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For most of us, <keyword id="1829745" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="thinking-machines">thinking machines</keyword> happen to be sci-fi stuff, but for those working in the <keyword id="107950" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence</keyword> (<keyword id="6355999" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="AI">AI</keyword>) space, that is just a ground reality. AI is slowly gaining traction among <keyword id="100363" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-entrepreneurs">Indian entrepreneurs</keyword> and a handful of companies are already working on one product or the other, targeting specific segments. But here is one brand new <keyword id="6404679" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-up">start-up</keyword> which is hoping to open up this field and make it super easy for <keyword id="6357020" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="developers">developers</keyword> to <keyword id="1973991" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Incorporate-AI-components">incorporate AI components</keyword> in their apps as per their requirements. Chennai-based <keyword id="1973988" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mad-Street-Den">Mad Street Den</keyword> (interestingly, ‘<keyword id="6707506" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mad">MAD</keyword>’ stands for <keyword id="1973989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mind-Abled-Devices">Mind Abled Devices</keyword>) will be offering easy-to-access <keyword id="1973997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="AI-solutions">AI solutions</keyword> via a Cloud-based platform, thus delivering intelligence to the world, on a broad scale. The <keyword id="1974000" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="IA-stack">IA stack</keyword> comprises <keyword id="1974001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sensory-processing-layers">sensory processing layers</keyword>, as well as <keyword id="1974004" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Contextual-binding-layers">contextual binding layers</keyword>, and aims to deliver three categories of <keyword id="1974005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Consumer-experiences">consumer experiences</keyword>. 
 But that does not mean lack of more intriguing products on the part of the start-up. Mad Street Den is all about intelligent innovation and the company is working intensely on a series of products using vision, speech and touch-based processing (among others), aiming to cater to verticals like <keyword id="6357332" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gaming">gaming</keyword> and <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment">entertainment</keyword>, <keyword id="6354750" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="health">health</keyword> and <keyword id="15482" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="lifestyle">lifestyle</keyword>, and <keyword id="6355300" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="security">security</keyword> and <keyword id="6359249" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="analytics">analytics</keyword>. Here is a snapshot that captures the start-up’s vision and viability. 
 
Who runs Mad Street Den (www.madstreetden.com): A core team of four including <keyword id="1718234" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Co-Founder-CEO">co-founder &amp; CEO</keyword> <keyword id="1973987" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anand-Chandrasekaran">Anand Chandrasekaran</keyword>. Anand holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Madras and a PhD in Neuroscience from <keyword id="503459" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Baylor-College-of-Medicine">Baylor College of Medicine</keyword>. During his Post Doctoral stint at <keyword id="33081" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Stanford">Stanford</keyword>, he specialised in <keyword id="1974014" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Neuromorphic-Engineering">Neuromorphic Engineering</keyword>, building <keyword id="1974017" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Custom-silicon-chips">custom silicon chips</keyword> that emulate various regions of the brain. At that time, Anand was part of the <keyword id="10875" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IBM">IBM</keyword> team and working on <keyword id="265122" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="DARPA">DARPA</keyword>’s <keyword id="1974019" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SyNAPSE">SyNAPSE</keyword> project (for the curious, let’s tell you this project focuses on building all sorts of <keyword id="1974020" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Smart-hardware">smart hardware</keyword> that emulate higher intelligence). 
 Prior to starting his own venture, Anand joined a Palo Alto-based start-up called Evolved Machines, Inc., as a research scientist and developed various neural algorithms that could connect to real-world sensory perceptions like vision and smell. “As part of Evolved Machines, I was involved in another DARPA project called <keyword id="1974022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Neovision2">Neovision2</keyword>,” he recalls. 
 There are three others in the core team – another <keyword id="170488" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="co-founder">co-founder</keyword> who has some very useful experience in designing products that use the <keyword id="294572" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="machine-learning">machine learning</keyword> approach; an experienced and distinguished professional with a similar background to Anand’s and another expert who builds the kind of network infrastructure the company requires. Although development work started in March this year (a month after Anand returned from <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword>), the start-up was officially launched in August 2013 and has recently shifted its headquarters from Bangalore to Chennai. 
 
