January 2012
1 post
August 2011
3 posts
There is this huge thing going on in the industry. Change.
IBM had quit the PC business 5-7 years back and shifted to enterprise focus. PC business went to Lenovo. Lenovo’s biggest market is China. Apple’s revenue passed Lenovo’s revenue in China.
HP had bought Palm. Now HP is going to discontinue WebOS, Palm’s OS. They will discontinue their phones and tablets. HP is...
There was a promise of better times,
a promise of brighter hours,
a promise of an easier life,
a promise of satisfaction.
The promise was kept,
the dreams reached,
the wants gained,
the desires fulfilled.
And then the stars seemed brighter,
the wind seemed cooler,
the moon seemed whiter,
the heart seemed happier.
But it was just another night.
Again.
And there was another promise....
Be arrogant about being yourself.
Be selfish about doing great things.
Be envious about unfulfilled dreams.
Be devilish about criticizing yourself.
The new bad is good.
June 2011
2 posts
A Question of Purity of Photography
Photography means ‘painting with light’. It is an art form just like painting. A photo sensitive film is taken, exposed to the scene that is to be captured and developed. The film, the camera and the chemicals used are all tools of the trade.
Recently the essence of photography has come under question for the use of post-processing tools like Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture. Why shouldn’t the...
Visiting Windows Phone 7
I see six smartphone platforms currently:
1. Apple iOS
2. Windows Phone 7
3. HP WebOS
4. Google Android
5. Blackberry OS
6. Nokia something-something.
Out of them, 1,4 and 5 have a huge market share and 1, 2 and 3 are really really well designed.
Today I read an article about 2, so lets talk about that.
Windows Phone 7 is the first thing I have seen out of Microsoft that is realy...
May 2011
2 posts
You don’t profit in a monopoly, you work harder :...
Total Profit = Profit per Device x Number of Devices Sold
Every high school pass out knows this equation. To maximize profit, you can either maximize the profit per device sold or you can maximize the number of devices sold. Profit has the tendency to stay constant. If you reduce the profit per device, the number of devices sold will increase.
Hence you either decide to price your product...
April 2011
2 posts
How Megapixels and Zoom Fool You
“Hey, got a new camera?”
“Ya!”
“How much megapixels?”
“Umm.. 16.2MP.”
“Wow! That’s great! Cameras are improving so much these days. Just a month ago I got a 14.3MP one. Time to get a new one I guess.”
You, yes you, are under the hold of a marketing gimmick of the camera companies. Want more megapixels? Pay us more. Why should...
Together
Hope, together we dream of a better future.
Freedom, together we dream freely.
Creativity, together we make new stuff.
Intelligence, together we solve problems.
Heart, together we help the world.
Peace, together we shall live simply.
Courage, together we shall fight evil.
Truth, together we shed light.
Love, together we shall care.
Better
We want to be better. Better is good. Better gives more. Better allows to do less. Better is fun.
But better is hard. Better is challenging the previous better. Better is calling your now the past. Better is pushing further. Better is strain.
Still, the only way is better. Everyone is getting better. And so better becomes the new average. You need a better better.
Start today. Be better.
January 2011
3 posts
I want people to see me as an active person.
I want people to see me as an intelligent person.
I want people to see me as a studious person.
I want people to see me as a religious person.
I want people to see me as a famous person.
I want people to see me as a helpful person.
No, whatever happens, I want people to see me as myself.
1 tag
Objectivism
I am currently reading ‘The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand, and can’t help but feel that it’s the philosophy I myself believe in. She puts forth a way of living life. A philosophy to live by. To express it, she wrote three novels. And that philosophy is Objectivism.
I am not even done with the book, but I am so impressed by it that I want to share what I understand from it....
1 tag
A Touchpad using Plastic and Aluminum Foil
The easiest, cheapest and fastest way in which we could implement a touchpad was to use simple metal strips horizontally and vertically. When the user touches, the two strips come in contact and this is detected by a micro controller. This data is then sent to the computer.
Our touchpad.
The aluminium strips.
Tape used as insulation.
Visualization on the computer.
Materials: Aluminum...
December 2010
2 posts
Before you jump into the pond, I will tell you its dangerous.
After you have played, I will pull you out.
