Target Ads.

An interesting "behavioural targetting" by online advertisers. My case, that is.




These guys must be getting really smart. Since TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign language. I think, not sure) by ETS seems to be the constant one. I dunno how these guys managed to figure out that I need help in that department, and are urging me to study it.
The other ones are, as you can see from the above screengrab, are the ones urging me to tie the nuptials. How on earth do they manage to figure out I was single??
These computer guys and their intelligent programs continue to amaze me. :|

Personality Test

A good gauge of how pleasant someone's personality is the time required for the vacant seat next to him/her to be occupied by someone , whilst on public transport like the office bus.
People climb aboard, give the seats a glance, and if all of them have atleast 1 occupant, slide in next to the first non-repulsive co-passenger they find.
There are some people who have co-occupants on the seat, even when the 90% of the bus is empty. And then there is me.
99% of the time, mine is the absolute last seat to be filled to its capacity (of two) in the entire bus. The remaining times, it is not filled at all.
A few days ago, the bus was filled to capacity (well..almost), while I only had my laptop as a companion. Just as we were about to set off for home, in climbed a girl, not too unpleasant looking, I might add. She gave the entire bus a glance, hoping to squeeze in somewhere. But there was no other space available.
I , like a responsible co-passenger, lifted my bag off the seat and placed it on my lap, vacating it. But noooo.... She turned away and occupied the "cleaner's" seat in the driver's cabin. I guess
she found a rattly,noisy,smelly six cylinder diesel engine next to her better company to sit with than yours truly :(.

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Taking a leaf out of GJ's book, I am posting (one of my) my favourite Safari ads here :



"Slavery is not dead ..." . Darned right it isnt. Reclaiming my life is the need of the hour.


PS: Tomorrow is yet another day I have applied a leave for but plan to go anyway.
Yes I know. I am a chicken.

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Pathetic week, the last one. Around 200* people got the boot this Thursday and Friday, and thats 200 too many.
What is worse is the dreadful manner in which they were sent off,signing on pre composed resignation letters and later escorted to the gates by some of the HR girls, like criminals at the end of their detention. The chap was then bundled into a waiting car at the gates, with the cabbie having strict instructions to drop their cargo at the addresses mentioned by them without asking any questions.
I am sure they will deduct the cab fees in their final settlement. Security guards were placed on all rooftops , who were not letting anyone near the edges, citing "Wiring work" as the standard reason.
Everyday I go, I open my inbox half expecting the meeting invitation from a veep. Getting that, for lowlifes called common employees, has only one reason. The sack.
Not that I care anymore. Fear can be a motivation for only about a week.

Also, I wonder, shouldnt the non-direct revenue earners be the first ones to go ? Like HR, for example.

Amongst the Friday casualties, was Lovely Smile. This straightaway takes 10% of my motivation of heading to work. And thats quite a lot. I will miss the way LS's smile would light up my few minutes at work. I hope LS gets a better job elsewhere.
And that LS's beaming face will continue to illuminate a few more cubicles, in other, maybe more deserving organisations. :(

* Hearsay!

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After the declaration of Team Champions, a few days ago, was suprised to find a mail from a client side bigshot in my (very overcrowded) mailbox. The mail was him explaining the IT Team's structure under him to his superiors.
To my utter and total surprise, yours truly has been declared by them as a "Champion" !!

I am now officially known as, and I quote here, "THE NOT IN SYNC CHAMPION".

While other champs get dedicated resources under them in their respective teams, my 'team' constitutes of .. err.. me.
Great..now that I finally got some authority, I am going to enjoy bossing myself around.

--
Fines have been declared for those who leave the electrical fitments on in their cubicles overnight. That might sound like a good move, but I have got this strange but overwhelming fear that the socket into which I plug my docking station into is going to crackle and burst into flames anytime. I have been leaving it on for 3 straight days now. Going by the multitude of slightly blackened switches around, I guess this aint a too unfounded a fear.

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I just got one more boss!!
I dont know what sort of stuff they were having for lunch when they thought of this, but they did think that "Ohh yeah...the team is really overburdened with work and processes. We know JUST the solution...lets get them another boss!" was a rather good idea.

Its a bit like having a cricket team with 5 captains. Who make up the numbers,but sit out on wooden benches and shout out instructions.
The manager calls them.. wait for this... "The Champions". I kid you not!

Add to that the twisted team dynamics that exist in the upper layers, I dont see how we are going to accomplish anything productive out of this.

The year that was..

So 2009 has already begun. Time to reflect I guess (because everyone does that!) on the past year.

So lets see.... My journey through last year has taken me...umm...errr....absolutely nowhere.
2008 will be remembered as one big splotch of boredom. I dont think there is anything I will miss if someone erases my memory block for the year 2008 and uses it to store something else which is comparatively more exciting , like a ticking clock .
Honestly, staring at a wall waiting for the paint to fade would have been more exciting than my life in 2008.

Some of the things I had promised myself I would be doing at the beginning of 2k8 :
- Losing weight (ofcourse!)
- Use my bike more often.
- Behave more responsibly (dont laugh).
- Do something worthwhile with my life (again, do not laugh).

Heres how things stand now:
- I have gained (quite a lot of) weight.
- The bike still has done < 800 kms in a year and half.
- D'uh.
- I am still an ITDonkey, aint I ?

The way things are going, I don't think this year is going to be any different. If anything, it could possibly get worse. Much much worse.

On another note, managed to catch up on the this season's finale of Topgear. And was completely blown off!! Its absolutely AMAZING..!!
Its not just about cars or vehicles, its one of the most incredible Television content creation of the year. Its a Vietnam special, and well..true to its title, it is indeed special.
It is quite difficult not to associate the word War with Vietnam. But this was a revelation.
It is seriously worth a watch, even if you are not into cars or vehicles. For a change, this episode isnt about automobiles, they arent the main focus.
Its the country.