Both Sides of the Cloud

Cloud computing has been around for a while now.

Here's my take on how it affects productivity and how the world knows what you are working on.

Cloud computing might be an alien term for the common man, however it's use is not.
We all post pictures on popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where do we think are the pictures or the data being stored ? Cloud.

Moving on, talking about work. Most companies have now started working towards making their data available on the cloud to be access from everywhere. Now for me, there are 2 phases here.

The first being View only data. You go to work, you download work on your workstation and start working on it. Cloud is being used only for storage, It's good that way.

It's good because you don't have to worry about your applications to be "Cloud compatible". your CRM system knows the file type and all it's doing is storing the file there. It's like an external hard drive.
The upside here, Like I said, You don't worry about any compatibility issues. you have all your applications on your workstation.
The downside, however, is control on all the data. A company has to make a call on how secure they want the data to be, once the file is downloaded. The downloaded file now becomes a common entity, to be protected only by sharing rules of the organization.
We do know, with outsourcing on a rise, protecting client data is the USP.

The second one, obviously being data that can be worked on the cloud, changed and stored. Now, this looks convenient, however is not.
The workstation now becomes redundant, all you need is a network connection and you are in on the corporate network doing what you need to do.

The upside here, You don't have to worry about applications, everything that you need is on the cloud, and everything is being saved as you work on it. The company saves on logistics and concentrates on investing more on bandwidth, because Internet is all that you want.
The downside however, is the flexibility. Some applications that I have worked on the cloud are close to their offline counterpart, not quite there however.
You can still do the same work you do on the software available offline, but you need to perform at least 2 more steps to get the desired outcome.
Adding to this, is the fact that the file type might not be compatible with an offline version which a vendor or a company working with you uses.
Now, don't let that discourage you. From experience, I have seen the cloud application grow leaps and bounds, giving stiff competition to their counterparts offline. But then, its a global evolution, if the software adds a feature on its new update, it takes a while for the cloud app to get there.

My take on the situation is to have a fusion of both, this solution is the phase where I think most of the companies work on. To do what you do offline and then share it online.
Use the online app as a collaborating tool, where all contributors can discuss and make changes on the fly. There is no denying, the "on the fly" change feature of the online tools are not to be missed.

This takes care of a minimum of 10 emails sent to your team who works together on a document. Adding efficient to the process. Besides, it does turn out to be a team building activity when they can see the impact of their changes on the fly.

As I end the post, I see I might have written more about the changed and stored part, now that doesn't mean I am partial to the option. It's just that we know what has to be known about the legacy working system we have being working on.

I say, any corporate needs to study how it works and collaborates and choose an option accordingly.

021

Customer Attention : Doing things differently

I just finished reading this great post by Michael Brenner, He mentioned about "Customer Attention" which got my attention. 


I have always thought and spoken about customer service and customer retention, not knowing that these revolve around the basic goal of customer attention. As far as "reactive" customer services goes, I think we already have the customer's attention there but then we are not certain if this is the "positive" attention we are looking for and can build a relationship on.


On the other hand, when it comes to customer retention, that is where we need the attention part the most. Let's not forget it's not always that the customer will send out positive vibes but then a lot depends on how he was treated all this while and how much positivism a manager can display.


I have always believed, for any business big or small a customer is a customer. It is when a Manager starts giving preference and not priority to larger customers that the debacle starts. Every manager has a client rooster and is expected to make the most out of it, or to keep them happy at least. The talent here is to make sure your excel sheet has updates for all the clients and not only the marked "Important" ones.


I understand a company has to grow and frequently make a call on who to work with, but in these competitive times the risk of filtering out a client with tremendous potential to grow big supersedes the cost of getting new bigger ones. It is a proven fact that acquiring a new customer is more work than up selling services to an existing one,but this is where more attention has to be given.


I am a little disappointed on how "up selling" is defined. At most organizations, up selling is usually quantified as "development" made or "service" sold. 