After you fall ill, I will give you medicine.
After you have recovered, I will remind you how much fun it was.
But never, will I hold you back.
1 tag
Be good.
Imagine yourself in a city you are touring, checking out the local scene. You are hungry, looking for a restaurant. You look around and see people all around, a busy bustling place. On both sides of the road, the only shops you see are restaurants. (You don’t even notice the other shops, because you are hungry!) Fast-food, Premiums, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Spanish, local cuisine and...
November 2010
2 posts
'Why so sad?'
A great question to ask yourself, every moment. Why wouldn’t you be the happiest person now, right now? You really won’t find a good reason.
Be. Happy.
B U.
Be you means firmly believing in what you believe in. Things like telling the truth. Helping people. Keeping your point of view.
Be you means to be an individual, and not mix into the crowd.
Be you means to have confidence in yourself.
Be you is to say ‘hell with people who don’t agree’.
Be you is to stand alone on the other side of the river.
Be you is to take the...
October 2010
3 posts
1 tag
"I don't know."
When you think you have a problem, start by acknowledging you have a problem. This may seem obvious. It seems that this is what would happen. But it is actually not so. As humans we have this instinct of ignoring tensions and stress, to help us focus on the present. We try to think that we don’t have a problem. But don’t mistake this for optimism.
Remember, we are human beings. We...
Living
I came across these amazing rules on how to live life. Worth sharing and remembering.
Do one thing at a time.
Do it slowly and deliberately.
Do it completely. Put your mind completely on the task. Don’t move on to the next task until you’re finished.
Do less.
Put space between things.
Develop rituals.
Designate time for certain things.
Devote time to sitting.
Smile and serve others.
...
Success is in now.
‘What is success?’, someone asked. Some paid attention, some didn’t. It’s such a core question of our lives, so elementary, that its easy to dismiss it as so.
I asked myself, and the ‘I’ said: “Success is in now.” I thought ‘Wow, so simple’. But what does it even mean? It seems like an answer to ‘Where is success.’ It makes...
September 2010
3 posts
1 tag
A letter of joy
I am happy. I feel good. I like it.
What? Where’s the ‘because’ to it. I can’t find the reason in the text. I can’t believe that you are happy till you tell me what made you so happy. What is that new thing you got. Who is that person. What is that experience. There has to be a reason, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t I say that I am happy because I got a new phone? That I feel good about my new clothes....
1 tag
A letter of hope
I have hope. I dream. I wish.
I hope that things will be fine tomorrow. I dream of a better world tomorrow. I wish for more peace. And I know that each of these will become true.
People will know about global warming and things will be alright. People will see that poverty is killing millions, and will find a way out. We will know that population is increasing beyond control and we will fix...
1 tag
A letter of love
I love you. I care for you.
Did you even know it? I didn’t think it necessary to tell you. It was not important for you to know. But all the time I did little things that contributed to your internal happiness. Small things that made you smile and gave you a reason to remember that day for all the good things and forget all the wrong.
I am always there. Looking at you through the crack in the...
August 2010
3 posts
1 tag
Redesigning the Newspaper
Newspapers have been what they are for many years now. New media companies start selling newspapers, but all of them have the same design. No one is trying to improve reading experience.
It’s cluttered and messy. Let’s try improving it.
Form:
The newspaper should be smaller and easier to hold. 2/3 width and height.
First page consists only of extremely important news in...
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough Hello’s to get...
A little pink flower
Looked at the endless blue sky
One day I will be someone
Kept waiting for that day.
Then came a rain shower
Others gave up and sighed
But the flower dreamed on
Now it’s too late, nothing left to say.
- Param Aggarwal
We wait for the perfect day to go ahead with our dreams, and then one day we realize its too late.
But then tragedy...
July 2010
3 posts
1 tag
What gets you out of bed?
An interesting question to ask yourself. I often find it difficult to wake up in the morning. For the simple reason that I didn’t know what I would do if I woke up.
But on days that I have something planned, my body automatically gets up earlier than usual. Getting up and ready becomes involuntary.
This is a question you have to answer every day of your life. Hopefully your answer is,...
1 tag
The nine-rupee ice-cream
Gelato Italiano, sells awesome ice-cream. I have yet to find any better seller. It’s complicated to make and very rich in flavor while being not too creamy or icy.
