Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Looking ahead

We like to think we know where life is headed. I hear that the state your mind is in today is the way it will be all your life. One way to 'see' a progression in life is to look back at life and see how far you have come. Keep the money aspect out for a moment. How far have I come as a person?
If the progression is positive then thats good news. If money is the only positive measure then we need to look at other dimensions.
So how does this work? Here are a few questions to ask oneself-
Have people grown under my guidance?  Am I collaborating with other talents? Have my students become better teachers or mentors than me? Are they actually doing much better work than I would in the same conditions?  Are they preferred people to work with? Do they feel inspired when speaking with me (I would lool for the 'aha' moment here)? And the biggest question that would need a certain level of self-actualization- if I am removed from this system, would they carry things on successfully?
If the majority of the answers are yes, then we are getting somewhere. Then you are the Buddha!

The way to have sustainable growth is to give the way to others to lead, happily!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Muggles, stopping writing badly!

Debut novelist Robert Galbraith turns out to be JK Rowling as Glee! star Cory Montieth is found dead, 163 year old telegram service ends in India and a pen senses spelling mistakes.

Muggles, stopping writing badly!

Debut novelist Robert Galbraith turns out to be JK Rowling as Glee! star Cory Montieth is found dead, 163 year old telegram service ends in India and a pen senses spelling mistakes.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Fashionable Scooterun!


Something that started with random doodling with a Lamy pen ended up as a thought for the future at many levels.
Our ongoing energy crisis and excessive dependence on fuel control the cost and the very supply of everything required on a day- to-day basis. A hike in fuel prices alters all aspects of our lives and makes us red-think our priorities.
There are other stress-related problems that come with rising expenses. We socialize and meet less because that incurs an expense, making us opt for interacting via social media. This leads to stronger attachment to devices and a sedentary lifestyle, an incubator of health problems.

What if we attempt to encourage ideas that reduce, if not totally dissect ourselves from clinging onto fossil-fuel tech; in turn makes us healthy in the process and looks good?

Here's an idea - a scooter that runs on a chargeable battery, which gets powered by an exercise machine that 'winds' up and charges the battery. The more you work out, the longer the distance the scooter can go on a single charge. This kind of a system would surely affect the day's routine. We look healthier, travel more using clean technology. If we look good doing this, we spread the idea of alternative and sustainable technology.

So the 'Scooterun' could be made of fibre-plastic, making it light. Solar cells on the front and side panels could power up the electricals. If functionality and creativity allow, the panels could be fashionable. Even if power runs out while you are on the move, a pedal system at the heels drives a set of cogs, much like a pedalling in a 2-seater boat, or a 10-speed bicycle. A pillion rider could also add to the rotary engine.
Making this work will need more than traditional marketing and selling methods. For this to stick, the idea would have to be ingrained into the socio-cultural need, spread virally and championed by youth- students in the local university, which becomes a need very soon for the masses.

A lot of audacious ideas that appear impossible, improbable or rediculuous today will see the light of day in the nearer future. This will happen because we will not have the luxury of choice. From our childhood days, watching Captain Kirk with a beamer phone, we never could imagine a handheld device that could do so much, more so in the hands of 'poor' people; whatever the definition of poor is anymore. So these things can be done. An incentive to stay healthy to keep our expenses down, could be the de-facto tomorrow.

Fashionable Scooterun!


Something that started with random doodling with a Lamy pen ended up as a thought for the future at many levels.
Our ongoing energy crisis and excessive dependence on fuel control the cost and the very supply of everything required on a day- to-day basis. A hike in fuel prices alters all aspects of our lives and makes us red-think our priorities.
There are other stress-related problems that come with rising expenses. We socialize and meet less because that incurs an expense, making us opt for interacting via social media. This leads to stronger attachment to devices and a sedentary lifestyle, an incubator of health problems.

What if we attempt to encourage ideas that reduce, if not totally dissect ourselves from clinging onto fossil-fuel tech; in turn makes us healthy in the process and looks good?

Here's an idea - a scooter that runs on a chargeable battery, which gets powered by an exercise machine that 'winds' up and charges the battery. The more you work out, the longer the distance the scooter can go on a single charge. This kind of a system would surely affect the day's routine. We look healthier, travel more using clean technology. If we look good doing this, we spread the idea of alternative and sustainable technology.

