ckunte.com » Mobile

Go mobile

Chyetanya Kunte — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:22:58 +0000

Taking Amit’s idea to the next level, here’s how you can make a mobile version of your blog.

Create a folder named m in your blog root—if you have a self-hosted blog. Dump a file named index.php with the following content in it:

<?php
header('HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently');
header( 'Location: http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/feed/http://ckunte.com/feed/atom' ) ;
?>
Download this example: /inputfiles/m.txt

Be sure to replace my site's feed address with yours in the code above. Your mobile blog version would now be accessible at this address, for example: yoursite.com/m (or yoursite.com/blog/m depending upon where you created the m subfolder on your host).

I am averse to creating a sudomain just for this, but if you still prefer a subdomain like address, here’s a plugin code I just whipped up.¹

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Mobile version via Google Reader
Plugin URI: http://ckunte.com/
Description: m. subdomain address is redirected to google's mobile version.
Author: Chetan Kunte
Version: 1.0
Author URI: http://ckunte.com/wordpress
*/
if ( !strstr( $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], 'm.' ) )
return;
header('HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently');
header('Location: http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/feed/http://' . trailingslashit(substr($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], 2)) . 'feed/atom');
exit();
?>
Download this example: /inputfiles/moplug.txt

Download the file above², and rename it to, say, moplug.php and upload it to wp-content/plugins folder. Your mobile site would now be accessible at m.mysite.com—all this without having to create a subdomain.

Do note that I haven’t been able to test this on my host, since I have a subdomain related problem at the moment, but I believe this code would work.
Make sure there are no empty spaces after ?> in both the code snippets

Privacy a feature, not a bug

Chyetanya Kunte — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:56:58 +0000

As a customer, I complained about Airtel’s annoying and incessant interruption in the form of promotional short messages, and phone calls playing ads. That was last year. Today, I am happy to see the following in the product¹ accompanying instruction/information pages (under Useful Tips):

We respect your privacy

Airtel communicates various promotional offers that are of significant benefit to you. If you do not wish to be informed about such benefits, you can unsubscribe by filling up the form given on our website www.airtel.in. Your request will be implemented within 48 Hours from the date of submission.

While I have serious doubts about “significant benefits”, I am happy to see Airtel finally respecting customer’s privacy by providing a way to opt out of the promo-crap.

You’ll, however, need to squint to notice the opt-out link—Do Not Disturb Registry—located on airtel.in site’s footer; the URL isn’t printed on the product accompanying instruction/information page.

I suppose it is going to take Indian companies (and consumers alike) a while to realize that offerings like protection of customer privacy are more of a feature, than a bug. Until then, telemarketers will have a field day.

SIM cards, or recharge coupons.

Going lean and fast on the bloated web

Chyetanya Kunte — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:12:25 +0000

Years of broadband privilege hasn’t softened my stand on the need to be lean and fast. Memories of painful access from my first VSNL account has taught me to be humble on bandwidth; now you know why this site is a plain vanilla. There are millions of people still on dial-up connections across developing nations, trying to access meaningful content. Where’s the fun when your site is bloated with adware, javascripts and stuff that prevent your content from loading first? While feed is a blessing for those on limited resources (bandwidth and older hardware), a lot of content is still only accessible via the conventional way—search and web pages. Thankfully, there are sites and services that ease the pain for you.

Whenever I am out of my broadband comfort zone, I use mobile versions of sites to get things done quickly. This following list is a rather short, but useful list of sites I use while on the road, while in cybercafes, or while accessing via dial-up connections.¹

Google search: http://www.google.com/xhtml (Updated)
Gmail: http://m.gmail.com (Updated)
Google (Blog/News) Reader: http://www.google.com/reader/m
Flickr (photo-sharing site): http://m.flickr.com
Wordpress.com (hosted blogging site): http://m.wordpress.com
Twitter (microblogging site): http://m.twitter.com (Updated)

For mobile version of any site:

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=

I use the above string to load any site in its mobile version. (Replace with the actual web address.) For example, if I’d like to load this site’s mobile version, I’d type the following (in browser’s address bar):

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=ckunte.com

Yes, I know the URL prefix is long and hard to remember. Well, now you don’t have to, for I’ve created a Bookmarklet you can use. Just drag the following link to your bookmarks bar.

Mobile Version (Powered by Google.)

Then click on it and use the form to enter the web address you’d like to visit—instead of the address bar. (Needless to say, your browser should have javascript enabled—as bookmarklets are simple dhtml javascripts.)

Update: I’d also recommend using Opera—it is the fastest among browsers.

These are not only for dial-up connections, but also those on limited broadband access—particularly if your upload/download are metered.