Where's the bin?

Waiting for an epidemic? Scene at Pycrofts I Street.

Where's the bin?

Parampara and tulasi

I happened to attend a programme by Parampara recently at their Alwarpet HQ to popularise tulasi / tulsi (Holy Basil). Though their intentions may be noble, I was stunned by the lack of sensitivity of the organisers.

A few school girls had come in their full dance costume. I saw one of them struggling to find out where to go and wait. All the organisers were busy welcoming and attending to the VVIPs such as Suhasini Maniratnam and Vyjanimala Bali. There was none to help the poor girl. Finally her teacher, who was in the audience, noticed her and asked her to come and sit near her.

There were some technical hitches with the ancient sound system, which is normal. But I was surprised to see the Parampara chief shouting at the sound system guy in full view of the crowd. I also saw her telling one of her assistants that it was getting late and there was no need for “these dance programmes”. This happened in full earshot of a poor kid waiting to dance.

I saw the father of the same kid asking the organisers (including the chief) after the programme for a place for his daughter to change her dress. While one of the organisers was kind enough to ask for a few minutes’ time, the chief almost brushed him aside!

There is no point in trying to promote what is a noble concept if you can’t understand the sensitivities of human beings, especially children. I feel the main reason for all these were the presence of too many VVIPs and VIPs. The organisers were so busy attending to them that they hardly realised they were doing it at the cost of hurting others.

LiveJournal Tags: Parampara,tulasi,tulsi,Holy Basil,Pothys

Technorati Tags: Parampara,tulasi,tulsi,Holy Basil,Pothys

Facebook Rolls Out New, Simplified, and Improved Privacy Features

 

(from Lifehacker)

There's been a lot of talk recently about Facebook and privacy (with good reason), but the settings weren't always user-friendly. Today, Facebook began rolling out their new simplified, yet feature-rich security settings to keep its users on top of their privacy.

It doesn't appear to be out for all accounts yet (my account has yet to change), but if your account has been switched, you should be prompted to set your security settings as soon as you log in. In fact, it will keep bugging you until you do set them—forcing users to take an active role in their privacy (which, for the many users who haven't even looked at their privacy settings since 2005, is probably a good thing).

The settings in the wizard have been narrowed down a lot to avoid confusion, and really only give you two choices—Facebook's recommended setting for that feature, or your old settings. However, once you go through the wizard, you will have a new feature on your profile that allows you to set who can see each individual status update, wall post, or any other individual post you make: everyone, friends of friends, only friends, or something more specific (blocking certain people, for example). Regional networks have been done away with in favor of this simpler "friends of friends" approach that, with how large networks have become since the college-only days, makes quite a bit more sense. What do you all think of the new privacy features? Sound off in the comments.

New Tools to Control Your Experience [Facebook Blog via CNET]

Red light? It's only on my car

The Government official feels the red light on his car over-rides the one on the road.

Expensive ‘tribute’ to a simple man

Montblanc has launched a gold, rhodium-plated nib pen costing (hold your breath) Rs 11 lakh in memory of – of all persons – Mahatma Gandhi!

A company report says the series was being produced as a tribute to the many people who had followed the Mahatma.

I remember reading Gandhiji once searched desperately for a small pencil stub. He did not want to even waste a small stub.

What sort of tribute is this? Montblanc is using the Mahatma to sell its products – that too such a stinkingly-expensive pen.

And guess who launched the luxury pen? It’s Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma’s great grandson! It is not enough if you have the Mahatma’s name, and you are also his great grandson.

Mr Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, displays the Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition Montblanc pen in Mumbai on Tuesday. The 18K gold, rhodium-plated nib pen priced at Rs 11 lakh displays an intricate, hand engraved depiction of Gandhi, at 60, setting off, with bamboo staff in hand, on his famous salt march. A company report says that the MGLE-3000 series was being produced as a tribute to the many people who had followed the Mahatma. – Paul Noronha, The Hindu Business Line, dt. Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

del.icio.us Tags: Gandhi,Mahatma Gandhi,Montblanc,pen,Rs 11 lakh,Tushar Gandhi,salt satyagraha,Business Line,Paul Noronha

LiveJournal Tags: Gandhi,Mahatma Gandhi,Montblanc,pen,Rs 11 lakh,Tushar Gandhi,salt satyagraha,Business Line,Paul Noronha

Yahoo! Meme

 

Yahoo!'s microblogging platform Meme, is now available in English.

