Cyclic ?

Off late I've been rediscovering old interests, of which, ones like last.fm, I never knew I missed so much until I rediscovered it for good. It is interesting how certain things stick on after one cycle. Like fashion, you know, people always say that it is cyclic in nature - that trends and fads change, but then after a whole cycle, one day a random guy decides to dress a little retro and BOOM you have it doing the rounds again. 

So it may be worth trying that old hobby of yours' again; the one that probably didn't get you hooked onto for more than couple of days last time around !

Most of my hobbies have been that way too, pretty cyclic in nature, I get really involved in something for few months and then slowly that interest starts to wane off. Then somewhere down the lane, one day I get some new ideas to revive it up and am all excited once again !

Have you ever felt this way ?

Peace,

$ur

Food Blog

I'm not sure whether I linked you guys to my food blog which I started like a few months back on tumblr. 

Yea, tumblr blog designs and layout seemed so much better for a change and so I went for it when I was planning to put all my food-spotting into one place.

But yea, the cons of it is that it isn't as easy to find and follow a tumblr blog unlike the blogger. But anyhow, I thought I'd help myself a little and also you guys, if you haven't found your way to it yet.

Here - http://theinsanefoodie.tumblr.com/

Been a little lazy lately in updating the blog after the first little spurt of enthusiasm. But I promise there is a lot that's going to turn up there in the weeks to come.

So stay tuned and be well.

Peace,

$ur

Misleading Docomo Recharge

Hola,

Finally something has given me the impetus to post here and reach out to the masses with an important discovery. 

Some of you who are Tata Docomo customers might have seen the new SmartLife plan ad that loads on the Online Recharge page - http://www.tatadocomo.com/online-recharge.aspx

Well, like every other Indian perhaps who loves bargains, this seemed like a wonderful mobile recharge plan to me. What this plan essentially gives you, is a Rs. 219 talk time on a Rs. 246 recharge. But this isn't the good part. Within 48hrs of doing this recharge, if one recharges for Rs. 4, he/she gets 1GB of 3G Internet Data with a validity of 30 days !! Yeah, awesome right ?

Yeah, but here is the catch. You will not be able to do the Rs. 4 recharge !! :D read - screwed !!

But I was definitely not gonna let it go that easy. I figured it's just a matter of time before I'll be able to do this recharge, because all that kept showing up when I tried to do this Rs. 4 recharge was that it's not applicable to my number.

So after waiting for a day, I called up the customer care. But again, I couldn't find a way to reach the Customer Care Assistant. The menu just didn't feature that option !

By this time I was starting to get really pissed. I got online to check if I could find a way around this hitch. That's when, hidden way inside somewhere in the website, I found that there is a hot line number to get to the Customer Care Assistant - Dial 9 after you call 121 (Customer Care) !

So then I managed to talk to the Customer Service lady. As usual, she was courteous and asked me what she could help me with. So I related the whole episode of the SmartLife recharge. At first she tried to convince me that the Rs. 4 recharge had to be done immediately after the Rs. 246 recharge. To which, I countered saying that's not what it says on the site. Finally she agreed to check it for me. And then came the stunner of the information which I was looking for all along !!!

One has to dial the MAGIC CODE to do the Rs. 4 recharge which is, WAIT FOR IT  ----- *141*15# 

Well, my first reaction was to ask her who the hell knew of such a thing. Then I realized she is just another poor pawn in the corporate conglomerates' little game of saving some money ! So I decided against shouting at her, thanked her for this information and ended the call.

And the minute I pressed the MAGIC CODE, Kaboom ! It all worked. Now I have the 1 GB of data for the next 30 days and the problem is solved.

But one wonders, how much a customer has to take care in order not be swindled by corporations ! Looking at the bright side of things, it reassures you that you still have to be smart to survive in this era (and not iBitches :D) even though technology is making things easier everyday (so even an iBitch can survive) ! ;)

Peace \m/

$ur

Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

I've been putting off writing a review on Coldplay's latest album - Mylo Xyloto, up until now. Well, partly I was waiting to get my hands on the entire album and previously since I had heard only a couple of the songs, which themselves were bliss to the ears, I had a feeling that justice could be done only after hearing to the entire album.

Synopsis: The whole experience is surreal and exhilarating. Coldplay has included more electronic effects into the songs than ever before and the result is just beautiful. Close your eyes as you hear and it just plays on your mind letting it wander into an expanse of creativity and endless illusional possibilities ;) The beats and vibrations are very positive and uplifting. The feel good factor has always been a thing of Coldplay's songs and this time around, the inclusion of new experimental electronic sounds have added to the beauty of the tracks. It is a very matured Coldplay album with the band really coming of age here. I could really go on and on about how mesmerizing the music is, but I urge you to get the album asap and switch off your minds and let Mylo Xyloto take you on a wonderful and peaceful journey !

Make sure you hear them on high quality headphones/ speakers to catch all the sounds in their right loudness levels.

Genre/Ambience: Easy Listening, Electronic/Soft Rock. A definite on the playlist after a stressful and busy day.

Best Tracks: Paradise, Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall, Hurts Like Heaven, Charlie Brown (Just for the record, I do vouch for the entire album!!)

You will also like: U2, R.E.M

Rating: 8.5/10

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

Blogger Updates

Sad to have learned the news of the passing of Mr. Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. visionary. Anyhow, this post is not on that. There are already billions pouring their heart out on Facebook and though I feel a bit sad too at the loss of one of the world's greatest innovators, I'm not dedicating anymore time on what has happened !

So living in the present and moving on with life, when I learned of the new Dynamic Views feature on Blogger, I was once again excited to spread the novel updates on the web ! Dynamic view templates will definitely drive in more traffic into blog for one thing. It will also make the random stumbler on your blog click on more posts of yours and perhaps discover more interesting stuff on them!

I think this is one of the best things to have happened to blogger lately and I'm just loving it. Whats more pleasing is the fact that, the readers can themselves select the dynamic view in which they wanna see your posts and that customization is again very thoughtful on the part of Blogger.

So for those of you who've probably lost your interest in blogging because of the lack of reader outreach in spite writing fantastic blog posts, this is one way you can revamp your blog and make your mark once again on the web ;)

If you received this post via your email, do check out my blog page to see what I'm drooling about ;)

Inner Peace \m/

$ur