Shoe dog by Phil Knight

Shoe dog is a memoir by Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike. I've completed reading the book and have to say the book is simply terrific. It recounts how Knight and his team went about building the company from scratch and how they faced insurmountable challenges and obstacles all along the way. The book is so engrossing that you feel that all the events are unfolding right in front of your eyes.

I loved this book because it gives out a message that if you have the determination and the grit to achieve something then you will definitely sail through. The author being an accountant also brings in accounting concepts such as assets equal liabilities plus equity. I got curious about these concepts and ended up watching youtube videos and had a fruitful discussion with my father who is from a financial background.

The book produces valuable messages throughout the book. The message on the art of competition was one that hit me really hard. Knight goes on to explain that the people who succeed in the competition are the ones who master the art of forgetting. You need to forget your past, your pain, and your doubts and most importantly forget your limits. Another key takeaway from the book would be the way Knight describes his internal chant: fail fast. He explains that when Nike's team were about to take terrifying risks they always had it in the back of their minds that they might fail. They only hoped that they would fail quickly so they would have enough time to implement all their hard-won lessons.

It's not short of quotes as well. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

• "The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones" - Confucius. It reminded me of Dashrath Manjhi 
• "You could do all the running it takes to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that" - Lewis Carroll
• "The cowards never started and the weak died along the way -- that leaves us"

Overall it is a book not only meant for entrepreneurs but also for any person that has the willingness and endurance to turn a dream into reality. The memoir is guaranteed to get you inspired.

Moto X Play browser lag

Ever since I updated my moto x play to marshmallow, I started experiencing lags in my browser. Initially, I thought it was chrome issue but even other browsers such as firefox weren't smooth.

Websites such as wikipedia started crashing. This was quite annoying as all the other apps were running fine. I googled the same and found that several users faced the same problem. I scrolled through a lot of forums. Some users had suggested a fix. The fix didn't involve rooting and stuff which could have made the warranty void, rather it was a simple workaround.


The steps of the workaround are as follows:

1. Go to settings.

2. Click on 'Accessibilty'(Located at the bottom).

3.  Turn off all the accessibility services such as moto voice etc.

The fix has a good success ratio.

The stranger - II

“Let’s get on with the journey.”

The bus was halted as Raghu had once again witnessed the mysterious man. The driver was all set to start the bus when he saw the huge rocks tumbling down the mountain. Raghu was beside the driver. They both were shell shocked to see the landslide right in front of their eyes. Landslides occur when the gravitational force exceeds the strength of the materials that compose the slope. Landslides can be initiated by rainfall, earthquakes, stream erosion, or a combination of any of these factors. But, at the moment Raghu and the driver could only manage to witness nature’s fury with disbelief.

The road which had existed a few minutes was all gone now. The thundering sound of the landslide had woken up the other passengers of the bus. They were all shocked to see the terrible sight. This had happened in the month of August so rainfall could have been one of the reasons for the initiation of the landslide. All the passengers were now gripped with fear. However, the onslaught of nature stopped at a few meters away from where the bus was now standing.

“We’re very lucky,” said a passenger with trembling fear.

“Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible” came a voice from the backseat of the bus.

“I know of an alternate route. It is a long route but we are left with no other option.”

The driver drank some water, regained his composure and they again set out. He didn’t want to waste any more time as that area was prone to landslide.

 Raghu, meanwhile, couldn’t believe that a few minutes of delay had saved them. He had got off the bus for just a few minutes which was the reason why they were still alive.  He cleared his mind of these thoughts and took out his phone. He contacted the police helpline and gave them details of the landslide. No other passenger could sleep till they had reached the destination. 

Raghu had desired to take the day off after a strenuous journey but impending work meant that he had to report to his office. The bank staff would gather at lunchtime to share their day’s work, the new policies that were being implemented, and also discuss their day to day life. Raghu narrated the landslide incident and how lucky they were to escape the predicament unscathed.

One of his co-workers, Sanjay said: “You should seek the blessings of the god.” He then told him about a nearby temple which was quite popular among the locals. Raghu wasn’t a very religious person but, nonetheless, he believed in gods. He accepted his friend’s invitation to go and seek the blessings once their work was done.

