Destination Infinity's Blog, page 13

Our Initials Revealed @ Marina Beach (Video)

We went to the Marina beach recently and here is a magic video we made in which the waves recede to reveal our initials!

Actually we wrote our initials on the sand and the waves deleted it when it came. But I used my video editor to reverse the video to create this ‘initials reveal’ effect. Hope you liked it

Shoe Dog (Nike Founder Autobiography) – Book Review

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the creator of Nike is the Blue Ribbon/Nike founder autobiography (by Phil Knight). I listened to the audiobook on Storytel.

This is one of those rare business autobiographies that is not only well written but is also entertaining – at places. If you think building a brand from a start-up without capital is easy, read this book.

Most startups face the issue of product-market fit or insufficient sales. But Phil Knight’s major issue, right up to Nike went public – many years after its inception, was Insufficient Funding.

Other founders also have funding issues, but once the business model is established and the revenue starts flowing in, funding is not that big an issue.

In the 70’s, when Phil started Nike along with his shoe-dog (fanatic) athletic coach ‘Bill Bowerman’, one could only approach the banks for funding. And to say that they had a very conservative approach towards funding is an understatement.

Would you believe his bankers repeatedly asked him to slow down with sales? Nike’s biggest issue those days were exploding sales, and the consequent backlash from creditors for the exploding demand – and the increased funding requirement that came with it!

I loved the founder’s initial story – his journey around the world, his final stop at Japan to import good quality shoes that he could sell in the US market, his struggles with his Japanese suppliers, etc. makes for a frank and great read.

If you want to read a good ‘business founding’ story without the author exhausting us with his/her own greatness and abilities, this is the book.

We realize that startup founders and brand creators have no extra-human powers. They are just like us. But they try harder – way harder – even in the face of insurmountable difficulties. They too fail, but they don’t let failure discourage them – they just try again, again, and again.

This is a must-read for anyone planning to start their own business that is capital intensive. Here is the link for the audiobook ‘Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike’ on Storytel.

Destination Infinity

My Top 5: 200 to 350cc Bikes for Long Rides

I have a 150cc bike – Bajaj Avenger 150 Street. But that’s been with me for the last five years, so I am thinking if I might want to buy another bike. I thought maybe I could opt for 200-300cc bikes this time.

My Top 5 Bike Choices for 200 to 350cc Bikes for City & Long Rides (Both)



#1.. TVS Zeppelin

The TVS Zeppelin or Ronin or whatever it is going to be called is a yet-to-be-released 220cc cruiser bike from TVS. It’s got killer looks and the right engine power to give a decent mileage. It’s even got a dashcam built right into the bike. If no other bike as exciting as this gets launched, this one will be my first choice…

#2.. BMW G310R

There is only one reason why I would buy the BMW G310R – the BMW logo. I rarely make my choices based on brand value, but so far, this bike is my second choice. The red-alloy wheels version‘s got killer looks and at 315cc, it’s a decent all-rounder for both city use as well as highway use.

#3.. Suzuki Gixxer SF250

Watch this video ad of the Suzuki SF 250. I was mighty impressed by the silver colour full-fairing version shown in it. Currently this is my third choice, but frankly, there is no reason NOT to keep this bike at the top of this list. Let’s see if Suzuki launches its dual-cylinder 300cc version with bs6 upgrade. It can only get more exciting from here… other bikes beware

[USA] Do You Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan? Find Out.

Here is a home mortgage loan qualification calculator. If you input data like mortgage amount, loan term, annual interest rates, other (current) debt info, etc., it will give you the required minimum annual salary to qualify for the loan amount you specified.

But earning the minimum required annual salary alone may not be sufficient to get the mortgage. Understanding the U.S. Home Mortgage Loan Qualification process in depth is critical.

