Random Babbles

Price

2011-05-30T15:45:00.003+05:30

2L packaged water - Rs. 100
Stick ice-cream - Rs. 50
Sandwich - Rs. 50
1 glass of water - Rs. 10
Watching home team CSK beat RCB on a free ticket at the stadium - PRICELESS !!

eBay India

2011-03-31T14:11:00.000+05:30

My very first purchase using eBay didn't go that well...in terms of the product but went off flawlessly in terms of customer support from the eBay team. My 5 + year old Acer laptop's battery wasn't working and I gave it for service with their 'authorised' partner, Redington. They suggested a change of battery and replaced it for Rs.7 K with a 6 month warranty. And guess what, the battery died exactly after 6 months and 1 week !! Not wanting to spend that much again, I browsed through eBay listings and found one for Rs.2,600. Took a chance and ordered it. The delivery was done as promised, battery was there - except that it refused to charge itself ! On contacting the eBay seller, I was asked to contact the eBay customer support and they went all out to ensure that the charges were reversed. Heck, eBay even took the tab for the return product shipment ! WOW ! This is wonderful customer service, if ever there was one and in India ! Double WOW !!

Anti-Social ?

2011-02-01T14:28:00.002+05:30

I am not on Twitter or Facebook...anymore. Wokay ?

DTH in "HD"

2010-12-23T17:09:00.000+05:30

Received a call yesterday from Airtel DTH, the DTH provider that I subscribe to, for "upgrading" my existing connection to a HD connection. The telemarketer offered a discount for an existing subscriber and when I asked him how many channels are being offerred - he said one !!

Dear Airtel DTH :

Do you expect your customers to either buy / upgrade when all that you can offer is only one channel on your platform ?
Do you think we are going to get swayed by the 5 times picture clarity when none of the broadcasters even offer a HD feed to your platform ?

DD & AIR off "air"

2010-11-24T14:30:00.000+05:30

Very surprised to see reports that DD & AIR are out of circulation for the day owing to a strike by the employees. I mean, seriously, who watches them anyway ? With the 24 hr. assault on your senses by other regional and national private channels, does it make any difference ? Apparently, it does for the 30,000 odd employess. Heck 30,000 employees and my tax money doing waste.

Digital Waste

2010-09-28T16:44:00.000+05:30

A couple of totally, useless, wasteful expenditure that I have are a Digital Photoframe and a camera Tripod. The first one has been left in the "safe" after being used for about 10 minutes or so...when I opened it and checked whether it is working or not ! It hasn't progressed beyond that even though I have about 3000 photographs are so. A tripod was an impulse purchase (what an impulse !) when I can't even memorise all the various functions/combinations of my camera. On top of this, I am now craving for an Apple iPad, a Blackberry and a portable hard disk !

BSNL Cares

2010-08-30T19:10:00.000+05:30

I was surprised and astonished at the customer service offerred by BSNL yesterday. Surprise - at the speed of resolving and astonished at the easy availability of customer information. I called up the BSNL customer care number (1500, if you care, from your BSNL landline) to raise a request for forgotten userid and password. Yes, you read that right userid and password ! It is not very often I forget both of them unless these jokers give me a userid like mufe453020092321 (read Airtel for its online registers!). My wireless router went kaput and I had the credentials saved in that. I had to use a newer modem to connect and I had absolutely no clue on what the login details were - no amount of reading Blink helped here :) And so I call up the BSNL customer care number hoping to get it resolved in my next birth. Was absolutely surprised that the person offerred me both my id as well as the password ! The speed at which this info was given was one thing, but to offer a login details over the phone is another. I just hope that their broadband facility has another way of actually verifying the credentials of its users rather than just the login details (phone number from where your are dialing in, perhaps). I just hope...

Auto

2010-08-19T18:53:00.000+05:30

Which is worse in Chennai - auto or share-auto ? These beasts of the day (and night) flout all traffic norms, violate every rule on the road, spew up smoke in the back - and verbal diarrhea in the front, beef up my blood pressure in a fraction of a second and still expect courtesy. They follow a simple rule though - if I can poke my nose, the rear will follow. Bah...

Pop goes the email

2010-08-14T19:58:00.000+05:30

For quite a long time Yahoo! Mail was my default web-based email client. I have, since, switched to Gmail - atleast over the last 3 years or so. Apart from the quick easy to use interface, I'm most impressed by its free POP & IMAP accesses. Only Yahoo! seems to be stubborn in not offering a free POP access - you can even use Hotmail in MS Outlook. Yes, you can call it proprietary, with both Hotmail & Outlook from the MS stable but atleast I can. So, as of the last 2 years I have been moving all my subscriptions, mailing lists, offerings etc. onto Gmail. I also use Hotmail through the Gmail interface which allows me to access all my web based emails in one place, atleast the ones I use. Yahoo! seems to be in Y2K world yet.

