Nisadas

I was reading Seth Godin recently on Demonization. Whilst he writes  what would be interpreted as a marketing-centric post, he makes a very valid point.

The closer you get to someone, something, some brand, some organization… the harder it is to demonize it, objectify it or hate it.

Reading through Achcharu today, I also came across some interesting posts – Indi’s rant against the diaspora in Canada and Rajaratarala’s innovative suggestion for reconciliation.

My socio-political views have and will be private, and are unlikely to be published. However, in all three cases above, one point is common – isolation from each other contributes most to the rifts in society. Seth talks about (or at least I interpret it to be) how being isolated from an issue makes it easier to demonize it; Indi talks about the Diaspora and how they talk to themselves in the comfort of Canada about the war in Sri Lanka; Rajaratarala talks about how giving the opportunity for the internally displaced to live normal lives again will help heal the wounds of war.

During my studies in secondary school, I had the opportunity to be part of the Interact movement (of which perhaps the less said now, the better). Through this I was able to make friends from different schools and different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The single biggest lesson I learnt from this was that there was just so much we all had in common. Teenagers the world over will have the same issues, albeit in different languages and different settings. Why else was Dawson’s Creek so popular amongst TV viewing Sri Lankan teenagers?

Closeted away in their own little enclaves, it’s easier for people to demonize others and act all morally superior. But then again, it takes a lot of confidence and courage to buck the trend and actually treat others as human beings and not as the labels they choose to stick themselves with.

But it all comes down to the fact that you’re no different from me or the person next to you. You didn’t choose the race you were born in to. You didn’t choose the country you were born in to. You can choose who you are – what your actions will mean in the greater scheme of things, no matter how small.

I only hope that the future holds for all of us the freedom to live our lives in relative normalcy and worry about stuff like learning new things, holding a job, raising a family and such-like – problems that have been around as long as civilisation.

In conclusion, I’d like to share something that Terry Pratchett wrote in his book Interesting Times, where the wizard Rincewind while running away from a major battle, finds himself in a field criss-crossed with drainage ditches (I’m hoping that this excerpt falls within fair-use, please notify me if it doesn’t – I can’t afford a lawsuit ):

Someone was watching him.

It was a water buffalo.

It would be wrong to say it watched him with interest. It just watched him, because its eyes were open and had to be facing in some direction, and it had randomly chosen one which included Rincewind.

Its face held the completely serene expression of a creature that had long ago realized that it was, fundamentally, a tube on legs and had been installed in the universe to, broadly speaking, achieve throughput.

At the other end of the string was a man, ankle-deep in the mud of the field. He had a broad straw hat, like every other buffalo holder. He had the basic pyjama suit of the Agatean man-in-the-field. And he had an expression not of idiocy, but of preoccupation. He was looking at Rincewind. As with the buffalo, this was only because his eyes had to be doing something.

Despite the pressing dangers, Rincewind found himself overcome by a sudden curiosity.

‘Er. Good morning,’ he said.

The man gave him a nod. The water buffalo made the sound of regurgitating cud.

‘Er. Sorry if this is a personal question,’ said Rincewind, ‘but . . . I can’t help wondering . . . why do you stand out in the fields all day with the water buffalo?’

The man thought about it.

‘Good for soil,’ he said eventually.

‘But doesn’t it waste a lot of time?’ said Rincewind.

The man gave this due appraisal also.

‘What’s time to a cow?’ he said.

Rincewind reversed back on to the highway of reality.

‘You see those armies over there?’ he said.

The buffalo holder concentrated his gaze.

‘Yes,’ he decided.

‘They’re fighting for you.’

The man did not appear moved by this. The water buffalo burped gently.

‘Some want to see you enslaved and some want you to run the country, or at least to let them run the country while telling you it’s you doing it really,’ said Rincewind. There’s going to be a terrible battle. I can’t help wondering . . . What do you want?’

