Jan 6, 2011
Posted by arif in GTD and Productivity, Reviews | 0 comments
For years I have been searching for an elegant solution to sync my task list between my blackberry and Mac. But nothing would cut it. There are so many clumsy attempts out there that at one point I’d thought to have the blackberry and Mac synced is an impossible riddle to crack . A real pity because the market for blackberry and Mac users out there is huge. Finally now there is the awesome app, that not only ensures that my tasks are synced between my Mac and Blackberry, but even on my iPad, infact I can access my tasks anywhere as long as I’m connected to the web.
Why Blackberry and not an iPhone
Simply because nothing tops the speed that one can get on typing on the blackberry. The iPhone keyboard sucks. Well for me it does. For the life of me I can’t type on it. Certainly not with the speed and accuracy I can on the blackberry keyboard. So it when it comes to sending SMSes, typing quick emails, jotting down tasks, with speed and accuracy, the iPhone is yet to conquer the Blackberry in my book.
First the problems with the existing setups possible:
1. The default setup: Syncing the native tasks application on Blackberry with Microsoft Outlook.
This is the second-best option that I had been running till date. I have blackberry server installed at my office. Thereby ensuring that wirelessly all my Tasks, Calendar items, Notes are wirelessly synced to my desktop. They sync is tight. Rarely or no errors. And fast. However the problems are as follows:
- Microsoft Outlook is clunky, heavy software. Operating Microsoft Outlook is like manoeuvring a truck on a crowded street.
- Microsoft Outlook has to run on Windows, which has to run on Parallel Desktop. So I’m constantly running two operating systems. That takes a lot of resources, RAM, speed and battery power out from my Macbook.
- When I’m away from the office and want to process the tasks on the go, my Outlook cannot connect to the Blackberry Server without VPN. And VPN isn’t also reliable. Sometimes it connects well, othertimes it doesn’t.
- The native Task App in the blackberry although great has limitations. The most irritating one is that I can’t see all tasks that are Overdue on a single page. I have the habit of marking tasks to be due on a certain date. But life happens that I can’t attend to the task on that date. And I’d like to see all tasks that are Overdue together. The tasks app in blackberry doesn’t show that.
2. Sync the Native Tasks Application with Remember the Milk.
- Remember the Milk is one of the most popular online tasks applications out there. And for good reason too. It is indeed an elegant solution to managing your to-dos. Clean interface. Reliable. Very fast. Online hence accessible from virtually anywhere. Anywhere except your blackberry. There is an app to sync the Blackberry Tasks with Remember the Milk. It’s Great, when it works. Which it rarely does. Each time I try to sync I get error message after error message.
3. Other attempts that have crashed.
The other applications that I’ve used to sync my Blackberry tasks with my Mac or any online app are:
- ToDo Matrix. This may work. However I’ve briefly tried this, and for reasons I can’t remember I couldn’t continue using it.
- Blackberry’s official sync software for the Mac. This is the worst of them all. Don’t even think about it.
The Solution: Behold Upvise. Enter the Pearly Gates of Task Management Heaven.
Literally after years of searching I found one stray reference of Upvise in some forum post somewhere. The homepage didn’t look promising (it’s better now), but I gave it a shot anyway and installed the Blackberry app.
Why Upvise Rocks:
1. They Sync is really Tight. Upvise doesn’t try to sync the native Tasks app of Blackberry. That’s where the other developers were going wrong. Instead it installs an app of it’s on in Blackberry, which automatically syncs really well with the web-app.
2. It’s Fast! Not as fast with the native app. Yet I have been using it for a couple of months now and a picky Power User like me is satisfied with it.
3. The developers seem committed. They are constantly upgrading the blackberry app and web app with new features, without making it heavy.
4. Awesome Customer Service. Whenever I have a problem with Blackberry Tasks or Microsoft Outlook sync. Who can I call? Nobody. But with upvise, I shoot them a mail and mostly receive a reply within 24 hours.
5. They’ve got a super-duper iPad App. I no longer have to squint in my blackberry to process my tasks. I can do it from my ipad and in style.
My Upvise wishlist:
As great as Upvise is, here are a couple of things that I wish they’d implement to make it better:
1. Shortucts. The webapp doesn’t have shortucuts to create new tasks, mark them complete etc. Their customer support says that they should be upgrading it with shortcuts in a weeks time.
2. Option to select multiple tasks to process them. This is a killer feature of Remember the Milk. Meaning I can selelct multiple tasks and then either mark them complete, postpone them etc. Hope Upvise implements this soon too.
3. Option to modify the default due date. When creating a new task, the system automatically sets the default due date to the next day. I’d prefer the option to modify that.
