cutting down reading …

I am enforcing some discipline in myself – as my health needs it. I cannot afford to have behaviour that encourages short attention and I am anyway slightly bored with the happenings of the blogosphere.

Off late – I have bee noticing I am writing more and reading less. As of today my number of feed I read have been cut down to 40. I have made a resolution to keep the number below 42 ;-) – the answer to Life, Universe and Everything :D

Will give a list soon – but the broad categories are: Mobility, Cool, Monitor, News, Other, People, Private and Tech.

Leaving you with links for the day:

I just love this graphic from kathy’s site:

progress.jpg

successful innovation!

I read the 'heurestic framework' pdf lately from Ideaflow and thought will share the read. Basically thedocument can be summarised in these two pictures. First the basic frame work – they do mention the order of Qs can be changed and the final quotes with frogs in it :-)

Remember its all about 'successful' innovation not just innovation. Its all about what or why a certain product or event happens in the chain of events between two 'S' curves in innovation!! {If you don't understand what I am saying … I shall post about it someday}.

Remember TRIZ is also good method. But TRIZ personally according to me is not making about making innovation a equation. This is more of a management level framework. And Innovation is about good mix of art, technology and process.

So, here is the framework:

  • Does it fit the Organisation?
    • Yes – Possibly – No
  • Does it provide strategic advantage?
    • Yes – Possibly – No
  • Is there a demand for it?
    • Yes – Possibly – No
  • How might we pursue it?
    • Build Internally – Collaborate – Acquire
  • Is there a clear definition of success?
    • Yes – Possibly – No
  • Will management support it?
    • Yes – Possibly – No

And the quote from Linus Pauling:

You have to kiss a lof of frogs … before you find your prince.
And you've to create a lot of ideas before you find a great one. ;-)

And the picture is also take from the report!

frogs.jpg

My Blogroll

Well, I am going to changing my blogroll pretty drastically – interests have changed :-) I dunno know for the good or bad … But I am not reading this any more thought I will put a post with my blogroll. So, here it is – its within a ‘Bitty Browser’

bitty Browser didn’t work within wordpress :-( Tried going a source copy and ran out of patience)
News

http://news.com.com/

http://blogs.zdnet.com

http://www.moconews.net
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technology/index.html?partner=rssnyt
http://arstechnica.com
http://www.techdirt.com/
http://www.alootechie.com
http://www.contentsutra.com
http://www.paidcontent.org/

Software

http://gigaom.com
http://www.emergic.org/
http://www.techcrunch.com
http://www.scripting.com/
http://www.micropersuasion.com/
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
http://www.emilychang.com/go/ehub/
http://www.paulstamatiou.com
http://blog.softtechvc.com/
http://www.blog-relations.com
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/
http://www.digitaltechnews.com/news/
http://37signals.com/svn/
http://blog.tomevslin.com/
http://www.lukew.com/ff/
http://www.internetoutsider.com/
http://loosewire.typepad.com/blog/
http://marshallk.com
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/
http://crunchnotes.com
http://www.wired.com/
http://www.oreillynet.com/etel/blog/
http://radar.oreilly.com/
http://googleblog.blogspot.com
http://www.edn.com/blog/150000015.html?nid=2554
http://www.philgomes.com/blog/
http://www.podiobooks.com/blog
http://www.roughtype.com/
http://www.marketingstudies.net/
http://www.simplebits.com/
http://googlepress.blogspot.com/
http://tagsonomy.com
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/
http://web2.wsj2.com/
http://www.joelonsoftware.com
http://committeetoprotectbloggers.civiblog.org/blog
http://moblogher.typepad.com/mojo/
http://www.venturevoice.com/
http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickableculture/
http://www.elatable.com/blog