Why can this work in a subtle way ? It should.


Account Management should not be about "taking care of the customer's needs" but being pro active and multidimensional. It's important to read between the lines and have a broader perspective when it comes to getting revenue from the customer. When I recommend a change in how business is done at my client's end, I know it would momentarily be a move that would profit my organization too.In other words, embedded in this idea lies a seed that would grow and eventually profit my organization. This would be the ideal pitch where I get the customer's attention and also help my numbers grow up. All this because my business runs on my customer's business.


If I keep pushing services towards them, and choking the tunnel with "up selling pitches" I would be left with nothing but a tag of being an annoying salesman.


021

BlackBerry, The Need of the Moment

I bought a used blackberry from E-bay the other day, and was I surprised by what I got. The description said

"Sparingly Used" which means(on marketplace sites) "I beat the crap out of this phone, its slow and ugly now" and the features "sparingly" work.

Anyways, Like I said, I'm very happy with the buy, saving money is good.

So, now that I have this device in my hand, I don't really know what to do with it. Do I really get important emails ?
No !! Not at work atleast.

For the record its a BlackBerry 8800, and my sole reason for buying it was the way it looks, so I don't mind not getting emails on it. But then, what about the universal question to any Blackberry owner...

What is your BB Pin ???

Damn, No Data Plan, No BB pin.

Quick comes my answer "Dude, its a business phone(looking at my phone, pretending to check emails and messages, in short act busy), I use the BBM only for my clients,I'm getting another one for personal use I'm working on it ;-)

So, The question remains, Emails on phone, really ? I am purposely not mentioning the "surfing internet" part,
because there is no way i'm gonna surf the net on this tiny screen.

Emails, well ,I have better options around, I have a netbook, an iPad and a Laptop.

Although, I confess, checking emails on the BlackBerry makes "emails" look important, and replying to them makes it "High Priority Work", not to forget the rudeness of constantly checking things on the BlackBerry when you have people talking to you. Great Seinfeld bit on this !!

All in all, I would need the emails on my Blackberry for that one moment when I don't have access to the internet and have an important email to check. I have had moments in the past where emails have driven me crazy and I have driven miles to take care of my business. So, I guess it all comes down to "that" moment. If you can handle it, stick to your generic qwerty phone. Oh, I almost forgot, I also bought it beause of the qwerty keypad.
My last phone an HP iPaq was good, not good enough(was expecting an OS upgrade from Microsoft,,I love upgrades !!! didn't get any)

All in all, I have the Blackberry, might as well enjoy the "High Priority Work"

021

Forever Young

Apple Software Update Icon

I'm not sure if I have shared my liking for "updating softwares" on my operating system. Be it  Mac/Windows/iPad/iPhone/Blackberry, there is something about the "New Updates are available" popup that makes my
world rock.

The softwares manage to keep themselves young, forever young. Got the iPad ?? Here you go, an update to keep your iTunes look good on the big screen, turn the full screen on, and now you can view the lyrics, the album art, all at the touch of your finger.

I am updating my office Windows 7 operating system as we speak, and am really excited about using the new IE 9, heard its got the look and feel of Google Chrome(I wouldn't be as excited, if Chrome didn't crash everytime I run a debugging application, and RockMelt.. bah..let's just leave it there).

Windows 7 is alright, I mean Windows has bought new clothes(funky ones) but is rapping the same lyrics, not a surprise to the Windows users. They all know, Windows Xp works the best.

I am a little disappointed with iTunes, I expected them to get better(bigger they have, huge download file with
every update) and change the interface, I haven't liked it since day 1. Its too intuitive(read complex) for a first
time user, same with Windows Media Player.

Mozilla and Real Player are two of my favorite updates, something new to offer everytime. Real Player, especially when it provides update option to the user.

