A Good Conversation

Prize to Prez : Change had come to America, and now it has become Nobel.

2009-10-10T01:27:00.000-07:00

Thought on the occasion of President Barack Obama getting Nobel Peace Prize. Surely puts him in elite company. And to my mind what is most significant is how this signals a change in award giving policy/committee. When it comes to Nobel Prizes, whatever be the field, history is littered with examples of deserving individuals not receiving it, for one reason or another. So most interesting to see that for once potential being recognized, and early. Looks like change has come to the Nobel prize giving process too.

When Life Imitates an Ad

2009-09-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Oks, so we all know of this phenom, where art imitates life. Also converse of this, life imitating art, is fast becoming a well known idiom, what with media's hold, and its ubiquitous presence in modern life.
Now just something i noticed, where recently ads of an insurance company featuring cricketers, and illustrating uncertainty of modern life, are running.
Guess surely a case of Life imitating Ad, when one cricketer featured there actually got injured, before the start of Champions Trophy. No ?

Secret Sauce of Super Success

2009-04-06T02:58:00.000-07:00

Found this interesting post on Found|Read, giving a top executive's view of how they look at their company's product. Company in question is Disney and product being discussed is an animated movie, Up, being made by Pixar, to be released as Disney Pixar offering for '09 summer. Well, have always enjoyed a Disney Pixar movie, with all of them gracing my DVD collection too. Guess there is so much talk of repeat value of a movie, about initial opening, about number of prints,star cast and cost of making, by business guys and critics, that what makes for a great product is forgotten.
Reading CEO's comment puts things in correct perspective. Make a great product, even great art, and than or rather that would (surely) make money.

Nice Fortune and Great Feature

2009-03-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Saw this line in Orkut's Today's fortune section : Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.

An aha moment; guess want to say how appropriate, without giving too much away:)

On a different note though, over time have noticed Orkut's fortune section to have lines that immediately connect. Just wondering how this is generated, whether there is a kind of engine or whether it is a person(or team)? Whatever it is, is pretty effective feature, for am not a heavy Orkut user, but have logged on many times just to catch the Today's fortune section. Also have had similar thought been expressed by some of my friends. Given that make or break for a social network is stickablity with users, guess if this what gets people in the network to log on, it is great.
No? Maybe?
Any readers who have similar experience with Orkut? Also similar feature or application seen on Facebook?

Me back to work, on my game,charged up.

Jai Ho and Jai Hind

2009-02-24T23:21:00.000-08:00

Well Slumdog has won and lots has been said, across different media, even the web, but on different places.

Just thought would write one post summarizing all that thicket of conversation.

Guess there are a couple of recurring themes seen.

One major current, where we Indians want to feel good about the movie and its Oscar march, just because it is about our country and fellow country men won.

Jai Ho morphing to Jai Hind.

Then there is this other current, again coming from national identification, but here instead of pride there is disgust/remorse/criticism whatever one might call it. Picturing of slums in our country, in a movie made by Brits, well one can be sure it would evoke a 'patriotic' reaction.

Jai Hind, therefore no Jai Ho.

Now, where do my allegiances lie, anticipating the thought in your head, dear reader.

Well, neither. And here would like to say, sort of tongue in cheek, how can a movie, any movie for that matter, be of national importance.
Meaning, how can people in either of the positions above, whether celebratory or critical, attach so much national significance to 'a' movie? And now when times are recessionary, with a possible economic depression looming, surely there are other matters to be more concerned about. End of the day, it is a movie,and to my mind would make for a better world if all its merit, significance and talk about it remained in realm of art*.

Attaching elements of polity ,society and nationality into what is primarily a product for 'entertainment' is going too far.

Jai Hind and Jai Ho have an incidental similarity where the first word comprising the whole phrase, is the same.

'Slumdog Millionare' is just a romantic, rags to riches movie,'incidentally' set in Mumbai backwaters.

Let's keep it that way.

