The Utterances of a Peculiar Mindset

Perfection

2008-09-26T19:09:00.000+05:30

A gentleman was once visiting a temple under construction. In the temple premises, he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he saw, just a few meters away, another identical idol was lying. Surprised he asked the sculptor, "do you need two statutes of the same idol?"
"No" said the sculptor. "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the statue. No apparent damage was visible.
"Where the damage is?" Asked the gentleman.
There is a scratch on the nose of the idol. Where are you going to keep the idol? Asked the gentleman.
The sculptor replied that it will be installed on a pillar 20 feet high.
The gentleman asked- When the idol will be 20 feet away from the eyes of the beholder, who is going to know that there is scratch on the nose anyways? The sculptor looked at the gentleman, smiled and said, "The God knows it and I know it ".

An innovative speech

2008-09-23T19:09:00.000+05:30

An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in the United Nations Assembly that made the world community smile.

A representative from India began: 'Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Rishi Kashyap of Kashmir, after whom Kashmir is named.

When he struck a rock and it brought forth water, he thought, 'What a good opportunity to have a bath.'He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water. When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Pakistani had stolen them.'

The Pakistani representative jumped up furiously and shouted, 'What are you talking about? The Pakistanis weren't there then.'

The Indian representative smiled and said, 'And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech.'

And they say Kashmir belongs to them………………………………………..

Shifting to new place

2008-09-20T13:44:00.002+05:30

After four years of association with blogger, I'm shifting to new place. Shifting is never very easy. Leaving behind your old memories and legacies and getting adjusted to new ones is never very easy. But then life has to move on.
Hoping that you will come to meet me at my new address. http://dineshsoni.com.

Coding in local language

2008-09-18T12:42:00.000+05:30

Dilbert says it again

2008-09-15T22:11:00.000+05:30

What speed I'm working on

2008-09-14T07:10:00.000+05:30

I just took the speedometer test of my internet network. And was astronished at the result. I did not know I'm getting 2Mbps downloading speed. Wow..

Not just another year by the bay

2008-09-13T11:51:00.003+05:30

One year since I came to Mumbai and it has been:

1 year of fun
1 year of hard work
1 year of sheer learning
1 year of growth
1 year of being independent
1 year of being professional
1 year of survival
1 year of madness
1 year of happiness
1 year of MBA
1 year of projects
1 year of presentations
1 year of friends
1 year of Chetana
1 year of local trains
1 year of Mumbai
1 year of life...

Important Update: The post is inspired by a similar post by Tarun. If you notice, even the title is the same. When I visited his blog, the post and the title clicked me immidiately. And I thought why not use similar thing for my 1 year in Mumbai..!!! However, the idea of mentioning original author did not clicked me somehow. Maybe I could not understand the efforts Tarun had put in his post.
However, when I recieved communication from Tarun, the need to mention the name of initiator of idea clicked me. But the wrodpress thing as usual did not respond when it was supposed to. So there happened a delay of couple of days in updating.

Anyways, sorry Tarun for whatever misunderstanding that happened on the issue. And thanks a lot for the post.

Indian girl commits suicide over 'Big Bang' fear

2008-09-11T14:43:00.002+05:30

What will you say about this news? The Indian media exaggerating every single issue like it is the *only* issue in the entire universe. Remember in the past the news about the love affair of tigers? Or even the story about "Alians stealing cows from the Earth".. These news definitely provide some fun and entertainment factor for a moment. But do you still call these channels as "News Channels"..? That's the "Big Bang Question".

A teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatized by media reports that a "Big Bang" experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.

The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.

Her father, identified on local television as Biharilal, said that his daughter, Chayya, killed herself after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programs.

"In the past two days, Chayya had asked me and other relatives about the world coming to an end on September 10," Biharilal was quoted as saying.

"We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things, but to no avail," he said.

For the past two days, many Indian news channels held discussions airing doomsday predictions over a huge particle-smashing machine buried under the Swiss-French border.

The machine, called the Large Hadron Collider, was switched on on Wednesday, at the start of what experts say is the largest scientific experiment in human history.

The machine smashes particles together to achieve, on a small-scale, re-enactments of the "Big Bang" that created the universe.

Leading scientists and researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, said the experiment was safe. They dismissed as "pure fiction" doomsday predictions that the experiment could create anti-matter, or black holes.

But in deeply religious and superstitious India, fears about the experiment and the minor risks associated with it spread rapidly through the media.

In east India, thousands of people rushed to temples to pray and fast while others savored their favorite foods in anticipation of the world's end.

"There were a thousand more devotees yesterday as well as today compared to (any) other normal day," Benudhara Sahu, a temple official in Orissa state, told Reuters.

Many women and children rushed to temples and observed fasts as they prayed for deliverance, officials and witnesses said.

Assurances by scientists and the media that nothing would happen counted for nothing for housewife Rukmini Moharana.

"I visited temple, prayed to god," Moharana said. "I am observing the fast for safety because god can only save us."

When the GODs meet virus

2008-09-11T06:54:00.003+05:30

Even the God's own website could not save itself from virus. The site siddhivinayak.org throws this malware warning.

Large Hadron Collider on google

2008-09-10T21:30:00.003+05:30

The best google logo according to me in recent times, celebrating the successful launch of Large Hadron Collider.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator complex, intended to collide opposing beams of protons charged with approximately 7 TeV of energy. Its main purpose is to explore the validity and limitations of the Standard Model, the current theoretical picture for particle physics. It is theorized that the collider will produce the Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm the predictions and missing links in the Standard Model, and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.
The LHC was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and lies underneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. It is funded by and built in collaboration with over eight thousand physicists from over eighty-five countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. The LHC is already operational and is presently in the process of being prepared for collisions. The first beams were circulated through the collider on 10 September 2008, and the first high-energy collisions are planned to take place after the LHC is officially unveiled on 21 October 2008.

Difference in American, British, Australian and Candians

2008-09-09T23:20:00.002+05:30

Australians: Dislike being mistaken for Pommies (Brits) when abroad.
Canadians: Are rather indignant about being mistaken for Americans when abroad.
Americans: Encourage being mistaken for Canadians when abroad.
Brits: Can't possibly be mistaken for anyone else when abroad.

Australians: Believe you should look out for your mates.
Brits: Believe that you should look out for those people who belong to your club.
Americans: Believe that people should look out for & take care of themselves.
Canadians: Believe that that's the government's job.

Australians: Are extremely patriotic to their beer.
Americans: Are flag-waving, anthem-singing, and obsessively patriotic to the point of blindness.
Canadians: Can't agree on the words to their anthem, when they can be bothered to sing them.
Brits: Do not sing at all but prefer a large brass band to perform the anthem.

Americans: Spend most of their lives glued to the idiot box.
Canadians: Don't, but only because they can't get more American channels.
Brits: Pay a tax just so they can watch four channels.
Australians: Export all their crappy programs, which no-one there watches, to Britain, where everybody loves them.

Americans: Will jabber on incessantly about football, baseball, and basketball.
Brits: Will jabber on incessantly about cricket, soccer, and rugby.
Canadians: Will jabber on incessantly about hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, and how they beat the Americans twice, playing baseball.
Australians: Will jabber on incessantly about how they beat the Poms in every sport they play them in.

Americans: Spell words differently, but still call it "English".
Brits: Pronounce their words differently, but still call it "English."
Canadians: Spell like the Brits, pronounce like Americans.
Australians: Add "G'day," "mate" and a heavy accent to everything they say in an attempt to get laid.

Brits: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Australians: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Americans: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas, & liquor in a backwards country.
Canadians: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas, & liquor in a backwards country.

Americans: Drink weak, pissy-tasting beer.
Canadians: Drink strong, pissy-tasting beer.
Brits: Drink warm, beery-tasting piss.
Australians: Drink anything with alcohol in it.

