So you got the latest iPhone or iPod and believed that it and the shipped white earphones are the best thing that happened (or can happen) to music, don’t blame your naivety after reading the post.

After all, there were people who once believed the earth to be flat. For my other readers who already are, or planning to graduate in their music experience, perhaps this article can help you pick the right headphones/earphones.

The first thing one must understand is headphones are like shoes, neither one size fits all nor one type suits all activities (Sure you love your favorite expensive Italian leather, but ask yourself, would you be wear them while playing tennis? And for my female readers, please don’t take it as an advice (or excuse) to buy another pair of Jimmy choo… Recall we are talking headphones here… not shoes!)

So the next thing you got to ask yourself is “where at most am I going to listen to music?” and then answer your question from the options below

Wearing Type

Between Headphones, Headphones v/s Earphones, On-Earphones v/s In-Earphones and so on…

Remember the time when wearing headphones that sized bigger than your head was the “in-thing”? Well, those days are back now and you can see a lot of manufactures not considering the form factor as the biggest marketing strategy. And there is a reason to it, headphones in contrast to earphones have bigger driver units with broader frequency range that offer deeper bass and higher highs (which means better listening experience) and better noise isolation (not to be confused with cancellation) . However, as it’s said “with great power comes great responsibility”, these bigger headphones are more expensive, bulky and not pocketable, can break if dropped or under pressure and may drain your ipod battery slightly faster. So my recommendation is to keep an earphone with you on the move, while enjoy that guilty pleasure tracks on a set of headphones at home/office or while using public transport

Within headphones, one can either go for an over ear or closed cup type, in which the headphone cups cover entire ear. They provide good noise isolation (although may be lesser than in-ear type covered later) but in my experience, tend to be less comfortable for long time wearing. On ear, on the other hand sit on the ear and allow airflow causing less sweating. Regardless of the type you chose, the most important thing (after quality of course) to check is the softness of the earpad’s housing/lining. I would suggest not buying sponge/foam cups as they tend to cause itchiness and irritation on prolonged usage. Rather go for polyurethane PU or leather covered pads that are much comfortable to wear. The pressure exerted by the head band is also important with respect to comfort. So unless you are a Dj who wants to keep a tight grip over the ears, go for bands made of aluminum or toughened single strip plastic that are light and durable. Remember, the band-snap is the most common problem with headphones. If you are planning to carry these headphones around in a bag, then make sure the cups have swivel design, and band preferably foldable.

The in-ear phones (aka ear-canal earphones or monitors) have been around for a while, but I guess it wouldn’t be wrong to credit Sony with making it popular amongst common folks. And given its superb noise isolation, best fit and powerful bass response, they soon became the most popular earphones of today. However, there have been complaints about the prolonged use of silicon buds blocking the ear canal causing numbness and decreasing sensitivity. Though manufacturers continue to debate, I am sure most of users who wear them for more than 1-2 hrs everyday feel dampness in the ears. Conventional on ear headphones (like the default iPod ones) perhaps offer the most comfortable long listening experience, given they are rubber/silicon lined and are as easy to carry, but fail to provide a full, rich music experience, grip and noise isolation.

Other types include, behind ear or neckband type, ear clip type that is designed specifically for sports and outdoor activities. However they only provide a better grip and prevent your buds from slipping, and have less or no quality improvements. Same is the case or those considering wireless and/or Bluetooth as their pick. Although the new standards of Bluetooth 2.1 and A2DP provide almost similar quality, be aware that these wireless signals drain your iPods/mp3 players/phones at a much higher rate than wired ones

The specification on the box is Greek to me…

This indeed has been a great mystery. Despite of the plethora of headphones I have tested or used with more or less similar specifications, my experience has been different every time. So the best suggestion is to hear them out yourself, preferably two at a time and rule out the weaker. But if the electronic stores in you city aren’t so friendly, let me try to relate you with the effects of these specs and not the acoustical physics related with it

Frequency response/range: Broader the better. Though most of the manufacturers who usually manufacture their headphones for average mortals are between 5Hz to 25 KHz (25,000 Hz), there are few who stand out designing for music enthusiasts with range between 0.5-3 Hz upto 64,000 Hz. However, bear in mind that no matter how great the range reads, it’s only as good as the source. For example listening to an MP3 encoded (aka quantized) at a lower bit rate than 128Kbps is not the right pick for your music players.

Type can be dynamic closed (most in –ear types) or dynamic open (traditional ear/headphones). This has got nothing to do in terms of quality specs (unless it’s static type)

Driver Unit measured in mm, specifies the size of the magnet that reproduces the sound. And usually bigger drivers produce better quality sound. However due to the different form factors of earphones v/s headphones, always compare between two or more set of similar kind.