At the first glance, Meme is good. What differentiates Meme from Twitter is that you can add photos, videos and MP3s apart from text.
The interface looks good. Unlike Twitter, where you have to use external services such as Twitpic for posting pictures and videos, you can post them directly in Meme.

Moreover, you can see the pictures or videos directly in Meme.
But there are some drawbacks. While you can post photos from your computer, you post only videos and MP3s only as Web links. It remains to be seen whether Meme can break the stranglehold of Twitter.

I have just started posting in Meme.

You can find my Meme here.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo,Meme,Twitter,microblogging

LiveJournal Tags: Yahoo,Meme,Twitter,microblogging

Moving from Shozu to Pixelpipe

Sometimes, companies take decisions that are downright stupid. The latest to join the bandwagon is Shozu. It is now a paid app and can be downloaded only from mobile stores such as Nokia’s iPhone’s and Blackberry’s official stores. In India, the app costs 7 euros at the Ovi store.

Why is Shozu’s move stupid? Suppose you have a phone in which you have installed Shozu. If you change the phone or lose the Shozu application, you will have to pay 7 euros to get it again.

I keep flashing my Nokia E71 to get the latest firmware. Every time I do it, I lose most of the apps and install them again, including Shozu. But after I flashed my mobile on Saturday, I have re-installed almost all my apps, except Shozu, because I will have to shell out 7 euros to get Shozu from the Nokia OVI store.

I emailed Shozu from their contact form in their Web site, but Shozu has preferred to keep quiet.

So I have decided not to use Shozu. I have found an excellent alternative: Pixelpipe.

It integrates with Nokia Share Online app and offers almost all the functionalities of Shozu. As you use it through Nokia Share, you don’t have to run an app in the background as you have to if you use Shozu.

And it’s free!

LiveJournal Tags: ShoZu,Pixelpipe,Nokia,Nokia E71,app store,Ovi store,iPhone store,Blackberry store,paid app,moving to Pixelpipe

Technorati Tags: ShoZu,Pixelpipe,Nokia,Nokia E71,app store,Ovi store,iPhone store,Blackberry store,paid app,moving to Pixelpipe

Connectivity issue in updating Nokia E71 firmware to 300.21.012

Nokia has released a new firmware version for E71 series – 300.21.012. I like my phone to have the latest firmware and keep updating my E 71 as and when Nokia releases a new version.

I downloaded and installed the latest firmware – 300.21.012 on Saturday. As usual, I lost most of my downloaded applications, but I was prepared for it as I knew it would happen. But what I was not prepared for was that the phone refused to connect to the Internet. I tried using all the available access point, but of no avail. I also tried connecting through Wi-Fi, but the result was the same.

I scourged through several forums for solution. I discovered that many people who had upgraded to the 300.21.012 version had the same problem. I even tried restoring the phone to factory settings, but it was of no help.

I thought the issue could be with incompatibility with the old settings and the new firmware. So I applied the upgrade once again, but did not restore the phone settings back-up. It worked!

So, if your E71 doesn’t connect to the Net after the firmware upgrade, reinstall the upgrade and don’t restore the phone settings from the backup.