*Do see some semblance of this is being said now, especially in context of 'Slums' Oscar victory for best picture, where some other popular movies lost out.

Aha, an Oscar

2009-02-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

So the country is abuzz with Slumdog millionaire winning a clutch of Oscars, and in that set are those won by Rehman and Resul Pookutty, both 'bona fide' Indians. Hence where ever you look, whatever channel you flip, this is THE News.
Even on Google News Top Stories widget see an item related to the PM congratulating Slumdog team. All good; surely a matter of great honour and pride winning an Oscar.
Congratulations to all people involved. And also considering that Little Pinky also won, looks like India is a flavour of this Oscar season.
Now whatever might have been the merits of Slumdog as a movie or not, all the same
Jai Ho, or maybe Jai Hind:)

Mathematical puzzler : A Casual Game

2009-02-03T07:25:00.000-08:00

Have u played Tetris?
Can say with more than 90% certainty*,that you have.

Yes it is that same game where blocks drop to make lines and there are bonus points for number of lines that one can make in one go.

To me personally puzzle games, having a hidden mathematical structure, are a constant fascination. And though Tetris is one such game, also being one of most popular games of all time, and there have been others(various versions of sudoko), off and on, wonder why they have not been more? And if there have been, how come not popular that don't readily come to mind?

Too difficult to make, too small a demographic which is interested, no fun, all of this and more?

Well don't know the right answer but am hopeful that a lot of that is going to change. Already there is a growing demographic, different from hard core gamers, playing what are called casual games, a category to which Tetris can also said to belong. And within this, think there is a need, and a market niche, for people wanting to excercise their brains, if u will, than just needing to improve upon hand eye coordination.

Guess just like Nintendo changed and expanded the game playing demographic, there is need for some more individual/companies that can come out with such engaging stuff.

Personally, have designed a couple, working to bring them to iPhone and or XBOX 360 and or online. From initial feedback to a closed group of users, things look good.
Let's see if finds a large enough audience, and also if there are other developers creating for this 'puzzle' genre. In case, dear reader you know of any, do leave a comment.

*Given the demographic that would come to read this blog; still in case you haven't, go here to know more and download a sample maybe.

Game changing games

2009-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

What's in a game, you might ask.
A lot actually; or that is what i think, for sure.

This is an emerging media, elements of which are only now maturing and being refined.
Guess can go on and say that it is an art form, much like film making is; well maybe this would sound far fetched, for one, practice of computer game designing is young, much younger than film making, and two there is very little evidence to buttress its claim to being an art form.

But anyways, that's that; lets take a more concrete direction, and here would just like to point out one example where MIT is exploring possibilities of using game technology to better conceptual understanding of students in varied streams. Yup, MIT, and its been in the works for a few years now, with corporate sponsors like Microsoft thrown in. Go here for details.

Now another question, given that above is possible, why is it that we still see games that are primarily themed around violence and gore? Maybe the answer here is habit, for paying audience of games has been males of a certain age group, and this is what they have showed an inking for. But now, the onus is on developers and designers, to bring to market not what people want but what they need.

.Net Architecture2.0

2009-02-03T06:43:00.001-08:00

All of the varied applications possible on MS Technology platform classified as app types, hence Mobile application is one type and Web Applications another.

And a distinction is made, that of architectural style, whereby denoting how the important parts of a particular application are put together and interact.

Between the two points above, guess guidance for most applications that one is making or would make get covered.

Now what makes the guide really interesting is the archetypes section, where for an application type, a 'primary' form is illustrated. That is, for an application of a particular application type to be architecturally robust, the given archetype serves to function as an 'ideal'. Thus, looking at this archetype, one can make out significant parts and their relationships.

Notice here separate archetypes for Web Application and RIA, where there are variations resulting from the two being different application types, brought about by number and nature of layers, to what goes in each layer, brought about because of differences in architectural style optimum for each.

