20
Dec
09

8 bar – Baar baar !!

Heylo Internet. Just downloaded Ejay SE at Z’s house (this is probably the fifth time I’m downloading this ! Where the hell do I put those install files is beyond me !). Anyways, came up with this 3:20 starter. A lot more coming up cos’ this software i addictive.

Anyways, this is for your listen. An original ! (Thankfully!)

8 bar – baar baar by Braindumped

13
Dec
09

Memories of the old – SOM, IIT BOmbay

I was just going through the old photographs on my hard disk and I came across the photos of the HR Continuum during my days at SOM. I want to pen this down right now so that it remains a memory with me forever.

What I learnt at SOM:

1) People are seldom what they seem: Actually , I mean this in a positive way. I mean I worked with people I hardly knew. Frankly, they were their own group and I was kinda the outsider. But then, I guess I gelled pretty well. So what I knew about them from just knowing them by name and their behaviour in class was totally different from what I realized they were once we got working. Pretty amazing public :)

2) Different people – different perspectives – same goal – mission accomplished: What everyone else wanted was placements – what I wanted was to put SOM on the HR map – the challenge of a turnaround if you will with unfortunately, no focus on placements – the middle ground was one hell of an event

3) Push the topics along with the event: Another difference between sys conti and HR conti and one thing I to some extent had to face the flak for – the thing was the system continuum poster said “IT – The Road Ahead” and left it at that. While the HR poster included was the topics that were going to be discussed. It ended up making the poster looking a little messy cos of that , it still was the single reason that we got the attendees.
Just a by is that we got the topics very much bang-on. It was not the usual crap – we had topics that were pertinent but seldom discussed. Given that while the topics to some extent differed from what we had put up in the poster (due to operational reasons) they were 1)Important 2) Fresh 3)SELDOM DISCUSSED

4) Discuss, involve , share !! The key differentiator between system continuum and the HR continuum – we decided to push our concept documents and all updates down the chute of the SOM ‘06 mail group – encouraged transparency, discussions, and critiques and comments over lunch, dinner et al – a lot of times they pushed us to the limit !!In terms of deadlines, budgets and all that – and finally, we got all the support we needed to push the continuum to the level we reached.
Another and the most important result of this was that we were able to contact 2 Ph.D. guys who were primarily responsible for the high quality of speakers that we ended up getting

5) People who can screw you will: It’s simple – the mistake I made – i freaked out cos there was not enough time to get the posters and the invitations and I made enormous commitments to the printer bastard in terms of the cash for the posters. Am i pissed with him ? Of course not ! He did what he should. I messed up and it has been one of the most important lessons I have learnt

6) Practicing alchemy: Basic funda is turn horse shit into gold. We had huge problems of delivering the posters through couriers since they (posters) came out pretty late. Thus, we had no choice but to deliver some of the posters personally. However, this turned golden cos of the approach of personalized and individual invitations.

7) Call the girls, the guys come free :) : K, this works for only sex-starved areas like IITB. One post about where we were expecting public to come from and BOOM !! IITB was there :)

8) NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EVER GIVE UP: All caps and for a reason. I guess the lowest point of the entire process was getting rejection after rejection after endless chases and ending up with sudden dead-ends. I am talking about sponsors. The primary reason why the poster came out late was that 1) No title sponsor 2) No associate sponsor 3) No media sponsor – So u can understand how crazily miserable we felt …. but quite frankly, we had no choice and had to go on….not that we suddenly got major gold as such .. we landed SBI as title sponsor ( they would sponsor simply to have a relationship with us rather than for HR Conti), no associate sponsor and a media sponsor I have never heard of till then called Human Capital ( based in Delhi ) but then having a sponsor with a name like that did give us credibility tho’- this relieved us of quite a lot of tension and got us working in full force and with complete enthusiasm

9) Chase !! : Yeah, that was one thing we had to keep doing. Some targeted cos. was to be handled only by the placecom and we had to constantly chase these guys to get the job done. Even in another case when we got missed calls (inquiries) in class, I went down during the break to return every single one of those calls . Net result : The VP (HR) of Essar Oil came as a delegate, and almost 90% of the people whose call I returned ended up coming

10) The old way of doing things is not the best way of doing things: One of my most important lessons. We had a lecture by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a month before we started work on the Continuum and one person asked them “If this spirituality sessions are so important, why are you charging for it?. After all, yours is not a for-profit organization.” Pat came the reply: “If I don’t charge for it, people do not value it enough.” That one sentence kept reverberating in my head like some kind of hip-hop beat and for the first time in any continuum, we actually charged for attending the seminar (obviously differentials for industry candidates and students). That alone attracted attention to the symposium and made it a success.

12
Dec
09

Mentoring in the music industry

I have always followed music both from an auditory sense as well as the impact of its stars on the rest of the genre. With this context, one of the reasons I have been a fan of hip-hop is its ability to get music of non-commercially produced stuff (yet!) out on the streets. Also, the level of mentoring that happens in the genre is unprecedented. Whether it was Dre discovering Snoop in a mixtape or Eminem at an interview or even Jay-Z giving Rihanna and Kanye West the chance to shine (I think Kanye West really sucks but he IS successful). Or even when Eminem got 50 Cent on board and has been pushing his old pals D-12 on to the limelight (dragging them along is more like it. While guys like Bizarre and the late Proof are talented, they really never got their real shine in the spotlight).

