vBlog | a collection of my notes and thoughts…

Travel — Leave a comment
19
Apr 18

IRCTC SMS verification

I’m currently looking to book a train ticket from Varanasi to Agra in India. The cheapest option is to book directly through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website. The Man in Seat 61 has an excellent guide on train travel in India. A must read if you are considering purchasing train tickets in India.

For the most part, the process of registering an IRCTC account works fine. I did have an issue with the SMS verification, but managed to complete it successfully after repeated attempts. The following are my observations based on my limited experience with the process:

I have a UK mobile number and the One-Time Passcode (OTP) arrived within seconds when it did work.
The OTP code never arrived when viewing the site in English. The first time I received the code, was right after I switched the language to Hindi. If you have used the English version of the site sufficient times, the Hindi version has all the buttons and links in the same layout.
Keep the OTP verification popup open while waiting for the code. The first time I received the code, I immediately logged out and logged back in after switching the language to English, and the code was rejected. You do not need to understand Hindi to know good and bad.
There may be a time delay before the system will send another SMS verification. After my mistake with the first OTP, I did not receive any SMS messages despite multiple requests, even in Hindi. I did receive a second OTP after waiting several hours before attempting the verification process again, in Hindi.

Hopefully this may help you, but I may have just gotten lucky.

Life — Leave a comment
31
Dec 17

A year in summary

As I have neglected to write anything for the year, here is a quick summary of the things that happened in 2017.

We did a lot of travelling this year. We visited Morocco with a group of friends, had a ski holiday in France, took a road trip around Cornwall, spent a long weekend in Switzerland, spent another long weekend in Italy, and to top it all off, we spent two weeks in South America, covering Colombia, Brazil and Peru. If you are interested to hear more about them, details are available at Postcard Journal.
We invested in a new piano, a Kawai KDP90 after our old piano suddenly broke while I was practising on it. I feel like my sight-reading is improving and I have been expanding on my music selection.
Run, run, and more runs. Improvements have been slow, but I did manage a 1K best of 5:05 mins, 5K best of 27:44 mins, and 10K best of 58:48 mins. The recent cold weather has been a real drag on my motivation.
My gingivitis is finally under control, after multiple visits to the dental hygienist and religious flossing.
I recently tried two new recipes, Japanese soufflé cheesecake and roti canai, both of which turned out really well.
I am still swiping away on Pokémon GO. I was about to stop, until they released the new Pokémons. I am now on level 32.
And the highlight of the year—we got engaged. Wedding planning is fun, but stressful at the same time.

Happy New Year 2018!

First 10K run

I completed my first 10K training run last Friday in a time of 1:01:48 hr, as timed by the Nike+ Run Club app. I started running 12 weeks ago, and have since achieved a 1K best of 5:06 mins, and 5K best of 29:59 mins. The next goal is to complete the 10K run in under 55 mins.

I like the Nike+ Run Club app. It has quite a few issues, and updates have occasionally introduced new problems. Nonetheless, the developers are responsive in resolving the issues. The app does what I need it to do, and it does them well. I particularly like the coach feature, which tailors a training plan based on your goal and ability.

Random — Leave a comment
21
Sep 16

Pokémon GO

I am a Level 24 Poké Hunter. Over the past few weeks, I have spent more time than I should on the Pokémon GO app. For me, it is about collecting ’em all. And on top of that, to have the most powerful version of each that I can afford. My Pokédex is currently just over two-thirds complete.

It all started with a curious thought, what does the Pokémon world look like? As I travel quite a bit, it is reasonably easy to find out. Turns out, it is quite an interesting place. For instance, there are a lot of rocky Pokémons in the Middle East.

While it is fun to collect the little creatures, part of the satisfaction comes from unravelling the design of the game. Countless hours spent exploring a virtual world through a tiny window that is my phone, and a bit of online research, has led to a deeper understanding of the rules that govern it and appreciation of the thoughts that went into its design. For instance, Pokémons will only appear at fixed spawn points, which are distributed based on mobile usage. Wandering through remote places is not the way to find rare Pokémons. Instead, you will be lucky to find any at all. When staying put in one location, there is no need to constantly monitor the app, as any Pokémons that do appear will remain in place for several minutes. If you are trying to walk your eggs, avoid looping back on your track, as the distance is calculated based on your positions, which are only registered every 4 minutes or so.