Talking about updates, it is not everytime that I like updates, Winamp is one software where I would prefer the updates to happen on the backend and not on the UI. Even with the swanky(desperate looking, Gawky) skins, I prefer winamp classic.

RIP no more !!
PS : Forever Young Sound Track JayZ Ft Mr. Hudson....Peaceful
021

Home Grown Tweets

Interesting Icon

A chilly winter morning at New Delhi. I arrive at office and say "Good Morning" to slick run. Up comes me email and the tweetdeck comes up with 40 tweet updates. I follow couple of Marketing gurus on twitter expecting some good gyaan from them, or maybe a tip for the keen stock trader in me. A new Product launch, or a slight hush hush discussion about it makes the stock for that company go up higher.

Anyways, This morning I found myself in the midde of soup, a couple of these gurus had replied to random business magazine that they follow on twitter, so all that see now is a series of abnoxious RT and replies, of things that I have no idea about.

Nevertheless, to keep the spirit Retweets and Replies alive, I skimmed through the tweets, yet again failing to
understand everything that they were talking about "RT @___ Yes, It is possible @___ @___ @____" A series of snails is all I could make out.

I remember the good old days on twitter where tweets were all about, @____ attended "Emerging Trends Seminar" . I really enjoyed these, they were precise, had enough information, and kept me on the top of emerging trends or any other happenings in the IT or Marketing world.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against the RTs or the "@". Infact, I myself have a series of them going on but to fill  your tweet page with these rather frequently is not going to take you anywhere.

Another trend that is catching up on twitter is the "participate in discussion" where twitter users hashtag and
tweet at a particular user for example "@marketing today" .
I tried following these too, until it ended up with some "yes/No" and edited tweets.

Let get back on the wagon of Home Grown Tweets.

Your Thoughts
Your Blogs
Your Advice

PS : @marketing gurus, Thanks for sharing all the information, have learnt a lot. But am loosing interest, please make us(me) a part of your "open" discussions off twitter.



021

Location Based Services : My Tryst with FourSquare

I must have checked in every single day at the Starbucks in Hackensack, just to get the feeling of being the Mayor of a rather popular coffee place, ah well, also for the free coffee they have for His Highness THE MAYOR.

To rewind it a little, Location based services is not nothing that just started out of nowhere, Like any other popular "Network" on the internet, this one too is based on general things we do in life; err Facebook = Remember those building meeting ? You see a nice girl you ask around, and you get to know her "relationship status", "Her Profile", "likes/dislikes" . Umm its pretty much the same, just online now.

Location based services; When I was a freshman, I remember asking people for the best Pizza joint around, the unanimous answer was "Varsity Pizza's and Subs", the answer stays the same except that now I find it on FourSquare with a million reviews which not only tell me where to go, but what to order and how to carry extra paper towels for the "Grease Truck" Pie.

2010 was a big year for location based services, with 4square adding more features to its current portal, and the ability to share(impart) knowledge to your followers on other social networks. But, is this all we can do ?

The answer is NO, what happened to knowing about the new sale in town, how good would it be to be informed about ongoing sales in the mall not by the weird announcements and definitely not by the fliers, but by getting them on your mobile devices. Like every other techie out there, I have some plans for location based services too and by god's grace would be putting them to action very soon.

Location based services are no longer about where you are, but about how your location can help make your life simpler today. I need a haircut, and Prime Cuts at Essex street is PRIME !! I added a tip on 4square. Whoa !! I think I just made life simpler for all the newbies at Hack n Sack ;-)
021

The expert novice

I have a Dell Inspiron 1200 laptop which was gifted to me by my sister in 2003. It has a cracked screen, some water damage on the screen, referred to as "dhabba" by the common people.

It was until sometime back my "work" computer. My older posts can make you understand why I am never able to quit on my computers. Nevertheless, day 1 at work, I was told to bring a laptop till I was assigned one by the company. I sat at my desk, opened the laptop bag, and there it was, the old, but shiny Dell(logo) Inspiron.

