We know the risks of posting our email ids on the internet and so resort to address munging (eg.: instead of posting my-mail-id@isp.com we post my-mail-id(at)isp.com).
Here is a utility which creates a small Captcha for the emai id, so that people can post the image.
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Friday, June 22, 2007
Unimaginative Brand Names and Trademarks
Every day morning on the way to work, I cross a construction site. Since this area is just near a traffic light (which is green for only a little time), I invariably look at the site. The first thing which strikes me DAILY is the fence which encloses the site. Well, not the fence itself, but the little sign boards on the fence - "Long Fence" (R). I don't know the exact reason why this fencing company chose to name themselves as "Long Fence", but it surely pains me a lot on two accounts:
How boring it would be if all brand names were unimaginative! We would drive cars with names such as "Car", "Little Car", "Sedan", etc., we would read newspapers in the morning with names such as "Daily Newspaper", "The Newspaper", or would wear shoes named "The Shoe" and "Running Shoes" !
And mind you, all these names would be trademark protected. Meaning that if I put a fence which is long and another one which is short, and put up boards on them (for whatever reasons) - 'Long Fence' and 'Short Fence', I would be liable for brand infringement. Whoa !
Another instance can be as follows: a company obtains a trademark for the generic word "Shoes". Now, if I roam around with a t-shirt with a message printed "My shoes are pathetic", the company can very easily build a case against me on the grounds that I am derogating their brand name.
I really wonder why the copyright office does not reject generic names as trademarks!
The USPTO website offers simple definitions of all such confusing terms. Here you will note that there is a distinction between 'generic names' and 'brand names'.
Another case in question is the Project Honeypot (TM). If you read through their terms of use, you will be surprised to learn that generic word combination 'Project HoneyPot' is now their trademark and can not be used by others.
The Honey Net Project (R) also uses a generic name.
Generic names should not be offered trademark protection. It is definitely disadvantageously to future competitors.
To all such generic trademark holders, please TRY to be imaginative!
I might need to drop my case against 'Long Fence' (R) since it seems that the word 'Long' is what is registered and not both together. But even then it is disadvantageous to competitors who loose consumers, every time a person googles up generic words and reaches the website of a company with a generic name.
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- Lack of imagination in choosing a name
- Trademark protection of generic names
How boring it would be if all brand names were unimaginative! We would drive cars with names such as "Car", "Little Car", "Sedan", etc., we would read newspapers in the morning with names such as "Daily Newspaper", "The Newspaper", or would wear shoes named "The Shoe" and "Running Shoes" !
And mind you, all these names would be trademark protected. Meaning that if I put a fence which is long and another one which is short, and put up boards on them (for whatever reasons) - 'Long Fence' and 'Short Fence', I would be liable for brand infringement. Whoa !
Another instance can be as follows: a company obtains a trademark for the generic word "Shoes". Now, if I roam around with a t-shirt with a message printed "My shoes are pathetic", the company can very easily build a case against me on the grounds that I am derogating their brand name.
I really wonder why the copyright office does not reject generic names as trademarks!
The USPTO website offers simple definitions of all such confusing terms. Here you will note that there is a distinction between 'generic names' and 'brand names'.
Another case in question is the Project Honeypot (TM). If you read through their terms of use, you will be surprised to learn that generic word combination 'Project HoneyPot' is now their trademark and can not be used by others.
The Honey Net Project (R) also uses a generic name.
Generic names should not be offered trademark protection. It is definitely disadvantageously to future competitors.
To all such generic trademark holders, please TRY to be imaginative!
I might need to drop my case against 'Long Fence' (R) since it seems that the word 'Long' is what is registered and not both together. But even then it is disadvantageous to competitors who loose consumers, every time a person googles up generic words and reaches the website of a company with a generic name.
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Friday, June 15, 2007
Which book influenced you the most?
I was catching up with some reading. I happened to chance upon the article in IEEE Spectrum March 2007 issue which was about books that made an impact in the lives of a few leading technologists.