Add a section giving an overview of .NET technology, and you have a one solid resource when it comes to architecting and designing applications on .NET X.X platform. Further, given accessible style of writing, using this document to get english speaking stakeholders to see an architect's standpoint is going to be so much easier. Kudos to that; great to see that there is some one up Redmond's Mount Olympus, bringing Prometheus like, light and knowledge of app architecture to mere us mere mortals.

New New Architecture Guide : MS Patterns and Practices

2009-02-03T05:43:00.001-08:00

So finally MS has updated its official guide on application architecture, and it covers most forms of applications in use today, from RIA's to staid old client/server.

Read my post here for what i think of this valuable document originating from hallowed halls of patterns and practices.

About time, for ever since flurry of technical activity around ASP.NET AJAX and then Silverlight, and UX idioms coming from Web2.0 paradigm, things in the previous guide were a little out of whack.

That is MS own technology set allowed for, and infact was optimised for an architecture totally at variance with what was in the previous guide.

Don't know if you experienced it in any projects/products that might have been part of, but personally for me not having had MS official guidance updated was a big downer. A lot of what had to say, suggest, would be looked upon incongruously, and then be dismissed with, 'MS guidance does not say so'.

And most of this was while architecting a web application or a dot com.

Notice that there are two archetypes in the guide, one for a plain old vanilla Web Application, and another for an RIA. Also notice a subtle difference between them, which being presence of a service layer over business layer that presentation layer talks to. Now if one looked at the older guide, no way would you be able to validate this difference, even though since early release of ASP.NET AJAX, and WCF, technical set asked for something similar to what is now laid out as part of RIA archetype.

Thankfully the new guide has an archetype for RIA's as distinguished from that of a Web App, and guess all of above is set to change.

Also hopefully having these two archetypes will help, not only in bringing out variations in the two types to focus, but also for stakeholders and team members into knowing what is it that they are really making.
Guess a dotCom is surely a web application, but if it is desired to be a Web2.0 RIA, well then there is a difference in how it needs to be architected and designed.

Thus the guide would go a long way to both focus attention to this fact, and also in aligning thought processes and mindsets.

And yes,as the saying goes, better late than never.

What is Web2.0 and how can it help

2009-02-03T05:14:00.000-08:00

A buzzword, some new jargon, just a fad, or another marketing brouhaha ?

Well sort of tough to explain in a short span of a blog post, but i'll try.

And as a really short answer, i'll say, an article.

What? Yes really, an article by an influential thought leader, if you will, of what characterizes a successful dotCom. Guess that is where it really began, and then around these central points number of other gurus have commented, built a checklist, recommendations and other examples of what does and does not a Web2.0 site make.

Well, am a dotCom architect, where part of my brief is to make possible features and functionality desired by stakeholders and owners of the web app.

And in my experience, Web2.0 really is all about context; larger background from which one thinks to arrive at what would work with users of the site.
This applies to tech architecture as much as it does to information architecture and user experience.
Yes you read that right, to tech architecture as much as to user experience and information architecture. Now how elements of Web2.0 impact/serve as framework for tech architecture, is a set of posts, so watch this space. For now, here is one element of Web2.0, perpetual beta and its technical application, which implies 'over' doing tech architecture.
And that is consistent with my experience too, where it is counterproductive to spend too much time creating a framework of similar complexity and depth as one would for an enterprise application. Yup, that 'Beta' tag applies all the way through, to the steel frame as much as to the woodwork.
Aghast? Surprised? Don't agree? Do comment and as i said earlier, watch this space.

Nokia's Real Slim Shady

2009-02-03T04:06:00.000-08:00

Oks so here's goes an 'update' to the review of Nokia's slim and smart, smart phone E71, which i bought almost as soon as it was launched in India market.
And just in case after having read previous post, about E71,u thought i was less than thorough(guess never completed covered all the features), here let me start by pointing out E71's one feature that has been getting my friends and acquaintances to buy. Yup, once again as obliquely covered by title, Nokia's new smart phones 'slimness' is what is catching user's attention. Guess no one wanted to see a big bulky, but feature laden phone from Nokia, and everyone is surprised that their desire for a sleeker design have been more than fulfilled.
So go take a look, in case u have not till now, and even u'll be surprised, as so many others, as to the sheer sophistication in looks department that this phone has.