"Is that older than you ? " hah sarcasm.

After giving the regular tilt head(you'll run out of those comments soon buddy) and smile I turned it on, almost forgetting the fact that Dell doesn't be as not really believe in making long lasting batteries (not that I have a problem with that, I lou Dell). Plugged in, all good to go, the grey button is pressed, and we wait... then it's pressed again. By this time, Mr sarcasm had lost interest in the device "bahut time ke baad on kiye ho, charge nahi hoga, battery bhi kharaab ho sakta hai " ... Tilt and Smile .

I turned it on last week, it was all good, damn now I won't be able to access "those" sites at work, this is unacceptable, work on it now !!

Aha, its just the power cord not plugged in well to the laptop, that was easy. The grey button is pressed, no wait this time. The blue dell splash screen appears, ah beauty !

Starts loading Windows XP, and here comes the desktop, black wallpaper, everything is hunky dory, but then.. it happened.

AVG opens its giant full screen Console, and sarcasm guy goes "dude this thing can make heads turn".

My self respect had taken enough, and now was armed to fire back at a guy using an iPhone to play games and would type on the computer one-finger-at-a-time. How can you use all yur fingers, whoz gonna look at the keys to be pressed Dumbo !! .

So, I turned around and asked him if he was in the mood for some technical gyaan, No I did not wait for him to answer.

I simple stated the fact, that any dumbo could use a "newer" computer, since its all about point and click especially when all you do is use MS Office to make reports. You have to be an expert to manage with what you have and come up good results if not better. If I can't the upper, the bottom left of my screen I would scroll, I would minimize and I would not open 20 windows so that I don't have to open the again in the evening or for that fact next week.

The dell is a 1.2Ghz 512mb RAM , 10GB usable machine. And by the end of my tenure there, I realized how effortlessly did I work on that laptop and how well behaved the laptop was. I'm sure a "newbie" would have lost hope and put something like that in the store, but only if you know of it, will you be able to fully use it.

My point here is quite similar to my past post on a similar topic, it's all about YOU, if you believe that the laptop can do the work, it will. If you believe the old Aiwa music system will play your cassettes after its been cleaned well by you.. it Will.

Stop quitting on technology and start believing in yourself !! Bits and Bytes make this world better every day.
021

IT Security : FrontFoot

IT security 10 years from now was just a way to prevent generic intrusion to happen.A good anti virus was sufficient for keeping your "resources" safe, I would term this phase as the Defensive Ops, where all work was done only to defend oneself from any attempts of intrusion. No daily/hourly definition updates or "Security Packs" install were to be done then.

Web 1.0, With the growing popularity and usage of Internet, the data exchange which was till yesterday only local changed to national and slowly worldwide. Users started discovering more than one ways of getting results from a program, and maybe tweak(overclock) it a little to look through the wall.

Curiosity is the mother of Invention; With a little peek of the other side, User's realized there is much more there than here. The Hell and the Golden Egg story was seen in its Y2K avatar this time, with a twist.
As newer discoveries were made, the Internet helped "interested" users informed of the developments and contribute to them in any which way. Not all attempts to cross the wall were successful, but the "fight" was getting interesting.

The attempts started becoming stronger, and finally the master key was found, that weak back door;a crack in the wall;that loosely shut cookie jar.

A new discovery in the technical work, if not protected well is like a wild fire. The "breakthrough" "inspired" many user's to come up with their own "customized" work which would probably yield the same result, but with a little more flare.

The word "Attack" changed it all for the IT industry. The goal now was not to protect ourselves but to make sure any attempts would be answered with a stronger, more lethal knock on their network.

IT security was then defensive, but is now about keeping your guard up and delivering the Jab !! 021

The Justified Tweet

Another busy day in my life, I happened to check my facebook(for the n-1th) for a "certain" forum and found a rather out-of-place update on my feed page.

