To be precise, the book analyzes some “outliers” (absolute overachievers, geniuses, and even some bizarre incidents, more or less a few things that are out of the norm) and tries to explain the conditions that led to their success (or failure) / occurrence etc.

For anyone who likes to ponder on rational thoughts, this book is an absolute delight! It doesn’t matter whether you agree with the book or not, it just involves you actively. You just don’t end up reading chapters, thanks to the author’s style of writing, you unknowingly get involved in theory building and critiquing.  At times you will be amazed by the patterns, and at times you will feel like author is stretching it a bit, but no matter what the theory is, you will be involved actively.

Outliers starts with analyzing the “OUTLIER” team in Ice Hocky (& eventually other sports), and shows similarities between its players which at first are very un-striking. Once it hits you, it’s almost enlightening! Other chapters like the ‘10000 hour rule’, and the explanation behind unusually high number of airline crashes at a particular airline are equally interesting, and logical.

To sum it up, the book is written to appeal to your rational side and has some excellent written arguments. If you enjoy such books, you’ll definitely love this one and probably read it in one go! If you are looking for self – help, motivational, or business books… this one isn’t probably the best for you.

Overall Rating : 7.5/10

Find more about: Outliers The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Site : http://watchplanet.in

Blog : http://watchplanet.in/blog

The site has a very simple ONE PAGE CHECKOUT, and coupon code functionality… two things we always wanted in our site as well.

Also, stay tuned.. we r working on moving  www.TheWisdomCart.com to the same platform, and soon it’ll be a MILLION times easier to buy books online

Why?

Books by 3 of the better followed authors, Malcolm Gladwell, Arindam Chaudhuri and Arun Shourie are all set to release early this month.

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (ISBN : 1846142946, ISBN13: 9781846142949)

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

Are smart people overrated? What can pit bulls teach us about crime? Why are problems like homelessness easier to solve than to manage? How do we hire when we can’t tell who’s right for the job?

Gladwell explores the minor geniuses, the underdogs and the overlooked, and reveals how every-one and everything contains an intriguing story. What the Dog Saw is Gladwell at his very best – asking questions and seeking answers in his inimitable style.  Sophisticated, surprising and always entertaining. Buy Now

We Must Have No Price by Arun Shourie (ISBN : 8129115638, ISBN13 : 9788129115638)

We must have no price

How did India respond to the terrorist assault on Mumbai? Why does it never have any option when such assaults occur? How real is the threat from China, what should India do to brace itself for it? Will Pakistan deflect the terrorists it has spawned back into India? What should be the contours of our defence policy? Buy Now

Discover The Diamond in You by Arindam Choudhuri

Discover The Diamond in You

“This one, which you are holding in your hands, I can assure you is a real diamond . . . The 9Ps of success that Arindam so swiftly and lucidly narrates will help you overcome failures and achieve success – because we all need some guidelines when we are down . . . This book is guaranteed to inspire you and it will definitely get you started on your path to discover the diamond within. There is a lifetime of learning squeezed into this innovative book. 59 minutes is all Arindam asks from you and you will have a more positive approach to your life forever. I finished this book in 59 minutes flat and it read like a story I have often lived and experienced. You too will discover a part of yourself in these pages and get inspired.” Buy Now

The article above discusses how the rumored device, a tablet from Apple (iPad as the author calls it)  can kill the likes of Kindle, Sony e-reader etc.

While, I agree that the e-readers are grossly overpriced, very limited in scope and functionality, I do not believe that high end multimedia devices ( like Ipod Touch, or the rumored iPad or PC etc.) can provide the comfort that e-readers do.

The fact is, E-readers like Kindle use e-ink technology which makes the screen look exactly like a piece of paper. There’s no glare whatsoever. Their screen is so awesome ( i.e. without glare and resembles paper so closely) that it’s hard to differentiate between a working model and a dummy till you press some keys.

On the other hand, the rumored Apple tablet will probably have the sharpest screen / LCD ever built …. and boast multi touch technology that would make Tom Cruise in the movie Minority Report jealous.

Actually, my main point is simple and straightforward and easily proved… it’s hard to read continuously from a bright / sharp display… the eyes get tired and one tends to loose focus after a while. ( I am sure there are many people who don’t mind reading ban entire book on PC, I just don’t think I can stand the torture.)

Summing it up, I feel that e-readers will need to offer a lot more features at a somewhat lower price if they want mass acceptance.  (Like I have discussed before). However, this is no excuse to compare Kindle, and other e-readers with high end multimedia devices that cater to a completely different market.

I feel like putting my standard disclaimer here about how unpredictable most of the developments in technology trends are … but it’ll be easier for me to just change this post if the opposite ends up happening. (just kidding)

Ships in the Last Week of October

M.R.P  Rs. 399/
Our Price  Rs. 330/- (including shipping)

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We are pleased to announce that the book,Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is now available on our site for pre-order.

The story starts with Krish’s and Ananya’s (one of the prettiest girl in college) college (IIM) days.. This part is very well narrated, and is full of clichés which impart priceless wisdom (like, “When in doubt, the pretty girl is always right”). Every now & then, the story takes you down the memory lane, and refreshes the awesomeness of college / dorm days.
After a while, the story starts getting serious, and occasionally, it brings up a few scenes that immediately remind you of Ekta Kapoor soaps on Star Plus. The story does an excellent job of depicting some basic differences between North and South Indians that are bound to make sparks fly.
Most of the story goes on describing how Krish and Ananya try to make it work between their parents, and how it drives them to the verge of madness. The reference to the movie “Ek Duje Ke Liye” every once in a while is well placed.
Ofcourse, how the story ends is for you to discover. I am just going to say a few things:
1. The story starts simple and easy, and before you realize it, you are engulfed in the story… you are a part of Krish and Ananya’s love story, whether you want or not.

