Canada 2008 Trip

I am back from my PostgreSQL PGCON 2008 trip. I was there to attend the developer meet, present my work on HOT and of course listen to many other fantastic speakers. I thought it would be a good idea to note down my experiences with this trip. It's rather long so read whatever interests you.

You can see the photographs here.

Flight

I flew by Lufthansa-Air Canada via Frankfurt-Toronto-Ottawa. This was the first time I flew via Frankfurt. This airport seems much smaller and less sexy that the Heathrow airport. But the transit was quick and fast. I would have liked some free wireless internet (I know I am asking too much). T-mobile operates a wi-fi zone, but its rather expensive. Another thing I found weird is that all the T-phones refused to connect to the India. I tried using both my credit cards, but no luck.

The Toronto and Ottawa airports are OK. Nothing great. Ottawa airport is very quiet. Toronto is a bit busy, but nothing like other international airports I have seen.

I liked the food served by Lufthansa. Air Canada was pathetic. Also the cabin staff of Air Canada was less friendly. The good thing about Air Canada is that they have personal TVs and a good movie library. And they have USB and power sockets on each seat for laptop/mobile chargers.

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world by size. The population of Canada is around 33 Million. Compare that against Mumbai which alone has something like 23 Million people living in and its suburbs. I think Canada is a beautiful country, though I am not sure if I would say the same if I visit in winter J I mean, I would enjoy the snow for few days, but then wouldn’t it too boring to see the slow everyday for three months and daylight for just few hours!

I also found Canada a bit more expensive compared to US, at least for food and usual day-to-day stuff. But I was there for just a few days, so may be my perception is wrong. Another thing that confused me is the hotel bills usually have a “gratuity” head. I thought it’s just a fancy name for “tip” and that’s what it is.

Another cool thing I observed while talking to people is that they are really excited about the way India is progressing. I heard lots of comments like “India is doing great!”. It’s nice to hear that from distant foreigners.

Stay at Ottawa

It’s a nice city. Though it’s a capital of Canada, it’s much smaller and quieter than Toronto. I stayed at Holiday Inn which is right in the downtown. It took me something like $26 (plus tips) for a cab from the airport. The hotel has free internet access, though parking is paid. There were few shopping malls, pubs and restaurants near the hotel. There are few museums around as well, but I did not get chance to see any. I managed to find an Indian restaurant too.
Ottawa is quite pedestrian and bicycle friendly. So if you plan to stay for a longer duration, you can rent out a bicycle. You can ride on the drive ways as well as pedestrian ways :-) Though I was a bit worried about the weather, it did not trouble me much. It rained either during the nights or during the day when I was attending the conferences.

Stay at Toronto

Well, I stayed pretty close to the airport. One reason for choosing Four Points By Sheraton was that it offered complimentary airport pickup and drop shuttle. I am not sure if this was the best decision because the airport is quite far from the downtown and there is nothing much to see or do near the hotel. There is a good public transport to take you to the downtown, but you need to ride a bus and then change at couple of subway junctions to reach to the Union Station. But if you have time and energy, that’s not a bad option. I guess the public transport may cost you $2.75 one-way or you can get a $9 day pass. Btw, this hotel also had free internet access.

I would recommend staying in the downtown if you are staying for 3-4 days, so that you can roam around a bit and see the city. I guess hiring a cab from the airport would cost you dear (something like $50).

Niagara Falls

I feel I did the right thing by visiting Niagara Falls. It’s amazing. It’s not the world’s tallest fall, but what makes it so beautiful is the sheer volume and speed with which the water flows down. Of course, the Canadian Falls are much more beautiful than the American Falls. The ride to Maid of the Mist is more than worth the penny. Also keep some time at your hand to walk down to the falls. You would love the close look at the falls.

I took one of the Niagara Tour buses. I think that’s the best way if you are going for a day trip. The guy picked me up from the Hotel which is like 15-16 km from the downtown and dropped me back to the hotel just in time to catch my flight. Also it’s more fun to listen to the tour guide than just visiting the place and coming back. The tour costs $79 (plus taxes + $12 for outside Toronto pickup ~ $91) . It includes the ticket for Maid of the Mist.
But be ready to shell out another $10 for this :-)

There are few sight seeing buses at Niagara. I think the pass for hop-on hop-off bus is something like $10 - $15, which I would say is not expensive. So another option to visit Niagara Falls is to take a train or a CanadaCoach bus to Niagara Falls and then use local buses. I am sure there are bicycle renting agencies too and that could a great option on a bright sunny day.

