If Indian then IT...

I was at a Kellogg networking session interacting with classmates, alumni and friends when one of my Indian classmates came over. After the initial ice-breaker (Chicago weather, usually), he immediately asked "I assume you are in IT?".

Though not probabilistically a bad assumption to make, I felt it was socially inappropriate. In fact, I felt offended. I felt like screaming - "I am not your typical Indian guy!" While I didn't make an attempt to guess his field of work, I felt he was crossing his social limits. It is almost like asking a woman if she was pregnant!

So what is it with Indians and stereotypes?

I remember a grill house in Dallas that I used to frequent where the server would almost always ask me and my friends - "Veggie burger?". My friend would get annoyed at this and order a double angus burger just to demonstrate the invalidity of the waiter's assumption.

Another typical restaurant situation is for the waiter to assume that my drink for the night is "water, no ice". I might still ask for it, but the waiter has no business to order my drink for me. These days, I say - "water, lots of ice"

The list goes on.

The point is that everyone tries his/her best to demonstrate that he/she is different. That being the case, to make Indians, or for that matter anyone a stereotype, is a cardinal sin!

Do we need paper receipts?

On a recent trip to Walmart for "a few small, inexpensive items" that usually add up to a surprisingly large number, I got a long receipt measuring from my head to my waist. Given my 5'11" frame that was approximately 36 inches. Sadly, there are certainly longer ones out there. It’s crazy that every time we purchase something we’re handed a newly-minted, custom-made piece of trash made from paper, no less. The experience brought back memories of my recent trip to Switzerland, where I was asked in every store whether I want a ‘ticket’, if I said no, the cashier basically just did not print one out. It is not as if the store detective was going to grab me at the door, with a bag full of groceries in Migros or COOP …at least they have a way of reducing the amount of ’scrap’ paper.

If there’s anything the internet and behavioral psychology have taught us, it’s that smart, small ripples can have big cumulative effects. So it is time we solved this problem of producing junk every time we transact.

Let’s just make receipts available on an “opt in” basis, rather than assuming everyone always wants one. We’d save a lot of paper and ink. Also, with everything from shopping to friendships going digital, why not receipts. Stores should just capture receipts digitally, and make it accessible online if you want them. A great example is the Apple store which emailed the receipts of my last purchase. As always, the "fruit" company, as Forrest Gump famously noted, seems to be on the cutting edge of innovation!

If you were to take this idea further, here are a couple of thoughts:

1) Charge people if they want a printed receipt, with the money going directly to planting a tree with the Arbor Day Foundation. How could Whole Foods say no to this one?

2) Receipts are also a problem at restaurants (i.e., credit card slips). Let’s put e-signature screen at or in the tables to save on paper and send receipts directly to email. So easy. So environment friendly.

Let's say no to receipts!

Breakfast Italiano! - Eggs in tomato and basil

It’s wet, it’s grey, it’s dark at 1 o’ clock in the day, there’s a recession, the country is falling apart, I’m working too much, I NEED comfort food!! OK, maybe it’s not that bad. This recipe is a perfect “pick me up” when you need something warm and comforting, it’s as far from “fine dining” as you can get, it’s wet, sloppy, requires lots of bread for mopping and is the perfect cure for a bad mood. There’s no way to dress it up, it’s simple, rustic and soooooo delicious. I love fried eggs anyway so the addition of tomato sauce makes it even better.

what you need:

1 x 400g tin of Italian tomatoes

4 eggs

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

olive oil

6-8 leaves basil

grated Parmesan cheese

sea salt and black pepper

tsp sugar

lots of crusty bread or Parmesan mash

what to do:

1. chop your onion and garlic

2. fill the base of a pan with oil, add your onions and garlic and cook over a low heat for 7-10 mins until soft but not coloured

3. add your tomatoes and cook for 10 mins until starting to thicken, season, add your sugar and basil and cook for a couple of minutes

4. add your eggs to your sauce

5. cover and cook until the white is cooked and the yolk is soft and runny

6. season and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

7. serve with crusty bread and enjoy the childish fuzzy feeling of breaking the egg

eat, mop, slurp……….repeat!!

buon appetito!