The buffalo holder absorbed this one for consideration, too. And it seemed to Rincewind that the slowness of the thought process wasn’t due to native stupidity, but more to do with the sheer size of the question. He could feel it spreading out so that it incorporated the soil and the grass and the sun and headed on out into the universe.

Finally the man said:

‘A longer piece of string would be nice.’

Before you point it out, Yes, I’m an apolitical idealist who is quite possibly out of touch with the world around him.

Or maybe not. I’ll fill you in once I’ve figured it out.

The allure of books written by millionaires or billionaires is that there might be something in it that’ll help the reader along the same path. Of course, reading alone won’t get you far, but it helps understanding how some people made it to the top.
Jon M Huntsman is a billionaire who has written a slim little book called Winners never Cheat. It covers some lessons on morality and integrity that immediately appealed to my idealistic side. These lessons are broken down into ten compact chapters, each beginning with a couple of quotes relevant to their content.

• Chapter 1: Lessons from the sandbox. Everything we need for today’s marketplace we learned as kids.
• Chapter 2: Check your moral compass. We know darn well what is right and wrong
• Chapter 3: Play by the rules. Compete fiercely and fairly, but no cutting in line
• Chapter 4: Setting the example. Risk, Responsibility, Reliability – the three R’s of leadership
• Chapter 5: Keep Your word. It’s high time to corral the corporate lawyers
• Chapter 6: Pick Advisors Wisely. Surround yourself with associates who have the courage to say no.
• Chapter 7: Get Mad, Not Even. Revenge is unhealthy and unproductive. Learn to move on.
• Chapter 8: Graciousness Is Next to Godliness Treat Competitors, colleagues, employees and customers with respect.
• Chapter 9: Your name is on the Door Operate businesses and organisations as if they’re family owned
• Chapter 10: The obligation to give back Nobody is completely self made; return the favours and good fortune

Finally, the book ends on the note that Acceptable moral values are child’s play, not rocket science.

Starting with a quote about the fourth of Gandhi’s seven sins - “Commerce without morality”, the book covers Huntsman’s take on the ups and downs of doing business in America – the American Dream and how so many people cut corners to make a quick buck.

A recurring point in the book is Huntsman’s dealings with H. R. Haldeman - the White House Chief of Staff during Nixon’s tenure. As White House staff secretary, Huntsman was independent and demurred to the practice of “blind faith” in the president that Haldeman propounded. As a result he left the post within six months – making him possibly “the only West Wing staff member not eventually hauled before the congressional Watergate committee or a grand jury”. Throughout the book, the idea conveyed is that values are not ambiguous, but are simple lessons that are learnt at an early age.

Huntsman includes Sophocles’ message that “There is no witness so terrible or no accuser so powerful as the conscience“. He presents that laws and ethics may overlap, but the exercise of the latter is often up to the individual.

The painful truth that doing something because you were “pressured into it” is merely a way of glossing over a lack of backbone is driven home quite solidly.

On leadership, there is a small anecdote on how Huntsman misheard the confirmation of his orders from a helmsman during his time in the navy. As a lieutenant who was responsible for ensuring the formation of ships, this caused a dangerous disarray, with possible collisions between warships of different nations. The captain immediately takes over (albeit in his bathrobe) and instead of berating his junior, explains that he continues to be responsible for what happens on his ship and that the occasion will be a life-long learning for the young Huntsman. This is a lesson for all CEO’s the world over, a reminder of what we call Agency Theory.

Huntsman seems to have a dislike of corporate lawyers and their insistence in creating mounds of paperwork just to ensure that people keep their word. Of course, this is going to be de rigueur until everyone in the world decides that their word is their bond, but his point is that these long clauses tend to impede the execution of a promise.

The best example is a quote featured from the National Review:

The First Amendment is 45 words;

The Lord’s Prayer is 66 words;

The Gettysburg Address is 286 words;

There are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence,

but the Government Regulations on the sale of Cabbage total 26,911 words.