To make the most of the limited resources available, primarily time, I find it necessary to play smart. I find time on the bus is great for restocking the bag. When on my runs, I hatch eggs instead. I save the candies, and perform mass evolutions while using a Lucky Egg to level up quicker.

If there is a sorting hat, I will almost definitely end up in Team Mystic.

Life — Leave a comment
13
Jul 16

Healthier choices

I still find it surprising how a small, seemingly insignificant event, would end up having quite a profound impact on my life. About seven months ago, having not visited a dentist for several years, I went for a general check up. The news was not good. I had a tooth decay, and early signs of periodontitis. Periodontitis is a gum disease, which causes irreversible loss of the bones supporting the teeth. If left untreated, it could result in tooth loss. The advice was simple. Tooth decay is the result of poor diet, and periodontitis is the result of poor oral care. Tooth decay can be avoided by consuming less sugary and acidic food, and not snacking too much between meals. Periodontitis can be stopped by proper brushing and flossing. He caveated that unless you floss everyday, it is as good as not doing it.

I have tried flossing on several occasions before, but it was too much effort. Nevertheless, faced with the possibility of my nightmares of crumbling teeth becoming a reality, I decided to give it a good go. The first night, it took me quite literally a bloody hour trying to work out how to use an interdental brush, and to floss thoroughly. I persevered with it the next night, then the following night, and the night after. The days soon turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. It is an almost effortless habit now. Admittedly, I have missed a day here and there, but my gums feel much healthier than before. I believe that having the right tools for the job helped a lot. The dentist recommended the TePe Angled Interdental brushes, and Oral-B Glide floss picks, which I am still using today.

Following the advice given, I have also cut down on snacking, and sugary food. I let the credit on my access card run out, so that I can no longer buy snacks from the vending machines at work. I am making a conscious effort to cut down on chocolate. When dining out, I sometimes opt for still water instead of the fizzy drinks that I normally go for.

Having established a good oral care habit and diet, I am now focusing on a different part of my life. I have just started a program created by the Nike+ Running app, with the goal of running 10K in 8 weeks. In addition to that, I am taking on the 7 Minutes for 7 Months Workout Challenge, guided by the 7 Minute Workout app by Perigee AB. Go me!

Random — Leave a comment
04
Apr 16

Cloverfield

The recent 10 Cloverfield Lane release brought back interesting memories from 8 years ago, and it’s not the good kind. I managed to dig out the following blog post, which I posted on my previous blog.

Warning: This blog post contains spoiler. But, let’s face it. This is probably more interesting than seeing the actual movie.

I can already see the headline. Cloverfield – the absolute Worst Movie of 2008. And this is just the start of the year. The movie lacked a storyline, is nauseating to watch, and the sound is so loud at times that it feels like you’re in the middle of a bombing in Afghanistan. I would not recommend this to anyone unless you are trying to do penance for some really serious wrong doings.

27 Jan. 2008 21:35 hours – I made the most regrettable decision in my entire life when I decided to see Cloverfield. We were originally at the cinema wanting to watch The Golden Compass… that had screened 12 hours earlier. I could have sworn that the paper listed 9:35 pm. For some reason, it didn’t click that no cinema is going to screen a kids’ show that late in the evening. My bad.

The movie started out horribly but promising. The point-of-view style of filming could only be described as nauseating. Admittedly, it does add quite an interesting effect and I would only have to put up with this till the intro finishes. Additionally, a guy in an apartment, alone with a girl whose parents’ are away, and a digital camera… that’s promising right?

10 minutes into the movie and I’m starting to feel a bit nauseous from all the camera shakes. It turns out a guy and a girl alone in an empty apartment with a digital camera isn’t all that interesting after all. After another 10 minutes, I thought to myself—Whoa, this is a really long intro. I wonder when it’s going to switch out of this sickening point-of-view style of filming.

