The Best of Quora in ePub, Mobi and other mobile formats
Aditya Sanyal
Recently, while wasting time on Quora, I came across the fabulous ebook "The Best of Quora" that has been compiled some of the best questions (and their answers) in a nice readable format.

Nice readable format? Yes. Convenient? I don't think so.

Imagine this. A 400+ pages ebook, and you're deeply engrossed, on page number to-busy-to-recall. Suddenly, you close the PDF reader app. Can you resume where you left off? No. Think what will you do when this happens in a mobile phone.

Don't throw the phone away in frustration, please
You don't need PDF, you need file file types that are mobile friendly. ebook reader friendly, that will support resumes after you come back to reading it.

Download Best of Quora ebook, ePub, Mobi and HTML versions here - http://sdrv.ms/V1Zxsi

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This post is: 
New year resolutions! (again)
Aditya Sanyal
ZOMG, its another year, and again, you see people making, and trying not to break, their resolutions.

Unlike a certain someone who broke it at the first chance.

So, I have figured out what my resolutions are, and I thought I should note them here, so that I can come back later to see if I have kept them or not.

So, here goes nothing.

Read more books.
Yeah, I do read books. I read comics, novels and what have you. But lately, these have tended to take the form of ebooks and digital comics. I have decided that real books (the paper kind) should increase their share of the pie. To this end, we got ourselves signed up to Just Books with an Avid+ membership. These guys will let us read 4 books and 2 magazines of our choice at a time. There's no time limit on keeping the books, unless it's a book in demand, in which case they'll call up and ask us nicely to finish the book fast, bro. They even have free home delivery! (Conditions apply.)

I have set myself a target of 12 books this year. Let's see how many books I end up reading. You can also track me on Goodreads and keep checking what I'm up to.

Hit the gym.
So I'm already the mayor (in Foursquare, duh) of the gym I frequent. What can be the problem here? Consistency, that's what. I have peer pressure (my friend Ramu keeps asking me if I go to the gym), I have emotional blackmail (Rimi) and last but not the least, I actually enjoy working out. The only problem is I'm like this guy -

I'd rather eat, is what I'm saying.

It gets difficult to wake up and hit the gym. But, I'm trying, I have setup a Gymwolf account to track what I do, and Endomondo to get some social cheerleading from my friends who follow me there. I'll try to work out 4 days a week at least. Should be easy to maintain.

Blog a bit more.
Dude. Seriously. I have been scolded by Meghna and I have seen my sis Nitu occasionally post stuff to her blog too, taking time out of her crazy schedule. And look at me. No posts for.. ever, it seems to me. So, this year, prepare to be.. not spammed, but you will get to read more posts from yours truly.

I promise :P

Until the next post.... See you around!



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This post is: 
How to make Curd in 90 minutes (using a microwave oven)
Aditya Sanyal
Disclaimer. I am a cooking noob. I am not even at level 0 when it comes to cooking.

I'm totally a black belt ninja dragon warrior when it comes to eating though
 Anyway, getting back to the topic - Rimi told me about this one.

  1. Cook something in the microwave for a long time (so that it gets hot). For example, bake some chicken.
  2. While the baking is in progress, make sure you have the raw material of curd ready (warm milk mixed with a bit of curd in a ceramic bowl)
  3. Take out what you were baking and put it some where like your mouth and enjoy the taste.... I'm not responsible for burns ;)
  4. Put the bowl mentioned in point # 2 into the microwave. Shut the door and turn it off.
  5. Go watch a movie. May I suggest Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2? They're brilliant.
  6. Come back after 90 mins / when the movie is over (whichever is earlier). If the movie is not over, wait for a few minutes more, pause the movie if its not over (seriously, do you watch documentaries or movies?) and take out the bowl from the microwave.
  7. Curd is ready to eat! Put it in the fridge to cool it down and serve chilled :)
Voila! I am not responsible for explosions, alien abductions or pandas assaulting you.


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This post is: 
Headaches vs Electral
Aditya Sanyal
Its one of those rare days when I finish work early and Rimi is still stuck at office. She told me to leave for home while she'd take the 8pm bus. I'd be home alone for 3 hours. Enough time for me to complete a mission or two in World In Conflict - Soviet Assault.

If you haven't played this RTS yet, you're missing something.
I'm making my way back home, through the inevitable traffic jams, and I reach home within reasonable time. There's a slight headache, but no big deal, I think. Except, I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. The headache struck me like a ton of something heavy. I couldn't think, couldn't play. Worst of all, I had told Rimi to get me something to eat (apart from the awesome things she cooks) from her cafeteria. I simply couldn't have that. I couldn't even go to the balcony to clear my head.

When Rimi got back, the first thing she asked me: "Did you drink water?".

Eh. What has water got to do with it?

A lot, actually.
Good thing that I'm not a doctor.

The first thing she gave me was a cup of that magical salt, Electral. Have you ever seen that ad where the person drinks glucose and seems to get bigger and stronger? I felt the exact same way, within seconds of drinking it. It felt so good, that I had another cup. Headache gone.

This shit's magic.
 Guys, I tell you. If you have headache, eliminate the dehydration factor by drinking electral. It totally helps.
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This post is: 
Gadgets and me, an ongoing experiment.
Aditya Sanyal
I always thought I liked blue. I still do like blue. Except if they are hyperlink colours. None of my gadgets ever had the colour blue, though.
Except one.
I love gadgets that allow me to keep in touch with people, and look good while doing it. I started off by.. errm.. "borrowing" (permanently) my dad's awesome Nokia 8210. It was ultra sleek, fit inside my palm and had a yellow backlight! In my defense, the other models of that age had boring green backlights. The larger screen didn't hurt, as well. 

It was RED and it was AWESOME.
Now that the टशन and novelty bug was satisfied, I needed to move on to bigger and better things. When one starts working, one pays attention to daily agendas. Enter my first windows mobile phone, the HTC TyTN. This reflected my priorities at the time, i.e. a better user experience, integration with my personal and office calendar and better "James Bond"-fication. 

It's got Windows Mobile 5 and can cause serious head injuries if I bash it on your head.
Boy, was the TyTN big. I then came across the HTC Diamond, a sweet and sexy phone that did everything the TyTN did, and looked good at the same time! I was hooked. I was in touchscreen heaven for a year, before the phone conked off. I will miss that phone.

Just look at it. Beautiful. All glowy and cool.
My fascination with touchscreens died with my HTC Diamond. I just wanted something that worked, synced perfectly to my online social presence, and whose didn't die in an hour if I switched on GPS and GPRS. Both my HTC phones are guilty of pathetic battery life. Enter my Nokia E71, the old warhorse. I had got it for my Dad for once (instead of the other way round) and then got it back since my dad started using a Blackberry.

This phone rocks.
As I have got older and wiser, I have gone from flashy to functional for my mobile phones, but still cannot resist a little flash. That's why my laptop is a kickass red Dell XPS, which was top of the line when I got it, and still gets envious glances when I take it out of my bag.

Yes, it plays Crysis. (Haven't tried Crysis 2 though)
Notice that this one is red again, just like my first phone. I keep wondering whether I should change my favourite colour from blue to red, officially. :P

Now you have got to the end of this post, do vote this blog post up from the depths of obscurity into instant fame... Click the pic below to vote on Indiblogger

I'll give you cake if you vote.

This post is part of a competition by Indiblogger and Dell. I was supposed to write about how my gadgets reflect my personality. If you liked this post, do share it and comment!

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