Mobile

http://www.cameronmoll.com/
http://www.j2medeveloper.com/weblog
http://www.gotomobile.com
http://www.smartmobs.com/
http://www.mobilepundit.com
http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/hinkmond
http://www.textually.org/
http://mobileanalystwatch.blogspot.com
http://icppl.typepad.com/i_see_people/
http://jroller.com/page/j2me
http://kerncomputing.blogspot.com
http://cognections.typepad.com/lifeblog/
http://www.mmetrics.com/blog/
http://mmetrics.com/
http://mobhappy.typepad.com/russell_buckleys_mobhappy/
http://www.mamlambo.com/mdn/
http://www.mopocket.com/
http://mobileenterprise.typepad.com/weblog/
http://www.mobileslate.com
http://www.mobile-weblog.com/
http://www.phonescoop.com/
http://jroller.com/page/random7
http://jroller.com/page/kalimantan
http://www.tangentmobile.com
http://businessblog.sprint.com/1/1/
http://blogs.msdn.com/mobilepc/default.aspx
http://javablogs.xyling.com
http://mobiledesign.org/
http://www.tomhume.org/
http://wireless.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=blog
http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com
http://www.littlespringsdesign.com
http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/
http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/
http://disruptivewireless.blogspot.com
http://xendolev.typepad.com/xellular/
http://www.thesmsguide.com/blog

Indian

http://mumbai.metblogs.com/
http://radio.weblogs.com/0121664/
http://www.amitranjan.com
http://muthuonline.com
http://WWW.NEWDELHITIMES.ORG/
http://www.deeshaa.org
http://www.mypajama.com/blog
http://chennai.metblogs.com/
http://blog.adelanwar.com
http://rajan.wordpress.com
http://www.math.tifr.res.in/blog
http://ventureexplorer.typepad.com/ventureexplorer/
http://www.venturewoods.org
http://chocolateandgoldcoins.blogspot.com
http://shrikant.emergic.org
http://barkbadmar.blogspot.com
http://www.wirkle.com/blogs/sunil/index.html
http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/
http://spaces.msn.com/members/rdewangan/
http://gunkglumb.blogspot.com
http://www.thevoiceinmyhead.com
http://lambipooch.blogspot.com
http://blog.leadstep.com/
http://rajan.wordpress.com
http://www.rashmisinha.com/
http://www.kiruba.com

FW-Design

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.lifehacker.com/
http://www.core77.com/blog/
http://www.usernomics.com/news/user-interface-design-news.html
http://www.popgadget.net
http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/
http://cre8d-design.com/blog
http://infosthetics.com/
http://xplane.com/xblog//index.php
http://www.gapingvoid.com/
http://www.kottke.org/
http://visualthinkingart.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/groups/productplacement/pool/
http://michaelandrews.blogspot.com
http://www.alistapart.com/
http://webdesign.about.com/
http://juicability.blogspot.com
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/
http://www.mezzoblue.com/
http://www.digital-web.com/
http://www.corante.com/ideaflow/
http://www.joshspear.com/
http://www.stopdesign.com/
http://www.caffeine-junkies.com/
http://www.idea-sandbox.com/blog/
http://flickrnation.com

Bsphere

http://radham228.blogspot.com
http://epeus.blogspot.com
http://efatima.blogspot.com
http://www.problogger.net
http://www.blog.ca/main/index.php/alloverthemap
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/
http://www.cheesebikini.com/
http://geobloggers.blogspot.com
http://data.freeshell.org/
http://zalguur.blogspot.com
http://outtacontext.com/life/
http://maisnon.blogspot.com
http://dream.sims.berkeley.edu/MT/vanhouse/
http://o3.indiatimes.com/srinivas/
http://www.slower.net/slowerlog/
http://kssmani.blogspot.com
http://trivialmatters.blogspot.com
http://vsequeira.blogspot.com
http://aswinanand.blogspot.com
http://nehasri.blogspot.com
http://binnovation.blogspot.com
http://bestmob.blogspot.com
http://idearepository.blogspot.com
http://woodstock4u.blogspot.com
http://sukumar.blogspot.com
http://palojono.blogspot.com
http://infoqual.blogspot.com
http://turmericdiaries.blogspot.com
http://jhcloud8.blogspot.com
http://writeswithlight.blogspot.com
http://michellemillay.blogspot.com

