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Tech

How to choose the best mobile hotspot to stay connected everywhere

If your old router is giving you problems, it’s time that you get a new one – with these tips.
By The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Choosing a router can be a tedious task as there are so many in the market. Here are some tips that will help you to decide on the perfect router.

1. Wireless standards

Make the best of a fast Internet connection. Get a router that offers 802.11ac or Gigabit Wi-Fi support. This wireless standard is supposed to be twice as fast as the previous 802.11n with a 1,300 Mbps throughput at the base level. This wireless standard is also compatible with older devices. However, with older devices, you will not benefit from the extra you get as in the case of newer devices.

2. Hardware

While selecting a portable router, it is important to ensure that it fits your pocket and is lightweight and easy to carry around. These routers also come in different colors, shapes, and designs.

3. Life span

Your Wi-Fi router is never going to last forever. Every day, it goes through a lot of load as it handles the Internet connection between your phone, computer, laptop, TV, and every other device at home or elsewhere. As more and more devices are connected to your router, the list keeps on increasing. This leads to degradation in your its performance. Also, wireless standards change often that make your router obsolete sooner. Depending on how many devices your router can connect to before showing a dip in performance as well as its technology, the life span of the router may be determined.

4. Coverage

This is a very important thing to consider. Even if you may carry your router anywhere and everywhere, you do not want to use the Internet while hugging your router. Ensure that your router has enough coverage for you to manage it. You could even use your old router to extend the Wi-Fi range

5. Cost

There is a wide-range of router prices. However, if you just need a portable router for simple daily tasks, you may want to skip the extremely high-end ones. Another reason to skip high-end ones is that changing technologies would make the router obsolete after a few years. Depending on your needs, look for a budget-friendly option.

What to do with your old router once you get a new one?

Once you get a new router, it is very easy to just connect to it and throw out the old one. However, even this old router may be really useful. If your old router is working, you could use it to extend your Internet connection to a wide area. This will let multiple people use your router even if they are in different rooms. You could even exchange it with your service provider or retailer for a discount on your new router.

Before buying a new router, keep all of these points handy and make sure that your router meets them well. So, choose the cheapest, fastest, and most reliable router and enjoy a seamless experience with the high-speed 4G Internet.

(Picture courtesy Online Tech Tips)

Categories
Event

Public symposium in Dadar observes Nirbhaya Day

Event at Dadar marks the day of the brutal gangrape of a paramedical student, an incident that shook the nation.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Be it in their own houses or in public spaces, girls and women are facing sexual harassment and various forms of violence all over India. Some form of sexual harassment has become a daily occurrence for girls and women right from 28 days old to 70 years old. Rapes, prolonged physical abuse, molestation are all par for the course.

Then there was the brutal and horrifying gang rape of a paramedical student in New Delhi on December 16, 2012. This was a landmark event in India’s history, and it stirred the common man into revolt. However, the ground reality is that there is still a studied silence over how we choose to treat women in our country.

In commemoration of the brave soul that survived our memories despite her death a few days later after her gang rape, Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) in collaboration with Beti Zindabad initiative of ActionAid yesterday organised a solidarity walk and public symposium in Mumbai. The walk started from Shivaji Park and ended at Vanmali Hall, Dadar West. Poorvi Bhave, anchor and actress anchored the succeeding event, which included plays by MAVA volunteers and the public symposium.

The symposium started with Sudhakar Suradkar (retired IGP Officer), Advocate Uday Warunjikar and Dr Ashish Deshpande (psychiatrist) along with Nirja Bhatnagar (Regional Manager, ActionAid Maharashtra) expressing their views and sharing relevant information on current affairs of the judiciary system and the mindset of society. A Q&A session for the audiences was opened soon after and it ended with the message that there should be zero tolerance towards violence against girls and women.

The events underlined the adage that a real man’s strength lies in respecting women and not in hurting them.

(Pictures courtesy Ravi Shet)

Categories
Do

3 steps to becoming a professional dancer

A famous film choreographer explains what it takes to excel as a professional dancer and the steps needed to get there.
Longinus Fernandes .by Longinus Fernandes

Do you know what it takes to excel as a professional dancer?

To begin with, professional dancers display choreographed body movements and can appear either in theatre productions, TV shows, movies or dance recitals. Every dancer must be able to tell stories and display emotions with their bodies through various styles like ballet, hip hop and modern dance.

Dancers are also likely to pursue other dance-related professions after they can no longer perform professionally.

