Arif & Ali's Blog » Reviews

Behold. A terrible campaign that is being aired.

arif — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:34:18 +0000

*puke*. My apologies but gosh please excuse me. I haven’t seen worst ads in my life, okay I may have, but these are bad. As an advertising buff, I passively keep an eye open for good, catchy advertising be it in print, tv or web. And OMG, I fail to recall when I have seen horrible ads. A good ad entices you to use the product so much that you are willing to pay for it. An poor ad is one that leaves you ambivalent and you don’t really care much for the product shown. The ads shown below, make me want to run away from the product as far as possible. Infact these ads are so terrible that if I was in a situation that I HAD to use the product, I’d pay money not to use it.

The pity is that Tata Telecom is a good company that provide decent products with decent service. Infact I am currently typing this blog post while using a TATA Docomo 3G dongle and I have been getting decent speeds. However, when it comes to advertising I don’t know why but TATA seems to always miss the mark. I blogged about TATA’s Telecom poor advertising several years ago here as well. Anyway, I am a fan of TATA Products and I hope someone senior enough in their organisation sees this and makes the requisite changes.

Here are those horrible ads. Don’t view them.

And this is suppose to make me subscribe to a Tata Docomo service? Next time I’m getting an operation, besides checking the Doctor’s experience I’m also going to check who is his Telecom Service Providoer.

Yes, I can just see mothers spotting those Tata Stores so that they can take their babies as far away from them as possible.

This is the worst of them all. Profiling domestic workers.

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Excellent Talks that I have heard over the internet – October Edition

arif — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:16:24 +0000

Leading at Google: Tony Hsieh on Delivering Happiness

55:23

Truly MUST-HEAR for every entrepreneur, marketing, customer-care and HR department. Tony Hsieh, retells his heartwarming journey on how he took Zappos, once this unknown company, to become the darling of the American Shoe Shoppers. When Tony joined Zappos, it was a sinking company with sales of a grand total of $0. Over 10 years he turned it around for it to earn $1 Billion in 2008. Subsequently, Zappos was acquired by Amazon for $1.2 Billion. The best part is how he did it. It was not by hammering advertising down customers throats. It was instead by focussing on the Culture of the Company, the Employees and Staying True to it’s mission of providing Outstanding Customer Service.

There were several take backs that I got from this talk some of which I remember are:

- The Vision, Mision, Values (you know the stuff you find in lobbies of Companies) are not as important as the commitment and dedication to living up to them. Don’t spend eons and oodles of money on retreats to come up with grandiouse mission statements. A simple one off the internet would do just fine, as long as you believe in it and are committed and dedicated to live up to it.

- Encourage employees to spend more time on the phone with customers, not less. They don’t have written scripts nor fixed time during which to complete a call. A complete opposite of the Call Centre Culture.

- Long term happiness is obtained by being part of a movement that is larger than yourself. Focus on that first and then top it up with the other forms of happiness such as the Flow experience and Momentary Pleasures.

Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers

Wow. What A Brilliant Play. Infact I have a good mind to hear it all over again. The play is on Washinton’s Post decision to publish excerpts of The Pentagon Papers, a top-secret document about the Vietnam war, which “demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress, about a subject of transcendent national interest and significance”.

The play beautifully brings out issues of how much freedom of press should there be in a democracy and how responsible should they be. Very timely in today’s era.

Twelve Angry Men

Court Room dramas don’t get more exciting than this. I highly recommend clicking the link and hearing the sample audio available. I did. I was hooked and bought this audio drama. Boy, was it well worth it. I later bought the DVD and watched it all over again. A brilliant court-room drama that exercises one critical thinking and questioning skills. How do you look at a situation impartially. Devoid of emotion, prejudices and give your view completely based on facts. You think you can do that? Would you test your theory/view before airing it? Hear this play to know where you stand.

The play is about a boy who is convicted of killing his father based on overwhelming evidence. The jury battle out their views over the course of this play till the reach a conclusion.

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Excellent Talks I have heard – May Edition

arif — Sat, 21 May 2011 06:28:27 +0000

The ipod in my car is continually dishing out some advice or the other. I am really fortunate to come across some soul-lifting, practical, enriching lectures.

Ted Talk by Rick Warren on Purpose Driven Life

This is a lovely little talk by the author of an immensely successful Spiritual Classic. He offers great pointers on determining your self-worth and how to discover your purpose in life. Nothing radically new. Yet great to hear.

