tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140147202024-03-12T19:22:27.647-07:00zonkmimiRandom musings on life...Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-4646724887846791882019-11-02T13:47:00.001-07:002022-01-10T13:31:16.197-08:00Building a pair of DML speakersI have always been fascinated by loud speaker technology. I have owned several pairs of speakers over the years, but all of them have been conventional cone speakers. I fell in love with the flat panel speakers the moment I saw them, be it Martin Logans or Magnepans. I never owned one though.<br />
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I recently stumbled upon a new type of speaker technology. It is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_mode_loudspeaker" target="_blank">Distributed Mode Loudspeaker</a> (DML). It was fascinating to see how simple it was yet how incredible the sound reproduction was, based on the reviews online. I watched a few <span id="goog_355552382"></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdkyGDqU7xA" target="_blank">youTube <span id="goog_355552383"></span>videos</a> on how to build one and read a few online forums for more info and got ready to build one. Here is an account of how I built two pairs of the DML speakers and how they turned out.<br />
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The DML speaker is built out of a flat panel made of a light but stiff material and an exciter. The exciter is like a speaker without the cone. This exciter vibrates the panel to produce the sound output. The DML speaker is unlike any cone speakers or flat panel electrostatic (Martin Logan) or magnetic ribbon (Magnepan) speakers. The DML speaker randomly generates vibrating nodes that translate into sound output in different frequencies and amplitudes. Due to its nature, it generates equal sound both from the front as well as the back of the panel.<br />
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The first speaker is a 2'x2' flat panel speaker made out of:<br />
- 2'x2' (1" thick) Foamular XPS insulation board (<a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/Project-Panels-FOAMULAR-1-in-x-2-ft-x-2-ft-R-5-Small-Projects-Rigid-Pink-Foam-Board-Insulation-Sheathing-PP1/203553730" target="_blank">Home Depot</a>)<br />
- Dayton Audio DAEX25FHE-4 24W exciter (<a href="https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-daex25fhe-4-framed-high-efficiency-25mm-exciter-24w-4-ohm--295-224" target="_blank">PartsExpress</a>)<br />
- Gorilla wood glue<br />
- Speaker wire<br />
- Solder<br />
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That is it!<br />
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I rounded the corners of the board with a 3" radius. Rounded the edges as well and removed all sharp edges. Sanded the entire panel with 110 grit sandpaper using a orbital sander. Applied a 1:1 mixture of wood glue and water to the entire surface. Once dry, I applied the second coat. This produced a sandpaper kind of finish which is what makes it an amazing sound generator. Attached the exciter 2/5th from the top and side. Soldered the speaker wire to it and I was done. Check out the youTube video for more details on the steps and the reasoning behind them. <br />
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Rounded corners.<br />
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Ready for prime time!<br />
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I hooked it up to the amp and was amazed by the sound it produced. I was not expecting this big of a sound stage from such a small (and inexpensive) exciter. Because of the wide panel, there is no sweet spot like with conventional speakers. High frequency is a bit pronounced due to the size of the panel. Imagine a tweeter the size of the panel! It acts like that. But, the sound stage is incredible. I have the speaker placed about 8 ft from the back wall and 1 ft from the side wall. Maybe the distance from the back wall as well as its omni-directional nature, the sound stage appears to be behind the speaker. This works great for me when watching movies since the screen is far behind the speaker.<br />
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Once I completed the first test speaker, I was ready to build the larger one. I wanted to see what effect the larger panel would have. Boy, was I rewarded. The larger panel had a more flatter response. Better mids, lower highs. I am still breaking it in. Hopefully, it will get better as it ages.<br />
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I used the same process for building this speaker as well. Below are the parts used for the larger speaker:<br />
- 4'x8' (1" thick) Foamular XPS insulation board (<a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corning-FOAMULAR-150-1-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-R-5-Scored-Square-Edge-Rigid-Foam-Board-Insulation-Sheathing-20WE/207179253?MERCH=REC-_-rv_search_plp_rr-_-202085962;207179253;202085958;203553730;306143065;-_-207179253-_-N" target="_blank">Home Depot</a>)<br />
- Dayton Audio DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm Exciter 40W (<a href="https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-daex32ep-4-thruster-32mm-exciter-40w-4-ohm--295-230" target="_blank">PartsExpress</a>)<br />
- Gorilla wood glue<br />
- Speaker wire<br />
- Matte spray paint<br />
- Solder<br />
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This exciter is the bigger brother of the previous one and there is a marked difference in quality and sound reproduction. It is also heavier and bulkier. The only problem with this foam board is that it is scored to make it easy to break it into pieces. I was afraid that the score lines would create unnecessary vibrations and hence I poured glue into the cracks and sealed them. I was a bit over zealous and ended up with awkward looking glue lines in the speakers even after sanding them. Lesson learned. I would take a fine tube and just squeeze the glue into the cracks and wipe off any extra. This will keep the surface clean looking. From this large board, I was able to cut out 2 20"x44" pieces and I am still left with half of the board. Is 20"x44" the golden ratio? Absolutely not. It is not even close to the bronze ratio (if there is such a ratio). I had to choose between great sounding speakers and good looking speakers. I chose to compromise and go for good looking ones in order to make sure I could keep them "inside" the house and not in the garage collecting dust. <br />
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I followed the same procedure as earlier to prep the boards, paint them with glue to generate the sandpaper-like surface. Once the glue dried, I painted it gray with the matte spray paint. I attached the exciters using the same formula (2/5th) and soldered the speaker wires.<br />
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Cutting the corners with a knife.<br />
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Filling the scored cracks with glue.</div>
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Painting it with 1:1 glue-water mixture.<br />
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Panel is ready for testing. The ugly lines are the scored lines where I applied glue.<br />
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Big brother with the younger brother, before the final paint job.<br />
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A-B testing.<br />
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I also took this opportunity to design and build a pair of stands for the speakers. I went to Home Depot and bought some poplar boards of different sizes. The design is a simple inverted T supported on the back by a beam. I cut the wood to the desired size put the stand together with one screw. I then coated it with polyurethane to protect it. I bought dual-ended gold speaker binding posts from PartsExpress and affixed them. I use one end to connect to the amp and the other end to go to the speaker. This allows me to disconnect the panel from the stand for transportation or storage. It also lets me switch panels on the same stand. I attached soft foam for the bottom and back support so that the speaker is not touching any hard surface. I used a soft multipurpose cleaning sponge to create these supports.<br />
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The final product.<br />
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Back supported by a soft sponge.<br />
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Dual-ended speaker posts.<br />
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I did not expect the panel to reproduce the entire range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The smaller panel has pronounced high frequencies whereas the larger panel is well balanced. The smaller panel lacks mid freq response. It completely lacks low freq (below 150 Hz) response.<br />
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As seen in the youTube video, I think making panels with 2-3 different materials and using a crossover will give the best full range speaker. I am happy with the results so far and am going to enjoy these speakers for the time being.<br />
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Here is the final setup. The speakers were moved into the room to fit in the picture:<br />
