Om Thoke

History of the IRA

Om Thoke — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:25:58 +0000

The history of the IRA dates back to the 20th century and IRA has been extremely resourceful ever since it was incorporated.

IRA is a nationalist organization dedicated to the incorporation of Ireland as an independent, yet complete unit. It was established by Michael Collins from miscellany of revolutionary unit isolated after the Easter Rebellion in early 1915 and comprised of military members. It later became the armed force wing and became a strong unit.

IRA had a big contribution in making Ireland a free state and also was responsible for numerous raids, bombings, and street battles on Irish border.

Background

Before talking about the history of the IRA, we need to know what made it to start. The physical force of Irish has a long history, from the united Irishmen of early 1800s and the method of IRA was inspired by the long-established country’s secret military units like Ribbonmen and Defenders.

Irish Republican Army comprised of even American forces and together with them, IRA fought at the Battle of Ridgeway (1866). However, IRA in its own sense was first used in 20th century when they fought guerrilla campaign (after Eastern Rising) in support of Irish Republic, declared in 1919.

Popular and effective at first, they perpetrated bombing attacks in London, Belfast during 1950s and then became quiescent in late 60s.

In 1969, they split into 2 organizations – official or professional, advocating a united socialist Ireland, claiming terrorism as an important catalyst for fusion. In 1972, IRA started showing their terrorism to England and hence British parliament passed PTA, banning IRA in Britain.

From 1975-1990, IRA received major weapons and training from various organizations, such as PLO, and American Sympathizers. There was a huge connection between IRA and Marxist-leaning terrorist units.

Notable Attacks

1972 Bloody Friday: Bomb attack in Belfast led to kill 9 citizens, severely injuring more than 130 people. They had positioned bomb in 22 places and there was a blast within an hour.

1979: IRA killed Lord Mountbatten, uncle of Queen Elizabeth II.

Surprise Your Valentine with Google Heart!

Om Thoke — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:48:05 +0000

Of course, with Valentine’s day on the corner, Romeos must be looking for innovative ways to surprise their loved ones, so how about some Google love?

Yeah no kidding, forget about those old fashioned e-cards, and heart shaped balloons, and try this out -

Simply send an email to your valentine and ask her to click on this link and see the magic!

If you liked it, then consider spreading this amongst your friends, and help them in surprising their valentines too!

Public Provident Funds (PPF) vs Private Equity Investments

Om Thoke — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:00:52 +0000

Have you ever wondered which is better – Public Provident Fund (PPF) or private equity investments, and why? Well, after a thorough analysis of all mutual funds, and ULIP policies, I’ve figured out PPF is the safest best; here’s more to it.

With the end of financial year on the corner, tax saving schemes like mutual funds, EULIPs, and various insurance policies are selling like hot-cakes; but not everyone in our country is aware of the goodness of PPF – Public Provident Fund.

If you’re a salaried employee with EPF(Employee Provident Fund) account, then you may consider contributing VPF (Voluntary Provident Fund) to save taxes, and secure great returns. However, if you’re working in a start up company, which has less than 20 full time employees, you may not have an EPF account, and PPF becomes your best resort!

Now, the million dollar question is “how much can you really save with PPF” – of course, you can claim up to Rs1 lakh under section 80(c) for amount invested in PPF, and enjoy totally tax free returns after 15 years. The magic figure is Rs 8,802,493.24 after 25 years, 5,326,924.90 after 15 years, and it’d fetch you Rs 3,062,566.33 if you invest Rs1lakh/month for 15 years, and take out the money at the end of 15th year.

For those who’re new to PPF, the lock-in is mandated to 15 years, but partial withdrawals are allowed after 5th year (though you must NOT do it unless in case of serious emergency, because PPF would be your best retirement fund!)

Coming to the returns part, as you’re allowed to invest a maximum of Rs 1lakh/annum in PPF from this financial year, you should try to make the most out of this opportunity.

Invest Monthly – Not Yearly

It’s such a shame that we don’t spend time on future planning, and tax saving until the last 3months of the financial year; January is always the eye-opening month for all salaried professionals, and they often invest in vain!

PPF interest is calculated on monthly basis, and the fund value on the 5th of each month in your account is credited 8.5% interest… Though the interest is compounded yearly, it’s calculated on monthly basis, so DON’T deposit anything after 5th, unless you don’t mind losing interest for that month!

