December 31, 2008
Why seven days in a week?
They are different reasons for it, but many believe Astrologers at that time recognised seven planets (including the Sun and Moon) and assigned one planet to rule each of the 24 hours of the day,and this gave raise to 7 day
December 30, 2008
New Blogs
Started a new blog on trends and insights, rightinsights have a look :).
Also I am volunteering for Voteyatra, VoteYatra is about bringing the elections to the voters. VY is looking for volunteers who can devote some time and In specific w for Joomla/Drupal coders. If any one would like to join please do shoot a mail to me or voteyatra2009@gmail.com
Join VY FB community or follow VY on Twitter
Also I am volunteering for Voteyatra, VoteYatra is about bringing the elections to the voters. VY is looking for volunteers who can devote some time and In specific w for Joomla/Drupal coders. If any one would like to join please do shoot a mail to me or voteyatra2009@gmail.com
Join VY FB community or follow VY on Twitter
December 09, 2008
History of Tipping
Tipping egan as an aristocratic practice, a sprinkle of change for social inferiors, and it quickly spread among the upper classes of Europe and rich Americans returned back to USA after the civil war.
The word evolved from 'drink money' supporting the idea that the practice began in eating establishments and was meant to avoid envy on the part of the server and to send the message that the server should have a drink at the customer's expense.
Americans hand over some $42 billion in tips
The word evolved from 'drink money' supporting the idea that the practice began in eating establishments and was meant to avoid envy on the part of the server and to send the message that the server should have a drink at the customer's expense.
Americans hand over some $42 billion in tips
December 05, 2008
TAPMI Quiz on the Beach
T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal as part of there annual B-school fest "ATHARVA" is conducting a corporate quiz , on 10th jan at Kaup Beach, Udupi, Karnataka.
Quiz Flavour: Business Quiz
Host: T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal
Quiz Master: Mr. Arul Mani
Date: 10th January 2009
Open to Corporates.
check out the links below for further details:
Poster and Rules (link to http://www.tapmi.org/atharva/Qotb.pdf)
Atharva Website (link to http://www.tapmi.org/atharva)
Quiz Flavour: Business Quiz
Host: T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal
Quiz Master: Mr. Arul Mani
Date: 10th January 2009
Open to Corporates.
check out the links below for further details:
Poster and Rules (link to http://www.tapmi.org/atharva/Qotb.pdf)
Atharva Website (link to http://www.tapmi.org/atharva)
December 04, 2008
Get your voter card from a nearest dustbin
Registering in election rolls is one big challenge in India, its so complex that many ordinary citizens loose what ever little interest they have to take part in democratic process.
EC recently launched a huge voter registration drive in Hyderabad. In fact for the first time in India, they kept voter registration drop boxes in malls,post offices and other public places. All there efforts paved and some 50k citizens registered as voters in a month. Unfortunately few officials are showing there laziness and gave voter id cards to local leaders to distribute them. As true Indian politician, the local politician dumped approx 7000 voter ids of sections who may not vote for his party in dustbin!!
Ok a bit of election trivia - America's founding father George Washington spent 40 pounds on booze for his neighbors to win an election in 1785 and in the 2004 US presidential election, three million votes were never counted.
Source: Eenadu
December 02, 2008
December 01, 2008
Origin of the Word Terrorism
Terrorism originates from the latin word 'Terrere",which mean to frighten, and the french word "terrorisme" which is associated with the reign of terror of the revolutionary government of France from 1793 to 1794, when over 20,000 people were killed.
Unfortunately since 2004 more Indians are killed by terrorists than all of North America, South America, Central America, Europe and Eurasia put together. We are next only to Iraq,and witnessing more terror strikes than Afghanistan!!
Terror Records of UPA and NDA governments-
UPA govt - Total terrorism incidents - 25,000 deaths - 7000
NDA govt - incidents 36,259 deaths - 11,744
Unfortunately since 2004 more Indians are killed by terrorists than all of North America, South America, Central America, Europe and Eurasia put together. We are next only to Iraq,and witnessing more terror strikes than Afghanistan!!
Terror Records of UPA and NDA governments-
UPA govt - Total terrorism incidents - 25,000 deaths - 7000
NDA govt - incidents 36,259 deaths - 11,744
November 24, 2008
What is the value of 500 Rs for different people in today's world ?
Spellbound by this video, though I dont agree with the statement "Think Before you Spend" (or am I missing something), the video shows how aspirations of people from lower income groups are radically different. poor want to spend on education, on there families and on there education where as relative well of groups want to spend on Jullia Robert movies and haircuts. Nothing wrong, but what bothers me is our fortunes are more or less depend on the families in which we are born. Can we provide quality education and opportunities to excel in life irrespective of our birth and place where you live(difference in quality of education in urban India and rural India), I hope we can
November 21, 2008
Can India make it?
US National Intelligence Council (NIC) releases a trend report every 4 years to help U.S. Presidents and their administrations think strategically and long-term about potential future trends and how they should be dealt with. This year report spotted trends like China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US influence, dollar may not be world’s major currency and Al Qaeda may loose its strong hold.
The report comes with a Disclaimer: These outcomes are not inevitable and will depend on the actions of world leaders.
I wonder do we have those kind of leaders to make India a major player in coming decade. Yes Manmohan Singh may be highly educated PM of the world, but at the end of the day he is not a strong leader. Can we elect leaders who thinks long term and take India forward? I am skeptical but wont completely rule out.
The report comes with a Disclaimer: These outcomes are not inevitable and will depend on the actions of world leaders.
I wonder do we have those kind of leaders to make India a major player in coming decade. Yes Manmohan Singh may be highly educated PM of the world, but at the end of the day he is not a strong leader. Can we elect leaders who thinks long term and take India forward? I am skeptical but wont completely rule out.
November 17, 2008
key digital developments in 2008
Identifying trends is a challenge especially when there are booms and buzzwords coined every month and the ecosystem changes too quickly. I would like to share a work in progress article on “key digital developments in 2008” before coming up with a final version. Let me know your opinions on the same
Here are my observations on key digital developments in 2008-
1. Aggregators: aggregators will become more popular, if they are not yet. From friendfeed to techmeme, we will see smarter ways to consume content.
2. Yahoo – launched an intelligent social architecture, yahoo life, to turn Yahoo into a set of platforms for third-party publishers and developers. Closed down services like yahoo music, auctions, yahoo 360, and missed a golden chance to join hands with Microsoft and lost many key managers. Yahoo’s move to openness, especially on search front and its move to be a platform will shape its future in coming years
3. Microblogs: Users started speaking in 140 characters and sending tinyurl’s thus making inroads to microblogs, Twitter has passed the one-billion tweet mark and used by more than 3 million users.Microblos helped more and more users to express there opinions and share there lives on internet
4. Developer platforms /API – Every popular social network has launched application platform or joined an existing one and making there websites a plug-and-play services. API’s became mainstream with more than 1000 Web service API’s on offer a steep increase from 32 API’s in 2005
5. Data/Content portability- Data and content portability will help in reducing social media fatigue and makes life simple at a time when so many new web services are trying to catch user’s attention on the other hand it will help companies to retain users to there services. We witnessed few initiatives last year (Facebook connect, Google friend connect and Myspace data) in making data more portable, but its still a long and unclear road ahead. Profile data will be shared by major websites making the web experience beyond their walled gardens
6. Browser wars – Google created a buzz by launching chrome. Chrome aspires to move the web forward and provide a stronger platform for emerging web standards. Chrome helps Google collect more data on consumers’ needs and behavior and display more precise ads Chrome can run applications faster than traditional browsers and pave way to cloud computing environments. Chrome may appeal to tech crowd but attracting users beyond early adopters is a challenge. IBM is developing a new product built around the browser as an application platform which lets users share data live and in real time. Browser will become more advanced and will became as an application platforms than just display web pages
7. Mobile web –Nokia launched a premier mobile advertising network with leading publishers and operators across the world. Nokia rebranded twango, a media sharing start up acquired in 2007 to ovi, which offers Web services such as gaming, social networking, and mapping and partnered with Google on mobile search application. Nokia recognized the need to be more than a mobile manufacturer and threats it may face from new companies and quickly started reorganizing the company into 2 segments: devices and services. Nokia will differentiate with rest of players by the content(like tie up with Sony BMG to offer free music for a year) and services it offer not just functionality of the phones. Web-capable smart phones gained more penetration and shaping mobile web habits.
8. Virtual Worlds –IBM and Linden Labs joined hands develop a version of Second Life that will live behind the corporate firewall. Google launched Lively, a browser based virtual world, but overall I am still skeptical whether virtual worlds and 3d will make big in 2009
9. Self Serving Ads- Myspace, Linkedin and facebook launched self service ads. Self servicing ads will help grow the total online ad market pie, and it helps in forming a ‘Long Tail of online advertisers’, in coming years.
Here are my observations on key digital developments in 2008-
1. Aggregators: aggregators will become more popular, if they are not yet. From friendfeed to techmeme, we will see smarter ways to consume content.
2. Yahoo – launched an intelligent social architecture, yahoo life, to turn Yahoo into a set of platforms for third-party publishers and developers. Closed down services like yahoo music, auctions, yahoo 360, and missed a golden chance to join hands with Microsoft and lost many key managers. Yahoo’s move to openness, especially on search front and its move to be a platform will shape its future in coming years
3. Microblogs: Users started speaking in 140 characters and sending tinyurl’s thus making inroads to microblogs, Twitter has passed the one-billion tweet mark and used by more than 3 million users.Microblos helped more and more users to express there opinions and share there lives on internet
4. Developer platforms /API – Every popular social network has launched application platform or joined an existing one and making there websites a plug-and-play services. API’s became mainstream with more than 1000 Web service API’s on offer a steep increase from 32 API’s in 2005
5. Data/Content portability- Data and content portability will help in reducing social media fatigue and makes life simple at a time when so many new web services are trying to catch user’s attention on the other hand it will help companies to retain users to there services. We witnessed few initiatives last year (Facebook connect, Google friend connect and Myspace data) in making data more portable, but its still a long and unclear road ahead. Profile data will be shared by major websites making the web experience beyond their walled gardens
6. Browser wars – Google created a buzz by launching chrome. Chrome aspires to move the web forward and provide a stronger platform for emerging web standards. Chrome helps Google collect more data on consumers’ needs and behavior and display more precise ads Chrome can run applications faster than traditional browsers and pave way to cloud computing environments. Chrome may appeal to tech crowd but attracting users beyond early adopters is a challenge. IBM is developing a new product built around the browser as an application platform which lets users share data live and in real time. Browser will become more advanced and will became as an application platforms than just display web pages
7. Mobile web –Nokia launched a premier mobile advertising network with leading publishers and operators across the world. Nokia rebranded twango, a media sharing start up acquired in 2007 to ovi, which offers Web services such as gaming, social networking, and mapping and partnered with Google on mobile search application. Nokia recognized the need to be more than a mobile manufacturer and threats it may face from new companies and quickly started reorganizing the company into 2 segments: devices and services. Nokia will differentiate with rest of players by the content(like tie up with Sony BMG to offer free music for a year) and services it offer not just functionality of the phones. Web-capable smart phones gained more penetration and shaping mobile web habits.
