Ankur's Musings

Vishy is the world champion

2008-10-29T17:34:00.001-07:00

Vishwanathan Anand is the world chess champion for the third time. He comprehensively defeated Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

Vishy Anand is an icon in India and one of the most popular sports person outside of cricket. He inspired millions of kids to play chess. I used to play chess 1-2 hours daily when I was in grade 4-8 and I considered myself to be ‘good’ in this game. In fact, it was the last game that I played with my father before his death in 1991. As expected, I ‘almost’ lost that game but my father allowed me to win in the end!! I still remember that day – Feb 6th 1991.

Who is Joe the Plumber?

2008-10-15T19:39:00.001-07:00

I am very eager to meet Joe the Plumber. He is the favorite plumber of John McCain and Barack Obama. Who is this guy? Come out in the open and address the nation.

The next presidential debate will be between Joe the Plumber and Joe the Cook!

Do you think he is Joe the Plumber?

Barack Obama and John McCain:

Google Blocked Us!

2008-10-15T11:53:00.001-07:00

It seems that Google has blocked my office from using Google search. Perfect timing – I bought Google stock yesterday and it is down by 10% and still going south! I really wanted to click on Google ads so that it’s revenue can go up and hence my stock price. Darn! I can’t do that now :)

Prince of Kolkata never quit, he walks away with his head held high

2008-10-07T22:49:00.001-07:00

Sourav Ganguly decided to walk away from International Test Cricket with his head held high. After the upcoming series with Australia, the cricket lovers all over the world will see the “God of off-side” only on TV.

I am definitely going to miss him. I still remember his bowling spells in Toronto Cricket Ground in 1998, his fighting 124 in Dhaka, and 183 against Sri Lanka. He is the most successful captain of Indian cricket team. He won 21 out of 49 tests as captain – 42% win rate. His opening partnerships with Sachin in one day matches won many matches for India and in my opinion, this opening pair was way better than the famous duo of Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge.

And who can ever forget the Natwest Final at Lords in 2002. He shocked the world by taking off his shirt (ala football) after India won the finals. In fact, this was the first thought that came to my mind when I visited Lords in December 2006. Look at the photograph below – he was on the balcony on the right side.

Video of that famous match:

It’s the customer, Stupid!

2008-10-02T15:43:00.001-07:00

I am trying to find the reason(s) behind the current economic crisis for the last two weeks. I couldn’t understand even the ABCs after reading lot of analysis by all the smart people in the world. However, things became clearer when I read the insightful analysis of Warren Buffet:

“People should always know better. … I mean people — people don’t get — they don’t get smarter about things that get as basic as greed and you can’t stand to see your neighbor getting rich. You know you’re smarter than he is, and he’s doing these things, you know, and he’s getting rich, and your spouse is getting unhappy with you because you aren’t doing — pretty soon you start doing it. And so you get what I call the natural progression, the three I’s: the innovators, the imitators, and the idiots. And that’s what happens. Everybody just kind of goes along. And you look kind of silly if you disagree.”

Basically, it’s the customer, Stupid!

You can read the full interview here.

Do you believe that your future is pre-ordained?

2008-08-29T18:12:00.001-07:00

Narayan Murthy asked few questions during his commencement speech at NYU:

Do you believe that your future is pre-ordained, and is already set?
Or, do you believe that your future is yet to be written and that it will depend upon the sometimes fortuitous events?
Do you believe that these events can provide turning points to which you will respond with your energy and enthusiasm?
Do you believe that you will learn from these events and that you will reflect on your setbacks ?
Do you believe that you will examine your successes with even greater care?

To be honest, I don’t have answers to any of these questions. These questions are food-for-thought for this long weekend! I am hoping that I will able to answer some of these questions in the next few days :)

Goodbye Randy!

2008-07-25T12:54:00.001-07:00

A man who inspired me with his Last Lecture closed his eyes forever today. A man who inspired millions with his pushups is no more. A man who gave a short but touching speech in front of graduating students of Carnegie Mellon University is gone forever.

Randy Pausch died at his home in Virginia surrounded by his wife Jai and their three children: Dylan 6, Logan 4, and Chloe 22 months.

He is always going to live in our hearts.

Related Links:

Video of his Last Lecture: Randy Pausch Video

Entrepreneurship = Defiance of Conventional Wisdom

2008-07-16T16:58:00.001-07:00

Just came across a wonderful video of one of my favorites business man – Sunil Bharti Mittal.He brought digital telephones to India in early 1980s and then he started mobile revolution in 1990s. In this video, he shares his experiences as an entrepreneur and how he started his first company with $1500.