Sensitivity is not as sensitive information in terms of comparing. Usually it describes the sound pressure level and all the head/ear phones will come with sensitivity specification between 98-110db/mW so that they don’t make you go deaf.

Power Handling Capacity is another less important jargon used by few manufacturers to trap the innocent audience to consider high numbers as better quality, when it just states how much power the driver (headphone) can handle before it blows up. So unless you are a Dj/producer or planning to hook your headphones to an amplifier, don’t let this number drive you.

Impedance is important as higher impedance headphones offer lesser hiss levels. But the flipside is that higher impedance demands higher power, and thus not necessarily is an iPod /mp3 player’s best friend. So any headphones with impedance between 20-40ohms is a decent choice for humans, and 64ohms and above for an enthusiast, depending on the source.

Rest all specs like Diaphragm, Magnet (preferably neodymium), Cord and Cord Length, Plug (unless it’s not or you don’t want 3.5mm standard jack) should not stop you from picking the right pair for you.

And for the Noise Cancellation, it’s always best to have, but you may want to consider your budget and acknowledge that it may need an external battery(s).

Since I am no expert, it would be unfair for me to recommend any brands or models here. However in my less significant life as a Dj, a music lover and a headphone/speakers enthusiast, I remember my journey as a kid wanting a $1 Chinese earphones to making my way here having used/tried Creative EP-210, EP-240, EP-630 Sony MDRE829V, MDRE10LPH, MDREX32LPB S2, MDRV250V, American Audio HP 550, Technics RP-DJ1200, Senheiser HD 201, HD 448, HD 218,  Bose IE2, AE2, OE , Monster Beats by Dre and many more…

So if you feel this information was anyway useful or would like an opinion before buying, do drop a comment, and I would be more than happy to make you “love thy music”!

Sony has something at its end which will give Microsoft a cut throat competition in the future gaming. Both have motion on it and so does the article below.

As the technology grows, the gaming industries lead ahead of everything, and now it’s all about motion gaming. That is no controller or a small one with accelerometers or something like that. And the most looked upon in this era are Xbox 360’s Project Natal and the PS3’s motion sensor. Both are based on the same concepts but differ in style and accuracy.

XBox 360 Project Natal

“No Controller Required”- that is what’s being said about Project Natal. It can understand the motion and facial expressions and hand gestures with the help of a camera and act accordingly in the gameplay whereas in the PS3’s Motion Controller, a small thick microphone like thing administers the gameplay.

Accuracy: Motion Controller can understand any type of motion even a slight rotation about its axis and forward and backward (Z-axis) movement through its strong sensors and thus is more accurate as it targets a small point or object. But Natal has to capture the whole body/bodies as it moves and react which has a significant effect on the accuracy as the target area it vast.

AI (Artificial Intelligence): The most prominent factor in Natal is that it communicates with players and can understand almost any type of emotion and respond in the most appropriate manner possible. This thing can be seen in the videos of Natal released on the web. But this is not so much in depth in PS3’s Motion Controller; it can understand any type of movement applied on the controller but not what the player’s body is doing at that instant.

Interactivity: Being focused at an object, PS3 offers a better sense of 3D depth and is interactive in its own way. But Natal has a higher interactivity factor as the player moves, his/her every movement is taken into account and acted upon in the gameplay. But it lags the accuracy in this order as minute finger gestures may not be recognized very effectively.

Gameplay: Gameplay in both of these can get tiresome as body movement burns more calories than fingers on the gamepad or controller. Using a hand all the time in the game with Motion Controller tires the hand and the shoulder of the respective arm with the PS3. Natal on the other hand uses the whole body which is good exercise for few people but tiring as well, but in a uniform way.

Experience: This part here is the real deal of motion sensing which depends on the genre of the different games which a person is playing.

Sport games are definitely better in Natal as it gives you full body movement to simulate the environment of game and also offers high performance voice recognition which enhances the gameplay even more whereas Motion Controller lags behind in this category as player uses only a simple controller and press buttons to perform activities. For example: shooting in a soccer game.

Fighting games can get very tiresome when it comes to Natal because player has to do each and every move by himself from defending, ducking, jumping and hitting. Sony gets ahead of the curve as Motion Controller offers buttons on it which will perform various activities the native style which usually are simple. The punches and defense can also, however, be simulated by two controllers (one in each hand) by moving the hands for the same.