Cutting through crap

2010-08-13T17:12:00.000+05:30

I just realised today that I receive more than a 100 emails a day on my official email id and I respond to nearly 80% of them (leaving all those lousy "group" emails). What this means is that, I have sub-consciously trained my mind to respond based on the real importance of these emails rather than first-come-first-served or based on that dreaded important sign that MS Outlook offers. What it also means is that I do receive a lot of crap - for the things I do and do not!
Point of this post ? Just finished reading through Blink, the book by Malcolm Gladwell and this is probably an example of thin-slicing that he tries to explain...
I also did ask one of my "leaders" on how to manage this email overload (I am sure he receives atleast a triple of what I do !). His response was simple : "1. You do not have to respond to each and every email. 2. For some emails involving multiple people, others would respond for you ! 3. Stop the urge to respond immediately - it is most likely that the question would get resolved by itself !". So, there you go - I like the third response, a la Narasimha Rao - sit tight, the problem or the problem creator would vanish by itself :)

Endhiran - The Music

2010-08-10T12:24:00.000+05:30

The hype starts ! Sun TV telecasted the music launch of Endhiran over 2 days, lasting a good 6 hours - the actual music launch interspresed between its ads. The focus was more on the Maran's (the producers and the channel owners) than the man-in-the-spotlight...it's a music launch, remember ? I would have thought that A R Rahman would be the person to be focussed by the cameras. Vivek tried to be funny, Sankar looked very uptight, thalaivar sat through the whole thing smiling and the former Miss World was found giggling (as usual) at things which she understood - and didn't. Every one invited to on the stage had their mouths gushing at the movie so much so that we would have had a tsunami right there on the stage. Everyone mentioned a Rs. 150 + crore budget and Maran, the only one who was able to finance it. Ms. Ash was very conspicous without AB (Amithabh, that is, not Abhishek) and yes, can giggle for the next 2 years as well what with reportedly a 6 crore fee that was paid to her. Wonder if the IT dept is watching...

The music - well, will listen to it and post a review !

Highway

2010-08-05T16:56:00.000+05:30

If someone tells me "It's either my way or the highway", I would gladly take the highway - more specifically the NH45 route between Chennai and Trichy. An almost three lanes on either side for the entire stretch, empty roads till you can see and smooth as Hema Malini's cheeks (to quote a Lalu - and denied later by him !), it's a dream come true to test your car's RPM. I travelled on this road last week from Chennai with much trepidation and traffic until about Chengalpet, but beyond that was as hassle-free as you can get. Travel to Trichy took about 5hrs. while return was managed 3.5hrs. flat - with the speedometer needle between 120 and 140 kmph ! NHAI - zindabad...Golden Quadrilateral - zindabad ! Quite the opposite was the road between Trichy & Karur - to give its due, much of it was under construction and dug up all around.
Full itinerary as follows:
Chennai --> Trichy --> Karur --> Namakkal --> Trichy --> Chennai - A total of 900 odd kms, travel over 3 days (approx 300kms per day), plenty of empty stretches, wonderful highways, a mixture of woeful roads between Trichy & Karur and finally a PITA (Pain In The Ass!) at the end of it :)

The Crorepathi

2010-07-26T16:32:00.000+05:30

It's funny when you read articles which says that if you had invested Rs.10000 in Company X in 1980, you money would have grown to xx-crores (recent one was if I had invested Rs.10000 in Wipro in 1980, I would have had 335 crores now!!). The target most of the time are IT companies (read Infosys, Wipro etc.). The key question is "IF" and whether we really had the intution / the means to part with Rs.10000 during those days. Additionally, the stomach would have churned multiple times during the stock market scams and even otherwise. Point ? Stop comparing the past and start living the future.

International Air Travels (travails) - Part 2: At the airport – while departing

2010-06-23T10:53:00.000+05:30

Bags

Your ticket is economy – pack economically! It doesn’t make sense to pay extra for baggage. An airline ticket allows you a limit – stick to it. If you happen to be a frequent flier member, some airlines allow an additional weightage. Stop pleading with the counter staff to allow an additional kilo, that’s what makes us Indians look like beggars. I have been stopped the last time around as my baggage was 3 pounds over the limit – 3 pounds which is approximately 1.3 kgs !! You can call it extreme perverts but those are the rules – stop arguing. What did I do for those extra 3 pounds, you ask? I removed the bag of chocolates (about 5 pounds – 2.25kgs), placed it over the counter and invited the staff to take how much ever they wanted! Being polite helped – I was asked to pack it back and was checked-in right away! All the pleading, cajoling works in India, not abroad. Don’t blame the airline staff for refusing to allow additional baggage, it’s your fault not theirs. And yes, be polite – this is not the time to throw your weight around. I happened to see a person with 2 tickets and 15 bags (he checked-in before me at the counter!) in New Delhi airport to Chennai, all over-weight first pleading, and then trying to drop in names and finally went to pay for excess baggage. He paid for 8 of them and was let in with all the 15 bags! Bah…

Next : Part 3 - On board

International Air Travels (travails) - Pre Travel Part II

2010-06-17T18:50:00.001+05:30

Seats

Block your seats. Most airlines allow you to web check-in 23 hrs. in advance (why 23 hrs. and not 24 hrs. – I have no clue). You do not need to register yourself anywhere. Your ticket would have a PNR or a locator number which you can use at the airline website to block. Please block yourselves an aisle seat. I will repeat, please block yourselves an aisle seat. This is probably the most important tip that you can ever have on an intercontinental travel or a travel > 3hrs. In case you are travelling in groups, ensure that you atleast block 1 aisle seat. There is no need to rush for that window seat – you are going to be cruising at 30,000+ feet and the clouds are all the same! You can always stretch to look at landing and take-off from your aisle seat. And you can stretch your legs on a long journey from an aisle seat. You don’t want to be sandwiched between hefty guys who drink beer and farts all day long do you?! With the amount of seat width that you get, a middle / a window seat sucks.