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The larger panel is better at reproducing mids whereas it also lacks low freq response. I had to pair it with a sub-woofer to take care of 20 - 150 Hz. Overall, I am very satisfied with the build. It was a fun experiment and a great DIY speaker to show off.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-19952488965908053852019-06-08T23:36:00.000-07:002019-06-13T23:41:38.317-07:00Customer service is dead!That is what I thought, especially in the air travel industry. <br />
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Until my visit to China recently. <br />
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During my domestic travel within China, three things reminded me that customer service in the airline industry was still alive. At least, outside of the United States. <br />
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First, everybody was offered a free hot meal on any flight over 2 hours! I still remember the days when Continental would offer hot meals to everybody on domestic flights. Gone are those days in the US. <br />
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Second, personalized service for every passenger. On one leg, my neighbor was fast asleep during the entire flight. When the flight attendants came with food and drinks, they noticed he was asleep and left a note (see note on the right in the pic below) letting him know that they missed him. And, just before landing, they noticed that he was still asleep and came back with a second note (one on the left) providing information about the arrival city. They did this to every passenger who was fast asleep! Now, that is what I call good customer service. <br />
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Third, I noticed thoughtful service even at the airport. We are all used to the luggage carts lined up in their parking spot. In some airports, you have to pay to pull out a cart. In the Shanghai (Pudong) airport, I was surprised to see the luggage carts neatly lined up along the conveyor belt. Passengers would just come to the belt, grab their bags and load it onto one of the nearby carts and roll away! <br />
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Companies need to look for simple ideas like these to improve their customer service. Simple gestures like this is what makes up delightful customer service. You don't have to spend a lot of effort or resources to make your customers happy. Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-5092803876376994492017-01-21T22:31:00.000-08:002017-01-29T18:40:25.669-08:00Urban street art - Miami Wynwood walls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I happened to visit one of the best places to see urban street graffiti art: Wynwood walls area in Miami, Fl. <br />
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The actual Wynwood walls are just a collection of six walls from neighboring buildings. These walls contain an amazing collection of wall art by artists from around the world. What's more, the area surrounding the walls has also been converted into artists' canvas. <br />
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One gripe, though, is that Miami allows street parking along these murals. There are several parking lots in the area and it would be best if street parking is eliminated so that people can view and appreciate the art better. <br />
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Here are a few pictures of the amazing art in the Wynwood area:<br />
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Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-41161532475044793192016-02-28T20:39:00.000-08:002016-03-09T23:53:05.972-08:00Customer Service - How not to do it<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In the day of omnipresent internet, mobile, social media and instant gratification, customers crave for instant answers to their questions. If the product doesn't speak to you (either by being intuitive or by literally speaking to you), the product doesn't fly. <br />
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I recently stumbled upon a product that literally asked the user to send an email to obtain installation instructions or get questions answered. Duh! Are we in the 19th century or what? <br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6a3j9y_5Co/Vt5Uqs8Xb7I/AAAAAAAAK9c/MMLUJpEkmeY/s1600/card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6a3j9y_5Co/Vt5Uqs8Xb7I/AAAAAAAAK9c/MMLUJpEkmeY/s320/card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The picture above shows a card that was attached to a hammock I recently bought. The design is pretty close to being intuitive but can be confusing when it comes to attaching the ropes. I expected to see instructions printed on the card but all I find is an email address.<br />
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What happened to printed instructions? It could be text or pictures.<br />
What happened to a web site with a user guide? Video or text or a downloadable document. <br />
What happened to an instructional video on youTube? <br />
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Companies need to embrace the current trends in marketing and attracting customers. Not just stay in the 19th century. This is such a simple product, a few drawings showing how to tie the ropes would have sufficed. But the company wants an email from you. I wonder what happens if they get a million emails from their customers. Think of the cost of answering them (nope, I don't want a robotic reply) versus a simple illustration on the card attached to the product. <br />
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Everyday, I learn something new. In this case, a 'what not to do'. </div>
Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-58055015946538705962015-11-04T21:59:00.000-08:002015-11-04T21:59:50.720-08:00Delighting the customer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A while back I wrote about innovation in <a href="http://talkdigi.blogspot.com/2007/06/design-innovation.html" target="_blank">elevator technology</a>. Recently, I noticed the opposite in the heart of innovation: Silicon Valley. <br />
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I was at the San Jose airport car rental center. The rental center sees a lot of traffic and they have graciously installed what looks like a dozen elevators (it is actually a bank of 8) over a wide area. There are several locations with buttons for summoning the elevators.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/---Qwgs6IRlY/VjrubuMFN3I/AAAAAAAAHow/w0k7J_bP7Oc/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/---Qwgs6IRlY/VjrubuMFN3I/AAAAAAAAHow/w0k7J_bP7Oc/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What is interesting about this arrangement is that when one calls an elevator, irrespective of which set of buttons you use to summon the elevators, any of the bank of 8 elevators could answer. Seldom have I seen an elevator close to me answering my call. What this means is that the user has to walk all the way (lugging their luggage) to the elevator. Some times, the elevator moves away by the time you reach it, making it even more annoying. <br />
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We all know that large traffic only enters the ground floor at the same time: whenever a flight lands. The elevators be programmed so that any idle elevator car always comes to the ground floor to wait. It may be a bit inefficient, but makes the customer delighted. Imagine walking into the rental center to find one or more elevators with open doors waiting for you! That should put a smile on anyone's face. <br />
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Another feature that can be incorporated is assigning a bank of 4 elevators to the closest buttons. San Jose has two banks of elevators and they could be separately programmed. Paired with the previous suggestion, this will delight anyone visiting the Bay area. </div>
Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-31892293993926355732014-11-22T20:31:00.000-08:002014-11-30T21:59:45.746-08:00Eindhoven GLOW Festival<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eindhoven, a city in the
Netherlands, hosts an annual light festival called GLOW. Eindhoven is known as the City of Light,
mainly because of the fact that it housed several match stick factories. And, then Philips established its light bulb
factory. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was lucky enough
to be in town to experience GLOW 2014.
It was a fabulous experience and some of the installations were
mind-blowing. The city had spent
considerable amount of resources to put this project together. The entire project spanned over 20
installations spread around the city center (Centrum, as they say in
Netherlands).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The installations
were in the form of light installations, sculptures, projections as well as
live performances. Some of the
installations were elaborate and involved high-tech equipment. The entire 'show' started at 6 PM and went on into the night. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of my favorite
installations was the 'Parklaan Flashback'.