According to him, entrepreneurship is defiance of conventional wisdom. Small companies can take on big companies if they go for speed as compared to perfection. I truly agree with him on this point. Nobody can reach perfection on day 1. One has to get launch a ‘decent’ version of the production as soon as possible and then customize the product based on the feedback of the users. I am going through this experience currently. I release an ‘imperfect version’ (in my opinion) of the product yesterday and I hope to improve the product daily for the next few months till it reach perfection!

Is this end of Federer era?

2008-07-07T17:12:00.001-07:00

2008 Wimbledon Winner: Rafael Nadal

2007 Wimbledon Winner: Roger Federer

Yesterday, I witnessed one of the best ever Wimbledon finals I have ever seen. The commitment of both Nadal and Federer was amazing.

Nadal was fighting hard to get into history books of being the first player after Bjorn Borg (1980) to win Wimbledon and French open in the same year. Federer wanted to become the first person in Wimbledon history to win six consecutive finals.

In the end, Nadal overcame the spirited fight back from Federer who extended the match to five sets after two sets down and two championship points down in the fourth set.

Is this the end of Federer reign at the top of tennis? Who will win 2009 Wimbledon? We have to wait for another 349 days, 10 hours, 48 mins and 56 seconds to see if Federer will be top seeded or not.

End of an era – Sam Bahadur

2008-06-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

June 27, 2008 will always be remembered in Indian history. India’s greatest army chief till date passed away. Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw passed away yesterday. He was 94.

When I was in primary school, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was my source of inspiration. I was fascinated with his title - “Field Marshal”. I didn’t know the significance of the title. I thought I sounded cool! I always wanted to be Field Marshal. When I reached secondary school, I started liking the title of “Air Chief Marshal” because I wanted to be a pilot. Hindon Air Base was 30 kms from my home and I used to see pilots doing acrobats in their Migs every day.

My tributes to Sam Bahadur! I will always remember him as a person who shaped my formative years! I bow my head.

‘Game, Set, Match, Championship Nadal’

2008-06-08T23:20:00.001-07:00

The five words - ‘Game, Set, Match, Championship Nadal’ said it all. Roger Federer’s (one of my favorite tennis players) was unsuccessful in his another attempt to conquer Roland Garros. On Sunday, Rafael Nadal showed why he is considered as the best tennis player in this era on clay. He decimated Roger in straight sets at 2008 French Open - 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. (Match Summary) I am glad that I didn’t wake up early in the morning to see this lopsided final!! It is the most one sided result in any men’s Grand Slam final since John McEnroe lost to Jimmy Connors in 1984 at Wimbeldon.

Rafa (as people lovingly call Nadal) was too quick, very sharp at the net and Federer couldn’t match the # 2 player in the world. I wonder if this is going to start the fall of Federer's rein at the top of the world's ranking. We will find out in few weeks at Wimbeldon. My best wishes are with Federer.

“We the people”

2008-06-08T22:52:00.001-07:00

I was on “We the people” show by NDTV on Thursday. Lot of big names came to the show – Sabeer Bhatia, NK Singh, Kanwal Rekhi, Forbes, Godrejs, Suhel Seth and lot of other high profile people. Here is a picture with celebrated journalist and host of the show – Barkha Dutt.

King Kahn bids adieu

2008-05-27T12:52:00.001-07:00

May 27, 2008 will be marked as a special day in soccer history. Oliver 'King' Kahn, famous goal keeper of Bayern Munich and Germany played his last game at Salt Lake stadium in Kolkatta, India (Link-1, Link-2, Link-3).

I have played soccer at competitive level - both in high school and in college. Although I used to play at all positions (forward, mid field, defense etc.), my favorite location was goal keeping. I picked goal keeping because of my 'better' anticipation skills and it required least movement (good for lazy people like me)!!. When I picked a knee injury while playing 'tennis ball' soccer game in a skating rink (!!!), I became a full time goal keeper.

Whenever I think of goal keeping, I remember Oliver Kahn. He was easily the best goal keeper of my times. I remember my days when I used to take goal keeping tips from him by keenly watching his moves on the field during world cup matches! As my tribute to Oliver Kahn, here are two videos of him showing his skills on the ground:

Oliver Kahn in Action:

Oliver Kahn -The Perfectionist:

What will I do if I discover that I am dying tomorrow?

