Reblogged: The Art of Making Simple Things Complicated

Glimpses into Life: The Art of Making Simple Things Complicated

Blog moved to sammysthoughts.wordpress.com 

My name is Khan .... and u deserve it

There have been very few movies (especially Hindi) which have touched me enough to make me cry and "My name is Khan" is one of them. A movie with such a simple message "There are only 2 kinds of people in the world - Good or Bad" and a message not drilled into ur head by long speeches but by the adorable characterization of Rizwan Khan is simply amazing.
This movie also has a great similarity with the latest Marathi movie doing the film festival rounds "Harishchandrachi Factory" -- the similarity of Determination. In HF Dadasaheb Falke the first indian filmaker (Raja HArishchandra) a man of modest means is determined to make a movie,so strong ins the determination that he is undaunted by the fact that it requires 10,000 Rs just to travel to London to understand the art (in 1924 10,000 was equivalent to todays 3 lakhs) and more importantly undettered by the fact that his wife is expecting. Similarly in MNIK Rizwan dreams of speaking to the President irrespective of the odds. We may discount this as "it happens in movies" or actually learn that NO Dream is impossible provided we have the passion to pursue.
I have often heard from my friends that they want to start a business however not without quitiing what they have or maybe in 10 yrs "when they have money" or when they are a "bit stable". After watching both these movies i guess the real thing lacking is not money or stability but the passion and the readiness to bear the brunt which this passion brings.
For all those of you who have been holding back for a "muhurat" to start ur business or take the dace class or hit the gym --- go watch MNIK and HF --- maybe u will get inspired and it would ignite your passion!!!

BTW - after watching MNIK i believe

1. Shiv Sena must be made to watch the movie and they would clearly have no justification for the "Goondagiri" then
2. There were a lot of claims that Shahrukh did a publicity stunt at the airport recently and that his engagement with Shiv Sena is also to garner support -- MNIK doesnt need this cheap publicity.

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I closed my Facebook Account Today

I logged out of Facebook today for the last time -- I am off the "lay my life bare" phenomenon. Some people may gasp and consider this brash in the world of today which is all about being connected and others may feel my white hair are getting to my brains.
Let me clarify this is not a symbolic gesture or a launch against Social N/w in any manner. I simply didnt feel it was adding in any utility to my life and in fact it was getting a bit irritating. Here is an example - One of my friends recently commented that he intends to come back to India after 10 years in USA. Great!!! By the way this "Friend" is someone i havent spoken to in those 10 years and not because international calls were costly. Anyway good to know via Facebook that he is back, but then the continuous messages of all comments posted to this message were on my facebook from people i dont know!!!
When i open my Facebook page I have peoples horoscopes and photo's of completely unrelated people whom someone from my friend list may have commented. I also have zillion update on what stage and heroics my friends have completed in Mafia wars and Farmville -- though most of them would give a thousand reasons for not going for a drive to the countryside on a weekend ;-)
But the most imp reason for switching off was UTILITY. We all lead a busy life in real world and several new web tools have made life interesting. There are RSS feed readers which makes keeping track of news easier, various Firefox widgets which make browsing/ blogging easier but what has been the benefit of Facebook to me in the past 1 year? 
Reconnecting with old friends - well yes i did find some of my old school colleagues on Facebook - we said hi, how are u ?, exchanged nos. but thats it -- after that its back to Mafia wars and horoscope updates.
Making New Friends - The supposed utility of meeting new people and supporting new groups again didnt work for me and i think there are enough opportunities in real life to meet people.... not choosing who "seems" interesting based on "profile" but simply interacting and let the chemistry decide if u click. Anyways u never know if the Profile is what it says and people who would consider acquaintances on internet as "Friends" are unlikely to be my type anyways - Friendship is much more than being neighbors in Farmville.
Being part of groups - Havent been much successful here --more sucessful going to Mocha Cafe and be a part of the film club or joining a trekking group , going paragliding.
Being in touch with distant friends economically - Well with the international call rates being what they are i guess the monthly Broadband connection costs more than making an occassional call to the distant friends and then there is always Skype, Gchat etc -- well if u really want to be in tocuh that is.
Great games -- Duh!!!

The only utility i see is to stay in touch with my Fans -- that is if i were SRK and people would actually pay me to write blogs so that ad revenue monetization can happen (comeon u dont beleive that Celebrities actually write on blog themselves do u?)

So in this year of the Tiger (in Chinese new year) i take this leap to touch base with the real world and bid adieu to the virtual one atleast for some time till a great app comes along.

