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Ticket to lose customers - the LG India way!



There are a lot of books and articles which scream the importance of Customer Service, and how the reputation can be spoiled in just one second.

The experience I wish to narrate goes with my old LG Air Conditioner in my home town, Erode. Last week it became erratic and sounded like a rock crusher. So called up LG Customer care and raised a support request. As the AC machine is out of warranty, I was informed that charges will apply.

Saturday
The local LG service guy visited my house and checked the unit. After some time, he informed me that he has to take the outdoor unit back to service center to get it checked. He promised me that he will checkout the machine and let me know what was wrong by the same evening or the next day. The next day being sunday, I wondered how can he tell me the status? He replied that he stays in the same premises, and he can look at it.

Sunday
I was okay and Sunday came. But the guy didnt get back. When called he said the engineer didn't come.

Monday
Monday came, and still no progress. Meanwhile I got a call from another local LG service guy who informed me that my support ticket is still open. I told him that the machine is under evaluation with other service provider. I called up the service center to get the status update and the receptionist told me that she will get back before EOD.

The night came, and no calls.

Tuesday
The next day (Tuesday) I called up the service center, and the service engineer informed me that he can look at the machine only on Thursday, as there is no power. Furious, I told him that they should have informed me about the delays well ahead and I'd have set my expectations right, or probably would have arranged the service elsewhere. Then came the surprise - "You can take back the machine if you want. I can check it only on thursday!" was the reply I got.

Never in my life I have received such a reply. I have experienced pathetic customer service, but arrogance? well this is my first time. I understood that this guy is immature and decided to give him one last chance. I told him that I will give them a final chance to look into it. He became furious and yelled that I need not give him any final chance. It looked like I've rubbed his ego. But I don't care.

Anyways, I told him that he can keep the machine till Thursday and let me know the status. Hanging up the phone, I sent a message on LG India's FB and Twitter account. I also called up the customer service and reported the arrogant call. The customer support guy gave me a phone number of Ms.Gayathri who looks after the service. Spoke to her and she put on a conference call with the service center. The same stuff repeated and I told Gayathri that I was not expecting the guys to fix my machine overnight, but to let me know what was the problem at the first place. She intervened and requested to give a day's time to check it. I agreed and we hanged up the phone.

Meanwhile, LG India facebook replied back, asking for the RMA number and other details. I replied with the details and got a follow up reply saying that they will look into it immediately.

Wednesday
On May 1st, which is a holiday, my phone rang and the service center guy spoke up. He said the compressor is the culprit, and it is beyond repair. He suggested to fix a new compressor which would cost appx Rs.8000/- Additionally I have to pay Rs.2000/- more for GAS charges, and again the installation charges that might be applicable.

Pissed off, I asked him not to do anything, and just send back the machine to my place. That guy sensing that I am not going to fix anything, asked me if I would be interested in selling the machine. He offered me Rs.2000/- (yeah just two thousand) for the machine. I was pissed off extremely.. and hanged up the phone.

Thursday
Arranged to pickup the machine and got it back to my home. Now I am not even sure if the compressor was really damaged beyond repair or worse, had they switched my compressor with some other dead compressor??

And there was a follow up call from Ms.Gayathri this morning asking for the status. Informed her that the service center guy spoke to me about compressor gone bad and need to fix a new compressor. When she asked what I decided, I told her that I am going to take back the machine.


Contract service providers can spoil the reputation
It's a pity that contract service vendors like these guys are picked up by LG India for servicing their products. I have doubts on the local vendor's credibility. Spoke to a friend who expressed his bad experience with the same guys. Looks like these guys take the clients for granted. Poor service, and hideous tactics employed by these guys made me decide not to buy LG products in Erode anymore. Why should I face this service center to get my stuff repaired if something bad happens to the product?