First person shooter shoots the possibilities of PS3. Due to physical buttons and something to point at the screen, shooting/firing and aiming is easy and gives a feel of real firing. While Natal is better for war moves like ducking and moving as if in real war conditions but when it comes to shooting there is nothing like a trigger to be pulled. So player has to act as if gun is recoiling by their arm movement and it may not work accurately all the time.

Racing genre is a something both are good at. Each have own ways of playing but presence of a physical object makes playing better in Motion Controllers gameplay and nitrous shots can be initiated with the press of a button.

Applications like painting and other interactive applications are better in PS3 as the Motion Controller works as a pen and offers high accuracy for making complex shapes whereas due to lack of minute gesture recording, shapes are big and bulky after the final output is taken in Natal.

Comparing the overall points, I guess Natal will provide a much more advanced gameplay. Though it’s my personal outlook but gameplay may depend from people to people and genres of games which person likes. I’d say both are an excellent work of technology and great leap in the future of entertainment. Both Microsoft and Sony are working hard increasing its features and methods of gameplay in new dimensions. Future gaming with the motion sensing and realism of environment will surely be a next step in entertainment as more and more games are developed.

If you have any suggestion or have something to say, simply write a comment below and we’ll surely get to it and make this article/website better.

About a year ago Android OS was released with a bursting potential. With the new Android OS 2.0 it is making it’s mark, it is almost human. Fast and efficient with a variety of options to let you groove.

It is becoming a smart-phone user choice, it is growing too fast. With the hands of Google this OS steals the show. Android OS lays down the platform for next year that’s widely more compelling and just so human.

The new Motorola Droid has Android 2.0 OS and its looking good.

The Android OS is glossy not Apple (where whole world is just so shiny or reflective). The classic Google is now gone its packed with high resolution graphics( tons of pixel). After having a look you would question yourself “Google designed this?”.

With icons and menu bar being sleek and shiny which just so smooth. The OS is much worked and polished. The OS loves multi-tasking, it is much fast and smooth.

It is packed with Google Apps so you can use maps, gmail and many more services of Google straight from your phone. You can also connect with socail networking sites like Facebook, it works pretty well. The Browser is full packed, but no multi-touch integration in the browser.

Well what Android OS really lack is the music and the video player.It is sluggish at random intervals.But the overall things and the too fast growing support makes it the best smartphone OS in the market. In 2010 there will be a lot more phones which will be packed with Android OS. Sony Ericsson and HTC will be soon in the market with Android OS.

Comment on what do you think about Android OS, share your views.

Configure torrent client's

All clients have options through which you can customize your settings for maximum speed. There are few things you need to configure to get the maximum out of a torrent.

First of all, know your maximum download and upload speed. These sites can be helpful in determining the exact download and upload speeds

Speedtest.net

pingtest.net

Limiting the download speed:

This may not sound good at first, but this has to be done for better performance of speeds. Set the download speed 90 percent of you maximum download speed.

Example: If your maximum downloads speed is 100kbps then set the max speed in the client to 90kbps.

Limiting the upload speed:

You also have to configure at what speeds the uploading should occur as this may affect your downloading speed. And keep in mind that uploading is equally important for any torrent to get its maximum speed and also for the torrent to live for others to download it. Set your maximum upload speed to 80 percent of its value in the client.

Example: If your maximum uploads speed is 50kbps then set the speed in client to 40kbps.

Setting the maximum connected peers per torrent:

You have to limit the number of peers connected to you as it greatly affects your speeds. If peers are more in number, though they give download speeds but will also make your upload count high and lower the maximum possible download speed. Here’s what you have to do:

Upload speed * 1.3

(If you get value in decimals, just keep the integer part of the number obtained. And the upload speed used here is the limited upload speed calculated above).

Setting up the maximum upload slots:

Keep in mind that your main aim is still downloading but you don’t have to be greedy, i.e. a leecher. But you also don’t have to give away all your bandwidth in uploading. So limit the number of maximum upload slots to be in a diplomatic state. Use the formula below to calculate the number of upload slots:

1 + (Upload Speed / 6)

(Upload speed used is the limited upload speed calculated).

Turning off the Windows Firewall:

This point is may be risky but windows firewall is a major obstruction that comes in the way while downloading through a torrent. It stops all the incoming connections and prohibits the client to transfer properly. So it is must and important method to speed up your torrent speeds. Don’t worry, if you have antivirus software, it usually has it’s own firewall and will prevent any risks.

Setting the Listening Port:

P2P sharing basically runs best on port 6881. So make sure you set your listen port number to the same. This has a great effect on the sharing speeds. You can also choose 6882 and 6883 if you face speed problems. They can be switched at times and randomized as well (a feature on Bitlord) to get the desired speed. Just look which offers the best speed; it may depend on torrent to torrent.

