Lately, I became utmost desperate to go online on Xbox Live and play games over the internet with other people around the world, plus watching online movies in HD Quality on my LCD TV using the Netflix service which now comes as standard on Xbox NXE(Next Experience). The problem on Xbox 360 is that it doesn't have inbuilt wireless adapter like Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 which means one has to spend like $100 to buy the wireless adapter from Microsoft. Honestly, I never wanted to spend 100 bucks on an add on accesory and therefore was stucked at playing Single player games till now, it's been like 9 months on this mode.
Yesterday night at 3:30 AM, something got into my mind, I started thinking if my laptop has internet can't I connect it to my Xbox and make my Xbox internet enabled(Yeah you are right, I have got no Life).
This is what I did to connect to Xbox Live using my Laptop-:
1) Laptop running on Windows Vista Home Premium with Broadcom 802.11 G Wireless Adapter in it.
2) Got an Ethernet wire, with both end same just like we have ethernet wires in LAN.
3) Connected Ethernet Wire from one side to my Laptop and to other side to Xbox 360 Ethernet port.
4) Then went to Start>Settings>Network Connections.
5) Then in Network Connections. Choose Wireless Network, Right Click on it to go to it's Properties.
6) In Properties window, Click "Sharing Tab", Check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's internet connection". Once you do it, it will ask you to select the network, choose "Local Area Network" since you connected your Xbox to your Laptop using Ethernet Port.
7) You are done, your Xbox 360 is now internet enabled and your are ready to dive into the Xbox Live world without spending 100 bucks on wireless adapter which has no other use than on Xbox.
I have tested this mechanism on Windows Vista laptop with G-Wireless adapter using Trendnet 802.11G 108Mbps Firewall router. I am not sure, will it be able to connect using Mac computer or what if your laptop has 802.11 n wireless card. But one thing is sure my 100 bucks got saved :-). Desperate times, desperate measures; mother of unholy inventions ;-).
Note: Try to reset the Wireless Properties to Non-Sharing if you gonna use Ethernet port(LAN) for internet at workplace or somewhere else, otherwise Ethernet port won't work and will be dependent on Wireless Network.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
PC vs Console Gaming
I am a fanatic when it comes to video gaming, I am playing since I was just 5 years old thanks to my father's job which requires traveling and with it brings a lot of stuff he bought for me which were not available during late 80's and 90's in India. To name a few my first console Atari(1988) and Nintendo Entertainment System(1991).
Then, we got a computer and started playing games on it. The problem I always faced while playing on computer was that games which were good such as Need for Speed(NFS) or Unreal Tournament(UT) always had glitches reason being computer was not ready to handle requirement because of less RAM and weak Graphics card. I subsequently upgraded my computer's RAM from 32 MB to 64 MB, this is the story of year 1999 this upgrade set me back by Rs 4000(~$100). Then even after upgrade I was able to play NFS in low graphics mode and UT was still unplayable. Then again I spent like Rs 1000 to upgrade my 4MB SiS Video Card to 8MB Intel 740. It was good enough to play the two games but then UT needed more RAM, then again upgraded my system to 128 MB RAM, which again set me back by Rs 4000.
Then, after giving 12th class exams, bought Need for Speed-Porsche Unleashed(NFS-5). This game didn't run for whole six months simply because it needed latest Intel drivers which Intel released after six months of release of this game. In the mean time, I asked my dad to buy a solid top of the line Graphics Card. He did buy an Asus Geforce 2 GTS, which was pretty expensive at that time(~$299). I was happy for like 3-4 months before John Carmack unvieled Doom-3 along with Geforce 3 and he told that even Geforce 3 struggles to cope with the game's graphics. Even with Geforce 2 GPU I saw games were not as good as the card should produce then I realized with this GPU needs Pentium 4 CPU, Rambus Ram(1666Mhz), same 1666Mhz Front Bus to perform at it's peak. Then I finally gave up and thought of not investing money into this PC hardware thing. Though I admit I bought Geforce 4 for my new computer but till then I wasn't a PC gamer anymore.
Now, I play games on my consoles namely Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. I am very much satisfied with my purchase and console's performace. Since developers are making games knowing the hardware configurations/limitations and games have pretty awesome graphics wise and one don't see glitches while playing them since they are tightly coupled with the hardware and the best part of console gaming is hardware is not gonna get outdated in next six months and will be there for atleast next 5 years which means the money you invest in Console hardware is secure.
Plus, these days there is trend of releasing new games on consoles first and then on PC which means 6 months lagging period also some developers don't even release PC version since PC games they know are mostly pirated. One can attach console to any size LCD or Plasma screen and experience true HD(1080p).
