Monthly Archives: September 2008

WaMu — WooHoo! er, D’oh!

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

From the messages-you-wish-you could-unsend department: this cheerful email arrived in my mailbox shortly after I read about WaMu’s seizure by federal regulators. WaMu CEO Alan Fishman is getting an extended holiday. Note the “amazing rate” of 4 percent. WaMu has … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The fundamentals of our creativity are strong

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

At a time when we’re facing the first coup d’état in American history with King Henry effectively overthrowing our elected leaders, it’s refreshing to see that our creativity is still strong. A friend forwarded a link to BuyMyShitPile.com, a site … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on The fundamentals of our creativity are strong

Hulu might just make it after all

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

If I could award an Emmy for outstanding performance in television, I’d have a clear winner: Hulu. The video site from NBC and Fox is my leading choice for product of the year. Hulu allows users to stream television shows … Continue reading →

Posted in google, hulu, media, television, video, YouTube | 3 Comments

iPhone design pet peeve #2: moving app icons

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

The App Store is one of the key strengths of the iPhone. You can easily find, purchase and install applications that increase the utility of the iPhone. Steve Jobs claims that more than 100 million downloads have occurred in the … Continue reading →

Posted in apple, iphone, rocky's iphone pet peeves, ui, usability, wireless, wireless data | Comments Off on iPhone design pet peeve #2: moving app icons

Google guys = 2(newspaper industry)

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans puts Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page at #13 and #14 with a net worth of $15.9 billion for Brin and $15.8 billion for Page. That’s a bit less than the $20 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in google, journalism, media, newspapers, random | Comments Off on Google guys = 2(newspaper industry)

iPhone design pet peeve #1: address book access

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve had the 3G iPhone for a couple of months now. During that time I’ve had the same complaints that most others have had: virtually nonexistent 3G coverage, anemic battery life and frequent crashes. But there are also details of … Continue reading →

Posted in apple, iphone, rocky's iphone pet peeves, ui, usability, wireless, wireless data | 2 Comments

Traveling to NYC 9/25-9/28

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

If you’re around town, ping me.

Posted in rocky's travel | 1 Comment

For English, press 1. For a human, try Fonolo.

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

After telemarketers, the most excruciating phone experience is dealing with interactive voice response systems. That’s what the industry calls those things that I call phone mazes and most people just call damned annoying. Unlike telemarketers, IVRs are hard to avoid. … Continue reading →

Posted in customer service, fun | Tagged | 2 Comments

Wall Street and the incredible shrinking newspaper industry

Posted on September 17, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

A friend asked me today “Does one Bear Stearns bailout equal the entire newspaper industry?” I decided to find out. Although there isn’t a clear answer, I was surprised by how small the newspaper industry is. Here are the market … Continue reading →

Posted in google, journalism, media, microsoft, newspapers, yahoo | 4 Comments

Communicating amongst friends: how technology changes human relationships

Posted on September 14, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I realized recently that I’ve been communicating with one of my closest friends over IM for more than 10 years. We talk almost daily, several times a day. I have no doubt that we wouldn’t be as close without the … Continue reading →

Posted in email, facebook, flickr, im, instant messaging, social networking, twitter, Uncategorized, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments