Beam Me Up! Music in the Cloud....

If you maintain your music collection within iTunes, then you must be excited with its new music Match feature. 

Demoed at Apple's WWDC in June 2011, this looked at one of the most interesting features. For $25 per year, its not too expensive, and provides a seamless way to keep all your devices in sync with a common music collection.

So, how is different from Amazon's or Google's music in the cloud services? I have been using this service for over a month now, and here's what I think.

First, instead of taking weeks (if your music collection has thousands of songs, that is), the process of uploading the songs to Apple's data servers is fast - by fast, I mean in a matter of a few hours, I was able to upload 6000+ songs. iTunes Match services scans your library and tries to match your local songs with what is available already with iTunes music store (based on meta tags, song duration etc). It then uploads whatever songs it couldn't match. I was surprised by the number of songs it was able to match - that included Hindi and Bengali songs as well!

Second, once the music is in the cloud, you can delete your local songs from your PC, and redownload the songs from the cloud. If it was "matched" instead of uploaded, what you get is a 256 kbps AAC song file. This means, even those low quality MP3s you ripped from your friend's CD collection can now be replaced with a high quality AAC versions.

On your portable Apple devices, you have an option to "download" the song, listen to it, and delete it later to save space. I like this better than streaming, as you are not dependent on your data connection speed, data limit and availability to access your entire music collection.

Songs you directly purchase directly from iTunes music store do not count to the 25,000 song limit. And I consider 25,000 songs is an overkill for me.

Currently, this is US only, and is available only within the music app for Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch).

There were a few things which Apple does need to iron out:

1. Not all songs are uploaded / matched. I get an "error" status for some files. This may be due to the fact that the files were encoded at a bitrate lower than 128kbps.

2. Album art display is not consistent. Its been a month now, and I still don't see all my album arts on my iPad (esp. when I group songs based on artists). When I play a song, it sometimes downloads the album art, but this is not a consistent behavior.

Overall, I am quite impressed with the way all my songs are now available on all my devices. Physical storage capacity is not an issue anymore. If I want to listen to a song, I can just search my entire music library within my iPhone / iPad, download the entire album, listen to it, and delete it by swiping it.

So, is it worth $25/year? Well, if you are tied to the Apple ecosystem, and have a huge music collection, I think this is a good service I am willing to pay for. iTunes Match is not a music subscription service (like Spotify), which many had hoped for, but this is an elegant way to have access all songs you own.

Last month, Apple was in the news a lot. Chronologically speaking, there was the new iPhone launch, immediately followed by the sad news of Steve Job's demise. Then there was the usual iPhone launch excitement, huge lines in front of the stores, the "how awesome Siri is" etc etc. And, soon, the biography of Steve Jobs was released - the "authorized" one. There was, and still is, a lot of discussion about the abysmal battery performance of iPhone 4s and/or iOS5, and the subsequent release of version 5.0.1. So, let me get started on what I think of each of these.

The Launch of iPhone

The gadget and the rumor sites were filled with so called leaks and design mock ups about the new iPhone for the past few months - designs that made imaginations run wild. Sleeker and tapered form factor, 4inch screen and what not. Even I was caught in this rumor mill, against my better judgement, and had a full expectation that new iPhone will look completely different. Well, everyone who was expecting this was disappointed on the 4th October, when Apple and co took the stage and introduced the revamped iPhone 4 - with a "S" appended to its name. 

I am generally at work when Apple decides to announce new products, so incessant refreshing of blog sites is what I end up doing. The keynote was a bit subdued, but I couldn't guess why (Jobs' absence? But I expected him to pop up on the stage anytime). Anyways, they announced the phone, and the tech world was sure to be disappointed - after each of them publishing thousands of posts on the "new and revamped" design.

Anyways, my good old 3GS was out of contract, so I decided to upgrade anyways. For me, it was a worthwhile upgrade - awesome screen, awesome camera, faster processor, and finally - a 64Gb option!

Steve Jobs Passed Away

I was driving home from work in the evening, and the radio jockey announced the news. For a second, I thought I had heard it wrong. Parking outside my apartment, I immediately opened up a reader app, and was shocked, and sad.

