city02

there is so much i tend to take for granted when bitching about rcom's pathetic service that i often forgot that other big players are no better! apparently there is NO way to lodge a complaint over the phone at airtel if you are calling from outside their network. you will have to visit a service centre in person or call the 3 digit number that can only be called from an airtel phone. when did this become a standard business practice? here is an excerpt from my email to the idiots:

i agree but the bigger issue is that there are much greater health hazards that are also ignored in india so why should this one be any different? how many have died due to exposure to towers? yet everyday people are killed crossing tracks in mumbai alone just to save 1-2 minutes of climbing stairs how many have been hospitalised due to towers? yet millions smoke and get various types of cancer despite any govt efforts to date, our cities remain among the world's dirtiest for air, water, and sound pollution which kill or injure lakhs of city dwellers... the list is endless and the risk from towers to your health while certainly there on an absolute scale is not even in the top dozen risks that we face on a daily basis and calmly accept with our 'chalta hai' attitude i'm not implying we should mount towers on every rooftop but rather even if we did, it would not be able to rise to the top of health hazards we face routinely in metros 'we are like this only' ... but i think most of you knew that implicitly.

and the answer to the original question: is what exactly?

since i'm a frequent user of reflexology services, i thought i would post the lowest costs that i have seen to date in any mall. if any of you have come across any LOWER prices, do reply here. 3r reflexology in city centre mall, palm beach marg, vashi this used to be myfoot until a year ago if you fly out from mumbai you might have seen a myfoot at the domestic terminal but it charges around rs 20-25/min when i last checked they have the worst advertising but the best rates and have been empty most of the times i visit on weekdays. no one seems to know about their packages [mrp for a 15 min massage is rs. 199 + taxes = rs 219 = almost rs 15/minute]: buy 5 get 1 free = 6 for rs 995 + tax [rs 12.20/min] buy 10 get 3 free = 13 for rs 1,990 + tax [rs 11.30/min] buy 15 get 5 free = 20 for rs 2,985 + t [rs 11.00/min] buy 20 get 7 free = 27 for rs 3,980 + [rs 10.90/m] you get the gist - i'm sure you could request larger packages but its unlikely any of you would need it i have tried all four so i know they work disclaimer - i'm not getting compensated in any way for this [unfortunately] but i'm concerned my fav store will go out of business unless they get more customers! i've even told them to post their packages on their door so more people might walk in but they have not! this suggestion was made a year ago its ideal for people who visit the cinemax or cafe coffe day in the same mall since you are already there else it may not be worth the effort of a special visit for the purpose alone in case you are not satisfied with the first experience

there is something wrong with the math: 6 billion x 20 Mb = 120,000 TB [is that 120 QB? i don't know the next higher unit] and not 20 GB! 20 gb would be for 1024 people talking together... also, 20 Mb / 300 min = 68 kb/min = 1.1 kb/sec which seems a little low for voice. i would have expected it to be at least 2-3 kb/s instead. is that a typo or does the Ericsson CTO not know middle school arithmetic? Before anyone replies with any helpful clarifications, I'm aware that his point does not change - voice is orders of magnitude more used than data ...

it would be insane to pay full price [over rs. 30 k upfront] for a locked handset from any operator you should only buy locked phones if there is a decent subsidy [at purchase] else its not worth it

the whole point of the topic was that you [and 99%] of amateur photographers do not NEED SLR! try out any 5mp / 5x zoom digicam to see which one suits you the best if you plan on entering any contests with your photos then you could go for 10x optical zoom but u still wont NEED a SLR if you plan on selling your photos for publication you can go for 10 mp / 10x optical only if selling your photos is your primary source of income, then should you go for SLR also if you simply like to buy expensive stuff for pride of ownership [there is nothing wrong with that] but please don't confuse a NEED with a WANT! its like buying a bmw when you are learning how to drive when a humble maruti will also do the job ...

the penetration of this will have to cross 1/4th of the active mobile users or over 100 million phones before people can start carrying less cash! the only option is to stick with cards until this crosses the number of active cards in the country ... my guess is that it will take till the end of the decade before this impact can be felt.

mission accomplished the US war on terror is over! now there will be no more terror attacks against the USA... back to arming despotic regimes and boosting profits for american weapon makers.