What inspired the venture: During his stint at Evolved Machines, Anand decided that he would work on AI projects of his own. So he worked as a <keyword id="17182" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Consultant">consultant</keyword> with <keyword id="1973986" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zort-Technologies">Zort Technologies</keyword> for a couple of years while trying to figure out what to do next. 
 “Although building great AI is a good thing, we did realise that there were very few solutions in the market that would help create great <keyword id="1974006" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Consumer-experience">consumer experience</keyword>,” says Anand. “That’s because there is no unified platform that allows easy and cheap <keyword id="1974027" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Access-to-AI-elements">access to AI elements</keyword> – no suitable infrastructure for handling the requirements of the applications using those elements. So we decided to create such a platform. That way, we can build a whole new ecosystem for everyone who wants to create new experiences enhanced by AI.” 
 
What’s the pitch: Making machines more useful by making them a bit more human: Fun, intelligent and relevant. They will sense as babies, observe and play as youngsters, learn and change with you as they grow older. In brief, the start-up aims to provide AI support across three categories of experiences – fun and play, usefulness &amp; convenience, and helpful &amp; revealing. “Someday in the near future, we hope to bring everyday objects to life, not just the devices we use today,” the site notes. 
 
How it works: Mad Street Den is in the business of delivering artificial intelligence to the world – in varied formats and across industries. The primary product is a Cloud-based <keyword id="1974029" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="AI-platform">AI platform</keyword> that developers can leverage to incorporate <keyword id="1973990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="AI-components">AI components</keyword> into their applications. This ‘MAD’ (Mind Abled Devices) stack currently focuses on <keyword id="1974030" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vision-based-applications">vision-based applications</keyword> and delivers elements such as <keyword id="1974031" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Facial-gesture-analysis">facial gesture analysis</keyword>, <keyword id="406688" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="face-recognition">face recognition</keyword>, <keyword id="1974032" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gaze-tracking">gaze tracking</keyword> and so on. However, the start-up will expand and diversify its offerings as the platform grows. As of now, the target sectors include apps, <keyword id="34609" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="services-industry">services industry</keyword>, gaming and analytics (imagine test-marketing a product and getting insightful feedback through AI apps that can decode facial gestures of potential customers and correctly surmise their reaction to the product in question). But in the next few years, Mad Street Den may also develop low-cost <keyword id="1974033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Custom-hardware">custom hardware</keyword> to support its existing stack; create <keyword id="1974034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="High-end-cognitive-hardware">high-end cognitive hardware</keyword> for big enterprises/software companies and finally make foray into <keyword id="62549" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Robotics">robotics</keyword>. 
 
“All these are in the pipeline and we intend to create more apps and new products by leveraging our own AI platform,” explains Anand. “That will further create new and wonderful experiences enhanced by our AI solutions and speak volumes about our quality.” 
 
Claim to fame: Novelty of concept and the tremendous potential are the key factors at this point. Very few <keyword id="770060" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-start-ups">Indian start-ups</keyword> are currently working in the <keyword id="1974055" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="AI-space">AI space</keyword> and it could be the next big thing when Web 3.0 – widely assumed to be a combination of artificial intelligence and the semantic Web – finally arrives. 
 
Show me the money: Till date, the start-up has been bootstrapped and has not started earning revenues. As of now, the <keyword id="232730" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-model">business model</keyword> is essentially B2B, but Anand has high hopes about B2C earnings as the company is also building its own products. “We are a very early-stage company, completely self-funded and in the process of building our scalable infrastructure and our first B2C product (a game) by early next year. In fact, we will be demoing our prototype at MobileSparks 2013 in Bangalore tomorrow (December 14), he says. 
 “As we have many potential <keyword id="598465" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="revenue-streams">revenue streams</keyword>, it is a little difficult to gauge the market size at present,” he observes. “But it spans everyone – from the <keyword id="1974050" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="College-dorm-developer">college dorm developer</keyword> to <keyword id="1974051" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Small-product-companies">small product companies</keyword>, to service providers and <keyword id="163194" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="OEMs">OEMs</keyword> who want to enhance their offerings. Even <keyword id="1974052" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Large-corporations">large corporations</keyword> might want their own custom stacks and proprietary <keyword id="1974026" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="AI-elements">AI elements</keyword>,” he adds. 
 Although bootstrapped, Mad Street Den is not looking to raise funds just now. “We intend to work on our product pipeline first and come up with 1-3 more products by mid-2014,” says Anand. “Once we have the process in play and are getting considerable traction at consumer and enterprise levels, approaching investors will make sense. Also, we have gone past the incubation stage now. Neither are we limited to a single platform or product. Therefore, we will be looking at a very large angel round or maybe a small <keyword id="919124" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Series-A">Series A</keyword> within a year, depending on our requirements. Given our <keyword id="1974053" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="RD-requirements">R&amp;D requirements</keyword>, we would like to expand our operations to the US as well.” 
 
