Mavrix: Music + Data
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Lean (But Not Mean) Is The Way To Go
Corporations are not very popular these days: A documentary, The Corporation, is getting a lot of buzz. It’s based on the book “The Corporations: The Pathological Pursuit Of Power” by Joel Bakan, a Canadian law professor. The book/documentary questions the right of individuals granted to corporations in the US. It asks – “If the corporation…
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Jerk Clones Are Worse Than Jerks
There was an interesting comment posted in a TechCrunch story about Oracle’s Larry Ellison: “I used to work there and can tell you that there were many ‘mini-me’ versions of Ellison running around talking like him, and even dressing up like him. Rest of us used to laugh at them and make fun of them…
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Will Music Piracy Die?
The short answer – No. The long answer follows – Piracy is not unique to the music industry. Every product that can be duplicated and distributed for profit, invites piracy. However, a few things set apart the nature of piracy in the music industry: Huge market – As I said in a previous post, everyone…
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Music Industry’s Battle Against File Sharing (aka Piracy) Heats Up
A few key events from the last few months: LimeWire shuts down – LimeWire shutdown its P2P file-sharing service in October due to a court-ordered injunction. Within days, it was resurrected as LimeWire Pirate Edition (LPE) by a ‘secret dev team’. Predictably, LimeWire claimed that it had nothing to do with LPE. PCMag, very thoughtfully,…
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Mavrix Monthly Update Nov-2010
Office furnished. Discovered that the best ‘value for money’ furniture (i.e. cheap stuff for startups) in Bangalore can be found in a strip of shops on Infantry Road. Be prepared to shop-hop and haggle like crazy. Office puja performed. Lord Ganesha invoked for an auspicious start and Goddess Lakshmi to help meet our revenue projections…
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The Importance Of Cover Songs
In an interview with Rajeev Masand, Asha Bhonsle rips apart Sunidhi Chauhan’s rendition of ‘Duniya Mein’ in a song called ‘Parda‘ in ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai’. And she does it with a beatific smile lighting up her face. She’s a spirited old lady alright and I admire her verve and energy. However, I…
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Why India Survives
Two incidents in my apartment complex resulted in a lot of debate related to religion and language in India: 1. Religion – It was discovered that two maidservants who identified themselves with Hindu names were actually Muslims. The residents’ association banned these individuals from the complex since their integrity was now in question. Debate: Did the…
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Why everyone likes music
Music is perhaps the pastime that needs the least attention and effort from us. Look at the most common ways in which we listen to music: While reading a book While surfing the net On TV In a movie In theater or a show with music In a party or celebration In a restaurant, pub,…
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Why we focus on money as a reason to work
To fulfill our material aspirations To secure our future and our children’s future We do not find anything else in our job to motivate us We are too tired or too complacent to find out ways to make our work exciting and meaningful We are too afraid to quit and find work that offers more…
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Jugaad vs Dishonesty
Jugaad is a vital element of Indian entrepreneurship. Depending on whom you ask, you get different definitions of jugaad. Improvisation. Making do. Resourcefulness. I like Ratan Tata’s definition of “frugal innovation” because jugaad arises from constraints, scarcity and competition. Tata Nano might be tacky to some but there is no denying the ingenuity involved in…
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