British Band sells its album directly to consumers

The Strait Times Digital Life carries a the story of a band that has managed to get fans pay for music, but without restricting them. Just opposite of what popular record label companies do. A noteworthy snippet from this article:

Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman told a conference...
"We expected our business will remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and filesharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong."



Let me diverge from Digital Rights Management to affordability. The above article makes me think of India, which is one of the countries where pirated music (and software) make a good business. Why is that? Despite the emergence of multiple means of accessing music, record labels are unwilling to reduce the price of their CDs, so clearly common man cannot afford them and goes for cheaper pirated copies. The same is true for software and printed books.

I understand that these companies are existing not for charity, but to make a profit. Only if they understand that making these goods more affordable increases volume and drives more business to them & reduces piracy...

(Note: using google cache as I could not link directly to the story. The Strait Times requires an online subscription for Digital Life. It is a wonderful weekly print edition though).

Amazon can "Kindle" the Future of Reading: NewsWeek

A great weekend read from NewsWeek for people who are both book-lovers and Web 2.0 enthusiasts. This story talks about kindle, a new electronic appliance (& service) from Amazon, which is to reading as I-Pod is to music. Buying books for Kindle would be as easy as buying new songs from Itunes. So, Kindle is everything a normal book is (its shape, texture and size are that of a paperback) plus also the following additional features:

* A book that holds several hundreds of books in it
* A book that is connected in real-time to other books and the web. Making a book connected enables real-time updates/changes.



I'm going to grab a gadget as soon as I can afford it. My only worry is the Digital Rights Management around the service (which in case of music industry has led it to destruction instead of flourishing it).

Ranting after some break

I haven't touched this blog for months together. For one, I was travelling like crazy or busy with work or busy with chores. Now, in another country, but not yet settled, thought I would just rant something.

I want to write about the previous and current travel experiences, but it will take some time to consolidate, so let me talk about Ubuntu (my favourite OS) again.

I was running Ubuntu 6.06 without any issues, but one fine day I did stop the OS forcefully when I think it was doing something serious, then that's it, the kernel went panic.

Then I decided to try Kubuntu 7.10. While KDE is highly configurable, after sometime I decided that I should also have a GNOME. So I installed GNOME on top of Kubuntu. Then read about Xubuntu, also wanted to try it, so installed Xfce on the top of Kubuntu. So, now I had one OS with 3 desktop environments, bloating each other.

I found myself almost always booting to GNOME. It also turned out that GNOME and KDE were not that interoperable, with my favourite K programs (for eg., Korganizer & Konqueror) often hanging in GNOME. After some time, I ran out of space, so I uninstalled xfce.

One fine morning, all of my K programs stopped working under GNOME. And GNOME was an irresistible environment for me (I am aware of fiery KDE Vs. GNOME war and that KDE almost always wins).

So I had no choice but to uninstall KDE Desktop altogether. So, it was a kind of reverse migration (Start with a full blown Kubuntu desktop and end up in a Ubuntu desktop).


But till today I didn't regret my decision. I'm able to run the latest version of Lotus Notes on Ubuntu and new Lotus Symphony Editor from IBM. I'm able to access my encrypted Wi-Fi from Ubuntu currently sitting in my bedroom.


So the conclusion, Ubuntu Rocks!

Latest Kubuntu should be more usable

I haven't blogged for months: mostly because of two exams that I have taken, a project at office that was plagued by so many problems, which came to some shape only recently.

Got a few days to try out new things and this time it is the recently released version of Kubuntu (Feisty 7.04). I already have a dual boot on my computer (Windows XP and Ubuntu 6.06). With a 40 GB hard disk having 2 Operating systems, there is absolutely no space. So I decided to try out Kubuntu in a VMWare Virtual machine, with the VM sitting on an external hard disk.

Downloading Kubuntu 7.04 and burning a CD with the iso image are straightforward. You get a live CD along with the install image out of this. Live CD allows you to try out the OS without any changes to your existing system.

Install within a VM was a breeze too and you get a pretty KDE Desktop with all bells and whistles. But is that good enough? I found that it is not so. (K)Ubuntu claims to be the OS for human beings, not for geeks. So, this means there should be minimal configuration to get a workable system. Ubuntu 6.06 lacked a lot of stuff out-of-box for reasons beyond the scope of the normal users (playing windows codecs, java enabled browser, flash plugins). But, people have made it really easy to install them in one shot. Check out EasyUbuntu and Automatix. With a click of few buttons, you can download and install all these third party stuff.

