Reviews by prashere
I am an active contributor to OpenStreetMap project since 2013 and this app means a lot to me because this was the only alternative map application back then & for long-time for Android & iOS devices.
Merely contributing to OSM was not fruitful until such a consumer side app exists which makes contributing to OSM meaningful because we can de-google (i.e live without google) ourselves for privacy & sovereign reasons.
- The app supports offline first usage (we have to download map data of our area of interest) and no need to worry about lack of Internet connectivity when traveling abroad or remote regions.
- Offline navigation & voice instructions on language of your choice through TTS. Additionally it can also integrate with online routing services like OSRM, etc.
- The app also has a collection plugins which enhances the features like close integration with Wikipedia, street level images through Mapilary & wikimedia commons.
- The app screens are customizable with various widgets.
- Supports multiple usage profiles (car, bike, public transport, cycling, etc).
- Display the map in language of your choice (the names in OSM should be localized to that language)
- Bookmark or save favorite places
- Record GPS tracks, plan a route and share it with friends & family members. Tracks can be uploaded to OSM for helping armchair mappers too.
Feature wise it is extensible. The app renders vector tiles and since it does it all in our phone, the rendering will not be as smooth as Google maps or CoMaps or OrganicMaps.
Map data also takes up a small portion of storage (this data can be moved to external storage, if available) and the app also supports receiving live updates of data (if you are an OSM contributor).
Overall, a fantastic app that will never fail you (map data quality varies from region to region based on how actively people contribute to OSM in that region).
A very small, simple, effective app works as expected. Rings an anti-theft alarm whenever the phone is unplugged from charging cable. Useful while charging in public places. However triggers a false alarm during a power failure too. Can’t blame the app, there is no easy way to distinguish between power failure & cable unplug.
This book is a compilation of selected few essays written by Sitaram Yechury, who was the General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) also known as CPI(M).
Picture of the front cover of the book “The Fight For the Republic” by Sitaram Yechury (Own work. License: CC-BY-SA.)
The book also contains an introduction by Prabhat Patnaik, a renowned Indian Marxian economist. In his introduction, he explains how it’s not just in India, but the rightward shift is a global phenomenon and how the crisis of neo-liberalism causes it.
The selected essays in the book are,
- Psuedo-Hinduism Exposed
- What is Hindu Rashtra?
- India at 75.
Psuedo-Hinduism Exposed
In this section of the book, the author debunks and counters the myths and lies peddled by the RSS (the fascist organization) & the BJP (it’s political wing) to sow their hatred towards the muslims in India. This essay was written back in 1993, 2 years after the disputed Babri Masjid was demolished. This section is mostly in the Question and Answer format.
What is Hindu Rashtra?
In this essay, the author explains the idea behind the right-wings fascist project, the Hindu (or) Hindutva Rashtra. He explains how this project stands against the “Idea of India” which was formed during the Independence struggle and exposes it from the words of it’s founders & ideologues (Golwalkar, Savarkar, Hedgewar, etc.,).
The “Idea of India” embraces linguistic, ethnic & the vast cultural diversity of India whereas “Hindutva” wants to build a monolith culture based on religious lines.
It openly embraces the Holocaust methods adopted by the Nazis of Germany & Fascists of Italy. It defies modern science & logic and creates narratives that are against popular evidence.
India at 75
Here, the author explains where India stands today, 75 years after attaining freedom, the battle of ideas between the left, right and the center. He recalls the role played by the Indian left, especially of the communists, in championing the linguistic equality, bringing the question of land distribution to the center stage and defending the true principles of Secularism (separation of state and religion).
He also touches upon how the independence struggle in India, which was basically a capitalist democratic revolution, instead of destroying, came into a compromise with Fuedalism in India out of which today we have the corporate-communal nexus fueling each other.
Finally, he concludes with a note on the immediate task to defend the Indian constitution against the fascist attack and to strengthen peoples democracy to move India towards the next stage, i.e Socialism.
Overall, this book should be read by anyone who wants to understand the historical and contemporary political developments in India.
