Making a hoarding related to movies or politics requires quite a bit of talent, especially around rendering the actor or politician. The former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaraman, used to be a popular subject of political hoardings, usually in the form of gigantic cutouts. Her cutouts, along with her positioning as Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) practically gave her an iconic position not unlike Che Guevara.

On a more technical note, the word hoarding is derived from Old French hourd, which means fence or scaffolding. I am also reminded of a great verse I read from Ogden Nash recently:

I think that I shall never see

A billboard lovely as a tree.

Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,

I'll never see a tree at all.

(Note: Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is making headlines because he was elected as the first non-white governor of the state in about 130 years. I read in his wikipedia bio that he helped his wife deliver their son by himself and named him Slade. That's what got me writing this blog entry.)

After several such delay-addled flights on JetBlue, I decided to try Virgin America, Richard Branson's low cost airline whose goal is to make flying fun again. I was fairly excited about flying Virgin America, even days before the actual flight (Karolina can attest!); I can't remember the last time I was bouncing off the walls like that. I was most excited about the in-seat enterainment system, which included TV, chat and games. I was also psyched about the availability of a power plug so I could work on my laptop without it running out of battery.

In the end, the Virgin America experience was overall on part with that of JetBlue.

Where VA was better...

The crew members on VA were a lot friendlier than those on JetBlue--as our takeoff was delayed for 45 minutes in evening rush hour air traffic, the captain offered to make up for it by letting passengers buy movies on his credit card. The shiny black leather seats were also slightly better. The chat feature didn't work on my outbound flight; chat worked on my return flight, but I slept through most of it because it was a redeye.

VA and JetBlue were about the same...

Legroom wasn't substantially different between the two airlines. I should note that I sat in a non-exit row seat. On many VA flights, you may be required to pay $25-50, itemized separately, to get a coveted exit row seat.

Where JetBlue was better...

JetBlue has some free snacks, which are useful if you arrive at the gate at the last minute, and feel gouged paying $8 for a cheese-and-fruit plate on board VA flights. Also, JetBlue has full-on live TV, not packaged 4-hour programming that repeats 1.5X on a cross-country flight.

Although I didn't end up taking advantage of a lot of the nifty features of VA, I'd say it's worth flying them once, just to give them a try. For future flights, it's a tossup whether I'd take JetBlue or VA--it depends on how the rewards points compare. I do know that I'll avoid flying out of JFK around 6:00pm, because of the delays it introduces in any airline's schedule.

WhenGuard is a simple Web service I wrote entirely for fun and to keep in touch with my inner programmer. I decided to put it up publicly because it might even be useful for some people.

WhenGuard is a Web service that can keep a secret. If you are a public relations professional, blogger, educator, attorney, musician or anyone who deals in time-sensitive information, you might find WhenGuard useful. Please do check it out and send some feedback my way!

The book is as haughty in making astonishingly sweeping statements about various American and European cultures as it is humble in explaining how the consequences that flowed from these Codes successfully persuaded people around the world to buy various products. Every chapter follows a comforting, if repetitive, parallel structure. First, Rapaille sets the stage for the Code at hand by stating some commonly held truisms that relate to the subject being explored. For instance, at the start of the section exploring the American code for Home, he says "When we gather for Thanksgiving Dinner, we reconnect with our homes and affirm the importance that home has in our lives". He hints at a hypothetical archetype after stating a few more of these bits of conventional wisdom. Then he lists supposedly verbatim accounts of people he has interviewed on the subject (in this case, of home). His Patented Method™ essentially consists of a focus-group-meets-shrink-session-meets-pajama-party, where subjects spend three hours (including one lying down on pillows) telling him about their first memories of home. He cherry picks pieces of these interviews, develops them a little bit and makes an astonishing jump to uncover the archetypal Code IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

The logical leaps Rapaille makes when unveiling the code can seem a bit, uh, lofty but he usually manages to redeem himself by explaining the consequences that flow from the Code. He rounds out the explanation by mentioning examples of advertising campaigns which were successful by 'staying on Code', or adhering to the archetype. In passing, he also mentions counterexamples--advertising campaigns that failed because they went 'off Code'. His method is altogether fascinating, even if I don't always agree with everything that flows from a Code. I won't give away too much; the book is an engaging read and I don't want to spoil it for you. The money sentence in the book, however, has to be "Ronald Reagan was much more reptilian than either Jimmy Carter or Walter Mondale." I burst out laughing when I read this sentence. Attempting to explain it though will spoil the hilarity, so I am not going to attempt it here.

Needless to say, the good Monsieur does not even go near uncovering Culture Codes for the emerging markets of the world: Brazil, Russia, India and China, which will drive the future of worldwide commerce in the decades to come. I am going to try to make my own hypotheses for Indian Culture Codes, although there is no way I can test them out by hosting three hour patented pajama parties for my fellow countrymen. I've said here before that I think Indian and American cultures aren't all that different; I'd hazard a guess that it's because the Codes for many things in Indian and American cultures are the same. 