However, there is no such facility for (K)Ubuntu 7.04 yet (perhaps because it is pretty new). As a result, I have to do a few tweaks to get my new Kubuntu to the same level of my original Ubuntu. And I'm not successful in all the steps.

For those people who try the latest version of Kubuntu, I'm listing what I tried out to make it more usable. This is not a complete list, but will get you going:

1. Install Kubuntu Feisty.
2. Adept Manager is the default software package manager for Kubuntu. It may have a problem opening, despite entering the right password. Do these steps to fix it:

Open file: /etc/sudoers
sudo cat /etc/sudoers
and check for your username. If it is not there, add an entry by running
sudo visudo. The entry should look like:
ALL=(ALL) ALL

3. Install ntfs-3g (If you want NTFS read/write support)
4. Install libxine-extracodecs (if mp3 files won't play)
sudo apt-get install libxine-extracodec
5. Download flash from Adobe site:
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

6. To add Flash support to Konqueror
mkdir .mozilla/plugins
Install flash which should detect the above directory and add a few files to it.
Go to Konqueror Plugin Configuration Window and add the above folders in Netscape Plugins section and scan for plugins. It should find the flash plugin.
7. Install StreamTuner (for Internet Radio)
8. Install XMMS (This is used by StreamTuner by default)
9. A biggest drawback of default KDE menu is, it does not have recently/frequently used applications. Installing Kickoff will fix it. It is available for
download from here:
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Environment/Tools/Suse-Kickoff-for-Kubuntu-20919.shtml
To install it use this command:
sudo dpkg -i kicker-kickoff_1_i386.deb
Kickoff is not that pretty, however it does the job.

End note: The above configuration apart, I have noticed a few more problems with KDE as such. My desktop freezed twice when I was creating some shortcut from the KDE menu. This never happened to me when I use Gnome. Not to say that you will have the same problem, just watch out.

Update: Oops!! I failed do a good research before claiming that Automatix is not available in Kubuntu Feisty 7.04. I just figured it out and I can now play mp3, avi, VCDs and DVDs without any problem. Detailed installation instructions are available.

However, my endnote still stays.

How IT enabling a business can make it worse

Banks have various types of accounts. In India, Recurring Deposit (aka, RD) is a popular means of saving every month. It's not as attractive as stocks, mutual funds or Systematic Investment Plans, but it is one of the safest and regular means of saving (as long as the credit rate of the bank is good).



Bank of Baroda, where I have an account has a special type of RD scheme. With an normal RD scheme, you can only save a fixed amount every month. For instance, if your installment is Rs. x at the time of opening an account, it should always be Rs. x, nothing more, nothing less. But the uniqueness of this special account is, you can deposit anything equal to or more than the minimum installment (of course, there is an upper limit, but that is very high).

I found this scheme very attractive, because my expenses vary every month and I can't really predict how much I can save. So, I jumped to the sky and opened a "special" RD account for the minimum installment of Rs. 6000.

For quite a few months, I was happily depositing Rs. 6000, Rs. 8000 and even Rs. 10000. So far, so good.

One fine day, when I attempted to pay Rs. 8000 as the installment, I was stopped by the teller. She told me that I would have to pay in multiples of Rs. 6000 only. I was surprised and showed her all my past receipts paying various amounts. Know what her response was?

It could have been like that in the past, but not any longer.

Me: But why wasn't there a notification to me, either through mail or phone?

She: I don't know about that, but that is the policy now.

Me: (wanted to probe a little) Can you tell me the real reason of why it changed now?

She: Sir, we have deployed a new Core Banking Solution called ******* and it does not allow paying different amounts. Even if we allowed it, we will end up doing a lot of calculations and that means a lot of trouble for us.
(Funny, I thought doing a lot of calculations was bankers' bread and better)

Me: Okay, please allow me to pay Rs. 8000 this time only. From next month you can enforce the new policy.

She: Sorry Sir, nothing can be done about that, you got to comply to what our IT system dictates (She started sounding very rude here and raised her voice), there is no way that our IT system can be modified.

I would not budge. I ran from pillar to post to prove my point (talked to her boss, talked to his boss). I explained to them how it will make things very difficult for me and I'll be forced to save either too less or too much every month. But instead of listening to me, everyone was trying to educate me on how to go with the bank's dramatic policy changes without complaints!

