The 3 weeks challenge - no phone in the company of others

Have this made you wonder “what do you miss out on because you are often not “present” as you focus on what your phone presents to you.

Most people seem completely addicted to their phones.

As soon as a plan touches down many simultaneous “ding dings” chime out demanding the attention of their owner.

Recently a friend of mine off air for two days with no email, phone, sms or internet, and when he was back, he had quite a back log of email and messages on his return mostly with response “Is something wrong with your phone” and that too when we announces this in advance that he is not able to response to any call or email or message for next two days.

People seem to have a high expectation that if they send a message, the response will be instantaneous. Even if we all noticed on a normal bus stop most of the people waiting were all inspecting their mobile phones – not even noticing the existence of the other human beings around them.

My question for the situations:-

Is all this immediate communication really giving us the opportunity to do good work?

How many emails or text messages are dashed off in haste only to be misunderstood or incomplete? Are we being truly present?

Okay I am taking a personal challenge for the next 3 weeks to not use a mobile device in the presence of others. And I wonder who I will get to meet and what conversations I will get to experience – and also the added upside of not sending off a one line response to someone without a considered response.

Let me slow things down – and not rush to everything, and I’m sure I will do better work as a result.

Who wants to play with me – the 3 weeks 'being present' day challenge? Let me know how you go.

On quest of How to Search.....

Everyone knows that search on the web is synonymous with Google. Or is it? I’d say it used to be … still is to some extent … but not entirely.

Anyone who spends a considerable amount of time browsing the internet and searching for content is bound to be – knowingly or unknowingly – using more than one medium to search. I will try here to share some that I use.

Well, see the problem with Google search is that it throws up a lot of irrelevant search results along with the relevant ones. So that means you have to dig through the search results, drill down, refine your search string and despite that at times come back all sweaty, grimy and empty handed. Well maybe an exaggeration, but it could still leave you wanting for more.
The second problem that I see with Google search is, that I am not getting any feedback, opinions, ideas related to the topic I am searching for. So there is no conversation happening. I cannot ask any questions, get any replies. It is like watching television… very one sided. It is because of this reason that I had said on twitter once that “Twitter is making me lazy. I prefer to ask a question here and get contextual answers rather than do a search on Google”. This other time I tweeted that “Twitter search has something Google doesn’t have – people”.

But I digress. The point here is not to put down Google search (They are doing their job pretty well I’m sure) but to discuss alternate means of searching for content on the web.

The trick is in knowing what you’re searching for and what could be the optimum places to look for them. I was recently looking for a prototyping tool which would give me the option of adding rich in-the-page interactivity. Searched high and low on Google but came up with nothing. That is when I turned to LinkedIn. Yeah LinkedIn. While it is a great community for business networking, the added advantage is that it has an active community of professionals discussing, offering feedback and opinion – all of which is a lot more useful because here is someone talking about their own experience rather than trying to sell you something. Well guess what! In a discussion of User Experience professionals group, I found a list of prototyping tools I had not come across on Google, found opinions of which ones are useful in which context and also tips of how people are using existing tools like PowerPoint and Visio very successfully for prototyping.

I did mention Twitter already very active communities; people on Twitter are always more than willing to help you out if you need something. Just try it sometime. Looking for something? Ask a question on twitter. Believe you me, you will not be disappointed. People offer suggestions, opinions and if they don’t know, they will RT (retweet) – your tweet so that someone in their network can offer you help. People on twitter called it Crowd Sourcing. I have indulged myself on various occasions, asking about tools I needed, and even opinions for narrowing down options while buying my car.

Even Twitter Search throws up very useful results. I now often tend to put a search string in http://search.twitter.com/ before I Google. Twitter search again brings to you tweets of people sharing their views and comments along with suggestions. You do want to know more about the link you are going to click, the tool you are searching for, that phrase you have to research, links people are recommending. It helps to filter out a lot of crap which you otherwise tend to encounter through regular search.

You may even consider platforms like Slide share and Scribd. Although with Slide share you are most likely to end up with a list of ‘ten things your organization should or shouldn’t in the social media space’, no matter what was your search string. If you have the patience to dig through that content, you may come across some real insights related to the topic you searched for.

Some of the other sites I have used successfully in the past are YouTube, Digg.com (this was a very useful resource while I was searching for icons once). The point is that these are all sites with user generated content. So if you search on them, you will definitely find more than you were looking for. Opinions and suggestions make your search more relevant and the conversations make it more interesting.

Having said that, Google still has what none of these sites have – Pacman.

Do share your experiences of searching on these sites and also any special tips or techniques that you use while searching, would be really good to know.

The Psychology of Lies and Liars‏

Very few people are skilled at covering lies, either they have an extensive knowledge about human behavior or they are psycho killers. This post is written keeping in mind, that neither of you fall in one of those categories.

"I have read the terms & conditions & I agree to them."

Everyone lies. You do, your friends do, your parents do, if there was a God, I'm sure he'd tick the terms and conditions box without actually reading them. Of course, there's a certain psychology involved behind that.

There are lies that 93% of the population says at some point or the other and make very similar gestures to give away the fact that they're lying.