2008-05-18T11:25:00.001-07:00

I met a very interesting person yesterday at TiECon 2008 - Harold Katzenschlager. He is a from a small town near Vienna, Austria and he is a "Mental Coach" as per his business card. I met him while putting sugar in my coffee in one of the break sessions at TiECon. There was an aura of calmness around him and I think this forced me to initiate the conversation with him.

I talked to him for 30 mins and he shared his experiences of his travels all over the world, how he escaped Dec 2004 Tsunami by a whisker, his experiences with people all over the world etc.

As a part of his coaching, he asks lot of open ended questions. When we were towards the end of our conversation, he asked me -

"What will I do if I discover that I am dying tomorrow?".

I struggled to find the answer. I thought about it for a while and tried to remember what I wrote in my graduate school essays (!!!). But, I couldn't come with an impressive answer. I gave some random answer and the smile on his face said it all. He knew that I was not giving the answer from my heart.

I kept on thinking about this for the rest of the day - during all panel sessions, lunch, dinner etc. My 'bulb' lit up when I was driving back from Shruti's house.

Earlier in the day, I heard Mike Malone moderating the discussion with Elon Musk (founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX). He closed the discussion by saying:

'Ladies and Gentleman, Elon Musk, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire"

While driving back, I started thinking about how people should remember me after I am gone from this world. And the voice came from somewhere:

"Entrepreneur Extraordinaire"

I will become an entrepreneur if I discover that I am dying tomorrow!

Job Satisfaction vs Time

2008-05-03T12:17:00.001-07:00

Job satisfaction is a function of how many times you check the clock on the bottom right of your computer screen.

For more index cards like the one above, please check an amazing blog by Jessica Hagy.

Didn't expect this to happen so soon!

2008-05-02T01:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I learned the biggest lesson of my life - people with authority will not appreciate your efforts if the results are not positive. Instead of providing room for innovation, they will blame you for not performing. There is only one way to avoid the blame game - produce positive results irrespective of the environment. That's it. It's so simple!

I was always under the impression that honest efforts are more important than the final results. During my two years at Stanford, I worked with three amazing teachers – Prof. William Perry (former US Defense Secretary), Prof Tina Seelig and Prof. Tom Byers. All three of them always encouraged me to put it my best efforts and to forget about the results. They believed that I would learn something from failure also.

I can not forget the first group meeting of my research group held three years ago on the fourth floor of Terman Engineering building. Tom gave me a standing ovation because I pushed my first piece of software to production. Here is a person who is a very senior faculty at Stanford and head of the research group standing and clapping for me because I wrote a small piece of code (20 lines of code).

Sadly, in corporate life, people care only about results. I wanted to innovate without worrying about the results. I wanted to build products which would delight the users. I wanted to work in an environment where merit of the idea is more important than who presents it.

I guess life has a funny habit of teaching relevant lessons at the most opportune moment. Yesterday was that moment for me. I just didn't expect this to happen so soon!

I am glad that I learned this lesson.

What is Knowledge?

2008-03-25T00:18:00.001-07:00

I just read a wonderful speech that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (ex-President of India) gave at Wharton India Economic Forum a couple of days ago. At WIEF, he asked a very simple question - what is Knowledge?

I struggled for few mins. to answer this question. However, he gave a very simple yet effective definition of knowledge. According to him,

Knowledge = creativity + righteousness + courage + indomitable spirit

And he defines each component like this:

Creativity

“Learning gives creativity
Creativity leads to thinking
Thinking provides knowledge
Knowledge makes you great”

Righteousness

"Where there is righteousness in the heart
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home.
There is an order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world."

Courage

"Courage to think different,
Courage to invent,
Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
Courage to discover the impossible,
Courage to combat the problems
And Succeed, Are the unique qualities of the youth.
As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all the missions."

Indomitable Spirit

Full of courage, driving force and a spirit of victory

He finished his speech with another wonderful short poem:

What is mission in life?

"I am great in thinking and in action.
I firmly believe that I can do any mission.
I will dream to live even in Mars.
It doesn’t matter who I am,
I will work, work and work,
All the forces of the universe will also assist me,
I will achieve what I dream."

To read the full text of his speech, please click here. I will try to get access to the video of this speech also.

Wish you a very Happy Holi

2008-03-22T11:39:00.001-07:00

I wish you all a very happy holi!

At Stanford, there is an old tradition of playing holi with hundreds of people from all over the world. Here are some pictures of Holi from the last three years:

Holi 2007 (L-R: Nikhil, Ankur, Vividh, Aman, Anand)

Holi - 2006 (L-R: Janhavi, Nihir, Vividh, Anand, Vaibhav)

Holi 2005 (L-R: Aditya, Jon, ?, Anand, Vaibhav, Ankur, Sameer)

We are going to celebrate Holi 2008 on April 6th.