Finally I asked why the branch can't push the management to abolish this scheme as soon as they can (so the customers will not mistakenly believe that they still have a special RD account) or force the IT vendor to make provisions of the special scheme. Since they have implemented the IT solution in hundreds of branches and presumably paid a lot of money, I didn't think it is difficult for them to raise the red flag with the vendor. The response was simple: Sorry sir, we are powerless to even escalate this to our management. Already we have lost many customers, please don't publicize this.

Later, I was analyzing the key issues the bank has (discounting the rude behavior of the staff):

1. The bank may have posh interiors and state-of-the-art Core Banking Solution. However, there is no CRM or formal feedback system in place.

2. I'm not sure if the branch staff are taking the issues to upper management. Even if they do, I'm not too sure if they are taken seriously. In my case, the best response could be to ring up a higher official (maybe sitting in the head office), escalate this and ask how to handle this case. The next best response could be to just give me a piece of paper to vent off my anger and then promptly send it to the head office. While this may not have changed anything on their side, it would have at least pacified me that I'm heard.

Now you can guess if I'll ever do anymore business with this bank!

How IT Enabling a Business can make it better

In India, customer service is often overlooked, especially when the customer is a consumer (individual) rather than a corporate entity. This story is about a bank in India, which recently made me rejoice because of its IT systems.



Indian Bank is a public sector bank in India. A decade ago, almost all national banks in India looked like Government Offices. People living in India will not find it difficult to visualize the scene. The bank would typically operate in an old building, with long hanging fans; people crunching numbers between piles of paper; common man waiting for their service forever. However, it is all changed now and many banks are IT enabled, at least in cities. Indian Bank is no different.

My requirement: Send money to someone who got an account in the same bank but in another town. So, I visited a local branch in Bangalore.

The first appearance of the bank made me wonder if it was a private bank. The ambience was pretty good.

The moment I entered, there was a machine which gave me a token on pressing a button. It had a serial number. I had to simply wait for my turn whch would be announced by a voice and show up in a LED display along with the counter number. The way they have integrated this machine with their workload and the way they juggle the counter numbers based on the traffic is amazing for a national bank!

The story does not end here. Usually if we want to send cash to someone in another part of India, we typically get a Demand Draft (DD) from the bank in the recipient's name, seal it in an envelope and send it across using courier/mail. As such, getting a DD is not difficult, but you have to pay a hefty commission and also do some effort to send it yourself. But, now it is all easy, thanks to a Core Banking Solution deployed by these people. All I needed was the recipient's core banking number and the money was instantly credited to the recipient's account. No commission, no need to send it through (snail) mail and no delay.

Total time to send money: 20 mins. Life has been definitely made easier!

Do you have a story where you got good service or saved time because a business was IT enabled?

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New look

Friends, I agree, the layout and colors of a blog matter.

Changed the look and feel of my blog as per the request of few of my readers.

Pizza Corner's IT story

Pizza Corner is a Pizza restaurant chain in India. Started as a single branch in 1996, now it has around 50 locations all over India and can compete with MNCs such as Pizza Hut.



Benefit, a magazine which focusses about the IT side of businesses, runs a story on Pizza Corner's business, IT enablement and directions. (free pdf download)

The unique thing here is, unlike other magazines, which hardly cover anything more than the current IT scenario of such a business and their future IT plans, Benefit goes one step ahead and suggests a few best practices to the business too.

I have summarized what the magazine suggests to Pizza Corner:

1. Have options like mobile telephone exchange and off-site data repository for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery.

2. Utilize Supply Chain Management, as a Pizza requires specialised ingredients.

3. Let customers pay using SMS (A popular restaurant in Mumbai has already started this service).

4. Secure your premises using IP based CCTV and security systems.

5. Leverage Google Earth in your website, so people can easily locate your outlets.

My two cents addition:

6. Use a good CRM system, value customer feedback and use it for service improvement.

Lessons from a performance appraisal

If you are working for any organization, whether big or small, you have to go through the ritual of performance appraisal at the year end or start of next year.

This can be both good and bad. Good because, you get an opportunity to know your strengths and weaknesses as perceived by the management.

But it can be bad as well, especially if your boss only talks about the areas of improvement and can't see any good things that you have done. It shatters your morality and confidence level.

