Resetting Pattern / Passcode on Android Phone

I have been using Android based smart phone from 2+ years. I use it for different activities both on personal and professional levels. It has now become a part of my life and has made my life very easy and fast in one way or another. Yes. There are some negative points as well but I am fortunate to have more positives for having a smart phone.

Now I will cut this intro short and get to purpose of this entry. Recently I went to a service center of my telephony services provider as as I had some issues with internet from the day I had switched from post paid to pre-paid connection. While they fixed the internet issue on my phone, stupidly they applied a security pattern on my phone and unfortunately in the service center I didn’t check this. When I reached office and got a call on my phone I noticed this.

After noticing this, certainly I was very irritated and didn’t know what to do. I searched on internet and found quite a few solutions. Mostly they were trying to tell the users to reset their phone via resetting the phone to factory setting by going into boot menu of Android with some specific commands. I certainly didn’t like that idea and was looking forward for something more.

Then I realized that, I had added my phone to Google Device Manager (I would highly recommend that every Android device should be connected to this by their users) so I went there and saw this on my screen:

Google Device Manager

I realized this is something I was looking for. Clicking on the Lock screen, it showed me the below screen using which I set a temporary pass-code on my cell phone.

Google Device Manager - Lock

Doing this saved me from wasting time on resetting / cleaning all my data via Android special command or procedures. I know for geeks that would be worth trying but for someone who is only interested in restoring his phone, this will be the fastest way.

Also, using device manager if I ever want to reset my phone to Factory Settings I can do this via the Erase button on single click or by going to Settings -> Backup and reset -> Factory data reset. I don’t need to boot into Android boot menu via any special commands.

I have found this to very easy to follow and apply so I thought to share it on this blog to save time for others.

PivotalSigns – Startup Story

This is an entry I have been aiming to write from the day first when I started with my start up.

Why?

I had been working in a well reputed software firm in a very good position from 2005 without any major issues. Everything was cool and I enjoyed being there. I loved what I had been doing. However things started changing for me from 2011 end, when for the first time I felt I was not a good fit. I tried to switch my job responsibilities with in same organization but that didn’t help that much in the long run but still managed to spend some more time there. It was in April 2014 when this decision of parting ways after 8+ years was taken.

It was certainly not an easy one. Both on professional and personal level but sometime one has to step up and do something.

PivotalSigns is born!

pivotalsigns_logo_white

After leaving, I had two options: Look for a job, which would offer job security, a continuous stream of income and such but I may face the same situation as I had in previous organization after sometime.

I discussed with my friends who are already doing their businesses (most of my friends are doing their own business :)). They encouraged me to try on my own before heading for job hunting. I will especially mention Aamir Ansari of Think Enabled, Fawad Moon of DevEnhanced, Khurram Zafar and Shah Khalid apart from many others who helped me in taking and finalizing this decision.

I acknowledge it was not an easy decision but it was something like now or never. So in May 2014 PivotalSigns was launched.

From the beginning when PivotalSigns was launched, we had decided that it will not be a merely outsourcing company, instead we will look forward for partnerships that last.

We are working on our own product ideas and working with clients to bring life to their ideas. Our core values are to provide quality services, work hard and remain honest with clients and customers throughout the project / product life style.

Going forward, I will try to share my experiences and learning on this journey.

Kashmir Tour

From my childhood I had been hearing about Kashmir Janat Nazeer (Kashmir a paradise like place), so I always had dreams of going there but haven’t got a chance to visit these areas since I started travelling in 2000. In year 2012 beginning when I started planning for my tour in June , I had in mind Kaghan and surrounding areas. I discussed about this with Shujaat and he immediately asked me to change this to Kashmir.

I started researching and studying about our plan to Kashmir. In this regard, I like to take help from  PakWheels Forums, which has been very helpful for me in planning my trips in Pakistan. I got to know about a Tour Group who were helping in touring. I finalized and booked a plan with them.

9th June – Saturday: Left Karachi with my friends via Daewoo Bus to Rawalpindi.

