Category Archives: Technology

YouTube Red

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Paid YouTube? I guess that’s reasonable. We already pay for quite a bit of online entertainment – Netflix, Hulu, Spotify etc. Why not YouTube too.

I used to not have a TV when I first came here from Bangladesh. I didn’t really have the time or, this is more important, the money to afford it. I did have a phone and a long distance carrier and I paid a lot of money for that combination. I didn’t really have a choice.

Today I (my family) have a couple of TVs (with satelite service), 4 mobile phones and a few online entertainment services. My average costs today compared to 27 years ago is not that very different. Specially if I take inflation into account and the fact that there is 4 of us being entertained, informed or connected.

But . . . . something doesn’t feel right.

– manzoor

Dropbox File Sharing

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Dropbox is more than just for file sharing, but here I am only treating it as a tool to share files between computers over the internet.

The service is FREE to use for upto 2Gb.

How to:

  1. Download (for PC, Mac, Linux and iPhone) – a small application that has to be downloaded and installed on the PCs / hosts where files will be shared from.
  2. Install – the application, when installed, will create a folder on the local host that can be used just as if it is a local folder (in fact it is a local folder). Dropbox will “share” that folder with other users (with the proper access privilege)
  3. Share

Pros: Platform independent,

Cons: None available at this time.

– manzoor

Virtual System

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With Windows, OS X and Linux all running on x86 processors, it is only natural to want to run all the OSs on the same hardware.

So far, in my experience, VirtualBox is the easiest to use for this task.
Copying Virtual Machine Images

Of course, once you have VMs, the one the most time saving task is to be able to take a snapshot / image of a machine and deploy it all over w/o having to install from scratch. The few issues to keep in mind:
  • hostname / machine identity
– manzoor

Find a Movie

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Idea

A service that will search & suggest the best source to stream a movie.

Requirements

User Interface

  1. Login / Authenticate
    1. Google / FB / Twitter / etc
  2. Search / Match Movie
    1. Title / Actors / Director(s) / Release Date
  3. Launch Appropriate App / Launcher to Stream

Backend

  1. Store / Save Popular searches
  2. Aggregate Ratings – Movie / Streaming Service

External Services to Leverage

  1. IMDb – https://pypi.python.org/pypi/IMDbPY
  2. Movie – Amazon – http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8014934/amazon-api-instant-video-results / Netflix – http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/01/optimizing-netflix-api.html / Hulu – http://adammagana.com/2012/09/hulu-hidden-api/
  3. User Authentication – Google – https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/OAuth2 / FB – https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/login-flow-for-web/v2.4 / Twitter – https://dev.twitter.com/oauth

iPhone 6

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Even though I had pre-ordered, I had to return the Plus and re-order the regular 6 and wait for it to arrive in the mail. The plus was just too big 😦 I was really, really hoping that the Plus would be the right size and then I would not need1 to get a Tablet / iPad. Now I am kinda stuck a larger Phone (larger than the 4″) but this doesn’t really replace the need1 for a tablet.

Also, this might be the first time I actually got a phone before I had to get it 😦 Feeling a bit guilty about that. Much as I love gadgets, I do take pride in making the most of my purchases / investments in them.

– manzoor

  1. I realize “need” is a subjective. To me, ideally, the tablet totally replace the need for a laptop. Since currently there is no iPad that can really replace my need for carrying my laptop, my next level of definition of need is to be able to

High Mileage Automobiles

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Sure – the term “High Mileage” is relative – but I am thinking in terms of cars that are on the roads today in my area. Most of them, I believe, get somewhere between 14 and low 20s mpg. High Mileage in this respect would be something in the range of high 40 mpg or above.

Of course, if we move our criteria from conventional cars to hybrids and pure electric (or other alternative) power than the mileage becomes irrelevant.

– manzoor

  • Elio Motors
  • Tesla