interests

http://www.macrumors.com
http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/
http://mytoday.wikispaces.com/space/xml
http://srwsalumni.wikispaces.com/space/xml
http://www.tuaw.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog
http://indianeconomy.org
http://psdblog.worldbank.org/psdblog/
http://del.icio.us/scobleizer
http://vinu.wordpress.com
http://www.birdDogdigital.com/blog/
http://homepage.mac.com/lesposen/blogwavestudio
http://srwsalumni.wordpress.com

Biz

http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/
http://www.genuinevc.com/
http://www.smallbiztrends.com
http://www.ventureblog.com/
http://blog.kauffman.org/index.php/entrepreneur_viewpoint/index
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/
http://giussani.typepad.com/loip/
http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/
http://brand.blogs.com/mantra/
http://decker.typepad.com/welcome/
http://startups.infogami.com/
http://bnoopy.typepad.com/bnoopy/
http://www.nivi.com/blog
http://www.college-startup.com
http://bizzbangbuzz.blogspot.com
http://www.paulgraham.com/
http://www.business-opportunities.biz
http://www.allbusiness.com/blog/JustForSmallBusiness/3357/
http://blog.metastreams.com/
http://www.workhappy.net/
http://www.beyondbullets.com/
http://www.alwayson-network.com
http://www.zoliblog.com/blog

Rajesh – thoughts on blogging

Rajesh Jain (My Boss) just blogged on Blogging and himself. I thought it would be a nice reading for all of you. He blogs at www.emergic.org

I met him through his blog and also got interviewed and got a job in his company through his blog!! (There you go about benefits about blogs)

Four Blog Years: The Beginning [May 15, 2006]
How I Blog [May 16, 2006]
MyToday [May 17, 2006]
Thinking Evolution [May 18, 2006]


blogger meet wrap up …

I reached Barista around 4:15pm. Looked for some know faces … I had been to a blogger meet in January earlier. Was going to approach the counter asking the folks at Barista about this when at one corner – I saw a face I recognized …

I raised my hand and he acknowledged. I approached him and said … "err does your name start with a 'V'?!" " No, but I am Saketh" he said. Then it sruck me and I said "Oh you write a blog called vulture something right?" … Saketh replied "hmm .. Vulturo (check out his blog, i just did its kewl)". He continued talking about himself. Then I asked him how often do bloggers in bombay meet. He said it used to be often last year – but the people who used to be enthu about it have fizzled about but they all somehow still manage to meet everymonth.

Then Yaz from Yazadjal.com came in and Saketh knew him and then there was a crowd. There were also a bunch of bloggers sitting at the other corner and our main aim was to grab some benches and chairs … and soon we all settled in and more people joined in. We all had a quick introduction and I live video – blogged it using my phone.

Amit from IndiaUncut pointed out I was supposed to ask permission before doing that … well I told them that I am well within my rights and I know it as a photographer! well, as a group they thought Amit was right and I didn't bother arguing and asked for permission before taking pics again. {but I know this … as a law its completely okay to take a picture of what you see through your eyes without straining it i.e use telephoto lens etc!} Here is the video of the round of introductions :-)

Then the focus shift to Nitin Pai from 'The Acorn' while the blog-call was being taken.
The noise at Barista and the lack of space made it difficult to clearly hear and participate in the discussion easily. The blog-call was as follows:

The conversation started out on whether economic development and peace are related or can be dealt independently. Soon transitioned into Indo-Pak relations. Analogies being drawn on how china dealth things in the late 80s. Nitin's basis was tackle the terrorists as india is doing now and Liberalize and once we have enough economic clout the borders will sort out themselves.