"Hmm, is this what I think it is, but I'm not sure if I want it here", couple of clicks here and there and the profile from which the update came was not on my "Hide User" list. Believe me, I don't want to know what it means to have 'blue' as your favorite color (a BOT interpreting your choice of color, means you have no life).

Now as I did this, I was so frustrated of getting 10 such feeds on my facebook page, I decided to tweet it too. Spread the world, let those little people know what to and what not to put on the facebook page (you didn't get this update ? try following me on twitter.com/deepcdc). Anyhow, This was yesterday and I was groused out with that certain update ( Facebook application name has not been mention here, I can't puke and write at the same time).

I get a call from my friend today "Deep, How do you delete a certain update that has already been published on facebook, aka, I screwed up, what next.

Let me explain how "social" social networks are, you do something(shhhhh...they know). The best way of keeping it clean is to have as much control on it as possible.

"Oh, its great ! I took the test and it told me I have pretty eyes, and what more, it automatically published it on my fb profile".

Believe me, its not always going to be about your pretty eyes, A certain "pretty" update would make it embarrassing for your friends on fb, not to forget the "mass" shame it can bring, which did happen in the case I started the post with.

The Dosai in my stomach is now upset with my post, I certainly don't want it to comment on it; If you know what I mean, so I'm switching to my other blog.

Oh, I almost forgot, I had to write about the "justified tweet", so all this happened and I get another call, "Why did you tweet that dude ? Don't you think, The application did it automatically, how judgemental".

Excuse me friend, I tweet when I think I need to tweet, and at that time I thought it was grouse that you posted "that" on facebook. Twitter is not something I refer to at the end of every day, it is more about "now" and less..lesser about "3 hours ago via web". So, Please get over it and stop taking a 30 "twitter years" old update seriously. 021

Shout,Shoot and Shine

This post is not just about expressing myself but involves many questions I have been asked in the past about Social Media, and how can it make a brand click.

First things first, Social Media is not just about those umpteen friends you have on Facebook/Orkut/MySpace, its about using those friends, using the network make your work popular.

Market Study clearly states Word-Of-Mouth to be the most efficient way of advertising, and where would the word come from, if your friend searches for your new company online and finds no result (Besides the irrelevant results, probably based on Rakhi Sawant's last 'social' act).

Social Media can create the new buzz and Zest that your company needs, and it can do all this for less the money a regular marketing firm would take to provide a similar plan.

Twitter.com , a website I once thought was irrelevant for personal and professional use is now doing wonders with its "101 Business" addition. One twitter update can do the job of a lengthy email without being that invasive.

It was amazing to see how Rider University(I worked for 2008-10) has a twitter page for all its students and staff, how easy is it for them to let their followers know of a concert to be held this weekend and let them know of the tickets remaining.

Similarly, it can be very useful for any organization to let their clients and workers know about developments in a new product, a new service or just a declared holiday.They no longer have to waste time in calling the operator and getting the status of the request they had put in last week, a 160 characters twitter update can let them know.

In fact, I am working on a plan where, inventory management could be done via social media, where every department would "re-tweet" the request received and make the members of the organization know about the process. This not only would make work more transparent, but would add to the productivity, as every step involved will be logged on the social media.

Blogging I think is a very powerful medium to let people know more about your product and services, A good blog can impress a prospective client, who no longer looks into the "About Us" section any more, and would now look forward to the more "dynamic" part of the website.

Facebook, is another interesting platform or what I would like to term as "Twitter On Steroids" , allowing the company to boast its profits with charts, numbers, pictures, blogs, almost anything that was being done via a mundane email (With the mundane, 'graphic ' signature and picture).

Then there is FourSquare, and amazing tool that will soon create ripples in the Sales and Marketing world with the claim to fame being the "Mayor ship" of a territory. Imagine multiple companies fighting to become the mayor of "ABC Company" Business Development office. It would not only give an ego boost to the company but will be accomplishment to boast about.