That there is a danger in being surrounded by “Yes-Men” is also included in chapter six. As mentioned in the book, the reason for having so many whistle-blowers is the lack of a proper internal warning system -something that many companies will be mindful of in these times of crisis.

Chapter seven was my favourite, since it pretty much summed up one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life. Getting beyond petty squabbles and thoughts of revenge (for whatever reason) helps keep a much clearer mind and causes less heartburn in the long run.

The most compelling message however, is at the end of the book in the tenth chapter, about giving back to society. That Jon Huntsman Sr is one of America’s biggest givers lends more credence to his appeal that businesses and individuals spend time and money to make better the lives of the less fortunate. As he says (and the same is often said by my better half), “Save for God’s grace (and a few worldly breaks), there go us“.

I’m fairly sure that at some point people will read this book and criticise it for the high level of Christianity prevalent in it. That Huntsman is close to his religion and has leveraged it to make him a better person is beyond doubt. Reading this book, my cynical self thought whether it was just good morals and values or Christianity that was being propounded – a point many anti-conversion types the world over are likely to pounce on.

However, if anyone is willing to read this book for what it is – a slim volume of thoughts cleverly and appeallingly written about the importance of morals and values in both business and life – they will not be disappointed.

In a case of synchronicity, it turns out that the Vesess blog has an interview with a company responsible for a site about good deeds.

As I may have pointed out before, the consistent feature of this blog has been upgrades to WordPress and its plugins.

Rarely have I taken the time to actually add anything of note to this blog.

Beginning May 2005, Nisadas was launched from home on my dial-up connection and featured a mashed up theme that borrowed (stole?) heavily from various existing themes that I thought were interesting.

Prabhath, the design guru at the up-and-coming contender for Best Sri Lankan Web Design Firm (Vesess) saw it, puzzled over it and then kindly advised me to use a more interesting theme like Blix.

After that, I managed to squeeze in a few posts such as;

• Small is beautiful
• Multum in parvo
• Identity crisis
• The Horton Place Progressive Front (possibly one of my better posts)
• Quis custodiet ipso custodes? (which combined my penchant for latin headings with my interest in Pratchett)
• The Magic of books (the Kindle wasn’t out yet)
• Life on the silver screen (my first movie review and the first time I went for a premiere. It was weird sharing the theater with so many sri lankan actors, ‘cos I didn’t know any of their names – just their faces )
• and my most viewed post – HSBC (SL) doesn’t want me to use Linux

After that, most of my posts came few and far between, with random surges whenever I got some free time (which was spent mostly fiddling with the themes and plugins).

During all this time, I’d been hosting at NearlyFreeSpeech.net which I have to say is the best bet for anyone looking to start out hosting their own domain for their blog. Then came a special offer from Dreamhost which sounded pretty good  so as of January 4, 2009 Nisadas found a set of new nameservers. Within a few days though, the server this was hosted went down. It was back up again and I’m sure apart from a few spambots, no one else apart from me noticed. Which is ok – I’ll give DH a go and see how it fares. If it doesn’t impress me, I’ll be back at NFSN.

Installing WordPress 2.7 and getting the fabulous Amazing Grace theme working (after getting it off NFSN) was a breeze. I’m quite impressed by the ease of exporting the blog using the settings. Also, WordPress 2.7 looks even better than before. Very Web 2.0 so to speak (I remember the older 1.5 UI). The facility to upgrade from within the blog comes quite in handy, especially since I’m not much of a hacker anymore.

So my goal for 2009 is quite simple – at least one post a week, for a total of 52 in 2009. Let’s see how that goes.

I’d ask you to put your seatbelts on, but this is going to be more like a ride on a bullock cart, so no worries, y’all

If it’s not procrastination, another thing I’m pretty good at is stopping chain mails. At office I’m the guy who googles the latest “forward this” emails, calls up supposed promotions etc etc to check out if it’s true. “Forwards” land in my inbox and die a quick death.