The Japanese vs Korean experience
LG is not a bad company per se. When I was in Chennai, their service people were quick enough to supply a new REMOTE CONTROLLER for the same AC. But in Erode, the experience was bad. It is the service dealers who spoil the brand value of a company in the long term. Sorry LG, you lost here, because of no fault of yours, but your service provider!

This is where I recollect how Maruti Suzuki has built a reputation for after-sales service. They keep their dealers and service garages under their control. Any complaints to the customer care is dealt with extreme care and ensured that the client is satisfied at the end. When I reported a gear box issue after 3 years from the date of purchase, they sent a engineer to my home to inspect the issue. I learned from him that he has to scan the copy of my feedback form and send it to Maruti Suzuki's regional office.If there is a negative feedback from the customer, it gets escalated and the dealers / service centers has to face inquiry from Suzuki. That's something no dealers want to face.

Compared to Suzuki, LG lacks such strict measures. Intervening through phone calls or conference calls doesnt help much. LG should learn a thing or two.







Email Interview with Kannan M (Lucky Name Numerology) - Part 1

Recently, Kannan M of Lucky Name Numerology, came forward to clarify some of my views with respect to numerology. We had an Email interview and below, you will find the first part of the Q&A. Questions were framed by myself and answered by Kannan M.

You can read Part 2 here


======

Part 1/2


[Me:] Numerology became much popular in recent times. Wikipedia quotes that the word NUMEROLOGY is not recorded before 1907. Is there any evidence that it was practiced in earlier days, in any other forms. ?

[Kannan M] : The origin of numerology dates back to the first yuga in the Indian calendar. In fact it had been in vogue when God Created mankind and gave four Vedas, 6 sastras, and 64 Manuvigyanas to the Rishis who were also created by God.

The ancient Rishis of yore who were well versed in the Vedas and astrology got this knowledge from God during their meditations. God bequeathed this knowledge to those deserving few.

Those Rishis like Vishwamithra had extraordinary powers. They could destroy the world by Brahmastra. Brahamasiras was even more powerful than Bhramastra. They just had to aim with an arrow and utter a Divine Mantra which had the power to create Brahmastra in that arrow.

They could aim it at any object and that object was annihilated in toto. Such rishis had the power to sense and evaluate good and bad vibrations from any names. That is how they invented the good and destroying mantras by intuition. And that is how they also divined numerology.

Later it came into practice by disciplic succession. In those days many from Egypt and Babylon came to India to learn about Vedas and other sciences developed by the Rishis.

The earliest recorded history of numerology was from such tourists from Egypt and Babylon to India. It was here that the Chaldean system was developed under the influence of the Hebrews. Such tourists also came from China, Rome, Japan, and Greece to learn numerology from Indian Sages.


[Me:] Being the founder of Astronomical Association in IIT, and trained by famous astrologer Shree.Krishnamoorthy you researched into astrology as well. But what was the factor that encouraged you to focus more in Numerology?

[Kannan M] : I learned astrology from Jyothish Marthand Krishnamoorthy 46 years ago. It was he who invented the Scientific Modern Stellar Astrology. He himself says that astrology can help you to know only what is in store for you. You cannot prevent the inevitable by consulting an astrologer. Only you can console yourself that so many bad things or good events will happen to you at certain times.

But Numerology acts to please the planets and gives you an armour to lessen their evil effects. If you make a friend of your enemy you fear less danger from him. At least if you make a truce with him you can escape from his attacks.

Name numerology as per my system protects you with an armour which cannot be penetrated by the evil vibrations of the unfavourable planets.

Your brain works more efficiently, you turn out more work in less time and you become efficient and that is how you become successful. Moreover numerology prevents dangers like premature death, divorce, strikes, lock outs, Government raids, and ensures smooth running of the family. These factors constitute your success.


[Me:] Who pioneered the art of Numerology? I heard that a person named Cheiro perfected the art and brought it into mainstream. Is that so? Was there any other key personalities who popularized numerology?