4. When creating a new task, a quick box drops down. I’d like the option to select the task list in that drop box. Right now I have to go to the main task edit screen to do that.
Overall I’m very satisfied with Upvise. The free version of Upvise you get some free apps. The tasks app cost $50 per annum. Well worth the price. I would strongly recommend it. Hope more Blackberry and Mac users read this post and give Upvise a try.
Jan 5, 2011
Posted by arif in GTD and Productivity, Reviews | 3 comments
It’s the best Rs.48,000 I have spent. The iPad. What an amazing invention. Telecommunication, the computer and the internet finally come to a full circle in this outstanding device.
I had been debating for months whether to shell-out almost half-a-lakh for this screen. Afterall it was just a big iPod Touch and I just couldn’t use that because of it’s damn keyboard. However I kept observing myself away from my laptop for longer parts of the day and yet felt the need to either check something on the web, clear a couple of my emails and misc tasks such as those. Tasks that my Blackberry couldn’t yet cut it. Thanks to motivation two friends (Rahul and Saira, thanks guys :-), I said what the hell and ordered it off from ebay. And boy, has it worked out for me.
What do I use my iPad for:
1. News and Wikipeida
The iPad wouldn’t be such a great device, if it weren’t for 3G. Thanks to 3G being out in India, I am now online, all the time. A rarely have the time or motivation to read the traditional newspaper. Furthermore when I am at my desk, a plethora of tasks and interruptions jump out at me, that I can’t check out the Top Stories of the day. Thanks to the iPad the little pockets of time I get before, after or even during meetings, I can scan headlines of the BBC and Times of India website and I am done with my critical News reading.
I am a huge Wikipedia fan. I often check out wikipedia articles several times a day. Whenever I come across a term, word, an event, that I want to know more about when reading a book, in the middle of a conversation, while hearing a podcast, even while watching TV, I snap out my ipad and do a lightening wikipedia search and bam I get to know, what I want to know in a matter of minutes. At times it so fast that I’ve even used it from my car in between traffic signals!
2. Processing my Email
Today, the Blackberry is not enough to process one’s email. These days my emails comes with loads of recommendations to visit certain sites or watch Youtube videos. I can’t do those on my blackberry alone. But I can do that on my iPad and in style.
3. Processing my Tasks/To-dos (GTD Style)
Thanks to Upvise, the best web-app I’ve found for managing tasks, I now often use my iPad to process my To-Do lists. More about Upvise in an upcoming post.
4. YouTube!
Need I say more. I can watch YouTube videos anywhere and everywhere. I now use it to keep my daughter entertained, or just myself entertained. Whenever I am on my Mac and come across a YouTube video I need to watch, I file it under a ToWatch playlist. Then when I’m away from my Mac, but have the time and access to my iPad, I open that playlist and watch that same video then and there.
5. Reading
The iPad is an amazing reading device. I often would choose to read books on my iPad than a physical book. You’ve got to try it to believe it. I can highlight passages, see what passages others have highlighted, search across the book in seconds, the dictionary is just a tap away and best of all I’m always carrying an entire library with me.
Other than books, it’s fantastic for reading RSS Feeds too. Just yesterday Ali discovered Flipboard. A brilliant app for reading one’s Rss Feeds from Google Reader.
6. Other stuff
I am not much of a gamer, but there is a game or two that I really enjoying dabbling in. A couple of days ago I found that the ipad has a prayer compass as well, very useful for me as I’ve often need to know the Qibla (prayer) direction when travelling. Furthermore, I also realised I don’t need to carry my Quran with my at my Weekly Quran Class, just the iPad would do. The uses of the iPad just keep growing.
Conclusion:
The iPad or any tablet is a device, that you buy presupposing certain uses for it. But then you start discovering new ways to use it. You begin to ask yourself, “hmm I wonder if it will do this too”. For those of you considering the Samsung Galaxy, I’ve tried that and have found that to be acceptably good too. If you’re set your heart upon the iPad and since it’s not released in India, you can pickup your iPad from Ebay (thank you Rahul for this tip). Make sure you pick the official apple carry case with the iPad, because without it, it’s not practical to carry it around.
If you do decide to buy an iPad, do let me know. If you already have an ipad and have an app to recommend do post it in the comment below.
Dec 28, 2010
Posted by Mohammed Ali in Sufi Comics | 4 comments
Alhamdulliah, the 40 Sufi Comics Book is almost done. Inshallah in the month of January 2011, it’ll be released under Creative Commons license. This means it can be downloaded, shared & distributed for free! The printed version will be available for a reasonable cost.
Besides each comic I’ve included verses from the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions from the Prophet & the Ahlul Bayt, related to the topic of the comic. For some comics I’ve shared the thoughts that was going through my mind when drawing them.