To sum it up, I agree with newer hardware such as new CPU and GPU one will have an edge but this thing comes at a very steep price. If one uses right things such as right motherboard, latest GPU, 8-core CPU, high performace gaming RAM's, the cost easily can touch upto $3000 and the worst part is after 6 months the same system could be made/purchased for less than $1000. Plus, even with this superb hardware, one has to install buggy,crapy Windows Vista which has 1000's of it's own problems and crashes whenever it wants and thus ruining the overall experience of the new computer. Console such as Xbox Arcade edition just cost $199 and $249 for Wii are much more fun to play since I have always liked Controllers with rambling than Keyboard and a mice. Carpel tunnel not anymore :D.
Then, we got a computer and started playing games on it. The problem I always faced while playing on computer was that games which were good such as Need for Speed(NFS) or Unreal Tournament(UT) always had glitches reason being computer was not ready to handle requirement because of less RAM and weak Graphics card. I subsequently upgraded my computer's RAM from 32 MB to 64 MB, this is the story of year 1999 this upgrade set me back by Rs 4000(~$100). Then even after upgrade I was able to play NFS in low graphics mode and UT was still unplayable. Then again I spent like Rs 1000 to upgrade my 4MB SiS Video Card to 8MB Intel 740. It was good enough to play the two games but then UT needed more RAM, then again upgraded my system to 128 MB RAM, which again set me back by Rs 4000.
Then, after giving 12th class exams, bought Need for Speed-Porsche Unleashed(NFS-5). This game didn't run for whole six months simply because it needed latest Intel drivers which Intel released after six months of release of this game. In the mean time, I asked my dad to buy a solid top of the line Graphics Card. He did buy an Asus Geforce 2 GTS, which was pretty expensive at that time(~$299). I was happy for like 3-4 months before John Carmack unvieled Doom-3 along with Geforce 3 and he told that even Geforce 3 struggles to cope with the game's graphics. Even with Geforce 2 GPU I saw games were not as good as the card should produce then I realized with this GPU needs Pentium 4 CPU, Rambus Ram(1666Mhz), same 1666Mhz Front Bus to perform at it's peak. Then I finally gave up and thought of not investing money into this PC hardware thing. Though I admit I bought Geforce 4 for my new computer but till then I wasn't a PC gamer anymore.
Now, I play games on my consoles namely Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. I am very much satisfied with my purchase and console's performace. Since developers are making games knowing the hardware configurations/limitations and games have pretty awesome graphics wise and one don't see glitches while playing them since they are tightly coupled with the hardware and the best part of console gaming is hardware is not gonna get outdated in next six months and will be there for atleast next 5 years which means the money you invest in Console hardware is secure.
Plus, these days there is trend of releasing new games on consoles first and then on PC which means 6 months lagging period also some developers don't even release PC version since PC games they know are mostly pirated. One can attach console to any size LCD or Plasma screen and experience true HD(1080p).
To sum it up, I agree with newer hardware such as new CPU and GPU one will have an edge but this thing comes at a very steep price. If one uses right things such as right motherboard, latest GPU, 8-core CPU, high performace gaming RAM's, the cost easily can touch upto $3000 and the worst part is after 6 months the same system could be made/purchased for less than $1000. Plus, even with this superb hardware, one has to install buggy,crapy Windows Vista which has 1000's of it's own problems and crashes whenever it wants and thus ruining the overall experience of the new computer. Console such as Xbox Arcade edition just cost $199 and $249 for Wii are much more fun to play since I have always liked Controllers with rambling than Keyboard and a mice. Carpel tunnel not anymore :D.
Monday, November 3, 2008
When aspirations don't meet reality!
For last one year, I am applying and giving interviews at various companies mostly based in Northeast. I have probably given on-site interviews at the best technology companies such as NetApp, Mathworks, Microsoft(twice), MediaTek, Altair but result has been the same, which is reject from everywhere. In the past, whenever I made a mistake I very quickly rectified the problem since I knew where I was making mistake but when it comes to these interviews I am still not able to figure out exactly where the problem lies.
I have improved tremendously over an year, the problem I initially faced was that the programming knowledge that an undergrad should know very well was fractured, which means fundamentally unsound but don't judge me that I am totally zero since I cleared every screen interviews which companies generally test your fundamentals which in itself is intimidating and hardly 10% of people are able to clear it.
Some things that I see as problems apart from blaming myself are-:
1) Too broad job description, which means a company such as Intel or semi-conductor based needs a Software Engineer who is not only proficient in writing C++ code but also possesses knowledge of embedded systems, VLSI etc., now how can a Computer Science student who has not interned in Semi-conductor company can get fit into above job description. One on-site interview I gave at Altair, they wanted me to know Finite State Analysis(FSA) which is a mechnical thing, how can I know I have no idea?
