With the election less than 6 weeks away, looks like things are getting headed up.
If you're like me, probably pretty confused about the whole election process (electoral college vs popular vote). Even though I have lived here for 14+ years, never really took the time to understand the whole process.
My canadian friend Sheldon Fernandez has an useful/humorous slant on the election. Here's the 2008 Election Primer from his perspective.
An interesting/fun-filled read.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ping.fm - Ping it Like its hot (Beta code)
Now that I have signed up and getting hooked into these social networks (both personal & professional networks) and web 2.0 services like twitter, brightkite, facebook, linkedin, plaxo, tumblr, friendfeed, pownce etc etc - you get the idea, the list is endless, was thinking there needs to be an easy way to manage and post to different sites without having to individually go to these places.
Sure enough, there is and its ping.fm. Thanks to one of my cyber buddies for sending me a beta code and I got signed up. If you want to sign-up, their beta code is 'pingitlikeitshot'
I used to be pretty anti-social networks. So why am I on all these sites? Not sure myself. Part of me is just intrigued by all these developments taking place and another part of me is constantly thinking of the next big thing and how to make it happen :)
Sure enough, there is and its ping.fm. Thanks to one of my cyber buddies for sending me a beta code and I got signed up. If you want to sign-up, their beta code is 'pingitlikeitshot'
I used to be pretty anti-social networks. So why am I on all these sites? Not sure myself. Part of me is just intrigued by all these developments taking place and another part of me is constantly thinking of the next big thing and how to make it happen :)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tethering & watching live cricket.. got to love it..
technology.. gotta love it..
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Twitter for international text messaging (SMS)
International text messaging - Twitter to the rescue
For those who dont know what twitter is, it is basically a microblogging service over SMS (text messages). Check out Wikipedia explanation or better yet try it out Twitter or even see my Twitter page
So I started exploring/playing around with twitter late last year.
Now although text messaging aka SMS is not that big in the US (it is slowly picking up), it is really popular in Europe, Asia etc. So now, I have never been able to text my brother in India from Sprint PCS. Dont understand quite why but Sprint only allows sending SMS to select carriers in India. Here's the
list of international carriers that Sprint allows international text messaging for. Now, if you notice Bharti Airtel is not in that list for India and they have like a 50%+ marketshare. Anyways to cut a long story short, I have never been able to text my brother in India and vice-versa.
Twitter comes to the rescue?
When I was in India last month, I got my brother connected to twitter and now by sending a SMS to a US number (40404), I can send my brother a tweet (twitter lingo for a SMS) as a direct message which he receives a text (Note - direct messages are only send to the recipient) and he can do the same.
So its pretty cool as now we get to SMS/text each other all thanks to twitter.
For those who dont know what twitter is, it is basically a microblogging service over SMS (text messages). Check out Wikipedia explanation or better yet try it out Twitter or even see my Twitter page
So I started exploring/playing around with twitter late last year.
Now although text messaging aka SMS is not that big in the US (it is slowly picking up), it is really popular in Europe, Asia etc. So now, I have never been able to text my brother in India from Sprint PCS. Dont understand quite why but Sprint only allows sending SMS to select carriers in India. Here's the
list of international carriers that Sprint allows international text messaging for. Now, if you notice Bharti Airtel is not in that list for India and they have like a 50%+ marketshare. Anyways to cut a long story short, I have never been able to text my brother in India and vice-versa.
Twitter comes to the rescue?
When I was in India last month, I got my brother connected to twitter and now by sending a SMS to a US number (40404), I can send my brother a tweet (twitter lingo for a SMS) as a direct message which he receives a text (Note - direct messages are only send to the recipient) and he can do the same.
So its pretty cool as now we get to SMS/text each other all thanks to twitter.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Long time no post.. Pandora vs Last.fm
Havent posted in a long time.. I guess, thats what happens in the blogging world.. you start a blog and are all enthusiastic about and slowly get distracted/busy in other items.. well this time, I just need to make a better effort.
Ok now so i've been playing around with these social music services (namely last.fm and Pandora). Both of these offer a similar but differing music experiences. Pandora is more computerized/algorithmic whereas last.fm is all about user recommendation.
Here's an excellent comparison of these services by Steve Krause.
Right now, I just like to pop up either one of these and listen to similar artists and both have worked for me so far. Below are links to my pandora and last.fm pages
Pandora
Last.fm
Take a listen and let me know what you think. If any of you are on these services, link up to me.
Ok now so i've been playing around with these social music services (namely last.fm and Pandora). Both of these offer a similar but differing music experiences. Pandora is more computerized/algorithmic whereas last.fm is all about user recommendation.
Here's an excellent comparison of these services by Steve Krause.
Right now, I just like to pop up either one of these and listen to similar artists and both have worked for me so far. Below are links to my pandora and last.fm pages
Pandora
Last.fm
Take a listen and let me know what you think. If any of you are on these services, link up to me.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Dilli Haat - finally caved in
Even after having lived in Delhi long enough and multiple visits (10+) to visit the fam, I always stayed away from Dilli Haat. Felt it was a tourist trap. Well I finally caved in today and went. and am glad I did.
Its a really cool spot with a craft bazaar and food plaza featuring cuisines from different states of India. Its a pretty nice retreat from the hussle/bustle of Delhi. Of course, it was pretty touristy with a lot of foreigners there but all the same, i would go back there.
One thing that was surprising was all the vendors spoke excellent English and it was pretty funny seeing the foreigners driving a hard bargain with the vendors.
