Top Business Celebrities who give a $h!t about LinkedIn

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Before starting, I must admit – LinkedIn is indeed a great tool for professional networking and business development. I’m just sharing an interesting observation and my intention is not to demean LinkedIn.

Sheryl Sandberg

I was shocked to see the LinkedIn profile of Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, empty and inactive. That increased my enthusiasm of checking out the profiles of other top celebrities and finding their activity in LinkedIn.

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Marissa Mayer

An ex-googler and the present CEO of Yahoo! She is believed to be one of the most influential women in the business majorly dominated by men. Know for her bold decisions and good leadership (not to forget her interest in shopping – tumblr, Rondee ), Marissa has just 138 connections. Atleast, she has a customized URL and a profile picture unlike Sheryl.

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Mark Zuckerberg

His headline says, CEO at Facebook. But I’m not so sure if this is his original profile even. Seriously? Zero connections? Probably he is too busy and has left the job of keeping his profile active to some Palestinian hacker 😉

mark zuckerbergElon Musk

Some call him as real life Tony Stark. Some say, he is even better than Tony because atleast he exists. Elon is the founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla Motors and Paypal. He was recently in the news when he announced his idea – Hyperloop. Elon who is pretty active in Twitter, doesn’t seem to bother about LinkedIn, I have to say.

Elon MuskLarry Page

Co-founder & President at Google, Larry Page has just 4 connections. BTW, I’m really curious to know if Marissa is one of them 😛 (For those who doesn’t know, yea, they both dated once)

Larry Page

This is not the end of story as there are many other such profiles too. These name just names from the top of my head.

BTW, Jeff Weiner, if you ever come across this post and get pissed off, this is for you!

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The Viswaroopam Politics- Govt vs Kamal, how the drama unfolded.

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Before staring I’d like to make a disclaimer about myself which will make organisations to not fight against me.

I do not belong to any political outfits.

I neither endorse nor encourage any terrorists organization or religious fanatics.

I only express my views and concern when I see some absurdities or atrocities in any form.” 

One of the biggest problems in our society is, we relate and drag-in politics inside  almost every issue that when time passes, we quite forget the issue and fight over politics.We have seen many such incidents like the 1984 riots, Bofors, thelkha, CWG, 2G scams, lokpal, etc. Blame it on the media or the mindset of people, what we remember when we hear these names are the political figures related to it and barely anyone remembers about the issue.  The same has happened in the release of the controversial film, Vishwaroopam.

In this blog I have just gathered all the speculations, events and the real problem as it happened. Those who knows about the how the drama unfolded, and wants to know the real version of the story, can just skip to the last 4 points, “Why I ridicule the Jaya TV Conspiracy theory”.

The problem started when the theatrical trailer was released and some Islamic organisations found it hurting. To peace them, they were called for a special screening by Kamal and that’s were the Vishwaroopam issue took Vishwaroopam(grew bigger). After which 24 Islamic organisations met the State Chief Secretary of Tamilnadu and gave him a petition to Ban the movie. News spread like fire which received both support as well as strong opposition and in no-time, it was not just a small issue about a film but became a potential threat to the communal harmony. Protests were held throughout the state. There were organisations protesting and threatening to cause damage to theaters screening the movie. With no options left, the state govt had to step in to calm the issue.

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I still wonder, how did a great intellectual like Kamal planned to release the film on Jan 25th (Milad E Nabi day) without anticipating all this. The heat was rising among the protesting Muslim organisations both offline as well as online through social networking sites and the next day being 26th Jan, republic day for India, the govt din’t have any options left than to ban the movie for 15 days. My previous blog explains why the ban is justified. Read it here.

