by Niraj Singh | Feb 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
Kurt Vonnegut: Eight rules for writing fiction
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things – reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them – in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
– Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction
by Niraj Singh | Jan 31, 2013 | Uncategorized
smarterplanet:
3D Motion And Heat Sensing Technology Captures Shoppers’ In-Store Behavior – PSFK
Stores know what we purchase through scanning at the checkout, but in-store behavior that doesn’t end in a purchase is much harder to track. A system called Shopperception developed with Primesense places a small 3D sensor above a store shelf to capture shopping behavior for retailers.
Mashable reports that the sensor watches people interact with products and Shopperception’s app aggregates all of this data to create a real-time consumer response report. There’s also a heat map to show which products were picked up a lot and which ones were avoided.
by Niraj Singh | Jan 31, 2013 | Uncategorized
smarterplanet:
3D Motion And Heat Sensing Technology Captures Shoppers’ In-Store Behavior – PSFK
Stores know what we purchase through scanning at the checkout, but in-store behavior that doesn’t end in a purchase is much harder to track. A system called Shopperception developed with Primesense places a small 3D sensor above a store shelf to capture shopping behavior for retailers.
Mashable reports that the sensor watches people interact with products and Shopperception’s app aggregates all of this data to create a real-time consumer response report. There’s also a heat map to show which products were picked up a lot and which ones were avoided.
by Niraj Singh | Jan 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
An inspiring reminder by Carl Sagan
…And we go on spilling blood in the name of religion, nationality, ethinicity.
Specially religion. The same religions that did not know basic things like world was round and we were not centre of the universe. How easily they go about promising heaven and hell. Its surprising how hard to believe and flimsy religious tenets are defended so violently by even more crazy believers. How easy it is to exploit the vanity of the masses in the name of religion. Just make them believe, their god is the special one and that they are the god’s chosen one. Its enough to bring out the devil in them…
by Niraj Singh | Jan 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
“Generation who refuse to grow up: No mortgage. No marriage. No children. No career plan.
The other day I had lunch with my father, who was in London on business. He took me to his favourite pub and somewhere between the tomato soup and the mains he started a conversation that he has, until now — miraculously — avoided.
He glanced nervously at the waiter and sank his glass of wine before launching in, asking me what my plans are for life: Did I see myself settling down and starting a family? Am I saving up to buy a house? What is going to be the next step in my career?
There was a pause as I looked at him blankly and shrugged, before muttering that immortal phrase, loved by teenagers across the land: ‘I dunno.’
Except I’m not a teenager. I am 34.”