Social Media is not just about standing on an elevated platform and shouting out, its about standing on an elevated platform and shouting out what is at the same time being recorded on  YouTube, podcast'ed on the website and posted on the blog. It is advertising 2.0. 

So, Shout, Shoot and Shine !!

021 !!

Here's my number.. Please Don't Call !!!

I have been following this self made mantra for a couple of months now, I give my number out, but I request them to send me an SMS and not to call.

I lead a very busy life(except on weekdays) and I don't appreciate being called in the middle of an important task, like the one I'm doing now. Deep in my thoughts trying to make sure my fingers are in 'sync' with my brain.Thick in the middle of this syncing process, a phone ring just jolts the whole system, I have to take my eyes off the screen, look at the rather exciting looking phone, compute the positives and negatives of taking/canceling the call, come up with a decision and now the 'ignore' button is pressed. Phew !! as you can see, that is more work than what I was peacefully doing before the phone displayed its "true colors".

And then, there is the kind and polite SMS, a decent beep, a streak of light, and its gone, as if it never happened. A display on the screen politely telling you, "Excuse me.. "Steve, has something to say". You give it a concerned look it shades away to the "idle" sober mode, and you are back on the fingers-brain sync.Oh ! its almost a poetry.

Besides being a mean of communication that helps you multitask easily. It also helps you save time by avoiding the initial greetings and the formalities that go with it. Oh how much I like this part ! Allow me to illustrate.

Phone call :

Chunnu : Hi, Chunni, How are things going ?
Chunni : Hi, Chunnu, Oh my God, its been really long since we spoke.
     I'm fine, just enjoying life( and this is how I'm enjoying it ....)
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Chunnu : That's great, Nice to hear that you are having a nice time doing ..Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Chunnu : I was in town and wanted to know if you have Ravi's number.
Chunni : Ravi, from school ? Well, last i met his ex gf she told me he has moved to Mumbai
     she also told me Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Chunnu : Wow, that sad, I hate it when Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah (Nature's call) Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah. I guess you don't have his number
     then ?
Chunni : I went to Mumbai last week for a seminar, I am working on this new project Blah

     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah and I bumped
     into Smriti, Remember her?
Chunnu : Smriti ? You mean Arora ?
Chunni : Arora ? Who was Smriti Arora ?
Chunnu : Arey, the Smriti Arora with the ping bag , you remember when we were in 10th and
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
      Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Chunni : Oh yes, Now I do. Where is she ? Long time no see.
Chunnu : She's on Facebook, you can talk to her there.
Chunni : Alright, I'll do that.
Chunnu : Can you give me  Ravi's number now ?
Chunni : Oh ! Like I said, I met Smriti in  Mumbai and she was talking about him and do you
     know Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Chunnu : Aight, that's good. Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
     Did you get his number.
Chunni : Yea, I'll text you his number
Chunnu : Thanks !
Chunni : How are things with you ?


Blah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah Blah
Blah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah Blah
Blah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah BlahBlah Blah Blah

The phone battery runs out !!

The Simpler way :

Chunnu; Hey, do you have Ravi's number by any chance?

Chunni; Hey, Long time, Yes I do, XXX-XXX-XXXX

Chunnu; Thanks, Hope Al's good.

Chunni;Chugging along, we should catch up sometime

Chunnu;Sure, I'll let you know, thanks, ciao

Chunni;Keep in touch !! ciao

I'm tired, those "Blah Blah Blah" are driving me crazy !
Anyways, A little over exaggerated method, but nonetheless, just delete some of those "Blah Blah Blah" and you'll get the real picture.

Save time, Save Energy, Save Money  !! Text when you can !! Its healthy too(radiations locha) !!
021 !!