Americans: Seem to think that poverty & failure are morally suspect.
Canadians: Seem to believe that wealth and success are morally suspect.
Brits: Seem to believe that wealth, poverty, success and failure are inherited things.
Australians: Seem to think that none of this matters after several beers.

Time to use eco-friendly idols..

2008-09-07T13:35:00.003+05:30

Liked the video? Want to spread awareness among your orkut friends?

Instructions :

Copy the Code given below.
Go to orkut Friend's scrapbook.
Paste the Code There.
Click on Submit
Enjoy !!

Copy This Code: (Click to Select ,then Ctrl+C to copy)
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M3XdubHG2V4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param></object><br><a href="http://dineshsoni.blogspot.com/2008/09/time-to-use-eco-friendly-idols.html"><b>Get This | Send to Friend</b></a>

Happy Teachers' Day!!!

2008-09-05T09:42:00.002+05:30

Here's wishing a very happy teachers' Day to all those who have walked by my life, teaching me a new lesson about my life. My parents, all my teachers, my friends, colleagues, classmates, associates, bosses, casual passer bys.. Everyone has taught me some new things in my life. Thanks everyone.
And most importantly, Thank you God for creating all these teachers and making sure I always get the best ones, Thank you.

And Happy Teachers' Day to everyone!!!

a small review of mobile4mumbai

2008-09-04T12:35:00.002+05:30

My friend raxit and his friends have developed an application name Mobile for Mumbai that will assist in finding the BEST bus from a particular stop to another stop in Mumbai. I'm among the earlybirds to have tried and tested this app. Here's a short review from my side about the app.

The application is completely use centered. It makes sure that any info needed will be available with minimum key strokes and within seconds. The usability factor for the user is surely the prime factor considered while designing the application.

The auto search and radio buttons make the task of searching the bus stops very easy. And the result page has very clear and simple interface, which makes the result display soothing.

Best part of the app is it works on mobile without having to send any SMS or having GPRS. So there is no money matter involved. And you can use this app with any Java enabled handset {which are available in market for as low as 2500 bucks and 80% people in Mumbai today own Java enabled handsets}.

If you want to be among the early testers of this app, you can Drop a line at pb@m4mum.com.

PS: Raxit also has another website MyKavita.com

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-09-03T11:42:00.000+05:30

Innovative prayers by childen

2008-08-31T12:54:00.004+05:30

Orkut introduces SMS alert

2008-08-26T12:32:00.002+05:30

Did you check out latest feature by orkut? SMS alert for the scraps. I tried it out but did not work out for me. My SMS limit is currently zero. Maybe it will start working from month 2.

My Manga character

2008-08-25T10:26:00.000+05:30

My b'day cake

2008-08-20T08:37:00.002+05:30

Now that my birthday is approaching, I wish someone would bring this kind of cake for me..

I phone for 10000 bucks

2008-08-18T15:35:00.002+05:30

Yesterday's newspaper (17th August) has a special advertisement. It says E-phone for Rs 9999/- The model looks exactly like an Iphone. And check the tagline "Twice as faster, half the price". Definitely aimed at iphone.

Orkut India theme

2008-08-16T23:43:00.002+05:30

Did you check out the new theme by orkut dedicated to India? It just rocks man. It has our national flag and it says "Proud of you Abhinav Bindra". Here's a screen shot for you..

Are crushes meant to be crushed...?: Part I

2008-08-16T00:17:00.005+05:30

Before you start guessing the purpose of this post, let me clarify. I don't have a new crush. Neither am I seeing any girl who is trying to crush me.
Ok. So the story goes like this. I was waiting along with one of my friend (X) for another friend (Y) who happens to be a girl. So as Y comes and greets us with a cute smile, an arrow came sharp and hit X. Later someone said that this arrow was shot by some stupid person called cupid. So this cupid's arrow hit X. Or to keep it simple, X got crush on Y.
Now X was wondering whether to let Y know about the crush. He though that Y will not like the idea of X having a crush on her. And this will end up the newly starting friendship between the two. My suggestion to him was go ahead and inform her. Though there are no chances of she agreeing to the relationship {which anyways was not the aim of X I suppose}, it will make Y feel special about herself. Well, as far as I know girls, they like this feeling of someone having crush on her. Infact its with every human being. The idea of someone liking us makes us feel special. And the gender doesn't matter for this feeling.
After suggesting him, I tried to peek inside my past life and to check out how my crush story went up and how many times my crushes were crushed. My first crush was.. well very late. I was 14 that time. This girl was my classmate. In fact this wasn't really a crush. Cause I had no idea what crush means and what love is. It was just the teenage mentality of having the idea of liking a girl. This girl always knew that I'm having crush on her. One day when my friends asked me thousand times to inform her about crush, I went to her to talk about this.

I "I have crush on you".
She: How dare you have a crush on me?

For a moment, I felt as if a Police inspector is asking me, "How dare you kill Mr Gupta? Well, I never knew having a crush on a girl is really that big crime like killing someone.

I: "What do you mean by How dare you? I got crush on you and it just happened".
She: "I'm not that kind of girl."

Well, only girls can come up with such kind of statements. What did she mean but "that kind of girl"? Did that mean "I'm not kind of girl who will get easily impressed. You will have to try very hard to impress me". Or did that mean "I'm not the girl who wants to get into these relationships." Or did that mean "I'm not kind of girl who will hate you for having crush on me". Or did that mean "I'm not kind of girl who will find about crush by herself. You have to inform me in person". Or did that mean.... Ok. Too many alternatives. Better to ask her.

I: What do you mean by *that* kind of girl?
She: Shut up.

Wow. That's an innovative way to answer. Shut up. Two words. But when uttered with right intensity and pitch, create a fantastic impact. But why did she wanted me to shut up? Did i say anything wrong..? Anyways, its better not to ask for another clarification.

I: Sorry!!
She: Its okay.
I:(blank)
She: (with bit milder tone) So since when is this crush thing going?

Well, did that matter now? Are you gonna say yes if I say i've crush on you for 100 years. Or are you trying to find out the time invested by me on the crash and gonna calculate the ROI? Well, is their any return in the first place?

I: few months.
She: How many?

Well, she surely is trying to find out the time invested.

I: four months.
She: See Dinesh. You are a very nice guy.

If I'm really so nice guy, why are you not saying yes? Why are you trying to run away from me? Am I really a nice guy?

She: You are very nice, intelligent. Don't fall into all these things. Concentrate on studies. You have big future in front of you.

Ya. All right. I have big future and there are many more girls who are gonna be part of my the crush story of my life. Thanks for making me realize that there are many more opportunities waiting for me in future.

I: Thanks. I hope there are no grudges in your mind. I just wanted to let you know the truth.
She: Of course. No grudges. Our friendship won't change for this small thing.

Ohh.. so this is a small thing for us. Thank god. I thought for a moment that she will end up the friendship for this incidence. Or was I being too childish to think like that? Maybe yes..

I: Thanks
She: Btw, on this Rakhi, am gonna tie you a Rakhi.

Well, now that was a tsunami. So big punishment for such a small mistake? Now I realize how girls use this small dhaga of rakhi to keep the guys under control. Now I was supposed to treat a girl as my sister. The same girl I had crush on few minutes ago. WTF..

So that was the end of my first crush. It ended up adding one more girl to my sister's list.

To be continued...

Happy Birthday India

2008-08-15T22:54:00.000+05:30

A Great Animated Orkut Scrap for Independence Day - Jai Hind !!

2008-08-15T15:00:00.002+05:30

A Great Animated Scrap for Independence Day Which you can Use in Orkut Scraps For Your Orkut Friends.

