When i first saw this ad, my response was,"Bah, what a crap... Is it really practical? Won't someone be ever conscious of all those small pieces spread across the hair? And she is really arrogant".
But then, this ad seems to have grown on me after watching it quite a few times and now i seem to really like it :)
Jun 22, 2009
Jun 18, 2009
Factory visit
One of the good things about working in a product development is one gets to see and use the final product with one's software/bugs in it.
Also, it's quite a proud moment to see fellow human beings(customers) using the product.
Often, i have wondered as what exactly goes into the manufacturing of the product and how the whole process happens.
Luckily, last wednesday, i had a chance to see this manufacturing side of the product. Thanks to my manager, our whole team had a one day visit to the factory. It was a great experience. Infact, i was quite sad that few of us are ending up with a different manager from next week!
Coming to the trip, as a first thing, we were given an intro by the director of the factory. Unfortunately, i can neither mention the figures nor the complete details. But it was more than impressive to learn that this factory caters to the 1/3rd of the global company demand.
The factory had more female employees than male employees. When i posed the question as whether female employees are preferred, he replied,"As a company policy, we are not supposed to have any bias based on gender,race, creed. The only reason why there are more female workers is because they pass the dexterity test easily than male candidates". Hence, there are 70% female employees :) Another point which surprised us is the fact this factory is the cheapest in the world, than china as well. That was an amazing news.
Only sad point was, not a single electronic component is supplied by an Indian company. It's all supplied by foreign corporations, and all major component suppliers have set up factories in the same place.
So, overall, this single Software Export Zone (SEZ) employs close to 20000-25000 people directly. This is an amazing figure and stresses the need as why there should be more manufacturing bases in India. (SEZ sounds moronic for a factory zone :))
Later on, we went inside the shop floor. As usual, most of the things are automated, making one appreciate the whole control system concepts :) Infact, Control systems was one of the most difficult subjects during college days and students in the Instrumentation & Control Engineering department had all the difficult subjects as well as difficult professors.
There were few activities in the line which we were manual, although they mentioned they are experimenting the automation process for those as well. I think the car manufacturing has more percentage of assembly line automated when compared to the other device manufacturing.
I wonder whether manual labour might be cheaper than automation for these small tasks in device manufacturing.
But, it was interesting to see the complete process of a real product development. It seems to happen in a jiffy,highly streamlined way and totally different from software development in all good ways :)
One concern though...eventhough the working environment was extremely safe and pleasant, most of the worker ought to stand through out the day. And the work might get really monotonous after a while. Infact, the average age in the factory was in early 20s. I wonder what'll happen as people become old. When i posed this question to the supervisor, he replied that work does get monotonous in any factory and people are given a break of 30mts for every 4 hours, while they can also rest in between if they feel so. This made me wonder about what my parents would have gone through while working in a Textile mill before venturing into business. At the end of the day, there is a difference between blue collar job and white collar job. Yes, even our job gets monotonous at/most of the times...still, there is a difference and we are better off.
I wish i had a chance to talk to a shop floor employee as how one feels and whether they aspire to move to higher things. Because, all these employees are minimum 12th Pass and above 18. Ofcourse, many of them would consider themselves lucky to have this job with all benefits better than many other Indian manufacturing companies. Still, i hope they aspire for many higher things.
Infact, it was nice to see the distance learning courses and few other Learning session details mentioned in their notice board. I am sure they will be getting the same personality development plans as we get as per the process.
btw, there was one silly moment. First time when i saw the factory employees, i exclaimed to my teammate,"Oh...they also have the similar ID cards". She replied,"Yes. it will be similar across the company". This made me realize as how the thought that we are all part of one big company hasn't completely sinked in :)
Also, it's quite a proud moment to see fellow human beings(customers) using the product.
Often, i have wondered as what exactly goes into the manufacturing of the product and how the whole process happens.
Luckily, last wednesday, i had a chance to see this manufacturing side of the product. Thanks to my manager, our whole team had a one day visit to the factory. It was a great experience. Infact, i was quite sad that few of us are ending up with a different manager from next week!
Coming to the trip, as a first thing, we were given an intro by the director of the factory. Unfortunately, i can neither mention the figures nor the complete details. But it was more than impressive to learn that this factory caters to the 1/3rd of the global company demand.
The factory had more female employees than male employees. When i posed the question as whether female employees are preferred, he replied,"As a company policy, we are not supposed to have any bias based on gender,race, creed. The only reason why there are more female workers is because they pass the dexterity test easily than male candidates". Hence, there are 70% female employees :) Another point which surprised us is the fact this factory is the cheapest in the world, than china as well. That was an amazing news.