One of the most common lies being, "No mom, everyone got horrible marks on the test." When in reality, you know that you're the only whose flunk the test in the whole class, your mom knows that too. In fact she said a similar lie to her mom at some point yet nothing happens to you and you get away with it.

But this is a lie which we are actually nervous of while telling it. So the sentence is usually accompanied by your hand being raised to a part of your face. Either to scratch your nose rubs your ear, touch a part of the forehead or something along those lines. Why do we this movement? Simply because when we lie, there's this awkward silence when no one is saying a word. We feel that silence because we are the ones who are lying and are nervous, however, the person we are lying to will NOT feel that silence most of the times, unless we shows signs of nervousness by doing one of the actions mentioned above. 

If however a lie is of bigger proportions, like telling your boyfriend or girlfriend that you haven't cheated on them when in reality you have, the rubbing of the nose, ear or forehead will also be accompanied by swallowing of your own spit. So if you want to catch someone while doing this, look at their throat and see if it moves

.
There will be times when you're telling a serious lie, could be anything and to anyone, to a friend or family, you'll notice your breathing rate increases and when that happens obviously your chest begins to heave. If you think someone's lying to you, this could be another way to figure out. Just stare at their chests, and risk being considered as a creep. 

These are some of the basic behavioral changes that occur when someone is lying, and by reading this post, you can sort of begin to make sense of how easy, we as human beings can be to read. So what should you do to control it? Simple, NEVER bring your hand to your face while lying, try to breath as less as possible, try to be drinking water or something else which is non alcoholic while telling the lie so that the swallowing motion is covered.
Also, just so you know, the people who lie the best are the ones who continue talking non stop. And can tell a tail as it happened and can also recollect the events that supposedly occurred in reverse order. Every liar practices a story; no one practices it in reverse.
And yes, I HAVE read the terms & conditions once in my life, just so you know, they're utterly pointless.

Mountain Railways of India -- World Heritage Site -- National Geographic

Mountain Railways of India -- World Heritage Site -- National Geographic

I have posted the above link of Mountain Railways of India - World Heritage Site directly from the website of National Geographic, feel proud that we have develop it century ago and such a thing mentioned on website of well know National Geographic but so feel sad about the condition of these trains, not able to comment on The Nilgiri line and The small-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as have not seen it yet but The narrow-gauge Kalka Shimla Railway is not working what I remember when had a visit of Himachal last year.

As all above are world heritage site - we request our government to make sure they are well maintained and well working.

Regards.

Ranikhet :- Hidden Jewels of Himalayas

Some of the key symptoms of being bitten by the travel bug are easily identifiable, you start thinking of hills, towering trees (actually whatever fascinates you). One of that bug bitten our whole team and we started making planes for different destination lots of suggestions came but finally we all settled for one of hidden Jewels of Himalayas, unexplored “Ranikhet”.

All preparations done, date got decided and on September 14, 2012 at 6:30 pm we started from our office with rain and traffic jam it took almost 3 hours for us to reach Ghaziabad, but as I mentioned we are going to explorer hidden jewels of Himalayas, our journey has a lot hidden for us, as soon as we reached Ghaziabad we come to know about the blockage of route due to riots at village near Ghaziabad, result in route change for us, now have to go via Meerut. We had dinner at Dhaba “Shiva Bhojnalya” near Morta the most pathetic food we ate.

With almost half empted stomach we started our journey only to know that Meerut is waiting for us with another hidden thing “tyre defused’ change of tyre and repair of defused took almost 2 hours and by the time it 2 am in night we have completed only 65 kms out of our 350 kms. 

Our journey started from NH121 to Ranikhet via Moradabad, Rampur, and Kashipur and due to bad weather and Road we have to take the route which takes us via Corbett Park, the park is located on one side of NH121 and other side is human habitat, we show lots of birds and animals including Chital and one human tiger in white shirt as told by our Bus Driver. 

At Corbett Park on way to Ranikhet

After a journey of almost 16 and ½ hours we reached Ranikhet the beauty, the weather all is amazing and on the top of that our Hotel Parvati Inn with its mountain range view Rooms are making the experience un explainable.

Ranikhet is extremely appealing to any nature lover, the scenic beauty binds you. It still remains an Army Cantt area with Koumaun Regiment’s camp are there. There is nothing much to do in Ranikhet and that’s what you enjoy. There are some nice trails around the resort and went deep in the forests. We were told by some of the locals that seeing a leopard is a common sight, but we are more interested in Jism 4 Staring Akash, so Leopard has better luck next time. 

Breaking:- New Poster of Jism 4

We all went to Koumaun Regiment’s museum the first of its kind in whole India with many first against his name; Jhoola Devi Mandir has its 700 years old story. The most amazing thing about this place is its natural beauty. 

At Jhula Devi Mandi

We partied till late night in our hotel room and terrace of hotel, I missed as I slept earlier, but I wake up early and see the most amazing view of mountain, me with Nilakantha and Jagdish went for morning, had a cup of tea and wow! That’s what we can say.