Gelato sells the ice creams ranging from Rs. 40 to Rs. 70 for a small cup. They usually try to sell you the bigger ‘double scoop’ Rs. 100 cup, which I simply deny. But yesterday, when I went to have an ice-cream at...
June 2010
16 posts
1 tag
Music Publishing
As you read this, ever more information is being converted to the digital form so that now it is easier than ever to duplicate intellectual property and charging money for it is becoming difficult. Looking at it from another perspective, there could be no easier way to distribute your content to more people without having to worry about being able to meet excessive demand. The supply is unlimited...
Gaming the App Store
On the Apple App Store, if you want to sell millions of your apps, the best way is to get into the Top Ten Paid Apps list. Thats it. You are there, you make millions.
Now people have found a way to misuse this. When the iPhone 4 was about to release, Electronics Arts and Gameloft, two renowned iPhone game developers, dropped their game prices to $1. This sky rocketed their sales. In reality they...
Plastic vs. Paper
Plastics are good. Yes, but not the kind we have become used to seeing everyday. Very high quality molded plastics have a very good build quality and they last really long, whatever you do.
But today’s plastic objects are designed with too much confidence on the strength of plastic. They think that bad design will be overcome by its sterngth. Its like you started selling parts made of...
The iPad as a creation device
The iPad is a consumption device not a creative device.
Nonsense. Let me argue against this:
Short answer: Its a limitation of the apps, not the device.
Long answer: Its always easier to make a device that simply displays stuff from a server. That what a consumption device is and the iPad does an awesome job at that. But that does not mean that it lacks out on creative capabilities.
It...
A media channel, from the inside.
Recently I had the opportunity to see two news’ channels from the inside. Both these channels have their offices in the same building. In just three days, I got a very good overview of how a news channel works. Let me share this with you.
Gathering News:
News is gathered by reporters on the streets covering anything that seems of national interest. They can be employed by a third-party,...
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We have westernized ourselves much more after...
Its sad.
Thousands of people have given blood for independence, and hundreds of freedom fighters sacrificed their lives. But the true aim of the Britishers has now been fulfilled, by actually doing nothing after giving us independence.
It is we who forgot the true aim of our fighters and leaders. To keep alive the cultural heritage, diversity, respect and use of domestic products. We feel that...
Why the new Apple TV wasn't announced.
The June WWDC keynotes are reserved for the iPhone. And rightly so, because it is good to focus on one product at a time. The Apple TV falls in the category of iTunes. It’s clearly placed under iTunes on Apple’s site. So I expect that once Apple TV is more than a hobby it’s yearly releases will be scheduled for September which had been the time for the iPods.
We have seen that...
I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
Self-Pity, D. H. Lawrence (via mnmal)
May 2010
26 posts
“The philosophy of minimalism, as I see it, is having exactly what you need, when...”
– Patrick Rhone (via minimalmac)
Reposting one of my old posts to clarify the common misconception people have about people who believe in minimalism. Minimalist people don’t give up worldly desires or become saints or go to the forest. Minimalism simply means to have a less confusing life. To...
Manufacturing content :: Mnmlist →
Companies know all the marketing secrets these days. They have done a lot of research to sell that thing to you. And they have done it so that you don’t even know you have a problem:
Advertisers have studied the mechanisms of human desire, and have perfected the craft of making us want things. Children watching a cartoon, for example, will eat more snacks if there are ads for food during...
I see an Eagle
Its old and feeble,
but its eyes don’t know me
they see the sea.
They see the children
They see the roads,
They see the homes
but they are looking for their own.
I can see that they’r not thinking
They can’t see that I’m thinking,
I can wonder why they fly
They wonder is that a rat down there.
And...
The three treasures
I have just three things to teach;
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.
—Tao Te Ching
So damn awesome! (via Minimal)
Color Identification Device at IIIT
As part of our Electronics Instrumentation project at college, a group of four of us, built this little device. Its usability/practicality is arguable, but we enjoyed making it.
Here is a video demonstration of it on Vimeo.
When we insert any of the 5 filters, it detects which one it is. Technically it is a very simple device. But the thing I like is how we packaged it.
The 5 filters and...