As I tread the Globe....

Getting lucky on Jet Airways...stupid SkyMart con

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:53:00 +0000

"Nothing is free...", they say, and probably right.

While recently travelling on Jet Airways to Mumbai, air hostess handed over a booklet of "made in china" items, marketed by a brand called SkyMart.

I wondered who buys such stuff that too on a flight. (Though once I had seen a guy enthusiastically buying a perl necklace in-flight (facepalm))

A little scratchcard inside caught my attention. I was never lucky with such coupons but gave it a shot. Guess what!!!! I won something!!!

Wow, never happened. "Whats the catch?", I asked myself, "Well, that can't be so easy. Something is wrong!".

It is indeed. You need to pay "nominal" charge to claim your gift....and the cheap prizes seems cost less than the so called nominal charge itself.

Airtel Irritation - example of how morons run Airtel mobile support - Round II

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:30:00 +0000

Continued from ...

Here is their mail support

Re: MO - 9860440606 : INCORRECT BILLING [BALQrc108041313043715553585]
121@in.airtel.com <121 in.airtel.com=""> Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 6:37 PM

To: kiran@k...g.com

Namaste Kiran Ghag,

You wrote in on 08-04-2013 with a concern regarding activation of Subscription Service without your consent on your airtel mobile 9860440606.

We completely comprehend your viewpoint and sincerely apologize for any difficulty caused to you by our Customer service department.

We take pride in enhancing our customers with our responsive and friendly approach. It has always been our constant endeavor to ensure, that our customers are delighted by our inimitable approach.

We would like to confirm you that, ASK A DOCTOR service has already been deactivated on 13-02-2013 and currently no Value Added Serviceis active on your airtel mobile 9860440606.

You can also text STOP to 121 or 155233(toll free) and follow instructions to stop the Value Added Services.

We would also like to confirm that a waiver of Rs. 11.23/- including tax towards Value Added Service has already been posted in your account on 21-03-2013. The credit amount for the same will be reflecting in your forthcoming invoice dated 12-04-2013.

airtel appreciates your business and always welcomes your suggestions/feedback.

Yours Sincerely,
Apsar Ahamad
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited

---------Original Message---------
From: kiran@k...g.com
To: 121@in.airtel.com

Cc:

Sent: 08/04/2013 01:04:42 PM

Subject: Re: MO - 9860440606 : INCORRECT BILLING [BALQrc108041311045915550122]

If service was disabled as per your mail, why I kept recieving messages and why

it stopped today after I sent unsub mesaage?

On Apr 8, 2013 12:57 PM, <121 in.airtel.com=""> wrote:

Namaste Kiran Ghag,

You wrote in on 08-04-2013 with a concern regarding activation of Subscription

Service without your consent on your airtel mobile 9860440606.

We completely comprehend your viewpoint and sincerely apologize for any

difficulty caused to you by our Customer service department.

We take pride in enhancing our customers with our responsive and friendly

approach. It has always been our constant endeavor to ensure, that our

customers are delighted by our inimitable approach.

We would like to confirm you that, ASK A DOCTOR service has already been

deactivated on 13-02-2013 and currently no Value Added Serviceis active on your

airtel mobile 9860440606.

You can also text STOP to 121 or 155233(toll free) and follow instructions to

stop the Value Added Services.

We would also like to confirm that a waiver of Rs. 11.23/- including tax

towards Value Added Service has already been posted in your account on

21-03-2013. The credit amount for the same will be reflecting in your

forthcoming invoice dated 12-04-2013.

airtel appreciates your business and always welcomes your suggestions/feedback.

Yours Sincerely,

Shruthi KM

Customer Care

Bharti Airtel Limited

---------Original Message----------

From: kiran@k...g.com
To: 121@in.airtel.com

Cc:

Sent: 08/04/2013 11:47:51 AM

Subject: Re: MO - 9860440606 : INCORRECT BILLING

[BALQrc122031310030215036563]

your customer support on this case has been pathetic. looks like you have

recruited monkeys. reason below...

i had to search on my own and finally found that "ask a doctor" service was

active on my mobile and "STOP" message to 121 does not work. I have to send

UNSUB message to get this nuisance stopped.

your support executives have been useless to assist on this.

please let me know how the service got activated in first place.

Kiran

On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 1:12 PM, <121 in.airtel.com=""> wrote:

Namaste Kiran Ghag,

You wrote in on 22-03-2013 expressing concern about subscription service

activated without your consent for your airtel mobile number 9860440606.

Thank you for your mail to airtel and the opportunity to assist you.

We wish to inform you that we have already deactivated subscription service on

your number with effect from 13-02-2013

If you wish to stop or disable the service related SMS received on your mobile,

we request you to follow the below mentioned path:

Step 1: Go to Menu - Message - Service inbox settings / PUSH SMS - Off status.

(This path may vary depending on the handset)

Step 2: Please switch off and switch on your handset. Further to this process

of turning off the Push SMS, you will not receive any service SMS.

We hope that we have been able to fulfill your query suitably.

Please do write in for any further assista

Re: MO - 9860440606 : INCORRECT BILLING [BALQrc122031310030215036563]

________________________________________

121@in.airtel.com <121 in.airtel.com=""> Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 1:12 PM

To: kiran@k...g.com

Namaste Kiran Ghag,

You wrote in on 22-03-2013 expressing concern about subscription service activated without your consent for your airtel mobile number 9860440606.

Thank you for your mail to airtel and the opportunity to assist you.

We wish to inform you that we have already deactivated subscription service on your number with effect from 13-02-2013

If you wish to stop or disable the service related SMS received on your mobile,

we request you to follow the below mentioned path:

Step 1: Go to Menu - Message - Service inbox settings / PUSH SMS - Off status.

(This path may vary depending on the handset)

Step 2: Please switch off and switch on your handset. Further to this process

of turning off the Push SMS, you will not receive any service SMS.

