Humpty Dumpty

In every young mans life there needs to be adventure, excitement - that adrenelin rush you get from facing challenge... and since I live in an urban jungle, in the conservative Gujarati/Marwari part of it and have a mundane job, I suppose the next best thing is shaving your head. Of course, it's the most obvious thing to do right?

It does help that my girlfriend likes shaven heads, and it was her birthday yesterday. Which is a fantastic reason, as I have been quite curious to know what it would be like for a while now. Don't get me wrong, I did my research on the internet - pretty useful in know how its going to feel. If you ever wish to do the same, have a look at Headshaver.

So the other day, I wandered into the salon, spent a good half hour watching the barber get rid of every tiny hair on my skull, which does take a while given my fat head. I like the results, although it took me a day to get used to the look. Must say though, it is weird as now I can feel even the slightest breeze - thankfully I don't live in a cold country.

The reactions? Well .... mostly negative. Most people think I look like a psycho mobster. I got one "cancer patient". But the funniest description was that I look like Humpty Dumpty ! Have a look for yourself -

I do expect to go bald sooner than I would like, lets hope that doesn't happen too soon

Nokia E90 Review

Nokia E90 Communicator
Rating: 8 / 10
Price: Rs. 35,000 (£450)

Finally, the focus shifts from food to a more material thing, namely my shiny new E90 phone. I am not in a position to do an objective review of this phone, given it isn't my first communicator. My previous 9300 has been dropped so many times that both the screens barely work, bless them. I have used the 9300 for a year and a half and love it, however slow and error prone it is. So you are more likely to find an objective review at my-symbian

Evil Marketing Genius
It is quite interesting to note that, I was forced to purchase the E90 and did not buy it out of the desire to own the coolest new business phone on the block - which it certainly is. My policy on mobile phones is to wait minimum 6 months or a year before purchasing that model - firstly that means that any software bugs would be ironed out by then (Those two years working at Symbian didn't go to waste). And of course secondly it does mean that the phone by then costs about half its original price. However, the evil marketing staff at Nokia have decided to stop supplying the 9300i so that people are forced to buy the E90, and to be fair I don't blame them for being smart about it . Another policy is to not give any opinion on a new phone for at least a month, because that is how long it takes to get used to every little nuance of the new phone. But what the hell, this is the first Thursday night at home in a long time!

Unwrapping the Beast
Having purchased my E90 (a birthday present), I could not contain my excitement and had to open it up as soon as I could. I have to say it is a bigger beast, and it has been described as a bigger pencil box, which isn't far off. But it is a gorgeous beast. The dark chocolate brown with steel hinges and a steel strip on the outer case makes it look pretty smart and impressive. The battery itself is huge but sadly enough does not last more than 24-36 hours of average usage. The box itself is boring - I was expecting more for my money.

Transferring old Data
I do like the way things have progressed since the days of my first mobile, the 3330. Transferring messages was easy then as most were on the Sim. Hell, I wouldn't really mind losing texts when I can only store 10 (yes that's how many I could store on that phone). Transferring contacts was a whole different matter though and I don't think I ever successfully did so back then. But now, moving large chunks of data to a new phone is pretty easy and hassle-free. The PC Suite software has a good transfer application but that does not transfer text messages, gallery, bookmarks, etc. Cue for a pre-installed application "Data Mover", which is pretty damn easy to use and useful (it sends an installation file to your previous communicator via bluetooth so that the old phone then is able to transfer to the new). Aside from the message transfer being painfully slow, the overall moving data/settings from the old phone is a pretty easy process. However, first time communicator users might find it more difficult transferring data from other models.

User Interface
Setting up the E90 is pretty simple, and since it is based on Series 60 user interface (now S60), it should be pretty familiar to most nokia users. Communicators so far used Series 80 UI which I suspect was dumped in order to be more cost effective, and replaced by S60 used in most other Nokia+Symbian mobiles. I have to be honest, it is really nice to have a mobile phone that actually makes phone calls. Seriously, it would be quite common for my 9300 to crash, or not respond (especially if there would be a call wait) or just get confused and get a bit slow.

I have to say, I am very impressed with the speed. It takes about 25 seconds to boot, and it is lightning quick at deleting/moving bulk messages and contacts. Well done, it really does seem like a whole new OS underneath the new Interface.

Although it is shiny and fast, I still miss the tiny features of the old Series 80 based communicator. Here are my top useful features missing :

1) The log application. God the log application of any S60 phone is a disaster. Too much effort to see the number, and impossible to see the times of a series of missed calls.
2) Battery death. Something I thought was unique and a pleasant surprise - when the 9300 battery dies, it first disables the phone application and along with it the features on the outer screen. However, the inner screen still allows you to access contacts, messages, etc. which means you can easily get in touch with people if you don't remember their number
3) Messaging. Oh lord, messaging. What a mess - they cut down on features which I absolutely loved. Firstly, I loved the ability to schedule text messages as opposed to sending them immediately. Secondly, you could keep open several texts at a time - very useful when you don't have time to reply but don't want to forget which texts need replying. Thirdly - well call me cheap - but I don't notice anymore when I am using multiple messages instead of one. So if i am using 1 character more than can fit in a text message, I pay for two. Very clever. Lastly - I do feel that the guy who decided on this should be shot - message details are a pain as you need to consciously go to the menu and look for them. Why can't basic information such as sender's number and time according to sender's phone be shown?

All in all I don't like the change. Yes, I know someone is going to throw a copy of "Who Moved My Cheese" but still - I can deal with other menu changes but these are just part of what I feel the communicator should have but sadly they don't. And I blame Nokia, for choosing to use S60 instead of improving upon the Series 80.