I recently got a similar feedback, which was more crucifying rather than pampering. Initially I attempted to prove my side, pointing out a few exceptional things that I had actually done. But I'm not sure if he saw them, as the argument never seemed to end. The discussion ended coldly.

After the usual emotional reaction of "it should not have happened this way", I slowly began to accept the situation. Accepting the situation immediately set me free and I started thinking forward.

Then I was randomly browsing tips on how to win in business and in life from an entrepreneur and he linked to some advice on how to handle failure and learn from it. It was a timely advice! Here is how I used this article to get good insight into my problem.

What is the problem?

Performance rating is not great.

Problem Divided into chunks

(Note: I'm in a customer service organization)

I...

1. did not liaise with the sales people very well.

2. did very few high value assignments.

3. (Surprisingly, in the process, I figured out a few exceptional things I had achieved, but unfortunately) did not market them very well, so my manager failed to see them.

4. did not attend a lot of conferences where I can get good sales leads.

Solutions (Things in my control)

1. After each assignment, follow up with the sales team and get a holistic picture of the deal.

2. Network with the sales team to figure out new opportunities and to know more about our important customers.

3. Keep track of customers' wish-list in our products and constantly communicate the same to developers. This can be an excuse to develop good rapport with the development team.

4. Actively seek key conferences/events in my domain and showcase good solutions there.

5. Engage in continued learning and education.

Things beyond my control

1. The opinion of my boss about me. No matter how much I try to prove myself, he is going to be himself. No point in trying to change him.

What to do immediately?

Try #2 and #5 in solutions.

So, the ritual has indeed taught me a good lesson.

A lighter editorial

Editorials in newspapers are typically perceived to be serious and typically (atleast stereotypically!) read by nobody except those with grey hair who don't have a better job to do or political leaders who have got so much to do. For example one may start like.

The ongoing war on terrorism in pursuit of the fundamentalist ethnic groups is a commendable behaviour in the light of continuous attacks on civilians and high valued soft-targets instead of judicial scrutiny on the mushrooming militant movements....

I think such a heavy text and serious tone is what is driving away people. For a change, Vijay Times, a newspaper from Bangalore reports this in their Op-Ed page:



Title: Giants Refreshed

The Bangkok municipal office is reported to have "sanctioned" siesta time for its staff in order that they may wake up invigorated and work harder in the second half. But wait, they won't be sitting in their chairs for a quick nap but in a separate room with the fragrance of freshly-cut flowers and soft music...

Our babus (pet name for Government or Administrative staff in India) will be pleased if such a step is introduced here too. To sleep and to .... snore! However, for them this may not make a difference, as they have enjoyed this facility quietly for years....

A better way of conveying the message, in my opinion.

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A (Pseudo) Desktop Blogging Tool on Windows

Availability of a desktop blogging tool is the reason for me to edit my blogs on Ubuntu. Without such a tool, I would not have the freedom to jot down my thoughts whenever I like and post them later. Somehow I have a feeling that my mind works less when I'm on the net and constantly looks out for something, rather than thinking creatively.

I had been looking for a good and free (free as in free beer) desktop blogging tool on Windows, but did not have much success. There were a few results by googling, but none of them were freeware, nor did they have a clear description of what functionality they have or what sites they support. I was frustrated on why MS (or other companies) haven't come up with some good blogging tools for the most popular OS on earth.

Today I was delighted to learn about a Firefox add-on called Performancing which is more or less what I was looking for. It is a full featured blog editor that sits right in your browser and lets you post to your blog easily. It's very easy to drag and drop text from the browser to your post or format text. I'm using this editor to write this post.

As a bonus, I have also found another Firefox add-on called Sage which is a lightweight RSS and Atom feed reader. The best thing I like about this is its Newspaper like format. Here is a screenshot:

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Online photo print site from India

I'm not an ardent fan of non-technical blogs, however there are a few I follow quite regularly. Kiruba's blog is one of my favourites. He is one of the most popular bloggers in India, operates from Chennai and runs his own site.

I have been recently hunting for podcasts and I tried his interview with an emerging business in India. This is about a website that will print and deliver digital photos posted on it to anywhere in India. While listening to Indians talking online for the first time made me feel good, I felt better to learn the new business models emerging in the country.

One cool thing that I noted with this interview was that the voices of the interviewer and interviewee(s) appeared to come from different tracks (say from different sides of a headphone) and that gave a feel of a real interview.

Check out the interview or read the transcript.