This installation captured the history of Eindhoven at the beginning of
the twentieth century. The show was a
light projection on two buildings facing each other. Spectators stood between the two buildings
and watch the show. The show is
synchronized between the opposite buildings and moves from one building to the
other. Different scenes are depicted and
'painted' on the buildings using light with accompanying music. It made for a spectacular show. I shot both video as well as still images. Here are a few of the still images:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6dyIExqLyw/VHv_ul75vCI/AAAAAAAABpQ/oPXDDM6OJFM/s1600/IMG_1015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6dyIExqLyw/VHv_ul75vCI/AAAAAAAABpQ/oPXDDM6OJFM/s1600/IMG_1015.JPG" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gU2FE45OQqQ/VHv_vbcTmGI/AAAAAAAABpU/F7vlBamo6G0/s1600/IMG_1021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gU2FE45OQqQ/VHv_vbcTmGI/AAAAAAAABpU/F7vlBamo6G0/s1600/IMG_1021.JPG" height="221" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The 'Pendulum Wave' was
a piece of art built on the principles of pendulums. This was a great engineering installation
with 15 pendulums of varying lengths suspended from a frame. At the end of each pendulum was a lighted
ball. All the pendulums were
simultaneously raised to the side (I guess, using electro-magnets) and then let
go. The pendulums formed interesting
patterns governed by their lengths. As
the pendulums swung, the balls would change color. The entire experience was enhanced with music
and fog.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gdj3LX-RJ0Q/VHv_2oLSrxI/AAAAAAAABpg/t9R8uBECRwU/s1600/IMG_0987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gdj3LX-RJ0Q/VHv_2oLSrxI/AAAAAAAABpg/t9R8uBECRwU/s1600/IMG_0987.JPG" height="320" width="237" /></a></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The 'Figures that
Wander' was a shocker amongst all the exhibits.
This was the only 'live-art' in the whole festival. The performance involved four dancers dancing
behind semi-transparent plastic curtains. They
formed shapes using light and shadows.
Initially, I thought that this was a projection onto a semi-transparent
screen, just like all the other installations.
After watching for a few minutes, I realized that this was indeed live,
and there were people performing behind the screens. This was the most creative, bold and provocative
art installation in the entire festival.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QYcnzhELq0E/VHv_9FxTThI/AAAAAAAABpo/IcgiBrKf1g4/s1600/IMG_1000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QYcnzhELq0E/VHv_9FxTThI/AAAAAAAABpo/IcgiBrKf1g4/s1600/IMG_1000.JPG" height="144" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The 'Enchanted
Cathedral and the Seasons' was an innovative art creation using high powered
color projectors. Computer generated
images are projected onto the façade of the cathedral to depict the four
seasons. Again, the animation was
accompanied by lively music.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TNw9MlsWO-s/VHwAI1FWz3I/AAAAAAAABpw/ibGDo9MUKQ8/s1600/IMG_0924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TNw9MlsWO-s/VHwAI1FWz3I/AAAAAAAABpw/ibGDo9MUKQ8/s1600/IMG_0924.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vayIS8NDbsA/VHwAJSInwuI/AAAAAAAABp4/1fSh9fnkrJU/s1600/IMG_0929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vayIS8NDbsA/VHwAJSInwuI/AAAAAAAABp4/1fSh9fnkrJU/s1600/IMG_0929.JPG" height="191" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AaTZ-GHgK0k/VHwAJUewaMI/AAAAAAAABp0/qowsoX4gjG8/s1600/IMG_0931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AaTZ-GHgK0k/VHwAJUewaMI/AAAAAAAABp0/qowsoX4gjG8/s1600/IMG_0931.JPG" height="174" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is a view of the cathedral from my room.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1UhtKo0jIp8/VHwAJ7q4AQI/AAAAAAAABqE/rMmFGr2H2uI/s1600/IMG_1059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1UhtKo0jIp8/VHwAJ7q4AQI/AAAAAAAABqE/rMmFGr2H2uI/s1600/IMG_1059.JPG" height="320" width="264" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">'Stereo' was the video
mapping projection done on the façade of the Augustijnenkerk
cathedral. This cathedral was right next
to my hotel and I could see it from my window.
This audio-visual production transformed the cathedral into a living and
moving structure. Set to music, the high
powered projectors painted the façade with features and made the features
undulate to music. It was an interesting
way to convert an irregular surface into a projection surface and paint
pictures. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGceY_23Ee8/VHwAbXi5pZI/AAAAAAAABqQ/QVjh6V64QmE/s1600/IMG_0919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGceY_23Ee8/VHwAbXi5pZI/AAAAAAAABqQ/QVjh6V64QmE/s1600/IMG_0919.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">There was another show inside
the cathedral. Even here, they had used
a half dozen synchronized projectors to project images onto the tall ceiling as
well as the walls of the cathedral. I
was surprised to note that each of the projectors was using film instead of
digital technology. The entire show was
cued to baroque music.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6WIcGiHsguw/VHwAiFepZ0I/AAAAAAAABqY/86ltkSQsXBs/s1600/IMG_0906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6WIcGiHsguw/VHwAiFepZ0I/AAAAAAAABqY/86ltkSQsXBs/s1600/IMG_0906.JPG" height="196" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YxI8gqKjswE/VHwAjMDie7I/AAAAAAAABqg/CFukGIpFTSc/s1600/IMG_0912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YxI8gqKjswE/VHwAjMDie7I/AAAAAAAABqg/CFukGIpFTSc/s1600/IMG_0912.JPG" height="210" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">All in all, it was an amazing experience. I heard that other European cities are also hosting such GLOW events and I can't wait to visit them and experience GLOW again.</span></span></div>
</div>
Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-22649452435097050642014-04-19T22:19:00.000-07:002014-11-30T22:25:02.753-08:00"What do you do?"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A simple question that reveals how passionate someone is about their occupation. You meet someone at a gathering and ask them their name, and they enthusiastically (and almost immediately) reply. You ask them where they live, and you get a similar enthusiastic quick reply. Then, you ask them what they do, and you will see two kinds of people:<br />
<br />
The first kind is the group of satisfied and successful professionals who exude the confidence and are enthusiastic about their profession. They reply with the same enthusiasm and quickness.<br />
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The second kind is the group of people who are not really excited about their occupation, and are just going along to make a living. These people will drone about what they do without any excitement or enthusiasm. These are the ones that need to look inside themselves, find what they are passionate about, and go after it.<br />
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Find an occupation that makes you proud. Find an occupation that makes you get up everyday looking forward to going to work.<br />
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I remember reading a resume writing book where the author said that we should fine tune our resumes until it is fit to be framed and hung on the wall. Same here. You need to find a profession that you are proud of proclaiming it and announcing it to the world.<br />
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<a href="http://zonkmimi.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-is-your-passion.html" target="_blank">Find your passion today</a> and go after it. </div>
Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-86686291859075899792013-11-30T16:13:00.000-08:002013-12-08T16:19:35.418-08:00Airplane seating<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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How many times have you boarded an airplane just to stand behind a bunch of people trying to cram their luggage into the overhead bins or waiting for others to give way so they can get into their window seat? I have been in a lot of these situations and that is what got me thinking about how an airline can make this more efficient.<br />
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A plane on the ground is a plane not making money for the airline. That is the reason why airlines try to turnaround their planes as fast as possible. <br />
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Disembarking is simple and happens efficiently: passengers milling out of the plane starting from the front to the back, aisle to window. It is boarding where all the confusion lies. There are three predominant patterns used by most of the airlines: free seating, back to front and zone based seating. United is the only airline that uses outside-in seating. <br />