Here’s the changelog for 300.21.012:

This release is a major feature release and also was intended to correct main complaints from Customers and Operators
NEW FEATURES
* Mail for Exchange 2.9
* Numonyx USB Flashing support
* Gimlet 5.2 (v 9.5.2.66)
* Turkish SMS Support
* Support for Rapido Yawe 1.15
* Myspace, Youtube and Facebook support (NA for HK and Taiwan variants)
* User experience improvements
* Increased robustness of the Home Key functionality. This helps avoid the problem of Home key not opening the menu.
CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS:
* Improved Switch application functionality
* Internet Radio 1.15 Increased Functionality and Stability
* VoIP upgrade Improved functionality and stability
* Download Client 3.2 Greater stability and improved functionality
* Email Setup Wizard Update Supports Gimlet 5.2
* Simplified MMS Notification handling support
* Support for conference numbers longer than 24 digits
* Improvements in Browser for seamless YouTube support
* Language menu can be accessed when Chinese Language is used
* Bug fixes for the NokiaPC Internet Access Application
* Improved BT headset connectivity
* Many functionality and Stability improvements in MfE.
GENERAL
* Stability and functionality improvements
* Increased robustness in handling SMS
* Updated Time zones
* Updated Operator names database
* Localization improvements
* Updated Startup settings
* Security Updates and vulnerability fixes
* Phone not suspending packet data connection when receiving call Fixed.
* Many bug fixes for MyNokia feature.
* Minor audio related bugs fixed
* Updated helps
BROWSER
* Minor stability improvements
CALL HANDLING
* Minor improvements in Call handling and quality
CALENDAR
* Stability and Minor Functionality improvements
CONNECTIVITY
* WLAN functionality Improvements
* Fix to prevent Wifi Certification issues when Wifi alliance moves to Win 2008 as the test server
* Fix for the one way audio problem seen in Cisco VoIP client
* Memory leak fixes
CONTACTS/PHONEBOOK
* Minor UI Improvements
* Stability and functionality improvements for search functionality
EMAIL
* Mail for Exchange upgraded from 2.7.22 to 2.9.158
* Gimlet updated to v5
* Email setup wizard updated
* Support for Exchange Server 2007 in MfE
* Many functionality and stability improvements in MfE
* Robust Synchronization of Calendar and email items.
INTERNET RADIO
* Improved functionality
* Increased application stability
LOCATION/GPS
* Increased A-GPS stability
* Better stability in location services.
MESSAGING
* Usability improvements
QWERTY KEYBOARD
* Usability improvements
* Keyboard mapping corrections
SMS
* Support for receiving more SMSs. Allows more than 4000 messages in inbox.
SWITCH APPLICATION
* Application updates and many stability and functionality improvements
VOIP / SIP
* Many Usability, stability and functionality improvements

(from: websetgo.in)

Technorati Tags: Nokia,Nokia E71,firmware,upgrade,firmware upgrade to 300.21.012,300.21.012,connectivity,Internet connection problems,firmware changelog,E71 300.21.012 firmware changelog.

LiveJournal Tags: Nokia,Nokia E71,firmware,upgrade,firmware upgrade to 300.21.012,300.21.012,connectivity,Internet connection problems,firmware changelog,E71 300.21.012 firmware changelog.

Servicing at Accel Frontline? Beware!

Accel Frontline is the servicing centre for Sony Ericsson, Fly and Orion phones. If you have one of these phones that require servicing, please avoid Accel Frontline. Here’s how they went about ‘servicing’ my mobile.

My Fly E300 was not charging. As an Accel Frontline unit was near my house, I went there.

They checked the mobile (it took over one hour) and said the charging pins had to be replaced. I agreed.

When I collected it, I found that the phone was not charging. Hadn’t they changed the connectors? Yes, they said. But the reason this time was the faulty cable. But, hadn’t they said the charging pin was the culprit? Hadn’t they checked everything before taking the mobile for servicing? The girl at the counter had no answer.

Moreover, I found the memory card missing. When I brought it to their notice, she simply said, “We don’t take memory cards.” Then what else do you take ma’am?

The entire process had taken over an hour. I  was already late to office. I just came out. I went to the office and sent an email to info@accelfrontline.in and info@accelfrontline.com , as there was no email ID to be found for the Chennai Greams Road service centre.