Only sad point was, not a single electronic component is supplied by an Indian company. It's all supplied by foreign corporations, and all major component suppliers have set up factories in the same place.
So, overall, this single Software Export Zone (SEZ) employs close to 20000-25000 people directly. This is an amazing figure and stresses the need as why there should be more manufacturing bases in India. (SEZ sounds moronic for a factory zone :))
Later on, we went inside the shop floor. As usual, most of the things are automated, making one appreciate the whole control system concepts :) Infact, Control systems was one of the most difficult subjects during college days and students in the Instrumentation & Control Engineering department had all the difficult subjects as well as difficult professors.
There were few activities in the line which we were manual, although they mentioned they are experimenting the automation process for those as well. I think the car manufacturing has more percentage of assembly line automated when compared to the other device manufacturing.
I wonder whether manual labour might be cheaper than automation for these small tasks in device manufacturing.
But, it was interesting to see the complete process of a real product development. It seems to happen in a jiffy,highly streamlined way and totally different from software development in all good ways :)
One concern though...eventhough the working environment was extremely safe and pleasant, most of the worker ought to stand through out the day. And the work might get really monotonous after a while. Infact, the average age in the factory was in early 20s. I wonder what'll happen as people become old. When i posed this question to the supervisor, he replied that work does get monotonous in any factory and people are given a break of 30mts for every 4 hours, while they can also rest in between if they feel so. This made me wonder about what my parents would have gone through while working in a Textile mill before venturing into business. At the end of the day, there is a difference between blue collar job and white collar job. Yes, even our job gets monotonous at/most of the times...still, there is a difference and we are better off.
I wish i had a chance to talk to a shop floor employee as how one feels and whether they aspire to move to higher things. Because, all these employees are minimum 12th Pass and above 18. Ofcourse, many of them would consider themselves lucky to have this job with all benefits better than many other Indian manufacturing companies. Still, i hope they aspire for many higher things.
Infact, it was nice to see the distance learning courses and few other Learning session details mentioned in their notice board. I am sure they will be getting the same personality development plans as we get as per the process.
btw, there was one silly moment. First time when i saw the factory employees, i exclaimed to my teammate,"Oh...they also have the similar ID cards". She replied,"Yes. it will be similar across the company". This made me realize as how the thought that we are all part of one big company hasn't completely sinked in :)
Jun 17, 2009
Jun 15, 2009
Intel ad
Everyday, i see a hoarding of Intel with the following lines,
"Today we are creating tomorrow."
Even though it seems to convey the meaning that Intel is involved in creation of stuff needed for our lives tomorrow, the sentence sounds quite moronic to me.
When compared to the above line,"Sponsors of tomorrow" is sensible and better.
The below ad is simply amazing. It's part of new Intel promotion campaign. Very highly innovative and definitely worth copying by any tech company. What makes this ad stand out from the other previous versions of internal people promotion is the fun component.
But one problem is, it would've been better if it had been taken with the real Ajay Bhatt instead of a comedy actor. Maybe the fun component might have got toned down a bit, but still the authenticity would've got retained.
Below is another amazing Intel ad...But i hope people understand it.
"Today we are creating tomorrow."
Even though it seems to convey the meaning that Intel is involved in creation of stuff needed for our lives tomorrow, the sentence sounds quite moronic to me.
When compared to the above line,"Sponsors of tomorrow" is sensible and better.
The below ad is simply amazing. It's part of new Intel promotion campaign. Very highly innovative and definitely worth copying by any tech company. What makes this ad stand out from the other previous versions of internal people promotion is the fun component.
But one problem is, it would've been better if it had been taken with the real Ajay Bhatt instead of a comedy actor. Maybe the fun component might have got toned down a bit, but still the authenticity would've got retained.
Below is another amazing Intel ad...But i hope people understand it.
Jun 8, 2009
Petronas ad
I have often wondered as why there are no ads which fully utilize the rigour and speed of F1 for their promotion.
Atlast, i found one from Petronas which is quite nice.
Atlast, i found one from Petronas which is quite nice.
Jun 7, 2009
Turkish GP
Felt like watching a black&white race... would've preferred a shade of red for a while in the telecast.
Maybe, Bernie should stop creating a mess out with financial structure and rather concentrate on coming up with new rules to stop this Brawn whitewash! Race was boring to say the least.
Barichello tried a few stunts and ended up retiring.
Kimi was cool to start and ended up 9th place with no points.
Poor Massa tried his level best or maintained as it is and ended up in 6th place. Guess, one ought to be happy nowadays for Ferrari to score a point. Podium finishes are reserved for next year, provided Ferrari is there racing!