I am a video jockey!!

2008-03-13T20:13:00.001-07:00

I created these awesome videos yesterday. Please check out:

Diwali Party at my home (Nov 07):

With friends in San Francisco (Sept 05) and San Diego (Dec 05):

Connaught Place - what a transformation!!!

2008-02-29T18:47:00.001-08:00

I visited Connaught Place in Jan 2008 during my recent trip to India. I went to CP after two and a half years! It has changed so much that I couldn't believe. The central Park and the brand new metro station are amazing. Here are few pictures of the central park. When I tried to take the picture of Metro Station from inside, one cop caught me and forced me to delete the pictures from my camera :-)

Central Park:

Central Park in the night (With Hitesh):

This is the best example of hard work

2007-11-01T21:36:00.001-07:00

Many of us must have heard the idiom - "Practice makes a man perfect". Today, I saw the best example of how practice makes a man (and a woman) perfect. This routine by a couple performing for Chinese circus is simply breathtaking. They spent eight years in perfecting their routine and the result is amazing. Check out the full 7 min. video (voice-over is in French).

Happy Halloween 2007

2007-10-31T23:07:00.001-07:00

Wish you all a very Happy Halloween 2007. We celebrated Halloween at Kosmix this morning and it was lot of fun. Besides the usual monster/scary looking costumes, there were few really innovative costumes - Raavan, Facebook, Myspace, Sushi, American Dude 2, iPhone etc. I was surprised by the efforts people put in for dressing up. I was very lazy to do anything special for the day and I took the same mask that I am using for the last three Halloweens :-). Btw, I borrowed this mask from my roommate at Stanford few years ago. So, I don't know how many Halloweens this mask has celebrated ;-)

Please check out the photographs below or online album. It was a great event for Kosmix as everybody came together after a long time to celebrate Halloween 2007. Kosmix is really a fun place to work for!

Outside our office

Cool dudes

Note: I am wearing a red mask in the middle of the picture.

View more pictures here

Jalebi - the vintage ad of 1990s

2007-10-22T00:55:00.001-07:00

Vaibhav, Nihir, Janhavi, Aditya, Vivek and I went to Sunnyvale temple today to celebrate Dussehra. I was surprised by the turnout of the people at the temple - around 300 people during the lunch time. We waited for 30 mins in the queue for the 'free' food. The wait was well worth it as the food was really delicious. The way Janhavi asked me for 'extra' Jalebi reminded me of the kid in the classic Dhaara Oil ad of 1990s. It is among my favorite TV ads along with Cadbury's ads.

Look at the new ad when the original kid (Krish Chawla) is tempting his little brother with Jalebis (please forward the first minute of this video. There is some problem in the uploaded file):

Few other memorable TV ads - a trip down memory lane:

Cadbury's Chocolate
I love you Rasna
'Vicks ki Goli lo'
Fevicol Ad
Preity Zinta's Perk Ad

If you have link to some other classic ad, please send me the link and I will post it here. Thanks!

Think Different

2007-10-20T23:00:00.001-07:00

A classic video from the most innovative company in the technology industry in the last three decades. Can you guess the name??? If you don't get it, check out the last few seconds of this video!

Check out making of "Think Different" video also.

What is the relationship between 14khz music and Google?

2007-10-16T00:15:00.001-07:00

Can anyone guess the relationship between 14 KHz music and Google? I know it is a weird question. We can certainly use Google to find the music (most often free!) but can we find it's "frequency"? I found the answer to this question on Kevin Kelly's blog today.

According to Wikipedia, frequency is the measurement of the number of occurrences of a repeated event per unit of time. Therefore, frequency can be calculated as (# of occurrences) / (total time taken).

Total # of seconds in a year:
Seconds in a day = 24 hrs * 60 mins * 60 sec = 86,400 sec
Seconds in a year = 86,400 sec * 365 days = 31.536 million

Total # of Google searches in a year worldwide:
# of Google searches / month = 37.1 billions (according to Comscore)
# of Google searches / year = 37.1 b * 12 = 445.2 b

So, frequency of search = 445.2b /31.563m = 14110 or 14.11k. This means that people conduct 14.11 searches every second in a year.

If every Google user clicks on the mouse / keyboard button for searching, then the sound that will be produced will be of 14khz. Hence, the relationship of 14khz and Google :-).