I’ve always found “tagging” in blogs to be the equivalent of chain mail (the email variety, not mithril) and have regarded them with the same level of suspicion. However, one doesn’t treat being tagged by Angel very lightly, so here are ten random things that make me happy:

• My wife’s laugh
• Reading Pratchett
• Music – specially Lebo M (Busa and Lala on youtube)
• Watching the underdogs score – like Fiji Vs. South Africa at the RWC 2007
• Computer games! Mostly older ones, mostly strategy (Lords of the Realm or Master of Orion, anyone?)
• Fruits – pineapple, guava, rambutan, mangoes and so on
• Chilling with friends – Kottu and Guitars optional
• Nature – a walk in the Peradeniya gardens
• Running – not something I do very often, but something that I enjoy nevertheless
• Driving – mainly because it’s something I’ve spent most of my life wanting to do…

And that’s it. The Tag stops here.

The last time that I got involved in Nisadas was to upgrade to WordPress 2.3 or something like that. The next thing I know, my next spam-deletion visit was met with the news that 2.5 was out and my spanking new upgrade was obsolete! Ah well, so there I went and upgraded…

To be honest, it’s nice. Nice to use WordPress again and nice to be blogging again. Over the last few months, much has happened.

• September whizzed by and South Africa won the Rugby World Cup (as I predicted to my All Blacks’ fanboy colleagues, weeks before the tournament).
• Sri Lanka fought hard and got into the Cricket World Cup finals, only to lose out to Australia (and don’t even think of discussing the whole squash ball incident).
• I watched the finals of the aforesaid cricket match, whilst running intermittently to the balcony to watch tracer bullets fire at the possible locations of LTTE light aircraft.
• I never got around to buying the new computer, although the people from ABC Computers thanked me for pointing out that their website was a bit out of date.
• I married an amazing young lady. Life has taken a distinct turn for the better!
• I got promoted.
• After much deliberation, I bought a car.
• I got over my suspicions of social networking and finally joined Facebook.
• The guys at Vesess totally amazed me with their new look and have now gone totally Free.
• A number of blogs that I enjoyed reading have vanished – notably Mahangu’s which is now used by someone else (unless that is, Mahangu.org is written by MW in an intentionally different style).
• The local website for HSBC was revamped and now allows access from a variety of browsers. Haven’t checked whether it works with linux, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t.
• I realised that 34 posts over a period of almost three years (since Nisadas went live) is pretty lame for a blog.
• I also realised that apart from fetish-crazed spambots, no one (well, except for one special person) really vists Nisadas anymore.

So that’s it. Things have happened – not limited to the list above – over the last few months. If you will join me again, you may find out more…

It’s going to be a helluva September…

Dhanuka pathirana has started things off with a bang – 277 runs off 72 balls,

The Twenty20 World Cup 2007 is starting soon in September, which means a lot more action on the cricketing front.

When it comes to contact sport, the Rugby world cup kicks off on the 7th, with the videos available for purchase from MediaZone. For a taste of what they offer, not to mention a recap of the recently completed Tri Nations, check out the MediaZone Tri-Nations coverage.

Add to this the fact the Moist von Lipvig will be returning to the pages of the Discworld in Terry Pratchett’s latest book due on September 18th.

September is going to be quite a packed month…

It doesn’t help very much when the monitor needs constant gamma correction to work. When the RAM just dies and I’m left with half of the full complement (another good reason to have two DIMMS) things just get ornery.

Then there’s the constant trouble with the network adapter, generally fixed with a reboot. Ditto for the newly fixed SATA HDD (connected via the chinese-made PCI card) suddenly vanishing trick.

By all indications, it looks like I need to upgrade my PC. The dust factor hasn’t helped either, so probably a good dusting is in order before that. But definitely, I need a new power supply, motherboard, processor, monitor and RAM.

