The Case of the Peacock Legs

Lots has been written about how it feels to have the privilege of graduating from ISB. To me, the best part of the one year was about getting to know a highly talented group of people. The first that I'd like to mention is the creative team of Reetu and Pruthvi and their brilliant cartoon series called The Cold Call.

I have gone on record multiple times that I am a "big fan" of this strip, and I hope to see the their brand grow in value. I vouch so much on their talent that I will treasure their autographed first-issue.

I knew I must be one of their biggest fans, but never knew that I am considered so big a fan that I get a special mention in their FAQ section, which brings me to this blog post.

Do you want to know why peacocks don't have legs? It's a long story... read it right here...

I don't remember the exact date, well it doesn't matter. It was a very fine day. On that particularly fine day, peacocks in the campus tried to imitate dance moves of a certain macro-economics professor, which resulted in irreparable damage to their legs (peacock anatomy is obviously quite different from that of professors') and so, rather unfortunately, their legs had to be amputated.

Just the way humans sell kidneys, peacocks ended up selling their legs, for cheap (read free). Peacock legs are considered a delicacy and the peacocks didn't know that. But Pruthvi and Reetu knew it and wanted to make money. They made an offer to the peacocks to dispose off their rotting legs for free and the poor peacocks were gullible enough to agree. But when so many peacock legs flooded the market (after all, the product was highly perishable), prices plummeted (just the way it happened for students at a premium b-school). Pruthvi and Reetu ended up in huge losses. Their idea of avoiding bankruptcy was to publish a book of their scribblings, which, because of smart marketing tactics, became a rage in the community.

People from the community were used to buying egg puffs for a whopping Rs. 18 each and so they didn't even blink an eyelid when buying the book for a premium. Goes without saying that the books sold like hot-cakes and the unscrupulous duo were back in business.

So, why is it written in the book that people should ask ME about the missing legs? Because I filed a 'peacock interest litigation' against Prithvi and Reetu for trying to make undue profits without any concern to the plight of the peacocks who were left handicapped. The fight was bitter and we settled out of court. Apart from the huge sum of money that I earned (because the peacocks didn't want any) and ended up donating (on the duo's behalf - see, I am ethical) to the wild-life fund, I was offered a special mention in their book, which I gladly accepted.

It's not enough if you read this tale and say "aah" and forget about it. Leave a note on the Cold Call's page. I love their work and I'm sure you do too. If you still do not know what their book is all about, God save your soul.

as RAW as it gets (shooting in RAW/NEF format)

After getting into ISB, I had the pleasure of meeting many good photographers. When I tried to steer the discussion into RAW format and image processing workflows, almost all of them had the opinion that RAW format isn't worth the pain - atleast when shooting at a party. I thought I'd take this example to illustrate how shooting in RAW helped me get a good shot.

Here's a picture of one of my friends downing a bottle of beer. I wanted to catch the silhouette for a creative shot. But the light source that was supposed to create the silhouette crept in and fooled the camera's spot metering and grossly underexposed the picture.

Nikon D90 - 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6G VR - 24mm - F/9 - 1/320s - 800 ISO - Cropped

If I had taken this photo in JPEG format, I would have had a tough time to recover the details without botching up. Mind you - asking my friend to pose for the shot again was not possible! The point is that the image sensor of my camera (Nikon D90) is actually sensitive enough to capture a lot more detail and it did. But it is not apparent on the JPEG because the JPEG processor used only part of the dynamic range of the data to render the image, thus sacrificing on the detail.

I toook the RAW image into Capture NX2, I pumped up the exposure compensation to +2 (This brings out the detail in the dark - just like 'pushing' ISO 100 film to behave like an ISO 400 film). I set shadow protection to 10 (brought out more detail and more noise with it) and then a noise-reduction to minimise the effect of noise. I then converted it to a Black-and-white image (for the feel) and this is what I got.

If I hadn't used the RAW option, this image would have been unusable.

I totally understand that shooting in RAW takes a lot of precious memory space, and the amount of work involved is a lot. I bought enough memory (memory is cheap) and I use the processing power of my laptop at night (many a times, my laptop runs overnight to convert my NEFs to JPEGs using my specific settings. 95% of the photos look good with batch-processing and then I dump the associated NEFs. The rest of the 5% can be vastly improved by manually developing the NEFs. Then there's the 1% of shots (like the one above) that have some creative potential in them and I love to spend a lot of time developing and re-developing them till I get the picture the way I want it.

Using RAW, you're using your expensive image sensor to the best capability. Shooting in RAW is not as painful as people portray it to be. You don't even need specialized software because the latest version of Picasa seems to handle RAW files from most of the popular cameras, so maybe you should give it a try. Believe me, it's worth it.

What an MBA can do to you

Looking back at my illustrious past, the 18 long years of education is projected in my mind's eye in black-and-white. There were days when home-work was heavy and there were days when nothing in the class made an iota of sense. There were days when I skipped lunch to read for an exam and there were days when crows took a dump in my lunch box.

All of those days seem like sweet (or gross) memories of the past, but nothing compared to the feelings that went through my mind when I looked at the "blackboard" today. Profs have uploaded the course-outlines that describe what to expect from a class-room session. The course-outlines give a taste of how much work goes into each session. Every 2 hour class-room session seems to ask for about 10 hours of effort outside the class-room. There's tons of pre-read, assignments and projects attached to every class. I was expecting a lot of work, but nothing to this magnitude.