If you invest the entire 1 lakh over the last 3months, then you’d lose out on the interest that you could have accrued, had you deposited the money on monthly basis throughout the year.

Having said so, there’s another alternative if you really want to invest on yearly basis; you can deposit the entire 1lakh rupee before 5 April of each year (yes, just after beginning of new financial year), and enjoy maximum benefits. However, what I’d recommend is that you deposit Rs 8333 on monthly basis, because if you open up a recurring deposit of the same amount in bank, you may unnecessarily have to bear TDS, and the interest accrued would be taxable; however, everything accrued in your PPF account is totally tax-free return!

My Public Provident Fund Calculator – The Magical Calculation

If you deposit just Rs8333/month in your PPF account, you’d end up saving over 30lakhs after 15 years from the date of starting your account; Rs 3,062,566.33 to be precise, at the current rate of interest of 8.60%…

Now, you’ll have the option of withdrawing all the funds, or extending your account by another 5 years, with option of partial withdrawal again.

The magic of compounding begins at this point – just continue to do the same thing for another 5years, and DON’T draw even a penny out of this corpus, and you’ll end up with a mammoth sum of Rs 5,326,924.90 at the end of 20th year.

Now, just have little more patience and continue your good habit of PPF investments for another 5 year, without making any partial withdrawals, and you’ll end up with well over Rs 88 lakhs in your PPF account at the end of 25th year – Rs 8,802,493.24 to be precise again! And, guess what the figure could touch the 1 crore mark if govt decides to be a little more kind-hearted, and raises the interest level to 9 or 9.5% from the current level of 8.6%.

Beware of New Direct Tax Code of 2012

Another reason to invest your entire 1lakh that can be exempted under section 80(c) is that the new direct tax code for 2012 would require all your insurance policy to have a sum assured of min 20 times the annual premium; however, most of the current policies offer just 8-10 x times the annual premium as the sum assured, and they’ll no more be qualified to be exempted under section 80(c) in the next financial year.

Save More Taxes with Infrastructure Bonds under Section 80(ccf)

Many of the folks are not aware of the fact that they can save more tax by claiming up to Rs 20k under section 80(CCF) in addition to 1 lakh under 80(C), and 20k under 80(D).

You may want to invest in IDFC and L&T infra bonds that assure 8-8.7% annual interest to avail these exemptions under section 80 (CCF).

PPF is the best amongst tax saving investment options; if you’re married open up a PPF account for your spouse too; and you can be assured of Rs 88lakhs x 2 = Rs 1.76 crores in a matter of 25years.

Looking at current inflation rate, if your monthly expenses are Rs25k/month, then you’d need about Rs 75-80k/month – 25 years from now, to lead the same lifestyle. Even if you keep that money in F.D., the annual interest would be Rs16.28 lakhs, which translates to monthly interest of Rs 135666. Even if you pay off 30% tax, you’d be left with over Rs 90k/month, apart from your monthly income, in case you don’t retire by then!

Ideally, you can use corpus from your spouse’s PPF returns for child’s marriage, or repaying the home loan, and keep your PPF corpus in bank to enjoy the FD interests.

Additionally, you can open up PPF account in your child, or your parent’s name to invest more money – but stay away from private equity investment if you want to play it totally safe! (though you can also enjoy up to 18-20% returns with equities.

Last but not the least, don’t mix insurance with investments – take a term life plan of Rs1crore cover; at the moment, HDFC standard life is offering 1crore cover for just Rs9300/year, which can also be claimed under 80(c). And, take a medi-claim or any good health policy, whose premium can be claimed under section 80(d).

So, I’ve planned my retirement at the age of 50 – with assured pension of Rs 90k/month income, how about you? If you haven’t planned you retirement, just open a recurring deposit of Rs 8333/month, and set an ECS to your pension account on 1st of every month to secure your retirement, plan your kid’s education, marriage, and repayment of your home-loan too!

Try a Broadband Phone Service Today!

Om Thoke — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:07:35 +0000

If you are planning to try a broadband phone service, then you are certainly on the edge of an all-new level of liberty to lift up the phone and make calls to people around the world. There are several well-known companies that provide VoIP phone services to consumers.

In the following sections, we would discuss in detail about the Voyage broadband phone service in particular, which is considered to be the leader for providing internet phone services at the moment, alongside Broadband expert, which is one of the trusted broadband service providers in UK.