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Southwest uses free seating. The main problem with this approach is that everyone wants to sit in the front of the plane (less engine noise, faster to disembark, less lateral movement, etc.). Also, no one wants to sit in the middle seat. This means people start filling the window and aisle seats from front to back. The problems with this approach are that people have to wait in the beginning since others are holding up the line as they find their seats up front. Later on, the process speeds up as people start moving backwards. And, at the end, it slows down again when the middle seats get occupied. One advantage is that there is never a situation where two people have to get up to let a passenger get to his/her window seat. <br />
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Most of the other airlines seat from back to front in zones. This causes packs of delays within the zones as people board in random order within the zones. Add to this mix, the elite travelers who board prior to all others. A lot of elite travelers prefer the aisle seat leading to more delays as the other seats are occupied. <br />
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United's approach loads the windows first, followed by middle and then the aisles. This would mean that there is no need for any passenger to get up once seated. But, unfortunately, the elites mess this up too. The elites board first and could be seated anywhere on the plane. <br />
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We could come up with all kinds of sequences to make boarding as efficient as possible, but, still we will have issues with each of these approaches. The main culprit being carry-on luggage. Finding space for carry-on luggage is the biggest concern for all passengers, and hence the rush to board. <br />
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In an Utopian world where passengers did not carry any luggage on them, boarding would be a cinch. Any of the above approaches would work pretty well. <br />
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One obvious answer is to eliminate carry-on luggage, especially the ones that fit in overhead bins. Laptop bags, backpacks and purses that can fit under the seat and could be fine. The big increase in carry-on luggage has happened since airlines started charging for checked-in baggage. It would be interesting to see how this has increased the boarding time. If it is significant, then, airlines could charge for carry-on luggage too. This would bring us back to the good old days of no charge luggage. Airlines can make more money from baggage fees, as well as increase the turnaround time. <br />
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Another answer is to open all doors and load passengers from all of them. Especially on the wide body jets with two aisles, opening doors on both sides will speed boarding incredibly. For the smaller planes, opening doors in the front as well as the back would do the trick. But, that is not really possible since all airports have only one jet bridge assigned to a gate. A redesign of the gates and bridges would be very expensive. <br />
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A few airlines are still experimenting with various strategies for boarding (alternate aisle and window, back to front, eliminate elite early boarding, etc.). But, the airlines are knocking on the wrong door. The boarding process is very well optimized. It is the carry-on baggage issue that needs to be addressed by either eliminating overhead bins, or by reducing the carry-on luggage. This would either mean charging for carry-on baggage or eliminating them completely.<br />
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It would be interesting to see if there has been an uptick in boarding times since baggage fees were instituted. If there is, it makes sense to address this problem by focusing on the carry-on luggage.</div>
Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-55252819230269095622013-09-10T23:15:00.001-07:002013-09-10T23:15:28.060-07:00Building Motobecane MTB 550HT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
All these years, I have been walking into a LBS to buy my bikes. This summer, I thought of buying a bike online and assembling it for my daughter. Here is an account of how easy it was to assemble a Motobecane 550HT Mountain Bike. <br />
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The 550HT is a bike with pretty decent components for the price. It comes with an aluminum frame, Suntour XCT shocks, SRAM X4 derailleur as well as Tektro Draco hydraulic disc brakes. I was against buying hydraulic disc brakes (didn't want to get into the bleeding routine), but after trying them out, convinced myself to get one.<br />
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The bike came in a box with not a lot of cushioning. Luckily, nothing was broken or bent out of shape. <br />
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The frame came with the rear wheel assembled with the crank and chainset in place. The fork was also assembled. Everything else was loose. Almost everything needed some tightening and greasing. The tools needed to assemble this bike are simple: a Phillips screw driver, metric Allen key set, 14mm spanner to tighten the pedals. <br />
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Once the bike was assembled, it was time to tune it. The derailleur needed some fine adjustments. The brakes needed adjustment since the pads were rubbing against the disc. Luckily, I didn't have to bleed the brakes. I bought a bleeding kit online, just in case. The head needed tightening. <br />
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Then came the tough part: wheel truing. <br />
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Both the wheels had loose spokes and needed truing since they were off by more than a mm in at least one place. Luckily, I found <a href="http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Tech-Tuesday--Five-Minute-Wheel-True.html" target="_blank">this site</a> which made truing a simple task. I inverted the bike and got to work with the spoke spanner I bought from REI. BTW, the local REI mechanics were great in guiding me on what to lubricate and what not to touch. <br />
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After all the final adjustments, it was time to take the bike for a spin. <br />
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Overall, the bike is great for the money. I am sure it won't withstand the punishment some of the extreme trails at <a href="http://duthiemtb.com/" target="_blank">Duthie hill park</a> have to offer. But, it holds up to my daughter's style of riding. </div>
Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-11767959732832753832012-05-30T22:27:00.000-07:002015-01-06T20:45:52.890-08:00Design for Assembly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Good designs are always simple. They are so simple that you don't realize it if you don't think about it. I recently bought a patio table from IKEA. As always, IKEA does a great job in packaging and instructions. It was a complex piece of furniture with collapsible leaves and a glass top. But, it came with simple instructions, set of fasteners and the tools required. How many manufacturers think of including the tools needed?<br />
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As soon as I unpack the fasteners I usually dump them all into a bowl to make sure I don't lose any. BTW, what is wrong with including a couple extra screws and nuts with any item shipped? Have you ever lost a screw or a nut and found yourself running to the local Home Depot to pick a spare. It is the most frustrating experience. You are so pissed that you want to return the piece of junk (after an hour of assembly labor, you discover that a bolt is missing), but you cannot, because it is half assembled and will not fit in your car anymore! Morons. If the BOM calls for 24 screws, throw in 25. I know that in the small scheme of things, every piece matters to the bottom line, but in the big scheme of things, customer happiness trumps everything.<br />
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Back to the patio table. Here I am with my bowl ready to pour over the fasteners. I open the blister pack and tilt it into the bowl, but nothing falls. I then notice that the clever engineers at IKEA have used a soft double sided glue strip on the packaging (see pic above) so that the washers and nuts stick to it until I pull them apart. What a clever idea. The cardboard holds the fasteners for me until I need them. These simple things are what count for immense customer satisfaction and pleasure. This is what IKEA excels at.<br />
