Inverted Passion

Be passionate about the territory, not the map

All posts by Paras Chopra

Mnemonic Dictionary: A Quick Review

Posted on Author Paras ChopraPosted in Entrepreneurship, Technology3 Replies

A quick review of Mnemonic Dictionary:

  • Concept: Interesting. When I prepared for GRE, I used mnemonics extensively. So, thumbs up to the team for actualizing this concept of creating and sharing mnemonics for difficult words.
  • Team: Seems to be dedicated to me. While I must admit that initially I thought that the website is a hobbyist venture, now I feel that it is on a solid footing.
  • Revenue Model: It seems that their primary source of revenue is through advertisements. But it is interesting to note that they offer one-to-one sessions for GRE preparation. I wonder who is the tutor on the other end. Founders themselves?
  • Target Audience: Clearly Indian students preparing for GRE, GMAT or CAT. Most of the mnemonics include Indian connotations.
  • Suggestions: Rely on advertisements for revenue to a minimal level. Offline version of mnemonic dictionary. A better looking website. A section for mnemonics which are universal in nature (that is, the ones which are not just for Indians).
    •  ...  Read the entire post →

    How I built a web app in six days for Rs. 350 ($8.75) only

    Posted on Author Paras ChopraPosted in Entrepreneurship, Personal, Technology19 Replies

    I just read this story where they talk about how they built a web app in 4 days for $10,000. Voila! It struck me that I have been equally competitive (if not better) in terms of building a web app. So, here I share my story of building a web app.

    I recently built MyJugaad.in, which lets anybody create a slideshow from a set of webpages or RSS feeds. Following is the time line and the money involved during making this web app.

    • Day 1: Conceived the idea. Explored the idea space. Refined it. Drew user interface for the slideshow on a paper.
    • Day 2: Realized that Javascript is the way to go forward. Researched on Javascript Toolkits. Found JQuery to be the best. Learnt Jquery. Started programming Slideshow front-end using JQuery.
    • Day 3: Wasted a ton of time on sorting cross-browser incompatibilities. Done some more programming. Working prototype ready by evening.
    • Day 4: Wanted to make a system for user authentication and management, slideshow creation and management. Confused between Django, CodeIgniter or CakePhP. Chose CodeIgniter. Started Learning and programming the web app. (Used SimplePie for RSS feed fetching and parsing.)
    • Day 5: Finished Programming. Discovered that NYTimes.com was breaking the slideshow due to their iframe breaking script. Had a hell of a time trying fixing that.
    • Day 6: Looked for interesting free designs on the web. Chose this. Implemented and integrated the design with the web app. Wrote a basic ‘about’, ‘faq’, ‘contact’ page. Uploaded the web app on a shared hosting account free of cost (courtesy: my friend). Used a domain already purchased: myjugaad.in (cost Rs. 350). Seeded the app with a few initial users and data. Announced the web app on my homepage and status message on GTalk.

    What’s missing?

    • Market Research: I should have done initial market research. Instead, I simply jumped into programming the web app. If I had done some market research, I would have discovered a product with almost the same feature set as mine’s. Nevertheless, I learnt a lot during my six day journay. So, I don’t regret making this app.
    • Testing: I just did some initial testing. But should have done a little bit more testing.
    • Users: I didn’t do any marketing for my web app. That’s bad and I am going to fix it soon.

    Hope this post helps you write and launch your own web app in record time.
    Any thoughts? ...  Read the entire post →

    How To Find a Dream Job with Startups in India

    Posted on Author Paras ChopraPosted in Entrepreneurship1 Reply

    As they say: the next best thing to starting up a company is to work with a startup. Following are the resources which would help you find jobs with startups in India:

    Are you aware of any more resources?

    Are You Guilty of Not Solving World’s Problems?

    Posted on Author Paras ChopraPosted in Entrepreneurship, Personal, Physics15 Replies

    I am. Having read this article intensified my guilt. Aren’t there enough web mashups already? Do you really need to create yet another social network? Web entrepreneurs today are so hallucinated by their own culture that they have forgotten that there is a whole range of important problems to be solved for which the internet is not necessarily the panacea.

    I am not suggesting that what they are doing is wrong. In fact, they are making best use of what they know. They are making cool virtual pets simulations, social networks for cats, amazing google maps mashups and a ton of amazing applications which really have potential to revolutionize the world. Imagine, how the world would be transformed if all the cats in the world could actually communicate over the internet. But – here comes the reality – apart from a (very) few cases (read Facebook, Youtube, etc.) the potential for these web apps never seems to be realized. Millions of such useless apps hopelessly float around the web, waiting for someone to discover and use them. ...  Read the entire post →

    Is Universe = Mathematics?

    Posted on Author Paras ChopraPosted in Philosophy, Physics1 Reply

    Stumbled across an excellent article in which a scientist shares his thought on whether universe is actually made up of mathematics. My personal view (as if it actually matters) is that it is a very intriguing possibility. Imagine if all mathematical objects are actually their own universes. This way, we would have infinite universes and the grand question of why our universe is special would be solved. Our universe is not special in any way. It is just one of the infinite mathematical objects. The numerals 1, 2, etc. would be making their own dull universe. Our universe could be a very, very complex mathematical object. Wow! This is thing is pretty cool. ...  Read the entire post →

    Introducing MyJugaad.in

    Posted on Author Paras ChopraPosted in Entrepreneurship, Personal, Technology11 Replies

    I am very proud to announce MyJugaad.in, a web app that I have developed.

    What is MyJugaad.in?

    MyJugaad.in is a slideshow for webpages, which are sourced either from popular websites such as del.icio.us, digg, google news, etc. or from a list provided by you or from a RSS feed(s).

    For example, here is a guided tour of all I have done in my life.

    How can it be used?
    It can be used in a variety of ways:

    • For browsing the web lazily when you are too tired to do active browsing.
    • As an alternate way to access your RSS feeds.
    • To create a showcase of best posts of your blog.
    • To make a tour exposing best parts of your website.
    • Keeping track of best stories on the Internet.

    So, people, have a look at MyJugaad.in and let me know your comments/feedback/criticism/bugs/rants/appreciation. Also, please note that the web app is still being tested, so if you come across any unexpected behavior, let me know ASAP. ...  Read the entire post →