The Pre-Order

Yes, this was the first gadget I ever bought on the launch day. I stayed up past midnight, ready with my credit card, to buy the new phone. Unfortunately, Apple and AT&T would let me - at least their website didn't. Wasted 1.5 hours, before finally giving up. But I set up a 5AM alarm, to go back and see if their websites were back up to take my order again. Which I was able to.

The New iPhone

Well, this was a Friday. And as usual, I was at work. As with all other things I order online, I expected UPS / Fedex to deliver it to the leasing office of my apartment, if I am not at home, Guess what, not this time! Instead, they asked me to drive 30 miles one way to Commerce City at 8PM to collect the phone from their sorting / storage center. And, made me wait for 2 more hours before I could get my hand on the brown box.

Siri, and the Initial Impressions

The phone is fast, and beautiful. I didn't own an iPhone 4, so I liked the phone. The screen is beautiful, the camera is awesome, and the iOS5 seems snappier on the new phone - with all the new features like notifications, iCloud etc.

I was a bit skeptical about Siri - had full faith that it wouldn't work at all with the Indian accent. But, I was in for a surprise. After initial hiccups with network connections with Siri, it started understanding me better. Yes, like everyone else, I asked the usual nonsense questions to Siri, and giggled at the responses. Now, I use it to set alarms, set timers, create meetings / reminders, and sometimes, dictate messages. Works most of the time, and I am happy.

Battery Issues

Oh yes, there were sure some HUGE battery issues in the beginning. Didn't last for a full day without plugging it in to a power source every now and then. I was disappointed - the 3GS gave me a better battery life.

Finally tried the following: took a backup of the phone, restored the os using iTunes, and then restored from the saved backup. May be the os with which the device came was corrupt? Don't know, but that fixed a lot of my battery woes (after turning off some of the useless location services).

Apple acknowledges battery issues with iOS5, and assured that a new patch will be ready with a fix for the battery problem soon.

The Biography

Well, initially, I wasn't to keen to read his biography. I had read iCon by Jeffrey Young and William Simon a few years back. I thought that the "new" biography, as it was authorized by Jobs himself, would have been controlled would end up being a toned down version.

After a week of going through a few reviews online, I decided to purchase it from Amazon Kindle store, and finished reading the book in a week's time.

The book impressed me - it showed Jobs in true light - mean, arrogant, yet a visionary and a perfectionist. The chapters went through history of Apple, NeXT, Pixar, and his comeback with launch of the iMac, the iPod, iPhone, iPad and the iTunes store - with quite a lot of trivia, and Jobs' personal opinion, quotes and conversations on each of these products. 

A good read - if you want to know more about the company and the person who created the iPhone, and those lovely and adorable Pixar movies.

The iOS OTA Update

Yes, finally, I was able to update the OS to 5.0.1 without connecting the phone and the iPad to the computer. The update was incremental (a mere ~40Mb), and the installation was complete in a matter of minutes. My phone's battery was good anyways, so I won't be able to say if this update fixed the battery issues.

“I like to think that something survives after you die,” he said. “It’s strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and maybe a little wisdom, and it just goes away. So I really want to believe that something survives, that maybe your consciousness endures.” He fell silent for a very long time. “But on the other hand, perhaps it’s like an on-off switch,” he said. “Click! And you’re gone.” Then he paused again and smiled slightly. “Maybe that’s why I never liked to put on-off switches on Apple devices.”

from Steve Jobs biography by Walter Issacson

The Delicate Arch

The Delicate Arch appeared all of a sudden at the end of a strenuous trail from the parking lot, at Arches National Park, in Utah. This arch is hidden from view, and the only way to get up-close to it is to hike about a mile and a half, under the harsh sun and a steady incline. No wonder this is one of the most photographed arches in the world. People seemed to flock around the base of the arch, taking pictures. 

I had to wait till sunset, to be able to photograph the arch without any people around it :)

Happy World Photography Day!