Applications
Will be honest, have not bought any yet. The one I do want is a dictionary, which I will get round to soon I hope. The applications on the phone already are pretty impressive and either new or improved versions. I was particularly pleased with the Data Mover, as mentioned previously, and the speed at which Contacts, Messaging and Camera work. I particularly appreciate that the Gallery application shows ALL photos together instead of having to browse through different folders. Coupled with a search feature, that makes it perfect.

I have to admit, I have not yet got my email to work even though I have tried it on Wifi and GPRS. For both the messaging app attempts to login but then does nothing much for a while. Bit silly, given how important email would be if I were planning on using work email on my phone.

The Web application is fantastic! An amazing browsing experience due to the ability to render pages as any computer would and the larger screen.

GPS - does not apply as I am in India ! sigh.

All in all I think Nokia has done a fantastic job on each application and hope that I will buy some pretty good apps online.

Summary
I would definitely recommend the E90, especially to any first time Communicator buyers. It is a fast, smart and extremely functional. If you can look past the obvious size and weight I do honestly think it is the perfect phone for any business or intensive mobile user. I do wish Nokia decided to improve on the old Communicator but I suppose the benefits are in the added features and better speed. Fantastic buy although I would ideally wait for it to get to about 25% lesser than the current price.

Fairness Creams and You

Ok, so I haven't bitched about anything in a while but that's because I've been relatively happy playing Championship Manager (01/02) and other activities more social in nature. If anyone knew me from about 4 years back you would be familiar with my addiction to Champ Man. I remember, on one of my birthdays I had forced myself to stop playing a few months prior to that, hence I craved for Champ Man. So I actually sat there playing the game all dal while my friends were over to wish me. How unfair for them, but I did warn them beforehand that I was going to play Champ Man and would hence ignore them. That doesn't make me a bad person.... Right! ... Right? And now that I think about it lying all those times about feeling sleepy so I wouldn't have to talk on the phone was probably not the best thing to do. Sigh... I do take solace in the fact that I am clearly not the only addict.

Anyway I did happen to watch the Simpsons the other day after work and happened to see 3 fairness cream adverts during an advert break. So that's 3 out of about 4 adverts. Unbelievable. These products have annoyed me for years - Fairness Creams and of course the relevant advertisements. My first recollection of fairness creams comes from that annoying advertisement of Fem fairness cream in the mid 90's for women - anyone remember the shady stalkers peeking through the girls window and singing "Fem, Fem se.... gori gori!"? *Shudder*.

It annoys me to no end that companies are actually allowed to make (and market) such products. And it annoys me that these products must have demand for them else firms like Fem would not survive and new ones would not mushroom. The sad part is the obvious underlying racism that is apparently inherent in every self-respecting Indian. But the worst has to be the idiots who, due to this racism, feel the need to buy such "beauty products".

Now I don't really know or care to know whether these products genuinely work but I suspect not - I'm no biology expert but I hardly think Michael Jackson's surgery could have been avoided by using such creams instead. I would hope not, to be honest, as it would allow me to laugh at all those stupid consumers. But even if they did, how could firms think it is ethically fine to promote racism by portraying fair men and women as more successful, smarter, and of course more likely to attract the opposite sex.

I suppose the root cause is that racism is so prevalent in Indian society. I can't even count the number of times some aunty might disapprove of a potential arranged marriage match as "she/he is too dark" - they won't look good together. Lets be honest, after 5 years of being married to that bitch it would not make things any better if she were fair. Or worse if she were dark. But arranged marriages are a whole different topic. Point is, it seems to be OK to discriminate based on skin which really does worry me - Society as a whole can never be able to rid itself of an unfair stigma unless a majority feels it is wrong. Which requires a large movement against it, a backlash or revolution of sorts to raise awareness and stir public opinion. Legislation would normally help too but not in a country where corruption is so prevalent (and besides, it usually is the after-effect of such a movement).

So that's it, I live in a society of racists who are pretty open about it. Ever since I've realised the relevance of racism by living in London I've always thought it would be stupid, backward people who thought that way. I'm not proud of it, but I remember my mum being a bit scared of a large black man while walking home in London. However, it turned out that she was equally scared of a drunk white guy the next time we were walking home so I just tell myself I don't have a racist mom - just a scared one.

Now that I think about it, India actually is a nation of mostly conservative (i.e. narrow-minded) people who would not like people from geographical regions or "communities" other than their own. There are always instances of lovers having to break off their relationships as their families cannot accept that the potential bride or groom is from another community.

As for me I admit to discriminating against people who are "ghetto" or dare I say it, "coolio" or just "black", but thats because they don't speak coherent english and wear their jeans below their bums. And I really don't want to see a display of horny dry humping on the dance floor. Essentially, too many things I don't want to see or hear forced upon me. If I meet someone who is black but does not perform the above activities I would be quite happy to talk to them. So no, it isn't because of colour. And I do lump Rap, Hip Hop, RnB and similar genres of music into "black" music, which I realise is probably not ideal. "My bad".

So the question is how does one change peoples attitudes? I'm a firm believer that urban areas with their multi-cultural population stand a better chance in overcoming such stigmas. So essentially encourage people to live in different places with different people. And the other option is Education - tackle the problem before it starts. I would think those are the best two options. A well-travelled, educated person should not be so close-minded. Right?...

You would be surprised how well travelled and well educated people still think it is OK to discriminate against people based on colour or where they come from.

It isn't.