Biggest challenge: Competition is always there as several companies are working in the AI space – both in India and abroad. But the field is vast and almost completely untapped; so there is space for everyone. “Currently, there’s no delivery model like our Cloud platform, especially in the vision space. So that gives us some competitive edge and we are building the rest of the USP,” concludes Anand.

This
Start-up Offers Artificial Intelligence Solutions To Enhance Experiences, Aims
To Tackle Analytics Challenge

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Blue Zones" are 5 places in the world where it's ostensibly easy to live to 100.</li><li>There's only one Blue Zone in the US, just outside LA.</li></ul>You would not believe Ester van den Hoven is turning 100 today.The first time I met her, in June, the sprightly 99-year-old was dashing out for a 10-minute walk in the California sunshine.Is that Ester? I wondered, doing a double-take as I rolled towards the parking lot of her nursing home. Can't be, I thought. This woman is elderly, sure, but there's no way she's about to turn 100. A short figure wearing sky blue shorts, a matching shirt, oversized movie star sunglasses, and a beaming smile. She looks several decades younger than her years."Most people say that," she said, laughing, when I shared the thought with her later. "I don't even know how old people should look — I don't have a recipe for that!"<div type="image" title="ester surrounded by grandchildren" height="1392" width="2100" msid="112534193" hostid="261" sizebytes="140822"></div>Van den Hoven lives in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/loma-linda-blue-zone-longevity-secrets-of-seventh-day-adventists-2023-11">Loma Linda, California, one of the world's so-called "Blue Zones.</a>" A hugely popular body of research argues that these five places — small, tight-knit areas of Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, Japan, and this dry and sunny town just outside Los Angeles — are longevity hot spots, where people easily<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dan-buettner-blue-zones-lifestyle-habits-diet-exercise-2023-8"> live to 100</a>, in good health and with strong community support. Like most Loma Lindans, van den Hoven doesn't dwell on the mystery of why people seem to live so well here — though she does seem to be living proof of the phenomenon. She just wakes up every day thanking God she's still around.Her easygoing, pious lifestyle sits in sharp contrast to that of most other Californians. She's not one of those 100-year-old <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/110-year-old-man-longevity-tips-milk-driving-social-2024-4">anomalies</a> who enjoys a regular shot of gin, or lives off of hamburgers and chocolate. She's more like a living data point, illustrating what <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doctor-made-longevity-calculator-estimates-how-long-you-will-live-2023-4">study after study has shown</a> for so long: people who live to 100 are genetically lucky, yes it's true, but most also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/longevity-aging-recommendations-centenarians-have-in-common-study-2023-11">tend to find comfort in some higher purpose</a>. They seek a balance between remaining active and staying <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-a-better-friend-according-to-scientific-study-2023-1">connected</a> each day, while also cradling a deep sense of inner peace and serenity that allows them to keep chronic stress to a minimum.<h2 id="85f1d9fd-edf6-46a1-99dd-d5d9da0e9bd1">Daily exercise, veggies with plenty of dressing, and a few supplements</h2>Van den Hoven's routines are simple and clear.First, she participates in as many activities as she can — whether it's a morning aerobics class at the nursing home where she's lived now for nine years, or a virtual sabbath church service celebrating her Adventist faith."I think a lot of the people feel it's too difficult to go and sit and do the exercises, they tell you they're too sore, or too old, or too weak, or too something," she said. "But I try to go."Her diet is also unfussy — a predictable rotation of cafeteria staples including daily fresh veggies, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blue-zones-expert-shares-cheap-longevity-supplements-beans-walnuts-2024-5">Blue Zone legumes</a> like lentils, and sides including baked potatoes. She likes extra ranch dressing on her greens, and enjoys a little meat from time to time when she's out on the town, but otherwise eats the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet so many here observe, and largely avoids chocolate, which she "dearly loves" but also knows can keep her up at night.She takes a few supplements, and one prescription medication, but other than that, has very few health concerns, a feat her doctor, geriatrician Wessam Labib says is "very special."<div type="image" title="her med cabinet" height="1575" width="2100" msid="112534195" hostid="261" sizebytes="225652"></div>"Typically when I see patients at her age, they're not as healthy as her," he said. "They might have some kind of diabetes or congestive heart failure."