‘Watchmen’ – My Notes from the Comic Book

I confess that I’ve not come across a superb piece of art called ‘Watchmen’ before. Unlike the west, comics aren’t keenly followed or marketed to a bigger audience in this part of the country. But here’s the thing – it’s usually the artwork that encourages me to buy a comic-book.

The movie version of this comic book was released last year but it’s a misplaced judgment to think that I picked the comic book ONLY for this reason. The artwork of ‘Watchmen’ – colouring, penciling, compositions grabbed my attention, Dave Gibbons has done them so wonderfully. Also all the 12 issues published by DC Comics in a single volume makes it a collector’s item!

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Insights Into Web Content Writing

I had the privilege of attending a workshop by Techved Design on writing content for the web. I wasn’t planning to leave the house in the killing humidity and heat but changed my mind thanks to my dearest friend Neha Modgil.

Writing immersible content for the web is always challenging. It’s a medium not known to sustain readership beyond a few seconds. Imagine having to sell a product in a limited amount of time and sustaining the attention span of an online user. This is what the workshop intended to address. Content speaks to a specific audience and good content only makes the actions on the website more compelling.

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Windows Phone 7 Series or the iPhone?

Microsoft previewed its much anticipated mobile operating system calling it Windows Phone 7 Series which could potentially give the iPhone a challenge in the smart phone sector. The smartphone market currently has Windows Mobile platform ranked third behind Blackberry & the iPhone at 18% share. A few of my personal thoughts on whether Windows Phone 7 Series could outclass the iPhone.

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A New Beginning

After months of speculation and extreme lethargy, I am finally out with my website. I had been ‘out of business’ since last year when I lost my motivation to write following numerous changes around in my personal life. I decided the only way to get back to good writing was to launch my 5 year old website with a new design.

I did not set out with a firm expectation on what the design should be or how it should “feel”. Before I finalised the current website I had trashed atleast 3 designs because I was not satisfied with the output. Either it was too colourful or murky or it looked very dull. What was my user going to think about me? it was a question that consistently flashed across my mind. So I stepped into the user’s shoes and began thinking critically. The end-result was a minimalist design that goes against all norms of “good” web design which we have come to admire in this so-called ‘Web 2.0’ world. My aim was to reduce the “noise” while providing the right “signals” to the information seeker. I wanted the visual design element to be invisible such that the likelihood of getting influenced by graphics, colours, etc. and being dragged away from the content I wanted to be consumed was reduced. And so here is that website that begs your utmost love, care and affection.

A few things must be said before leaving this website in the good hands. It’s still in a work-in-progress state so expect a few dead links, a few glitches here and there. Most importantly I am eager to know your views on the overall experience so do not hesitate to leave your comments behind. Happy surfing!

The Missing Mac Feature that Left Me Stunned

I was virtually stunned by this. Being a Windows user all my life I was so sure Mac would have this useful feature but it did not – the rename files feature has long been implemented on Windows. It works like this.

When you move a file that’s going to be duplicated, Windows system asks you if you want to Rename it or let Windows give it a default name — in which case it adds an ‘_numeric’ to it.

Mac does have this auto-rename feature but only for its Downloads. For instance you downloaded a file using the Safari browser, it defaults the name to ‘_numeric’ if a duplicate file is found. That is a boon because users download a whole lot of stuff and don’t want to be bugged by dialog boxes asking for renaming/replacements or whatever.

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