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Lucky Name Numerology - Mr. Kannan - My Experience & Review

Disclaimer:
Whether I believe in Numerology or not, this is just a capture of my experience with a Numerology Consultant - Mr.Kannan of Salem, India.

Oh it's Time
On 11 November 2011, myself and my wife became proud parents of a lovely baby boy. The date was unexpected and it just happened like that. Soon we decided to pick a suitable name and we both decided to approach a numerologist to come up with a name which is numerologically good too. As I was in a busy schedule moving from Chennai to Bangalore, I asked my wife to get in touch with a Numerologist and arrange for a name.


My wife searched the net and got the contact details of one Mr. Kannan, who consults in Numerology. He is based in Salem City, Tamilnadu, India. She emailed him and got a reply that he will help in choosing the better name for my baby.

The Consultation
After a few email threads, my wife was convinced that Mr.Kannan seemed to be good and agreed to pay the consultation fee of Rs.15000/- (yeah, fifteen thousand rupees). The next day payment was made online, and the Numerologist Mr.Kannan sent the name to my wife. The name was Praveen Raajeash. He spoke to my wife explaining all the benefits, and the reason behind selecting the name "Praveen" and "Raajeash". His reasoning is - my son has got few weak planets in his planetary chart and to ensure the negative effects to minimal he has carefuly chosen the name Praveen. Additionally he felt that last name "RAJESH" is numerologically bad and so, corrected it to "RAAJEASH". My wife called me immediately and forwarded the mail to me.

Upon reading I was shocked and couldn't digest the name. Atleast the first name he chose was good. But what he did to the last name is totally weird. Rajesh has become Raajeash. His argument that words and vibrations must be good is acceptable. But making the name look weird and sound a bit weird is not acceptable.

The Call
Upset, I called up Mr.Kannan the numerology consultant and asked him to re-work on the name. But he stubbornly said if the name is changed, the life of the baby will become un-lucky. I did not feel good about arguing with this guy. So I hanged up and informed my wife that we learned a lesson paying up Rs.15k. I know something about numerology. It's about alphabets, numbers and the vibrations / sound. And a numerologist's work is to figure out a good name which doesnt look weird, sound weird and at the same time should look natural. But Mr.Kannan, who runs the website Lucky-Name-Numerology just keeps adding some alphabets and use some convincing theories to close the deal. He even added that my name is numerologically bad. And advised me to get the baby name first, and then correct my name next. I was astonished by his marketing talent.

Conclusion
Not sure if Mr. Kannan is a good or bad numerologist, but my experience turned out to be sore and I think his service is very un-worthy for Rs.15000/-. Some of the problems I find with him are - No choice of names. Too expensive. Not friendly attitude over phone. I really wonder if this guy is all worth for the claims he make in his website. He claims he is he descendant of a spiritual family. He claims too many things, but does the job of an amateur who usually consults numerology books to come up with name combinations. I'd say his service is not worth for Rs.15k.

PS : Oh he charges around Rs.15000 for human / baby name consultation. Same for Name-correction. And upto Rs.50000 for Business Names selection.





Applying for Passport re-issue, (Tatkal) Procedure, Chennai

Passport re-issue procedure chennai

Pricing-it-right, Design and Human Perception

Generally the price factor of an object alters the human perception, sometimes it make people to ignore the lack of design aesthetics or the, just-plain-functional design. This is not a low-cost-high-volume analogy, but an example of how pricing it right and the number of features packed for the price wins over the market.

Some 4 years ago, Mahindra & Mahindra announced their ambitious premium SUV project, aimed at the urban market. Their Chennai R&D centre was executing the job well and many have seen their camouflaged prototypes running on the highways. This premium SUV was launched this month on 28th, with a live Webcast show. Now, before going further let's talk about Mahindra's design sense. Mahindra is never known for any "WOW" design in their products. Like Toyota, they are inclined towards basic functional design. Bolero, Scorpio or the then launched Xylo were never praised for their design. Except the Scorpio, other two were not considered as lookers. The macho factor was scorpio's saving grace.

