My Tech Musing(s)

Lately there has been too much of mushy stuff on my blog  . Not that there is any thing wrong in those posts .its  just that I was getting tired of it myself. so when Shivnanda commented on my previous post asking for technology stuff that was the final motivation I needed . 

However eventhough i have few thoughts on what to write but right now I don't have bandwidth for constructing a full fledged article out of it . Due to some recent development I am and will be  a little hard pressed for time . Anyways  but to keep my promise I am reproducing two articles I wrote sometime back for 'i.t' Magazine , a publication of EFY Group. 

First one is on My fave topic in mobile,Mobile Location Based Services (LBS) . I have read so much on LBS that Its best that don't get started  :) .  You can read it in scribd  embed below 

Mobile LBS: The Power of Where

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Diagrams service services

Second one is on the nascent but paradigm shaking concept called " Mobile App Store" . It was originally introdued by Apple as an application distribution front end for its iPhone device. Thanks to the hype around iphone, iTuneApp store" never got the attention it deserved . In this article I have argued how, in the long run App store can be a more strategic advantage than iPhone it self . you can read it in scribd  embed below .

App Store Revolution

   Publish at Scribd or explore others:                revolution              Che      

   Very soon I will write more on tech for the audience of "knowprashant". In the meantime  do let me know what you think of them . I look for ward to your feedback :) 

My Little Pre Valentine Encounter - Part 2

So in my last post I told you about my little  (pre) valentine adventure . here is the sequel to the same .As I mentioned in  my previous post that this year V day seems to have arrived  a little too soon  and with a little more bang than usual . Those wired gifts and absurd discount offers are only one side of the story . other valentine related issue which is  hot topic of the week is our stance toward public display of  affection(PDA).   What this whole PDA debate eventually  boils down to is the question  that  " If a couple wants to do some activity  like holding hands , hugging, kissing and stuff in public .do they have a right to do that ?Do our "culture" allow that ?"   (just FYI , I recently learned that  super set of such activities  is collectively referred as "kooche koo"-ing). 

Everyone seems to have an opinion about it .A little conflict is brewing up in  Bangalore where Sri Rama Sene chief  Mr.Pramod Muthalik thinks that V Day is not an Indian thing and its polluting our culture .He says that if he find any couple dating or doing this PDA thing on VDay  He will be forcing them to get married on the spot .  To counter this threat My friend and fellow blogger Sanjukta Basu has started  Hug Karo and Pub Bharo Andolan  in  Bangalore. They will be doing a A Free Hug campaign on 14th Feb 2009 in Bangalore. They  would be going out in groups offering free hugs to the people of Bangalore, carrying placards like, ‘Happy Valentines Day, I love you, Hug me, ‘Public Display of violence is not part of Indian culture’ etc.  

Nisha Susan is doing a Pink Chaddi Campaign . their slogan is "This year let us send the Sri Ram Sena some love. Let us send them some PINK CHADDIS.". I must say that  these are one of the most innovative ways of protesting and fighting for a cause that  I have  seen in my life .Allthough I am not in bangalore but  I support Sanjukta and Nisha in their cause . This is  an out and out violation of our freedom and if I have my way I would send that joker to his rightful place . A Mental Aslyum . Its a shame to our democracy , to our freedom.     

This is not to say that PDA don't cause some discomfort to people around it do but that doesn't give anyone a right to curb freedom and force them to tie the knot. Living in Noida its very very common to witness this PDA stuff all around me and honestly if two consenting adults are involved than  who gives a damn .I have NEVER seen a couple crossing lines of decency . We don't need this rama sene brand Moral Policing . 

Funny thing is that while I am totally comfortable with the PDA  thing in cafes and pubs what makes me slightly uncomfortable is the torture of listening to their conversation . if you ever got a chance to sit next /close  to a  "couple" in cafe and were able to listen to their conversations you will understand what I mean . These conversations are hilarious yet torturing . Hilarious because usually there is  very tiny elements of  sense in them ( and both parties know it ) and Torturing because you are not supposed to laugh on the spot . Controlling the laughter is hard part.  I was witness to one such conversation last weekend . that was my second adventure . 

