Oh lighten up, will ya!

And Yahoo's gonna kick everyone's arse! Maybe.

2008-04-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Looks like Yahoo's finally getting one up on the Googles and the Microsofts.

In a move that could have far-reaching consequences not just for Yahoo and its competition but for the online space as we know it, Yahoo is opening up its Web platforms to third party application developers. And also, putting together all its offerings under a single umbrella.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,145062-c,businesscenter/article.html

What does "opening up its web platforms for third party applications" mean? Well, think Flickr. Now, what if you could share your images with your friends as they share theirs, what if you could tag people in your photographs, and what if these photographs could be a part of your personal profile and also a part of Yahoo Personals? Think again.

"The idea is to let the hundreds of millions of people who use its Web mail, instant messaging, calendar, photo management and other online services replicate the social experience that social networks like MySpace and Facebook have made so popular."

There are two main activities a majority of users indulge in online - e-mail/messages and social networking. Till now, each of these services has been handled by different owners (Yahoo, MSN, etc for e-mail and NewsCorp, Facebook, etc for SN). Even in cases where the same owner (Read: Google) provides both services (Gmail and Orkut), they have not been integrated to allow a user to interact with both simultaneously (think reading your mail as you check scraps on your profile).

Why hasn't this happened yet? For a couple of reasons. First, it raises privacy hackles. For many of us, the level of personal details involved in our e-mail/messages is more than we let our on our social networks. And to put them together would mean revealing more than we would probably like to. Second, there are security issues involved with combining a platform that is meant to be very secure(e-mail) with something that shouldn't be (social networking). And thirdly, there is the technology issue with integrating different programming environments (though this can be dealt with).

And now Yahoo has come along to try and do what none have done yet. Remember, this is not akin to a Facebook or a MySpace service. What Yahoo is talking about is bringing together all the services that one indulges in online - email, notes, photos, social networking, blogging, and more!

Well thought Yahoo! Now let’s see if you are game enough to walk to talk.

Nonsense is fun, ain't it?

2008-04-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, got tagged into doing this....so here goes!

Rules:
1. Put the MP3 player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get the answer.
3. Must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Swades - OST!!
Not idea what sense that makes!

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Savatage-Can You Hear Me Now
Hmm.. :P

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Pink Floyd - The Narrow Way
Ho!Ho!Ho! This is getting weird. Kids, stop reading!

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
Yeah absolutely!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
Oh yeah! :-D

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Storm In A Teacup
That I'am!

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Pink Floyd-Several Species of Small Furry Animals
What! Who thinks that about me! C'mon , you and me outside, right now! :-)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Cat Power - The Greatest
Hmm...yes!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
CCR - Proud Mary
Err...ok, maybe, also, sure.

WHAT IS 2+2?
Neil Young - Natural Beauty
Hi!Hi! Spoke like a true mathematician (Which I am not, incidentally!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes
Ho!Ho! Dunno whose eyes but yes

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Don Henly - Taking You Home
I swear I am not doctoring this!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
James Blunt - Goodbye My Lover
Not really true. And yea, I listen to James Blunt. Bite me!

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Eric Claptop - Laila
Err..ahem...I am a confused soul already. Don't tempt me!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Savatage - Believe
Hmm...Deep

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
The Elvis Medley
Hehe! :-)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Eagles -Tequila Sunrise
Sure!

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Metallica - Hero of the Day
Oh yeah! Here I come again! :-)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing
Huh! Who?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Sting - Englishman in NY
Huh.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Kailash Kher - Allah ke Bande
Hehe!

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Neil Young - Dreamin' Man
I guess.

This was more fun than I thought. :-)

Quote for the day: "Freedom, money and love - you only notice them when they are gone."

Orkut finally wakes up. But is it too little too late?

2008-04-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

One thing (probably the most important thing) that makes Facebook so addictive is the various third-party applications developed on the API (Application Programming Interface) platform that create content for connecting with friends in a network. Think about the time you added the 'Compare People' app and compared your friends inadvertently sending them an update on it. This gets them to check their rankings and compare their friends and so on. Brilliant strategy from the point of view of building user loyalty and growing average time spent.

Facebook's been a pioneer in the third-party apps within social-networking space. This moves ahead of Web 2.0 defined as "The stage of Internet evolution that allowed users to create information, disseminate it and collaborate with other users". What this basically translates to is blogs, social profiles, etc where users themselves create the content and network with others within the community creating a whole universe of user-generation.

While Web 2.0 has created icons such as Orkut, Blogger, Wiki, etc., the inherent constraint in this model has been that the provider of the platform for user-interaction has to develop all the widgets, applications, and other functionalities that users might want. This requires the platform provider to a) foresee what functionalities might be userful, and b) constantly keep working on developing them.

Then there is Web 3.0 being described as "creation of high-quality content through trusted individuals/sources using the Web 2.0 platform". Example: Consider Wikipedia, a Web 1.5/2.0 construct. Users upload information onto the platform provided and this information is referenced by others. But what happens when incorrect/misleading information is put up? Yeah, they get flagged on Wikipedia currently but that's a round-about way of creating quality content. Instead of first allowing all information and then ranking them on authenticity, etc; why not do the latter first? How would this work on Wikipedia? Trusted users/sources would first authenticate information and then its published in its final form. But isn't this going back to Web 1.0 with the 'information police' coming in? No. These 'trusted users/sources' will be members of the community themselves.

Another example: Semantic search. Think about this. For us humans, the combination of the keywords 'cat' and 'dog' could, amongst other things, imply household pets. For us humans, it's a natural (more conditioned actually) categorization but can Google make this distinction? Currently not. Another example: Consider these two sentences -"Kill him, not stop" and "Kill him not, stop". Can you make the distinction. Of course. Can Google do it? No. Semantic search is a huge area being opened up as we talk. involving developing search engine platforms that understand human communication and interpret what we are trying to say and serve up the more relevant information from the database. While Semantic Search includes a lot of XML, NLP (Natural Language Processing), RDF (language to express relationships such as between 'cat' and 'dog'), etc; Web 3.0 is going to form a substantial component of a successful Semantic Search platform.