[Kannan M] : To my certainty it was evident from the times of Rama Krishna and Balarama, that numerology was practiced from their times starting from several thousand years ago. Others practiced in their respective languages and scripts.

Later Cheiro wanted to verify all this and get personal knowledge from the descendants of the Rishis in Himalayas and he devised this knowledge in English.

Hence Cheiro’s work was his interpretation without any reference to the vibrational measurements of the rishis to judge if the name or number was good or bad for a particular Individual.

However though many were badly named and did not have any luck some had success in their lives after name change. So the science became famous.


[Me:] Numerology focuses only on English language alphabets. Can it be applied for other languages? If not, then why? Why does numerology confines only to English?

[Kannan M] : To my certainty it was evident from the times of Rama, Krishna and Balarama, that numerology was practiced from their times starting from several thousand years ago. Other countries too derived this gift of God and practiced it in their respective languages and scripts.

Later Cheiro wanted to verify all this from the original source, that is India, and get personal knowledge from the Rishis in Himalayas and he interpreted this knowledge in English.

But these descendants who taught Cheiro did not have the sense and intuition like the ancient masters to smell, scan, realize, and interpret the good and bad vibrations that emanates from alphabets, numbers, names, and name numbers. So Cheiro’s knowledge of Numerology was perfunctory.

Hence Cheiro’s interpretation was without any reference to the vibrational measurements of the name. But these vibes were so necessary in name numerology to judge if the name or number was good or bad for a particular Individual.

By his system many were named badly and they did not have any luck. Some were named well by accident and they had success in their lives after name change. The world only looks at success. It ignores failures. Like this the occult science of numerology became famous.

Why English is mostly used in Name Numerology? English is the major spoken and written language understood by most people all over the world. Most of the further researches were made in English to practice name numerology and it has become the most popular language for this occult science.

Numerology had been practised by other countries with other scripts. Chinese Numerology is most famous where they use signs and symbols for language scripts. However nowadays even the Chinese desire to have their names in English language now to achieve global success.


[Me:] How did the connections like "Number 1 ruled by SUN" were established? How does Astrology comes into the picture? Can you elaborate in simpler terms?

[Kannan M] : Such knowledge about the numbers and the association with planets was bequeathed by God to various enlightened souls in all parts of the world. That is why numerology is famous throughout the world. For example consider this passage from my web site's page called Science of Luck.

Here below, we quote from Apocrypha, related to The Holy Bible. In this the word wisdom relates to all sciences and knowledge from atomic energy, astronomy and numerology. (From The Book Of King Solomon).

"For God Himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things that are, To know the constitution of The world,
The Beginning and The End And Middle of All Times,
The alterations of The Solstices,
The Changes in The Seasons,
The positions of The Planets,
The Nature of living creatures, And
The thoughts of Men.
All things that are either secret or manifest I learned, For, He, That is The Artificer of All Things, Taught me This Wisdom."

The above passage is evidence that God belongs to the entire creation and he gave this knowledge to the deserving few in each country. As Cherio decided it originated and was best understood in India he revealed this fact in his book.

In this context it is worth considering Lord Krishna’s utterances in Srimad Bagavad Gita in Chapter 4, slokas 1 and 2.

In these slokas Lord Krishna states as follows.

“I taught this imperishable yoga (knowledges) to Vivaswan. Viwaswan taught it to Manu. Manu taught it to Iksvaku. All the Raja Rishis who came by disciplic succession were knowing this. With lapse of Time, this knowledge was forgotten and lost to the world”.

After saying this Lord Krishna taught the original secrets of knowledge to Arjuna.


[Me:] Vedic astrology recommends to name a person with certain letters that are relevant to birth stars. (Ex. for ASWANI - Name should start with CHE CHU CHO LA CHE) But Numerology seems to deviate from that perspective by suggesting different starting alphabets. In other words, names formed using Numerology does not seem to adhere to the vedic standards. If astrology and numerology are connected, why does this anomaly present?

