Pathik Shah

How to Install Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on Samsung Galaxy S 2 II

How to Upgrade Samsung Galaxy S 2 II to Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread

The guys at samfirmware recently released a leaked Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread ROM for the Samsung Galaxy S 2. There are two versions available – the stock 2.3.5 ROM and the Darky 2.3.5 ROM.

Today, I flashed the Stock Android 2.3.5 ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S 2. The battery life has improved considerably, and so has the sound. It’s fucking awesome.

To install Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on your Samsung Galaxy S 2, you will need:

- Samsung USB Drivers (Samsung Kies)
- ODIN Client
- Stock Android 2.3.5 ROM

How to Install Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on Samsung Galaxy S 2

Install Samsung Kies from the official website – Samsung Kies

Make sure the USB drivers have been installed properly with Kies. Now close Kies and make sure Kies isn’t running in the Task Manager.

Download the Android 2.3.5 stock ROM from samfirmware.com

Download Android 2.3.5 Stock ROM

Extract all the files (ROM + Odin client) from the file (password: samfirmware.com)

Start ODIN client as administrator, and select these files:

PIT – u1_02_20110310_emmc_EXT4.pit
PDA – CODE_I9100XXKI3_CL577579_REV02_user_low_ship.tar.md5
PHONE – MODEM_I9100XXKI3_REV_02_CL1062028.tar.md5
CSC – GT-I9100-CSC-MULTI-OXAKI3.tar.md5

Also select these check boxes:

Re-Partition
Auto Reboot
F.Reset Time

On your Galaxy S 2, go to Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging > Enable it.

Now switch off your phone and enter download mode.

To enter download mode, hold the Volume Down + Menu Key and press the Power button.

After you see the yellow Download mode screen, just connect it to your PC via USB.

You should now see the ID:COM section turn Yellow and the message box display ADDED. If you don’t, repeat the whole process.

Click on the Start button to begin the flashing process.

In 5 minutes, your Samsung Galaxy S 2 should reboot with Android 2.3.5 installed.

Note: It’s not risky, but still proceed with caution. I’m not responsible if you brick your phone.

More Money than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite

More Money than God – Book Review

I picked up this book about a week ago, but hadn’t been able to read it. Today, once I started reading it, I wasn’t able to put it down. It is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read.

It tracks the history of hedge funds right from the very beginning, and lists the most successful ones in every decade or so. It is the most fascinating accounts of how hedge fund managers became more and more powerful over the years, eventually becoming powerful enough to move entire economies.

More Money than God covers all the hedge fund legends I knew of, and even more: George Soros, A. W. Jones, Michael Steinhardt, Julian Robertson, John Paulson, Paul Tudor Jones II, John Meriwether etc.

Ever since the financial crisis, the public sentiment has been against financial institutions like hedge funds and investment banks which indulge in proprietary trading.

But Sebastian Mallaby, rather than writing in a populist fashion, underlines the fact that just because hedge fund moguls make insane amounts of money, it doesn’t automatically make them evil. Hedge funds are probably the best way to keep a capitalist economy stable, because of their contrarian nature.

After the recent backlash against them, reading a book about hedge funds which is factually correct and doesn’t pander to the general pubic is very refreshing.

Totally recommended. 10/10.

Buy More Money than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite – Flipkart

Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple. He will now act as the Chairman of the board, and Tim Cook will be the new CEO.

Letter from Steve Jobs

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Here’s a compilation of the best articles on the web about Steve Jobs.

The Life of Steve Jobs – So Far

Steve Jobs’ Best Quotes

Robert Scoble on Steve Jobs

Walt Mossberg on Steve Jobs

Om Malik on Steve Jobs

Vic Gundotra on Steve Jobs

And finally,

Steve Jobs – Commencement Speech at Stanford

Truly a legend. Steve Jobs, you will be missed.

Note: The official biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is coming out soon. Read it.

How to Get Google Plus Account Verified?
How to Verify Google Plus (Google+) Account

Today, Google Plus (Google+) announced that they will start rolling out verification badges for celebrities and public figures, just like Twitter. They are also verifying accounts of people who have been added to a large number of circles.

For now, there is no way to get your Google+ account verified for standard users like us. However, here are a few tips that might help.

How to Get Your Google Plus (Google+) Account Verified?

1. Become a celebrity

This one’s not so easy.

2. Become a public figure

This one isn’t very easy either.

3. Get added to a lot of Circles on Google+

This one is easy if you are one of the above. If not, it is still manageable.

4. Wait until Google+ rolls out verification for standard users

This will take some time. But Google+ seems focused on getting people to use their real names on their network. Currently, there are no incentives to do so. Throw in a “Google+ Verified Account” badge and some gamification, and that will be a great incentive for most people to use their real names.

Why I Quit My Job, Dropped My MBA Plans and Joined a Startup!

Recently, I resigned from my very comfortable job at a leading investment bank (no, not as an investment banker, but as an application developer ) to pursue an MBA program at one of the best B-schools in India. Just as I was completing the formalities and preparing to leave for 2 years, to complete my MBA, I got a job offer from a startup I had known about for quite some time.

This particular startup offered me a job profile which was exactly what I was looking for, and allowed me to do and learn more about almost everything I have been interested in. Naturally, I jumped on and joined it. It is definitely a bit risky, as I will probably be the first one to be sacked if something goes wrong, and we don’t manage to get our Series B, but what the heck, I’m young, and this is probably the best time to try out something like this.

Besides, the team is truly awesome, and if everything goes well, I may not need to do an MBA at all, which I consider a waste of time anyways. In the meantime, I’m still working on some of my own startup ideas, and I would rather spend the amount I would have paid as fees for the MBA program on building out my own company.

And finally, the number one (and probably silly) reason why I did it is this. Because, seriously, a million dollars isn’t that cool. It’s just fuck-you money. And the best (probably the only) way to get to a billion is by starting up. Well, that, and a newfound epiphany that I will probably never function well as an employee. I need to have a lucrative stake in whatever I’m working on; I just cannot work for a fixed salary. I need to be my own boss. I want to be my own boss.

And also because the two people I really believe in – Paul Graham and Peter Thiel – would have done the same. Well, they already have.

If everything works out, I will probably be hanging out on my own private island, sipping beer, before I turn 30. If it doesn’t, I will just lose an year. Or two. Or some more working on some other idea. If nothing works, then another two, doing an MBA. And then many in a cubicle, working for The Man. Screw that. I’m willing to take my chances. All or nothing!

PS: I may seem irrational, and probably a nutjob who thinks he is the next Zuck. But I’m excited, and maybe a bit high. And it’s definitely worth a shot.