Jitu

My cell phone broke down (not the openmoko, another one from Nokia). It is still in the warranty period and got repaired free of cost. The whole inner life got exchanged, so that I found some new interesting options when I received it. Now fully integrated in the phone is Vyke and Gizmo5. Gizmo5 has just been acquired by Google and does not allow new members. However Vyke sounded also interesting. For around EUR0.03 per hour I can talk to a landline in Germany from India through my WLAN connection. A record breaking price.
However after registration I received something like 10 SMS from Vyke that I shall download their software and telling me my user name and password for the Vyke account. At the same time they sent an email to the registered email ID to validate it. Unfortunately the spam filter of my provider filtered it out and mentioned that in its daily report. Next day I clicked on the provided link to validate my email ID. And then the problem started. They simply suspended the account for “security reasons” (Ehm, who just send user name AND password via SMS around the world? And then they come up with security reasons just because an email did not get validated ). I guess, I did not validate the email in time, but in the evening of the previous day I already charge my Vyke account with EUR10 to use it for outgoing calls.

However the web page itself says that I have to get in touch with the support team. So I went to the form, filled everything out and wanted to send it. But the form validation process told me that my email ID is not valid. So I gave the email ID of my working place which allowed the form to be sent to the support.

The support contacted me and told me that I need to validate my email ID.

Dear customer,
Thank you for contacting Vyke Support.

Date: 26/Jan/10 07:57 AM
Please be informed that we are not received any email from your registered email : XXX@gmx.de

For verification purpose, please copy and paste all reply from Vyke Support to XXX@gmx.de, and send to support@vyke.com with title VSUP-87182

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Vyke Support Team

That is exactly the way I received the mail (including the struck through part). So I asked them, how shall I validate it, if their web site does not accept it. In addition I send their mail along with my reply to the support through the email ID that needs to be validated. Just now another email has arrived, telling exactly the same once again, but this time the sender name has changed from Mr. I. C. to Mrs. or Mr. N. D. (I think, I must not mention their name due to legal reasons.)

I do not know, if the people working for the support of Vyke are simply unable to read or too reluctant even to try to understand the problem. I will see what happens till tomorrow. Anyway I already made clear that I will cancel my account, if there is any further delay. And the already paid money? Fortunately I am able to cancel any transaction within 14 days of payment and that too very comfortable online. And that method ALWAYS works

[Update 28/01/2010]
The support finally understood the problem. They are sorry for the inconvenience caused. However they proved to be unable to read. In the last mail, I wrote:

I am currently considering to cancel my whole Vyke account again (after having it for record breaking one day). Unfortunately I charged my account with EUR10 already and I would expect you to transfer this money back to my account.

Their reply:

As the last payment you made on 26/01/2010 01:00 credit card number XYZ 10.00EUR have been canceled. Your credit is reverted back to your credit card account. Please refer to your corespondent bank for more information. Please purchase again to continue Vyke services.

We will see, if I purchase anything from them again. Maybe the manager of Vyke should spend some amount to provide dictionaries and to explain the word “consider” to their support team. Let us see, if the money comes back at least.

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I already gave tips and tricks, how to send parcels and letters from Germany to India. But what I currently experience is almost unbelievable. Here is the history of events:

On 3^rd of January 2008(!)
I sent 3 parcels from Germany to India through DHL. When I handed them over, each weighed 20kg and was neatly packed in a box. An insurance to cover losses and damages was mandatory. The shipment costs were 80€ for each parcel.

In February 2008
3 blue plastic bags arrived, 1/3 of the content (according to weight) and also the boxes themselves were missing. The parcels were on the way for 2 months. The website and the customer service announced to deliver any packet within 14 working days.

29/02/2008
Complaint has been filed to the postmaster of the IISc post office. According to the previous postmaster supporting documents need to filled once they are requested. The documents are available since then.

08/04/2008
A request about the status of the investigation has been sent to the postmaster.

19/05/2008
A reply came from the superintendent of post office (Bangalore West Division) stating that the issue is currently under investigation and he request me to “kindly await further communication in this regard”.
So far there was no communication anymore at all and I waited till

05/12/2008
A letter has been sent to the superintendent of post office (Bangalore West Division) through the postmaster of IISc post office as a remainder. I mean, so far I did not hear anything for the last 7 months. A copy of the reply by the superintendent from the 19th of May was attached.

