Category: Life & Times
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How to save money leveraging free technology
The good thing about technology is that a lot of it is free. Or, nearly free. Leveraging free technology can save you money. The Internet, Instant Messaging, Social Media, and the multitude of apps on the web are mostly free. As a consumer, I believe free is good, and leveraging free technology wherever possible, is…
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Do you take instructions from wearables and ignore advice from humans?
Midway through a keynote presentation at a recent seminar, the person sitting next to me suddenly stood up. The presenter was waxing eloquent on the trends and opportunities within the Internet of Things (IoT) space. The session was not meant to be interactive – no time was allocated for Q&A. “He needs a bio break,”…
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Creative Destruction – Make sure that you have a Plan B
As an economic theory, creative destruction has been around for over seventy-five years. But, its impact hit me during a recent visit to a tea plantation in Kerala, India. Trekking through a lush tea estate in the hills of Munnar, I noticed that there were fewer tea-pluckers than I remembered from a previous visit, nearly…
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Missed call – When hanging up on someone is a good thing!
“Sir, Give me a missed call when you are done,” said the Uber driver. I had just been dropped off in front of the Grand Chola Hotel in Chennai where I was meeting an old friend for lunch. The driver, whom I had arranged through a cousin, was clearly tech-savvy. He had initially suggested that…
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Lifestyle Marketing – When People Judge You Based On What They See…
I replaced my BMW X5 with a Toyota Prius. I had not heard of lifestyle marketing at that time. It was a couple of years ago. My lease was up and I was browsing for a replacement car when my daughter, the sane one in our family, quipped up. “Why do you want another gas…
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The Serial Podcast – Paving the Way for Narrative Media
In 2013, it was “House of Cards.” Then came “Orange is the new black.” And now, you have “Serial.” Except, “Serial” is not a TV serial on Netflix. For that matter, it is not a show on TV or cable network. It is a podcast – the “House of Cards” of podcasts. If you still…
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Banking on the Future – Uber’s $41 Billion Valuation!
At the end of the day, Uber is a taxi dispatching company. Sure they have a presence in nearly fifty countries and have a smartphone app that connects riders with drivers. Their ride sharing model has disrupted traditional taxi dispatching models and has attracted high-profile investors like Goldman Sachs, Benchmark Capital, and Jeff Bezos of…
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Food as a medium to connect on social media
Updated on July 24, 2022 The good thing about food is that everybody needs it. Whether you are a foodie or someone who treats food like fuel for your body, when you are hungry, you need to eat. Food as a social media topic has universal appeal and does not require specialized knowledge or skills…
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Of death and social media…
I got the call as I was watching Olivia Blatchford play Maria Toorpakai Wazir in the finals of the Manulife Investments WSA Tournament at Club Meadowvale. It was my wife. She broke the news as gently as she could – my mother had just passed away, in India! In a bit of a daze, I…
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Do you ever feel that technology is stalking you?
“Got a sec?” The pop-up window on the corner of my laptop asks me. I glance down from the document that I am working on which is due in thirty minutes. The “presence” feature on my Microsoft Lync client is set to “in a meeting,” which is meant to politely convey “do not disturb.” It…