iPhone App: Mocha VNC

Mocha VNC Lite is (as the name suggests) a VNC viewer for the iPhone. I installed the Lite version to try out the experience and i have to say its really cool. The performance is awesome and the clarity is just astonishing. Maybe its just me but i never expected this app to behave this well. You are required to install either TightVNC or RealVNC server on Windows based machine (I used TightVNC on my Win XP laptop) and voila you are set. They have a custom vnc server for Mac.

The need for such an application is still questionable but for now i am just having fun with it.

Note: The Lite version does not support Ctr-Alt-Del combination so i cannot lock/unlock my computer which is a smart move by the developers mainly because without this ability the application is unsafe to use say with your work computer.

TiPB claims that the Jaadu VNC app is much better than Mocha so check it out. Unfortunately it does not have a Lite version and it costs around 24 bucks, quite steep.

Snaps from India

Beautiful snaps from India. If you plan to visit India make sure you cover all these places.

My first paid iPhone Application : Subway Shuffle

I recently moved over to the Dark Side. I ditched my old trusted Palm Treo 680 for a new and shiny iPhone 3G about 2 months ago. Truth be told it was just too hard to resist the temptation. I totally love the device and don't hesitate to express my obsession openly much to the frustration of my friends and colleagues.

Listing the things i like about it would be impractical (since it will be a long list) so instead let me list the things i don't like about it:

1. The battery life sucks although its slightly better since the 2.1 update.
2. If i install a lot of applications without syncing it with iTunes the iPhone starts to hang and the UI gets really sluggish. This is quite irritating since i am on the road a lot and sometimes its weeks before i get my hands on my personal laptop.
3. The Exchange support is great but there are still some features like flagging emails, directly dialing numbers listed in calender notes, etc which i miss from the Goods Messaging service on my Palm Treo.
4. The App Store policies are too stringent. There are tons of cool applications which are not allowed by Apple for strange reasons but can be installed if you jail break the iPhone (and i don't wish to go that route).
5. Can't download new podcasts directly to the iPhone. (Apple please bring back Podcaster)
6. Cannot use my iPhone as a modem.

I guess you gotto lose some to gain some. I hope Apple addresses these issue soon.

I have so far downloaded and deleted tons of applications most of which were free. The one application i really enjoyed and eventually ended up buying is the Subway Shuffle by Aubrey's Puzzles. Initially i played the Lite version which allows you to solve 6 puzzles of varing complexity but the game is so addictive that i was compelled to spend the $2.99 for the paid version.

Who took my domain name?

My attempt to register a domain based on my name (afulay) went for a toss when i discovered that it had already been taken. The site afulay.com is written in Arabic and had references to Morocco. Onto another combination now.

Update:
Bummer fulay.com is taken too. :(

The Trick to Problem Solving

When a problem presents a disjunction, you need to list all its possibilities (define Solution Space) and reason from each of them.

- quoted from the book How would you move Mt Fuji.