My Digital Thoughts

Flirting 101 with Rachel DeAlto: Relationship Expert Reiterates the 5 Essential yet Forgotten Flirting Rules

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:52:00 +0000

"Flirting is all about making someone smile - do it right and they'll come back for more!"

Here are her tips on flirting and how women should follow:

- IT'S ALL IN A SMILE: It's the oldest advice ever - smile! You have no idea how it even changes the way you talk!

- ENGAGED MUCH? At least pretend like you are listening. Everyone wants to feel like someone is paying attention to them.

- WOLFPACK WOES: Break away from the pack - most people feel intimidating approaching a group to talk to someone.

- HUMOR IS HOT!: Don't take yourself too seriously.

- THEIR BIGGEST FAN?: Leave his friends alone - if you start flirting with his wingman, he wont think you are into him (or worse)!

And when all of the above can't allow you to muster up the strength to be as present as you'd like…pick up Rachel's FlipMe!

FlipMe Revolutionizes "How to Date" Rules & the Online Dating Scene

Popular Flirting Tool Empowers Women to Channel their Inner Coquette & Make the First Move

HOW IT WORKS:

Give a prospective love interest a card with a sweet, sassy or sexy statement

Log into your profile to see if he has responded

Upon a response, connect and become intrigued with the new form of flirting

About FlipMe:

What FlipMe really is, is a philosophy. It’s here to say – let’s have fun again, and be confident. Get out there, meet people and make a connection! It’s breaking the ice made easy. You take charge of your dating life by giving your sassy, flirtatious side the perfect sidekick. FlipMe brings a casual confidence to meeting newpeople by offering a clever way to say “hi.” This stylish accessory is a simple and intriguing way to break the ice and let someone know you’re interested without divulging your personal details. When you purchase a pack, you get 30 cards, each with a unique code that lets the luck recipient view your profile and send you messages. No one gets access unless you give them a card, and no one gets to see your personal information. It’s a safe, secure way to put the fun back in flirting.

Remembering the Bystander Effect this Thanksgiving Day

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:09:00 +0000

The Bystander Effect " is a situation where "people refuse to intervene when a crime is being committed - also referred to as the as "Genovese syndrome. The Wikipedia page for the Bystander effect gives examples of incidents that have been affected by this effect. On the website of the Charter of human rights and freedoms says :

Every person must come to the aid of anyone whose life is in peril, either personally or calling for aid, by giving him the necessary and immediate physical assistance, unless it involves danger to himself or a third person, or he has another valid reason

My story stems from a recent trip to New York on the 2167 Acela Express. Across the aisle were a elderly couple. Since they were already on the train I think they got on the train in Boston. Before the train arrived at the Newark, NJ - Penn Station (NWK) the Amtrak conductor told them that thier station was approaching. As soon as the train stopped the husband went to get his bags and their age showed as he shuffled slowly towards the door. I was on my computer using Acela's wifi and noticed the lady was getting up very slowly towards the door. My brain was telling me that since the train stops for less than 2 minutes they were going to miss their stop. No one including me was getting up to help them. I sprang from my seat only when the husband cried out that the train door was closed. I gave him the emergency phone to call for help but we could not determine how to operate it. I ran towards the conductor who was in another compartment and by this time the train had just started moving. I am not sure about the Amtrak rules here but the conductor made a motion towards her walkie-talkie but changed her mind and said she will some by shortly.

This couple were over 80 years old and were pretty calm despite missing the stop. I asked them if they wanted to make a call and they did not have a phone. My phone did not have a signal but soon the conductor came along and kindly offered her phone to them to make a call. The train stopped at the next scheduled stop which is Philadelphia and the couple were now helped by me and a few other passengers and I hope they got the next train back. It was the lady's 80the birthday and they were traveling to New Jersey to attend a funeral.

My 2 takeaways here are :

When you see someone in trouble especially in a situation like this don't hesitate to help immediately. I could have done that as soon as I saw they were unable to get down by themselves and save them time and distress.
I have missed trains/ stops in my life and I don't think I took the situation in as calmly as these couple. I must remember to do that when faced with a unusual situation.

This situation is not for personal situations alone . In the Harvard Business Review article "What every leader needs to know about followers "- Barbara Kellerman (2007) says that bystanders who follow leaders trend to drag down the organization. Her definition of bystanders is people who observe but do not participate. I am definitely planning not be a bystander. how about you?