A Brief Note on Vonage

Established in 2001, Vonage is a widely apprehended business VoIP network and SIP company, which offers phone service through a broadband connection. The company itself promotes as the broadband phone company in the United States. As of 2010 March, it had around 2.4M subscriber lines.

Quality of Service

Internet phone service is still in the process of improving, and you really can’t expect it to offer high quality of service all the time. At times, there could be some service wavers, which may disrupt the voice quality, and the same applies even to the best in this particular business, Vonage as well.

It provides high quality call collections to you with plenty of standard features. It has been in this business for quite a long-time, and it has been quite successful in resolving some of the frequently reported problems.

Most of the people shift to VoIP calling service in order to save some money, and at the same time benefit from additional features, and in the best market, Vonage broadband phone service will be the best option for you.

Standard Features

Vonage is fully loaded with many standard options that are usually expected out of an internet phone connection. The normal services provided by this company include 3-way calling, personalized voice-mail, call-waiting, forwarding, call hunting, and so on.

For an additional monthly rental, you can even create a toll-free number and an extra number as well. Calls to supplementary numbers can be easily diverted to your internet phone or to some other number that you choose.
As part of the facility, every customer will be given a unique local phone number in the Unites States. You can also select a local phone number in any particular U.S area code. Then, anybody calling from that particular local area can now call you for free anytime.

You can enjoy unlimited free calling to others who are making use of the same service. It offers decent portability.

Consumer Experience of Broadband Phone Service

Vonage offers a good quality service, and it has been able to satisfy many customers. Each internet phone service supplier has come across many bumps in their history; so it is advisable to bear that in mind whenever you read any negative feedback about any particular provider. Compared to other companies, Vonage has very few user complaints regarding the quality of service against its services.

Other Service Providers

Presented below is a list of other top ranked broadband phone service providers in the market –

• Broadband Expert
• EarthLink trueVoice
• VoiceEclipse
• VoicePulse
• SunRocket
• AT&T CallVantage
• Verizon VoiceWing
• Packet8
• BroadVoice
• Lingo

Making Money From the Internet Would Get Tougher in 2012

Om Thoke — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:15:12 +0000

There was a time when there were very few bloggers on the Internet, and despite the fact that rest of the world laughed at them, they were busy minting money on the net, and laughing at the rest of the world after buying Ferraris! Well, things have changed, as just about every other person who surfs the internet, owns a blog, and dreams of making money from the internet.

The concept of micro/mini-sites has also become outdated with the Google Panda slaps, and making money from internet is becoming tougher day by day.

Affiliate marketing has also become fairly tough, due to increase in number of affiliate marketers, and lack of potential buyers.

In short, gone are the days when you could just work 2 hours in a day, updating your blog, and watch the Adsense earnings shoot up with every passing day. As a matter of fact, you can’t be even certain that you’d be paid the entire amount accrued in your Google AdSense account, as Google has started finalizing the earnings by deducting the money not paid by AdWords advertisers by the time your pay-check is issued.

I found a difference of about $24 in my last month’s earnings, which wasn’t too much for money, but it could definitely make a slight difference to those who’re counting on every single penny coming to them.

So, what should you do? Well, I guess it’s time to stop taking bigger risks, and start cashing in small returns – basically I’m talking about website flipping here!

Just build a network of say 10 blogs for 2-3months, optimize them for a set of 2-4 good keywords, to drive decent traffic, and have proof of earnings through AdSense for at least $100/month, and just sell ‘em off for $800-1000 each, on Flippa or similar sites!

This could mean potential earnings of 10 x $1000 = $10,000 in 3months, which translates to $3k+/month – and I must say this would be far better than current earnings of MOST the bloggers who’re going to read this blog post.

Even if you succeed in generating half the money, you could be able to substitute your full time income, if you happen to be an Indian working in the IT sector or perhaps complement your income even if you’re a working professional who gets a hefty salary of $5k+/month.

Airtel Bill Collection Scam – Let’s Ban the Biggest Fraudster in India

Om Thoke — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:59:12 +0000

Airtel has been known to cheat customers since time immemorial, but this is heights of succulency – they just sent me a broadband bill AFTER DISCONNECTING the broadband line on July 1, and taking away all the equipments the same day, and a prank call from a recovery agency claiming to be from Delhi court, causing a whole lot of frustration!

I received bill of Rs1322 which i refused to pay since i was NOT EVEN PRESENT at those premises after July 1, and there was no Airtel connection either!