The Code for India in Indian Culture is RESILIENCE AND REBIRTH. Indian children are raised with the message that Indian culture is the most valuable thing they are going to inherit. One of the most heavily emphasized attributes of this culture is its timelessness. India was the choice target of multiple waves of invaders from Central Asia and they left unimaginable trails of death and destruction in their wake. Every major invasion undoubtedly changed India but India's resilience helped in its rebirth after each one of them. This theme comes out in Jawaharlal Nehru's first speech to Independent India on Aug 15, 1947. He said

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom...We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again."

which really captures it best. So, any products that emphasize resilience, (cyclical) timelessness and rebirth do really well in the Indian market. Remember the multi-generational commercial for Woodward's Gripe Water? It's an old commercial but one of my most vivid and lingering memories of advertising. If you want Indian Cultural Codes for other things, maybe large sums of money will induce me to share them with you ;) They sure made it easier for M.Rapaille. Jus' sayin'.

• It is VERY action-packed! Not only do Harry, Ron & Hermione encounter the Death Eaters a number of times, there is a major battle scene at Hogwarts which is where practically all named characters in the series who have not appeared in the book already are brought in to fight. The amount of action in the narrative means that it would be GREAT to watch on screen when the movie eventually comes out.
• The stories behind most of the easily caricatured characters, such as Dumbledore and Snape, are revealed. There is a lot more to their character than previous books have let on. I am only disappointed by the pacing of these details. All too often in the previous books, things happen in Harry's favor for no palpable reason. Rowling has held back several crucial details of how the wizarding world works until this last book. Apart from forcing readers to reason retroactively about previous Harry Potter books, this approach ends up stuffing the last book with so much information that it becomes hard for readers to process.
• It is VERY detail-oriented. It is certainly impressive how seemingly insignificant details from earlier books in the series take on huge roles in the development of the plot. Keeping all these details consistent is no small feat. If you want to speculate about the plot before reading the book, the Hints from Rowling section in an earlier revision of the book's Wikipedia article reveals several bits of information directly relevant to the plot (warning: don't try to visit the current Wikipedia article -- it's full of spoilers). Having said that...
• There are a number of what I'd probably call cul-de-sacs in the plot that may have been relevant in earlier revisions but seem a bit out of place in the final version. For instance, towards the end, Ron--along with Hermione--pulls off a very unconvincing feat to procure an object or objects that have no real relevance for the rest of the book (sorry I am being so obtuse--no intentional spoilers here). There are also a number of aspects Rowling glosses over even though they were set up to be important from previous books. For instance, readers looking to learn more about the 'theology' (no better word for it) behind Horcruxes will be disappointed.
• Readers who are also Lord of the Rings fans will notice a number of parallels between the two stories, although this is hardly the first time we've talked about it on this blog. Goblins in the Harry Potter series, who guard the vaults at Gringotts, are a LOT like dwarves, complete with superior metallurgical skills. The battle of Hogwarts is not unlike the battle of Helm's Deep, where a whole bunch of magical creatures are thrust into a huge climactic battle. The Deathly Hallows share a lot of similarities with the One Ring, complete with their potentially corrupting influences, although the book obviously does not make too much of these similarities.
• For all the outrage from religious groups about the godlessness of the series, there are significant parallels to Christian mythology in the last book. Even if we set these parallels aside for a moment, this book, more than any other in the series, emphasizes the importance of active, moral choices.
• For a number of characters that are brought into the main narrative, they are mentioned once or twice, after which they plain disappear! Although there is a somewhat lame epilogue—which reads more like a bit of fan fiction than anything else—there is very little information about how dozens of characters end up later in life.

Now that my curiosity about the story is satisfied, I'll wait until the paperback version comes out to buy a hard copy.

That just about sums it up for me. All I will say is 'WTF?!'

• As part of my ongoing efforts to get in better shape, it's a good way for me to keep track of what I actually eat.
• It's also a good way for others to keep track of what I eat and peer pressure me away from eating too many empty calories.
• I spend more time than I should researching restaurant options--this might have to do with the difficulty of finding vegetarian food in certain pockets of the city such as the one I work in. All the same, I seem to have developed a mini reputation among my friends for being a restaurant database. Now, anyone interested can keep track of where I eat and shadow me.

Bon appetit!

I just thought I'd put in a note saying this weblog is NOT dead. It has seen a period of inactivity because of demanding business and personal travel schedules. But dead it is not.

Thankfully, the most demanding time is behind me. There are a number of half-written posts among my documents which will be posted to this blog in upcoming weeks.

Meanwhile, I hope you're having a fabulous summer.

--Vishy.

