Code Away » Uncategorized http://blog.spathare.com Software development, thoughts and rants (of course) Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:33:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Mozilla’s Interest in Open Standards http://blog.spathare.com/2010/02/mozillas-interest-in-open-standards/ http://blog.spathare.com/2010/02/mozillas-interest-in-open-standards/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:33:28 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://blog.spathare.com/?p=205 I was wondering why Mozilla refuses to support H.264 streaming video format while Chrome and Safari don’t seem to mind it, but Christopher Blizzard and Robert O’Callahan both make compelling arguments in favor of Ogg Theora codec (or rather, against all codecs which are patent-protected and can potentially charge licensing fees).

Both posts argued well against H264. Particularly Christopher Blizzard, who drew a fine analogy with GIF. The scary part is that both of them feel the “fallback” on Flash (from HTML5) is good since it ensures that users have minimum problems. Well, this is quite a surprise (as many point out in the posts’ comments) for someone advocating use of open standards.

Adobe, on the other hand, will definitely extract mileage out of the situation to stress the fact that Flash is the true technology for cross-browser support, be it video or generic rich applications. Nothing wrong with that, they need to fight the battle with everyone hailing HTML5 as a flash-killer.

A crazy battle with 3 sides (3 and a half actually- We forgot Silverlight and IE!) and the end user confused. Welcome to the web.

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2010/02/mozillas-interest-in-open-standards/feed/ 0 Rotating text on web pages http://blog.spathare.com/2009/08/rotating-text-on-web-pages/ http://blog.spathare.com/2009/08/rotating-text-on-web-pages/#comments Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:30:29 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://blog.spathare.com/?p=189 I had no idea this can be done. Very nicely written article by Jonathan Snook on using css attributes to rotate text on a webpage.

Hell lot of browser quirks, almost zero consistency across different browsers and different operating systems, but I am not complaining. Most of the newer attributes like opacity started off as browser-specific.

Hope to find this more consistent a year later. After all, we shouldn’t be forced to use images just to display text in a different orientation, right?

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2009/08/rotating-text-on-web-pages/feed/ 0 Nice article on secure file deletion http://blog.spathare.com/2009/02/nice-article-on-secure-file-deletion/ http://blog.spathare.com/2009/02/nice-article-on-secure-file-deletion/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:26:47 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://blog.spathare.com/?p=136 Read this if you value your privacy. It’s a good walk through even if you are not an expert with computers.

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2009/02/nice-article-on-secure-file-deletion/feed/ 0 Security: What all is in your hands? http://blog.spathare.com/2009/01/security-what-all-is-in-your-hands/ http://blog.spathare.com/2009/01/security-what-all-is-in-your-hands/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:27:43 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://blog.spathare.com/?p=74 This is an example of Twitter’s security lapse.

This is just a phishing attack. Happens all the time, and you don’t go about blaming the original website for this. Users have to understand that there is something called security awareness, and that they need to have the basics right if they want to protect what they would like to call “My account”. Even if it means spending those extra moments to check whether they are entering their password on the correct page. You don’t give the keys to your house to someone who “looks like” your father, do you?

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2009/01/security-what-all-is-in-your-hands/feed/ 2 Tata Indicom Broadband: How much one can suck http://blog.spathare.com/2008/08/tata-indicom-broadband-how-much-one-can-suck/ http://blog.spathare.com/2008/08/tata-indicom-broadband-how-much-one-can-suck/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:21:02 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://blog.spathare.com/?p=32

For those interested in going for Tata Indicom Broadband, do take your time out and check the amazing service provided to me.

Below are a series of unedited (literally, no change even in the fonts… exactly as shown by my gmail) mails exchanged between the ever-apologizing customer care and myself. Read Top-down and laugh at my plight.

——

From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Sunday, 27, July, 2008 6:34 PM
To: customerservice@tatacommunications.com
Subject: Issues in internet connectivity

Sir,

I have installed Tata Indicom Broadband at my home despite extremely negative reviews in Bangalore city from friends as well as blogs.

