Times Points - TOI or Times Of India new reward scheme

Source: here

Below the FAQ copied from website. It is a good and somewhat different idea to bring traffic to website. I am sure there is significant difference as based on number of comments posted and the not bad points.

So the idea goes like this.

• When you visit an article you'll get 1 point. 
• For comment 5 points. 
• When someone likes or recommends another 1 or 2 points. 
• Facebook or Twitter share will get 5 points for each share

So if you post average 20 comments a day you may get 150 points (assuming 20x1 for visit + 20x5 for comment + average 1.5 likes or recommend). So in a month you'll get 4500 points and you can redeem gifts. For example Adidas 3x deo is worth ~5200 points. In the market it's going for ~500. So approximately 1 poitn is 10paisa or 10 points = 1INR.

Not a bad deel as it can pay for your broadband bill :)

But the downside is the system is very buggy. Many a times, you'll see the points are not getting updated, your login is not loading, or the system asking you to confirm email address multiple times etc.

Still worth a try if you spend lots of time reading news. By the way one tip is make sure you've adblock installed on your firefox/chrome. Their model is simply based on ad prints or ad revenue so the site is filled with ads. 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Earning Points and Badges:

Points and Badges will be awarded for various activities performed on Timesofindia.com. These include reading articles, commenting, watching videos, linking your profile with Facebook and Twitter accounts and subscribing to our daily newsletter. Points accrued on the Times Points program will soon be redeemable against exclusive deals on the Times network.

Expiry of Badges:

• When you reach a particular level within a badge, you will get to keep it for 12 months.
• If within those 12 months you cross to the next threshold, you will move to the next badge level.
• However, after 12 months, you can lose your badge in case of a drop in your activity on the site.

Points Credit:

Badges and Points will take a maximum of 90 seconds to be credited to user accounts. In case of the Wordsmith badge, points and badges will be credited after user comments are published on Timesofindia.com.

Latitude - Dead and no alternative.

Finally Google killed Latitude. I loved it because of its capability of background updating of location and sharing with freinds and family. Ofcourse, I love the "trips" and "distance to moon" which was wonderful. You can still see it as part of the "location History" in Google search app on iOS or Web Page. Just search for Google Location History or simply login here. . You can see all your previous data there.

https://maps.google.com/locationhistory‎

But what I am missing is the 'sharing'. i.e. my friends, family can see me where I am or I can see the location in real time. Especially useful when we travel on business or on an extended holiday.

I think as part of it's product strategy, google targeted plenty of applications which doesnt really fall under "social" net and started to integrate all the apps in to Google+. May be good for Google, but not too good for me.

For the alternatives, I see Google+ auto update which will be coming to iPhone in September as the one alternative. Other than that, I don't think I've any other stuff. 

India - Super power or to be a failed state ????

No mood to write but the way Indian are becoming, I have strong doubts that India can ever be a super power.

My SingTel application - Good and fine example of what TELCO's should do

Point your browser here.
http://info.singtel.com/personal/apps-tv/apps/my-singtel


SingTel just launched a revised app and this is a Hit. Finally it seems our telco's are learning what Customers are looking for. Instead of selling their own stuff, now Singtel tried to share what we, the customers are looking for.

So instead of 'singtel offers' in old apps and web pages, the App shows how much data been used, how many minutes consumed, how many SMS been sent during the current billing period. Below are some screenshots captured from iTunes (hope it's legally ok to post it here).

Great job SingTel.

Obesity of nations (?) - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization study.

Source: FAO

I am quite surprised to find a mix of wealthy and poor nations at the top. Most of these nations are from Americas or Middle Eastern countries. Could be due to diet habits which used to be high on carbs, fats with little work.

Ofcourse, I did expected India, China and other South Aisan/East Asian countries to do well in this area. South Asia mainly because of "average out" reasons (i.e. India has got too much obese folks compensated by too poor people who can't afford a good meal or simply malnutrition), while East Asia due to their food habits.

Anyway the PDF file can be downloaded from the above website but I've copied it to Google Docs in Excel format for easier sorting. (hope it's not illegal...If it is plz let me know through comments section and will remove it.)

Google Docs Link

Google is killing Latitude

Source: Google

Google Latitude will be retired on August 9th, 2013. Products being retired include Google Latitude in Google Maps for Android, Latitude for iPhone, the Latitude API, the public badge, the iGoogle Gadget, and the Latitude website at maps.google.com/latitude.

Guess, Google is killing all those apps which are 'cool' but doesn't make much money to them. Reader was gone and now Latitude. Don't know but being a loyal fan of Latitude I am gonna miss it. I've started using Facebook locations (private checkin) especially to keep the record of specific locations, interesting places at new destinations etc.

May be time to look in to Google+ when it's available on iPhone. 

Singapore TDSR Rules impact on your property purchases.

I don't know whether the TDSR rules would have an impact on the market. Seems I am surrounded by cash rich millionaires who are on a spending spree. The property values almost tripled or doubled across the country. I saw a document in Today which tried to do a simple calculation on the TDSR. So I thought I'd help the author/today by adding a excel file.

So here is the Google Docs link.

This is shared as a public link so you can use it. Of course usual disclaimer applies. I am not a financial expert, and this is purely for a very very basic understanding. You should talk to a financial planner or bank to get a clear picture. the data is only a very high level estimate and i may be totally wrong with my formulas.

ITES Industry woes in India - Now the low end 'moat' is gone and it is a matter of time before it hits other areas.

Source: CNA

Here is the summary:

India was, at one time, considered the call-centre capital of the world, but it has since lost its status to the Philippines. Some analysts are of the view that India can regain its status, with government support and by giving people the right training.

Now, the big challenge is not really due to the "government support" but more structural issues. Whether it's the non-stop growth in wages in the last decade, or almost nonexistent infrastructure, or the people attitude of get rich quick which, or near zero growth in productivity, or the overall experience or blame the acceleration in globalization bringing more nations to the market, end of the day the market is in dire state. 

Based on Assocham numbers, the new jobs generated dropped by 2% in April-June quarter to 125,000. This is 4.3x the time of Singapore with a net 28,900 addition on Q1. Well, I don't know about numbers from USA or China or Philippines but the number looks dangerously low. It could be only the number from 'tracked' industries or specific cities, which I am not sure but still based on the details in Assocham press release this shows across all metro's, tier-2, and even tier-3 cities.

In my opinion, the key problem is productivity, lack of innovation and more importantly the "service culture & professionalism" which unfortunately not well maintained in Indian industry these days. The "chalta hai" attitude is not only killing the public sector but started to show the dangers in private sector. What we need from industry bodies like FICCI or ASSOCHAM or NASSCOM is to bring back the professionalism and show the value to the Customer. Then all these short falls associated with culture or accent will disappear without any issue.

Philippines, you guys have done a great job. The best thing is we can see it and experience it. Be it the simplification of VISA, or the industry or the regulation. Ofcourse, there are plenty of things to improve but the initiation can be seen and it is good news for all pinoy folks. Cheers..

Pasar malam @ Ang Mo Kio

WoW. After a long time, I am seeing a pasar malam @ AMK Ave 10. Couldn't stop but here goes couple of snaps.

Mapping with Google - Now I am certified by Google ;)

Here goes a certification from Google which is cool ;)

This is a certificate, I can keep with my years old (mostly expired) certificates from Novell, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Redhat, PMI, ITIL, BCP-DR, TOGAF/OpenGroup, & GOI