Scared of heights? Try "The Ledge"

For those scared of heights, the Sears Tower Skydeck was probably never on their list of “must-see’s.” But the new glass floored observation point will undoubtedly thrill those looking for the ultimate view from the United States’ tallest building.

“I’m not going out on that thing” is one common reaction to the just opened addition to the Skydeck, named “The Ledge.” But even more common is an exclamation of amazement (with perhaps a tinge of fear) from those who have stood looking between their feet 103 floors straight down. And yes, a very high percentage of the younger visitors do seem determined to lie down on The Ledge as you can see from the photo above taken opening weekend.

Maybe you have never been, or maybe you’re a Chicago native who has been to the top a number of times. Either way, with the Ledge you have a whole new reason to go.

Alternative Uses for Everyday Things

The recently-launched AltUse website does exactly what you’d think it would do: suggest alternative uses for everyday objects around your home (Not in a “make a hat out of newspaper” kind of way, but more in a “coffee grounds make excellent fertilizer” kind of way). I would link to some of the more engaging entries—like the Aspirin Facial, or Toothpaste Bruise Healing—if the website itself wasn’t contstrcuted so poorly (you can’t link to individual entries, it seems, and some weird scripting prevents the use of the backward and forward navigation buttons). Despite these limitations, I like the idea that this database is out there and growing; the spirit of waste-not-want-not revised in a modern context.

Cash for Clunkers

The Car Allowance Rebate System (acronym: CARS) is going into effect today. Commonly known as “Cash for Clunkers,” the program gives cash vouchers to people who trade in inefficient cars for new, cleaner ones. The New York Times’ Wheels blog summarizes:

Essentially, consumers can get up to $4,500 toward the purchase or lease of a new fuel-efficient car or truck if they bring in an old vehicle that gets a combined average mileage of 18 miles a gallon or less.

On paper, “Cash for Clunkers” hits something of an immediate domestic policy trifecta: it reduces our dependence on foreign oil; it saves Americans dollars at the pump, allowing for increased consumer spending (and the economic stimulus that generates); and it should help bolster the sputtering market for Detroit’s latest offerings.

And that’s not to mention the environmental benefits, which could be huge. (Does that make it a quadrafecta? A superfecta?) Gather this—American cars more than 12 years old account for only 25 percent of the miles driven in the United States, yet they produce roughly 75 percent of all automobile-born pollution, including greenhouse gasses and low-level pollutants like ozone and fine particulates that wreak havoc on the lungs of urban dwellers.

So now that the specifics of the program have been hammered out, how did we do? Bloomberg has more details:

Consumers will get $4,500 vouchers if the new car they are buying gets 10 miles-a-gallon better gas mileage than the model they are trading in. For light trucks, the improvement must be 5 mpg better than the older model, and for large light trucks, 2 mpg.

For a $3,500 voucher, the improvement for cars must be 4 mpg or better, for light trucks, 2 mpg, and for large light trucks, 1 mpg. The trade-in vehicle must be no older than a 1984 model and get 18 mpg or less in combined city/highway fuel economy.

New passenger cars purchased with the vouchers must get at least 22 mpg in city/highway fuel economy, light trucks must get at least 18 mpg, and large light trucks 15 mpg. Domestic as well as foreign models sold in the U.S. qualify.

Unfortunately, you can’t use one of these vouchers to buy an efficient used car. But the Sierra Club likes the program. They have a calculator up on their site that will show you the money and carbon you could save depending on your current car, new car, and annual miles driven.

Anyone out there planning to take advantage of this Cash for Clunkers program? What are you trading in and what are you getting?

Starting from Scratch

I paid $5 to rent Righteous Kill from Blockbuster today with great enthusiasm and anticipation. After all, it was De Niro and Pacino, united for the first time since Heat. Half hour into the movie, it started to get stuck. I moved the movie forward and back with one result - frozen screen.

