Reliance Broadcom Wimax: My First Impressions

Today the guys from the RCom came and installed the system.

I have subscribed speed of 150 Kbps, and I am getting better speed than that at 2 speed tests on speedtest.net clocking 176 Kbps and 205 Kbps, but the upload speeds are pathetic with around 6 Kbps both the times and in a current test 1 KBps. On the torrent uploading it is not crossing 3 KBps. I also ran uTorrent and got nearly 16 KBps (it's the big B) on average download speeds, with the Gmail IMAP folders updating in the background. I guess I have to file a complaint for the upload speeds because I am not been able to update the mandatory My Profile page, and change the password as that page is not getting updated at all.

Following is the 3rd test:

Another problem is the PoE needs UPS backup, every time it switches off it takes nearly 5-20 min to get back to normal and start working. And I was told that the PoE (Power over Ethernet) is very sensitive to voltage fluctuations. That means you really don't get instant internet as in the case of bsnl where it used to take much less time.

They installed a reception antenna facing towards the reliance mobile towers and a PoE thingy. The engineer said the installed instruments cost 15K but I think he was bluffing. Line of sight to the reliance towers is a must it seems else the connection speed reduce drastically. Fortunately I got one.

One small irritant is the "User Workspace" window that needs always needs to be open else the connection drops.

BSNL Customer Care

I went to the BSNL office to subscribe a new fixed wired telephone connection so that I can subscribe their very fast Broad Band Internet service. However I was surprised to find this customer service motto of BSNL by Mahatma Gandhi. What is even more funny was the ladies behind the desk were least bothered about the customers present there and their primary goal of the day was to plan for the party that they were going the next day. The lady who took my form took a leisurely 1 hour before she processed it.

By the way even after 5 months I am still awaiting for the connection to come.

Indian Hokey: Died in Santiago Chilie March 9, 2008

Hockey was introduced to India by the Brits as the case with many other games. Indians took to the game and did very well in the Olympics. India won 6 consecutive Gold Medals in Olympics form 1928 Amsterdam to 1956 Melbourne. In 1960 Rome Olympics India had to be satisfied with a Silver Medal, losing to Pakistan in the Finals. India bounces back to win Gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. India defeats Pakistan in the Finals taking revenge of the ‘60 loss. Since then Gold Medal eluded India till 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. India won the Bronze Medals in 68 and 72. But the worst was 76 where we finished 7th. But 1980 was redemption time where we got the Gold once again after 16 years. This time India face Spain in the Finals. Since 1980 however India had lost the appetite for the Hokey as Indian become Cricket crazy after winning the 1983 Cricket world cup, and in 2008 India fails to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

What went wrong?
Indian Hockey teams debacle of in the 1976 Montreal Olympics where it finished 7th was attributed the lack of experience on the newly introduced astro-turf. We were kings of the ground but Hockey takes a new avatar on astro-turf. While the lacked experience on playing on the new truf, which hindered the ability of Indian Hockey internationally. We lost momentum in nurturing talent at the grass root level due to lack of infrastructure meanwhile people lost interest in the game as a consequence of poor performance.

Another reason could be attributed to the lack of preference and coverage by Media and general public. Hokey never got the print space that Cricket got and the fact is Indians favor Cricket over Hockey. The reason why Hockey is regarded as the national game is due to its incredible showing in the Olympics. To date the only gold medals India ever got in Olympics are in Hockey.

Many people blame the management of Hockey in India for the poor showing. Indian Hokey Federation has been under the supervision of erstwhile Super Cop KPS Gill since 1994. It has been reported in the media quoting IHF President : “We do not have an instant coffee machine that you can get results instantly. It takes time to regain your position. We have put the process in place and the results will take some time.” Makes many wonder how many more days one needs, to brew coffee?

Tiger: Big Cat's Days are Numbered

Lion was the National Animal of India till it got independence, since it was part of the Royal Coat of arms for England. That’s why it can still be found on the Reserve Bank of India’s Logo which was incorporated in pre-independent India. After independence of India the new National Animal was Tiger. The logic behind the change was, Lions were only found in some parts of India like Gujarat while Tiger was found in many states.