I then talked to a couple of people about what they think of the course, and I heard some interesting perspectives. I seem to like what they said and I pen it down here. I would like to visit this post after a year to see where I stand. Here's the jist of what I heard today.

"Attending class is probably one of the least labor-intensive aspects of the learning here. It is what I do before and after the class that really matters. I understand that I need neither an MBA degree nor association with a premium b-school to understand the basic concepts of business. I also understand that I do not earn recognition as an MBA student if I can spit out business jargon. What I get here is an opportunity to open up my mind, take a step back, and get a new perspective of life and the people that make up my society. This course will not teach me how to be successful as an individual. It will instead teach me how I can steer a team or a society to success in what they do, and that, in turn, will make me successful. I came here with a perspective of my own. I might end up unlearning all the concepts that the society has driven into my head. I emerge out of the crowd only when I can think ahead of them and the society. That's what thought-leadership is all about, and that's what I get to learn at ISB."

I will sleep over these thoughts tonight and see how I feel tomorrow. I wish all my classmates the very best for their first core-term.

Bus ride to Koti & Gokul Chat

It feels good to be back in good ol' Hyderabad. I did my engineering here, and it feels even better to be back here as a student. During my 4 years of engineering, going to Koti was a ritual that kick-starts a new semester.

I take a crowded bus 225 to Koti, get down the running bus while it turns right on the Andhra Bank HO junction, walk down to a book-stall, return books that I hated in the last semester, and buy new ones. Then head over to Gokul Chat, and savor a plate of bhel-puri. Walk down slowly back to the bus-stop, take 225 heading back home, reach home, drop the books, glug down 3-4 glasses of water to re-hydrate my system, and black-out.

Now that I am a student again and have a couple of pre-term books to buy, I really wanted to re-live the experience of going to Koti as a student. I could as well hire an auto or drive down to Koti in my car, but I really wanted to do it the good ol' way. So, here's how it went:

Bus 225 was crowded as always and I had to stand for about 10 minutes to find a seat. Then I got to squeeze into the last seat, sharing the long seat with 6 others. My thoughts drifted back to the bus I used to take in Williamsport. The bus there always had a seat for me, and I didn't have to share it with anyone. The temperature was controlled, and the driver would always wish me well when I get off the bus. Open my eyes and I am back in a sultry bus sweating heavily and breathing the exhaust of my neighbors.

I reminded myself that I have done this many times before and that this cannot be classified as suffering. I reached Koti and was prepared to see all the shops on the side of the road taken off. This was a move to ease traffic on the road. The book-stalls have been moved to a different location nearby. I walked past Gokul Chat with a smiling face, this is a place I sorely miss from my college days.

The guy at the book-stall over-quoted the price by Rs.200 and after I convinced him that I am ready to shove the book into his mouth if he doesn't quote the correct price, he relented and set his record straight. After finishing the book hunting, I walk down to Gokul Chat.

Gokul-chat, for the uninitiated, is a landmark fast-food joint in Koti, and almost every student has his dose of chat during his book-hunting trip. This place is so famous that terrorists targeted the place about 18 months ago. The place was reconstructed from the ashes and was re-opened to stand as a symbol condemning the thoughtless act. I felt that going back to this place and enjoying a savory dish is a way to remember the lives lost here, and a way to let the terrorists know that we, as citizens of Hyderabad, will live on. If you are reading this blog and have never visited the place, please do it once, for me.

I then took a 225 back home. I was very tired by the time I dragged my feet back home with the books. I needed several liters of water and two hours of solid sleep to start feeling normal again. The sultry day gave way to a thunderstorm in the evening, and I had some fun time walking in the rain, something I didn't get to do in the US, because the rains over there are not so inviting.

Looking back, the journey was worth it, especially because I could fulfill the dream of going back to Gokul chat. Living in the US is a league of its own, but doesn't compare to the experience of taking a bus to Koti.

I Hope I Know What I'll Do This Summer

The last 15 days have been life-changing for me. I can't say whether it made me any better or worse, but well, life has, you know, changed.

After a long and arduous wait, ISB has finally offered me admission into their 2009-'10 batch and I didn't spare an hour to give it any more thought. I was waiting for the results with bated breath (well, I did breathe just enough air to keep me alive) and when I finally got the news, I sort of cut loose. I quit my well-paying job, settled my lease, booked my tickets back to India, popped open a bottle of Chopin and what not. And now, I am here in India.

The weight of my decisions has yet to reach my brain, and I still can't believe it's happening. I've been hearing conflicting opinions from people - half of them are ecstatic about my achievement, and half of them are concerned about my future, unsure how the market will turn out to be when I graduate.

The objective of spending a year at ISB should not be the "post-MBA salary". That's probably the narrowest of perspectives you could talk yourself into. From the interactions I've had over email, I seem to have hit a group with a wavelength that matches mine, and I look forward to make many friends. The infrastructure and faculty at ISB is the best money can buy, and more. I am fine as long as I make good use of what ISB has to offer, and sooner than later, I'll get where I always wanted to be.

But the money involved does make it tough for us to step back and take the broader perspective. I guess some of us will always carry our apprehensions within us until we find ourselves on terra firma after completing the course.

For now, I'm all set to take off into outer-space. I hope I come back home with a smile on my face, and a little more than a couple of moon-rocks.

Spending

With so many blogs buzzing about the economy, I didn't find anything to which I could add value. But I did find something I can talk about today. Here's the video.