We hope that we have been able to fulfill your query suitably.

Please do write in for any further assistance.

Yours Sincerely,

Divya. M

Customer Care

Bharti Airtel Limited

---------Original Message----------

From: kiran@k...g.com
To: 121@in.airtel.com

Cc:

Sent: 22/03/2013 10:52:10 AM

Subject: Re: MO - 9860440606 : INCORRECT BILLING [BALQrc121031323031815024283]

Why am I recieving mesaages from ask doctor service if its not active

On Mar 22, 2013 10:50 AM, <121 in.airtel.com=""> wrote:

Namaste!

Ref: Email dated 21-03-2013, expressing concern regarding the activation of

value Added services for your airtel mobile number 9860440606.

Thank you for your mail to airtel and the opportunity to assist you.

On receipt of your email we verified our records and found that the ASK A

DOCTOR is already deactivated with effect from 13-02-2013.

We request you to clear the billed amount within the due date to avoid late fee

charges and to enjoy uninterrupted services.

We hope that we have been able to assist you suitably.

Please do write in for any further assistance.

Yours Sincerely,

Shrisha P

Customer Care

Bharti Airtel Limited

---------Original Message----------

From: kiran@k...g.com

To: 121@in.airtel.com

Cc:

Sent: 21/03/2013 11:13:45 PM

Subject: Re: MO - 9860440606 : INCORRECT BILLING [BALQrc121031322032915024000]

Hi,

Thanks for the refund.

I have received VAS messages from ask doctor today itself at 14:57. The message

to stop service has not worked. please do it from your end

Kiran

On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 11:10 PM, <121 in.airtel.com=""> wrote:

Namaste,

You wrote in on 21-03-2013, with a request to stop ask-Doctor for your airtel

mobile 9860440606.

As requested, The ask-Doctor service has been stopped on 21-03-2013.

You can also text STOP to 121 (toll free) and follow instructions to stop the

Value Added Services.

We would like to confirm that a waiver of Rs. 10/- towards VAS charges has been

posted in your account on 21-03-2013. The credit amount for the same will be

reflecting in your forthcoming invoice dated 12-04-2013.

Service message:

If you wish to stop or disable the service related SMS received on your mobile,

we request you to follow the below mentioned path:

Step 1: Go to Menu - Message - Service inbox settings / PUSH SMS - Off status.

(This path may vary depending on the handset)

Step 2: Please switch off and switch on your handset. Further to this process

of turning off the Push SMS, you will not receive any service SMS.

We request you to clear the billed amount within the due date to avoid late fee

charges and to enjoy uninterrupted services.

Thank you so much for choosing to continue with airtel. We welcome your

feedback.

Yours Sincerely,

Ranjith HK WCC MO

Customer Care

Bharti Airtel Limited

Airtel Irritation - example of how morons run Airtel mobile support

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:58:00 +0000

Out of nowhere, once Airtel decided to activate "Ask-A-Doctor" service on my mobile. I quickly asked their customer service to stop it. I was told that they have "deactivated" the service and I need to wait till the bill to be generated to know if any refunds are needed.

The bill was generated and there was additional charge. After complaining, that was reversed quickly.

However, I still kept getting annoying tips from their service, atleast one message daily.

I kept complaining and they kept telling me that the service has been deactivated and I can send message "STOP" to 121. Sending this message informed me (via message) that there are no value added services active on my number. And their tips kept raining.

Once again I complained and I was told same solution - send STOP message. But this time there was an additional input, they asked me to disable flash messages. Nevertheless, that didnt help.

I tried to post feedback to their case response. There was a link for feedback in the mail communication. However, upon submitting the response, an error is thrown - "User not authorised to access page!". Perhaps its a preset logic to avoid negative responses reaching in their queue!

Upon serching net a bit more, found that they have another keyword "UNSUB" for the "Ask-A-Doctor" service. I sent that and got immediate reply - the service has been deactivated!!!

I still wonder
- How this service got activated on its own?
- Is this a consumer scam/tactics by Airtel to generate additional revenue from users who dont care? (They were quick to reverse the charge. Normally they would fight for one paisa of outstanding bill amount but here since they started it on their own, they quickly tried to cover it up maybe. So people who complain would keep quiet, others would keep paying)
- Why their customer reps keep sending irrelevent replies? They are not even aware that there are two different types of services (facepalm)

Do let me know if you have similar experience with these tactics of Airtel.

Jugaad - Data recovery from old hard disk

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:06:00 +0000

My neighbor came to me a day and said, "hey look, I got this old PC laying around and there is some data on it. Can you recover it? The hard disks is crashed. There are some old pics on it which I would like to have back."

"Bring it over", I said.

So he sent it over. I opened the cabinet and took out the disk - Western Digital Caviar 40GB ATA. Quickly connected it to laptop using USB IDE adapter and waited for the disk to be detected.

A minute went by and no sign. I checked power and disk had not spun up. Looked like it was real dead all this time and sleeping peacefully in the ATX coffin :)

However, detailed look at the disk revealed this ...

"Ohh well, lets try to revive it", I said to myself and shoved some aluminum foil in the molex connector, hoping that it would make contact. It didnt work.

Cut a small wire, put in molex and taped it over exposed 5V contact on PCB. Voila! disk spun up and Windows found it in seconds. Resurrection!!!

One problem though, tape wont hold the wire over PCB and disk spun down :( I could press it down and it would stay on but remove the finger and it powered down again. Soldering was other option but I hate to solder these wave soldered contacts.

Solution: keep a laptop power adapter on the contact to keep it pressed :)
It worked. The disk appeared to be very fine and I could retrieve entire data off it without problem :)

Morale: Believe in Jugaad :) :) :) :)

Why I dont dig Smartphones

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:05:00 +0000

Computing has come a long way since it started. History has proven that every new thing replaces the older and takes things higher, floppies gave way to hard disks, hard disks to SSD. Monochrome got replaced by color, crt by lcd, CLI moved to GUI and GUI aims to go touch way.