Why I support Govt.’s move in release of Kamalhassan’s Vishwaroopam

With inputs from Intelligence Bureau(IB) of possible terror threats avenging the death of Kasab, every state was put on alert for the Republic day celebrations and the govt could not afford taking a risk in releasing the film that might lead to outbreak of riots which will a niche for terrorists to strike in. Here, I would like to insist that, the govt did not ban the movie away entirely, but just halted the release for 15 days which will cause the tension and heat to subdue. But Kamal, having invested almost his entire life savings, went for an appeal to sanction a stay against the ban. With the single judge granting stay on the ban, the govt went for an appeal. After examining the case, the court held the ban valid and asked for explanations from both side. Meanwhile, Kamal gave an emotional speech to the media which was actually was the beginning of the end to the crisis. He moved not alone his audience but everyone who heard his speech. Fans thronged his office at Eldams road and some Muslim organisations stepped in to make a compromise with Kamal which was followed by the announcement,the next day, from the state’s Chief Minister Ms.J Jayalalitha that, the govt will broker the compromise between Kamal and the protesting organisations. She also promised to lift the ban, if the two sides compromised and the Law and Order of the state will be completely ensured. As promised the issue was resolved with the help of the Chief Secretary and Kamal even thanked both the CM and Chief Secretary  for the help.

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Meanwhile, as I mentioned earlier, some anti govt politicians as well as the media run by them planned to take an advantage of this issue. They sparked off an allegation that Jaya TV, a private owned satellite channel, which failed to get the satellite rights for the movie asked the govt to ban the movie. As expected by them, many people fell prey. They believed this allegation to be true and suddenly the whole story got twisted. Those who protested against the film who faced a strong criticism from the general public, used this allegation as their life boat. Suddenly a non political, religion based, a cine issue was turned political. This issue then further spread like a wild fire with every individual’s own version of story added.  Another big problem with our society. Rumors spreads fast.

Why I ridicule the Jaya Tv conspiracy theory: 

1. It was a common practice during the last regime when there were distributors and film producers related with the then CM, produced/distributed many films. So it was easy for people to believe even the present govt did the same. But the real fact is, even had Jaya TV got the rights, it is only satellite rights and not distribution rights. Which means, after releasing the film in DTH and theaters, the profit which could be made by showing the movie on their channel, will not be as big as the profit got through distribution of the film.

Any govt, will not be ready to oppose a man like Kamalhassan who has quite a big fan following in the state. Politically, a majority of voters who votes for AIADMK are Kamal fans. Which govt will want to loose their vote bank for a small profit of satellite rights. Even a common man with a common intelligence can understand that the bargain is not worth. This being the case how will a politician do this with MP elections barely a year away.

2.  Again going back, during their previous regime, due to internal party conflicts, a new channel was started. Not alone one, but a network of channels were started in a small period of time and from the time when its telecast began, it was able to get rights of big budget films and programs. But Jaya TV which is there for around two decades still is not as famous as the former. If J Jayalalitha supports the channel through her political power and influence, we could guess how big the channel must be now. This rules out the probability of her association with the channel.

3. Its been nearly one and a half year since Ms. JJ assumed power and during this period there were many films released which did not give their rights to the channel either. Not alone that, even there are two big films Kadal and David that are releasing around the same time. Even these films did not seems to face any similar problems. This proves that, there is no political force into buying a movie.

4. When the films that were produced, distributed and acted by the family members of Mr. MK managed to release and run without facing any problems, how will this film alone face such problems from the govt? If the accusation that the govt is using its power to avenge its rivals, then how could this happen? (For people who are not aware of political situations in TN, Mr.MK is a political rival for JJ and the former CM of TN) This too proves that allegations and accusations are not anything more than, engineered, well-planned and conspired thoughts by the anti supporters of the the govt who wanted to make use of this opportunity to tarnish the image of the present govt which is of a strong hold in the state.

Also, there were accusations that Kamal wanted a White Dhoti- ed person to be the next PM because of which he is facing such problems. His casual comment of his desire to see a Tamilian or a south Indian as the next PM, is wrongly conveyed to people as he wants PC as the next PM. A thing to remember here is, even if he or PC himself wishes, Congress has already made clear Rahul will be their next PM candidate.