Suddenly, the whole city shook, the power went out, and the head of the Statue of Liberty came off with some rather impressive CGI. Yeah! We are finally going to finish with this point-of-view crap. Or… maybe not. It turns out the entire movie is done in a point-of-view style. I reckon, the film industry should introduce a new classification N – This movie may cause nausea and is not suitable for those with weak stomach. Motion-sickness pill is recommended.

There were a few moments in the film when I thought to myself, maybe the guy with the camera will get killed now or the camera will get irrepairably damaged and we will switch out of point-of-view. The first being the time when they were attacked in the subway tunnel by a bunch of the weird creatures. Unfortunately, he got away alive. The camera looked a bit stuffed but it turns out that the lens has just gotten a bit dirty. Nothing that a quick wipe can’t fix. Darn it. Then, he had to cross from one high-rise building to the roof of another, which has collapsed and is now leaning, but he made it through alright as well. Later, the helicopter crashed with him in it and I thought, this is it. The camera was still for a while. But, our superhero camera guy just would not die. What on earth is his kryptonite? Note to self: Find out what video camera he’s using.

The camera guy finally met his fate as he was filming the mother of the weird creatures face-to-face. Thank god. The camera survived but I can live with that.

Unfortunately, a friend of the camera guy picked up the camera and started filming with it. The movie finally ends with the guy, the girl from the apartment, and the camera being buried under a pile of rubble after the place they were hiding in collapsed.

When the light finally came back on in the cinema, everyone had a look of disbelief on their faces with a giant question mark floating above their heads. I myself wondered, what the hell had happened in the past 90 minutes. Surprisingly, no one left the movie before it ended. Halfway through the show, a guy did get up and left the cinema. Presumably, to take a piss or throw up. But, he was dumb enough to come back for more.

As I was leaving the cinema, there was a line of movie-goers all queueing up to buy their tickets to… hopefully not Cloverfield. Should I warn them? Nah. The look on their faces after the show is classic.

Technology — Leave a comment
15
Mar 16

Google Authenticator code rejected

I had an issue with Google Authenticator earlier, whereby the generated code was rejected by my Synology DiskStation. It was all fully set up and worked fine, so was surprised when it failed. Fortunately, there is the option to fallback to email verification.

Having logged back into the DSM, I tried to reset the 2-step verification setup, but that too failed. I then noticed that the time is off compared to my iPhone, where Google Authenticator is running. My DSM was previously syncing against time.google.com. Switching it to time.nist.gov solved the issue.

Technology — Leave a comment
05
Mar 16

Mixing powerline adapters

The wireless router had to be moved recently. As a result, I needed to expand the powerline network that was in place. I had the TP-LINK TL-PA4020 Kit, and it worked well. I used one adapter in the lounge for the router and NAS drive, and the other in the bedroom for the laptop. With the router moving, but the NAS drive staying put, I needed an extra powerline adapter. This time I opted for the TP-LINK TL-PA7020P Kit.

The TL-PA7020P adapters are dual ports, like the TL-PA4020. However, the TL-PA7020P have an integrated power socket, which means you don’t lose the use of a wall socket. Additionally, they are AV1000, whereas the TL-PA4020 adapters are only AV500. The AV rating referring to the speed the adapters are capable of. I had doubts whether I will get the full benefits of the AV1000 adapters when I mix them with AV500. So, I decided to run a few simple tests. In short, you do benefit from the faster speed of the AV1000 adapters.

I tested the following three configurations, to determine the file transfer speeds that can be achieved from the NAS drive to the laptop.

With the laptop connected to an AV1000 adapter, the NAS drive connected to an AV500 adapter, and the router disconnected, it managed speeds of up to 49 Mbps.
With the laptop connected to one AV1000 adapter, the NAS drive connected to the second AV1000 adapter, and the router disconnected, it managed speeds of up to 83 Mbps.
With the laptop connected to one AV1000 adapter, the NAS drive connected to the second AV1000 adapter, and the router connected to an AV500 adapter, it managed varying speeds from 51 up to 73 Mbps.