<h2 id="a7381cb9-7a2d-4829-a3d0-740168d09018">Sense of purpose</h2><div type="image" title="ester at home with memories " height="2800" width="2100" msid="112534199" hostid="261" sizebytes="476408"></div>Van den Hoven's small apartment has memories of her past on every wall. There are framed landscapes from Germany, where she was born, and lots of photos of family: her parents, her husband, her children, her grandchildren, and their children too."I don't have any enemy, I'm not mad at anything, I'm not much worried," she said of her approach to aging, the softest hint of a German accent lingering on the end of her final word. "Sometimes when it gets evening, I think you know, something could happen tonight, and I don't wake up tomorrow. But I'm ready. I pray to God that I'm ready every day."Without too much effort, this daughter of a pastor has become increasingly religious as she ages — though she says she would never want to sermonize about it too much to others, or be given any overly-prescriptive dogmas to follow."Sometimes I like to talk to a pastor, but I don't want to be preached at," she said. "I like to be kindly spoken to and told, 'you know, this would be easy on you.'"She has a Bible companion in her living room and enjoys reading from it every day, but doesn't want to have her picture taken next to it, for fear she might appear "too holy.""I feel in my heart I'm closer to God now than if I had died when I was 60," she said. "So God maybe knew, 'don't let her die. She's not ready,'" she says with a laugh.Labib says this "internal peace" she exudes is typical of people who make it to 100 around Loma Linda. In addition to some lucky genetics and regular exercise, which are both key to cracking a century of life, the anxiety-free attitude and faithful lifestyle van den Hoven has adopted seems to be an integral part of what keeps many centenarians alive. In one <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/common-traits-supercentenarians-scientist-longevity-2024-7">2016 study</a>, scientists at Harvard found women who attended regular religious services were less likely to die an early death, and felt stronger social support around them.<div type="image" title="ester outside walking" height="2800" width="2100" msid="112534197" hostid="261" sizebytes="371680"></div>"They typically have a very cheerful personality, they don't take things to heart," Labib said. They're just "less critical."They're not too hard on themselves, either, and may cede some control over their own mortal timeline to a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-maroon-aging-expert-longevity-tips-secrets-healthy-lifespan-2024-2">higher power</a>. The oldest American, 115-year-old <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oldest-living-american-elizabeth-francis-lifestyle-longevity-tips-secrets-2024-2">Elizabeth Francis</a>, lives about 1,500 miles away from here in Houston, Texas, but much like van den Hoven, she credits her longevity to God, calling it "the good Lord's blessing" that she's still alive.It's a stark contrast to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-stress-anxiety-normal-life-experiences-expert-says-2024-2">modern anxiety economy</a>, where individual <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burnout-work-boss-left-office-on-stretcher-2024-4">burnout</a> is almost the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burnout-business-owner-cozy-entrepreneur-2024-6">norm</a>. There's a sense van den Hoven is part of something larger than herself, yes, but without too much pressure or anxiety attached to her role.<h2 id="a4061348-d2ab-4d4f-abd4-5856f6beb98b">The importance of sharing memories with friends</h2>Sure, van den Hoven fears death, but she doesn't dwell on it. She is lighthearted about her aging process. Instead of dwelling on what's to come, or focusing on regret, she thinks about the here and now — and the past. Her short-term memory is "shot," she tells me, but she remembers vividly what life was like living in the Hague during the Second World War, down to where the subterranean shelters were located on her street, the spot in the backyard where a bomb fell once, and the confusing way news traveled in a time of widespread Nazi propaganda. She still remembers gradually discovering the true extent of the genocide in the years after the war, she told me.We converse for hours, discussing her childhood in both Germany and Turkey and her teenage years in Holland, where she met her husband, who would soon become her confidant for life.<div type="image" title="ester and husband" height="1787" width="1464" msid="112534198" hostid="261" sizebytes="129912"></div>"I sometimes long for people to whom I can be open, because I don't have a good friend," she said, acknowledging the importance of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-a-better-friend-according-to-scientific-study-2023-1">friendships for longevity</a>. "I miss somebody like my husband."When he died 12 years ago she thought "will I make it one year beyond this?"Together, after Hitler's reign, they'd traveled from the Netherlands to Australia, then to the US, all in search of a place that would be "easier" to live and raise a family, with better jobs, and more time for worship on Saturdays.As we chat about her life and how she made it this far, we're both so excited to uncover more of the past that we forget to eat lunch — which includes a bright salad of lettuce, carrot strips, tomatoes, and beet slices. Instead, we skip straight to dessert. The nursing home is serving cold orange sherbet, which is a must on this hot summer day (she'll save the salad for later). I come away from our meeting feeling like I've made a new friend, even if she can't remember the details of everything we've just discussed.<div type="image" title="boxes of memories at ester's house" height="2800" width="2100" msid="112534194" hostid="261" sizebytes="201412"></div>"Think of me with friendliness," she says, bidding me goodbye. "See you next time."Will I see her again, though? Suddenly, a wave of sadness washes over me. I'm out here on the hot pavement contemplating death.Later, I let it go. I remember how nimbly she bounded around the apartment, jumping up and down from her chair with ease. And I'm thinking of a conversation I had with her doctor, who certainly thinks that with her genetics, and her attitude, it's possible."If she stays the Ester I know, I wouldn't be surprised if she's with us for many, many years to come," he says.