The two books that were mentioned by more than one person were:
Science fiction probably did as much as anything else in the 20th century to push youngsters into engineering. So it’s natural to look at the genre today and wonder if, amid the electronic clutter of modern adolescence, paper books still retain their power to enthrall and inspire.
Here is the link to that article.
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The two books that were mentioned by more than one person were:
- A Single Pebble
- Gravity's Rainbow
Science fiction probably did as much as anything else in the 20th century to push youngsters into engineering. So it’s natural to look at the genre today and wonder if, amid the electronic clutter of modern adolescence, paper books still retain their power to enthrall and inspire.
Here is the link to that article.
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Sunday, June 10, 2007
Indian Advertisements - 2
Let's take a look at advertisements for a particular brand. Starting with Fevicol ads. These ads, I recall were very fresh, were funny and remarkably creative.
Undoubtedly the first Fevicol ad which made a lasting impression. The use of animals in ads is definitely wrong.
The most famous Fevicol ad. To the Indian guy watching, it provided some humour (not 'humor'), allowed him to smile at himself and his way of life, while to the western guy it provided a way to define and grasp India (like the abused concept of 'snake charmers and cows').
The Katrina Kaif ad!
Very nice, a whole story is told in a few shots. There is the classic tension in being married and loosing the freedom, the appearance of a pretty girl in a married man's life who beckons out to him (much to his frustration and dilemma), the epehemeral quality of such attractions is well brought out by the busy railway station setting and the cloud of steam which seems to cover her. The husband wakes up from his dream and realizes that the box of fevicol had such a powerful influence, that he found himself to be really stuck to his wife.
As I said about this ad, so much in so less.
Fevicol is so strong that you don't need gravity :)
To the urban class, there is a definite charm in the rustic life. Perhaps this is why there are so many shots depicting the rural setting. And of course the Rajasthani people's life is very interesting. Note how the parents have made a toy for the kid from a used fevicol bottle. I think this is a very accurate depiction of how people use a little creativity in thier daily lives to turn things into something other, especially for the poor folks who can not afford a real toy.
This is another classic ad. This was one of the first few ones which lay the stage for Fevicol's brilliant ads.
It is also pretty interesting as the radio in the scene has two uses. One to be a part of the srtting and the other brilliant use being to supply the audio for the ad.
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Undoubtedly the first Fevicol ad which made a lasting impression. The use of animals in ads is definitely wrong.
The most famous Fevicol ad. To the Indian guy watching, it provided some humour (not 'humor'), allowed him to smile at himself and his way of life, while to the western guy it provided a way to define and grasp India (like the abused concept of 'snake charmers and cows').
The Katrina Kaif ad!
Very nice, a whole story is told in a few shots. There is the classic tension in being married and loosing the freedom, the appearance of a pretty girl in a married man's life who beckons out to him (much to his frustration and dilemma), the epehemeral quality of such attractions is well brought out by the busy railway station setting and the cloud of steam which seems to cover her. The husband wakes up from his dream and realizes that the box of fevicol had such a powerful influence, that he found himself to be really stuck to his wife.
As I said about this ad, so much in so less.
Fevicol is so strong that you don't need gravity :)
To the urban class, there is a definite charm in the rustic life. Perhaps this is why there are so many shots depicting the rural setting. And of course the Rajasthani people's life is very interesting. Note how the parents have made a toy for the kid from a used fevicol bottle. I think this is a very accurate depiction of how people use a little creativity in thier daily lives to turn things into something other, especially for the poor folks who can not afford a real toy.
This is another classic ad. This was one of the first few ones which lay the stage for Fevicol's brilliant ads.
It is also pretty interesting as the radio in the scene has two uses. One to be a part of the srtting and the other brilliant use being to supply the audio for the ad.
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Indian Advertisements - 1
One of the greatest pleasures of watching Indian TV channels are the BRILLIANT advertisements.
I found a treasure trove of some old and some new ads on YouTube. Here are a few:
This one must be new. I don't recall having seen it before.
The shots are definitely inspired by a great movie called "Rudaali". The first few lines of introduction are definitely for the Western viewer. They establish some of the cultural truths associated with the marks of being married in India.