10th June – Sunday : We reached Rawalpindi at afternoon and met our friends who were joining us from Mardan. From there we left for Murree. Unfortunately when we reached there Rawalpindi there was some CNG strike due to which it took quite sometime for us to reach Murree. And then the Taxi we hired from Rawalpindi also cheated us and dropped us in mid-way instead of dropping us closer to Mall Road as we agreed upon. The reason as he used was an Urs due to which all roads were blocked in Murree hill. However, soon we had to hire another Taxi and were able to reach Mall Road. Here I learned an important lesson that don’t show sympathy to such people (which I always show :() who cheat you. It was first visit of my friends to Murree and they liked it very much, they really liked roaming on Mall Road. It was an experience worth remembering for them 🙂

11th June – Monday: We visited Kashmir Point in morning and it was very peaceful at that time. Usually in evening time that area gets very crowded. We left Murree at noon and again we faced the same traffic blockage and less traffic on Motorway due to that Urs (as such Urs usually remains for 2-3 days). It took time but finally we reached Muzafarabad around 6PM. There I contacted the Tour Group people and they helped us took a room in a Hotel in Muzafarabad.

12th June – Tuesday: We left Muzafarabad in morning for Kutton. I would say now its Kashmir. The journey we started for Kutton was an extra ordinary one. I watched River Neelum flowing, Indian border, breath taking sceneries and acknowledged that it was not wrong to say this Janat Nazeer. We reached Jagiran Resort House in evening, while stopping at Kondal Shahi and other areas for taking pictures, doli rides etc. It was a pleasant journey.

Staying in Jagiran Resort House was an experience in itself. This resort house has been built by Govt. of Azad Kashmir and is an extra ordinary place. The surrounding areas and views from resort house are simply majestic.

Jaigran Resort House

View From Resort House

Outside Resort House

13th June – Wednesday: Early in the morning we left resort house for Keran / Kel. We went till Sharda and couldn’t go to Kel as we had to come back for night stay at Jagiran rest house.

This whole journey from Kutton to Sharda was very good. The roads were clear and views were fantastic. I had been to some other Pakistan’s NA areas e.g. Swat, Dir, Chitral and liked Kumrat, Dir the most till then. But after visiting Kashmir, I just fell in love with it and we enjoyed every bit of our journey there.

After visiting some old ruins and other areas in Sharda, we started our journey back to Kutton. On our way back it started to rain and when reached Kondal Shahi it was completely dark and raining cats and dogs. We took some stuff from the Bazar and left Kondal Shahi.

Keran Sharda

14th June – Thursday: We had plan to go to Jagiran Power house by doing a trek. So except for one friend all 4 others left for it. We did a trek for an hour or two so and then had to get into a Jeep which was going there as it was very steep :). There at Power house we spent some time and got back (once again by walk and some Jeep ride).

Jagiran Power House On way to Jagiran House

Upon reaching the resort house, a bad news was waiting for us. The van which was given to us by the Tour Group was called back by them without giving us any reason / update. I inquired from the resort house people and confirmed no body from Tour Group had approached them to update us about it. They just called the driver and driver told our friend who was in resort house and left. It was totally unprofessional. We had already paid 70% of amount agreed upon to Tour Group and rest was supposed to be paid when reach back to Muzafarabad. This incident really disturbed us.

As that same day we were supposed to leave for Muzafarabad. After discussing with my friends, we decided to go ahead with the actual plan and don’t wait for the Tour Group people. This descision was quite risky as we were far away in an area where finding rides were not easy but we took the risk and were hoping to find something on our way till Kundal Shahi, from where we were expecting to get a Taxi to Muzafarabad. So we left resort house and fortunately walking for an hour or less we found a ride which dropped us at Kundal Shahi. From there we took a Taxi till Muzafarabad, where it dropped us around at 6 PM.

As per our original plan we were supposed to stay in Muzafarabad for night but one of our friend suggested that we should leave and see if we could reach on time to Rawalpindi and then Mardan. Fortunately we found seats in last Qadri Coach which was leaving for Rawalpindi. We took the Coach and started our journey back to Rawalpindi. While travelling in that Coach one of the person from Tour Group contacted us and excuse for whatever happened. But I strongly feel whatever they did was very unprofessional. And I would certainly not recommend them to anyone. This incident also taught me a lesson to trust only trustworthy people.

We reached Rawalpindi at 11 PM and were amazed to see life in full swing at that time which is now quite rare for Karachi people 🙁 due to certain reasons. We easily hired Hiroof and reached our friend’s house at around 2AM or so in Takhte Bhai. We tried to look for famous Chapal Kebab but they said they were finished so just had some tea.

