Absolute Waste of an Hour

Today i was stuck in traffic of 90mins, for a drive that should have taken 15mins. The reason?

New Era School in Mumbai, was upgrading not only its facilities, but also its curriculum, which is a good thing. The bad thing, rather than planning it, they simply rushed through it, which resulted in all current students being relocated.

So the parents protested, on the streets, disrupting traffic, because they decided it was okay. I personally felt they should have been thrown behind bars for a few hours for disrupting civil peace. However we are an extremely tolerant society and did not.

One has to think though, what were the parents thinking? Does the general public care about the time they just lost, or about a school they do not care about. What were the parents and children getting? Curses or Pity?

It was complete chaos and a lot of people lost close to 5 good hours. Luckily i just lost an hour. However hope that all those parents that created so much trouble and pain for others, should be forced to have to send their children to the relocated school just for that.

By, Vikram Jhaveri

Companies that never learn – Part II

This is mainly a personal complaint against MTNL. I signed up for their unlimited 512 kbps plan. It was painless and took a few minutes over the phone. Which i thought was impressive.

Next they said they would install it in 7 days, however they came in 2 days to install it. I was impressed again.

However now came the nightmare. Since i was not at home, they left the equipment, said that it was all activated and all i had to do was connect it. So i did, and guess what, it did not work.

After spending hours registering a complaint, they sent a young technician, who after 7 days could not get anything working. So i decided to cancel. And guess what, they billed me installation fees and 1 month usage for Rs. 4000 even though the plan costs Rs. 1500 and did not work for more than a few minutes.

Guess some companies try to show that they have improved, but that is all smoke and mirrors.

By, Vikram Jhaveri

Companies that never learn – Part I

This is a small description of a huge mistake made by cell phone companies in India. Let the company be new or old, public or private, they all make this mistake.

What is the mistake?

Unwanted Sales Call and Sales SMS.

I have tried a variety of cell phone services, this was a small project of mine. I got Airtel, Aircel, BPL (Now Loop Mobile), MTNL, Idea and BSNL. Since i knew what i wanted, first day i got my cell phone, i turned send an SMS to the Do Not Disturb National Registry. So that should have told them that i do not want to be troubled.

Now i do not get any Sales calls. Which is a good thing. I wanted to try a routine here with sales call though. Any service i was offered, i plan to call these sales people to my office, let them waste a few good hours. I can live with that. My few minutes is worth their useless hours in time comparison.

Now regarding SMS, OMG, these companies just send one SMS after another. It has just got to stop. Again a side note, (Idea cellular service) only sent me one sms in a month, i would definitely recommend them. However Loop Mobile, Aircel, Airtel and MTNL, just stay away from them. I get SMS’s from them every few hours. How annoying is that for business people???

Just a huge corporate blunder is what i see here. No one will want their corporate employees to have a cell phone that constantly annoys them.

By, Vikram Jhaveri

Some Neat and Cheap Stuff worth Buying

Asus 1005HA P w/ Atom N280, 10.5 hour battery, Win XP, 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, 1.3mp webcam, 802.11b/g/n, BlueTooth, 10.1" Screen, $379.99 w/ FREE crucial 2gigs of ram & FREE S/H

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=AS1005HAPBK

Seemingly crafted by nature itself, the Eee PC Seashell draws its inspiration from seashells and its opalescent and glossy exterior is crafted by the innovative in-Mold Roller technology. It's so light and compact, you can take it anywhere with you! And with sleek curves and smooth lines hugging its lustrous shell, the Eee PC Seashell will easily charm passers-by wherever it goes.
Key Features:
10.1" WSVGA (1024x600) LED Backlight Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Preloaded
Intel Atom N280 (1.66GHz) Processor
160GB Hard Drive + 10GB of Eee Storage
1GB DDR2 Memory
High-Speed Wireless 802.11n
Bluetooth V2.1
6-Cell (63W/h) Battery Up to 10.5 Hours of Battery Life
Item Includes:
1 Eee PC 1005HA-P Pearl Black
1 Warranty Card
1 User's Manual
1 Eee Carrying Case
1 AC Power Adapter
1 (6) Cell Li-ion Battery
1 XP Support DVD

 

AMD Athlon X2 7550 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ CPU + Biostar MCP6P-M2-GeForce 6150 Motherboard + 2GB(1x2GB)Kingston-DDR2-667 Memory + WD 500GB HDD + Mid-Tower Case + PS - $175 + $2Shipping

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4914556&SRCCODE=WEM1972C&cm_mmc= Email-_-Main-_-WEM1972-_-components

Biostar MCP6P-M2 socket AM2 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7550 Socket AM2+ OEM Processor
2GB Kingston PC5400 DDR2 667Hz Memory
WD Caviar Green 500GB SATA Internal Hard Drive
Apex SK-386 Black Mid-Tower Case with 300 Watt Power Supply

 

Dell Studio Laptop w/ Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6400 and 17'' WXGA - Ruby Red (New, Open Box) $550 + shipping

http://www.weeklycloseouts.com/page/en/home.aspx?task=product&itemid=22886

Equipped with a built-in media reader and slot-loading DVDRW/CD-RW drive, this laptop makes it easy to enjoy a host of entertainment options. Video chat with friends and family via the 2.0-megapixel webcam. IMPORTANT: Open Box items have been inspected and are 100% functional. In addition, while the box may have been previously opened, the unit is still new in appearance, with little or no signs of wear. All essential accessories are included.
# Intel Core2 Duo mobile processor T6400
# 4GB SoDIMM DDR2 memory
# Slot-loading DVDRW/CD-RW drive
# 17'' WXGA widescreen LCD CCFL display
# 320GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
# Intel? Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
# Built-in 2.0-megapixel webcam with microphone
# 8-in-1 media reader
# Built-in Dell 1510N wireless networking mini-card (802.11b/g/n)
# Built-in Broadcom Ethernet
# IMPORTANT: Open Box items have been inspected and are 100% functional. In addition, while the box may have been previously opened, the unit is still new in appearance, with little or no signs of wear. All essential accessories are included.

 

Acer 20 inch LCD Monitor $100 (or $75 AC) at Staples

http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesProductDisplay?storeId=10001&jspStoreDir=Staples&productId=289628&cmSearchKeyword=805300&fromUrl=home&cmArea=SEARCH&catalogId=10051&langId=-1

Acer X203Hbd 20 inch LCD Widescreen Monitor $99.98 at Staples
Available online w/ free delivery or in-store while supplies last.
* 20" Active Matrix TFT Widescreen LCD Display
* Resolution 1600 x 900
* Contrast ratio 10000:1
* Response time 5ms
* Brightness 300 cd/m2
* Inputs: D-Sub, DVI
* VESA Wall Mounting: 100x100mm
* Dimensions 21.7"W x 16.5"H x 5"D (11.9lbs)
* 3 year warranty

Hard Finding a Formal Children's Watch – With a Leather Strap

Here is to finding a children's watch, an easy task by no means.

How hard can it be?

Well why don't you try. Walk into a store and you will find all kinds of watches, however all these watches are plastic watches with plastic straps. In fact, they are kind of kiddy too. I tried so many stores at the mall and even in specialty watch stores.

On the verge of giving up. I found the watch at an online store called Amazon. These watches are made by a company called Titan, around $20 are very classy and have leather straps.

If anyone is like me searching for a kiddy watch with a leather strap. Thank me cause i saved you a lot of time.

- Vikram Jhaveri