I am waiting for the reply. I will update the blog once I get it.

del.icio.us Tags: mobile,service,Fly E300,charger,data cable,Accel Frontline,Accel Frontline Services,Sony Ericsson,Orion

 

Technorati Tags: mobile service,Fly E300,charger,data cable,Accel Frontline Services,Accel Frontline,Sony Ericsson,Orion

Rituals boost brains, even for atheists

(From Sunday Times of India dt. August 23, 2009)

Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns boost their brain power through meditation and prayer, but even atheists can enjoy the mental benefits that believers derive from faith, according to a popular neuroscience author.

The key, Andrew Newberg argues in his new book ‘How God Changes Your Brain’, lies in the concentrating and calming effects that meditation or intense prayer have inside our heads. Brain scanners show that intense meditation alters our gray matter, strengthening regions that focus the mind and foster compassion while calming those linked to fear and anger.

Whether the meditator believes in the supernatural or is an atheist repeating a mantra, he says, the outcome can be the same — a growth in the compassion that virtually every religion teaches and a decline in negative feelings and emotions. “In essence, when you think about the really big questions in life — be they religious, scientific or psychological — your brain is going to grow,” says Newberg, head of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania.

"It doesn't matter if you're a Christian or a Jew, a Muslim or a Hindu, or an agnostic or an atheist," he writes in the book written with Mark Robert Waldman, a therapist at the Center. In his office at the University of Pennsylvania's hospital, Newberg told Reuters that “neurotheology” — the study of the brain’s role in religious belief — is starting to shed light on what happens in believers’ heads when they contemplate God.

Science and religion are often seen as opposites, to the point where some in each camp openly reject the other, but this medical doctor and professor of radiology, psychology and religious studies sees no reason not to study them together. “The two most powerful forces in all of human history have been religion and science,” he said.

“These are the two things that help us organise our world and understand it. Why not try to bring them together to address each other and ultimately our world in a more effective way?” Atheists often see scanner images tracking blood flows in brains of meditating monks and nuns lost in prayer as proof that faith is an illusion. Newberg warns against simple conclusions: “If you see a brain scan of a nun who's perceiving God's presence in a room, all it tells you is what was happening in her brain when she perceived God’s presence in a room.

“It may be just the brain doing it, but it may be the brain being the receiver of spiritual phenomena,” said Newberg, whose research shows the short prayers most believers say leave little trace on the brain because they are not as intense as meditation. “I’m not trying to say religion is bad or it's not real,” he added. “I say people are religious and let’s try to understand how it affects them.”

Customer service: Take it to the next level

This appeared in the eWorld supplement of The Hindu Business Line on Monday, August 17, 2009
The 'domain service provider' mentioned at the end is Sify Domains. The name was removed by the Desk while publishing.

You would have called some customer service set-up at some point of time. Did you come up against an unhelpful person who left you fuming?

Unfortunately, what many don’t realise is that there is no need to get worked up as unsolved complaints can be escalated.

If the ‘service’ rendered is not satisfactory, you can always call the Nodal Officer. The details are available on the Web sites. It is almost certain that the problem will be solved as the Nodal Officers are senior officials with enough powers. If you are still not satisfied, you can escalate it again to the Appellate Officer (or whatever he is called).

How fast the issue is resolved also depends on how you talk to customer care or Nodal Officers. It is no use haranguing them about what you think about them and their service. You will end up irritating them more.

A friendly but firm talk always pays. My experience with Nodal Officers has been excellent. Most issues have been resolved within a day.

But in the first place, why should a problem be allowed to be escalated to the next level?

That’s because the customer service guys deployed by most companies have no say except to note down your request and forward it to the department concerned. What companies don’t realise is that by empowering them a little more, they can grow customer satisfaction.

I realised this after my interaction with a domain service provider (Sify Domains) recently. I wanted to use Google Apps with one of my domain names. There was a huge difference between the instructions provided by Google Apps and the domain management fields of the service provider.

All it took was one phone call. The person handling it asked me to send an e-mail, which I promptly did. The change was made in less than three minutes. I later discovered I had to make two more changes in the domain settings. Again, each change was made within three minutes of my sending the e-mails.

Next time you need to call customer service, just ensure you talk politely and in a friendly manner. If you are not satisfied, remember that you can always escalate the complaint.