And how do you identify good seats? Here is my trump card, go to SeatGuru. Key in your flight number and voila find out your best seat. This is one of the most utilitarian sites I have ever come across. Note down the best choice of seat and go back to the airline website and block it. Remember – you will not get one of those first row seats, they are all blocked for folks travelling with infants who can attach a bassinet in front of them. It is most likely that the airline would not allow you to block several other seats as well, but atleast you would have an indicator of where you are seated prior to flying. If all else fails for an aisle seat, block a window seat – it is much better than sitting in the middle seat with two folks elbowing you all around! The airline is at liberty to change the seats without any prior intimation to you, but I have always been lucky to get the seats that I blocked. And while you are at it, choose your meal preference as well. Asian Vegetarian for all you TamBrams :-)

Part 2: At the airport – while departing

International Air Travels (travails) - Pre Travel

2010-06-15T19:05:00.003+05:30

Tickets

First of all, check and double-check your tickets’ date and time. Most international flights leave early hours of the morning, which mean you reach the airport the previous night.

It doesn’t hurt to call up the local airline office to reconfirm your tickets. At most the airline agent would tell you that the tickets do not require confirming after checking your status – so it doesn’t hurt! The reason for reconfirming is that airlines overbook on international routes expecting a cancellation / change of journey and would rather bump off excess passengers rather than fly with a few empty seats. And who are the prime categories for offloading? You and me – with those cheapest tickets that we bought!

Next : Seating

International Air Travels (travails)

2010-06-15T18:14:00.004+05:30

I have always wondered how mindlessly and almost absent-mindedly we travel by air. Most of us travel in cattle (economy) class. If you are one of those who travel non-cattle class, then you do not need any of these tips – lucky you. On the other hand, this blog is aimed at the masses not classes :-)

An idea came into my (hollow) mind to put up a sort of a tip-list that would help international air travelers get through to their destination without much ado. And hence the objective of this article (articleS - wait till you hear more!).

First, a background – what do I possess that you don’t, to comment about air travel? Not much – except inter-continental travel thrice in a span of about a year and a half. And a few more on the last 5 yrs.! And, several within the country. Over these travels (travails?!), I did pick up some tips which every traveler ought to know and I plan to blog them into the following parts

Part 1: Pre-travel
Part 2: At the airport – while departing
Part 3: On board
Part 4: In transit
Part 5: At the airport – while arriving
Part 6: Return

Most of these tips are either from my own experience or sourced from the web – and I’ll cite them wherever appropriate. So watch out for the tips from hereon...

First --> Tickets

Hai(tus)!

2010-05-23T05:49:00.000+05:30

So many things change and so do I ! This is but a lame excuse to tell the world that I have skipped blogging for quite a while now :) The excuse is that I am now very active in Facebook and of late, trying to get a hang of it in Twitter.
Facebook is causing so much consternation on the web community with it's privacy woes, that I went in and turned all possible options to only friends as well as shutting most of my information as well ! Yes, I am paranoid. I have been very skeptical of Twitter logging on and deleting my account in a span of few weeks, when finally I couldn't resist following the master.
What I have finally decided is to use Twitter to update my precious thoughts. I have also tied it up to FB so that it pulls those into my wall (thoughts can't be so different, can it?!).
So, if anyone (still) wants to follow me, I am here in Twitter.

P.S : I have started a novel experiment to publish one person I admire in Twitter everyday. Let's see how far it goes and how many I really like !

World's changed

2010-04-13T16:35:00.000+05:30

Much has been discussed and said in the media about Shoaib-Sania's marriage, but what is very intruiging is the haste in which the entire marriage finally happened. While it is definitely a private affair between two individuals, what intrigues me most is that they have a marriage followed by mehndi followed by a reception. In my days, it was the other way round ! And all this, preceeded by a divorce !! For more day-by-day, nay, minute-by-minute update watch Times Now channel...it should be named the official channel for Sania !

S/W I Use

2010-04-12T16:22:00.000+05:30

@home
Operating System : Windows 7
Productivity Suite : Office 2007 - it's installed, usage is a bare minimum - when someone needs to update his/her resume !
Instant Messaging : Skype
Browser : Google Chrome
Email : Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail - all web-based
Audio : iTunes, Windows Media Player
Graphics : IrfanView, Picasa
Archiver : Windows built-in zip manager
System Utilities : Sysinternals suite, Secunia PSI scanner, MS Security Essentials
Others : Foxit PDF Reader

Point of this article ? An exhaustive Best Free S/W of 2010 from PCMag here

Twack

2010-04-09T16:42:00.000+05:30

And then I quit Twitter ! After sending in my tweets, following people and generally mucking around I felt that it is just the same thing over and over again. No trees were cut, no tears were shed...heck for most of the followers who had zillions on their list, they couldn't care less ! Facebook and this blog retains my priority now :)

Then and now

2010-04-05T17:34:00.000+05:30

Then : See blogger stats every 2 hrs. (not that it mattered, but it would show an increase of 1 hit every 2 hrs. !)
Now : Check Facebook stats every 2 hrs.

Then : Long posts derailing anything and everything around me
Now : Short status update in Facebook - still derailing anything and everything around me

Then : Prudently use mobile to check office email
Now : Use mobile with impunity to access Facebook

Morphed into a Facebook addict !

IPL3

2010-03-23T15:19:00.000+05:30

So, I finally went to Indian Profit (all except the viewer) League T20 match between the Chennai Soooper Kings v/s the Priety (Kings) XI Punjab. What a match it turned out to be...a soooper over and Chennai lost :(
It is quite evident that the IPL has indeed caught the viewer's fancy. The matches get over in 3 1/2 to 4 hours, much like watching a movie...