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Have you ever wondered why IKEA has the designer's name printed on every product? In case you have not noticed, all products have the designer's name printed on the packaging. It achieves two things: for one, it honors the designer for the work they have done. And, two, it makes a public statement about you. Imagine the designer who created the chair which keeps falling apart. "Inga, your chair is the worst chair I have ever sat on. You are not fit to be a designer". On the other hand, imagine your pleasure when your fans call to tell you how great your designs are!<br />
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Every product I buy, every product I assemble, teaches me a lesson. It is amazing to see companies like IKEA, Apple and others push the boundaries in customer convenience and satisfaction. All other companies should follow their lead and design products that are convenient to assemble as well as use.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-67729430885509814182012-05-20T23:37:00.000-07:002012-10-19T23:04:10.422-07:00Why didn't I think of that?You are in a public restroom and have diligently washed your hands with soap and water after taking care of business. You are about to walk out and you notice this person walking out of a stall and directly heading for the door ahead of you. He opens the door with his hand and walks off.<br />
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We have all been in this situation. What do you do now? <br />
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Some of us resort to shrugging our shoulders and walking out the door. Some of us have used clever means (waiting for another person to open the door, or open the door with a piece of paper towel, etc.) to escape from the restroom without touching the door handle. These situations always get me thinking about the problem at hand and try to solve it. There are many ways to solving (preventing) this problem: <br />
- Install door handles that spray anti-bac lotion upon grabbing them. But, this may not go well with people who dislike anti-bac lotions.<br />
- Install motion sensing doors so there is no need for door handles.<br />
- Install push open (from inside) doors so you can push with your foot. <br />
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The prevention techniques are either expensive or not acceptable. What do you do if you had a door that opens inside and cannot use anti-bac lotion, and are cash strapped? The simplest solution is generally the best solution. <br />
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That is exactly what I saw at the Delta lounge at DTW. This solution takes away the assumption that doors are to be opened by hands. The picture below illustrates how simple it is. The first image shows the instructions (simple and no words), and the second image shows my foot opening the door. There are no moving parts and hence no maintenance. There is no need for electricity or any technology, thus further reducing maintenance costs. The only maintenance required is regular cleaning.<br />
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Elegant and simple solutions like this are what we need. Nowadays, there is so much technology readily available to us, we start over-thinking the solution. This is a classic example of a simple solution to a simple problem.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-73642551842891364162011-11-09T21:11:00.001-08:002011-12-06T22:17:55.866-08:00Lessons from the Last LectureRandy Pausch gave this moving last lecture. It is a must watch. <br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ji5_MqicxSo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />Some lessons I captured from this lecture:<br /><ul><li>Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted.</li><li>We cannot change the cards we are dealt with.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just how we play the hand. </li><li>Have something to bring to the table.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That will make you more welcome.</li><li>You've got to get the fundamentals down.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Otherwise, the fancy stuff won't work.</li><li>When you see yourself doing something badly, and no one is bothering to correct you anymore, that's a very bad place to be.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That means, people have given up on you. </li><li>Brick walls:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They are there for a reason.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They are not there to keep you out.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They are there to see how badly you want something. </li><li>Wait long enough and people will surprise/impress you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Give people time to show their good side.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></li><li>It is very important to know that you are in a pissing match.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And, it is very important to get out of it as soon as possible. </li><li>Never ever underestimate the importance of having fun. </li><li>Work and play well with people. </li><li>If you live your life the right way, your dreams will come true. </li><li>If you are going to do anything pioneering you will get arrows in the back, and you just have to put up with it. </li><li>You just have to decide if you are going to be a Tigger or an Eeyore. </li><li>Loyalty is a two way street. </li><li>You can't get there alone.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>People have to help you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I do believe in karma and paybacks.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You get people to hepl you by telling the truth.</li><li>I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term and earnest is long term. </li><li>Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people. </li><li> Say you are sorry that you screwed up.</li><li> Say that it is your fault.</li><li> Ask how you can correct it.</li><li>Don’t complain.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just work harder. </li><li>Be good at something.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That makes you valuable. </li><li>Be prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity. </li></ul>Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-24082812940429928192011-11-07T18:45:00.000-08:002011-11-07T18:55:26.553-08:00ROL<a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/11/three_ways_to_manage_good_or_b.html">Here </a>is an interesting HBR blog on managing luck. The premise of this blog entry is that everyone has 'good' as well as 'bad' luck almost equally. But, what sets winners apart from also-rans is the Return on Luck. What you do with an opportunity (good luck) that is presented to you defines how lucky you are.<br /><br />Morten lays out 4 simple steps to managing luck:<br />1. View life as a flow of luck events<br />2. Prepare for bad-luck events<br />3. Spot good-luck events when they come<br />4. Execute brilliantly on good-luck events<br /><br />These steps will allow you to maximize your ROL.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-78772107818140223952011-04-24T22:49:00.001-07:002011-05-13T12:23:55.629-07:00Rufington<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1dwNryyn0HY/Tc2Ep2RYx0I/AAAAAAAAA4E/jWIcz9Xi46E/s1600/IMG_9134a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606282965624080194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 153px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1dwNryyn0HY/Tc2Ep2RYx0I/AAAAAAAAA4E/jWIcz9Xi46E/s200/IMG_9134a.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I wanted to share a little bit about a small city I visited this week. It is the city of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Rufington</span> in the state of Washington. It is a very small city with only a couple dozen houses laid out in four rows. It sort of reminded me of the town of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Hogsmede</span> as portrayed in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Wizarding</span> World of Harry Potter in Orlando. Every house in the city was unique in the way it was built and decorated. Every house also had a shop of some sort selling handmade (mostly) goods. All the merchants had creatively decorated their stores and displayed their wares. The shops were selling anything from stationary to children's toys. <br /><br />The Mayor of the city greets all visitors to the city, which was kinda cute and welcoming. The city has a City Hall, Post Office, Pharmacy and a Bank among other things. The city was bustling with visitors and all the shops were doing roaring business. Looking at all the activity made me wonder why everyone is saying that we are in a recession!<br /><br />The most interesting part about this town is that it is completely run by 3rd graders!