Here's some pics
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Its a really cool spot with a craft bazaar and food plaza featuring cuisines from different states of India. Its a pretty nice retreat from the hussle/bustle of Delhi. Of course, it was pretty touristy with a lot of foreigners there but all the same, i would go back there.
One thing that was surprising was all the vendors spoke excellent English and it was pretty funny seeing the foreigners driving a hard bargain with the vendors.
Here's some pics
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Cricket, Rain, India & more
Saw my first IPL game live yesterday. Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab. IPL (Indian Premier league) is a new initiative and cricket league to India that aims to emulate the franchise concepts of English Soccer leagues, NFL leagues etc. A lot has been written and said about the IPL (just do a google search) so I wouldnt dwell on that.
Seeing the game in the sold out stadium, the atmosphere was quite electric. Though the rain and Duckworth/Lewis put a damper on the outcome of the game, it was still a wonderful experience. I think IPL is good thing for Indian and world cricket in general. Seeing cricketers of different nations (Sehwag - India, Shoaib Malik - Pakistan, Glenn Mcgrath - Australia) playing in the same team and actually showing the team spirit and camradarie was good to see.
Here's a few pics from the game.
Seeing the game in the sold out stadium, the atmosphere was quite electric. Though the rain and Duckworth/Lewis put a damper on the outcome of the game, it was still a wonderful experience. I think IPL is good thing for Indian and world cricket in general. Seeing cricketers of different nations (Sehwag - India, Shoaib Malik - Pakistan, Glenn Mcgrath - Australia) playing in the same team and actually showing the team spirit and camradarie was good to see.
Here's a few pics from the game.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sugercane modernization - what will happen to the mom & pop sugercane streetside shops>
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Fully automated juicer with staff wearning gloves and maintaining top class hygiene.
what will happen to the mom & pop sugarcane streetside shops?
India Inc needs a plan as we become more modernized be it whether retail grocery stores, sugarcane juice etc etc..
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Packing up and playing with the blog
Packing up from my India trip. Looking forward to it. Its going to be a long flight from Atlanta - Newark - Paris - Bangalore. But I loaded up my Treo with a few movies (American Gangsta, Juno) plus I picked up a book The Bogleheads Guide to Investing so I should be good to go.
Speaking of investing and bogleheads (Vanguard fans - low cost indexing), thats a whole another topic I need to post about soon. Its just surprising that even with all the knowledge and wealth of information, so many people are into these high cost funds and/or paying a financial advisor 1-2% of asset fees who are in the same funds. I realize everyone situation is different but I think for the most part slow & steady wins the race. In investing, one of the things that you as investor can control are the costs and you should strive to keep that at a minimum. I was a victim of 'financial pornography' :) (i read that quote in some book i read) getting into these high cost actively managed mutual funds, trading stock based on magazine articles trying to beat the market. No wonder the asset management, investment advisor industry is booming. I guess anytime you see any of these golf shows on TV (Master etc) and see the amount of commercials about asset management etc, i guess its a lucrative industry. Funnily enough, I have had a few FA's call me and even met a few but once I start talking about indexing, low cost they quickly run away cause am the worst kind of client. Their ideal client is someone who signs them a check and they can just collect the 1-2% fees every year.. This was meant for another post but since I was on a roll figure why stop :)
Speaking of investing and bogleheads (Vanguard fans - low cost indexing), thats a whole another topic I need to post about soon. Its just surprising that even with all the knowledge and wealth of information, so many people are into these high cost funds and/or paying a financial advisor 1-2% of asset fees who are in the same funds. I realize everyone situation is different but I think for the most part slow & steady wins the race. In investing, one of the things that you as investor can control are the costs and you should strive to keep that at a minimum. I was a victim of 'financial pornography' :) (i read that quote in some book i read) getting into these high cost actively managed mutual funds, trading stock based on magazine articles trying to beat the market. No wonder the asset management, investment advisor industry is booming. I guess anytime you see any of these golf shows on TV (Master etc) and see the amount of commercials about asset management etc, i guess its a lucrative industry. Funnily enough, I have had a few FA's call me and even met a few but once I start talking about indexing, low cost they quickly run away cause am the worst kind of client. Their ideal client is someone who signs them a check and they can just collect the 1-2% fees every year.. This was meant for another post but since I was on a roll figure why stop :)
Test to see if blogger can accept video via email
Shot this from my phone and want to if possible to upload this to blogger via email.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Updated the blog
Allright. So have updated the blog with links to my other web presence (twitter, friendfeed etc).. Also, learnt how to post a song to blogger. I was pretty surprised that blogger lets you post photos, videos but no mp3 directly. so kinda have to do a hack to get a mp3 file. but figured it out.
just thought it'll be built into blogger.
Headed to India in a couple of days so not sure how much updates this blog will see but will try my best..
just thought it'll be built into blogger.
Headed to India in a couple of days so not sure how much updates this blog will see but will try my best..
Grand Canyon video
A family trip to Grand Canyon. Sep 2007. Me, Sushmi, Ashok & uncle (Sushmi's dad)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Beers & barbequing at paras and @snafilter juggling away
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Daughtry just rocked the house. Waiting for Bon Jovi now
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Arvind's first blog entry
Its time again to explore the blog route after having a couple of earlier (unsuccesful) attempts :)
At least this time have a decent blog name to remember by.
At least this time have a decent blog name to remember by.
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