I like what they have done with the website. I think the information is useful and accurate. So anyone (new to India) who is considering travelling to the subcontinent, visit this website. I hope you enjoy your stay in my Incredible India!
I love to browse decorators' galleries for design inspirations. I have a collection of exotic ideas that I hope to use as inspiration to decorate my own home someday. Every space is a challenge in itself, but looking out for these ideas channel your creativity, don’t you think?
I don’t have any favorite designers, nor do I pay tribute to the elite work of expensive decorators. I usually make stops at Elle Décor (Metropolitan Home), Nate Berkus, Interior Design, HGTV, Decor & Style, Bravo's Top Design, and others. Recently, I stumbled upon Roxxn.com. The website is a compilation of interior design/décor ideas and hosts a collection of images from various sources. The reason I find it worth mentioning is because its archives are very vast and inspiring. With most other websites, you can view only the recent articles/images. But Roxxn.com has archived over 1000 (approx.) images. I thought I would share the link with my fellow enthusiasts. Make a stop if you need to add zing to your style.
The aroma of freshly roasted, freshly ground, brewing coffee is unbeatable. If you’ve woken up to the smell of brewing coffee, you know the feeling! If you’ve walked past a Starbucks on a cold day, smelt the coffee filled air and felt the urge to step in, you know the feeling! If you’ve starred aimlessly at your desktop all morning at work until the courteous coffee guy brewed a fresh pot of coffee, you know the feeling! If you've watched the continuous rain drops outside your bedroom window and felt nostalgic while holding that warm cup of coffee, you know the feeling! And if you've thought of the prospect of all your dreams coming true, while watching the steam from your coffee filter fog the air, you know the feeling!
The lingering aroma does so much, it intoxicates – excites – awakens – jolts – energizes – de-stresses. (Just FYI: there is a scientific study that states that the smell of coffee helps sleep deprived animals feel awake and alert.) The smell of brewed coffee that engulfs the air outside the coffee shop is an inexpensive marketing gimmick. 1 out of 5 people are attracted to the smell and feel the impulse to grab a coffee on-the-go just from the passerby smell. I’m 1 of those 5 people for sure!
As The Cranberries rightly said, “Wake up and smell the coffee!”
I’ve seen many comedy acts, many live, some pre-recorded and others on YouTube. Almost always, the comedians throw in a racist joke, if not a whole segment dedicated to ethnic accents and taboo deeds of different cultures. To make my point, Chris Rock always makes fun of white people; Russell Peters always does the Asian accents and makes sexist comments; Anjelah Johnson is known for her Asian nail salon piece; and other guys like Larry the cable guy, Dane cook...
Now these guys are hilarious, I love them… I laugh and cry till my stomach hurts. Their chosen subject is often ‘racism’ but somehow I don’t seem to mind as much as I do when the comedy club itself is racist.
The other day, my friends and I visited a local comedy club on Friday night. We entered after the act had begun, but we were respectful and quiet. It was a mixed crowd of college students and older folks, and the comedian himself was OK, dry humor I would say. Every time the crowd broke into laughter, we did too. But every now and then we found something funny which was not in synchronization with the rest of the crowd. What do you do then? You laugh, cause its funny and you are there to amuse yourself! And every other table showed their own insensitive expression at different times. But our waiter was being a pain in the neck. He stood behind us and shooshed us continuously… until we were annoyed and decided to leave.
We got outside the show area and decided to speak to the manager about it. Of course we were being singled out… what right does the waiter have to ask us to not laugh in a comedy club?
(I am not mentioning the venue here, cause I don’t want to give the racist comedy club any more publicity – even if it’s bad. But I will say that in the following days, I made some angry calls to the club and voiced my opinion. I wrote some honest reviews on their website too. They eventually apologized. But I thought that it was an interesting paradox to write about.)
So yes, as unfortunate as it is, comedians can be racist, because they joke about stereotypical groups of people. But the comedy club that lets them perform should NOT.
You could –--
Scream “OMG! WHY Why why y?”
Ignore her friend request
Grant her limited access with special ‘mom’ privacy settings
Grant her full access but warn her of possible scandalous photos/comments/posts
Have a discussion about what’s OK and what’s off limits
Tell her to use Facebook to stay in touch with her friends, NOT to stalk you
Tell her not to friend all your friends (that is creepy!)
