Laptop Buying Guide

Posted on by Rayan

My dear readers,

As always my effort and focus is to save you time and money while providing useful content. This project is about getting you the latest information about current notebook models in the market. I attempt to keep this site as a one stop shop for assistance in buying a suitable notebook from among so many makes and models available in the market.

Till recently I noticed many of the commercial and non commercial websites that educate the consumer in the proper selection of notebooks focussed entirely on the technical aspects of the notebook. They talk about the importance of CPU, amount of installed memory in the notebook, the size of the screen etc and not so important details of the hard drive (its size), optical drive, and the type & number of ports available that would meet the needs the user.

Their efforts were commendable in bringing an awareness in the buyers of notebooks and my expertise would count for nothing compared to their vast database of knowledge and experience. But I know enough to say that, try as they can, they can only reach an unknown average user in such a dispensation of knowledge. The reason being it is not interactive. Users like you and me don’t get a chance to communicate our requirements and get an instant feedback as to which makes and models would meet our requirements.

Each user is unique in his requirements and it would be difficult for an online consultant to sit on a one-on-one basis to educate and justify his recommendation that would ideally meet a client’s needs for a notebook. One website has come close to remedying this situation by, taking exhaustive input from a potential notebook buyer and provides a complete list of makes and models that would go to meeting his(her) needs.

But here the user’s needs are given focus, but he or she is kept in the dark about the rationale behind the choices. You may say,I don’t care about the details, all that I want is a notebook that would meet my needs. But tell me honestly, don’t you want to know why a particular CPU is better than the next or why a smaller or a bigger hard drive makes sense in your case.

I am not saying this website (at least not in its current state) will strike a perfect balance between user’s needs and the technical specifications of notebooks available in the market, though it is my ideal.

This means eventually you need to look nowhere else for additional information. Just narrow down your choice to just one or two notebook(s) based on your own criteria and go buy it at the best possible price and terms. Ofcourse I will be there with you every step of the way providing useful tips.

Till such time please bear in mind that this site is evolving, and I will not spare myself to make continuous improments. So in your first visit should you feel that this site is inadequate in some respects, try me again in subsequent visits. I guarantee you that it would have moved one notch up atleast in terms of professional standards.

In the meantime feel free to drop me a feedback about your experience at rayan@iamyourguide.com

Now I let you go to my Laptop Buying Guide webpage.

Thanks,

Regards,

Rayan

Lost in Montreal

Posted on by Rayan

I told him not to go. I mean, I adviced my long time Polish friend not to visit Montreal. Not this time of the year and definitely not in his beloved clunker the Audi 100, model year 87-88. But he wouldn’t have any of my advice. Not that I have anything against Montreal or the fact that, the guys there take it easy upon themselves when it comes to enjoying their holidays. They are in the old world tradition, while we Torontonians are in a futile race to keep up with our neighbors down south. While I was busy working even on the eve of New Year, my friend was having the time of his life up north or so I thought.

The new year started off well for my friend who took his two teen age sons for skiing in Montreal. Atleast that was his purported visit. Though I have a suspicion that he is again on the lookout for his soulmate(s). Did I tell you about his last visit to Cuba for the same purpose? Well, that can wait. Now just Montreal.

I was working as usual on a Saturday the 5th of Jan 2008, when I received the unexpected SOS ( should I say the much awaited call for assistance) from my friend. “Can you do me a favor?”, was his request and I can sense a mild panic in his voice. “Sure”, I replied and told to myself, “anything but money”. For I don’t have money, even if I have, I am loyal to my wife.

To be frank with you, I was a bit jealous of my friend. Here I am tied to my family, whereas there he is, single and can take his plate anywhere he wants in an all-you-can eat buffet.

“What can I do for you?” was my polite question. A sense of formality has come over me ever since I joined this new job. Incidentally part of my job is to provide tech support to my customers over phone. Matter of fact, at that very moment I received his call on my cell, I was assisting my customer on the other line.

“I need you to call a towing company in Toronto, right away, to tow my car back to Toronto and get back to me ASAP on this”, was his urgent order / request.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Wait a minute, did you say, I should call a towing company in Toronto, to tow your car, all the way back from Montreal to Toronto?”