Now,for all those gadget geeky mongers, who want the complete feature list.
Well all i gotta to say to that is, am using it now for almost six months and there is still something left to discover. Yup this is a full functioning smart phone, where one can browse, have push email(even gmail), get connected over WiFi, connect to office network over VPN, and have VoIP conversations.
Guess there is so much, that don't think all of it is useful to the same demographic.
Which is why looks like Nokia launched another, similar looking phone, E63, which is cheaper, and reduces on some of the features, like camera quality and hot swappable memory.
And guess this is the only grouse that have with E71; that it has a cheaper cousin now, giving unconverted users a choice, something that we early adopters missed; and also that E63 looks just the same as its expensive cousin, leaving with wondering, if the real slim smart, smart phone stand out:)

Acer's Think Pad

2009-02-03T03:30:00.000-08:00

This post and following intended as a sort of update to 'reviews' of E71 and Acer Aspire One, two gadgets bought in last year which i think are a 'definitive' have for any one with a digital mindset.
Anyways, so in line with first in first out, like to talk of two not so good things about Aspire. First is the battery life, which lasts for just over an hour; at least for the first week, till i discovered that maybe it is not being fully charged in the first place. And this looks like the real problem, where battery meter on status bar shows 98% or 99% full and bulb glows green though there is still some scope for charging. Advertised battery life is 2hrs plus, and one can get that, provided before initial use care is taken to ignore battery meter and charge it for 5-6 hrs.

So much for the battery thing, now for the other prob, obliquely indicated by title, pointing to a small mouse pad that Acer's netbook is endowed with. Well am a savvy laptop user, if i say so myself, and took me just about a day to get used to this pointing device on Aspire One. However, now that have come to use this new gadget more and more and in unlikeliest of places and poses, think if this had a, what's the term, trackball, that red bindi bang in middle of keyboard.

Yes, that's what, and if Acer can have some way of providing it in coming editions of Aspire One(point one?) then this would truly be a ThinkPad, only Acer's.

Start Me Up

2009-02-03T02:46:00.000-08:00

Okie so this is not a Windows* launch advert from over 14 years ago, nor has it anything to do with Rolling Stones song of the same name/title.

Just a small post, almost a note from myself of now to future self, of this process of changing gears, shifting priorities, setting of new goals and different directions.

From what can make out till now, it happens in phases, this 'conversion' if u will, from being an 'employee' to being a 'business owner'. Now just in case fore going words give a wrong impression, i'll say its fun, with surprises aplenty, and things in a state of (constant?) flux. And that is what attracted one in the first place, right? Yup. Totally bored of doing the same thing over and over, caught in a straight jacket, blocked from trying new things, doing it differently.

Well so here i am, researching stuff, making plans, figuring out finances, checking out competition, bringing up my daughter, wondering at what is happening to current generation of youth, and yes writing this, all at the same time and from comfort of my home.

Guess this is phase 0, a 'First Creation', where everything is in head, and anything looks possible.

Yo to that.

*Windows 95 launching in August of that year used the said song for its TV commercial

Mohe Rang De Basanti

2009-02-03T02:23:00.000-08:00

Jan 26 was unusually warm for a Jan day, cutting short winter and making one feel of spring come yearly.
So unlike record breaking cold wintery days witnessed last year.

If weather is any indication to go by, this 60th year of Republic of India seems full of promise and hope already, almost as a contrast to how things are currently.
Hopefully rest of the year would take on this same quality of warmth and lightness, ,cutting short economic winter that seems have come over India and Indian industry.

