When More is actually less!!!

Yesterday me and some of my friends decided that we'd celebrate the end of this semester by going out for lunch and also treat our professor who has been so nice to us. We decided to head out this Thai place in Allen, TX. The ambiance was great, food was good, and the service was comfortable also. There was one catch with the place though, the restaurant levied an auto-gratuity of 18% on groups of 5 and over. What this means is that whether one likes it or not the restaurant will charge you 18% over and above your check amount. It is like deciding the tip amount for you, even if the service were shoddy and you didn't enjoy the meal you will end up forking out an extra 18%. I was completely surprised to see this concept of auto-gratuity.

I have heard of businesses providing a discount when there is a large order. Because of the volume of business they offer a small discount so the consumer feels better, but this is completely opposite, the more business you give the more you pay. I guess this can happen only in a capitalist economy driven by businesses, such as the US. It is possible for the restaurant owners to pay less for its wait staff because they will charge the customers extra if they come in groups... even a family of five will be slapped with an 18% auto-gratuity...

I think this is an unethical practice.

Foggy Morning Drive

Winter has set in... the evidence is this picture shot while driving to college couple of days ago. The visibility was pretty low but everyone was still driving at 50-60 miles per hour. Anyway that is life in America, fast and furious.

Lake Views in Plano

Plano city has a few small lakes of its own. Though the city gets its water supply from Lavon Dam located in Wylie, Plano is proud of its lakes and water bodies. The city protects these natural water resources pretty well. Every water body is pretty much stocked with fish, has a trail around, and is located inside a green belt area or park. Here are some pictures of a lake in Bob Woodruff Park, Plano.

Frisco City Hall Art Displays

One unique feature of Frisco, TX is the city's patronage of visual arts. The Texas Sculpture Garden is a unique example of how businesses in the city have contributed to create an open air museum of art and sculpture. I had been to the Frisco city hall recently and was impressed by the many sculptures on display in the grounds of the city hall. Here are some pictures of the sculptures I saw out there.

Fall Colors in Plano, Texas

One of the biggest national natural events in the US is the occurrence of fall colors. Almost ever state in continental US has its share of fall festivals to celebrate the change of season as evidenced by the changes in colors of leaves. Trees, plants and shrubs change the color of their leaves in preparation for a cold icy winter. This change from Green to red to yellow to brown and finally falling is a phenomenon worth watching out for. Aspen, Colorado is known for one of the best places to view fall colors. When I first came here people said that there is no fall color in Texas, but in the past three years I have been here I have seen fall foliage. Here are some pictures of what I saw recently along the road.

Bar Breast Examination by a Quack!!!

It is interesting the wide array of things people get convicted for. This man who became a woman is still obsessed with the female anatomy. I bet he is wondering how the natural ones feel like as apposed to his/ her artificial ones. So he figured out that posing as a plastic surgeon would get him access to female bodies and it did... but only for a short time. Now he/ she will be put away for a long time and can wonder about the female anatomy behind locked doors at leisure.

Road Views - Mobile Pictures

I am of the opinion that for the most part we spend our life on the road. We go to work, run errands, visit friends, check on family, go to movies, etc and every time we step out of our home we can be certain of hitting the road. How many of us actually look at the sights around the road that we commute by? Most of us just drive past without bothering to look left or right. Well I simply can't do that and here I am with some of the vistas of the road in Plano, Texas. I captured these pictures as I drove, or walked in and around Plano, and surrounding areas of Dallas Metroplex.

Sights of DFW Metro area

Sometimes as I drive around I just turn around and click a picture from my mobile phone. These pictures are not great in terms of quality, technicality or any such aspect. It is just hard cold truth of what I see... I shoot images such as these not to impress anyone, but just to document what I see as I drive around the city running errands and leading my daily life.

I have traveled 7 out of 50 states in the US and I must say that the best roads are in Texas. Though there is not much traffic like in East Coast or West Coast of the US, the roads here are something one needs to marvel at. It is amazing how the roads have been built and continue to be created. The above picture is of President George Bush Turnpike, a toll road on which one can see cars whizzing past at 70+ miles per hour. There are Multiple bridges built at many levels to separate traffic into different directions, exits, and entries. As you can see there are six different roads, each with at least three lanes in this picture.

Because Texas is still a sparsely populated state it is still possible to view an sunrise as we drive to work early in the morning.

An Amazing Film

I found this movie on Youtube about a cougar trying to hunt a bear cub and how survival instincts work in the animal kingdom. It is indeed one of the best short films I have seen.

Photography on the Move!!!

Earlier I had talked about how one can use modern technology to preserve their fondest memories on canvas. Well this time I would like to talk about my little but powerful mobile phone camera. I have one of the most basic phones the LG sliding phone. It is great instrument to talk, communicate and have some fun with. The camera that I had hitherto ignored is a really cool gadget, as I discover now. I shot some images recently as I meandered my way around doing my daily activities, going to school (college)... working..

Capturing and Preserving Memories!!!