Gong Hei Fat Choi
(Happy new year in Cantonese)

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Some improvement at Mumbai Airport

It was a pleasant surprise that finally someone figured out the futility of the Swine Flu declaration form at Mumbai international airport. For the uninitiated whenever u land from an international flight there was a req to fill in a Swine Flu declaration form which asks various questions to determine if u could potentially have swine flu. You then get the form stamped from a medical officer at the airport before u can move out of immigration.
Brilliant prevention measure but the issue being that most of the times the MO stamped your form even without looking at you in the rush effectively defeating the purpose and only adding to the chaos in the small space.
However when i landed last night it was a relief that they finally have automated monitors for you to simply pass thru - No forms,no hindarance -- smooth passage.These monitors were first installed in (where else) - Singapore airport about a year back i guess and while late ultimately they have reached India.

BTW this sense of relief on smooth passage was short lived since as soon as u come out getting a pre-paid cab is a chaos in itself but thats for another time and blog

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The Next wave of Internet : Goodbye "FREE", Welcome - "Show me the Money"

The internet revolution largely has been built so far on three pillars -

1. Customize,
2. Information at finger tips and
3. Free

of which FREE has been the biggest phenomenon. Jog your memory and the biggest debates or "breaking news" bolstering the strength of Internet have been around FREE e.g. Skype, Napster, Torrents, Porn and more recently "justification for Twitter valuation when its FREE".
I remember till some time back there used to be this whole hype around how "internet" and digital medium will make paid models of "Real media" redundant and news papers will die / music industry will cringe and everything will be "ad-supported". Did that happen? To an extent it did but only till a tipping point where they realised advertisements cant support apps which require "customization" once u achieve a certain scale i.e. no. of users or GB of data transfer. So FREE was more of a luring element and NOT a phenomenon to Stay. Its becoming increasingly time consuming and difficult for an average netizen to download songs/ movies from internet for FREE- Yes the geeks or Torrents still exist but you need to be interested in doing a lot of R&D or be aware of virus threats and NOT be behind firewalls to do this. Wouldnt it be easier to download the same for 0.99 cents from itunes?
The Internet world is now moving to "Monetization" by starting to charge for "good" content. The new race is not to bring out as many apps for free so as to drive eyeballs and then earn advt. but rather the race (and long term winners) will be content aggregators who bring apps relevant enough for netizens to feel its utility and hence pay a small sum for it -- the money being made in volumes. So effectively its become a volume game based on "Quality content" with break-even points at millions of downloads. Look around you and all the companies you feel confident about in the internet world (read have black bottom-line) are the ones leveraging this model. E.g. The gaming companies, Amazon Kindle with its e-books, iTunes stores, GPS applications, Tutoring apps and even good porn sites :-)
I know there will be 2 questions asked - What about Google and what about user generated content?
OK firstly Google -- the Holy Grail and originator of FREE --
Today, Google announced a new program to let publishers limit the amount of paid content Google News users can access for free. And Rupert Murdoch endorsed Microsoft’s recently reported efforts to encourage publishers to “de-list” their content from Google through direct payments or other types of beneficial treatment on Bing.
Both these are indicators of Google also bending to the needs of Monetization. To me Google is the gatekeeper who makes money when the Lords behind the gates make money. So all "enabling tools" required to reach the right content/ apps will remain FREE and is googles domains e.g. Maps, mail, Search etc. Also Google will be a key element in enabling "Preview and Test" for most offerings, but once it gets u to the Pearly gates of content, entry depends on the ability of your wallet to spend. This is a marked diversion from prophecy some years back when Google was to emerge as the killer of Real world media and content.

Second, User generated content -- the argument there is simple - I wouldnt mind watching a Street play for FREE, if its crappy i can walk home but if i want to watch a quality play in a limited time i will go to Broadway based on reviews and buy my tickets. User generated content is for Leisurely wanting to experiment and so has / will continue to have its own space in this picture. It will always remain as a compliment to the real content - it will have its value as an Opinion medium via Social media, Gossip provider , news breaker but not analyzer, non-utility but interesting data provider, avenue provider to entrepreneurs to help them evolve as the next "money generating" company -- in effect the Street play platform to an artist aspiring to perform in Broadway.

So to me the war of FREE has ended and the war of "Relevant content" has begun - the war of Comcast buying NBC, the war of SONY Reader vs Kindle vying for rights to right books, the war of BING vs Google --- because remember behind the behemoth of content on internet are real people needing real salaries to eat real FOOD (& real cosmetics to look beautiful ;-))

Internet, New world, Mometization, google

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China vs India

Reproduced from Sujai Karampuri blog

There are scores of articles in every major newspaper and every major magazine comparing India with China on various economic progress indicators. There are even books written about Tiger of India pitted against Dragon of China. To those who base their opinions on such reports, articles and books, it looks as though India is posing a strong completion to China, when in fact every measurable economic indicator suggests that China is clearly leading India on all fronts. Moreover the gap between these two countries is only widening with each passing year. And yet, many Indian commentators continue to complacently believe that India has some edge somewhere when in fact none exists.