Based on similar lines, frequency of total web search is 23 KHz (Comscore reports that total web search per month is ~61 billions).

Stanford Reunion in San Francisco

2007-10-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, I met lot of my old friends from MS&E at Stanford - class of 2005 and 2006. I am in touch with few friends and meet them quite regularly. However, I was happy to see Arthur whom I have never met in the last two years. I was outside the country when he graduated in 2005 and after that, I didn't get a chance to meet him as he was working in Amsterdam. He is one of the most intelligent yet modest person I have ever met - no wonder why he got the best student award for 2005. I wish him all the success in his new life as PhD student. I hope Kenny (another PhD student) and Arthur can solve lot of energy problems that we are facing today :-).

It's great to know that everybody is doing so well in their career after graduating from Stanford. Here is one of the photographs that we took after the dinner at Grand Pu Bah in San Francisco.

People from left to right (I forgot few names):

Front row: Ankit, Caroline, ...
Middle row: Oznur, Ankur. Vaibhav, Maher, Juliette, Susan, Rami
Back row: Arthur, Kenny, Abeer, Aman, Jon, Sameer, Abid

Few more pictures - 1, 2, 3 and 4

Btw, I should thank Maher for taking initiative in organizing this get-together. He is an awesome guy and fun to talk to. One thing that I really like about him is his smile!

One paragraph that explains life!

2007-10-08T23:44:00.001-07:00

I received an email from Vinod Uncle today and I was quite moved by the message of the email. I am including the full content here:

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed:

"Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:

The world over -- 5 million children start playing tennis, 500 thousand learn to play tennis, 50 thousand learn professional tennis, 5,000 come to the circuit, 500 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals,
When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?".
And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

The email ends with a wonderful short poem:

Happiness keeps u Sweet,
Trials keep u Strong,
Sorrow keeps u Human,
Failure Keeps u Humble,
Success keeps u Glowing,
But only God Keeps u Going.....

Keep Going.....

"The Keg Party"

2007-10-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Nihir, Janhavi, Gaurav and I organized a beer party at our house! It was a special party because Nihir discovered that Heineken has started selling five liters keg. He can come up with any excuse for drinking :-) Appropriately, he named the party as "The Keg Party".

Lot of people showed up for the party and as expected, beer flowed freely. By the time, we finished up (around 4am), 12-15 liters of beer were over. There was Diet Coke for people like me who don't drink alcohol and lot of snacks - samosas from Rajjot Sweets & Snacks, crackers, chips etc.

Some people played poker where Poker pro (Nihir) lost all his money and Abhas made lot of money (thanks to beginner's luck). There was intense political discussion going on the sides. Although I was busy playing games on Sony Play Station, I heard words like World War II, India-Pakistan War etc. I don't know who started the discussion but Vivek was completely bored by this. Janhavi was in awesome form and she was easily winning in the fighting game on our PS2. I guess her boxing lessons helped her - she is pro in boxing and once gave a bloody nose to her boxing coach.

For people who couldn't join us last night: we will organize another party soon. We hope to see you in our next beer bash!

India is World Champions!

2007-09-24T22:50:00.001-07:00

The young Indian cricket team made history today by defeating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final of Twenty 20 World Cup! Wow...what a match it was. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Sreesanth taking an easy catch. Look at the video below.

Nihir, Janhavi and I got up at 5 in the morning to watch the finals. Perhaps, this is the earliest I have woken up in the last few years (not even for my exams, classes, flights or interviews!). And believe me, every moment was worth it.

India has won a world cup after a long long wait - 24 years and six World Cups later. Last time, it was Kapil Dev's young team who brought world cup to India and this time, it was young, ambitious and ever-enthusiastic team of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who brought laurels for Indian cricket.

The way Indian players celebrated during the presentation ceremony says it all - what this win meant to them.

It will be cherished by everyone for a long time to come.

Two pictures tell the full story

2007-09-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

India is in the finals of Twenty20 World Cup!!! They comprehensively defeated the world champions Australia. Two pictures tell the full story:

Chak De India

2007-09-22T00:02:00.001-07:00

India is going to play against Australia in the semi-finals of Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in few hours from now. Nobody predicted that this young Indian team would do well in this world cup given the fact that Indian trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid opted out of the tournament. However, the boys surprised everybody including themselves by reaching semis.

Apart from tremendous batting display (e.g. Yuvraj's six sixes, Rohit Sharma quick fire fifty etc), the major differentiating factor in this tournament is the fielding. Just look at the breathtaking catch by Dinesh Karthik:

India has just lost one game against New Zealand so far. Can they beat the world champions Australia? I hope they bring laurels to India as the young girls did in the movie - Chak De India.