“Yes, now go and make the call” was his emphatic answer.

Just to save him some trouble and lots of money I asked him a series of questions.

“What happened to your car?”. It wouldn’t start.

“Why can’t you fix your car there itself?”. He couldn’t fix it himself and he couldn’t find any mechanics locally.

I thought it was the weekend and may be he can have it fixed on Monday first thing in the morning. Surely he can find some able hands in Montreal to fix his old Audi.

“So why can’t you hire a towing company locally and push your car to any of the nearby auto repair shops? It will be fixed first thing on Monday” was my next logical suggestion.

“Listen to me you idiot. I am not your customer. Don’t walk me through the steps. Here everything is closed for the holidays and Montreal is open for business only by the 11th or 12th of January. So before it is too late, please call and retain some towing company for my service”

By now I can sense his urgency completely. I called a few local towing companies and explained the situation and was stunned to know even the lowest quote to make a round trip would be $ 1300 Canadian and that too the money has to be paid in full either in cash or certified cheque.

I know for sure that my friend doesn’t carry that kind of money on him and that his credit card would have maxed out by now.

So I told the company that my friend has the money at his home in Toronto and would pay as soon as his car ‘safely’ reaches Toronto. It took a lot of convincing and a bit of tact to engage a towing company that was willing to tow on my word and on the good faith that my friend would deliver.

Or they were sure that someone who is willing to pay more money to tow a car than what it is worth, is a good customer to have.

Last time I heard from my friend was that it was just a clog in the fuel line that caused all the problems and the car was running fine ever since.

Well, goodluck with that.

By the way will this qualify for an entry in the Book of Official Polish jokes? After all my friend is a certified Polish.

Hash Browns in MySpace ?!!

Posted on by Rayan

Recently I had breakfast with my friend at McDonalds. I ordered muffins, hash browns and coffee for both of us. My friend, a strict vegetarian limited himself to muffins and coffee and declined to have the hash browns. I was curious to know why. May be he is on diet. No, he told me that hash browns are made of chicken and he wouldn’t have any of it. I told him it is made of potato and qualifies as vegetarian diet. But still he was not convinced.

His conviction made me doubt its ingredients. So I came home and made a search on Google’s (where else can I go?). I typed in McDonald’s hash browns and hit search. Look what I had found!

McDonads hashbrowns search.gif

The very first entry directs me to a page in myspace.com!. Clever marketers at McDonald’s have created a profile for Hash Brown and gave it a permanent space in history along with Napoleon, George Washington and other 2008 presidential hopefuls.

If you see the images below you will know the reason why.

hash browns.gif

hash browns 2.gif

To me to include hash browns in a social networking site meant for submitting interactive profiles, blogs, groups, photos of friends is a stretch. But then McDonald’s Ad Agency and Hash Brown’s fans will pick up a fight with me for treating it as a non-entity.

So I quietly withdraw and say I love their friend Hash Brown as much as they do, but only would like to eat it.

Fundamental or Technical ?

Posted on by Rayan

“To be or not to be, that is the question;

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,…..”

Hamlet ponders in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

Well that may not be question that modern day Shakespeare would have had Hamlet to contemplate. He would rather have him philosophize on the merits of investing in stocks using either of the two approaches: Fundamental or Technical analysis of stocks in the investing public’s search for outrageous fortune.

I am sure Hamlet would be equally lost in this dilemma.

For one thing Hamlet was indecisive like many of us are and his uncertainty of knowledge is all the more applicable to most of us. To quote Peter Lynch in one of his books “Beating the Street”, “It is often what you know that can hurt you” or words to that effect. Such being the case, how can I discount what I don’t know?

Consider what he says on page 39 of this book , ” … we are confronted with the latest reasons that mankind is doomed; global warming, global cooling, the evil Soviet empire, the collapse of the evil Soviet empire, recession, inflation, illiteracy, the high cost of health care, fundamentalist Muslims, the budget deficit, the brain drain, tribal warfare, organized crime, disorganized crime, sex scandals, money scandals, sex and money scandals. Even the sports page can make you sick.”

Remember this book was published in 1993! and you can see many of the reasons still hold good today. Enough reasons for me to hold to my little cash.