So, according to the video, the money you spend on a luxury haircut could instead be spent on buying textbooks for a poor boy. And based on this logic, it questions your spending habits.

"Spending" is now a controversial issue because of the US Government bailouts. Let me argue in the Government's favor for a minute. If I had Rs.500, what kind of an effect would it have on a society if I spent it on a deluxe haircut? I'd probably pay Rs.450 to the saloon and Rs.50 in tip to my barber. The saloon would probably give Rs.100 out of the Rs.450 I paid to the barber as part of his salary. The barber gets Rs.150. He probably spends 80% of his income in the same month, which would mean that about Rs.120 is going back into the market, for probably his daily needs - groceries, house rent etc. The grocer on the street gets some business, and the landlord gets to have his rent, which he would spend on something else. The saloon owner gets his pie, and he probably spends 10% on the saloon maintenance / renovation which again is a business for someone else. He spends 50% of it to run his family, which again goes into the market - he probably goes to the same grocer. The grocer gets more business, and he spends the profit on maintaining his own family.

Get the drift? The more you spend, the more you spread your "prosperity" around. So, it's not true that you're "wasting" money when you splurge.

Is that the whole story? Hell no. It's alright as long as you spend what you legitimately earn, on something that has potential value, as long the money you're earning comes from a controlled source, and after you are done feeding your piggy. If you don't follow this, you're doing more harm than good to society. Hmm... what did I say? Read on...

Spend what you legitimately earn. Don't spend what you don't have. Take a loan if that's an utmost necessity. Don't borrow because there's someone ready to lend it to you at throw-away prices. Don't borrow what's beyond your means of repayment. Follow your dreams when it comes to your ambitions, but check back with reality when you need a loan. And when you take a loan, use the money wisely. Don't take a home-equity and go on a vacation. Oh well, there's nothing wrong in taking a vacation - you're helping the economy of the small resort-town you might be visiting, but what material value did it add to you, other than probably delaying your wife's divorce plans? And remember, you gotta pay it back some day.

The money you earn should come from a controlled source. Do you earn Zimbabwian dollars? Then I am sure you don't have enough money to look at this blog, so you're not reading this. Do you earn US Dollars? You probably are doing OK now, but you are sitting on a ticking time-bomb. The US Government is not following this rule now and neither are you, if you're spending your big US Dollars today. Uncle Sam wants you to spend, but you should now how "controlled" the source is if you look at the trade deficit charts and how well the USD is holding against gold prices. And looks like US now wants to tighten the bond (aka treasury bonds) with China. What's this new-found-love for?

Feed your piggy first. Save your money and know where your savings are going. If you're about to retire and had your valuable 401k fully invested in the stock market, don't cry foul. And whenever you think of the Government, think of this song...

You say you're looking for someone
Never week but always strong
To protect you and defend you
Whether you're right or wrong
Somone to open each and every door,
But it ain't me babe...

Bob Dylan

So, now how much money do you really have, and what do you want to "spend" it on? And are you ready to lend it to someone? Oh really?

BTW... so many thoughts couldn't have come out of me if my good friend hadn't introduced me to Ron Paul and Peter Schiff.

BTW2... Looks like AR Rahman won two Oscars. How about that! Wonder what Rahman's doing with his money tonight.

BTW3... Is Barack Obama better than George W. Bush? Obama can speak coherently, so he definitely is better. But can he scoop the US out of the "deep shit"? Let's hope he does - unlike some of the republicans who just want to "see him fail".

A big "Thank you" to Pandit Ravi Shankar

Pt. Ravi Shankar was here in Hyderabad on January 11 for a concert after 20 long years. Me and my dad have been fortunate enough to be there. I cannot write a review of the concert as I did for several other concerts in my blog. I can't even find words to describe my experience. Over the past few days I have been writing blog entries to describe my experience, but I just don't seem to like anything I wrote.

So, I finally decided to just record the moment as an instance where I was blessed. The concert was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and truly extra-ordinary. Pt.Ravi Shankar is 89 years old and when he plays his Sitar, you are transformed to a new world. His physical aging body doesn't make an iota of a difference. His Sitar is as sonorous as it ever sounded.

His daughter Anoushka Shankar is a promising heir to his kingdom. I am sure she is capable of taking her father's Sitar tradition forward for the next generation.

I thank Pundit Ravi Shankar for coming down to Hyderabad to bless us and I extend thanks to APTDC and HICC for ensuring that the concert was organized well.

Fun with BR-2A Macro Reverse ring

Every photography enthusiast who has a Nikon DSLR should definitely buy the 50mm 1.8D prime lens and the BR-2A reverse ring. You can have endless fun with this combination. You will spend your lazy Sunday afternoon jumping around in your house with your camera and some fun subjects.

For instance, take a look at this picture


1/400 sec, f/5.6 ISO 1600 (PP'ed in Capture NX2). Subject is a yellow-gold & white-gold ring that I have been wearing. It has a diameter of approximately 20mm.

Look at what people have achieved with this combination.

I had a difficult time figuring out how to make this combination work. The method is documented very clearly on the internet if you look - but it's sometimes hard to understand, so I am documenting it again here for the benefit of folks who land here (of all places).

