- Eco Prof. in class today.
Wednesday, October 29
Monday, October 20
The iPhone Jazz
iPhone Blah, iPhone Bluuh, iPhone Aah, iPhone Uuh.
Ever since His Technology-Holiness Shri Shri Shri Stevendra Jobs launched the iPhone, its been a rage. More people have liked it than hated it. Most people have revered it, a few others have raped it, and no words minced.
For starters, I love the iPhone. Not as much for the phone itself (coz' I don't own one!) but for the unimaginable hype it created. Apple has a rich tradition of releasing products which sweep the market and give the competitors sleepless years. Starting with the Mac, it went on to the pod and now the phone. iPhone has started a whole new industry of software programmers who make money by designing games and applications for the iPhone. And they tell me, it is a very booming industry. In India, it is trying to dent the share of Nokia - iPhone is trying to create a wave. They have tied up with Airtel and Vodafone to bring it to the market (@ 31k, a lot of middle-fingers have greeted them though).
The 'early-adopters' or the people who are compulsive users of any new technology are a bunch of biased, judgemental, highly opinionated and vociferous people. The term early-adopters is a term coined by Geoffrey Moore in his book on marketing for the entrepreneurs ''Crossing the chasm"
So, if they love your product, they will love it more than their wives [and not to sound sexist myself, their husbands aslo] and make sure that their uncle, aunty, neighbour, cousin and even their milkman knows about it. On the other hand, if they don't like your product, they will tell the same people and many many more. [My Marketing Prof. tells me that it is scientifically proven that if a person is happy with a product/service, he tells FOUR people but if he is not happy, he tells ELEVEN people. So bad spreads faster than good]
With the iPhone, I came across an interesting mail sent by Chinmay and then a page by Varun.
iPhone v/s the 40000 BC phone:
And then the 'The Best page in the Universe' article
Ever since His Technology-Holiness Shri Shri Shri Stevendra Jobs launched the iPhone, its been a rage. More people have liked it than hated it. Most people have revered it, a few others have raped it, and no words minced.
For starters, I love the iPhone. Not as much for the phone itself (coz' I don't own one!) but for the unimaginable hype it created. Apple has a rich tradition of releasing products which sweep the market and give the competitors sleepless years. Starting with the Mac, it went on to the pod and now the phone. iPhone has started a whole new industry of software programmers who make money by designing games and applications for the iPhone. And they tell me, it is a very booming industry. In India, it is trying to dent the share of Nokia - iPhone is trying to create a wave. They have tied up with Airtel and Vodafone to bring it to the market (@ 31k, a lot of middle-fingers have greeted them though).
The 'early-adopters' or the people who are compulsive users of any new technology are a bunch of biased, judgemental, highly opinionated and vociferous people. The term early-adopters is a term coined by Geoffrey Moore in his book on marketing for the entrepreneurs ''Crossing the chasm"
So, if they love your product, they will love it more than their wives [and not to sound sexist myself, their husbands aslo] and make sure that their uncle, aunty, neighbour, cousin and even their milkman knows about it. On the other hand, if they don't like your product, they will tell the same people and many many more. [My Marketing Prof. tells me that it is scientifically proven that if a person is happy with a product/service, he tells FOUR people but if he is not happy, he tells ELEVEN people. So bad spreads faster than good]
With the iPhone, I came across an interesting mail sent by Chinmay and then a page by Varun.
iPhone v/s the 40000 BC phone:
And then the 'The Best page in the Universe' article
Saturday, October 18
A Computer Scientist's view of The Wall
Rahul Dravid, the Wall
The following algorithm has been devised by Mr. Anurag Verma. He is a '07 batch alumnus of IIT Madras pursuing his Ph.D in Operations Research at Texas A & M University, USA. He was a student of Computer Science with a keen interest in OR. An avid cricket-lover, he also captained the IIT Madras cricket team to win Gold in the Guwahati Inter-IIT in 2006.
