Some pics from last night. I took screenshot of the viewfinder to show what the naked eye can see. See the actual image that the phone camera took.

Magical.

As you land, there is a good chance the pilot will announce that it is hazy and warm.

The expected weather around the year is warm, hot or extremely hot. Throw in heavy rains at some point in the year.

Heavy rains are expected to stop the heavily used suburban trains due to flooding at least once a year.

Heavy rains also result in a few “rain days off” during the year.

The city is probably known for its tolerance as much as its communal riots.

It is probably also known more for the riots than the bomb blasts that preceded the riots.

The city has what used to be one of the largest slums in the world, and at the same time, it has restaurants with $500 bottles of wine that customers actually buy and consume.

It is one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the world. Rooms are small, apartments are small, and independent houses are almost non-existent.

And yet, whenever I am here, and especially now as I visit it from Bangalore, I feel at home. In my city.

Bombay.

No other city comes close.

Windows Phone needs a lot of fixes. This post goes into some key issues with Xbox Music and Video apps that need to be addressed quickly.

Windows Phone 8: Xbox Music and Video Issues

Windows Phone needs a lot of fixes. This post goes into some key issues with Internet Explorer that need to be addressed quickly.

Windows Phone 8: Internet Explorer Issues

Windows Phone needs a lot of fixes. This post goes into some key issues with the platform/OS that need to be addressed quickly.

Windows Phone 8: Platform/OS Issues

My peeves with Windows Phone 8 after using a Nokia Lumia 920 for three weeks.

Windows Phone Sucks

Microsoft has replaced the wireless sync in Zune desktop and Windows Phone 7 with the cloud in Windows Phone 8. The “devices and services” strategy coming along nicely for Microsoft.

Windows Phone 8 Sync: Really Taking You to the Cloud

Some interesting tidbits about Windows Phone in the news recently. Things may be turning for the platform. Maybe.

Windows Phone: Going from “Very Small” to Just “Small”?

Microsoft Minesweeper Arrives on Windows RT, finally.

Microsoft Minesweeper Arrives on Windows RT

After about 3 months of being in India, and about a month-and-a-half of being in our “own place”, that’s the thought that came to mind on the drive to the office this morning. I am uncomfortable. The wife is uncomfortable. The kids are not directly uncomfortable but they have changed and are probably showing their disconnect by their changing (for the worse) behavior.

Fish out of water? Not quite, but fairly close. I was in the US for 16 years, and my wife for 12. The kids have only seen the US life and lifestyle. Neither my wife nor I have set up a family in India. I left India when I was still kinda under the security blanket of my parents.

It is not the traffic. It is not the lack of true, good friends. It is not the lack of discipline. It is not the lack of ownership. It is not the fact that despite being close to most of my team here in India, most of the management is still in the US so I am always “behind” on email because I have to react to management emails.

I think, for me, it is a little bit of everything above, and maybe some more. I feel uncomfortable. I don’t feel “at home” when I come home.

Can’t tell if this is something that I can get over, or not. At this point odds are very small that I can get over. Especially considering that everyone else in the family is going through the same, and maybe in the wife’s case, even worse state of being disconnected.

The road was expected to be bumpy, but as it turns out, the bumps may be too many for us.

I love my Surface with Windows RT but there are quite a few dislikes I want to point out, that need to be fixed to make the experience even better.

Surface with Windows RT: Dislikes

I finally got to use a Surface with Windows RT. I love it.

Surface with Windows RT: Likes

So, I have now spent two months in India and about a month in my own place. Across several products and especially services, I have noticed two trends which really bother me. Sadly, both of these are deeply imbibed in the culture and I don’t see how the habit will break.

First is the lack of attention to detail in 99% of the work that gets done. I am not only referring to things like building an apartment complex, or painting the walls, but I had also seen it earlier in terms of software deliverables in the workplace. There is a strong tendency to “get it done” but absolutely no regard to getting it done right. As a result I see paint splattered around the edges, some last-minute electrical wire roundabouts making it look ugly, incomplete code, badly washed cars, etc.

Some ideas I have about how and why this may be happening: first, the people who work on these things are not completely invested into the final output. They are paid for their work and that is in no way tied to the success of the final product. More often than not, the money they get is more important than the customer satisfaction scores (if ever there were such a thing that gets measured). Going back to an earlier point, the incentive for the workers in the trenches is just to complete the task at hand and move on to the next.

The second pattern I dislike, and do so even more than the first, is the lack of ownership. The two are tied closely, of course, but still needs to be called out separately because I have reacted a few times and have realized it is only for my blood to boil. For example, I have been using a service which allows you to book a car driver for a certain number of hours for a fee. I have had several drivers come late and as a result I have had to miss or cancel some meetings. I have tried to reason with the drivers that it is bad that they are 45 minutes to an hour late. Almost invariably, the response is a shrug of the shoulder, and some mumbled explanation about traffic. Everyone knows the traffic is bad in Bangalore, so if they really cared to be on time, they’d account for it. Most of these guys have a two-wheeler, so it’s not like they really get stuck.

To take matters to the next level, when our direct-to-home satellite installer came 6 hours (yes!) late for his appointment, I actually cut some money out of the payment I made to the retailer. He tried to reason with me that the cut would come out of his pocket and I tried to tell him he should pass that penalty off to the installer. His response left me speechless: “they won’t ever change”. This is after 30 minutes of arguing with me that the small percentage that I held back, was actually a big deal to him.

Both of these aspects of service providers as well as product teams is disheartening. I can understand missing some things because we are human, but this habit of being satisfied with “good enough” is a worry. A big worry.

Twitter is now showing pictures posted on SkyDrive inline, much like other photo services such as Twitpic, YFrog, etc.

Skydrive Pictures Now Showing Inline on Twitter

Enjoy!