1. Switch off your camera and unmount your existing lens.
2. Mount the BR-2A ring as if you're mounting a lens.
3. Hold your 50mm f/1.8D lens with the front element facing the camera, take off the front lens cap and screw the lens on to the BR-2A as if you are screwing in a filter to a lens.
4. Use the back-element cap as your new lens cap for protection.
5. The lens has an aperture ring with an aperture lock switch. If you have been using your 50mm lens as a regular lens, you would have closed down your aperture and locked the aperture using the switch. This enables the camera to control the aperture. Now that doesn't work. So, unlock the aperture ring and turn it wide open.
6. Set your camera to manual mode and switch it on. You will see 'F--' on the information panel. That's normal, and that's because your camera can't read the aperture value on the lens. The lens is essentially de-coupled, so none of the automatic controls work - no auto-exposure, no auto-focus, nothing.
7. Set your ISO and shutter speed to the desired value. If you don't know what suits, try some combination that you feel comfortable with.
8. If you have a D90, your live-view comes in handy. Switch on the live-view now. Use the live-view zoom control to zoom in. This will help you check the focus precisely.
9. To focus, move your camera forward / backward till your subject is in focus. The DOF will be narrower than 1mm. So, use a steady hand. If you have a tripod, use it. If the tripod has rails, couldn't ask for more.
10. When your subject is in focus, click. Now check the output.
11. The picture will end up under-exposed unless you are shooting in bright sun-light. Now, use your creativity to change your shutter-speed, aperture and ISO to obtain a great picture without camera shake, using the right DOF and with minimal noise.
12. If you need to use high ISO, don't be afraid to use it. A noisy picture is better than a blurry one. Remember, we now have advanced noise reduction software around to improve noise levels after the fact.
    

Have fun!

RIAA - on the wrong side of Copyright Law

Why are Audio CDs priced at an average of $1 a track? Is it because a buck is not a serious price to pay for the creative output of a musical genius? If that were the argument, I'd buy that. As you might be aware, that's not true. How much do the end artist make off each CD? Around 10 cents a track. What do you make of it? Let's take this example.

If 10,000 copies of an album are sold at $15 a piece, the artist gets $15000 and the recording label takes $135,000. Of course, the recording label has to pay for manufacturing the CDs, for marketing them and partially for losses on albums that don't sell as expected.

I hear ya... they need to pay lawyer fees to sue individuals for acting as pirates. Oh but hey, they squeeze a lot of money out of the accused (typically $750 per track shared - have you heard of Jammie Thomas?) and they end up making a fat profit out of it. We never know if court cases can be considered an expenditure or a new source of income, so let me not count that.

The copyright law upholds the property rights of an individual or company, and as such, is a basis for success in a capitalistic society. So, the society, as a rule, takes a tough stance against anyone breaking the copyright law. Well, as a person who appreciates capitalistic ideals, it does make sense to me. But a civilized society also provides rights to criminals (at least basic human rights). So, stripping a person of $750 for sharing a song is equivalent to the Arabian law of amputating a hand because the hand was instrumental in perpetrating a crime.

RIAA's tactics of intimidating file-sharers has been met with strong criticism. RIAA singles out individuals who could be caught easily, and make them pay for the mistake of a thousand others. So, how does that help in reducing piracy? Did that stop any Chinese or Canadian torrent site from sharing files? No it doesn't. They're just taking advantage of the law to make up for the "estimated" loss caused by piracy. But that's not law is meant for. A law is put in place to restrain future criminals. If a particular law fails to achieve this goal, the law should no longer be used.

RIAA has recently realized that there are more civilized ways of dealing with the crime. They're working with ISP's to identify and prevent file-sharing. They're now using technology to prevent crime and not to identify criminals and sentence them to death.

There are other ways too.

• Get into the digital music revolution. Save money by cutting down on CD manufacturing and distribute DRM-free music online. It would be of great help if you pay the artists for digital music sales.
  
• Make music cheaper to buy. If each track costs 20 cents to purchase (ensuring the actual artist still gets paid his 10 cents), This will not stop piracy totally, but more people will end up buying original music. They have done that in India and now many people buy original CDs. They haven't done that yet for DVDs, so the DVD piracy is still a major problem.
• Use technology to detect and identify individuals sharing copyright music in a big way. Send "cease and desist" notices to them. Then use the law to help the ISP withdraw broadband service to them, and ensure he doesn't get broadband access from any other ISP.
• Release music across the world at the same time, at an affordable price. Piracy of a particular album is at it's greatest in the first week the album hits the market. Many people Rwill not resort to piracy if the album is available in their store, and if they can afford it.

The Radiohead story stands as a testimonial to the bad practices of the recording industry. Radiohead offered their new album "In Rainbows" for free, and asked users to pay whatever they wanted to for their download. Why did the do that? Because they grew tired of the business model of the labels. Although there is no official report of how successful the new distribution was, the general agreement was that even though a third of the downloads were taken for free, Radiohead received on an average of £4 per download. That's more than what they'd eventually make if they had sold the rights of their album to a label. The album was eventually distributed in the traditional formats, and they have made more money out of it.

RIAA, thanks for waking up. Please stop intimidating people, and earn your reputation back with the musicians and customers. The musicians need your encouragement in releasing their music, and the customers need your help in getting the music they want at the right price. That's how you add value to the supply-chain. Make decent profit and enjoy our love.

Blackberry "Drizzle"

One of my friends was head-over-heals about the iPhone, but he just couldn't buy one because he is on Verizon, and is not interested in either breaking the contract with Verizon or in signing a new contract with AT&T.