The Premium SUV's name was revealed last month. Turned out to be - XUV 500. People suddenly became curious and was interested in the pricing. But Mahindra kept a tight lip on the pricing and soon the launch date was announced. I was watching the webcast and to my taste, the launch was not all that good. It started with models ramp-walking for certain themes. Some of the live threads in Team-bhp.com captured second-to-second follow up. Even the tweets from all others shared the same feeling. The whole hour was consumed to explain how the XUV500 was designed after a cheetah. After the boring modelling hour, the actual vehicle was revealed and people became so excited until the lights came on. Half of the people, reported un-like towards the front bumper design.





It was again quirky, but not like Xylo or Bolero. It had a err-wat-is-this? style bumper, cheetah-bum (thats what tbhp guys called it) design at the rear. But it had all the safety features, creature comfort, and a strong build quality. Journalists predicted the pricing would be around 14-15 lacs, as this is a premium SUV, positioned above Scorpio whose high end model is around 11 lacs. So the safe bet for them was to put this in Aria's pricing level around 14 lacs. Many people predicted that for a 14 lac (may be) price, with the quirky styling in the front and rear, the success of the model would be again - hit-or-miss type.





The next day, the pricing was revealed, and the whole perception towards the vehicle changed. 10.8 lacs ex-showroom for the W6 model, and 12 lacs for the W8 models. Those who were bashing (including me) the vehicle till then, suddenly started feeling that XUV is sweet. Why? Compared to all these vehicles, XUV500 offered more than what you pay. ABS? yes! Diesel? Yes! Airbags? Yes! Plush Interiors? Yes! Road presence? Yes! Spacious? Yes! Performance? Yes!. Service Network? Yes! Value for Money? double Yes! All these in the base variant. Toyota Fortuner which is selling at 20 lacs looks like a rip-off now. Tata Aria now feels like a dud for Tata. Toyota Innova now has a contender from a different segment altogether. Skoda Yeti seems to be overpriced.



No wonder, that Mahindra hit the sweet spot with the pricing strategy. Dealers were unable to believe the number of bookings happening. Such rush bookings were only seen in Toyota and Maruti show rooms,and not any other Indian automotive company. So, this is a case study, where people value right pricing and feature packing.

ps. The only exception in automobile sector, where a over-priced product is in high-demand is the Toyota Fortuner.

Why I love Nokia and hate Nokia?

Nokia - as a company is extremely admiring. They know how to do things right. They got their cellphones right. They know how to rope in a cheap contract manufacturer (foxconn) and make quality mobile phones at the best price. They know how a mobile phone should work. Things that it can do and it cannot do, its limitations etc. But all these were okay some 10 years ago. I loved my old Nokia 3110, 6800, 6233s. There were solid as rock and withstood all sort of abuses.

Nokia as a innovator failed miserably in their own software. I hate nokia for sticking to the ageing Symbian OS with all their pride and glory. They refused to see the stuff, the new players were offering. When they realized what was happening, they are already lost. Google Android and Apple iOS took over the entire smart phone spectrum in their hands.

I've been using a Samsung Galaxy Fit that runs on a OS-locked mode. The Android 2.2 is the OS and it does the job pretty well. But Samsung, as a typical korean company does not know how to manufacture a phone very well. All they know is to manufacture - jack of all trades. Be it their cars, Televisions, mobiles or home appliances, all their products does not excel in one single focus. The Galaxy fit is a jack of all trade. It tries to be economical, pretty, phone, smartphone et al. It has a big display, but low resolution. Android OS 2.2, but OS locked. 800 mhz ARM processor - mated to poor quality electronics. The last one is my total head ache. When a few drops of water entered the phone through the button, the phone behaved erratic. Later, other problems creeped up. It hanged frequently. It will not switch-on unless you connect a power-charger. As days go by, my love for android & samsung was totally lost and finally I ended up buying a Nokia C2-01. Now I call this a mobile phone, which does the job pretty good. It's not smartphone, but it does its job damn good. No call drops. Easier conferencing, adding new calls, wow! I miss the easyness in Android.