The tone of these reports and analysis comparing India with China suggest that India is actually inching towards China. That is not the case. In reality China is leaving behind India by a bigger margin every year. It is becoming tougher and tougher for India to catch up. In the last few years, Chinese have built the biggest dam on the planet, built the longest bridges, built the fastest cities, built their own planes, submarines, ships, magnetic trains, and even the highest railways while India continued to lay another layer of asphalt on its decrepit roads after each rainfall.

India is not even showing a promise of catching up. None of its policies suggest this. None of its initiatives give a glimmer of hope. Even the Indian industry is not thinking big. It is still content to play a small game.

Is English really India’s edge?

Indian commentators continue to tell us that all this China-leading-India comments are based in myth, because Indians have English which Chinese don’t have.

Is English really India’s edge? Only when India looks at itself as servicing the West using its BPOs then yes, English gives India the edge. However, if the competitor is bent on actually creating its own technology product industry to take on the West, does English still matter?
When was the last time a Japanese car company could not sell its cars because the makers were not good at English? When was the last time someone in Europe balked at buying a Sony Walkman because its makers couldn’t speak English? When it comes to China, how come their lack of good English not stop Huawei from becoming world #2 in telecom equipment? How come it did not stop Lenovo, Haier and ZTE from becoming leading global brands? Just to give a perspective to Indian readers – 2 telecom equipment companies of China, Huawei and ZTE put together made USD 30 Billion in 2008 while the entire IT-ITES industry of India put together made USD 58 Billion in 2008-09.

China is changing the rules of the games. It is taking on the West where the West has dominated so far, bringing the fight closer to the technology leaders, while India has conveniently told itself that it will not even play this game.

Indians are in self-denial. They foolishly believe everything Thomas Friedman tells them, and they are happy serving their European and American masters setting up BPOs, KPOs, LPOs, software services, helping them do their things in a cheap and cost-effective way, while Chinese are poised to take on these European and American masters head on. It’s as though the Chinese have completely overthrown their colonial inferiority complex.

For many years now, Indians gloated over the characterization that India is good at software services while China is good at manufacturing. This was a convenient characterization that only Indians believed because the books were written in English which only Indians could understand. Chinese blissfully unaware of what Friedman said were not constrained by this characterization and hence clearly violated all hierarchies.

Indians limited themselves to serving the West. When they looked in the mirror, they said, “I am an Indian. I am good at services. I should just stick to it”. That India is only good at software services became a cultural phenomenon with every major industry bigwig repeating it on various forums. Even Indian government fell into this trap where all incentives and subsidies were geared only to promote the software services companies. Go to a hardware park in India and compare it with a software park in India, you will recognize the step-motherly treatment meted out to the hardware companies.

India made no attempts at taking on China in manufacturing. Nor did they attempt to take on the West to go up the value chain to actually deliver technology and products. The Flat World theories told them that they can just concentrate on what they were good at, that is Software Services, KPOs, BPOs and LPOs, giving up on manufacturing forever thereby handing over the race on a silver platter to China, and giving up on technology products thereby continuing to serve the West.

China not only won the race in manufacturing and consolidated its position, it is now entering the technology product space, the domain held closely by the European, American and Japanese technology leaders. What more, it has started to beat these leaders at their own game. Huawei has recently won the contract to supply 3G equipment in Norway, the bastion of Nokia. While India made feeble attempts with C-DOT and ITI who are not even able to sell into BSNL, China has launched not one but two major telecom companies – Huawei and ZTE, that not only sells within their countries, they sell to BSNL also.

China vs. India

CK Prahlad in his closing comments at Nasscom Summit of February 2009 advised that Indian companies should foster more startups because they are the ones which bring vibrancy to the economy. His advice comes late, and even when it comes, it falls on deaf ears.
Infosys, TCS and Wipro, the giants of Indian software services which Thomas Friedman lauds, did not do much to sponsor or promote startups in India (barring few exceptions).
Their presence in India did not help any startup, except that many ex-employees went out and started companies on their own without any support or encouragement from these parent companies.

Meanwhile, China has launched extensive nationwide program to promote entrepreneurship in China. I was told that even a district head, equivalent to Indian District Collector, could invest up to half a million US dollars to a company that sets up shop in his district. Writing about China, a report says:

An analysis of documenting the tremendous growth of the Chinese entrepreneurial and cultural initiatives since the demise of Communist leader Mao Zedong reveals that this accounts for the Chinese economy’s double digit growth in the last couple of decades. [1]

It is clear to some countries that startups are essential for the growth in economy. Not so, thinks India. Indian has never believed in startups. They don’t think they add up to anything. The government is obsessed with giants because they look at them as employment provider – therefore the bigger the employer the better it is. Not a single major initiative has been taken in the last few years to promote startups in India. While the government boasts of loans to SMEs, when startups actually approach the banks, they feign ignorance of any such initiative.