Web 1.0 - Community with police provided by the government.
Web 2.0 - Community with no police (assuming that people will reach a state of peaceful equilibrium)
Web 3.0 - Community with respected members of the society managing the affairs of the society (kinda like a 'sarpanch')

Now, coming back to Facebook, it is what I would like to call Web 2.5. This is because while Web 2.0 allowed creation and dissemination of information within a construct provided (which was more often than not inflexible), Facebook has gone ahead and made the construct of interaction itself Web 2.0. It has given away its authority (to a large extent) on how the construct should be, what components it should contain etc, to members themselves. Brilliant! Don't you think?

And now to the subject of the post, Orkut has finally decided to bring in apps to its members. I noticed it only a couple of days ago and a couple of things hit me right away:

a. All the apps provided (and there are not that many, around 30 compared with the hundreds on Facebook) are direct rip-offs from Blogger.

b. As a result of 'point a.', most of these apps are more the 'pimping my blog' kinda apps where you can display an emoticon of how you are feeling or add a daily horoscope to your page etc. They do not allow users to interact with each other through these apps (except some like iRead, iPoke, etc.

c. And finally, it is no comparison to the way Facebook operates simply because Orkut hasn't opened up its platform for third-party apps to be integrated within. And all long as that doesn't happen, Orkut Buyukkokten will be spending a lot of his time staring at the ceiling thinking of new apps or developing them.

While Orkut definitely had the first-mover advantage in India and did pretty well getting almost everybody in the 18-30 segment signed up (Orkut became a sort of a background-check source during recruitments, impending marriages, new dates, the works!), Facebook has proved that great innovation can always take away the first-mover advantage (the last time I checked the number of users in the 'India' network on facebook, it was 632,875. At the time of writing this, it stands at 638,224. That's about 5000 users in 3 days => 50,000 users a month. And almost all these new users would be members of Orkut. So basically, Facebook is heavily cannibalizing Orkut's India traffic and it won't be long before these 50,00 new users discover the apps on Facebook and 'come over to the dark side'!

Indian Premier League gets underway!

2008-04-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

Alritey! After all the showbiz, drama and news (not that I mind when Preity Zinta is in it :-), we finally get down to some cricket starting today!

Planning to attend at least a couple of matches here in Mumbai.

The event schedule is as follows:

Time	Match	Venue
Friday 18 April
8:00 PM	Bangalore vs Kolkata	Bangalore
Saturday 19 April
5:00 PM	Punjab vs Chennai	Mohali
8:30 PM	Delhi vs Rajasthan	Delhi
Sunday 20 April
4:00 PM	Kolkata vs Deccan	Kolkata
8:00 PM	Mumbai vs Bangalore	Mumbai
Monday 21 April
8:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Punjab	Jaipur
Tuesday 22 April
8:00 PM	Deccan vs Delhi	Hyderabad
Wednesday 23 April
8:00 PM	Chennai vs Mumbai	Chennai
Thursday 24 April
8:00 PM	Deccan vs Rajasthan	Hyderabad
Friday 25 April
8:00 PM	Punjab vs Mumbai	Mohali
Saturday 26 April
4:00 PM	Chennai vs Kolkata	Chennai
8:00 PM	Bangalore vs Rajasthan	Bangalore
Sunday 27 April
4:00 PM	Punjab vs Delhi	Mohali
8:00 PM	Mumbai vs Deccan	Mumbai
Monday 28 April
8:00 PM	Bangalore vs Chennai	Bangalore
Tuesday 29 April
8:00 PM	Kolkata vs Mumbai	Kolkata
Wednesday April
8:00 PM	Delhi vs Bangalore	Delhi
Thursday 1 May
4:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Kolkata	Jaipur
8:00 PM	Deccan vs Punjab	Hyderabad
Friday 2 May
8:00 PM	Chennai vs Delhi	Chennai
Saturday 3 May
4:00 PM	Bangalore vs Deccan	Bangalore
8:00 PM	Punjab vs Kolkata	Mohali
Sunday 4 May
4:00 PM	Mumbai vs Delhi	Mumbai
8:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Chennai	Jaipur
Monday 5 May
8:00 PM	Bangalore vs Punjab	Bangalore
Tuesday 6 May
8:00 PM	Chennai vs Deccan	Chennai
Wednesday 7 May
8:00 PM	Mumbai vs Rajasthan	Mumbai
Thursday 8 May
4:00 PM	Delhi vs Chennai	Delhi
8:00 PM	Kolkata vs Bangalore	Kolkata
Friday 9 May
8:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Deccan	Jaipur
Saturday 10 May
8:00 PM	Chennai vs Punjab	Chennai
Sunday 11 May
4:00 PM	Deccan vs Kolkata	Hyderabad
8:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Delhi	Jaipur
Monday 12 May
8:00 PM	Punjab vs Bangalore	Mohali
Tuesday 13 May
8:00 PM	Kolkata vs Delhi	Kolkata
Wednesday 14 May
8:00 PM	Mumbai vs Chennai	Mumbai
Thursday 15 May
8:00 PM	Delhi vs Deccan	Delhi
Friday 16 May
8:00 PM	Mumbai vs Kolkata	Mumbai
Saturday 17 May
4:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Bangalore	Jaipur
8:00 PM	Delhi vs Punjab	Delhi
Sunday 18 May
4:00 PM	Kolkata vs Chennai	Kolkata
8:00 PM	Deccan vs Mumbai	Hyderabad
Monday 19 May
8:00 PM	Bangalore vs Delhi	Bangalore
Tuesday 20 May
8:00 PM	Kolkata vs Rajasthan	Kolkata
Wednesday 21 May
4:00 PM	Mumbai vs Punjab	Mumbai
8:00 PM	Chennai vs Bangalore	Chennai
Thursday 22 May
8:00 PM	Delhi vs Kolkata	Delhi
Friday 23 May
8:00 PM	Punjab vs Deccan	Mohali
Saturday 24 May
4:00 PM	Chennai vs Rajasthan	Chennai
8:00 PM	Delhi vs Mumbai	Delhi
Sunday 25 May
4:00 PM	Deccan vs Bangalore	Hyderabad
8:00 PM	Kolkata vs Punjab	Kolkata
Monday 26 May
8:00 PM	Rajasthan vs Mumbai	Jaipur
Tuesday 27 May
8:00 PM	Deccan vs Chennai	Hyderabad
Wednesday 28 May
4:00 PM	Bangalore vs Mumbai	Bangalore
8:00 PM	Punjab vs Rajasthan	Mohali
Friday 30 May
8:00 PM	1st Semi-final	Mumbai
Saturday 31 May
8:00 PM	2nd Semi-final	Mumbai
Sunday 1 June
8:00 PM	Final	Mumbai