So I cleaned the DVD with a clean cloth to start with, with cleaning liquid 5 minutes later and was tempted to put it in the dishwasher for a hail mary, but then I noticed a thin line across the diameter of the disk. Urggh! Scratches!

So I started wondering if there was an innovative way to remove scratches from CDs and DVDs. I scratched my head for 10 mins and came up with this one.

The Banana CD scratch remover

What you’ll need:

• A banana
• A banana peel - you will get this as a result of peeling the banana - wow! how insightful
  
• Some glass cleaner

1. Take a CD / DVD that has smudges and minor scratches on it. Better still if it is rented from BB and you were as frustrated as I was.
   
2. Using a circular motion, apply a freshly cut banana to it.
3. Next, wipe it down with the banana peel. The wax from the peel will help polish and further clean the disk.
4. Take a clean cotton cloth and wipe the entire surface of the CD / DVD. Be sure to apply moderate pressure while moving in a circular motion. This should be done for around 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Finally, spray the disc with glass cleaner and wipe it clean.

Voilà! Your scratched CD or DVD should now look like new! Please note that this trick will also help you repair scratched PS2 and Xbox CD’s and DVD’s.

Let me know if it works for you!

Michael Jackson Dead

5:32 Pm. WSJ alert! I thought the market lost 400 points. Instead I found out the world has lost MJ.
I suspected OD; the article said cardiac arrest. Well, I might still be right.

Anyways, however mixed up or eccentric this man child was, we've lost an incredible entertainer/musical genius. One, that in my opinion ranks up there with the likes of the Beatles and Elvis. I find the news of MJ's sudden death very sad and disturbing. I grew up with his music. There isn't a Michael Jackson song that I hear that doesn't remind me of a certain time of my life. And I'm sure that goes for many.

I don't know if he was a creepy pedophile, maybe he was just a perpetual little boy trapped in a man's body, who never ever got to live his childhood as a boy and was desperately trying to. A naivety of sorts. A true Peter Pan who was severely misunderstood and tortured in his own mind.

He certainly touched the lives of millions of children, metaphorically, I mean. He will forever be remembered for his music and the moonwalk.

R.I.P. Michael, you are missed.....................

Back from Europe

Just came back from Europe - Paris, Switzerland and Germany. Paris was Paris - wine, women et al. Switzerland was breathtaking - every time I opened my eyes, it was a postcard shot. Germany was relaxing - a good way to end the trip.

10 days, 3 countries, whirlwind trip - trip of a lifetime.

Here are some peeves, though:

1. While Switzerland has some of the most beautiful lakes in the world - Lake Zurich, Lake Luzern etc. why do Swiss drink bottled water for 5 EUR. BTW beer costs 3 EUR and wine costs 4 EUR. highly recommend either to water.

2. Are the Swiss hell bent on destroying what nature has given them by 1. smoking incessantly 2. smoking in all public places 3. making smoking a national pastime - 9 out of 10 people I saw had a light between their fingers!

3. Mona Lisa is overrated! Seriously!

Microsoft Zing - Is it the next big thing?

Microsoft, home of the Windows and the Zune, has just announced that they're going to launch Bing, a rebranding and reformatting of their search engine. So far, they've earmarked $100 million just for the marketing.

Bing, of course, stands for Something to challenge Google. The problem, as far as I can tell, is that it is trying to be the next Google. And the challenge for Microsoft is that there already is a next Google. It's called Google.

Google is not seen as broken by many people, and a hundred million dollars trying to persuade us that it is, is money poorly spent. In times of change, the rule is this:

Don't try to be the 'next'. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.

If Microsoft adds a few features and they prove popular, how long precisely will it take Google to mirror or even leapfrog those features?

With $100 million, you could build (or even buy) something remarkable. Something that spread online without benefit of a lot of yelling and shouting. Something that changes the game in a fundamental way. The internet works best when you build a network, not when you buy a brand. In fact, I can't think of one successful online brand that was built with cash.