Its time for android and ios to play battle. I am no way an expert on both but having witnessed computing over years, I still feel these smartphones are still phones. They can replace the phone, but not the PCs yet.

Since I surrendered my workhorse thinkpad when I left job recently, I am without a laptop. All I have is this android slate with. I am trying to get things done, which I would normally do on a laptop. Results: few months on, and I am still struggling! Why? Lets see...

Touch
Its easy to type with swype, prediction but I still miss the pure full 3D keyboard

Nagware
Its based on open model, but free is no more free as in free beer. Suddenly every developer wants to blast you with free adware version or buy full version. Makes me think how these guys earned their living before. People used to write freeware and there were so many good ones. Looks like that word and culture is history now.

Behaviour/usability
One thing annoys me is the way wheel is being reinvented. There was a time when critics and fanatics fought over how a particular OS has bad GUI behaviour and how it requires x amount of more clicks to get a job done. Are they sleeping in their graves?

I am writing this post on a tablet, as I have moved beyond one page, simple stuff like formatting one word into bold or italics needs back and forth scrolling in blogger!
I haven't managed easy way in google mail app to select all mails in a click.
There is no standard way to layouts and most developers are creating their own. It can be easy for literates but try teaching a computer illiterate and you will know the difference.

Integration
Convergance is good for hardware but it leads to half baked software. Stuff that looks good on 4inch looks sparse on tablets. Folks its okay if you code specific versions for tablet or handheld. But try to write a one size fits all version and you mess both.
One example of half baked software apart from ones shared above is google maps. Nokia offerred a perfect solution for maps, full with offline maps, turn by turn navigation and route editing. Google maps cannot do offline maps for entire state or multiple countries. I have had tough time while trying to customise route. Then I created custom map on pc and sent link to googl maps on iphone. The app re calculated path and it was not same as its desktop counterpart. Nokia never had such issues and that phone was equally good at rest of the things.
On integration, bill gates was sued for integrating browser into OS. Now its defacto to have everything mixed into OS. There is no OS infact. The browser is os, os is camera and camera has file uploader. Anyone?

One button
Also obsession for one button is beyond me. Many pre android/ios smartphones had multiple buttons for camera, volume, audio controls and. On a newer phone its so frustrating to unlock and navigate just to change song. And with bigger tablets, holding one to click photo, especially self clicks is sure lame. Atleast give full keyboard on screen with shortcut keys or modern equivalent s of ,

Crappy multitasking
No other word, its not true multitasking yet. Its TSR way of multitasking. We are just stretching a phone screen concept to match what we do on a desktop. They blame it on lack of processing power but if today's calculatora can pack prehistoric supercomputers then smartphones can atleast pack a humble pentium, can't they?

Multiuser
First the computer was personal, then it became multiuser and now its back as single user. Couldnt anyone see this as a necessary feature? May not be on a phone, but on a a shared tablet in a family? Its going to be here but why was it lacking in the first place??

Open?
I can no more use one media to setup on different phones. its not what you do everyday but Imagine if you needed different OS media for your dell pentium and you have to wait for Dell to release it for your particular version. Or you are stuck with x version of ubuntu on your desktop since no one has ever written update for your hardware combo? Why a particular app wont run on samsung tab but can run on others flawlessly?
Interoperability was dealbreaker back in earlier days, many superior products died cause they were proprietary. Now no one bothers! Its so easy to switch devices than expect value for money and better programming.

Why can't manufacturer keep software and hardware seperate and focus on one of them. Ultimately there are no PCs and compatibles akin to old days, now there are note 1s, note 2s and blah blah. (I believe apple is bit different here)

Updates
Everyone complained how windows updates were annoying. Now updates keep coming every other day and that seems like a norm. We are no more users, we are beta testers for a product that never enters release.

Cloud
Every app assumes internet connectivity and thats kind of dangerous for your privacy. Someone said rightly, if you want to secure your data, dont connect your PC to the net. Now every bit is on net and you cannot know how many people see it.
You cannot use some basic apps if you do not connect to net and that freaks me out. One crappy software claimed video conversion. it uploaded every video to its server, convert it there and download it later #facepalm
Remember, clouds are in sky (net). Rings a bell?

Disclaimer
I do not make any claim that this is the final word. This is how I see things based on my usage. You are welcome to share your view or let me know how to get things done. Perhaps I am expecting too much from a phone.

PS
During the edits, somehow I can't see any bold formatted text. Unless I publish it, I wont know! And I am not bothered. This is my last post from an android.

Ideas for future: Virtual Ride anywhere...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 05:40:00 +0000

Ingredients:

Google street view
Computer integration
(motor)cycle
additional hardware/software
projectors/VR glasses

Receipe:

Integrate all of the above and create a virtual environment of cycling.
Choose a place on earth, and start cycling there, as if you are there :)

Writer's Block?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:49:00 +0000

Well, I was not a writer as such, but not able to post anything worthy since a few months :(

Random thoughts on Life and Death...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:08:00 +0000

During childhood, at some point in time, I suddenly realized that there is a voice inside me that is talking to myself. Every moment and action got recorded somewhere inside There was a feedback, followup, discussion, agreement, disagreement, suggestion and all kinds of things talked inside. I don't remember when this awareness was felt. I have faint memories of early days. Can't say exactly when I really started feeling it. Perhaps it was there since beginning but it was not in a form of dialogue. It started subconsciously and someday I realized that it is none other than "Me" talking to myself. This was the moment of inner-self-awareness. I felt like Number 5 - a robot in movie who realized that he has got human ability - "Number 5 is alive!"

I wondered, "Where does it voice originate? Is it the heart? the brain? or the eyes?". Funny enough, on occasions, I felt that this is something abnormal. The continuous talk bothered me. I even tried to stop talking to myself, in vain :) It took time to accept that this is just human.

