Second Meeting Toastmaster (unlucky day)

Today I attended the second meeting of Gurgaon Toastmaster club (gurgaontoastmasters.com)

But the day started on a pretty bad note, first of all I could not get-up in the morning on time.

Secondly as I was about to leave , my wife told me to get some bread butter from market as she did not feel like cooking ( I had shifted house just a day before and everybody has the right to be tooo tired [ except me , offcouse!]

Thirdly I had an accident on the way with major scratches on my car (I still feel peeved thinking about car repair bill)

Fourthly I was fined by traffic police for entering into a one-way on wrong side.

Inspite of that I reached toastmaster on time but my misfortune did not ended here only

Fifthly the air – conditioner in the room was not working

Sixthly – I did not participate in table topic contest as the guy who has decided on the topics did not want to tax his brain cells and come up with a simple solutions.

[for info abt toastmaster and table topic, visit their site, I'm one hell of a lazy bone to write about it]

Anyway table topic is supposed to be a fun filled, on the spot speaking kind of thing where you pick a slip and start speaking on it, just like that (The ultimate nightmare of people like me)

And that guy just come across a topic – acceptance speech if you are selected a president: decides that its funny enough and made it a central theme of all the topics.

for example, president of india for social cause (?), winner of speech competition, winner of best employee, winner of Indian Idol.

Well I could’ve tried too, but I found topic too boring and everyone was giving the same line  (thank everyone blah blah)

Anyway still if I have to pick something positive out of it then it’s that I managed to attend two meetings in a row of toastmaster clup (two times in a row, I got up at 7 pm on a sunday morning, two times in the row I dont fell prey to procrastination, I skipped two episodes of Satyamev Jayte by Amir Khan, I resisted the temptation of sunday morning brunch two times in the row and two time in the row I dont use some minor problem as an excuse of not attending toastmaster meeting)

EPILOGUE - 

I read “alchemist” by Paul Coelho again last week. Found it an interesting read though from fiction point of view only, not something life changing or motivational.

Agreed there are some nuggets of wisdom in it, but those i think you can find in any book you pick. That the beauty of habit of reading.

The writer describes omens as signs from god in an impressive way, after this turn of events today. I wonder what to make out of it as I have all the bad omens today. will know tomorrow in office (monday morning is alway bad anyway)

Graffiti

 “Most of the world’s religions say, ‘Thou shalt not kill’. Most of the world’s religions will kill you to prove it.”

source - 1995 British television miniseries Oliver’s Travels

Search Engine

What’s the thing about search engines?

I mean it’s a good question to ask that how Google Inc earns its profit.

Google Inc is considered as a 700 pound gorilla that can take on the huge behemoth Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft’s revenue is but obvious, Microsoft windows is something which has become a part and parcel of our life.

The reason for Google’s earning is ……hold your breadths         ADVERTISEMENTS!!

You can type Google adwords in Google itself and will know the answer; you can create your own ad in adwords and need to pay Google only if people click your ad.

So Google earns revenue by displaying ads related to your search criterion.

If you click the ad, the company which has placed the ad will pay Google.

Anyways this search engine thing props in my mind as I was installing free software in my system. I noticed that almost every other software (Freeware definitely and maybe some sharewares too)

It’s very frustrating that while installing the software you tend to click “I agree” on all the pop up screens and the last thing you knew your search settings are changed.

You know it only when you have to goggle something and see some stupid toolbar installed. Off course one can always un-install it from tools but it requires someone slightly geeky like me.

Nothing bad in trying to emulate Google and making its own search – engine, But to be honest none of these players have the resources available and they rely more on the fact that may be many  will not be able to change the setting and therefore have to content with new search engines only (besides cursing the software owner)

Ads v/s Movies

The mobile phone advertisements or rather advertisements in general are touching an all time high in terms of quality whereas the movies are touching an all time low in same terms.

I was just watching the advertisements of airtel (friends sharing one) and Vodafone (the one showing an elderly gentlemen and a boy who’s his neighbor apparently).

These ads deliver the intended message in a beautifully subtle way, Something that the movies are so desperately lacking ; I mean mobile phone  is not a status symbol in India anymore, Even the rickhaw-wallas are having it, So this logic about making senseless and loud movies for mass audience does not holds good.

The truth is that  the majority of film-makers are just not good enough to make sensible and though provoking movies, Just a cursory look at the list of movies running in halls this week leaves an avid movie-buff like me hopeless. All I have is a vulgar comedy from the stable of “daily soap queen”, a remake of senseless south Indian movie, a movie which claims to an art movie but serving nothing but gore and shit and a barely concealed porn movie featuring a porn star with few other wooden actors.