Back in my school days, when I was a lot more techno savvy the method of finding out about the costs of putting a PC together meant trawling the shops at Unity Plaza and dealing with people who had no idea about the specs of what they were selling. The vendors in general were pretty clueless about anything that wasn’t in their shops; often they were clueless about what they were selling in the first place. Heaven forbid you even asked them about future-proofing.

But now that we’re pretty firmly in the 21st century and capable of putting world class websites online, I expected a plethora of hits when I searched for sri lankan computer retailers. Alas, I was mistaken.

It seems the same indifference that you can find meted out at so many of the general PC shops in Sri Lanka is now extended to the web. I’m pretty sure this has got to do with the fact that Sri Lankan domestic users don’t present themselves as much of a market. Even better, I’m sure the average retailer must be thinking “well, if they haven’t got a computer already, then they won’t be surfing the net looking for one” and follow that up with “now that they have a computer, they know where to find us”.

Well, it seems that the high-end consumer will always have someone willing to fawn over them for their rupees. But for the average guy like myself who’s rather annoyed at having to part with his money in this age of high inflation and what-not, it looks like the place to go is still Unity Plaza.

I tried out the websites of some of Sri Lanka’s better known retailers. Some of those links can be found at OnlineLanka, but I’ve no idea how updated those links are. As a matter of fact, the only site I found interesting (apart from the ones selling second-hand computers) was ABC Computers. That too, because I was solely interested in prices. My email enquiry from the people at ABC elicited the response that their site was not very up-to-date, but in the process of being updated. Not bad – certainly a step in the right direction

Some of the bigger names have sites with a lot of heavy wording and fancy flash graphics, but little substance. One of the better known companies has only a prototype site up which showcases PC equipment and the descriptions of jewellery.

Perhaps I’m missing something here, but it looks like I’ll have to slip back into my school-day approach of trawling Unity Plaza again… What a waste of time and energy…

There’s apparently only one Sri Lankan chocolate that’s been selected as a Superbrand. It’s quite interesting that it’s also my longtime favourite local brand.

There’s also a shop that is dedicated to this particular brand of chocolate.

All these things came to mind one day, when I left home one day, seeing the advertisement for the brand’s new status in a paper. That very afternoon, on my way to visit my dearly beloved, I stepped into the brand’s shop to buy a box of chocolates. After making my selection, I handed over the box to the salesperson at the counter.

When she told me the price was two hundred rupees, I handed over a five hundred rupee note since I hadn’t exact notes for that amount.

Her reaction was fascinating; with a sheepish grin and a shrug she tells me that she doesn’t have change. She leaves me standing in the shop with the chocolates in a bag and goes on about her other business, oblivious to my intent to purchase the chocolates.

Puzzled, I asked her again whether she wasn’t going to take my money. She simply shrugged and told me (albeit, with the sheepish grin) that she doesn’t have any change.

This left me with four options:

1. Take the chocolates and leave, without making any payment since the salesperson doesn’t seem to want any,
2. Go out and change my five hundred rupee note and come back again with exact change,
3. Leave the chocolates and buy something different
4. Leave the chocolates and go to a different shop

Option 1 seemed a little dodgy and option 2 was absolutely out of the question.
Option 3 was an option, but the fact that I was being forced to overspend or underspend by the salesperson made it a very unattractive option.
So I took option 4.

So What?

Well, in the end the manufacturer didn’t lose out, since I bought the same box of chocolates for the same price at a Cargills. But the experience certainly didn’t impress me with the shop. Not what I’d call good marketing.

The impact of the frontline

The cashiers, the salespersons etc – these are the frontline of an organisation – the operational people. They are generally lesser paid than the managers and executives who put together brand identity and I’m willing to bet that they’re also uninvolved in the advertising of things. However, they are also generally the people in the front line – the people who have the most contact with the customer. Therefore, they are also the people who will have the greatest impact on the customer’s opinion of the product.

My opinion would be that any salesperson would always look at making sure the customer leaves with they want.