Aug 19th 2011 is World Photography Day. Happy clicking with your Nikons, Canons, Sonys, iPhones..... - yes, we have so many devices to capture all those precious (and mundane) moments!

My Nikon and Me - http://www.flickr.com/photos/abhishekontheweb/6058053424/

Antelope Canyons in Arizona

Its been a really long time since I posted something on my blog. Now when I notice, this is my first post in 2011! Yes, its been that long.

This year, I can say that I have traveled a lot. I moved from Chicago to Denver. Denver has a few interesting places nearby, and this gave me a lot of opportunities to visit new places.

In the month of July, I made a trip to Utah and Arizona - a trip lasting 3 days, and covered places from Bryce Canyon in Utah to Grand Canyon in Arizona. Here is a photo which I shot during my recent trip to Upper Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona.

"Lights and Shadows"

Upper Antelope Canyon (and lower Antelope Canyon) are slot canyons made of Navajo sandstone, and are considered one of the most photographed slot canyons in the world. These canyons are named because when they were discovered, herds of antelopes roamed the area.

I was awestruck by the beauty of these canyons. With narrow passages, and sunlight flowing through small slits, it was really a remarkable place. You can read more about the Antelope Canyons in the Wikipedia page here.

This photograph was shot in one of the darker areas. Set on a tripod, with an exposure of 1.3 sec, I was able to get good amount of detail without any flash.

Long Live Delicious!

This week, Yahoo has been in the news for all the wrong reasons - the layoffs, and from an end-user's perspective, closing the shutter on some of their services. 

Frankly, I haven't been using many of Yahoo's services for the past few years. One service, though, which has received a lot of attention in the past few days, is Delicious. I have been using this online bookmark service for the past few years (like millions of users out there), and was genuinely outraged and disappointed when Yahoo decided to "shutdown" Delicious as well - or at least that's what people believed from the leaked internal Yahoo presentation (twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/bpm140/status/15473591558602752).

Let the power of the internet prevail - shortly afterwards the internet freaked out on the news of Yahoo pulling the plug off Delicious, Yahoo backtracked - they were now not planning to terminate the Delicious service, but instead, going to explore other options (even though they think that "(it is) not a strategic fit in Yahoo"). Yahoo "believe(s) there is a home outside the company that would make more sense for the service and our users". 

There are a couple of Yahoo services I use and love - Flickr being one of them. I agree, they won't even think about closing down a paid service like Flickr, but the thought that a company does have the power to shut down any product it wants - gives me the hibbie jibbies. Anyone for a Flickr and Delicious backup application? :)

Panoramas

For the past couple of months, I took the effort of shooting some panoramic views of Chicago. Now, what motivated me was a free software called Hugin, which creates such perfect stitched views. With some HDR processing, this is what the images look like. All I can say is - "Summers bring out Chicago's real beauty!!"

The Giant Eyeball at Pritzker Park, Chicago

Michigan Lake and south Loop, Chicago

View of downtown Chicago from Millennium Park - with the Cloud Gate at the center

Another view of the Cloud Gate, at downtown Chicago

Sunset and clouds, as viewed from my apartment window

My 2 Cents - A Photoblog

A photoblog - yes, I finally decided to have a blog just for the photos I click. Now, why would I need a photoblog, when Flickr is the most popular place to share photos? Hmmm... there are a couple of reasons.

1. Flickr is an excellent site to share photographs - but may not be the best site to view them - especially if you don't have a Flickr account. 

2. Even with the new "preview" feature in Flickr, it is still open only to Flickr members. Non members still get to see the old site.

So, if I post something on Flickr, and want to share the photo with my non-Flickr friends, all they can see is a small preview of the photograph. The only way they can see an higher resolution version is via the slideshow - which is kinda ok, but for a user, not that intuitive.

Since I already had a Tumblr account (and I am too lazy to create a website all by myself, and pay a hefty fee for a host - maybe someday), and a domain name, I decided to make use of the unused place there to start my photoblog - photoblog.abhishekontheweb.com.

Driving Dilemma Part 2

Remember my driving dilemma last year? Well, here's a sequel to it - and I wouldn't call it much of a dilemma anyways.