8. Virtual Worlds –IBM and Linden Labs joined hands develop a version of Second Life that will live behind the corporate firewall. Google launched Lively, a browser based virtual world, but overall I am still skeptical whether virtual worlds and 3d will make big in 2009
9. Self Serving Ads- Myspace, Linkedin and facebook launched self service ads. Self servicing ads will help grow the total online ad market pie, and it helps in forming a ‘Long Tail of online advertisers’, in coming years.
November 04, 2008
5 things I observed during American Elections
5 things I observed during American Elections:
A guy born to a Muslim father of African origin and a Christian mom, An American, half Kenyan, half white, half black,raised in Indonesia and graduated from Harvard, who have Hussain in his middle name can became US president. People actually vote for the most competent guy in the race, especially during a crisis, color and race wont matter during tough days
USA saw unprecedented voter turnout,and they do have problems like names missing in voters list, malfunction of some optical scanning machines, and allegations of voter suppression and intimidation. Common Americans turned to polling booths some waiting nearly 3 hours to cast there votes. People recognize importance of vote especially during crisis, when there present leaders failed them and see a good alternative
Obama raised record funds, in innovative ways. He raised micro donations from large number of people than raising money from few. He tapped social media and social networks. For the first time internet played a crucial role in a political campaign. Both candidates spent 2.4Billion Dollars on elections, with each spending $ 1 million per day on TV ads!!
USA can conduct elections in a single day
voters are lured with freebies not directly but indirectly. Getting free chicken, ice cream and coffee as a reward for voting are some of the hottest Google search trends early in election day
A guy born to a Muslim father of African origin and a Christian mom, An American, half Kenyan, half white, half black,raised in Indonesia and graduated from Harvard, who have Hussain in his middle name can became US president. People actually vote for the most competent guy in the race, especially during a crisis, color and race wont matter during tough days
USA saw unprecedented voter turnout,and they do have problems like names missing in voters list, malfunction of some optical scanning machines, and allegations of voter suppression and intimidation. Common Americans turned to polling booths some waiting nearly 3 hours to cast there votes. People recognize importance of vote especially during crisis, when there present leaders failed them and see a good alternative
Obama raised record funds, in innovative ways. He raised micro donations from large number of people than raising money from few. He tapped social media and social networks. For the first time internet played a crucial role in a political campaign. Both candidates spent 2.4Billion Dollars on elections, with each spending $ 1 million per day on TV ads!!
USA can conduct elections in a single day
voters are lured with freebies not directly but indirectly. Getting free chicken, ice cream and coffee as a reward for voting are some of the hottest Google search trends early in election day
October 27, 2008
PEPSI NEW LOGO
Pepsi unveiled 11th new logo in 110 years of its history developed by Omnicom's Arnell Group.
Experts predict Pepsi spent $1 Million to design this new logo, which I feel any freelancer could have done for 35 $
As usual they come up with funny justifications one vp says the new logo represents a "series of smiles". Pepsi fired 3300 jobs – 1.8 per cent of its workforce – as part of a plan to save $1.2-billion and on the other side started a $1.2-billion marketing campaign with a change of logo. Wrong time,wired logo and change for the sake of change wont help Indra Nooyi.
Experts predict Pepsi spent $1 Million to design this new logo, which I feel any freelancer could have done for 35 $
As usual they come up with funny justifications one vp says the new logo represents a "series of smiles". Pepsi fired 3300 jobs – 1.8 per cent of its workforce – as part of a plan to save $1.2-billion and on the other side started a $1.2-billion marketing campaign with a change of logo. Wrong time,wired logo and change for the sake of change wont help Indra Nooyi.
October 22, 2008
7-election 2008
US retail giant 7-Eleven is predicting US election results by asking shoppers to pick between two coffee cup candidates. 7-Eleven customers can choose between plain coffee in a blue cup with Barack Obama’s name, or a red cup marked with John McCain’s name, or undecided cups.Results are uploaded daily to a special microsite. Quite impressive
October 10, 2008
financial weapons of mass destruction
Felix G. Rohatyn, the investment banker who saved New York from financial catastrophe in the 1970s, described them as potential “hydrogen bombs.
Warren E. Buffett described them as “financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”
The total market size of these instruments are $516 trillion, i.e 10 times the value of the entire world's output: it's been called the "ticking time-bomb".
Answer in comments
Warren E. Buffett described them as “financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”
The total market size of these instruments are $516 trillion, i.e 10 times the value of the entire world's output: it's been called the "ticking time-bomb".
Answer in comments
October 06, 2008
September 11, 2008
Why Ideas remain as ideas
Why do we fail to take idea's forward and execute it??
We are totally not convinced that the idea will work
we dont have passion to execute an idea and thus don't take the risk
we don't have necessary skill set to execute it
we assume things will work in a certain way, but reality will be something else
we are not sure whom to trust and wont share ideas with others
we don't want to move out of comfort zone
Probably your ideas are ahead of time
You shared it with wrong people
You lack the environment, which encourages ideas
may be ..hmmm may be..End of the day what matters is whether you executed it or not
P.s - This post was inspired by my failure to execute a awesome idea. something very new, something very different,not sure whether its revolutionary but a original idea.
We are totally not convinced that the idea will work
we dont have passion to execute an idea and thus don't take the risk
we don't have necessary skill set to execute it
we assume things will work in a certain way, but reality will be something else
we are not sure whom to trust and wont share ideas with others
we don't want to move out of comfort zone
Probably your ideas are ahead of time
You shared it with wrong people
You lack the environment, which encourages ideas
may be ..hmmm may be..End of the day what matters is whether you executed it or not
P.s - This post was inspired by my failure to execute a awesome idea. something very new, something very different,not sure whether its revolutionary but a original idea.
September 09, 2008
Coca-cola Zero Zero
Coca-Cola has teamed up with Sony Entertainment to help promote the upcoming James Bond film, "Quantum of Solace," by renaming the Coke Zero brand as Coca-Cola Zero Zero 7. They released special edition bottles of Coca-cola Zero Zero with 007 logo and Daniel Craig picture.
September 08, 2008
Starbucks offering free paper - good sheet
Starbucks is offering a free paper known as Good Sheet,the paper covers important election issues like education, health care etc.
Starbucks previously tried its hands with Joe Magazine, a lifestyle magazine that lasted three issues with which company.
Answer in Comments
Starbucks previously tried its hands with Joe Magazine, a lifestyle magazine that lasted three issues with which company.
Answer in Comments
September 04, 2008
Indian Railways and IRCTC sucks
I heard quite a lot about Indian Railways reforms, how they became more customer centric and blah blah, but unfortunately I had a horrible experience yesterday.
We booked couple of tickets to Bhubaneshwar(BBSNR) in Faluknuma express from secunderabd thru IRCTC and return tickets in the same train from a railway reservation counter. We boarded the train in Secunderabad and came to know that the train was diverted in other route and wont go to Bhubneshwar.The train was diverted in some other route as the track in orissa was damaged 1.5 months ago, but IRCTC and Railways are still selling the tickets in old route. Countless others have experienced the same problem from last 1.5 months, but authorities are lethargic neither they made any attempts to inform passengers about the change in route nor made any alternative arrangements
The whole episode, have some comical errors -
IRCTC issued a ticket from Sec'bad to Bhubaneshwar, when the train is not going in the route from 1.5 months. I can understand acts of god and the IRCTC did not make changes for a week or so, but for god sake 1.5 months is damn long time, why cant they update it??or at least when they know the train is not running in that route, shoot a mail to all users who bought tickets in the train. Do they have any CRM system in place?? Its not just you refund my fair within 90 days, who will pay for the damages??
Ok, Understood IRCTC dont have info on trains diverted in some other routes, but how the hell a Railway reservation counter issue a ticket on a train which is not running from sec'bad to BBSNR. At least they should have informed the train is subject to availability and may run in some other route.
And more idiotically,Our names and berth numbers are printed and pasted in respective boggies, with seat numbers
And Our PNR status still shows our tickets are confirmed both up and down, even though the train is not running between the 2 stations
We got a gem of advice from railway authorities- Cancel the e-ticket, you will get 100% refund and buy a ticket in Vishaka Express. It was supposed to leave in 1 hr, so we need to buy a general ticket and travel 20 hrs in it, for your mistake
We called Railway Call Center to find out whether the train is coming via Bhubneshwar to Secunderabd or going in a route of there choice but the jokers dont have information on the status. The call center guys suggested to call secunderabad railway station to find out the info, but he dont have number of sec'bad station, I am not asking you phone number of a remote railway station, If a Call center dont have phone number of a zonal head quarters , who will have it?? south central railways website is down, the contact us link in official website of Ministry of Railways takes you to a park domain full of advertisements!! (go to site map n then click contact us, its not working in home page)
Railway officials came up with other innovative idea recently - add one more berth in side seats and squeeze more money. The mere sight of a side berth make me fear of a torturous journey.How the hell can 9 passengers sit in a row meant for 8? where will the extra passenger put his luggage? How can poor guys in side berths sleep in such a little place.
A railway official supported this decision saying “By adding so many passengers, the railways is doing a service. And I am sure that the inconvenience of sharing a seat with an extra passenger is better than being denied a ticket,” . Crap first you are not doing a free service. Second this is not the way to meet extra demand. Because of your inefficiencies you cant make people suffer, especially when common man dont have other choice of transport
And Dear Lalu, I know you are too busy with your guest lectures at IIM's, but don't take customers for granted. It may not reflect in your railway financial statements, but will for sure reflect in general elections.
Update: Common sense prevails, Indian Railway board decided to remove the side middle berth recently.
We booked couple of tickets to Bhubaneshwar(BBSNR) in Faluknuma express from secunderabd thru IRCTC and return tickets in the same train from a railway reservation counter. We boarded the train in Secunderabad and came to know that the train was diverted in other route and wont go to Bhubneshwar.The train was diverted in some other route as the track in orissa was damaged 1.5 months ago, but IRCTC and Railways are still selling the tickets in old route. Countless others have experienced the same problem from last 1.5 months, but authorities are lethargic neither they made any attempts to inform passengers about the change in route nor made any alternative arrangements
The whole episode, have some comical errors -
IRCTC issued a ticket from Sec'bad to Bhubaneshwar, when the train is not going in the route from 1.5 months. I can understand acts of god and the IRCTC did not make changes for a week or so, but for god sake 1.5 months is damn long time, why cant they update it??or at least when they know the train is not running in that route, shoot a mail to all users who bought tickets in the train. Do they have any CRM system in place?? Its not just you refund my fair within 90 days, who will pay for the damages??
