IE8 - spreading joy

I needed a good laugh this weekend. Thank You Microsoft.

Everytime I think MS/Steve can't get any more annoying - they prove me wrong.

Electionpalooza!

I am bombarded with ads (both display and search) that promote LK Advani, his blog and his party's site anywhere I go on the dubdubdub... and am surprised to see none from the Indian Congress party. In fact I tried to look really hard covering some obvious keywords that they would have used - but guess what - 'Congress' throws up LK Advani in the paid ads on Google :)

This congress-apathy towards online campaigning is somewhat surprising, considering the plethora of new-gen, tech savvy Congress politicos such as Jindal, Scindia and Deora or even Rahul Gandhi. Either they don't care about the small but influential online population or they simply missed this sitter.

The BJP bombardment technique actually worked for me as I finally succumbed and checked out the site and his blog. To give credit where it's due - it's pretty well designed and covers enough ammunition for a consideration for fence-sitters.

In today's coalition era politics, every vote counts; a lesson that every politician should have learnt from the experiences of a certain Mr. Al Gore

Leadership crash course

"Ph.D. in leadership. Short course: Make a short list of all things done to you that you abhorred. Don't do them to others. Ever. Make another list of things done to you that you loved. Do them to others. Always." — Dee Hock, founder, Visa International

Recession hits the mind first

Customer service has never been a serious business concept here in Hyderabad - and I have a zillion experiences to back it up. However, I would have expected that in today's tough times, customer visits would be lapped up by businesses struggling to have footfalls. Alas, I am surprised to see the same level of non-service / non-enthusiasm. And it is not limited to this city. Most of the businesses that I know of, had contact with, or have seen in the recent past seem to be concentrating on either cutting costs, cutting margins, or clearing inventory. No one seems to be taking the view that the most important and valuable part of the equation is the existing customer (who is similarly going through a rough patch) - an investment in understanding the existing customer's problems and telling her how you can help will take your business further than the focus on just 'price' negotiations or product push as a retention strategy. There needs to be enthusiasm at the front line and at every other line, and that will probably be a key differentiator between those who will get by and those who will thrive in the downturn.

It's not difficult to see why this investment in customer service is a no-go in most places. Just like Drucker said, "Ninety percent of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get things done" - any discussion on investing money in 'support' will get shot down on any number of 'rational' grounds (or 'shareholder value' - surely that is tough to argue in a room full of suits :)

Tufte

Tufte calls this graphic, depicting the fate of Napoleon's Army when it invaded Russia, as the best statistical graphic ever. Although I love Tufte's design principles and try to incorporate a lot of his ideas in my work, every time I hear 'best' the cynic in me takes over. You Decide!

Article and High-Res Graphic

Please Stop

I can't stand listening to these 5 words anymore - aaaaarggh - my hair hurts:-

- Scalable

- Innovation

- Proactive

- Interventions

- Collaboration

OMGWTFBBQ

Malvinder's Sayonara and Reddy's middle finger

Instances of Promoters cashing out always interest me. Ranbaxy is a world-class company and although its merger with Daiichi makes a lot of sense if you are Daiichi, I don't see too many upsides for the Ranbaxy shareholders in the long run. Of course, Malvinder is gaga over synergies but I am guessing the only real reason was the huge premium he got. The news will hopefully bring some relief for the Sensex bulls who are getting hammered.
The Central Bank has the knack of hitting me just at the right time. As soon as I signed the housing loan papers for a floating interest rate, Reddy hikes up the repo rate by 25 bips... WTF the EMIs were already outrageous!!

Backdating Options - Spike edition

In the pretty account-bookish world of stock-options backdating jugglery, this guy stands out.

To quote NYT -
"Henry T. Nicholas III, the flamboyant co-founder and former chief executive of the chip maker Broadcom, was indicted Thursday in California on fraud, conspiracy and drug charges, including allegations that he spiked the drinks of other executives with ecstasy"
"Mr. Nicholas, 48, is a colorful character who, along with his former college professor, Henry Samueli, became a billionaire when he smartly timed the industry's need for silicon chips that send voice and data over cable lines."
"In his early days running Broadcom at the height of the dot-com boom in the mid-1990s, Mr. Nicholas was nicknamed Darth Vader by rivals because he was so competitive. He was known for his outlandish stunts and spectacular outbursts. In one incident described in the indictment, Mr. Nicholas and his guests are said to have inhaled so much marijuana on a flight to Las Vegas from Orange County, Calif., that clouds of smoke and fumes drifted into the cockpit of the private plane and the pilot was required to put on an oxygen mask."

Phew..

(d)rained

Shards all over
don't mind 'em no more
bruised, cut, charred
too hard to let go

Ache in the throb
The dagger settled deep
Another twist
A Pyrrhic victory

Li'l angel turns
innocent, unaware
slap your arm across
hey there!

Manmohan's speech

I really liked what the Indian PM had to say about the rise in prices of Petrol/LPG in his address to the nation tonight...

He was unapologetic, to the point and although there were hints of pushing the Congress agenda to massage the bad news, he is too much of a straight man and seemed embarrassed to harp excessively on those. It also seemed like a first to me that a pol actually anticipated the potential outrage and countered it upfront than give rhetorical bs later.

It also struck me how difficult it must be to explain a CPI concept or the recent ridiculous rise in world crude prices to the 2/3rds of the Indian population that lives in the villages. Manmohan did well to explain the cause and effects, and kept it crisp and simple.. Well done!!