If i were Ferrari CEO, i would've never allowed for the Trio(Schumi, Ross Brawn, Jean Todt) to retire at a time. They should've been let go one per year. In that way, the new team could've been tutored well for their absence.
Gone are the days when pitstop strategies were the real winning strategies for Ferrari. Nowadays, one ought to be happy if the pitstop occurs without any fault.
Anyway, Kimi would've stopped thinking about 2009. Maybe, the team as well!
I think nowadays, off race events seem to be more thrilling in F1 than on race events.
Shall try to post that mess :)
Maybe, Bernie should stop creating a mess out with financial structure and rather concentrate on coming up with new rules to stop this Brawn whitewash! Race was boring to say the least.
Barichello tried a few stunts and ended up retiring.
Kimi was cool to start and ended up 9th place with no points.
Poor Massa tried his level best or maintained as it is and ended up in 6th place. Guess, one ought to be happy nowadays for Ferrari to score a point. Podium finishes are reserved for next year, provided Ferrari is there racing!
If i were Ferrari CEO, i would've never allowed for the Trio(Schumi, Ross Brawn, Jean Todt) to retire at a time. They should've been let go one per year. In that way, the new team could've been tutored well for their absence.
Gone are the days when pitstop strategies were the real winning strategies for Ferrari. Nowadays, one ought to be happy if the pitstop occurs without any fault.
Anyway, Kimi would've stopped thinking about 2009. Maybe, the team as well!
I think nowadays, off race events seem to be more thrilling in F1 than on race events.
Shall try to post that mess :)
Jun 3, 2009
Sleepy train driver.
Apparently a train driver has dozed off while driving a train and missed stopping in 2 stations. So, he reversed the train back to those 2 stations.
As per Senior Railway official, this is a small incident blown out of proportion. (heh...it's definitely a small incident thanks to no trains coming in the opposite direction)
btw, already a train had been hijacked and wrongly crashed to a goods train....
And even a train has been pulled by passengers last year.
Wonder what next can one expect from Indian Railways? (my imagination is leading only to scary stuff)
As per Senior Railway official, this is a small incident blown out of proportion. (heh...it's definitely a small incident thanks to no trains coming in the opposite direction)
btw, already a train had been hijacked and wrongly crashed to a goods train....
And even a train has been pulled by passengers last year.
Wonder what next can one expect from Indian Railways? (my imagination is leading only to scary stuff)
Hard to believe...
I was once jokingly telling my colleagues that provided the plane doesn't plunge into Atlantic and i reach US, i shall reply to them....
And when i heard this Air France flight news, it was the first thought that came to my mind.
For the last 2 days, even as a person who isn't even remotely related to this news, i am still reading cnn/bbc hoping that this whole news is some joke and the plane will return. Somehow, i am unable to believe this news.
Today, i wonder maybe some might have survived in Cast Away style.
And this article really makes one sad. Maybe, it's better to die with dear ones around rather than in this ambiguous way...
And when i heard this Air France flight news, it was the first thought that came to my mind.
For the last 2 days, even as a person who isn't even remotely related to this news, i am still reading cnn/bbc hoping that this whole news is some joke and the plane will return. Somehow, i am unable to believe this news.
Today, i wonder maybe some might have survived in Cast Away style.
And this article really makes one sad. Maybe, it's better to die with dear ones around rather than in this ambiguous way...
Jun 1, 2009
Good to be back!
Mall is crowded... WestSide is over crowded with a really long queue near the billing counter...McDonalds seems to be overflowing with people. And there are human beings everywhere in the bookstore, making it difficult even to stand and browse books...
By any chance, did the world recover from the recession in my absence? Or people have got adjusted to the recession ??
Definitely the later...
So back from the trip. It's been 6 days and i am still carrying the cough with me. :)
It's forcing one to be a really silent person in office...bcos one single sentence leads to few minutes of coughing.
Trip was great, a different experience. And i have learnt that 5 days is the limit for me to be out of the civilization, out of the so called life routine. I might crib a lot about this dull life routine... but out of it was also equally dull for me after 5 days.
I remember, 6 years ago, in one Yoga cum spiritual class, when the teacher mentioned that the ultimate thing for mind is not to think but to be still, i posed the question as what is the use of mind then?. Ofcourse, he replied some unconvincing answer for me. Similarly, for me, a break without a purpose seems difficult to digest. And this dawned after 5 days into the break.Maybe, i really donot know how to enjoy a break or maybe, i should stop analyzing a break to this extent :)
Or maybe, i didn't have the right company through out. One sad point was, there was a group of 15 school girls. Apart from them, i was the only individual girl. Quite a bad luck. And being called,"Didi" or "Mam" isn't that funny, when already one gets upset about the lost teenage days :) Also, one gets to realize that one is really old, when one doesn't seem to have any common subject to chat with the school girls beyond 1 hour. And one ought to spend 7 nights in tent with the same gang. :(
Apart from this one nibbling point, the whole trip was great. Got to meet an interesting bunch of people, realized how much being a team matters in trekking.