Raghu and Sanjay both set out for the temple. It took them some time to reach the temple.  Like all other temples in Goa, this was also beautifully carved. The temple was empty barring the priest and one more devotee. The devotee was an old man supposedly in his 70’s. He was a regular visitor and came to the temple every day.

 Raghu walked up to the idol and just as he looked at the idol he stood there frozen. His expressions changed rapidly. He was astonished. The other devotee who was present there looked at Raghu and said” I know what you’re feeling right now. I have also passed through the same disbelief and amazement. I’ll tell you a story and maybe that will help you to feel better.”

The old man started narrating the story. The story was set in the 1960’s when the devotee was a young man and had lost his way while coming back home at night. He was very scared and frightened with hardly any street lights. The jungles were very dense and he wasn’t able to navigate properly. Then he saw a tall person whose description was exactly the same as that of the stranger who Raghu had witnessed. The stranger carried a long bamboo stick. He told the frightened youth that he is the guardian of the village and there is no need to be scared of him. He also told him that he likes to move at night and provide protection and keep vigil over the property of his devotees. This was the reason why his sandals get worn out. The youth had no other option than to trust him. The stranger then guided him in the right direction and before he could thank him he had disappeared. The youth then told the seniors of his village who believed that he was none other than Betal (बेताळ).

Betal is considered to be the gram devata(village chief) and is worshipped in the form of warrior Shiva. He is also considered to be Shiv Sardar (warlord) in Lord Shiva’s army.

Raghu could no longer comprehend what was going on. He always considered himself to be a rational and pragmatic person. But, what had happened in the last few weeks had shaken him. The drums beating(Shiva’s damru), the appearance of the man, the delay which saved them from destruction when he tried to approach the man.  All these things were now making him uneasy.

He then stepped out of the temple and checked the watch. It was 8.30 pm. He had got so engrossed in the old man’s story that he couldn’t keep a count of the time. The temple was now closed. He had many unanswered questions in his mind. He now felt that the world around him had turned blank.

As he was about to start his journey back home he saw the stranger again waving his hand and smiling at him. The stranger then moved in the direction of the dense jungle.

---Tejas Ekawade
The article was first published here.

Note: While this story is a work of fiction, Betal temples do exist in Goa. Also, some old villagers claim that they have seen a tall figure moving in the village late at night. It is left up to the readers to infer their own conclusion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shree_Betal_temple

The Stranger - I

The article was first published here. 

Raghu Bandodkar was an honest and upright bank officer. He had recently been promoted to the post of the senior manager. Even though he was just 35 years old, he had made great strides in his career by working earnestly. However, he had to travel a lot and that meant passing through the meandering Goan roads. He had to visit the Bicholim office every week.

He would board a non-AC bus for Bicholim at 11.50 pm every Sunday. Six hours were needed to reach the destination. Raghu was accustomed to sleeping on the bus. While some people complained about traveling by bus at night, he had no such qualms. Raghu would sleep tight.

Traveling to Bicholim had become a routine. The driver of the bus knew him well by now. Raghu didn’t know what was in store for him in the near future.

Next week somewhere around midnight during his journey, the loud beating of drums woke him up. But to his amazement, he could no longer hear it once his eyes were wide open. ‘It’s surprising that anyone will want to play drums at 3 am’ he thought after checking the time on his watch. A cool breeze swept the bus and the night insects started squeaking ferociously. He closed the window, but that didn’t reduce the intensity.

 As the roads were lonely at that time the bus moved at quite a speed. What surprised Raghu more was that just as the bus was about to enter a mountain pass, the speed drastically reduced. It is obvious that while entering a road full of twists and turns the speed should be reduced, however driving at 5-10 kmph made no sense. He glanced out of his window. A very tall man with a long beard appeared out of nowhere on the road. He started waving his hand towards Raghu. Raghu was perplexed. Even in the darkness he managed to see that the man was wearing torn out sandals, carried a sword, and had a very muscular physique with no shirt on. The man was smiling at Raghu. It sent a chill down his spine. After the bus passed the mysterious man, the night insects stopped squeaking.