Out comes the Blackberry Storm and this friend of mine is very excited. He said he finally can lay his hands on a new phone that can satisfy his iPhone cravings. Even though I didn't want to dash his excitement, I was rather sure RIM can't get anywhere near the kind of interface that Apple developed for the iPhone.

Now, we get to see video after video about Blackberry's slow-as-a-snail interface. The scrolling is painfully slow. Typing on that soft sure-type keyboard, or whatever they call it, is a pain. RIM recently sent an update to the phones which alleviated some of the problems, but it gets nowhere near the slickness of the iPhone's interface.

What triggered this post is RIM's claim that their "Storm" is Verizon's best-selling device. It truly is - because people hoped for an iPhone on the Verizon network, and grabbed anything that looked like it. And what did they do after they stormed Verizon stores and bought these babies? They returned back to the store, wished the salesman in there in a polite way and returned the phone. So, are the returns counted in these "sales"?

Come on Blackberry, HTC, Samsung et al. The iPhone's user-interface is backed by at least 4 years of research. You can't just grab the idea, grind it in your favourite blender and come up with a new UI in a year. Don't try to imitate Apple - concentrate on your own selling points. Offer Stereo bluetooth, offer MMS, offer video-recording, offer VOIP, offer high-speed tethering. Flaunt the stuff that iPhone doesn't have. Do whatever, just don't imitate the iPhone and make an ass of yourself.

By far, the iPhone has the best UI on any mobile device. Other than cut-and-paste, which just complicates the UI and a slight lag here and there, I found zero problems with the UI.

So, what other platform offers a good promise with the UI? Probably Android. It's currently being developed furiously and it's open source. But Google should come out of the clutches of the carriers and offer these phones unlocked. Only then will they be able to eat into the iPhone's market-share.

Coming to market-share, there's a report that says RIM has sold 6.9 million smart-phones in Q4 so far. That's almost as many iPhone 3Gs that Apple has sold in the same period. So, if Apple can beat RIM's 10 models with just one model, who's making more money here?

Yes - Over 60 and still rocking!

Close your eyes. Imagine a major rock performance. Guitars, drums, mikes, monitors, amplifiers, speakers, gear than can cost millions of dollars, sub-woofer units that can register a 4 on the Richter scale, wild spectators, bright and colorful spot-lights that could trigger a bout of epilepsy on the most stable and sensible brains... i can go on and on. Everybody's attention is on the lead guitarist, who is looking skywards, his torso arched backwards, knees bent forwards, and making his electric guitar squeal for its dear life! Now, guess the age of the guitarist.

I'm sure you're way off. His age is 61. He is Steve Howe, lead guitarist in the legendary Yes Band. And even at that age, he makes love to his guitar on stage without a hint of hesitation.

London based Yes band rocked the Community Arts Center yesterday, and I was right there in the first row. I was pretty certain these guys were great instrumentalists, and their vocals featured harmonies. What surprised me was the psychedelic edge to their music. Their music reminded me of "Dark Side of the Moon". Even though they sounded similar to Pink Floyd, I find it hard to compare these two bands. I guess I like Pink Floyd better, but these guys were very good in their own right.

Chris Square's bass sounded very different and packs a punch. Most of the psychedelic touches of this band come from Oliver Wakerman on the keyboard. Alan White's drums sounded good, but didn't really seem to shine in today's performance. His drums sometimes reminded me of Led Zeppelin.

There are two aspects that don't seem to go well with the current line-up of the band. The vocalist, Benoît David, who replaced Jon Anderson doesn't seem to fit well. There's no denying that Benoît David has a great voice. But somehow, his voice doesn't seem to fit to the sound of the band. Jon Anderson, as seen on Youtube videos, is way better. The second problem is that the harmonies of Steve Howe and Chris Square don't seem to match the brightness of Benoît David's voice.

There was an opening act by a band whose name I am unable to recollect. They did a good job too. But the members of Yes made us wait for about 20 minutes after the opening act and that felt uncomfortable. Of course, I had my iPhone, so I used the time to research on the history of this band. This was the first band that made us wait and I am not happy about it.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable performance. Live rock performances generally take their toll on the performer's body and I am surprised at how this band can sustain the high levels of energy at their age. Hope they continue rocking for a long time to come.

The cherryholmes

I've got introduced to bluegrass by Ken Shafranko, my client at work, and a dobro player in the Stained Grass Window band.

So, what's bluegrass music? Here's the answer if you haven't read the excellent Wikipedia article. It's a genre of music based on blazing fast foot-tapping acoustic music that has its traditions in old Scottish and Irish music. The lyrics resemble country music and are based on simple, yet sometimes profound, aspects of life like love, the country-side, death etc and also cross over into gospel. They seldom talk about "rock" stuff like sex, drugs yada yada. The members have the band should have mastered their instrument, and should contribute to vocal harmonies. If you appreciate instrumental music, you're sure to appreciate this genre.

The Cherryholmes are a family band. The father, mother and three of their kids are the members of the band. They go around the country, and sometimes overseas to perform, and have a tight performance schedule, sometimes clocking 300 days a year. In their spare time, apart from doing stuff like giving their dogs a tummy rub, they record albums. Their albums have been nominated to the grammies, and it's "wierd" (the way Jere, the father of the band puts it), why they haven't won one.

They were here in Williamsport last Saturday, playing at the Community Arts Center, which, according to me, is a jewel of this town. I don't have a list of tracks they performed, but all I can say, is that right from the first song, they were fast, furious and freaking awesome!

