Almost Imperfect

Something wrong...

2008-08-15T10:58:00.001+05:30

:D

From the legendary xkcd site.

Double Explore

2008-08-14T12:00:00.003+05:30

For those familiar with Flickr, you all know what an Explore means. Yesterday two of my photographs entered Explore. Check them out, and if you like them, there're widescreen versions for your desktops as well. Enjoy.

for you
Originally uploaded by recaptured
Widescreen wallpaper

show me your best game - HBW
Originally uploaded by recaptured
Widescreen wallpaper

I'm not a fanboy

2008-08-02T17:39:00.003+05:30

Yes you read it right.

Though I am a big fan and user of Mozilla, I am not a fanboy. Why do I say that? Well, because I went back to Firefox 2 today.

Though I use Thunderbird in an office full of Outlook, Entourage and Outlook Express users, though I was one of the millions who pledged and downloaded Firefox 3 on download day (and I have a certificate to show for it), it didn't work out for me. I had sort of grown fond of the improved address bar, and I simply love the improved zoom feature, but the basic reason I use Mozilla or GNU software was lacking in this release - it wasn't stable. FF3 crashed - everyday, some 10 times a day, on unfortunate moments. I tried searching online for the reason this would happen, and potential solutions. All I could gather was that there was a conflict between some Google software, and if this software is uninstalled and installed after FF3, the problem would go away. But surprise! I never used that Google software, so what would I uninstall in order to solve this problem?

Then came the second release of FF3, and I hoped that this would solve the issue, but nothing doing. FF3 kept crashing. And I could do nothing about it. To avoid using the "inherently evil" browser, I used Safari, and liked it. But I still kept missing FF - the plugins, greasemonkey, and zotero. So out goes FF3, and back it comes - FF2.

So what do I think went wrong? Mozilla, known for its superstable software and responsiveness to consumer feedback, released a piece of software that is unstable for quite a few users as I gather. Could it be because they gave in to hype-mania - of releasing a not-yet-stable software on a particular date and setting a record? Now where have I seen this before? Hint: it's a big company producing a software that is FF's biggest competition. Set deadline, create hype, rush to release without testing. And then release another version which still has the problem.

If I were a fanboy, I would have gone ahead and blamed myself, my computer for the problem and been heartbroken. But since I'm not one, I simply uninstall FF3 and start using FF2. And it's been working so far for me - I am writing this on FF2 (without the fear of it crashing midway :) ).

Till the time Mozilla comes up with a super stable release, which is its hallmark, I'm sticking with FF2 - only that I miss the zoom :(

Tagged!

2008-08-02T15:06:00.004+05:30

Seeing that Prasad had a tagged post and has included me on his list of whom he would tag, here is mine...

5 Software you use (Laptop)

iTunes/xmms
Safari/Firefox
Thunderbird
VLC
Photoshop/CorelDraw

5 Sites you hit

gmail.com
flickr.com
blogger.com
xkcd.com
presentationzen.com

5 Brands around you

Sony Ericsson
HP
Apple
Targus
Pepe/Giordano

5 People whom you would tag

Samsung phone ad

2008-07-26T11:40:00.006+05:30

While listening to a song 'roo-ba-roo' from Rang De Basanti on iTunes/HP laptop/iBall headphones, I hear a sound from the left and wonder who's standing next to me. And then I realise that it's a part of the track.

And then I remember the Aamir Khan spot for Samsung mobile phones - the one where he jumps around while listening to something on the headphones. And I wonder why Samsung, their agency and Aamir Khan (the perfectionist) is intent on selling a 'feature' that has been around for like decades now, and is dependent on the track rather than the hardware playing it. 3D surround sound effect on headphones in songs has been around since the times of Shaalimar (remember 'mera pyaar shaalimar'?) and has been used to good effect by the likes of R. D. Burman, A. R. Rahman, Jatin Lalit to good effect. Those who are connoisseurs of good music and understand and use sound equipment have enjoyed surround sound ever since the mono recording system gave way to stereophonic.

Heck, I can remember some tracks from some 10 years ago where the sound appeared to come from inside my head when I'd play them on a portable tape player and headphones.