Tickets and more information online at:

Matches in Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata & Mohali - http://www.ticketpro.in/ipl/buy_tickets.html
Matches in Mumbai & Delhi - http://www.kyazoonga.com/
Matches in Hyderabad - http://s1.deccanchargers.com/
Matches in Chennai - http://www.chennaisuperkings.com/ticket/SeasonIndex.aspx

If anyone of you reading this wants to catch any of the matches here in Mumbai, drop in at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=14908748097 and RSVP and we could catch up at the venue.

Cheers! Any may the best team win! (but of course Mumbai ;-)

So how different are we anyways?-The Climax!

2008-04-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Not much to look into here except the 'None Listed' tab. This can be explained by a couple of reasons: a) the person is neither of them, b) he is a stalker (its almost always a 'he'!, c) its a 'she' and she doesn't want 'b)' on her tail, d) the person forgot to update this detail in the profile page, or d) the person created a Facebook profile solely on someone's suggestion and really doesn't use it that often.

Note: There is a percentage of those listed as 'Female' who are, in all probability, those with waay too much facial hair for a girl. I am discounting them from this analysis (it's my blog alrite!)

Whatever the reasons, for the purpose of analysis, I shall assume that 66% of those without their sex listed in the India and Pakistan networks are girls and 34% boys. While for the NY network, I would assume a 50-50 split (simply because I think girls in India are a little more scared 'cause we desis are pretty good at stalking!).

Taking these ratios into account, the Male/Female split comes up as follows.

Well, no surprises there. Slightly higher percentage of males vs. females in India and Pakistan and an almost equal split in NY. Good to know that there are more women on these social networks than one is led to believe.

And finally, to the most interesting part! Ok, 'None Listed' - this is an interesting scenario. Either a guy who is in a relationship (and doesn't want to be in it!) wants others to think he is single (and he obviously cannot do that in an obvious sorta manner 'cause then he will get none for a long time) so that he can get some on the side :-P Or he is single and wants someone to think he is in a relationship (either he is trying to make his ex feel jealous or maybe because he hasn't told his girlfriend that he has broken up with her!). And this works both for guy and girl.

Now look the stats once again. Man! almost half of them are one of the above! Sic! So basically 85% (None Listed+Single) of those in the India network are either a) Single, or b) In a relationship but want to be single (yeah, girls are like glue!), or c) In a relationship and are aiming for polygamy! 85%! That's huge! Btw, this figure is only 73% for NY -> Inference: There is more love in NY than Mumbai :-( Either that or we guys in India are really what women think we are - pigs! ;-)

Aside: I am worried for the 1% who are in an open-relationship in Pakistan!

So how different are we anyways?-Part II

2008-04-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Alrite! Let's continue.

Ok, first of all, absolutely no regional programs in the India and Pakistan lists. Not even something on MTV! It could be that MTV is more for the surfing kind of viewer who catches a song on it between flipping channels but nonetheless, MTV and Channel V have been trying hard over the last couple of years to come up with specific programs viz., Roadies, Campus Star, India's Hottest, etc. Even so.....Also, 9 out of 10 top favourites in the India list are aired on Star World. No place for AXN (except for 24), Zee Cafe, Zee Studio, BBC Entertainment,et al. Guess, that's the effect of Rupert Murdoch's reach and foothold in international programming. Star guys should be pretty happy about this.

While there isn't a clear match amongst all three segments, I see substantial overlap in each pair - 5 between India and NY, 6 between India and Pakistan. Coupled with the absence of regional programming, I would say people in India are watching almost the same stuff those in the US are. And liking it as well! In spite of 200 odd channels in India and 500 odd channels in the US, guess we all end up watching the same programmes. Interesting!

Btw, 'House' will have to top my list of favourite t.v shows. :-)

Ok, let me point out at the beginning that I am a little skeptical of this list. Simply because when it comes to books, a lot of people would want to read a particular book or would like others to think that they 've read a particular book but never do. And these books still end up in their favourite books list. Case in point - LOTR and The Godfather.

Notice the presence of religion in the Pakistan (Quran) list and NY list (Bible) but none in the India list. Is this because we lack this form of literature. No. i believe this is because growing up, we don't feel the need to read them either because our teachers told us or our parents told us or society told us. We are almost never exposed to them (more so today than yesterday). Many parents in the US go to church every Sunday and many of them take (or drag) their kids along. Parents in India these days would rather their kids spent time reading Dan Brown than the Bhagavad Gita. Hollywood references Bible quite a bit (direct quotes, dialogue, or its philosophy or even just the mention of the name). And Pakistan's religious bearing in society doesn't need to be elaborated upon. In India, we have no environmental references.