Being able to talk to yourself is such an amazing thing. You know that there is someone who knows everything about you. Knows what you want to do, say, feel, touch, ignore, accept, reject, listen, curse, love, hate and know! Is this someone not YOU? will it exist without you? will you exist without it?

Another thing, we usually converse with ourselves in the default language that we are thought. How do people who can't speak or hear, "talk to themselves"? There has to be a way for them too. We often see that even animals have a thought process. Many of their actions are based out of hardwired instincts and behavioural traits. But sure there has to be a way for them too!

This question always brings an interesting chain of thoughts to my mind (sic)...

"If this is being alive, what is being dead like?"

How does it feel to be dead? There are times when I brainstorm what would happen to people around if I happen to die suddenly, maybe the very next moment? Like when someone casually calls up home and announces that he will be there in few minutes and he doesnt! Or like when you speak to someone and next day you hear sad news about him!

This blog post was in draft for many months, till I came across this disturbing situation. I recently met one fellow biker. We became part of an online group where we discussed riding together and many other things about the motorcycles. While our riding plans took time to materialise, we kept exchanging facebook comments, often witty, poky and informative. One fine Sunday morning, we met near our house for the ride and went 90kms with 3 other bikers. We returned after breakfast and nice chat and waived each other bye-bye as we neared my house. That night I came to know that he met with an accident near his house in the evening and three days later, he succumbed to fatal injuries to head. This entire episode disturbed me a lot. I kept thinking how unexpected life is and how quickly it ended when it seemed like a new begining. Felt like lost someone close. The thought of how his kins and family would be dealing with this made me shake.

Its kindda easy to imagine how others will react, including family, neighbors, friends, colleagues and even strangers. But its still not easy to imagine what happens to you and this voice after death? Is it like you feel when you are deep asleep - total blackout and a calmness surrounding you (and at this point, YOU really stop existing)? This is no easy question to answer I think.

If your inner voice becomes quiet after death, are we dead every time we are sleep? I agree that our body keeps functioning and we even dream. But does that happen to people in coma also? Is difference between being in coma and being asleep, is that the brain forgets to wake up?

At the end, its so fragile and short-lived experience to be alive anyway. Our existance is so tiny in front of the entire universe!

Is this Time-Travel?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:32:00 +0000

Case 1 : Catching up with others who have gone past you, in time before you.

Time	Scene 1	Scene 2	Scene 3
7.00 am	Arrive at a the highway signal as it goes RED right in front of youself. Watch others speeding away. Notice one particular biker who managed to pass when it was gree and revved up as if there is no tomorrow	Arrive at a the highway signal as it goes RED right in front of youself. Watch others speeding away. Notice one particular biker who managed to pass when it was gree and revved up as if there is no tomorrow	Just arrived at a signal as it goes RED right front me. Watching others speeding away. Noticed one particular biker revving up as if there is no tomorrow
7.01 am	Signal goes GREEN, start moving at leisure speed, the biker has vanished ahead	Do nothing, stop aside	Do nothing, stop aside
7.06 am	Keep moving slowly, the biker has reached next signal	Still wait	Still wait
7.07am	The biker gets GREEN again, he starts ripping	Start ripping	Still wait
7.09 am	Keep moving slowly, you reach next signal and it just goes RED as you reach	Reach the signal just before it goes RED, continue, biker is almost in sight,	Enter time machine
7.15 am	Biker has gone much ahead	Rip further and zoom by him. He is taken aback by the close fly-by	Exist the time machine behind just before the biker. Surprise him by similar fly-by as in Scene 2

Case 2 : Reaching office before those who start before you and reach after you.

Time	Scene 1	Scene 2	Scene 3
7.00 am	Wake up, hurry up, get ready for work	Sleep	Sleep
7.45 am	Ready to leave house	Wake up!	Sleep
7.50 am	Catch auto	get ready	Sleep
8.05 am	Reach bus stop	get ready	Sleep
8.10 am	Get into bus, sleep	Ready to leave the house, start bike, rip hard	Wake up!
8.20 am	Sleep	rip, rip, rip	Enter time machine
8.45 am	Sleep	Reach office	Exit at office
9.00 am	Reach office

Note: Dont disect the timeline, but get the idea. Travelling on Momo is like time travel :)

Wikipedia blackout workaround

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:31:00 +0000

Overall perceived IQ of humanity would drop down significantly today. Thanks to the Wiki Blackout :)

If you are those who still want to desperately refer wikipedia, try this:
Press <esc> (Escape Key) as soon as the page loads, it should prevent the redirection to blackout banner. Worked with Firefox atleast.

:)

so how does Mr. Sibbal expect to implment this pre-screening?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:28:00 +0000

- Apply for SSN (Social Sites & Networking) ID (So be prepared to witness yet another fraud related to preparing and distributing cards, goof ups etc...)

- A new department will be formed and centers put up across the country. The department would be called - Department of Union Ministry of Badmouth Against Sajjan Sarkar (DUMBASS)

- Every time you wish to tweet or post on social sites, you would need to write all the posts/tweets in prescribed format on a form and submit it to the nearest center alongwith photocopy of your SSN ID

- The department would scrutinize and selectively approve your form and approval number would be provided. The approval is at sole descretion of the department and UT Tax is applicable (Under Table Tax)

- If you are part of any political family or on the official list of VIP (Very Irritating Persons) then this process is exempted.

- There would be standard tweets/posts which would be pre-approved e.g. Hi, whats up, happy birthday, congratulations etc...the government does not wish to take away your freedom of expressions you see.

"Living with Ninja Experiences" - First Day Out

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Rode it to office on Temp registration. Didnt get caught :)

As expected, it was attention grabbing in the common parking lot. Colleagues came down to see and hear it live. Some unknown employees too went down and had a look. Got glances and questions everywhere :) The size and color is more attention grabbing that exhaust.

