Hacking Trust networks
Hackers tap into every human emotion, apart from deficiencies in technology. They prey on human vulnerabilities, using charm, fear, and misinformation. Essentially, they hack trust
When couples become strangers
Apparently, good friends and couples have the same problem. Some of them communicate worse with each other than with strangers according to a study. A ‘communication-closeness bias’, kicks in leading to the belief that they are doing well, even when they are not. When there are no awkward silences between couples or friends, it is assumed …
Ugly is beautiful
Prepare for some truly surprising findings from a dating site OK Cupid – The more men disagree about a woman’s looks, the more they end up liking her Guys tend to ignore girls who are merely cute Having some men think she’s ugly actually works in the woman’s favour What’s going on here? Beauty alone is not …
Carrying your Maharaj
Does your cook travel with you when you roam the world? For an increasing number of affluent Indians, the way to travel is to eat vegetarian Indian food prepared fresh by their own ‘Maharaj’ – Indian chefs, who take over sections of the kitchen in the restaurants. Apparently, this is a fad mainly with Indians and the …
Charlie Bit Me
If you haven’t come across the ‘Charlie bit me‘ clip on YouTube, you’re in a minority. 272 million views and counting. Marketers would have multiple ecstasy moments if their brand ever managed such viewership. So what’s the clip? Charlie bites his elder sibling’s finger and chuckles. That’s it, you would say? It’s the expressions and …
Do we understand our own thoughts?
The idea that artificial intelligence is very different from human intelligence is just gaining cachet. It’s hard to believe that we rarely understand our own motivations and desires. Think about it. Do we really know what we like? I remember a discussion initiated at the office on the choice of toilet soaps. No one was able …
Articles – the Long and Short of it
Is a short article more interesting than a long one? That’s a lot like asking if one paragraph is more interesting than ten. I’ve spent a large part of my life distilling long briefs and ramblings into short persuasive prose. 100 words about a soap. 300 about a summer holiday package. 150 about the marvellous …
The 50 most powerful people
Every year, the mainline magazines across the world release their own ’50 most powerful’ list. Everyone from the global elite to the local state honchos. And every year, this list keeps getting revised with some of the powerful losing their status, the others sliding down and several new ‘powers’ who are first timers. I did …
Using Word Lens in Advertising
It seems almost bizarre- a practical joke. Install Word Lens and point your iPhone camera at a foreign language sign to have it translated it back to English. The translation isn’t perfect and there are problems when the sign or type is against a blurry background but it still marks an enormous leap of using the phone camera as …
Notification overload
How many sounds or notifications do you have to deal with every day? Now let’s see. Every time a new email or text message lands on your mobile phone. Every time you start the car and turn on the headlights. When you don’t fasten your seatbelt. When you forget to switch off the headlights. When …