Also realized that wherever one is, amidst people or not, amidst civilization or not, one seems to have one's own world in mind to relish. I wonder whether this is a disease, bcos i definitely have that disease :)
But overall, the whole trek was organized perfectly. YHAI seems to have really made the whole trek fool proof. The trek routes were amazing. Everyday was more difficult than the previous day. But thanks to my Gym and stuff, i never really had a leg pain or any pain of sort. Ofcourse, there was a shoe bite. We were fed well... the tents were neat...even sleeping bags which i got were clean. If there is a thing to complain, it's about the Parathas and Aloo. But then one can't expect a five star menu after paying 3K in a remote mountain :)
One has realized that only 3 things matter for a trek - Best and right shoes, Excellent breathing technique and Mental stamina. It doesn't matter whether one is slim or not, one is physically fit or not, the above 3 things really differentiate a good trekker from the crowd.
Thanks to my cough after 4 days into the trek, i was suffering like hell on 5th day. And that was the day, when we crossed Sar pass. Thanks to the excellent bunch of guys around, i was able to finish it successfully...And this gang was formed as we were the first few to trek together and reach the previous camps. (btw, it's that cough which is still continuing and my brother is extremely irritated that i still haven't seen a doctor for that :) tomm is the deadline)
Guess, i am done with the random stuff for this post....i was actually diligently writing a diary for the first few days of the trip. Shall try to post it inspite of the terribly depressing mood one is going thru over the last few days :)
By any chance, did the world recover from the recession in my absence? Or people have got adjusted to the recession ??
Definitely the later...
So back from the trip. It's been 6 days and i am still carrying the cough with me. :)
It's forcing one to be a really silent person in office...bcos one single sentence leads to few minutes of coughing.
Trip was great, a different experience. And i have learnt that 5 days is the limit for me to be out of the civilization, out of the so called life routine. I might crib a lot about this dull life routine... but out of it was also equally dull for me after 5 days.
I remember, 6 years ago, in one Yoga cum spiritual class, when the teacher mentioned that the ultimate thing for mind is not to think but to be still, i posed the question as what is the use of mind then?. Ofcourse, he replied some unconvincing answer for me. Similarly, for me, a break without a purpose seems difficult to digest. And this dawned after 5 days into the break.Maybe, i really donot know how to enjoy a break or maybe, i should stop analyzing a break to this extent :)
Or maybe, i didn't have the right company through out. One sad point was, there was a group of 15 school girls. Apart from them, i was the only individual girl. Quite a bad luck. And being called,"Didi" or "Mam" isn't that funny, when already one gets upset about the lost teenage days :) Also, one gets to realize that one is really old, when one doesn't seem to have any common subject to chat with the school girls beyond 1 hour. And one ought to spend 7 nights in tent with the same gang. :(
Apart from this one nibbling point, the whole trip was great. Got to meet an interesting bunch of people, realized how much being a team matters in trekking.
Also realized that wherever one is, amidst people or not, amidst civilization or not, one seems to have one's own world in mind to relish. I wonder whether this is a disease, bcos i definitely have that disease :)
But overall, the whole trek was organized perfectly. YHAI seems to have really made the whole trek fool proof. The trek routes were amazing. Everyday was more difficult than the previous day. But thanks to my Gym and stuff, i never really had a leg pain or any pain of sort. Ofcourse, there was a shoe bite. We were fed well... the tents were neat...even sleeping bags which i got were clean. If there is a thing to complain, it's about the Parathas and Aloo. But then one can't expect a five star menu after paying 3K in a remote mountain :)
One has realized that only 3 things matter for a trek - Best and right shoes, Excellent breathing technique and Mental stamina. It doesn't matter whether one is slim or not, one is physically fit or not, the above 3 things really differentiate a good trekker from the crowd.
Thanks to my cough after 4 days into the trek, i was suffering like hell on 5th day. And that was the day, when we crossed Sar pass. Thanks to the excellent bunch of guys around, i was able to finish it successfully...And this gang was formed as we were the first few to trek together and reach the previous camps. (btw, it's that cough which is still continuing and my brother is extremely irritated that i still haven't seen a doctor for that :) tomm is the deadline)
Guess, i am done with the random stuff for this post....i was actually diligently writing a diary for the first few days of the trip. Shall try to post it inspite of the terribly depressing mood one is going thru over the last few days :)
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