Whats the Worst Ad you've seen?

Quiznos Subs ! I'm watching the really crappy ad where two UGLY looking creatures sing a song about Quizno's out of tune.... I've detested going to Quiznos ever since - it just grossed me out completely. I really wonder who's in charge of marketing there ! Hmmmmff !

At least I have company, although Slate doesn't seem to think so.

Motorola Wifi capable MPx

Check out Motorola's latest WiFi handset - the Motorola MPx.

Windows Portable Media Centers: iPod watch out !

The Portable Media Center boasts of devices with 40GB of storage and a small form factor. With Microsoft's entry into this market, maybe its time the folks at Apple took notice (I am sure they have). I like the marketing hype here - all the mumbo jumbo just refers to the 40GB hard disk they expect on these portable media devices. Launch date is expected to be the second half of 2004. Microsoft's partners include Creative, Samsung, Sanyo and Viewsonic - I guess that takes care of the pricing issue.

Words to/not to use during a sale

Fresh Inc. points to an interesting article on the 'right' words to use when pursuing a sale. Link to the article.

Even working at an industrial research lab, where I am responsible for 'selling' research concepts to product groups - at no cost to them - I can really apprecaite the needs to use the 'right' vocabulary when trying to close a deal. This article covers some important terms to avido that otherwise could trigger negative thoughts on the part of the buyer.

Technology: Mono and IKVM

It'd been a while since I looked up Mono - the open implementation of the Microsoft .NET framework for Linux. I am rather impressed by the progress. I need to download it myself and check it out soon. I'm also interested to note the JVM for .NET - IKVM. I'm interested to see if it really lives upto what is mentioned in its FAQs. More on this in the coming weeks.

Jeffrey Veen: Seven Steps to Better Presentationss

Jeffrey Veen has a blog posting on Seven Steps to Better Presentationss. Its quite useful. Although I wouldn't claim to be an exceptional speaker, I admit that I've used some of the ideas mentioned here in the past.

A resource for software marketing, software sales, and software product marketing

A resource for software marketing, software sales, and software product marketing - read this

ongoing � Bouncing Termsheets

ongoing Bouncing Termsheets

Tim Bray has an excellent blog posting for potential enterpreneurs [via Raj Jain]

Lessons from Martial Arts applicable in the Corporate World

Back in school I had obtained a third degree brown belt in Shotokan (Japanese) style Karate. I am currently learning a slightly different style that is a mixture of Korean and Japanese styles with some street and ground fighting added for flavour. I am a white belt once again - although one who kicks and punches like a brown belt ! :-)

One of the biggest lessons I have learnt from the ring (kumete/sparring) is the fact that I should be ever cautious of a counter move for any move that I make. A punching bag never strikes back. A live opponent is very different. The same is the case in a business scenario or anywhere in real life - you make the strike, but always expect a counter strike - and don't look surprised when it happens. Keep your guard up !

The next time I get on the ring I'll make sure I remember this - both in the dojo (gym) and in life......