There was one moment on road when I decided to open throttle a little and it just surged ahead, I felt as it I would be thrown off. But realized that this can be avoided by leaning ahead a bit before doing so. It then beams ahead easily and objects in mirror start getting smaller faster :)

Heat was manageable too. Lights still need to be adjusted. The adjustment screw seems unresponsive :(

On return trip, it started drizzling and lightening due to receding monsoon (was I being photographed from above? :D ). Managed to reach home before it rained but bike had to face rains afterwards in parking. Will have to wipe it off before sleeping and put the covers on.

Loved the first day out!!!

"Living with Ninja Experiences" - Preface

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 05:29:00 +0000

They always said that life changes in India after you bring home a superbike. Ninja 650R is not really a superbike but by Indian standards of commuter biking, it definitely is one.

Its been just two days that the bike has come home. Registration formalities are underway and I am already feeling the "Living with Ninja Experiences".

People started approaching right at the showroom door and started asking price. Dad was zapped after knowing it. He couldnt believe that it costs that much. and then "You could buy a big car in that money!". The sweeper in the next building came running and insisted that I tell him the price.

One shop owner offerred me to park it inside his compound instead of parking on the road, without asking. Never happened in past when I parked P180 or P220F in front of this shop.

One guy on road, honked and gave thumbs up, then proceeded to tail for a while.

Met a guy at RTO, very excited to see "Ninja ZX 650". kept talking in english though I answered in hindi. He showed the "air cooler" to his partner, and then proceeded to tell him, "mere ko car me jyada knowledge nahi hai, lekin bike ka sab pata hai" (I dont know much in cars but I know everything in bikes)

Another guy : "isme silencer nahi hai?" (Doesnt it have a silencer?)
me (very innocently)": "nahi hai" (No!)

One fellow asked if he can sit and take a pic (I really appreciate these manners, as long as I can politely say No :) ). He took a pic and told me, "It would go on facebook now and your bike will be famous"

Two typical questions that deserve a placard to be put on bike with answers
- "Kitane ki hai?" (How much does it cost)
- "Kitana deti hai?" (How many kilometers a litre)

And thanks to the Daytime Running Light, people go crazy, drop their work and stand in middle of the road to tell that I am running with the lights on. This is accompanied with palm gesture similar to screwing a bulb in-out of its socket. I usually have my lights on so this is less of an annoyance now :)

Havent gone out since registaration is not completed, hopefully that happens next week. Till then it would stay parked :( More after that... :)

An unusual wedding...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:52:00 +0000

She arrived and preturbed my miniscule world. I was simply love at first sight. Her voice was not the sweetest yet it was seductive enough. Touching her was romantic. Cupid arrow hit the vantage point and paralysed rational thinking system.

I looked in her eyes in anticipation. "I am no rich, I am no superhero, You will get small place to stay, but endless road to travel with me. Will you still be mine?", I asked with anxity. She was responsive and ready to come along.

"I want to take you home!", I promised her as I left. And it was another love story starting to brew...

The family was orthodox. I had to arrange dowry. "Nagad do, Dulhan le jao", her caretaker said withough blinking an eye. The demand meant a fortune and years spent inside four walls of professional jail to earn it. Friends were critical. "She is an expensive women and you are not meant to have one.", I was told and joked around.

She was not the only one around but she seemed perfect. "Would I want to give up a fortune to be with her, pamper her and take her places?", I asked myself.

"YES", this echoed somewhere deep within. Submission was destined.

The wait was long. I had time to prepare. I had to buy her stuff before she arrived. I wanted to look the best on "the day". The nights were long and days were dreamy. She was with me virtually every minute and on every road. The feeling of wondering didnt seem to end. There is always something in life that you crave for all along. It was this at moment and it seemed like a mirage.

Finally the day arrived. I reached the venue, eyes rolled in every corner for a view of her. Feet were shaky and palms had become damp. The priest stood in front and finally she arrived. My eyes didnt blink for next few minutes. She seemed eager too, anxious and nervous, I was more. Time was running slow and heart beat faster than an crazy engine on track.

Priests announced, "Who gives this woman to be married to this man?", her caretaker came forward, "I do".

I heard further, "Let me charge you both to remember, that your future happiness is to be found in mutual acceleration, idling, revving, honking, touring, commuting and affection. It is your duty to love her as yourself, provide tender leadership, and protect her from danger.", "It is your duty to treat him with respect, take him places and father happy triplogs.", "It is the duty of each of you to find the greatest joy in the company of the other; to remember that in both interest and affection, you are to be one and undivided. You will be rider because of her and you will ride because of him."

"Do you accept each other as your partner to hold and have hold from this day forward, for better or worse, to love and cherish, till 'death do us apart?'"

"YES I DO!", I couldnt say anything else.

I can now kiss the bride!!!!!!

Thank You Teachers!

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 04:52:00 +0000

I miss the teachers day. We always celebrated by dressing up as teachers and peons and conducting classes for juniors. Could ring the bell once and perform announcements as a Principal :)

You need teachers in life, sometimes they in school, sometimes they are your friends/parents/neighbours, sometimes they are strangers, sometimes they are your own mistakes.

Respect the knowledge that you get. The world wouldnt have been here without it.

भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:07:00 +0000

प्रत्येक सिग्नलवर आज तिरंगा विकेल

तो विकणारा आज २ पैसे जास्त बांधेल

घेणारा म्हणेल, आज मला अभिमान आहे,

कि भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे.

एके काळी रक्त सांडलं स्वदेशीसाठी,

आज आपल्या मनात फोरेनला भाव आहे,

कोण म्हणतो ही गुलामी आहे?

मनात आणा, कार्ड फिरवा, परदेशातला उत्तम माल हजर आहे.

काय घ्यायचं, काय नाही, ठरवायला मी मुखत्यार आहे

कारण, भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे.

तेव्हा प्राण दिले देशासाठी, आपला माणसाच्या खाली राबण्यासाठी.