Ok, Understood IRCTC dont have info on trains diverted in some other routes, but how the hell a Railway reservation counter issue a ticket on a train which is not running from sec'bad to BBSNR. At least they should have informed the train is subject to availability and may run in some other route.
And more idiotically,Our names and berth numbers are printed and pasted in respective boggies, with seat numbers
And Our PNR status still shows our tickets are confirmed both up and down, even though the train is not running between the 2 stations
We got a gem of advice from railway authorities- Cancel the e-ticket, you will get 100% refund and buy a ticket in Vishaka Express. It was supposed to leave in 1 hr, so we need to buy a general ticket and travel 20 hrs in it, for your mistake
We called Railway Call Center to find out whether the train is coming via Bhubneshwar to Secunderabd or going in a route of there choice but the jokers dont have information on the status. The call center guys suggested to call secunderabad railway station to find out the info, but he dont have number of sec'bad station, I am not asking you phone number of a remote railway station, If a Call center dont have phone number of a zonal head quarters , who will have it?? south central railways website is down, the contact us link in official website of Ministry of Railways takes you to a park domain full of advertisements!! (go to site map n then click contact us, its not working in home page)
Railway officials came up with other innovative idea recently - add one more berth in side seats and squeeze more money. The mere sight of a side berth make me fear of a torturous journey.How the hell can 9 passengers sit in a row meant for 8? where will the extra passenger put his luggage? How can poor guys in side berths sleep in such a little place.
A railway official supported this decision saying “By adding so many passengers, the railways is doing a service. And I am sure that the inconvenience of sharing a seat with an extra passenger is better than being denied a ticket,” . Crap first you are not doing a free service. Second this is not the way to meet extra demand. Because of your inefficiencies you cant make people suffer, especially when common man dont have other choice of transport
And Dear Lalu, I know you are too busy with your guest lectures at IIM's, but don't take customers for granted. It may not reflect in your railway financial statements, but will for sure reflect in general elections.
Update: Common sense prevails, Indian Railway board decided to remove the side middle berth recently.
August 25, 2008
khadi
Congress in it early days used to charge 4 annas from new members, but when Gandhiji took over Congress he changed that rule and all new members instead of paying 4 annas to party were asked to buy Khadhi. Gandhi's belief was when new members buy khadhi it will generate employment to villagers and his view of Khadhi as a swadeshi fragment and a symbol of India's freedom struggle.
Now coming to the question The word 'Khadi' is derived from which Hindi word. Answer in comments
Now coming to the question The word 'Khadi' is derived from which Hindi word. Answer in comments
August 15, 2008
Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
One of the best things in India is cultural diversity. I dont think any other country has such diverse set of cultures (though with minor glitches). “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara..”,released in 1987 commemorating the 40th anniversary of Indian Independence showcases this diversity amazingly. The videos was created in 1988 by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, and promoted by Doordarshan to promote national integration. The song was composed by Louis Banks, written by Piyush Pandey. Raga Bharavi, a sampoorna raga, was chosen as the base for the music.
August 10, 2008
Tata Crucible Corporate quiz - Hyderabad
70 odd teams took part in Hyderabad leg of Tata Crucible. I must say they braved out a huge downpour to reach the venue. Giri is known for innovating new formats/rounds(Pyramid quizzing..etc etc) but this year crucible don't have much surprises, its a plain simple business quiz.
A 25 question prelims, more of current affairs and a bit of history/trivia.
6 TCS teams battled out in Tata track(TCS Track can be more apt), and won by a young TCS team(last year Student track Kolkata finalists)
Google won the Non Tata track by cracking the last question on a buzzer. As many as 4 teams got a chance to clinch the title
Coming to rounds:
1st: Dry round - 6 question 10 on direct, 10 on pass
2n Tata round - 5 question on buzzer
3rd round -Connection round - I find this one bit wired
4th round - Code Buster - 6 on buzzer, will show 4 logos/pics, need to crack those 4 pics n code - pretty much simple, but its the question of speed
5th round - 3 question on buzzer, crack on first clue -15 points, 2nd 10 points, 3rd 5 points
For question check out Nishit's blog
A 25 question prelims, more of current affairs and a bit of history/trivia.
6 TCS teams battled out in Tata track(TCS Track can be more apt), and won by a young TCS team(last year Student track Kolkata finalists)
Google won the Non Tata track by cracking the last question on a buzzer. As many as 4 teams got a chance to clinch the title
Coming to rounds:
1st: Dry round - 6 question 10 on direct, 10 on pass
2n Tata round - 5 question on buzzer
3rd round -Connection round - I find this one bit wired
4th round - Code Buster - 6 on buzzer, will show 4 logos/pics, need to crack those 4 pics n code - pretty much simple, but its the question of speed
5th round - 3 question on buzzer, crack on first clue -15 points, 2nd 10 points, 3rd 5 points
For question check out Nishit's blog
August 04, 2008
KILB
A smart company has launched a campaign(OOH, TVC, Print) recently, asking user 'Kyaa Aapko K.I.L.B hai? well nothing unusual, except users thinking what is this k.I.L.B and searching in Internet for possible answers.
As on 5th August K.I.L.B is among top 10 search terms in India according to Google Trends (yesterday its at 18 th rank). I guess that's considerably number keep in mind KILB is promoted prominently using OOH and some rare TVC's
The engagement would be at different levels if the advertisers extended the campaign online they probably would have thought users wont search about KILB on internet and did not invested in online
Online/offline integration happens when advertisers/marketers look at bigger picture, gauge what different mediums can do to the campaign and execute it in a mix of mediums(if needed) than push one over the other. But in many cases agencies/advertisers end time and energies arguing the pros and cons of one medium over another
Update - Chiefbruts, says its a BigAdda Campaign and K.I.L.B Stands for Kyunkie I Love BigAdda, more on it here , So my guess(Vodafone) went utterly wrong:P
oh its not BigAdda, its form AEGON Religare Life Insurance and K.I.L.B Stands for 'Kum Insurance Lene Ki Bimari'
August 02, 2008
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
Last week I seen few of my friends changed there Gtalk status to "R.I.P. Raundy Pausch", initially I thought he may be some pop star or a sportsmen, and did not bothered much.
The buzz keep on going on, and accidentally I came across his Last Lecture video on youtube. His life really mesmerized me.
Randy worked as a professor in Carnegie Mellon Univ and was diagonised with pancreatic cancer. He delivered his "Last Lecture " at CMU, one month after he found he only had 6 months to live.Last lecture's are ongoing series of lectures at CMU where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk," i.e., "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?" Randy Spoke about "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams and how he worked to achieve his childhood dreams.
If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it or read the gist here
Randy's story touched me deeply, he accepted fate and was extremely brave to face the reality, in his 1hour 16 mnts talk you will never see fear in his eyes,words, body language, he teached about "living" and living and having fun.
The buzz keep on going on, and accidentally I came across his Last Lecture video on youtube. His life really mesmerized me.
Randy worked as a professor in Carnegie Mellon Univ and was diagonised with pancreatic cancer. He delivered his "Last Lecture " at CMU, one month after he found he only had 6 months to live.Last lecture's are ongoing series of lectures at CMU where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk," i.e., "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?" Randy Spoke about "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams and how he worked to achieve his childhood dreams.
If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it or read the gist here
Randy's story touched me deeply, he accepted fate and was extremely brave to face the reality, in his 1hour 16 mnts talk you will never see fear in his eyes,words, body language, he teached about "living" and living and having fun.
July 23, 2008
Streisand Effect
Attempts to remove content from the Internet generally result in spreading it more broadly, this is commonly known as Streisand Effect, the term originated after singer Barbara Striesand insisted that photos of her house be removed from californiacoastline.org, resulted in users copying the photo and post it all over internet :)
July 18, 2008
Origin of the term Bootstrapping
The use of the term bootstrap derives from the phrase to pull oneself up by one’s bootstrap, widely thought to be based on one of the eighteenth century Adventures of
Baron Munchausen, by Rudolph Erich Raspe. The baron tells a series of tall tales about his travels, including various impossible feats and daring escapes.
Th larger meaning is When you “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” you succeed – on your own – despite limited resources. As simple as that
Dell and EDS are some of the famous bootstrapped companies.
And a question,One of the way to start a company is to raise funds from 3F's, what does it stand for
Answer in comments
Baron Munchausen, by Rudolph Erich Raspe. The baron tells a series of tall tales about his travels, including various impossible feats and daring escapes.
Th larger meaning is When you “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” you succeed – on your own – despite limited resources. As simple as that
Dell and EDS are some of the famous bootstrapped companies.
And a question,One of the way to start a company is to raise funds from 3F's, what does it stand for
Answer in comments
July 17, 2008
TATA CRUCIBLE CORPORATE QUIZ 2008 SCHEDULE
TATA CRUCIBLE is back and this time in 4 more cities. As they explain "The extension of the quiz to 16 locations is reflective of new India and the emergence of the smaller cities as key business destinations".
Prizes went up, from 2 lakhs to 4 lakhs to national winners.
Schedule:
03rd Aug'08 Coimbatore
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm The Residency,
1076, Avinashi Road ,
Coimbatore - 641 018
05th Aug'08 Cochin
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Taj Residency,
M G Road, Cochin.
09th Aug'08 Hyderabad
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm RNR Auditorium,
Opp. Lotus Pond Road, No. 12 MLA Colony,
Banjara Hills, Hyderabad- 500 034
10th Aug'08 Goa
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6.00 pm National Institute of Oceanography
Dona Paula, Goa - 403 004.
12th Aug'08 Jaipur
(Only Non-TATA Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Vidya Ashram,
(Maharana Pratap Auditorium),
Opp.Daini Bhaskar,Malaviya Nagar, Jaipur - 302 015
19th Aug'08 Ahmedabad
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6.00pm IIM - Indian Institute of Management,
(Ravi Mathai Hall), Vastrapur,
Ahmedabad - 380015.
24th Aug'08 Pune
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Taj Blue Diamond,Garden Court,
11 ,Koregaon Road, Pune-411 001
31st Aug'08 Bangalore
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm NIMHANS Convention Centre,
Hosur Road,
Bangalore - 560 029
05th Sep'08 Bhubaneshwar
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Mayfair Lagoon,
Bhubaneswar - 751 015
07th Sep'08 Kolkata
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Taj Bengal,
Alipore,Kolkata.