Ted Talk by Martin Seligman on Positive Psychology

Another 18 minute gem. What I loved about the talk is how Martin breaks down happiness, into three different types.

1. The immediate happiness we feel on say having chocolate or having a good time with friends.

2. The Flow State of happiness that we experience when we are truly engaged in something. You know, when time stops for us. For me, that happens when I’m blogging or drawing.

3. The Meaningful happiness when we are involved with a purpose that is greater than ourselves.

Hence to live a Full, Happy and Meaningful life is to maximise the opportunities for the three circumstances to take place. Here the talk, there may be other nuggets that you can pick up.

Suze Orman at Google. How to make the most of your money

Here’s a talk by another best selling author. Although lot of the advice is very American specific, yet I walked away with principles and tips that I could implement.

Where Love is God is by Leo Tolstoy

A very touching story by the great Russian author on how a humble cobbler yearns to meet Jesus Christ. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the reading of this story online anymore. But do subscribe to the Classic Tales Podcast by B J Harrison. Ever so often I come across a story that I feel like sharing with all. But unfortunately that story is taken down before I can write about it. If you are subscribed to The Classic Tales Podcast, when I let you know of the story, you can then go back to the archives and hear it.Similar Posts:

Three Insightful lectures I’ve recently heard on God, Happiness and Making Money

arif — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 05:06:28 +0000

I always have some interesting lecture playing in my car. Here are the ones that I’ve recently heard. I recommend you to download them and hear them for yourself.

1. The Good Life-Happiness

This is a lecture by Yale Professor on What makes us happy? How does happiness vary across person and culture? What is happiness for? Hearing this will certainly more skilled at being happy.

2. The Tao of Warren Buffet

A great 30 minutes lecture by Mary Buffet (the ex-Daughter in Law of Warren Buffet) on her latest book the Tao of of Warren Buffet. In this lecture she runs through her book which contains quotations of Warren’s insights on investing and life, that she had privy to being close to him. Good Lecture. I am glad I heard it.

3. Does God Exist? – Debate
I always love hearing debates on the Existence of God. I have just started hearing this one and don’t know how it ends. The bit that I’ve heard is stimulating and am looking forward to complete it. Ofcourse those who’ve heard other Existence of God debates, may not find any new arguments, but the way they are put across is always unique and refreshing. Christopher Hitchens is the author of the book God is Not Great and Al Sharpton is the famous African American Baptist minister, Civil Rights Activist and Radio Talk Show Host.

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Finally I can sync my tasks between my Blackberry and Mac

arif — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:31:51 +0000

For years I have been searching for an elegant solution to sync my task list between my blackberry and Mac. But nothing would cut it. There are so many clumsy attempts out there that at one point I’d thought to have the blackberry and Mac synced is an impossible riddle to crack . A real pity because the market for blackberry and Mac users out there is huge. Finally now there is the awesome app, that not only ensures that my tasks are synced between my Mac and Blackberry, but even on my iPad, infact I can access my tasks anywhere as long as I’m connected to the web.

Why Blackberry and not an iPhone
Simply because nothing tops the speed that one can get on typing on the blackberry. The iPhone keyboard sucks. Well for me it does. For the life of me I can’t type on it. Certainly not with the speed and accuracy I can on the blackberry keyboard. So it when it comes to sending SMSes, typing quick emails, jotting down tasks, with speed and accuracy, the iPhone is yet to conquer the Blackberry in my book.

First the problems with the existing setups possible:

1. The default setup: Syncing the native tasks application on Blackberry with Microsoft Outlook.

This is the second-best option that I had been running till date. I have blackberry server installed at my office. Thereby ensuring that wirelessly all my Tasks, Calendar items, Notes are wirelessly synced to my desktop. They sync is tight. Rarely or no errors. And fast. However the problems are as follows:

- Microsoft Outlook is clunky, heavy software. Operating Microsoft Outlook is like manoeuvring a truck on a crowded street.

- Microsoft Outlook has to run on Windows, which has to run on Parallel Desktop. So I’m constantly running two operating systems. That takes a lot of resources, RAM, speed and battery power out from my Macbook.

- When I’m away from the office and want to process the tasks on the go, my Outlook cannot connect to the Blackberry Server without VPN. And VPN isn’t also reliable. Sometimes it connects well, othertimes it doesn’t.