After almost a year staying in Chicago, I decided to go for a driver's license. The first hurdle - appearing for the written test. Now, I have been thinking of giving that exam since the time I landed here, but I had been "discouraged" by people and friends, by dutifully informing me that such exams are tough and require a lot of preparation. But this sense of discouragement was finally replaced with a sense of hope, when out of curiosity, I decided to have a look at some of the questions and find out what all the fuss was about. End result - I read the traffic manual for a day, and passed the written test with flying colors. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning!

My Experiments with Macro

Water Drops 1, originally uploaded by abhishekontheweb.

Macro, or, as some may prefer - micro photography, is all about taking pictures of small objects. Full frame DSLRs have 35mm sensors (36 × 24 mm) and the less expensive ones have a cropped sensor size, so with a macro lens, ideally, an object as small as the sensor size can be captured without any reduction in size. This creates immense number of possibilities, making simple and small objects blow up on a computer screen or on a printed paper, and is ideal for taking photos of insects and flowers.

Washing tomatoes

Washing tomatoes, originally uploaded by abhishekontheweb.

Another photo blog - shows how bored I get sometimes in the evening, after a busy day at work. Thats what I have been upto in the kitchen tonight - clicking photos instead of cooking. At least the tomatoes are thoroughly washed now!! :)

So Why Another Blog?

You must be wondering - What? Another blog? Why? Isn't one blog enough for him?!?

Let me clear this up first. Yes, you have heard right. I am talking about another blog, which I recently started. And there is a reason behind starting this "other" blog. It's more of a technical blog, a kind of a journal about various things I am working on, various obstacles I have been perplexed by, and various things I wish to work on etc etc. You get the drift, right? In other words, I would be rambling about Java and related technologies on THAT blog - which would have seemed a bit out of place on THIS blog. And its called (drum rolls please..... wait for it....) "Technically Yours" (please don't make fun of the title :) ).

So, hit the link (and it's as easy to remember as this blog - just replace the "www" part with "tech" - in case you haven't noticed that yet) and start commenting on that blog's posts (at least on the introduction post, or the "About Me" page there).

P.S. One of my friends managed to discover the blog even before I publicized it anywhere (and took me by surprise). How cool is that!!! :) I like unexpected visitors sometimes.

Apple's Patent War

From Wikipedia's definition of patents:

A patent (pronounced /ˈpætənt/ or /ˈpeɪtənt/) is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state (national government) to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention.

This week, Apple filed patent lawsuits against cellphone manufacturer HTC, claiming 20 U.S. patent violations. That was the talk of the town in the whole tech world. Here's what Steve Jobs had to say about it:

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.” (source: Apple.com)

As pointed out by various sources, some of the patent infringements which has pissed off Steve Jobs are really, how do I put it succinctly, eye brow raising? For example - look at this one (a snippet from engadget.com) -

Patent #7,657,849: Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image  This one's cute 'cause it's brand new -- seriously, it was just granted on February 2. It's almost exactly what it says on the tin: it covers unlocking a touchscreen device by moving an unlock image. It's broad enough for us to say that it covers virtually every unlock behavior we've seen on phones, not just the iPhone's slide-to-unlock implementation.

This makes me wonder, is there any specific criteria you need to file U.S. patents - especially software patents such as these? I mean, come on - how can you patent an idea? In the above patent, you are creating a patent that allows, mind you, ONLY YOU, to use any implementation, to unlock a screen using a gesture on a touchscreen. How does that work out for other manufacturers? Should they just leave out the "unlock your phone" feature on their "oh-so-smart" phones, just because another company has already patented that idea? That's just plain ludicrous!! Patents should be on how you implement an idea, but not on the idea itself.

Ideas are generally abstract. One person may later come up with a better and  an even more efficient implementation of the same idea - should there be a patent or a law to discourage such innovations? Especially in a software world, its all about these abstract ideas. Most operating systems have the same set of ideas behind their UI implementation (the user clicks the minimize button, for example, and the window disappears), the only thing that differs is how each operating system is more efficient in incorporating that into the whole user experience.

