Archive forJuly, 2007

MIO C310x Map updates disappointing

July 23, 2007 @ 4:40 pm · Filed under Technology


After many thousands of MIO C310X devices sold on Black Friday (including one to me), MIO promised to release map updates soon and free as far as I remember. Finally they did and not for free. You have to buy the DVD and get it shipped - no download option.

The new maps are the Tele-Atlas 2006.10 maps not the latest 2007.1 maps. Also, MIO decided to strip out Points of Interest from the old version now reducing them to 1.5 million from the original 3.5 million. They claim that is to make the maps fit in the 1GB on the device. The Tele-Atlas maps contain 12 million Points of Interest. I wonder why MIO is alienating customers with this silly releaste without even proving an option to get the rest of the POIs onto an SD card. Also there is no easy way to go back to the old maps.

Unlike a lot of people, I still haven’t unlocked my C310X, but I think I just might do that and try out some other software like OCN6 or iGuidance on the MIO if there are more bad reviews about the new maps - there aren’t enough yet to figure out if the POI reduction is really bad.

Overall, the MIO is a great device for the price I paid - $150 After rebate. The routing is not excellent, but is good enough and the software (a MIO branded iGo) is nice and easy to use. The best part about the device is the ability to “unlock it” and use it like a PDA in addition to the GPS part. Plus if you really want them, there are tons of sites around that will show you how to get essentially any maps you want onto the device.

Here is 10% off 199 (until 08/31/07) at Circuit City for you to use to get this or anything else!

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Shame on Yahoo!

July 19, 2007 @ 6:28 pm · Filed under Browsers, Web

You would think that a net giant like Yahoo! would test out it’s pages in various browsers before making stuff live. I have been meaning to blog about this for a while but forgot about it until I visited Yahoo! movies again a couple of weekends ago to check local listings for Transformers. I have blogged before about Yahoo!’s half baked attempts at changing user interfaces.

Well here is what the top bar at Yahoo! Movies looks like in Opera:



and here is what it looks like in Safari:

Not only that, it has been over 6 months since they updated the front page but the changes have not yet trickled down to the rest of the Yahoo! movies site. It seems that Yahoo! has been at upgrading the user interface badly at other places too. Check out the complaints people had when the new Yahoo! TV launched.

Yahoo! added to streaming quotes to Yahoo! Finance and I didn’t even know it until a few days back I opened it in Firefox. A lot of sites implement this same functionality e.g. MarketWatch, which is not even a technology company like Yahoo! and they got it right. It is completely shameful for a company like Yahoo! to have such a brain-dead implementation of something that probably takes one guy a few hours to program.

That said, Yahoo! Finance is a wonderful resource but they do need to get their act together. They seem to be really incompetent in implementing new technology as a tech company. If it wasn’t for Harold Maass, whose column I read everyday and the mimf contest, I would have probably already switched to some other finance site.

Update: Does Yahoo! use it’s own UI Library?? It seems to support a lot of browsers.

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USCIS retracts July Visa Bulletin Amendment

July 18, 2007 @ 4:19 pm · Filed under Immigration

Thanks to protests in flowers, tens of thousands of emails sent to senators and congressfolk (atleast one of whom grilled Chertoff), a rally in San Jose and the threat of lawsuits, the USCIS finally retracted its amendment to the July Visa bulletin and is accepting applications from everyone who was current in the July Visa bulletin until Aug 17. The fees still go up on Jul 31, however.

For the complete story, visit BusinessWeek’s Coverage

Update: The fees only go up if you do not qualify to apply in the July Bulletin.

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July Fools Day - The Joke That USCIS Played on us

July 2, 2007 @ 8:21 pm · Filed under Immigration

This morning USCIS announced that retrogression is back and all Employment Based (EB) numbers are Unavailable until they announce new dates in October 2007.

In the middle of Jun USCIS announced that all EB categories will be current in July effectively making it possible for everyone to at least file their I-485 (Adjustment of Status) applications. However, this it turns out was just a cruel joke. Today, on the first business day of July they come up with a revised bulletin.

Effective Monday July 2, 2007 there will be no further authorizations in response to requests for Employment-based preference cases. All numbers available to these categories under the FY-2007 annual numerical limitation have been made available.

Most people were of the view that all applications filed in July will just be sent back potentially wasting thousands of dollars for applicants in legal and medical examination fees! However it is impossible to say from the bulletin itself whether this is the case. So just to clear everyone else’s doubts, they issued this press release, which states that -

As a result, beginning today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is rejecting applications to adjust status (Form I-485) filed by aliens whose priority dates are not current under the revised July Visa Bulletin.

which means basically that all employment based applications will be rejected. Best of luck to everyone in this boat!

IMHO, US needs to do something to help legal immigrants before they attempt to help the illegals. Also by not allowing people to file their I-485s, USCIS prevents wives and children of legal immigrants from working legally in the country, essentially paving the way for more illegal workers. I for one do not understand the whole concept of not filing I-485s. They can retrogress all they want but why not let people file I-485s whenever so they can get promoted, switch jobs if their employer goes bust, allow spouses to work legally etc. instead of this obviously broken system as it stands.

Visit Immigration Portal and Immigration Voice to keep abreast with updates.

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