Sagar.Kamat.Uses.This

NOTE: This post is inspired by the posts on http://usesthis.com. If you haven’t seen the site, then I recommend you check it out first(in a new tab of course. Don’t leave my blog!) before reading this post. I love that site and if you’re a fellow geek, I don’t need to explain why. I figured it’ll be a few years before i get to feature on that site, so till then, the donkey shall praise his own tail, right here :P so here goes….

Who are you, and what do you do?

I am Sagar Kamat and I’m a student of Mechanical Engineering at the Goa College of Engineering who occasionally blogs, regularly tweets and mostly wastes his time online just reading stuff.i love everything tech. And I also think too much. About everything. I love traveling and trekking and I love the spirit of adventure. I hope to roam the world some day. But for now, I’m still yet to see my beautiful home state of Goa, India in its entirety .I’m also an avid orator. Professionally, I haven’t done anything great yet and that’s why you’re reading this here and not on http://usesthis.com. But hopefully that’ll change in a few years :)

 

 What hardware are you using?

Apart from my time at the college, I’m mostly glued in front of my Samsung 19” TFT LCD that’s powered by a CPU running 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6550. The otherwise 2 GB RAM is currently down to 1 GB. Every computer I’ve owned since my first in 2003, has been a generation or two behind the prevalent specs but that hasn’t hampered my computing much.

There’s also a HP laptop in the house with similar specs that technically belongs to dad’s office but is as good as mine :P

Most of digital life is stored on a 500GB Seagate FreeAgentGO External Hard drive that helps me take my data wherever I go. The imp folders on my PC are synced with this hard drive and vice versa every time its connected and that’s very helpful.

My music is played by an Edifier m600 2.1 system. It produces some crisp audio though you'll never find it in online comaprisons of speakers.

Late night movie sessions are heard on a pair of Philips SHP1900 headphones.

Another very imp hardware for me is my cellphone. Right now, that role is played by a Nokia 7610 Supernova and its heavily Abused Used.I'm never comfortable with in-ear earphones and the stock ones i got with this phone are more than satisfactory for me.

Sadly, the only piece of Apple in the house is an iPod Nano that went through the washing machine which shorted its battery. so now it can only be used as a 8gb external storage.

There's also a Nikon D3100 DSLR in the house mostly used by my brother.

I also rely on my trusty ol’ Honda Dio to get me around.

And what software?

I’m a Windows person for now(i have hopes from Mac OS). The PC runs Windows 7 and I love it. Its remarkably better than XP and actually more productive. I have given Linux a try(Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex) but could never use it as my primary OS. Don’t get me wrong, its cool. But it doesn’t run a lot of software I’d like to and after using 7, I didn’t feel like using it anymore and it recently got replaced by Windows 8 developer preview.

The single most used software is obviously the browser, Firefox for now. Chrome is cool but the Echofon(for twitter) and Webmail Notifier(for mail) add-ins have stopped me from migrating. Most recently, I also find the Firefox sync very convenient. It syncs my bookmarks n stuff across my browsers on PC and laptop and that’s handy.

I use Microsoft Office. My limited internet bandwidth stops me from using Google Docs. That, and the fact that Docs doesn’t offer all the features that Office does.

As an Engineer, I use SolidWorks 2010. It’s a brilliant CAD software that’s also very easy to use. I love the community built around it and that’s the reason I use it out of the many options available.  I also fiddle around with Google Sketch-up at times. I’d like to get conversant with as many CAD softwares as possible but Hard disk space is an issue.

Image  Editing happens in Photoshop CS5.Maintanence in CCleaner.Picasa is a favourite too.

Some imp files are backed up on Microsoft Skydrive in the rare event that my PC AND external HDD get destroyed together.

 

What would be your dream setup?

Ah, dream set up! That would have a lot of glowing Apple logos :P Since I first set my eyes on it, I have been in love with MacBook Air. Would love to own one. I know its low on specs but people who own one swear by its utility. Its light, fast and beautiful. But expensive :(

For my PC, I’d love a dual monitor set-up. The one time I used it, I loved it. Plus it looks cool ;)

And also a 3D connexion navigator. 

The only time i got to use a dual monitor set up

And unlimited, fast, wireless Internet. That's gonna be a necessity as we shift to the cloud.

I’d like a smartphone. Android, iPhone…or anything better.Been drooling over Sony Ericcson Xperia Mini these days.

Also, a tab. Would say an iPad but I like flash, so that’s a dealbreaker. So any Tab would do.I'm longing to tuck under my blanket, reading an ebook on a tab.

And an Aeron chair.

Yep, I’m a man with trivial dreams.

But really, looking at the way devices are going, there is no point in dreaming of a set-up. Technology is progressing  at a breakneck speed and things I havn’t even dreamt of must be ready in basements of Apple, MIT Media labs, Microsoft and the garages of many entrepreneurs. So better keep my tech dreams trivial.That way, you allow yourself to be delighted.


Update: I have since upgraded my Phone to a Motorola Defy+, the review of which is here