India and Pakistan lists contain books a majority of which have been published in the last 6-8 years. In comparision, 'The Great Gatsby' was first published in 1925! George Orwell's '1984', made famous by the Apple ad, was first published in 1949!

In small measure but nonetheless, the India list contains two books - Shantaram and Five Point Someone that have either been written by Indians or written on India or both. Mohsin Hamid's beautifully written 'Moth Smoke' finds a mention in the Pakistan list. Glad to know that people in the sub-continent are beginning to enjoy and appreciate the 'local fare' and I think we will be seeing a lot more of these going forward as people in India and Pakistan begin to look outside and at the same time, look inside from the outside.

So how different are we anyways?-Part I

2008-04-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Facebook has a feature which lets you view certain tastes and preferences collectively of members in a network as well as pieces of a collective profile.

Was playing around with it and pulled out some stats on members within 3 specific networks - India, Pakistan & New York (well, they didn't have USA!)

Let me present these stats in comparision and also my comments.
(Legend: a. Orange colour to indicate matches between 'India' and 'Pakistan'
b. Green colour to indicate matches between all three networks (India, Pakistan & NY)
c. Yellow colour to indicate differences between 'India' and 'NY' in one section.)

(Membership Details: India (632,875), Pakistan (158,367) & NY (861,425))

Clearly, the subcontinent and NY listen to completely different music. Haven't channels like VH1 and MTV tried enough to feed us new music? Why isn't it working? Why does it look like the music scene in India (and Pakistan) is stuck in the 80s and the 90s with Metallica, Pink Floyd, etc? Or is mention of these names clearly due to peer pressure?

Actually, thinking about it, I think VH1 and MTV are doing a decent job dishing out the latest that side of the Pacific but I guess we just don't fancy that stuff enough to become a fan. It's almost like we are one generation behind the Yankees on this.

And clearly, India and Pakistan listen to the same music! (Err...Creed? Really?)

One interesting thing to note in the table above is the overwhelming presence of 'classics' in the NY list (Scarface, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, etc) while the subcontinent lists veer more towards contemporary cinema (Blood Diamond, Departed, RdB, 300). It's almost like the Yankees list their all-time favourites to the question 'Favourite Movies' while we list the ones we saw last week! Do we really not have any classic favourites?

Ok, this is too generic so there is bound to be substantial overlap between any pair of lists. Even so, take a look at the odd ones out. What comes to your mind? BORING!! Shopping? Art? Cooking? REALLY?

But then again, Indians are smart enough to list 'Sports' as one of their Top Interests and then go on to list Cricket & Football too as their other interests! Duh.

.....to be continued

Note:
1. When I say 'India' or 'Pakistan' above, I refer to the collective identity of the members of these networks on Facebook. And not to the countries or their people as a whole.

My lovely pigeons!

2008-04-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Yello everyone! How you doin'! Btw, since my blog revamp, I have been inundated with requests from junta asking me to do the same to their blogs. I'd love to. But it's gonna take at least 2 coffees and one dinner for it :-)

The window sill in our drawing room is one nesting ground for pigeons that are so common in Mumbai. This sill offers the perfect setting in terms of cover from natural elements and thanks to the variety of plants my mom grows over there, a nice camouflage from other birds. And thanks to my dad's affection towards them, our window-sill has gained quite a reputation amongst the winged community!

And for the last couple of weeks, there's been a new guest here. It settled itself comfortably in one of the flower-pots and has pretty much not moved since. Every evening, my dad comes home from office " and spends a couple of minutes feeding this pigeon, giving it water and all. And the pigeon likes all the attention and care from my dad. But should I try to show it the same affection, man it comes down on me like Satan! I go even a couple of feet near it and it gets pretty angry! I am sure it a girl-pigeon. *sigh*

The pigeon gave birth to two little pigeons (what do you call a baby pigeon anyways?) last week. And they are awesome!

In spite of pretty good foliage, this mom and kiddo pigeons are exposed to the rest of the pigeons and crows during the day looking for a quick bite. And every couple of weeks, I am entrusted the responsibility of taking an injured pigeon from our window-sill to a animal-care shelter near our home. A couple of days ago, I came home during the day to see the mom pigeon battling a group of almost 7 crows. And what a sight it was! It was waaar! One pigeon taking on 7 hungry crows baying for blood. Man, respect! I had to run towards the crows with my battle-cry to get them to flee. Some might say that this sort of a thing is a natural process of evolution and that I shouldn't intervene. Maybe, but I am not gonna let a pigeon die in front of me. Not on my watch.

"When animals try to kill each other, we call it evolution. When humans try to kill each other, we call it democracy."

Adios my friend!

2008-04-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

It was September 2006. I was at the Mumbai airport waiting to catch a flight to the UK. The flight had been delayed and so I went looking for something to do (after I ran out of battery on my phone talking to someone :-) I see a bookstore in the lobby and pop in to take a look. It's an eight hour flight to the UK and I am not carrying anything to entertain me. I start looking at some paperbacks thinking of picking one up for the journey. After flipping though some, I think I was pretty much decided on a Gabriel García Márquez. Don't remember which one but the blurb looked interesting. Was about to take it over to the checkout counter when a stranger behind me quipped, "I really wouldn't recommend that". I turn around to see a well dressed bespectacled man in his early thirties holding a briefcase in one hand and coffee in the other.

I was still trying to figure out if he was, in fact, addressing me when he reaches out to the book shelf in front of me and picks out this orange coloured tome of a book! It looked like it could easily run into a thousand pages if not more and I generally try to evade such volumes with the expectation of sheer dry prose within them. However, he continued, "You should read this one". Now, I don't normally read books recommended by strangers at airports but for some strange reason, I felt as if he knew what I like. And so I walked out of the store 5 minutes later lighter by around thousand bucks and heavier by around a kilo!

