http://afup.broadbandforum.in/

By the way, Airtel told me that they will resolve my complaint by 1:30 PM today and I haven’t heard from them yet. Will keep this group posted on the responses I get from them.

In the meantime people, let’s get this to the mainstream media and tell them how Airtel is out to screw their own customers. They won’t even flinch till someone starts talking bad about them and till the shareholders take notice.

So here are some suggestions:

• If you have a blog, then blog about this
• Join the Facebook group (there may be some issues for now about the Join link but they’ll get fixed)
• Write to all the India specific tech blogs and sites that you know of about this – Tech 2.0, Chip, TechTree, TechShout, PC World etc
• Log complaints with customer care about this and tell them that the customers were not apprised. If they use the word “TRAI” ask them for the specifics – Article, clause, URL etc of the TRAI ruling if any – just don’t let them use the word TRAI and get away with it

Some points to remember:

• We need “bandwidth huggers” who can get the best from the internet to spurn the economy in India by sharing the ideas that they find on the internet – if you can’t experience the best, how do you spread the word?
• Take the example of Miro HD Video Player | Free internet tv and video podcast player. which promotes free Internet TV with an abundance of useful information for Indian audiences
• Take the example of a household with 2-4 users of broadband on 1 Wifi connection who would use their unlimited connection for completely legitimate purposes and still hit the cap in 10-15 days
• Take the example of people who download various Linux distros via torrents to distribute them to people who don’t want to pirate a Windows and yet get a working operating system like Ubuntu for free
• Take the examples of Indian tech startups like Rajshri.com and In.com who are providing free video content on their sites to increase demand for their products and hence churn the economy

What Airtel is doing goes against all of the above. Yes, we might have alternatives but before that we need to know whether the culprit here is TRAI or Airtel or both. Till then, this needs an open debate before the TRAI implements something without consulting the consumers and sleeping with devils like Airtel.

1. Download the fixed meanwhile library (64 bit only) from here.
2. Install it using pacman:

pacman -U meanwhile-1.0.2-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

3. Install the Arch Build System:

pacman -S abs

4. Run abs so that it can build a repository tree (kinda like portage in Gentoo):

sudo abs

5. Copy the pidgin directory of abs to /tmp:

cp -r /var/abs/extra/pidgin /tmp

6. Go to /tmp and open the pidgin PKGBUILD in nano:

cd /tmp/pidgin
nano PKGBUILD

7. Go to the “build()” section and make sure you remove “–disable-meanwhile” from the configure options. The line should look like this:

./configure –prefix=/usr –sysconfdir=/etc –disable-schemas-install \

8. Make the package:

makepkg

9. Install it:

pacman -U pidgin-2.5.3-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

That’s it! Now you should have sametime support in Pidgin Remember though, you will always have to compile pidgin yourself whenever a newer pidgin version hits the Arch repos.

P.S. For those of you who want to compile a fixed meanwhile on i686 (32 bit) system, follow the instructions here.

BarCamp Delhi is proposed to be a camp where we get together and discuss/rant/brain-storm/share opinions/information/wisdom about anything. Be it Web Technologies, trends, Mobile Internet, Hacking, Blogging, Vlogs, Social Media etc. that interests us.

The details of the event are:

Date: 17th May 2008 (Saturday).

Time: 9:00 am to 6.00 pm

Location:

Amity Innovation Incubator
Auditorium, Block C
Amity University Campus
Sector 125, Noida
Ph: +91.120.46590000, 4659151

For Driving Directions + Auto-Fare on SMS: Send rg source-location-name to bcd4 (to 56767)
Note: SMS based Driving Direction service will be active only on 17th May 2008.
Amity University Campus on Google Maps

How to register for the event: Go to the Campers List and add your name to the bottom. Also, please try Volunteering for stuff.

Will blog more about the event when its over

Hope to see you there!

Steps to add the repository:

1. Open Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal)

2. Type “gksu  gedit /etc/apt/sources.list”

3. Go to the end of the file and add the following onto a new line:

## Latest Pidgin/Rhythmbox
deb http://www.telemail.fi/mlind/ubuntu gutsy main

4. Save the file and close Gedit.

5. Add the public key so that apt does not complain about any authentication errors (type into terminal):

wget http://www.telemail.fi/mlind/ubuntu/937215FF.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

6. Update your system (type in terminal)

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

7. Voila! You should now have the latest Pidgin and Rhythmbox!

Some wallpapers.

Now to see if i can muster up the $109,000 to own it. And trust me, one day i will