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Earth Hour 2009 - Video

Earth hour was started in 2007 and in Sydney, Australia. And is now joined by more than 4000 cities and 88 countries. In Dubai, where external lighting on several major city landmarks was turned off and street lighting in selected areas was dimmed by 50%, the Electricity and Water Authority reported savings of 100 megawatt-hours of electricity. This represented a 2.4% reduction in demand compared to before the hour began.

Make the difference. 

IPL-2 in multiplexes…

When Mr.Modi first had a press conference about the schedule for IPL-2, much before moving it out of India, there was a mention about IPL-2 being screened live in multiplexes. The concept was, multiplexes would screen live cricket match played in a different venue.

Now, IPL-2 being played at South Africa, I guess this new concept will can see daylight. Not many cricket fans will be able to fly to SA to watch the matches. If this new concept kicks off, cricket fans can enjoy the feel of the match with the same crowd along with the screaming and cheering, of course for a price. With movies running a dry season, this will surely cheer up the multiplex owners also. Hope Mr.Modi considers this as a viable revenue option. 

Change… Should read consumers' mind well…

Facebook has been deluged with feedback on its new layout, much of it negative but constructive. Hundreds of thousands of people gave the redesign a thumbs-down in a user poll. And groups like "MEMBERS WANT THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK!" have formed to voice their discontent.While the social network isn't reverting back to the old page design, they are making a handful of changes to appease some of the outraged masses.  

Users of Facebook raised their opinions to an extent which made facebook to revert the changes made. What should companies, more precisely services providing companies, whose revenue is based on the no of users using it should do before offering new services (or changes?). Well, reading the consumer’s mind is the topmost thing to be done. “Change” is never easily accepted in the consumer community. The transition phase is very crucial for the success. Now, it looks like Facebook has managed the situation well, however what will be there next move?? Have to wait and watch.

"None of the above" option

I was reading an article about the election campaign "Jaago re", creating awareness about exercising our vote for the forthcoming election. This thought cropped up in my mind, what if you do not want to vote to any of the parties (less said about the kind of parties we have). Now, here’s an innovative (imaginary?) solution for this, what if we have an option on the electronic voting machine which says “None of the above”.

I know most of us would like such an idea of exercising our voting right and at the same time choosing the right option also. However will the election commission like such kind of option, I doubt. And definitely none of the political parties will encourage this.  

8.2 seconds... and you are in love..

Men take 8.2 seconds to fall in love It takes 8.2 seconds for a man to fall in love at first sight, say scientists.

Now, this is an intersting study. I am sure all men are up and ready to spend 8.2 sec and what more, the study says if you stare at a gal for less than 8.2 sec, it might not result in love at first sight. 

Now that's what i call, putting a number. Guys, go ahead, spend that 8.2 sec and you might find your love. How ever, get yourself well prepared before you do that first move towards her.

Hourly drivers... A new concept..

After taxis on hire for hourly basis, its the turn for drivers. Yes, that's rite, you get drivers on hire.  I came across this service a couple of days back. 

So what's special about this? We have seen such services before. Well, here you can hire drivers on per hour basis and the tariff is based on the number of hours the driver is present. You can do your booking online and the driver will arrive at your doorstep. For the busy families, who needs drivers to pick or drop their children to school, take elders to temple/hospitals, or even for shopping, this service is perfect. What more, these drivers speak variety of languages, they also assist in grocery shopping, bill payments, etc. 

Find more about this @ www.hourlydrivers.com 

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Political funda

Is this the end of America?

'Is this the end of America?' 'Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve is dropping trillions of fresh paper dollars on the world economy, the President of the United States is cracking jokes on late night comedy shows, his energy minister is threatening a trade war over carbon emissions, his treasury secretary is dithering over a banking reform program amid rising concerns over his competence and a monumentally dysfunctional U.S. Congress is launching another public jihad against corporations and bankers.

As an aghast world — from China to Chicago and Chihuahua — watches, the circus-like U.S. political system seems to be declining into near chaos. Through it all, stock and financial markets are paralyzed. The more the policy regime does, the worse the outlook gets. The multi-ringed spectacle raises a disturbing question in many minds: Is this the end of America?'