When operating a specialised store, it would be safe to assume that the customer has already decided what they want even before they step in (would it be so hard to predict what someone wanted to buy, when they walked into the old Fountain Cafe?). Therefore, the purchase decision has already been made, so its merely a matter of closing the deal.

Failure to do so, doesn’t mean that the salesperson failed in her duties. But it does mean – in my opinion anyway – that she contributed negatively to the brand, especially since the shop was dedicated to the sale of that particular brand of chocolate.

So what can be done about it?

I think that sales persons need to be more involved in the branding process, since they are essentially part of the brand itself. All the money pumped into branding and advertising would be in vain, if the point of contact with the customer didn’t live up to expectations.

Maybe it’s because I read too much of Seth Godin.

UPDATE: Ramit Sethi has an old post, which I think covers the same topic, albeit with a better name for it: The Failure of the Last Mile.

Technically, time is supposed to fly when you’re having fun. However, it also flies when you least want it to. The question that lingers most in my mind is whether the days really are shorter than when I was younger, or whether it’s just the change in perspectives. Most definitely time flies when you’ve been given a deadline and a ton of stuff to do.

The cliche is that the only thing that doesn’t change is change itself.

It’s almost a year now since I left Vesess and it’s been hectic. It’s great to know that the guys are doing well and destined for greater things. It’s a shame that Nidahas and Adahas are off the Kottu syndicate – if only they were updated more often… (GP, Venu – hint, hint).

Mahangu has been offline for quite some time now (or so I think), so the link to his page has become rather redundant.

Meebo has become a lot more shiny and I kinda miss the old site already.

Firefox 2 came out and now I’m wondering how long before it’ll be exactly like Opera.

And that’s my two cents for the month.

One of the less appealing facets of regular travel out of Colombo can be the radio station that’s on. While this minor annoyance is generally avoided when the vehicle is your own, sharing an office transport leaves you with little alternative.

The nature of my new work is such, that I get to travel in a number of different vehicles driven by different drivers. That practically all of them listen to Shree FM is a fact that cannot be missed. That the same songs – notably “Chandani Payala” (BnS), “Nage” (Centigradz), something about kids ducking into “salons” to dab eau-de-cologne – can be heard EVERY DAMN DAY at more or less the same time is also a rather harsh reality that I escape thanks to my phone’s radio function.

Then of course, we can’t forget the female presenter who does the rather disturbing “Kanamediri Rathriya” and the way she asks the listeners to send in more tragic stories to be shared amongst the general populace. I wonder whether they have a similar show where they share people’s success stories…

Shree FM can also be noted for “Shree Hadhu Gee” (translated: Songs made by Shree). Should you be listening in, you might find the tunes to songs like Rhinestone cowboy, Take me to the Mardi Gras and recently Knock three times accompanied by sinhala lyrics.

All of these little things were in my thoughts today when I noted a rather interesting advertisement on page 92 of the Sunday Observer (It’s a little ritual of mine to browse this lovely newspaper on sundays – I get to know what kind of jobs are in demand, what kind of second hand cars I still can’t afford to buy and revisions to english grammar and spelling that I was hitherto unaware of) about Shree FM being Number One in Sri Lanka for the 14th consecutive quarter.

I found this absolutely hilarious, since I’d read with interest the advertisement on page 75 by Asia Broadcasting Corporation. Written rather emotionally IMHO, it starts off with “It has been revealed that certain rating agencies that compile the ratings of radio stations in the country are being bribed or influenced heavily and in turn are misleading the public” and goes on to warn “Don’t be mislead – take evasive action before it’s too late!!” in all capitals at the end. Whoever did the copy for that ad certainly shares the Dulan Abeyratne style of long-winded-sentences…

I can smell a storm brewing over advertising on radio… But seriously – you absolutely HAVE TO read these two ads together!

On a totally unrelated note, it seems Sucheta is as colourful online as he is in real life, Al-Juhara is hilarious, while Anonymous surely deserves a blog of his/her own.