I boarded the flight and was planning to dive into the book when this cute girl came and sat down next to me. Turns out, she was going to the UK too (and the flight was going to the UK too!) and as we start chatting, also turns out she is close friends with a friend of mine. So I slid the book back in my backpack and spent the next 8 hours chatting away with an incredibly beautiful woman!

Ok, I am digressing here! About the third or the fourth night I spend in the UK, I am clearing out my backpack when I see this book again and decide I might as well give it a fair chance before dubbing it, "sheer dry prose". I started reading it at around 11 in the evening and I read through the night! And I would spend the next couple of weeks trying to squeeze in every minute I could spare between work, pubs and everything else just to continue reading the book. This book was unlike any other I had ever read! And that book was "Shantaram".

'Shantaram' has been one of the most influential books in my life not so much for the might interesting life 'Linbaba' spends in it but for the Gregory Robert's philosophy of life, love and the universe interspersed through the book both in the form of his discussions with Khaderbhai and his own monologues within his head.

Anyway, this post is not about the book or what it did to me. I am sure enough number of people have waxed eloquent and I would love to share my opinion with you over a cuppa coffee. This post is to bid adieu to Gregory Roberts as he leaves the shores of India for once and for all. It is mentioned that he will be visiting Mumbai regularly over the next couple of years as he spends time creating his story in celluloid.

But I would sure miss the feeling of living in the same city as Gregory, a city where 'Linbaba' experienced a beauty and a darkness that very few of us get/choose to.

Adios Gregory.

Social Bookmarking in Blogger (Technology is cruel!)

2008-04-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so I decided to pimp out my blog a little and though I'd add Social Bookmarking links so that people could 'Digg' my posts so that others could 'StumbleUpon' them etc (oh, I am so clever!). So I start looking for some widgets to easily add to my blog template and realize there aren't that many out there. And the one that I found let me add the widget to the blog as a whole and not to each post. Now, why would someone want others to bookmark his/her blog for cryin' out loud! .......

So then I started looking at XML code available online for inserting these buttons onto my blog and it's insane! There is no one single instance of this code on the web that works! Either the parsing is incorrect or .png files are not tracked right or in some cases, I couldn't even understand what the problem was!

So finally, I decided to write some code myself for inserting these buttons in your Blogger blog (remember, this will not work in Wordpress. Actually, Digg has a ready widget for WP.)

Simple steps to pimping out your blog:

a. Download the .txt file. I assure you its the XML code and nothing but the code.
b. Open your Blogger account dashboard -> Click on 'Layout' -> Click on 'Edit HTML'. This will take you to the XML code of your blog template.
c. Click on 'Expand Widget Templates' right above the XML code. This basically expands all the widgets' code.
d. Find the text - "......clear for photos floats" (without the quotes) (there will be only one instance of it). How do you do this? Well, press Ctrl+F -> this will bring up the 'Find' option -> type "floats" (without the quotes) and press enter -> you will find the line of code.
e. Now once you have found the above line of code, open the .txt file that you downloaded and copy the entire text in that file. Just press Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+C.
f. Now go the Blogger XML code and paste this code on the next line right after "......clear for photos floats"
g. Click on 'Save Template' and you are done!

Entrepreneur is not one of them... :-(

2008-04-03T02:13:00.000-07:00

Came across this link that tells you what your ideal career is. Tried it and following are my ideal career choices:

Architect
Artist
Business strategist
College professor
Computer programmer
Mathematician
Neurologist
Philosopher
Photographer
Video game developer

Already 'am - Business Strategist, Mathematician, Philosopher :-)

Tryin' to be - Artist, Photographer

Would love to be - Video-game Developer, Architect, College Professor

No interest in becomin' - Computer Progrmmer

Huh? - Neurologist

Not how to get out of 'em but rather get on with 'em...

2008-03-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was out over the past weekend with some friends. Had gone over to a pub, some 6 of us. And we were havin' a pretty good time when, as it happens so often (or is it only with us?!), some random guy at the bar ticked off a friend of mine who got annoyed et al. Anyways, I was standing right next to my friend and figured it wasn't worth ruining a perfectly nice evening so I went in and broke them up. We went on partying till about 1 in the night and decided to head back.

So we exit the pub and we see the same guy hanging out near (I think) his car with a couple of his friends. It looked like he was pretty high and was looking for trouble. We start walking towards our cars when he comes up behind us mouthing some 'maa-behen" stuff. I walk up to him to try and calm him down and get some sense into him but apparently, my friend had ruined his game with some girl at the pub and he wasn't too happy about it. Blah blah...comin' down to it, I sent the girls and the rest home and stayed back with my friend for what was about to become a fight.......

Now, unfortunately or otherwise, I have witnessed some number of these brawls and thinking about last week’s incident, saw some basics that could be put to very good use:

a. Relax: I know it's easier said than done but no point tensing up and losing all that energy even before the fight begins. Clench when required only.

b. Use your head: Most of the brawls I have been witness to were decided right when the first blow landed from either side. That first blow makes it very evident as to who in the fight is using his head. The limbs are only for execution. Head prepares strategy (some tips below!).

c. Retain strong footing: I can't begin to count the number of times one of the guys in the brawl loses his balance and falls over and then it denigrates into just a lot of hands and legs being thrown around. It is absolutely vital to remain evenly balanced on both legs when in base mode (right before an attack). If you are gonna be tripping, that's all you are gonna be focussed on while the other guy beats the daylights outta you!

d. Keep moving: A stationary target is ripe for the pickin'. Keep moving. This not only forces the opponent to dedicate an amount of his brain power to tracking your physical location and alignment leaving him with that much less for planning an attack but also forces him to modify his attack pattern based on your changing location.

e. Going in for the kill: A lot of guys I have seen do all of the above but right when the opponent is close to being knocked out - back off! Don't know if it is an involuntary human instinct or something else but it only gives the opponent time to gain a second wind and actually come back harder (‘cause this time, he’s fightin’ with only his heart!). When you see the opponent about to go down, make sure he does.

