Interesting Read about Future of Advertising

Blogging for my future ref Wired Article

Peer Pressure - Mahesh Murthy's great article

This article in Business World comes with a lot of insights out of experience. Some of the phrases are really touching enough for an ordinary, common, middle-class indian to look for the brain over fair & lovely cream.

"If you really believed (like many of us do) that people should judge you for your brains and not your looks, you'd put Lakme and L'Oreal out of business. Advertisers, parents, the establishment - all know their job is to make you feel insecure - so you're conned into thinking that only if you use the right shampoo will you find the right guy, or use the right cologne to find the right girl, or top your class to find the right career. Balderdash."

"It's a hard one to get your head around. But that doesn't make it any less true: envy is a pointless emotion when it comes to your career. Or even life. At the root of envy is your insecurity about yourself - and your true worth. And insecurity is a great mirage that the system (including us marketing types) have a vested interest in seeing continue."

Read the full article here

AS 2.0 Classes & Awesome work on Shockwave

Learned it via sajid's blog , this is a good bookmark for FMX-04 AS 2.0 classes.

This is offlate, the finest stuff i have seen in using Shockwave. bits & pieces rules

Is Taj Mahal a siva temple?

Hope this blog has not been read by a RSS or VHP guys. In one of my other blog my friend posted about a controversial topic. Is Taj Mahal is really a architectural wonder build by Shahjahan. The complete ref. here

Google Desktop 

Google Desktop

Wow!! what a relief from the MS based search options. Google is beta testing a new desktop search application, integrated with your browser. The speed at which it indexes your HDD is brilliant. I am able to search my entire HDD within 15 min. of installing the application. What's more, you can have all the google shortcuts works for your HDD too. Must have application to go with. Download Google Desktop here

If you still think about better alternatives for searching your HDD, there is a free version tool called Blinkx. I saw that in BBC's Click Online program and downloaded it for using. But, Google's Desktop beats that. Although, G-Desktop is good, it lacks the features & functionalities of Blinkx.

Now as you thrown out your IE from your computer, throw off your Windows Search too now.... I am feeling more comfortable using someone other than Microsoft i need to work with always!! It feel so good to be with google all the time.

Google-SMS

The Master of search is all set to launch a new service in US.

Google SMS is a handy way to, say, get a listing for a nearby restaurant, find the definition of a word, or look up the price of a product, an area code or Zip code. You can even use Google SMS to calculate a tip. If your phone is enabled for text messages, just send your query to this 5-digit US shortcode: 46645 (GOOGL on most phones). Your query results are sent as text messages, not links. Learn more about using Google SMS on our help page or by sending a text message with the word 'help' to 46645.

Learn more about this service from here

Although, the service is not started in Asia, expect the same here soon. I believe US is getting more special for US, as they launched their local search, froogle and a lot of innovative search solutions from US for US.

RSS Feeds from FireFox

Just gone thru the post from Kiruba on MS Outlook feature. Let me share the tip from the Firefox perspective. For those who blog, they have tonnes of rss, xml, opml feeds scattered across. Few use offline Feed Readers and others like kiruba use, online feedreaders. Firefox 1.0 beta has a neat feature. If you are visiting a blog or a column, which has a RSS link, you will see in the lower right corner of the browser to add the RSS feed as a bookmark for "Live Bookmarking". This live bookmarking is nothing but, the next time you are online, and viewing your bookmarks folder with a choosen blog, the last 10 Posts are visible in the bookmark section, you can either choose the post you want, or you can view all the posts in separate tabs. Worth digging your time on this.

Check Box Vs. Radio buttons

How common form elements like check boxes & radio buttons needed to be used ? this week Alertbox throws a clearer light on how we can maximise the usage of these form toys can move ourselves for a more sematic Web.

Read the column here

What is Six Sigma ?

Browsing thru this magazine & catch hold of the article " web exclusive article "online, this is the laymen version of what is the buzz about "Six Sigma" is all about. Years before, Kribs organised a meet for a discussion on CII (that day the biscuit was not so good and i dint get my share of Pepsi anyway...still remember kribs, collecting money on helmets ;-) )

I think, this article is a nice summary of what six sigma is all about.

" Six sigma has been defined as a strategy that identifies and eliminates causes of defects in work processes by focusing on their outcomes that are critical to customers. Six sigma also denotes a specific performance level. A six sigma process or transaction produces extremely few defects -- 3.45 defects per million opportunities (99.99965 per cent defect-free), for a process with a single-sided specification. I should mention six sigma is a journey and not a destination. Significant financial benefits from six sigma begin to accrue soon after implementation, although it could take many years to reach six sigma defect levels."

Get the complete article over here

By the way, if you are an AD Freak like me, read this article by the India's mamooth agency (O&M)'s CEO John goodman's take on advertising as a career.

Gmail Invite

I have got Six gmail invites with me. I have already extended so many invites to my friends. Still 6 more left.

Hurry! first come First Serve

Mail me