So the 'Scooterun' could be made of fibre-plastic, making it light. Solar cells on the front and side panels could power up the electricals. If functionality and creativity allow, the panels could be fashionable. Even if power runs out while you are on the move, a pedal system at the heels drives a set of cogs, much like a pedalling in a 2-seater boat, or a 10-speed bicycle. A pillion rider could also add to the rotary engine.
Making this work will need more than traditional marketing and selling methods. For this to stick, the idea would have to be ingrained into the socio-cultural need, spread virally and championed by youth- students in the local university, which becomes a need very soon for the masses.

A lot of audacious ideas that appear impossible, improbable or rediculuous today will see the light of day in the nearer future. This will happen because we will not have the luxury of choice. From our childhood days, watching Captain Kirk with a beamer phone, we never could imagine a handheld device that could do so much, more so in the hands of 'poor' people; whatever the definition of poor is anymore. So these things can be done. An incentive to stay healthy to keep our expenses down, could be the de-facto tomorrow.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Technology - glue that bonds


Just in case you think that technology isolates us from family and friends, and that we are getting lonelier and less communicative, think about where you get your tech tips from these days. Its not other tech sources. The most useful information on apps and websites, truly useful ones, comes from chatting with family and friends.
Technology creates conversations today. When thinking about some of the recent apps on my phone or useful websites I look up daily, I realize that these tips came from face-to-face conversations with family and friends. Rarely do we take tips from assumed sources like websites or magazines or their Twitter accounts. Here's a list-

1. Sound hound - music identifier app- shared by friend during dinner
2. Visual.ly - infographic website- through family get-together
3. Rome Subway Surfer - loaded on phones of family members
4. Whatsapp privacy settings - woke up to this while chatting with family
5. Tango - video chat app over data service
6. True caller - app that identifies callers, tip came from family
7. http://500px.com - Photography website - suggested by a colleague
8. QR code maker - http://qrcode.littleidiot.be/ - discovered with colleagues
9. How to activate check boxes in Adobe Flash - found with colleagues -
http://www.webdesign.org/flash-swish/flash-tutorials/how-to-use-checkboxes-and-radio-buttons-in-flash.21240.html
10. Camera RAW editing - Photoshop plugin for better controls on a photo - tipped by colleague
11. Minimize all apps on iPad by drawing inward all fingertips- chatting with family, and watching nieces play with iPad

So share with others what you use, and you get back much more. Karma is the social app!

Technology - glue that bonds


Just in case you think that technology isolates us from family and friends, and that we are getting lonelier and less communicative, think about where you get your tech tips from these days. Its not other tech sources. The most useful information on apps and websites, truly useful ones, comes from chatting with family and friends.
Technology creates conversations today. When thinking about some of the recent apps on my phone or useful websites I look up daily, I realize that these tips came from face-to-face conversations with family and friends. Rarely do we take tips from assumed sources like websites or magazines or their Twitter accounts. Here's a list-

1. Sound hound - music identifier app- shared by friend during dinner
2. Visual.ly - infographic website- through family get-together
3. Rome Subway Surfer - loaded on phones of family members
4. Whatsapp privacy settings - woke up to this while chatting with family
5. Tango - video chat app over data service
6. True caller - app that identifies callers, tip came from family
7. http://500px.com - Photography website - suggested by a colleague
8. QR code maker - http://qrcode.littleidiot.be/ - discovered with colleagues
9. How to activate check boxes in Adobe Flash - found with colleagues -
http://www.webdesign.org/flash-swish/flash-tutorials/how-to-use-checkboxes-and-radio-buttons-in-flash.21240.html
10. Camera RAW editing - Photoshop plugin for better controls on a photo - tipped by colleague
11. Minimize all apps on iPad by drawing inward all fingertips- chatting with family, and watching nieces play with iPad

So share with others what you use, and you get back much more. Karma is the social app!

Wordpress it is!

I have moved to Wordpress. After much introspection and discussion on what Blogger and Wordpress are capable of, I figured a one-stop shop...