Graspr (sharing the wealth of knowledge)

A Qik tour of Graspr's new office in Mountain View

I was talking to Vishvesh Avashia (our India development partner's team leader) this morning and he asked me how our new office looked & felt like. My quip - "wait for me to hang up and then point your browser to my Qik profile and I'll give you a live tour using my Nokia N75".

Below is a 3-minute tour of the Graspr office space. As you can see, the place is not yet fully inhabited - the data connectivity is still a few days away.

New Graspr digs in Mountain View

Sometime in January, after our newest engineer (Amol) joined Graspr, we knew we had outgrown our digs at PlugandPlayTechCenter, Sunnyvale. While the bull-pen still looked & felt cozy, our elbows were telling a different tale. Thus began an earnest search for Graspr's pseudo-permanent (there's no such thing as a 'permanent' permanent) new home. We were fortunate to find a very capable commercial real estate agent who, after getting the spec rundown from Teresa, promptly found a neat location in Mountain View. One sunny Friday afternoon (~ 3 weeks ago), Chanda, Amol, Ninad & I clambered into Teresa's car to go see 779 E Evelyn, Mountain View, CA - we unanimously approved. A few weeks later, the paperwork had been completed and we were shopping around for connectivity options.

Turns out we are still shopping for connectivity options, so how will we get online on Feb 25 (our 1st day at the new office)? We are thanking Google Wifi for this stroke of luck. Our address happens to be on the Sunnyvale border so I worriedly scanned the Google Wifi Coverage Map as the sales agent at ExpressNets recommended the right Ruckus Metro Flex modem to bring Google Wifi indoors. Although the nearest Wifi node was 600 ft away (usually works within a range of 500 ft), because there was no obstruction, we were getting a decent signal. Tomorrow morning we'll find out how good the Ruckus Metro Flex really is.

In other updates, we spent the last 2 weeks doing a combination of working from home and public wifi hotspot hopping. A few of the public wifi hotspots deserve honorable mention

• Bean Scene Sunnyvale
• Le Boulanger - Castro St, Mountain View
• Coffee Society (opp. De Anza College), Cupertino

How to pick your political party

Today I voted for the first time ever (America & India included) and it felt great! For someone fast approaching 40, this is a startling confession - I admit! I grew up in India and, when I reached voting age, was attending college far away from my voting district. The concept of "absentee ballot" either didn't exist in India back then or I was blissfully unaware. I came to America in '92 and became a US citizen 4 years ago. My wife & I narrowly missed the deadline for voting in the last general elections. Granted - living in California and having strong Democratic leanings means your vote is unlikely to make a difference at a national level but we really wanted to symbolically vote "against" George Bush. Today was the day we were both eagerly waiting for.

I voted for Obama & my wife voted for Hillary (I guess she won this debate too). Several months ago, I was vacillating between Obama & Clinton when one of my close friends said to my face: "Can you imagine how different the world could be with an American president with Hussain as his middle name?"
That proved to be a turning point in my decision. You see - we are not just electing an American president but the World's president. I overheard a snippet on NPR today about this Spanish guy urging "Americans in Spain" to vote Democrat so that the world could be a safer place. You gotta love democracy.

As we fast forward to the November general election, it's becoming increasingly (& surprisingly) certain that McCain will be the Republican candidate. Whether it's Clinton or Obama that wins the Democratic nomination, the face-off against McCain will be very interesting. The Kuruganti family will be in a tizzy then - because we are both admirers of McCain (since his run in '00). How will we decide? What will be the key issues that will define the candidates?

Fortunately, we have Graspr producer WestonEsterhazy who will be guiding us along with a series of biting  & humorous commentaries on political topics. Here he is giving a primer on how to pick a political party.
- Vishy

Barefooting video for first-timers

For someone who never learned how to swim, I'm mighty interested in water sports. Tackling class 4/5 rapids in the Ganges, whitewater rafting in the Smoky Mountains & jet-skiing at Lake Tahoe are some of my memorable (you can say 'foolhardy') exploits - I guess I believe in lifejackets and.. my friends. Recently, thanks to Graspr producer LaneDawg, I learnt about the amazing sport of barefooting. Check out this great video where Lane is coaching a recent recruit on one of his first successful rides...

- Vishy