- The native Task App in the blackberry although great has limitations. The most irritating one is that I can’t see all tasks that are Overdue on a single page. I have the habit of marking tasks to be due on a certain date. But life happens that I can’t attend to the task on that date. And I’d like to see all tasks that are Overdue together. The tasks app in blackberry doesn’t show that.

2. Sync the Native Tasks Application with Remember the Milk.

- Remember the Milk is one of the most popular online tasks applications out there. And for good reason too. It is indeed an elegant solution to managing your to-dos. Clean interface. Reliable. Very fast. Online hence accessible from virtually anywhere. Anywhere except your blackberry. There is an app to sync the Blackberry Tasks with Remember the Milk. It’s Great, when it works. Which it rarely does. Each time I try to sync I get error message after error message.

3. Other attempts that have crashed.

The other applications that I’ve used to sync my Blackberry tasks with my Mac or any online app are:
- ToDo Matrix. This may work. However I’ve briefly tried this, and for reasons I can’t remember I couldn’t continue using it.
- Blackberry’s official sync software for the Mac. This is the worst of them all. Don’t even think about it.

The Solution: Behold Upvise. Enter the Pearly Gates of Task Management Heaven.

Literally after years of searching I found one stray reference of Upvise in some forum post somewhere. The homepage didn’t look promising (it’s better now), but I gave it a shot anyway and installed the Blackberry app.

Why Upvise Rocks:

1. They Sync is really Tight. Upvise doesn’t try to sync the native Tasks app of Blackberry. That’s where the other developers were going wrong. Instead it installs an app of it’s on in Blackberry, which automatically syncs really well with the web-app.

2. It’s Fast! Not as fast with the native app. Yet I have been using it for a couple of months now and a picky Power User like me is satisfied with it.

3. The developers seem committed. They are constantly upgrading the blackberry app and web app with new features, without making it heavy.

4. Awesome Customer Service. Whenever I have a problem with Blackberry Tasks or Microsoft Outlook sync. Who can I call? Nobody. But with upvise, I shoot them a mail and mostly receive a reply within 24 hours.

5. They’ve got a super-duper iPad App. I no longer have to squint in my blackberry to process my tasks. I can do it from my ipad and in style.

My Upvise wishlist:

As great as Upvise is, here are a couple of things that I wish they’d implement to make it better:

1. Shortucts. The webapp doesn’t have shortucuts to create new tasks, mark them complete etc. Their customer support says that they should be upgrading it with shortcuts in a weeks time.

2. Option to select multiple tasks to process them. This is a killer feature of Remember the Milk. Meaning I can selelct multiple tasks and then either mark them complete, postpone them etc. Hope Upvise implements this soon too.

3. Option to modify the default due date. When creating a new task, the system automatically sets the default due date to the next day. I’d prefer the option to modify that.

4. When creating a new task, a quick box drops down. I’d like the option to select the task list in that drop box. Right now I have to go to the main task edit screen to do that.

Overall I’m very satisfied with Upvise. The free version of Upvise you get some free apps. The tasks app cost $50 per annum. Well worth the price. I would strongly recommend it. Hope more Blackberry and Mac users read this post and give Upvise a try.

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Finally the iPad is now MyPad.

arif — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:37:18 +0000

It’s the best Rs.48,000 I have spent. The iPad. What an amazing invention. Telecommunication, the computer and the internet finally come to a full circle in this outstanding device.

I had been debating for months whether to shell-out almost half-a-lakh for this screen. Afterall it was just a big iPod Touch and I just couldn’t use that because of it’s damn keyboard. However I kept observing myself away from my laptop for longer parts of the day and yet felt the need to either check something on the web, clear a couple of my emails and misc tasks such as those. Tasks that my Blackberry couldn’t yet cut it. Thanks to motivation two friends (Rahul and Saira, thanks guys :-), I said what the hell and ordered it off from ebay. And boy, has it worked out for me.

What do I use my iPad for:

1. News and Wikipeida
The iPad wouldn’t be such a great device, if it weren’t for 3G. Thanks to 3G being out in India, I am now online, all the time. A rarely have the time or motivation to read the traditional newspaper. Furthermore when I am at my desk, a plethora of tasks and interruptions jump out at me, that I can’t check out the Top Stories of the day. Thanks to the iPad the little pockets of time I get before, after or even during meetings, I can scan headlines of the BBC and Times of India website and I am done with my critical News reading.