I hope I have broken down the conspiracy against the govt. My request to all my friends and readers is please don’t fall prey to cheap politics. Our sixth sense is what defines us. Question, reason and then understand anything/everything you listen or see. For more information on the issue check out these two articles.

http://english.samaylive.com/nation-news/676522979/vishwaroopam-kamal-hasan-jayalalithaa-tamil-nadu-news-muslims-su.html

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/vishwaroopam-why-the-onus-of-secularism-falls-on-muslims-too-604260.html

 

Kamalhassan thanks the CM for her help to release the movie

Why I support Govt.’s move in release of Kamalhassan’s Vishwaroopam

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Being a great fan of both Kamal and Amma, people have been asking me to make it clear on which side I take. But the truth is, both are the the same side, and I am along. 774400_486792408024684_612492196_o1. On the first place, the film has not been banned but just halted/ rescheduled for 15 days. People safety cannot be compromised at the cost of a movie. even if its a ulaga nayagan film.
2. With republic day and EId around the corner, the govt. cannot afford the risk of releasing the film after the threats from Pak Ultras. (IB Report) (source TOI)
3. If something goes wrong and protests break out, it might not be just communal protests, but a ripe opportunity for anti-social events to strike.
4. And if some people resort to violence as threatened, police should swing into action and you know what happens after that. There will be some cheap medias and politicos who will politicize this issue.
5. After seeing the protests held out of US embassy a few months before, it is actually good step by the govt to have taken this decision.
6. The govt needs time to plan, nab the culprits who are trying to misuse this opportunity and make sure that there are no protests held anywhere. Atleast, that is how I see this 15 days time.
7. Inspite of being her neighbor, knowing well what will happen if the film is stayed, with all speculations she might favor Kamal for some reason its really a great and a bold decision by her to reschedule the release date. Period.

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But as the saying “Sweets are the uses of Adversity” goes, this issue has given Kamal and the movie enough publicity which even would not have been possible if he spent millions. I hope and wish the movie comes clean of all speculations and becomes a superhit.

5 things to look for in a relationship.

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I wanted to write this after seeing the movie ‘Neethane En Pon Vasantham’ directed by the love Guru of Kollywood Gautham Vasudev Menon. I even wanted to name it 5 key takeaways from NEP. Before starting, if this article pisses you off,then I warn you. You are in the verge of a breakup. This is from what i have seen, heard and a little of own experience too.

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1. Economical Status. You might fight and argue with me that love never sees money, status, xyz. But believe me, it does. But a silver lining is, as said, the best way to become rich is to marry a rich man’s daughter. So if you could balance well, a good future is ahead.


2. Open up.
Your unspoken words works only in movies and romance stories. In real its either not understood or misunderstood. Both the cases being so dangerous you better talk your issues out.

3. Friends and Love. Well relationships are screwed because of friendship. Either you spend too much time with friends or you listen to your dumb friends who advises you as if they are a pro relationship counsellors. You need to balance between your friends and love. Girls, you need to understand that you ditched your friend and so your bf should do the same. Boys friendship works in a different way you’ll never understand.

4. Be a guardian not a chauvinist. There is just a small line between the both and you need to be extra careful not to cross the line. A father allows his kid to walk and he follows from behind. Just when she is about to falls, he runs to her and saves her. Be a second father to your girl. Give her the space she needs. And girls, believe in your guys. We have an extra sensory power of sensing the moods of other guys when they talks with you.

5. Small fights are good. But not too much of it. When I say fights are good, people in relationships will understand that. The convincing and cuddling up portions after fights are the best parts in a relationship. But don’t make your fights too frequent, because, regular break ups prepare you to live without him/her which spoils the whole concept of love.

Five things I have learned from my startup

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1. Never do business with your friend. If you have to do it, then never mix friendship and business. See that your friendship never gets affected by your business.

2. Believe in technology, but never depend on it. I agree social networks like twitter and facebook are a great means of advertising and marketing. Utilize it to the maximum but never stop with that. Technology has not reached to all levels yet.

3. Marketing is everything. You might be having an outstandingly brilliant idea/concept. But its never going to benefit you unless you know how to market it. I suggest, instead of outsourcing the marketing and publicity area, do it by yourself and learn it. If its your idea, no one can ever explain better than you.

4. Study the market before you start. Market study is the most important thing in business. Before doing that do not invest too much. Also, ‘market study’ is area specific. Your urban market study will never help you in rural areas.