Togetherness

Memorable

Something Lost is found between Two

Now its time to say good bye to Ranikhet, we boarded our bus but we are know utilizing our time take a route which covers Bhimtal famous for its lake, it is believed The Pandavas spent their time during exile. We stayed for 5-10 mins there before started for Delhi, after crossing Khatgodam we are back to plan from the laps of mountains alas! Like we started with most pathetic food we end up having our lunch in one of the most pathetic restaurant Floura, now all are tired but enjoying every bit of tiredness as this is the memorable trip for all of us which is somehow the last as well for most of us as soon as we reached NCR its time to say bye to one by one.

11 Murti

We are now back from our most memorable journey of all time we all wants to thanks Mr. Nilakantha Mohanty for making this amazing and memorable journey and togetherness possible for us. Thanks a lot.

Nilakantha Mohanty

Can we truly say that we are not corrupt?

Corruption is the bad word and we support all means possible to end it, most of us almost criticized our government every day we also supported different anti- corruption movements through blogs, tweets, facebook and few of us also attended rallies. 

But after a brief thinking on the issue I have some questions in my mind, can we truly say that we are not corrupt? Can anyone of us say we have not done at least one of the things to get our way?

1.       Jumping Traffic Lights – You did not see the light changing and when the cop catches you have endless excuses, but it will leave you with options. You can pay the fine, get your license confiscated, go to court next day and get it released right? Alternatively, give him hundred rupees and are set free. After all you do not have time next day, you life is already busy. What will you do?

2.       School Admission: - Giving the best education to your child is something you feel you have to do. But the most prestigious schools will not let your child in if a certain fee is not paid. It could be called a deposit, a security, or a miscellaneous expenditure. The truth is you are not going to see it again and your kid won’t get in without it. “What do you do?” Yes, it is still a bribe. Is corruption then justified?

5.       IT returns: - Run to the IT consultant, pay imaginary rent, claim rewards (drivers are such a help in every sense) avoid the Tax to the maximum possible extent. Hey, you are still paying tax, so why so serious? In other cases, spend a little on the people who will help clear the fake IT bills. Does a justification that it’s all going into the politician’s pockets make it still ok?

6.       Cooking Gas: - Just get holds of the friendly cylinder delivery boy give him a little “Bakshish.” Just get this done quickly, it is all right. After all, it’s not your fault that you did not know both your cylinders had finished. Right?

7.       The DVD Walla: - It’s absolutely all right to buy the pirated DVD, which you are dying to see, or to download from free U-torrents. What the heck, everyone does it? The movie guys make a lot of money anyways right?

8.       Buying Property: - Reason it out. As such, the property costs are so high, pay a little “black” money, and pay lesser in registration, stamp duty and all the other things that can save you just enough to buy that new stove you need in your kitchen. Your builder is actually doing you a favour, isn’t he? But “What do you do?”

Morality is a choice we make every day. Can we still stand and say we are not corrupt?

How to choose your mobile

Hello to all dear friends after a gap of almost two years getting usual to blogging will take some time but here is my second blog in one day obviously prepared almost 10 days back.

 

The way we buy mobile phones, and indeed most things, has changed in the last few years.

Nowadays, you can simply enter a phone model’s name in a gadget website and make your purchase decision based on the reviews. Some of us don’t even bother going to the store anymore, as online shopping sites may offer better deals.

The mobile phone is a sophisticated piece of hardware, so it makes sense to seek the opinion of an expert before deciding on a purchase. But there are certain factors that make you a better judge than an “expert” reviewer.

For instance, will the device feel comfortable in your hands? Can you use the on-screen keyboard while holding the phone in the same hand? How easy, or complicated, is the phone’s navigation or menu? Will the phone fit into your pocket? Only you can answer these questions after holding and using the device.

For this, you generally have to go to a store. Here are a few basic tests you should perform when you get to the store to evaluate any device,

Launch the text messaging application and write a sentence like “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” to check your fingers can handle the touch-screen keyboard. You should try this in both portrait and landscape orientation.

Next, launch the camera application and take a few sample shots. Check the picture quality of course, but also see if there’s any lag between you hitting the shutter button and the actual capture. The camera is likely to be one of the most used applications on your mobile phone, and it’s frustrating to miss photographing a “golden moment” because it’s too slow.

Do a couple of common tasks to test the phone’s navigation. You can change the wallpaper, set a different ringtone, adjust the brightness, and so on. Launch the default web browser, reset the settings and then go to a couple of your favorite websites. Do they render properly? You could also consider using the Google Maps application to determine how quickly the phone’s GPS can pinpoint your location (it may not be a very accurate test though while you are inside the building).

Most of the latest phones have gorgeous big screens, but remember that the larger the display, the faster it will drain your battery.

Another important question is whether the number of apps available for a mobile platform is a factor in deciding your purchase? If you are an enthusiast or a power-user who likes to try every available new app and game, the answer is probably yes, for the rest of us, not so much. I have been using both Window and Blackberry devices for some time and though I install new apps quite often, the ones I use frequently are probably available across all mobile platforms.

Have a happy taking, sharing, chatting what it is you enjoyed on your mobile....

Bye for now!