So after my meeting with Ravi and his fiance at Gift Gallery  I proceeded to kaffia for my weekend book reading dose . I took the table overlooking the street . my fave place on their balcony . I ordered  a coffee and started reading . after 10 min or so a waiter interrupted me . 

[Waiter] Excuse me sir ! would you mind sitting on someother table .

[Me] Why ?

[waiter]( pointing to a girl standing near the counter)  M'am ,  Wants to sits here 

[Me] Than Go and Tell your "M'am" that if She wants to sit here she will have to request it herself .and don't YOU come back again as her attorney

( After two min of soul searching she walked to me and said )

[Girl] Excuse Me! 

[Me]Yes !

[Girl] Would you mind shifting to other table . Actually I am waiting for my Boyfriend and I can keep an eye on road from here .Plus  its his fave table  

[Me] You want to delkho rastaa of your BF ?

[Girl] (Blushing) Yes !

[Me] WoW Must be a New boyfriend ( you see i was on roll that day)

[Girl] (seemingly uncomfortable becuase this talk is going longer than her expectation)

[Me] just kidding . Its my pleasure . 

I moved to other side of balcony and resumed reading .In between I happen to glanced at her once. She had an extraordinary multi tasking capabilities  . she was  waiting ,talking to someone on cellphone,looking at the menu card and glancing at her laptop screen once in a while .In between she found time to look at me also ,  on that moment , I resumed my reading ;) .

After some time Her Boyfriend entered the scene . A cute looking Hunk in Body hugging Tee Shirt .somewhat like Shaheed Kapoor  only slightly taller.   One sight of his  biceps  and I understood that its best to focus on my reading  . that point onward I was like the proverbial "Fly on The wall" . this is what little I heard of  their conversation when there volume was high  and my scholarly interpretation of the same.

After couple of min waiter arrives 

[waiter] your order sir..? 

[Boy] (looking at menu ) Baccha Kya khayega ? 

[Girl] (looking at her menu card ) aaj baacha kunch nahin kaheyga . aaj baccha dieting pe hai 

[Boy] Oh fir tou mein bhee nahin khaunga kuch 

[Girl] No baby ..tum khao na 

[Boy] No tum nahin to hum nahin ...... Atleast  juice le lo na 

[Girl] OK . I will have orange juice , make it sweet and a Cesar salad . happy ?  ( by god . Kya ehsaan hai ) 

[Boy] I will have a Veg Cheese Sandwich and Coffee

(waiter leaves )

[Girl] that was very sweet of you baby 

[Boy ] Anything for you baccha  ( by god kya insaan hai ) 

Neither the guy , nor the girl not even waiter found anything wierd about the whole conversation  . Chances are the even you won't find this odd. But  if you apply a little mind you will realize the comic nature of situation. First of all  they were  addressing each other as "baby" and "baccha" . unless both of them are suffering from some sort of severe puberty disorder ( very unlikely)  I don't see any reason why someone would like to be called that .  Second , girl has studiend the menu for full ten minute before the hunk arrived so why did she need to look again . Height of absurdity was that why would someone who is on diet to cut callories  would like to go for orange juice that too sweet (proof ). I guess they were really baccha and baby .

--------------for next 5-7 minute their volume was blissfully low . I was almost getting my pace of reading back , when I heard some panicked voice    

[Boy] kya hua baccha ... what happened ?

[Girl]  sob sob ..khhr khrr  sob sob ( khrr khrr sound was probably originating  from her nose)

[Boy]  bataou tou sahi ..whats the matter ?

[Girl] hich hich ..sob sob ....

[Boy] at least tell me.... did I said something wrong ? I am sorry . 

That went on for next 2 min or so . waiter sensed some trouble and came to them . than finally she wiped her nose ,took a sip from glass of water. and spoke .All three of us ( the guy , Me and waiter ) were listening intently 

[Girl] Mujhe lagta tha ....sob sob.....kee tum mujhe pasand nahin karte . khrr khrr 

[Boy] oh stupid girl . fir aisa kabhi mat sochna .