Explain the Facebook generation gap – the information you exchange with your friends is special to you because you share that experience with them
Tell her it does not replace the traditional phone calls meant for catching up
Make a family album and tag her
Lastly, don’t be rude to your mom (whichever option you choose, try to understand her excitement/sentiment)
Traditional business cards are going to be a thing of the past. No one wants to keep piles of accumulated business cards about local businesses or estranged friends. Not only is it a waste of shelf space, but it’s also hard to sort them out or use the search function to find that friend of a friend.
E-business cards come in all sorts of varieties these days. They play music, link directly to your website and services, and even market themselves. Businesses have an array of templates and technologies to choose from. But I am talking about electronic business cards for you and me. Options include SMSing your contact information, twittering your information, emailing it (then and there) from your smart phone, or sending a linkedin invite. I liked this website called mydropcard.com which allows you to send contact information to someone by texting their email address to a particular number. The website instantly sends your information to that person and makes a log in their address book. Obviously, we have many options to keep in touch these days rather than exchange that piece of paper that may get left behind at the corner table once your discussion is over.
Think of the benefits – all contact information can be retrieved at a later time, people can link to your website or blog right from your e-business card, they can map your business location instantly, and address books will automatically pick up all this information!
I’m not saying that traditional business cards will seize to exist. But eventually, 10 years from now, do you really think one would care to carry around those cards in their wallets? Well, for those who still want to invest in hard copy business cards – be creative and eco-friendly. Use business cards made from recycled cereal boxes, photo business cards, differently shaped cards, anything that will bring you the attention you deserve! Look at some interesting ideas here.
The question is would you print yourself 500 new business cards or resort to technology to distribute your contact information?
The wave of Web 2.0 is slowly shrinking. Web 2.0 is the internet revolution that lets users publish and share content. Social networking, bookmarks, blogs, and wikis – every person and corporate is raving about its importance and impact on our lives. While most people are still coming to terms with Web 2.0, the talk of Web 3.0 has exploded over the web.
Corporates are still stuck with Intranet 2.0. I recently interviewed with a company that was reinventing its corporate intranet strategy to integrate social media to allow employees to create and share content. “But the world has jumped ahead,” I tried to explain to the interviewer. (Needless to say, he seemed annoyed with my suggestion.)We have come to the point where we tag and push content to appropriate users, create roll-based virtual collaboration, and promote the Web 3.0 culture and excitement. It’s about blending personalization, social networking, social media, and that ‘wow’ factor.
Web 3.0 is about rich and relevant user experiences on the web (think unique internet identities, customized web services, and everything at your finger tips). Information will be pushed to you instead of you having to search (pull) it.
Imagine the possibilities when Web 3.0 combines with mobile internet devices such as the iPhone, Google Phone and BlackBerry. Google’s ‘My Location’ lets users locate friends using its mobile mapping service. In time, your phone will locate your friends, suggest a convenient place to hang out based on your friend’s location, give you driving directions to get there, and order your favorite food and drink! Now that’s a smart phone for you!
The concepts of targeted advertising, loyalty programs, and need-based selling have already taken off – combine that with Web 3.0, PDAs and RFIDs – the shopping experience as we know it will cease to exist. Personal shopping assistants will comb the web and make price comparisons and order you the best deal. You won’t need to get involved except for setting the boundaries and telling the phone what you need.
I could go on about the possibilities of Web 3.0… but I don’t want to seem overly enthusiastic about something that could compromise our identity and privacy. Ultimately, we need to use Web 3.0 cautiously and remind ourselves that information on the web is for everyone to see.
The idea of this post came from the picture alongside. This picture is a year old, from my trip to Russia as part of an International Finance study/report that I was involved in.
“CHEERS” is a sign of goodwill, camaraderie, and a toast to good health. I’ve also read somewhere that it’s a matter of etiquette and a sign of trust in some cultures.
Australia – CHEERIO (aka Cheers!)
Finland – KIPPIS (a
ka Cheers!)
Denmark, Iceland – SKAAL (aka Cheers!)
Ireland, Scotland - SLAINTE (meaning to health)
Italy – SALUTE (aka Cheers!)
Brazil, Portugal – SAUDE (meaning to health)
Spain, Mexico – SALUD (meaning to health)
Germany, Netherlands – PROST (meaning beer)
China – NEIN NEIN NU E. KONG CHIEN
Indonesia – PRO (aka Cheers!)
Japan – KAMPAI (aka Cheers!)
Russia – ZA ZDOROVIA (meaning drink to health)
Drunkards – BOTTOMS UP (meaning chug/drink up so we can fall on our faces!)
Word of Advice: If yelled repeatedly under the influence of alcohol, you will EMBARASS yourself (instead of charming the attractive person across the bar)!
Translations from: http://www.awa.dk/glosary/slainte.htm