I love nokia. And I hate Nokia. Wish one day, Nokia makes android phones.

Good environment nurtures creativity...

The large airy floor, with nice to look interiors and spacious desks.. takes some getting used to. But after the initial run, it starts to feel better and better every day. Hehe. The new office is good, fresh, airy and lovely.

One thing I wanted to share is, the completely new feel or creativity. Unlike the old office, the change of place helps in better productivity and more important - the creativity. :-)

Transformers 3 Movie Review



Transformers-3, Dark of the Moon starts with a flashback of an Autobot space ship crash landing on moon, which is followed by US's Man to Moon mission. Fast forward to today,we see one of the protagonist Sam Witwicky, is desperately seeking a stable job and has a silicone filled human girl friend called "Angel" - Rosie Huntington-Whitely.

The Autobots have made an alliance with Earthlings and fight for good alongside. In an operation at Chernobyl, Optimus Prime discovers what appears to be a fuel cell of a Autobot spaceship that crash landed on Moon. After a brief explanation from the US Military, Optimus Prime retrieves Sentinel Prime from the crashed space ship, who then turns baddie, kills Ironhide and reveals the plan that he forged an alliance with still alive Megatron. The Pillars, device that could teleport objects in space is activated by Sentinel and a lot of Decepticons from moon reach earth seizing Chicago.

What then follows is the usual Michael 'smashing' bay's visual spectacular Robo fights that finally leads to Optimus Prime killing Sentinel and Megatron. Unlike Part 1, the robots get a lot of appearance all over the movie. And the fight scenes were upto the mark. I still miss the Part 1's cool fights. Overall the second half of the movie is more enjoyable - not for acting, but the mess, crash, smash of buildings, fire, smoke and Robots.

Michael Bay's third installment of the Transformers series is better than Part-II (Revenge of the Fallen), and still not as good as Part 1. The only sore thumb in the movie is Rosie Huntington Whitely. No acting, just showing. As the reviews over there say, she makes Megan Fox look like Merryl Streep.

July 2011 - Computer Budget - Assembled Systems

Based on the pricelist from http://deltapage.com/list here are some budget

Entry Level Intel PC : Rs. 15975
Dual Core E5700 - Rs.3000
Asus P5G41CM-LY - Rs.2475
Kingston 2GB DDR3 - Rs.800
LG SATA DVDRW Drive - Rs.950
Seagate SATA 500GB - Rs.1950
Logitech KB & Mouse Combo - Rs.575
Zebronics Basic Cabinet w/SMPS - Rs.950
Creative SBS A200 2.0 Speakers - Rs.400
ACER G195HQ 18.5" LCD Monitor - Rs.4875

Entry Level AMD PC : Rs. 15600
AMD Athlon X2 250 - Rs.2750
Gigabyte M68MT-S2 - Rs.2350
Kingston 2GB DDR3 - Rs.800
LG SATA DVDRW Drive - Rs.950
Seagate SATA 500GB - Rs.1950
Logitech KB & Mouse Combo - Rs.575
Zebronics Basic Cabinet w/SMPS - Rs.950
Creative SBS A200 2.0 Speakers - Rs.400
ACER G195HQ 18.5" LCD Monitor - Rs.4875

-------------------------------------------


Entry Level Intel PC for Gaming & Audio : Rs.22425
Intel Core i3 - 540 : Rs.5050
Intel DH55TC w/HDMI : Rs.4200
Transcend 4GB DDR3 : Rs.1625
LG SATA DVDRW Drive - Rs.950
Seagate SATA 500GB - Rs.1950
Logitech KB & Mouse Combo - Rs.575
Zebronics Mid Range Cabinet w/SMPS - Rs.1200
Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 Speakers - Rs.2000
ACER G195HQ 18.5" LCD Monitor - Rs.4875