All initiatives and decision making bodies in India are headed by people who have been good software services and therefore there is not a single policy that actually aids home grown brands, products and technologies. STPI still thinks that software is exported only as floppy, ftp or a CD. If you put that software in telecom equipment, a mobile handset, or a DVD player, then it does not recognize it as software and hence are not given the incentives. If Apple existed in India, there is not category for recognizing it. The prevailing mood is clear – you serve a foreign master you get the incentives; you try to become a master you don’t get any incentives.

Also, there are not many places a startup can raise funds in India. That’s why most startups continue to be family-owned or family-backed. First generation entrepreneurs find it impossible to raise money. The number of VC firms in India is limited while the government funds are small. Most government funds are small and therefore their mandate does not allow them to fund big ideas, while the miniscule few bigger size funds do not fund loss-making companies – which completely rules out startups.

China, on the other hand, is actively promoting startups through various forums and incentives. Though it is a communist country it hosts millions of entrepreneurs and VC firms which is aiding its economy.

China currently has over 200 million entrepreneurs and it houses 200 venture capital firms. The country accounts for 24.6% of the total entrepreneurship activities across the world, far ahead of Indian at 13.9% and the US at 14%, according to a survey by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

About 116 Chinese companies are listed on NASDAQ, as against 2568 US firms, Israel’s 63, and a handful from India, says the study. [1]

China is even popularizing entrepreneurship as a cultural attitude with various initiatives including TV programs.

…a Chinese reality TV show “Win in China” has received applications for entrepreneurial ventures from over 1,20,000 aspirants. Of these, 108 were chosen for prize money and working capital of $5 Million. [1]

Indians don’t know what to do. They are confused. They don’t know if they are socialist or capitalist. The reality is that they are clueless – they are neither capitalist nor socialist. China is both socialist and capitalist playing these two cards really well. The only floating hope for Indians has been their mastery of English. And the following observation should submerge that hope as well.

To give competition to India and other cost-effective English speaking countries like the Philippines, millions of Chinese students are learning English systematically. “China will become the largest English speaking geography in the world by the end of this year”, Compton added.

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Google on Internet in 5 years -- Comments?

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, interviewed at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Orlando 2009
i will add my comments soon but in the interim would like to listen what all of u out there feel

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Things to learn from Dogs

From my colleague Mark--- Simple and beautiful

Simple truths that my dogs have taught me:

►When loved ones come home, always run to greet them
►Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride
►Allow the experience of wind in your face to be pure
►Take naps
►Stretch before rising
►Run, romp, and play daily
►Thrive on attention and let people touch you
►Avoid biting when a simple growl will do
►On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass
►On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree
►When you're happy, wag your entire body
►Delight in the simple joy of a long walk
►Eat with gusto and enthusiasm ... stop when you have had enough
►Be loyal
►Never pretend to be something you're not
►If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it
►If someone's having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently
►Be always grateful for each new day

Saturday evening Musings

Just came back from London. Cool climate bustling streets very much like Mumbai or any other metro. Its not been my first time and neither my first foreign city. But something struck me about London this time. At any point of day or night u can find someone running on the road -- not necessarily the fitness freak sort of people - old people, young people, middle aged couples ---all sorts. Yeah yeah the climate is right its cool --- actually cold for a Mumbaite (12deg is time for 2 sweaters) --- but this is not about the fitness levels, this is not about running this is about "PERSONAL TIME".
I think we Indians (and even south east asians) are tuned to disrespect personal time. In one of my dealings i came to know irrespective of how good a job is people would eventually quit job if it entailed more than hour of travel time either direction -- Sounds ridiculous to a Mumbaite --- one hr is Heaven --- 2 hrs is average. Fussy Goras we would say. And this is exactly what i mean by dis-respect for Personal Time. We spend so much time travelling that by the time we reach home we have no energy for anything leave alone running -- No wonder we have more couples with no kids ;-)

But is this true or are we just hard working? Is it because we sacrifice a good life today when we can run around, do things by staying close to place of work for larger good--- the good of saving money so that one day we have enough to join that dance class but no time and a slip disc? Is it not right or will we repent it at the end of it all ? Do we even have time to think this? And when we will have the time what would we think? IS it because we work hard and this constant energy that we Indian crabs are not hit by recession? Is not being in recession better than enjoying the evenings in a dance class or going for the long run to see the sun set? Is there an answer to all this -- nope if i knew then perhaps i would be god.... Just some musings on a Saturday evening before i hit the road for a scotch and prepare myself for a long week with no long runs.... all ye have a great weekend

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The story of Indian Mobile VAS

