American Gangster

Hi,

I have been to a theater for the first time in USA and luckily I have chosen a wonderful movie with 2 great actors and a nice script. We had booked the tickets online and picked them up from the kiosk at the theater - nothing different from PVR or INOX or IMAX theaters in India. The corridor we had to pass through to go to the Audi was not that great and there was nothing to buy - at least I did not come across any pop corn stall or anything like that. Probably bcos it was 10 30 in the night, all of them were closed. You will feel, there is better night life in India than in USA - of course NY, Las Vegas, LA and all have amazing night life here. But, in general, US guys' concept of working is 8 AM to 5 PM and go to bed by 10 PM or so. But, one thing to be noted here is - the staff that greets you always has a lot of energy. The guy who checked our tickets - wished us good evening and showed us the way and waved saying, "I hope you enjoy the movie!" This gives you a good feel.

The inside of the theater was very much similar to PVR or INOX, probably they are better. Bcos it was a night show, there were only some 10-15 guys in the theater all stretching their legs on the seats in front.

Now, coming to the movie, the movie starts at a slow pace with a typical screenplay of a gangster movie. There are hints of the affect of 'God Father' on the screenplay. But, Denzel Washington is one great actor. He completely got into the character of Frank Lucas. Russel Crowe on the other hand, played in a very subdues role, which is very admirable considering the fact that he is a great actor too. He basically lets Denzel run the show and Denzel has no problems with it. Some people may not like the screenplay that much and also - maybe the end. But this is a real life story, so I think the screenplay does justice to it. You tend to appreciate the business mindedness of Frank Lucas. He basically manages his supply chain so well to make millions. In all, it is a great movie and Denzel was superb. Don't miss it!

Bidding site

Hi,

This time I visited a Free gifts link. This is a link where 'after you become a member' you can play a simple game to win the Sweepstake. The game is pretty simple even for a first time user. The lowest 'unique' number entered will win the Cash prize. You may enter 0. But if another person enters 0, it is no longer unique. Quite an interesting game.

I like their billing method. The membership fee will be deducted in your mobile bill. Well, I really do't know how safe it is to give away such rights to such websites. In any case, people in US who are used to the casino culture may not find it that tough.

The membership fee is a bit costly. But, overall I like the UI design and the simplicity of the game :-)

Insurance site

Hi,

I was going through a life insurance link this time. Well, since I am in USA currently on business purpose, I thought I should choose one here. The site is decently user friendly but there is too much text for a first time user to go through. There is a form on the right hand side which when you fill out gives your insurance quote, but the website design needs a lot of work to make it "user-friendly".

I was once discussing the concept of structured data with a product manager at a reputed website company in India. You basically structure the data so that the search can be done in an organized fashion and also a first time user of the website knows where he needs to go for the information relevant to him/her. The above link may take a hint from this concept and add some structure to the data on their website.

The resultant page will be something where a user enters the site, you ask him/her a set of questions - What are you looking for? What is your age? Would you want to choose A or B and then at the end display the specific information that best matches the interests of the user. Well, just an idea and makes a lot of sense for insurance websites like this one. They do the same at the call centers to optimise the time a caller spends while trying to get assistance from their call center. Why not do the same on the websites to make the user's time spent more valuable?