And here is the wedding of the year! A couple got married on the same boat we were riding to Maid of the Mist – right in the middle of the Fall! That’s amazing, isn’t it!

Mumbai Airport

Welcome back!

I thought they are doing a lot to improve things, but there is a long way to go. In fact, when I left from Mumbai, the departure gates are renovated and they look good. There are power points from laptop and mobile chargers, the rest room are clean too. But the arrival gate is still in very bad shape. Also, I did not at all like the immigration and customs folks. They are just too arrogant and bureaucratic. In fact, I answered some survey questions at the Frankfurt airport (well, I was tired, but the girl taking the survey was beautiful, so had to answer the questions ;-)) . I was very conservative in giving them ratings. So I wonder what would I do for the Mumbai airport ;-)

I’ve written a bit here about the conference itself. I would write some more, So stay tuned.

Twitter

I heard about Twitter couple of weeks back (seems like I am far behind in the Web 2 world). Its an interesting concept, an easy way to keep your friends and family know what you are doing. I wonder if users would figure out innovative ways to use this new communication model. For example, what if we have a car-pooling group and follow each other on twitter! Whenever I leave from my home or office, I just update myself on twitter. Another friend who is following me and needs a ride can call me up and we can car pool. What say ?

I found this youtube video which nicely explains what twitter does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

GPRS on FC8

Never thought it will be so simple to use my GPRS enabled cell phone to connect to the Internet when I am booted in Fedora Core 8. But its just a two step process. Not only that, the speed is decent, much better than my Reliance data card. Here is an example for my Sony K550i handset and Idea connection; others can easily figure out the phone number, username, password and DialCommand from their service provider:

1. Copy the following in your /etc/wvdial.conf file

[Dialer Defaults]
DialCommand = AT+CGDCONT=1,”IP’’,’’INTERNET’’
SetVolume = 0
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Baud = 115200
FlowControl = Hardware(CRTSCTS)
Dial Command = ATDT
Init1 = ATZ
Init3 = ATM0

[Dialer Idea]
Username =
Password =
Phone = *99#


2. Now login as root and just type:

# wvdial Idea

Look at the output message; copy the DNS entry into your /etc/resolv.conf file and you should be already connected.

Of course, I am assuming you have got your GPRS activated from the service provider. Also if you are planning to use it often, I would recommend a decent GPRS package. I am paying Rs 250 p.m. for 750 MB - decent enough for my usage.

Risk

My wife and brother tells me that I take excessive risks while driving, especially on highways while overtaking slow moving (well, relative to me :-)) vehicles. I agree. Sometimes I am too close to the vehicle I am overtaking. Sometimes I start the overtake immediately after the car in front has given way to me. May be these are not the best ways to overtake and experienced drivers would tell me that I am taking too much risk. But that's the point. Isn't the risk taking appetite is different for different people ? Somebody might consider mountaineering or river rafting 'risky' but for someone else it's just an adventure or sport that he or she can not live without. Does that mean the person who is risking his life is stupid ? I don't think so as long as (s)he is aware of the risks associated with these acts and has taken steps to mitigate those risks.

My brother who drives at 120 kmph on a highway where speed limits are clearly marked as 80 kmph is also taking undue risk. But he considers that as acceptable. He would sometimes overtake from the left side and consider that as acceptable or is not aware of the blind spots and is OK with that. But he finds one particular aspect of my driving as risky and unacceptable. Isn't that hypocracy ? I mean, com'on, give me a break! Each one of us takes risks, one way or the other, in all aspects of life. I am not against giving a piece of advise (neither against taking it :-)) or reminding somebody of the risk he is taking, but let the person decide whether he wants to keep taking those chances or not. I believe every sensible person would adjust his behavior, habits and decisions to strike a right balance between the risks and the rewards, but as per his own risk taking appetite at that point of time.

A reason to be optimistic

The Govt offices in India were always known for their inefficiencies and 'babugiri'. So much so that lethargy and incompetence is usually equated to a public sector job. These were the jobs that people wanted to get into because there was no risk of getting thrown out of the job even if you don't perform. Your salaries and promotions were only associated to your seniority and your 'relationship' with your superior.

Things started changing after India opened their economy to the world. The Indian private sector was forced to compete with the global enterprises. The inefficiencies in the private sector came down in a big way (or you may say, they were forced to do that in order to survive). At the same time, monopoly of many public sectors got broken. So even the public sector was forced to compete with the Indian and the global private sector. BSNL in the telecom world, BHEL in the capital goods sector and State Bank of India in the banking are great examples of the turnaround stories. Some of them are still not up to the mark, but I have a reason to believe that they have started taking their customers rather seriously and probably for the first time we are seeing some serious efforts of their part to improve efficiency. I know they still have miles to go and I would still prefer to see the Govt out of running these businesses, but that should not stop me from acknowledging whatever good I see.