11th Sep'08 Chandigarh
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm JBS Charitable Trust,
Sector 27A,
Chandigarh - 160 027
13th Sep'08 Delhi
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Army Public School,
Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi.
14th Sep'08 Lucknow
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Ravindralaya,
Motilal Nehru Marg,
Rly Station Char Bagh ke Samne,
Lucknow - 1
18th Sep'08 Indore
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Fortune Landmark,
Adj.Meghdooth Gardens,
Vijaynagar,
Indore - 452 010.
20th Sep'08 Mumbai
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Y B Chavan Centre,
Jagannathrao Bhonsle Marg,
Mumbai - 400 021
21st Sep'08 Chennai
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Chinmaya Heritage Centre,
Tapovan Hall, #2, 13th Avenue,
Harrington Road,Chetpet,
Chennai - 600 031
26th Sep'08 Jamshedpur
(Only Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm XLRI Auditorium,
C.H. Area (East), Post Box 222,
Jamshedpur - 831 001.
More info tatacrucible.com
Good luck guys !
Prizes went up, from 2 lakhs to 4 lakhs to national winners.
Schedule:
03rd Aug'08 Coimbatore
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm The Residency,
1076, Avinashi Road ,
Coimbatore - 641 018
05th Aug'08 Cochin
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Taj Residency,
M G Road, Cochin.
09th Aug'08 Hyderabad
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm RNR Auditorium,
Opp. Lotus Pond Road, No. 12 MLA Colony,
Banjara Hills, Hyderabad- 500 034
10th Aug'08 Goa
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6.00 pm National Institute of Oceanography
Dona Paula, Goa - 403 004.
12th Aug'08 Jaipur
(Only Non-TATA Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Vidya Ashram,
(Maharana Pratap Auditorium),
Opp.Daini Bhaskar,Malaviya Nagar, Jaipur - 302 015
19th Aug'08 Ahmedabad
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6.00pm IIM - Indian Institute of Management,
(Ravi Mathai Hall), Vastrapur,
Ahmedabad - 380015.
24th Aug'08 Pune
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Taj Blue Diamond,Garden Court,
11 ,Koregaon Road, Pune-411 001
31st Aug'08 Bangalore
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm NIMHANS Convention Centre,
Hosur Road,
Bangalore - 560 029
05th Sep'08 Bhubaneshwar
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Mayfair Lagoon,
Bhubaneswar - 751 015
07th Sep'08 Kolkata
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Taj Bengal,
Alipore,Kolkata.
11th Sep'08 Chandigarh
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm JBS Charitable Trust,
Sector 27A,
Chandigarh - 160 027
13th Sep'08 Delhi
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Army Public School,
Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi.
14th Sep'08 Lucknow
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Ravindralaya,
Motilal Nehru Marg,
Rly Station Char Bagh ke Samne,
Lucknow - 1
18th Sep'08 Indore
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Fortune Landmark,
Adj.Meghdooth Gardens,
Vijaynagar,
Indore - 452 010.
20th Sep'08 Mumbai
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Y B Chavan Centre,
Jagannathrao Bhonsle Marg,
Mumbai - 400 021
21st Sep'08 Chennai
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Chinmaya Heritage Centre,
Tapovan Hall, #2, 13th Avenue,
Harrington Road,Chetpet,
Chennai - 600 031
26th Sep'08 Jamshedpur
(Only Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm XLRI Auditorium,
C.H. Area (East), Post Box 222,
Jamshedpur - 831 001.
More info tatacrucible.com
Good luck guys !
July 07, 2008
TAG Records - Procter & Gamble owned music label
TAG Records, is a music label company started by FMCG giant P&G to promote their own products.More
Cool strategy to connect with next gen customers,but very tough to execute.It got to be centered around music and not P&G Products, but wont be possible as the music label was started to promote p&g products, not gr8 music necessarily
Cool strategy to connect with next gen customers,but very tough to execute.It got to be centered around music and not P&G Products, but wont be possible as the music label was started to promote p&g products, not gr8 music necessarily
July 06, 2008
Nadal dethrones Roger Federer at Wimbledon
Rafa finally did it, in a historic and absolutely mind blowing tennis match I ever watched, Rafa ended my hero Federer dream of winning 6th consecutive Wimbledon championship
Rafa defeated Fedex with thinnest of margins 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.The match lasted nearly 5 hours, that itself tells how both players fought ferociously for each point, the two legends were separated by only 5 points(Rafa won 209 points n Roger won 204 points).
Fedex had his chances but could not convert break points, his backhand was not perfect, loosing 2nd set after leading 4-2 at one point, 50 odd unforced errors costed him the title. Fedex came back strongly after loosing first 2 sets but could not win crutial break points. Nadal did it by showing fortitude on his serve, saving 12 of 13 break points.
Nadal is playing better on grass than ever before, and he almost won Wimbledon last year and now he stopped Federer's streaks of 40 victories in a row at Wimbledon, and a record 65 in a row on grass.
How ironic, this is Rafa's first win against Roger on grass courts. While Rafa is improving his overall tennis and his game in grass and clay court's(he did not win US Open and Aus Open), Roger had a very tough 2008, especially the humiliation in French open.
How boring tennis would be with out these two players.
Now some Trivia - Twenty-seven years ago a left-handed John McEnroe crashed Borg's hopes of winning six Wimbledon's in a row, Now Federer's dream of winning 6 Wimbledon's by another left hander, Rafel Nadal.
Rafa defeated Fedex with thinnest of margins 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.The match lasted nearly 5 hours, that itself tells how both players fought ferociously for each point, the two legends were separated by only 5 points(Rafa won 209 points n Roger won 204 points).
Fedex had his chances but could not convert break points, his backhand was not perfect, loosing 2nd set after leading 4-2 at one point, 50 odd unforced errors costed him the title. Fedex came back strongly after loosing first 2 sets but could not win crutial break points. Nadal did it by showing fortitude on his serve, saving 12 of 13 break points.
Nadal is playing better on grass than ever before, and he almost won Wimbledon last year and now he stopped Federer's streaks of 40 victories in a row at Wimbledon, and a record 65 in a row on grass.
How ironic, this is Rafa's first win against Roger on grass courts. While Rafa is improving his overall tennis and his game in grass and clay court's(he did not win US Open and Aus Open), Roger had a very tough 2008, especially the humiliation in French open.
How boring tennis would be with out these two players.
Now some Trivia - Twenty-seven years ago a left-handed John McEnroe crashed Borg's hopes of winning six Wimbledon's in a row, Now Federer's dream of winning 6 Wimbledon's by another left hander, Rafel Nadal.
July 02, 2008
J.C. Penny’s Speed Dressing advertisment
J.C. Penny’s controversial "Speed Dressing,"ad won bronze at cannes. The ad was created by one former employee of JC Penny’s ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi through a third party called Epoch Films without any knowledge or consent of the advertiser. It was never aired on TV but became popular in Youtube. More
This is why clients don't bother much about Cannes
This is why clients don't bother much about Cannes
June 28, 2008
Remebering Sam Manekshaw
The first Indian to become a Field Marshal, Sam Manekshaw passed away at age 94, on 27 th June.On any metrics Field Marshal Sam Maneekshaw is one of the greatest solider of India his heroics in WW2 fighting against Japanese despite his stomach ripped with 7 bullets and his Leadership during Indo-Pak 1971 war, his no compromise attitude with babus and Netas are legendary,
Sam Manekshaw confronted with Indira Gandhi herself and could be the only person who have guts to crack a joke with her.
The Field Marshal narrated this incident at the inaugural Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture in October 1995 at Delhi.
"There is a very thin line between being dismissed and becoming a Field Marshal. In 1971, when Pakistan cracked down in East Pakistan, hundreds and thousands of refugees started pouring into India, into West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The Prime Minister held a Cabinet meeting in her office. I was then summoned.
A very angry, grim-faced Prime Minister read out telegrams from the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
She then turned around to me and said, 'What are you doing about it?' And I said, 'Nothing, it's got nothing to do with me. You didn't consult me when you allowed the BSF, the CRP and RAW to encourage the Pakistanis to revolt. Now that you are in trouble, you come to me. I have a long nose. I know what's happening.'
She said, 'I want you to enter Pakistan. And I responded, That means war!'
She said, 'I do not mind if it is war.'
I said 'Are you prepared? I am certainly not. This is the end of April. The Himalayan passes are opening and there can be an attack from China.'
I turned around to the Prime Minister and said that the rains were about to start in East Pakistan and when it rains there, it pours and the whole countryside is flooded.
The snows are melting, the rivers would become like oceans.
All my movement would be confined to roads."
Manekshaw told Gandhi that the Air Force would not be able to provide support because of climatic conditions. "Now Prime Minister, give me your orders. The grim Prime Minister with her teeth clenched said, 'The Cabinet will meet again at four o'clock.'
The Cabinet members started walking out. I being the junior most was the last to go and as I was leaving, she said, 'Chief, will you stay back?'
I turned around and said, 'Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, may I send you my resignation on grounds of health, mental or physical?'
She said, 'Everything you told me is true.'
'Yes! It is my job to tell you the truth,' I responded. 'And it is my job to fight, it is my job to fight to win and I have to tell you the truth.'
She smiled at me and said, 'All right Sam, you know what I want?' I said, 'Yes, I know what you want!'"
As a true leader, When Indira Gandhi requested Manekshaw to travel to Dhaka to oversee the surrender of Pakistan, Maneshaw refused to do so, stating his Army Commander in the East, Lt General Jagjit Singh Aurora, should have the honor.
It unfortunate that our commander in chief of armed forces, aka president, Service chiefs, Defense minister or none of the senior cabinet colleagues don’t have time to pay final rites. A nation which observed 3 days of official mourning on pope’s death, don’t even show minimum respect to its legendary soldier.
Soldiers never die, they just fade away.
Three cheers to Sam!
June 19, 2008
GOOGLE SARI
Name the Indian Designer who designed this Google look a like sari(G is missing in it)
Answer in Comments
June 18, 2008
IBM Lingo
Acronyms frequently used in IBM -
Boil The Ocean - To use all means and options available to get something done
Hard Stop - A time at which meeting must end no matter what
Measured mile - where a manager, puts an employee who within a year, will most likely leave the business
LOBS- Line of Business
and my fav one Management Initiated Separation - Getting fired
More
Boil The Ocean - To use all means and options available to get something done
Hard Stop - A time at which meeting must end no matter what
Measured mile - where a manager, puts an employee who within a year, will most likely leave the business
LOBS- Line of Business
and my fav one Management Initiated Separation - Getting fired
More
June 12, 2008
SWITCH Companies
New lingo.