[Girl] hooo. hooo ho... sob sob 

Guy reachs over to give her a reassuring hug .waiter took a sigh of relief  (or dissapointment ?) and returned back to  his chores .Guy looked at me and smiled in such a sweet but apologizing way that even my atheist heart said a prayer to god  asking to give him strength . I know He will be needing it . 

So Now it was official that  this was a newly blossomed romance.Given their age and  situation  I won't say that there was anything odd in that .But one could have expected from girl to atleast wait till their order is served and her poor "baby" had something inside his stomach.  I don't think He has had his breakfast that morning .Anyways after little cajoling  sanity ensued again on that balcony . very soon waiter brought their order . 

Even though it was evident that couple was ok with my presence still I  felt that I might be invading  their privacy so I asked waiter to bring my bill . It was kinda getting hard for me to surpress my smile at the event . while I was waiting for it I secretly hoped  that I won't have to hear  sweet chirping of  lovebirds anymore .But after a few second of getting "normal"  there came the knock out punch and I wasn't able control my laughter despite my best effort   

[Girl]....why did you waited for so long ? 

[Boy] well.... sach bolun 

  

[Girl] haan  ?

[Boy] I thot i will do it after 6-7 months of body building . I wanted to impress you with my biceps 

[Girl] (blushing and punching on his arm) I Like your biceps 

   

that was it . I burst in to laughter.....

[me] I am sorry but I couldn't control it i am sorry . 

[Girl] [Boy] Blushing smiling 

[me] I m sorry guys..I guess i should move . You guys look good together .god bless you. 

[Girl] [Boy] Thanks :) 

I payed my bill at counter ..and walked my way home smiling and giggling on the events of the day . I sincerely wished those kids a happy life  and why not?  thinking of their actions still brings a smile on my face . what else you can hope from complete strangers . Thus ended an interesting day of my life .

photo courtesy Zazonga

My Little Pre Valentine Encounter - Part 1

I  love to catch up on my book readings on weekends  .I wake up at around 8:00 -8:30  grab a cup of tea , depending on mood and weather I take a shower , stuff two books in my "cool dude bag"  and rush to some cafe in Sec 18 Noida . Like a Bloke I love spending  next few hours reading  and sipping tea . I prefer to go early because you can beat the rush and all the noise which follows after lunch . Cafes becomes too crowded ,Music turns too loud and people come, drink, pay and go like zombies .I drop in early  in order to  escape all that .

But things were little different yesterday . in fact it was like that for whole of last week. It seems that this year Valentine day seems to have arrived a couple of week before its due date and As it happen in all cases of premature birth .while  rest of the family ( family as in Vasudhav kutumbkam , "whole world is our family" ) rejoice the early arrival of metaphorical "bundle of Joy " its a little painful  for some . for example  sometime in last week I received an SMS offering me 20% "Valentine " discount on Mattress. I was in awe of marketeers ability to understand "futuristic " needs of customer and design a offer "ahead of time " ;). But unfortunately he choose the wrong man to pitch .Looking at the current state of my romantic life that offer was like selling Hajmola to someone  starving in Ethiopia . An unintended but cruel joke. 

This Saturday on my way to cafe I noticed that  A gift shop in Great India Palace shopping mall had an offer on some Heart shaped soft toys " This Valentine Buy 3 Get 2 Free". That made me  wonder about who in these times of recession can afford 5 Girlfriends . Curious to see such people I walked in to the shop and started browsing through the cards . Man those cards  were BIG and not to mention  expensive . after a minute or so of browsing cards I proceed to check the soft toys section. There I saw a very pretty  girl checking out those stupid "Winne the pooh" and "Hug Me " teddy . I was intrigued. What is she doing here ? Is She "Buying "gift?  that's anomalous  .

