Shyam's Blog

Day-2 of PMPC 2013 was good with interesting talks. Prof. Gupta from IIMB talked about balance of ecological system and infrastructure.  Talk by Mr.Hari and Mrs. Hari was very good. Their book on India's history and prosperity, "You Turn India" tells how this country was plundered in the past. It also gives an insight of how 'water' can change India! Talk by Mr. Rana on Solar Park project in Gujarat showed how Narendra Modi transformed the state. This project was completed in record period of 12 months from Dec 2011-Jan 2012. Last talk of the day by Mr. Ravichander from Feedback Consulting was all about Bangalore's problems - in general, how urban projects are driven. It highlighted garbage problem, road condition and traffic congestion. 

Got the new Nexus 4 yesterday. My iPhone 4 is 3 years old and is behaving weird at times. I had got the screen replaced few weeks ago. I am facing problem with sensitivity of screen when battery drops below 20%. Nexus 4 is looking good with nice features. I am back to Android after 3 years. In 2010, I had got my first smartphone, Motorola XT720 with Android in it. Enjoying Nexus 4...

Got Tata Sky+ HD connection last week. We had local cable TV connection prior to this. With this new connection, TV experience is just great! We can record programs, watch few channels in HD, download movies/shows as part of Video On Demand and many other stuff. Also, we can access our box remotely sitting anywhere. Lets say, I want to record a show, all I need to do is, go online to my account and select 'record'. By the time I am home, the program will be ready to watch. Finally, there is an iphone app that acts as a remote! This app also has the feature of record remotely.

As I was driving home from office the other day, I did a glance around Outer Ring Road, Bangalore. Every direction I looked, there was some construction going on. Be it a multi-specialty hospital or a big 10-floor residential building. Imagine the investments in these infrastructure projects! Good that it is shaping Bangalore to be better place to experience life. But, currently, the amount of pollution (dust/noise/etc) is huge. Bangalore is no different than some of the cities in China that have high pollution levels. As of today, infrastructural improvements are creating a havoc more than benefits. Seeing the Metro Train projects, it is not a positive sign to have these constructions running for a decade long. Clogging the roads and creating traffic jams is the side effect.

I became the Secretary of our Apartment Association few months ago. Our apartment complex houses 576 units and managing it is like managing a business or a company. Everyday, I am bumping in to things that will need attention being Secretary. Here is a sample of things I get pulled in to. 1. Everyday, I check my email early morning to look for any task that needs immediate attention. These emails are sometimes beyond my control. I see emails that says, "MC (Management Committee), please get rid of monkey menace in our apartment. There are too many these days and are destroying our clothes in balconies". Sadly, these monkeys were invited by few animal lovers and they fed fruits and nuts to them. Now, if we kick them away, it feels like we are kicking away our guests :). 2. At 9am, estate manager calls and tells BESCOM (electricity board) guy has come to disconnect power of people who have not paid bills. For next 30 minutes, I negotiate with that guy and convince him tha...

This morning, I had forgotten my iPhone in the office cab. Later, I was able to track it using "Findmyiphone" App. I informed the transport team and the security team. I could track the phone using this link  - https://www.icloud.com/#find Within couple of hours, I had the driver come and hand over the phone to the security! Thanks Transport Team and Security team.

As a constant internet user, one would have atleast 10 online accounts. Let me jot the list based on most common things that I see people use. 1. Yahoo email account - This is one of the earlier emails that became popular. 2. Gmail - seeing the features of gmail, people slowly moved out of Yahoo mail to Gmail. 3. Skype - It has become a mode of communication. Not having a skype account is like being disconnected. 4. Facebook and Twitter - Can't believe if someone using the internet and says, 'I don't have an account in facebook'. 5. Online Banking/Credit Cards - This is becoming popular in India and I see a good IT business in it. 6. Bill Payments - Cell phone, electricity, etc can be paid online by registering your account. Uff, this is adding up to the list of 'passwords to remember'. 7. Online shopping - Wow, this is picking up speed. Atleast for a 'try', people have created accounts online to experience online shopping. Oh no... :(. I can...