Software patents are fine, as long it's used as a tool to issue counter patent lawsuits (as a defensive measure) against a company. But when someone tries to take an offensive stand by being the first to file a case against a competitor on such patents that is down right obvious (such as the example quoted above), it makes me wonder if the whole patent system is actually encouraging innovations.

"Apple has suffered irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law and will continue to suffer such irreparable injury unless the defendants' infringement" is enjoined by the court, Apple said in a complaint filed in the Delaware court. (source: informationweek.com)

I agree that Apple has its reasons to be annoyed. Many of the features in other smart phones (like the Google Android platform based devices) have been directly influenced by what Apple first introduced in its iPhone. Instead of creating a complete new UI design, they are imitating the ideas already present and successful, in their phones. But, can you file patents for every feature, fathomed by your common sense, that you have introduced in your product, and expect to kill the competition later by filing a dozen patent lawsuits, when they come up with similar ideas? Do ALL of the 20 patents mentioned require legitimate legal actions? Or is it just a waste of enormous time and money for the concerned parties and the court? Apple has been respected and loved for its innovations (remember the "Think Different" ads, Macs, iPod, iPhone etc etc?). But with Apple diligently taking steps like these to get rid of the competition, people will be forced to think differently - no one likes to see someone becoming over-competitive.

Disclaimer: I am not a master of U.S. patent laws, but as a consumer of tech gadgets, I have presented my views on the situation. (I still love Apple and Google :))

Water Bubbles (Photo Blog)

Water Bubbles, originally uploaded by abhishekontheweb.

The bowl was filled with water, and it was made to overflow by placing it under flowing tap water. As the tap water hit the surface of the water in the bowl, I was able to shoot these random shapes of the froth generated. Shot at 1/200th second with flash on. (Looks like cells under a microscope, doesn't it?)

Translation Party - Can Translations be Fun?

Recently, I became a HUGE fan of CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast (nothing to do with the Google Buzz launch this week, and believe me, these CNET presenters are not happy with Google stealing their show's name). Whatever, today, when I was listening to one of their latest episodes, they suggested a site to visit - it's called the "Translation Party" (oh, btw, its from Google...). 

What it does is simple. It asks you to enter any English sentence. It converts that sentence to Japanese (I know what you might be thinking. Japanese, huh? Do I need to impress anyone in Japanese!?!). Simple, right? But here's where the fun starts (and that's why the name has "Party" in it). It converts the translated Japanese back to English. and so forth. After about ten or so to and fro translations, even in your wildest dreams, you won't be able to imagine how come the final English sentence turn out to be so funny (and equally senseless). 

Lets, for example, enter a sentence: "I am planning to visit the auto expo in Chicago today." Plain, simple English, which even a 3 year old kid is going to understand, right. On clicking the "find equilibrium" - yes, that's what they seem to call it, this is what it displays:

 

Once more!! Once more!! Lets enter "Man, I am so tired of the cold!!!" And, here comes the response:

Try it out for yourself, and comment if you find some translations real deep and profound!!

A Cloudy Evening

A Cloudy Evening, originally uploaded by abhishekontheweb.

Some times, when you look out of your window, don't you wish that the sky was redder (something which is generally shown in those science fiction movies depicting earthlings on Mars) - giving it a dramatic hue. Well, yesterday, when I had nothing better to do, I looked out and saw a cloudy sky. There was a reddish hue, as it was almost dusk. Then, I thought, wouldn't it be worth a try to make it look even more dramatic. Thanks to digital photography, a photo can be made to look so surreal, just by a couple of mouse clicks (in my case, a couple of taps on the trackpad). With the help of iPhoto, I was able to use a red filter to enhance the color of the sky. The photo was taken at a very low exposure, to bring out the shades of the cloud formation.

The next morning, I was surprised to see the sky so blue!!

A Day at the Movies

I remember having this conversation with a friend of mine when I was in New York during Christmas. We had booked tickets for a movie, as we had nothing else to do on a rainy day. As we were going to the screens...