Thank you to all of you who’ve given support & encouragement to make this book possible. Here are some pages from the Book:
Nov 30, 2010
Posted by arif in General | 0 comments
Dear Friends,
This is an appeal for funds. I keep my appeals on my blog to a minimum. It’s only when I’ve exhausted other resources that I spread my arms here.
I am a part of a group that actively supports a slum in Bangalore. Our core activity is running an interest-free Micro Finance service, to encourage women entrepreneurs to set up small business/trades of their own. Over the years we’ve undertaken many projects to improve the struggling lives of the slum dwellers. Our other initiatives have been:
- We’ve started a clinic at Rajendranagar Slum that consults ailing patients for a minimum fee of Rs. 10/.
- We regularly conduct tailoring classes for girls/women so that they are either self-employed or get employed at the local garment factories. Till date we have trained 60 women.
- We have hired and have on our payroll English Teachers to help the local Govt. School children of the Slum to learn English so that the transition from an Urudu/Kannada Medium school is easier.
One can see a lot of the work that we’ve done at our Foundation’s website by clicking here.
Rs. 5,000/- that’s all it takes.
Another of our intiatives have been to ensure that maximum children at Rajendranagar Slum have a full year education. We have been distributing scholarships over the last three years. This year our requirement has been about Rs. 8,00,000/- to sponsor 170 children. We have raised Rs. 6,00,000 and are Rs. 2,00,000 short. We have gone the extra mile and put these kids in school, promising the school that we will somehow arrange the funds and pay them their fees. Now since the fees are still overdue, the school is stopping these children first from sitting for test or exams and now some kids are forced to sit in the playground all day and not attend classes.
I implore you please contribute generously. I have personally met these children. They are bright and one can see that they have potential for greatness. If only someone would help them. If only we’d help them. Why should they live in tin sheds while our children live in high-rise apartments. Why should we have good clean toilets, were as they have to expose themselves in public to relieve themselves. Giving them a basic education is the first step to ensure that they and their families lead better lives. If 40 of us contribute just Rs. 5,000 each, these kids can step inside the school and attend classes again. Rs. 5,000 is just Dh 500 or just $100/-
You can contribute here:
You may write the cheque favouring Swabhimaan and please send the cheque to:
Swabhimaan
B 405 Raheja Residency, 3rd Block
Koramangala, Bangalore
India
Mob: +91 9945436757 (Contact: Venkat)
Please do let me know or Venkat (+91 9945436757) know once you’ve sent the payment so that Venkat can look out for the same.
Thank you so much guys!
By the way the above picture is not some stock image. It’s a picture that I clicked at Rajendranagar Slum of kids waiting outside an Aanganwadi (a Government Play Home) waiting for it to open.
Here’s a small presentation that you can click through to learn more about Rajendranagar, our activities and Scholorship appeal.
Nov 29, 2010
Posted by arif in Reviews | 2 comments
I just heard these two hilarious tales by Mark Twain:
1. Extract of Adams Diary
2. Eve’s Diary
What did Adam really think of Eve? And what did Eve think of Adam? What exactly happened when they ate the forbidden fruit? Did they ever get along with each other? All is revealed in Extracts from Adam’s Diary and Eve’s Diary which were discovered and translated by eminent Archeologists.
These classic pieces were written in the year 1904. 1904! I’m just amazed how relevant these texts still are inspite of being written over a Century ago.
I heard these tales at my oft-recommended Classic Tales Podcast. The site seems down now, but it may be up by the time you get this email. If you rush you may be able to download these stories. These audio tales don’t stay on the Classic Tales for long. After a couple of weeks, B J Harrisson has the tales removed and up for sale at Audible.com. It’s best to subscribe to the Classic Tales Podcast using iTunes which will automatically download the new stories as they become available, hence ensuring that you have an archive of all these wonderful classic stories for free. Thereby whenever you’re on a long drive to the airport or are in the mood for some light hearing, select the story that tickles your fancy on your ipod and listen away. That’s what I do.
Here’s an excerpt from Adam’s Diary. Enjoy!
MONDAY.–This new creature with the long hair is a good deal in the way. It is always hanging around and following me about. I don’t like this; I am not used to company. I wish it would stay with the other animals…. Cloudy today, wind in the east; think we shall have rain…. WE? Where did I get that word– the new creature uses it.
SATURDAY.–The new creature eats too much fruit. We are going to run short, most likely. “We” again–that is ITS word; mine, too, now, from hearing it so much. Good deal of fog this morning. I do not go out in the fog myself. This new creature does. It goes out in all weathers, and stumps right in with its muddy feet. And talks. It used to be so pleasant and quiet here.
