January 2012
1 post
4 tags
The TATA Circle of Love.
Every once in a while you come across an example of crazy branding and sub product marketing mayhem. I just found one. The TATA series of communication products. I have no clue of what they offer and how their customer service is done. So here is a partial listing of the products I can see on their site(s):
- Tata Indicom
- Tata Indicom broadband
- Tata Indicom Wifi
- Tata Indocom Wimax
-...
December 2011
1 post
3 tags
Updated. Why Airtel should fail and why it needs a...
I’ve been having an ongoing customer service nightmare with Airtel for the past week. I’ve done the back and forth with them on their customer service numbers and via twitter for at least a week. No resolution yet and I feel this company now needs to fail for the sake of all its customers and the pain they feel. Despite being clear, despite showing them whats wrong, despite taking them...
June 2011
2 posts
5 tags
The hobbyist coder and the wage scrounger.
Many years ago, I got booted out of a computer center at my university. It didn’t feel good. The reasoning the university staff gave me wasn’t satisfactory either. Apparently I wasn’t allowed to use the computers if it wasn’t on my course syllabus. That didn’t stop me though, I went at night. Institutional attitudes towards learning have not changed one bit in all...
4 tags
ISP crapspeak
I’ve had to deal with a couple of ISPs lately. Here are a couple of pointers for cutting through the stuff ISPs try to sell you and a couple of words you need to be aware of.
Red words:
Upto: This usually means that the ISP can get away with providing vastly inferior service as long as they can show you that they can theoretically send you data from one of their in-house servers at the...
May 2011
1 post
1 tag
Scientific Corruption HowTo.
I am assuming you are a minister or a senior public servant and in need of some quick advice on how to mange the large sums of money that seem to want to flow your way. Ok, let’s begin. It’s pretty simple really.
-Register a company
-Setup shareholders
-Ask people wanting to pay you to become shareholders in the firm
-Deliver your part of the deal.
Sit back, relax and marvel at...
February 2011
2 posts
7 tags
Product design: Go beyond the normal.
I’ll tell you a story. 15 years ago, I used to be a writer. One of my first bosses would catch me if I did shoddy work and ask me to spend more time on my stories. I never knew how he did it. Until one day he told me that he just searches for double spaces in my copy. Yeah, double spaces, like this “ .” Ok, so I learned the fact the if you don’t pay attention to the very...
7 tags
Privacy: Insert coin to ring bell.
Saw this interesting little vintage ad on boing boing, a doorbell that keeps marketers away by asking them to deposit a coin to ring the bell. It used to be that people valued privacy. Now though, if you value it and refuse to divulge too much online you are easily labeled a recluse, a loner, an introvert, and someone who is a “little off.”
Historically, getting through privacy has...
January 2011
4 posts
6 tags
The pay button: payment options for Indian...
An Indian pay story.
The web has some inspiring stories of single developers making it big. If you’ve been coding away with the hope of striking gold someday, you’ve always faced one minor hiccup — getting paid. In India, getting rich requires that you be rich already. Ditto for payment systems, if you aren’t rich already, sorry, you are just too risky to be getting money...
7 tags
Wanted: Sales person with existing relationships.
How often have you seen an ad like that?
These ads should make you think. What is it about a sales guy with relationships that makes him/her so important to another organisation? How ethical is it to expect sales people to walk in with existing relationships? Why wouldn’t a sales person with an “existing relationship” ready to be poached end up starting his own company? Is there...
test
“Mumbai’s population density is in excess of 40,000 people a sq. km....”