Plenty of boundaries
Plenty of crowds
Mixture of Bolly/Tolly/Kolly wood(en) stars
Ultimate cricketers like Shreesanth(or is it SreeSant, Sreeshanth...whatever), who 'warmed' up before the match and we got to see him on the bench. If only he had played, Chennai would have won so easily...
Talented youngsters like Manoj Tiwari, Ashwin, Badrinath, Murali Vijay, Kaif
Got a glimpse of those famous yester-stars Ganguly, Warne, Agarkar(gasp!) et al, not to mention the yesterday-or-the-day-before cooked (!) pupps (puffs) in the stadium !
Music(??) was loud
Cheer-girls did the same steps irrespective of the song/drum beat/shouting in whatever language with the same expression
Home team lost
Hayden got more vocal support than even the Indian/Chennai cricketers - which should tell us something about the availability (or not) of local talent

Pune and Kochi for IPL4 ? Come on...I am already ready for Mambalam Mosquitoes v/s Alapuzha Appams from IPL5 !

Hither thither

2010-03-11T14:10:00.000+05:30

Ok, so now I am on Twitter...go read my first tweet

Bing(o)

2010-03-09T17:02:00.002+05:30

What has the related search suggestion got to do with my name search in Bing ??!

Best

2010-02-18T16:09:00.000+05:30

And then I hit upon an idea...why not rehash my previous post and call this a new post...so here are my best posts (!)

Ni(twit)

2010-02-18T15:54:00.001+05:30

Writer's block...same excuse - no time, nothing interesting and more time on Facebook and Linkedin ! Should I Twitter ??

Rewards

2010-01-18T19:15:00.002+05:30

Unbelievable, but true ! Buy your car with your credit card rewards points...

Even if you get 1 point per Rs.100 spent, you need to spend a minimum of Rs. 7,90,00,000 for an SX4...go, figure...

Aircrafts path

2010-01-05T12:38:00.000+05:30

This is too good to be missed [via]

The One

2010-01-01T10:43:00.000+05:30

Since I like lists (not this kind !) , I am going to be reading this (50 lists...of lists !) for the rest of the day ! Happy New Year !

All I wanna do

2009-12-31T14:51:00.002+05:30

Things I wanted to do in 2009 but didn't / couldn't / wouldn't :

Stop checking emails every hour
Go for morning walks
Start playing tennis for fun
Participate on Chennai photowalks...several organised by Chandru
Take the Mensa test
Stop stock market trading
Resist the urge to respond to each and every official email...even the group emails !
Learn proper DSLR shooting
Learn basic cooking
Travel from Beach to Velachary on the Chennai MRTS
Buy Bose (yes, those expensive ones) speakers
Do my KYC

And above all, take a break !

QOTD

2009-12-27T10:57:00.002+05:30

The ball won't move that much, it will move this much - Insightful opening comments from Javagal Srinath
QOTD : Quote Of The Day

Online Shopping

2009-12-24T15:20:00.001+05:30

Dear Online Retailers,
Not knowing how much I have to pay on shopping sites before I fill in ALL my address details is *very* irksome. I want to know the exact shipping charges, site charges, whatever-the-heck you charge before I pay. Is that clear - landmark, makemytrip et al ? And when will Indian Railways booking site offer us a proper calendar to choose my journey dates ? Do you realize that having to choose date,month and year on seperate lists is archaic? Is that a tough ask to provide a calendar ??
Kind Regards,
Online-Shopoholic

Unity in Diversity

2009-12-10T15:42:00.000+05:30

On one hand, we want to unite rivers and on the other split up states :(

Choose me if you can

2009-12-09T17:20:00.000+05:30

Can someone tell me how many criteria are there in the image ??

i-mate gone kaput

2009-12-07T17:24:00.000+05:30

Was surprised to see that imate has gone defunct :( Means that my phone is out of any support, just when I need to give it for servicing. More surprising is that the official site has just gone...vanished !! No information whatsoever...except a line in Wiki mentioning"On September 16, 2009, i-mate became defunct by telling all remaining employees to take an indefinite leave". One more Dubai behemoth falls...

UDF

2009-11-11T02:04:00.000+05:30

What is UDF?

It is the User Development Fee charged towards construction & operation of the Airport and approved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

And, you can't even provide a decent, working, basic phone facility in the Bengaluru airport. Yuck.

Airport Travails

2009-11-08T02:00:00.001+05:30

At the Denver airport, blogging using the free Wifi that is available here and wondering how advanced India really is. The last time I tried a free Wifi in Chennai, it was totally unusable. Got disconnected often and lead to more frustration using it. London Heathrow pales in comparison as well.

I was surprised to see that the luggage carriers costs $4 here in Denver airport ! Lug your own stuff rather than look for a trolley. As usual, there was a porter who got my bags into the check-in counter for a tip of $2 !! Guess, money is the same the world over :)

I am also wondering what makes the food items inside the airport so costly ! It looks as if to say bring your own stuff or starve ! All I want is a bottle of water and it's crazy to charge almost double of what it's priced outside.

