performance.
Little details that i liked in Chrome,
a) In browser task manager.
b) incognito mode, where browser history is not stored. similar to IE8 Feature.
c) when a new tab is opened, recent or frequently visited sites are listed..which is pretty cool.
Will post more pretty soon..busy working today!

Sebasitan Faulks-Engleby

I recently finished reading Engleby. It was a disturbing but compelling read.
Engleby is the story of Mike Engleby, told by himself, from childhood through university and adulthood.

Jennifer is an important character in the book. Mike likes her, but she does not seem to be interested in Mike. She goes missing early on. What happened to her? Was she murdered? For most of the book, we don't know, and the investigation peters out within a few pages. Engleby then follows the life of the eponymous hero - wherein he becomes a journalist and ends up interviewing Ken Livingstone, Jeffrey Archer and even Maggie Thatcher - until the point when Jennifer's body is found. I can't say what happens next, but Engleby is not a murder mystery and long before it is actually revealed, one may easily guess who the murderer is.

What makes Engleby disturbing is Engleby himself. His unlikableness comes from the fact that he drinks too much, takes too many drugs, is self serving and, as the precis to the book says, is devoid of any scruple. But perhaps all of these things could be suffered if Engleby tried to redeem himself. Alas, there is no redemption story here. As far as he is concerned, he does what he does and simply moves on. But Engleby is not an intrinsically hateful person. His mistakes - his malice - have their origins not in pure evil but the events of his life, for example, his beatings at the hands of his father and at school, in his own painful shyness and mistaken attempts to deal with that. He is always alone and never tries to make friends or was not able to get one.

Engleby is not a beach book. It is rich work that represents, for me, a return to form for Faulks.