Random images from my flickr stream...

www.flickr.com

27/09/11

Do Not Disturb me PLEASE!

"The Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2010" comes into play today! and looks like it that some processes are better defined that the last time it was enforced!

What it also does is that some important communication, e.g. from your online shopping vendors, the Delhi Traffic Police, etc would not be sent out to you. However, there is an option of partially blocking the unwanted communication (SMS and Telecalls).

Here is what you need to do to stop all unsolicited calls...

To stop all commercial calls/SMS, write START 0 and send it to 1909

To start some calls and SMS, these are the codes :

Health - 1
Education - 2
Tourism and Leisure - 3
Banking/Insurance/Financial Products - 4
Consumer Goods and automobiles - 5
Real Estate - 6
Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT - 7

To start any of these, write START followed by the category code and send it to 1909, e.g. if you want to get SMS/Calls related to Health Services, the SMS that you need to send to 1909 is START 1

If you want to deregister from the DND registry, send STOP 0 to 1909

In case you'd like to check the status of your requests you can click here.

I personally feel that its not completely thought through from a SMS perspective, and here is why :

  • Logically, if I want to stop the unwanted calls/SMS I should send a STOP message and a START message otherwise. The current process wants me to send a START if I want to STOP all unsolicited communication

  • Also the categories should have atleast 1 State related SMS category, e.g. the Delhi Traffic Police SMS. I do not understand what category it falls under right now!

It is a good start though. I am hoping that the number of SMS that I get reduces to a minimum (I get atleast 30 messages and 5 calls per day)

This information is written with reference from all major Telecom Services Providers and the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Portal of TRAI.

Rains

Raindrops bring so much from within the soul that its hard for words to capture... Here are a few photographs from a rainy day, taken in my balcony...

 



You could visit my photography website And Pictures by clicking here or the Facebook page by clicking here.

26/09/11

Infographic - The Genealogy of US Airlines

Lovely infographic on History Shots showing how airlines in the US have been launched/merged/operated from 1920s to 2000s.

Absolutely must!!!

Please click here to learn and enjoy!



You could also buy this as a poster by clicking here.

25/09/11

24/09/11

सिस्टम की कहानी (System ki Kahani)

मेरा होश सँभालते ही, मासूमियत के समझदारी में बदलते ही
एक दुश्मन से मुलाकात हुई
क्या नाम दूं उसे ये समझ पाने की मुशक्कत में
रात से दिन और दिन से रात हुई

फिर एक दिन शाम को आवारागर्दी करते हुए
एक दोस्त से एक शिकायत सुनी
भाई बोला - यार गलती मेरी नहीं है| ये साले सिस्टम की है||

अगस्त में पढ़ाओ, फिर दश्हेरा, दिवाली, क्रिसमस की छुट्टी दो,
अप्रैल में परीक्षा लो, और पास नहीं हुए तो गाली दो|
अब मैंने थोड़े ही कहा है एक साल का इंतज़ार करो
पढ़ाओ, और पूछ लो
ना बता पाएं तो पीट लो
पर नहीं, सिस्टम ही ऐसा है के साल भर पढ़ कर ही फेल हो सकते हो पहले नहीं
ये साला सिस्टम ही ख़राब है

तब समझ में आया, के स्कूल एक सिस्टम है
सिस्टम का जो दिल करे जब दिल करे,
कर सकता है और करवा सकता है
पूरी बाल्टी पानी की खाली करके, फिर भरवा सकता है

ये समझ में भी आया के सिस्टम ज़्यादातर ख़राब ही होता है
न किसी की सुनता न समझता है
सिर्फ अपने कायदे और अपने कानून से ही चलता है

सोचने समझने में शाम से रात हो गई
सिस्टम और उसकी तानाशाही आई गई बात हो गई||

23/09/11

चायबाज़ श्वेता (Chaibaaz Shweta)

Unbelievable! The last chaibaaz post on this blog was way back in April 2011! Not acceptable!

However to break this long break, is a beautiful photograph from an equally lovely photographer Shweta Verma, based out of Switzerland! I love going through her work, and I am sure you would do! Please do go through The Creative Lens and make sure to book a slot in the Autumn Promo she is currently running!

Green Tea

Thank you! Shweta for letting me use this photograph for Chaibaaz series, and welcome to the Chaibaaz family :)

Oh and if you are still reading this post (I wonder why though :) You should be on TCL already), do check out the rest of Chaibaaz posts by clicking here.

21/09/11

Nissan Sunny missing from the official vehicle list

The internet world is abuzz with news of Nissan launching Sunny at an ex-showroom price of about 5.67 lakhs!

As an internet user, its normal for me to go to Nissan India's website and check out the details of the car.... and what do I see? Nothing! The car does not appear the list of vehicles showcased on the website yet!