For now, wherever one looks, it is color red that one sees; financial charts, industrial output, etc etc. And before things turn green, guess they turn orange, like ordering of lights on a traffic signal. And maybe this is what the promise of the year is, ringing the words of title song from a movie released this day over three years ago.

Me, My Self and Mine

2009-01-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

This post for those who on reading want to be friends or discover are friends getting back in touch.

So in case Orkut is your preferred social hangout, here is the link to my profile and tribe.

Similiarly if it is Facebook that you prefer,find me here .

Sigh, and in case it is some other place on this world wide web that you call home, do leave a comment, along with benefits of moving there and i just might consider joining you:)

Career Course

2009-01-22T03:09:00.000-08:00

Okie, just a quick post to summarize elements of my resume, not that am looking for a job, more to satisfy and come clear on questions that surface when reading a persons thoughts on varied topics, questions like what does he do for a living etc.

Well so here it is, dear readers, without delay, a quick summary.

MCA with 10.5 years’ of qualitative experience in MS Platform,.NET 3.x/2.x/1.x (ASP.NET, C#, ADO.NET using VS.NET), MS SQLServer 2005/2000, IIS 7.x/6.x, MOSS 2007.

Skilled in architecting Web2.0 dotcoms based on .NET using ASP.NET, AJAX, and Silverlight

Experience defining tech strategy and roadmap in accordance with solution’s vision, and stakeholder need. Also converting and incorporating it into appropriate technical architecture and high level design.

Facility working with both formal (RUP,CMM) as well as agile (eXtreme Programming, SCRUM) process models, making use of tools for creation and maintenance of development artifacts.

Now in case you want to know more and have a LinkedIn Id,
click here to find me.

Not really a book, but (almost) ideal for bedtime reading

2009-01-22T02:41:00.000-08:00

Oks, sort of fitting in my mind to restart slew of posts with another gadget review/feedback/usage experience.

And this time of Acer Aspire One, yup a NetBook, bought in the current promotional scheme that ran from Jan 10 to 20.

Well, straight off, what a relief to work again on an XP m/c.
Guess did not realize the extent to which was missing its speed, ease of use, program support until got to use it again.
Here is the thing, this NetBook is fast, and that 1GB of RAM goes a long way in making it so. Also since we are on memory issues, would like to mention that hard disk is capacious. In case you don't have an iPOD(or any other MP3 player to store digital media), or even if you do, 160 GB of hard disk space is such a relief to have. You can transfer(like i did) almost all of ur digital media, music, movies, ebooks, installers for essential tools and still have space left. Further given that it is so light, all that media can be consumed even when you are snuggled in bed:)

As a category, whoever thought of this, is a genius. This is definitely something that the world needed, financial meltdown, recession or not. A parallel here comes to mind, netbook as a category is to PC** what Nano is to cars***.
Looks like as sight of a family on a scooter inspired Nano's creation, it must have been sight of geek, struggling with using in tightest of places, like a packed Delhi metro compartment, in a call centre cab, or even on their beds, that has led to this netBook.

Well, the whole thing is best summarized in words of a fellow shopper, working on a demo piece, evaluating before buying, "This is a true laptop" he exclaimed.

My feelings, exactly.

*WOW,can not believe am eulogizing a version of Windows
**Personal Computer or Portable Computer
***Minus the environmental impact, though am not sure if netbooks sell in 100 million range, there would be an impact, both in terms of factories that produce and batteries powering each piece

Sorry for the interruption

2009-01-22T00:26:00.000-08:00

Yup, as you dear reader can make out, am back to writing and posting.

Was end Aug when started this blog, and up until then 08 had been okie; in fact looked like all the ominous warnings were misplaced.

And then come September, especially Sep 15 and word meltdown gained currency, gaining strength unlike most other financial assets; a tornado passed through financial markets likes of which most of us alive today have not seen.

Now just in case you get confused about my geo physical coordinates, and want to check location section in my profile,permit me to clarify.