Fierce competition exists among professional dancers for available jobs. There is always a risk of injury in this career, as it is a very demanding one. Your working hours are highly irregular and may include days of rehearsals and evenings of performance, seven days a week. Travel is often required as a professional dancer, sometimes to exotic destinations. Tours may last for months on end away from home.

What do you need?

For starters, you must begin your dance training in childhood, which can continue throughout one’s life. Training usually starts as early as the age of five years in order for the dancer to gain enough experience to find professional work.

As a professional dancer, you must be creative, understand team work and have tremendous confidence in yourself. Apart from learning dance, one must also record high levels of mental stamina and physical endurance.

The 3 steps to turning pro

Step 1: Begin training

Most dancers start their training before they become adolescents and audition for full time work by the tender age of 16. Even after a dancer finds employment, training must continue throughout the dancer’s entire life.

Many students attend dance training programmes in their teens. Private dance or performing arts schools and institutes can provide the experience needed to gain acceptance into an advanced dance school. It is important to periodically enrol in workshops to get the added advantage of different perspectives.

Step 2: Acquire knowledge

Although post-secondary education is not required for a dancing career, specific dance styles or programmes can allow students to explore various dance genres, or concentrate on a specific discipline. Performance opportunities are often available to give students practical experience.

Step 3: Stay contented, conditioned and strong

A dancer’s job is physically demanding and requires long and irregular hours. Dancers typically must stay in top physical condition through regular exercise and training. Dancing is extremely taxing on the body, and a dancer may spend 8 hours or more in class or practicing.

Dancers have one of the most or the highest numbers of on-job injuries, so it is important to keep the body healthy and strong in order to continue working. Dance is the best way to feel that you are working without actually doing so! I always tell my students: “Always do what you love and love what you do.”

Longinus Fernandes is a nationally and internationally acclaimed dancer who has choreographed such hit songs as the Academy Award winning ‘Jai Ho’ from the film Slumdog Millionaire.

Categories
Film

Review: The Good Dinosaur

Pixar’s newest film based on dinosaurs with good animation, direction and screenplay is a treat for both kids and parents.
by Ravi Shet

Rating: 3 out of 5

Sweet and gently philosophical, this film forces you to think of a parallel universe where dinosaurs might exist.

Set in an alternate timeline 65 million years after an asteroid that would have been reason for the extinction of dinosaurs passes safe and sound over the Earth, the film features Henry (voiced by Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (voiced by Frances McDormand) who are Apatosaurus farmers. They have three children – Buck (voiced by Marcus Scribner), Libby (voiced by Maleah Padilla) and Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa). Buck and Libby are adept at handling responsibilities on their farm; however shy and nervous Arlo is not able to handle the tasks given to him. His father gives him the responsibility of guarding their silo and setting up traps.

One fine day, a caveboy called Spot (voiced by Jack Bright) gets captured in the trap, but Arlo does not kill him, instead he sets him free. Henry is upset by Arlo’s behaviour and forces him to track Spot along with him. But a huge flood kills Henry; this angers Arlo who chases Spot down only for both of them to fall into a river.

 

Arlo soon regains consciousness to realise that he has come far away from home. After a series of mishaps, he becomes friends with Spot, especially when the latter tells him that his parents are dead. A few days later, a storm ruins the land and Arlo remembers his father’s death before running to safety on his own.

Director Peter Sohn keeps the story sweet and simple with good animation and the right amount of humour. There is enough pathos and good nature in the film to keep both children and adults engrossed. The film features some really good music numbers as well. I recommend this film for kids who are curious about dinosaurs, and for parents if they want to tell a fresh bedtime story to their young children.

 (Picture courtesy www.christianitytoday.com)

Categories
Film

Review: Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie

Celebrating the 65th anniversary of the famous comic strip, ‘Peanuts’, this sweet film delivers a dose of nostalgia for fans.
by Ravi Shet

Rating: 3 out of 5

This one is for you if you love Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

The story revolves around Charlie Brown (voiced by Noah Schnapp) who develops a crush on his  new neighbour, The Little Red-Haired Girl (voiced by Francesca Capaldi) and his efforts to grab her attention. In a side story, Charlie’s loyal beagle and best friend Snoopy (voiced by Bill Melendez) discovers a typewriter and decides to write a novel about his alter-ego, The World War I Flying Ace trying to save his lover Fifi (voiced by Kristin Chenoweth) from Red Baron.