My airtel Account ID – 16503655
My old landline number – 080-40959541
Amount in question – Rs 1322

Even today I spoke to nodal officer, and they accepted there was no usage after June 1, and the bill shouldn’t have been generated. A guy called Vinay picked up the phone on their nodal office number 080-49081140.

Complaint number – 10538708 – which is still UNRESOLVED!

Payment receipt Number – 34-19751536 (I had to make the payment unnecessarily!)

I had sent an email to their legal team on Nov 28, and was promised a resolution by Dec 1, but never got any replies; rather they apparently filed a case in Delhi court, and today i got a call – but not from Airtel, rather so-called Delhi local court!

I’m the MD of a Pvt Ltd, and i was shocked to get a call from so-called Delhi court for Rs1322 claimed by Airtel, and had to make a payment (disturbing my busy schedule, canceling important meetings & appointments because I was mentally disturbed by all this non-sense).

And, guess what it turns out that Airtel has hired a private agency for bill recovery; (see this page) who bluff around, claiming to be from Delhi Court (I sensed that something was fishy, but I made the payment to ensure that Airtel is NOT in a position to put any penalty in future!)

I’m going to teach them a lesson, lodge a police complaint those people who had called, a counter case, and claim for mental harassment against Airtel for wastage of my time, phone bills, petrol, litigation charges and everything!

Here are the details of those people that had called from recovery agency -

Anil Mishra (I’m sure this is not the real name) – 07830943168
So-called Delhi court – 7351324794
Landline +911408909913

It’s pretty evident that these guys have been hired by Airtel, otherwise if they wanted money then they could have asked me to deposit money in THEIR ACCOUNT not to Airtel’s account!

Apparently, Airtel is not alone in this dirty game, but currently my target is only Airtel, as this war has come down to personal level. You can read more about such unscrupulous calls here

AIRTEL you’ve messed with the wrong person – I’m going to ask ALL my employees, friends, relatives, and acquaintances to cancel ALL Airtel connections – I’ll definitely make you lose lakhs of rupees of monthly business right away (much more in the longer run, coz’ I know at least 1000+ airtel users which spend Rs1000-2000/month and I’ll make sure min 80% of them cancel their connection within a month or two).

Oh yeah and by the way I had applied for a dedicated internet lease line, paid Rs25k advance, and waited for more than 4 months to get refund – I’m going to claim FD interest for that amount, and a case of mental harassment & poor business ethics too! AIRTEL you’re going to pay for messing with me; I’ve already THROWN all my airtel numbers, and asked my employees to port to Vodafone TODAY! (we had corporate Airtel plans, but not any more!)

My friend is also facing a similar issue and she has received a WRONG bill of Rs4k instead of reg broadband bill of just R1300+, and instead of accepting their fault, Airtel has issued a legal notice, and threatened to take legal action.

And, I swear I’m not going to leave my Rs.1322 that I’ve UNNECESSARILY PAID (coz’ I couldn’t afford my rapport to be put at stake due to a STUPID tech glitch or Airtel’s shoddy methodologies of earning money), but now ball is in my court!

I’ll combine all complaints and launch a MASTER CASE against Airtel – and Karnataka heads, and all key role players in Airtel, you better beware coz’ you can’t get away eating others HARD-EARNED money just like that!

I’ll launch a country-wide protest against Airtel, and ensure that the company loses considerable volume of business over next few months – that’s my promise!!! It’s not about just 1300 odd rupees – it’s about business ethics; RIGHT & WRONG – and Airtel definitely needs to be taught a lesson so that they NEVER EVER think of doing it AGAIN to anybody!

You can read more complaints here & my complaint here.

Note to Airtel: If you’d have come to me asking for a donation of Rs 1000 or begged, I’d have gladly given you even Rs10k (I’ve tipped lot more than Rs1322 to many waiters to date, so you could have also joined the list!), but now I’ll try my level best to take you to the verge of bankruptcy by encouraging people to file cases of mental harassment, and spread awareness about your collection SCAM throughout the country! You just ruined my 1 day, and ate Rs1322 – now you see what I do! I know I can’t get you banned in India with such a small thing, but when Apple can be sued, so can Airtel be! (if this was U.S./Canada I’d have certainly put those prank callers behind the bars too, but unfortunately it’s not so easy in India!)