My installation was completed yesterday by an engineer named Rajesh (mobile number 9916916241). As soon as the installation was completed, I checked the internet connection speed at websites like speedtest.net which are standard 3rd party applet based / flash based speed checkers. The speed shown was around 120kilobits/sec (kbps). Since my plan was 512 KBPS, I immediately enquired regarding the low speed. I was told that I will get full speed “In 12 hours of installation, after my user id has been registered in the server”.

After 24 hours, I still face the same low speed internet connection. The screenshots at speedtest.net are attached with this email for your reference. These are testing for connections with Mumbai and HongKong servers respectively.

On calling TI Helpline, I was in conversation with Mr. Shailendra Singh. He informed me that there is no such delay (as mentioned by installation engineer) for getting full speed internet connection. He also requested me to go to the URL http://203.124.230.89/speed/ and tell him the results.

Since I was in my office at the time of conversation, I noted the URL and also ran it from the office computer. It mentioned a speed of 384 kbps for my office connection which seemed fairly accurate.

On returning home, I ran the URL from my home computer. However, the speed check failed with scripting error

Conducting bandwidth tests…
Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in E:\Apps\Broadband\web\speed\meter.php on line 54

The speedtest.net website still shows around 100 kbps of connectivity. I am sure about the accuracy of the results from this website, since I also have an Airtel 512 kbps connection in my house, and the website reports close to 500 kbps for this Airtel broadband connection.

I subsequently called Tata Indicom Broadband customer service and was in conversation with Ms. Sarla (emp id 25863) who has informed me that my complaint id is 6510286.

I still deem it fit to request a written response from Tata Indicom Broadband for this situation, since I will require the same in case I need to take action against this unprofessional attitude and below-par service.

  • Your installation engineers lie to the customer and provide excuses for low internet connection speed, to obtain a signature on the installation form.
  • Your “Broadband” Internet speed is around 100 kbps even at non-peak times, while I’m paying for 512 kbps. DoT defines Broadband as 256 kbps of speed for Internet access, so you are violating broadband policy, and the subscription plan provided to me.

I would appreciate an appropriate response to the above. I believe it is always best to go through appropriate channels before blatantly accusing and blaming organizations publicly. I hope for the same cooperative attitude from your side.

Sincerely,

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 8:40 AM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We regret the inconvenience caused to you.

We have already registered your concern regarding connectivity with complain number 6510286. Our team is working on priority and the needful will be done at the earliest.

Assuring you of our best services all the time.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you

Warm Regards,

Bindu.N,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet Service Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Tuesday, 29, July, 2008 2:43 PM
To: customer service
Subject: Re: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

Its been 48 hours since my complaint was lodged and I do not see any action. Additionally, internet connectivity was not available last night. Your toll free number mentioned on the website was not answered.

Why don’t you provide the best of your services instead of assuring me the same

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 5:33 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

We have already registered your concern regarding connectivity with complain number 6510286. Our team is working on priority and the needful will be done at the earliest.

Assuring you of our best services at all times.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you.

Warm Regards,

Grace,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet Services Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 5:50 PM
To: Customer Service (Retail-India)
Subject: Re: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

Sir,

Repeating the acknowledgement template for “regret and apology” message is not the solution

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 6:56 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We apologize the inconvenience caused to you.

We have already registered your concern regarding connectivity with complain number 6510286. Our team is working on priority and the needful will be done at the earliest.

We need your support during this period which enables us to serve you better.

Thank you for your valuable time and patience.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you

Warm Regards,

Mujeeb,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet Services Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Thursday, 07, August, 2008 2:17 AM
To: customer service
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

You have well stopped your services and the assurance of best services has evaporated. Your last service was 1 week ago, and the result was that my Internet speed remained below 200kbps while I pay for 512 KBPS.

I am regularly checking my internet connectivity speed at websites provided by your customer care (speedtest.net, speakeasy.net, TI Web speed meter)

As I write this email (at 2:15am), I am getting 152kbps download speed and 6kbps upload speed.