God's grand cosmic design has placed girls at the receiving end of gift food chain. who is this creature challenging the cosmic code ? since  its not everyday you "spot"  girls buying gift  and finding a pretty girl in gift shop around valentine day is next to impossible .  so I thought of  exploring a little  more . Curious (ya I am very curious by nature  ) I walked to her casually and started thinking about how to start the conversation 

[Me ] Nice Stuff here . isn't it ?

(she looked at me and scanned me from Head to toe like an MRI Machine . apparently she didn't  find anything wrong so she choose to respond).

[Girl] Ya and this time they are not so expensive . 

( This time ?? do she had to buy gift every valentine .How unfortunate ? what a shame for masculine of human species ). 

[Me ] (tactically not looking at her) This time ?? So you gift yourself this stuff on every valentine day ? 

[Girl] (suppressing a smile and raising eye brow ) Excuse Me ! What made you think I am gonna gift it to my self ?

( its such pleasure when a pretty girl have a sense of humor to understand my joke . whenever it happens my first reaction is "She must be a firang NRI " . Outside of one exceptional indecent this assumption has always proven right  )

[me]  Oh  I don't  mean you don't get  gift . I am sure you do . 

[Girl] (chuckling  and  thinking of herself like Kareena Kapoor ) You bet I do .

[me] ( damage control mode ,switch to plan B) I agree.I just thought You are gifting it to your self because....umm lets say you are holding on for Mr Right . Right ?? (This always works )

[Girl] ( No effort to hide the smile ,this time ) Very Smart . humm .you use this trick  often ? 

[me]  Well not often . Only during Valentine season.

[Girl ] (Laughing out loud ).

(apparently her wind chime like laughter drew totally unwarranted attention from store attendant and he walked to me and said " Can i help you sir? )" 

[Me] Ya I m looking for something .

[Attendant] What ? 

[Me] (thinking hard )  Well I am looking for a teddy bear with "Marry Me" written on it 

[Attendant] Sir woh tou mushkil hai ..abhi tou season ka maal he stock mein hai 

[Girl] [Me] (laughing loud again.)

(attendant  walks away feeling embraced)

[Girl] (controlling her laughter ) Oh My God that was  funny .

[Me] (gigling) and honest too . BTW  I am Prashant 

[Girl ]  Hi I am <I am not gonna tell you her name >

[Me] Nice meeting you .

[Girl] same here . wait my fiance would love to meet you . he is in next shop.

[Girl] (understanding fully and enjoying it ) What happened ? disappointed to hear that ? 

[Me] No . Come on . Of Course not . (smooth under pressure..That's me )

[Girl] sure ?

[Me] YA sure ..and .Why would I ? . You just saved me cost of two coffees .

[Girl] ha ha ha . you have a great sense of humor .

[Me] ya I heard that before  

Few min later her Fiance enters the scene with three shopping bag . He was a dusky ,south Indian guy of medium built  with glasses but Handsome nevertheless . Together they make a nice couple .

[Girl] Ravi , this is Prasahnt , Prashant This is Ravi , My fiance . The Mr. Right 

We shook hands .

[Ravi] and you guys ....??

[Girl] We just meet. He was flirting with me.

[Ravi] (smiling ) Bad Luck Dude . you are six month too late .

[Me] (smiling ) Ya but looking at your shopping bags .I guess it happened for the best  .

[Ravi] (Laughing out loud )... Thanks for understanding Man .But atleast I am paying in Rs now . it was worse while we were in  UK.

(See the NRI Theory was right )

[Girl] Excuse me.  I don't do much shopping . its only that  stuff which  I need . You guys are so mean .

[me][ravi] (looking at the BAGS)  right ...(laughter)

[Girl] so I see you two ganged up .. good.

That followed up by a casual "get to know " conversation .Ravi insisted for Coffee but I refused . I wished them luck for married life  and  bid adieu . they promised me to invite on their wedding . I took their permission to publish it here and they said OK as long as their identity is not revealed (Ravi is not full name).