I do not know what went wrong, however it feels that during the launch project planning, someone failed to mention website update and comprehensive testing as a critical checklist item! Even though there is a dedicated website built for the new car, and a link on the homepage, vehicle list and other related areas are not updated! A test plan failure maybe?


nissan-vehicle list

To make things worse, the contact page "OK" button does not work either, and obviously Sunny is not in the list of models on contact form either!!!



nissan-contact

15/09/11

7 Years young today!

Its Chai ki Dukaan's Birthday today!!!

7 years and still going strong! Could not have happened without all the people who have made Chai Ki Dukaan a part of their lives in some way or the other!!!

A big THANK YOU!!!!!

CKD History

08/09/11

of today!

सुना था के एक वाकया काफी है ज़िन्दगी बदलने के लिए |

इस मुल्क में न वाकयों की कमी है न जिंदगियों की ||

06/09/11

मुझ पर एक एहसान करना, bodyguard ज़रूर देखना|

Salman Khan does it again! No! no! let me correct myself right there!

His shirt does it again! The connection of his shirt with elements is the USP of Sallu Bhai's latest, Bodyguard!

In Dabangg, it was the element Air which connected well with his shirt and took it away!

This time around, it was water!

I am sure in the next one, its going to be Fire!

  • Bodyguard is a pain to watch! It was a sheer waste of time and money, and I am glad that I took with myself DIY cotton earplugs, or else I might have come out deaf thanks to the super surround sound at the Big Cinemas, GIP Noida
  • Bodyguard is senseless! it was beyond my level of understanding!
  • Bodyguard is slow! it made time stop!
  • Dobyguard, I mean Bodyguard is edited by idiots! Scene transition from one to the other does not make sense a lot of times!


However ignore all of that if you are not a big fan of cinema that is not just about passing time! Let's talk about why Bodyguard is a hit!

  • It lets you disconnect with the outside world for a while, while you are either enjoying the senselessness or trying to figure out how it took the heroine's father a few minutes to cover a distance worth about 9 hours! (not my mistake, 9 hours was quoted in one of the previous scenes)
  • It also lets you laugh, at yourself and people in the theatre who are wasting their money alongside you, and also eating the super expensive pop-corn and cold drink combos! Ok, there are times when you can laugh because of what happened in the movie
  • It makes you feel proud that Bollywood is going to have competition for Rajnikant! What Sallu bhai does in a few scenes is almost as comical and awe-inspiring as Rajni true-to-life work! e.g. how Sallu bhai, the bodyguard, jumps out of a Mumbai local, sways around on the ropes or wires or something, jumps to the train going in the opposite direction, and then defies gravity to get off the train to a bridge! WOW!
  • It also inspires you! Irrespective of how you look, and to be specific if you are fat without any comic timing, and have the right connections, and can speak hindi and broken Punjabi, you can be a side-kick to a hero! and I forgot to mention that you have to wear t-shirts with funny slogans! that is what would compensate for your horrible comic timing! If you are lucky, your writer would give you a name like Tsunami as well along with an opportunity to share what it means sometime in the movie!
  • It lets you oogle at Kareena! No! honest! She is looking nice in Manish Malhotra designs! and for Salman Khan fans, its a treat too! 
  • It makes you humm a few songs as well! Aaaya re aaya bodyguard is one of my favorites these days! and guess what! Its Himesss Bhai's music! :) It has that typical beat which you can observe in a lot of South Indian masala songs; something that caught my attention in Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika (Ready)
  • It lets you enjoy the masala which has been well associated with Bollywood! Like they say, स्टोरी में ड्रामा है, एक्शन है, रोमांस है, म्यूजिक है, थ्रिल है! और क्या चाहिए!!! The story has drama, action, romance, music, thrill! what else do you need?
  • It also gives you a very interesting (and this is the first time this movie caught my attention) twist to the story
  • It will let you bond well with your friends, if you are going in  a large group! For some reason I also feel that such movies are great to enjoy with a group of friends!

However the fact of the matter is, that you should watch movies if you like to, and not because someone else like it or not! So my suggestion, go watch it!

And enjoy my favorite song from the movie :)

02/09/11

An old calender

I have this old calender on my office desk! I recently shifted desks, and got this calender as a part of the package! Though its a 2010 calender, it has a few things which are worth reading over and over again, and my guess is that this content is the reason why I still see it on the desk... Read more to know what this calender is about...

January:
"You gotta fight for every breath and tell death to go to hell" : The Motorcycle Diaries

February:
"It ain't over 'til it's over" : Rocky

March:
"show me the Money" : Jerry Maguire

April:
"This is your life and its ending one minute at a time" :Fight Club

May:
"To make something special you just have to believe it's special" : Kung Fu Panda

June:
"If you don't run, you can't win" : Chariots of Fire

July:
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get" : Forrest Gump

August:
"Get busy living or get busy dying" : The Shawshank Redemption

September:
"There is magic in fighting battles beyond endurance" : Million Dollar Baby

October:
"You should never take more than what you can give" : The Lion King

November:
"Never tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon" : One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

December:
"If you want something',go get it. Period" : The Pursuit of Happyness


Don't think I need to share why this calender is still on my desk, and why this post is on Chai Ki Dukaan!