So do you think that a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone or an Apple iPod would not give you the surround sound experience that Samsung claims to give? Or that the said Samsung phone would give these effects on even a flatly recorded track? Maybe a K. L. Saigal song?

I like the wheel on the phone Aamir models though.

Not Enough Faith

2008-07-18T14:34:00.003+05:30

Awesome comic from the Cectic folks. I wonder on how many people would intent be apparent.

Have a happy July!

2008-06-30T13:21:00.003+05:30

Here's a desktop calendar made out of one of my recent photographs - for the month of July.

Just click on the thumbnail below, right click on the big image that opens and click on "Set as Desktop Background..." (Firefox) or "Set as background" (Internet Explorer).

Stay on top for the coming month...

Courtesy the brilliant folks at bighugelabs & flickr

Truth

2008-06-25T12:21:00.001+05:30

Why do I feel a sense of deja-vu? :)

Choices

2008-06-25T11:35:00.003+05:30

Which do you think makes a better connect with you, or whom would you buy from?

We are your only choice
The only company selling blah-blah with blah-blah technology.
We are the only option if you want blah-blah on your blah-blah.
(In other words, if you want blah-blah and not choose us, you're doomed. Where will you go, eh?)

or

We appreciate your choice
We are equipped with blah-blah on our blah-blah, but we appreciate that you have a choice of going to other people but have chosen us.
We appreciate that you have chosen us amongst many others who are giving similar (not the same) offerings.
(In other words, we are better, because you chose us; The blah-blah on the offering might be just one of the reasons you did.)

Hellooooooo Hyderabad!

2008-06-22T09:40:00.001+05:30

This is my first time ever in Hyderabad and around 10 years since I last visited the southern part of India. Looks different, but everyone here can speak Hindi, albeit with the Hyderabadi flavour.

Google India - hacked?

2008-06-10T16:51:00.004+05:30

Enter www.google.co.in (or just .com if you're in India) in your browser's address bar. And you see this:
and then, this:

Has the online Almighty , Google fallen to Chinese/Japanese miscreants?

While I'm writing this, the problem remains. To still use Google, you can use the .co.uk and .com.au.

---
8.14PM IST: the problem seems to have been resolved, and Google India is working again.

Frankfinn & doing your own thing?

2008-06-09T16:16:00.003+05:30

See here, this:

A TV spot for Frankfinn air-hostess training institute. Well-made, well-executed, but it's a surprise everytime the ad ends, because apart from the last vignette there is nothing to indicate that it is talking about an air-hostess training institute.

Why are you talking about girls being themselves, not caring about the world, about their individuality, in an ad for an institute training girls for the stereotypical female profession?

Plus the brands that have been using the air-hostess aspiration on Indian television lately have been all the stereotypical female ones: fairness creams etc.

In my opinion, the entire spot fails to connect with the brand being advertised.

My take is that this ad will build recall, but not for the brand, but just for itself. I don't think that is what any marketer wants for her communication, or does she?

Do the gods use Powerpoint too?

2008-06-03T13:35:00.002+05:30

http://www.freethunk.net/jerry-mcmasters/meet-the-gods-7.php

enjoy :)

The Hare & The Tortoise - Rethink

2008-05-27T10:19:00.004+05:30

The tortoise did not win the race. The hare lost it. The tortoise is a winner only because his competitor was an idiot - who was complacent and slept off.

There is a take-away in the story. But it is not that “slow and steady wins the race”. It is that “no matter how skillful you are, never underestimate your competitor”, and “if slow and steady could win the race, think what fast and steady can do”.

If the hare had not slept off, the tortoise would not have been celebrated. Slow and steady wins the race only when fast and steady isn't around.

Who?

2008-05-22T10:13:00.002+05:30

For the last six months, I have been seeing TV spots by this one advertiser: V-Guard, who claims that this is a name you can trust.

Pretty tall claim for someone about whom I don't know anything - not what they make, not what they sell, not where they are from, not who the chairman/CEO is, not even an idea of the broad sector or field they are in. Since their ads have been on TV, they have not talked about any of these things once. All I see is "V-Guard: the name you can trust". Yeah, you wish.

