29 Nov 2010

About Twitter and related sites

Talking with a friend today inspired me to write this post. I was going through Twittergrader and found out that I have 98.7 grade out of 100. Furthermore, I am ranked 74,061 out of 8,182,586 users who are listed on it. I had forgotten when I started tweeting and found out that I started tweeting on the 23rd of Dec 2007. There is no way to find that on Twitter. This means that I have been Tweeting for 2 years, 11 months and 11 days. Apparently, I am also the 4th Twitter user in Coventry.

Regarding followers, I had 3,255 when I last checked. I found a great site called Just Unfollow where you can find the guys whom you follow but don't follow you back. You can then unfollow all of them now. You can also see who'e following you but whom you don't follow back. Don't be snob and see if there's anyone interesting and follow back.

BTW, I am using the TweeetMeme button to make it easier for my reader to Retweet the posts. Just check out the top right hand corner of this post.

10 Nov 2010

No link exchange requests please

I no longer accept link exchanges on my blog.

Almost all of these blogs that want to exchange links to me either have low Google Page rank and are anonymous, and impersonal blogs that lack a personality.

Initially I used to accept all and any kind of link requests regardless of whether their sites had a high Google PR or not. Some of these guys got a nice link from my side bar but I then found that my link back from them would be buried in some Godforsaken page deep within the website.

I also had some who promised me that my link "would be there indefinitely as long as our link was not removed". I go back a few months later and find that the entire link page has disappeared.

So I have finally decided that I am not going to exchange links any more. I will just link to blogs I like and of course, I do accept text link ads.

8 Nov 2010

New Template Design

Just completed updating the blog template - the first in nearly two years. It's nothing fancy - I like the simple clean look of this one.

I have also pushed a lot of the widgets to the bottom of the blog. Still have some more tweaking to do but overall, the design won't change much. I would really like to have a nice banner but I really don't have the time to come up with one.

So what do you think of the new template?

7 Nov 2010

Reserving and shopping at Argos

I love shopping at Argos. They usually have great deals on a number of products all the time.The nearest Argos store is at Gallagher Retail Park at Stoney Stanton Road. Check out your nearest Argos store on their Store locator.

Normally I would reserve the product and then choose the "Reserve for store pick up" option on their site. I like the fact that you don't have to register on the site to reserve the items are the stores. Wish other online stores were this user friendly. They will then give me a reservation number (I have the option of having it emailed to me and/or sent to my mobile via sms) and the item will then be held in the store for a specified period. On certain occasions where the item is not available in your nearby store, they will point out the locations of other stores where they have the particular item in stock.


A vacuum cleaner I bought from them some time back.

You can also buy online and have the product delivered to your house next day for only only £4.95. In case you opt for a Saturday delivery, it is just £2.95 extra.

6 Nov 2010

Two Samsung Galaxy phones

Similar names but what a difference: The Samsung Galaxy portal and the Samsung Galaxy S.

Finally got a chance to try out the Galaxy S and compare with my Galaxy Portal.

The Galaxy S is slightly wider and taller but still fits well into my palm though people with smaller hands might feel bit uncomfortable. The Samsung Galaxy S is slightly slimmer.



There was not much difference in the interface. However, the Galaxy S does feel somewhat faster. I also like the fact that it has a camera in the front for making video calls. regarding the battery life, not much improvement. Samsung really needs to do something about the battery. With just normal usage, have to charge the phone everyday.

The Galaxy Portal often has problems using Google maps or any other app that requires GPS, including Foursquare. However, the Galaxy S had no problem pinpointing my location despite some reports about GPS problems on the web.