Sumit Chachra's Blog » Funny http://blog.chachra.us Tivix, Technology, Django, Startups, Social Media Sun, 11 Jul 2010 05:31:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 How personalized search forces me to (re/de)learnhttp://blog.chachra.us/2007/06/10/how-personalized-search-forces-me-to-redelearn/ http://blog.chachra.us/2007/06/10/how-personalized-search-forces-me-to-redelearn/#comments Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:18:16 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/2007/06/10/how-personalized-search-forces-me-to-redelearn/

So I know personalized search is hot and all. But how long do I have to be using the search (logged in as a user) for that engine to start personalizing results ?

Recently (last week or so) I noticed that search for TIVO on Google stopped returning their stock graph etc. at the top. It returned the TIVO website instead as the top link, with an additional “Stock quote for TIVO” below it.

Now I’ve clicked that a few times, forced myself to search for “TIVO stock” instead to get what I want; but still Google hasn’t learnt that when I am searching for TIVO I am really looking for the stock ticker. What they have learnt of course is that “most” people when searching for TIVO (rightfully so) don’t want to know about its stock. How is that personalization? Thats just the law of averages being forced on me.

Please fix this, and the fact that the SERP shouldn’t keep changing on a weekly basis. Thanks!

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2007/06/10/how-personalized-search-forces-me-to-redelearn/feed/ 2 Diwali gone global?http://blog.chachra.us/2006/11/03/diwali-gone-global/ http://blog.chachra.us/2006/11/03/diwali-gone-global/#comments Fri, 03 Nov 2006 06:02:48 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/2006/11/03/diwali-gone-global/

So I had a great vacation recently to India and celebrated Diwali after a long time with friends and family. Diwali as many may know is the Hindu “festival of lights”. So why do I think Diwali has gone global:

  • A call to American Express ended with a “… and wish you a very Happy Diwali”. Alright the call center might have been in India (not sure), but still they must have been instructed to wish everyone, right?
  • Matt Cutts (the famous Google blogger) wishes everyone on his blog! (OK, this one is lame)
  • Today an episode of The Office aired commemorating Diwali. More discussion on that here.
]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2006/11/03/diwali-gone-global/feed/ 1 Google bearish on GOOG ?http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/10/google-bearish-on-goog/ http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/10/google-bearish-on-goog/#comments Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:27:12 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/10/google-bearish-on-goog/

For the record I am bullish on GOOG currently and own a small # (< 10) of their stock. I got up this morning and typed GOOG on well Google and this is what I got back (can give quite a shock to the weak hearted!):

Screenshot1-2 Screenshot-6

Its still happening with some random numbers showing in the Real-Time ECN. Surprisingly its happening with the GOOG ticker only. I guess their real time feed is messed up, or someone at Google has suddenly turned bearish on its stock! :-)

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/10/google-bearish-on-goog/feed/ 1 Jim Cramer effecthttp://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/09/jim-cramer-effect/ http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/09/jim-cramer-effect/#comments Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:03:08 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/09/jim-cramer-effect/

Today is an extremely good example of how Jim Cramer’s Mad Money effects after hours stock trading. He recommended Interactive Corp (IACI), ValuClick (VCLK) and Blue Nile Inc (NILE) and this is what happened to them after market closing:

Screenshot6 Screenshot4 Screenshot5

Each of them up 3-4%. Cramer seems to have the power to move tech stocks like this every now and then, specially when he talks about the dotcom’s.

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2006/08/09/jim-cramer-effect/feed/ 4 Faces of Indiahttp://blog.chachra.us/2006/06/27/faces-of-india/ http://blog.chachra.us/2006/06/27/faces-of-india/#comments Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:21:07 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/?p=42

A friend of mine sent an email which was meant to be a joke. The images are from here. Walls covered with Nike and Coke, an old man in a grocery shop full of Colgate toothpaste and a homeless man with a mastercard logo can. It did seem funny to me at first, but then got me thinking how India (like all countries??) has many faces. Progress in a democracy like India will be slow (at times), but hopefully steady and sustainable.

Screenshot-4

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2006/06/27/faces-of-india/feed/ 33 Complicated addresses in India?http://blog.chachra.us/2006/02/12/complicated-addresses-in-india/ http://blog.chachra.us/2006/02/12/complicated-addresses-in-india/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2006 22:11:01 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/?p=33

Why are addresses in India so complicated? This will surely prevent any useful mapping and/or GPS to take off …. despite the large number of users who could potentially use it. MapMyIndia and VirtualIndia are the two stabs taken I know of.

As a good example one of my friends email signature used to read:

4th Floor, No. 31 Grape Garden, 6th Block, 17th H. Main
Koramangala – 560095, Karnataka, India

till he moved to New Delhi and now it reads:

Sapient Tower D&E, DLF Cyber Greens,
DLF City Phase III, Sector 25A
Gurgaon 122002

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2006/02/12/complicated-addresses-in-india/feed/ 5 Understanding the markethttp://blog.chachra.us/2005/10/19/understanding-the-marketfinance/ http://blog.chachra.us/2005/10/19/understanding-the-marketfinance/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2005 01:58:23 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/?p=25

I’ve been taking keen interest in understanding how the stock market works since the last 4-5 months. Yes I watch Mad Money sometimes and yes I read “Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World”. Its all very interesting and the market is supposed to behave in a somewhat predictable fashion (it usually doesn’t!) etc.

What cracks me up (maybe its just me) sometimes is statements like these (Google has their third quarter earnings report tomorrow):

ANALYST TAKE: “We believe Google will report (third-quarter) results better than our expectations,” JPMorgan said in a client note last week. (From here)

I mean if you “believe” something then why should it be different from what you “expect”. If only someone could make me understand the difference?

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2005/10/19/understanding-the-marketfinance/feed/ 2 Highway warnings!http://blog.chachra.us/2005/09/21/highway-warnings/ http://blog.chachra.us/2005/09/21/highway-warnings/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:41:48 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/?p=22

This is as funny as it gets on any highway!

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2005/09/21/highway-warnings/feed/ 1 Bush wants to use the bathroom!http://blog.chachra.us/2005/09/17/bush-wants-to-use-the-bathroom/ http://blog.chachra.us/2005/09/17/bush-wants-to-use-the-bathroom/#comments Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:07:13 +0000 Sumit Chachra http://blog.chachra.us/?p=21

Read about this here. For some reason this just cracked me up!

From Yahoo! News:

Us.I2.Yimg.Com P Rids 20050914 I R2587077477-2

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s vision of freedom from want, persecution and war. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

]]> http://blog.chachra.us/2005/09/17/bush-wants-to-use-the-bathroom/feed/ 0