It’s a personal expense, income, credit & investment tracker app. I really like how simple it is.
Though the name has AI in it, there is No complicated ML models involved which means it’s light on phone.
The fact that it is FOSS and doesn’t require Internet access is why I trust this app with SMS permissions.
Works well with parsing SMS from banks & other financial service providers. Give it a try.
App is simple to use and works over LAN / WLAN. Makes life easy by sharing text, files, apps, media to other networks on the same network. The exchange traffic is also encrypted which is good for privacy and security.
I have been using NewPipe for more than 5 years to access YouTube and I must say it always works as expected. No ads, background playback, video/audio downloads, offline subscription, I use all of those features.
The app will break very rarely, but it’s not NewPipe’s fault. Google now & then makes a change in YouTube service which breaks the app, but the community finds a solution / workaround which gets fixed quickly in the next hotfix version.
Beyond YouTube, the app also has support to access video/audio contents PeerTube, SoundCloud, CCC Media, etc.,
This is an historical site maintained by Archeological Survey of India (ASI). A temple dedicated to Lord Shiva which was built between 9 CE - 10 CE.
Though it is located in Chikkaballapur district of today’s Karnataka, the temple has evidences of stone inscriptions with Tamil letters in it which possibly links to Chola empire influence along with other regional empires from time to time.
Often people visit only the Nandi hill top but miss this masterpiece located downhill. There is ample space for car parking & paid washrooms are also available.
It is not only an historical relic but a living temple with daily rituals taking place. This is a dual shrine temple, one for Bhoga Nandishwara & other for Arunchala.
The pond is what I loved the most in this temple. Since it was full, they had locked it when we went but the view even from the gate is spectacular.
I highly recommend to visit this place.
Parking: 40 INR for car.
Reviews was one of the key missing component in the opendata & Openstreetmap ecosystem. This project along with mangrove.reviews has the potential to fill that gap.
Lib.reviews is simple & easy to use compared with mangrove.reviews since it sticks to a traditional account & web based approach.
Not all API endpoints are implemented as of writing this review and the project also needs to be actively developed & maintained.
While technical contributors can improve the code, everyone should focus on adding reviews which is what this project will be valued for.
Together we can get rid of Big Tech dependency one thing at a time. Let’s keep moving!
Much appreciation & love to the developer who started this project. Commons FTW!
I visited the Keezhadi Museum in July 2023 with my family.
Location
It is located approximately 15 kilometer away from Madurai in the Keezhadi village. The location was easy to find. We went by car and followed the route in map. The actual archeological site from where the artifacts, fossils, etc found is also very near-by (approximately 2km away).
Entry Tickets
The entry tickets can be obtained as soon as you enter the campus. Entry tickets are very cheap. I guess it was 15 INR for adult 10 INR for children. For international tourists, the maximum ticket price was 50 INR. You can check more information on the website here https://www.keeladimuseum.tn.gov.in/about-us
In this ticket counter, they also sell books published by Tamilnadu archeological department.
Museum
- It is closed on Tuesday & National holidays. Hence, check before planning your visit.
- The museum is constructed in Chettinadu architectural style which a visual treat to enjoy.
- There is a huge beautiful map in the wall which explains the river valley civilizations in Tamilnadu & the corresponding age they belong to. This was so informative to understand the significance of Keezhadi excavation.
- From here, they took us to a small theater styled auditorium inside, where an audio-video visual was played for about 20 minutes narrating the significance of this archeological site. The AV contained graphic illustration, actual footage from the excavation site and interviews from archeologists. It was all in Tamil, however, English sub-titles were to be seen as well.
- At this point we are still in the first house of the museum and the museum is organized into different separate chettinadu style houses inside.
- Each house is designed to a specific theme. “Agrarian & Water management”, “Sea Trade”, “Weaving & Beats” showcases corresponding artifacts discovered from the nearby archeological site.
- Washrooms are available inside museum and there is also a very small shop inside where they serve coffee, tea & local snacks.
Tamilnadu govt. deserves huge appreciation for this effort.