Mac-arena

2009-11-01T07:15:00.001+05:30

I bought a Mac and it feels weird. Well, not that weird because when I buy a PC / reinstall Windows OS, I usually run it through a performance optimisation routine, you know, like configuring swap, running TweakUI, removing crapware etc. Apart from installing Winzip, anti-virus S/W, Firefox, Ad-aware, CCCleaner, IrfanView, KLite Codec, firewall, autorun remover - the works ! And then, this came along and I am bit flummoxed on what to install ! They say there is no virus, no registry to tweak, no disabling of autoruns-bah, what am I supposed to do with this bubblegum machine ?? Relax...maybe :)

"Service" Tax

2009-10-06T07:39:00.002+05:30

I just realised that ICICI bank has started charging Rs.5+service tax (I hate that "service" word) for all money transfers within India. Now, can someone enlighten me why ? I thought you have more resources drained when I issue a cheque and you have to handle that. The entire transaction is on NEFT and is supposed to happen online without any user intervention (I think) and you charge me a service tax ? Bah...
Update : As I scrolled down the list on the FAQ (link above), I see that RBI has waived off processing charges till end of March but then, can start charging for outgoing transactions. So, ICICI is not to blame...RBI is...still, bah...

Bliss

2009-10-05T08:42:00.000+05:30

Listening to Hariharan's soulful rendering of Nenjukkul Peidhidum from Vaaranam Ayiram is bliss...easily one of the best songs of this year...

Patch

2009-09-15T19:07:00.001+05:30

There is no patch for human stupidity

N95

2009-08-20T17:10:00.002+05:30

When N95 meant a Nokia mobile phone, it means a mask now for people to wear against the H1N1 !!

MF Loads

2009-08-13T13:54:00.002+05:30

With SEBI banning entry loads on mutual funds from 01-Aug-2009, people have resorted to other ways to charge customers. I received an email from ICICI securities that henceforth, I will be charged a flat Rs.100 for lumpsum investments and Rs.30 for each SIP if, and hear this, if my total investments are less than Rs.8 lakhs. This is presumably advisor / distributor fees. Utter nonsense. I would rather take an auto (the costliest mode of transport in Chennai!) and drop in the applications myself with the mutual fund offices. Now before you jump and question my wisdom of me hiring an auto (and that too for less than Rs.100 in Chennai!), I will atleast prevent the trail fees to these distributors. Readers - my advice is to download the application forms from the respective fund websites, fill them up and courier it to your local fund office. Ensure that you write "Direct" under the ARN/Broker no. in the application form. Save yourself the auto/distributor charges while spending Rs.7 (or even less) on the courier.

Gambler

2009-08-06T11:17:00.002+05:30

I have been trying day-trading over the past 3 weeks and have found that at the end of the day, the only person who makes a profit is your broker !

The stock market in the short-run is a voting machine in the long-run, it is a weighing machine - Benjamin Graham

Routine

2009-07-23T17:36:00.001+05:30

Step in to office
Switch on machine
Login
Wait
Wait again
Wait endlessly
Open task manager
Look for svchost.exe
Kill it
Breathe easy...start working normally

The same routine for the past 3 weeks...grrr...this is just annoying :(

eZone

2009-07-15T15:05:00.000+05:30

Never buy from eZone...ever...

Nikon v/s Canon v/s ...

2009-06-24T12:38:00.000+05:30

Unknown quote : Go to any camera forums, and you’ll see that it is primarily beginners and gear-heads who argue over which brand is better. The slightly more experienced photographers (and gearheads as well) obsess about which lens is better. The most experienced photographers and pros fret about accessories like lens plates, ballheads and such.

Am still a beginner :)

Golden temple

2009-06-23T15:48:00.004+05:30

I took my recent acquisition for a spin over the weekend to Sripuram, the abode of the latest tourist destination, the Golden Temple. The less said about it, the better. It was awful having to trek inside for about 2 kms and back. The maintenance is fantastic, though and what I couldn't digest is the commercialisation of the whole thing. There were vendor stalls selling milk & biscuits all through the cages. All photography equipment being banned, I couldn't click anything :(
The drive along the roads was superb. Kudos to the highways department for the maintenance.

Dzire

2009-06-19T10:32:00.000+05:30

Zoozoo

2009-06-18T12:35:00.001+05:30

Admittedly, the videos are cute and fun. But you can now get a DVD of their antics. More info here !

Airtel DTH

2009-06-16T13:44:00.004+05:30

After poring through various DTH operators and comparing their packages and pricing, I finally bought Airtel DTH. I was surprised at the speed of their operation from buying to installation. I purchased on Saturday afternoon to be told that it will be installed next day. Within an hour, I had an SMS on my mobile that the installation is scheduled for 9 AM on Sunday. At 5 PM, one of the installation folks calls up and asks whether he can install it that day itself ! So, he comes in at 6.30 PM and the whole installation, setup et al is over by 8 PM ! This is seamless, after my earlier experience with one of the other jokers, aka DishTV.
I cannot really identify whether this is better than the jokers in terms of picture quality or sound, but was intrigued to note that there is a menu option for internet (which doesn't work) and the STB has a USB slot! I will have to see how good their customer service is, compared to the jokers (you wish that the person at the other end can at least speak two words together). The Airtel website works compared to that pathetic, woeful piece that serves no purpose except to thrust King Khan on your face. Fingers crossed...

Finally

2009-05-29T16:38:00.002+05:30

Prelude :

The finally didn't work as expected
I went back to Blogger

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I think I have finally(!) found a way to configure the blogger to work with my domain. So, http://mukunth.blogspot.com or http://mukunth.co.in now (finally!) redirects to http://blog.mukunth.co.in.

Welcome to my new home...again :)

Powerless

2009-05-10T14:35:00.003+05:30

2 PM on a Sunday. No electricity for the past 3 hrs. Temperatures at around 38 degrees C. Knock knock...who is that ? "Please vote for AIADMK, Sir ". What the heck....grrr...

