The headphone problem with Android 1.5 phones

Weird problem to have with a phone, and is yet another eye-opener for me. Plugging a headphone into your phone doesn't somehow automatically make it aware of the headphone; you need software to make it aware, and that software for Android 1.5 phones is now here. Okay, let me now describe the problem a bit more in detail.

I'd got a HTC Hero phone (yes, shamelessly lured by the Android promise) about a couple of months ago. I had been a happy user with lots of applications installed, uninstalled, regularly used, etc. Happy, that is, until my headphones stopped working about a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when exactly it stopped working, nor am I sure whether it was after installing the last.fm application from Android Market, but stop it did. Until yesterday, I was confident that it was something to do with hardware. (Had my brain worked, though, I shouldn't have been so confident.) In fact, I remained confident even after a friend casually mentioned that it might be something do with some setting on my phone (this was justified as there isn't any such setting of course).

However, after calling T-Mobile customer care yesterday and agreeing to send my phone off to repair at a nearby T-Mobile store, I woke up early this morning, unable to sleep further (since I'd hit the sack last night at an unusual hour for me - 8 pm! (Or was it 9? Can't quite remember!)). Anyway, as I was surfing, I stumbled on to this thread and realised, again, that I - or rather, my phone - was not afflicted with a unique problem (tangentially, here's a thought: can phones be afflicted with problems, even if they happen to be called Android?). Two things are immediately clear:

1. This is a widespread-enough problem that a fix should to be included in the Android 2.0 update
2. There's a fix available today!

What should also be clear to developers is the extent to which software controls nearly every aspect of the phones that we use, even down to recognising if a headphone has been plugged into those tiny devices that we've come to love.

HP leads the list of most troublesome laptops

I knew this way back in 2004 when I bought my first laptop, a used Compaq 2500. By then, HP had acquired and assimilated Compaq and its products, enough to tarnish the once-reputable Compaq brand (with its Armada brand of tough road-warrior laptops. My knowledge was further reinforced when I foolishly decided to give HP the benefit of doubt and purchase my second laptop a couple of years later, this time an AMD-powered one.

Different processor, same result: trouble with the hardware components. While my first laptop's display conked out twice, yes TWICE in two years, my newer laptop's Wi-fi card decided to vanish one fine day from Windows' device list. A visit to an HP service centre (that is a tale for another day!) revealed that there was some hardware/software problem which was sorted out, thankfully, without my having to pay them anything. Anyway, the link below will give you a statistical reason why you should never, ever, go in for an HP laptop if you can help it.

My current laptop? A Dell Inspiron 1525.

The Ubuntu Journey

Remember I mentioned that I was going to try and switch over to using Linux - and Ubuntu in particular - full-time? Well, that effort is into the second week and going strong. Stronger, I should have said, since I've switched over to Ubuntu at the workplace as well. And I'm enjoying every minute of it. What with eye candy like Wobbly Windows, built-in support for Last.fm in Rhythmbox, why wouldn't I? (And yes, the icon of the clouds that you see on the top panel in this screenshot is that of a weather widget. There are weather widgets that sit on your desktop on Windows (built-in in Vista and Win7), Mac and every other OS, but I like this one for its unobtrusiveness.)

Using a computer is so much fun again. The only instance when I had to boot into Windows was when a DVD misbehaved, and wouldn't play on Rhythmbox. I'm positive it would have played on VLC, but I hate that program, and so didn't install it. Haven't done yet, and never will probably.

Bugs Bunny, yes, but bug funny?

Yes indeed! I mirthfully submit, ladies and gentlemen, Bug Funny!

Karmic Koala

That's the name of the Operating System that I'm running. It's the latest version of the Ubuntu Linux distribution that has taken the pride of place on my laptop. It's a long story, but here it is in a nutshell: I got tired of paying for every bit of software on my machine when I could get the same, similar or better quality software for free.

And thus it is that I'm into my second day of using Linux as my primary operating system. I've attempted this in the past, but my resolve then wasn't up to much - I'd always switch back to Windows, because that's what I was most comfortable with. No, I'm not a Linux newbie, and have played with Linux right from the day when the Indian computer magazine PC Quest used to promote Linux as a toy for geeks. I've had my share of long nights out installing, configuring and troubleshooting various distros, but never have my attempts at replacing Windows been successful. So, how is it different this time?

Firstly, the quality and number of programs that are now available on Linux have increased tremendously since those days. In fact, over the last few years, there has been a tremendous amount of momentum behind this Debian-based Linux distribution called Ubuntu. I got sucked into the Ubuntu wave about four years ago (when Hoary Hedgehog and Breezy Badger were the latest versions), but it hasn't been mature enough for me until now. Secondly, my reasons for using a computer these days are primarily to surf the Net, check email, chat using Instant Messengers and occasionally, program. For the last mentioned last, I've started using Eclipse, after much reluctance (yeah, there's no love lost between me and Java). Lastly, I like alliterations :-)

So, how long will this latest attempt of mine last? Forever, I hope. At any rate, I'll keep you posted. In the meanwhile, here is a screenshot of my desktop:

P.S. Does this mean the end of Windows on my computer? No, Windows will always live forever. Er, I mean, I'll have it around, just in case I run into a situation where I don't have a replacement for / equivalent of a Windows program. But for the time being though, my Karmic endeavour begins.