The top six India-based offshore service providers, collectively referred to as the ‘SWITCH’ companies (Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant and HCL Technologies), accounted for 2.4% of the total worldwide IT services market in 2007 as compared to 1.9% in 2006, according to a report by Gartner. More here
The top six India-based offshore service providers, collectively referred to as the ‘SWITCH’ companies (Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant and HCL Technologies), accounted for 2.4% of the total worldwide IT services market in 2007 as compared to 1.9% in 2006, according to a report by Gartner. More here
June 11, 2008
Enfatico
Project Da Vinci was named as Enfatico by Dell and WPP. Enfatico is a musical notation that means play each note “with emphasis” or “emphatically" and that is how the new agency will work.
Project Da Vanci is a new marketing model designed by Dell to have a single integrated mktg and comm agency. Casey Jones a VP in Dell recognized Dell is working with 800 odd agencies globally and felt the need of a partner which focus only on Dell's business.
Project Da Vanci is a new marketing model designed by Dell to have a single integrated mktg and comm agency. Casey Jones a VP in Dell recognized Dell is working with 800 odd agencies globally and felt the need of a partner which focus only on Dell's business.
June 07, 2008
New York Trip
Been to New York recently, some interesting pics -
Parking is a big problem in Financial Dist, they juss charge 8.5$ + tax for 30 mnts parking, no wonder why many people prefer useing public transport
Taken from Millennium Hilton Hotel 22 floor, which is bang opposite to WTC, Ground Zero, they are constructing a memorial,which was supposed to be finished by 2010, but lack of funds effected the project and it will be finished only by 2015. silly, the most powerful nation on earth don't have funds to construct a memorial.
Brooklyn bridge world's first steel wire suspension bridge which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn. Brooklyn bridge I guess is one of the fav suicide spot in NY
Liberty Statute has been used by many advt. My fav one is this Levis ad
Ha even elevators are not sparred, seen this ad inside a elevator at Empire State building.
Funeral Corporations and funeral shops are quite popular in chinatown, dont know exactly what they do.
Parking is a big problem in Financial Dist, they juss charge 8.5$ + tax for 30 mnts parking, no wonder why many people prefer useing public transport
Taken from Millennium Hilton Hotel 22 floor, which is bang opposite to WTC, Ground Zero, they are constructing a memorial,which was supposed to be finished by 2010, but lack of funds effected the project and it will be finished only by 2015. silly, the most powerful nation on earth don't have funds to construct a memorial.
Brooklyn bridge world's first steel wire suspension bridge which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn. Brooklyn bridge I guess is one of the fav suicide spot in NY
Liberty Statute has been used by many advt. My fav one is this Levis ad
Ha even elevators are not sparred, seen this ad inside a elevator at Empire State building.
Funeral Corporations and funeral shops are quite popular in chinatown, dont know exactly what they do.
May 23, 2008
Origin of Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up gesture has its origins in ancient Rome, and actually mean "Kill him,".In Rome crowd used to decide the fate of went down gladiator. either by shouting
Habet, Hoc habet! (He's had it!), Mitte! (Let him go!) or Iugula! (Kill him!). The gladiator would lay down his shield and raise his left hand to plea for mercy, which the crowd signified either by extending their thumbs up or down (pollice verso), turning the thumb upwards and jabbing it toward the heart (pollicem vertere). In Iraq Thumbs Up sign is a insult which means "Up yours, pal!"
source: Yahoo News
Habet, Hoc habet! (He's had it!), Mitte! (Let him go!) or Iugula! (Kill him!). The gladiator would lay down his shield and raise his left hand to plea for mercy, which the crowd signified either by extending their thumbs up or down (pollice verso), turning the thumb upwards and jabbing it toward the heart (pollicem vertere). In Iraq Thumbs Up sign is a insult which means "Up yours, pal!"
source: Yahoo News
May 22, 2008
Can Advertising help Microsoft beat Apple?
Can Advertising safe Microsoft read more
My take - No way, Microsoft mistakes are strategic, vista is a disaster, zune is idiotic(sold 2 million zune's since it launched in November, 2006. Apple,sold 10.6 million iPods last quarter) xbox is strugling(taken out of India market), and now they are wasting time on yahoo, giving users money to use there search engines. Msft need to innovate and innovate quickly
My take - No way, Microsoft mistakes are strategic, vista is a disaster, zune is idiotic(sold 2 million zune's since it launched in November, 2006. Apple,sold 10.6 million iPods last quarter) xbox is strugling(taken out of India market), and now they are wasting time on yahoo, giving users money to use there search engines. Msft need to innovate and innovate quickly
May 20, 2008
update
would like to rant about non quizzing stuff from now on, nope not inspired by Big B, but juss wanna share my thoughts on blogosphere. will cover about online media, my baby steps into entrepreneurship and blah blah
May 02, 2008
Useless Trivia
In 2005 US CEo's were paid 465 times more than the average worker, in 1970 it was only 28 times. juss wondering what it will be for Indian CEO's
In 1955, Fortune 500 companies accounted for around 1/3 of GDP in America. By 2000, that share had risen to 2/3.
Golden Shield, is a technology deployed by the Chinese government,that scans data flowing across its section of the net for banned words or web addresses.
300 million - estimated Manchester United fans across globe. Man Utd rocks!!
Raj Thackery and his bunch of jokers are finally doing something sensible. MNS has started a retail training institute to train unemployed marathis. After successfully completing the course, they will be employed by Pantaloons. Hope they don't train how to kick non marathi customers out of retail outlets
In 1955, Fortune 500 companies accounted for around 1/3 of GDP in America. By 2000, that share had risen to 2/3.
Golden Shield, is a technology deployed by the Chinese government,that scans data flowing across its section of the net for banned words or web addresses.
300 million - estimated Manchester United fans across globe. Man Utd rocks!!
Raj Thackery and his bunch of jokers are finally doing something sensible. MNS has started a retail training institute to train unemployed marathis. After successfully completing the course, they will be employed by Pantaloons. Hope they don't train how to kick non marathi customers out of retail outlets
April 26, 2008
Quinkie Fifth Anniversary Quiz
A small quiz on advertising to celebrate Quinkie's 5th anniversary. kudos to Murali and all regular contributors/participants for making the group lively
1. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read the offer document carefully before investing” must now be displayed and read out for at least __ seconds in television and radio ads
2. Images of Gmail-branded soap have been circulating around internet, while many dismissed it as a photoshop job by some chap, it was actually a campaign done by Gmail. What was specifically promoted in this campaign?
3. Which concept/technique was first introduced in 1985 by Dr. Edward Forrest in a study of VCR users and later elaborated upon in the article, "Segmenting VCR Owners" published in the Journal of Advertising Research
4. A major change Google made in early March to its AdWords algorithm resulted in a increase in ad rates and decrease in conversion rates. Disgruntled advertisers have dubbed the move as what
5. Which company has created one of the biggest billboards in Europe, measuring in at 65,000 sq. ft
6. Team Detroit, is a joint venture of six agencies (JWT, Y&R, Wunderman, Ogilvy, Mediaedge:cia and MindShare) to focus on which company business.
7. Identify the logo
8. Which agency was, founded by Scott Goodson and named after the rare and poisonous frog. “In a world of dinosaurs, it's good to be a frog” is one of the guiding principles
9. Connect — Haute Curry, Mario Zegnoti , Vetorio Fratini and, Push & Shove
10. The agency had organized,a weekly service called "Hollywood Personalities," which provided 125 leading newspapers with descriptions of the products worn by movie stars.The agency defined the products target audience as "some 70 million people 15 years and over whose opinion we hope to influence in support of our objectives.". Identify the agency and client
11. Identify the famous advertising legend. His most famous quote is "Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey it."
12. Identify the famous personality. He is father of global journalism. Established world’s oldest news agency and the first worldwide information agency, in 1835
P.S- Answers only to participants.Please Don't leave answers as comments to the post,send it to praneeth82 at gmail dot com
1. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read the offer document carefully before investing” must now be displayed and read out for at least __ seconds in television and radio ads
2. Images of Gmail-branded soap have been circulating around internet, while many dismissed it as a photoshop job by some chap, it was actually a campaign done by Gmail. What was specifically promoted in this campaign?
3. Which concept/technique was first introduced in 1985 by Dr. Edward Forrest in a study of VCR users and later elaborated upon in the article, "Segmenting VCR Owners" published in the Journal of Advertising Research
4. A major change Google made in early March to its AdWords algorithm resulted in a increase in ad rates and decrease in conversion rates. Disgruntled advertisers have dubbed the move as what
5. Which company has created one of the biggest billboards in Europe, measuring in at 65,000 sq. ft
6. Team Detroit, is a joint venture of six agencies (JWT, Y&R, Wunderman, Ogilvy, Mediaedge:cia and MindShare) to focus on which company business.
7. Identify the logo
8. Which agency was, founded by Scott Goodson and named after the rare and poisonous frog. “In a world of dinosaurs, it's good to be a frog” is one of the guiding principles
9. Connect — Haute Curry, Mario Zegnoti , Vetorio Fratini and, Push & Shove
10. The agency had organized,a weekly service called "Hollywood Personalities," which provided 125 leading newspapers with descriptions of the products worn by movie stars.The agency defined the products target audience as "some 70 million people 15 years and over whose opinion we hope to influence in support of our objectives.". Identify the agency and client
11. Identify the famous advertising legend. His most famous quote is "Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey it."
12. Identify the famous personality. He is father of global journalism. Established world’s oldest news agency and the first worldwide information agency, in 1835
P.S- Answers only to participants.Please Don't leave answers as comments to the post,send it to praneeth82 at gmail dot com
April 14, 2008
Its Not MANU
The term MANU is only used by Manchester United Football Club rivals as a complete and utter insult to the club and about the Munich air disaster which claimed the lives of eight players, especially Duncan edwards. The chants goes like
"Man U Man U went on a plane Man U Man U never came back again.."
The chants originally originated in 1960's when there was huge competition between clubs to sign Duncan Edwards in the early 50s to sign for a Midlands club, as he came from Dudley. His signing for United caused a lot of people in the Midlands to regard him as a traitor and was hate figure for them.
West bron fans first started the chants like "Duncan Edwards is manure, rotting in his grave,Man you are manure-rotting in your grave"
Liverpool fans often tease United about the Munich incident again by chanting ‘MUNICH -Man U Never Intended Coming Home.’
So all United fans, refrain from calling yourself MANU. United forever!!
source: manutd.com
"Man U Man U went on a plane Man U Man U never came back again.."