Now in my other favorite genre, Trance, (it’s one of the few genres that I really like the commercial producers or rather, the top-rated DJs rather than just the underdogs) never really came up with that kinda support for its up-and-coming artists. Except now. In a recent note on his website, Tiesto talks about the DJ Top 100 list where he says:

It’s a big thing for most of the promoters and most of them will book DJ’s that are high on this list. That made me think, because if that’s the case the voting is important. Especially to breed new talent.
There are so many new great young DJ’s out there that I feel it’s time to give them a chance. I appreciate all the love and support I get from all over the world but I won this award three times so if I would win it a fourth time, it wouldn’t make a difference for my career.
For the new talented DJ’s around the world it could make a difference, so I would like to ask all the people who support me to vote for new talent.

A lot of people think that Tiesto has gone old, repetitive and basically not killing it like he used to do with “Traffic”, “Flight 643″, or “Just Be”. But this statement does generate a lot of hope for the new guys on the trance and house block

12
Dec
09

Sexy paintings by Audrey Kawasaki

LOL ! Since I’ve started updating this blog on a regular basis, it seems that some of the stuff that I’ve fallen in love with is from Boing Boing. Here is another one:

Audrey Kawasaki, is launching an exhibition at the Jonathan Levine Gallery called called Hajimari. She has posted some WIPs on her blog here which I have well and truly fallen in love with. Any New Yorkers calling themselves my friends will truly and completed have washed away any antagonisms I have towards them if they can buy me this for my birthday (I am a freeloader. It is what I do best!)

12
Dec
09

So you wanna be Adam?

Remember Adam from the Sistene Chapel? How would you like to be him?

Interesting spin on one of the sexiest works of art of the Renaissance era

The whole idea is that the painting is called the “Rebirth of Adam”. So the notion is being reborn after visiting the plastic surgeon.

From Null We Know

12
Dec
09

Jerm IX

May sound lazy but ’nuff sai. More of JermIX’s work here

From the Wooster.

10
Dec
09

A whole load of LOLs !

#142934 +(9996)- [X]

docsigma2000: jesus christ man
docsigma2000: my son is sooooooo dead
c8info: Why?
docsigma2000: hes been looking at internet web sites in fucking EUROPE
docsigma2000: HE IS SURFING LONG DISTANCE
docsigma2000: our fucking phone bill is gonna be nuts
c8info: Ooh, this is bad. Surfing long distance adds an extra $69.99 to your bill per hour.
docsigma2000: …!!!!!! FUCK FUCK FUCK
docsigma2000: is there some plan we can sign up for???
docsigma2000: cuz theres some cool stuff in europe, but i dun wanna pauy that much
c8info: Sorry, no. There is no plan. you’ll have to live with it.
docsigma2000: o well, i ccan live without europe intenet sites.
docsigma2000: but till i figure out how to block it hes sooooo dead
c8info: By the way, I’m from Europe, your chatting long distance.
** docsigma2000 has quit (Connection reset by peer)

For more funny stuff:  http://bash.org

09
Dec
09

Bad poetry – Chokers

<On an especially tense, frustrating night after a tense, frustrating day>

The clock strikes one,
then two, then three,
then four,
My shoulders hunched over the screen,
The sleep is tempting
but the work is tense
But it’s over,
Eyes glaze over Like a donut sheen

This is not the way
that I was supposed to be
DJ, spaceman,
what the fuck strangled my dreams
The tie chokes my neck,
my thoughts are screams
Like a nightmare no end,
No better reality

Real is the goal,
Like my thoughts are wack
I wish I could serve this
Up on wax
On a disc, a mike,
let me not freeze or choke
But I did choke,
so this is my rewards revoked

I lie, advise,
A reputation to keep
But this rep is my cross,
Like u sow, u reap
Step after step,
concrete swallows me whole
Can’t take another step
Work Destroys my soul

09
Dec
09

Panasonic not going to discontinue the Technics !


Phew ! I always wanted to buy one of the 1200’s . Thank God! I was going mad trying to figure out how to “con”vince my friends into buying one for me despite another 4 months for my birthday (not mentioning that these babies are frickin expensive). I don’t claim to be a professional DJ or anything but man, it’s an amazing feeling to control the pace of the music with your hands, I mean, just the feeling of the vinyl acts like a conduit for the music to pass through you. One hour on these Technics and I understood what it meant to “have the music flowing through you”. Really !

As a major global business, Panasonic keeps all of its operations under constant review. However, there are no current plans to discontinue the Technics brand and the production of Technics turntables

Here

Would you like fries with that? Vinyl Records and Turntables Make a Comeback

07
Dec
09

TEDTalks: Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology

Forget the tablets, forget the e-readers, just check this TEDTalk. Pranav Mistry really really changes the definition of integration between the real and virtual life with his incredible Sixth Sense product. And it all started with the analysis of the rollers that keep the ball in our normal computer mouse rolling. Mind-blowing !!




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