17/01/2009
I sent a history of events on request of the post master.

05/06/2009
A complaint to DHL which handled the parcels in Germany was answered with: “Transportschäden und Teilverluste sind umgehend durch Vorlage der gesamten Sendung bei der Post im Empfängerland anzumelden. Dort wird eine Schadensfeststellung aufgenommen. Diese Schadensfeststellung bildet die Grundlage für die Schadensaufnahme und eine eventuelle Ersatzregulierung. Die ausländische Postverwaltung zahlt den Schadensersatz an den Empfänger.” (in short and in English: Damages and tamperings must be reported to the post office in the country of destination immediately. There they will inquest to assess the damage which is the base for any claims. The foreign administration of the post will pay for the value of the damage”).

Since then there was no written communication, but only contact through phone. The responsible clerk who receives the complaints got replaced 3 times so far and every time, the issue needed to be brought up to the new person.

10/06/2009
I received a letter from Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Bangalore West Division, stating: “This is to bring to your kind notice that despite making detailed investigations, this office has not been able to trace the missing items from the above referred parcels. Inquiries revealed that the parcels haven been routed via sea mail and have passed through various stages including customs, where all parcels are opened, checked and re-closed by Customs Dept. Hence at this point of time this office is not in a position to ascertain exactly, at which stage abstraction/damage of the contents have been taken place. Hence we regret to inform you that no further inquiries can be made by this office. Inconvenience caused to you is deeply regretted.”

A call to the superintendent clarified that this letter was necessary for any insurance claims. So a letter has been sent back to the post office asking for the form for insurance claims.

15/01/2010
Another letter came stating: “As per Foreign Post Manual, clause No 159 Para(2) & (3), If a Foreign Parcel received for delivery in India, is found damaged or tampered with, the question must be taken up with the country of origin and even if responsibility is established, no compensation is payable for loss or damage to the contents by the country of destination. Hence any claims for compensation from the sender to the addressee cannot be accepted. The said case is treated as closed by this office.”

So as you can see, the customer are treated like shit by DHL and the Indian Post. They push him around so long till he is too tired and simply closes the case in his mind. And 2 years is already a very long time… Let’s see, what will happen next. Stay tuned!

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Currently discussions are going on about installing body scanners at airports in Germany. They are based on radiation in the range of tetra hertz and can literally penetrate the clothes of the passengers. On the screen the people are displayed naked and that could be embarrassing. Some sensitive medical information can also be revealed (such as an ostomy) or it might be even against the religious beliefs. The discussion becomes more “interesting”, if children are scanned.

So the authorities test scanners, in which the body is not displayed at all and only an OK is given, if everything is alright. Another method would be to show the body only schematically and suspicious objects in a box like shape. However that does not solve the problem of not-knowing long-term effects of the exposed radiation on passengers.

Therefore the Pirate Party Germany organized some flash-mobs on German airports (link in German only, a translation by Google). At the airport they removed their clothes standing in underwear to show the authorities that they do not have to hide anything. At these very short demonstrations the participants earned a lot of appreciation by other passengers. Surprisingly even Sakshi a Telugu newspaper in India, published a short article on page 3.

An article in Sakshi (a Telugu newspaper) about a demonstration against body scanners in Germany. Source: http://www.sakshi.com

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Today a solar eclipse could be observed in Bangalore. Almost the whole sun was covered and the leaves overhead threw nice sickle-shaped shadows on the roads. However in India many people stay at home during the eclipse and do not consume any food or drinks. While others observe the spectacle with cheap paper sun glasses, others fear to leave the house. They believe in the superstition that it is a bad omen and has an impact on the mental health. It could also harm the unborn child in case the woman is pregnant.
Have a look at this article published by Thaindian News.
So what about you? Did you get eclipsed already?