This post brought to you by Art.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

Human life is nothing but a bunch of memories, some good and some not-so. It is up to us how we preserve the good memories and keep remembering them often to get motivated and move on in life. Remember the first time you won something, the pride of achievement in your face is well worth capturing. The time when you got married, when your child was born, when your child took its first steps, etc. These are the moments we wish to preserve for lifetime. photos {to} art

Now thanks to Art.com this is possible. You can easily transform and preserve your favorite memories in the form of a stunning, high-quality work of art. You can convert digital photos {to} art. This is a great way to convert your family vacation pictures into a work of art and hang it in your living room. It would make a great Christmas present. Imagine the look of pure surprise and pleasure on your child's face when you give him/ her a portrait for the holidays.

Are you wondering if this requires a whole lot of your time and money? Not at all. This is one of the most user friendly websites I have come across. All you need to do is to upload your digital image on to art.com's new platform and they will do the rest. You can see the transformation of your photos {to} art on art.com.

These works of art are long lasting and 100% guaranteed. So shop with confidence and get your favorite pictures converted into works of art.

Happy Diwali 2010

Today is Kannada Rajyotsava

Wallpaper by GaneshWallpapers.com

Happy Kannada Rajyotsava 2010

The day our great state was formed into its modern entity in 1956. The birth of a new political entity and the proud member of the Union of India. Two years ago I started the only Kannada Radio Show on this day but of course since then the station itself closed down and there is no Kannada show in the DFW Metro area now. Every other Indian language is being represented in the currently existing South-Asian radio station. Anyway that is not the point of this post. I just wanted to wish all Kannadigas worldwide on this grand occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava.

Cards to Project a Positive Business Image

Since I moved to the United States about 3 years ago I have learned a lot about this country and the way the economy functions here. There is a huge emphasis on business and entrepreneurship and everyone wants to have their own business. This is specially so in the state I live in, Texas and Dallas area is acclaimed as one of the most small-business-friendly areas in the country.

When you are in business projecting a positive image about the entrepreneur and the enterprise is very important. There are many ways to do it. The simplest way perhaps is by having a well designed business card. I recently came across an online store that sells ultra-creative customized business cards. Their rationale is pretty straightforward, they help the business owner i.e., you design the business card by enabling you with the right tools.

For example their computer business cards features several creative templates. IT professionals have the opportunity to choose from the wide range of smart and stylish templates that illustrate the wonders of modern technology. These cards give an opportunity to the professional business owner to demonstrate their expertise in the way they wish to project themselves, serious, tech-savvy, humorous, etc.

I believe if a business card is creative potential clients keep it in front of them and when they need IT services, you will be the first person on their mind. So get your business cards and get ahead in your business.

A week after Diwali contests...

I hope the new people that came to my blog to participate in the contest are revisiting. There is really no way to tell, that is one of the beauties of the internet. But this is soon coming to an end if one of the radio interviews I listened to this evening is true. According to the radio program I heard there are companies out there that are building lists and data to track down individuals. If you thought your anonymity was safe on the internet think again. There are firms this like this company, I don't recall the name, who will mine your data and sell it to individuals/ businesses who are looking for your demographic.

Next time I use the internet to do anything I will think a hundred times...

Thank You Readers!!!

If not for all your support and encouragement and enthusiastic response this American Express Diwali Gift Card Campaign would not have been such a grand success with over 25 people writing in response to the quizzes. I would like to thank each and every one of you for visiting my blog and leaving comments or sending me e-mails in response to the contest. Hopefully American Express and their publicists will be so happy with y'all that they will decide to run a campaign on this blog whenever they launch a new gift card, be it for Diwali or for Christmas or for Valentine's day. At that time I will be back eliciting your response to the contests.

Happy Vijaya Dashami to All

Vijaya Dashami marks the end of the Dushera/ Dasara festival in the Hindu/ Indian Calendar. This relevance of this festival is obvious by the name, Vijaya meaning "Victory" and Dashami meaning "tenth day". This is the day when the war between god and demons were finished with the victory to the God. In the history of Hinduism there have been quite a few of these wars and the most significant are still remembered as festivals and celebratory days of the good forces.

On Vijaya Dashami we celebrate the victory of:
1. Lord Ram over Ravana
2. Goddess Durga over Mahishasura
3. End of Pandavas Exile.
There are many more reasons but I'd limit myself to these three. Read up on Wikipedia if you'd like to know more.

Contest Time
There are two more American Express Diwali Gift Cards on the table. I will announce the final winners on Monday afternoon.

This contest is real simple. All you need to do is to tell me how you celebrate festivals of any kind and what makes you look forward to them. You can tell me about any festival not necessarily Vijaya Dashami or Diwali.

Happy Shopping to the winners who are getting their gift cards.

Season of Gifts, Joy and Love

First of all I must say a big thank you to all my blog readers and occasional visitors for the overwhelming response to my first contest. The first contest had one winner chosen via a random draw of lots. And the winner is Ms. Sudha Maheswari from California.

