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The secret deal between Amitabh and Rajnikanth (and TOI)

You promote my daughter-in-law and I will promote your son-in-law.

 Aishwarya can't act opposite the 3 leading khans of Bollywood (Salman - we know, Shahrukh - because he sided with Salman during the fight, Aamir - because of his height) and she has exhausted Akshay and Hrithik totally now - having worked with them multiple times. So Rajni gives Aish a fat paycheque for Robot.

Now Amitabh's turn. He tweets about Kolaveri and Times of India publishes it on the front page which sends Dhanush's stock soaring high and lands him a Bollywood contract.

When that first Hindi movie of Dhanush releases, Amitabh blogs again about the Energy of its young actors (which is a white lie BTW) and TOI publishes this news again on the front page.

So, the deal is clear.

Now, coming to the Energy  of the actors of Ranjhanaa - the movie Amitabh blogged about.
To be fair to Dhanush - it's his first Hindi movie - so we can't expect much from him. His dialogue delivery in Hindi was mostly flat - with no modulation to be heard at all most of the times.

Talking about Sonam Kapoor - she is headed the Esha Deol way - just biding her time until she gets married to a rich businessman. Not to mention her mouth full of saliva when she speaks.

Abhay Deol has been totally wasted in a useless role. Only actors worth speaking about in this movie are Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Swara Bhaskar.

And here is my prediction. Now whatever Dhanush does in the coming year - whether he sings a song or acts in a movie - Amitabh will tweet about it and TOI will publish it again on its front page.

Comparing Shell Super Fuel with HP Normal Fuel for my Honda Activa

Recently I conducted some emission tests on my Honda Activa(109 cc, DOP-April, 2011) for 2 different fuel types.

1. Shell Super (Address : No.145/2, Benniganahalli, Old Madras Road, Bangalore - 560038)
2. HP Regular (Address : Op To Lrde, Drdo Township, C V Raman Nagar, Bangalore - 560093) (It's a company operated pump - so the fuel quality is supposed to be good.)

Emission tests done at Shankar & Sons Petrol pump, next To Jeevan Bima Ngr Police Station, Jeevan Bima Ngr Main Rd, Jeevan Bima Nagar, Bangalore - 560075

Results :

Date	CO	HC	CO2	O2	Fuel Type
14/3/2013	0.341	233	9.32	7.48	HP Regular
6/4/2013	0.242	150	4.4	13.6	HP Regular
26/4/2013	0.373	134	5.02	13.36	HP Regular
30/4/2013	0.278	91	6.52	10.37	Shell Super
13/5/2013	0.129	20	1.19	19	Shell Super
6/6/2013	1	524	6.87	10.21	Shell Super

Notes :

1. I am not sure about the quality and accuracy of the emission testing equipment. I am just typing out the results given to me.

2. The third and the sixth tests were done on an almost empty tank while the others were done on an almost full tank. I guess there is a correlation between an empty tank and higher emission values.

3. It might be same as comparing the apples and oranges since I am comparing a premium fuel from Shell to a regular fuel from HP. No doubts about that.

4. Before I started the tests -  I was using Shell Super. So first test on HP is after the switch. Similarly the first test on Shell Super is after the switch.

5. In general my gut feeling is that Shell Super gives better pick up than HP Regular.

6. Some people said that it's harmful to use Shell Super on Honda Activa - but I asked the Honda Customer care and they said there is no such problem. Here is the conversation :

Hi, 
I use Shell Super Petrol for my Honda Activa(109 cc). 
But recently I was asked to use the regular petrol by my service mechanic. 

I would like to know if there is any disadvantage of using Shell Super Petrol for my Activa? 

Thanks, 

Response :
Dear Mr. , 

We thank you for visiting our website & sharing your concerns. 

You can use any fuel above octane number 91 (RON). Vehicle performance is not likely to be effected by changing the brand or changing between normal to premium petrol. 

Thanking you and assuring our best attention always.

Shyam Singh
Customer Relations
Ph: +91-124-2290911-19, 2290011 Ext. 368-372
Email :- customercare@honda2wheelersindia.com

File an RTI Online

Filing an RTI is easier now.

Government of India has launched a website for doing it online.

http://www.rtionline.gov.in

There are some other websites also which do the same :

http://youradhikar.com/ (free)

http://onlinerti.com/ (Rs. 75/-)

http://rtination.com (Rs. 150/-)

IITians to the fore - the latest kids on the Indian Political Scene

Indian politics is becoming tougher and more stressful by the day. And it's no surprise that 2 of the ex-IITians  are rising up to the challenge. While Manohar Parikar is taking up the tough questions on Modi's 2002 failure  , Arvind Kejriwal is slaying the demons in his own backyard in Delhi.

My gut feeling is that these two will assume much larger roles in the coming decade. I wouldn't mind Parikar joining AAP either - hence making it a formidable force while retaining its cleanliness.

Aamir Khan's Rajput Connection

Out of his 37 odd films as an adult - Aamir khan has played a Rajput 5 times and in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar - he was up against the Rajput College. Seems to be a strong connection.

Movies in which he played a Rajput :

1. Sarfarosh
2. Mann
3. Talaash
4. Parampara
5. QSQT

Can Aam Aadmi Party remain corruption free?

Much is being said about AAP - and to be honest I would vote for AAP whenever possible. But my doubts remain about whether it will be able to remain corruption free. From what I understand - there are some people who have some source of income and work part time for AAP. But no party can survive on part timers alone. So, there must be many volunteers who work full time for AAP.  How will those full timers make money? Or how are they making money now? If they have no means of earning money - how long will they be non corrupt?