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Despite being tempted by iOS and iPhone, I have decided to stick with Windows Phone. See why.

Why I Decided to Stick with Windows Phone

Here is a tip to avoid large data download when installing SkyDrive desktop application on a new PC (or simply, a new install).

Tip: Skip Skydrive Initial Sync when Installing It on a New PC

A lot has been written about how confusing and complex Windows 8 could be. This article tries to simplify Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8.

Simplifying Windows: Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8

I went to the container location yesterday to get our good passed through customs. I thought, for kicks, why not document the experience so I can look back in the future. I tweeted during the process from my other twitter account @MehtaRomit (where it is more personal tweets vs @TheRomit which is more tech news-related tweets). Here’s the storify story:

Xbox Music is a beautiful-looking service which comes with some asterisks, which Microsoft needs to knock off very soon.

Xbox Music – a Great Service with Some Asterisks

Microsoft is shifting from being a software company to a devices and services company. Welcome to the Modern Microsoft.

Devices, Services and the Modern Microsoft

(I must admit, I took this MG Siegler set of posts a little bit too seriously. I had sworn off that guy, but since his nonsense was being discussed by others I follow on twitter, I had to peek.)

First issue I have is why is he concerned that Microsoft actually updated the OS after RTM and before GA? It is a great thing, as I said on twitter. Not sure why it is being spun as a negative.

Second, after Ed Bott brings it up and appropriately schools him on how Windows works within the OEM ecosystem, MG goes out and shoots himself in the foot by arguing (like a kid, nonetheless) that OS X was only updated after it became generally available to the public. Well, that is bad, isn’t it? That would mean Apple let a buggy OS out to the masses and only fixed issues a month or so later.

Oh, and that nonsense about calling Ed an “Apple malware blogger”? Sigh. More childishness.

As my friend Amir pointed out on twitter, Highlight is not going to be considered magical anytime soon and is nowhere near the Square atmosphere :-)

As you may or may not know, we just relocated from the US to Bangalore. While we wait for our stuff to come (shipped by sea), we are living a somewhat nomadic life. The latest temporary residence happens to be a decent hotel, but before that we spent a few days in a guest house and before that, with my uncle and aunt.

For the past week or so, for one reason or the other, both our iPads have not come out of the suitcase. The kids have started going to school so they don’t need entertainment during the day, there was no wifi at the guest house earlier, and there is good wifi here in the hotel but we have a PC that we use a lot and for quick email triage and Facebook/Twitter/ADN, I end up using my phone more than anything else.

As a result, not only have the iPad not been used, more importantly, they have not been missed. We have not once felt like we would rather use the iPad. The kids used to play random games (dress up Barbie or restaurant manager are current favorites) but they have the TV to entertain them after the come from school. For the past several months I have noticed that my use of the iPad has strictly been Twitter, Facebook and the browser. Between the phone and the laptop, I haven’t needed to get the iPad for any of those uses.

This could very well be because we are not settled into “our house” yet. In other words, if the iPad were there on the coffee table, we would of course pick it up than open the laptop. However, I am seriously thinking, if instead of a laptop, I had a Windows RT “device”, I would be absolutely ok and in fact would prefer it. That would take care of the thin-and-light thing that is lying around on the coffee table, and also fits well as a “better computer” than the iPad when hooked to the dock at the desk. So that casual Excel or Word files that I may need to edit on-the-go, can actually be done without fumbling with pinching and zooming to no end.

The kids have enough “entertainment” options outside of the iPad, and even today, there are plenty of games and game-like apps in the Windows Store to keep them busy (and educated at the same time) so they won’t miss the iPad.

There you have it. I am ready to get a Surface RT to replace my iPad 2. At least one of the two that I own.

More rumors of Microsoft making a “Surface Phone”. Will it help Windows Phone at all?

Surface Phone Will Not Help Windows Phone

It is hard not to observe how much help you get (like it or not) when you have money in India. I am not just referring to servants and cooks and drivers. It is everywhere. I recently experienced some of it:

As it turns out, my company has a tie up with HSBC Bank for savings accounts (equivalent of “checking account” in the US). They have two points of contact dedicated to my company. I sent an email to one of them, asking him to send me the details of the types of accounts they offer and the terms for each of those so that I can apply. What was the reaction? He calls me from his mobile phone and is in the office with the application forms that afternoon! Not only that, he actually filled out the form for me! After putting all the relevant details in the cumbersome-to-fill form, he pointed me to where I should sign and that’s it.

Later I found out that instead of a joint application, I needed to do a sole application. Guess what? He came to my uncle’s house (where we are currently, temporarily put up) to get the form filled out. Oh, one of the things does not have enough photocopies? He took the stuff, went on his motorbike and made copies himself!

It is not just the fact that they want the business. With waiters, I have seen that they not only serve you every single time you need to be served (like for second helping and such), but when it comes to drinks, they actually put the ice, the drink and the mixer in front of you!

I have a habit of picking up my plate and putting it in the sink (if not actually rinsing it too) after I am done with lunch/dinner. The servants here feel awkward when I do that and keep reminding me that I don’t need to do that. Overwhelming.

I am afraid this hierarchical nature of society (waiters have to listen to patrons, servants have to “obey” the boss, etc.) can give a sense of entitlement to people and that would be very, very bad. For example, I saw at Bangalore airport that a guy was shouting extremely loudly at one of the porters. I am not sure what was the issue because I was too far, but I imagine the porter may have not loaded all the bags on the cart properly or some such thing.

We hope that we don’t become like that guy, and given that as more people get educated the less likely they are to do servant-type jobs, it is inevitable that one day we would have to do much of the stuff ourselves regardless. Better to prepare for that and live mostly like how we lived in the US, than Indian-ize in that respect.