A day or two after working intensely he didn’t remember about it until the same thing occurred the next week. The same man in the same attire and at the same time was there on the road. The man again started waving his hands. This time Raghu looked around to see if anyone was awake. No one was.
He walked up to the driver and asked if he had seen any person on the roadside.  The answer was negative. ‘How could the driver miss the man?’ He then glanced at the speedometer. It showed 40kmph.  ‘How is this even possible?’ The bus was moving at a snail’s pace and the speed was 40kmph. He began to wonder whether he was actually awake. He went back to his place and fell asleep.

This continued for several weeks. During his commute at night, he would see the same man waving at him at the same place. It had now started bothering Raghu. To his surprise, none of his co-passengers seemed to notice this man.  Was this some paranormal activity or was his brain playing games with him?  Or was he just simply dreaming? He even searched on the internet for solutions. Some experts said that this scenario pertains to the realm of mind consciousness. Some said it was because he was under stress, but nothing could decipher the mystery.

He finally decided this was enough and would halt the bus next time when he sees that man.

Next week, again he unintentionally woke up at 3 am. The speed of the bus reduced as usual. Today he spotted the man from a long distance and told the driver to pull over for a moment. Just as Raghu got off the bus the man started walking in the opposite direction. Raghu called out for the man, but his calls went unanswered. Following the man at this time wasn’t a good option. He was thinking when the driver interrupted his thoughts by telling him that he should get on the bus. Raghu got on the bus unconvinced.

“Sir, there was no man on the road. I was calling out for you for the last 15 minutes.” 

“15 minutes. That’s impossible I was down there for only a moment.”

“No sir. Anyway, let’s get on with the journey.”

What happened next astonished them all… 

To be continued
---Tejas Ekawade

Call from Mr D'Souza (Part 2)

The residents of Star apartments had gathered on the 4^th floor. They were surprised to see a stranger lying unconscious on the floor. The Watchman was also present at the scene. When Rajiv had passed by him earlier, it didn’t occur to the watchman that Mr. D’Souza was no longer alive. 

One hour had passed since Rajiv had fainted. The people gathered around and splashed some water on his face. No response. The residents decided that it was time to call a doctor when Rajiv started regaining consciousness. He was startled at the sight of so many strangers staring at him.   

One of the people enquired as to why he was unconscious. He didn’t remember at first but then he saw a person using his phone. All of a sudden he sat bolt upright just like a person does when he sees a nightmare.

  

“It was the phone call,” said Rajiv, “yes, the phone call.” The people were bewildered.

“I didn’t believe in ghosts and all the paranormal things but these things do exist in reality.” His voice seemed very shaky.

He pulled out the phone from his pocket. Pointing towards the phone which he was holding in his right hand he said, “I got a call on this very phone from a ghost.“ Two of the residents burst out laughing.

He was about to explain when the display screen was lit up with a message saying Bakshi calling. He hadn’t recovered fully from his last phone conversation and the phone was ringing again.

“Hello.”

“Where the hell have you been Rajiv?” asked Bakshi in an angry tone.                       

“It is difficult to explain. I experienced something which we usually don’t in our normal life.”

“What are you talking about? D’Souza tried to contact you twice after his call got disconnected but there was no response from your side. So he contacted us to know if you will still be able to give the demo as it was getting late.”

The name itself frightened Rajiv and with a stuttering voice, he added, “You won’t believe it but D’Souza is a ghost. He died five years ago.”

“Are you high or are you trying to play a prank on me?” Bakshi was annoyed.  He didn’t like his precious time getting wasted.

Rajiv recounted the whole incident. The residents were still around. Some of them believed his story, some didn’t and some were still hanging around for no obvious reason.

The conversation with Bakshi was still on when the address of D’Souza popped up. Rajiv said " Star building, Flat no. 7, 4^th floor, Bandra-East.”

“This is not Star Building, this is Star Apartments.” said one of the building tenants. Rajiv ignored the comment.

Bakshi on the other line said, “Can you repeat the last part of the address?”