The chants originally originated in 1960's when there was huge competition between clubs to sign Duncan Edwards in the early 50s to sign for a Midlands club, as he came from Dudley. His signing for United caused a lot of people in the Midlands to regard him as a traitor and was hate figure for them.
West bron fans first started the chants like "Duncan Edwards is manure, rotting in his grave,Man you are manure-rotting in your grave"
Liverpool fans often tease United about the Munich incident again by chanting ‘MUNICH -Man U Never Intended Coming Home.’
So all United fans, refrain from calling yourself MANU. United forever!!
source: manutd.com
April 02, 2008
Twin Towers
Twin towers are symbol of Malysian pride determination and capabilities of Malysiyan's and showcase the culture and corporate aspirations of which company?
Answer in Comments
Trivia- - The twin towers were constructed by two different companies and they were made to compete against each other.If a constructor missed (weekly or monthly)deadlines they were finned $ 5 million. In final stages Malaysia stopped the competition and ordered contractors to finish both towers at same time..but one team(tower 2) took the competition so serious they finished it a week ahead of tower 1.
88 Floors of building constructed in 6 years deadline, overcoming all challenges(after starting the proj they found the soil is not suitable moved the whole struct to 60 mtrs, the work was stopped in between as a batch of concrete used in a floor failed quality test, when 72 floor is about to finish they realized tower 1 was 25 millimeters off from vertical).
our babus-netas-contractors on the other hand are still constructing a bloody flyover from 3 years missed all deadlines,collapsed the structure in between killing people...sick!!
March 28, 2008
Brand Equity Quiz
Went to Brand Equity Quiz Hyderabad round yesterday. The quiz is quite better than previous versions. The theme is refreshing than earlier James Bond, Russian army general themes. Thankfully content is not too wired, especially after hearing questions like this from Lions mouth 'Aamdani atthani, kharcha ____'?
Agro Tech, Broadwise Financial, Convergys(scored 27 out of 30 in prelims), Google,Mindset, and Satyam qualified to finals. Mindset won the quiz with a consistent performance.
some Questions from BEQ hyderabad-
Where do u find tara and sitara hotel in hyd – Ramoji Filim City
In 1931 which comp started a lighting design & consultancy center – Philips
Microsoft answers to ipod – zune
Univ of Cambridge launched professorship on Indian enterprises and named after – Nehru
which state is largest producer of tractors in India – haryana
TV advt focuses on 2 catch phrases ‘note and recall’, what do direct marketing focuses on – response
For pakeeza meena kumari was piad – one gold ashrafi
In which Indian state do u find oldest continuing oil refinery – Assam
Padini is a fashion brand from – Malaysiya
According to Oxford English Dictionary, which word comes from an Old English word meaning "anxious" – Business
What will you do with a ‘thong’(Question of the Day)
In 1876, which inventor was given US patent 174,465 – Graham bell
Akshay kumar in Hindi, Mahesh Babu in Telugu which soft drink advt am I talking abt – Thumps Up
Ppl of which 3 countries cant be considered POI – Bangladesh, Pak, SL
World’s largest producer of banana’s – India
Whose first studio is located at 31st street, Kansas city – walt Disney
Among icon players in IPL, who will get highest income – Sachin
Who is the most valuable football player brand in world – Ronaldhino
In which novel you will come across Pemberly Country estate – pride and Prejudice
Print ad of Microsoft
Pic of Estee lauder
Emirates logo
Swaraj Paul Pic
Durex print ad
Finals –
In 1872, for what where customers charged 2000 blah..blah..- Thomas Cook 1st round the world trip
DHI model and Gujrat model, what am I referring to – VRS schemes
Why is Formica, called formica
www.shopimagine.in sells what – lingerie
What significant change did Harry Potter Publishers made when they launched it in USA
In travel business what is VFR
Pic of shashi ruia
Print ad of Cherry Bloosom
Saab car logo
China Olympic torch designed by
Video of E.sreedharan (Delhi Metro), shown and asked to find the personality
Video ad of DHL
Sedlabanki islands is most popular for – central bank
Which hotel was chosen as worlds best in travel and leisure – Oberoi Udayvillas, udaipur
Art Paul created – play boy bunny
90% of what we call management consists of making things difficult to people - philip kotler's quote
Which invention is pioneered by LG in India – TV menu in hindi
Which domain name extends to 70 countries - .asia
7 letter word to describe age of wines –vintage
What is printed at security printing pres at Hyd usually in 8 sheet of paper – Meghdoot post cards
Astronaut’s of Apollo 11 were wearing Jockey underwear – joking or serious
Colorplus name funda – bcz of a batch of over colored shirts
Worlds largest consumer of polished diamonds – USA
If kingfisher is from India, Carlsberg is from – Denmark
Last years questions
Agro Tech, Broadwise Financial, Convergys(scored 27 out of 30 in prelims), Google,Mindset, and Satyam qualified to finals. Mindset won the quiz with a consistent performance.
some Questions from BEQ hyderabad-
Where do u find tara and sitara hotel in hyd – Ramoji Filim City
In 1931 which comp started a lighting design & consultancy center – Philips
Microsoft answers to ipod – zune
Univ of Cambridge launched professorship on Indian enterprises and named after – Nehru
which state is largest producer of tractors in India – haryana
TV advt focuses on 2 catch phrases ‘note and recall’, what do direct marketing focuses on – response
For pakeeza meena kumari was piad – one gold ashrafi
In which Indian state do u find oldest continuing oil refinery – Assam
Padini is a fashion brand from – Malaysiya
According to Oxford English Dictionary, which word comes from an Old English word meaning "anxious" – Business
What will you do with a ‘thong’(Question of the Day)
In 1876, which inventor was given US patent 174,465 – Graham bell
Akshay kumar in Hindi, Mahesh Babu in Telugu which soft drink advt am I talking abt – Thumps Up
Ppl of which 3 countries cant be considered POI – Bangladesh, Pak, SL
World’s largest producer of banana’s – India
Whose first studio is located at 31st street, Kansas city – walt Disney
Among icon players in IPL, who will get highest income – Sachin
Who is the most valuable football player brand in world – Ronaldhino
In which novel you will come across Pemberly Country estate – pride and Prejudice
Print ad of Microsoft
Pic of Estee lauder
Emirates logo
Swaraj Paul Pic
Durex print ad
Finals –
In 1872, for what where customers charged 2000 blah..blah..- Thomas Cook 1st round the world trip
DHI model and Gujrat model, what am I referring to – VRS schemes
Why is Formica, called formica
www.shopimagine.in sells what – lingerie
What significant change did Harry Potter Publishers made when they launched it in USA
In travel business what is VFR
Pic of shashi ruia
Print ad of Cherry Bloosom
Saab car logo
China Olympic torch designed by
Video of E.sreedharan (Delhi Metro), shown and asked to find the personality
Video ad of DHL
Sedlabanki islands is most popular for – central bank
Which hotel was chosen as worlds best in travel and leisure – Oberoi Udayvillas, udaipur
Art Paul created – play boy bunny
90% of what we call management consists of making things difficult to people - philip kotler's quote
Which invention is pioneered by LG in India – TV menu in hindi
Which domain name extends to 70 countries - .asia
7 letter word to describe age of wines –vintage
What is printed at security printing pres at Hyd usually in 8 sheet of paper – Meghdoot post cards
Astronaut’s of Apollo 11 were wearing Jockey underwear – joking or serious
Colorplus name funda – bcz of a batch of over colored shirts
Worlds largest consumer of polished diamonds – USA
If kingfisher is from India, Carlsberg is from – Denmark
Last years questions
March 19, 2008
Bali n Kualalmpur
Been to Bali and Kualalmpur recently, some interesting pics -
I can understand Halal food, but Halleled drinking water??
Every second shop you see in Bali is a pirated retail outlets of luxury brands.
Idiotic campaign...why do u need to send the poor visitor to some other country..why not a royal treatment in u r own country, i rem Singapore doing it and then followed by PR in India(10 million visitor to Singapore is a Indian)....
I can understand Halal food, but Halleled drinking water??
Every second shop you see in Bali is a pirated retail outlets of luxury brands.
Idiotic campaign...why do u need to send the poor visitor to some other country..why not a royal treatment in u r own country, i rem Singapore doing it and then followed by PR in India(10 million visitor to Singapore is a Indian)....
March 04, 2008
Steve Ballmer selling OS
Never seen such a crazy stuff...yeah he is Steve Ballmer in a ad selling windows.More entertainment n pun here
February 26, 2008
worlds biggest building
From the sky it looks like a Chinese dragon and is described as worlds biggest building,the chief architects of the building are Foster and Partners.
1.25 million people have been moved from their homes to make way for construction.
Its red columns and muted gold roof are meant to evoke the city's imperial palaces and temples.
Answer here
Pics here
1.25 million people have been moved from their homes to make way for construction.
Its red columns and muted gold roof are meant to evoke the city's imperial palaces and temples.
Answer here
Pics here
February 23, 2008
unit to measure laughter
Which unit was recently developed/coined to measure the quantity of a person's laugh as well as the sincerity.
Answer in comments
Answer in comments
business quiz
Conducted a business quiz at School of Management Studies, Hyd central Univ. Got a mix of basic questions + trivia and set at a starter level.
February 18, 2008
Steve Jobs appology
All the Apple marketing gets dwarfed by Steve's apology for cutting the price and undercutting his early adopters - so much so that MarketWatch's Tom Bemis invents a term for it. whats the term?
Answer in comments
Answer in comments
February 16, 2008
business quiz
Finally I got into shoes of a quiz master at IPE. we have given a best shoot to make the content interesting and motivate more people to take up quizzing. Many,I guess start business quizzing after joining b-school(Tata Crucible changing it though) and we want to keep there interest levels up with some interesting and amazing fundas. Even if the questions sounds wired and tough for a student quizzers, we tried to make participants crack them by applying some thought to it.Would love to hear some feedback on it
February 10, 2008
Business quiz @ Hyderabad
The Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE) Hyderabad is organizing a Business Quiz on 16th Feb at 12.00 noon ,open to all students, team of two and no cross college teams
Venue: Institute of Public Enterprise, OU Campus, Hyderabad
Date: 16th February 2008, Saturday
Time: 12 noon
Prizes: I Prize - Rs. 10,000/-
II Prize - Rs. 5,000/-
The guy who introduced me to quizzing world, Deepak will be hosting it and I will be helping Deepak in content. promising some classic stuff
Venue: Institute of Public Enterprise, OU Campus, Hyderabad
Date: 16th February 2008, Saturday
Time: 12 noon
Prizes: I Prize - Rs. 10,000/-
II Prize - Rs. 5,000/-
The guy who introduced me to quizzing world, Deepak will be hosting it and I will be helping Deepak in content. promising some classic stuff
February 08, 2008
Leo Burnett and Microsoft
In 1990's Leo Burnett was shortlisted to pitch Microsoft Advertising Account. As the
story goes, Bill gates visited Leo Burnett office and the creative team shared there ideas. After the pitch Mr. Gates was reportedly treated to the customary agency tour. At the end of his tour Bill Gates exclaimed, "Excellent presentation gentlemen, but as I see it,you don't use computers and that would make it impossible for you to understand my business."
