Yahoo Photos closes down..

Yahoo's first generation photo sharing site Yahoo Photos closes on September 20th 2007 at 6 pm. The users can move their photos to the photo sharing site Flickr. Yahoo! is not accepting any new accounts or allowing existing users to upload new photos. Users have the option to transfer their photos to other photo sharing sites like Kodak Gallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Photobucket.



This follows after Yahoo's share in the photo sharing market has been cut down to 5.8 % (in the US market). Yahoo! bought Flickr in 2005 which has seen a phenomenal growth in the users and the volume of photos uploaded. Yahoo Photos is a more conventional photo-finishing site, full of family snapshots, while Flickr has attracted a passionate fan base of amateur and professional photographers who use the site to share digital photos online, and for whom printing is largely an afterthought. Yahoo! had been maintaining both the sites for the past two years keeping in mind the different user base but has decided to pull the plug now.

Just the way your mom would cook it...

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."
- George Bernard Shaw

Very true indeed..! The love for food outweighs any other love in this universe. This love which has been epitomized for centuries, by the saying "Bhookhe Bhajan Na Hoin Gopala" (One can't worship on an empty stomach!) and more recently by the ad line "Hum kamate kyon hain? Khane ke liye!" (What do we earn for? to eat!)



Indian food habits

The battle for a decent and affordable square meal assumes gigantic proportions in cities. For any metro worth its salt having a sizable "IT workforce" and student population the population is much more accentuated. Anyone who has moved out of his/her home town to a bigger city misses the "maa ke haath ka khana"(home-cooked food).

Indian food habits are very much traditional even in this globalized age. Occasional bread-n-butter,pizza,burger or maggie is fine but cannot substitute a full fledged meal of Dal, roti, chawal and sabzi!

Now much has been written about the Mumbai ka Dabbawallas, known to deliver 200,000 dabbas (food tiffins) every day but a more recent phenomenon is the Mom's Kitchen which is managed by ex-IT professionals.



Mom's Kitchen

Mom's kitchen prides itself on being India's first fully professional tiffin service providing "end-to-end solutions" right from food preparation to food delivery (What a context!) Started by two IT professionals who got "frustrated" by the pathetic food quality of daily food in Pune, they claim to have the food prepared by the master cooks specially handpicked from Allahabad to retain the homely touch. Their USP is "fanatical devotion to unmatchable customer service."

The food is reasonably priced with the premium tiffin priced at Rs. 30 and the mini tiffin at Rs. 20. With the durable daals, sizzling sabzis and the rasila raitas it seems a runaway!



Interesting study

The "core team" consists of three former IT professionals- Vikram Pandiya, Ashwani Kumar Singh Rathore and Venkataramana Singanamala - all of whom kicked off their jobs. They make for an interesting study as Ashwin wants "all the Pizzas and Burger companies mushrooming around the country to ride back to their parent countries and establish Moms kitchen as a national brand."

The orders can be placed online at their website which also allows for tiffin customization. Their delivery areas cover a large part of Pune with plans to expand further with new centers. If this model succeeds one can foresee similar kitchens coming up other big cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi to name a few!

Blue for boys, Pink for girls..

"Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions."
- Pablo Picasso

Ever wondered why men prefer blue and women pink?

A marketing gimmick? No... blame it on evolution ! Researchers from University of Newcastle say that pink may have helped women gather ripe fruit, or pick healthy mates. Whereas blue signals natural preference for a clear blue sky and good water source!



In an experiment, 208 young adult men and women were asked to select, as rapidly as possible, their preferred color from pairs of colored rectangles. While the universal favorite color appeared to be blue, when shown a spectrum of hues from red through blue and green to yellow women preferred red.

So next time, remember the color of rose you intend to present to your lady!

Super powers Vs Soft powers

"To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States."
- George W. Bush, President of United States

A recent survey by BBC world service reveals that US, Israel and Iran were the countries with the most negative image in a survey done amongst 12 major nations. Britain, Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Russia, the United States and Venezuela were the countries voted on.

Israel got the most negative (56%) votes with Iran coming a close 54 % and the US 51%. On the other hand Canada had the most positive rating of 54% followed by Japan and France.




Super power / Soft power -

This survey once again brought to fore the military vs soft power conundrum. The countries pursuing dominance over the world through their military might were viewed in negative light, US and Israel being prime examples. On the other hand countries proliferating soft power like France, Canada, EU, India and Japan tend to be viewed positively.

Something to think about for the technologically and militarily advanced Super Powers of this world! And as Oscar Wilde said, "When good Americans die they go to Paris."