Since last few months I wanted to get a second cylinder for my Bharat Gas connection. Couple of my trips to the Bharat Gas office went useless (as expected from any 'sarkari' office). I was either told to come in the 'next' month or scared away with mention of a long wait list. So when it happened to me again last Saturday (I am told that the wait period is of 2 years!!), I got really annoyed. I soon discovered that Bharat Gas has a nice website ebharatgas.com. I signed up and registered my complaint online. To my surprise, I got a quick response from the Bharat Gas on Monday morning and without any follow up I received a mail today that my complaint has been resolved and I can go and collect my second cylinder from the dealer. The 2 years wait time is cut short to just 5 days!! Thats good enough for me to be optimistic about the system. I think, now a days, there are people willing to listen and help you out. They just wait for you to speak up. So next time if you feel helpless, make sure your voice is heard, loud and clear.

Btw, the Bharat Gas site looks promising. Check it out.

Don't sign your credit card slips blindly!

Next time when a waiter at your favorite restaurant or a person at your nearest petrol pump hands over a credit card authorization slip to you, make sure you read it carefully before you sign and give it back. You might be being cheated and you may not ever know unless you are in habit of reading your credit card statements carefully.

Couple of months back, on my way to fast-drive journey to Bombay, I stopped at the HP petrol pump operated by Sai Services to feed my baby Palio (what a car it is!). I asked the guy to put petrol worth Rs 500. He did that, took my credit card, swiped and came back. As usual I was about to sign the authorization slip without even looking at the amount, but suddenly I realized; the slip was showing amount of Rs 1000. When I asked, the guy was like "Oops! Sorry Sir. The other customer filled petrol worth Rs 1000, so I mistakenly swiped for Rs 1000". I smiled and he happily gave me back Rs 500 cash (I was happy too. I got the cash and kept the reward points too :-))

One week later, at the same petrol pump, the same incident happened again. This time I became suspicious and in strong words reprimanded the guy that this seems like a fraudulent practice and probably he is cheating customers who are not watchful enough to check their receipts.

Yesterday, it happened with me again, though at a different petrol pump (HP pump near the Agriculture College, Shivajinagar). This time I decided to report the matter to the manager. I can't believe that the same incident can happen three times in two months and every time it was just a mistake. I am sure there something fishy about this.

So guys be careful when you sign your slip next time. May be you are the chosen victim this time. Also subscribe for mobile alerts for credit card transactions and read your credit card statements regularly. Well, I too need to start reading my statements henceforth.

Get ready to pay more for higher education

That's the message we are getting from Indian Institute of Technology, the premiere institute for engineering studies in India. And why not ? They are imparting quality education for decades, can best be compared with some of the most reputed higher education institutes in the world and still need to depend on the Government for funds. The dependence not only eats into the tax-payers money but also invites greater Govt interference into the day-to-day operations of IITs. Also I believe that the Govt has greater responsibility towards improving the primary education, especially in the rural areas and those funds must be diverted there.

One may argue against this by making case for poor students who may be denied access to these quality institutes. But I am sure in a free and competitive economy (that's what we want to be), there will be enough banks and institutes to support these students through educational loans as long as there are strict laws and their effective enforcement regarding the loan repayments once these students pass out of the institutions and start drawing hefty six figure salaries. I must say, no eligible student should ever be denied access to these institutes for lack of money. At the same time, no child in this country be denied access to primary education for the same reason.

Does that mean I need to look back and see if I need to contribute to my alma mater ? I think so. I graduated from IIT Bombay in year 2001. I received IBM fellowship of Rs 8000 p.m (wow! too much for that time :-)), but probably still paid a very small amount towards my fees. The only thing I can draw satisfaction from is the fact that I stayed back in this country and probably have paid enough taxes in last seven years to compensate the Govt subsidy received for my higher education.

Better late than never!

So I am finally pulled into this wonderful world of *blogging*. You call it peer pressure (my dear friend NikhilS started blogging recently :-)) or need of time, but here I am!

Last year I attended FOSS at Bangalore and one of the speakers highlighted the importance of having presence on the web through blogging. Thats probably one of the ways to communicate your skills and thoughts to the outside world. Thankfully I already have some presence on the PostgreSQL mailing lists and that has brought me recognition in the field. But I wanted something more to write down my non-work related thoughts and thats what you would primarily find on this blog area.

See you soon with more thoughts.