Screenshot :

Instructions :

Copy the Code given below.
Go to orkut Friend's scrapbook.
Paste the Code There.
Click on Submit
Enjoy !!

Copy This Code: (Click to Select ,then Ctrl+C to copy)

<a href="http://dineshsoni.blogspot.com/2008/08/great-animated-orkut-scrap-for.html"><b>Get This | Send to Friend</b></a>

Why so serious..?

2008-08-12T13:39:00.002+05:30

For all those who loved "Dark Knight". With special thanks from Vivek Khandelwal

Rechargable USB AA batteries

2008-08-08T22:13:00.002+05:30

Tired of buying the conventional Li-ion AA batteries that have to be either thrown out or plugged into an additional charging unit for hours to get back their power?

If you said yes, then maybe Moxia has an answer to your worries. The USB cell ,launched in Sept,2006 ,is just like any other AA batery just that when it gets discharged, all you have to do is remove the its cap and plug it into a USB port on your computer to charge.

Sweet ans simple, right?
Theres more to it:

* Doesn't have to be thrown like the alkaline batteries creating a toxic waste.

* No need to carry a charger, plug it into your computer,gamestation, TV or anything that has a USB port.

* The rechargeable AA NiMH Battery gives 1.2v ,1300mah output.

* The price is slightly on the higher side at INR 600.00 for a two AA cell pack (I bet fake models from China would already be available, so be careful)

* Also in the pipeline are other forms of batteries like phone batteries (see adjascent pic) the 9V battery(pic below) and the AAA batery.

These batteries are developed by Moxia Energy, a UK based company that specializes in renewable energy power resources and related innovative design and engineering solutions. Their idea is to help the human to cut off from the electricity grid for petty issues like lighting, fans, charging etc. !!

With their cutting edge technology focusing on the need of the hour (especially because of the constant decay in the conventional energy resources the world over) they would definitely inspire many a young engineers to focus on this international reality.

The Olympic is here

2008-08-08T06:49:00.002+05:30

The Olympic 2008 is about to start in Beijing. And the whole world is excited about it. Frankly saying, I'm not excited. In last 4 Olympics I've seen, India could not manage to bag even a single gold. In fact we have bagged only 3 medals in last 4 Olympic games. And if we see the kind of approach our country, our countrymen and our government have towards the Olympic games, I don't really expect any better performance by our sportsmen.

So the bottom line, I'm not excited about the Olympic games. I'm gonna neglect it in my blog, twits and everywhere else. Unless except India bags another medal in the games. The Google logo for Olympic is great but. This logo excites me.. :-)

Legality and logic

2008-08-02T22:25:00.000+05:30

After having failed his exam in "Logistics and Organization" , a student goes and confronts his lecturer about it.

Student: "Sir, do you really understand anything about the subject?"

Professor: "Surely I must. Otherwise I would not be a professor!"

Student: "Great, well then I would like to ask you a question.

If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my mark as is and go. If you however do not know the answer, I want you give me an "A" for the exam. "

Professor: "Okay, it's a deal. So what is the question?"

Student: "What is legal, but not logical, logical, but not legal, and neither logical, nor legal?"

Even after some long and hard consideration, the professor cannot give the student an answer, and therefore changes his exam mark into an "A", as agreed.

Afterwards, the professor calls on his best student and asks him the same question.

He immediately answers: "Sir, you are 63 years old and married to a 35 year old woman, which is legal, but not logical. Your wife has a 25 year old lover, which is logical, but not legal. The fact that you have given your wife's lover an "A", although he really should have failed, is neither legal, nor logical."

I want to trek

2008-07-28T13:27:00.002+05:30

That beautiful rainy season is around. Agreed, its not really *too* fascinating in Mumbai to talk about beauty of rainy season. But the beauty of Sahyadris in rains is something no one can disagree to.
I've always been fascinated by the lush green environment in Sahyadris. Its the place and time where even the skies start appearing green instead of blue. And this is the ideal time for trekking.
I've always been an avid trekker. Have done more than 60 treks so far to visit different forts and caves in Sahyadris. But last some time, my trekking zest appears to be taking a drop. I haven't had a trek for last 5 months {Kalsubai trek being the last one}.

Ever since I came to Mumbai, I wanted to visit two trekking spots. Karnala near Panvel, and Mahuli near Asangao. But I guess am getting too lazy these days to take up my bum to these places.
Hopefully, soon I will visit these places and write a review for you.. *HOPEFULLY* :-)

PETS gets serious

2008-07-26T13:41:00.000+05:30

People for the Ethical Treatment of Software (PETS) announced today that more software companies have been added to the groups "watch list" of companies that regularly practice software testing.

"There is no need for software to be mistreated in this way so that companies like these can market new products," said Ken Granola, a spokesman for PETS. "Alternative methods of testing these products are available."

According to PETS, these companies force software to undergo lengthy and arduous test - often without rest - for hours or days at a time. Employees are assigned to "break" the software by any means necessary and inside sources report that they often joke about "torturing" the software.

"It's no joke," Granola said. "Innocent programs, from the day they are compiled, are cooped up in tiny rooms and 'crashed' for hours on end. They spend their whole lives on dirty, ill-maintained computers, and they are unceremoniously deleted when they're not needed anymore."

Granola said that the software is kept in unsanitary conditions and is infested with bugs.

"We know alternatives to this horror exist," he said, citing industry giant Microsoft Corp. as a company that has become successful without resorting to software testing.

The google saree

2008-07-18T14:44:00.000+05:30

Now this is something we can call as a design.. :-)

Employee Satisfaction

2008-07-14T12:42:00.002+05:30

This is how you have to keep your employees satisfied and happy. I wonder when will today's corporate world learn from sports..

Breaking News

2008-07-08T11:11:00.006+05:30

Check out the breaking news on India TV. I was just wondering whether its a news or another episode of "Great Indian Laughter Challenge"

PS: Mahesh Bhatt got fed up with Human romance and has decided to make a movie based on this news.

17 mistakes a startup does

2008-07-05T09:50:00.003+05:30

Got this at this site. This is a list of 17 mistakes any entrepreneur is liked to commit. The list is provided by John Osher. John Osher has developed hundreds of consumer products, including an electric toothbrush that became America's best-selling toothbrush in just 15 months. He also started several successful companies, including Cap Toys. He built sales to $125 million per year and then sold the company to Hasbro Inc. in 1997. But his most lasting contribution to the business world just may be a list of screw-ups he jotted on the back of a piece of paper.

To home in on what lies behind the 17 mistakes, Osher told Entrepreneur what they are and how you can learn from them to achieve your own level of perfection.

Mistake 1: Failing to spend enough time researching the business idea to see if it's viable. "This is really the most important mistake of all. They say 9 [out] of 10 entrepreneurs fail because they're undercapitalized or have the wrong people. I say 9 [out] of 10 people fail because their original concept is not viable. They want to be in business so much that they often don't do the work they need to do ahead of time, so everything they do is doomed. They can be very talented, do everything else right, and fail because they have ideas that are flawed."

Mistake 2: Miscalculating market size, timing, ease of entry and potential market share. "Most new entrepreneurs get very excited over an idea and don't look for the truth about how many people will want to buy it. They put together financial projections as part of a presentation to pump up their investors. They say, 'The market size is 50 million people that could use this product, and if I could only sell to 2 percent of them, I'd be selling a million pieces.' But 2 percent of a market is a lot. Most products sell way less than 1 percent."

Mistake 3: Underestimating financial requirements and timing. "They set their financial requirements based on Mistake 1, and they go ahead and make a commitment to this much office space and this many computers, and hire a vice president of sales, and so on. Before they know it, based on sales projections that were wrong to start with, they have created costs that require those projections to be met. So they run out of money."

