akweb

Author: ashokkarania

  • Money Habits of Rich People

    I was analyzing the habits of successful people, who also happen to be well-off financially. I gathered these habits from online browsing and book reading.

    Rich people had the following characteristics:

    No Credit Card Debt
    No Smoking
    No Drinking
    No Big Weekends
    No TV
    Less Clutter
    Less Materialistic
    Less Needs
    More Peace of Mind

    I am sure many of us will be surprised. The real rich do not show off or flaunt their money. They are rich because they understand the value of money. The value of money is not determined by spending power. The power of money is the power to give and make a difference in lives of others.

    If we are looking for money, we will never get it. If we are driven by it, money will elude us. This century is about ideas, not money.

  • The Cult Of The Amateur

    “If we are all amateurs, there are no experts.”

    Mansukhbhai Shah recently informed about Andrew Keen’s new book, The Cult Of The Amateur. In it, the author expresses his concern for the profligacy of online amateurism, spawned by the digital revolution.
    This, he feels, has had a destructive impact on our culture, economy and values.

    Andrew Keen says, “[They] can use their networked computers to publish everything from uninformed political commentary, to unseemly home videos, to embarrassingly amateurish music, to unreadable poems, reviews, essays, and novels”.

    He complains that blogs are “collectively corrupting and confusing popular opinion about everything from politics, to commerce, to arts and culture”.

    He claims that Wikipedia perpetuates a cycle of misinformation and ignorance, and labels YouTube inane and absurd, “showing poor fools dancing, singing, eating, washing, shopping, driving, cleaning, sleeping, or just staring at their computers.”

    He warns that old media is facing extinction – “say goodbye to experts and cultural gatekeepers – our reporters, news anchors, editors, music companies, and Hollywood movie studios.”

    What do you think? Have a read and share your thoughts – is he being alarmist about the effects of the Web 2.0 revolution, or raising genuine concerns? Are we at the mercy of the amateur? Can kids tell the difference between credible news sources and the amateur’s blog? What, in any case, can be done?

    Click here to join the debate

  • Black Economy In India

    Recently, Businessworld Magazine had carried a excellent and timely cover story on the growing black economy in India.

    mag_jun04.jpg

    It is true that there is no political will as the political-bureacratic class are also involved. Some guesstimates indicate that the Black Economy is larger, deeper and wide-spread across the socio-economic strata. How many people we meet in a day? How many of them actually account for their earnings and pay taxes? Under-reportting of income is an accepted norm for doctors, contractors, builders, cable operators, restaurant barons, event managers etc. We are not speaking here of not-so-poor fruit vendors, petty traders and beauty parlor owners or officially illegal trade such as drugs, trafficing etc.

    The surprising thing is the ‘crawl when asked to bend’ approach of financial authorities. It is no wonder that legitimate Indian businesses are setting up operations overseas and talented Indians are migrating. After a point, patriotism sounds a cruel joke when we look at the politicians.

    Yet the India Story remains intact. The power of young Indians remains in place. Only the pace and direction might see some correction.

    Some of my comments have been published in the latest issue of Businessworld.

  • Apple Launches Safari for Windows

    The internet browser space is getting hotter with the launch of Apple‘s Safari for Windows. I liked the following features in Safari 3:

    Tabbed Browsing
    This is one feature that was badly needed in Safari. So no need to open multiple windows or shift to Mozilla for tabbed browsing.

    With tabbed browsing in Safari, you can open and switch between multiple web pages in a single window. Drag and drop your tabs to rearrange them, open one in a new browser window, or merge all your current windows into one tabbed window.

    Private browsing
    Your browsing is your business. Which is exactly why Safari offers private browsing — to keep your online activities private. Turn on private browsing and Safari won’t store your Google searches, your cookies, the history of sites you’ve visited, your download history, or information from online forms you’ve filled out.

    Faster Performance
    The fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2.

    Pop-up blocking
    Steve Jobs launced Safari at Apple’s Conference for Developers for Apple Products and also talked on Leopard, the highly awaited OS from Apple.

    BBC News reported the following:

    Chief executive Steve Jobs said Apple “dream big” and wanted to expand the 4.9% market share Safari enjoys. A test version of Safari 3 for Windows XP, Vista and Apple Macs running OSX, is available for download from the Apple website. Apple is hoping to replicate the success of iTunes, which has proved enormously popular on both Macs and Windows machines.

    Mr Jobs used the conference to lift the lid on new features of its forthcoming operating system (OS) for Macs, called Leopard. He said the OS has 300 new features and demoed 10, including a new organisational system for the desktop called Stacks and a new folder system which lets users browse files and applications visually, just as music lovers can browse album covers in iTunes.

  • What Parents Know About Money!

    Parents and we might have a different view on certain apsects of money. However, not everything they believe is wrong. Some ideas and insghts are classical and stand the test of time.