15th June – Friday: I left Mardan for my village and from there flew to Karachi on Sunday 17th June.

Overall it was a memorable trip and I look forward to go again to Kashmir and visit the areas which I couldn’t in this trip. I regret not having more days to explore these areas but inshAllah very soon I will be able to compensate for that 🙂

I believe Kashmir is a place to visit again and again. I see there are two routes which one could take: One is via Muzafarabad and then areas coming on that route and the other is Bagh and then areas coming on that route. So I will try to explore areas on both routes.

I also found the roads in Kashmir well built (as compare to Swat and Dir), people are friendly (as compare to Murree and Kaghan but not better than Swat). So I would say it is accessible, affordable and beautiful. Both family and with friends one could enjoy this.

An Update

Its been very long time I updated my blog due to busyness / laziness. In the last few months different things have happened:

  1. Completed my masters degree.
  2. Visited Kashmir area for first time. I will try to write and post its details soon, it was an amazing experience.
  3. Posted final year project EME code to github.

I will try to keep this blog updated both with travel / trek tips and technical writings.

Final Year Project Cleared

As I had been posting about my final year project progress here and here. Allhamdullilah, I have cleared it with 3.67 GPA. While working on my own project, I also emailed a number of students and those who responded I continued to share some of my tips emails. I am really happy to see that my tips emails were very useful for some students and some of them were able to create their project and clear it.

I plan to continue with this and would be looking forward to help further students in upcoming final year projects. But I would like to clarify one thing that help doesn’t mean copy. It means I would only try to provide some guideline (for any project on which students are working and I have idea about that project) and with that guideline students would be able to make progress on their projects.

So those who require help could contact me by leaving comments here or sending email at naqoosh AT gmail DOT com. I will get back soon inshAllah.

Kindle Touch Review

I have got my Kindle Touch a few weeks ago and I have been using it very regularly.

Reading Experience: When I bought it my main question was will I be able to read the PDF books? I knew it is one of the best device for English books reading but I was going to use it both for English and Urdu PDFs. So even before ordering, I was a bit nervous if it would handle it or not. But it is opening and rendering the PDF documents I have in both languages smoothly and the touch system is also a blessing as I have to do a lot of zoom in/out. So I would give 9/10 for this PDF support.

Also, I have used it both in sunlight and power lights at night / room and it is easy on eye and gives a good feeling.


Reading Ashfaq Ahmed's Zavia on Kindle

Touch System: This is Amazon’s first touch Kindle device and I would say it is not bad. I agree it doesn’t match the quality of touch from Apple but at this price and the purpose for which this device is used, I am pretty satisfied with it.

Size and Weight: I really liked this device’s size. One could hold it in one hand and read for hours without any difficulties as this is very light weight.


Kindle Charging

Battery Life: This was one of the high point for me to buy this. Daily I read for about 1-1.5hrs on average and while reading due to the PDF documents, I have been zooming in / out and the battery it consumes is very less.

Experimental: There are some experimental features in this like web browser and mp3 player. Although I am not using them regularly but they worked pretty fine.

Connectivity: Being registering this device in Pakistan and using it from here, I don’t have access to the amazon services directly but via WiFi, I am able to browse Amazon Kindle Store and other websites via its experimental web browser. It was pretty easy to setup my WiFi in Kindle.

Overall I am very satisfied with this and I would recommend this for any one who likes to read. There was only one negative point which I didn’t like was to not have the power adapter included in normal purchase. It is sold separately. I didn’t know this when I ordered it and it was not easy for me to order a separate item again as my friend was bringing this for me from US.

Email Moderation Engine Update

This is just an update regarding my final year project ‘Email Moderation Engine’.

I have been working on this but till now had been mostly doing the documentation and design document as per the university requirement. I hope to start working on the actual project skeleton and code in 2 weeks of this semester. I plan to share my thoughts and code samples here for those who would like to get an idea.

I am also trying to help a few fellow VU students along the way. I hope we all could make it on time and it is accepted.

Those who are interested in discussing / getting any help in this regard, should contact me via my email address (from Contact) or this comments on relevant posts. Please don’t post your questions on other posts on this blog which are irrelevant.