5. Never invest too much in the beginning. Unless you are a billionaire, never put too much money into your business in the beginning, how much ever you believe in the future prospects of it.

Well, this is from what I’ve learned from my earlier and current startups. If youhave different views please share it.

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Is religion killing more than terrorism?

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In the book “End of Faith” author Sam Harris puts religion as, “the most potent source of human conflict, past and present.” Sadly, this has to be accepted. To the human clan, which always had been fighting from its existence for one or other reason, religion has been a fuel.

Religion was originally created to provide social coherence, with people sharing common aims, values, and moral systems. It can bring a sense of hope and inspiration to people, who otherwise might feel despondent, or desperate. Scientifically, it distinguished us from our closest living relatives Chimpanzees and bonobos with an increased brain size in the noecortex region, the part of the brain which is involved in processing higher order cognitive functions that are connected with human religiosity.

But we have been clearly misusing the right tool for a wrong purpose. The tool created for bringing in harmony and peace is being used totally used against the purpose. When we voice against the development of threatening weapons in the fear that might be used against us instead of saving us, why don’t we, for a moment think we are doing the same with religion. Neither religion nor God ever teaches extremism or fanaticism.

There needs be an understanding that may be the divine Prophet Mohammed or the Allah himself, will never apologize the recent killing of the US Envoy to Libya along with 3 other Americans and the on going Jihad. No God ever demands a life. Killings in the name of sacrifices are never going to please any God if it is true it is Him who created what you killed.

Religion is just a tool. It depends on the person who uses it, if to be used to kill or create.

To know about the various atrocities in the name of religion, see these links:

http://listverse.com/2008/04/02/8-atrocities-committed-in-the-name-of-religion/

http://markhumphrys.com/islam.killings.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant – The Fears and Facts.

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Whenever my grandfather, who is a retired engineer from TNEB, hears the word kudankulam he says, “I was ordered to do the electrification works to that village immediately as the government was planning to build an atomic power station there”. Well, it has been more than 20 years now after he got retired and still the plant has not brought into commissioning.

The problem going on now sparked after a mock drill conducted asking the villagers to evacuate. It was after that the people started realizing that they might have to loose their place one day if something goes wrong with the plant. And from there on, lots of rumors and suspicions started going around the villagers. And people like Udayakumar (if guilty as accused) started making a fortune. With more support from persons like Arvind Kejriwal, Arundathi Roy who has never let any development projects to function, this issue has rose to the status of ‘being discussed’ nation wide.

Fears and accusation:

  • What if an incident like Fukhishima occurs here?
  • Japan has closed its plant and has planned to go nuclear free by 2020. Even Germany is planning of reducing its N-power dependency.
  • Project being carried on by the Congress govt which betrayed people in the Bhopal gas tragedy incident and saved Andreson, the person responsible of UCC.
  • In case of a disaster, the villagers might need to evacuate their homes.
  • The fear that the value of fishes caught near kudankulam waters might not be preferred in the market which might question their livelihood.
  • Is Narayanaswamy and other supporters of KNPP ready to stay near Kudankulam area?
  • Grown up countries have started to reduce the usage of nuclear power.

I guess I have covered all the fears and opinions kept by the protestors and supporters.

How I see this:

  • The type of reactor used in fukhishima is boiling water reactor (BWR) which is an outdated type. But the installed ones at kudankulam are of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)- VVER type which is a proven model and used world wide. See the link at the end of the article to know the difference.
  • Japan uses BWR reactors at almost all of its power plants. Its because of that fear Japan is planning to shut down. And in case of Germany, the country is not planning to shut down all of its N-plants, but a few plants using BWR reactors.
  • The fear that Congress govt is spear-heading the project is really a matter of concern. But if that point is considered no project anywhere in India can be implemented for the next two years.
  • In case of a nuclear leak, the villagers have to be evacuated but that situation is hypothetical on the first hand because of the fact that it is located in Seismic Zone II and the buildings are built with Double Gasket Leak tight doors  . Secondly, anyways they will loose their houses if the nuclear leak is caused due to tsunami.
  • Even in case of Tsunami, this plant will remain unaffected as the reactor is situated 8.7 meters above the mean sea level.
  • The fear of loosing the value of fishes caught in those waters are baseless as every nuclear plant is located along the coasts all over the world and still they have fishing hamlets all over the place. Even if that happens, we cannot sacrifice the good for the country thinking of less than 0.1 % of the country’s population.
  • There are people arguing if Narayanaswamy might come and live near Kudankulam, but there has to be an understanding that there will be scientists and  the plant workers living closer to the plant than the villagers.
  • When we look at grown up countries looking for alternate power resources we forget the fact that they are really ‘grown-up’ countries and they can afford to invest on  geo-thermal or tidal power plants which will also increase the cost to the customers.