Since September, the circus of life, worldwide has become soo interesting.
Not that any of it had an immediate or a material impact on daily living,just that too many interesting things happened too fast, and there was so much to say, write about, comment on. In fact did, just that none of it landed as posts here, for before any one of it could be completed, something else came up to take attention away.

Whew what a time, the last four months of 2008. Guess 08/08/08 was what was supposed to be scary, a point if passed things would be fine said the soothsayers.
But now in hindsight, looks like all worst crises of the year happened after that date.

Anyways, to get back on purpose for this post, which is to re-start on posting, will conclude by saying, old DoorDarshan style, sorry for the interruption, for any disappointment caused. Am back to writing, and posting, integrating whole process better with daily grind than last year.

So hello/hi/hola, how are things?
Hopefully good and getting better.

Change has come, hopefully a call too has

2009-01-22T00:16:00.000-08:00

So with swearing in of US President Barack Hussein Obama, process of change of guard at the very echelons of power is complete.

Looks like this moment, full of so much significance, historical and otherwise, is a culmination of a chain of events started two years ago.

And obviously the swearing in is a logical conclusion to the election in Nov, which is when 'Change has come to America' was first heard, finding an echo worldwide.

Guess no point repeating it here or delving into this idiom's subtlety.

Just this niggling thought in my mind, that hopefully a call has come to India, after the swearing in, a call to Honorable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Possibly it has, or maybe it was not so important this time, after the swearing in, when (maybe) world leaders might be calling to congratulate.

But in Nov '08, remember distinctly, small news item, on the front pages of a couple of english news dailies, carrying a story of how, Mr Barack Obama, the then US Presidential elect, had chosen to call Pakistan and speak to its President before calling India.

There was gap of a couple of days, but a call (eventually) did come to India too.

Sigh, so much talk of historical significance,reams of newsprint voicing need for an 'Indian Obama', and yet such news stories on what at best is a diplomatic nicety.

How about we as a nation and a people truly integrated the meaning and significance of President Barack Obama's successful campaign for the White House in our lives?

And by that i mean figuring out what is truly important in each of our lives and as a society,a vast and a diverse nation, and then focusing all our collective energies on making it happen, whatever that may be.

For then, change would come to the world, and all of us would be better off.

For now looks like, change has come, but to America, only.

Finding Nemesis of the iPhone

2008-08-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

Oks so looks like every one is (correction) was waiting for the iPhone.

Looks like every one thinks N96 is going to be the answer to Apple from Nokia.

Guess everyone as in everyone, even Nokia for it ran on eve of iPhone's launch, a similar advertising campaign(front pages of national English dailies), announcing N96. Ads had elements similar to iPhone ads(links for booking and all, emblazoned across the page, though placed at bottom).

Guess everyone as in everyone, even my Mom; she talked of how N96 might be better than iPhone, and cheaper.

Looks like now the hunt for iPhone's killer is taking hold of some peoples imigination akin to how a recent double murder mystery in Delhi suburb took root.

And even in this case, that of finding nemesis of the iPhone, think we are looking in wrong direction. Guess it is difficult to think clearly, given so much emotional investment in brands and hype.

But anyways, without spending any more time digressing, let me boldly introduce you to the real iPhone 'killer' if you will.

Yup it is from Nokia and its already launched, yes you can go and buy, now!
Okie okie, after having read this post, which also doubles up as a user(mine) review of Nokia E71. There, i said it. That is the name of a phone, as sleek and nice to look at than any other phone, Nokia that is.
E71 is a successsor to E62,E61(i), but not a big bulky(E62) or a big bulky but rounded(E61) square.But a dis-similar curved at the sides rectangle, very similar to current iPhone 2G.

Looks like that is how products in this category are going. If you have seen picture of the Blackberry Bold, then also very easy to imagine E71 as it is almost alike, for Blackberry Bold too has a full QWERTY keyboard. So overall the layout of the screen and keyboard comes out to be the same.