The cute picture has taken without permission, courtesy: Coromandal
Nov 29, 2010
Posted by arif in Reviews | 4 comments
I have received one of the best Madressa educations. We were taught the deeper meanings of the Quran and other Religious Scriptures. We were taught, the Methodology and Philosophy of Namaaz, Fasting and other rituals. Best of all were were taught to practice the highest morals, such as courtesy to parents, charity, having the love of Knowledge. My years at Madressa years were one of the best educational years of my life. But inspite of having such an excellent Madressa Education as well as having the subject “Islam” at my Day-Time School, my knowledge of the history of Islam was very sketchy and highly incomplete.
Here are couple of examples where I was lacking:
1. How is it that Islam that was started by one man, in a little town in Saudia Arabia, exploded to 1.5 billion? There are Muslims and mosques where ever you go. From China and Japan right through Europe and America. From all the way North in Canada to the Southern parts of Africa there are devout Muslim communities that any Muslim can find himself home in. What exactly happened for the numbers to swell like this in short span of just 20 generations?
2. I had first heard of the Crusades when I was ten, in Walt Disney’s Robin Hood. But what were the Crusades? When did it happen? Why was it such a big deal?
3. Me and Ali are great fans of Sufi Literature (duh :-). But how and when did the Sufis come about. We hear the illustrious names of Rabia Basri, Ibn Arabi, Mevlana Rumi, Al-Hallaj, Kabir, but who came first, who came second etc. What spawned their coming? We hear some were revered and others persecuted. Why? The great Mevlana Rumi spoke and wrote in Farsi, then why is he buried in Turkey?
4. I often hear of the Golden Age of Islam. The Age where Muslims Scholars, excelled in Geography mapped the world, exceeded in Mathematics, excelled in Optometry so much that they even performed successful Cartact Surgeries! But when did these take place. What happened to bring about their decline in these sciences.
5. Historically, Islam was never Extremist. It was the more accommodating and tolerant of religions. What gave rise to the hard-lined ideologies practiced in Afghanistan, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia and parts of Pakistan?
I had all the above questions and tonnes more answered in the engaging narrative by Aga Tamim Ansary in his brilliant book Destiny Disrupted. An unbiased account from the birth of Islam 1400 years ago right through the various Caliphate regimes, covering the Mongol Raids as well as the Glory days of the Moghuls right down till the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I don’t think there’s a country or major event in the tale that Aga Ansary has left uncovered. The writing style is fluent, engaging and at times witty one just eagerly keeps flipping the pages to know what happened next. It’s certainly not a book only for Muslims. It’s for all those who have had the above questions and were curious on any aspect on the History of Islam.
If you are ever in a bookshop, ask for Destiny Disrupted. It may be a difficult find. But if you do get it in your hands, do open the book anywhere in the middle and read till the end of that page. If you find yourself drawn into the story, go ahead and buy the book. All of it is really that good.
Oct 27, 2010
Posted by arif in General | 2 comments
Gandhigiri Says:
Give Moe the rest of the toys with a smile in an attempt to send him on a Guilt Trip
Osama Says:
Bomb that Sucker
Bush:
Have endless, meaningless, pointless, Peace Talks between Moe and Calvin till they both graduate and leave school.
MR. T:
Eat Protein and Pump Iron. (Thanks Riaz bhai for this one :-)
Other Creative Suggestions:
Complain to the Teacher. But what if the Teacher doesn’t care?
Rally other Students to standup to Moe
Start Bawling loudly to create a scene to Shame Moe to giving back the Truck.
What I think:
Tell Moe the bully that he is and take the punch for it.
What’s your suggestion? What Should Calvin Do?
Oct 25, 2010
Posted by arif in Spirituality | 1 comment
Fear is a theme that I have touched time and again on this blog. I recently heard this excellent documentary-podcast on the Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung San, keeps appearing in the press now and again for being under house-arrest. But being historically-illiterate I had no idea why she was put on house-arrest and what’s the big-deal really. Her confi/dence and aura of courage is extraordinary. The podcast provides a wonderful background of her upbringing and what has made her so courageous. It’s through this podcast that I learnt of her award winning essay on Freedom From Fear. You may download the podcast from this page and read the whole essay by clicking here. I am pasting my favourite excerpts of the essay below.
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.
Where there are no such laws, the burden of upholding the principles of justice and common decency falls on the ordinary people. It is the cumulative effect on their sustained effort and steady endurance which will change a nation where reason and conscience are warped by fear into one where legal rules exist to promote man’s desire for harmony and justice while restraining the less desirable destructive traits in his nature.
Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and to uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society. Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.
Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as ‘grace under pressure’ – grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.
Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man’s self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.