After a long time I meet some people who are not closed shell  and had good sense of humor .  It was refreshing to see that there are couples who don't let the whole relationship stuff get in to their head . I wish them Happy valentine and a happy married life . At the risk of sounding rude I would say that going forward their biggest challenge of living in India will  to remain as open minded like they are now . I wish them good luck for that too. :)

Anyways So back to whole Sec-18 Market and my weekend book reading rituals. so after this funny encounter I walked my way to Kaffia , a Cafe in Sec-18. I was hoping to finish reading latest books in my collection. But fate has other plans  because another interesting indecent was waiting for me there . It was no at all like the previous one and I was only a silent spectator to it .  I will tell you about it in next post .

photo credit :jamminjj

"25 Things About Me " meme

Facebook seems to be breeding ground for some of the most interesting meme I have ever seen on internet. Sometime back I Blogged about Page56 meme. Now a days whole world seems to be busy with "25 Things about me"  meme. its an interesting thing . You are supposed to write 25 little known facts about you and tag 25 of your facebook friends .  I came to know a lot of interesting things about my friends . so today i decided to jottdown some little none facts about myslef.

Here they are ...reproduced for the readers of this blog 

25 Things About Me 

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

• First and formost I think that Mobile Phone is the defining invention of our era. its equivalent to the invention of Printing press ,Internet and electricity. 
  
• Few times in my life i had foresight dreams where event i saw in dream, happened in next day or two.
  
•  My childhood ambition was to be a Ninja ,Monk,Super Commando Dhruv & Astronaut. 
  
• I spent most of my childhood watching TV. I used to be in awe of Siddharth Basu and never missed his show "Quiz Time".I used to stay awake till late night to watch "British Airways " and "Master Card" advertisement during NDTV's show "The World This Week". I cried once while watching a Serial named Oshin .
  
• As a kid I used to read 4 news paper in a day now i read 50-100 Article per day.
  
• I have my own bucket's list and i have crossed only few items in it .
  
• I prefer sleeping in my Jeans and Tee Shirt .
  
• I love my family . Specially my younger brother. I can kill for him .
  
• The best complement I received till now is "You are the only person I know who has experienced life completely , in all its shades".
  
• I believe that The best complement I can give to a girl is "I want you to meet my mother".
  
• I Love beer but hate whiskey and other hard drinks .
  
• I never had a date while I was in college . Two girls asked me out but I refused .
  
• I am a Yellow Belt Level -2 In Karate , I hope someday i will get black belt too.
  
• I think Jeon Ji Hun, Simmi Grewal and Gayatri Devi are most Beautiful women in world . 
  
• I used to write cryptic love poems for my friend's Valentine cards , where Girl's name can be seen by looking at text in a specific way.
  
• I suffer from acute wanderlust . I can't travel enough . when i go on trips I prefer to walk. I am looking for a travel companion who look forward to TRAVEL and not too eager to REACH.
  
• I would love to have Sara Heinrichs and doublecappuccino (seth) as wedding photographer for my wedding. 
  
• I hate the site of homeless kids . Feel like taking them home . I will adopt a kid someday.
  
•  I want to attend TED Talks and do a similar event in India.
  
• If I can get away from it , I would love to kill some of my teachers .
  
• I am a Matrix Fan Boy .Its like a religion for me . I have seen the trilogy more than 50 times . I can recite all the dialog in sleep. I have read two books on it and every article ever published . 
  
• I love reading . If I like a book I will read it twice. First book I bought was "Journey to the center of world : By Jules Verne" and " Selected works of Khallil Zibran" .I was 13 and My dad was worried about my choice of books. 
  
• I love Korean movies. Three of my Fave movies are from korea.
  
• I think too much and I want to change this about me.
  
• When I will find my soul mate. I would take her to see Venice .
  
• All though I don't usually express them at public forums but I have strong and robust opinions about topics like Philosophy,God,Democracy, Multi Verse Theory, Time Delusion and Simulation argument.
  
•  I hate the whole idea of growing up.
  

Thanks Rita,Sunandini,and Ekta for Tagging me in their entries .