Mistake 4: Overprojecting sales volume and timing. "They have already miscalculated the size of the market. Now they overproject their portion of it. They often say 'There are 200 million homes, and I need to sell [to] x number of them.' When you break it down, though, a much smaller number of those are really sales prospects. That makes it impossible to make their sales projections."

Mistake 5: Making cost projections that are too low. "Their cost projections are always too low. Part of the reason is that they project much higher sales. There are also unknown reasons that always come out that usually make costs higher than planned. So on top of everything, their margins are now lower."

Mistake 6: Hiring too many people and spending too much on offices and facilities. "Now you have lower sales, higher costs and too much overhead. These are the things that you see every day in companies that fail. And they all grow out of that first mistake: failing to research the size and viability of the opportunity."

Mistake 7: Lacking a contingency plan for a shortfall in expectations. "Even if you're realistic in your estimates to start, there are things that happen when you start a new business. Your sales ideas may be no good; bank rates may go up; there may be a shipping strike. These aren't the result of poor planning, but they happen. More often than not, entrepreneurs just feel that something will come along when they need it. They don't have contingency plans for it not working out at the size and time they want."

Mistake 8: Bringing in unnecessary partners. "There are certain partners you need. For instance, you often need money, so you're going to need money partners. But too many times, the guy with the idea takes on all his friends as partners. Many people don't provide strategic advantages and don't warrant ownership. But they're all going to get 25 percent of the company. It's totally unnecessary, and it's a mistake. Before people are made partners, they have to earn it."

Mistake 9: Hiring for convenience rather than skill requirements. "In my first business or two, I hired relatives. It was easy to do, but in many cases, they were the wrong people [for the job]. And it's hard to fire people, especially if they're relatives or friends. More time needs to be spent handpicking people based on skill requirements. You really need super-skilled people who can wear more than one hat. It just bogs you down when you hire people who can't do the job."

Mistake 10: Neglecting to manage the entire company as a whole. "You see this happen all the time. They'll spend half their time doing something that represents 5 percent of their business. You have to have a view of your whole company. But too often, the person running it loses that view. They get involved in a part, and they don't manage the whole. Whether I do this product or that product, whether I hire somebody, [I consider] how they [will] fit long term and short term in the big picture. Constantly try to see your big picture."

Mistake 11: Accepting that it's "not possible" too easily rather than finding a way. "I had an engineer who was a very good engineer, but with every toy we developed, he would say, 'You can't do it that way.' I had to be careful not to accept this too easily. I had to look further. If you're an entrepreneur, you're going to break new ground. A lot of people are going to say it's not possible. You can't accept that too easily. A good entrepreneur is going to find a way."

Mistake 12: Focusing too much on sales volume and company size rather than profit. "Too much of your management is often based on volume and size. So many entrepreneurs want to say 'I have a company that's this big, with this many people, this many square feet of space, and this much sales.' It's too much [emphasis] on how fast and big you can build a business rather than how much profit it can make. Bankers and investors don't like this. Entrepreneurs are so into creating and building, but they also have to learn to become good [businesspeople]."

Mistake 13: Seeking confirmation of your actions rather than seeking the truth. "This often happens: You want to do something, so you talk about it with people who work for you. You talk to [your] family and friends. But you're only looking for confirmation; you're not looking for the truth. You're looking for somebody to tell you you're right. But the truth always comes out. So we [test] our products, and we listen to what [the testers] say. We give much more value to the truth than to people saying what we're doing is great."

Mistake 14: Lacking simplicity in your vision. "Many entrepreneurs go in too many directions at once and do not execute anything well. Rather than focusing on doing everything right to sell to their biggest markets, they divide the attention of their people and their time, trying to do too many things at [one time]. Then their main product isn't done properly because they're doing so many different things. They have an idea and say they're going to sell it to Wal-Mart. Then they say they're going to sell to [the] Home Shopping Network. And then the gift market looks good. And so on."

Mistake 15: Lacking clarity of your long-term aim and business purpose. "You should have an idea of what your long-term aim is. It doesn't mean that won't change, but when you aim an arrow, you have to be aiming at a target. This [concept will] often come up when people ask 'How do I pick a product?' The answer depends on what you're trying to do. If you're trying to [create] a billion-dollar company with this product, it may not have a chance. But if you're trying to make a $5 million company, it can work. Or if you're trying to create a company [in which] family members can be employed, it can work. Clarity of your business purpose is very important [but] is often not really part of the thought process."

Mistake 16: Lacking focus and identity. "This was written from the viewpoint of building the company as a valuable entity. The company itself is also a product. Too many companies try to go after too many targets at once and end up with a potpourri rather than a focused business entity with an identity. When you try to make a business, it's very important to maintain a focus and an identity. Don't let it become a potpourri, or it loses its power. For instance, you say, 'We're already selling to Kmart, so we might as well make a toy because Kmart buys toys.' If you do that, the company becomes weaker. A company needs to be focused on what it is. Then its power builds from that."

Mistake 17: Lacking an exit strategy. "Have an exit plan, and create your business to satisfy that plan. For instance, I am thinking I might run my new business for two years and then get out of it. I think it's an opportunity to make a tremendous amount of money for two years, but I'm not sure [whether] it's proprietary enough to stop the competition from getting in. So I'm in with an exit strategy of doing it for two years and then winding down. I won't commit to long-term leases, and after the first year, we'll start watching the marketplace very closely and start watching inventories.

Simultaneously, I will keep the option open to sell it in case I can't get something more proprietary. That means I won't sign international agreements that would kill any opportunity to sell it to a multinational. I will make sure that the patent work is done properly. And I'll try to make sure manufacturing is up to the standards of any multinational company that I might try to sell it to.
Another exit strategy can be to hand the company to [your] kids someday. The most important thing to do is to build a company with value and profits so you have all the options: Keep the company, sell the company, go public, raise private money [and so on]. A business can be a product, too."

A tribute to nice guys

2008-06-28T22:36:00.000+05:30

I got this as a forwarded mail. And I found it worth sharing with all the "nice guys" around reading my blog. Its a bit too long but worth spending few minutes.

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl's every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they're at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don't end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn't worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you'd ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn't have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing "serious" between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: "oh, but we're just friends!" And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you're nice like that.

The nice guys don't often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don't seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can't. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as "oh, he's too nice to date" or "he would be a good boyfriend but he's not for me" or "he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn't possibly ask him out!" or the most frustrating of all: "no, it would ruin our friendship." Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can't figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I'm going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn't last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you're sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

I'm bored

2008-06-25T22:39:00.000+05:30

The immortal 600

2008-06-21T13:04:00.002+05:30

Well, I'm not exactly writing a book or anything.. But I'm just celebrating the 600th post on my blog. Hurray.. I finally managed to put up 600 ~~pathetic~~ posts to my blog. Party time...!!!

First day of summer

2008-06-21T12:59:00.002+05:30

Google is celebrating fist day of summer with this logo. I don't know how much sense it makes to display this logo at Indian domain cause this is not the first day of summer for India or for that matter all Asian countries. I think they should put this logo only for US and Canada and around countries.

Twitter is down

2008-06-20T22:46:00.000+05:30

The world according to US people

2008-06-19T21:43:00.001+05:30

This came to me through a mail. Really loved it..

The dream that was....

2008-06-17T17:52:00.002+05:30

Dream is one of the weirdest thing in this world. And here I'm talking about the dreams which we see with closed eyes in sleep. Of course other dreams are also kinda weird at times but I prefer to talk about them later on.
So coming back to the point, dreams is one of the most weird things in this world. So last night, I had one such weird dream.

