1. FireGPG : This firefox extension is a must if you use GnuPG for encrypting/decrypting emails especially online mail accounts like Yahoo Mail/Gmail etc.
2. Operator : This is another very important extension if you want to browse the future of the web (like semantic web/microformats).I would encourage every used to install this because you don't have to understand the new web structures like semantic web but you can bear the fruit of it with this extension.Be sure to check out the user-scripts to enhance this extension.My website has a lot of content which can only be displayed with this extension only.
3. Sage : For the longest time this was my rss reader but this seems to be a dead project and dumped it especially because it did not support firefox 3.0 for a very long time and I definitely wanted to test out the new 3.0 version.Though I like the simple interface of Sage I have now settled on the actively developed Wizz reader.
4. Wizz RSS News Reader : This is the newsreader(rss) which I have settled on after dumping Sage.
5. Semantic Radar : Again this extension is a must have if you want to see what the future of the web looks like.It tells you about the presence of semantic data on the page and then you can launch the various semantic data in explores.My website has a lot of content which can only be displayed with this extension only.

posted at: 00:29 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

posted at: 21:04 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

I bought this tuner from newegg when it was on sale for $35.
I have basic cable from comcast and I was able to pickup local channels in HD(clearQAM).
The video quality is good and overall im pretty happy with this tuner
Buying a USB extension cable for this tuner is an absolute must as otherwise it keeps on disconnecting at the slightest move and sometimes it feels like it will break also.
One thing to remmeber though this tuner will not work with encrypted channels like ESPN etc .FCC mandates that cable comapnies to carry unencrypted channels which are transmitted over the air , and with this tuner you can only see those channels.
N.B. I have read on many forums that KWorld is very bad as far as rebates and most of the people have not got their rebates.I don't have any first hand experience on this .

posted at: 00:15 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

Couple of years back I bought a USB GPS receiver mouse from ebay for about $60.Now is is priced at about $10-$20 on Ebay.You can search for BU-303 or you can buy the newer ones by searching GPS mouse receiver.
Anyways I still use it now and I have been pretty happy with it. Also if you have the same GPS then you can download the latest drivers from Prolific's website for BU-303 Receiver.
Also please remember that on Ebay for the price mentioned above you don't get any mapping software but that is where Open Street Map helps.

posted at: 17:53 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

Roadnav is an open source GPS navigation tool with auto-routing functionality.
If you are using it on Windows I would highly recommend that you move the temporary folder into some other folder as it downloads a lot of files. In order to move to some other folder you need to goto Windows profile folder like "C:\Documents and Settings\BPATEL\" and there will be a file named roadnav.ini and change the variable to something like below
LocalDataDirectory=E:\\DocumentsAndSettings\\roadnavdata
Although , I tried some directions and I don't feel this software is ready for primetime.

posted at: 21:59 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

I tried Net10(prepaid service) for about 2 months .
Essentially their model of pre-paid is 10c a minute and you need to buy a minimum of $30 card (gives you 300 mins) every 60 days.So essentially it comes down to about $15 per month
I got the Nokia 1600 from their website
Their business model is that they lease from GSM carries like T-mobile and AT&T.You will not come to knonw upfront who your carrier will be .
I didn't quite like their service as I had to talk to them multiple times to get my home phone ported to them and they goofed up multiple times at many places and sometimes I had to wait for 45 minutes to talk to a Support person.
I also ran into multiple issues with them mainly because the phone which I got was really a tracfone inspite of the packaging and everything saying it was a Net10 phone.Then I had to wait for a new SIM card because the original SIM card which came with the net10 package was of Tracfone and hence would not work at all.So they shipped me a new SIM card after multiple calls etc.
Inspite of multiple calls to their support they were clueless about the concept of an email address associated with mobile phones.
So once I came to know that the underlying carrier for my Net10 phone is AT&T I just played around and found out that my phones email address was @txt.att.net .Anyways I believe the same thing will work if your underlying carrier is t-mobile.
Their website absolutely sucks and most of the things you cant do on their website.
Overall I was not very happy with them and moved on to my tried and tested Virgin Mobile.You can read about it here

posted at: 15:58 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

My son goes to this daycare.He has been going to this place from the time he was 6 months old.
We feel that the teachers/care takers here take good care of the kids and my son loves going to school every day.
Overall we like this place and our current plan is to continue him for the next couple of years until we buy a house and move somewhere else.
http://www.rainbow-montessori.com/

posted at: 03:01 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry

Recently there was a deal at Target for this web-enabled/bluetooth/flip phone.For $90 you would get $90 worth of top-up and the Flare phone
I have used it for about a week and it is a pretty good phone especially compared to my cheapo and old K7 Rave from Virgin mobile.
Though I really want a phone which can have a USB connectivity.

posted at: 02:43 | category: /reviews | permanent link to this entry