Bhajji, Fire & Ice

2009-04-28T21:59:00.003+05:30

Hiatus

2009-04-13T16:08:00.002+05:30

There is so much happening (and happened) in the last few months that I am temporarily suspending postings...not that it was till now ! Reason --> I moved to Montreal from Chennai and then back to Chennai all in a matter of 4 months and the sheer effort of the move has left me physically and emotionally drained...bah.... So, all ye well-wishers, doomsday predictors and what not, I am back...in Chennai, that is. Will resume regular updates soon

No comments

2009-02-28T18:18:00.002+05:30

Who is responsible for anonymous comments on your blog ? The blog owner says the Supreme Court. That means any comment that a mischievous idiot posts on this blog and I get docked ? Apparently the disclaimer that you see on the right has no legal standing either...

To pee or not to pee

2009-02-28T18:11:00.002+05:30

It is hilarious to note that RyanAir is mulling a proposal that would ask its customers to pay to use the toilet facilities in...mid-air !! Now that is a sure indication that the world is indeed in recession !

The D

2009-02-01T08:21:00.003+05:30

My latest gadget...:)

Gamble...er...

2009-01-25T06:44:00.003+05:30

If gambling is a sin, then I am sinned ! I visited the Casino in Montreal today. It's a whole new world...people of all ages (actually 18+!) trying their luck. And so, you have slot machines and poker and what not. People concentrating, thinking, swearing all at the same time ! But it's addictive. And I won $60...actually, $90 before I...well...gambled ;)

Windows 7

2009-01-17T17:48:00.004+05:30

For some reason Windows 7 beta refused to download on my machine. I suddenly realised that I should be trying to get it using IE and it still refused to download. I would get to the point of having to install a download manager ActiveX control and then there wouldn't be any response. Then it dawned to me that, perhaps I should use IE 32 bit and lo and behold, it is now downloading !! Wonder why the download isn't supported on a 64-bit Vista...

P.S. I wouldn't dare downloading a 2.4 GB file in India...not yet :)

Montreal Metro

2009-01-04T04:21:00.001+05:30

Plan

2008-12-27T21:36:00.003+05:30

Plan the most easiest route
Wake up early
Take the planned route
Walk fast(er) as you near the sanctum sanctorum
Scan quickly for the number of people and try to guesstimate waiting time
Join the line...start praying...
The line starts to move...start hoping it doesn't stop in between
As you get closer, pray with more fervour
Enter the main gate...at last...
Start to run, along with others as you get nearer...
And then, it's all over...in a flash...

If you thought that the above is a description of a visit to Tirupathi...no, you are mistaken ! It is a visit to Bestbuy on a Boxing Day !! And for the first time, I saw crowds, people, line et al ! Who said there was a recession ? Who said there is currently a cut down in people spending ? They were all there...the people, the laughter, the joy...

And so, what was I doing there ? Well...purchase...but heck, the stock was sold out :( Which one ? Keep guessing...!

Cell Phone

2008-11-22T02:20:00.003+05:30

Walk into the nearest provision store / chai shop / PCO booth

Pay Rs.49

Get yourself a prepaid connection

And that is in India...not if you are in Montreal, though. You are under contract...heck, that's what my job is as-it-is. And you need to shell out stupid amount of money to get into it. The phone is free, they tell you but hey, I already have a couple of phones with me. We need 2, yes 2, proofs of identity. The worst part is with all this, you need a credit card to apply online. You think a newly-landed-person would have all these ? And so I have taken a decision now...of not having a cell phone connection at all !

Naan enge, eppadi irundhavan...pongada dey.

Moved

2008-11-14T03:31:00.004+05:30

1. Packing, planning, repacking, replanning, weighing the packing, last minute additions to the packing
2. Shift the house
3. Catch the flight
4. Roam around in the transit areas waiting for the connecting flights
5. Land. Answer immigration queries
6. Temporary stay in a rundown hotel
7. Report to office groggy eyed
8. Try to do so many things in so little time in the new place
9. Finally, find accomodation. Move in a hurry
10. Open bank account

Montreal Ahoy !! Readers, I will be blogging from Montreal from now on...whenever I find time that is. And heck, moving is such a pain :(

iGoogle

2008-10-29T18:19:00.005+05:30

iGoogle has launched a newer version of their site and I am experiencing problems with it. First, the GMail gadget didn't work for the past 1 week (it suddenly started working again today) and I am seeing 'Refresh' and 'Mark All as Read' hyperlinks in the Google Reader gadget all mixed up.

And all this for a Google service which isn't labeled as beta !! Heck, the betas (like GMail) work well when compared to this !

Free

2008-10-24T15:08:00.002+05:30

Somethings aren't worth it even when they are free...the Sensex for that matter, is in a free fall (down 11%, as I write this )...wonder where it will all end up ?

Sense

2008-10-23T13:58:00.001+05:30

After oscillating between seeing ads and using adblocker to block my ads(!), I finally decided to pull the plug...for now. So, readers (if at all there are any left...still), I have removed the Google Adsense from this blog. All you now get is pure, ad-free random babbles !!

Gone in a jiffy

2008-10-16T10:59:00.001+05:30

I made my first loss at the stock market today. After about 3 years of investing and patience beginning to break, I sold Reliance Infrastructure at a 70% loss. It didn't take much work from my side...all I had to do was click 'Sell' and there, it was gone...at this rate I suppose, more to follow :(

Healthy ?

2008-10-14T19:31:00.003+05:30

After being in the S/W industry for sometime now, I have observed that the amount of bugs in S/W is directly propotional to the amount of Haldirams that is being consumed !