A brief video:

Nitin believes what the Pakistan society thinks of India in not important as the state overrules controls the psyche of the society. Amit, Ravikaran and I were against it. I have met lots of Pakistanis and believe me there is lot of mutual respect and friendly outlook.

Anyway, at this juncture in my life I am slightly out of Politics as I feel if people look into their hearts and think even slightly sensibly all the issues can be settled. Violence is a measure for the people who are impatient or are afraid. And 'Vengeance is a lazy form of gried' (comment from a movie – the interpreter?)

There was also lot of 'literary' talk which I couldn't relate to. I did feel slightly out of place as the obvious had their community feeling having interacted for quite sometime online world. i was not really following their blogs.

People then whipped out their cameras and clicked here and there:

I saw Amit had a Rebel XT – the camera I also own. I was slightly disappointed this month on myself when I broke the lens :-( Mistake on my part that I dropped it. The lens is good that its electronics is not functioning properly. Suman dropped in as I left (had some other appointment at 6pm. Asked her where she blogs. She said – I just blog about 'myself'! :-) I replied even I do 40% myself! She replied " just google suman kamath" and unfortunately I can't find it! (in the top 10 links meaning)

Managed to grab a mango milkshake during that time and get to know Ravikaran well. Will definitely be adding them to my blogrolls. Its simply a great feeling when the online clouds (internet) and the grounded coffee (real life) merger. Aroma is just blissful!!

Other people who summarised yesterday's meet: (will add later)

  1. ShriRam Karra
  2. Amit-Verma

Amit mailed me pointing out that I have to take permission for all the snaps and videos I take and mentioned that if I removed them from the post he will link me. I did come back and remove his photo. I still see he has linked me. Anyway, what are you thoughts folks on this? I feel you are free to blo, take a photo and video of what all you see! …

simplicity

Charles Mingus:

Making the simple comlicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.

I agree to this to a great extent! Especially when you have to design, teach, selling something. I try to applyt this in my life too! (don’t we all want to make our life simple?)
Got this quote from ‘Dina‘ – I like her blog a lot! The things she writes about are on the similar lines that I think :-) {lovely person too!}

Mobiles and usability!!

Just read a great review by Harshad of his new Samsung SGH C210. My company has also given me a samsung cellphone too (I was previously using a cool LG one) will drop in a line on my experiences once I start using it for a month or so … BUT I would like to highlight the final paragraph by Harshad:

“So I’ll try to learn the foolish ways of this foolish phone… maybe even get my fingers damaged in the daily excercise for sending messages and making calls. Till I save up for a better device… I will have to deal with a bad bad bad choice. This is perhaps the worst user interface I have ever seen. Even UNIX is better – it allows fairly intelligent people to change things as they want – here I am supposed to be just as stupid as any other Joe user. *sigh*”

ALL usability and Mobile manufacturers read the above sentences again and keep re-reading it! There is so much to learn in this paragraph. Harshad has done a great job of simplifying the trouble and problems with the current cell phones! Both industrial design and the software design.

I shall be sharing the blogroll for mobiles soon but gotomobile – a mobile usability and user experience blog is doing a decent job at looking into this space!
Coming back to his comment, he is a geek and feels the need of more control and ability to program stuff. And I don’t think the companies should pay heed to that. But what you have to understand is even a non-geek feels the need of non-customizing at some level!

And yeah, all the cribs are on the software front. Hardware he is ready to put up with :) and common how difficult is it to have multiple builds?? how the same hardware!

Another thing lacking in the mobile handset industry is STANDARDS!!! The list is endless – power chords, usb chords, buttons, talk button, end button .. god damn it I agree you need more IQ to operate these phones than operate windows ;-) But guess what even illiterates manage to do that. So, designers – go understand the common man – they have lot to say.

Finally, this is a picture of my old cell phone in the US, LG-PM 325 with google Local running on it. I was very happy and satisfied with it! I just couldn’t get it working in India as its CDMA i.e Sprint contract. Neither Reliance nor Tata indicom were ready to help me out on that!!

LG PM325