Airtel signal being jammed by Reliance GSM ?

With new GSM providers on the block, are Airtel signals being jammed ...?

When Airtel was launched in Kerala exactly 7 years back, they made a hype about them being the only GSM player operating in 1800Mhz.

Other GSM providers at that time like Escotel, BPL Mobile operated on ~900Mhz frequencies and Airtel made a buzz about the ground braking 1800 Mhz frequency band and they even boasted in front of the media that their band enables 'better reception'. Ironically, that's one of the main drawbacks of Airtel network in Kerala today.

During college days when I was studying telecommunication, I learned that there could be only 4 GSM providers at any given location due to the technical limitations of the GSM implementation at that time. (Way back in 1996).

Today, when I do a network search on my mobile, I see the biggest ever number of providers operating in one single location! (See below)

I took an Airtel connection almost 9 months back. The network quality was 'ok' for first three or four months, and then it started giving me trouble, especially with signal strength indoors. I initially doubted that it could be my cellphone, and I changed it twice, and still the problem persists. It was almost at this time, new GSM players came into picture in the air space of Kerala. The latest GSM players are TATA Indicom, Reliance GSM and Aircel.

I am not aware of the very latest GSM version's specs, but I believe that the changes have brought in some issues together with good things.

My phone has now trouble sticking onto Airtel signals, as I found out yesterday that my phone was entertaining Reliance GSM signals, may be just for a change! This happened when I gave a network search and selected Reliance, it just got in.

Verdict: Airtel sucks. Or at least Airtel network in Kerala sucks. By the way I am happy that I am posting this blog through Airtel GPRS.

AF447 Crash – Air France knew about the faulty sensor

AF447 Crash – Air France knew about the faulty speed sensor since August 2008.

The very latest content in internet suggests that Air France was already aware of the faulty speed sensors in its Airbus equipments. Shockingly, they knew about it as early as August 2008 when the fault was reported for the first time.


As believed by experts, the crash of AF447, which was on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris was caused by a faulty speed sensor, a device called Pitot tube. Read more about this device here.

Interestingly, Air France had already begun a process of replacing this speed probes in many of its Airbus equipments, and most interestingly, a work description document for replacing the Pitot tubes in AF447 – the very same flight which crashed – was handed over to ground service personnel at Paris and they were waiting for the arrival of the flight for carrying out this task. Unfortunately, AF447 never arrived. Note that this equipment, which was about to get replaced, caused the plane crash just hours before it was about to get replaced!


In picture above: Document which was handed over to the AF service personnel hours before the crash.


You can actually read a copy of the work document which was handed over to the Air France service personnel here. This is supposed to be a confidential document, and you are not supposed to be a reader!

Eurocockpit.com, which is run by professional pilots, says that there have been 36 incidents of a faulty speed sensor in Airbus A330 and A340 equipments, and 35 of them never caused any accident, and the 36th one caused the air plane to crash, the AF447 that is.

How Kerala produces the best (and worst) drivers in India?

How Kerala produces the best (and worst) drivers in India?

I’ll tell you how.

There’s no empty stretch of road.

Kerala has its population more evenly distributed than any other state in India. As a result, there is virtually no empty land where a road with no traffic exists, like you see in the vast rural areas in north India.

There are no 4 lane roads.

The best roads in Kerala are no 4 lane roads. There are some very good roads – smooth & curvy – which are mouth-watering any driving enthusiast.

More cars per person.

It’s a rich state, though not the richest. One of the main reasons being the number of NRIs working in the Gulf, and other countries, sending money over to their family members, who enjoy life without doing much of any work other than hanging out.

Rubber plantations can’t be forgotten! Go to any village in Kottayam district, and you can easily spot big bungalows with Skodas and Mercs parked in the porch. Yeah, rubber money!