Nostalgia

2008-10-03T11:22:00.005+05:30

Feeling nostalgic ? Go back and search Google ! Google, as part of its 10th anniversary, has a site that lets you perform a search as per the availability in 2001.
Manmohan Singh is the leader of the opposition, iPhone is a Cisco product, Firefox browser is nowhere to be found and Orkut is hosted on the Stanford website !!
And yes, Sachin Tendulkar was a master blaster, Saurav Ganguly holds the key(!), Random Babbles (this blog, for your note!) was non-existent and Gmail is a linux (unix) email client for the Gnome desktop !!
Very interesting...

Synching

2008-09-27T17:19:00.002+05:30

SyncToy is a fantastic utility. The official description says "SyncToy helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers quickly and easily." I use this to sync my pictures between my laptop, camera and my phone. It works beautifully.

The Dark Knight

2008-09-18T12:37:00.002+05:30

Truly a memorable performance by the joker. He grips you with his sadistic smile and (s)Laughter. Some memorable lines...

You know the thing about chaos? It's fair.
Madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push!
You know, you remind me of my father. I hated my father.
You see, I'm a guy of simple taste. I enjoy dynamite, and gunpowder, and gasoline! And do you know what they all have in common? They're cheap

And my favorite...

This city deserves a better class of criminal, and I'm gonna give it to them.

Pichikichu

2008-09-11T14:19:00.004+05:30

Physics...the subject which gives me instant head/stomach/body/whatever aches (Chemistry gives me diarrhea...!!) . And so, I was really befuddled when scientists around the world are now conducting an experiment to identify the formation of the universe (or something to that effect!) using LHC. And there is a huge following of this on the internet. Will someone explain to me, in simple layman terms, of what exactly we hope to achieve ?

Note To Self : கற்றது கை அளவு, கல்லாதது உலகளவு !!

Fire

2008-09-08T16:24:00.002+05:30

Sep 01 : Fire @ the stores
Sep 05 : Bail refused
Sep 06 : Owners absconding

WTF ??

Browse

2008-09-04T19:25:00.003+05:30

I have Firefox, IE and Opera on my laptop. And so, I downloaded CHROME. Why ? I dunno...I am a compulsive Google-addict...

Powerless

2008-09-04T10:50:00.004+05:30

Ever since the TN government announced an official power cut for 1 hr. everyday (and subsequently increased it to 1.5 hrs.), there has been a mad rush for alternative fuels, mainly diesel to power the gensets...which has resulted in chaos at the gas stations. So I was surprised yesterday when I went to Spencers Plaza and there was a long queue of cars extending itself right upto the entrance. Thinking that people are thronging the mall on a holiday, I drove in...only to be told at the ticketing counter 'Sir, no A/C and no lift' !! And that's when it struck me that the power situation in Tamil Nadu is getting worser everyday.

Inflation

2008-08-20T12:21:00.003+05:30

Inflation has really hit us...Vodafone has announced the prices of iPhone in India and a 8GB @ Rs 31,000 or a 16GB @ Rs 36,100, it's EXPENSIVE.

'Auto'matic

2008-08-14T16:43:00.006+05:30

An auto experience...

Driver	Chennai	Bangalore
Speak Tamil	✓	✓
Speak Chennai Tamil	✓	✓
Speak Kannada	X	✓
Speak Hindi	X	✓
Speak English	X	✓
Smoke beedi	X	✓
Drive on roads	✓	✓
Drive on air	X	✓
Drive on pedestrian platforms	X	✓
Drive against traffic	X	✓
Drive below extended hand of a policeman	X	✓
Cycle-gap driving	✓	✓
Race against buses	✓	✓
Stop millimeters behind a vehicle / human / cattle	✓	✓

P.S. Creating a table in Blogger is awful
P.S. (again!) Was in Bengaluru for 3 days

On My Desktop

2008-08-08T12:20:00.003+05:30

Is this cloud computing ?!!

Tracking Sites

2008-08-07T11:37:00.000+05:30

I recently came across Page2RSS site which is very useful when :

A site does not offer you a RSS feed and you want to track it
The site is blocked at your workplace and you want to access it ;)

Onsite

2008-08-01T10:55:00.002+05:30

Yes...that word which conjures up magic. That word which promises you a funky lifestyle. That word which promises to obliterate all your sufferings. Recently, I chanced upon a profound thought...

Onsite is like a public toilet...those who are out want to get in and those who are in want to get out !

:)

Credit Cards

2008-07-30T17:14:00.003+05:30

What to do to prevent constant harassment from various banks offering you a free credit card ?

Option 1 : Bang the phone down
Option 2 : Scream
Option 3 : It's very simple...go ahead and accept them !!

What do you do when the card agencies call you after about a month or so(when they realise that you are not using their card) and enquiring, 'Sir, you have been issued a credit card', indirectly prodding you to use them ?

Option 1 : Bang the phone down
Option 2 : Scream
Option 3 : Simple, again...give a non-existent mobile number !!

What do you do when you get a physical statement from the card company, especially in cases where you haven't used the card at all ?

Option 1 : Scream
Option 2 : Tear it into pieces (this is a good frustration vent!)
Option 3 : Change the delivery mechanism to email

Where do you get these ideas ?

EXPERIENCE

Places visited in India

2008-07-29T09:39:00.001+05:30

visited 14 states (40%)
Create your own visited map of India

Excuse Me

2008-07-28T10:56:00.002+05:30

The most repeated word @ Gangotree...THE place to have chat (and chat!) in Chennai, if you are not ~~ogling~~ looking at the opposite sex, that is !!

