nStation

I use Microsoft Paint occasionally. Its features are limited and functionality is basic. But for regular people, Paint seems to be the tool of choice for a random doodle or running an office captioning contest. Readily availability can’t be the only reason. Hear goes my two cents on the matter. More »

Checkout the website of the local design house ‘We Are Designers’: they showcase a decent portfolio and some attention-grabbing lab work. Despite all this, their own logo reads ‘die’ horizontally down. The design house doesn’t strive for excellence in their own work?

Logo designing or branding is an art needs to be dealt with utter caution. Often design houses that make super brands fail to take their own brand to the next level. This short post is not to criticize a brand that in my opinion done without considering all ‘sides’; but to make aware the fact that, branding isn’t just painting a portrait.

Note: My attempt here is to show the negative impact of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage program on users. I do not hate Microsoft. I love most of their products.

I despise Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Even cooperates are uncomfortable with the extra burden. In my opinion WGA is an annoyance to users. The simplest update or hot-fix available on the Microsoft website requires a validation.

There have been numerous gigs on “what if Microsoft made …” – the most circulated being a notable urban legend with a comment made by General Motors in response to the Bill Gates’ COMDEX address where he compared the auto industry to the computer industry. This post is about what if Microsoft made automobiles with WGA. More »

Often designers have to face this at least once in their career. Just for having a creative edge in one specialization makes others presume that you have a knack for design in general; people expect you to be creative in all areas. It is true that designers usually tend to cross boundaries on their main discipline and try to reach new creative heights. But that doesn’t necessarily make designers a breed of magicians.

Comic from OK/Cancel

I listen to Leo Laporte on several of his Netcasts (a.k.a. Podcasts). He recommends audiobooks from Audible on most of his shows. That’s how I ended up listening to NEXT by Michael Crichton, The Chopin Manuscript, etc. Listening to audiobooks is the best habit I have developed after a long time. It is the best way to utilize your commuting time otherwise wasted for no particular important thing.

On many occasions I heard Loe recommending the book On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee. I never got the chance to add it to my library for some reason. So I thought of adding it to my collection today. Guess what, according to Audible, my geographic location prevents me from listening to this great book (see screenshot). My question is, if I can buy and listen to other audiobooks from Audible, why not this? I find the notice ‘We are not authorized to sell this title to your geographic location’ somewhat a feeble excuse. More »

I am twenty nine today (and with a lot of mixed feelings).

Many people have born on October 7th according to these statistics. Apparently the pop-star Alesha Dixon and cricketer Zaheer Khan were also born on this day.

“Happy birthday!” to everyone who is celebrating their birthday on 10/7 and a big “thank you” to everyone who took the time and energy to send me wishes. More »