Some tips:i. Taller opponent: Make him come to you. Move inside and take away reach. Hit and move and repeat.

ii. Bulkier opponent: Make him punch as much air as you can. Tire him out.

iii. Rusher: Never step back. Step in his direction quickly and side-step. Bring home the lower jab.

Ok, before you start whispering, I do not encourage violence in any form or getting into pub-brawls et al. I am sure many of you know me as the nice, funny guy (which I am!...I think). But I also believe that when the other person is looking for a fight and a) there's no way of getting out of it, or b) there's a strong enough reason to settle it; then you do what you gotta do.

But only to make a point. Not to injure seriously.

Err....Did you say 'Black & White'? I see gray......

2008-03-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Saw 'Black & White' today.

a. Script: It's like an idle man's rhetoric. It like someone asked Subhash Ghai to talk about terrorism and jihad and he just went rambling on for 2 hours. 0.5/10

b. Casting: While Subhash Ghai must have clearly wanted Anil Kapoor to play the role that he did, I don't think he or the ADs paid any attention to the rest of the casting. Right from the terrorist (Anubhav Sinha) to the one-scene police officer. The result is you are left squirming in the seats thanks to inept performances by the rest of the cast (with the exception of Shefali Shah)...... The trick about being an actor is not about being good when the camera is facing him/her but when he/she is the background in the scene. 3.5/10

c. Screenplay: The director is confused. And it shows. 2/10

d. Background Score + Music: I don't understand this fad for inserting musicians into the screenplay of the movie. I've seen it done once before (Life in a Metro) and I saw it in 'B&W' and I just don't understand why. The less I say, the better. Hindi movies, IMHO, are way behind foreign movies when it comes to utilizing the aural space available between dialogue. 2/10

e. Props: I find it funny that Hindi movie directors still try to recreate what a terrorist might be working on his computer when he is planning an attack. Why in heaven would a terrorist go through the pain of creating a simulation and then watching it over and over!? 0.5/10

Ok, I could go on but let me stop. All I would like to say is the topic of terrorism or jihad is a very serious and sensitive topic and I did not appreciate Mr. Ghai toying around with it.

The trek up Gunnbjorn Field.

2008-02-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

"When your soul is ripped apart and your spirit is all that is left, it is easy to roll over and give up. It's about the choice you make."

"To those who understand, explanation is unnecessary. To those who don't, it's impossible."

(Ian Wright)

Hey Hey My My....

2007-09-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

"Society is a vehicle for earthly heroism....Man transcends death by finding meaning for his life....It is the burning desire for the creature to count...What man really fears is not so much extinction, but extinction with insignificance......Ritual is a technique for giving life. His sense of self worth is constituted symbolically, his cherished narcissism feeds on symbols, on an abstract idea of his own worth. Man's natural yearning can be fed limitlessly in the domain of symbols. Men fashion unfreedom [a large measure of conformity] as a bribe for self-perpetuation."

- Ernest Becker

Encryption Algorithm

2007-08-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was toying around when I came up with what I believe to be a new algorithm to encryption. Reproduced below is a message encrypted using this algorithm. Give it a crack and let me know!

TRIHENEIVFGEONSTPTMRIEOONM
NTOBONAAFYRRCDILODEAPSRRAE
OLDPBAOYIBOCAFINLCKOITATLNA
LEWYDHOSOWUBACSRDIYEDAFIBG

Cheers!

:-) :-(

2007-08-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hurdy Gurdy Man.

2007-07-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Why is it that some movies get me? And I mean get me hook, line and sinker? And a very tiny few of them? I am not a movie buff. But that's not to say I don't watch as many movies as the average guy does (actually, I do watch a lil more but just because I have an unlimited internet connection to d/l the choicest of movies :-)

But why is it that those few few movies get me? By the end of when I watch such movies, I go hyper! Not hyper in the sense of jumping around on a pogo stick but hyper mentally. I think more and surprisingly seem to think more clearly at the same time after I have seen such a movie. What is more surprising, the people that I watch such movies with come out of the theatre with a "well, it wasn't as great as I expected it to be" kind of look on their faces. I mean, don't they get it? Or 'am I the odd one out? I dont know. But people here in Mumbai are going crazy over the recently released Hindi remake of 'Hitch'. The title song is on everyone's lips. I dont get it. I dont want to get it.

I just finished watching a movie. It's 8 in the morning here and I can't seem to sleep. Just tried for a couple of minutes but my minds 'all-wander'. This movie ranks alongside other great movies in my Top 20 list. And here's why I like it so much.

a. Remember when we were kids, we used to read so many stories? And remember how all those stories had an ending. When we were tiny toddlers, almost all those endings were the "and they lived happily ever after" type. And as we grew older, we came across endings which were not necesarily happy but the story still had an ending. So how is it possible for a person to direct a movie and resist the temptation to put an 'ending' into it? Where does that come from? Don't people expect endings to movies? Is it just trying to be different from the rest of the film-makers or is it such devotion to the original concept that nothing sways it?

Now I have written some scripts (most in my head, a couple on paper) where it never occurred to me that the script doesn't need to have an ''ending'. Probably the topic that I chose needed to have an ending and that's why all my scripts had an 'ending'. Or probably I have never thought about the possibility that a movie doesn't need to have an 'ending'. I have never looked at movie-making that way.