R. Dinakaran

Technorati Tags: Sify Domains, Sify, customer service, nodal authority, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, The Hindu Business Line, eWorld, The Hindu

Havan (Homam) for bacteria-free homes, says National Botanical Institute Study

Press Trust of India

Lucknow, August 17

Want to lead a healthy life and free your home from bacteria? Perform 'havan' at regular intervals.

A study carried out by a team of scientists at National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here has claimed that smoke emitted during havans reduces airborne bacteria to a large extent, minimising possibility of infectious diseases.  "Burning wood and medicinal herbs, better known as 'havan samagri' (mixture of wood and odoriferous and medicinal herbs), can effectively reduce pathogens in the air," NBRI's senior scientist, Prof. Chandra Shekhar Nautiyal, told PTI.

The study had already been published and accepted by Science Direct, a journal of ethnopharmacology.  "As described in Rigvedas, saints used to perform agnihotra-yagnas to purify the environment by sublimating the havan samgri in fire," he said.

In a bid to study the actual impact of havans, an indoor study was carried out by the NBRI team including Prof Nautiyal, Mr Puneet Singh Chauhan and a fellow of Asian Agri-History Foundation Yeshwant Laxman Nene.  A complex mixture of over five dozen odoriferous and medical herbs was obtained from Gurukul Kangri Pharmacy in Haridwar and burnt in an indoor environment to study its impact on the environment.

"Air sampling before and after performing havan was done to ascertain its impact on the environment,'' Prof Nautiyal said.  "After the experiment it was observed that though there was was no reduction in the number of bacteria by burning of wood alone, smoke emanating from herbs led to over 94 per cent reduction in aerial bacteria,'' he claimed.
"Absence of pathogenic bacteria in the open room even after 30 days was indicative of the bacterial potential of the medicinal smoke treatment,'' he said.
Technorati Tags: havan, homam. ritual, Hindu, Hinduism

Abandoned puppy

We found an abandoned puppy on the road and brought it home.

Tata DoCoMo promotional offer

At the cost of almost turning this blog into a Tata DoCoMo discussion board, I wish to clarify on the promotional offer.

rachdoshi has posted a comment about the promotional offer. I wonder how I missed clicking through the link. I missed it because it didn't look like a hyperlink to me. Here it is.

The first three SMSs are charged. After that you get 750 local SMSs free per day. ( I have a doubt here. Do we have to send three paid SMS every day to get the free offer or is it that we just send three SMSs and get 750 free SMSs lifetime?)

STD calls at one paise per second is also a promotional offer.

Tata DoCoMo - a few weeks later...

I have received positive and negative responses to my blog posts (1) and (2) on Tata DoCoMo's sloppy launch.

After the initial launch hiccups, I have not faced any problems with Tata DoCoMo. The call quality is excellent and I haven't faced call drops.

I have received comments in my blog from readers whose complaints range from delayed activation to call drops to SMSs not being delivered.

There is also some confusion about free SMSs. A reader from Karnataka says there are free SMSs in the prepaid pack, the Web site says nothing about it.

It's better Tata DoCoMo clarifies.

More problems dog Tata DoCoMo launch

Yesterday I wrote about Tata DoCoMo's sloppy launch in Chennai. The problems for Tata DoCoMo doesn't end with distribution.

I finally managed to get hold of a starter pack, courtesy a dealer friend who took pains to alert me that he had the pack. When I got it, he said there were problems with activation. A couple of people who had bought packs had encountered long delays in activation. He immediately sent a message to Tata DoCoMo and got a confirmation message.

I got the starter pack at around 8 p.m.  I waited till 10 p.m. There was no sign of activation. I tried to ring up Tata DoCoMo but the calls never got through.

I checked in the morning. No activation. I called customer care. This time I got through. The guy at the other end was absolutely clueless. He said there was 'some' problem and that the line would get activated by evening. I asked him why it was taking so long. He again pleaded helplessness and as a concession, brought down the expected time of activation to afternoon.