Playing fast is probably in the very roots of bluegrass music. But you can't really impress someone with your fast music, unless your notes are crisp, and doesn't sound like a series of random sounds. The members of this band are serious masters of their instrument. Their speed, accuracy, timing and co-ordination seem to be at their best in their instrumental tracks. That doesn't mean they can't do the slow stuff. Their ballads pack such emotion that I could hear sobs in the silent theatre when the band was singing "This is my son" from their latest album.

The upright bass, the banjo, the guitar and the violin. Each instrument has its own place, and the sound of each instrument strikes a sweet chord in your heart. The vocals are buttery smooth and melodious. I was greatly impressed by Molly Kate's fiddlling, and her sweet voice (I wanted to hear more of her), and BJ's fireworks with his violin.

What's really surprising is how a family could develop such a cohesive force in a band, get the members pick up instruments to fill a place in the band, and hold on to the team work in spite of the long hours driving around the country. I also wonder how the young members of the team could stick together with the family band through their difficult teenage years, when each individual goes through tumulutous times growing up and understanding themeselves. There would surely have been moments when the young children wanted to get away from all of this strenuous and unforgiving schedule, and i am eager to understand how they managed to stick together to come up with such stellar performance.

And I almost forgot to mention that this is probably the only bluegrass band that features a tap dance. They spontaneously came forward in the middle of a song and cheerfully danced, maintaining the rhythm of the song, and went back in time to continue the song. It's not just here, each move of the band is choreographed well. When the members of the band converge near a mike, you're not just enthralled at their smooth harmonies, you're entertained by constant movement on the stage, like a well choreographed dance.

To sum it all up, this is the best bluegrass concert I have been to, and ranks among the all-time best concerts I have ever been to (I still can't dislodge the Shakti concert from the top). The performance lasted for two hours, but I was transformed into a new world where time was not a dimension to worry about. I sat there staring at the members of the band while they unleashed torrent after torrent of the most melodious notes. They were stellar.

I've just grabbed an opportunity to be at a concert of the Del McCoury Band at State College, PA. I just have to wait till tomorrow to figure out what this band has in store for me. I am expecting another scintillating performance, and I am eager to be there.

The week that rocked

This weekend was one of the best I've had for a long time.

Apple replaced my damaged iPhone (It had a cracked glass). I had to shell out money to get this done, but the process was fast and efficient. Now I have a new iPhone.

I've got a new Nikon D90 body, Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor lens, Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF prime and many accessories. I've had a blast taking photos with my new camera. Head on to my Picasa Web album for more.

My boss complimented me on the work I had done on a module. The business expected the process of getting this implemented to be a grueling long drawn pain, but I finished it in two weeks. Another happy moment.

My friend visited me from Baltimore. It had been a long time since I had seen him, and it was nice to spend some time with him.

We went to the PA Grand Canyon (Leonard Harrison state park & Colton Point state park) to look at the fall colors and take some pictures. We trekked through trails which run amid thick forests. When the sun shines bright, the leaves take the color of red-hot coals, and it's spectacular. Here's the photo album taken with my new camera.

We also went to the Cherryholmes concert held at the Williamsport Community Arts Center. Cherryholmes is a family bluegrass band. They are excellent instrumentalists, and great entertainers. They're probably the only bluegrass band that feature a tap-dance. This is one concert I will remember for a long long time. I plan to write more about this shortly.

What more could possibly happen in a single week?

Am I a PC or a Mac?

Companies compete not just in their product offerings; they also compete well in their advertisements. I still remember the Pepsi-Coke commercials that rocked India during the cricket season.

Digressing for a second, I also would like to mention how top CEOs down-play their competitor products, at least to add some punch to their otherwise mundane presentations. Larry Ellison is famous for trashing Bill Gates. Steve Jobs is generally more subtle in his attacks against Microsoft, except for the occasion where he accused Microsoft of lacking “taste”. He generally lets his executives do the Microsoft trashing most of the time. Microsoft generally ignores such banter.

What can I draw from this? Smaller companies vying for a pie out of the larger company’s market-share typically attack larger companies. And if the larger company is unfazed of this competition, they ignore these attacks. But things change when the smaller company pulls of a successful product that forces the larger company to sit up and notice.

One clear example of this is the Microsoft-Apple battle. Microsoft never took Apple’s acusations seriously, until recently. You must have watched uber-exuberant Steve Ballmer make fun of the Macbook Air and the iPhone. Even after factoring Ballmer’s hyper-activity, the bottom-line is that Microsoft took notice. They began to realize that Apple is steadily increasing its market-share, and that Apple’s products can no longer be ignored.

I believe that as Apple continues to innovate in their iPods and iPhones offering superior user experiences, new form factors and drive sales with aggressive price-points, their computer market share will continue to grow. If a user is very satisfied with his iPhone, he would want to buy a Mac (I did the same, and there are several reports all over the internet that the majority of iPhone users want their next machine to be a Mac). Moreover, Microsoft’s Vista debacle also helped boost Apple sales.

Microsoft did take notice, and they understand that Apple’s products are a threat to their business. How do they counter it? Through their Ad campaign that counters Apple’s famous Get a Mac commercials. Microsoft has released their own set of ads titled “I’m a PC” where they feature Bill Gates, and initially the famous comedian Sienfield. They counter Apple’s ads by trying to make a point that PC users are not really nerds at the office desk, as portrayed by Apple, but are people who are successful at work, and definitely have a life worth talking about.