This movie could have had an ending. It was clear. But at the end of it, when the credits start rolling, you get a sense that you have just witnessed a slice of a lives of a group of people. That's it. The movie doesnt start with their being born or end with the main character dying. It just starts and it just ends. Leaves a lot to think, dont you think?

b. The tightness of the script. There have been many many other movies in this genre dealing with pretty much a similar concept which kind of have a wham-bam beginning, go tepid in the middle and somehow build up to a climax towards the end. But this movie is tight from the word go till the very end. How does a scriptwriter do that? It probably goes hand-in-hand with a). When the script-writer is clear the script doesn't have an ending, it probably becomes easier to focus on each scene - by itself, for itself, in itself - instead of trying to move the story forward. Wow!

c. The casting. Brilliant. Ok, let me rephrase that to 'acting'. Because I dont think it was more about choosing the right actors to play the various roles. It was about what they did with those characters. It is true what they say - "its harder to keep a straight face than act an emotion while in front of the camera". And these actors have displayed such nuances in their display, such subtle variations....I am blown.

d. Score. No comparision or offence meant, but I am yet to see a Hindi movie that employs background score in a manner that it is capable of. The opening song in this movie is a throwback to the hippie generation. To the time when Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin just began their ascendancy. When The Doors were at their prime. And the beauty is, it fits so well! And the song that begins just as the credits begin to roll.....sheer brilliance. You feel as if you are floating in air with the song playing somewhere in the background and the movie playing itself over and over again in your head. That's what a good score does.

There are 10 more points that I could elaborate upon. Maybe laters.

I dont know. I wonder why the Hindi film industry cannot make a movie that even resembles something like this. Its not about topics. There are, I believe, topics just like these everywhere around us here in this country. And I don't think its about actors. And I dont think I am too westernized and appreciate only stuff from halfway around the world. I am sure there are enough people in this country with similar sensibilities as mine. And we would all love to watch a movie like the one I just saw in Hindi. Aah well! I guess I am westernized beyond repair.

Anyways, go enjoy your movie watching experience (Hindi, English, Kannada...any) and if you ask for my opinion, I think the title track to the Hindi remake of 'Hitch' is one of the most disgusting pieces of music I have ever heard.

And I apologize for not revealing the name of the movie. 'Cause I kinda felt there would be some spoilers in what I write and I didn't want to ruin it for you guys (I have received enough hate for revealing the ending of Harry Potter's latest book 3 minutes after its release in India!). I could have put up a bold headline saying, 'Spoilers Ahead' but that would have meant you wouldn't have read this post which kinda defeats the purpose of this blog :-)

Adios!

What 'am I thinking? (Don't know)

2007-06-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Alrite. First things first. All those of you reading this, visit http://gnomedforever.blogspot.com/. It's a blog related to my business venture that two friends and myself maintain. Would love for you to check it up regularly for updates.

I am going to format the rest of this post as a series of statements/opinions not related to each other in any way simply because when I had a specific topic to post in mind, the brilliant Blogger.com team banned my blog for some reason and now that the blog is alive again, I can't think of any topic I might want to waste 300 words on :-)

-Loved the scene in the latest Rocky installment, the one in the last round of the final fight where Rocky gets knocked down and as he is trying to regain his bearings, he has this voice in his head that tells him that life is not about how hard you hit but about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward (for the exact dialogue he has with his son, visit http://zhyngoley.blogspot.com/). And then he gets up and the background score kicks in and his opponent takes a step back and looks at Rocky in awe as Rocky turns towards him. Easily the best couple of shots in the movie!! In that instant, Rocky's entire demeanour doesn't betray any anger, frustration, sadness....nothing. It is just the face of someone who is very very strong and he is back to stand toe-to-toe. Brilliant! (As an aside, I loved the movie. It's very hard to make sequels to such themes and still convince the audience that a sequel made sense but this one totally pulls it off. If you haven't yet, watch it).

-It's started raining in Mumbai. I dont like rains and I dont like Mumbai during rains. The city just becomes so dirty and congested (travel in a Churchgate 8:27 A.M local train from Andheri on a rainy morning in the general compartment and you will know what I am talking about) and generally very messy. Rain rain go away, little johnny wants to play.....

-Read a post on my friend's blog about some brands (viz., Nestle) launching a lot of TVCs where anyone who doesnt use the product/service is a dumbass (or) there exists a dumbass in the world and the day he starts using the product/service, he becomes the cool dude. Can name loads of such TVCs currently running including but not limited to Bru Cold Coffee, 7Up, Nestle, Maaza to name a few. Advertisers seem to think common junta are dumbfucks who can be told that a brand will make them non-dumbfucks and they will believe it. Will someone please tell these advertisers they are beginning to piss us off.

-Has anyone seen the campaign for 'Miss Skinny' Jeans by Lee? I dont think they have any TVCs running but I did manage to take a look at one of their hoardings here in Mumbai and I was appalled at the entire concept itself. The hoarding shows a hoarding of one of those MTV/Channel V VJs (dont remember the name) posing provocatively in a pair of 'Miss Skinny' jeans while an over-weight woman keeps gazing at the hoarding and the tag-line goes "Not for the masses"!!! What were they thinking? I wont be surprised if someone just walks into the Lee office one day and bitch slaps the marketing head. They deserve it.

-Was going through a now defunct blog of mine that I had started to post my thoughts on advertising and marketing and came across my posts on the 'Axeland' campaign that hit Indian shores last year. Go through it (I quite liked it :-) http://www.whosoldme.blogspot.com/

Adios. See you when I see you.

House M.D

2007-04-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.kfcplainfield.com/sound/housemd.mp3

Giramar!

2007-03-05T06:47:00.000-08:00

You may find it amusing to know that I, like David Ogilvy, have never learned the formal rules of grammar. I learned to write by reading obsessively at an early age, but when it came time to learn the “rules,” I tuned out. If you show me an incorrect sentence, I can fix it, but if I need to know the technical reason why it was wrong in the first place, I go ask my girl friend.

Total time-pass!

2007-01-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

http://linerider.com/

try drawing many intersecting lines. hajaar fun! :-)

Of right and wrong....

2007-01-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

There are only two kinds of people…..