So if how the phone looks is very or as important, thing is E71 would not let you down one bit. Moment you take it out from its case(bundled along) friends,family, colleagues eyes would light up; they would want to hold it; whether u allow it or not, is entirely up to u. But here is the thing, even if you do, you needn't worry; this one inherits Nokia's ruggedness, so unlike the iPhone all fiddling is not going to leave any prints; not any that can not be wiped off using a kerchief.

Now i can tell you that it has 3 mega pixel camera, with video recording support and flash.
That it has a hot swappable memory card with 2GB card bundled.
That it has a built in IMAP client that one can have email configured in a snap.
That it has GPS and Nokia maps, which immediately identified the lane and by lanes of my Delhi suburban neighborhood, along with telling me all things of interest nearby.

Whew, am a little out of breath, given the above and also seeing all the hype and hoopla surrounding the iPhone launch with suspense being over. So how about another post, with nothing but a just a feature by feature comparison.
And yes, one thing and that is in case you want to go buy it now, Nokia E71 is 20K or so(+-Rs500) with a 2GB card coming along with case, stereo phones in standard pacakaging. iPhone is a sure 50% more.

I know, i know, a full QWERTY sleek smart phone for under 20K from Nokia. You just want to go buy. Just do it, as famous tag line says, just remember E71.

That is the real iPhone killer, not any other.

Can't get enough

2008-08-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

Seems like everyone is complaining of
iPhone's launch price here.

Nokia launched E71 around three weeks a go, and at a price hitting what is called market's sweet spot.Though retailer tells me it is pretty fast moving since its launch, and it is a very good phone (await my review here), don't think enough people know of it, and are buying it.

Probably Nokia too should have done this, a launch and all.
Instead what they did, was to run ads in most every break, of NDTV Profit, on Aug 1-2.Guess the ads are still pretty much ubiquitous, especially on NDTV network channels.And also online, though that is from July third week or so.

However, looks like we as a nation are hungry for more; yup like the Americans, more is better, whether it be of features or marketing. And yes, even more of money to pay. Am sure less price than what iPhone retails for now, would have led to weaker and not stronger sales, two gadget journos on NDTVs disappointment not withstanding.

Price means exclusivity, and thus think the AirTel executive is spot on when he says Apple decided the price

A company with as strong brand values as Apple, grokked correctly that price had to 'higher' for iPhones' to be in users of right demographic. And to this 'i' demographic and generation, it can then hope to sell, not only pods and phones(which imported from US they already have), but products like AppleTV, Macs, PowerBooks, basically its whole product range in (for lack of better term) PC category. A category dominated by HP/Compaq desktops, Dell/Toshiba laptops.

Guess Steve is spot on, and on the job, guarding his 'fortress' of a brand, in this country, a so far removed from American and Californian reality.

Kudos Steve, congratulations Apple, and welcome iPhone.

ET call home

2008-08-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

Random thought: (Maybe)Spielberg and Jobs are friends(or seems like, am not sure).

Now, what are the chances that if iconic 1983 movie featuring a lovable alien was made today, that it would have ET use an iPhone to call home?

Would either Steve be okie with it?

If not, then which one, Spielberg or Jobs?

No prizes for guessing this one, as no way of finding out the correct response:)

Send in your responses as comments still.

Only Vimal

2008-08-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

High court asks the Ambani brothers to settle; wants their Mother to help resolve dispute.

Reminds me of famed jingle for Reliance textile brand, use to run so much on TV and Radio.
Looks like it can be paraphrased such as to replace mother in place of Vimal.

And this way it would accurately reflect what so many in the country already feel, that it is only Kokila bahen who can bring peace in this dispute. A dispute which if escalates into a war would be in no ones interest, for as an old adage goes, when two elephants fight, it is earth that suffers most.

Hope this new adaption has same quality as jingle of yore, fresh after all these years, bringing nostalgia for times gone by, and connecting a consumer with a brand.