10 Ways to Better Your Chances to Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan:



Getting a Mortgage Pre-Approval, which includes thorough credit assessment and verification, is more important (and more cumbersome) than Pre-Qualification. The latter just gives you an idea, but with pre-approval, your chance of getting the loan is high. Since the Pre-Approval will be valid only for 60-90 days, it’s important to identify the house you want to buy before applying for it. If you have any secondary sources of income, you could declare them and your chances of getting the mortgage will be better. You may even qualify for a lower rate of interest.If you have a good FICO credit rating (usually more than 600) your chance of getting the loan is higher. Also, the higher the score, the lower the interest rates. If you have a low credit score, take some time to improve it as much as possible before applying for the mortgage. A low Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio is important to qualify for a mortgage. So try to pay off other debts as much as possible before applying. If you pay less than 20% as downpayment, expect to pay 0.5 to 1% of the loan amount as PMI – Private Mortgage Insurance, annually. Generally, Back End DTI (Debt to Income ratio) is more important than Front End DTI. So keep your credit card loans, car loans, personal loans, etc. as minimum as possible to qualify for a mortgage. To improve the Back End DTI, try to consolidate your high-interest loan payments into one monthly lower interest payment. You could reduce the loan amount, or opt for an adjustable-rate mortgage if you have difficulty qualifying for the loan.

According to these stats, the 30-year Fixed Interest Home Mortgage Rate has decreased from 3.64% to 2.67% from Jan. 1 2020 to Dec. 1 2020 – the lowest rates for a long long time. Due to this the demand to buy new homes has surged, and you can expect this trend to continue in 2021.

So now maybe the best time to buy that new home you’ve always dreamed of owning. Be sure to click on the home mortgage loan qualification calculator and check if you qualify for a home loan.

Publish a Sponsored Blog Post on this Lifestyle Blog

If you want more visibility, inquiries, and orders for your product or service, it’s a good idea to explore the option of publishing a sponsored blog post on this Lifestyle blog. This is a part of influencer marketing.

What is a Sponsored Blog Post?

If you are a business owner, you would want more people to know about your product or service. One way is to collaborate with bloggers to create and publish a blog post about the benefits of your product or service on their blog, like this blog. This is called a sponsored blog post and most bloggers charge a reasonable price to create and/or write about your product/service on their blogs.

Sponsored blog posts are like ads but they are different. To make sponsored blog posts work for you, you need to identify the fears and desires of your target audience and then create informational blog posts that solve their problems and gives them knowledge. If the sponsored post is only about your product and its features, they may quickly close the page and go elsewhere. You could also be creative with the content – just make it attractive.

Benefits of Publishing a Sponsored Blog Post on this Lifestyle Blog

https://destinationinfinity.org (Current DA: 32) is my lifestyle blog where I write and publish blog posts on varied topics. I have been creating and publishing content on this blog for over 12-years. I have published more than 1250 blog posts so far. Here are a few benefits of sponsoring a blog post on this blog –

Boost Your Organic Reach – When people search for related products or services (like yours) on search engines, there is a chance that they will search for related keywords. They may find and read the sponsored blog post published for you on this blog. If they find it useful, insightful, or interesting, there is a good chance that they’ll click on the link to your website/product page on the blog post to reach you. Enhance Your Reputation – The first thing a prospect would do upon hearing about you is – they’ll go to google and search for where and how you’ve been mentioned. Instead of leaving everything to chance, you can build a positive reputation for your brand by getting featured on publications and blogs like these, in the way you prefer. Boost the Search Rankings of your Webpage – When you receive a link from a long-standing blog you are signaling to the search engines that your webpage being linked is important. When you get many links from reputed publications, slowly your site/webpage will start ranking well for your primary keyword (the search term that your prospects use to search for your product or service on the search engines). Useful and Interesting Content – Bloggers have been creating content for many years. So they can identify and represent the important aspects of your product/service in a creative and professional way. Often, bloggers can create multiple forms of content like images and videos in addition to the text for better reach and engagement.



How to Publish a Sponsored Blog post on this blog?

You’ll have to contact the blog owner via email: kollu.rajesh[at]gmail[dot]com.

You can either publish a blog post that you/your team has written. Or you can request the blogger to create content for you. The price varies in each case and you’ll receive the pricing details by email.