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It did not take long. As soon as the winter was over, the water crisis started all over again in IISc. It seems that the authorities did not learn anything from last year. Have a look at this post by shironaam which explains the urgent matter of the water issue. It is almost a ruling fact that E-Block and F-Block lacks the luxury of running water most of the times. Even the 2. block of the New Hostel Complex did not have any water from the day before yesterday (11AM) till very late in the night (3AM next morning). The water purifier are almost all broken and out of order. The drain of many sinks is simply missing. So if you spit your toothpaste into the sink, it will drop directly and unfiltered onto your feet.
The condescending behavior the administration keeps showing towards the students, must come to an end. In the end it was not the work of the employees nor staff to make this institute the one that is so famous and supposed to be one of the best in South Asia. Currently I think that this institute does not deserve this title at all and I can only warn prospective students to think twice to come here. Once the shine of the name “IISc” is worn off, everybody will see the naked truth.

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The following documents are required to apply for a residential permit extension. Maybe this post will save you some hours in the waiting queue.

1. Application form (that can be obtained at the office itself)
2. Copy of the Residential Permit (RP) and Registration Certificate (RC) (Have three to five copies just to be save. Actually only one is necessary), but you never know.
3. Passport page copy
4. Visa page copy
5. Police report (Try to get that in advance from the local police station, even if you need to bribe them. The reason for that is simple: At the FRO they will tell you to get it and you have to return to your place to pick it up. The clerks in the FRO will give you a letter telling the officer at the local police station what to do. However if you can convince them, that this letter will come later in the afternoon, you can save one whole day [including the time in the queue]. Otherwise you have to go to the FRO a second time.
6. Bonafide Certificate (saying that you do whatever you do, e.g. studying). It is a big advantage to have mentioned till what date you study/work to avoid trouble.
7. Address proof
8. Bank account statement. Front page which mentions the name and also the page with the last balance with current date.
9. In case of a change of the visa type, the non-objection letter from the embassy of your home country.

To get the police report, you need the same documents as mentioned above. However in addition you will need:

1. A letter from two friends stating for how long do they know you.
2. A letter with your permanent address in your home country and your current residential address signed by yourself.
3. Expect the police to come by to verify your address.

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Every year the same procedure: The extension of my registration and residential permit. Since Monday (11^th January 2010) there are some changes which prolong any procedure at the foreign registration office (FRO) in Bangalore significantly. Now they got computers there, but the chaos the change causes, is matchless.
I reached there at 10:30AM and was able to leave the office at 3:02PM (on the same day). So what did I do in the 4.5h in between? Well, first of all, you have to wait in a queue. It’s length is around 30m, but it varies throughout the day. It is getting longer and longer. The estimated moving speed is around 10m per hour. So you can do the math, you will stand there for several hours. If there is one document missing, you have to return the next day and again wait in the queue.
They close the office for applications at 1:00PM. So sometimes you are not even able to reach the office since you wait so long in the queue in front of it. Again here: Better luck next time.
Since the waiting time is so long, it is good to follow some tricks:

1. Have a bottle of water with you, but do not drink to much. Toilets are not there (as far as I could figure out).
2. Have some snacks to eat.
3. Take some blank pages with you where you can note down some things. Sometimes only one letter is missing, so you can write it there without waiting in the queue again.
4. Take some music, games, newspaper or whatever with you to kill the time.
5. Do not waste energy in discussing any issue with the officials. Even their nerves are on the edge and it just makes it worse. They will not move from their point of view.
6. If there is any problem, e.g. an information is missing in a letter or so and they tell you to come back tomorrow, try out somebody else first. E.g. in my bonafide certificate a date was missing and the first clerk saw that at the help desk. So he rejected my request which would have meant to come back tomorrow. Another guy at the help desk accepted the application without a problem.
7. Have some friends who can wait with you. You can rotate in sitting and standing without loosing the position in the queue. 3h of continuous standing could be quite painful. Not to mention: reallllyyyyy booooring.

Despite the fact that the office is open till 5:30PM only till 1:00PM new applications are accepted. So no need to come in the afternoon. For each application or request, a form is needed. That can be picked up at the inquiry desk. If you do not have that form and you manage to proceed till the help desk inside, you have to come back tomorrow. Fortunately I found a blank form inside the office and literally flicked it from under their noses.

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