<br /><br />This is the classroom mini-city <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Rufington</span> lovingly named after their class teacher. <br /><br />My daughter's class is going through this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">immersive</span> learning experience as part of their 3rd grade curriculum. The students design, build, run and sustain a mini-city within their classroom while learning about economy, local government, social studies, democracy, business and a host of other topics. The students plan the geographical and political structure of the city. <br /><br />The students go through the process of electing city officials (Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Council). Every student who wants to hold office needs to announce the intent and canvass to persuade fellow students to vote for her. This teaches the students about standing for office, public speaking, elections as well as the duties of a public official. <br /><br />There are elected and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">bidded</span> positions. Elected positions are where the class elects a student for a particular position (Bank Manager, Police Chief, etc.) and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">bidded</span> positions are where the students bid and pay money in order to secure the position (Land Baron, Trash Collector, Pencil Sharpener, etc.). The class goes through a silent auction to assign the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">bidded</span> positions, teaching the students about auctions, silent auction and evaluating the value of a position or business (for instance, land baron needs to decide on the value of the bid based on the number of houses and their rent/week, the number of weeks the mini-city will be in action and the probability of someone defaulting).<br /><br />Location of the houses are determined by drawing straws. The rent of the houses vary based on three variables: location, location and location! Just like in a real city. Once a spot is assigned, the kids (with the help of their parents) build a 'house/shop' out of fridge boxes (see pic above) and decorate them to their taste. The students will be 'living' in this box for the duration of the experience. Which kid doesn't want to live in a box? Given a choice, I am sure all the kids in the class would love to work out of their box the whole year. <br /><br />Once the government is formed, businesses start taking shape. Each student comes up with ideas for a business and pitches it in front of the city council for approval. Once approved, they get a license to start the business and sell their wares. There are specific restrictions (like, no food items) on what can be sold and the city council enforces it rigorously. <br /><br />Kids also learn about banking, handling money, loans and interest payments. Everybody takes a loan to start the business and they need to repay in the end. The bank issues check books and fake currency for the exercise. <br /><br />All the students are given market analysis data from previous years on what sells and what doesn't. Based on this market data, the kids determine what to make and sell in their stores. Everyone starts making their goods and stocking them in their stores. This teaches the kids about the effort it takes to create something. They also learn about pricing, marketing, designing Ads and promoting their products. What you think will be a hot product may turn out to be a dud. In fact, this mini-city is a great place to test product ideas that are aimed towards elementary kids. Students also learn about inventory, audits, economy (supply and demand) and product portfolios. <br /><br />The city also has a newsletter that gets published everyday. Students also get a chance to buy Ad space in the paper. Reporters get the opportunity to learn about reporting, composing articles, design and layout of a one page newsletter, and selling ad space. <br /><br />When everything is going fine like a well oiled machine comes the 'Fate' card. Every Friday, each resident draws a fate card and it introduces the unexpected. It could either put a positive (winning prize money) or negative (paying hospital charges, fixing flooded house) spin on one's life. This will in turn affect the student's monetary situation. This lesson teaches students to plan for the unexpected (save $75 for the worst fate card). The city Health Officer also sells HMO cards ($10 each) which shield students from health related fate cards. What a wonderful way to learn about insurance!<br /><br />Overall, this is a wonderful way to teach kids about a variety of topics that are useful in life. This controlled simulation gives the kids an opportunity to take risks, make mistakes and learn from them without paying a penalty. This not only increases their confidence to go out into the real world but also brings out their creativity, all while teaching them valuable lessons.<br /><br />How I wish we had this when I was in 3rd grade.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-70494896178265551422010-09-11T00:04:00.000-07:002011-04-26T13:35:57.193-07:00Pilotless planes<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KL-4bZqjZM/TbUQc7pxBRI/AAAAAAAAA1E/Jnaqgo-s38I/s1600/IMG_9169a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599399800940332306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 86px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KL-4bZqjZM/TbUQc7pxBRI/AAAAAAAAA1E/Jnaqgo-s38I/s200/IMG_9169a.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ryanair</span> CEO Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">O'Leary</span> recently commented that there is no need of co-pilots in the current <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">sophisticated</span> as well as automated airplanes, and hence suggested we get rid of them to save costs. He also suggested that every flight would have a flight attendant trained in flying the plane and could take over in case of an emergency. He did get a lot of press for his comments. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>What a great idea. Of course, the pilots' association snubbed it.<br /></div><br /><div>I assume Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">O'Leary</span> has never flown a plane, especially a jet plane. Maybe, he doesn't even understand the roles of a pilot or a co-pilot. Even if he pilots a small plane, he will learn about the number of things a pilot needs to keep track of. Flying a plane is relatively easy, but what makes it tough is all the small things that need to be done: communications, reading charts, reading and interpreting the multitude of instruments (have you seen the instrument panel on a Boeing?), making quick decisions in tough conditions, etc. All this on top of flying the plane. In fact, just flying a plane in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">sim</span> tells you a lot about how complicated it is (my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">barebones</span> flight <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">sim</span> setup pic above). </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Redundancy is the name of the game here.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>It is not only redundancy, but the tasks that need to be taken care of. And, on long distance flights, how can one pilot take care of flying the plane for 18 hrs straight? The co-pilot is there to fly the plane (did you ever notice that the co-pilot has a yoke, pedals, and all controls in front of him too?), and helps balance the workload. They both back each other up, and use combined judgement to handle emergency situations. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>There are many ways to streamline the airline operations and cut costs, but cutting the co-pilot is not one of them. For a person who travels often, I can tell you that it is comforting to know that there are two competent pilots flying the craft. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Of course, a day will come when we will have wormholes for the planes to travel in (similar to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">driverless</span> trains) and we will not be needing either the pilot or the co-pilot, but those days are not here yet.</div>Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-38727971257473079172010-08-03T23:21:00.000-07:002010-08-03T23:29:45.225-07:00Being Better is BetterThis is a must see <a href="http://www.blip.tv/file/3346148">video </a>of Kathy Sierra talking at the Business of Software 2009 conference.<br />She talks not about making a killer app, but about making a killer user (of your app).<br />She stresses the importance of creating an amazing user experience, and making an amazing user of your product/service.<br />Great talk.