Ok. Enough. Laddoo is basically a cricket fanatic. He was my captain in the above-said year and a very very good friend. He is the muggu cricketer type and boasted of a nine-point-infinity CG. Cricket is his religion. Left-arm-fast ..Sorry, Left-arm Opening bowler and Left-handed batsman, he was Shtudd! Rahul and Sachin are his idols. We all love Laddoo.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Following are snippets of the chat I had with him:
Disclaimer: I am following the GNU license agreement. :P
The following algorithm has been devised by Mr. Anurag Verma. He is a '07 batch alumnus of IIT Madras pursuing his Ph.D in Operations Research at Texas A & M University, USA. He was a student of Computer Science with a keen interest in OR. An avid cricket-lover, he also captained the IIT Madras cricket team to win Gold in the Guwahati Inter-IIT in 2006.
Ok. Enough. Laddoo is basically a cricket fanatic. He was my captain in the above-said year and a very very good friend. He is the muggu cricketer type and boasted of a nine-point-infinity CG. Cricket is his religion. Left-arm-fast ..Sorry, Left-arm Opening bowler and Left-handed batsman, he was Shtudd! Rahul and Sachin are his idols. We all love Laddoo.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Following are snippets of the chat I had with him:
achcha, i loved the dravid algo - i thought i'll reproduce it on my blog with your permission
Laddoo: zaroor... but BNU license agreement ko follow karna padega
*GNU
me: woh kya hota hai 
i will credit you and put your orkut/facebook link
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Laddoo on Orkut: Anurag Verma
Laddoo: pata nahi.. bas naam pata hai
me: oh peace...
Laddoo: kar le... koi tension nahi
me: cool..
Laddoo: me also will get publicity
So here is my part of the duty:
[ I tried linking the Orkut and Facebook profiles but the Google server says this :(
][ I tried linking the Orkut and Facebook profiles but the Google server says this :(
ERROR
URL contains illegal characters
Laddoo on Orkut: Anurag Verma
Disclaimer: I am following the GNU license agreement. :P
Realisation: Finally!
A moment of reckoning: Ugri and I have realised and confessed that if either one of us was a girl, we would have been madly in love with each other and would have definitely gotten married and had kids and a wonderful life together.
Sigh. Too bad we are not.
(This post comes in the backdrop of lightning and heavy thunder!) I think it takes tough times in life to realise profound thoughts. :P
Sigh. Too bad we are not.
(This post comes in the backdrop of lightning and heavy thunder!) I think it takes tough times in life to realise profound thoughts. :P
Friday, October 17
A Dream Parking Lot
The course 'Basic Principles of Economics' that I am studying this semester has been an eye-opener for more reasons than one. It comes at a very apt time when the whole of the finance sector is doomed and the principles that I am taught in the class make a little more sense now. Secondly, it is a course that has changed the way I look at society/money/trade etc - giving me a more mature insight into market behaviour.
But that is not the point here. In one of the classes, I remember the Prof. sharing an interesting story. He was talking about an University abroad (not too sure if it was Univ of Chicago or California), where they had huge car-parking space for the faculty and a separated, bigger parking lot for the students of the institute.
Here comes the biggie; he went on to say that there is a parking provision for about 7-8 other cars that is reserved. And it reads 'Reserved for Nobel Laureates'. I was amazed at the whole idea - an institute that could boast of patronage from so many Nobel laureates that they have a special parking lot for them!! Woah!
[I googled for it but could not find much info - just got the above pic from Picasa]
I wonder when can an institute in India do something of that sort?
I quote Wiki:
When will IIT Madras have such a parking lot?
PS: USA has more than 300 Nobel's till date.
Update: Apologies for a bad blog post. There are factual inconsistencies in my post. Here is the update - The story was apparently shared by our Marketing Prof. and not the Economics Prof. (so tells my wingmate Pondy). Secondly, he also apparently said it was Stan (as suggested by Sayan in his comment) and not Chicago or California.
Thirdly, thanks to Caesar's comment - I relearnt basic English grammar. The correct usage is 'a University' and not 'an University' as I initially wrote.
But that is not the point here. In one of the classes, I remember the Prof. sharing an interesting story. He was talking about an University abroad (not too sure if it was Univ of Chicago or California), where they had huge car-parking space for the faculty and a separated, bigger parking lot for the students of the institute.