WANTED - SOCIAL MEDIA INTERN - PAID for a Non-profit

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:23:00 +0000

Know who is willing to work for non-profit wages on short-term project. - needed ASAP to help drive traffic to a fun-raiser for Ssubi Foundation, www.ssubihut.com- the brain child of Laura Luxemburg, supporting 1/2M Ugandans of Luweero by supplying meds, ed, farm, & jewelery center to become sustainable. We need a social media intern to drive attendance to "THE CIRCLE", a play written by actress, Tina Lifford, an amazingly powerful adventure of 7 women, ages 17-70. Think "Vagina Monologues" meets "Love Letters". For more information, contact Susan@bigbiteprod.com project website : ssubihut.com

Madhuri Dixit Moving back to India

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 19:45:00 +0000

Famous Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit who currently lives in Denver, CO is moving back to India. She tweeted the news out a few hours ago and her fans in India will be overjoyed ( unless of course her Twitter account got hacked;) Just speculating here) She is currently having a culinary fight with famous masterchef Sanjeev Kapoor on the "Amul Food Food Maha Challenge" on Foodfood channel. This makes sense since she is now participating a lot in movies and TV shows and the 8375 miles and about 20 to 25 hours travel tme is quite a commute.

I was in India July-Aug of this year and the economy there is booming, we also hear of a lot of entrepreneurs also moving back to India . In my mind the barriers to a good standard of life in India are traffic and corruption and mashuri has to worry about neither - I think. Good luck Madhuri! Here is a song that all of us sang to in India from the movie Tezaab in 1988 .

Opportunities during a Hurricane : My story

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:06:00 +0000

My first foray into online advertising was in 2003. Google had just introduced 'Adwords" and Hurricane Isabel was poised to strike. I got my Google Adwords account and seriously pondered what I would sell online. My only online marketing experience at that time was having Affiliate links to Barnes and Noble in 1999 and Amazon.
I did what every entrepreneur should do - be first to market and also take a risk. My first ad campaign had a budget of $75 and used the keywords " Hurricane", " Hurricane Isabel" to advertise for all things the book "The Magic School Bus Inside A Hurricane by Joanna Cole ". These were the early days of Adwords and online advertising and the only competition I had for my ad was another ad that advertised a Carribean beach resort .

Business wise this was a poor decision on my part. During a Hurricane people are looking for information on disasters and maybe a ad selling emergence supplies may be a good idea but an ad selling books ( no matter how good) was a bad idea.

Learning wise that was the best $75 I could have spent for some real world online advertising experience. I was hooked. Instead of giving up I began to teach myself SEO and online advertising. Working on weekends and often late at night I built a great small business "shapra llc" and became a nights and weekend entrepreneur. The arrival of my second son and later the advent of Social Media prevented me from focusing on this business and the rest is history.

[APPEAL] Postpartum psychosis & a salute to Heather Coleman

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Tom Jackman of State of NOVA Blog of the Washington Post posted an article today on my friend Heather Coleman. Heather tells her story of the affect of postpartum psychosis on her personally. Please read the article on Washington Post.com.

"Postpartum depression affects between 12 and 20 percent of new moms in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though some mothers’ support groups think the number is higher. The symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can be an indicator of mental illness."

Heather has told her story to " warn both new mothers and their families of the serious dangers of postpartum syndrome." and also needs your help :

a) Help DC Police let Officer Boone of Forestville connect with Heather Coleman ( Chief Lanier you must help)

b) Track down the Mr. James and Sister from Richmond with the phone number 240- 216-XXXX who helped heather.

Thank you all in advance for your help. Heather I salute you.

Visiting Tirumala atop 7 hills on pilgrimage

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:17:00 +0000

The Tirumala Venkateshwara temple is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. It is around 500 km (310 mi) from Hyderabad, India where my parents stay.

Legend has it that anyone visiting this temple will be cleansed of all their sins. Since my childhood we have visited this temple once every few years and the last time I had visited here was in 2007,

Learn about the temple at the website of the temple : http://www.tirumala.org/maintemple_about.htm
The Wikipedia page of the Tirumala Venkateshwara temple provides a interesting read.

Some points of interest from the wikipedia page:

Most visited temple with over 30-40 million visitors a year
Second richest pilgrimage center in the world ( just moved to 2nd place after the discovery of wealth at Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala)
Origins almost 300 BC

Due to the large volumes of pilgrims there is usually a wait to see the deity. I have spent on an average 3 to 5 hours each time I have visited to worship here. Another highlight of this visit was the trek to the top almost 11 kilometres with about 3550 steps that are steep at times. I am proud to say my 5 year old also trekked with me and I must confess he and my daughter beat me in both speed and agility while climbing.

Here are a few pictures from the scenes during the climb and feel free to ask me any questions on this temple and the pilgrimage.