आज गोर्‍या बाईला सलाम आहे आणि तिच्या हुजरीत दरबार-ए-खास आहे.

तिला डोक्यावर बसवणारा निर्णय माझाच आहे,

कारण, भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे.

आज जिकडे तिकडे भ्रष्टाचार आहे, हावरट नेता मोकाट आहे

उघड्यावर रक्ताचे पाट वाहणारा बिर्याणी खातोय

आणि उघड्यावर पाण्याची वाट बघणारा गोळी खातोय.

शेतात विज बेपत्ता आहे, आणि मंत्र्यांच्या बंगल्यात लखलखाट आहे.

याचा जाब विचारायला कुणाला वेळ आहे?

खरंच भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे?

काय कमवलं स्वातंत्र्यापायी?

काल बाहेरचा नासवत होता,

आज आपल्याच माणसासमोर हार आहे

तरी १ दिवस झेंडा मिरवायला मन आज खुश आहे,

खरंच भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे?

Authorised Bajaj Service?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Early Sunday morning, decided to go to nearest Bajaj Service Center (Suraj Bajaj Service, Majiwada, Thane) for getting minor things taken care of. I was out of chain cleaner spray so getting chain cleaned was one of them.

The authorised pro-biking showroom that I earlier preferred didnt work on Sunday. This one is not pro-biking but operated on Sunday. Now Bajaj announced that non-pro-biking centers can work on P220F, so wanted to try it out.

I remembered that it opened at 9.30am so went at 9.15 to be first in queue. I was indeed first and the shop had a board that mentioned time - 10am! Spent time watching cars and people on road and few more people lined up.

10.00am: no go, more wait
10.15am: 3-4 guys, who looked like mechanics, arrived

10.20am: Owner comes and hands over keys, opening ceremony started. They start taking out bikes from inside and parking outside. Aah, there was another board inside the shop that mentioned opening hours - 9.30am!!!

One guy seemed the most experienced one around (and probably formally trained). He took some bikes for test ride. Other guys spent time aligning parked bikes, starting them and revving happily.

10:45am: Finally my time comes, why late? well, they decided to prepare job cards for all others for free and paid service. I had asked for tightening chain and lubing it so i was asked to wait.

Meanwhile, I took a look inside service station. Barely 15x15 room, one corner was counter, other corner was spares shop. There was dirt, oil sludge and abandoned spares all around floor.

A blue board on wall mentioned Japanese 5S principles - seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. But I did not find any of that given much importance :) There was a chain cleaner machine. I was wondering how it works and expected that I would get to see it in a while.

Finally my time came. The experienced guy was still busy with test rides so other guy came with spanners and oil bottle. Chain slack was adjusted and he was about to put oil on it to lube.

"Clean nahi karoge? chain ka spray nahi hai?" (wont you clean it? havent you got the spray instead of oil?) - I asked.

He went inside and asked the owner for spray. Owner had a small bottle but it was empty. He asked the mech to take the bike to a water washer behind building to get the chain washed (Apparently they did not have their own washing area)

It was time to get out of there! Needless to say, I would never go there again :)

Is it fair to say that an Authorised point like this reflects the after sales attitude of a company? I never had good experienced with pro-biking service centers and this was no exception :(

Is there any certification policy for Bajaj to grant authorised status to service centers or is it just an option on sale?

प्रिय आतंकवादी मित्रांनो...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:03:00 +0000

मूर्खांनो,

कधी कळणार तुम्हाला, असे स्फ़ोट करुन आणि मध्यमवर्गियांना निशाणा करुन काही मिळणार नाही. तो मरतोय कि जगतोय याची काळजी फ़क्त त्यालाच आहे.

त्यामुळे तुमचा पैसा आणि वेळ, आमचे टिव्हीवाले, पेपरवाले आणि राजकारण्यांची पोटं भरायला खर्चू नका. हिंमत असेल तर एखाद्या नालायक आणि भ्रष्ट नेत्याचा बुडाखाली स्फ़ोट करा, मग आपण मानू बुवा तुम्हाला.

निदान पुढल्या वेळेला तरी चांगला नेम लावा!

लोभ असावा...

Dear dumb terrorists,

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:16:00 +0000

You are such morons, you will not get anything by blasting places where common man of Mumbai spends time. No one really cares for them other than another common man. Please dont waste ur money/energy to keep our news channels/print media and politics running.

Try putting a bomb under a few corrupt and powerblind politicians and I would respect you.

Improve your aim next time.

Yours truly,

Is India ready for big bikes?

India is land of commuters. Majority of Indians use and think of motorcycles as sole means of transportation. They are quick, economical and can carry two/three people easily around. Lack of big roads and growing population compliments the need of motorcycles than other means of transportation.

Laws have favoured Indian manufacturers by imposing near 100% duty on foreign imports. This was done to protect Indian manufacturers and to help them grow. Unfortunately, this growth got limited to financial growth only. After two stroke era died, for years, Indian industry kept manufacturing tiny 100cc scooters and motorcyles till date. Later the manufacturers created higher segment by introducting engines bigger than that.

While rest of the world considers 650cc as beginer's bike, 220cc is still a power packed sports motorcycle here. Ther is a wide choice for a buyer for bikes between 100-150cc and manufacturer's boast increases of single digit power as a *huge* gain over competitiors :)

Recent time has been quiet exciting for Indian biking enthusiasts. For those looking beyond Pulsars, Karizmas and Bullets, few good choices are available.

Well, if you have enough green papers, you can now legally buy following machines in India. Pricing of these are still un-affoardable for the masses.

Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR
Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Hyosung GT650R
Hyosung ST7
Yamaha FZ1
Yamaha YZF-R1
Yamaha VMAX
Yamaha MT-01
Ducati 696
Ducati 1100
Ducati 1100S
Ducati HM 1100
Ducati HM 1100S
Ducati GT 1000
Ducati GT 1000 bicolor
Ducati GT 1000 Touring
Ducati Sport 1000S
Ducati Fighter
Ducati Fighter S
Ducati 848
Ducati 1198
Ducati 1198 S
Ducati 1098 R
Ducati 1098 R TB
BMW R 1200 GS
BMW S 1000 RR
Harley Davidson
Suzuki Hayabusa
Suzuki Intruder
and more...

People who buy or import such motorcycles generally prefer to keep it as a second choice. Daily commute on these are impractical because of the road conditions/jams and higher maintainance costs. They end up being ridden for 100-200kms on weekend around city and as a mental satisfaction in the garage :)

Hyosung and Kawasaki (through BAL) have introduced the 650cc segment and there is a sure buyer for them. Those who have got fed up of saving for superbike, those who were about to retire from biking and move into cage, riches who simply can, and the serious riders would flock to buy these. No wonder, first batch of Kawasaki 650R was a quick success. Intial bookings got closed within weeks!

650cc segment is best of both worlds. You get a powerful commuter that has enough juice if you want to go out for a nice tour. Its neither as expensive as a superbike, and not common as a commuter bike. Limiting the discussion to this middle segment created by Bajaj and Hyosung, are they really ready for these kind of machines?

Service network: Bajaj may score more points here because of their existing service network. It would be good to know that an authorised dealer is in the town but they would not be able provide consumables and other parts if you need them. It can be arranged through the network but if you are on a trip then its almost end of it. Garware motoros are aware of this and they are trying establish the network. It would take a while and hopefully they do not get into deadlock of service network-sales. People would buy less since service network is small and Garware might not be able to expand due to low sales.

Trained Labour: Even if you are able to reach to the nearest point, will you have a trained guy to help you out (forget about repairs, just consider routine maintainance)? At such point, a remote help over phone and prayers are only way out :) I am not undermining the experience of the mechs but just the fact that all that experience was gathered on different set of machines and problems.

Service attitude: Like all other Indians, the service engineers do not understand difference between a commuter and a more serious rider. Manufacturers have created specialised service bays or service centers for *their premium* models. Their premium models differ by just few handful digits of power, rest is almost same as their entry level model. These end up as sales gimmicks and different plastic stickers.

Routine service comprise of basic wash, chain cleaning, lights/horn check and oil change.

I was never happy with attitude of Bajaj service center near me. In my personal experience with Bajaj auto service, the mechs have always disregarded my comments, observations and requests. Speak anything more and you are an oversmart customer!

Perhaps, this was the reason for rejecting oil change on a new bike before its first service interval.

Despite advising that battery is dead and needs replacement (and not recharging, as I had already done that), my bike was returned by mere recharging. It failed to crank on post-service pickup. It was lying for two days with them with expectation to sort it out completely.

In the same service, I had asked them to check fork noise thoroughly. It was present since last few services and every time they the bike with simple nut adjustment. The nut was tightened this time again and mech was pretty confident that it was solved. He had not taken the test ride and I had to return the bike to them for next two days to get it fixed.

Now the same set of deaf mechs are going to work on foreign models. Its quiet likely that they are going to do a lot of things, alone on their own for the next few months. Perhaps they attended a small workshop. Is that enough for trusting them for the job? If they are going to ignore what customer says, will that help?

Choice to the buyer: What is logic of giving just one color to choose from? It may work well for them as free moving advertising across the streets. But for a customer, its just a bullying when he is ready to shell out money. Hyosung was nice to offer three choices atleast. But I hate the green Ninja. You are not going to loose your brand if you offer other colors!

What about accessories? None in sight. You are just giving the bike for the price and nothing else. The buyer wont get simple thing as an OEM slider or a topcase. It would have to be imported personally and the service mech would refuse to fit it for warranty reasons :)

There was another fiasco about the test rides. Initially the site offered email ID for requesting test rides. That was taken away in two days. While the potential buyers would be very few, it could still be offerred to previous customers? or offerred on Dynos? I recently got an invitation for test ride of Bajaj Discover as a customer of Pulsar 220F. Was Bajaj expecting me to dump 220F and buy Discover?

On the other side, Indian Roads continue to dissatisfy. Some highways are exceptionally well. But even major city roads loose themselves during monsoons. Coming home with damaged/scratched underbelly is not great :p Sometimes, if the road is good, there are ocassional speed bumps like mountains. If used properly, they can be used to launch cars into air like in movies :) I have heard Hayabusa owners getting down and manually push it over the speed bump to avoid damage. Cant keep doing it every few meters happily :)

Dhoom and Roadie effect: Nothing painted bad image of riders than these two stupid things. Every faired bike is now known as dhoom bike and I was even asked - "Are you a roadie?". With help of this and due to accidents involving motorcycles, Riders have become evil.

There are few highways and bridges denied for motorcyclists - reason cited as "accidents happen due to motorcycles". Its the stupidest conclusion to draw accordin to me. If statistics are true, 100% accidents that occur on the restricted roads involve cars/trucks :) Cars in which the passangers do not use seat belts, or have bald tyres can enter the highway, and drive their heart out, yet a safety concious 1000cc rider cannot! Differentiating between the two is not mechanical but then why does it go in favour of car owners?

Another road was closed due to accidents that happened at night. At times it involved speeding cars that went out of control, at times it involved motorcyclists who raced on empty patches. Result: blanket ban on motorcycles. Couldnt it be done just for night? How long indians will continue to have stupid beliefs about road safety?
Road sense and Common sense: Getting a license is easier than getting a passport or landline connection. Generations have been driving/riding without basic road sense. Anyone who can twist the throttle or drive can get it and consider himself an experienced one sooner. But we never follow basic road sense of yielding the right of way, lane driving manners. Such things do not have place in Indian upbringing at all. There is a good bunch of youngsters who believe superbikes are only for speeding. Hopefully these do not lay their hands on them and end up crashing. Which would further damage image of riders :) I remember in early days of Pulsar, it was considered by many as bad motorcycle. Failure of using disk brakes properly was major cause for that. One Bajaj showroom supervisor considered Ninja as most accident prone since he had three of them at once for full repair. People need to understand the technology and respect it.