6kbps? Really? Broadband?

My impression of your broadband service has tempted me to write a lengthy article, citing these mails between us as well. I intend to replicate this article across blogs and forums. However, prior to publishing the same, I’d like to be fair and give you 3 more days to resolve my issue.

Looking forward to your response.

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 11:09 AM, customer service wrote:Dear Mr. Pathare,

Thank you for your valuable feedback.

We have been trying to call you on 07-Aug-08 to understand the complaint given by you.

Since we were unable to contact you we have registered a complaint on your behalf regarding the slow browsing concern of your account. Our team will contact you to do the needful at the earliest.

Your complaint number is: 6640238.

We request you to kindly provide your alternate contact number and convenient time for us to for further assistance.

Assuring you of our best services at all times.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you.

Warm Regards,

Mujeeb,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet Services Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 11:42 AM
To: customer service
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

Sir,

There is no alternative contact number. I have my cell with me from 10am to 10pm. Kindly check your routers to see whether I am allowed 512 kbps of bandwidth and let me know what the router configuration mentions.

Regards,

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 5:58 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We understand the inconvenience caused to you and we regret for the same.

We have already forwarded your account low speed concern to our team and we will contact you to do the needful at the earliest. We assure you that necessary steps will be taken to provide you resolution at earliest regarding your concern. Complaint ID: 6640238

Thank you for your time and patience. Assuring you of our best services at all times.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you

Warm Regards,

Vijay,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet services Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 6:07 PM
To: customer service
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

Sir,

I am fast losing the time and patience that you are thanking me for. You have 3 working days to resolve or provide strong technical reason for the issue, prior to me publishing this communication on my blog.

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 3:11 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

We would like to inform you that your concern regarding Slow Browsing has been forwarded to the team with the complaint no 6640238. Our executives are working on your issue on high priority basis. We will get back to you with the feedback at the earliest.

We need your support during this period which enables us to serve you better.

Thank you for your valuable time and patience.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you

We will be delighted to assist you.

Warm Regards,

Arun Kumar,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications internet services Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Friday, 08, August, 2008 4:32 PM
To: customer service
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

This is further to your telephone call to me, asking me to check up the speed of my internet connectivity yet again. The support executive mentioned that the problem had been resolved and the router was configured to allow more bandwidth.

Here are the details of speed test


(my radio parameters)
RSSI: -48
CINT: 20

Avg. download speed: 120 kbps
Avg. Upload speed: 30kbps
Time of test: 2.30pm

As you can make out from the above data, the problem remains unresolved.

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Sat, Aug 9, 2008 at 3:05 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We would like to take an opportunity to apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

We have already registered your concern regarding connectivity with complain number 6640238. Our team is working on priority and the needful will be done at the earliest.

Looking forward for your co-operation and support to serve you better.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you

Warm Regards,

Bindu.N,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet Service Ltd.


From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 7:58 PM
To: customer service
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

Hi,

Currently (Saturday 7.30pm) when checked, internet connectivity was not available. Even the login site was not accessible.

Regards,

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 1:46 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We regret the inconvenience caused to you.

We have already registered your concern regarding connectivity with complain number 6640238. Our team is working on priority and the needful will be done at the earliest.

Assuring you of our best services all the times.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you.

Warm Regards,

Swetha Dasika,


Customer Service,
TATA Communications Internet Services Ltd.

From: Swapnil Pathare
Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:28 PM
To: customer service
Cc: nodalofficer
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: Issues in internet connectivity

CC: Nodal officer, South 3: Priya Kumar

Hi,

This is further to my complaint regarding slow internet connection every since I have installed tata indicom broadband at my residnence. I have opted for 512 kbps plan and you are currently giving me 150 kbps of speed, at max. Ur support engineers had come to my residence to take a look at the matter.

I had just checked Internet connectivity and found it had started, prior to the engineers arriving at my place. However, I mentioned to them that till both issues (intermittent disconnection and low bandwidth) are resolved, I will not sign their sheet.