Pretty clumsy way to be bit by the "build the brand, not sell the product" bug.

Most popular...

2008-05-20T17:06:00.004+05:30

So you're the biggest, friendliest, most exotic, most democratic, most aristocratic company selling the nicest, brightest, darkest, blackest, tastiest, nastiest, most effective, most stylish product in the fastest, loudest, most innovative, most unobtrusive, most traditional way. But are you the most popular company?

Well, I came across an advertisement of one company which claimed to be the most popular in its category. And if I'm not mistaken, the category is not a niche one either.

So how come if you're the most popular company in your category, you need to advertise, and advertise that you're the most popular, while I already know your competitor and I read your name for the first time in that advertisement of yours.

Bottomline is: do you think long and hard enough before framing and publishing your marketing communication? Does it make sense to you? Would it make sense to anyone who's reading it? Don't give me the faff about TG here - if your message is out there, it will be read, analyzed, criticized and ripped apart by anyone who sees it. Are you prepared for that?

Yes the public are idiots...

2008-05-14T12:01:00.005+05:30

I love Tata Sky. They keep making ads that I can keep writing about.

First they claimed to revolutionize home entertainment, never mind that what they are providing is just improved signal fidelity on what the local cable guy anyway has been providing us for decades now, with an ad depicting people throwing out every home entertainment device they had (including television sets??!!??). Then they thought that a man dressed in grass along with a Hrithik Roshan was a funny way to depict the public's affinity with cricket. Then it was the cartoons trying to bundle a Tata Sky box with a television set in an unbreakable bond. Never mind that those who threw out their TVs after seeing the first spot are still wondering where the picture appears on the new Tata Sky box they bought. Then it was the education campaign with the little Einstein spots - which was cute and made a good connect. And somewhere in between were the nice, simple and classy endorsements by the likes of Boman Irani and Kiron Kher - remember them standing on a stage in front of curtains reading a feedback letter in a microphone? Then came the 1500 /1499 kasamm se ad, which was hilarious and made an instant connect.

I thought they were improving. Then suddenly, we hear a jingle - "inke saath rahne ka raaz..." in an ad targetting family with choice-led togetherness (!!??!!) And after boring us with that irritating ad in a variety of lengths, they are back with the education focus. After that lengthy intro, let me describe the ad to you.

A kid who is happy to see bubbles, a ferris wheel and to get quite a handful of lollipops comes to share his glee with his father. In each case, the father connects the kid's activity with some facet of education - like "colors batao...", "ginke batao...", "shape batao...". Every time the kid gets a little disappointed and sad, and finally breaks out into tears.

A voiceover tells us all that kids should have fun in order to learn. Ergo, we should all take a Tata Sky to let our kids learn while having fun.

But I thought learning how to count was more fun if I was counting real soap bubbles rather than counting with a badly-designed interface with numbers in comic sans! :) And learning about shapes was more fun and done better with seeing shapes in real life. And that making the child learn in the real world is preferable to binding your child to the "idiot-box".

And anyways, the child in the ad was not crying because he found this way of learning wrong, but because he did not want to learn while he was having fun. So what are the odds that he would like to "learn" with the television? The "solution" proposed by the ad is not really a solution, it just transfers the problem from outdoors to indoors.

Thanks to Tata Sky for reminding us that the public are idiots...

Is Originality Dead?

2008-05-12T16:52:00.004+05:30

First we saw how Colgate is trying to position itself in a position that is already occupied by arch rival Oral-B. Then there was Havell's, who copied the idea of doorbells delivering shocks from Anchor. Then it was Samsung Guru and Idea on the tourist-guide-meets-foreigner-tourist-and-communicates-with-the-mobile-phone- in-a-special-way concept.

And today I noticed something. Not only did Tata Motors launch a vehicle named "Magic" (remember that Airtel's prepaid service has been called "Magic" ever since it acquired Spice's networks), but take a look at their identity, and then see Airtel Magic's identity.

Calvin: Self-check for me

2008-05-07T16:36:00.005+05:30

“The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure pure reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!” says Bill Waterson, through his immortal character Calvin.