I am touched by your response and I have decided to increase the number gifts. Today's post will carry two $100 American Express Diwali Gift Cards which will be given away to lucky winners. So today and tomorrow there will be two lucky people who will win the gift card. If you respond to the contest and not win today also, don't worry the final contest which will have two more winners will be on Saturday, October 16, 2010.

Today I am going to talk a little about my fond Diwali memories. I was born and grew up in Bengaluru, the IT city of India. Most of my holidays would be spent in my grandparents home at Hosur, a small industrial town about an hours drive away. Diwali meant all of us 20 cousins, and an equal number of uncles & aunts getting together in the sprawling home of our grandparents. Those were days of fun all of us boys would get together and head to the hills at the outskirts of the town and spend our day climbing rocks, roaming in the woods. We would return home promptly at meal times.

Diwali celebrated with the entire family getting together was always fun and joy. More fun was getting the numerous gifts from all uncles, aunts, and my grand parents, clothes, pens, candy, and sometimes cold hard cash also. Now all of us cousins are spread out across the world and rarely meet in person. It is only memories that we carry and of course the all pervasive linkage through the world wide web. It is through online greeting cards and gift cards we keep in touch in this wireless world.

Today's contest
I think it has been enough of my reminiscing, let me talk about how you can get a $100 American Express Diwali Gift card today. It is quite simple. Leave a comment on this post, and mention your fondest memory of receiving a gift. If it is a Diwali Gift it would be appropriate for the occasion, but if it isn't you can still share it and win the $100 gift card. Once again based on the number of responses winners will be chosen by a draw of lots and all comments posted before 2pm CST on saturday October 16, 2010 will be eligible for the drawing.

This offer is exclusive for residents of United States. If there are more than one correct answers, winner will be chosen by draw of lots.

The Spirit of Diwali!!!

The festival of lights is coming up and I am excited about celebrating it with my friends... I don't have much of a family here but hey... when you are in a foreign land every good friend becomes your family.

Before I forget let me thank all those of you who responded to the contest yesterday. I am totally floored by the enthusiastic response I received by both Indians, Americans and Indian-Americans. I will be announcing the first winner of the American Express Diwali Gift card on Thursday October 14, 2010. There is one more day to enter that contest so let your friends and contacts know about this fantastic give away. In case you are not the lucky winner of the first contest don't despair. There are two more opportunities to win on Thursday (October 14, 2010) and Saturday (October 16, 2010) I will be running contests and these will have two winners each.

For now there is still chance to be a winner just enter the contest by visiting my previous post titled "An Exclusive Diwali Gift...".

Last but not the least remember good things are always enjoyed best when shared with loved ones. So share this contest with your family and friends and let them have a go at winning these awesome gift cards from American Express and Discover the World.

An Exclusive Diwali 2010 gift for you!!!

Like I said in my earlier post Dasara/ Dushera, and Diwali are two of the major festivals celebrated by over a fifth of the world's population. Diwali is especially relevant to all Hindus/ Indians across the world. The festival has gained immense popularity and official recognition in several countries with a significant Indian population. In 2003 White House celebrated the Festival of Lights and the US congress accorded official in 2007. Now with over 2.5 million Indians living in America Diwali is one of the major celebrations in most major cities in the country.

Philosophically Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and love over hatred. The best way to celebrate this is by getting together with family, and friends. In America families get together for Thanks giving, in India Diwali is one of the major festivals when extended families get together.

Diwali is celebration of life, family, community, and relationships. This is the season of giving, to loved ones, family, friends, business associates, etc. In India large corporations wait for this season to launch new products so people will be motivated to buy. This trend has now extended into America with American Express pioneering the effort. The global services company has launched a new gift card designed for Diwali celebrations. I would say this is a great way to express your love to family, friends and associates who are celebrating this festival.

The American Express Diwali gift cards are available in numerous denominations of $25, $50, $100 and $200 and are available for a limited time. Now here is the chance of giving this card instead of cash along with the sweets. Cash is old fashioned, the American Express Diwali themed gift cards are the trend of 2011, but available in 2010.

Now here is your chance of winning a $100 Diwali Gift Card, right here in my blog. American Express has graciously agreed to let five readers of this blog receive $100 Diwali gift cards. There is a little catch though, you need to give the right answer to the question below: You could either post it as a comment in response to this blog or email me directly with your answer. If you are the winner you will receive an exclusively designed $100 Diwali Gift Card from American Express. That will add another $100 to your shopping budget this festival season.... Hurry, the last date to respond to this contest is October 14, 2010.

Diwali Quiz Question
The third day of Diwali is specially sacred because....
a. Lakshmi the goddess of wealth is worshipped
b. Lord Vishnu rid the world of Evil by killing Narakasura
c. Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya from 14 years of exile

Choose the right answer and like I said either email me the answer or post it as a comment here.

This offer is exclusive for residents of United States. If there are more than one correct answers, winner will be chosen by draw of lots.