2. The rather unconnected, and unnecessary story about Krish’s encounter with Guruji, is probably one of the best incidents described in the book.. It’s just amazing, how sometimes people you don’t even know can change your life in an instant.

3. The relationship between Krish and his dad has been most beautifully developed. I am still not sure whether the bizarre episode between them was needed, but I guess, without it, the bitterness between the two would go unexplained.

4. Chetan Bhagat’s message in the novel, that you are an Indian first ( & Punjabi, or Tamilian later) is easy to decipher. Now, that a lot of us head out to different cities / states/ countries and cultures for studies and work, I am sure many readers will be able to connect to the story right from page 1.
To sum it up, I’ll say it’s a nice story, easy to read, and very well written. But I’ll probably have to read his other book(s) to find out what all the fuss is about.

Overall rating 7.5/10

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So, like all die hard Apple fans, I have come up with a wishlist, and I present it to you, without wasting any more time:

1. Steve Jobs: The keynote should be delivered by Steve Jobs! I am pretty sure no one can contest that Steve Jobs adds a whole degree or two of awesomeness to the whole event. He has missed way too many keynotes due to health reasons. Now that he’s back, we want him back on the stage.

2. Ipod Touch : To tell you the truth, I am not sure how much they can add to a device that’s already perfect. Still, to keep the engine running:

a) Stereo Bluetooth: It’s nothing innovative, I am not sure why Apple hasn’t added this feature to Ipod Touch! Since, they haven’t added it for so long, I highly doubt that we’ll see it this year too.

b) Sleeker version: Ipod Touch is already at the pinnacle of elegance…however, I am assuming it will shed some more fat this year, and also, add the usual things to the mix… (better battery life, may be better resolution etc. etc.)

c) Camera: I guess the word in the air is that Ipods might get a camera integrated into them this year, not really sure if that’s required, but you know, that’s always a welcome addition.

d) Better hardware, and usual bug fixes etc: Following in the footsteps of Iphone 3GS, a lot of improvements might just be internal…as in … speedier CPU, bug fixes etc. etc.

3. Ipod Nano: Again, for me, this device is already pretty close to perfection:

a) Better sound quality: Ipods have long been criticized for the average sound quality that they deliver. I am by no means an audiophile, but the difference in the sound quality between Ipod/ Sony Walkman / Sansa is fairly distinguishable.

b)  Shape: I really like the shape, and for that matter, the color options of the new Ipods. I hope Apple decides not to play with the shape much this year. ( Apple, please don’t go back to that square shape…..please)

c) Bigger, and yet better screens: Ipod Nano screens already deliver a spellbounding clarity and resolution. However, Apple has a tendency of packing more and more pixels each and every year…

The nice part is, that we’ll just have to wait for 9 more days, before the awesomeness unfolds, and the “holiday season” kicks in

It all started when I started emailing people in the book industry all over india for our new e-commerce site, thewisdomcart.com. Ofcourse, google was gracious enough to think that I was spamming, and it blocked my mehul@thewisdomcart account, 2 am in the night!!

I frantically emailed google to unblock my account, and at the same time, started looking for alternatives to host “@thewisdomcart.com” mail somewhere else. I came across a lot of paid alternatives, but not wanting to spend money unless necessary, I searched a little more, and then came across this site: www.zoho.com

What zoho.com has to offer is probably one of the best blessings small business owners can get.

Not only it allows you to host your mails (free for up to 10 users), but it even offers a host of services which makes it a SaaS provider, and probably one of the best ones out there right now.

Well, some of the services like Docs, Mail, Presentation, Sheets are already offered by Google etc., but some of the services are rather uncommon.

Zoho.com offers CRM application(s) (Customer Relationship Management), Invoicing tools for free* (*for certain number of users/account).

It goes a step further and creates a marketplace, where custom applications can be developed to match your needs.

Though I haven’t used that app so far, it even offers services to compare candidates, conduct online tests, polls and what not…

To sum up all of this in just one line, Zoho.com offers most of the tools that one might need in handling all the aspects of business ( from lead development, to billing, and from document creation and presentations, to hosting yourdomain.com mail address…). What’s more awesome is that it allows you to easily create aliases for an email address, thus enabling you to handle several different email addresses without the hassle of setting up forwarding etc….

So why exactly did I write this post?

- First and foremost, SaaS is an integral part of cloud computing, an exciting web 2.0 technology that will completely change how things are done.

- Secondly, Online apps like Docs (compared to MS Word), Sheets (compared to MS Excel), Presentation (compared to MS Powerpoint) are only becoming better and better with time. It might be a good time for Microsoft to revise their strategy for MS Office, and stop charging 100s of dollars for MS Office!! ( seriously……..)

- It might help a lot of us out there looking for some awesome services at no extra cost!

- Just wanted to take a minute and thank Zoho.com, for taking SaaS to a whole new level….! Seriously, thank you!

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Mehul Jain