Based on the above, it appears that the AV500 adapter will slow down the powerline network if it is actively transmitting. When it’s not, the AV1000 adapters can communicate at the faster speed that they are capable of.

Life — Leave a comment
01
Jan 16

Shirls & Vigo

It started with Shirls, Vigo, Tiger the cat, and a camera. They were part of a three for GBP 5, customise it yourself deal. This was back in June last year.

Last month, we went to BRICK 2015, the annual Lego show at ExCeL London. It was a fantastic experience, and we ended up spending the whole day there. There were many impressive private collections on display; but what impressed me most was the creativity that kids possess. One of the activity we participated in, was to create an item to be placed on a UK map. We naturally decided to build a house, which ended up being very colourful due to the lack of similar coloured pieces; but ultimately, it looked like a house. Ask a kid to do the same, and they will build all sorts of interesting architectures. While some appears impossible, they are all refreshing nonetheless.

At the show, we were gifted a free Christmas tree set. Additionally, we decided to get Vigo the husky he always wanted, as well as a couple of chairs and some greeneries for them both to enjoy. Just before the end of the show, we managed to sneak in an order for a custom engraved Lego brick with their names on it. When we got home that evening and put everything together, there were hardly any space left with all the newly acquired items. Unbeknown to me, I was about to receive a trike, a hedgehog, and a Christmas stocking made of Lego bricks for my secret Santa present the very next day.

A week later, while out doing our Christmas shopping, we ended up at the Lego store. Inspired by the experience at BRICK, we decided to custom build a house for Shirls and Vigo using the random mix and match pieces. We designed, planned, collected, counted, and filled up a small pottle with the required Lego pieces. We must have spent well over an hour in the store. All that effort was worth it in the end.

Travel — Leave a comment
28
Dec 15

Latvia

Christmas tree in Doma laukums (Dome Square)

Melngalvju nams (The House of Blackheads)

Latvijas Etnogrāfiskais brīvdabas muzejs (Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum)

Latvia is my first experience of Eastern Europe. I have been meaning to visit the region for quite some time, but never had the opportunity to do so; unlike Western Europe which I have mostly covered through work. Latvia is known for its lovely Christmas markets at this time of the year. Riga, the capital of Latvia, is also the place where the tradition of decorating Christmas trees first began.

Latvia felt really foreign to me on the first couple of days; probably because of the language. I wasn’t sure what common words like iela (street), laukums (square), pils (castle), grūst (push), and vilkt (pull) meant. However, most locals in the tourist areas speak good English.

We spent most of our time visiting the Christmas markets and sights in Old Riga. Armed with free maps, which are plentiful, we easily covered the old town on foot. I’m not one for museums, but did enjoy the Christmas festivities and stunning architectures.

The public transport in Riga is cheap and reliable. We used the public buses and trams to get to and from the airport, as well as to visit sights that are further away from the city centre; such as the Latvijas Etnogrāfiskais brīvdabas muzejs (Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum). The open-air museum is an 87 hectare piece of woodland by Jugla Lake, showcasing historical architectures and items from the various Latvian regions.

Having covered most of Riga, we decided to venture out to Sigulda for a day, by train. There are no English train announcements, and many train stations/stops are not signed. However, Sigulda is a major station, and many people disembark there. If unsure, the ticket inspectors onboard the train should be able to speak English.

The bobsleigh and luge track in Sigulda, which plays host to international competitions, offers visitors the chance to experience a bobsleigh ride. Unfortunately for us, there was a competition that weekend, which meant the rides were not available. Other than the track, Sigulda also has old castles and nice green sceneries. We chose to walk from the train station to Turaida Castle, on the other side of the Gauja River. It was fairly straight-forward to get there following the map obtained from the Information Centre at the station; except for the final kilometre where you actually had to walk along the main road. While it was an enjoyable walk, it may be advisable to take the bus instead if you’re short on time.

vBloga collection of my notes and thoughts…