Idle/Random/whatever Thoughts of a Demented/Idle/Whatever Mind

1. How Major Indian Apps Are Bypassing Google’s Policy to Spy on Your App Drawer? - Report reveals that many major Android apps on the Google Play Store are allegedly bypassing Google's privacy policies to access a list of other apps installed on users' devices. Apps like Swiggy, Zepto, and HDFC are among those seemingly "peeping" into users' app drawers. While some argue this access might be needed for core functionality (like fraud detection in banking apps), the report suggests it's being used for fingerprinting and user profiling. Analysis of AndroidManifest.xml files shows apps use methods like querying by package name or intent signature to extract this data. Concerns are raised about apps like KreditBee, which appear to be profiling users based on the presence of specific apps, including those related to religion and astrology. The report questions Google's enforcement of its policies and the lack of user consent or awareness regarding this data co...

Nokia R&D invited some of us to preview their pilot project of WeMeet application. Its an interesting application. Its a simple application which allows you to have threaded sms conversation with friends as group chat generally does. Its a simple application though still in its testing phase or the pilot as the Nokia guys call it. It has a simple interface ( screenshots nicely compiled by Prashanth at TechBangalore ). You can create groups in simple steps. Send message to friends is a breeze as  well. Just like other group SMS services like SMS Gup Shup , it allows you to send SMS to all your friends in that group in a single SMS. It sends a message to a local number in Bangalore(not a premium number), which in turn broadcasts this to all the people in the group. As this is currently only in pilot phase, its free and available only in Bangalore. To join create, modify and send message to groups an SMS is sent for your cellphone. When you receive an SMS from a group message, ...

Well its was well known that mobile numbers with 8 are going to start soon . But it so happened that my dear friend Daaku took a new Tata Docomo connection. Now the amazing thing was that it starts with 805xx-xxxxx. So now if I try to call this friend of mine, my Vodafone network tells me that its an invalid number. I was confused and so I asked my friend daaku to call me. I got his number in caller ID but calling it was again not possible. Obviously its not mistake in dialing the number, rather its a stupid things that Vodafone and possibly other networks too have done. So here is my guess what has happened. Vodafone, takes the number +91805xx-xxxxx as 91 for country(that India), 80(Code for Bangalore) and 5 would be Tata Indicom as they provide landline with that series. Interestingly Vodafone seems to have not configured its network to this change which happened for mobile numbers starting with 8. I tried contacting Vodafone customer care, they seemed to be unaware of the issue...

Mobiles are something which we now take for granted to call anyone. I remember the days when I thought who the heck will pay  Rs300+ rental and then Rs16 /min for receiving or making calls as airtime charges. Obviously the call charges were separate. Who thought that things will reach this far that at Rs175 rentals, you would get 300 mins calling free. Its truly amazing. Another thought that I had not very long back actually was that I had written on how my mobile should look like here . There were a few people who thought that its entirely impossible to achieve what I was wanting. But then today there was this story on CNET that talked about Toshiba coming out with an amazingly fast 1GHz smartphone. Well, I am not surprised by it. But what I am surprised at is that it runs the crappy Windows Mobile. It sure could have done better with Android or Symbian. Windows Mobile, duh. Dude I would need multi-touch, just to make sure I can give the three finger salute of Ctrl+Alt+Del. S...

A lot has been said and done about mobile phones of today. iPhone has brought a brand new concept in phones. It really moves the mobiles to the mainstream to do things other than talking. Just when things seemed bright for the mobiles we have Mr Jobs giving out a big MSish rules for development of Apps. I am not sure of its real usage. Probably he wants to protect iPhone from viruses, but then destroyers dont wait for a legal or easy means. They will find a way out anyways. The hardware for mobiles available is sadly built and around it software just manages things somehow. I see this as what happened to IBM PCs. They gave way to PC Compatibles with MS making a killing out of it. Even now its because of this that we had such a boom in PCs, atleast in India. It was this parallel development which actually boosted usage. If there is a corporation today which does something similar to what Intel, MS and others did together to kill the mafia of Apple and IBM. I am sure had it been then o...

Well I dont know if accidentally I had made some correct statements in this post about sikhs. I was so sure that it had no intellectual value but then I read this story . So here its says that Mr Anil Ambani is at fault for 'allegedly' circulating derogatory jokes against the Sikh community through its mobile Internet services. The masterminds again are from Lucknow, Lucknow Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee(LGPC). Seems like Lucknow is fast turning hub for all kinds of religious intolerance and communalism. I would like the LGPC people to first read the classics by Khushwant Singh. His jokes are the best of their kind. He is one guy which really made the sardar jokes reach out to the market. Then came the MTV and Mr Cyrus Bakara. They took these jokes to the masses. Each one of the young generation waited to hear these jokes. The final death nail was the Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Great Indian Comedy Show. Both of them literally taking humor and sardars to new height...

I was just wondering at so many cell phones available out in the market. Though I still use Nokia 1100, but that does not stop me imagining the best cell phone for me. After a lot of thoughts on it I have come up with my own specification. So here it goes. Good external speakers. Crystal clear sound. And the sound should be loud enough that removes the need for extra addon speakers at any time. The mic should be such that it can cut off all the noise in the background(High tech but I think its possible) A good camera, around 4Mega pixel one. Also capable of recording movies in DVD Quality. Storage capacity of 100GB. Use any means possible. I hardly care. Should be small in size...Not any bigger than my Nokia 1100 right now. Screen resolution of some 16million colours at least. Should have a screen that is big enough almost as big as the whole phone and. Better if its extensible by opening the panel outwards. Keypad with keys like a normal keyboard unlike usual phones. Ability to intro...