All posts by Prasad

Prasad is a builder-at-heart, and writes about product management, leadership and coaching talent. He's equally passionate about family, food & travel.
Food

Mashed Potatoes Recipe

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Aditi & I have forever been crazy fans of mashed potatoes. I hadn’t cooked anything on the flame other than maggi before (don’t go by the order of posts here) and a (part-successful) attempt at roti prata (aka roti canai). Aditi was out for work on a weekend and I thought of trying this out as it needs very few ingredients. Most indian households will have all of this. Check: oven, baking dish and cream.

Ingredients:

The Final Product
The Final Product
  • 4-5 Potatoes50 grams butter or fat spread
  • Processed or soft Cheese (optional)
  • 1/4th cup milk
  • 2 tbsp cream
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 2 tsp Pepper
  • 2 tsp Chat Masala (to Indianize it)
  • 2 tsp Oregano (optional)

Procedure:

1. Boil potatoes as usual, peel the cover and mash them

2. Pre-heat the oven at 170c. I used the convection function on my microwave

3. Add butter. I used Nutrella fat spread as its cholesterol free, tastes just like Amul butter and provides better binding

4. To keep the recipe low fat, I went easy on the cream, and used more milk instead

5. Grated cheese – processed or mozarella to make it thicker

6. Salt, pepper, chat masala & oregano and mix well to form a consistent mixture

7. Grease (apply butter) to the surface of the baking dish and pour the mixture in it. If you do not plan to eat it right away, apply shrink-wrap to the dish and refrigerate.

8. Bake in the oven for about 40mins at 170c, or until the surface changes color.

9. If you’re making this for your wife or mother, make sure you return the platform spick-n-span 🙂

 

Internet & Web-apps

Goodbye Google Reader, welcome FeedSpot

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Google Reader had been a close buddy for quite a while, after Chitresh Jain got me addicted to a bunch of feeds, most importantly FMyLife 🙂 And then comes the sad shut down news  that creates a lot of rant all over the web. After trying a few alternatives immediately, I was hopeful (and sure) that this would tickle opportunists and deliver a much better RSS reader. The threat of data lock-out that Google users were anticipating after the announcement was more than relieved with Google TakeOut and their commitment to Data Liberation (FYI, this was #6 on my list of the top 7 non-functional requirements for web-based products). And I am huge fan of the Google PR team. They made good sound great, and bad sound hopeful. And they’re so unbiased, they even delegated listing out the best alternative to end users itself.

Early July, Google Reader finally went down – RIP Reader – and I was exposed to Feedspot through Anuj Agarwal‘s bio on Quora. I had some troubles importing my subscriptions directly from Reader, but that looked like a problem at the Google  end. It gulped the Reader TakeOut export without a hitch.

Excellent use of real estate
Excellent use of real estate

What I loved:

+ Minimalistic, responsive, consistent UI – Zaaro glitches Continue reading Goodbye Google Reader, welcome FeedSpot →
Food

Open-toast pizza recipe

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Sandwiches are my favorite food. I’ve been a subway patron for years. If you need something to accompany mashed potatoes or baked beans, this recipe is a no brainer.

Ingredients:

Open Toast Pizzas with Mashed Potatoes
Open Toast Pizzas
  • Bread slices, 8
  • Sliced capsicum, 2
  • Sliced tomatoes, 2
  • Sliced onions, 2
  • Olives, to your taste (optional)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Oregano, chilli flakes (optional)
  • Butter or fat spread
  • Processed cheese slices
  • Tomato ketchup
  • My no longer secret sandwich sauce

Procedure:

1. Butter both sides of the bread slices
2. Apply My no longer secret sandwich sauce on one side
3. Place all sliced vegetables: tomatoes, onions, capsicum on top. If you’re not feeling lazy or prefer the vegetables cooked, you can saute them in a pan with some cooking oil, 2 garlic cloves & tomato ketchup/puree.
4. Sprinkle salt, pepper, oregano & chili flakes as per taste.
5. Grate processed cheese or place an entire cheese slice over the toast. Avoid mozarella as it takes longer to melt, and your toasts will be burn.
6. Place them on pan over medium flame and let it toast.
7. Serve with tomato-chilli ketchup.

Food

My no longer secret sandwich sauce recipe

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I always had a fascination of stocking up all the various sauces that they have at Subway. I try to gather as many as I can find. Some at local malls, and the more exotic ones at Crawford Market. And I’ve figured out a wonderful combination of a few of these sauces for myself. They go with almost everything. I’ve tried it with sandwiches, open-toast pizzas and salads.

Ingredients:

  • Mayonnaise, 1 tbsp
  • Honey Mustard Sauce, 1-2 tsp
  • Curry (Tangy) sauce, 1-2 tsp
  • Tomato Ketchup, 2 tbsp
  • Sambal/Schezwan sauce, 1-2 tsp
  • Oregano, 1/2 tsp
  • Milk, 3-4 tsp (for the diet conscious, optional)

Procedure:

Just mix all of these as per your taste. The milk increases quantity sans the fat that mayo adds. Adjust proportions of the honey mustard, tangy & spicy sauces as per your taste.

Its damn simple, and trust it will make your sandwiches fly!

Food

Baked Beans Recipe

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Baked Beans is my favorite part of a continental breakfast. The canned version with haricot beans is easily available in hyper marts and is very close to the original. I had no clue of where to find haricot, so I went ahead with kidney beans. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Preparing the base
Preparing the base
  • Kidney beans, 200 gms
  • Onions, 2
  • Blanched tomato puree or just ketchup
  • Honey, 2 tsp
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Cooking oil, olive or any other vegetable oil
  • Garlic cloves, 2

Procedure:

1. Soak the beans overnight Continue reading Baked Beans Recipe →

Being a Product Manager, Engineering

Top 3 configurability needs in B2B apps

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What is configurability?

