New DTK comic http://deathtokalia.com/comic/2009/12/10/we-didnt-know

This DeathToKalia turned out well. http://cli.gs/Xu23Tb

It just gets better! Did you know this? Did you hear about this? http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/

Lookin to help this guy out. Spread the word. http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/act/1430124462.html

First I watch El Mariachi, then Desperado, then Once Upon a Time in Mexico

First I watch El Mariachi, then Desperado, then Once Upon a Time in the West

What Everybody Ought to Know About End of Life Planning and Health Care Reform. http://cli.gs/1XyhWH

3 Ways to Make Learning Knowledge Management Easier http://cli.gs/UPe03P

Funny matrimonial game, I'll go first: http://sharjahcity.olx.ae/i-wants-a-good-girl-for-marry-iid-11300813

Gmail is down, I know, I know.

If you are interested in ui design for the web, http://paradigmpop.com/blog/diwant/2009/08/26/ajax-context-and-color-red

That new Mac commercial sells PC very well (you know, the one where the PC guy is wearing the Mac guy as a disguise)

It is raining outside. It is raining in my Gmail theme. Why would they want to put depressing weather in a theme?

Why are cheap airlines so cheap? http://blog.cleartrip.com/journal/2009/7/23/how-airlines-should-deliver-cheap-fares.html

Are your priorities correct? http://crap.teurasporsaat.org/archive/5851.jpg

Make moving pictures like in Harry Potter! Yaa! http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/harry-potter-moving-pictures/

PoP Project now works on Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and IE! http://mypopproject.com

For all of my marketing buddies, I found you a good way to explain marketing vs advertising vs PR, etc. http://paradigmpop.com/node/44

What materials are aesthetically presented in a single column. Web layouts are 2 cols but I want to know if 1 can work.

I need to go Chi-NJ-France in September. How to make this cheap?

PoP Project in public beta! This is what I have been on in last year. Finally we have opened to the public. http://paradigmpop.com

PoP Project (Standard, in Public Beta) is Released!

This is a cross post from <a href="http://paradigmpop.com/node/39">http://paradigmpop.com/node/39</a> so I'll have your comments there. Thanks.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pride that we release PoP Project (Standard version in Public Beta) today, the fourth of May, Two Thousand and Nine! You can start checking it out at <a href="http://www.paradigmpop.com.

Wow,">http://www.paradigmpop.com.

Wow,</a> what a journey this far. When we started putting PoP Project together, it was a lofty goal of giving everyone everything they could ever ask for. Then as we moved forward, life dawned on us in bits & pieces. We began to realize that focusing on sections of our audience might help, that postponing our features might help, and that watching our private beta customers use the tool certainly helped. We acquired wisdom in bits & pieces. At one point close to its release PoP Project suddenly morphed from a bud into a beautiful flower. It was one of those �Eureka� moments that now separates the �then� from the �now� version in our minds. For those of you who�ve read about the smart black color tone in my blog, yes � that�s what I am talking about.

It has taken us a very late night to bring this to a release today. A lot of last minute work on other pieces besides the tool kept us busy. The website, tour, final testing, all of that took time. Is the release perfect now? Well, we�d love to think so but won�t. There will be kinks, and we promise to set them right for you. That�s why PoP Project is in a public �beta�, and that�s why if you are using it, we call you our �friend�.

Enjoy!

Daft Punk song creator http://www.najle.com/idaft/

It's funny because it's true! http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1904510

Give me names for my guitar. It's a she.

addicted to western movies. Suggest your best.

Say sho gan hai bin do wa?

More and more people are peddling PM tools on Twitter. It is creating too much noise for any of these to really stand out.

PoP Project is going Emo

This is a cross post from http://paradigmpop.com/node/28 so I'll have your comments there.



We have been tossing around ideas for PoP Project's UI and one of the suggestions was a black based scheme. The inspiration was the iPhone, which is generally a good flagstone for UI redesign. I was fervently against black based scheme because, well, Paradigm PoP is a white based scheme! However, after much persuading and a few swings, I was convinced to mock up a black based version.