I believe Microsoft’s commercials attacking Apple do not have substance. By alluding to Apple’s ads, they’re publicizing Apple’s products using their own money. The target audience view these ads as attempts by Microsoft to counter Apple’s recent fame, and thus PC users who have never taken Macs seriously until today will start researching on Macs and what they offer. Every viewer watching one ad from Microsoft will continue exploring and watch ALL the ads of Apple. I feel this ad campaign would be equivalent of an own goal in soccer.

I’m both a Mac and a PC. I use a Macbook Air and run Windows XP on it using VMWare Fusion because I need it for work. When I am not working, I generally use OS X for its excellent multimedia capabilities. At home in India, I have a lovely PC. I will use whatever hardware / software that works for me. If the Government of Zimbabwe (I just wanted to know if they had a website) designs a product that will make a difference to my life, I’ll buy it.

Assorted Best photographs in one place

There was a time when I took photo-sharing accounts at flickr and webshots. But I have not been maintaining them regularly. I now decided to showcase my best photographs at one place, and I have decided to put it in Google's Picasaweb.

Only the first five photos here have been taken using my old Minolta Dynax 5 Film SLR, developed, printed and scanned in the studio. All the other photos are from my newer Panasonic Lumix FZ15.

Please take a look at those photographs and send me your comments.

Here's the direct link to my Assorted Best album at Picasaweb. Hope you like the photos.

Photography while traveling - A conflict

I had been to Munnar recently on a short family vacation. Since it had been a long time since I had been on a true vacation with my parents (the previous one was to the beach resort in Vizag), I wanted to go all out and have fun. Now, here’s the situation.


I can’t go beyond say 10 kilometers from my home without lugging along my camera. And when I have a camera with me, it’s hard to stop thinking about it. Instead of looking around to just stand and stare, my mind runs at a hectic pace looking for opportunities to compose a good photograph. My objective of getting to Munnar is to leave all worries behind and give my mind the much needed chance of relaxation. But my mind refuses to rest when a camera is around. So, my challenge is to balance these two conflicting objectives, by letting my mind wander till it settles down. Let me explain this in greater detail.



In my previous expeditions into nature, I used to pre-occupy myself with photography. But this time, I tried to restrain myself from picking the camera up too much. When I see something that sends my brain into a frenzy of photography, I just let it run and just refuse to pick up the camera. Once my mind realizes that it’s whim is not going to be granted, it settles down to calmer pursuits. I then enjoy the place to my heart’s content. When it’s time to leave the place, I then pick up the camera, and go snapping. Since I did not allow my mind its freedom the first time around, this time my mind doesn’t get totally involved into the pursuit of photography. I just flip the camera to auto-mode, point and shoot.


I didn’t expect to get great pictures because I didn’t “work hard” at it. But I am pleasantly surprised with the results.


At least some of the photographs have come out decent, at least to my standard.


So, I prioritized enjoying the place over photography and yet, the results were not that bad. So, I can still enjoy the scenery and take decent photographs. I've decided I need to practice this restraint philosophy more thoroughly until no active monitoring is needed, and this attitude becomes second-nature. But for that, I need more vacations. How convenient!

Switch to a Mac

This was something I was planning to do for a long time, ever since I saw the first mac (or rather the second in an absolute sense) at my friend's place. He had a beautiful while Macbook, and I wanted one right then. The first one was an older iMac that I saw when I was a kid. The graphics on that system were way better than the PC-XT and PC-AT systems I used to play with, but I was still a kid and any kind of Macs were just beyond me at that time.

I have been following the Mac community ever since, and even though I initially thought they were a set of snobs who want to be in a clique, proud of the money they spend on gadgets, interacting with them changed my opinion on them. I realized they were a set of people who have taken a brave step forward exploring other operating systems, and actually found one that was better than the other one, and stuck to it. They don't stop there, but are eager to let their friends see the benefits of using one of those, and give a whole-hearted suggestion to pick one up when they can. I promised to that friend of mine that my next laptop is going to be a Mac, but I never thought that it would happen so fast.

I got hooked to the iPhone when it came in. iPhone was so revolutionary at that time that I didn't hesitate much to empty my wallet to get one. And I never had to look back. The iPhone has its quirks, but it's just a gift from tomorrow that you happened to see today. Using the phone and interacting with it helped me improve my understanding towards how Macs are designed, and why their hardware and software is a serious contender to the more ubiquitous PCs.

Then Apple released the Macbook Air. I wasn't sure if this ultra-light notebook was the thing for me. But after a few days of deep thought, I decided I will go for it. I got one after a lot of fist-fighting, and after paying quite a premium, and there's no looking back.

I'm in love for the second time.

Negative publicity from non-users

I have been following the technology sector, and especially the gadget sector pretty intently for the past few months. The recent past has seen more than the usual number of technological breakthroughs, not just in terms of coming up with new gagets, but with the way these new gadgets have raised the bar on how these devices interact with humans.

The iPhone, for example, did really re-invent the phone. It doesn't mean that they have found a way to place a call to a person who doesn't own a phone, but that the phone is no longer just a pure old phone to their owners. These new generation of phones can do a lot more than making calls. 

The GPS market has been buzzing with newer inventions. GPS devices coming into phones, GPS devices playing music, GPS devices calling out street names etc.