What an innings?

2007-09-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe when I saw six sixes in a row by Yuvraj Singh in Twenty20 World Cup match against England. Yuvraj's batting reminded me of his bowling when he conceded five sixes in a row to Dimitri Mascarenhas few weeks ago. It was a sweet revenge for him!

Brooklyn Bridge

2007-09-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from my walk on Brooklyn Bridge, New York City:

India vs India

2007-06-13T13:52:00.001-07:00

I came across India Poised initiative from Times of India to spread the message of hope among Indian citizens. The message starts like this:

"There are two Indias in this country.

One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us.

The other India is the leash".

I think this is a perfect characterization of the people - there are people who are always pessimistic and think that nothing will change in India. And there are other people like Narayan Murthy, APJ Abdul Kalam, Subroto Roy, Dhirubhai Ambani etc. who work hard to make things happen.

I belong to the second bucket of people. What about you?

My personal favorite lines from this message are:

"History, they say, is a bad motorist. It rarely ever signals its intentions when it is taking a turn. This is that rarely-ever moment. History is turning a page"

Please check out the full video in the amazing voice of Amitabh Bachchan:

I don't think we're going to make it

2007-06-10T22:46:00.001-07:00

"I don't think we're going to make it," John Doerr proclaims, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment at TED 2007. John is one of my favorite VCs in Silicon Valley and I always love to listen what he has to say about global warming.

Please also watch John Doerr's amazing videos at Stanford University - Educators Corner

View from the top

2007-06-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

I live in a posh area of Menlo Park - next to the famed Sand Hill Road in Sharon Heights Area. This area is minutes away from Stanford University and 2 mins. drive to I-280 - one of the best looking freeway I have ever seen after my drive from Aachen, Germany to Paris, France.

Outcomes vs. Activity

2007-06-09T12:54:00.001-07:00

Few days ago, I read a great blog post on Outcomes vs Activity. Here is a small excerpt from it:

"I am embarrassed to say that it took me 10 years to learn one of the most fundamental pillars of leadership: It is all about outcomes — and not activities. This business truth is simple and obvious, yet, extraordinarily powerful. Unfortunately, it remains strangely elusive for many founders, and most people." ... More

Miami Unplugged

2007-06-09T11:34:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year

2006-12-31T11:34:00.000-08:00

I wish everybody a very happy new year! I hope all your dreams come true in 2007.

2006 - A great year for me:

Jan - Started the year with Ball Room dancing classes
Feb - Went to Vienesse Waltz Ball Room Dance
Mar - Got an awesome job at Kosmix
Apr - Took tennis lessons and started going to Gym regularly
May - Went to Yosemite - best waterfalls I have ever seen
June - Graduated from Stanford University - dream came true!
July - Started work - beginning of a new chapter in my life
Aug - Learning the ropes at Kosmix
Sept - Moved to my new apartments in Menlo Park
Oct - Launched my first vertical at Kosmix 'Autos'
Nov - Did non-stop shopping for three weeks
Dec - Visited London for holidays - best place for partying!
New Year Eve - Spent the night with family in Delhi

Let's see what is in store for me in 2007! Please wish me luck.

We are the world

2006-08-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

"We Are the World" is a 1985 song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones and recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians billed as USA for Africa.

I heard this song for the first time in Italia 1990 opening ceremony when I was just 10 years old. No other song has moved me so much as this song. I must say that this song is as relevant today as it was in 1985. With so much terrorism all over the world (India, Middle East, Europe, North America etc.), all of us need to come together to make a brighter day for our loved ones. So let's start giving ....

Cool Photos

2006-08-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hoover Tower, Stanford University

2006-08-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is the video of Hoover Tower - a famous landmark of Stanford University. This video is made by a collection of photographs which I took over the period of two years from my apartment window at Escondido Village. I am going to miss the tower as this was the first thing I saw each morning from my balcony!

Kitten on a Mac

2006-06-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

Kitten vs Frontrow (by mattcoats)

This is Robot, Matt Coats kitten. She likes Frontrow a lot. Be her friend at http://myspace.com/robotkitten

When There's a Will, There's a Way

2006-05-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

A mountaineer from New Zealand, Mark Inglis, who lost his legs in a climbing accident 24 years ago, has become the first double amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

After 40 tough days of climbing, the 47-year-old Inglis said by phone from Everest on Tuesday that his one emotion when he reached the top was "relief". Read More ....