Me: You remember the screen number, right? (I always ask that question, every time I go to a multiplex to watch a movie, even if I had the tickets in my pocket).

Friend: Yes, its on the ticket (duh!!). Its screen 9.

Me: Great (dunno why I said that, doesn't make the movie any better if its on screen 9, but whatever)...

We go in.

But its already playing a movie - and looks like it has already reached the climax.

Me: Didn't know that they have started showing such elaborate scenes in trailers.

Friend: Ooops... Thats "Invictus", and its not a trailer.

We walk out.

Me (Contemplating): So, it was screen # 9, right?

Friend: Yup, thats what the ticket said. May be we are a bit too early.

Me (Curious now): Let me have a look at the tickets.

And promptly, I look at the tickets.

Me (Giving that I-knew-it look): Do you remember what movie are we going to watch?

My friend thinks for a while.

Friend (now embarrassed): He he... Now don't you pull my leg. . . . .

(Psst... We were there to watch the movie "Nine")...

New Year Resolutions?

Its again that time of the year when I am forced to answer questions from my office colleagues (esp. my bosses) - "So Abhishek, what resolutions do you have for this year". And I end up mumbling the same answer "I don't believe in these resolutions, as I am 101% sure, come Jan2nd, and I'll be back to my usual routine :)". And that's 1 resolution I have managed to keep for a long time.

I remember, back in my school days, writing an essay on "New Year's Resolution" was a part of the winter vacation assignment. And, talking about assignments in school, I was the laziest of the lot - I always managed to scribble something on my notebook - most of them being the usual "I will complete my assignments in time, I will not wait for the last week to study for my exam, etc etc".

So 1st of January every year is that day when you say that whatever you do today is what you are going to do for the rest of the year, right? (And now, thanks to social networking tools like Twitter, everyone knows everyones resolutions immediately - isn't that scary??). This year, I ended up spending my entire day in bed, down with a bad cold, eating pizza, and watching endless episodes of "The Office". Would I like myself to do that for the entire year? You bet!!! I DO :) :)

P.S - For those of you who might be wondering how unfortunate it is for me to be down with fever on 1st of Jan, it was actually a result of my photography enthusiasm that landed me in such a soup. I had a chance to click some photographs of fireworks at Navy Pier, Chicago, on the occasion of the new year's eve. But there was a catch. The show started at 8.15 PM in the night, and I had to stand next to the freezing Michigan Lake in the cold (it was around -20 degrees Celsius). I ended up with my hands completely numb for the next 30 min, and a BAD BAD cold by the time I went to sleep. Here are some of the pics I took, by the way....

For more pics, go to: Fireworks at Navy Pier

A Cold Winter Day

Cold Winter Day on "Black Friday"

Yesterday (the day after Thanksgiving - the so called "Black Friday" discount day in the retail world), I had a chance to take my camera out. With the winters just around the corner, it was a bit cold and windy (but pleasant and sunny none the less), and I was trying my hand to shoot some pics with the new camera - my intention was to get a handle over its features as quickly as possible. I managed to take some shots - and a few of them were taken in black and white to give that "cold winter effect". Here's a link to the slideshow for the rest of the pics: Flickr Slide Show

My First Date with the Nikon D90

View from my apartment - Shutter priority with exposure at 30s

I had a blog post of an almost similar name a couple of years back - when I had got Canon A570IS. And after months of research and reading online articles, watching videos, I finally ended up ordering Nikon D90 with 18-105mm VR kit lens. It arrived this Tuesday, and I was SUPER excited - so excited that I left office a couple of hours earlier than usual :)

I would have loved to have shot an unboxing video (but, I was TOO impatient- just grabbed a knife and opened the box the instant I got home). I had also ordered some additional accessories (that included a Dolica Proline tripod). So, the first thing I do is to setup the camera on the tripod and shoot with a reasonably long exposure (30s). Thankfully, it was dark outside. And I liked the result :)

For the past 2 days, I have been reading about the features of the camera - in fact, had bought a book by David Busch specifically for that.

I guess I'll be using my Flickr account big time now.