I've seen quite a few blogs and quite a few reports, presentations, and even whole movies which fit in to the above. Was wondering if this blog also demonstrates this statement.

Does it?

Random

2008-04-28T21:35:00.002+05:30

Sitting in office. It's 9.30 in the night. I haven't phoned home to tell my roommates whether I'll be having dinner with them or not.

I'm longing to be home. Not here in Pune. Home in Calcutta.

I know this will pass. :)

Blah blah?

2008-04-24T12:43:00.004+05:30

You've seen the Headlines Today 'blah' ad, right? The one where they imitate other news channel shows with the people saying "blah blah..." ad inifinitum, implying that other 'typical' news channels of the day are doing nothing but blabbering on about nothing in particular, and then that Headlines Today is the refreshing channel which does not give you blah but substance?

Now can you tell me the number one blah news item of the season? Ofcourse it's the mighty WWE warrior Khali! World's envy India's pride, if I may borrow the line from Onida.

So what was the self-proclaimed blah channel doing, showing us a story about how Khali gave some Indian gifts to his opponent The Big Show, had dancers doing Bhangra in the ring and all that jazz to become friends with his opponent, and then how The Big Show hit him instead of being friendly, and then how Khali fell down senseless after just one blow?

Now what was the poor white man supposed to do in a wrestling ring? Hug his opponent and call off the fight, because they have become best buddies?

But I'm digressing. The real question is, if you want your target audience to believe your claim that you are a non-blah channel, then why is a blah item featuring on your waves?

Feeling Blue?

2008-04-21T14:19:00.003+05:30

Those of you who were in or around Bombay yesterday and were channel surfing on the radio must have noticed something strange. Red FM 93.5 was calling itself Blue FM 93.5 yesterday, and even their jingle was customized for Mumbai Indians, the IPL team representing Bombay.

Interesting. How many times has a media property changed their name to match their sponsors' message in the past? It was a buzz-generating tactic for only a day it seems. They don't seem to be planning to repeat this stunt during the future matches when the team would play.

But what is more interesting is that through the time that I was hearing that channel, there wasn't one commercial played between the songs or jingles. Apparently, Reliance had sponsored them enough for them to be able to just play songs, do the channel branding and the occasional soundbites about the game.

Like the possible options with the controversial London 2012 Olympics logo, Red used their own identity to carry a sponsor's message, and wove it into their programming as well. Smart move, not considering the probable damage to the channel's brand equity.

Sounds like a media planner's and programme manager's delight!

Job Reservations for Locals? WTF?

2008-04-19T17:29:00.007+05:30

Ok, so I am irreligious and apolitical. Which means that I have strong opinions against religions and their infights, and political ideologies and their mutual discrepancies. And though I am fairly vocal about the former online, I seldom write about the latter. Today I shall. This post is about political events, but please remember that my stand is not political at all.

While talking to friends during tea today, I heard about this news item (forgive me for not being a newspaper or news-in-general addict). Have you read what it says? Okay then.

When these leaders were saying that immigrants to Mumbai should not be allowed in any more because the infrastructure cannot bear the load of any more people, it was still making a little bit of sense. But reservations for localites? Are we really going back to Nazi ideals, the democratic-loophole way?

I remember a few weeks back Mr. Raj Thackeray had issued a statement that the other political leaders were not concerned with Biharis being killed in the North-East, because they are only concerned about money-pur (Mumbai) - the city of riches. The whole thing is wrong on so many levels - one is that just because people of a certain ethnicity are being harassed in some other part of the world gives anyone NO RIGHT to do the same to people of that ethnicity here. And then point to that other area and say "if you guys aren't bothered with what's happening there, why bother with what we're doing to you?". In what way are the MNS people better off than the terrorists of the North-East then?

The leaders of this ideology want to pressurize companies in to placing region-based reservation on jobs. Are you out of your mind sir? You're asking private companies to place reservations based on region, when they have not agreed to reservation based on caste & religion?

