December 25, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
When the death of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is making news everywhere, I stumbled upon this video which documents David Pluth’s travels through North Korea. The video gives a rare glimpse into this secretive, cut-off nation. The differences between North and South Korea also become apparent.
Category Travel | Tags: Korea | No Comments
December 25, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
In what looks like a clever strategy but a bad deal for customers Good Knight Advanced Active liquidator refills cannot be used on other liquidator machines while other liquidator refills do not fit the Good Knight Advanced Active machine. So better not buy a Good Knight Advanced Active machine or refill as you will have to go buy only their product to continue using it.
Ideally there should have been a standard for all refills so that customers cannot be taken for a ride, they should mention that this is a unique kind of machine and refill which are incompatible with others. The mosquito/insect repellent industry in India is huge with millions of households using such devices, we need to put the needs of the consumers first.
Category Just saying | Tags: | No Comments
December 25, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
Came across this interesting social enterprise that will produce and sell cycles made out of Bamboo in Ghana : http://www.bamboobike.org/ . The project is a brainchild of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Category Social Entrepreneurship | Tags: Africa | No Comments
December 25, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
If you are an admirer of street art like me then you’ll definitely like this site - http://www.streetartutopia.com/ . It has a collection of really cool street art images from around the world. One of my favourite posts is 106 of the most beloved street photos of 2011.
Image Courtesy: Street Art Utopia
Category Just saying | Tags: | No Comments
December 25, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
In our hectic lives how many of us use the safely remove USB or hardware option while removing hardware connected to computers? I definitely don’t use that option ….
Category Just saying | Tags: Quote | No Comments
December 24, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
“Watch Out Yammer And Jive, Google Is About To Enter The Social Enterprise Space” reads the title of this post on Techcrunch. For those of us who have worked in or are aware of the social entrepreneurship space, a social enterprise means a venture which is trying to solve a social issue through its business ( this definition itself can wary depending on who you talk to ) . The Techcrunch post and many others including some company websites refer the business, enterprise use of social media or social networking as a social enterprise.
A person in the development or citizen sector would see the title “Google to Enter the Social Enterprise Space” very differently. I hope dictionaries lead the way in clearing such confusion so that all of us know what we are talking about, if not we will be left to make that decision on our own, depending on the context.
Category Social Entrepreneurship, Social Media | Tags: | No Comments
December 24, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
Facebook dominated the top 10 search term lists once again in 2011 with 4 of the top 10 search terms related to Facebook according to Experian Hitwise report. Facebook, Facebook login, Facebook.com and www.Facebook.com are the 4 Facebook related search terms in the top 10 in decreasing order. Facebook remained the most visited website accounting for 8.93% of all US traffic. One interesting trend is the disappearance of MySpace from the top search keywords comparing 2010 and 2011.
Category Social Media, Technology | Tags: Facebook | No Comments
December 24, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
I am flying to Hong Kong on the 29th and I did some research on the airfare between Bangalore and Hong Kong. When I booked my flight the cheapest direct connection was Dragon Air which is part of Cathay Pacific. This is a direct flight with no stopovers. There was also the option was taking Kingfisher to Mumbai and then fly to Hong Kong which was cheaper than the direct Dragon Air flight but given the uncertainty about Kingfisher schedules now and the long stopover resulting in a longer journey time made me go with Dragon Air. There is also an offer for people who fly with Dragon Air to avail discounts at various Hong Kong sightseeing and commercial establishments through a promotional offer.
Category Travel | Tags: Bangalore,Hong Kong | No Comments
December 24, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
You know you live in a connected global village when you see Chinese students studying information technology in India order food in English in a Tibetan restaurant with a huge portrait of the Dalai Lama hanging on the wall. All this in a residential suburb of Bangalore. This also reminds me of the cultural similarities India and China have. Buddhism, food and philosophy among many other things connect us.
More from China when I visit Guangzhou (not finalized) next week.
Category Just saying | Tags: China,India | No Comments
December 24, 2011 by Vallabh Rao
In what can only be seen as a case of “shooting the messenger” syndrome, a Delhi court has summoned social networking and internet companies like Google, Facebook , Microsoft, Yahoo and Youtube according to this report.
This comes a few days after the IT minister of the largest democracy in the world, Kapil Sibal called internet companies to discuss “pre screening ” of objectionable content.
Holding the platforms responsible for objectionable content is preposterous . Either these people who propose such things are not in sync with technology or they want to muzzle a medium which has enabled millions to voice their opinion.
Category Just saying, Social Media | Tags: Facebook,Google,Politics-Governance | No Comments