[Kannan M] : Vedic astrology has been overtaken by Modern Stellar Astrology which is more scientific. Vedic astrology contains several thousands of rules and several thousands of exceptions. It is totally unable to explain the differences of twins born in a small interval of minutes or seconds.

One of these twins is tall. Another is short. One is brilliant. Another is an idiot. One gets married and the other remains a bachelor. One dies soon and the other lives long. But the horoscope drawn for both these twins is the same.

So Vedic Astrology is out dated. This is lucidly explained in the page labelled Horary Astrology in my web site.

Modern days astrologers lack the acumen and intellectual powers of the sages who bequeathed astrology and who could calculate faster than computers.

That is why traditional astrology recommendations are invalid. This sort of recommendation sprang from money mongers who pretended to know numerology and invented their own systems and rules. That is why it is unwise to follow these recommendations.


[Me:] Let's say a person's horoscope is bad or the planetary positions are not in his good favor. Then, wont it be just good enough to do the "parikaaras" (as suggested by astrology) to reduce or overcome the ill-effects? Why does Numerology consultants promote that changing name will change everything?

[Kannan M] : Astrology is just a science of prediction. Numerology is much more. Astrology emphatically declares that whether you consult one astrologer or thousand best astrologers whatever destined to happen will alone happen. These Parikaras have no effect. Again this idea was promoted by astrologers who wanted to make money.

Whereas in numerology you get an invisible astra, armour or dress or sheath of a good favourable vibrating name which modifies your brain and intellect and it also makes the people who deal with you see you, like you, look upon you with respect and do good to you.

Even here you would go to a good numerologist only if your astrology permits you to do. It is like Markandeya got a boon from Shiva to avoid his previously fated death. If your fate is bad you will go to one of the millions of bogus numerologists and end up as a failure.

Most clients who come to me do so only after losing money with such bogus numerologists.


[Me:] Does changing one's name or modifying or editing the alphabets is enough to ensure the good effects will turn on us? Post changing; is there any practices / procedures to be followed for a while?

[Kannan M] : Mere editing or changing alphabets is futile. It is like groping in the dark without knowing any directions. The resultant name, its name components, and the name number should all vibrate in good values of wave lengths on the Lecher antenna.

And whether it is the luckiest name should be confirmed by horary astrology and from your birth date horoscope. The name must give increased body and mind energy readings on a scientific wonder instrument called energy meter or Acmograph.

After I give the corrected name, I will give a few exercises for the client to identify him/herself with the name and help his/her subconscious mind to build him/her up for all round success. The client have to practice these procedures for an unbroken period of 362 or some more days.All it takes is about 15 minutes per each day.


[Me:] Does 'correcting' the name by adding or reducing the alphabets is enough? Or do you recommend to change the whole name?

[Kannan M] : If you want to be a movie star or a celebrity you can change your name. For that my fees are much more than the normal fees. Therefore, I manage my work by removing the negative vibes, incorporating the positive vibes in their existing names and make the name really lucky.

If it is impossible to do it, I discuss with my client about this ask him to go for a totally different name. He is allowed to give me choices and I choose the best one, alter it suitably and give that name to him. However it rarely happens.

Most people do not like to totally change their names. But if they do they are open to enjoy much luckier results like total change of character and far better income.


[Me:] Numerology is a science. And scientific experiments / processes are valued by their success rates. Let's be fair here. So what is the success rate of name changes, based on your numerology predictions / corrections?

[Kannan M] : Numerology is an occult science. Vibrations constitute radiation and that is constituted by wave lengths and frequencies. Is there any scientific instrument to measure these occult wave lengths and frequencies coming from names? Only Lecher antenna can do that and it has been verified by modern sciences like quantum physics.

Most of my clients are happy. It is mandatory that they must respect my advice and follow the practices with religious fervour. Most of them do that and those who are lazy to follow these procedures get only partial results. But they do not complain since it is their fault. So I am proud to say that I have more than 95 % success rate.