The Indian Telecom scenario abuzz and considered an example in the world where over 5 million subscribers being added every month. There are more operators joining the bandwagon with crazy valuations of 20-30 K INR per subscriber. I had a trip to the Airtel Customer care today and was waiting for an hour (why is a seperate story for another blog) and what i encoutered there kind off raises doubts on the hype and hoopla around both the mobile story and especially the "Value added services driven growth" that everyone seems to be betting.
I atelast saw 12 people coming with a single complaint -
"I didnt activate this XYZ (Jokes, news etc) service and you have deducted 15 Rs from my account"
Most people were being placated by the customer care and by the call to hotline by saying that "YOU" may have activated it "By Mistake". However of these 12 people there were about 10 of them who seem to be the educated category and some of them wielding Ipod Touch screens who clearly werent the kind who would activate it by mistake. Also the process of activating a VAS is to send an SMS to a specific number with a short message like "ACTBWD" ... seems unlikely to happen by mistake.
While 12 people in 1 service center may not be a sample I smell a rat in the consistency of the complaints. Could it be that these services get activated with a "negative consent" meaning a message stating "Activated by default unless u send a NO message"??
Two observations --
One - This could potentially be a way for pushing VAS by letting customer get a flavor hoping that of the million odd activations atleast 10% would continue/ not notice it and hence continue to pay the 15-30 Rs. Good revenue generation idea but purely unethical I say.
Two - The market for VAS seems to be hardly moving -- apart from ringback tones. Given that the cost of these VAS is so low the issue is NOT price but content.
Some time back i had similarly got "mistakenly" subscribed to News alerts and the level of "News" was pathetic. So the issue seems to be lack of "Magnetism of Content".
The VAS content goes down the std. path of bollywood, jokes, Astrology etc. Please note all ye content providers "Yes Indians like ALL of above" but dont like to pay for it and surely NOT the pre-paid customers.
So let me put the thinking cap for some applications for which people wouldnt actually mind paying 30 rs -
For the old people/ technologically handicap who basically use phone ONLY to receive and make calls -- Any continuous stream of SMS would surely BUG them but this wouldn't.
A voice message from Ramdeo Baba to explain them the aasans to be done in morning evening and afternoon "personalized" based on there profile. And how do we do that? Heres how it could work....
Go to any of the common hangouts of the Old people like parks and set up a desk of free healthy juices. Ask them to fill up a form in return profiling there lifestyle ailments etc.
Get these analyzed and set up a Ramdeo baba schedule -- there are enough Yoga masters out there who would do this for a consideration. Approach these Senior citizens again in some time at same place and explain them the concept that for 30 rs a Month they will get a call on health tips "personalized" for them .... 1 month free trial.
Market Potential -- IMMENSE. HIT rate -- High
Possibility of charging even 50 RS a month -- no issues they spend more than that on medicines.
Bottom line - Its world of personalization and thinking different - run of the mill SMS based VAS may not work any longer.

Yes yes i know there are some things to be sorted out in the above but i am sure there is enough talent in the VAS teams of Telcos to do that.

There are more ideas but i think i should be charging consulting charges for my IP :-)
Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel -- i am waiting

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HAIL LORD GANESHA (and hopefully our brains)

The beloved Lord Ganesha is here. This is perhaps one idol which has maximum recall in both India and Western world. Lord Ganesh - a symbol of Well being, Prosperity, auspicious, and above all considered the lord of WISDOM. You know what i actually dont believe the last part.
GANESHA CANNOT SIGNIFY WISDOM - heres why
Every year people primarily across Maharashtra /KAranataka but also across the country bring in Idols of Lord Ganesha. These idols have got fancier, bigger and more intricate by the day. Every year Immersion of idols of Lord Ganesh is carried out on the Ananta Chaturdasi day in the month of Bhadrapada (Chandramana  Calendar), i.e. either in August or September, after ten days of worship.  Thousands of these idols are immersed in water bodies leading to END of 2 things -- GAnesh Festival and the environment. The reason being the Plaster of paris and chemicals used in these idols. Sample taken from the key lakes and water bodies of key chemicals before and after the Ganesh immersion last year show that harmful chemicals like Magnesium, Arsenic and Silicon almost double leading to poisoning and death of fishes and disrupting the entire ecosystem.
Yes there have been several attempts at promoting "Traditional Mud idols"/ Alum idols, natural dyes etc but thats as successful as trying to ask people to buy a car with airbags because its more safe. The bottom line remains that majority of people go for "Cheap" = POP + Chemicals.
In addition it is common knowledge that during immersion there are "fights" between various groups for "privelage" of first immersion = privilege of being the first to pollute.
So now a GOD whose worship leads to only destruction and demolition of nature cannot surely signify WISDOM or we would have had some wisdom to stop revelry in the name of god.
Dont get me wrong, i am not against tradition and celebration and here are some solutions to this. One of my friends actually uses the same idol which is used in the "Temple at Home "(which everyone has) and symbolically immerses it in a bucket and then reinstates it in the temple. Alternatives such as using paper images can be explored which are easier to dispose. however this needs a movement and a law whichc annot be done politically -- this would soon become a Hindu Muslim issue if some politician raised it.... and an employemnt issue too saying idol making supports a cottage industry (actaully Cocaine provides more employment too, wonder why its banned)
The Environmentalists of the world? Green Peace? WHO ? Anyone any ideas to prevent this destruction?
Till then Hail Lord Ganesha, Hail Pollution!!