I was waiting at Vadala Road station for a train towards Vashi for my summer internship. For a change, I decided to get into ladies compartment. For the obvious reason. Checking out some hot chicks (?). And as i boarded the train, to my surprise I could only see guys all around the compartment. And everyone was staring at me as if they were hoping a butterfly and a crow came along. They stared at me for few seconds and then everyone turned around with disappointment.
The fact ws that everyone had boarded the compartment in the hope of checking out chicks and there was no chick in there.

I just wonder if the dream was inspired by the scene in Euro Trip where the guys go to the nude beach to check out chicks and they find all "i-want-to-see-nude-female" kinda males around..

IITB students launch Indian digg

2008-06-17T14:34:00.004+05:30

More commonly, the site wurlpool.com launched by Vivek and Rakesh can be called as Indian version of Diggit. But having a close view and after talks with Vivek, I'm sure this site is gonna be lot more than just basic content aggregater. Anyway, I won't break the suspense about the site.
You can just visit the site and register yourself for the invite of the launch ceremony.

The creator of the site Rakesh (extreme right) and Vivek (with laptop).
Photo courtesy: Loknath

My best friend's wedding: which I broke down

2008-06-16T22:26:00.002+05:30

The story is about one of my best friend, whose name I would like to keep secret as of now. By the end of the post, you may realize who he is. And if you don't, then anyways I wanted to keep it secret. So its fine.
So this friend of mine who owns a software company in Pune also owns an I-phone. And one fine evening, I was playing with his I-phone and I dialed my number. Those days, I used to have a English caller tune. So when I called my number, I also pressed the star key. And my tune was copied to his number.
I thought the story would end here but it did not. Few days later, his family was looking for a bride and there was one bride's family who liked this guy. They liked the guy, his family, his business everything. Until.. Alas.. One fine day, the girl's ad decided to call this to be groom and as he dialed the number, one zaggy English song was making waves in his ears. Now, I won't really mind if a guy my daughter is gonna marry has an English caller tune but this man did. And he said, "I can't let my daughter marry a guy who has English caller tune".
And the prospect engagement and marriage was broken. Am still wondering what went wrong? Pressing the star button or the psychology of the girl's parents to consider a English song lover is not an ideal son in law..
And btw, that friend of mine is still trying to figure out which English song his callers are listening to.. :-)

The IT obsession

2008-06-10T08:34:00.000+05:30

Two IT guys were chatting in a pub after work. "Guess what, mate," says

the first IT guy, "yesterday, I met this gorgeous blonde girl in a bar."
"What did you do?" says the other IT guy.
"Well, I invited her over to my place, we had a couple of drinks, we got into the mood and then she suddenly asked me to make her feel special"
"You're kidding me!" says the second IT guy.
"Then I lifted her and put her on my desk next to my new laptop."

"Really? You got a new laptop? What configuration?"
"It's a 1 GB RAM and mobile Internet connectivity card and 180GB HARDDISK, Wi-Fi, DVD-Writer......................"

18 reasons why you should not marry a blogger

2008-06-09T15:36:00.001+05:30

http://sunshinenjoy.blogspot.com/2008/06/18-reasons-why.html

very hilarious.. I just loved it..

Tatas, Infosys among world's 15 most reputed firm

2008-06-07T11:29:00.001+05:30

ndia's Tata Group has been ranked the world's sixth most reputed company and Infosys Technologies 14th in the annual 'Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations' list compiled by the Reputation Institute here.

The list that includes 10 other Indian companies is topped by Japanese automaker Toyota, followed by Google and Ikea, Sweden's home products' chain.

"India's Tata Group and Infosys Technologies saw their reputations increase by over 8 points in 2008, and catapulted over 100 spots in the ranking to join the top tier of global companies in 2008 in recognition of their growing role among the world's business elite," the Reputation Institute said in its survey report released Thursday.

Other Indian firms in the top 200 list include Maruti Udyog (ranked 77th), State Bank of India (107), Hindustan Lever (131), Hero Honda Motors (147), Life Insurance Corporation of India (161), Bajaj Auto (169), ONGC (186), Mahindra and Mahindra (191), and Indian Oil Corporation (199).

Some large Indian firms which were among 600 shortlisted companies but could not make it to the final 200 included Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, the country's biggest by revenue among private sector firms and overall largest in terms of market value.

India's biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank, Airtel, BSNL, Wipro, ITC and Air India also could not make the cut.

According to the Reputation Institute, the Tata Group and Air India have the strongest and weakest corporate reputations, respectively, among Indian companies.The Tatas are ranked higher than companies like Walt Disney, Marks and Spencers, Xerox, Colgate-Palmolive, Sony, Honda and General Electric (GE), all of which are in the top 50.

Reputation Institute said that all the 200 companies earned scores higher than the global mean of 64.2 points, but despite earnings better-than-global average, the companies ranked 51-200 have "significantly weaker reputations than the top tier companies."

Each company's overall Global Pulse score is based on what the institute terms the seven dimensions of reputation: products and services, innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and performance. The most influential dimensions are products and services, and citizenship.

Reputation Institute, a private, New York City-based research and consulting firm, launched its list of world's most reputed companies in 2006.

Happy Birthday Diego Velázquez

2008-06-06T07:13:00.002+05:30

Google launched another new logo to celebrate 409th Birth aniversary of Diego Velázquez, a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary baroque period, important as a portrait artist. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656).

From the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Velázquez's artwork was a model for the realist and impressionist painters, in particular Édouard Manet. Since that time, more modern artists, including Spain's Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, as well as the Anglo-Irish painter Francis Bacon, have paid tribute to Velázquez by recreating several of his most famous works.

Google celebrates anniversary of launch of first baloon

2008-06-04T17:18:00.003+05:30

Google celebrated the launch of first hot air balloon by Per Lindstrand on June 6, 1988 in Plano, Texas.

Different angle

2008-06-03T10:44:00.000+05:30

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Within a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought. She repeated, "Arnav, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four". The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose
focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how
many you will have?"

Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, "Three?"

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?" Promptly Arnav answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. "How Arnav, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

In a voice that was low and hesitating young Arnav replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."

"When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion."

Bloggers' meet: Report

2008-06-02T11:35:00.004+05:30

Bloggers’ Get together: 31st May 2008

Venue: Pinstorm Café, Santacruz.

No of people attended: 13

Things discussed during the meet:
• Need for a site for bloggers from Mumbai
--> As a platform to discuss issues related to blogging
--> As a platform to arrange online and offline blogger meets
• Agenda and contents for the site
• How can we inspire people to start blogging?
• The celeb status achieved by blogging: with Aamir, Amitabh and Salman coming into blogging
• The power of blogging and twitter as a medium of information exchange

Take away from the meet:
• The existing site mumbaibloggers.net is to be redesigned n restructured.
• Promotion of the site so as to develop this community and create awareness about the word Blogging.
• Involve famous bloggers and internet marketers (blogcamp gang) so as to have a better coverage.
• Use services of colleges and few startups around to create awareness at the ground level.
• Get maximum inputs from blogosphere to promote this community.
• Bloggers should meet atleast twice a month for discussions

Where do you sit..?

2008-06-01T20:35:00.002+05:30

JLT

2008-06-01T11:15:00.000+05:30

Just because I'm not in a mood to type a post

Bloggers' Meet today

2008-05-31T14:31:00.002+05:30

The bloggers' meet is happening today 6 PM at Pinstorm Cafe, Santacruz. Around 20 bloggers have registered with us so far. This is kinda casual get together of bloggers. So even 20 is a descent number, considering the fact that Team Mohali and Team Chennai are fighting in IPL semi finals on the same day.
I'm kind excited about the meet and will reach the venue @ 5:30. Btw, if you are reading this post, you are heartily invited for the event. Come, join and have fun..

PS: Expect the review of the event by tomorrow

Do you believe in power of prayers..?