[Me:] Numerology though well received, does not seem to get complete support from all Astrology practitioners. Major reason cited being, "Numerology is from the west, which is recently pushed in". Do you have anything to comment?

[Kannan M] : Astrologers envy the income of numerologists. For any consultation in astrology you get a pittance of a fee like 50 Rs. Or 100 Rs. But even bogus numerologists get from his clients about 7500 Rs for a name. Therefore astrologers become jealous and deprecate numerology.


Part 1/2 ends.


Continued in Part 2

====


NOTE : Do NOT contact me for Kannan M's phone numbers or email ids. Use his website to contact him.



Disclaimer:
All questions were answered by Kannan M, who is a Numerology Consultant by profession. He also runs a website on the subject discussed in this post. Any disputes or comments or questions shall be discussed directly with him.

Myself and this blog post are in no way associated in business terms or personal terms with the person interviewed or the person's profession.

Email Interview with Kannan M (Lucky Name Numerology) - Part 2

Recently, Kannan M of Lucky Name Numerology, came forward to clarify some of my views with respect to numerology. We had an Email interview and below, you will find the second part of the Q&A. Questions were framed by myself and answered by Kannan M.

You can read Part 1 here



NOTE : Do NOT contact me for Kannan M's phone numbers or email ids. Use his website to contact him.



======

Part 2/2

[Me:] Some of the names look quite obvious that they were chosen / coined after consulting a numerologist. To be frank one of my ex-colleague's name when written sounded very different than his real name. Is it not possible to make the name more realistic without any repetition of succeeding alphabets?

[Kannan M] : These are the results of bogus numerologists. There are millions of websites for numerology and even if you imagine 100 clients per website the total number of numerology clients will be several billions.

Coming to your question it is possible to alter names without making it sound differently and without making the spelling weird. In fact that is the Golden Rule to follow.


[Me:] It is said that the pronunciation of the name is what matters. So even if some name is modified or edited to make it numerologically correct, the sound still remains the same. So how does the correction will bring the success? Correct me if I am wrong.

[Kannan M] : It is because by signing the new name about 6 times a day, by practicing the success formula I give, and taking help from the subconscious mind on a daily basis, the newly corrected spelling though with the same pronunciation will work wonders.

Because the old bad spelling name was a name spelling disaster. The new spelt name is full of good vibes which work on the body mind soul complex.

Besides that numerology was not bequeathed by the Rishis for just to go by sound vibrations. It must go well with the vibes measured by the Lecher Antenna. You have to just type Lecher antenna in Google Search to know more about the antenna, these vibes and their values.

The old Rishis had this power to measure those vibes just by dwelling on a name. But modern science can use only this instrument to evaluate the vibes. There is no better scientific machine or computer invented by man to do it. Because these are vibes which cannot be measured by even the best computer designed by man.


[Me:] On a jovial note, let's say I refer some books and correct a common name like "N. Varatharajan" (வரதராஜன்) to "N.Varaatharaajan" (வராதராஜன்) then the pronunciation becomes little weird, even the meaning changes. For this case, as a Name numerology expert - what will you suggest? What would be the right thing to start?

[Kannan M] : It is a crime to make Varatharajan into Varaatha Rajan. I practice phonology and phonemics and I always ensure that no part of any name should contain evil meaning letter combinations. It is another reason for my success.


[Me:] How do you approach a name correction? What are the details that might be needed to proceed ahead? Can you describe in simple words?

[Kannan M] : Your present name, nick name, father’s name, mother’s name, date of birth, time of birth if it is accurate, place of birth, spouse name and his/her above details, and a number between 1 and 249 to judge your future for the present name.


[Me:] Does the approach differ when choosing a name for a new born baby? If so can you describe it?

[Kannan M] : Designing a baby name costs the same as for name correction for any individual. From the above details whatever is applicable should be given to me. The parents are allowed to give name choices which they like for the new baby.