i've bought 2 new cars in 9 years but in both cases i asked the dealer to deliver it home which was a 10-20 km 'test drive' since i have a driver, that's not a big deal as i only drive on weekends when he is on leave honda & toyota did not have any issue with home delivery since i did not want to waste time at the showroom the inspection [visual only] was done at home and then they had me sign some forms you should also copy and paste into mouthshut.com since others can rate your review also and benefit i was upset that my toyota arrived on reserve fuel since the dealer only puts 5-10 liters regardless of distance which is very cheap and ruins the new customer experience of a global brand but i must be one of the lucky ones compared to your problems! if you have a photo of your car then send an email to helpline@autocarindia.com with all the relevant details and they might decide to follow up directly with ford if that does not work, there must be similar emails for all major car mags...

there needs to be an upper limit to your budget even if you have not decided yet else it leaves everyone guessing blindly which could be a waste of their time also help us help you!

like most expensive cities, it totally depends on you budget i have not heard of any serviced apts available for less than 2-3 weeks min there are some sites that can guide you depending on your requirements - just google it which part of town do you want to stay in? navi mumbai would be cheaper than the city

to me its obvious that we don't have freedom of speech as long as there is a censor board and books can be banned due to objections of a vocal minority / politicians any other freedom comes second after free speech in any democracy next most important is secularism - not the way its practiced here where it means political appeasement but that all citizens are treated equally under the law which is impossible without a uniform civil code no other 'secular' democracy on the planet has different laws based on your religion but we are 'like this only' chalta hai ...

my biggest problem with DTH DVR is the fact that for some unknown but insane reason ALL recordings are deleted when you change tariff plans or stop your subscription which is just nuts! one should have absolutely nothing to do with the other ... also the stupid logo all the time is irritating - there should be a way for any customer to pay any subsidy amount and get their STB 'unlocked' so its rid of the DTH logo on each channel.

that's too advanced for indian regulators when investments in equity wrapped in a thin veneer of insurance are ruled by the SC to be out of the scope of the SEBI which has much better consumer / investor protection than IRDA. it would be a great start if the track record for each analysts prior picks is disclosed in all print & TV opinions. here is what i had written a year ago on the insurance/investment regulatory void for hybrid products:

yeh hai asli 'incredible india'!

i knew it was over valued at rs. 500 so i only entered at rs 250 and kept buying till my avg cost is now rs 155 my broker keeps advising me to sell all rcom at a loss and take TCS & tata steel instead any others stuck with 'trying to catch a falling knife'?

I got a call with this offer: http://www.bagittoday.com/tagDetails.htm?companyId=59&id=1 new bb 8830 for rs 5999/= with warranty will this work on cdma with BIS? is this a decent/genuine offer? has anyone dealt with this site before? thanks,

thanks everyone! i've decided to skip this offer after your feedback BTW, what is the cheapest CDMA BB that will work on reliance with BIS? i need to upgrade my 8703e since i want a camera I can't even find any belt clip cases - the new BB are too narrow...

there is a comparison between corby TXT and BB on mouthshut if that helps: http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Samsung-Corby-mntqqsorum

actually i'm able to watch other channels while recording on my LG 160gb but that has nothing to do with the DVR / PVR that i bought a year ago. i just switch my TV input to regular cable [no STB] and start flipping while it records most of the time we record: - star world - zee cafe - axn and f1 on star sports / espn cost was rs. 15 k in singapore earlier we could also record from cable STB but after they upgraded, there is a 'copy protect' signal that blocks us from any recordings which s**ks.

this is a requirement abroad [e.g. US for over 20-30 years now] since license plates are used to track all traffic violations & annual taxes, you are expected to retain your plates after selling your car else you could be held responsible for any penalties incurred by the new owner of course you can choose to transfer to the buyer also but no worries, our state is world class for many other things: - highest income tax collections in the country - max people in slums - highest rates for domestic power [over rs. 10.55 / unit] - highest air pollution [chembur & navi mumbai in top 10] - max number of public transport users [also local trains] - farmer suicides - domestic airport congestion [int'l is delhi] - top 5 noisiest cities in the world [mumbai] - richest municipality in india - most expensive real estate [top 10 globally] - power & water theft and the list goes on...

and i thought i was so clever when i started buying at rs. 255/= thinking it was reaching a bottom in 2008 even though i brought my avg cost to about rs. 170 i'm still screwed! debating if i should try to 'catch a falling knife' and further reduce avg costs below rs. 150 or not any other 'losers' stuck with rcom out there?

got this screenshot from my friend @ RTS but we are not eligible [only for employees]

the price does not bother me as much as the lack of simple features like flash for the camera. is it tri-band for roaming abroad? user interface will also make a big difference...