Here comes the biggie; he went on to say that there is a parking provision for about 7-8 other cars that is reserved. And it reads 'Reserved for Nobel Laureates'. I was amazed at the whole idea - an institute that could boast of patronage from so many Nobel laureates that they have a special parking lot for them!! Woah!
[I googled for it but could not find much info - just got the above pic from Picasa]
I wonder when can an institute in India do something of that sort?
I quote Wiki:
Eight Indian citizens or people of Indian origin have been honoured to date, but legally only 2 of Indian citizenship, and only three of Indian origin. (C.V. Raman - Nobel Prize; Amartya Sen - Nobel Memorial Prize)Given such a dismal performance over the past 107 years that the concept of Nobel prizes have existed, India needs to buck-up and invest a mammoth amount in R&D. When will the IITs, IIScs, IIMs have such a parking lot?
When will IIT Madras have such a parking lot?
PS: USA has more than 300 Nobel's till date.
Update: Apologies for a bad blog post. There are factual inconsistencies in my post. Here is the update - The story was apparently shared by our Marketing Prof. and not the Economics Prof. (so tells my wingmate Pondy). Secondly, he also apparently said it was Stan (as suggested by Sayan in his comment) and not Chicago or California.
Thirdly, thanks to Caesar's comment - I relearnt basic English grammar. The correct usage is 'a University' and not 'an University' as I initially wrote.
Manager banne chalein, IIT se
Of the many things that set the (old) IITs apart from the other engineering colleges (and the new IITs), one is the concept of a 'Minor' degree. It goes like this:
On paper, you can choose from a range of minor courses ranging from Physics to Management to Ocean Engineering to Industrial Engineering. This is ofcourse in addition to the Major degree that you get. In practice though, you can only let your luck do the selection for you. They have a system to 'minimize maximum regret'
Nonetheless, of the 500-odd students of my batch, my guess is about 300 (including me) applied for the 180 'seats' in Management stream. A little help from the almighty and a lot more from my department ensured I got the stream I wanted. So over the past one-and-a-half-year, I did course in
On paper, you can choose from a range of minor courses ranging from Physics to Management to Ocean Engineering to Industrial Engineering. This is ofcourse in addition to the Major degree that you get. In practice though, you can only let your luck do the selection for you. They have a system to 'minimize maximum regret'
Nonetheless, of the 500-odd students of my batch, my guess is about 300 (including me) applied for the 180 'seats' in Management stream. A little help from the almighty and a lot more from my department ensured I got the stream I wanted. So over the past one-and-a-half-year, I did course in
- Principles of Management (HR-centric)
- Accounting for Managerial Control (Finance, for you)
- Attendance at the beginning of the class - 60-odd students. The Prof. reads out the names of each of the students. No attendance for coming late.
- 5 marks for attendance. You get Zero if you have more than 5 bunks. I had 11 on the last count.
- 35 marks for a project. Our project was on 'Marketing Strategies in the mobile services sector' - perhaps the best part of the course.
- Every now and then, a research scholar would take a class. (Sigh)
- Prof. doesn't bother if you sleep in the class - It is difficult to stay awake at 1 PM on a Monday afternoon after an invariable late-nighter on Sunday.
Monday, October 6
Sunday, October 5
Badge of C(R)oreness
It has been about a year and a half of hard work.
It took me places. Finally, I have this badge around my neck. Every single moment is worth its weight in gold.
Hats off to life!
Credits: Aniket Anand
It took me places. Finally, I have this badge around my neck. Every single moment is worth its weight in gold.
Hats off to life!
Credits: Aniket Anand
Saturday, October 4
A Bog Conversation
The following conversation happened when I was trying to convince a dear friend to DO SOMETHING to get his love life started.
Setting: Bathrooms, B3 wing, Alak.
Time: 12.30 in the noon
Me: Dude, kuch kar yaar. Mard ban.
Him: Kyun?
Setting: Bathrooms, B3 wing, Alak.
Time: 12.30 in the noon
Me: Dude, kuch kar yaar. Mard ban.
Him: Kyun?
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