Along with every blessing, there comes a bane. And the bane of the recent up-trend of technology is the number of people forwarding negative publicity. People begin rating products just looking at it on a website, just reading the technical-specifications. I've read a report saying that more than 90% of the people commenting and rating a product do not actually own it.

It's good if they give an honest rating. But most of the people who aren't in a position to buy one, invent these depressing ways of finding reasons not to like the product. They actually like it, and want to buy it, but they just can't, because they probably have something similar that works, or because just cannot afford one. They do not stop there and go on with their life. They instead start defaming the product saying it doesn't have this, it doesn't do that, so I hate it. And I do not want you to get it either. The people who actually own it write good and honest reviews about it, or just stay out of the whole mess.

So, a novice comes in looking for a product, runs into a good product, reads the negative publicity and stays away from it, and picks another product not meant for him. His decision was based on the views of the majority, who never owned the product he's interested in.

So, to you all readers out there. Do not rely on reviews too much. Do not base your decisions on someone else's opinion unless you personally know him or you're sure he owns a product, and is trying to warn you against committing the same mistake.

And to all those who post reviews on a product. If you do not own a product, ask questions about it in forums. If you own a product, post an honest review about it, if you please. And answer questions in the forum if that's your kind of thing. Do not go around badmouthing products you do not own. Keep your gadget world clean, and encourage good products with good reviews. Because the more you encourage a product, the better it gets.

Go ahead, explore the gadget world, and have fun. Lots of fun.

New York City - a microcosm of the Universe

New York City has been eluding me for a while, and I finally cought hold of it during the Thanksgiving weekend. I have been thinking about posting something on this for quite some time now, but I haven't got a clue on where to start, and how to go about describing my experiences. But I have realized that if I keep waiting for the best idea, I will probably never be able to do it. So, here it goes.

By New York City, I just mean the Manhattan area. The first thing that catches your attention is the clear difference between people who have come to visit NYC and people who stay, live and work there. The best place to catch this difference is probably at the Times Square. People who live and work in NY might not hit the Times Square in the first place, but if they have to go through Times Square, they do not look around much, walk straight and fast, and probably take the stairs down to the nearest subway. Visitors go around Times Square with their jaws half-dropped, eyes half-popped, and walk around aimlessly, blocking others' way on the footpath, and flashing their cameras around, not knowing that flash cannot be used to capture night landscapes.

Another aspect you'll notice is the variety of ethnicity. You find people from all over the world. Its probably like a good stamp or coin collection, where the collector tries to ensure you have as much variety as possible. People representing differnt nations, speaking entirely different languages, come from all over the world, but all enchanted the same way experiencing the city.

I liked the way the subways serve to take people around the city. The subway system is easy to follow, tickets are easy to procure, the waiting time at the stations is pretty less, and its definitely a very convenient way to go around. I never felt the need for a car when I was going around in Manhattan. You just buy a day-pass and keep hitting the subways.

I will have to mention about the crowds. I never thought that Thanksgiving was such a touristy time. I thought I will not find any Americans around, as they would all have gone to their grandmothers' to enjoy a big lunch and a get-together. But the crowds proved otherwise. Do you know it took me two full hours of waiting in the queue before I could reach the top of the Empire State Building? I could get to the sanctum sanctorium in Tirumala in less time than that, shelling out much lesser in terms of money.

And then the sights and sounds. I don't think we'll have any other place in the world where you feel the roar of the trains going under the road, smell fresh hot-dogs and hear a guitar strumming a few feet away, and a tourist shouting in some unrecognizable language, all at the same time, and at the same place!

One part I missed was the night-life. I spent only one evening in the city, and was so tired by night, that I had to call it a day and settle down in my room. I am sure it would have been awesome if I could have a couple of drinks at some nice pub, but then I have to ask the locals for directions, so I don't pop into some gay bar of some sort.

Other than all this, the visit to NYC went pretty eventless, like getting to see the Statue of Liberty etc. (Of course the Statue of Liberty was something I really wanted to see, but it doesn't count when I compare it to the other experiences I had).

New York City is indeed a microcosm of the Universe. Yes, not just the world, coz it's not that difficult to spot a couple of aliens from our neighbouring solar systems if you watch closely enough. I would also like to visit London, because I feel both these cities are pretty similar in terms of the diversity of visitors, the underground trains, and both represent the best in terms of being cultural hubs in their own right. Another compelling point pulling me towards London is the fact that a lot of good friends of mine seem to be hovering around there.

I look forward to visiting the NYC again, as I haven't had enough of it yet.

Starbucks logo

My love for the coffee at the Cafe Coffee Day back in India has transitioned into love for Starbucks here in the US. Even though I have a cup of coffee every morning, the special cup of Latte at Starbucks stays close to my heart, and I look forward to slurping my latte over the weekend.

Now, I am speaking the truth when I say that my love for Starbucks has nothing to do with their logo. When I initially looked at the Starbucks logo, I thought it was a young girl holding a couple of big fish in her hands. Damn my over-simplifying innocence.

Here's the inside story of the logo. The truth is plain and simple. The logo is of a mermaid spreading her legs to you, inviting you to have fun with her. I wish I never knew. I wish I never visited this site.

But they have sanitised the logo over time to come up with this very innocent-looking picture. I accept I was fooled. But does that affect my love for their coffee in any way? Nope. I like their coffee, and I like their current logo. If someone asks me what the logo represents, I would still tell them that its a little girl holding up a couple of fish in her hand.

This world is a crazy place.