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-42210836361284922212010-07-28T23:01:00.000-07:002011-04-24T23:23:58.069-07:00Park and ServiceI drive up to the parking lot and hand off my car keys to the valet. I had already filled out a brief form (about the fact that I want the car serviced when I am away, and what the problems are) when I reserved my spot online. I pick up my luggage and head over to the shuttle. The shuttle takes me to the terminal and after a quick security check, and a short wait, I am boarding the plane. Right then, my phone rings. I pick it up to find it is from the parking lot. The mechanic wants to let me know that the distributor is showing wear and may need to be replaced. He gives me a quote and I give him thumbs up. I board the plane and fly off to my destination. <br /><br />Four days later, I land back home and head over to the parking garage to meet my serviced and washed car! <br /><br />Doesn't this sound sweet? No more planning for car servicing. No more weekends spent going to the mechanic. No more days spent driving loaner cars.<br /><br />Since I travel often on work, I park my car in long term garages for days. What this means is that I also have less time to be home, and take care of things. One of them is to take care of my car: get it serviced, washed and maintained.<br /><br />The last time I parked in my regular covered parking garage, I thought how wonderful it would be, if I could have my car serviced while I was away. The car was anyway going to be sitting around doing nothing. And, I had already driven all the way to the garage. Since this garage is a valet only garage, they also had my keys. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the garage also housed a service station and offered service to anyone who parked there.<br /><br />Looking forward to a day when this becomes a reality.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-69789902206006718742010-06-23T23:32:00.000-07:002010-07-12T21:21:14.287-07:00JIT grocery shopping<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Tid6f-foX_k/TDvpdBqkWMI/AAAAAAAAAqU/V9rgsHs9iGQ/s1600/freshMilk.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493240855380908226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Tid6f-foX_k/TDvpdBqkWMI/AAAAAAAAAqU/V9rgsHs9iGQ/s200/freshMilk.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>Of late, I have been observing that a lot of people order groceries online and having it delivered. I see a couple of companies doing great business. Don’t know if they are making money or not, but the delivery trucks keep rolling along.<br /><br />That is what got me thinking about efficiently managing the deliveries. I went back to the days when I was growing up in India. Not everyone had refrigerators in their homes. Farmers markets could be found around the corner on a daily basis. Fruits, vegetables and milk (and other perishables) were sold on the road (home delivery). A cart would come in front of the house with all varieties of seasonal and non-seasonal vegetables, and you would just walk to the cart, pick whatever you wanted, pay for it and buy it. So, buying vegetables, fruits and milk was a daily affair. Milk was delivered (in some cases, milked from the cow) right at your doorstep every morning. Remember those glass milk bottles? When fresh produce is delivered to your doorstep on a daily basis, who would want to store them in a fridge? You can't get any more fresh than that!<br /><br />Let's apply the same principle here and try to see if it yields us a way to make this planet much more green. Consider this scenario:<br />Order produce/meat/milk online (on a daily/weekly basis)<br />Delivery truck drops it off at your door step everyday<br />Use the produce for the day<br />Repeat the cycle<br /><br />Now, there are a few problems with this model. For one, when does the delivery take place? It is going to be inefficient to deliver to every house at the same time. So, there is a lag, and some people may receive their goods in the afternoon. Then, there is the issue of the unused produce. Where do we store it?<br /><br />There are several ways to solve this problem. Let's take a look at an already present infrastructure for delivery: USPS.</div><div> </div><div></div><div>Have you noticed that the USPS truck rolls down every street every week day. There you have it. Deliver supplies along with the mail. The manufacturer supplies produce/supplies to the distribution (aka, local USPS post office). The produce is packaged appropriately for individual delivery. Remember, we are trying to deliver on a daily basis, so, the individual packages are not going to be huge. USPS personnel load these boxes into their trucks along with the mail. Of course, the trucks are going to grow in size and acquire a refrigeration unit. The postal worker delivers the boxes along with the mail to every household.<br /><br />The next step in the equation is to design the delivery boxes (reusable, of course) so that they can maintain a constant temperature for 3-4 hours. The assumption is that mail will be picked up within this time period and the contents transferred into the house.<br /><br />What this does is that it removes the necessity of every home having one huge refrigerator inside the house and another smaller one in the garage (like most of us do). This new arrangement will be a paradigm shift in the way we shop, get things delivered and store it. Once we get used to it, the amount of energy consumed by every household would come down, and the supply chain would be streamlined so that manufacturers do not need to add preservatives in our foods.<br /><br />For now, the closest we can come to getting rid of the refrigerator is to reduce its size considerably. JIT food supply is the mantra here, and it will take some effort on everyone's part to make it happen.<br /><br />Of course, Amazon Fresh, Safeway and others would love to ship on a daily basis.</div>Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-86024253425395477352010-06-07T23:24:00.000-07:002010-06-07T23:27:08.555-07:00Green HomeIngenious use of space. Check this video on how a Hong Kong architect converted his tiny apartment into multiple living spaces. Of course, this works extremely well if you are the only person living in the apartment, since you can only occupy one space at a time.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lg9qnWg9kak&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lg9qnWg9kak&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-15147770945067852702009-06-21T22:09:00.000-07:002011-04-23T21:32:54.786-07:00Where are the teachers?I was looking through my daughter's yearbook and I noticed something interesting. The yearbook contained the pictures of all the students in the school along with their name and what they want to be, when they grow up. <br /><br />I saw a lot of doctors, dentists, rocket scientists, astronauts, firemen, ballerinas, princesses, singers, actors, musicians, etc. What surprised me was that not one student wanted to be a teacher! That struck me as odd, since most kids love their teachers (at least, in their elementary years). <br /><br />What this means is that there is not a lot of publicity about teachers, and being a teacher. Kids pick up a lot of what they want at home, and in a lot of cases there is parental influence on their decision. Most parents would not want their kid to be a teacher, since teaching is not a coveted position (especially in the United States). Graduate level teaching is another matter. At that point, children would know a lot about the world, and teaching staff in higher education do get paid well and are known and respected a lot more. <br /><br />There are several reasons why the education system in the US is failing, and this is one of them:<br />Lack of good teachers. <br /><br />Why do we lack good teachers? Because, a majority of students do not want to be teachers. School teacher is not a glamorous job. Most parents dread when their kid comes home and says that she wants to be a teacher. <br /><br />Teaching, as a profession, is not respected, whereas, great teachers are always remembered and respected. If the profession is not respected and sought after, it is hard to attract talented people into it. I am not going to go into the reasons why the system is broken. There has been a lot of debate about this and many smart people have come up with great suggestions. <br /><br />It is going to take a lot to fix the system and start attracting talented people into this profession and make teaching a coveted position it once was.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-90420396385581109582008-09-08T22:59:00.001-07:002008-09-25T20:57:27.918-07:00Lessons in sports photography<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250091000018128306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Tid6f-foX_k/SNwR8saOTbI/AAAAAAAAAUY/wYfFkJGiwas/s320/IMG_0012_3.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Tid6f-foX_k/SNwSCq1bvjI/AAAAAAAAAUg/YqOaf_AVilw/s1600-h/IMG_0019_3.