These are just a few tips which will surely get you going with torrents. There are a few more ways which will increase the speed of torrents. But they are more complicated than the methods mentioned above. But I’ll surely cover them up in the later articles if I get a positive response from you guys.

If you have any suggestion or have something to say, simply write a comment below and we’ll surely get to it and make this article/website better.

All you need to know about torrents

From nerds to newbie’s everyone uses torrents for their downloading purposes. But what exactly a torrent is and what it does is what this article will cover. All from scratch, this article will give you the real deal.

A lot of people surfing the web today come across a term “torrent”, and usually they keep asking:

What is a torrent?

What is the concept of torrents?

How do I download a torrent? And many more questions…

If you already know the principles and working of a torrent you can follow the link below to optimize the clients in order to boost your speed and performance. Or you can also follow the main article first and then focus on its advanced working and optimization later on.

To understand the concept and working of torrent, you have to be known to a few terms:

BitTorrent: BitTorrent is a file distribution system. It is a place where your original download source is kept. In this network the file is downloaded as well as uploaded at the same time, hence saving the bandwidth of the source. This type of sharing of file is referred to as P2P or peer-to-peer sharing. What it does is that it splits up the file into small segments known as a piece and then multiple downloaders’ around multiple systems download the segments and simultaneously upload the segments to be downloaded by others. This way, the main server bandwidth is greatly saved.

Torrents: The address and list of trackers of files downloadable through BitTorrent system are stored in a small file known as a torrent. Torrent can be termed as shortcut to the download path like a shortcut on our PC. The size of a torrent ranges from a few bytes to a few kilobytes. This is the part a lot of people are confused with. They search for torrents to download and when they get one, they think that it’s the actual file which they thought of downloading but looking at the size they raise questions.

Torrent Client: The information contained in a torrent can be accessed and downloaded by software known as the torrent clients. This software keeps the track of trackers, seeders, leechers and the peers connected with the system while downloading or uploading or both. In this process of downloading the IP of your system is exposed over the network in which you are currently downloading from as well as the IP of the systems is visible to you from whom you are downloading/uploading the file.

Some of the popular clients are:

Azureus, BitComet, BitLord, uTorrent, SymTorrent (for mobile platforms) and XBT etc.

Tracker: The host of the file is basically known as the tracker. Tracker is a website monitoring the stats of connections made by various systems on its network and also briefs every client with these stats.

Peers: Every downloader/uploader in the network is known as a peer. Or in simple words, the number of systems connected to download that file is know as peers of that particular file. If you are downloading a file then you are also a peer.

Seeders: When downloads are completed and still the user is giving his/her bandwidth to upload the file then this process is called seeding. And the user performing this activity is known as a seeder. So it’s clear that the more a torrent has seeders, the more download speed it will provide. The count of seeds can be seen on the side providing that torrent.

Leechers: When a user is simply downloading a file and limiting the upload of the file then it is considered a leech. That particular user is known as a leecher.  The more count of leechers a torrent has the more it will suck up your upload bandwidth and give relatively low download speeds.

So it’s always best to consider a torrent with good seeds and fewer leechers. Although all torrents have both seeders and leechers, but this does not mean that they cannot be downloaded. Just look for the torrent with minimum leech and maximum seeds. And even if the leechers are large in numbers but seeders are also plenty, then torrent can be downloaded easily without much problem.

For configuring the torrent clients for getting the optimum speeds and performance out of it, visit the link provided above.

If you have any suggestion or have something to say, simply write a comment below and we’ll surely get to it and make this article/website better.

Increase Your Battery Life

Nowadays, everything comes with rechargeable batteries, but who knew that getting good life from them could be so confusing? You are changing your batteries frequently or you are not getting good between the charge’s, try some tips.

Getting good battery life requires some tips and tricks.

The following things should be kept in mind, to get the most outta your battery:

1. Never charge your battery 100% or keep it full empty, you should charge it and discharge it in a sequential manner ranging between 90% to 20%. That will increase your battery life.

2. Batteries run better when kept in cold, so keep them away from heat giving materials. Batteries don’t works well in warm locations. Store all your batteries in cool and dry place. Don’t keep them in fridge, the moisture inside will damage your batteries.

3. Keep them organized, don’t short them. Don’t let their end’s touch; this will potentially discharge your batteries quiet often. Keep them in a case which tight and protective.