“4^th floor, Bandra-East.”

“You wrote down the wrong address. The destination was Bandra-West and not Bandra-East.”

All the things now seemed to fall in place. He had done a major blunder in writing down the address because of the construction work which hadn’t allowed him to hear the last word clearly. Then the coincidences. The name Mr. D’souza , the location – Bandra, and finally the building name- Star Apartments.

He couldn’t believe that this series of events had led him to believe in ghosts.   

He started laughing at himself. His excessive laughter raised a question amongst the residents whether his soul was actually taken over by a spirit. 

Call from Mr. D'Souza

Mr.Bakshi, 27, had just reached the office when the phone on his desk started ringing. He worked at a call centre. “Hello is this Sony service centre?” asked the person on the other end. “Yes sir” replied Mr. Bakshi. The person on the other end seemed to be elderly as he had a feeble voice. “I am Mr. D’Souza. Recently I purchased a Sny Bria 42’ inches LED television. Can you send some technician to give a demo for this tv?” 
"Yes sir, we received details from Vjai sales and we were about to inform you that we will be sending Mr.Rajiv to give a demo. He would be there by 7 in the evening.” Bakshi then went to cross-check the information he had gotten from Vjai Sales.

It was time for Mr. Bakshi to call Rajiv and give details about Mr. D’Souza. Rajiv was traveling by bus when he got the call. Bakshi gave him the residential address and mobile number of D’Souza. There was some construction work going on in the surrounding area, so he couldn’t properly hear the last word. Nonetheless, he had got the address which was ‘Star building, Flat no. 7, 4^th floor, Bandra-East’.

He reached the Star building at 7.30 pm. He was delayed by half an hour as he was busy completing other assignments. It was a tiring day but the demo would hardly require 30-45 minutes he thought to himself. He passed by the gate where the name of the building was clearly painted in bold letters ‘STAR APARTMENTS ’.

Rajiv was greeted by the watchman at the entrance. Watchman asked him where he wanted to go. “I am a sny technician and I am visiting Mr. D’Souza .“ The watchman asked for his Id card. He matched the photo on the Id card with the person who was standing beside him and wrote down the name of the visitor in the visitor’s diary. With his eyes gazing down at the register book he asked the visitor” Which D’Souza do you want to visit? The one on the 2^nd floor or …” By that time Rajiv was already headed towards the lift. 

Rajiv entered the building and was waiting for the lift. Another person was standing there who eyed Rajiv suspiciously. The lift finally arrived and the other person first got into the lift. The lift seemed to be very old not the automatic ones we find in shopping malls these days. Rajiv closed the door of the lift. Before he could press any button in the lift, it shot to the 6^th floor. He was surprised. The other person finally opened his mouth “You were too slow to press the button. Even my grandma would have done better…” he was interrupted by his cell phone. His ringtone was indeed scary. It reminded Rajiv of horror shows. Aahat was a show he never missed, but he never really believed in ghosts. He thought it was a fear instilled into weak minds to scare the damn out of them. The lift finally stopped on the 4^th floor.
 He walked across the floor and was searching for flat no 7 when another flat on the same floor smashed its door with a loud thud. Something didn’t seem right to him.

Rajiv finally rang the bell of flat no 7. No one responded. He rang the bell once more. Finally, a person in his mid-thirties opened the door. Rajiv had expected a senior citizen.

“Is this Mr. D’Souza’s residence?”

“No, I am not D’Souza.”

He looked at the paper on which he had written down the address.

“Isn’t this flat no. 7?”

“Indeed it is. I am Mr. Fernandes. D’Souza doesn’t live here anymore.”

“Doesn’t live here?” Rajiv was astonished at first. ” I had an appointment. He had clearly mentioned this address.”

“Mr. D’Souza died five years back. He had no children but lived alone. After his death, his relatives auctioned off the flat and I have been living here thereafter. It is strange that after five years someone came here looking for D’Souza. “

It sent a chill down his spine. How could a dead person seek an appointment? Many other questions now occupied his mind. But he remembered that he had the old man’s mobile number. He straightaway picked up his phone and dialed the number. No answer. He tried twice, thrice but all his attempts were proving fruitless. He started sweating profusely. He even dialed Mr. Bakshi to check the address and phone number. But even this call went unanswered.