Probability of Rajasthan Royals making it to the playoffs in IPL - 2013

If you are following the IPL, you must be aware that there is a very tight race to finish for the 3 playoff berths on the offing. While CSK are pretty much there-  RCB,RR,SRH and MI are slugging it out among themselves.

Now there are 8 matches remaining which involve one of the top 5 teams mentioned above. Assuming that all the matches have equal probability of being won by either team, here are each team's chances of making it to the last 4.

Here are the upcoming matches :

kkr+rcb
rr+csk
mi+srh
rcb+kxip
csk+dd
mi+rr
srh+rr
kxip+mi
rcb+csk
srh+kkr

Team	Sure Shot	No way	Stuck at NRR
CSK	96.2%	0%	3.8%
RR	79.7%	4.8%	15.5%
MI	79.7%	4.8%	15.5%
RCB	43%	22.7%	34.4%
SRH	42.2%	26.8%	31.1%

So, at the moment it looks like - it's SRH which is going to lose out.

Here is the php script to generate the above numbers.

Afghan boy molests Indian girl in India

How dare he?
Then again, it's India. He will go scot free.

‘Obsessed’ Afghan national held for molesting Nagaland girl

Mozilla and Viagra Turn 15 !

March 31, 1998 is the date that Mozilla was officially launched and Viagra was authorized for sale on March 27, 1998. Have they made a difference ;-)

Arvind Kejriwal's Disruptive Innovation

Here is an excerpt from the famous book The Innovator’s Dilemma by Professor Clayton Christensen. I couldn't help but notice the similarities with the current upheaval happening in the Indian Political Scene. I am reproducing the original here - annotated with my comments (in bold italics).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why do well-managed companies(well established parties) fail? He concludes that they often fail because the very management practices(votebank politics) that have allowed them to become industry leaders(big parties) also make it extremely difficult for them to develop the disruptive technologies(new approaches) that ultimately steal away their markets(voters).

Well-managed companies(parties) are excellent at developing the sustaining technologies(at sustaining their votebanks/corporate liasons) that improve the performance of their products(that help them retain their vote banks/corporate funds) in the ways that matter to their customers(customers). This is because their management practices(politics) are biased toward:

1. Listening to customers(votebanks/corporate sponsorships)

2. Investing aggressively in technologies(formulating policies) that give those customers what they say they want

3. Seeking higher margins(As Nitin Gadkari had famously quipped - chaar kaam hum unke karte hain, chaar kaam wo hamaare karte hain)

4. Targeting larger markets rather than smaller ones(targeting big industrialists/ highly polarized voter bases)

Disruptive technologies(revolutionary politics), however, are distinctly different from sustaining technologies(politics). Disruptive technologies change the value proposition in a market. When they first appear, they almost always offer lower performance(win lower seats/attract few members) in terms of the attributes that mainstream customers(voters/fundraisers) care about. But disruptive technologies have other attributes that a few fringe (generally new) customers(voters/industrialists) value. They are typically cheaper, smaller, simpler, and frequently more convenient to use(cleaner/mostly free of corruption). Therefore, they open new markets(they make voters out of non-voters). Further, because with experience and sufficient investment, the developers of disruptive technologies will always improve their products’(parties') performance, they eventually
are able to take over the older markets(existing mindsets). This is because they are able to deliver sufficient performance on the old attributes(foreign policy/Kashmir), and they add some new ones(anti corruption).

Principles of Disruptive Technology
1. Companies(Parties) Depend on Customers(Castes based voters) and Investors(Reliance/Tata etc) for Resources.

In order to survive, companies must provide customers and investors with the products,services, and profits that they require. The highest performing companies, therefore, have well developed systems for killing ideas that their customers don’t want. As a result, these companies find it very difficult to invest adequate resources in disruptive technologies—lower margin opportunities that their customers don’t want—until their customers want them. And by then, it is too late.

2. Small Markets Don’t Solve the Growth Needs of Large Companies
(Small Markets = Small votebanks such as urban middle class voters - who don't even vote)

To maintain their share prices and create internal opportunities for their employees, successful
companies need to grow. It isn’t necessary that they increase their growth rates, but they must
maintain them. And as they get larger, they need increasing amounts of new revenue just to
maintain the same growth rate. Therefore, it becomes progressively more difficult for them to
enter the newer, smaller markets that are destined to become the large markets of the future. To
maintain their growth rates, they must focus on large markets.

3. Markets(votebanks) That Don’t Exist Can’t Be Analyzed

Sound market research and good planning followed by execution according to plan are the
hallmarks of good management. But companies whose investment processes demand
quantification of market size and financial returns before they can enter a market get paralyzed
when faced with disruptive technologies because they demand data on markets that don’t yet
exist.

4. Technology(Corruption) Supply May Not Equal Market Demand

Although disruptive technologies can initially be used only in small markets, they eventually
become competitive in mainstream markets. This is because the pace of technological progress
often exceeds the rate of improvement that mainstream customers want or can absorb. As a
result, the products that are currently in the mainstream eventually will overshoot the
performance that mainstream markets demand, while the disruptive technologies that
underperform relative to customer expectations in the mainstream market today may become
directly competitive tomorrow. Once two or more products are offering adequate performance,
customers will find other criteria for choosing. These criteria tend to move toward reliability,
convenience, and price

There is a similar article here :

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/kejriwals-disruptive-innovation/article4218038.ece

Google Reader Alternatives

Much has been said about the death of Google Reader and its alternatives.
As of today I have come across 2 genuine options.

1. Self Host Tiny Tiny RSS Reader.
2. Blogtrottr.com

Couldn't really figure out the rest yet.

Here is good list on alternatives.