Source: David Everitt-Carlson's wild wild East
story goes, Bill gates visited Leo Burnett office and the creative team shared there ideas. After the pitch Mr. Gates was reportedly treated to the customary agency tour. At the end of his tour Bill Gates exclaimed, "Excellent presentation gentlemen, but as I see it,you don't use computers and that would make it impossible for you to understand my business."
Source: David Everitt-Carlson's wild wild East
February 04, 2008
Tata Crucible campus quiz Hyderabad
TC Campus went of from Hyderabad last Saturday. I could not go to the quiz, but got few questions mainly complied by my quizzing partner in college days Rammoorthy.
Rules are pretty much same
a)Top four team directly qualify the finals.
b)Remaining two teams are qualifies through wild card entry. One team selected from (Odd number ) from 5 to 15 . Other team is selected from even numbers from 6 to 16
c)Wild cards round is only through buzzer. It is exiting.
d)Rounds in finals (Cross words, Tata World, Area of choice, Connection round, and one more round)
Anirudh and Aditya qualified into finals as Wild card entrants from odd numbers. 2 teams were in a tie break : 2 questions were passed without answering by the 2 teams in the evens set finally Sumit and Nitin from NIT won the the Wild Card 2nd Round
The teams on Stage:
1)Sumit and Nitin , NIT Warangal(Wild Card entry)
2)Sreemathy and Vishal Gupta , ICAI(Direct of qualfiers)
3)Dejit and Das gupta , DOCS-Univ colleger of engineering
4)Anirudh and Aditya , ICAI (Wild Card entrants)
5) Shanshak and Sairam , ICFAI , Chennai.
6) Chitra Raghunathan and Viswa , Indian School of business.
Anirudh and Aditya from ICAI won the quiz quite comfortable
Suggestions: Brush up your memory about the old advertisements .There is a pinch more easy advertisement in the prelims. Go through some IT questions
Complaints: It happened last year, it happened in ET classroom quiz. Corporates keep on participating in TC Campus Edition..its sad to see some good student teams missing out at the cost of fake students. Participants blatantly cheat in prelims and treating it as yet another exam.I am not blaming organizers, its pretty tough to conduct a fair prelims unless participants are honest and have minimum values
Few question from Tata Crucible Hyderabad:
Prelims:
Code name X-3 , how does India know it today ? It was given Z security ?
Ans: Nano , India’s people car
What was the original flavour of the kit-kat chocolate
Orange
Photo: Google tribute to the brand of lego
Which brand of refrigerator is named after physicist and temperature scale
Kelvinator
Which company started by importing Japanese brand “Onitsuka Tiger"
Nike
Who is known as the “ Pope of Modern Advertising"
Photo: A photo of pregnant man having a caption “ Years of labour , yet to be delivered” . Identify the advertising company?
Satchi & Satchi . The campaign was run for the Labour party , during their election campaign
Hormuzd sorabjee , son of former solicitor general of India Mr Soli Sorabjee , is the founder of which auto magazine - Autocar
Access 125 , a scooter for Indian marker is lauched by whom - Suzuki
Camay soap is from which company - Procter & Gamble
Logo of a Former F1 Team - Miden
Kishore kumar had modeled for a product - Brylcream
Which book talks about “what the rich teach their kids about money , are not taught by the middle class and poor class to their kids” - Rich dad , Poor dad
name of which business legend name means , “ prosperous rice field “ in the local language - : Akio Morito
Lion Pencil had signed on which model years before she became a Miss World - Aiswaraya Rai
Which company ,which produced swords is was recently sold by Energizer holdings - Wilkinson
Audio : A song from Jab we Met . Identify the -- Astha Vianayaka Films
Old ad of Vicks . Identify the brand. The ad is very old one , some where in 1992 to 1996.
Old ad of pepsi.
Wild Card Questions:
Scoops shops is owned by which company - Ben & Jerry.
A B C is technology invented in by ….?What is the technology - Anti Braking System.
You music is onwed by ? Ans: Bose
Barcelona’s T-shirt sponsors - Unicef
What one should not know in this age …some analogy related with brand - Benson & Hedges
L & T cement is known today as - Ultra Tech cement.
In which airlines you would find a louge called “Maple leafs” - Canadian Airlines or Air Canada
Question: Gave the name founder of a concept - Kindergarden.
Screw it , do it ? whose words - Richard Branson
Gave the background for the formation of bank , whose founder won the noble prize for peace in 2006? Ans: Mohammed Yunnus , Grameen Bank
Which company employed a CHO (Chief Happiness officer) - Mc Donalds
Mirage 2000 is manufactured by which company? Dassault Aviation
Panasonic parent company: Matshushita.
Author of “ Future of India” - Bimal Jalan
Dick drew is founder which office equipment- Cellotape
Final:
Round I:Cross words
Key words are framed as questions:
1RC from Manchester United: Ans : Red Café.( This is one is for Audience)
Laurent & claument today known as : Ans: Skoda
Actimate are set of toys from : Ans: Microsoft.
TP is a trademark of excellence : Ans Tom peters ( In search of excellence)
Ovi is the intenet portal of which company: Ans : Nokia
WLS India : Ans : Wills stores .(a dull question )
World syndicate of comics: Ans: Garfield
National aviation company : Ans : Air India
Round II : Tata World.
Which tata group of companies is holding a stake in DCB (Developmental credit bank ) . - Tata Securities.
Serwizol , the BPO arm of TCS ,have recently changed their recruitment policy named “ “ , to suit the emerging requirements of what?
Ans: To recruit people who are differently abled , whose work will suit the BPO environment.
Loyalty programme of Taj - Inner Circle.
Jagao rae was campaign run by which tata company - Tata Tea
Round III : Domain Game : Area of choice.
Bruce Artwic sold which tool to Microsoft? Ans :Flight Simulators.
Cover page of “ Who will cry when you die” ? Ans: Robin Sharma
Advertisement having the lines “ Happy father’s day” - Durex.
Photos of Ajay Piramal
What technology was invented as Dynatech by Mr Martin Cooper - Mobile Phone.
Patent diagram of a inventions was shown . Identify - Microwave owen.
Round IV)
Connection round
a) “ Innovators by tradition” b) a song from Om shanty om c) photo of brand named “ e-touch” d)etc e) etc
Ans: Tissot . Connections : Innovators by tradition is the punchline of tissot and deepika padukone is the brand ambassador of Tissot and etouch is a brand from Tissot.
a) Day + Earth , b) photo of bailey brand and J&B.
Ans: Dia Geo. Connection : Dia means day and geo means earth in greek. Other photos are brand of Diageo.
“ Spirit of akron” , b) Founder of the brand c) a song signifying eagle - Goodyear. (Winged eagle , founder of the brand )
Photo of pele , brands of a shoe company - Puma
Round V)
B2B bomber was produced by whom ? Ans : Northmann Grummann
Connect a book of J K Rowling , Mahatma gandhi’s lette etc? Ans: Sotheby’s (Auction house)
Robert Zolleick heads , heads which organization?
Ok thats it..Hope you all will enjoy the rest of the edition of Tata Crucible and good luck to all participants.
p.S: The review is based on opinions collected from my friends who were present on that day. Many do observed few non-students participating on that day.
Please don't jump to conclusions and show fingers on any particular team or individual.
Rules are pretty much same
a)Top four team directly qualify the finals.
b)Remaining two teams are qualifies through wild card entry. One team selected from (Odd number ) from 5 to 15 . Other team is selected from even numbers from 6 to 16
c)Wild cards round is only through buzzer. It is exiting.
d)Rounds in finals (Cross words, Tata World, Area of choice, Connection round, and one more round)
Anirudh and Aditya qualified into finals as Wild card entrants from odd numbers. 2 teams were in a tie break : 2 questions were passed without answering by the 2 teams in the evens set finally Sumit and Nitin from NIT won the the Wild Card 2nd Round
The teams on Stage:
1)Sumit and Nitin , NIT Warangal(Wild Card entry)
2)Sreemathy and Vishal Gupta , ICAI(Direct of qualfiers)
3)Dejit and Das gupta , DOCS-Univ colleger of engineering
4)Anirudh and Aditya , ICAI (Wild Card entrants)
5) Shanshak and Sairam , ICFAI , Chennai.
6) Chitra Raghunathan and Viswa , Indian School of business.
Anirudh and Aditya from ICAI won the quiz quite comfortable
Suggestions: Brush up your memory about the old advertisements .There is a pinch more easy advertisement in the prelims. Go through some IT questions
Complaints: It happened last year, it happened in ET classroom quiz. Corporates keep on participating in TC Campus Edition..its sad to see some good student teams missing out at the cost of fake students. Participants blatantly cheat in prelims and treating it as yet another exam.I am not blaming organizers, its pretty tough to conduct a fair prelims unless participants are honest and have minimum values
Few question from Tata Crucible Hyderabad:
Prelims:
Code name X-3 , how does India know it today ? It was given Z security ?
Ans: Nano , India’s people car
What was the original flavour of the kit-kat chocolate
Orange
Photo: Google tribute to the brand of lego
Which brand of refrigerator is named after physicist and temperature scale
Kelvinator
Which company started by importing Japanese brand “Onitsuka Tiger"
Nike
Who is known as the “ Pope of Modern Advertising"
Photo: A photo of pregnant man having a caption “ Years of labour , yet to be delivered” . Identify the advertising company?
Satchi & Satchi . The campaign was run for the Labour party , during their election campaign
Hormuzd sorabjee , son of former solicitor general of India Mr Soli Sorabjee , is the founder of which auto magazine - Autocar
Access 125 , a scooter for Indian marker is lauched by whom - Suzuki
Camay soap is from which company - Procter & Gamble
Logo of a Former F1 Team - Miden
Kishore kumar had modeled for a product - Brylcream
Which book talks about “what the rich teach their kids about money , are not taught by the middle class and poor class to their kids” - Rich dad , Poor dad
name of which business legend name means , “ prosperous rice field “ in the local language - : Akio Morito
Lion Pencil had signed on which model years before she became a Miss World - Aiswaraya Rai
Which company ,which produced swords is was recently sold by Energizer holdings - Wilkinson
Audio : A song from Jab we Met . Identify the -- Astha Vianayaka Films
Old ad of Vicks . Identify the brand. The ad is very old one , some where in 1992 to 1996.