Instead of believing the rumors lets think it for ourselves and analyse

the truth instead of believing people like Udayakumar who hides behind the people and fights. And it seems more logical to believe scientists like Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam than Udayakumar. This issue is very much played politically by cheap politicians who looks at every opportunity to raise their image spreading more false propaganda. At the last, we have to do what has to be done.

References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/18/nuclear-reactors-power-stations-world-list-map#

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2982294.ece

http://www.theweekendleader.com/Causes/716/koodankulam-plants.html

http://www.firstpost.com/debates/the-protestors-are-right-in-stalling-in-the-kudankulam-plant_results.html?unid=20120914170041

From Kollywood to ‘Gaali’wood:

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Kollywood, the world of magic which ‘had has and will’ make  a no-where man to a billionaire and vice-versa is going “Gaali”-wood these days. With nearly 3 to 4 films releasing every Friday there isn’t even a single good movie to watch.

One of the finest cine industries in the world is living in a very poor situation (of course not monetarily) . The standard of the films made these days have become very poor. Even most expected directors and actors fail to deliver what they are capable of. With more than 50 films been released in the first 9 months of the years, not even a single movie made an impact. For instance directors like Mysskin, Chakri toleti, Shankar gave a huge disappointment to the audience.

A very few movies like Dhoni, Vazhakku en 18/9, nanban(to be appreciated only for the choice to remake) made us visit the theatres this year. But neither the money invested on films nor the cast of these films were compromised. ‘With satellite rights, music rights and various other means, which fills the investors and actors accounts, are the industry people becoming less concerned about the standard of the films made’ , is one of the question that I want to ask to some of these people.

Also, personally I feel every aspect in a movie other than cinematography is being let down. Especially when it comes to the selection of heroes and a script. You should watch Ohh la la la, Udumban, rattinam if you differ in your views. What all it takes to make these movies is nothing but a decent cam and an average looking actor. If the script revolves around a village, even the need for  ‘average’ look is ignored. Our industry which was once gave away films like Kannathil Muthamittal, Mozhi, Guna should be very much ashamed of what its doing now. When actors are targeted, they pass the blame on to the directors who inturn point at the producers and distributors.

With movies like NEP, Vishwaroopam, Kochadaiyan lined up for the second half of the year, lets hope.

Drawing a line between a rebel and a revolutionary.

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I remember a saying, “every revolutionary remains a rebel untill he wins his cause”. Probably that is taken too serious these days and we see a lot of people transforming into a rebel in the desire becoming a revolutionary.For afterall, they both differ only by a hair line.Rebels are known for what they are “against”, while revolutionaries are known for what they are “for”. All these self-proclaimed revolutionaries have to lot of protest against. But what do they really stand for? Suddenly, the air becomes abstract and motherhood statements abound.
A rebel is one who wants to overthrow authority because of his resentment and, as a result, to make himself the authority in place of the one he has overthrown. It has always been so easy to become a rebel. What you will need is a good tone of speech, powerful words, Che Guvera posters and now a days a webiste and support from social medias. And you bet, there will be your own crowd for whatever you standfor. Might it be Prabakaran or Arvind Kejriwal or the recent Udayakumar.

The history has seen a lot of leaders having taken a detour from the path of a rebel to a revolutionary. Now this has led to the trend of first disguising as a rebel to rise up as a leader. Every time we pick the wrong leader, just because he rebelled against something that we dint like, we find ourselves in a deep trouble making us realize the previous situation was better.