I am a huge Wikipedia fan. I often check out wikipedia articles several times a day. Whenever I come across a term, word, an event, that I want to know more about when reading a book, in the middle of a conversation, while hearing a podcast, even while watching TV, I snap out my ipad and do a lightening wikipedia search and bam I get to know, what I want to know in a matter of minutes. At times it so fast that I’ve even used it from my car in between traffic signals!

2. Processing my Email
Today, the Blackberry is not enough to process one’s email. These days my emails comes with loads of recommendations to visit certain sites or watch Youtube videos. I can’t do those on my blackberry alone. But I can do that on my iPad and in style.

3. Processing my Tasks/To-dos (GTD Style)
Thanks to Upvise, the best web-app I’ve found for managing tasks, I now often use my iPad to process my To-Do lists. More about Upvise in an upcoming post.

4. YouTube!
Need I say more. I can watch YouTube videos anywhere and everywhere. I now use it to keep my daughter entertained, or just myself entertained. Whenever I am on my Mac and come across a YouTube video I need to watch, I file it under a ToWatch playlist. Then when I’m away from my Mac, but have the time and access to my iPad, I open that playlist and watch that same video then and there.

5. Reading
The iPad is an amazing reading device. I often would choose to read books on my iPad than a physical book. You’ve got to try it to believe it. I can highlight passages, see what passages others have highlighted, search across the book in seconds, the dictionary is just a tap away and best of all I’m always carrying an entire library with me.

Other than books, it’s fantastic for reading RSS Feeds too. Just yesterday Ali discovered Flipboard. A brilliant app for reading one’s Rss Feeds from Google Reader.

6. Other stuff
I am not much of a gamer, but there is a game or two that I really enjoying dabbling in. A couple of days ago I found that the ipad has a prayer compass as well, very useful for me as I’ve often need to know the Qibla (prayer) direction when travelling. Furthermore, I also realised I don’t need to carry my Quran with my at my Weekly Quran Class, just the iPad would do. The uses of the iPad just keep growing.

Conclusion:
The iPad or any tablet is a device, that you buy presupposing certain uses for it. But then you start discovering new ways to use it. You begin to ask yourself, “hmm I wonder if it will do this too”. For those of you considering the Samsung Galaxy, I’ve tried that and have found that to be acceptably good too. If you’re set your heart upon the iPad and since it’s not released in India, you can pickup your iPad from Ebay (thank you Rahul for this tip). Make sure you pick the official apple carry case with the iPad, because without it, it’s not practical to carry it around.

If you do decide to buy an iPad, do let me know. If you already have an ipad and have an app to recommend do post it in the comment below.

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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha :-D.

arif — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:35:13 +0000

I just heard these two hilarious tales by Mark Twain:

1. Extract of Adams Diary

2. Eve’s Diary

What did Adam really think of Eve? And what did Eve think of Adam? What exactly happened when they ate the forbidden fruit? Did they ever get along with each other? All is revealed in Extracts from Adam’s Diary and Eve’s Diary which were discovered and translated by eminent Archeologists.

These classic pieces were written in the year 1904. 1904! I’m just amazed how relevant these texts still are inspite of being written over a Century ago.

I heard these tales at my oft-recommended Classic Tales Podcast. The site seems down now, but it may be up by the time you get this email. If you rush you may be able to download these stories. These audio tales don’t stay on the Classic Tales for long. After a couple of weeks, B J Harrisson has the tales removed and up for sale at Audible.com. It’s best to subscribe to the Classic Tales Podcast using iTunes which will automatically download the new stories as they become available, hence ensuring that you have an archive of all these wonderful classic stories for free. Thereby whenever you’re on a long drive to the airport or are in the mood for some light hearing, select the story that tickles your fancy on your ipod and listen away. That’s what I do.

Here’s an excerpt from Adam’s Diary. Enjoy!

MONDAY.–This new creature with the long hair is a good deal in the way. It is always hanging around and following me about. I don’t like this; I am not used to company. I wish it would stay with the other animals…. Cloudy today, wind in the east; think we shall have rain…. WE? Where did I get that word– the new creature uses it.

SATURDAY.–The new creature eats too much fruit. We are going to run short, most likely. “We” again–that is ITS word; mine, too, now, from hearing it so much. Good deal of fog this morning. I do not go out in the fog myself. This new creature does. It goes out in all weathers, and stumps right in with its muddy feet. And talks. It used to be so pleasant and quiet here.

