Time to write, et all

Of late, writing has been pretty erratic--life in general has been pretty busy and erratic sometime too. Well that's expected if you live in greater NY area and work in the big apple.

Anyways, the overnight snowfall dumped about 3-4 inches of thick yet loose snow all over central Jersey. So I wake up to find the stairs to the parking lot covered in deep snow with no foot prints yet (and no shovel). After a couple of minutes of precarious balancing to avoid the shoes from getting wet (as much as possible), I had to spend another 5 minutes cleaning up the dense layer of snow from the car (now obviously the shoes get wet-duhh).

Mine was the 6th car on the road which usually has about 60 on a normal day and the speed at which everyone is driving is less than 10mph. The breaks are still not holding good at the lights and creating this grrrrkkkhhh sound to let you know that the tires are thoroughly soaked in snow and ice-dirt. Thanks to the AWD though, I managed to safely reach the train station (One amazing thing about NJ transit train service; it runs late in summer however run almost on schedule during such wintry days) ---way to work. Lets see what snowy mix is waiting there :)

True Indian Innovation

Mobile Commerce - Indian innovation

This is the perfect example that India slowly but surely is becoming the innovation hub in Asia. The pace of change and adoption of new technology are definitely slower than other comparable economies but the potential (1 billion people and more!) is enormous.

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Gut feeling vs Lean judgement

The Malcolm Gladwell bestseller "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" advocates the use of gut feeling or gut check as a critical factor in human decision making; Do I want that burger? Do I believe what I see as discount on that price tag? Is that car the right one for me? Every decision making is suddenly impulsive and cognitive psychologists are having a field day describing human behavior based on such heuristics..suddenly gut reaction have become the next big thing for decision making. CEOs to soccer mom - everyone is apparently doing gut check.

In this effort to do gut check for everything, we keep on forgetting about inherent traits as cognitive biases (where our judgment is based on stuff we know and want to believe against stuff that we do not know or do not want to know)..sample this ..bias to mimimize personal ego loss in a conflict can direct decision making to be something that is suitable to the personal ego and not for resolution of the conflict (think initial conflicts between board and union members of Walmart where each group was motivated to avoid big loss and didn't concentrate on mutual gain).

It is suggested by experts to follow the lean principles of decision making

(a) don't decide and execute till the last reasonable time for decision making

(b) verify all bits of information (may be rationalization sometimes is better)-- e.g. unicorns do not exist even if you see them after being drunk and

(c) question your decision (ask the other group who disagrees to your decision making)

Last but foremost is definitely trust your gut but don't leave a chance to question and verify it.

Made In India-1 More Time

photo courtesy:AM_iphone

Better Place

Project Better Place. It seems that Israel got it right this time (and this is not about the Gaza strip)! This company will make Israel completely gasoline independant in next 10-12 years. And how will they do it? electric cars...why cannot the US congress have a look into this company?

Start with may be small cities as pilot projects and then move key cities completely of the gasoline map...can you think of NYC with a near zero carbon footprint? Instead of offshore drilling with trillions of borrowed dollars and polluting the environment, why don't spend some money on pilot projects and make this happen?
Why doesn't Obama or McCain speak about this?
Click on the following links for more details

http://www.projectbetterplace.com/

http://shaiagassi.typepad.com/the_long_tailpipe/2008/06/the-better-stor.html

Scary Horoscopes

Some horoscopes are so scaringly true representation of your inner mind...
"You have the intensity of fire in your eyes now and the strength of your conviction can actually be scary to someone close to you. Although you don't necessarily feel angry, it's apparent that you will fight for what you want. If others seem confused by your intentions, assure them that you mean no harm and that you are just very passionate about what you know. Then, take a deep breath and tell your story. " ---my horoscope for today from Tarot.com
...............they forgot to add this 1 liner..the problem of the story is not the story itself but the acceptance of the audience listening...

BB vs Iphone?

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/photos/blackberry-9000-in-the-wild-1/
Those are the alleged snaps of the new Blackberry to hit the market soon. So may be people who don't want to be tied to Apple have a true alternative, and a better one too, given that BB comes with real keyboard and real keys not with virtual keyboard (iPhone) that can only be used by nimble fingers...

MOVERS (& SHAKERS)

In last 2 weeks, coincidentally I had 3 emails asking for advice on relocation and selection of movers. Every 1 seems to be dissatisfied with their current location. Anyways, some key pointers on how to select a mover

1. How big are the movers? Credibility can be checked online usually. Check for insurance, registration, feedback from other customers.
2. Are they flexible with you packing stuff or they will pack stuff? (if they pack then anything breaks their responsibility, you pack its your responsibility)
3. Total expense (no hidden fees like NY charge, Chicago charge, charge for special trucks etc)
4. Committment to dates and times (should not be more than a day delay)
5. Registration with BBB (Better Business Bureau) or other trade bodies.
6. Since you have only few stuff, how will they xfer the stuff? Wil they use a 18 wheeler or a small truck? if they use a 18 wheeler, then they will not travel still they have enough materials from other customers so thats its cost effective for them to move your stuff from Boston to SF....this might mean delay, extra charges etc.
7. How much will your employer pay and how much you have to pay from pocket might also help to determine which movers you can afford and who are beyond reach?
8. Can you and your partner use a UHaul instead of hiring movers? if Yes, then do it. Don't get a mover.

ABCD et all

When will they learn to be "lean"?
Lean means not being "wasteful", to have "in-built quality process", appreciation of "pull/need based work flow" and ability to look at the "bigger picture" than just any sub component.
Why in "Namesake", Gogol's dad had to die before he realize his roots and "listen" to his true call?