The engineer stressed that all consumers in BTM, bangalore area are facing this problem, due to server issues. I do not see any notice issued by Tata Indicom for the same, neither do I see an alert on your website.

However, the “Problem” faced by consumers in BTM area is that they get 250kbps while they have opted for the 384/512 kbps plan. I explained further that my bandwidth has never crossed even 150kbps till date. The engineer expressed that even his back-end engineer (with whom he communicated on mobile) was not able to do anything about this situation. The engineer further tried to perform a speed test, but the internet connectivity is currently so poor that the speed test didn’t even load properly. Since I had mentioned I will not sign the sheet without resolution of problem or without them giving me in writing the number of days required for resolution,

It has been a good 15 days of bad connectivity with Tata Indicom Broadband and I’m sure you guys will not give a single thought to this when you bill me for next month.

I would like to know in writing what is the server issue faced by you people for BTM area, and why is it that my internet is so slow inspite of wireless connectivity (CIDR = 20) being so good with base station.

Swapnil Pathare
———

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 7:11 PM, customer service wrote:

Dear Mr. Pathare,

We regret the inconvenience caused to you.

Please refer to the tele phonic discussion you had with Ms. Deepthi on 11-Aug-08. As per your verbal confirmation the connectivity concern you had has been resolved.

However if the problem persists once again please do write back to us for further assistance.

We have registered a complaint on your behalf regarding the Down time Credit concern. Our team will contact you to do the needful at the earliest.

Your complaint number is: 6687258.

Assuring you of our best services at all times.

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact Customer Service at http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/contactus.html (the link contains the location wise contact numbers) or mail us on customerservice@tatacommunications.com. We will be delighted to assist you.

Warm Regards,

Swetha Dasika,

Customer Service,

TATA Communications Internet Services Ltd

Sir,

The disconnection problem is intermittent. I do not claim that the problem has persisted since day 1.

However, I do maintain that the low bandwidth is provided to me from day 1 and you are yet to respond to me as to what is the exact reason behind this.

It has been 15 days of “service” and you are not able to pinpoint the location in your own network which is causing me disruptions from day 1, and you are doing absolutely nothing on your part except sending emails.

I have already provided a written requisition for technical details (refer my mail below) that you are facing. However, you or your visiting/backend engineers are simply not providing me this information.

This is my second reminder for the same.

Also, 3 working days are ending since my last complaint to you and the broadband speed is still less. Thus as informed earlier, I will be posting this entire conversation online tomorrow for the benefit of people looking at new broadband connections. I will also be sending you a link regarding the same.

Regards,

Swapnil Pathare
———


 

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2008/08/tata-indicom-broadband-how-much-one-can-suck/feed/ 9 What is DRM in one word http://blog.spathare.com/2008/07/what-is-drm-in-one-word/ http://blog.spathare.com/2008/07/what-is-drm-in-one-word/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:10:25 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://blog.spathare.com/?p=29 The Related Links section of the topic “Phoning Home” on Wikipedia shows what DRM mostly relates to :)

See also

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2008/07/what-is-drm-in-one-word/feed/ 0 About Me http://blog.spathare.com/2008/05/about-me/ http://blog.spathare.com/2008/05/about-me/#comments Wed, 21 May 2008 17:04:53 +0000 Swapnil Pathare http://spathare.com/blog/?p=3 I am Swapnil Pathare, working in Server Technologies division of Oracle India Pvt. Ltd., after having completed my MTech at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.

I love web technologies and that’s what I work on, in Oracle. In fact that’s been my passion ever since I graduated and joined NSEiT (now NSETech). User Interface in general and web-UI’s in particular also hold quite a bit of interest for me.

I’m a bit of a Java fan. I work mostly in Java. However for smaller hacks, I prefer python and php. So far, I’m pretty bad at creating windows-specific software, although this doesn’t affect my affinity to Windows XP.

]]> http://blog.spathare.com/2008/05/about-me/feed/ 4