[Me:] The Lecher scale is something that I have not heard. So how do you use that scale to sense / cure / understand a person's energy / aura from your place? Is that some sort of telepathy? or is it Science? Can you explain how you use it, and what it does?

[Kannan M] : Telepathy? No. It is a modern science not taught in any college but it is based on the latest and most advanced quantum physics and molecular biology. The human body is the most powerful transmitter and receiver of energies. In that way it is far more advanced than any machine or computer invented by the modern man. God has designed the human body that way.

Laymen only think of their physical bodies. They do not know that they have an energy body inside them. They do not know that all their diseases physical or mental spring from imbalances in their energy bodies.

Every human body has trillions of electric and electronic circuits which create an energy body and electromagnetic fields around each person.

In other words your body acts like a receiver and transmitter of information in the form of signal inputs. It is like the Sun TV signal inputs into your cable TV which telecasts movies and news.

The Lecher Antenna also acts as a transmitter and receiver of information from any energy body and in fact from any other source of energy.

When I do the diagnosis I put the name or photo of the person under a special mass connected to the antenna and question if I am connected with the person whether he is in USA or anywhere else.

If the antenna responds with an yes response, it means I am connected to the energy body of that person. Then I address the intelligence of that person with questions which reveal information about his ailments. I make a diagnosis report based on this dialogue with the energy body and intelligence of that person.

When the patient agrees to the treatment, I scan his energy body and expose certain herbal harmonies to his intelligence from where I am.

The antenna sends info about the harmonies in the mode of signals to his intelligence and whenever a healing harmony is exposed, his intelligence immediately asks for that harmony to be administered by remote energy transfer to his body from wherever I am.

Accordingly I transmit the vibrations from the harmony using my Lecher antenna to his energy body at the following vibes of 1.1, 2.1, 2.5, 5. 7, 7.8, 12, 15.3, 17.6 Lambdas on the Lecher scale. I do it only at that wave length and frequency which his intelligence demands.

His energy body acts like a receiver and accepts the information transferred and cures one particular missing fuse in his electromagnetic body. This sets right a host of energy disorders.

I repeat the procedure exposing his energy body to about 400 herbal harmonies and color filters and I go on curing disorder after disorder till the treatment is complete and his intelligence demands no more.

Then I scan his energy body with the antenna if all his energy axes are centred in his body, there are no energy shifts and that all his energy meridians have sufficient flow of energy, there are no blockages in his energy circuits and that all is well with his trillions of electrical and electronic circuits within his body.

Once these disorders are removed, his body achieves astonishing self healing powers and it cures itself of diseases. Even those diseases which have baffled the allopathic doctors get cured.


[Me:] Besides Numerology & Lecher, do you offer consulting in other domains such as Astrology, Gems, Vaastu etc?

[Kannan M] : Yes. I offer consultancy in these subjects.


[Me:] When it comes to name correction / new name suggestion, do you offer choices? or take up client's preferences? For example. Assume the client is a ardent devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba. So he prefers the name to start or end with "Sai". What is your comment?

[Kannan M] : These kinds of harmless requests I can accept. I also tell my client that if he dislikes my name he should inform me so that I will design another name to make him love it.

I do not give choices because he will not be competent to choose this name or that. His mind will waver. For some days he will practice this name and later ask me if he should practice another name. It will be an endless nuisance for him if I give him 4 or 5 choices.

He cannot identify himself with one best name and that makes his practice inefficient. It is like having too many women in one’s life. It wrecks his love life and married life. He will suffer mental toil.

In this way my lucky name may fail to do any good if he gets those choices.

Same way the client is not competent or equipped with my skills to identify the best name. He has the liberty to ask for a different name. That is his best option.


[Me:] If numerology can alter or change the fate, then it is contradicting with the belief that "fate cannot be changed". What is your comment?

