Abhinav

Airtel Photos

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:30:00 +0530

Got a mail from Airtel regarding a service listed under “Broadband” services. Not sure why - apart from the fact that one could use Airtel broadband to order Photos from zoomin - and then who cares - the broadband connection is just the behind-the-scenes plumbing. Next, will we have “Airtel Travel”, “Airtel Accomodation”, “Airtel Movies” ? Is Vodafone listening ? :)

Of course, good marketing, awareness creation and (slightly ?) increased business for the actual company doing the work - zoomin. Interestingly, their website mentions FutureBazaar as a partner but not Airtel.

Bandh ? Not for IT Companies !

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:30:33 +0530

Bandh ? Not for IT Companies !:

Today is supposed to be an All India Bandh. But there are quite a few companies which are able to not declare a bandh, and get work done as usual (well, almost).

Cisco is one of the unique…

Reserving India ? What about the Deserving India ?

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:08:47 +0530

Reserving India ? What about the Deserving India ?:

This post, shared by a friend at work, highlights the effects of caste based reservations in India. It is sad that students resort to submitting blank answer sheets to multiple choice type…

The "good" things in life are all rationed..

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:09:00 +0530

.. Like Salary hikes, promotions, and number of Paneer cubes in a curry at the office cafetaria

StackExchangeBlog: Stack Exchange 2.0

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:11:15 +0530

StackExchangeBlog: Stack Exchange 2.0:

StackExchange goes “free”, which should be good news .. except for the people who have invested effort and money in getting a paid site running. And, of course, the fact that now even if you have the money, you need some traction with the owners to get your site approved.

Great product, but you can’t please them all :)

Justification for higher hikes ...

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:53:00 +0530

Justification for higher hikes ...:

From the article :

In a series of experiments, people who counted money felt less pain when their hands were dipped into scalding water. The soothing power of cash also helped them shrug off the emotional pain of social exclusion.

The findings might offer an easy way to ease life’s stings and hurts, from painful medical treatments to social ostracism: Simply flip through a bulging wallet before enduring a painful experience.

Nice. Also, no more net-banking, all transactions should be in 100/- notes.

Gmail’s Nested Labels – Could have been Better !

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:21:10 +0530

Gmail’s Nested Labels – Could have been Better !:

Gmail Labs recently introduced a couple of new featurettes. One of them is Nested Labels, which is a way to organize your gmail labes into a hierarchy, simply by delimiting them with a /. So,…

Bright lights in big city, towns in the dark

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:14:51 +0530

Bright lights in big city, towns in the dark :

So this is why there are no power cuts these days in Bangalore, despite the soaring heat. Another poll gimmick targeted at the right audience, while the rest of the state suffers.

Earth Hour - What's the big deal ?

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:46:17 +0530

Got quite a few mails from big MNCs (banks where I’m a customer, etc) regarding Earth Hour 2010. Not sure why these big corps are so enthu about it, considering :

* It is on a Saturday, 8:30 - 9:30 PM IST (practically no one will be in office any way)

* These firms are already doing a good job of controlling energy after office hours (only few elevators function, cubicle lights are dimmed starting at 5-6 PM) - not just for being green, but for saving money (co-incidentally, all this started last year, when the down turn was in effect and firms were looking at ways to cut costs)

So basically, firms are pledging support to the Earth Hour, well aware that they don’t have to do anything more than what they’re already doing - and trying so show how “green” they are :)

(Of course, people at home, do participate in this campaign, please - you’re the real people who will be doing anything substantial :) )

Beauty is skin deep

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:48:13 +0530

Call Center Exec (On wife's phone, that I picked up) : Hi, I'm calling from Kaya skin clinic. We have an offer ...

Me : Please, stop calling. My wife is already beautiful enough

Exec : Sorry, I couldn't get you ?

Me :

Result - 1 happy wife, 1 less company trying to spam me on the mobile network, lot of money prevented from being wasted ;)

Simplifying Saral

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:02:22 +0530

Why does the FM (as in the ministry, not just the man) need to make simplifications to the Saral form almost every year ? Why not get some design experts, and get it done with in one shot ?

Someone from google should help these guys !

A free guide to Google Wave

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:03:12 +0530

A free guide to Google Wave:

This free guide to Google Wave is a great starting point for understanding how to leverage the power of the new platform. In addition, it’s free, and will be updated regularly as more features are added in wave.

Short ebook on software pricing

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:25:26 +0530

Short ebook on software pricing:

Neil Davidson has come up with a great guide to software pricing, which also covers the basic microeconomics therories on demand-supply curves, etc. Good read.

"Dear Facebook, I do NOT want to * Poke someone * Right on someone’s wall * Send a message to..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:49:05 +0530

“

Dear Facebook,

I do NOT want to
* Poke someone
* Right on someone’s wall
* Send a message to someone
* Reconnect with someone I am already connected to
* Suggest a profile picture for a needy
* Help make facebook better for someone by sending a message
So please stop suggesting these irritating activities which you recently started suggesting !

”

"If tumblr is a microblogging site, why isn’t the page load time on its site in..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0530

“If tumblr is a microblogging site, why isn’t the page load time on its site in microseconds ? Takes more time for a new-post page to appear than the time it takes to write a post !”

M$ syndrome hits NYSE

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:41:19 +0530

Today around 11:30 AM PDT, NYSE systems had to be “restarted” to resolve delays in dissemination of stock quotes. Quite interesting that a 4-minute “technoloy systems restart” was required, similar to workarounds applied to resolve delays in Windows.

In another unrelated news, yesterday, Juniper listed on NYSE and they made some big announcements regarding their upcoming technologies. Of course, they are not related to today’s issues ! Don’t even think I implied such a possibility.

Re : Discriminatory pricing by MS (Windows 7)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:01:00 +0530

carnivas:

Windows 7 (upgrade) pricing in India is as follows:

…

And then the killer news:

And here comes the Fantastic news for people who have bought their PCs or Laptops pre-loaded with Vista after June 29th – You are actually eligible to receive and upgrade at little or no cost (provided you have bought your system from participating PC Manufacturers)

What the hell? What about people who bought VISTA in 2007, immediately after the launch and put up with it for more than 2 years? Actually, they should be the ones who should be given a free upgrade now!! They have after all used Vista for 2 years!!

In fact, I would say, for people who bought VISTA in 2007 and used it for 1 years, MS should give Windows 7 free and some money too :)

PS::: Needless to say, as you guessed it, I am someone who has been using VISTA for 2 years now!

I don’t understand why people are so upset over the pricing strategies of M$. You have enjoyed one of the best pieces of software ever made for 2 full years, and you still want a discount ? This is like using your mobile handset for 2 years and asking for a free upgrade when a new model comes in.

This product is being advertised heavily in India these days....

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:18:19 +0530

This product is being advertised heavily in India these days. Garnier should have thought a bit more before naming the product “agelift”. It can be perceived as a product that lifts the age to a new height, rather than reducing it ;)