Om Thoke (a.k.a. Sarweshwar Thoke)

Managing Director, Webfosys Networks Pvt Ltd

CEO, Xpress SEO Solutions

Mob: +91-7829901161, 9620825494

E-mail: om.thoke86@gmail.com, om@webfosys.com

Getting a Super Bike Loan in India Isn’t Easy At All!

Om Thoke — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

I thought getting a super bike loan in Bangalore (or any part of India for that matter) wouldn’t be as tough, especially for a small amount like 6lakhs, that too for a customer like me who has solid credit record, and almost just about everything right in terms of credibility! Indeed, my new Hyosung GT 650R superbike is coming in another 2 days – I was delighted to see it in the showroom yesterday, and I can hardly wait for it to be registered, and delivered to me, but the journey wasn’t too easy, as I had to literally bear lot of frustration almost for a month!

I was hoping to get it this weekend, but since it’s the second Saturday, RTO offices in Bangalore were closed, and hence it couldn’t be registered today!

Basically, I’m writing this post out of the extra enthusiasm bubbling within me, and to share ~~the hassles I had to face~~ (read my update, and see the reason why I’ve made these edits) the experience of getting the superbike loan from Tata Capital.

Initially, I wanted to pay full amount in cash, and take it home, but then I was looking forward to buying a home simultaneously, and I realized that I may need that extra cash to make the down-payment for the property… I had booked this bike on 15th of December, and the dealer had promised a delivery within 3 weeks, but things pretty soon got a little annoying.

I was pretty confused with the color choice, and I had ordered the metallic white (pearl-like white actually) initially, but I was informed that white variant is selling like hot-cakes, so it won’t be available for next 30-45days, and I was forced to change my mind, and decided to go ahead with red (the obvious choice for a sports bike!).

Secondly, the loan approval for a superbike is even tougher than that of home-loan; the requirements are extremely stringent, and very few financial institutions currently provide loans for superbikes in Bangalore.

Criteria for Availing Superbike Loans

a. You must have annual income of over 15 lakhs per annum or more.
b. You must have a clean loan payment track record of a C-segment car of at least 6months or more.
c. You must have your own house in your name or parent’s name (sibling’s name not allowed!)
d. You must be at least 30years old, or have impeccable credit record to receive HIGH credit ratings during the Civil check otherwise.
e. 2-3 Years of IT returns, or 16 form, and 6months of bank statements! (showing decent balance, which would convince the loan guys that you’ve the capability to pay the EMIs lol!)

I’ve had great relationship with HDFC Bank and that was my first choice, but apparently HDFC has an extremely stupid policy of NOT giving superbike loans to those who’re less than 30years old, but in my case, they had taken a special approval since I’m a classic customer and have 4+ years of relationship with the bank. But, the rate of interest was slightly high, and things were taking longer than expected, so I decided to go with the other alternative – Tata Capital… ~~And, I must say it was a terrible mistake; I had to literally run behind them for almost 2 weeks, and finally I was disgusted to hear that they’re only funding 65%~~…

~~I had literally decided to take the bike by paying full cash about 3-4days as I was utterly frustrated to hear that my loan had still not been approved even after 2weeks~~…

It took almost 3 weeks for the loan to get approved, and I got impatient several times during that time span… They even did address verification of our native home, as I don’t own a property in Bangalore in my name (though we’ve got 4 of them in sibling’s names). Even the person who had come for office verification made up stories that company employees didn’t confirm that I work for this company (hell yeah I’m the director, and they said that company employees refused to recognize me!!!), office was locked and what not! To add fun to the story, they even said that nobody confirmed my name when they called up my office landline (FYI & Disclaimer to Tata Capital Verification Team: My office landline number that I had given, is a base phone, which is put inside my private cabin that’s locked in my absence, so only a ghost could have answered that phone call, and I receive calls day & night on my number, and I’ve been issued SBI platinum card with 5lakh limit last week, which has the MOST STRINGENT VERIFICATION PROCESS!)