[Kannan M] : Numerology acts to please the planets and it gives you an armour to lessen their evil effects. If you make a friend of your enemy you fear no danger from him. At least if you make a truce with him you can escape from his attacks.

Name numerology as per my system protects you with an armour which cannot be penetrated by the evil vibrations of the unfavourable planets.

Your brain works more efficiently, you turn out more work in less time and you become efficient and that is how you become successful. Moreover numerology prevents dangers like premature death, divorce, strikes, lock outs, Government raids, and ensures smooth running of the family. These factors constitute your success.


[Me:] There are some numerology software which seems to give accurate prediction and name corrections as well. They can be bought off the shelf for surprisingly economic cost. So how does your service is superior to such alternates? What is the uniqueness you offer to your clients? can you elaborate?

[Kannan M] : Unless you eat the pudding you will not have the taste of it. Some are happy with these numerology services and fall victims. Mostly these are softwares based on Pythagorean Numerology which is good only for fun reading. These softwares are not good for name correction.

These are unfit to design individual names. A name in 41 may be good for some persons but millions with name number 41 remain poor. I can produce a million evil names in 41. Therefore the name number alone is not the criterion. Such softwares go by these numbers and that is why they are not really good for one’s personal use.

Like each finger print is different, each man’s intelligence is different. Unless the name is made suitable for that particular intelligence it will not suit him and it may harm him too.
Those who enjoy lucky results may already be lucky and they might have tried these softwares just for fun. That does not mean those softwares made them lucky.

I ensure a name is correct by name numerology, phonology, phonemics, astrology, horary astrology, and Lecher Antenna vibrational measurements. I ensure that the name syncs with the body mind soul complex of the individual by employing bioenergetics, tests on the energy meter, confirmation if the name is really lucky by special methods based on astrology. I make sure that my client loves the corrected name.


[Me:] As a numerologist, can you predict how will 2013 turns out to our country, India? Will there be natural calamities? What will be the socio-economic scenario?

[Kannan M] : I do not offer such predictions. I have no time for that. I have clients from all the 196 countries with lots of email correspondence and phone calls and interviews every day. I also have to attend to my patients from all over the world to treat them by the science of bioenergetics.


** The End **

You can read Part 1 here


====



NOTE : Do NOT contact me for Kannan M's phone numbers or email ids. Use his website to contact him.




Disclaimer:
All questions were answered by Kannan M, who is a Numerology Consultant by profession. He also runs a website on the subject discussed in this post. Any disputes or comments or questions shall be discussed directly with him.

Myself and this blog post are in no way associated in business terms or personal terms with the person interviewed or the person's profession.

Installing & Running Tomcat 7.0 on Mac OS X

INSTALLING TOMCAT 7.0
The installation is pretty straight forward. Just download gzip or zip file from the Tomcat website and copy to any folder of your choice. For example, lets consider this folder /users/john.doe/tomcat7 where john.doe is your user name, and tomcat7 is the folder name. Extract the ZIP file in tomcat7 folder.

YOU NEED TO EXECUTE CHMOD COMMAND
In most cases, your user account may not be the super-user account. So you need to give execute privileges for some files. Open up terminal app, and navigate to the tomcat7 folder. Open the bin folder and type the following commands one by one.

Assuming john.doe$ is the prompt..

john.doe$ chmod +x startup.sh
john.doe$ chmod +x shutdown.sh
john.doe$ chmod +x catalina.sh
john.doe$ chmod +x setclasspath.sh
john.doe$ chmod +x bootstrap.jar


SETUP JAVA HOME AND CATALINA HOME ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
Now open the startup.sh file using your favorite code editor and add the following two line below the line where this word -> EXECUTABLE appears.

export JAVA_HOME=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5/Home
export CATALINA_HOME=/Users/user/tomcat


RUNNING TOMCAT SERVER
Now that you have done the preps, come to the command prompt, open the bin folder and type
john.doe$ sh startup.sh


The server will display certain lines like Using CATALINA_BASE .. some path, bla bla and return to the prompt again. Open your browser and type http://localhost:8080 and hit enter. If your tomcat server is running you should be able to see this:



5 tips to design User Interface images for Retina Display

Based on my experiences and knowledge gathered over various articles, here are 5 quick tips that will help designing UI images for retina display.

