Mirror Mirror on the wall - Why don't you proof-read?

This 2nd page news in the tabloid - Pune Mirror caught my eye on a lazy sunday morning... And I started pondering on the reasons why they do not 'proof-read' their content before publishing...

 

(Taken at f/5.6, ISO-200 and 1/180 speed with kit lens - 14-42mm)

Probable Reason#1:
Seems like they have forgotten the age old concept of proof-reading in this new technologically advanced era

Probable Reason#2:

The person proof-reading, recently got fired due to slumping sales of the tabloid and consequent cost cutting.

Probable Reason#3: 

Their intention is indeed noble, they want lazy bums like me not to be too lazy on a lazy sunday morning. They want to help us get out of the laziness cocoon, and write this post.

Probable Reason#4:

Another noble intention - to help make better photographers for tomorrow, by making them jump out of the bed, and head straight to get the camera and shoot a "classic" like this one...


So what reason is it, please tell us Mirror Mirror on the Wall!

Exposed to Auto-Exposure Locking...

...and now I realize why lot of my photographs with a bright background, used to come dark. And with the lotsa test-drives that I am taking my camera (and my new found interest too!) out for, I finally realized that the right way to pick such pictures is by making use of Auto Exposure Locking. So, these were taken with the AE Locked by point the camera to the ground initially, and then taking the picture.

Here are a couple of them taken the same way...

Both of them were taken in overcast conditions. They are over-exposed to some extent, perhaps I should instead try adjusting the exposure compensation manually next time, so that they look just right.

A Puneri patya showcasing different rules - well, for dumb humans and smart dogs?

Today is my 4th consecutive day at the jogging track in our society. And something grabbed my attention yesterday, that is a Puneri istyle message to Dog owners, who come for a stroll at the track with their dogs.

There is a temple, around which the track is built, and hence some folks do not like dogs in the vicinity for obvious reasons. But then, the same jogging track is the place, where chaps from the society throw wafer packets in the evenings, burst crackers and even gossip about the the deepest secrets of other families.

Certainly, religious 'rules' are twisted for humans and animals at will...!

(Photo Courtesy: My Nokia 3110c, not bad for the image quality right?)

'More' is No More!!

In times when departmental stores are coming up like mushrooms do in monsoon, there is one chain of stores in particular, which has caught my eye, well not so much for the good reasons though.

'More' the Aditya-Birla retail venture, which has stores all over Pune are now probably seeing a downward trend. In the last 18 months, I have seen 2 of their outlets in my locality shut shop. The reasons (by them), "Sir, the rent has been increased for that place", "Sir, I do not know why that outlet is closed".

For one of the outlets that got shut, in its merrier days, I had caught up on a 'friendly' discussion with one of the fellows, handling their fruits/vegetables section. Here is a snippet of the conversation (from whatever I remember)...

    Me  - "Hello my friend, Please help me find something in the vegetable section"

    Him - "Sure sir"

I wait for next 5 mins and still no trace of him. I get what I want and move to the billing counter. There I see him opening another billing counter (other than the one active then), to give some 'preferential' treatment to probably his 'favourite' male customer.

    Me  - "How can you do this? There is one counter already open, and I had asked you for something"

    Him - "Sir, sorry but..."

    Me  - "This way, just like your other store, even this would get closed"

    Him - "Could be sir, but I have my own store in Balaji Nagar, I am there in the mornings, do visit me if you want fresh vegetables"

    Me  - "Would you sell it to me at better prices there?" (just to see his reaction)

    Him - "Why not Sir, please do come!"


It would not take too long for anyone to make out the actual reason, once you visit any of their outlets.

• Try to pick up a vegetable or a fruit and get it weighed, chances are that the prices you see on display are different than the prices in their bills. If you try asking the reason about the older prices on display, the answer would be "Sir, those prices are older, the system has the latest" (GDIT* - I also know that man, but at least apologize for the same!).

• Try going to their freezer and you would see only 1 brand of milk, which is not available anywhere (and probably would not be bought by anyone) in Pune. One look at the pouch, and you realize that the milk is due for expiry in a day. I have never come across a pouch there, which had a 'Use before date' of more than the next day. The reason? See the pouch again, and you would realize (once more!). The milk is from some XYZ dairy in Thane, and just marketed by the Aditya-Birla group. So how on earth it is supposed to have a greater shelf life, when it needs transportation (after packaging) all the way from Thane (160 Kms from here + the distance traveled distributing the pouches all over the city)

• Try taking a glance at the biscuits area, and you see 'promotional' offers like "Buy 6 packs and get Rs. 10 off" on a pack of biscuits that cost Rs. 20 per pack. How is that promotional, and that too on biscuits? I am taking the biscuits for me and my wife, and not to my shop that I would buy 6 packs at one go, just to get less than 2 bucks off per pack. I would instead prefer even if you give me 1 buck off for a packet of biscuit purchased.