The ad viewers have no clue what so ever as to what this ad is all about until the last shot. The shot from outside, when the husband has seemed to die is very nice, because there is this little explosion (audio and visual) in the story at this time.
Another new one, very funny! The music is JUST RIGHT, starting from a traditional piece to some western song snippets.
You will notice (perhaps on the second viewing) that there is no break in logic in the story (I get pretty upset about logic breakdowns), since there is a good explanation as to how the girl gets the remote and mistakenly preses a button on it too! This is conveyed in single shots and people may miss it. But then this is not so important to the normal viewers perhaps. The only problem I had, was that there was no couch in front of the Tv set! People in that house viewed the TV by turning their heads by 90 degrees...yeah right!
The first line in which the girl's father asks her to "come and meet your husband" is perhaps just to reinforce the idea that this a matrimonial related ad. Without that line, it might be tough for the advertisement creators to convey the message that the guy has come to see the gal, to viewers who are not familiar with what is going on.
Hmmm...perhaps this ad and the previous one are also targeted to non-Indian viewers.
The cute Rasna girl! She was such a rage, that millions of kids would get the "Rasna" haircut in summers. The mark of a cute kid was having the Rasna haircut.
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I found a treasure trove of some old and some new ads on YouTube. Here are a few:
This one must be new. I don't recall having seen it before.
The shots are definitely inspired by a great movie called "Rudaali". The first few lines of introduction are definitely for the Western viewer. They establish some of the cultural truths associated with the marks of being married in India.
The ad viewers have no clue what so ever as to what this ad is all about until the last shot. The shot from outside, when the husband has seemed to die is very nice, because there is this little explosion (audio and visual) in the story at this time.
Another new one, very funny! The music is JUST RIGHT, starting from a traditional piece to some western song snippets.
You will notice (perhaps on the second viewing) that there is no break in logic in the story (I get pretty upset about logic breakdowns), since there is a good explanation as to how the girl gets the remote and mistakenly preses a button on it too! This is conveyed in single shots and people may miss it. But then this is not so important to the normal viewers perhaps. The only problem I had, was that there was no couch in front of the Tv set! People in that house viewed the TV by turning their heads by 90 degrees...yeah right!
The first line in which the girl's father asks her to "come and meet your husband" is perhaps just to reinforce the idea that this a matrimonial related ad. Without that line, it might be tough for the advertisement creators to convey the message that the guy has come to see the gal, to viewers who are not familiar with what is going on.
Hmmm...perhaps this ad and the previous one are also targeted to non-Indian viewers.
The cute Rasna girl! She was such a rage, that millions of kids would get the "Rasna" haircut in summers. The mark of a cute kid was having the Rasna haircut.
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Sunday, June 03, 2007
Zen Poetry - II
From the book: "Ryokan Zen Monk poet of Japan", translated by Burton Waston.
Midway in its flight
the bird burst into a song,
something to say,
which couldn't wait for a perch.
With what delight,
the pigeons practice their flight
from one window ledge to another
and then back again
Now and then,
You must long for your old nest
in the deep mountains -
I too have,
memories of the past.
Oh big bird,
ruler of the skies,
what could frighten you?
that you build your nests
high up in the mountains,
deep in the crevice.
It is not that
I never mix
with men of this world -
but really I'd rather,
amuse myself alone.
Showing their faces
showing their backsides
the autumn leaves fall.
Though travels,
take me to
a different stopping place each night,
the dream I deram is always
the same one of home.
, ,
Midway in its flight
the bird burst into a song,
something to say,
which couldn't wait for a perch.
With what delight,
the pigeons practice their flight
from one window ledge to another
and then back again
Now and then,
You must long for your old nest
in the deep mountains -
I too have,
memories of the past.
Oh big bird,
ruler of the skies,
what could frighten you?
that you build your nests
high up in the mountains,
deep in the crevice.
It is not that
I never mix
with men of this world -
but really I'd rather,
amuse myself alone.
Showing their faces
showing their backsides
the autumn leaves fall.
Though travels,
take me to
a different stopping place each night,
the dream I deram is always
the same one of home.
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Saturday, June 02, 2007
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