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Mumbai's new Tourist Hotspot - The MAHIM Wall

Refreshing, unique , Unexpected, Witty , creative, fun, must see, Colorful, clean -- i think there is hardly anything in Mumbai, let alone the tourist spots which fit can fit into all of the above adjectives. But those are some adjectives which exactly fit the "About to be Tourist Hotspot of Mumbai - The MAHIM GRAFFITI WALL"

In a move to beautify the
city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation invited citizens to paint
graffiti on walls owned by the civic corporation, and on INdependence
Day, people responded with enthusiasm.

BMC had approached the
Wall Project, a Mumbai-based group specialising in graffiti painting,
to decorate the 3-km wall from Mahim to Dadar railway station along the
Tulsi Pipe road with grafitti. Around 200 artists and also novices in
handling the brush came forward to showcase their talents on the huge
canvas on August 15. The artists are expected to complete the stretch
by August 16.

The result is amazing -- a colorful, witty (ok please refer to begin of page for the adjectives). Here are some images -











However images cant capture this nor can words and this is something
must see and my personal favorite on the wall was this message -
" I have and open mind doesnt mean u can fill it with Rubbish"

My twobits on the initiative -

1. Am I in Mumbai, was this BMC, Ooh My god!!!
2. Next stage is to give entire road stretches to Companies and ask them to maintain/ beutify them in return for "Free" Advt. space on that road for 5-10 years -- imagine a "Tide' road which is Clean and spotless maintained by the company -- win -win for advertisers and BMC
   

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The Brand DNA

Sophie posted an interesting article on facebook " The Luxury Brand Effect: Should BMW sell Ketchup" It hypothesises that recession-wracked shoppers are eager to embrace luxury brand names over a wide range of product categories, including those with little logical connection to the brand's core item.The authors attribute this phenomenon to the "promise of pleasure" — a brand like, say, Cartier evokes strong, positive emotional responses in consumers, and those good feelings can be easily transferred to stuff like furniture, cheese and even, yes, ketchup.
But this aint a new phenomenon. Successful brands and companies alike know that they always have a "Core". There is an underlying "Success mantra" and just like certain names evoke a perception so do brands. E.g. All Indians would realize that a name like Vijay Sighania would evoke images of grandeur , businessman with abundance and royal charm.
So while BMW Ketchup may not necessarily sell because it doesnt derive any characteristics of Brand Core (none i can think of), some examples of companies who have already leveraged there brands "Core" to cross sell services are -
Tata Group (i am biased here) - The brand always signifies trust and solidity. For over a century this brand was entrenched in commodities business like steel and vehicles. However over the past 2 decades you see them moving into leveraging the "Trust and solidity" image across the diaspora of retail products from retail chains (Westside and Chroma) to Mobile (Tata Teleservices now Docomo) to cheaper hotel chains (Ginger) to Tanishq (jewellery and watches).
Another well known example is Harley - which has leveraged the automobile brand to clothing lines, branded accessories and add-ons

So here are some Luxury brands who could leverage there core and associated "product" areas they could move in to by leveraging there Brand DNA -
Wild ideas but as Einstien once said " Its not as important to have knowledge, but absolutely necessary to have imagination"

1. Jimmy Choo can diversify into Ipod Casings,  Car accessories, because its Brand DNA  = Flaunting anything take "encases"
   
2. Ferrari can launch and internet browser because its all about being "Fast"
3. Rolex/ Patek Philippe - can launch a high end airlines because its all about "On time in Class"
4. Bulgaria - scented washing powders anyone
5. Zegna Diapers -- its finally about dressing a man in style why not start from the first cloth worn
   
6. And finally Victorias Secret Condoms --- luxury in initimate moments :-)

Feel free to add more..

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Swine flu affected people banned from Tourist spots

Today the swine flu really seems to have bugged me. I read this article that Swine flu seems to have created a "Health Rift" in Maharashtra India. The village councils of Shriwardhan and Diveghar have banned tourists from Mumbai and Pune.
Both these are popular tourist weekend getaways for people in Mumbai and Pune and the economy of these villages basically survives on tourism. Thus i am sure it was a discussion which would have met with heated debate and opposition. The reason for the ban was that there are yet no cases of Swine flu in these places and they beleive that since these places do not have big medical facilities "Prevention is better than cure" --- or rather Prevention is the Only option and NO cure.
Now my quirky brain starts thinking if we can take such drastic steps just for Swine flu should Mumbai learn this as an example and "Ban people from other regions in India from settling in Mumbai to prevent the spread of a bigger disease -- Overcrowding???"
I leave u with that thought over the weekend -- and OK no more Swine flu posts ;-)

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The advantages of Swine Flu

According to one study, only 1% of those who believe they have swine
flu actually have swine flu. The remaining 99% are suffering from an
unrelated disease: Mass Panicking Syndrome.