The funny thing I noticed is that the Thackerays have issues only with the working class and some celebrities. They do not seem to have trouble with the Ambanis, who are not Marathis. They do not have trouble with the Mumbai offices of the MNCs, whose executives are not even Indians, let alone Marathis. Are they against IAS, IPS and IFS posted in Maharashtra belonging to Bihar & UP as well? They do not have problems with Infosys offices (the Bangalore giant; is Mr. Narayan Murthy a Marathi maanus?) and Tata's multiple offices (the Tata conglomerate has roots in Jharkhand FYI). Are they not selectively targetting the money-less populace? The powerless junta? And in case of the celebrities, the people whose fame is not directly giving riches or employment to the localites?

Is not the MNS and Thackeray crusade against non-Marathis also biased, coloured and influenced by matters of money?

If Mumbai is being overburdened by the people moving in, why single out the people from Bihar & UP alone? Why not also ask the Tamilians, the Kannadigas, the Bengalis, the Punjabis, the Gujaratis, the Marwaris to stay out as well? More importantly, why not ask the Maharashtrians whose village is not in Mumbai itself stay out and stay in their own villages? If Bihar should develop a city like Mumbai, then shouldn't east Maharashtra develop another city like Mumbai also so that the natives of that area do not have to emigrate westward and burden the city? Is Mumbai being burdened selectively only because of people of a certain ethnicity, and not by the thousands of non-Mumbaikar Maharashtrians moving in every day? Oh, they 'own' the city, is it? Since when has a state's borders become more important than our country's? Does the Constitution not give every citizen the right to move, stay, work in any part of the country as he or she deems fit, and that no one has the right to prevent him or her from doing so?

And if you agree with me that in case of Mumbai being overburdened, even Maharashtrians from outside Mumbai should be prevented from coming in and those not belonging to Mumbai should be asked to leave, can anyone tell me which is the native village of the Thackerays? Is it Mumbai? :) After all, if it's ethnic cleansing you're after, why demarcate at state-level? Why not take it to district or village level? :)

Whew! With that off my chest, I can go back to my non-politics related blogs. Thank you for reading. Would love to see your opinions.

Oh and in case you are curious. I am a born Calcuttan (yes, I love the names Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Poona, Bangalore, and am of the firm opinion that the name of a place carries history, and its dwellers' memories along with it and should not be tampered for whims of politicians and regional fundamentalism, no matter what our politicians think), with family roots in Bihar. I do not go to my native place in Bihar anymore, because I do not find any reason to go there - almost all my family is in Calcutta & Bombay, and I do not find any reason to feel ashamed of either my connection with Bihar or the fact that the connection isn't strong enough anymore. I love Calcutta.I love Bombay. I have loved Delhi :) and I'm loving Poona. I am loving my experience of learning the local language and the funny situations that I get into when trying to speak Marathi with the locals. And I find that the people of Bombay and Poona are lovely and quite welcoming towards us "non-Marathis", just like the Bengalis are friendly and warm towards us "non-Bengalis". I don't see any reason the politicians should be allowed to take us, the people of India for a ride over such downright petty issues and cause turmoil amongst us.

I don't say this blog is best...

2008-04-16T09:58:00.005+05:30

There was a time when promoting your business meant saying out loud "We make the best stuff". But who would trust you when your competitor also said the same thing?

Then there was "We are the best makers of stuff". But who would trust you when your competitor also said the same thing? And isn't vanity a sin?

Then you hired someone famous to say "These blokes make the best stuff". But then people figured out that these famous chaps were paid to say this, and were lying.

Then you hired someone not so famous to say "These blokes make the best stuff", so that they do not look like highly paid famous people, but genuine users of stuff. But then people figured out that no matter who is saying this, they are paid. And were lying.

Now you say "We don't say we are the best makers of stuff. You (or 'Our Users') say." Aaah the smugness! The subdued, almost veiled, confidence! The assumption that the receiver of the message is such an ass that he would not get that the message is just twisted around - and the money that would have been spent on getting someone to say it is also saved. And I see it everywhere... not the big makers of stuff, just the small shops who sell stuff.

How long do you think it will last?

fire

2008-04-08T23:43:00.001+05:30

fire
Originally uploaded by recaptured

My most popular photograph on flickr till date. I posted it in the afternoon, and it has surpassed both "keys" and "sun god" in "interestingness".