2008-05-30T16:32:00.001+05:30

In a small town, a person decided to open up his Bar business, which was right opposite to a Temple. The Temple & its congregation started a campaign to block the Bar from opening with petitions and prayed daily against his business.

Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to open a few days later, a strong lightning struck the Bar and it was burnt to the ground.

The temple folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, till the Bar owner sued the Temple authorities on the grounds that the Temple through its congregation & prayers was ultimately responsible for the demise of his bar shop, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

In its reply to the court, the temple vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection that their prayers were reasons to the bar shop's demise. As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented:

"I don't know how I'm going to decide this case, but it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and we have an entire temple and its devotees that doesn't."

Google's new fevicon

2008-05-30T03:06:00.002+05:30

Google has changed its fevicon recently. A small 16X16 change, but its creating big news. Google Blogsearch lists more than ~~400~~ 17000 blogs talking about the google's new fevicon. And the list excludes the discussion happening on twitter and friendfeed.
Well, whatever small google does, turns into big news. Right..?

Error again

2008-05-30T00:33:00.002+05:30

Am falling in love with the error messages. Firstly it was gupshup, then linkedin and now its twitter error message that won me..

First Ascent to Mount Everest

2008-05-29T10:56:00.003+05:30

Yet another aqnniversary. And yet another fantastic logo by google. Today is 55th anniversary of first Ascent to Mt Everest by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal. They reached the summit at 11:30 a.m. local time on May 29, 1953 via the South Col Route.

Men, Women and the donkies

2008-05-27T16:37:00.000+05:30

Equation 1

Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy

Donkey = eat + sleep

Therefore,
Human = Donkey + work + enjoy

Therefore,
Human - enjoy = Donkey + work

In other words,
Human that don't enjoy = Donkey that work
===================================================

Equation 2

Men = eat + sleep + earn money

Donkeys = eat + sleep

Therefore,
Men = Donkeys + earn money

Therefore,
Men - earn money = Donkeys

In other words,
Men that don't earn money = Donkeys
====================================================

Equation 3
Women = eat + sleep + spend

Donkeys = eat + sleep

Therefore,
Women = Donkeys + spend

Therefore,
Women - spend = Donkeys

In other words,
Women that don't spend = Donkeys
=====================================================

To Conclude:

From Equation 2 and Equation 3
Men that don't earn money = Women that don't spend.

So, Men earn money not to let women become Donkeys!(Postulate 1)
And, Women spend not to let men become Donkeys!(Postulate 2)

So, we have…

Men + Women = Donkeys + earn money + Donkeys + spend money

Therefore…from Postulates 1 and 2, we can conclude
Man + Woman = 2 Donkeys that live happily together

Bloggers' Meet

2008-05-27T13:35:00.004+05:30

Saturday 31st May, 6 PM

Venue: ~~CCD, Carter Rd, Bandra (W)~~ Pinstorm Cafe, North Avenue, Linking Road, Santa Cruz (W)

Contact: 9890774748

Kindly give a call to above number or drop a mail to blog@dineshsoni.com if you are interested in joining in. Kindly spread the message across to your blogger friends.

PS: This is an unofficial casual meet. No Sponsors.

Cost cutting

2008-05-26T12:28:00.000+05:30

Well, no comments on that.. :-)

Firefox has changed

2008-05-26T10:35:00.002+05:30

Did you try the new Firefox 3.0? Try it.. Firefox has changed a lot. It has become even more customizable, fast and handy than earlier. And btw, they have changed everything right from their web-page too.. :-)

Where is the peak..?

2008-05-24T17:31:00.000+05:30

Well, I'm not particularly the kind of person who will go ga ga over the number of people visiting the blog. But what if some fine day, the unique visitors to the blog increase by 10 times all of a sudden..?

Do images speak better than words...?

2008-05-23T08:07:00.002+05:30

Yes.. @least when it comes to error messages.. Earlier I showed the SMSguphup error message. This time it is linkedin.

Quick Heal is affected by virus

2008-05-22T17:11:00.002+05:30

What will you say if one fine day you get a virus alert like this. You come to know that some file belonging to "Quick Heal Folder" is actuall affected by a virus?

Meebo on blocked servers

2008-05-22T14:17:00.001+05:30

Is meebo blocked in your organization...? Try putting 208.81.191.133 in the address bar. It should work out..

I wish...

2008-05-21T12:57:00.000+05:30

DNA covers the ideas

2008-05-20T21:40:00.002+05:30

As you already know, I was in Pune for IdeaCamp. I had presented the idea about "Yellow Pages in Mobile". DNA covered the event in their Sunday edition. They have mentioned my idea as among the featured ideas. I wish they would have also mentioned names. :-(

Some random notes

2008-05-19T16:27:00.001+05:30

* Rajasthan Royals are playing extremely well and they are the strongest contestant for thr trophy. Mumbai Indians have definitely come up quite well after Sachin's arrival and may give strong takkar to Rajasthan Royals. I'm *still* thinking about watching a live match at stadium.

* I had been to IdeaCamp Pune. The event went quite smoothly but too formally.

* I had been to Vasai fort for Fort conservation program. And left within an hour.

* Many of my blogger friends use del.icio.us and diggit kinda things. I don't use then as the concept never clicked me.

* I'm enjoying my summer job. At the same time, looking forward to the results of first year which will be out anytime this month.

* I'm enjoying my stay at this 3 BHK flat in Bandra which we have taken on rent.

* I'm missing my best friend in college with whom I had an arguement few days back and now she is not talking to me.

* I have watched few movies in last fortnight but did not write reviews. The movies include Iron Man, BhootNath, 50 First Dates, Just My Luck, You me aur Hum etc

* My laptop is not working the service centre guys are taking too long to repair it. I'm not satisfied with Acer and advice all not to go for it.

* I may have a long vacation in July and my family is planning a tour during this time.

* I'm finding a need of networking. Knowing new people and talking to them increases your own capabilities.

* I want to read "The three mistakes of my life". Already few books are there in my waiting list and I will have to also complete these ones.

* I'm planning to grow my hair long. Just the same way I plan always and then I cut them short when I get bored of maintaining them in a couple of months.

* I've fallen in love with the concept of "Barcamp". I loved the spirit and enthusiasm with which these events take place. Best part is there is not the typical formal environment in these events.

* A friend of mine is planning to launch an IT company. I'm equally excited about it.

* Last few days, I did not put tags to my blogspots. And now its getting to boring to add tags to so many posts.

* Blogger has come up with a nice concept of future posts. Now I can put some posts in queue so that my blog never goes inactive :-)

Vasai again...!!!

2008-05-19T15:10:00.005+05:30

I had been to Vasai fort once again. Last time I could not see the whole fort cause of the huge size of the fort. This time I covered some more area but again I had to leave early. So maybe next time I will cover some more part.. :-)
The place seemed to have changed over the last time. Lot of reconstruction activities going on. The government is reconstructing the area along with the usual conservation activities. Maybe it is looking forward to making this place a tourist spot. Shridutta thinks many of these reconstruction activities are actually damaging the fort.
Anyways, here are few snaps of the visit. Enjoy

Yellow Pages in mobile

2008-05-18T18:05:00.004+05:30

| View | Upload your own

The idea I presented at IdeaCamp Pune

SlideShare Link

This is the presentation I gave at IdeaCamp Pune.

Attending IdeaCamp

2008-05-17T11:19:00.000+05:30

Am attending IdeaCamp Pune right now. This post was created yesterday using scheduled posts.

First Laser

2008-05-16T07:59:00.002+05:30

Today is 48th Anniversary of First Laser demonstration (16th May 1960 by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories). Google glorified is logo for the occasion this way. And I just loved it :-)

Unlock this deadlock

2008-05-15T12:51:00.001+05:30

Boss said to secretary: For a week we will go abroad, so make arrangement.