One day I hope to teach here

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Tools of knowledge

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 11:33:00 +0000

Proud to be reading the @Wired great magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sat, 28 May 2011 13:00:00 +0000

My Bluejay

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:40:00 +0000

come and get yours at the Network Solutions booth #bweny

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Thu, 26 May 2011 03:49:00 +0000

My planetarium

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Mon, 23 May 2011 23:51:00 +0000

Stark and unexpected lesson in personal safety

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:21:00 +0000

Today was a very eventful day- It began with a visit to the White House and ended with a realization that your world is controlled sometimes by forces that you have no control over.

I am a regular listener to WTOP ( other than when I am listening to Jack Diamond on Mix 107.3) and hear the every day headlines like "Fairfax woman wakes to man's hands around her neck" or Dog shot after attacking school children on bus, and usually being human beings we always assume it is happening to someone else.

We had some friends over and were our usual selves joking chatting and generally making a lot of noise and then we decided to move from the Family room to the dining room. We heard the door sensor beep and that was unusual as everyone was right there. Looking into the family room we saw the deck door was slightly open and a stranger was standing there.He said his wife was beating him and he was running away from her. My first reaction was how did he get to the deck which has no staircase and is quite high from the ground. my first reaction was to get him out of the house and so I heard him say things like " my daughter goes to school with your son " I told him that I wanted him out of the house immediately. it helped that the house was crowded and he was outnumbered and he left through the front door. We called 911 and we did not see which direction this person went. As soon I mentioned intruder to the 911 operator she immediately asked me for details and description and said the Police were looking for a person of interest . Within a few minutes the detectives arrived along with a sniffer dog.

At the time of writing the police appear to know who they are looking for as he allegedly fled from a accident scene and he has not been caught yet. I think he scaled the walls to climb the deck and was running away from the sniffer dogs chasing him. When it started raining he may have tried the deck door and open it.

We are lucky we had invested in a Security system that let us know when the door was opened alerting us. You can never be too prepared.

fireworks at epcot #mashcon

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sat, 14 May 2011 01:08:00 +0000

Danny Dover Search Engine Optimization Secrets

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:17:00 +0000

on my reading list

Really ! 800 yards from the Pakistani Military Academy - Osama Bin Laden's last hideout

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:51:00 +0000

In an article on NDTV on the Osama Bin Laden's death there are two things that headlined my attention

Osama was just 800 yards from the Pakistan Military Academy

Bin Laden's killing at a compound near a city that is home to the military academy, a brigade and thousands of army personnel could prove to be an embarrassment to the Pakistani military

Having grown up in India I am quite surprised that he could live in a house in what seems to be a close knit community ( I am going by pictures on TV) and Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/XhY7 without detection for so long. Granted we do not know yet how long he was living here, granted press reports say the house was built not more than 6 years ago. Maybe he had several of such houses built ( reportedly costing 1M). This did not look like a mansion and the surrounding houses seem typically for any South Asian town.

In NDTV the Pakistan Ambassador to the UK Wajid Shamshul Hasan said that he thinks that the Pakistan knew about Osama's whereabouts in Pakistan only about a week to 10 days.

Interesting to see reaction from India that this death of Osama so close to the Pakistan Army base vindicates India's assertion that Pakistan has been a haven for terrorists.
Congrats to the US teams that worked over 4 years to track this very carefully and patiently and kept it from leaking.

A 6 ft four man with all his medical needs in a small town ( where people talk) went unspotted ? Come on !

Update :

It seems that the fact that the house did not have any phone or internet and also the residents burned their own trash aroused suspicion.
As the Economist said The long and bloody decade that began on September 11th 2001 is not quite over. But it may at last be drawing to an end.

I love libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sun, 01 May 2011 20:54:00 +0000

View from my room in Hotel 71 #sobcon Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:56:00 +0000

NOVA commuters - Watch the Dulles underground station debate very closely

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:06:00 +0000

If you are a regular commuter on the Dulles Toll Road and Route 267 to Leesburg you should be paying attention to the debate underground or overground. The budget debate affects you even if you are probably not going to the airport by metro.

To Build the station underground or not, is a $300 Million question
The Virginia transportation secretary said tolls would increase as a result of the decision, and the state would not tolerate it.

Reason for building underground and incurring these costs:

"Better for baggage-laden travelers, who will not have to trek 1,150 feet to an aboveground station to stand in steamy Washington summers or icy winter winds (http://goo.gl/1WrPA)"
"Preserves the architectural vision of the masterful Eero Saarinen that has made Dulles a design icon worldwide"
People will not use the metro ( 5000 riders a day)

The alternative is an aerial station in front of Parking Garage 1 across from the Main Terminal.

When i drive to the Washington Dulles Airport my favorite parking spot is Garage 1. I do not wait for the bus but use the already existing underground tunnel to get to the terminal. I think the difference is about 2 minutes between having the station underground or overground.