Social Networking : The Open Inter or The Closed Intra

As I started writing this post, I wanted to be sure of what exactly is going on with my mind and here is what I found

_{Inter- refers to between things and intra- refers to within a group. For example, inter-group relations would mean relations between different groups, and intra-group relations would mean relations among people within a single group.}

I helped design and create Kho-joe.com with the idea of going inter and intra on the same path,where talent finds talent. It is time that we stop creating individual pages and start making our own Inter-Solution, or a group of many Intra-Networks.

This would not only help us finally sculpt a network wherein finding a business would not only be about knowing where to buy the building tools from but also about knowing the place to get the best support technicians.

Ending up with a plan which does not expire when the product is made/delivered but to foresee the issues and be well prepared for them.

So the next time you decide to make a page on facebook or launch your own website, look around and find a network that can help you build it, this would not only reduce your effort but would provide bonus points for the "inter" connection.

Deep Verma

TIldeNow

Upload Via : Smartphone

Iphone 4 is out, great !! A new feature has been introduced hide-the-antenna-you-get-no-calls.

Enough has been said about smartphones and how "important" they are for personal and professional reason. Enough been said, its time for some reality check now.

I use a Sony Walkman phone, with a 512 mb memory card, for my 'song' needs, it has a 4 mega-pixel camera, which satisfies my photo needs, and it makes and receives calls regardless of where I hold it from !!

All this said, I went on a search for a smartphone this weekend, so what do I need it for, my work emails;no, I'd rather stay away from work, when I am 'away' from work, keep safe distance.

My personal emails, Naman has a new post on buzz, I really have to read it, Nea...

Umm.. How about doing "stuff" on the go, Really ?? like what, booking a ticket ? checking my bank account, paying my bills ? With that tiny little screen , and risking my identity no.

Oh, and my favorite, buying and selling stocks ( friend : "dood , this phone saved me a fortune, I bought these stocks at the right time") well, not interested, lets just leave it there.

Switching onto the good side, umm..taking pictures and uploading them...yea..but hold on, My camera, a nice 10 mega pixel camera. I'm sure the pictures can wait !! Its true, they won't have "Mobile Upload" tag on it.

I don't need a smart phone, not for BBM, not for Gtalk, Not for finding the closest loo !! 021

IT hurts

this is a funny one, its been long since I've had attachment with gadgets and computer, but off late, I'm getting emotionally involved with them. I am disappointed when i see a computer in my office dirty, or a keyboard with keys missing. C'mon, that PC helps you get through the day, work or fun..it does not stop giving you its services..and in return.. all you have to do is reciprocate the love..how hard is it to keep the keyboard clean...keep the screen clear..i mean isn't it good for you..and what the deal with these people leaving there computer "turned on" post work... " oh i need to come in an start working asap"..yea right, you cant push a button..fetch you coffee and then log in...the idea of writing this post struck me the other day when i was advising a staff not to get a new computer, and trying real hard to convince her that this laptop was in perfect shape. later she wrote me an email stating that the computer had crashed again and she was going to get a new one.. i remember i wrote back "please stop by my office whenever possible, and i will help you with the issue, the computer is in perfect working condition, and it would wrong to quit on it"..quit on it..like it was a person..nevertheless, what I was trying to put across is that the laptop was good, clean, fast..and a reckless decision could make it "that laptop" which does not work... isn't that like wasting a talent, just because it couldn't do it that time, does not mean you should quit on it, keep going, keep going till it reaches its "workable" life.. I still have my first computer, 166mhz 32 mb ram 21gb hdd... amazing machine, i used it till my last semester in undergrad..2006..then i just put it to rest, mind it !! put it to rest...did not retire it..in fact, i am going to use it when i go back to India..why shouldn't I..all i know about computers today, I owe it to that machine there, that machine which has taken a lot of beating, but has come back stronger, maybe with little grunts and scratches, but stronger nevertheless... people..don't quit on technology, don't go "oh this is so slow, and outdated".. believe me.. its not the device.. ITS YOU !! 021