Secretary make call to Husband: For a week my boss and I will be going abroad, you look after yourself.

Husband make call to secret lover: My wife is going abroad for a week, so lets spend the week together.

Secret lover make call to small boy whom she is giving private tution: I have work for a week, so you need not come for class.

Small boy make call to his grandfather: Grandpa, for a week I don't have class 'coz my teacher is busy. Lets spend the week together.

Grandpa make call to his secretary: This week I am spending my time with my grandson. We cannot attend that meeting.

Secretary make call to her husband: This week my boss has some work, we cancelled our trip.

Husband make call to secret lover: We cannot spend this week together, my wife has cancelled her trip.

Secret lover make call to small boy whom she is giving private tution: This week we will have class as usual.

Small boy make call to his grandfather: Grandpa, my teacher said this week I have to attend class. Sorry I can't give you company.

Grandpa make call to his secretary: Don't worry this week we will attend that meeting, so make arrangement.

Yellow Pages in your mobile

2008-05-12T12:50:00.002+05:30

This is an idea I've developed for Idea Camp Pune

Does it happen to you that you are out with friends and you feel like having a pizza. But you don't know where exactly pizza hut is located in the area? Well, to solve this problem, we can embed a telephone directory / yello pages in the mobile so that findig a particular store / shop in an area won't be troublesome.

Possible uses
1. To find particular service provider in any area (listing can be done as per area or as per service)
2. To find emergency services like blood bank, hospitals, medical shops etc in any area
3. Stores and shops can use it for advertising

How to implement
1. Through an application which will be be installed in the handset
2. Through a wap site. The data will be fetched on mobile though GPRS
3. Through SMS enquiry {This will cost the end customer for each enquiry. So this should preferably be avoided. Also JustDial already has similar service in operation}.

Possible Shortcomings
1. Maintaining existing database and maintaining the new additions
2. Will work only on high end mobiles
3. Any more....?

Saints --> Management Students

2008-05-12T10:26:00.001+05:30

Long back,
a person who sacrificed his sleep,
forgot his family,
forgot his food,
forgot laughter were called
"Saints"

But now they are called..
"Management Students"

Priceless hangover

2008-05-10T11:08:00.000+05:30

A husband wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table.
He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table. "Honey, breakfast is on the table, I left early to go grocery shopping. Love You!"

Totally shocked with the note , he goes to the kitchen and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. He asks, "Son, what happened last night?" His son says, "Well, you came home around 3 AM, drunk and delirious. Broke some crockery, puked in the hall, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door". Confused, the man asks, "So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me? I should expect a big quarrel with her!"
His son replies, "Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your clothes n shoes off, you said, "LADY LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M MARRIED!"

Moral
Self-induced hangover - $ 400.00
Broken crockery - $ 800.00
Breakfast - $ 10.00
Saying the Right Thing While Drunk – "PRICELESS "

The harsh reality of MBA college

2008-05-09T13:43:00.001+05:30

My summer Internship

2008-05-07T00:36:00.003+05:30

So i am supposed to write about the summer job right.. All right here it goes..
Have started working in a recruitment consultany based at Vashi and having branches at Andheri and Thane. We had been to their Andheri office first day. But we did not like it very much. Btw, we signifies me and this sweet girl Shweta who is having summer project at the same company.
So we had been to their Andheri office for the first day and we did not really like the idea of working there. Next day, we visited their Vashi office and looking around there, we thought this can be the place where we would like to work.
So then, we finally decided to take up the part at Andheri. A local ride from Bandra to Vashi from 8:45 direct train and then coming back by some other direct train in the evening.
Well in between these two train rides, we will also be working for a while. I will write on that part too. Sometime after we work for a month or so. As of now, let me enjoy the work. Ghani Khamma

Spectator or victim..?

2008-05-06T23:16:00.001+05:30

Don't turn a blind eye to Accident victims. Help them

I'm blank

2008-05-06T00:11:00.002+05:30

Ya. I'm totally blank. I mean its so pathetic being blank. You wander out whole day. Go to a movie as rocking as "Iron Man" at a rocking place called Globas Mall in the rocking Bandra. Then you take a rocking walk with friends to Carter Road. Sip in the rocking Irish coffee at the rocking CCD at rocking Carter Road. You spend a rocking time with rocking friends. You think of so many things to be put up on blog.
And then, towards the end of the day, you fight with your best friend and all that rocking day vanishes in a second. The beaultiful blue sky suddenly gets covered with black clouds. And you eyes start pouring out. Your heart suddenly starts getting heavy. You feel like throwing away the laptop, get out of the house, go to a hill and shout out that heavy heart. But you don't. You rather prefer to put up a post on your blog. And when you start writing, you realise you are blank. Totally blank.. That's so fucking pathetic. Why does one small patch of 15 minutes fight ruin your whole day's rocking fun? Why..?Why God damn it why?
I wish people were like Crompton switches as they say in the advertise aired on TV. There should have been a reverse or resent button on human brain and mind. God.. you listening? Please take care of this bug next time. So that no one will say again "I'm blank"..

Ohh fuck.. I'm so blank..

Ideacamp Pune

2008-05-05T12:23:00.003+05:30

Often our ideas remain ideas and we are not sure whom to discuss them with. You may have a great idea, but the real challenge lays in finding its appropriate application. Cohesive and divergent thinking is what is required to build ideas from scratch to working prototypes. In the process we need to discuss with people from different walks of life to identify how our ideas can make a difference in their lives. Can our ideas make money for anyone?

IdeaCampPune is a self-organized gathering to share ideas and see them shape by applying divergent thinking. The objective of the camp is to get people from different roles like designers, entrepreneurs, financers, creative minds, technology evangelists, product managers and marketers together to bandy ideas from everyone’s viewpoint. Ideally by end of the gathering we should have ‘proof of potential’ for our ideas.

If you want to be a part of this ideation event, register here. Alternatively, you may like to have a look at the "Ideacamp Blog"

Events lined up

2008-05-05T09:13:00.005+05:30

Being fond of trekking and technology, I keep attending various events relatd to trekking and technology. There are few events lined up in the coming week but I'm not sure if I will be able to attend all of them due to the summer job.

On 11th May, we have "4th Fort Conservation Workshop" at Vasai fort. This workshop is arranged twice a year from Sahyadrilovers group. During these workshops, we discuss various ways to preserve the hstorical heritage of forts and also tudy various ways implemented by numerous organisations towards the cause.

Between 14th-19th May, we have Animal Census in all the Sanctuaries. I always wanted to go for this but each time my exams have stopped me. This time its the summer job which will be preventing me from going for the Census.

On 17th May, Pune will host Ideacamp. This is a self-organized gathering to share ideas and see them shape by applying divergent thinking. The objective of the camp is to get people from different roles like designers, entrepreneurs, financers, creative minds, technology evangelists, product managers and marketers together to bandy ideas from everyone’s viewpoint. Ideally by end of the gathering we should have ‘proof of potential’ for our ideas. This is one event which will be very useful for new entrepreneurs.

On After 19th May, Prof Deshmukh {one of my professors at MIT} will host a session about Pavankhind Episode. Babasaheb Purandare will be the person who will be talking about the episode with the help of photographs clicked by Dr Deshmukh.

So too many events na. I don't know how many of these events I will actually be able to attend. But am gonna try to atend as many as I can.