This Blue Zone resident turns 100 today — living proof that taking it easy on yourself is great for longevity 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Bond movies often feature villains with facial scarring, including <keyword id="12188514" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rami-malek" source="Orion">Rami Malek</keyword> in "<keyword id="11940308" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="no-time-to-die" source="Orion">No Time to Die</keyword>."</li><li>Presenter Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, called the trope "old-fashioned and out-dated."</li><li>Author Jen Campbell said the trope is wider than Bond movies.</li></ul><keyword id="11908895" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="disability" source="Orion">Disability</keyword> campaigners have called out <keyword id="11918058" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="james-bond" source="Orion">James Bond</keyword> movies for their repeated portrayal of villains with facial scarring, calling the theme "lazy" and "outdated."Facial scars are a common look for many movie villains, particularly in Bond movies.In the latest Bond movie, <a href="https://www.insider.com/no-time-to-die-review-daniel-craig-best-james-bond-ending-2021-9">"No Time To Die,"</a> both <a href="https://www.insider.com/james-bond-rami-malek-dropped-lines-daniel-craig-no-time-to-die-2021-9">Rami Malek's Safin</a> and <keyword id="12203836" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christoph-waltz" source="Orion">Christoph Waltz</keyword>'s Blofeld both have facial disfigurements as part of their characters' looks.Previously, Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan had scars in "GoldenEye," Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva had a deformed jaw in "Skyfall," and Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre had a disfigured eye in <keyword id="11898344" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="daniel-craig" source="Orion">Daniel Craig</keyword>'s first Bond movie "Casino Royale."Now, campaigners are protesting against what they are calling an "outdated trope."Author and disability advocate Jen Campbell posted a Twitter thread arguing against the practice, writing: "Every time a new James Bond film is made, the producers are asked to reconsider their representation of disfigurement. Every time, they say they don't care. The new film, out this week, is no exception. This time, two villains with facial disfigurements. Lucky us."She also added: "For those just discovering this 'disfigurement and disability = villainy' trope, it is much wider than Bond. Think crime, horror, comics, children's books… it's everywhere. The links higher up in this thread explore the wider picture. Please take a moment to explore."Meanwhile, presenter Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, told <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-28/bond-film-no-time-to-die-relying-on-lazy-and-outdated-stereotypes">ITV News</a>: "When the only character with a scar or disfigurement is shown on screen as the villain, it's perpetuating the use of an old-fashioned and outdated trope."He continued: "This isn't about banning baddies from having scars or telling people not to enjoy a trip to the cinema, it's about putting a line in the sand and saying now is the time to ensure other characters can be seen on screen with a visible difference too."Producer Michael G. Wilson has previously defended the use of the trope, calling it "part of the writing tradition" in a 2012 interview with <a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/barbara-broccoli-and-michael-g-wilson-interview-producing-skyfall/">Den of Geek</a>."Sometimes it's a motivating factor in their life, and what makes them the way they are," Wilson said. "He had that as part of the characters that he devised. It's just part of the writing tradition, though, really."<div type="image" title="Rami Malek dressed in black" height="786" width="1048" msid="86613875" hostid="261"></div>As Campbell pointed out, however, the use of facial scarring to signify evil characters has been used across some of the most iconic villains in cinema, such as Scar in "The Lion King," Darth Vader and Kylo Ren in "Star Wars," the Joker in "The Dark Knight," Miles Quaritch in "Avatar," and Freddie Krueger in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" to name a few.However, in 2018, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/29/bfi-to-refuse-funding-for-films-with-facially-scarred-villains">the British Film Institute (BFI) announced</a> that they would stop funding movies featuring the trope after <a href="https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/i-am-not-your-villain-campaign-launches-today-in-the-telegraph">the I Am Not Your Villain campaign by the Changing Faces charity</a>, which called the trope "lazy."Ben Roberts, the film fund director of BFI said in a statement at the time: "Film has such a powerful influence on society … [and] also is a catalyst for change and that is why we are committing to not having negative representations depicted through scars or facial difference in the films we fund."

