Hi, My Name is, my Name is
My name is Slim Shady Devang!

I’ve always been asked what does my name mean? Well like most Indian names mine has a meaning as well.

Dev means God, ang means body part!
So Dev-ang means part of God (not sure which part ;) )

But here the modern take on my name, found on Urban Dictionary. I think this one’s more appropriate!!

This is how my 2009 Running Calendar looks. All the races take place in London (UK). I’ve selected the races carefully, starting off with a warm up event – The British Heart Foundation Jog (which is the only free event) then going on to two 10k runs, then the London Duathlon (I’m not sure about this – yet to register) and finishing off 2009 with two Half Marathons!

So its time to get back in shape. No more wine & dine! I’ve shed few kilos in last 6 months but haven’t trained much. So the long training sessions will commence. With my ipod on and listening to my top running songs.

Last year I was plagued by injuries, specially before my races. I ran The Nike Human Race with a strapped right ankle and had to pull out of Royal Parks Half Marathon. Hopefully 2009 should be a better.

Happy Running!

Off late I’ve been watching videos from TED – Technology, Entertainment, Design.

“TED, an annual conference which brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). “

The best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. You can watch the videos online or download to your iPod & watch them on the go.

This video is from 2003 by Hans Rosling : Debunking third-world myths
Rightly said “You’ve never seen data presented like this!”

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running!

(Update – 2010 running list)

Here’s my current Top 10 20 Running Songs, in no particular order. These are great if you are training for an event. Links are to song videos.

1) Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen

2) La Copa de la Vida/The Cup Of Life – Ricky Martin

3) Lose Yourself – Eminem

4) 8 Mile Road – Eminem

5) Sing For The Moment – Eminem

6) Till I Collapse – Eminem

7) Shine – Shannon Noll (Love to hate this song as its my morning alarm;) )

8) In The End – Linkin Park

9) Breaking The Habit – Linkin Park

10) Numb – Linkin Park

11) Papercut – Linkin Park

12) Harder to Breathe – Maroon 5

13) Fighter – Christina Aguilera

14) Pump It – Black Eyed Peas

15) Mausum & Escape – Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack

16) Jai Ho – Pussycat Dolls (Slumdog Millionaire Remix)

17) It’s My Life – Bon Jovi

18) Sexyback – Justin Timberlake

19) Crazy In Love – Beyonce feat. Jay-Z

20) Takin’ Back My Love (Remix) – Enrique Iglesias feat. Ciara
(Remix video on available online)

Related articles

• 2013 in Music: The Good, the Problematic, the GIFs (theatlantic.com)
• The Director Of Lana Del Rey’s “Tropico” Film Helps Us Make Sense Of It All (fastcocreate.com)
• When Beyoncé Samples Your TED Talk, This Is What Happens to Your Book – Robinson Meyer – The Atlantic (theatlantic.com)

Last week I took the Google Analytics Individual Qualification test and scored 93 %.  I was going for the kill, wanted to get all right. The test is so easy to say the least. I was expecting it to be a bit more challenging not a cakewalk! So I am even more disappointed on not getting 100%. May be Google can make future tests more fun.

The test covers Google Analytics – inside & out. If you’ve used or using GA give it a go, but make sure you go through the lessons from Conversion University. Even if you’re not planning to take the test read through the lessons. If you’re new then you’ll have an idea how GA works. If you’ve been using it for a while – then you’ll be refreshed & updated on GA.

Surprisingly the result does not segment your test performance – that would be very helpful. You’re just give an overall performance report.

But if you’re serious about Analytics you must read Avinash Kaushik’s – Web Analytics An Hour a Day. The book is everything you need and its for everyone – whether you’re Beginner, Pro, CEO, Marketing Manager or an average web user. An Hour well Invested!

I have seen pic’s in email Fwd’s…but didn’t believe it. Until I saw this video on CNN!!
Modern Toilet is a restaurant in Hong Kong!!

I assume.. after you finish your dinner you’ll get Toilet paper rather than finger bowl!!

This is their interpretation of Food cycle…You eat from toilet and eventually it goes back there… Hope you’re not eating at this moment !!

First with Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwairya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and now Sachin Tendulakar, Merlin Entertainments Group is targeting the large Asian population in UK.

I had been to Madame Tussauds in 1996, was ok! Was not too keen on another visit.. but now with SACH about to have his life size wax statue in Spring of 2009…. (my) next visit is round the corner.

Took this one when I was browsing through Times of India in Mumbai. Stories from different parts of world make headlines for opposite reason.

While children and their parents pick up single corn in Harare……in a Long Island deli Pete Czerwinski gulps down 7 pounds of pancake. Are we all living in the same world??

Updating 3 sites at a time. Actually updating 2 and developing one from scratch.

1) devangc.com – plenty of work needs to be done here.

2) eBizM.net – aimed at small businesses, giving them information about online marketing, digital trends – “DIY Online Marking“. A complete revamp of the site – the content was outdated so writing it from scratch, also the site design – neat & clean this time around! (Check the old site at Internet Archive)

3) This is something I am really excited about. The idea just clicked while I was in Mumbai for 2 months (my longest vacation ever!) Did my research there (not all play!) and now its time to go live…soon. Will keep you updated.

Right, so I can send Gmail invites to my friends from my Gmail Account. Now that’s understood that they want to send invites and overtake Yahoo mail and Hotmail.

But Guess what only 94 (invites) left .
Isn’t Gmail open for all to Regsiter? Something the Gmail team should look at this??