My summer job

2008-05-03T18:27:00.001+05:30

I've started with my summer job, which is part of our curriculum and is mandatory as per Mumbai University norms. Apart from the obligation, it is something we really look forward to.
So, I started with it yesterday. Want to write in detail about the two days but maybe at night or tomorrow. Feeling very sleepy now.. So kindly excuse.. :-)

JAS {Just Another Sunset}

2008-05-03T16:14:00.002+05:30

Sunrise and sunset always fscinate me. Be it from Rajgad fort, The sea shore at Puri or my flat ka balcony. This sunset I captured while moving in a train from Latur to Mumbai..

Mama I'm home...

2008-04-24T22:19:00.002+05:30

The exams are over. Finally. 11 papers in 7 days (inclusive of 2 holidays) and here I am.. Out of that exam fever..
Am back to my hometown Latur after almost 4 months. And I'm already loving it :-)

Think beyond MBA

2008-04-22T19:42:00.001+05:30

This snap was clicked by my friend Ajinkya {damn creative man he is let me tell you..}.

The sunset

2008-04-21T18:59:00.004+05:30

Sunset is one moment when nature is a best. You just can't afford to miss the sunset and its beauty.
These are two images I clicked just few minutes before from my flat's balcony.

Barcamp Mubai Organisers

2008-04-19T19:27:00.001+05:30

Here is a snap of the organiser team at Barcamp Mumbai. I'm also seen in the picture, though I was not really part of the core team..

Everyone is blogging..

2008-04-18T18:47:00.002+05:30

Guess who joined blogging after Kriss Shrikanth and Aamir Khan.. Its none other than the sensational Big B.. Seems the elite club of bloggers is drawing many attentions.. :-)

Exam time again..

2008-04-14T18:42:00.004+05:30

ya friends... its exam time here.. the time i hate the most. We have to keep ourselves muldged into these boring subjects of marketing and finance. Well, it tends to be interesting sometimes and I also pick up pace kinda fast. But those good performances are like sex. They come in a flash and never last long.
Anyways tomorrow I've two papers. One is MIS. The bloody old technical subject. We've already studied this in engineering, have taught during the work period and now I've to again attend the same subject's exam.. WTF
Another paper is Financial Statement Analysis aka FSA. Kinda interesting one. Its like analysing financial statements of companies and driving conclusions about the Financial health and future of the organization. Most interesting part is driving conclusions. Its like giving your verdict about these multi bn $ companies and feeling like being a top level financial analyst.. Ohh.. What a feeling dude!!!!
So, that's it for now.. More and more papers coming up in coming times. Do you expect me to write about all those papers? What the fuck. Studies i such a boring thing to talk about.. So let's talk about something else. How about the fiscal growth component of Indian Share market viz a viz performance of Reliance industries in coming financial year..? Ohh.. Cut that crab.. Let's get back to serious business.. I mean studies.. Adios..

Ain't that innoviative..?

2008-04-13T00:23:00.000+05:30

In case you use smsgupshup, you must have noticed that otherwise nice service was having some hiccups in last 3-4 days. But just look at the way they display the error message also. That surely reduces the irritation arising due to non-working of the system..

Twitter rocks

2008-04-12T13:11:00.004+05:30

After listening a lot about twitter and watching a video on youtube referred by a friend, I finally decided to give it a try. And tot ell you, twitter just rocks.

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets"; text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service (e.g. on a cell phone), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.

Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone is the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application.

How is it different from blogging? Well, firstly, this is microblogging and not bloggng. Here you can just update your status upto 140 characters. So yo are basically expected to answer only one question. "What are you doing?" You can go through the video followed to know what exactly twitter is and how it works.

What a Widget

2008-04-09T20:20:00.003+05:30

Just came across this widget at Moksh Juneja's blog. I loved the widget. Seems they have put up whole website in the widget. Nice way of marketing your movie through the blog culture. Looking forward to watch the movie..

Yahoo rejects Microsoft offer again

2008-04-08T11:23:00.003+05:30

Yahoo on Monday reiterated its rejection of a takeover offer from Microsoft, again calling it too low.
The company was responding to a letter from Microsoft that threatened to lower the price of its buyout offer and take it directly to Yahoo shareholders.
Although Microsoft’s offer was initially valued at $31 a share, a drop in the price of Microsoft shares has reduced the offer to just more than $29 a share.
Yahoo's resistance to a takeover by Microsoft looks foolhardy to some investors and Wall Street analysts. But the push-back may prove effective in the end—at least by forcing the suitor to cough up a few more bucks a share.
By delaying, Yahoo increases pressure on Microsoft to hike its bid to push the deal through before regulatory conditions grow unfavorable. Resistance also buys Yahoo time to introduce a product or service that stirs investor excitement, thereby raising its share price and making the 62% premium Microsoft offered over Yahoo's Jan. 31 stock price of 19.18 look like a lowball bid.
Microsoft also needs to win global regulatory approval for the deal. Delays give opponents more time to foment antitrust opposition, particularly in China, where an Aug. 1 law gives authorities greater leeway in scrutinizing large mergers that could be deemed anticompetitive. "Yahoo seeks to gain leverage by extending the time for regulatory approval internationally, thereby putting Microsoft in a position to lose the deal altogether," says Lee Westerfield, U.S. Internet analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

Alcohol Effects & Remedies

2008-04-04T22:48:00.000+05:30

1. Symptom: Cold and humid feet.
Cause: Glass is being held at incorrect angle (You are pouring the drink on your feet).
Cure: Maneuver glass until open end is facing upward.

2. Symptom: The wall facing you is full of lights.
Cause: You're lying on the floor.
Cure: Position your body at a 90-degree angle to the floor.

3. Symptom: The floor looks blurry.

Cause: You're looking through an empty glass.
Cure: Quickly refill with your favorite beverage.

4. Symptom: The floor is moving.
Cause: You're being dragged away.
Cure: At least ask where they're taking you.

5. Symptom: You hear echoes every time someone speaks.
Cause: You have your glass on your ear.
Cure: Stop making a fool of yourself!

6. Symptom: The room is shaking a lot, everyone is dressed in white and the music is very repetitive.
Cause: You're in an ambulance.
Cure: Don't move. Let the professionals do their job.

What are you eating....?

2008-04-04T19:53:00.000+05:30

Its really not so important for me what you are anyone else in this workd is eating right now. Its none of my business if you are having Dal Rice at some dhaba or Chicken Kabab with Smirnoff at some five star.. But it may provide a source of entertainment to just see what people are having. And this was the idea the people at i-App-a-day. Check out this link

April Fool by Google

2008-04-02T17:05:00.002+05:30

Did you think Google will suddenly turn into some saint and stop fooling around you.. No, it will never.. This year, I had decided not to fall for any Google announcement. I also suggested my friends not to fall {This post}. So, I straght away neglected the announcement of "Google Weblog" or "Gblog".
But then as they say, when you don't fall for bigger things, you are more prone to fall for smaller things. And so, I fell for the change in orkut logo. I also wrote a post about it here. And then only thing I could do was laugh at myself.. :-)

orkut --> yogurt

2008-04-01T21:31:00.001+05:30

Today as I logged in to orkut, I noticed some change. The logo at the top left had changed. It was not spelled as "yogurt". I wonder if it is just another spelling error {Which google guys can never do} or some special mistry creating attempt by them..? Any clue guyz...?

Clicked in a click

2008-03-31T17:31:00.002+05:30

Well, as you must have been knowing by now that I'm kinda fond of clicking things. Wherever I go, I start clicking around.
It was during Barcamp that someone clicked me while I was clicking around. Just thought to share across the same with you. Comments expected :-)

Dancing my way

2008-03-30T22:13:00.000+05:30

What other title I can give? As you can evidently see in the snap, it was a marriage. One of my friends Aniruddh got married last Sunday. And as the friends of the groom, we had nothing else to do than bird watching and dancing. So here you can see us dancing like there is no tomorrow. :-) Did you think I will put up snaps of the birds I was watchin :P