2) Very limited open positions, most companies are trying to fill in some cases just one position in their department, and for that I thing they are interviewing 50 candidates, even if you are good but someone else who applied has relevant work experience will surely get the job.
3) Too much of a competition, these days market is bad, too many people applying for the same job, when in January I went for Microsoft on-site interviews, the HR told me they are interviewing 80+ candidates daily for last 6 weeks.
4) Local/ Small companies which are located in cities such as Chicago, NYC, Bay Area or NJ don't want to consider anyone else than local candiates to keep their expenses down and sacrificing on the quality of employee they need.
5) This thing pisses me off the most, only US citizens. Why on earth jobs only for US Citizens. Isn't that a kind of discrimination. People with US Citizenship not only get restricted jobs very easily but also when two candidates competing for same position with same credentials, US citizen guy will get the job since company won't have to pay for the H1B filling and all. Sometimes I wonder why Americans cry a lot about International people taking up their job since companies, US government are doing their best to give them the job, now they are so weak than what others can do.
6) This is the last thing, sometimes interviewers who are taking interviews over the phone have no idea about what kind of position they are interviewing for, they never interact with HR and start asking very complex things such as intricate questions on Stack unwinding, thread control-block issues.
7) Too long interview session like 9 interviews a day, the probability of one not knowing everything is quite high and if any one interviewer says no to hiring, the probability of you being hired reaches to zero.
Anyway, these things are part of life and keep on trying is the best thing than doing nothing or getting depressed. I am good enough that's why I am giving interviews even during worst great depression. At the same time, I should start looking for some maim or abcd so that I can become US Citizen asap ;), see I have already found a way to rectify a part of bigger problem while writing this blog :P. Also, if companies are so stringent about hiring, then one should be sincere towards his/her job but should never be loyal to the company and kick them on their back when a new opportunity strikes since you were hired because you were second best to none than why work for a company which is second best to the someone(new opportunity).
I have improved tremendously over an year, the problem I initially faced was that the programming knowledge that an undergrad should know very well was fractured, which means fundamentally unsound but don't judge me that I am totally zero since I cleared every screen interviews which companies generally test your fundamentals which in itself is intimidating and hardly 10% of people are able to clear it.
Some things that I see as problems apart from blaming myself are-:
1) Too broad job description, which means a company such as Intel or semi-conductor based needs a Software Engineer who is not only proficient in writing C++ code but also possesses knowledge of embedded systems, VLSI etc., now how can a Computer Science student who has not interned in Semi-conductor company can get fit into above job description. One on-site interview I gave at Altair, they wanted me to know Finite State Analysis(FSA) which is a mechnical thing, how can I know I have no idea?
2) Very limited open positions, most companies are trying to fill in some cases just one position in their department, and for that I thing they are interviewing 50 candidates, even if you are good but someone else who applied has relevant work experience will surely get the job.
3) Too much of a competition, these days market is bad, too many people applying for the same job, when in January I went for Microsoft on-site interviews, the HR told me they are interviewing 80+ candidates daily for last 6 weeks.
4) Local/ Small companies which are located in cities such as Chicago, NYC, Bay Area or NJ don't want to consider anyone else than local candiates to keep their expenses down and sacrificing on the quality of employee they need.
5) This thing pisses me off the most, only US citizens. Why on earth jobs only for US Citizens. Isn't that a kind of discrimination. People with US Citizenship not only get restricted jobs very easily but also when two candidates competing for same position with same credentials, US citizen guy will get the job since company won't have to pay for the H1B filling and all. Sometimes I wonder why Americans cry a lot about International people taking up their job since companies, US government are doing their best to give them the job, now they are so weak than what others can do.
6) This is the last thing, sometimes interviewers who are taking interviews over the phone have no idea about what kind of position they are interviewing for, they never interact with HR and start asking very complex things such as intricate questions on Stack unwinding, thread control-block issues.
7) Too long interview session like 9 interviews a day, the probability of one not knowing everything is quite high and if any one interviewer says no to hiring, the probability of you being hired reaches to zero.
Anyway, these things are part of life and keep on trying is the best thing than doing nothing or getting depressed. I am good enough that's why I am giving interviews even during worst great depression. At the same time, I should start looking for some maim or abcd so that I can become US Citizen asap ;), see I have already found a way to rectify a part of bigger problem while writing this blog :P. Also, if companies are so stringent about hiring, then one should be sincere towards his/her job but should never be loyal to the company and kick them on their back when a new opportunity strikes since you were hired because you were second best to none than why work for a company which is second best to the someone(new opportunity).