Hmm.. so going by all this, 'More' would soon be 'No More', and I fear would be soon forgotten by people too, that there existed 'More' in the city of Pune.


*GDIT = God Damn IT :)

Cheap tricks...

Got the following as a forward in my email from a very close friend...
~~

Find the error, its impossible:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Did you know that 80% of UCDS students could not find the error above?
Forward this to at least 5 people with the title
'Find the error, it's impossible',
and when you click 'Send',
the answer will be right in front of your eyes!

~~
This is something new, have seen earlier emails supposedly originating from Microsoft, HCL, Nokia and types, claiming to give freebies(and even money!) to all who forward the same to more than 'n' people...

I really don't know when would netizens get more mature and stop initiating such really cheap email chains, which I am sure will do more rounds than my hard disk does per minute!

At least now, someone who comes across this blog would not forward email having similar content to this, and I'd have saved some network traffic, doing my bit to contribute to faster internet :-)

"Mann ka Radio" please!!

The only time I tune in to the FM radio channels is when I drive to office, and that too just because I am too lazy to burn more than a couple CDs of my favorite songs :-)

The RJs are more often than not decent too, they speak well in all the 3 languages. However, of late I have noticed that they also advertise a particular brand of car, cement, blood sugar monitor device etc. How good is that?

I would not want to (and so would most of the population) listen to all such advertisements from the RJs themselves. For ads, there are the ad slots in between the good numbers. The job of an RJ (I believe)is to praise a good number, remind us of some good old numbers, play some apt songs at that time of the day, give us some useful information about happenings around, talk to the listeners and the list goes on..
But, please do not make me hear your banter praising some brand, which you might not have used yourself. I know where to go and search, when I need to know about which car, apartment, apparel and underwear is really good!

So, please "Mann ka radio, bajjne do jara..."

(Photo courtesy : arm.net.in)

It's not about your brakes...

This happened about a couple of weeks back, while I was driving one of the arterial roads of Pune. The sedan in front of me braked suddenly, so did I with the 'power assisted Vacuum front disc brakes' on my Wagon-R. However the six-seater behind me, couldn't brake in time (probably he was never educated about keeping safe distance) and THUD! I got a nice jerk on my back, and my car got a nice dent on its back.


Claimed insurance, Maruti Sai-Service, Pune did a neat job of getting the repair done in just 2 days. The Fix? The boot door was replaced, so was the rear bumper.


Now the costs incurred ..
To the insurance company - Rs.19.3K
To the car owner - Rs. 3.7K

Now you know, it's not about YOUR brakes, it's about the brakes of the vehicle behind you!

(Photo courtesy: My Nokia-3110c :-) )

Push Button Start - Really neat?

Happened to come across the feature that's come on a couple of new cars here in India viz. the Chevy Cruze and the Nissan Micra. Yes, The push button start/stop feature.

Does it really sound exciting? I remember my cousin's Diesel powered, 1976 modeled HM Amby which had a similar feature to crank the engine. And now, I see it again on atleast these 2 cars in the Indian market.

I could not make any sense - neither aesthetic nor from a usability perspective, as to why would a manufacturer incorporate such a feature and also boast about it?

The Indian Train lingo...

As a kid, I remembered asking a lot of questions from around the world to my dad, and I must say he answered most of them with a lot of patience especially with the amount of "whys" and "hows" I used to bombard him with :)

However, there was one question I always asked but never got a concrete answer, for the obvious reason. That was, why the trains (mainly the local EMUs) in Mumbai hoot in a certain rhythm at times? Was that done to indicate an accident? A faulty engine? A boorish railway line crosser mowed down?
The answer to this age-old question of mine was published in the Times Of India(TOI) Mumbai edition one fine Sunday!


Supposedly, every driver who undergoes the training is taught the lingo amongst many other things before he gets behind the wheel.


So, the next time you hear the engine driver honk in one of those tones, you know what's happening, thanks TOI! :)

What's in the name?

As I start re-posting to this blog, many who read might want to know why the name - GrowWithJava, when I'd be blogging just about anything.

Well, for starters, I'm a Java Developer (now a team/tech lead though by designation) and that is rooted in my fascination and love for the programming language. And also, the fact that I have actually Grown (technically, socially, professionally, personally etc etc) with Java is the reason. Apart from giving me my bread and butter, it has also seen me through some tough times, helping me digress away from a few nasty twists of life...

Java apart, to know me better, you should also know that I love long drives in my small Wagon, spending time with my family, watching NatGeo, humorous movies, cracking "sweet" jokes and recently developed some love for photography - thanks to a new DSLR gifted by my bro :)


That's it I guess before I start praising myself on where I started and to what(and how) I've grown with Java :)