General
Optimal Time For Blogging
Jan 21st
Waking up in the morning, turning on your computer in complete darkness as your coffee brews and fills up your empty cup. The bright light of your monitor shines on your face as you launch your WordPress admin section to begin writing your new post as you sip your coffee. Does this sound like you? It used to be me, but not anymore. With my work schedule and my dedication of making sure that I have plenty of posts, I try to write about 2-3 posts in every sitting.
Some people like to blog in the daytime because they feel it helps them write about topics that are fresh in their mind. Others, write in the night time before going to bed as a means of relaxing themselves. Thats how I feel. I write my posts Sunday night as it helps me know what the entire next week is covered and I enjoy writing as I have accumulated my ideas all week and now am able to put them into words.
Others blog during the day as ideas come to their mind. This is also great because it lets you write as soon as you think about something but if you are a student or you go to work then blogging whenever you have an idea might not be as easy depending on your schedule. It is a great idea if you have time to blog like that because you can get a post out as soon as you think about it.
I have a “Notes” application on my phone – as do most new phones – and whenever I get a new idea, I write it down in the application. Every Sunday night, I go through my ideas and begin the writing. The notes application gets updated whenever I write new posts or get new ideas but it helps me stay on track. Either way, I’m sure it depends on the person but what do you consider your optimal time for blogging and why?
2011 Toyota Corolla Quick Review
Jan 19th
Ever since Toyota had unveiled the 2011 Re-design for the Toyota Corolla, I was awaiting its arrival and its finally here – the 2011 Newly Redesigned Toyota Corolla. At first glance, not much has changed – atleast whats under the hood and the outside looks very familiar with some new additions. Lets take a look at the new changes, followed by an overview of the options/trim levels available and pricing.
Whats New?
The New 2011 Corolla is mostly the same if you look at its engine and powertrain, etc but whats new is the exterior. The 2011 Corolla now turns away from the very familiar front end with a new front fascia. The grille is body colored and almost looks like the older model Mazda 6. At first glance, you may mistake the front end for being that of a Camry and thats always good – an inexpensive car mimicking a more expensive one. The changes to the front fascia also flow through to the back. The rear of the car also has the new Avalon style chrome bar on the trunk connecting the two tail lights. The rear of the car is also not as rounded anymore and the lights are all new as well. The other exterior changes are there but somewhat minimal as the front grille and fascia as well as the rear of the car have seen the most changes.
Although not significant, the biggest problem with the Corolla was that it used to look dated. The Nissan Sentra went through quite a lot of changes, so did the Hyundai Elantra and the Mazda 3 so it was about time that the Corolla saw some change. The interior of the car is another part where quite a few changes have been made. The interior layout of the center console has received a major face lift. Instead of being dull and boring, the console is now better organized with nice sized buttons as well. The display for the radio is quite nice as well and the higher trim models also come with a USB port, aside from the standard Auxiliary input jack. The dials for the climate control are easy to understand and laid out well. The steering wheel also has moved away from the usual circular shape to a more square shape at the bottom of the wheel. This is a trend that we are seeing in a lot of new model cars and it doesn’t bother myself or car buyers as well.
Trim Levels/Pricing
Unlike previous model years, the Corolla seems to be missing the XLE trim model and the XRS trim level that used to be powered by the more powerful engine 2.4L engine, which is also missing. Only three trim levels remain – Base, LE and the S. Pricing for the base model, for the manual and the automatic transmission have only increased $150 to $15,600 for the manual and $16,400 for the automatic. What also has increased is the city mileage, which was 26 mpg in the 2010 model and is now 28 mpg. Interesting increase considering the engine is the same 1.8L that produces 132 horsepower. I would have liked to see a slight increase in the horsepower but I guess an increase in horsepower cannot be coupled with an increase in mileage. The new trim levels are fairly priced as you can see below:
Base – $15,600 (Manual) $16,400 (Automatic)
LE Version – $17,300 (Automatic only)
S Version - $17,470 (Manual) $18,300 (Automatic)
The Build Your Own Toyota tool was not updated as yet to reflect the New 2011 Corolla so I am not able to provide pricing of the options but I would expect for the options to remain the same in terms of pricing and such. Most of the standard features remain unchanged as well however I do expect to see more features and options coming soon as this mostly just seems as a visual upgrade for the Corolla rather than a performance upgrade.
Exterior Pictures
Interior Pictures
Making Negative Feedback, Positive
Jan 17th
Most of us have dealt with receiving or giving feedback sometime in our lives and generally, we are on the receiving end considering the business we are in. We always receive advice and criticism from our readers and visitors and that is all part of the blogosphere experience. About 50% of the time though, I receive negative feedback and I appreciate it, and I appreciate it because its not really meant to be hurtful, its just feedback. Here are some ways that you can make your negative feedback, positive :
1) Constructive Criticism – Nobody is saying you need to be easy with your criticism but as long as you are able to follow up your feedback with some way to resolve the issue or if you provide feedback that may lead towards a solution then you’re not doing any harm.