Please visit Mark Inglis website to know more about his conquest.

Trip to Santa Cruz

2006-05-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

True hardwork !!

2006-05-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

How many people can climb one foot wall?...

And what about few thousands feet mountain :-)

Yosemite Mosaic

2006-05-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

I went to Yosemite last weekend. I can't believe the water falls are so beautiful there...!

Playbook of a different kind

2005-08-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

I found out a great post of how to pitch to the venture capitalists. It is a known fact that many VCs have a short attention span and they want to know every thing in a second :-) They are so busy that they can't sit for hours on one presentation. They are quick decision makers and don't want to waste their time on boring presentations!

Right now, I am in school at Stanford. But, I am sure I will require the tips from this book Marketing Playbook: VC Pitch Tips soon. I am waiting impatiently to achieve my ambition - start my own company..... Let's see how long I have to wait for this !

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

2005-08-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs gave three gems during the commencement speech for the Class of 2005, Stanford University:

1. Believe in connecting the dots

... you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

2. You've got to find what you love. Don't settle

... Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

3. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

... Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

* Complete Text: 'Commencement Speech 2005'
* Video of the speech is available at this link
* Audio is available here

3D Web Browser : Innovative idea or welcome to the world of confusion??

2005-08-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

Web browsing in 3 D Environment

Waiting impatiently to have hands-on experience on this browser....!

Hoover Tower at Stanford

2005-08-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

I was playing with Flickr and Montager this weekend and came up with this image of the most famous landmark on Stanford campus - Hoover Tower. The unique thing about this picture is that it is formed from hundreds of small pictures of the various places at Stanford University. Click on the image to see the full size.

Hoover Tower serves as a landmark of Stanford to faculty, students, alumni and the local community. Completed in 1941 to celebrate the university's 50th anniversary, the 285-foot structure offers superb views of Stanford and the Bay Area from its observation deck. Atop Hoover Tower is a carillon of 48 bells cast in Belgium. The largest bell is inscribed, "For Peace Alone Do I Ring."

Knowing What You Don’t Know

2005-08-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Every entrepreneur is a first-time entrepreneur once.

How do VCs, then, evaluate first-time entrepreneurs? How can they garner the confidence to place both their money and time in someone who hasn’t started a company before? Of course, investors look at other past experiences as both a signal and substitute for an entrepreneurial endeavor.

A friend of mine at another firm told me that they also explicitly look for one intangible quality. For every entrepreneur who comes in to pitch they ask the question, “Does he know what he doesn’t know?”

Yes, entrepreneurs know the information that they know. It is this experience and comprehension that guides them, and gives them inspiration. But what about the information that they don’t know? Are they aware of their lack of knowledge in a certain area? Or are they (blissfully) ignorant of it?

“Knowing what you don’t know” means understanding where your knowledge-set is limited. If often suggests asking for help, guidance, and additional information when it is needed. This quality doesn’t preclude someone from being confident; quite the opposite, it demonstrates self-assurance to understand your own shortcomings and seeking assistance when appropriate rather than act upon a loose foundation of information.

Venture capitalists want to be assured that their money is in knowledgeable hands. But they also want to know that those hands will look to others when they aren’t fully capable. It is much better to admit that one doesn’t know something than to act blindly without it. And it takes a special person to even realize and perceive when an area of understanding is lacking.

You know what you know, but do you know what you don’t know?

Relating to Anomalies

2005-08-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here's an entry submitted by John O'Leary of Tom Peters Company.

Reading responses to threads on various websites, I get a kick out of how attached we humans can get to our own viewpoints—which often have us in a kind of death grip when challenged! (Some respondents sound like they're having temper tantrums rather than exploring different points of view.) But a quality of leadership I admire and encourage is the willingness to reexamine one's belief in systems and mental models. To me an effective leader (or human being for that matter) is one who can deal with the cognitive dissonance that arises from confronting data that's inconsistent with cherished beliefs. This ability, so useful in a time of instability and disruption, seems underrated these days. Yet a leader's curiosity and interest with respect to ANOMALIES says a lot about the wisdom and maturity of that individual.

Thomas Kuhn, in his 1962 classic, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, speaks of anomalies as "violations of expectation" that can escalate to "crises," precipitating violence to our "paradigms." When we can't make anomalies conform to our current mindset, they can lead us to the "reconstruction of prior theory," an intrinsically revolutionary process." Hmmm. Sounds EXACTLY like what's needed in business in these crazy times. So how do you respond to data that don't fit your theories—perhaps the feedback you're getting from the market, your customers, your organization? How do you—and your company's leaders—deal with anomalies?