Hitz

2008-07-17T11:12:00.004+05:30

Suddenly my blog has been getting some hits and so, I decided to monetise them (!) through Adsense. But (as usual), I am neither able to login using my Google account nor create a new account. Me and money, bah :(

Update (28-Jul-2008) : Finally...available :)

Currently Reading

2008-07-15T15:29:00.003+05:30

Investment Fables by Aswath Damodaran...

P.S. Shouldn't this rather be a tweet rather than a post by itself ? Ah...that requires me to join in another social networking site ?? Hmm...

Morning

2008-07-07T14:39:00.002+05:30

1. Heads crouched
2. Stare intently at the monitor
3. Muffled smiles
4. Try to look serious

All signs of a forwarded email joke/picture...on a productive Monday morning.

Price

2008-07-02T11:31:00.000+05:30

My blog is worth $1,693.62.
How much is your blog worth?

Any takers ? ;)

Happy2Help

2008-07-01T14:42:00.004+05:30

I was surprised at receiving the following message from the helpy pug today

Hello. Informing you about increase in ISD call rates from Rs.9.10 / min to Rs.40/min to Libya, Estonia, Liechtenstein & Greenland. Happy to help.

Rs.9 to Rs.40 ??? Wonder why ?

Password password

2008-06-30T15:24:00.005+05:30

Passwords for my participation in the following are stored in a secure area :

7 social-networking site (I hardly ever use 'em !),
6 job portals (Used once in 3 years!!)
5 email accounts (Used atleast once a week)
6 banking sites (used...well...ummm...everyday!)
8 sundry other sites

This, apart from 3 of my work-related ones and ATM PIN numbers. And amazingly, I seem to remember every one of them. Phew !

Blog Analysis

2008-06-27T10:30:00.004+05:30

My daily blog hits is behaving like the current Sensex...one day it goes to 20-odd hits and the next day to nil ! Google Analytics reckons that no one has visited this blog for the past month !! I have always wondered who visits this blog (apart from me, that is!!)...now I know. :)

iPhone in India

2008-06-25T15:20:00.004+05:30

The Jesus phone is expected to launch soon and both Vodafone and Airtel have said that they will bring it to India. Vodafone has been swift off its blocks offering customers to pre-book the phone now. It is probably trying to judge the demand but with no 3G in India (yet) and several shortcomings (no video recording, no MMS, no cut+paste facility on the phone), I wonder how many are going to grab this. But hey, the phone is cool, ain't it ?

P.S. : The last phone I bought is about a couple of years old and this is being launched...hmmm !!

Update (26-Jun-08) : And then, Airtel scrambles ;)

10...again

2008-06-23T10:18:00.005+05:30

And so, I finally watched the movie. And...I did like it. It has all the relevant masalas except, except...oh, why 10 roles Mr. Kamal ?? The movie certainly did not require you to don 10 roles. The movie would still have been a hit without that. And then, I added another word to my vocabulary...megalomania. Enough said.

A piece (of my mind) about the over-hyped makeup...some of the characters were grossly overdone, like that of the patti...it had goo sticking all over. Yuck.

One of the dialogues of the movie, when the villian Kamal pronounces Chidambaram as Che TamBram (Tamil Brahmin, in case you don't get it) was a nice touch ;) And you certainly didn't want the Japanese character shouting Tsunami like as if it was...well, a tsunami ! And, Praveen reckons that Asin definitely has a place in vaikuntam for mouthing perumale so many times !! Go watch this movie for a good entertainment, but definitely not for the 10 roles.

Firefox 3

2008-06-18T12:33:00.001+05:30

Downloaded Firefox 3.0. The enhanced location bar is too good. Rather than just suggesting a static list of URL's, if you can even remember a tiny-weeny bit of the content of the URL, it pops up the relevant URL as the suggestion. Try it to experience it yourself. It's cool...

Password Safe

2008-06-17T16:36:00.003+05:30

We have all heard of keeping our passwords secure, that is, in memory. Here's what Excel is prompting me to do when I tried to encrypt a file...

Hmmm...so, I keep a list of passwords and their corresponding document names in a safe place ? And I protect them by...ah...encryption and then store them again in a safe place and...wow, I learnt recursion in just a few minutes !!

'10'

2008-06-16T10:42:00.007+05:30

Overheard from office colleagues

First to last scene...super...
Enge Hey Ram maathiri sothapiduvaanonu nenachen...nalla velai...

I am yet to watch this...

And then, people go about eulogising it in a different way comparing it to Vishnu's Avatars...OMG !!

Happy to help

2008-06-14T18:30:00.001+05:30

...but cannot establish connection !!

Wisdom

2008-06-10T10:33:00.004+05:30

The proponent of value investing said, 'Sell after the stock moves up 50%. Sell after two years if it does not'. I missed it...and it shows...on my portfolio now :(

Who ? Me ?

2008-06-03T09:47:00.003+05:30

After I moved to this custom-domain-hosted-by-blogger, I now find that Google doesn't recognise me :( A search for the term 'mukunth' used to list my (erstwhile) blog address mukunth.blogspot.com as the II result...now I am no longer in the first page itself !! Yahoo seems to be better, with my blogspot address being listed at No.2 and this domain at No.4. Either the Google indexing has gone for a toss or is taking more time to index. One of the perils of custom domains, I guess...
Update : Worse to follow...someone has hijacked my website (unintentionally, I guess). I am disabling this...for now...switching back to blogspot...