Challenge Accepted !

A bunch of people on my face book feed are participating in some sort of 30 day abs challenge ( yes it sounds exactly as painful and pointless as it is ). Apparently you subject various parts of your body to all sorts of indignation and then realize the true six pack is the one that you buy at the store

But that got me thinking , a 30 challenge is not a bad idea for all sorts of obvious and non obvious reasons

SO I will be attending a 30 day hair growth challenge . Schedule for the first week is  as follows . Weeks two three and four ( plus an extra two or three days will follow )

Day 1 : Observe hair growing at every possible opportunity. Comb when required or when bored or both

Day 2 :  Shampoo hair . Use conditioner Lather and Rinse BUT DO NOT REPEAT .

Day 3:   Pick out your favourite hair . Name it . Now give it a nickname. Introduce it to at least three strangers and two friends

Day 4: Repeat Day 1  but this time pretend you do not care whether your hair grows or not . Use fake laughter to bolster your fake feelings

Day 5 : Recommend hair cuts to everyone else participating in the challenge. Deny any ulterior motive .

Day 6 : Watch TV read a book solve world hunger but don't get carried away by trying to solve world peace as well

Day 7 : Attempt to battle depression as all your hair does not grow at the same rate. Change your conditioner but half way through your shower weep inconsolably and bitterly as the changed conditioner serves as a metaphor for all impermanence and the lie that is monogamy. Switch back to the original conditioner only to realize that it is not longer as satisfying. Exit the shower trip fall but get up again. Smile at your willpower !  ( rush back into the bathroom to wear your clothes

Farewell to Arms Part Deux

We have already discussed certain cell phone specific trials and tribulations here (http://rahul-chandran.blogspot.com/2010/11/farewell-to-arms-aka-great-smart-phone.html)
But why stop now !
So anyway
Most people( as in those who are lucky enough to know me , not in the world ) either have an iPhone ( the damned and  HAHAAHAHA Safari (l)users ) or an Android phone ( witty, charming, forward looking, independent thinkers ) and a vanishingly small number have a Windows Phone ( hapless MSFT employee ) .
Without fail though everyone in each camp can easily point to something totally idiotic in the other ecosystems and awesome about their own ( Editors Note : What do you mean damned I think you meant creative )
But in the shadowy world of betwixt and between and in the cracks and edges of the normal well ordered multiverse ever so often hic sunt dracones…..( Editors Note: Oh for god’s sake dragons really !!! )
Sometime ago I switched to a Nexus ( android ) and honestly was fairly happy with , in fact very happy with it . It’s integration with the GOOG ecosystem and the Now feature all add up to a super nice experience

And then MSFT released their new phone build with inbuilt Swype and Cortana and a host of other improvements (ATT was offering a deal which when combined with the tax break us job creators are entitled to ) it was practically free
So of course I grabbed it ( Nokia 1520 size matters edition )
I loved it!! like its pretty great especially Office and a bunch of other stuff including  the screen size but…. no apps at least not the ones I want and more importantly new ones are always written for android first ( Yes I know Satya has  a plan )
But wait wait I have a nexus too . Soon I found myself doing something very interesting , I am using the Nexus as my phone ( voice ) and for apps that I must have ( primarily the Sirius XM app but also maps voice etc) and I have tethering always turned on . ( which because the Nexus was unlocked and not in cahoots with ATT , ATT seems to have no clue about , viv le revolution , absolutely ! )
The Nokia device tethers to the android device and I use it for all things Office and Netflix ( 6 inches its just awesome ) and some other MSFT stuff , also shopping at AMZN

Initially I felt like a total idiot forward thinking genius carrying two phones but now  I don't even think about it anymore.
Which brings up to the following points

• Now that I have created the road map for world peace in the Smartphone wars can I get a Nobel. In the years to come one can already see the TV pundits wisely nodding and pontificating “Well yes my dear chap two phones , don't you see it was right there staring at us the solution but it took a particular kind of genius to just go with it you know “
• If not a Nobel can I patent this in any way . Well ok I probably wasn't the first person to think of this but I mean after rounded rectangles is “first” even a thing anymore
• Can we pass legislation to make it illegal to tout your phone and or criticize someone else’s unless you own two phones ( thus it is ok and ethical and in fact required almost for me to point what a colossal joke the iPhone is )
• Barring cost the surface 3 may not be the worst idea in the world ( someone has to explain to me why a thinner surface is meaningless to the tech press but every time APPL shaves a nanometer off of a bezel or something there is a collective mulorgy ( multiple orgasmic orgy) in the tech community
• IFF they can get people to write apps for WinPhone it will stay a formidable competitor may even get to 5% or something :-) .
• In case someone does not realize it I might as well point it out Owning three phones is really stupid !