- Terence Corcoran

What Can Tata's Nano Teach Detroit?

From Businessweek: Understanding your customer, or potential customers, is another. What do your customers need? What do they really want? What can they afford? The customer was ever-present in the development of the Nano. Tata didn't set the price of the Nano by calculating the cost of production and then adding a margin. Rather it set $2,500 as the price that it thought customers could pay and then worked back, with the help of partners willing to take on a challenge, to build a $2,500 car that would reward all involved with a small profit.

The Nano engineers and partners didn't simply strip features out of an existing car—the tack Renault took with its Dacia Logan, which sells in India for roughly $10,000. Instead, they looked at their target customers' lives for cost-cutting ideas. So, for instance, the Nano has a smaller engine than other cars because more horsepower would be wasted in India's jam-packed cities, where the average speed is 10 to 20 miles per hour. 

The Big Three, by contrast, are insulated. As Dev Patnaik, founder of strategy firm Jump Associates (and someone with family in Detroit) argues in his book, Wired to Care, U.S. automakers are disconnected from even the average American consumer because all of their employees and those employees' friends and family are given steep discounts. A company can't develop successful products if it doesn't have regular contact with customers. And no, focus groups don't count.'

What are we loosing here..

Its final, South Africa will host IPL-2 , so what is India loosing here?? 

Firstly, it shows the indian political drama at the world stage. While passing the buck goes on, SA has bagged the cash-rich event. Secondly, die-hard cricket fans will fly to SA to view the IPL-2. Its a blessing for SA tourism, which they can show off to the world on the expense of IPL franchise owners. Moving on, with world football to be hosted by SA in 2010,it has got a good platform to prove to the world that it has the capability of hosting large sports events. 

Imagine the revenue that will be lost here by the ground advertisers, indian stadiums, local help, etc. Another example of indian political chaos.

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Its cost-cutting.

After Mr.Obama's "Yes we can"..Its TATA's "Now you can"

The NANO slogan "Now you can" will bring about a hope in the middle class families, who can now afford an all-weather vehicle. 

Whether this fits into the pocket of a two wheeler user has to be seen. Will the dealers be able to lure the middle class segment to buy one inspite of low margins and commmissions will be the next question. 

NANO is the "change" to the auto industry. What surprises me is, the allotment method used. Its going to be a lottery system and the first one lakh fortunate ones will get to pay the announced price. How ever, the next lot will have to pay an incremental price. The lottery system is something new to the industry, that to in this scale. 

Now lets wait n watch if the aam-aadmi changes "Now you can" to "Yes I can". 

Warren Buffett's advice for 2009

Does this post require any comments... I dont think soo... These are words from the man who has seen the industry for decades. 

Guess i learnt it fast.....

This is the template (downloaded from freeskins.blogspot) i initially started off this blog with.... And now you can see the changes i have made to this template.  Well, i spent half a day doing this... and I m really happy n satisfied with the current template... Guess i learnt html coding (techies would understand) fast.

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Zardari - world's fifth biggest loser

Zardari - world's fifth biggest loser by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine. , 

Well... was there any doubts about it... i dont think so. Zardari has been trying to defend his seat all the time.

What's more surprising is, the people from Pakistan have participated in the voting. Now, that's what i call 'Democarcy'

Tata Nano: What women want...

When it comes to pleasing the fair sex, Nano seems to be a definite winner. The Nano is a perfect blend of spunk and chic...and with its ultra cool shape girls will definitely switch to cars from dolls. Available in bright colours like the modish yellow, the Nano is certainly quite hard to resist. Read more here (ET)

What woman want.... well thats a compex question to answer. But it seems like Mr.Tata has the answer- Nano. 

With Nano hitting the commercial space today, have to wait and watch the reaction of current leader in small car segment.. The Marutis..... However, I feel Mr.Tata would like to concentrate on aam-aadmi for Nano to be a hit (which i am sure will be). Kudos to the 'cheapest' car naaa... the 'aam-aadmi' car. 

My First Post - My Dedication

Hi All,
This being my first post.... my start off for something new, I would like to dedicate this to all the people who have played a significant role in my life... my parents, my sister, my friends and all......