When will it get activated? Will it get activated at all?  

Sloppy launch

The Tata DoCoMo service was launched in Chennai on Saturday. There were full-page advertisements in The Hindu on Friday and Saturday.

But even till evening, the DoCoMo retail packs were not available anywhere in the city except with a handful of retailers.

What is the point in ‘launching’ a service with fanfare if the product is not going to be available at the stores? Shouldn’t have Tata DoCoMo sent out the retail packs to dealers and then advertised?

Moreover, the retail packs are just cards and do not require huge logistics support.

The customer care was not also helpful. I asked if I could get it anywhere in Mount Road. After a minute’s search, the customer care asked me: “Sir is it St. Thomas Mount?”. I said, No, Mount Road. Or try Anna Salai.” “No sir, any other area?”. Did she want me to go around Chennai looking for retailers?

After five full minutes, I got the names of three retailers. They were small non-descript shops. How do I find them? Does Tata DoCoMO have phone numbers of the retailers so that I can contact them? “No sir. We don’t have it.” Very helpful indeed.

There was a small surprise in store after two hours. I thought I would ask for another area near my house. I rang up customer care and asked, “Any shop in Gopalapuram?” “No, sir. There are a few in Teynampet. There are a couple of them in Anna Salai.” Anna Salai? Just an hour ago, I was told there were none. She gave me two addresses. Again no phone numbers to contact the shops. For those who don’t know much of Chennai, Anna Salai is one of the main arterial roads that stretches for almost 10 km.

I now have to go and hunt for them. Can marketing and customer service get so sloppy?

Technorati Tags: Tata DoCoMo,launch,Chennai,marketing

One way?

On the right is Royapettah police station. So what? Because this is a one way road. The cops are least bothered about the violations (See the auto coming in the wrong direction). Waiting for a major accident to act?

Swami Dayananda Saraswati's lecture

The Kamaraj Memorial Hall was jampacked. The organisers had to ask some people who had no space to sit to sit on the stage.
I managed to take a snap as Swami passed me.

No parking? So what?

The Omnipotent driver is not bothered about lack of parking space. May be he thinks he owns the road.

cop on the road

Place: anna salai, chennai

The cop has discovered that the best place to stand is the road! policehennai

Efforts going waste...

I recently came across a news item about Nokia's initiative on e-waste saying the company would take back even non-working mobile phones. If there is something we are least bothered about, it is e-waste. We don't care about where our printer cartridges go after we discard them. It's the same with mobile phones, monitors and each and every electronic item we use.

I have a (non-working) monitor, two flatbed scanners (in working condition - one without a driver and another without a cable), a multimedia speaker set (non-working again) and a bill printer (I am still wondering how and why I bought it). I have no idea what to do with them or how to dump them. I have tried all I could but they refuse to get out of my house.

I first rang up a guy who had advertised saying he would take `working and non-working' computer parts. "Yes, sir, what do you have?" he asked. I listed out the items. "What else do you have?" he asked. "That's it,' I said. "No, sir, we can't take them," he politely said. I could understand why he wouldn't take the monitor, but the scanners? They were in working condition. "No sir, we can't do anything with them." I told him there would be someone who would be ready to take the scanners. "No, sir, nobody wants scanners. If you have anything else, please let me know. I will definitely take them," he said.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I asked my computer dealer friend Roshan. "Why don't you give me the scanner model number? I will find the driver," he said. I told him I had already tried to get the driver, but couldn't. "No sir. Just tell me the model number. It's easier to find a driver than to dispose it," he said.

I called my friendly neighbourhood raddiwallah. "No. I don't know what to do with it," he said, and offered some helpful advice. "Why don't you call a computer dealer?"

So, I am back to square one. I have decided to wait till I get a proper recycler - despite my wife's protestations about putting up with "all that junk."

 

This appeared in the eWorld supplement of The Hindu Business Line dated Monday, June 15, 2009

How Nokia replaces chargers

My post on the delay by Nokia for replacing a charger during warranty period.

Tamil? What Tamil?

