The most amazing day @ISB so far!!
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The honeymoon period, as they call it, has come to an end. The first core term, for the Class of 2010 [Co2010] begins tomorrow. We already have loads to read up even before the first class. Just leaves me wondering if it is a sign of things to come!!
The weekend was spent partying, generally relaxing, and getting mentally prepared for the coming weeks. My section (E) went out for a Hyd trip and I joined them for dinner at Angeethi. There was a BITSian lunch proposed today, which had to be postponed due to some circumstances. Btw, there are some 17 BITSians in this batch, up from 12 last year – way to go BITS!!
Another interesting event was a interactive session by Navtej Sarna, Indian Ambassador to Israel, IFS Office, Class of 1980 [Note: I was born in 1983]. He spent a lot of time as the spokesperson of the MEA, and spoke candidly, without spilling any beans, of his experiences there. He elaborated on how the Indian media needs to regulate itself in events like the 26/11 or the Kandhar hijacking. He also spoke on how India’s perception in the West has changed over the years, and also how he reacted to Slumdog Millionaire vis-à-vis Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. A very interesting hour and a half was spent with him. I am already becoming a fan of the speaker series at ISB.
Read More“An animated documentary? Wow! Wonder how this will turn out.”
These were the exact thoughts that went through my brain as I sat down to watch this movie. Its does not have the best animation ever, but sort of an experimental overlap between rotoscoping and one of the Animatrix movies, I don’t remember the exact one though.
However, the movie is not about the animation, its about the war. As Folman looks back into his past, trying to remember the events that triggered his traumatic dreams, we are slowly introduced to the madness that is war, and the effects it has on either party. Young, impressionable minds that are thrown into carnage situation and often commit crimes in situations beyond their comprehension. There is a moment where a soldier sees his reflection in the eyes of a dead horse. It makes you cringe. Another one where a soldier performs a Waltz (I guess the movie gets its name from this scence), while still firing a MAG, makes you wonder about the mental state of these soldiers.
The movie finally comes to conclusion with an elaborate description of the massacre as you lie mortified. It reminds you of The Pianist and the Schindler’s List. The ending is surreal, and the image of the girl with the curly hair remains embedded in your mind for a long time after you have watched the movie.
Highly recommended!!
Read MoreWe have started using the Thomson Innovation recently at work, and I must confess that I was hooked the first time I started working on in. The data coverage is good. A lot of nifty features, like combining Derwent with normal queries.
However, now that I have used it for a while, I must say that I have a few suggestions on how it can be improved. Thomson folks, are you listening??
- Fire your helpdesk. I have sent them two emails with queries in two days and they have not responded yet. That sucks and is simply unacceptable. And these were very standard and basic queries. You need better people on it. Emulate the STN helpdesk. They rock!!
- Too many rouch edges. E.g., data download – bad output for bigger sets and standard fields missing (Inpadoc family??).
- Your system is tooooo damn slow!! It practically stops working at times. Use some help from professional people in designing your webpages to decrease page download. Reuse a lot of downloaded parts of the page.
- Your Derwent is broke at many places. Fix it ASAP. Partial manual codes. Are you kiding me?? Use Derwent data from Delphion.
From my experience, MicroPatent remains the most user friendly database for regular IP work. And Delphion most trustworthy, though it is not user friendly.
I believe that there would not be too many people using patent databases at any given point, and therefore producing a good, stable, fast and efficient database should not be a problem and should not require too much effort.
Just wish these people listened!! Sigh.
Update: Thomson just released the next version today (Dec 15). Don’t know if they took care of some of the issues I mentioned above though. Will test and post back.
PS: Please note that these is a personal opinion only and is not meant to criticize a product or company.
Read MoreAccording to the Met department, it has been the quickest the Monsoon has hit the Indian Capital in more than a century. Well, I don’t know the weather record, but the rains have sure made for the best summers in this part of the country in many many years for me..
Anyways, this weekend has been especially wet and very very nice. Sunday morning and the Gurgaon skyline resembled the Darjeeling weather. I have been using the DSLR a little more nowadays and the extra time this morning gave me a chance to experiment with it.
Clicked a few snaps but this is the personal favourite. Comments welcome 
I have been a great fan of the Tata Sky service for the past one year. The picture and sound clarity is worth the additional money for the installation and the premium one pays for the monthly subscription. However, the events over the last week or so has left a very bad taste in the mouth and I would say that everyone should stay away from them.
About a week back Tata Sky announced that they are reducing the monthly charges and providing the Sports Channels (ESPN-STAR bouquet, Ten Sports) and the BBC add-ons at the same cost but as optional components. While this is a welcome change I had two issues with it. Bad implementation and incorrect information.
Bad Implementation - The ideal way to implement it would have been that each customer should have been called or given an option to opt out (rather than opt in). That too while the French Open is underway and the Euro 2008 is a week away. If they are changing the plan, they should ask the customer, rather than the customer having to take the pains. That said their helpline was busy and unavailable, and they did not have the courtesy to call back after making me wait on their stupid helpline for 20 mins, thrice.
Incorrect Information – They said that the cost would remain the same even if I added the optional package. I think this is incorrect since if you add the BBC channels and Ten Sports, the cost is more than the existing cost.
Now - Super Saver (Rs. 260) + ESPN-STAR (Rs. 40) + BBC (Rs. 30) + Ten Sports (Rs. 15) = Rs. 345
Earlier – Super Saver Pack (Rs. 300). (My subscription charges for the month of May is provided below as an example)
| 01-Jun-08 | Subs Fee | Monsoon promo pack- 3 for the period (30-May-08 to 31-May-08) @ Rs 8.55 per day | 17.10 |
| 01-Jun-08 | Subs Fee | Monsoon promo pack- 3 for the period (01-May-08 to 29-May-08) @ Rs 9.86 per day | 285.94 |
I am shocked that Tata – very recently crowned to be a trusted brand – would take such a stupid step and harm its own image. I would now advise all friends to go for the cheaper option of DishTV despite the very very irritating SRK ad. You guys have lost a loyal customer is all I have to say.
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