    Rediff Archives has a note named What Mom Thought About Money which discusses the above fact. It says:
    1. More Money Is Not Solution – Managing money is. Setting priorities for expenses and planning it means better money management.
    2. The 80:20 Principle – Eighty percent of the things we buy, we use 20% of the time. And 20% of the things we buy, we use 80% of the time. (See my previous post Less Is More!)
    3. Always Tie Loose Ends – Do not postpone credit card debt. What needs to be done, must be done.
    4. Budget for emergencies!
    5. Bargain – Will be amazed to see how much it actually works!

  • What Parents Do Not Know About Money!

    One of the areas where I have a different opinion from my parents, is money! It is due to various reasons:
    1. Economic Situation of India Is Different Today
    2. Earning – Spending – Saving Habits Are Different Today
    3. Overall Philosophy  Is Different Today – Ideas, Quality of Life, Self Actualization etc Are More Important Now. Earlier Money Was A Guarantee To Good Life.

    My parents frown when I spend good bucks on restaurant food or movie or see my credit card bills. I see this expenses as rewarding self or enjoying some money for today rather than wait for tomorrow. I am sure many of my friends also face this unique situation.

    Recently, I came across a wonderful Rediff archive which revolved around the same idea : What Parents Did Not Teach About Money!

    Here is the gist and my comments:

    1. Debt is good – Depends on how you use it. If for education, go ahead.
    2. Stock market is not only for gamblers – Think long term!
    3. Credit card can work for you – If you pay within credit free period. Offer convenience of not carrying cash.
    4. Jewellery is an lousy investment
    5. The bank is not the best place to park your money – Obvious! Interest here is peanuts and you actually lose money, if you factor in the inflation.

  • Bheja Fry : A Must See

    I recently saw the movie Bheja Fry starring Vinay Pathak. It is a total laugh riot based on the French movie Le Diner De Cons.

    The film is a welcome change from the recent crop of movies and stands on its own merit. The movie is a story of Rajat Kapoor and his friends who invite not-so-smart people for dinner and have fun at their expense. Vinay Pathak is their latest ‘talent’ but the tables are turned by Bharat Bhushan. His act of locking the suitcase, showcasing his portfolio, eagerness to make a phone call and please are wonderfully beautiful. When he says “Idiots are also human being” you cannot stop laughing and applauding Vinay Pathak. He carries the film on his own shoulders and is very natural.

    Vinay Pathak’s acting, strong script and director Sagar Ballary’s brilliant debut make it a must watch. Ranvir Sheorey and Rajat Kapoor do a great supporting act. Sarika and Bhairavi are wasted. The music is OK.

    Bheja Fry is another multiplex film and will do well in urban centres. Produced at a modest budget, this movie will make good money for all involved.

    Watch it. It is a ‘must see’ film.

  • Contact Grabber

    Magnet Team has developed a small application named Contact Grabber for fetching your contacts from the desired site and display them. The application has seen great response and seen 550 downloads within few days.

    Magnet is contributing this application to the Open Source community. Gmail, Hotmail & Yahoo were already available as open source scripts. We have developed scripts for Rediff, Orkut & Myspace.

    Special thanks to Vishal Kothari, Pravin Shukla, Tapan Moharana & Janak Prajapati who have contributed to the development of this application.

    Download Contact Grabber!

  • Role of Education

    Recently I had given a presentation at Career Guidance Seminar for students who had appeared for SSC and HSC Examinations. My purpose was to acquaint the students with opportunities in the Information Technology and Finance domain, the various education courses on offer and the kind of companies they could look forward to work with. The session went down very well with the participants and we had a crowd of more than 200 people.

    I also had a dicussion with my college professor Ms Manjiree Gondhalekar on the same. We discussed the role of education.

    The role of education is to bring out the potential in a person. Thus education aims at self-actualization. A student should not select a career option because the particular industry offers high salaries, glamour or most of your friends have selected that option. One has to have a self-analysis SWOT before selecting a career option. One’s own interests, skills and abilities need to be evaluated. That need to be considered in the perspective of available opportunities and advice of experienced mentors.

    One needs to hear the call of heart, rather than head in selecting a career. Finally that is what makes one happy. And drives you to achieve your purpose and actualized your potential.

    We need to be the best. Even if we are a sweeper, we should be the best sweeper. Not everyone can be a CEO, nor everyone can be a President. Whatever roles we perform, we should be the best.

  • Chief Designation Officer

    Knowledge @ Wharton’s latest issue contains an interesting article on Title Inflation. There is a proliferation of Chief Titles today – Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Privacy Officer, Chief Diversity Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Geek, Chief Hacker etc.

    Earlier, companies had layers of hierarchies and employees looked forward to promotions every year or two. It helped in their career progression and satisfied their self-image. With the flattening of organization structures, the only way to motivate employee is to devise new and interesting titles.

    At the same time, new titles like Chief Innovation Officer serve the purpose of reiterating the importance of key initiatives like innovation. Everyone knows company is serious about it.

    So creative titles have their own benefits. But titles are not the end in itself. They have to be backed by appropriate benefits including competitive salaries and of course, a meaningful role.