And while there is all round scare and hype about "swine flu" there are some good things which i notice as a result of Swine Flu - Some obvious and some not so obvious ones.

1. The illeterate and downtrodden of the world now have a medical degree. My building Gurkha for example now knows the difference between a Virus and Bacteria to the details of the fact that "Virus doesnt have its own cell mechanism like a bacteria". Thanks to the Media. By the way he also now has learnt a new word "Media Hype"
   
2. There is less crowds in the malls and as a result lesser crowds on the roads. I think the greenhouse activists should be happy as the "Pollution" levels would surely have gone down this last week.
3. Theatres, Multiplexes are closed and people are scared to go to any place where there are "crowds" ruling out eataries etc. Which means "families" are actually sitting together an having meals and "talking". In the era of "Social Networking" while people stay in touch with unknown "web friends" they are rarely in touch with the immediate family/ neighbor. Hopefully the self imposed lock down improves the social interactions -- 70's meaning of "Social" of course
4. Euthnasia and suicide is now legal - all people with a death wish need to do is go and stand in the Queue any of the hospitals where testing of swine flu happens. With over 200-300 "Suspected" swine flu candidates standing in the queue u are bound to contract it even if u dont have one and by the time ur number comes ur death wish might have been answered.
   
5. The "Indian Namaste" way of greeting is gaining ground vs shaking hands. I am sure the real reason behind namaste in Shastra's is to spread diseases
6. You can get off a traffic offence if u sneeze as soon as the police constable approaches you.
7. Its become easy to get a 7 day off from office -- all u need to do is get a warm water bath and sneeze.
8. A few people have noses that look like swine. These are the ones who wear masks to avoid being seen.
   
9. All Tamilnadu residents are proud because most of them beleive that the treatment of Swine Flu was invented/ produced in Chennai (Tamiflu)
10. Natural resources have become more valuable than gizmos - People are more worried about the 10 deaths from swine flu vs the 60,000 which dies from Malaria, 100,000 who dies of leptospirosis, and so the cost of a non-electric device like N-94 face mask/ or even the cotton mask is higher than a complex piece of mosquito repellent.
11. 
    

My sympathies with those who died of swine flu but
“2000 people have Swine Flu and the whole world wants to wear
a surgical mask. 20 billion have AIDS and still noone wants to wear a
condom.”

I am sure in all the doom and gloom u too have some more interesting benefits u see of the Swine flu scare.
PLease do share to make this compilation more interesting and do drop down here for some interesting & conspiracy theory based views on Swine Flu.

Footmarks on the Internet

All of us "twitterians" are aware of the site being brought down and both the tech kind as well as  the non-tech kind know that it was a "cyber attack". Whithout going into the technicalities whats interesting is that these attacks makes one to think that as we move into the internet world every step u take is as dangerous as the Jungles of Amazon.

The cost of renting out 10,000 machines—enough to cripple a site like Twitter—has tumbled to $200 a day from between $2,000 and $5,000. "We have seen the price points dropping fast. And if someone can cripple Twitter how safe are you.

This increasing social media and networking has lead to the creation of a dangerous footprint in the internet world - "Digital residue"
Social networking sites open and close based on trends. It was Orkut one day, facebook and twitter now and who knows what next year. But as people move from one social network to another there is a huge amount of personal data lying on all these social networks -- names , photos, scraps, birthdates, conversations -- posted and never pulled down. This is what i call "Digital residue".
This digital residue is extremely dangerous - imagine the small time social n/w site which is now out of trend and filing for bankruptcy -- the kind of money this digital residue can face if sold to digital hackers in simply unimaginable.
Some more discussions regarding Digital Assasination by Barrett Lyon here is interesting and point to how this could be used to slander any individual.
So all you netizens beware - ensure u delete your footmarks as u hop from one social network to another

hacking, telecom, new world, comunications, bots

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The Recession Poem - From my friend Sai

A gut wrenching one from my friend sai on his Blog

"It was the 6 in the evening, time to leave
As I packed my bags and let out a huge heave
My inbox glowed with a nasty red light
What I saw completely changed my sught
It was a nasty mail from my boss
My whole life went for a toss
It was not one of those everyday blips
A note that gave me what u dread, a pink slip
The car and house dreams vanished into thin air
I cried hoarse boss this is just not fair
Where are those countless hours that I spent in front of the laptop
They all seemed to count to nothing as I climbed the rooftop
As my mind raced and heart skipped beats, I could feel the sweat
I thought about my wife, the baby to come and tried to forget
I closed my eyes and decided to end the coming days of shame
The dreams of money, foreign vacations and countless fame
I jumped and felt nothing for some time�������..
Till I realized my wife was shouting at me for a long time
The dream broke, but I was happy that this was a nightmare over
I walked into the bathroom empathizing with the man in the mirror
�.Sai"

Hoarding achieves new highs

We in India have heard of cartels and hoarding of rice, foodgrains, kerosene and even some vegetables like onions by the shrewd Businessman to jack up the prices. Also we have never heard of any litigation leave alone prosecutions in any of these cases. Hence I was shocked to know that someone actually filed for litigation against the increase in prices of “Eggs” --- yes you got it right “Eggs” due to cartel created by 13 companies – Wow!!!