Having said this, the change is pleasent. The pricing is much appreciated and this is sure sign of things to come. Hopefully this changes the perceptions and market over time. There should be more from the competition to keep things level. Many out of us are definitely ready for the change. Its going to be a dream come true moment ahead to lay hands on the machines and weaving memories with them in the years to come.

Let the good times come soon :)

My way of controlling Inbox SPAM

Despite taking basic care to avoid SPAM, I still end up receiving much. Some of that is not SPAM per se but regular newsletters, forum notifications etc. I read those but if not actively deleted, they tend to pile up.

One way of deleting such piled up mail is to search using wildcards or labels. But managing multiple labels or wildcards becomes pain after a while. My solution? read below. This is specific to GMail accounts but can be used for others

Open a mail that you frequently receive. From the "More options" select "Filter messages like these".

You will be shown messages that are similar to the mail you started with. Gmail automatically locates similar mails based on sender or mailing lister headers inside mails. You will need to create a good criteria that nabs lots of unwanted mails together. Some mails have common title or part of title that you can filter. Some come from same sender. Some senders use different usernames but same domain name to send mails. If you find such trend, you can filter the domain directly. You can try to update search criteria and click on "Test Search" to see how many mails get fitered. Once done, click "Next Step"

Create new filter from the "Apply the label". Once you create this label, subsequently use same label for filtering.
Also check "Never mark as important" and "Also apply filter to n conversations below"

Its done. Now all mails will keep aggregating under the label that you created. When you are in clean up mode, just click the label from left. Select all mails and delete!

Hope this helps :)

Making fun of tele-marketing callers - 1

<RING>
Caller: Hello sir mai sharekhan se baat kar rahi hu

Me: nahi nahi, aap mujh se baat kar rahe ho

Caller: nahi sir, mai sharekhan se baat kar rahi hu

Me: Arey nahi madam, aap mujhse baat kar rahe ho

<HUP>

Installing phone charger on Pulsar 220F

Finally got time to install the phone charger.

The device I got is from ideaForge. It comes with two major parts

1 - Part that connects to battery. This has a round connector that is supposed to be connected to dashboard.

2 - Part that connects to Part 1 and has the voltage processing circuitry to bring down 12V to 5V. This can take additional tips so that you can charge different types of phones. Not sure if it has any kind of current limiter or protection.The part 1 could be designed in a better way. The round connector needs additional jugaad to put it on the dashboard. Because of the separable parts, you can remove the charger from bike when not required.
The charger assembly was lying with me for months now :) I just couldn't figure out how to tap 12V point through ignition. Here's how I manage to work around it
- Connected the charger directly to the battery
- Added a switch and fuse in-line and kept this under the battery panel.
- Drilled a small hole on fairing and pulled the part 1 through it. Taped connector on the fairing. The cable that connects to battery was connected to this and kept under fairing

Now its ready :) I can flip the switch when not in use and the charger would not get voltage. This is less convenient than having the charger always on with ignition switch in between. But works good enough!

पुणेरी पाटीची दुसरी बाजू...

एका मिसळवर दुसरी मोफ़त देणारी ही पुण्यातली पाटी टिव्हीवर दाखवली गेली आणि बेचैन झालो. मन मानेना. इतक्या प्रेमाने लिहिलेली ही बहुधा एकमेव पुणेरी पाटी असावी.

बिछान्यावर टेकायला गेलो तरी पाटी काही डोक्यातना जाईना. शहानिशा करणं जरुरी भासू लागलं. आपण नोंदणी केली नाही म्हणून काय झालं, उगाच कुणाची फ़सवणूक नकॊ व्ह्यायला, काय?
सकाळी उठून कामावर न जाता घटनास्थळी गेलो आणि मग खरीखुरी बातमी हाती लागली. आनंदाच्य भरात सगळे समोरुन पाटी पाहून गेले. पाटीमागील पाटी कुणीच पाहिली नव्हती. तुमच्यासाठी पाटीमागील मजकूर खाली देत आहे.

सूचना:
- नोंदणी कूपन हरवल्यास आम्ही जबाबदार नाही. अशा स्थितीत मिसळ मिळणार नाही
- फाटक्या, ओलेत्या कूपनवर मिसळ मिळणार नाही
- एका मिसळवर एकच मिसळ मोफत मिळेल. मोफत मिळालेल्या मिसळवर मोफत मिसळ मागून स्वत:ची अक्कल दाखवू नये
- अतिरिक्त पाव मोफत मिळणार नाही
- एक मिसळ एकालाच खाता येईल. ही अट फुकटच्या मिसळवर पण लागू राहील
- कामशिवाय बसता येणार नाही. मिसळ कमीतकमी वेळेत खाउन इतरांना संधी द्या
- मोफत मिसळ फक्त ३१ मार्चलाच मिळेल तसेच हॉटेलची वेळ संपल्यावर ऑफर संपेल
- इतरांनी हळू मिसळ खाउन वेळ दवडल्यास आम्ही जबाबदार नाही
- पाकिस्तान जिंकल्यास पैसे परत मिळणार नाहीत

टिव्हीवरील अर्धवट बातम्यांवर विश्वास ठेवू नये हेच खरं असं म्हणत कामाला लागलो.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
टिपेची पाटी:
- वरील पोस्त काल्पनिक आहे. उगाच खरी मानू नये

Funny Tata Photon customer service call...

Called up Tata Photon customer service number, the recorded greeting told me to carefully listen to the menu choices as they had been recently changed.

I did so and selected "English" from the choices. The agent answered the call in Hindi! When I replied in Hindi, the agent started talking in Marathi!!!