Please note that the content (if you provide) and the site you want to link to are both subject to approval.

If you want to create a video using the key points in the blog post content that you could upload to youtube and social networks, in addition to embedding it in the blog post, that can also be done. Video is optional and the price can be provided separately if requested.

Destination Infinity

Get a Sponsored Blog Post on this Lifestyle Blog

If you want more visibility, inquiries, and orders for your product or service, it’s a good idea to explore the option of publishing a sponsored blog post on this Lifestyle blog. This is a part of influencer marketing.

What is a Sponsored Blog Post?

If you are a business owner, you would want more people to know about your product or service. One way is to collaborate with bloggers to create and publish a blog post about the benefits of your product or service on their blog, like this blog. This is called a sponsored blog post and most bloggers charge a reasonable price to create and/or write about your product/service on their blogs.

Sponsored blog posts are like ads but they are different. To make sponsored blog posts work for you, you need to identify the fears and desires of your target audience and then create informational blog posts that solve their problems and gives them knowledge. If the sponsored post is only about your product and its features, they may quickly close the page and go elsewhere. You could also be creative with the content – just make it attractive.

Benefits of Publishing a Sponsored Blog Post on this Lifestyle Blog

https://destinationinfinity.org (Current DA: 32) is my lifestyle blog where I write and publish blog posts on varied topics. I have been creating and publishing content on this blog for over 12-years. I have published more than 1250 blog posts so far. Here are a few benefits of sponsoring a blog post on this blog –

Boost Your Organic Reach – When people search for related products or services (like yours) on search engines, there is a chance that they will search for related keywords. They may find and read the sponsored blog post published for you on this blog. If they find it useful, insightful, or interesting, there is a good chance that they’ll click on the link to your website/product page on the blog post to reach you. Enhance Your Reputation – The first thing a prospect would do upon hearing about you is – they’ll go to google and search for where and how you’ve been mentioned. Instead of leaving everything to chance, you can build a positive reputation for your brand by getting featured on publications and blogs like these, in the way you prefer. Boost the Search Rankings of your Webpage – When you receive a link from a long-standing blog you are signaling to the search engines that your webpage being linked is important. When you get many links from reputed publications, slowly your site/webpage will start ranking well for your primary keyword (the search term that your prospects use to search for your product or service on the search engines). Useful and Interesting Content – Bloggers have been creating content for many years. So they can identify and represent the important aspects of your product/service in a creative and professional way. Often, bloggers can create multiple forms of content like images and videos in addition to the text for better reach and engagement.



How to Publish a Sponsored Blog post on this blog?

You’ll have to contact the blog owner via email: kollu.rajesh[at]gmail[dot]com.

You can either publish a blog post that you/your team has written. Or you can request the blogger to create content for you. The price varies in each case and you’ll receive the pricing details by email.

Please note that the content (if you provide) and the site you want to link to are both subject to approval.

If you want to create a video using the key points in the blog post content that you could upload to youtube and social networks, in addition to embedding it in the blog post, that can also be done. Video is optional and the price can be provided separately if requested.

Destination Infinity

Buy Silver Kamakshi Vilakku in Chennai ~ Mohan Jewellery

If you want to buy Silver Kamakshi Vilakku in Chennai, Mohan Jewellery (Mylapore) is a shop you may want to visit.

Recently, we visited their shop and saw the above-shown Silver Kamakshi Vilakku. It was quite heavy. Also, while generally, this type of vilakku has a plate behind it, the one they offer has the idol of the goddess in silver along with an ornate arch as shown in the above picture.

They told us that this is a special vilakku as it has been hand-made, while others are mostly made using a mold. They also have an entire range of jewellery collections ranging from diamonds, gold, silver, rare stones, etc.

Here is their shop address and contact details in Chennai –

Mohan Jewellery, PS Sivaswamy Road, Near Vivekananda College Circle, Mylapore, Chennai. Phone: 9840081152.