I was blown away. The black based version immediately gave PoP Project an edgy feel, as well as a more professional look. The colors that need to stand out stand out better in black. The whole thing just looks so freakin' sexy in black.

That is why, as of yesterday, PoP Project is going emo with a black based scheme. The rest of our tools stay as they are for now and we'll see how that plays out with branding.

PoP Project is going Emo! http://paradigmpop.com/node/28

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those that know binary and those that don't.

Play it Again Sam, Or the Correct Way to Design UI

This is a crosspost from http://paradigmpop.com/node/26 so leave your comments there.



PoP Project is a tool bred to be simple. When the first UI was conceived, it was simple. Yet we found ways to make it simpler. Then when this redone UI was simple we scrutinized it again to make it even simpler. We played the tune of simple several times on PoP Project, and every time we were very pleased with the results. Our private betas were very happy with how simple our tool felt, and each redux made them happier. However, they understood the game and now are in league with our efforts to make our tool simple.

This is how great UI is born.

I blogged a thought I had during my latest redux of PoP Project UI. Read it at http://paradigmpop.com/node/26

I'm making a 3d short film. See a 20 second clip at http://deathtokalia.com/node/82

So my green card counts for nothing? http://cli.gs/dr4Q4T

Devneel published his first song. Hear it at http://deathtokalia.com/node/81

A new Death to Kalia is out! Dev did this one. http://deathtokalia.com/node/80

Well that was fun, but Sunday is just on time.

Send me good covers like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_SeLU2llHQ

Beware Spiderman! Oh no!

I gotta run but I have to spill hence the microblog: On the horizon- PoP Tracker, PoP Source, PoP Visuals, and PoP Presence!

CADIE == Skynet?

Why does HDFC suck so much?

I liveblogged my experience signing in to HDFC's online Net Banking account. I am cross posting it here, the original is at http://paradigmpop.com/node/22 so leave comments there.



I am setting up my Net Banking with HDFC, which is the bank I use when I am in India. In general, Indian sites suck, and HDFC is no exception. I have not registered my account yet, and already I have found two things that have turned me paranoid about the integrity of the site. Hence, I am liveblogging my experience as I continue through this endeavor. HDFC, this entry is a very valuable resource for you. I would love it if one of my customers gave me a play by play on PoP Circle or PoP Project. If you read this entry take it as a customer who is interested in seeing you improve. And please improve.

An aside, I do wonder why sites set up for the Indian consumer are so bad. Vodafone (http://www.vodafone.in/Pages/index.aspx --I had a problem with this some time back but now it is much improved. Kudos, Vodafone!) and Airtel (http://www.airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/airtel.in/airtel.in/Home --Yes, this is the home page. A bajlllion characters long.) are no exception. An honorable mention for a pleasant experience for Indian customers is Cleartrip (http://www.cleartrip.com/). A beautiful interface that I would very much like to discuss with Hrush and the people responsible. (Hrush, drop me a line I am at diwantvaidya at paradigmpop.com).

Here is my HDFC usage liveblog.

First, I am greeted by a set of 'important notices'. Important notice number one, "Beware of fraudulent emails." Ok, that is true. Good. Important notice number two, "Click here to buy movie tickets." What the hell? I was expecting important notice number three, "A Nigerian prince needs your help. Click here to find out more."

Next, and very scary is their Verisign logo. It is a horrible resolution gif. I immediately suspected the site to be a phishing attempt, and after confirming it wasn't, my confidence was still shaken. Here is what they have (the extra width and height attributes are included exactly as on their site and are what make the image look horrible).



Here is the one on mint.com:



Third, it asks me for my customer id. I have never logged in before. I do not know what my customer id is but I infer that I must have to register it somewhere before I get started. There is no text on the page to help me out except 'get a new Net Banking Pin' which I don't want to do because I have a paper from the bank with my pin already on there. Grumble grumble.