Configurability is the ability to change application behavior (functionaility) and the interface by changing application parameters, without the need to rewrite code. This can either be done in the front-end by users, or through back-end configuration. On the other hand, customization requires making change to the application code to modify existing or support additional requirements. Sophisticated application design (e.g. web hooks) can permit customization by externalizing the new functionality. But modifying existing functionality in a multi-tenant application is really not advised.

Top 3 / All-time favorite requirements

  1. Web forms / Custom fields: Customers may require the flexibility to add additional fields to a particular document/record (object). Moreover, there would be a need to validate the input to the field based on data-type, or a script. For example, tenant A may require tax-ID as an additional integer field on the customer information object, and also make it a mandatory input. This has grown to be complex enough to support attachment fields, link to master data, controlling access to specific roles/user, etc.
  2. UI customization: Customizing the user interface involves matching the look-and-feel with the customer’s branding: corporate color scheme and adding their logo. Allowing users to customize their own data views (record lists, reports) is just assumed to be there. Sometimes controlling data elements could also be a requirement. (E.g. End-users wont know certain information, so a section needs to be hidden for them. But the next user in the workflow Continue reading Top 3 configurability needs in B2B apps →
Being a Product Manager, Engineering

Why PMs should consider product configurability early on

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I am sure that the way I have configured my mail client or tablet’s home screen is different from yours. The reason we love modern-day apps and operating systems is because they let us configure the product to match our specific needs. Configuration is not a new concept – even old radio transformers allowed listeners to tune into the station of their choice without having to open any screws. Configurability isn’t a feature; its a vision. And it doesn’t come free; too much of it will also backfire. There are at least 3 compelling reasons why product managers need to plan configurability around every feature:

1. Customization

No product is designed for a single customer. And it would be rare that 2 customers had similar business processes. To adapt to the difference, without having to create customer-specific code bases, an application needs to be customizable. Gone are the days when customers would 200% of license fees on getting the product customized to match their business needs. In today’s scenario, solution providers need to cover the cost of customiztion through one-time implementation fees.

2. Rapid Implementation

Besides, customers are not looking at multi-year transformation projects with huge budgets. Project managers need to create compelling business cases and promise hard dollar recovery through the proposed solution. Every project is like a turn-key project and a vendor has no chance unless they can promise rapid implementaiton and unlock the RoI in stipulated time. Continue reading Why PMs should consider product configurability early on →

Engineering

Choosing the best web application development framework

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I’ve discussed web frameworks before and how they can help in rapid development. In this post, I’m presenting some general guidelines around selecting the best web development framework, based on your requirements, in the the preferred language: Java, Ruby, PHP, Python. The main criterion is evaluating the non-functional requirements it provides out-of-thebox, which can greatly aid rapid development.

What to look at in a framework?

You should know how the design considerations mentioned below are addressed by the frameworks you are evaluating. Depending on the business needs, some might be redundant, but tend to provide a holistic view of the framework’s capability.

  • Scaffolding code: What is the ETD to get a web-form with basic CRUD running?
  • Does it offer the flexibility to choose between convention & configuration?
  • How is input data validation achieved?
  • Is the View layer simplified with a template engine?
  • Does it employ object-oriented design patterns? and demand OOP?
  • Does it follow MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern? How is routing (URL management) achieved?
  • What ORM tools (object relation mapper) does it support?
  • Does it have built-in support for multi-tenancy?
  • Does it support I18n & L10n out-of-the-box? (Internationalization & Localization)
  • How is Authentication & Authorization managed: inbuilt, using a module or plug-in?
  • Does it allow rapid development/deployment in line with Agile principles?
  • Are there cases of proven success for enterprise class applications?
  • What is the performance benchmark vis-a-vis other frameworks?
  • Is there in-built support/plugins for caching, unit & scenario testing?
  • Is it easy to debug applications, and if possible with in-built support through an IDE?
  • Associated costs & TCO: to build developer & infrastructure expertise, hosting, licensing, support?
  • Does the licensing permit free use for all purposes and the right to modify code as necessary?
  • Does it have a clear product roadmap, sufficient documentation & an active community?

The decision

Don’t get carried away by flashy white-papers, classy developer events or generalized case studies. Your application is going to be different (a reason why you’re building that product in the first place) and while it is good to use guidelines, you need to see what fits your requirement best. Take a weighted approach to evaluating a framework based on the evaluation criteria above and make sure you have enough reason to be convinced.

This post is part of the SaaS Application Development series, extracted from my final dissertation submission at BITS, Pilani that closely looked at rapid-development of SaaS-based applications.

Travel

Bali – FAQs: budget, airlines, best time, hotels, car rental, tips

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After posting the itinerary for Bali and our experience, I have received a lot of emails with questions – primarily – around the budget, airlines, hotels, car rentals and general tips. I’ve put them as a FAQ below; hope this helps fellow travelers.

What was your budget?

Honestly, we were traveling on budget. We had planned about Rs.70,000 per head and wanted to make the most out of it. We did.

Is there a split?

Approximate split across categories

This is naturally going to differ, but here is an idea.

  • Airfare – 40%
  • Visa & entrance fees – 10%
  • Stay – 15%
  • Local transport – 15%
  • Shopping – 10%
  • Meals – 10%

Good idea for my first overseas vacation?

Absolutely! There is always a first time for everything. Just plan well. Here are 10 great tips for international travel.

Is February a good time?

Most of the forums said Feb wasn’t a great time to be in Bali, but I think that’s more applicable to surfers.

Transit Bangkok or Singapore?

While Bangkok was an option Continue reading Bali – FAQs: budget, airlines, best time, hotels, car rental, tips →