Thursday, November 27, 2008

Snip Snip Time

In the current tough economic conditions (I am kind of getting sick and tired of hearing this phrase) downsizing is preeminent. The stories of how someone had to change city, state or country to find another job have become commonplace.

During the last bubble burst a lot of first-time CEOs and Managers were entrusted with the task of guiding the companies through similar times and not all of them were successful at it. In fact in almost all cases the complete downsizing process was deemed ruthless. This was a problem not just for the first time leaders but even for seasoned campaigners.

This time good advice is more forthcoming. People who were burnt or involved in those times are giving out advice freely. One such interesting post i came across was by Guy Kawasaki. I recommend reading it even if you are not at the downsizing stage.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

iPhone Firmware 2.2

Its strange but since I have installed the 2.2 firmware the cell phone signal strength has improved slightly. Prior to this update the max i ever got was 2 bars but now its almost always 3 bars.

This is strange as i always thought that the signal strength received was a function of power transmitted by the cell phone towers and antenna design. The iPhone antenna surely hasn't changed and i haven't read/heard of ATT putting up new towers around my apartment so its got to be the firmware update.

The developers at Apple must have really messed up the 'check signal strength and then make calls' part of code or maybe they just add some artificial gain to improve the signal strength representation with each release. Either way currently i will accept anything that will improve my iPhone calling experience.

I also noticed that now apps are updated in place unlike earlier where the new version was downloaded in a different location and then moved to the current. Subtle but slick.

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Oh on a side note, still no sign of my replacement USB power adapter.
Hurray to Apple support.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

How to send a courier Apple style

Trips to the Apple Store - 1
Calls to Apple Support - 2
Alleged couriers sent by Apple - 4
Days since first attempt - 35
Minutes spend on hold - 50
Amount of frustration - Infinite

...... still no sign of my replacement for the iPhone 3G power adapter.