The cute picture has taken without permission, courtesy: Coromandal

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The Best Story on the History of Islam I have ever read.

arif — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:07:07 +0000

I have received one of the best Madressa educations. We were taught the deeper meanings of the Quran and other Religious Scriptures. We were taught, the Methodology and Philosophy of Namaaz, Fasting and other rituals. Best of all were were taught to practice the highest morals, such as courtesy to parents, charity, having the love of Knowledge. My years at Madressa years were one of the best educational years of my life. But inspite of having such an excellent Madressa Education as well as having the subject “Islam” at my Day-Time School, my knowledge of the history of Islam was very sketchy and highly incomplete.

Here are couple of examples where I was lacking:

1. How is it that Islam that was started by one man, in a little town in Saudia Arabia, exploded to 1.5 billion? There are Muslims and mosques where ever you go. From China and Japan right through Europe and America. From all the way North in Canada to the Southern parts of Africa there are devout Muslim communities that any Muslim can find himself home in. What exactly happened for the numbers to swell like this in short span of just 20 generations?

2. I had first heard of the Crusades when I was ten, in Walt Disney’s Robin Hood. But what were the Crusades? When did it happen? Why was it such a big deal?

3. Me and Ali are great fans of Sufi Literature (duh :-). But how and when did the Sufis come about. We hear the illustrious names of Rabia Basri, Ibn Arabi, Mevlana Rumi, Al-Hallaj, Kabir, but who came first, who came second etc. What spawned their coming? We hear some were revered and others persecuted. Why? The great Mevlana Rumi spoke and wrote in Farsi, then why is he buried in Turkey?

4. I often hear of the Golden Age of Islam. The Age where Muslims Scholars, excelled in Geography mapped the world, exceeded in Mathematics, excelled in Optometry so much that they even performed successful Cartact Surgeries! But when did these take place. What happened to bring about their decline in these sciences.

5. Historically, Islam was never Extremist. It was the more accommodating and tolerant of religions. What gave rise to the hard-lined ideologies practiced in Afghanistan, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia and parts of Pakistan?

I had all the above questions and tonnes more answered in the engaging narrative by Aga Tamim Ansary in his brilliant book Destiny Disrupted. An unbiased account from the birth of Islam 1400 years ago right through the various Caliphate regimes, covering the Mongol Raids as well as the Glory days of the Moghuls right down till the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I don’t think there’s a country or major event in the tale that Aga Ansary has left uncovered. The writing style is fluent, engaging and at times witty one just eagerly keeps flipping the pages to know what happened next. It’s certainly not a book only for Muslims. It’s for all those who have had the above questions and were curious on any aspect on the History of Islam.

If you are ever in a bookshop, ask for Destiny Disrupted. It may be a difficult find. But if you do get it in your hands, do open the book anywhere in the middle and read till the end of that page. If you find yourself drawn into the story, go ahead and buy the book. All of it is really that good.

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A lovely tale of Persistence and Fate

arif — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 04:17:03 +0000

I have raved about listening to podcasts here and here already. If you have still not subscribed to the The Moth Storytelling Podcast, I yet again recommend you to do so. To quote from my previous blog post

The Moth Story Telling Podcast
It’s Rated the number 1 Podcast for several weeks on the ITunes podcast directory, every story I’ve heard till date, connected with me at some level. The podcast contain true stories of individuals, which although is completed within 15 minutes, I’ve caught myself thinking, reflecting on the stories long after it’s passed through my ears. A podcast that I would heartily recommend.

Last night I heard the story “The All Star Game” by Michaela Murphy and it was a really wonderful and inspiring tale of Persistence and that everything happens for a reason.

If you subscribe to the Moth now, this particular story may or may not show up. But hear out some other tale. Who knows, that may be even better than the one I heard last night.

If you are new to subscribing to Podcasts, here’s a great YouTube Video, that explains how it’s done.

Update: You can hear/download the story All Star Game from here.Similar Posts:

Beyond Words: A Guide to Drawing Out Ideas

arif — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 03:52:48 +0000

Beyond Words: A Guide to Drawing Out Ideas by Milly R. Sonneman

I’ll be diving into this book today. Flipping through it, it seems to have great examples and principles when it comes to taking Sketch Notes. Which is my most recent bug. If you’re interested in Sketch-Noting too, this book is worth adding to your next order from Amazon.

View all my reviews
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