On Lucy’s (voiced by Hadley Belle Miller) advice, Charlie who is frustrated with his streak of bad luck, decides to participate in a series of new activities in the school in a hope that The Little Red-Haired Girl will notice him. Charlie participates in the school’s talent show for a magic act with Snoopy; however when his sister Sally’s (voiced by Mariel Sheets) performance goes wrong, Charlie sacrifices his own performance time for her and rescues his sister’s act with Snoopy’s help. Charlie realises that his crush likes dancing and so signs up for the school dance. While he receives praise for his dancing (which he learns from Snoopy), he slips and sets off the sprinkler system, which cut shorts his dance and all the other students ridicule him.

 

Charlie’s bad luck continues even on a book report project that he must partner his crush on. After a series of events, he walks away from fame and glory when he realises that he is being praised for someone else’s work.

Director Steve Martino keeps the film sweet and simple with the right amount of emotions and focuses on the themes of friendship and resilience. The lead characters are adorable, and it has its LOL moments. Mostly, though, it is a nostalgic ride for fans of the famous comic strip featuring two beloved characters.

(Picture courtesy www.nme.com)

Categories
Tech

Review: OnePlus X

We test the newest OnePlus phone and come away only slightly impressed. It’s a good phone for its price, though.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

We have seen quite a lot of smartphones this year that are not priced upwards of Rs 20,000 and still perform pretty well on most tasks. With the likes of Motorola, ASUS, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and a few more heating the battle up, it isn’t a bad situation for buyers. While the mid-to-high range devices are improving, what they still usually lack is premium build quality, a great camera and every feature at a reasonable price. Does the OnePlus X, priced at Rs 16,999, change that?

The looks. The OnePlus X (E1003) follows a considerably different material and design language than anything OnePlus has sold recently. The device has curved glasses on the front and the back, and is a flat slab on both sides with chamfered edges. Weighing under 140 grams and not measuring too tall, the device is not comfortable to grip as the whole body is quite slippery (you get a plastic case in the box, but you might want to get a better one that looks and feels less cheap).

With the 5-inchAMOLED on front, sensors and front-facing camera above it, and three capacitive touch keys (none of which light up), the bottom has the microUSB port surrounded by the loudspeaker and primary mic. The left panel has a three-way alert switcher (same as the OnePlus 2); the right side has SIM cards tray (nano + nano or microSD card) tactile volume and Power/ Lock keys (near the middle); and the top has secondary mic and 3.5mm headset jack. The back, sports the OnePlus logo apart from the 13 MP camera and LED flash on the top left corner.

Screen. OnePlus X is equipped with a 5-inch full HD AMOLED, which most people would find comfortable for most of their tasks. The screen is sharp, usable under sunlight and has deep rich black levels expected of an AMOLED today. The phone has the black theme selected by default for better battery and the screen does justice to it. Full HD videos and images look fine on it, but you may have to wipe the glass every now and then.

Battery. The device features a 2,525 MAh battery unit. The phone almost never lasted a full day with average to high use. With lighter usage, you can expect it to last about a day. Using a single SIM card, brightness level at 30%, don’t expect a lot from this device in terms of battery life. The phone takes a couple of hours to get fully charged.

Camera. The phone boasts a 13 MP (f/2.0) camera on the back, and here are a few sample images.

As you can see, the camera isn’t that great; images sport quite some noise and while the camera app itself is smooth and quick to capture, the results are not good. You can get some good shots with the right lighting and a still subject but the camera disappoints otherwise.

Software and performance. The OnePlus X runs OxygenOS 2.1.3-x over Android 5.1.1. It sports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 chipset, which was used by a lot Android OEMs for their flagship devices nearly two years back. There’s 3 GB of RAM and about 10.5 GB of storage available to the user. OnePlus’s OxygenOS is close to the look and feel of stock Android, with a few tweaks and features. There aren’t too many additions done since we last used it on the OnePlus 2. The company has stated that the phone will be updated to Android 6.0 in2016’s first quarter. Performance-wise, the OnePlus X is a satisfactory performer. Throughout my usage, I didn’t see too many app crashes or stuttering between Chrome’s tabs. While I wouldn’t say animations and general scrolling are as fluid as, say the Nexus 5X’s, it isn’t bad and definitely as good as phones in this price segment today.

It is quite clear who is this OnePlus X meant for. You can choose it if you want something that looks and feels really nice, has smooth performance and good screen. The OnePlus X sort of makes the mid-range phone segment in the Indian market better and more competitive.

(Pictures courtesy Manik Kakra)

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