To add to the misery, even after submitting the last property Tax payment receipt & Khata transfer receipt (*again disclaimer to Tata Capital guys- just the way property related papers in Karnataka are mostly in Kannada, except sale deed and other things, the same way Tax receipt, khata transfer, & other documents are written in HINDI, the national language, in Northern Part of India, so you better get someone to read HINDI, English & Kannada!) they said that they couldn’t verify the ownership (again how lame, just coz’ they can’t perhaps read Hindi or comprehend Tax receipt & Khata transfer certificate issued by another state!). Finally, I had to give copy of sale deed (yes what the heck, you got to give copy of sale deed for showing ownership of HOUSE just for a stupid 4lakh bike loan!), and wait for few more days…

But as they say – all is well that ends well; at last they approved about 77% loan for me (of the on-road price of 5.7lakhs!), and finally my loan got sanctioned, and I didn’t have to shell out too much cash for bringing my new love home! (it hasn’t come to my garage quite yet, but it’s officially mine now)…
Update: I received a call this morning from the Tata Capital loan manager, and he explained the reason behind the delays, and I’ve made these edits, because I really liked his humbleness and the effort that he took, to explain what had happened.

He was a really good guy and I’d recommend anybody to try out Tata Capital for getting a superbike loan, if they’re not more than 30years old (otherwise I personally feel HDFC MAY be a better option, depending upon the rate of interest that they offer!)

Now the other funny thing was that my frustration didn’t end there, as the dealer had got white color to my surprise, and I had to tell them in harsh tone to give me red, not white!

I had planned a Goa trip last weekend, as they had promised to deliver the bike on Friday, but they started giving me reasons why they can’t do it – bla bla bla… And, finally agreed for delivery on Monday – but once again when I called up this morning, it was the same old story; they were telling me all lame things that the mechanic is on leave or PDI (pre delivery inspection) etc can’t be done so they can’t deliver it today (how stupid!) – and finally I had to call up the owner of the showroom, to ensure delivery today.

They had even promised to give me free Hyosung kit comprising of T-shirt, key-chain & helmet, but they haven’t kept their word even in that regard either, but now I’m tired of fighting with them, and I’ll be buying my own helmet (what the heck – who cares about a silly helmet – it’s more about the promise!)!

~~As I conclude this blog post, I’m super excited, as I’m leaving to Hyosung showroom to bring home my new craze!~~

Update 2: I’ve brought home my new addiction – the Hyosung GT 650r Superbike, and it simply rocks the roads!

It’s simply the show-stealer on the roads with “all eyes on you” attitude, and I was surprised that even people sitting inside Honda City, Nissan Micra, VW Vento and few other cars opened their window glass and asked me about it!

My wife hates speed, and rather loves comfort so she isn’t too happy about the sporty seat, and it’s ferocious acceleration as it sprints from 0-60kmph in less than 2.8 seconds, and touches 100kmph almost under 6seconds! But, it’s alright, we’ve got Cedia for comfort, and she loves Royal Enfield Bullet, so I’ll order the new Thunderbird 500 after it comes to markets this year (plus 6months waiting period, which means it’d easily take 1 year to come, and by then I’d be ready to spend more lol!)

I’ll be taking the beast to a Pondicherry trip over the next weekend, and I’ll post a comprehensive post on test drive results of my new Hyosung GT 650R some time next week, needless to say that I’d be starting a new blog for it too! So, stay tuned for pictures of Hyosung GT 650R, and test drive results over the next few days!

Update: I did a 14kmph-83kmph sprint in just 3seconds on an empty road, and I’d try to somehow do a video review (but it’s terribly tough for the pillion passenger to hold on at those ferocious speeds, let alone the possibility of holding a camera, and recording stuff!).

Heard of an Outie Car?

Om Thoke — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:21:13 +0000

It’s quite funny how a word like “outie car” comes into existence… Basically, when I was researching a few keywords related to Audi cars, I came across this keyword “outie car” and thought that it was a new automotive launch.

But, I couldn’t help start laughing when I did a few google searches, and realized that there’s nothing called an outie car as such.

Basically, I saw a few threads on Yahoo Answers discussing “what is outie car” and the answers were extremely funny! What I could infer from all the discussion was that folks from a particular nation are spelling “Audi” as Outie since it’s pronounced “OW-dee” and due to the difference in their pronunciation even the spelling has changed…

Early on, I had thought perhaps folks are abbreviating Mitsubishi Outlander as Outie, just the way we cut short Cadillac as Caddy (lol!)

As a matter of fact, there’s a forum thread on Edmunds that talks about Outie I4 w CVT vs V6 Auto comparison MPG/towing, which confirmed my thoughts that Outlander is abbreviated as Outie.

But, what’s more surprising is that when you google up outie car and hit the space you’d see suggestions like outie car prices, outie car images, and even “black outie car”, which is extremely bizarre to say the least.
This means there’s a bunch of automotive enthusiasts who’re frequently searching Audi cars, misspelling Audi as Outie! (ouch!)