2) Sandwich Approach - The Sandwich approach is quite common and its basically where you sandwich the negative criticism with positive comments. So you start with a positive comment, state the negative and close with a positive comment. This takes the person on the receiving end of the criticism to not feel as they completely bombed at doing what they were supposed to.
3) Just Be Nice – Nobody says that negative criticism needs to be so hurtful. If something terrible has happened then you may not be able to help it but in general you should just try to be nice in mentioning the negative aspects. For example, if someone did a presentation badly you could tell them that the presentation could have been better. It softens the blow, in other words.
Hope this post has been of help to some of you. This is mainly from experience for me and I have noticed that some people don’t care about how they communicate their criticisms and such but at the end of the day, the people you work with are the ones you should worry about and be cognizant of their feelings. Let me know your thoughts and have you ever received feedback that was just communicated in a way where it was made to seem worse than it actually was.
Swagger Wagons Cool Again?
Jan 15th
When you need to get your kids from point A to point B, coupled with decent mileage, your options for a full size car/suv/van to comfortably seat 5 or more passengers is limited to certain SUVs or if you desire utmost comfort, your options are limited completely to minivans. Minivans have gained a reputation over the past few years as being un-cool, a soccer mom favorite, baby hauler, etc. Are car companies doing anything to mend this reputation?
This new article on Yahoo claims that car companies are now moving onto new types of minivans to change consumer perspectives regarding the minivans. Are consumers too set on their thoughts though? Is transforming the minivan all that it will take? Its hard to answer those questions but with a 40% increase in its sales of minivans for Honda alone, I think the answer might be that consumers are looking towards the minivan without any particular mindset. Consumers, as car companies know it, will buy any car as long as they see features, value and a car that meets their needs no matter how ugly it may be ::cough::PT Cruiser::cough::.
Lets take the Toyota Sienna for instance, the Swagger Wagon video attached below portrays the new “era” of minivans. Then you have Honda pushing a new look claiming its unlike any “van”. Chrysler is creating a high powered van called the man van and Ford jumping back in the market with the C-Max. All this as Mercedes still attempts to disguise its R-Class as a crossover rather than a plain old minivan which is exactly what the R-Class is.
Are Minivans coming to the point where they can separate themselves from the competition and stand out to consumers as a plausible choice for a vehicle. Minivans are transforming themselves to become more appealing in terms of features and design. Honda’s high end model of its Odyssey has a waiting list and a sticker price of more than $40,000. This only furthers the idea that minivans are making a comeback. What do you guys think? Is it time for the minivan to make a comeback?
You Vs. Everyone Else
Jan 13th
At work almost on a daily basis the thought comes up about an idea that will revolutionize the norm of today’s society. The intelligent minds of our corporate world get together in each others cubicles, meet in the hallway or even at the water cooler (how cliche) and discuss ideas that will one day enrich themselves.
The news about Myspace, Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, Deepak Vasandani at Roar Clothing, Andrew Mason at Groupon leads individuals such as myself and others like me to want a piece of that pie. There is a difference though between people like myself and others and this is what this post is focused on. From an early age, I’ve been on the quest to excel in the things that interested me and even things that did not interest me for that matter.
I have always been an excellent student and tried my best even at things that didn’t really interest me – History, Astronomy, etc. I just did what I needed to do, to be the best. I strived for the extraordinary and ended up starting my own company at the age of 12. There are people who look towards the future with a smile on his/her face as such a person is awaiting what the future holds for them. That person is me, and maybe it is you as well.
Its not how intelligent you are, its not where you got your education but it is what you do with yourself and the opportunities that you partake in that can make a world of a difference. We have several highly intelligent people at work who could possibly use their knowledge and skills and maybe even collaborate to come up with a genius idea. Anything is possible as long as you can dream it.
A few people come to my mind – CarlOCab, Syed Balkhi, Ian Fernando, RJ Rucker, Kashif and the list goes on and on. Maybe you haven’t heard of these people but each one of them is accomplished in what they do but at the same time they strive for the extraordinary. This is what separates “you” from everyone else. I’m not segregating anyone when I say “you” because I’m just speaking of a particular type of person.
In the end what it all boils down to is that you have to live, breathe and hope for success and if you couple that with effort and hard work then anything is possible. I look towards the techie greats for inspiration but I also try and do something it when I can. Dreaming is for dreamers, when you are a doer, you create opportunities to inspire others. Remember that!
Hope you all have enjoyed this post. Let me know your thoughts and be honest in telling me if you consider yourself part of this group of people that I have referred to or if you’re just “everyone else”.