And the second kind is very rare. Allow me to begin from the beginning. My contention is this – we all know what right and wrong is. At least at the non-meta physical level. We all know which is the right thing to do and which is not in our daily relatively normal lives. We know stealing is wrong. We know being fair is right and all that. Where relativity creeps in is in not in our interpretation of the code but our sincerity in following it.

Consider this; a person who works in an office receives his pay slip for the month. As he is going through it, he notices that there has been a substantial amount of money that has been credited to his account, much over and above his normal monthly wage. He tries to understand why through informal chats with his colleagues (to see if they too have received the ‘bonus’). Turns out no. He has an informal chat with his boss to find out if he has recommended some bonus (very unlikely with me :-) without revealing the truth. Turns out no. After all the possibilities have been exhausted, he realizes that it is an accounting error and that some money that needed to be paid to some vendor (maybe the CEO) accidentally ended up in his account. What does this guy do now?

He could either flag it to the account department in his office and find out if it is rightfully his or if it is a mistake. Or he could sit quiet and wait to see if the account guys realize their mistake and if they don’t, move on with the extra money and never talk about it.

To me, this is a question of right and wrong. One might argue that a)the guy deserved the extra money he’s got ‘cause he has been working very hard, b)corporations are suckers anyway and a little bite out of their money wont hurt anyone etc. But to me, this is a question of right and wrong. And here’s the caveat: the guy knows this is a question of right and wrong. We all do. He knows one course of action is right and the other is wrong. But what is his choice going to be?

I believe with a majority of us (including me maybe), it depends, as I said, on our sincerity in following the code of right and wrong. And what determines our level of sincerity? The stakes. Yes, the stakes on the table. The stakes to following either of the courses. And in this case, the stakes are clear. If the guy keeps quiet: a) he gets to keep the money, b) if the accounts guys realize their mistake, he can always say he was not aware of it and he is clear of any wrong-doing. Heck, he can even score some brownie points with the account guys by taking an active interest in resolving the issue. Why? Because his position has now been revealed.

But what if the guy flags it off to the accounts guys? He walks over to them and says, “Look guys, there is this huge credit in my account by the company and I have a feeling it is a mistake.” The account guys will pore over it and if it turns out that there in fact, has been a mistake, the extra money is taken away from him. And what did this guy gain by it? The goodwill and high regard from the account guys? Heck, he could organize a birthday party (at office expense, of course) for one of the guys in the accounts department and garner the same goodwill!

So what are the stakes here: give the money away, be poorer by that much and gain some goodwill. Or keep quiet and if they never find out, you are richer by that much. It’s clear.

It’s a question of stakes. Consider this scenario: you walk into a department store and buy something. You go to the cashier and give him some money. He gives you the goods and the change. You count it and realize he has given you more than he should. What do you do now? You can either keep the extra money and be richer by one rupee or you could give it back and gain his goodwill. These are the stakes here. I believe as many people will return the money as they will keep it. While I believe those who keep it are just plain greedy and they will keep anything that comes for free, let’s focus on those who return that extra rupee. They didn’t have to give it back. The cashier would have never found out he had given this specific person extra money (unless he/she has some hi-fi billing system which none do). So there is not ill-will generated by keeping it. But what if he returns the extra money? Chances are the cashier will be very happy (‘cause for most of them, a single rupee is very valuable), he will treat you very nicely the next time you walk into the store, he will double-bag your goods and chances are, the others standing behind you in line when you returned the money will think very highly of you! But that’s not the point. The point is that keeping the extra money gives you nothing (not even a cutting-chai in Mumbai) and returning it gives you something. The stakes sweetheart. The stakes.

Reader’s Digest did this thing a lot time ago where their crew would drop wallets in public locations and see whether the person who picked it up returned it to the address mentioned in the wallet or not. While it did generate a lot of publicity, it’s faulty. And the reason is this. Picture yourself walking down a busy street. You see a wallet lying on the pavement in front of you. You pick it up and look around (mostly to check if anyone’s noticed your picking it up). As I said, these wallets were dropped in busy locations. So if you picked up a wallet from the pavement, there is a very high probability at least one person must have noticed you doing it. Now what do you do? You can either put it in your pocked and walk on evoking a strong current of ill-will from the person who saw you, or you could check the address in it and try returning it and appear righteous. Most of us will choose the second option. Not because the money in the wallet isn’t attractive enough. But because the self-esteem and the respect of the people around you (who saw you picking it up) is more important. These are the stakes here. Money Vs. Self-esteem. And for most of us (generalizing again), self-esteem and respect of peers is more important than money (especially when it’s only a couple of hundred rupees). Therefore, the whole effort, in my opinion, was an exercise in futility. Though it was close enough, it wasn’t perfect towards classifying the average person’s honesty in a given country (that’s how the results were ranked). Reader’s Digest should have instead considered the following alternatives: a) drop the wallet on a deserted street where one person walks by every ten minutes, b) drop a cashier’s cheque for a million rupees instead of a couple of hundred. Response to these scenarios would have been closer to the truth.

My point is this. We all know what right and wrong is. In every situation, we all do. And we choose the course of action based on, and only on, the stakes on the table. Nothing else. Let’s accept it, almost all of us would keep the extra money the company pays in the first example.

Which is so many movies are made. Movies portray what we would like to be, not what we are. Most of them anyway. Movies show the hero being the good guy, fighting injustice, being fair and honest and all that because, we as humanity (and I am generalizing to a huge extent here) are not. Which is why in a movie (‘Man of the Year’), Robin Williams gives up his presidential post when he realizes that the manner in which he was elected was faulty. If everyone did that, a movie wouldn’t be made on that subject now, would it? People don’t do that in real life. Need proof? Florida State was it?

Yes, there are some people who not only know what is right and wrong but also follow it often with considerable loss, material or otherwise. My respect to them.

Remember, it’s not the right or wrong that’s relative but our sincerity to it which is based on the stakes.

The poor soul in the first incident is me. Guess what choice I made :-)