1. @media
Use CSS (@media) to display appropriate images (normal vs HD images).

2. device-aspect-ratio
Remember! iOS by default, tries to blowup the size of normal images twice in Retina Display. Use the webkit-device-aspect-ratio CSS hack, to manage it. Set device aspect ratio to 2 for Retina display and 1.5 for high end android devices.

3. 2000 pixel limitation
If you create a sprite, make sure the height of the sprite does not exceed 2000px, because iPhone supports a maximum image height of 2000px for sprites.

4. 72 dpi is enough
No need to set your image's dpi to 88 pixels per inch to match Retina's resolution. Use the standard 72 pixels per inch.

5. SVG is poorly supported
SVG is nice. But for some reason, iOS does not support it fully. So until iOS supports SVG, we need to use images.

Nissin Di622 Mk II (Canon compatible flash) - First Impressions review

Bought a new Nissin Di622 MKII, a Canon ETTL compatible digital flash on Friday (Sep 28, 2012). It cost me Rs.9500 in the local shop - Foto Circle, near Ganesh Temple on Koramangala 5th block. I had a quick requirement to buy a good flash. No time for reading reviews, so just took a quick glance at Flipkart reviews. Did not help much, as there were only ratings and no reviews. But found that it was Metz and Nissin that dominate the third-party flash market here.


Having my mind set on buying a flash unit which has
- Bounce Function
- Swivel Head
- ETTL Compatible
- Digital Slave Function
- Economy price tag

I quickly drove to GK Vale on 80ft road near my office in Koramangala 5th block. They did not have stock there. They had a Canon 580 EXII, but the sales guys were unsure about the price and wanted me to wait for some 15 mins. As I was in a hurry, I decided to check out the another seller in the Ganesh temple road, called Foto Circle. Upon entering, I told my requirements to the guy at the counter. He immediately suggested me to go for Nissin Di622 Mark II. Unlike the typical sales guys, this guy was pointing out the benefits about this model, compared to a Canon flash. I was bit impressed. He sounded genuine. So I went ahead and asked for a quick demo. He gave me a quick demo and offered me try that with a Canon 550D. I tried and the results were obviously better than the in-built flash.

It did not take much time to decide, as Nissin Di622 Mk II proved to be a worthy budget alternative for expensive Canon 430 EX flash. I saw the Metz Mecablitz piece, and was not impressed much. The MRP of the Nissin Di622 MK II was Rs.9600/- and he offered me for Rs.9500/- only. There was no bargaining because he showed me the new lot of pieces, which had MRP printed for Rs.10XXX/- I know this piece comes with a 30% profit margin. I decided go ahead and bought it. Bought 4 new Eneloop Ni-MH batteries too.

First Impression
At home, I fixed the Nissin Di622 MK II flash to my Canon 550D, set the mode to Full-Auto in both Camera and Flash. Shot a couple of initial shots. Could not make out any difference. Changed the location, shot some more and soon my eyes started figuring out the differences. The later shots came out very well. The bounce, and swivel was totally helpful in turning out ordinary flash photography into better looking photography. The flash is quick, has motorized zoom and syncs perfectly with Canon metering. It re-charges quickly and fixes firmly with the hot-shoe holder.

The alkaline batteries lasted for upto 180 shots appx. The eneloops were much better and they are still going strong after 200+ shots appx.

Conclusion
On the first impressions, Nissin's Di622 MKII is a very good choice for those who are looking for a good performance flash for casual/amateur photography. It is quite good, and matches most of the needs.

A detailed review will follow soon.


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. :-)

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