4. Select a good charger, the charger should disconnect the battery when fully charged. Prevent overcharging. Use a specific charger for a specific battery and remove it in time. Don’t buy duplicate charges as incorrect power supply damages your batteries.

5. Don’t keep NiMH batteries lose in your pockets they may get short with coins or keys. This will discharge your batteries and may even explode.

6. Avoid water contact, water is a killer of batteries. In wet seasons, moisture deposits on the battery cover. Wipe them off and keep it dry and clean.

7. If you are not using them for longer time then remove them from the devices and keep them separately.

8. Keep the heads clean, remove the dirt and rust from them. Clean them with a paper don’t use any liquids to clean them.

9. Get an extra pack; buy an extra pair to get you going. It’s the cheap insurance to the batteries rather than buying a battery life extender.

10.  Don’t let the charged battery unused for longer period, at least use them once every two or three weeks. Also don’t let Li-ion battery completely discharge, it causes memory effects (only for older batteries).

These tips will increase your rechargeable battery life and you will get the maximum out of your batteries when in use.

Alex Reader Gallery

One of the coolest gadget to compete with Amazon’s Kindle is ready now, Alex Reader. Alex Reader is packed with capacitive touch screen and Android OS. It is a bit thicker than Kindle, but who cares if you get more usability?

It has a capacitive touch screen with video playback on the onscreen keyboard. I loved the glossy pictures of Alex Reader, it is a very cool gadget with many things. This gadget is a must have thing for book lovers as it replaces your books and can store a lot. It gives a very comfortable reading experience, you can check the video of Alex Reader.

You can browse the web to any articles/ Google Books or Wikipedia, and can download the documents for later use. The Android OS looks good and familiar. The onscreen keyboard is something which is just not to good as it responds a bit late.

Alex Reader: The New E-Reader

The Android OS

The Sleek Design

Alex Reader E-Book Reader

The pricing has not been revealed yet, but it is expected to be near 250$(equal to the price of Kindle 2).

Rapidshare Vs MediaFire

Rapidshare is one of the most popular file hosting servers over the internet. Each of has something to download from it. Due to its flexibility to upload 200MB’s of data in a single file, it has been the best file sharing service.

Now days Rapidshare is being annoying for free users, as users have to wait hours. Nobody wants to wait or pay for premium account, even me. At times it is pathetic. One of my friends uploaded a flash file made by him on Rapidshare and gave me the link to download it, now every time I go to download it says you have to wait or purchase a premium account. It’s totally insane, isn’t it?

The best alternative of Rapidshare is Mediafire.com, it gives you 200mb single upload. No download tickets needed and you can have unlimited downloads. You can have unlimited storage in all accounts. So you don’t need to create multiple accounts.

Acknowledged by Top Sites

So next time try uploading files to Mediafire.com.

Google's New Homepage

Google’s new homepage may be confusing to some new users. We all know that google is a fan of minimalism, when we are talking about homepage they keep their word count 30.  Google is up with the new homepage, and is experimenting with it.

Google has taken the concept to the new level: the site is testing a new effect that hides everything except the Google logo and the search box, only revealing the other elements with a fade effect when you move your mouse.

There are few notable omissions from fading homepage- you will notice that “Google Search” and the famous “I am felling lucky” buttons are both missing. Updated: There is another screenshot which contains both buttons, so its seems like Google is testing with multiple versions.

One new change of the fading homepage is that, there is a short sentence appearing under the search box and rest of the page fades out. The line is left intentionally because too many unaware users where confused by the fade effect.

Don’t feel bad if you are not seeing the Google’s highly streamlined homepage because it is a part of Google bucket test which is available for only small set subset of users. It can be released broadly too, so don’t get alaramed if you hate the new look.

Ropid Robot

Ropid(short for a combination of Robot and Rapid) a cute little Japanese robot that can run and jump on your vocal commands. The robot behaves like a kid and follows verbal instructions, i.e. if you say jump it will not ask you “how high” but it will jump as high it can. It can jump maximum to a height of 8cms.

Ropid is a creation of Kyoto group popularly known as Robo Garage. They created a robot which can follow basic instructions like jumping and running on your voice commands. Ropid movements are not as fluid as humans but they are enough to beat any toy robot in the market.

Ropid is 38cms tall and weighs only 16Kgs. The robot has 29 joints and 4 gyro-sensors and is powered with a lithium ion battery. It is fitted with a Raytron’s BSRM01-01E voice recognition chip. The outer body is made from carbon fiber and plastic. It has a 2 axis accelerometers to help it mantain its balance regardless of running or jumping.

So far, there are no plans to market the ropid but it will soon be available as a toy.