Tiger is the means of transport for goddess Durga as well as Lord Ayyappa. Whereas Lord Shiva can be seen wearing cloths made of Tiger skin presumably to suggest that he is beyond ne mortal world. Tiger is revered in the Chinese and Tibetan civilizations.

They say cat has Nine lives, but when it comes to Tiger the Big Cat of India, even the single life is not guaranteed.

National Animal of 5 different countries apart from India, Tiger population has come dwindled from nearly 100 thousand (nearly 40K in India) early in the 20th century to just about 5 – 7 thousand in wild currently. Half of the wild tiger population was estimated to be in India. However per the latest Tiger Census recently released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority put the Tiger number at 1,411 down from 3,642 per the 2002 survey. As per WPSI ‘s tiger poaching statistics 832 tigers have been killed since 1944 to 2007 in India.

The main reason for the decline is the $12 billion illegal wildlife products industry. China, Japan and other South East Asian counties keep demanding Tiger products at any cost and India is the largest contributor to the trade. In the international markets Tiger can fetch upto $50,000, the skin alone fetches nearly $15,000 while the bones cost nearly $4000 per kilogram – while the investment in the poaching each tiger is about Rs. 1 Lakh.

Another reason is the never ending encroachment of humans into the Tiger habitat. Take for example the latest news of a Tigress straying into a village in Sunderbans on Feb 18. Thousands of villagers chased her almost killing her.

Government of India had initiated the Project Tiger in 1973 with the main objective of ensuring viable population of Tigers in India. In 2006 Project Tiger was replaced with National Tiger Conservation Authority .Currently the program is spread over 27 Tiger Reserves covering an area of 37761 sq. Km. The tiger population under the Project Tiger shows that Tiger population has increase from 1638 in 1972 to 3773 in 2002. However the latest census indicating the rapid decline in the Tiger population compared to the previous census suggests some kind of artificial inflation of the numbers earlier.

Government of India has enacted the “Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972” with the object of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife in India. As per the Act offences pertaining to hunting of endangered species like Tigers is liable for imprisonment of 3-7 years and fine upto Rs. 10-25K. Since Inception however only 16 persons have been convicted of killing tiger.

References:
Project Tiger
Wildlife Protection Society of India
Wikipedia
Big Cat Rescue

A Status Check on India's National Symbols

In the year 2008 Indian Hokey Team for the first time since 1928 will not take part in the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China. Hokey is the National Game of India. This is the darkest days for the Indian Sport in which we were once undisputed world champions from 1928 to 1956.

This news come on the lines of another highly disturbing bit of information that the Tiger population in India has shrunk to all time low of 1411. Tiger is the National Animal of India.


I will on my part do a status check of how the national symbols of India doing these days. The status check follows very soon.

Who said it?

It was the first day of school and a new student named Chandrashekhar Subramanyam entered the fourth grade in a school in the U.S. of A

The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History Who said "Give me Liberty, or give me Death"? She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrashekhar, who had his hand-up: "Patrick Henry, 1775" he said.

"Very good!" Who said "Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth?" Again, no response except from Chandrashekhar. "Abraham Lincoln, 1863" said Chandrashekhar.

The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed.Chandrashekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do."She heard a loud whisper: "F**k the Indians," "Who said that?" she demanded. Chandrashekhar put his hand up. "General Custer, 1862."

At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke." The teacher glares around and asks "All right! Now, who said that?" Again, Chandrashekhar says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."

Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? S*ck this!" Chandrashekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!"

Now with almost a mob hysteria someone said "You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you." Chandrashekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001." The teacher fainted.

And as the class gathered around the teacher onthe floor, someone said, "Oh shit, we're f**ked!" And Chandrashekhar said quietly, "George Bush, Iraq, 2005".

Shamelessly Copy/Pasted from <http://agelessbonding.blogspot.com/>