Caterham All Set to Rock the Asian Luxury Car Markets

Om Thoke — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:11:04 +0000

Caterham is all set to give a rusty time to the likes of Audi, BMW, and other luxury marquees that have been enjoying unperturbed supremacy in the Asian automotive markets, especially the Indian market, which has been the second largest booming automotive market next to the US.

The classic Caterham R500 will soon be seen on Indian roads, but the exciting news is that company is planning to launch their entry level convertible/coupe at an extremely competitive price of just 25,00,000 INR. And, without a second thought, it’d be far cheaper than the likes of BMW Z4, and Audi TT, and appeal to a wider range of automotive enthusiasts.

Basically, there are no roadsters sold in Indian markets around that price range, and this would prove to be a huge advantage for Caterham. What’s more, the company has a very modest target of selling 25-30 units in the first year, which looks very achievable.

But, at the same time, it also makes me wonder as to how many people would really want to shell out 26 lakhs on a roadster that’s not meant for daily driving, and one that doesn’t give you the luxurious feel that a BMW, Mercedes or Audi car offers!

A similar question was posed when BMW Motorrad, and Ducati brought expensive superbikes to Indian markets, and pretty soon Harley Davidson, Hyosung, Triumph, and many others followed the league… And, perhaps Caterhams’ move may pretty well turn out to be the much needed driving force for creating a potential market for roadsters in India. Of course, San Motor tried it, and failed terribly, but then you simply can’t compare San Motors to Caterham, can you?

Coming back to their tentative line-up in India, the infamous R500 will also be seen in Indian markets; however it’ll be priced close to 86,00,000 INR, and the company will also be launching couple of other luxurious models in Indian markets in 2012 – so let’s wait and watch how they fare against the likes of Audi TT & other luxurious models that have already established a strong-hold in the Indian automobile markets.

I recently ordered a Hyosung GT 650R superbike and my next dream was perhaps the BMW X1 crossover, or the Toyota Fortuner, but I guess if Caterham were to enter the Indian markets by end of 2012, I’d most certainly put my money on the Caterham roadster without second thoughts!

Best IRA Providers in US

Om Thoke — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:21:58 +0000

A good percentage of Americans merely rely on their Social Security to cover their expenses during their retirement days… But, depending upon on the projections of the Trustees of the Social Security fund, the SS fund benefits will start getting drained off by 2027, and they’ll be completely exhausted by 2041.

While a good chunk of population totally relies on their employer-offered retirement accounts as their alternative retirement returns, being a working professional and a US taxpayer, you have the chance to supplement and develop your retirement nest egg by starting IRA accounts.

So, let’s find out some of the best IRA accounts that you can rely on, for planning a safe & peaceful retirement.

If you decide to endow and operate stocks in your IRA accounts, then you must pay proper attention to IRA firms’ transactions fees and commission rates since there’s a great scope for them to eat off a good portion of your final returns.

The best IRA provider for every American would be Scottrade, since the IRA accounts offered by them are simply exceptional for all beginners, those who endow in communal funds, and they’re equally good for enduring investors.

Since Scottrade is one of the renowned, well-experienced brokerage enterprises with first-class reputation, it would be a natural choice for all investors who are nervous about creating their retirement investment account with any of the start-up companies.

There is no need to worry about any setup or annual IRA fees with Scottrade as they offer completely free IRAs. This company has been constantly rated as the top provider in terms of investor satisfaction as well as customer service.

The key features of this IRA service provider include:

• Free IRA Accounts
• No Custodial fees and account minimums
• It offers easy switching facility from your current IRA provider

Types of IRA Accounts

There are mainly 2-types of IRA accounts namely – Traditional and Roth IRA accounts.

A traditional IRA account can be endowed by any taxpayer who obtains taxable compensation, while still he is less than 70.5 years of age.

On the other hand, Roth IRA account is similar to traditional IRA accounts in many aspects. It is also well-known as back-ended IRA account.

Selecting between these two-IRA account types is not as difficult as it sounds… The major factor that one should keep in mind, while selecting the IRA accounts is the final income tax asset. Moreover, it is also required to look at the investment features provided by the various IRA accounts.

After selecting a particular account, if you think that you have selected the wrong account type, then you’re always provided with the opportunity to shift your funds to another IRA account type with Scottrade, which is why they’re deemed to be the best in business at the moment!