Note that I am a vegetarian, so I'm only going to concern myself with Indian vegetarian cooking. India has had an awesome vegetarian tradition mostly because of the sheer variety of ingredients available there; vegetables, gourds, legumes and lentils abound in even corner grocery stores. Here are the food groups I pick from when concocting a meal (so as not to break up the text too much, I've linked to Wikipedia definitions of Indian food terms when I can):

I. Starchy/bulky foods: Potatoes, pumpkin, soy chunks, tofu and paneer all fall under this category. I think of these foods as central ingredients in a meal because they add carbs and bulk to the meal. Starchy/bulky foods are well and good but they are pretty insipid (except perhaps for paneer), which is where I bring in...
II. Foods for taste and color: Any other vegetables that have color, a distinctive taste or both. Peppers, mushrooms, peas, okra and eggplant would definitely fall under this category. Not all vegetables in American supermarkets are available in India, so I'd stick to the ones above to start with and experiment with others when I'm more confident. No matter what combination of vegetables you use though, your Indian vegetarian meal will be utterly incomplete without...
III. Spices: Indian meals may seem almost overwhelming in flavor, but you'd be surprised how much of the flavor can come from one or two spice mixes that you can buy at an Indian grocery store. If you want to use the same spices many kitchens in India use, look for spice mixes made by companies like Everest or MDH. Safe bets are garam masala, pav bhaji masala, chhole masala, shahi paneer masala and dal masala. I don't shy away from fish masala, chicken masala and other meat masalas; contrary to what their name might indicate, they are usually vegetarian. They're similar in makeup to garam masala but emphasize different spices.  Today I use spice mixes along with individual spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and cilantro; sticking with spice mixes alone is a good idea to start with though. Spices and two veggies will get you pretty far, and maybe even all the way, but occasionally you want to add in a special touch...
IV. Sauces (optional):  Sauces don't always have to be creamy like the stuff you get in Indian restaurants in the U.S. (in fact, I much prefer it if they are not). They can be tomatoey, creamy, floury or pasty. The question of whether or not to add a sauce to a dish is hard to answer because it depends the specific ingredients in the dish as well as what it's going to be eaten with (rice or rotis). It took me a few tries to figure it out, but a good rule of thumb is to have a sauce if you're gonna eat the dish with rice. As an aside, I should mention that saucy dishes are called 'wet'/'gravy' (Hin. geela), while dishes without sauces are called 'dry' (Hin. sookha). You'll see this distinction in translation on some menus in the U.S. as well, especially ones with Indian Chinese cuisine.

I've only mentioned sauces in passing here, but not actually gone into how to make them. Trust me that this apparent oversight is not intentional. The next post will outline methods to put a meal together using ingredients chosen from the four food groups above. It'll also contain instructions on how to make some standard sauces from scratch.

Seriously though, in the big picture, my quote was about a fairly arcane and technical subject if I do say so myself, but hey, I have to start somewhere. One of my colleagues snagged a USA Today quote, so I yet have miles to go before I sleep.

I remember hearing what later became the SOA mantra for the first time perhaps 5 years ago, around when XML Web services on Microsoft .NET came out. I don't particularly care to go into the benefits of SOA in great detail in this post. The one sentence summary though is that a service-oriented architecture, built from a bag of loosely-coupled, interoperating services that can be composed together leads to higher flexibility and agility (both good things) in a business because the knowledge needed to answer business questions is all in services that can talk to each other instead of being locked up in siloed business units that don't. I started to wonder though--how would it be if, instead of being merely a technical implementation consideration in a business, an SOA lay at the core of the business itself?

I am a strong believer in the software engineering maxim that software written by any company carries the footprint of the organizational structure of the company. A recurring theme I saw in the experience of the many banks represented at the show was the difficulty of grafting an SOA onto an already functioning business. Apparently, finding the right SOA vendor is relatively easy. But transforming internal business processes so that business logic is separated out into independent service units is much harder. If the many high-stakes technology end users on Wall St are serious about reaping the benefits of SOA, they should construct their businesses as an SOA and let that leave its organizational imprint on their technology stacks. How might they go about doing this?

1. Everyone in a managerial role, all the way down to the lowest rung, defines say five business questions that they and their reports can answer. They might be long questions, possibly involving scenarios or set-ups, but they must NOT be open-ended questions. Examples could be, "How many accounts does Fidelity Investments hold with us?", or "What will the budget be for the upcoming financial year?"
2. Enter these questions into one company wide, searchable full-text database. This database will make it really easy to find which manager is responsible for a given business question. Knowledge will no longer be locked up in silos, because instead of reimplementing some business functionality in your own group's software, you can reuse such knowledge from someone else.
3. Work with technologists to develop services that answer these business questions.
4. ???
5. Profit

Essentially, this database would be the plain-English, business equivalent of a service registry. Software requirements should always flow from the business questions expressed in this central database, which should be the authoritative source. The ??? in step 4 above, aside from being a throwback to the old Slashdot chestnut, is actually intended seriously. There are a number of unknowns to be taken into account: what if I need a valuation algorithm, but I don't like the depreciation and cash flow methods that Bob from accounting uses? What if Jane from payroll doesn't give me answers in the way I like? To a lot of these questions, I don't necessarily know the answer. I do believe though that this scheme could work as more than just a thought experiment. Any thoughts from my readers?

Most of these drinks describe themselves as 'Flavored Beer', even though they taste nothing like beer. Also, they are known simply as 'girly drinks' or 'chick beer' in common parlance. So, why not call a bottle of say, Smirnoff Ice a boe, as in

Boe, a beer, a female beer
Gray, a splash of Smirnoff Ice