Our New Egate Home LED Projector & Screen :)

Here is our new Egate LED Projector & Screen that we bought recently to watch movies on a bigger screen during the weekends.

It’s been eight months since I watched a movie because mobile/computer/TV screens cause eye-strain when I watch for a long time. So unless I am working, I stay away from these light-emitting gadgets as long as possible.

The last time I went to my eye doctor, he told me that there would be no eye strain if I watch something from over 20-feet of distance. That’s why we don’t strain our eyes while watching movies in the theater.

Also, with a projector, we are not exposed to light directly. We just see the reflection of light from the screen. This is softer on the eyes.

Considering all these things, I checked on Amazon India and I was surprised to find that there were a number of inexpensive LED projectors selling on that marketplace.

After a little research, I zeroed-in on Egate LED projector. I guess this is made in China, but most electronics are made in China anyway.

Since these are low-cost projectors, the brightness and resolution are quite less. So it’s not possible to use it for work purposes – text is difficult to read. However, it’s more than sufficient for watching movies and youtube videos – especially at night. Which is what I wanted it for.

I was able to connect my DTH set-top box and my laptop with the projector easily with the HDMI cable supplied by the manufacturer. I also bought a longer (5m) HDMI cable because I wanted the laptop to be near me as I need to select youtube videos frequently.

I also bought a large projector screen from Amazon. There are many in the 4:3 aspect ratio but I searched for and bought one in the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. This one is bigger and the projector display fits it perfectly – it occupies almost the full screen from where we have placed it.

The projector has a built-in speaker. It picks up the audio too via the HDMI cable and automatically plays it while playing the video. The audio is loud but not always clear. For better audio, I guess I’ll have to buy and connect a good external speaker via the audio out port in the future.

Actually, I bought the ‘Miracast’ model thinking I’ll mirror my mobile screen to the projector display. But while setting it up I discovered that Android has dropped miracast in its recent versions. So, for now, I am trying to figure out how to connect the mobile without buying Chromecast or Amazon Fire Stick.

I think I should have bought the Projector model with built-in Android. That way, we can just connect it to WiFi and load apps directly from the projector. If you want to buy one in the future, buy an Android projector. The price difference between the models is not that much.

Try to buy the max. resolution and brightness your budget will allow. Mine is 720p and 400 ANSI Lumens (I think). There are better models than this. If you just want to use it to watch movies at night this is fine.

Destination Infinity

PS: We have already watched two movies – that too continuously without any break. So far I did not face any strain on my eyes. I hope to watch at least two movies every week from now on – on the weekends. Who needs a theater when we have a projector? Thanks to the Chinese

Vellaayi: The Tale of the Temple Idol’s 48-Year Hiatus from Srirangam

Did you know that the main idol of Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple was in Tirupati for 48 years? This happened in the 14th Century and it was taken there with great risk to be hidden.

But hidden from whom and why? How did a Devadasi’s help and sacrifice become so crucial in saving the idol?

This is the story of the (Audio) Book – Vellaayi, written by Raja Saravanan.

This Tamil Historical Fiction is based on true happenings, but an interesting tale is woven around those incidents.

What was Srirangam like in the 14th Century when the heydays of Cholas were over and the rule of Pandiyas was about to end?

The story brings the 14th Century Srirangam to life. It’s a treat to the senses and a well-written tale but I felt the characters could have displayed more shades of grey, which was the main attraction of the other similar historical fiction series I read recently – Ponniyin Selvan.

Although this book is available as a paperback on Amazon, I listened to the audiobook version on Storytel. They have used singers to sing the songs in the book and used music/sound effects appropriately.

When compared to the English audiobooks I listen to, which has a narrator just reading the story, these audiobooks almost resemble a movie without the visuals! I think, the same team that recorded Ponniyin Selvan audiobooks has recorded this one too. They’ve done a good job

I Finished Reading all Ponniyin Selvan Books [1-6] :D

OK, I did not read all the six Ponniyin Selvan novels. But I finished listening to all of them – thanks to Storytel‘s wonderful audiobook subscription platform