With 'the custodians' of Tamil in power, it is not wrong to expect some improvement in the use of the language, at least in areas where the government is involved.
What we get to see are silly typos and English words.
The Aavin milk sachet above has the word 'homogenisedu' [no prizes for guessing the word] in Tamil and the Tamil word 'padhapaduthappatta' is spelt wrong.

Flock

What is Arya's photo from Naan Kadavul doing here? Nothing. Because I am just testing the various features of Flock browser.
If you don't know, Flock is a 'social' browser that allows you to link to various social services,
including blogs. You can even post to several blogs at a time.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Parking at Chennai Central

This is how the parking lot is 'maintained' at the Chennai Central railway station.
If you manage to get your two-wheeler in and park it without trouble, you deserve appreciation.
The space looks like a stone quarry with boulders and stones strewn around.
When you come back, it is quite a task to remember where you have parked your vehicle. And if some genius has parked his vehicle right behind yours, you have to get it out yourself. Forget about any help from the attendants.
If the Railways or the contractor cannot even level the ground, what sort of service are they supposed to be providing us?

The Landmark Forum introduction

[Posted from E71]
I attended an introductory programme of The Landmark Forum at Madipakkam on Sunday.
I don't know how to describe the Forum. We can say it helps you find out and set right the real reasons behind your problems. May be this is too simplistic, but the real advantage will be visible to you only if you attend an introductory session.
I was coaxed into attending the session by Sanjukta and Mukund of Bangalore. They say the Forum has helped them a lot in improving their lives. I am sure they cannot be wrong, because all members of Sanjukta's family - father Selvakumar, mother Vanaja, brother Satish [who convened today's session] and his wife Udaya are all deeply into this and vouch for its effectiveness.
One nice thing about the Forum, is that The Landmark Education, the company behind the Forum, makes no bones about the fact that it is a commercial enterprise. Today, Satish ended the session with, ''Thank you for doing business with us.''
Business? Yes. A four-day session costs Rs 7,100. This may appear steep, but when you think that attending it could transform your life, it's a pittance.
I know the Selvakumars personally and they are one of the nicest families I have come across. They are such an ideal family that I don't think they can get anything better from the Forum, but the fact that they have, vouches for the Forum's effectiveness.

testing from cellspin

testing from cellspin

New, but dirty

The Tamil Nadu Government keeps introducing new buses, but never bothers to maintain or even clean them. The buses, in just a few months, end up as if they have been salvaged from a scrap yard.
It's time they learn a thing or two from Mumbai's BEST.

23012009079

Dead, but...

Do you know who S. Gopal is? No?
Had you passed through Ellis Road on Thursday evening or Friday morning, you would have been enlightened about the important fact that he lives there. Sorry, he lived there, because he kicked the bucket on Thursday.
You would also have been aware that he was a local politician. And like all true politicians, he decided to give a parting kick to the common man, orat least those who were unfortunate enough to pass Ellis Road.
The family and the party decided to make most of his death. So they blocked the road.
Never mind that Ellis Road is one of the important roads in the city housing digital printing and photographic equipment shops.
Gopal is more important than anything else.
Politicians never learn. In fact they ensure they create nuisance even after their death.

E 71, the greatest

Computer Active has compared business mobiles in its January 2009 issue and has concluded that the Nokia E7¹is 'undoubtedly the best'.
It says, ''More pocket friendly than the iphone, priced right, small, full qwerty keypad; fantastic for email; good battery life and the list goes on. No second thoughts that the E7¹is a great phone for business and consumers.''
Why am I blogging this? Because I have one!

The Dell bus

I'm posting this from my E71.
Dell has realised that in India, it is important to reach out to consumers directly. Indian also prefer to have a look at the product before they buy it, even more so when it is a computer.
Apart from selling from showrooms, Dell now reaches out to consumers with its products displayed in buses like the one here.
The bus itself attracted you, with its predominantly red colour scheme.
But wait! How on earth did they manage to find parking space for the huge Volvo bus near Khadi Bhavan in Chennai's Mount Road?