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250091102674599474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Tid6f-foX_k/SNwSCq1bvjI/AAAAAAAAAUg/YqOaf_AVilw/s320/IMG_0019_3.JPG" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250173001044147490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Tid6f-foX_k/SNxchyCVPSI/AAAAAAAAAUw/JvwJIiAhl8s/s320/IMG_0008_3.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>I have always admired sports photography for the stunning action images as well as the emotions they portray. I wanted to first hand experience how easy/difficult it was to capture such images. So, on the first opportunity I had I went to the Marymoor <a href="http://velodrome.org/cms/">velodrome </a>armed with my camera and lenses. Here is an account of what I learnt, and how to take better sports pictures.</div><div></div><div>First of all, here is what I took:</div><div>- DigiSLR</div><div>- 100- 300mm (1:4.5-5.6) zoom lens</div><div>- 16- 35mm (1:2.8) wide angle zoom lens</div><div></div><div>First mistake that you notice is that I didn't pack my tripod! My lenses are not extremely fast, and to top it off, the races were held at night. I realized this as soon as darkness engulfed us, and flood lights turned on. </div><br /><div>Lesson #1: Do your homework on the gear you will need.</div><br /><div>As a spectator, I had visited the velodrome several times, but had never thought of the different locations and the angles they provide. Armed with a camera, I started noticing all of this when I started shooting, and looking for the angles you see on a sports publication. As I started shooting, and moving around, I discovered that most of the coveted spots were already taken! </div><br /><div>Lesson #2: Do your scouting in advance and pick the best location.</div><br /><div>When it comes to angles and composition, it pays to know a bit about the sport. How does it start? What happens during the event? How does it end? What do the competitors do: before, during and after the event? Knowing all these lets you pick the right spot, and be there when the action is happening. Strategize in advance.</div><br /><div>Lesson #3: Learn about the sport you are shooting.</div><br /><div>I shot a lots of pics from different angles, locations, and most of them turned out mediocre (see examples above). About a third of them were blurred. Many of these can be attributed to the equipment I had. </div><br /><div></div><div>It is always a good idea to experiment and shoot lots of pics and keep good notes on the parameters used. </div><br /><div></div><div>First of all, you need a fast lens to shoot in low light. Since you need to use fast shutter speed to freeze action (if that is the intent), a fast lens helps immensely. Image stabilization on top of it will add to the sharpness. Setting a higher film speed also helps, but there is threshold (ISO 800?) beyond which the images become grainy.</div><br /><div></div><div>A long lens adds to the effect by laterally compressing the scene. A wide angle lens lets you capture the bigger picture, including the spectators. Larger apertures are helpful in blurring out the background. </div><br /><div></div><div>A tripod would help, but a monopod will do better. A monopod will offer a lot of flexibility when the subject keeps moving and changing direction. I would love to take a monopod during my next visit. </div><br /><div></div><div>Last, but not the least, shoot a variety of pictures. Keep in mind that your subject in a sporting event is not only the sportsperson during the event, but also the sportsperson before and after the event. Your subject could also be the spectators and their reaction. Your subject could be the equipment, the organizers, the concession stands. It could be anything that symbolizes the sport and the spirit of the sport.</div><br /><br />Final lesson: Look at the bigger picture.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-6931501583219296402008-08-05T22:16:00.000-07:002008-08-07T23:08:10.999-07:00Airport DesignI was looking at the airport <a href="http://www.airportterminalmaps.com/">terminal maps </a>on a recent flight for various international airports and noticed that no two airports looked similar. I had to figure out a way of transferring between two terminals in SFO in the shortest possible time. Only after I ran through the airport did I discover that I had to go through airport security once again, even though I was just changing planes! That is when I started thinking about airport designs.<br /><br />Why isn't there a standard airport terminal design that is optimized for airplane traffic as well as passenger traffic?<br /><br />Airports have been around for quite sometime and there are hunderds around the world. A lot of thinking goes into airport design such as environmental concerns, reuse, use of natural light, efficient heating/cooling, etc. I have seen several contemporary airport terminal designs, each expressing their own style and culture. <br /><br />But, what is surprising is the fact that the terminal maps and the runways are different in every airport. I had imagined that studies had been conducted and standard designs would have come out of optimizing the operations of an airport. Most airports are built upon a rectangular patch of ground. Of course, some airports will have certain constraints, but none too great to not use a standard, efficient and proven layout.<br /><br />I am all for unleashing ones creativity when it comes to the cosmetic design of the terminals. But, when it comes to efficient design of the runways, taxiways as well as the terminals, there needs to be a study conducted by an operations research scientist. I am sure someone has already done this, but I fail to see it in use anywhere.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-25302573670030097702008-07-15T23:51:00.001-07:002008-09-24T22:38:38.782-07:00Total RecallI was at a birthday party a few weeks ago. The party was for a toddler and was held at a theme park. One of the attractions was a water ride in which kids rode around a water way on a small canoe. The ride was manned by a teenage girl, and what was interesting about her was her incredible memory. Kids would get onto the boats on one side of the ride, and she would talk to them and ask their names. When the boats came back, she would greet each and every one of them using their names. Remember, there were 4-5 boats in the loop. What was even more interesting was that I met her in the concession stand a half hour later, and remarked about her incredible memory. She thanked me, and went on to correctly name my daughter as well as the other kids who rode with her!!<br /><br />Some people are blessed with incredible photographic memory (I think it is called Eidetic memory). I started wondering how that girl could put this talent of hers to use. Apart from excelling in her studies, being able to recall the content of any page of a text book, remembering shopping lists, remembering names, I could not think of many other uses.<br /><br />Having the ability to memorize things in great detail is of not much use if the information is not used. It is similar to a database; you can store a lot of information. But, if the information is fragmented and not properly indexed, it is pretty much useless. The same can happen with people who have great memory.<br /><br />One of the gifts that a human is born with is memory, especially variable storage memory. Our ability to easily forget memories that we do not cherish is one of the boons. If one has eidetic memory and holds everything down, it may be hard to forget things too. That would make their life miserable.<br /><br />All in all, good memory is always beneficial since it helps one excel in studies, socially as well as professionally.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-20534798852043960472008-06-25T21:59:00.000-07:002008-07-15T23:51:35.375-07:00Spurring creativity...<a href="http://www.core77.com/bullitts/2008/02/fuseproject-Y-Water-bottle.asp?current_bullitt_number=1&current_bullitt_id=561">Here</a> is a great design for a multi-purpose container. It starts out its life as a water bottle, and turns into a toy. Great way to encourage people (in this case, children) to reuse the empty container. <br /><br />Now you have two reasons to buy y-water! What a concept.Shashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14014720.post-91446261359902080442008-06-20T00:13:00.001-07:002008-09-25T21:24:50.258-07:00Lessons in out-of-the-box thinkingI recently saw <a href="http://hardknoxlife.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/lessons-of-the-square-watermelon/">this </a>post on how to achieve what seems to be impossible, and the lessons learnt from it.<br /><br />To summarize the lessons learnt:<br />- Don't assume<br />- Question habits<br />- Be creative<br />- Look for a better way<br />- Impossibilities often aren;tShashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10275821603340400647noreply@blogger.com