Kerala has the best educated crowd, so number of middle class and high class families is on the higher side. Wait a minute; am I saying that it beats the folks in Metros? No way. I am talking about a population sample which is spread across a state that includes more number of people from rural areas and less from cities. Now imagine a sample crowd from UP, including one or two Noida-ites!
All these factors contribute to more car per person, in this small strip of land.

Geography.

Along the shore line, you have straight NH-47 and NH-17. As you go east, you have winding roads through Western Ghats. In cities like Trivandrum, you have several narrow roads with heavy traffic with no street lighting. It’s no way like driving through jammed city roads in places like Bangalore, believe me!

Get behind the wheel and get a feel.

If you happen to visit Kerala, do not miss the chance to drive through the roads of Kerala. It will be a different experience altogether. I have driven through two other south Indian states, KA and TN, and I have driven extensively in Bangalore city. I’ve been fortunate enough to drive thousands of kilometres in Europe too, through 8 countries and of course through the home ground - Kerala roads. Out of this, the most difficult roads to drive is Kerala roads.

A drive through the busy NH-47 will test your driving abilities to the max. If you can’t overtake a road hogging truck, someone else will. There will be someone to overtake you no matter how fast you drive. If you don’t have overtaking skills, you’re not getting anywhere. When I say busy NH-47, you may think that I am talking about speeds like 40-50 Kmph but, I was referring to overtaking manuevors at speeds like 90 and 100 kmph.

Take a ride through the narrow city roads with no street lighting. It will feel like you’re driving along a very dark area of you’re so used to the well lit streets you find in Metros.
A person who drives here will naturally develop better driving skills than anywhere else. What about folks driving in the Metros? They do acquire skills to drive through busy streets, but no high speed driving skills!

Last weekend I was driving home with no one overtaking me for 50 Kms and then, a mallu aunty overtook me mercilessly driving a Baleno.

How to make wine from Cashew Nut...no.. Cashew Fruit!

Kollam, Kerala is famous for its Cashew production. There are lots of Cashew nut processing factories in this district. The produce is mainly being exported. Unfortunately its only the Cashew nut which everyone is interested in, and not its fruit.

Well, the fruit is also useful, but the fact that its a perishable item does not qualify it to be even sold in the local market. Ripened ones can be consumed right out of the tree, and this fruit can be used to make alcoholic drinks. You must have heard about the Feni, which is made from Cashew fruit. The picture shows a housefly relishing the fruit which someone dropped after taking the nut.

You can also make wine from this fruit. Follow the steps below to make wine from this fruit.

Extract the juice from several of these fruits, add sugar and leave the bottle in the sun. Naturally available yeast does the rest of the job. The wine produced is rather strong. The fermentation stops naturally at about 20% alcohol content (Whoa!! What a wine!). If you want a lower content of alcohol , you to control the process with additives. You have to keep the container shut, but the CO2 produced by the fermentation should escape the container. On the other hand, oxygen should not enter the container because its presence may trigger the generation of Vinegar.

Fiat Grande Punto ready to paint Indian towns red!

Hello All!

I am starting my blog, and I am going to write something which was not something which I intended to, because I wanted to photo-blog.

Two things which interests me, are launched today. First is my blog, :) and second, Fiat Grande Punto in India!

Punto is the hatchback version of Fiat Linea(!) well, almost. This car is well capable of beating the competition like a fly-swatter, if people are not having misconceptions about Fiat Service still!

Petrol and Diesel versions are available. There are two Petrol engines, the 1.2 and 1.4 Litre FIRE, and the world renowned 1.3 Multijet Diesel. You can see the same engine in Swift Diesel, Palio Multijet Diesel and the Indica Vista. IMO, this is going to give tight competition for Swift Diesel, Indica Vista, and the i-20.

Fiat cars are known for its rock solid build quality, high speed stability, safety and the last but not the least, the Italian beauty and styling, and Punto in no means an exception.

Read more about Fiat Grande Punto from the official site, that is
http://www.fiat-india.com/Punto-img-intro.aspx?ModelId=6