Takeaway :

As a user of the Dulles Toll Road and a frequent user of the Dulles Airport my vote is for saving $300 Million and building the station overground ( see National and BWI) for examples. When I leave for India ( I visit frequently ) we have enough baggage that would prevent us from taking the metro anyway so we won’t be affected whether the station is underground or overground.

Since to get to the silverline I have to go into DC and then change to the orange line which increases the time by over 1 hour. The silverline will be a boon for light luggage travelers from DC and other stations along the orange line and I doubth they would change their mind if the station was overground.

In other news if you want to go from Gaithersburg ( Montgomery County) to BWI Airport ( or BWI airport to Gaithersburg) for $5 check this new ICC bus route http://www.mtaiccbus.com/route201.html#mapsa

Image Courtesy : http://www.mwaa.com/3785.htm

Wise Words Bacon on Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:37:00 +0000

Live from Times Square NY

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:04:00 +0000

Arriving May 3rd GT Express . Send Bullock cart

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:42:00 +0000

The title of this post is paraphrased from real telegrams that my family used to send when we made our annual vacation visits to my parent's place of birth in a rural village in the suthern state of India Andhra Pradesh. Every year till we went to high school we would make the journey from which ever city we lived in at that time to these adorable villages using autorickshaws, taxis, trains, buses culminating in a bullock cart ride for about 10 kms.

There are several points to this post other than nostalgia

a) Communications :it was not very long ago that radio(not the car radio) was an important tool for news worldwide. Compare that to today half (47%) of all U.S. adults get at least some local news

and information on their phone or tablet.

I have used telegrams into the late 80's in India. This website i found through a Google search tells you telegrams can still be sent

Till I came to the US 12 years ago i was a avid letter writer. Some days i wish I had continued the habit ( the USPS will certainly be happy)

During our vacations we would also send an advanced letter to my grandfather to expect us during a certain month. This letter would travel the same route we did using almost the same modes of transport till it reached a bus stop 10 kms away (Begampeta village) their the parttime postman who was also the village Dhobi (village level small business doing laundry)picked up the sealed mail bag and walked the 10 miles to deliver the mail to the village. In the later years the postman got a bicycle.

During these visits as a kid I would remember the year when the village got electricity. My grandfather had a radio before electricity powered by a 9v eveready battery.Today if Twitter has a fail whale my adrenalin starts flowing.

2) Transport. I am really lucky . How many of you can say that you have learnt the art of driving a Bullock cart specially when you were less than 10 years old. I did and its a amazing experience. Happiness i guess is very relative, you are either satisfied that you are doing reasonably very well or be unhappy that the joneses have something you don't have.

The memories of getting on the GT Express train traveling across India and experiencing the innovative vendors on the train and on stations en route selling food, news papers, tea or coffee, sweets. Snake charmers, parrots that tell your fortune all of these were exciting for us and I do not think I ever thought I wish I was on a plane ( BTw as I write this I am on a plane with wifi) We would get off the usually 24 hour train ride and get on a bus. Did you know the way to reserve a seat was to run as the bus pulled in and throw a piece of your belonging through the window of a running bus to stake a claim . Fights over seats were not uncommon. We looked forward eagerly to the bullock cart ride. The people carrying bullock cart is different from the picture above. it would have a thatched roof and hay on the floor and a blanket thrown on top . The hay was to cushion your bottom. There were no roads only bullock cart tracks. Traveling in this fashion rattled every but of your body which no other form of transport has done for me again.

Today I drive a Toyota Camry Hybrid on the Dulles Toll Road. Buses now go several times a day to our ancestral village and cell phones are the predominant way to communicate.

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at the #sxsw blogger booth

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:22:00 +0000

1.2 M Tweets during Oscar night says @tweetreach

noreply@blogger.com (Shashi Bellamkonda) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:24:00 +0000

The Tweetreach blog has a interesting post on tweets during the Oscar Awards night with a nice infographic

We tracked more than a million tweets during this year’s Oscars telecast (along with partner Mass Relevance). So what did Twitter think of the show? Here’s our analysis of key moments and tweets from the show.

Amplify’d from blog.tweetreach.com

Twitter got pretty excited when:

Melissa Leo dropped the f-bomb during her Best Supporting Actress speech

Toy Story 3 won Best Animated Feature

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won Best Original Score for The Social Network

The cast of Harry Potter, Twilight and other films were autotuned

Oprah announced the Best Documentary Feature award (and when Banksy didn’t win for Exit Through the Gift Shop)

Natalie Portman won the Best Actress Oscar

The King’s Speech won for Best Picture

Other spikes were when:

Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake presented the animated awards

James Franco dressed as Marilyn Monroe

Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor

Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi’s performed the Oscar-nominated song from Tangled

Colin Firth won the Best Actor Oscar

PS22 sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Read more at blog.tweetreach.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bs7b4