Gmaps hack shows effects of high-yeild explosive detonations

2005-08-01T01:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a haunting Gmaps hack: "The High Yeild Detonation Effects simulator maps overpressure radii generated by a ground-level detonation; these radii are an indicator of structural damage to buildings. No other effects, such as thermal damage or fallout levels, are included in this tool. Note that the displayed rings are "idealized"; that is, no account is taken of terrain, urban density, ground type, weather conditions, and so on."

Link

Outlook for Blogs

2005-07-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

Michael Parekh writes about a service he'd like:

There are seven key features that this "Outlook for Blogs" should have:
1. It should be web based, not client software based. This way it's accessible via any PC, mobile device, phone, or other new internet-based gizmo that may come along down the pike.
2. The next key feature, especially if the service is offered by any of the four portal horsemen (YAGM, in no particular order)...MAKE SURE the service is NON-PARTISAN from a portal point of view. It needs to work and play nice with the major offerings from all the blogging services.
3. The user name to the "uber-blog" should be personalizable, accessible, from anywhere on the web and/or blog directories, if the user chooses. This is likely going to be their identity on the web, and a "personal-portal" for others to connect to them, again, if they so choose.
.......
......

India - the Next Big Player

2005-07-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

Perception and reality are two different things, of course, but they do influence each other. How India is perceived by the US (and vice versa) matters.

A significant shift in that perception is clearly visible, going by the writings of observers of the developing India-US relationship. John Mauldin’s Thoughts from the Frontline carries an analysis by George Friedman titled India the Next Big Player.

2005-07-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

An anonymous reader writes

"I've been working for a small development company for 6 or 7 years. My boss has always been a bit nuts but overall it hasn't been a bad experience. I recently accepted a great job offer for a technology position in a different industry. I gave my boss my notice this week, and while he initially was understanding, he has since starting making accusations of conspiracy, deceit, and has otherwise attempted to make me look bad in front of employees and long-time clients. (who, thankfully, also think he is nuts) I don't like to burn bridges, but I'm pretty sure he's already burned it to the ground, even threatening to withhold my final paycheck if I don't find a replacement before I leave. Is it worth sticking out the few weeks I already told him I worked or should I just cut my losses and leave early?"

Watch out Uncle Bill's next moves

2005-07-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

theodp writes "The NY Times looks at Microsoft's newly acquired passion for patents and wonders: What would Thomas Jefferson think if he were around to visit Microsoft's campus, seeing software patents stacked like pyramids of cannonballs? Jefferson might also be shocked by Microsoft's summer crop of patent apps, which includes Creating a note related to a phone call, Adding and removing white space from a document and Identifying when baseball is exciting. Gotta meet that quota of 60 fresh, nonobvious patentable ideas a week!"
Why Bill Gates Wants 3,000 New Patents

Skyped

2005-07-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

PBS | I, Cringely . July 28, 2005 - Skyped

Can't believe that Skype was valued at $3.0 billion by Newscorp!... seems that bubble is coming once again.

Napsterization

2005-07-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Napsterization

Good comparison between different blog tacking websites like Technorati, Feedster, Bloglines etc.

tompeters!

2005-07-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

tompeters! management consulting leadership training development project management

This is a must read for anyone thinking of starting a business!

Ageless Marketing

2005-05-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ageless Marketing: The Day of the �bermensch Is Near

I like it!

Why do we work on Sunday?

2005-05-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Comments Requested.....why do we work on Sunday? Why don't we just chill and relax?

Make No Little Plans

2005-05-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

Make No Little Plans: "

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will …

Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race Photos

2005-05-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race Photos: "

YetAnotherName writes "Tom Jones again has coverage and plenty of eye candy of the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race, where engineering prowess converges with a sense of humor. Check out what bizarre contraptions for 2005 won awards for Best Engineering, …

Veer Zaara

2005-05-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

Just watched Veer Zaara ... it's really nice to see such a refreshing view of Indo-Pak relations!

The delicate treatment by Yash Chopra is excellent...I hope the future of India & Pakistan is as good as shown in the movie. As usual, the acting by Shahrukh, Rani and Preeti is heart touching!

2005-03-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

Few minutes to the land of dreams...Hollywood

2005-03-24T20:23:00.000-08:00

With a mysterious person in Universal Studios, LA

2005-03-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

Neighbours Envy!!

2005-03-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Roots ...!