Looking through the FAQ for more info about customer id, but nothing here. Instead, I found, "What do you mean that the transactions are "Real-Time online"?" which translates to, "Why is Net Banking so awesome?". I find it hard to believe that is a frequently asked question.

The stupid demo starts after having logged in. Gorramit.

Looked through the brochure I was given when I started the account. Found a grammatical error and a an answer that didn't really help but sounded like something the announcer on Springer would say. The error was, "HDFC Bank NetBanking is a "VeriSign certified"". I guess we get to fill in the missing noun. I am going with bison. HDFC Bank NetBanking is a "VeriSign ceritified" bison. The non-answer (in the Springer announcer voice), "Note: Your Account Number is not your Customer ID". Good, that narrows it down and I am so grateful.

I am starting to think that this customer id is a device to weed out those who think they want to use Net Banking from those that really want to use Net Banking.

Dug up really old papers from when I first opened the account (papers I still have because I am a pack rat) and found my customer id! Yes! I totally prefer this to having it in my well-indexed email account. Or to registering for a customer id online. Sarcasm is not picked up in 70% of written communication so let me clarify. That whole process sucked. Email this stuff to me. Or let me re-register online within 2 minutes. You can do that now with the internet and technology.

An internet keyboard for typing in the PIN to bypass key sniffers. Cool, confidence grows slightly.

Ok logged in, saw my stuff. I am done with this site for today, I will get to actual account stuff later. Time for a stiff drink. Barkeep! Raspberry tea on the rocks!

There is a new Doodlewack (and I didn't see it for a full week)! http://doodlewack.blogspot.com/2009/03/wheres-frank.html

What happened?

That last post had an embedded video that did not embed correctly. Here is the link for those interested (and if you are not sure, then you are interested): http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/342095/advice-from-ricky.jhtml#id=1605145

A Little Advice From Ricky of College Humor

I found this to be hilarious.

The CollegeHumor Show - MTV Shows

Themes in Google Apps Mail!

All right! We have themes in the Google Apps Mail. This is the power of 'beta'. I wrote more at http://paradigmpop.com/node/21

Google's BiAnnual April Fools Joke

Google has released an autopilot feature for Gmail. I know I would use it, if only for the hilarious situations that would ensue. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html

Google April fools? http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html

Eddie Murphy raw is hilarious! Watch the whole thing here http://www.hulu.com/watch/30796/eddie-murphy-raw

Why are Snatch and Superbad great movies? Tell me at http://paradigmpop.com/node/20

Seth Rogen, Guy Ritchie, and Branded Movies

If you liked Snatch, you will like Lock Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (http://www.hulu.com/watch/47042/lock-stock-and-two-smoking-barrels). This also probably also will work in reverse. The two movies have almost the same cast, a plot line that follows the same "what if the British good guy got away with the money in", and the same essence (not to mention that both are directed by Guy Ritchie).

If you liked Knocked Up, check out Superbad, Fanboys, and Pineapple Express. Similar cast, similar comedy.

These are very branded movies. You go in knowing what to expect if you have seen others in the same brand. You like the actors, the comedy, the pacing. Generally, you are not disappointed, either. I see some very strong branding at work here. These groups have discovered what their followers liked, and have effectively built a brand around those values. Seth Rogen = stoner comedy. Snatch = English gangsters swearing and ending up in hilarious coincidental situations. Even where Web 2 sites are finding out about the importance of branding, many movie makers have found elements that work for them. I am not the movie intellectual to dissect the element of these brands, but I would be very interested to know why Pineapple Express did not disappoint fans of Superbad while Star Wars I gained infamy in circles of the original trilogy.

Give me your input at http://paradigmpop.com/node/20

for those doing project management, read about "My Problem with Open Up" at http://www.paradigmpop.com/node/19

a new comic is complete. Read it at http://ping.fm/B4f1d