Old ad of pepsi.
Wild Card Questions:
Scoops shops is owned by which company - Ben & Jerry.
A B C is technology invented in by ….?What is the technology - Anti Braking System.
You music is onwed by ? Ans: Bose
Barcelona’s T-shirt sponsors - Unicef
What one should not know in this age …some analogy related with brand - Benson & Hedges
L & T cement is known today as - Ultra Tech cement.
In which airlines you would find a louge called “Maple leafs” - Canadian Airlines or Air Canada
Question: Gave the name founder of a concept - Kindergarden.
Screw it , do it ? whose words - Richard Branson
Gave the background for the formation of bank , whose founder won the noble prize for peace in 2006? Ans: Mohammed Yunnus , Grameen Bank
Which company employed a CHO (Chief Happiness officer) - Mc Donalds
Mirage 2000 is manufactured by which company? Dassault Aviation
Panasonic parent company: Matshushita.
Author of “ Future of India” - Bimal Jalan
Dick drew is founder which office equipment- Cellotape
Final:
Round I:Cross words
Key words are framed as questions:
1RC from Manchester United: Ans : Red Café.( This is one is for Audience)
Laurent & claument today known as : Ans: Skoda
Actimate are set of toys from : Ans: Microsoft.
TP is a trademark of excellence : Ans Tom peters ( In search of excellence)
Ovi is the intenet portal of which company: Ans : Nokia
WLS India : Ans : Wills stores .(a dull question )
World syndicate of comics: Ans: Garfield
National aviation company : Ans : Air India
Round II : Tata World.
Which tata group of companies is holding a stake in DCB (Developmental credit bank ) . - Tata Securities.
Serwizol , the BPO arm of TCS ,have recently changed their recruitment policy named “ “ , to suit the emerging requirements of what?
Ans: To recruit people who are differently abled , whose work will suit the BPO environment.
Loyalty programme of Taj - Inner Circle.
Jagao rae was campaign run by which tata company - Tata Tea
Round III : Domain Game : Area of choice.
Bruce Artwic sold which tool to Microsoft? Ans :Flight Simulators.
Cover page of “ Who will cry when you die” ? Ans: Robin Sharma
Advertisement having the lines “ Happy father’s day” - Durex.
Photos of Ajay Piramal
What technology was invented as Dynatech by Mr Martin Cooper - Mobile Phone.
Patent diagram of a inventions was shown . Identify - Microwave owen.
Round IV)
Connection round
a) “ Innovators by tradition” b) a song from Om shanty om c) photo of brand named “ e-touch” d)etc e) etc
Ans: Tissot . Connections : Innovators by tradition is the punchline of tissot and deepika padukone is the brand ambassador of Tissot and etouch is a brand from Tissot.
a) Day + Earth , b) photo of bailey brand and J&B.
Ans: Dia Geo. Connection : Dia means day and geo means earth in greek. Other photos are brand of Diageo.
“ Spirit of akron” , b) Founder of the brand c) a song signifying eagle - Goodyear. (Winged eagle , founder of the brand )
Photo of pele , brands of a shoe company - Puma
Round V)
B2B bomber was produced by whom ? Ans : Northmann Grummann
Connect a book of J K Rowling , Mahatma gandhi’s lette etc? Ans: Sotheby’s (Auction house)
Robert Zolleick heads , heads which organization?
Ok thats it..Hope you all will enjoy the rest of the edition of Tata Crucible and good luck to all participants.
p.S: The review is based on opinions collected from my friends who were present on that day. Many do observed few non-students participating on that day.
Please don't jump to conclusions and show fingers on any particular team or individual.
January 28, 2008
Honda Civic Hybrid ad
In September, as executives at RPA, the agency for the American Honda Motor Company, were completing a commercial for the Civic Hybrid, they got to know that Subway was using the same music theme from “The Odd Couple,”. RPA suggested Honda to move up the introductory date for the spot to late September from early October. It beat the Subway commercial onto television by about a week.
January 24, 2008
panvati bull
In December of 1989, Di Modica created a 7,000 bull in front the of New York Stock Exchange as a response to the rebound of the 1987 stock market crash.
The Indian version of Charging Bull was installed in early jan, and dubbed as “panvati bull” (panauti is the Hindi equivalent which means disaster).
But BSE was invaded by bears...BSE ended in Red in next 8 sessions and Protesters are complaining it had not been installed keeping in view the “vaastu” rules of a building and responsible for the recent fall.BSE guys, seems to called a Vastu Expert to suggest on the Bull position...after a close analysis the vastu expert suggested to change the direction to North West!!!
The Indian version of Charging Bull was installed in early jan, and dubbed as “panvati bull” (panauti is the Hindi equivalent which means disaster).
But BSE was invaded by bears...BSE ended in Red in next 8 sessions and Protesters are complaining it had not been installed keeping in view the “vaastu” rules of a building and responsible for the recent fall.BSE guys, seems to called a Vastu Expert to suggest on the Bull position...after a close analysis the vastu expert suggested to change the direction to North West!!!
January 19, 2008
Amul Advertisment
I came across this Amul hoarding today morning.Utterly butterlly hilarious and bang on!!
Amul ads are classic, topically and differ from bland outdoor/print advertisements. Its amazing to see such a consistent quality work for years(starting in 1966) from da Cunha.Click here to see more Amul ads
January 15, 2008
trivia
Brain branding is an interdisciplinary approach to improve understanding of how the mind perceives and processes brands.
Coke statistical department publishes fun facts about soft drink industry like how many times the world would be circled if coke bottles were lined up end to end.(why not how many ppl using coke as pesticide? point taken)
Billboards were first called a 24 sheet poster due to the fact that they were made of 24 sheets of normal poster size paper
Coke statistical department publishes fun facts about soft drink industry like how many times the world would be circled if coke bottles were lined up end to end.(why not how many ppl using coke as pesticide? point taken)
Billboards were first called a 24 sheet poster due to the fact that they were made of 24 sheets of normal poster size paper
e-Mimi-kun
Which company unveiled a new device that will allow people "speak" through their ear so they can use their mobile telephones in noisy places. The device -- named "e-Mimi-kun" (good ear boy) -- doubles as an earphone and a microphone by detecting air vibrations inside the ear
Answer here
Answer here
January 08, 2008
Worlds fattest nation
forbes: Nauru tops the list of Worlds Fattest countries with an estimated 94.5% of overweight population.
The WHO's definitions of "overweight" and "obese" are based on an individual's body mass index (BMI), which measures weight relative to height. Overweight is marked by a BMI greater than or equal to 25 and obese is defined as having a BMI greater than or equal to 30
The WHO's definitions of "overweight" and "obese" are based on an individual's body mass index (BMI), which measures weight relative to height. Overweight is marked by a BMI greater than or equal to 25 and obese is defined as having a BMI greater than or equal to 30
Xerox New logo
Xerox unveiled a new logo to scuttle its old image as a photocopier manufacturer and highlight its software, color printers and other technologically updated products. 2/3rds of Xerox's revenues in 2007 came from products introduced in the last two years.The new logo looks good but i guess it wont replace the photocopier/document company image of Xerox
source
January 05, 2008
salt
The word "salary" was derived from the Latin term "salarium" which was the name for a soldier's pay in the army of ancient Rome. The pay included a large ration of salt, which was a spice of high value and also a medium for exchange; thus the origin of such expressions as "salt of the earth" and "worth your salt
Mandatory iodization of salt, was first introduced by Switzerland in 1922
10% of salt produced worldwide is used in a unusual tak.Which task?
Answer in comments
Mandatory iodization of salt, was first introduced by Switzerland in 1922
10% of salt produced worldwide is used in a unusual tak.Which task?
Answer in comments
Braille
Louis Braille became blind at age 3 in a accident at his dad’s workshop. He meet , Charles Barbier, a former soldier in Napoleon Army at National School of blind, Paris. Barbier shared his invention called "night writing," a code of 12 raised dots invented for Napoleon; who wanted a secret code that could be used at night. It proved to be too complex for soldiers to learn and was rejected by the army
Louis trimmed Barbier's 12 dots into 6 and thus came in Braille language
BTW, Of the 37 million people across the globe who are blind, over 15 million are from India.
What’s worse is 75% of Indian cases are curable, India needs 40,000 optometrists, it has only 8,000, India needs 2.5 lakh donated eyes every year, but could not find enough donors, 30% of donated eyes could not be used, thx to pathetic infrastructure
153 million Indians don’t have access to reading glasses. Only 5% of 2 million blind children in India receive any kind of education.
What’s more pity is our attitude towards physically challenged
Louis trimmed Barbier's 12 dots into 6 and thus came in Braille language
BTW, Of the 37 million people across the globe who are blind, over 15 million are from India.
What’s worse is 75% of Indian cases are curable, India needs 40,000 optometrists, it has only 8,000, India needs 2.5 lakh donated eyes every year, but could not find enough donors, 30% of donated eyes could not be used, thx to pathetic infrastructure
153 million Indians don’t have access to reading glasses. Only 5% of 2 million blind children in India receive any kind of education.
What’s more pity is our attitude towards physically challenged
January 02, 2008
Shopdropping
January 01, 2008
Times Square New Year Party
The famous "Ball Lowering" in Times Square was started by Alfred Ochs,owner of The New York Times.
Alfred arranged a large illuminated seven-hundred-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower flagpole precisely at midnight to signal the end of 1907 and the beginning of 1908 in New York Times Square
It was inspired by a Ukrainian metal worker who reenacted a centuries-old seafaring tradition to lower gold-plated balls to tell time.
2008 year marks the 100th birthday of the New Year’s Eve Ball. This year, the motif is “Let There Be Light'' and features 10,000 computer-controlled lights, producing 6 million color combinations
The first "time-ball" was installed atop England's Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. his ball would drop at one o'clock every afternoon, allowing the captains of nearby ships to precisely set their chronometers
credits: timessquare, pics
Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year
Alfred arranged a large illuminated seven-hundred-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower flagpole precisely at midnight to signal the end of 1907 and the beginning of 1908 in New York Times Square
It was inspired by a Ukrainian metal worker who reenacted a centuries-old seafaring tradition to lower gold-plated balls to tell time.
2008 year marks the 100th birthday of the New Year’s Eve Ball. This year, the motif is “Let There Be Light'' and features 10,000 computer-controlled lights, producing 6 million color combinations
The first "time-ball" was installed atop England's Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. his ball would drop at one o'clock every afternoon, allowing the captains of nearby ships to precisely set their chronometers
credits: timessquare, pics
Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year
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