The night was turning out to be spooky. Rajiv always thought that he wasn’t weak-hearted but his heart was now pounding with fear. But fear about what? Even he was not able to answer this question.  He thought that someone was playing pranks with him when his phone started ringing. It was a landline number.

“Hello”

“Is this Rajiv from sny?”

“Yes. Who is speaking?”

“I am D’Souza. I have been waiting for the last 45 minutes. Where are you?”

There was no reply from Rajiv’s side as he had already fainted. 

                                                  ....to be continued 
--Tejas Ekawade

Geo-tag: Detecting your location

  A few days back I uploaded a photo on Facebook. After uploading, I went on to add the location of the photo and Facebook offered a suggestion as to where the photo was taken. I looked at the first option; it was the exact location where I had clicked the pic.

             I tried to tag location of an old photo but this time it gave a wrong suggestion. It became pretty obvious that there had to be some difference in the properties of both the photos. When I compared the properties, I got to knew a whole new phenomenon known as ‘GEO – TAGGING’. We will find this keyword on specification list of almost all the new smartphones but it is mostly neglected .

What is Geo-tagging?

Geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical data such as latitude and longitude to various media like photos, video , websites ,RSS feeds. Or it can define the location place name or regional identifier. It can also include information such as the altitude and bearing.

              When our website or blog consists of geotags then it provides information to search engines or readers about the location of the site.

Geo-tagging photos

         There are a few methods of geo-tagging photographs, either automatic or manual. The simplest and the most precise option to geo-tag a photo would be to have a GPS enabled smartphone or camera. Thus, when we click a photo, the latitude and longitude of the location will be embedded onto the photo without our knowledge. These properties are stored in the metadata of pic or the Exif (Exchangeable image file format) FILE.

          Manual geo-tagging involves the use of software with which the properties of a photo can be manipulated.Several manufacturers, such as Sony, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Nikon are now providing cameras with built-in GPS feature which results in storing accurate data location in the photos or videos. 

The properties displaying the latitude and longitude.

Geo-tagged Websites

        Geo-tagging provides Internet users with a variety of features. For example, by entering the street address into Google Street View, users can get photographs taken from the street near the input location, with links to maps and satellite or aerial photographs of the area.

    Internet and computer geotagging can be performed by associating a geographic location with ‘Internet protocol (IP)’, WiFi and GPS co-ordinates.

    The combination of html 5, google maps and geo-location API has provided webmasters to add great new features to their websites.

     The easiest way to add geotags to a Web page is with meta tags. We create meta tag that includes the latitude and longitude in the contents of the tag:

<meta name="Example" content="48, -122" />

You can then add other meta tags that include the region, placename, and other elements (altitude, etc). These are named "geo.*" and the contents are the value for that tag. For example,

 <meta name="geo.placename" content="Mumbai" />

HTML 5 Geo-location API can only return users location in co-ordinates. Using these co-ordinates, the location can then be displayed on google maps.

W3C Geo-location API allows for scripted access to geographical location.

Geo-coding is the process of converting an address into latitude and longitude. Reverse Geo-coding is the process of converting latitude and longitude to human friendly address.

Google maps come in handy when we want to go a certain location but are not sure of how to get there. We just search for the location and then click on ‘Get Directions’.

Voila! We get a map with a specific route. All this has been possible due to the Geo-location API.

Some functions of the geo-location API:

getCurrentPosition( ) :This function is ued to get user’s position.

watchPosition( ): it gets the user’s current position and continues to update as user moves .(Specifically used in GPS)

Since the position can compromise user’s privacy, the position is not available till user approves it.

Examples :

Justdial.com

‘Near Me’ feature gives a list of restaurants, cinema halls or hospitals within a certain radius. 

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Geo-tagging is being widely used on social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Flickr. With the growing number of social users using geo-tagging, it has led to broader access of information. As geotagging focus on pinpointing people, important questions arise over privacy.

---Tejas S.Ekawade