For who can claim that they have 100% information on an investment proposal. The collapse of Long Term Capital Management in the not too distant past is still in memory. The Nobel laureate economists, physicists behind Long Term Capital claimed that they have figured out a rocket science formula for investment in bonds that is foolproof. Sure enough Long Term Capital gave phenomenal returns in the first three years of its foundation: 20 percent in 1994, 43 percent in 1995, and 41 percent in 1996! But its collapse in 1998 was even more dramatic: Long Term Capital’s equity stood at $4.1 billion on 1 August, $2.3 billion on 1 September, and $600 million by 21 September–90 percent of its equity was wiped out in just 55 days. (You may want to see this article for more information on this: Up like a rocket).

We don’t know how much more our venerable financial institutions will write down citing subprime market meltdown in the recent past.

When stalwarts stumble, it is no wonder novices like me may crumble. So I stand on the beach testing the waters; weighing endlessly the merits and demerits of Fundamental or Technical analysis of stocks.

May be one day I will take the plunge. Till that day arrives, I will deliberate like Hamlet, “Fundamental or Technical, that is the question”

The closer you get

Posted on by Rayan

The other day I was seeing the movie titled “The closer you get”.

The movies tagline may run like any of the following:
– A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
– Dont miss the wood for the trees
– John Lennon s famous quote Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans
The point is the closer we get, the harder it is for us to see.

It is figurative and talks about our relationships with others. It tries to sharpen our awareness about cherished moments in our life which we may otherwise tend to pass by as ordinary.
But can we take the phrase literally too?
Try telling that to finance professionals. They will swear to God, that the Devil is in the details.
Or to a professional photographer who is devoted to editing photos to create the best effects.
Talking about photos, imagine a photo like this:
– A man on a scaffolding painting an attractive lady in a swimsuit on a very large billboard.
The closer I get, I will miss the lady for the man. (Dont get me wrong. I am not gay)

But I am sure you would miss the man for the lady any day.

A picture is a worth a thousand words.

Posted on by Rayan

Recently I read an excellent article titled “Worth a thousand words” in the magazine Economist, Dated Dec 19th 2007. on Charts and Graphic presentation of quantitative information . I was truly amazed at how charts and good graphics can be very effective as persuasive tools to change even some well entrenched policies. What makes it more interesting is that these charts were drawn in the 19th century and one even dating back to the year 1821!

And one of them was drawn by Ms. Florence Nightingale! Yes, you heard it right. None other than the Lady of the Lamp, mother of modern nursing. She prepared one of these innovative charts titled “Diagram of the causes of Mortality in the Army in the East”. The article goes on to say that she was an accomplished statistician as much as she was a compassionate and competent medical professional. It is evident tha she used her statistics to great effect. For she was instrumental in setting up a royal commission of inquiry into sanitary conditions during the Crimean war.

There was this other chart by Charles Joseph Minard drawn in 1861, giving gruesome details of Napolean’s Russian Campaign in 1812. To quote the article “it inspires bitter reflections on the cost to humanity of the madnesses of conquerors and the merciless thirst of military glory”.

I wish we have some modern day Nightingale or Minard to make the case for the casualities in Iraq.

While charts made by Google Spreadsheets (in its present state) may not match the one made by Mr. Minard, it sures serves everyday business. Here you can see some sample charts made with Googe Spreadsheets

What do you think?

Home

Posted on by Rayan

“Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

Thanks for visiting. Upon visiting this site you’ve hired me. Yes I am your guide.

Wait! Don’t go away. You don’t have to pay me

Let’s admit it. In life, it is good to have useful things for free. This site is useful and it is free!

The main theme of this web site is, productivity improvement using available technology and simple to use techniques.

I have taken great care in keeping this site original and I request my readers to bring it to my notice any inadvertent inclusion of other’s material ( meaning with out acknowledgement / prior permission), I will have it removed promptly. Naturally I expect similar courtesy from those of you, who choose to use my content.

Also I welcome your feedback, to improve this site in any possible way, to enhance user experience. It may be as simple as a typo that I had overlooked, or a step that needs further explanation or a complete overhaul of the content to make it accurate and relevant. I am open for corrections.So please feel free to contact me at rayan@iamyourguide.com

Now come on in and take the Easy Steps 123.