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Bing Cheating from Google
The latest in the Search Engine wars has got every one interested – Google has claimed that it has conclusive proof post a sting operation that Bing has been sniffing out Google results and showing them as top-searches, for keywords that have very few possible matches. While the engineers at Google cry foul at this,…
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Is someone at TRAI listening?
We might be the world’s most watched and talked about telecom market but come Feb2011, there would be a lot more noise that this industry would make. and all of this because of TRAI’s latest guidelines on NDNC (National Do Not Call) list. While the motivation cannot be questioned (hell, most of us get more…
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Sound and light show @ Amer Fort, Jaipur
I have been to Jaipur a lot, but had never managed to see the sound and light show at Amer Fort. Its a shame that I had missed it for so long. Fully recommended. I managed to catch the 1900 hrs Hindi version which had Mr BigB’s voice and some amazingly well articulated narration .…
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Facebook advertising will not grow too fast too long
I have been looking at the countless ads & “LikeUs” banners that keep popping up on my Facebook account and I am tempted to feel that all this jubilant rejoice about the advertising/branding power of social networks might just be a temporary phenomenon. I feel that there would be a fatigue soon & think there…
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The new lows of Indian Journalism
We have all been torchered by the Breaking News and their younger cousins of the dancing/singing & reality-show fames. For some like me, it meant an almost complete break from the idiot box and I guess thats how I missed this new milestone that our news channels have crossed. Yesterday while flicking the channels I…
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ABCDJ – what now
In India, the Telecom Value-Added-Services (VAS) was referred to as the business of ABCDJ – Astro, Bollywood, Cricket, Devotion and Jokes. This was the volume and revenue driver for almost all mobile operators beyond the voice and text revenues and it sure was a significant one (if we include the ringtones and call-back tunes within…
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Walking the Talk- with the tigers
Before you read on, please be warned that this a blatant advertisement for a friend who has impressed me with his dedication and passion towards the majestic Tiger. Ritesh – the guy you probably know from our crazy road trip across Rajasthan/Gujarat is committed towards doing his bit for the tigers & committed he surely…
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German Engineering but definitely Chinese manufacturing
Todays Times of India (TOI) was a pleasant surprise for most readers. The lucky few were the ones to experience a nice innovation in advertising – something that brought together the print and audio media like never before. A full page Volkswagen ad had a small speaker with a recorded message about the German Engineering…
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Airtel gets RBI nod for the mwallet
Today’s announcement is big news for not only the mcommerce folks in the country but also for people in Telecom, Retail and Payments industry. This approval allows Airtel to act as a semi-closed loop operator for pre-paid transactions. The Customers can now deposit upto Rs5000/- with Airtel (not to be clubbed with talktime) and can…
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Vipassana part 2
Just back from my 2nd Vipassana course and few things have become very clear – Without regular practice, Retreats done annually do not help – so friends keep pushing me to be at it -Have you ever seen an old movie or re-read a book and felt that its a whole new message? Its possibly…
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3guys,New car,2000 kms,No itinerary and Loads of fun
The best trips are the ones we dont plan- and so it is, yet again. I had been after my friend- Vigyaan- who runs a rural tourism venture- to do some justice to his venture and spend some time on the road- exploring Kutchh and other beautiful places on the way. After almost 3 weeks…
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Life on the Edge – A Trek To Gidara
It all started after I posted on facebook that I am free for at least one week during June and would like to go for a trek. Surprisingly, by evening I received two suggestions regarding possible trekking routes that are doable in June from friends who were equally frustrated with mundane city
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Labour strike in China- the new chapter begins
Business dailies have been covering the current strike at the Honda plant in China where workers have demanded an almost 500 Yuan increase in their monthly wages. Interestingly the workers there have average wages of 1000 Yuan & 2000 Yuan- much higher than the city’s minimum at 920 Yuan. While labour strike over wages is…
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The data-wars have begun
While the whole country was watching the 3G license bidding rounds, Aircel was probably working towards its first data-centric product- Peek. Launched with a lot of noise, Peek is an entry level handset (available for Rs 3999/-) that promises BlackBerry kind of experience- with Push Mail, multiple email id configuration, alert for new messages, scroller…
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How much should we pay
Amazing little discussion today, which brought forth the consumer perception about pricing. A guy walks upto the apartment across the road & offers to remove the bee-nest. He gets the job for a small sum of money (not sure how much) and the deal says, he will get to keep the honey also. He comes…
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Why Rural Tourism
What exactly pulls tourists to our villages ? – The clean air & pollution free environ thats hard to find in cities – The “poor, hungry people” as highlighted by Circuit in MunnaBhai MBBS – The slow pace of life & the simplicity of living – Gandhiji’s words that India lives in her villages –…
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Marketing lessons from Kumbh
At my recent visit to Haridwar (during the Kumbh Mela) one thing that really struck out (apart from the crowd) was the number of hoardings on the Haridwar-Rishikesh road. This road is parallel to Ganga & is the path that most devotees would take from their camps/hotels to the ghats. And each hoarding was vying…
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Apples iAds coming soon
Apple just announced its official foray into mobile ad networks – iAds. This is sure to change a lot of things in the rapidly growing mobile ad industry. Google’s acquisition of AdMob might have given them a headstart in the space but with Apple sitting on a huge consumer base the battle of giants will…