twit for tat

6 months, 2 courses, and 1 great professor could not convince me that twitter is a powerful marketing tool, i know, the news and the surveys give you a hell lot of information about how effective it is to market your product using "twits", but i just dont get it. to start with, twitter is about updates from people you "follow" and for heaven's sake it allows about 140 characters in that text box, so coke is launching a new flavour, and it had a twitter update there about it, i know that company has a million followers but what exactly are we expecting here? people who are on twitter every day, all the time to respond to "that" update ? im not sure if we are targeting the people we want. twitter, as popular it is, needs constant attention, "ah my friend updates his location on twitter" its so convenient to spot it.. quite frankly, who cares? and who are these people who are updating their status every now and then, people with too much time, and probably some kind of attention seeking syndrome. getting back to the marketing aspect of twitter, i havent tried this part yet, but it is supposedly a very powerful tool, "let people know about your product", its a waste of time. I am better off making a facebook page than having a tweet page. the people at twitter have to realise that the customer that they cater too are either teenagers who have no work, or very tech savvy people, both care enough to be a part of something new happening @ web 2.0. the companies have to realise that they need to have a very powerful filter technique in order to separate and classify user's .. rather customers according to their needs. both, also do not care much about "products" they are there, because they want to be "there".. i have tried my hands on twitter, and i would dare not enter that boring world again. i have always felt, there is a fine line between keeping it casual and keeping it professional. a good mix of them would certainly do wonders for you and your product, but a random mix .. well a random mix is usually a mess. i do appreciate the new addition "twitter business", and can also admire the marketing done using 140 characters, but then we have to consider the fact that it is only the first step that is taken here, first stop in long journey of b2b marketing, but then, what next, are they always going to use twitter to find businesses, i dont think so, i think we need more that 140 characters there. sure you can just post your website link and hope for others to reach you, but then again you are catering only to the "highs" and the "lows" people.. when the people in between are the ones that really need you. 021

technology now

my first technology blog, has to be special and for obvious reasons has to be about Microsoft. I was going to follow a similar concept like my tumchalo page, but then my thoughts about anything would be more like a combination of thoughts things that i see and read about. well, here it goes, the latest now is about the war of operating systems, Microsoft with its mature management, and google with the "cool factor" attached. my verdict, Microsoft has nothing to worry about, especially when it comes to operating systems, we the people have got so much used to using windows for our computing needs that it would take decades for another operating system to even break even with. break even eh, i think i went wrong there, break even is not gonna happen, not at all, Windows is windows, like it or leave it. it is very easy for a company like Microsoft emulate some of the features of another OS or application, but it has a class of its own, and would rather like to keep its head high. something really exciting happened a couple weeks ago when microsoft launched office space live, yes people, a direct head on clash with the famous google docs, and the twist here..ladies and gentlemen, office live does support docx documents. just the other day, in my marketing class, the class im sitting in right now.. its not class time, i came early so decided to post..anyways.. we were talking about google having various applications online which are extensively being used by millions of users, but at the same time, these are user's who take the operating system for granted, they dont know what they would be missing without the microsoft keyboard they are typing on. a personal view on the OS wars, I would never shift to an operating system until it is as popular as Windows, with so much happening in work and life, do you think you really have the time to search and download an application that emulates windows, or office not to forget you still wont be getting a full fledged editor, google talk is one application that i would probably die to use, oh..and not to forget picasa photo editor, but then it is disappointing that when im working on my friend's Apple machine, i dont have access to them, and im not sure, but i think google talk does not have a mac version yet, yea yea, there are these cheap 3rd party softwares you can use to login, but then, just not yet. why should i waste time in searching and installing a software that is not something i want, it is something i can work with. On the other hand, there is Microsoft Windows, no thinking involved, go online, download anything, and IT Will Work. the choice is yours, do you wanna be cool outside...or cool inside. 021