Hope it becomes a mantra that helps two brothers connect to their shared heritage, bringing an end to acrimony.

And all of us can heave a collective sigh of relief.

Double Delight

2008-08-20T09:11:00.001-07:00

So indeed it is turning out to be a momentous day for us at the Olympics.

2008/2008 would come to mean birth of two champions.
Two men digging deep to find courage and victory.
Maybe after this, 8 would come to mean a whole lot of positive things, other than fate and catastrophe.
Am not aware of reasons for 8 being considered so auspicious in China but guess it makes total
sense. Come to think of it, maybe 8 means both, like another (Chinese)proverb, times of great crisis are times of great opportunity.

Surely before the games started, it was a great crisis for our national sport.
For the very first time in history, we were not in contention for a hockey medal, having failed to qualify for this edition of the games.
And now look at the headlines; almost every where it is being touted as our best Olympics till date.
Crisis has really given way to great opportunity translated in to even greater achievement;
We have our first ever individual gold, and guess highest medal tally.

Wow, once again what an Olympics it is turning out to be for us a nation.
Great crisis in our national game, greater opportunity in many other sports.

Small first step

2008-08-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

So windows decides to restart as am about to start writing this post; augurs well i suppose:)

Have been thinking of doing this for sometime now, and guess no better day than today to start; comes once in so many years, they tell me, date like today, 20/08/2008.
Untrue i suppose, for half the world uses a different convention;

Anyways, away with trivialities; this is going to be my first post, and like so many firsts in life, supposed to be special, significant, having a unique stamp and signature.

Write about Singh is King, a thought surfaces; only have not seen the movie so don't know what can i say.Guess above title has so much currency these days, being bandied about in media so much; from TV news channels to fm, that it has become background score to my thought process.

So much for modern marketing; leveraging a significant political event for promotion and 'brand recall'. Art follows life, one might say, or is it supposed to be the other way, life following art?

Any which ways, it is all mixed up, and to prevent another one at this post level, lets change track, look at other topics.

Rains with the dilapidated state they leave Delhi roads and traffic in, playing havoc with office times comes to mind. Drive everyday to work,and thus have a first hand experience of how chaotic and desperate the situation becomes. Guess enough pain handling while commuting that no point recreating it here.

Write about 'Bachana Aye Hasseno' and how it just might redeem YashRaj studios sagging fortunes; or 'Tare Zameen Par' latest movie that we saw on vcd, and how amazing it was; or about Heroes and Lost, two TV series that have become my favourites.

Write about cricket, and Indian teams way ward ways; or the upcoming champions trophy and IPL 2; fact that latter starts just a day after former ends and how that is again going to throw up player fatigue stories.

How about Olympics are turning out to be a dance of the eights, where not only did they start on a date with three eights and an individual winning 8 gold medals. Or how lucky it has been for India, producing our first individual gold,bringing cheers to entire nation.
Looks like a fitting anticlimax to all those TV reports of doom, gloom and catastrophy the date
08/08/08 was supposed to bring.

How about Web 2.0 and architecting a dot com in .NET, writing about issues faced and problems encountered; about how they are different from 'normal' web but enterprise applications; about how to have a plastic architecture and design allowing for quick delivery of user desired features and enhancements.

How about two back to back eclipses in the month and flurry of calls from friends enquiring about possible effects.

How before even writing my first blog post, have become somewhat of an expert on what this medium is about and what it promises. Or how day begins with reading blog posts at techcrunch.com and gigaom.com.

Guess all of this and more is what this blog is going to be about, and to paraphrase an oft quoted proverb, journey of thousand miles begins with a small step.

So this post, a small first step in a journey spanning many a topic, bridging ideas and minds.

One small voice, trying to make sense of the current cultural cacophony.
An attempt at finding deeper meaning to this time and age than just a juxtaposition of numbers used to denote it.

Hopefully the journey is a joyous one and arriving is as much fun as getting there.