:: Sense - The Way I Sense ::

Yep. Am back to writing about my pet interest in blogging…..Although the tech world had been obsessed by the Micro(almost)hoo acquisition, it’s quite interesting to see that Google has been doing all that is possible to ensure that it has a continued relevance when online search advertising starts to saturate and moves to different platforms ! Their latest announcement of a $500 million investment in Clearwire, is interesting…I, for one, have kinda taken a liking to google’s strong arm posturing, considering the cash that they are sitting on….Their recent agressive stance on the spectrum auction, the whole jamboree on Android, their habit of talking of any kind of network access at the drop of a hat, and actually succeeding in most part…All show a definite pattern which we have seen in the past as well…The amazingly well oiled Google PR machine that continues to remain at work. What has happened since my earlier 2005 post is only that this has now grown bigger and come to influence matters of policy….Kudos Google!!!

Been a few months in Mumbai….Not much in terms of understanding the “fabric” of this city…But yes, one thing that I did realize….Never ever try to get down/aboard a train at Kurla..If you care for your life, that is …..The city is polluted, dirty, is overcrowded, has rents which make the word obscene sound like Shakespearean prose !!! People keep complaining forever of the traffic, which seems to chug forward at zero kmph !! Socio-economic disparities present themselves at their worst here…And mind you, everyone considers slums an integral part of the city’s fabric …Translation—Too little time to even think if they should exist in the first place ! And with the recent noise over outsiders and conspiracy theories, you have a soap opera of a city that ends every night only to begin the next morning !

I am not sure where I stand…I don’t hate the city….I don’t love the city either…As yet ! But I do intend to keep my eye open for understanding why everyone loves this city and why those that don’t are deemed to not understand the city….Whatever it might be, it sure is gonna be one interesting stint here….

Yep…..Am still around…Although co-ordinates have changed (yet again!)….Am in the city that everyone share a strong love-hate relation with….Shifted to Mumbai a few months back for a new job….And kinda trying to fit in…..Hopefully can gel in…. 

And meanwhile, hope to get back to semi-active blogging….Now that my work involves a lot of what I used to blog, should be interesting to analyze all that from a different perspective

Yep, it’s no more just Wintel for me. After all these years on M$ platform, have finally got my first Mac. It’s the latest Santa Rosa based Macbook Pro, and boy does it run like it’s on fire ! OS X sure is pleasant to the eyes and the hardware on the MBP is top of the line. Of-course, Apple charges top $$, but yea, not seeing the BSOD every few days, hopefully, would be worth it ! The LED backlit screen is, for lack of a better word, Sexy ! Small innovations like the backlit keyboard or the minimalistic design sure do go a long way in adding to the value.

Now, all remains it struggling to tweak out some time to play around with it. Sadly, work seems to be on top of me…Need to sort priorities out soon

You’ve seen them all, haven’t ya, starting with Windows crashing at Comdex-98 ! Well, while I couldn’t see that first-hand, thanks to an over-hyped Indian startup, I’ve experienced something else. Most of you must have come across the recent news articles on a company called Nivio seemingly offering an online desktop! And as with most other web 2.0 companies whose products are forever in beta and you need to be privileged to be given an invite, Nivio too had a sign-up list for which I promptly signed up. Only mistake I made was trusting the company with my regular email id since I felt a company which claims to have all your files securely accessible 24×7 would be bothered a trifle bit about that vague concept called privacy! Alas, it wasn’t so. For over 5 hours yesterday, some nice souls realized that they could send out mails to every single user that had signed up for Nivio. And the result, tons of email- some having fun, some exasperated, some frustrated and some smart spammers too ! All the while, the folks at Nivio seemed to have no clue. Posts on their forum yielded no response save a terse we-are-working-on-it reply ! Tried calling up the phone no. listed on their site and lo, they claim not to be associated with any company called Nivio ! And in a case of pathetic mis-handling, those folks went ahead and started to delete any and every post that cries for  a solution.

Current status is that the mails have stopped and their CEO has mailed an apology, however, no hint of how to unsubscribe anywhere (yea, remember, I am still on their wait list-not even a beta user!!!). Mistakes happen, but then web-based companies, in particular, need to realize how to handle frayed emotions, particularly in matters of privacy! Deleting posts, staying silent, and not providing ubsubscription links are definitely not the recommended actions

Some cliches are indeed true ;)….Well, almost. I used to curse my friends who went MIA post-marriage, who seemed like they were sucked into a black hole ! And lately, I’ve been realizing I have successfully joined their club. Although am not really sure of the exact reasons for this retreat, but the timing sure adds weight to that I told you look that I get from a lotta people these days ! Am still in Chennai pretending to work and my employer pretending to pay. Although at current rate, that might not be sure for long Caught up on a li’l reading after a long time and ended up reading Lance Armstrong’s It’s not about the bike ! One of the best that I’ve read in a while of overcoming odds. Makes all our bitching/cribbing about bosses/companies pale in comparison to the odds stacked against when one’s on the edge ! Would definitely suggest you to give it a read when you are low and down !

PG seems to be going quite strong, as usual. Feeling quite guilty that I’m not able to spend that much time as I wish I could. Guess it is one of those phases when you can’t really do much of what you want to and what you’d like to. Hopefully, it’s only temporal

Time stands still. Sometimes you wish that continues. But no, life beckons. Back to terra firma and hopefully to some active blogging !

As some of you know, have decided to take the plunge and am tying the knot with Sirisha. Would greatly appreciate if you could come down to our marriage reception (there’s one at Chennai on 1st March @ New Woodlands Hotel). The times, they are, sure, achanging !

Click thro’ for the full images.

RSVP thro’ email pls.

Am sure for those of you that have been following popular email forwards, the recent news of Microsoft teaming up with Ford for in-car software should have proven to be quite a laugh ! I immediately went looking for the old joke on how automobiles would be if Microsoft made ‘em….And sure enough, it isn’t exactly a very comforting thought But yes, convergence today is surely moving out of the living room and creating such platforms is a right step in that direction…And in case you get the (in)famous BSoD on your car just as you are about to brake hard, you know whom to blame

May the New Year be that New Sunrise that you have been waiting for thus far. Happy New Year

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