“Steve Ribbing, who runs a family-style restaurant south of Buffalo, got fed up with the growing dent in his company's bottom line. The culprit? Egg prices, which have jumped nearly 50% over the past two years. Ribbing griped to his attorney, an act that ultimately led to a lawsuit against more than a dozen egg producers and the industry's trade group.
Critics say the price jump since 2006 was not particularly mysterious: egg producers, the plaintiffs contend, conspired to restrict supply as part of a broad scheme to boost prices. Ribbing's complaint moved from his lawyer to a large national firm, finally becoming a sweeping lawsuit that recently gained class-action status on behalf of restaurants, grocers, and other direct buyers nationwide. The litigation's targets include 13 of the nation's biggest egg producers, including Cal-Maine Foods (CALM), Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) and Rose Acre Farms, as well as a Georgia-based industry association, the United Egg Producers (UEP). The average retail price of a dozen eggs, which had been stable for the better part of a decade, soared to $2.20 per dozen in March, after climbing from $1.63 in 2007 and $1.30 in 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

I hope Venkateshwara Hatcheries doesn’t get any smart ideas from this one!

What goes up comes down or Does it?

On one of those late night shows I came across the Sikkim Mega Super Lotto lottery or something like that where six numbers are picked up and a winner declared depending on how many of your numbers match up to the selected six. As the beautiful hostess accompanied by a somber man who is supposedly some govt. person roll the container to secure the six numbers I wonder how many people actually win this in a lifetime. (By the way I could never figure out what is the need for that person even though he is the sponsor in some way.
I remember that this was a mega craze some years back with Playwin and Super lotto. Cut to 2008 and there is a similar craze in the stock markets “The market has gone down , now is the right time to buy! It will rise…” Both these events are linked, heres how ---
First regarding Super Lotto --
The idea is to pick 6 numbers and match them to six selected from 51 numbers. Sounds easy. The odds of doing so?
If you programmed a computer to randomly generate six different numbers every second taken from the numbers 1 through 51, you would have to wait nearly seven months before every combination came up at least once.
The odds of matching 6 of 6 numbers are 1 in 18,009,460;
5 of 6 are 1 in 66,702;
4 of 6 are 1 in 1,213;
3 of six are 1 in 63.
The odds of winning anything are 1 in 60.
So for the less mathematically inclined, If you buy 100 tickets a week, you can expect to win the jackpot on average every 3,463 years. If you buy Rs 12,50,000 worth of tickets a week, you can expect on average to win about every 14 years. If you expect to live 50 more years, you should buy Rs 350,000 worth of tickets a week if you want to have a good chance of winning the jackpot in this lifetime. Of course, if you do, you may not even break even. You could well be about Rs 100,000,000 in the hole, depending on when you win.
However, if you would be satisfied with getting 5 out of 6, you will have a much easier go of it. You are likely to get 5 out 6 every 12.8 years on average if you buy 100 tickets a week. However, you will have spent nearly Rs 30,00,000 to win about Rs 75,000.
Phew so basically all it means is that the chances are slim. But wait this is just statistical and real life is different. You may never win regardless of how often you play and how much you spend. For e.g. there is a one in two chance of a coin flip coming up heads, but in reality heads might come up more or less than five times in ten flips.
Now the Sensex --
Most retail investors investing on hunches and without proper analysis run similar odds like above. Now to the fallacy that what goes down will come up. Even in super lotto you might think that you can beat the odds by either selecting numbers that have not been chosen in recent drawings, or by selecting numbers that have come up more frequently than expected in recent drawings. In either case, you are committing the gambler's fallacy. The odds are always the same, no matter what numbers have been selected in the past. This fallacy is commonly committed by gamblers who, for instance, bet on red at roulette when black has come up three times in a row. The odds of black coming up next are the same regardless of what colors have come up in previous turns. Dice players frequently commit this fallacy. When they see a player make his point several times in a row, they think the odds of him making his point again diminish. They don't. Those odds are fixed and they never change. For example you see people saying a lot of times just like that without any economic analysis, over a cup of tea but with all the worldly wisdom ‘The markets have tanked for long enough now they will rise”…. And what do we say --- Correct ‘The Gamblers Fallacy”.