Entry Level AMD PC for Gaming & Audio : Rs.22425
AMD PhenomII X4 840 : Rs.5000
Gigabyte MA880GM-UD2H: Rs.4250
Transcend 4GB DDR3 : Rs.1625
LG SATA DVDRW Drive - Rs.950
Seagate SATA 500GB - Rs.1950
Logitech KB & Mouse Combo - Rs.575
Zebronics Mid Range Cabinet w/SMPS - Rs.1200
Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 Speakers - Rs.2000
ACER G195HQ 18.5" LCD Monitor - Rs.4875

------------------------------------------------

Mid Range Intel PC for Gaming & Video : Rs.26150
Intel Core i3 - 540 : Rs.5050
Intel DH55TC w/HDMI : Rs.4200
Transcend 4GB DDR3 : Rs.1625
LG SATA DVDRW Drive - Rs.950
Seagate SATA 500GB - Rs.1950
Logitech KB & Mouse Combo - Rs.575
Zebronics Mid Range Cabinet w/SMPS - Rs.1200
Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 Speakers - Rs.2000
ACER V203H 20" LCD Monitor - Rs.5200
XFX ATI 4670 1GB PCI-E Graphics Card - Rs.3400

Mid Range AMD PC for Gaming & Video : Rs.26150
AMD PhenomII X4 840 : Rs.5000
Gigabyte MA880GM-UD2H: Rs.4250
Transcend 4GB DDR3 : Rs.1625
LG SATA DVDRW Drive - Rs.950
Seagate SATA 500GB - Rs.1950
Logitech KB & Mouse Combo - Rs.575
Zebronics Mid Range Cabinet w/SMPS - Rs.1200
Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 Speakers - Rs.2000
ACER V203H 20" LCD Monitor - Rs.5200
XFX ATI 4670 1GB PCI-E Graphics Card - Rs.3400

Quick Review : Acer P206HV - 20" LCD Monitor



Just bought a ACER P206HV, a 20" LCD monitor that is priced around Rs.5300 in Chennai, India.

General Observation:
- 20" LCD Screen
- Glossy construction in the front
- Integrated blue LED power switch design
- Decently thin and weight-less

Pros:
- Affordable 20", with max resolution of 1600x900
- Unlike other affordable monitors from Acer, this one comes with a .icm profile in CD
- DVI & VGA connectivity

Cons:
- Backlight bleeding is way too much
- Hopeless TN Panel, compromises every viewing angle.
- Poor inbuilt contrast management
- Flimsy stand
- Little lifeless colors. The old sibling ACER V203H is better than this actually!


Conclusion:
Other than the price factor, DVI connector and 1600x900 resolution, this monitor fails in all other aspects. The only application where this monitor might be good to use is - office apps. Even though an .icm profile is supplied with this monitor, for serious gaming and photoshop works - look elsewhere.

Inspiration, Innovation and Friday noon...

Random thoughts this time.


- Software evolves with the help of Innovation. And often, innovations are inspired by other influential factors and need for change/improvement (keyboard - mouse - touch, installable software - software as service).
- Taking inspiration from something, and applying it to evolve an existing thing is common in software (xerox - apple - windows)
- Too much of inspiration spoils originality
- Technology alone can never bring in sales. The packaging and marketing plays a big role for the success. Remember to develop for the 80% of population - who are non-geeks.
- Innovation requires determination, courage, planning and a solid goal (iPhone)
- Innovation need not be a completely new idea. It could be targeted at an existing idea to make loads of money (google adwords)
- The world evolves, it keeps on going that way. So software must evolve. Every software piece has a EOL.
- People or the users' expectation out of a product doubles over the time.

alright.. that's too much for a friday noon. The wise say "Dont eat upto the brim on a friday noon". Makes your gray cells go zzzZZzzing after the meal and you end up posting craps like these! LOL!



Don't game after it is over!

Life is full of lessons. Agreed. One thing I learned recently is - Don't game after it is over. No use trying, when the game has ended already. The best thing is .. enter a new Game.

Ta-daa!

The game begins now...






Image copyright - utahsba.com



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