Disability campaigners criticize 'harmful' and 'outdated trope' of villains with facial scarring in James Bond

Ever since he moved out of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anand+Chandrasekaran&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Anand Chandrasekaran</a> has guided a couple of promising young <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword>. Since 2013, he has invested close to $25,000-50,000 each in about 15 startups based out of India and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Silicon+Valley&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Silicon Valley</a>. Also, he has met his doppelganger not once, but twice. 
 
Over the next couple of months, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anand+Chandrasekaran&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Chandrasekaran</a> is looking to help this young crowd with his unique insights into product-building. He is looking to invest in 4-5 more over the next two months. 
 
Business Insider caught up with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anand+Chandrasekaran&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Anand</a> one Friday afternoon. This chat has been long due. 
 
How did you get into <keyword id="1995572" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Angel-investing">angel investing</keyword>? 
My involvement with startups happened largely because I wanted to learn from them. That happens when you are a part of their journey. 
 
I steer clear of areas I don’t understand and can’t add any value to. Thanks to my work at Airtel and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a>/<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a>, I have been familiar with the application of marketplace to various sectors, consumer internet and fintech. 
 
What does it take to be funded by <keyword id="1973987" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anand-Chandrasekaran">Anand Chandrasekaran</keyword>? 
The two questions I ask is what is that they are trying to do, and if it is a problem worth solving. If the answers to both are yes, I’m very excited. Even if they don’t succeed financially, but try very hard and move the agenda forward in some way, that’s a win. 
 
You have invested in a food tech startup, <keyword id="2797965" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Innerchef">InnerChef</keyword>. What are your sanity checks when investing in a troubled sector? 
These are typically young companies, and there’s not much data available. One thing that’s important to me is consumer experience. By that, I don’t mean just the app. 
 
Speaking specifically of food-tech, what I like about InnerChef is their focus on the end-to-end consumer experience. People don’t want food spilling over them, so packaging must be great. That kind of obsession with the customer experience caught my attention. 
 
The other interesting part is they figured out what should be driven directly by their kitchen, and what can be done through a marketplace. 
 
That’s a brilliant hybrid model for a food-based market-place. Most importantly, they control the quality of the food. This helps in cutting cost as well, and helps maintain a discipline which keeps each kitchen profitable. When a startup can control the food quality and the unit economics, it’s a great company. 
 
It’s hard to be successful in food-tech without controlling food. 
 
Believe it or not, there’s another Anand Chandrasekaran in India’s startup eco-system. Same name, same spelling and if you ask me, they look oddly similar. 
 
The other Anand Chandrasekaran is the co-founder of Chennai-based Mad Street Den. Founded in 2013, it received a funding of $1.5 million last year and is working with the Tata Group to build its <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> platform. The MAD in their firm's name stands for MindAbled Devices. You can reach him <a href="https://twitter.com/madstreetanand">here</a>. 
 
What was the moment like, when Anand met Anand? We keep running into each other when I’m in Bangalore. I remember we were both at the <keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="40" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword> Hack event, and Shailendra Singh took a photo of both of us. Most recently, we were speakers at the IndiaHacks event by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=HackerEarth&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">HackerEarth</a>. 
 
It’s shocking how much we have in common. We have the same name, same spelling and similar up-bringing. We both went to Stanford, both got advanced degrees and have similar mannerisms. It’s spooky! 
 
How is that your and Punit’s exit came at a time when <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> were rumored to be ‘re-structuring’? 
I played a small role in Punit coming to India, and to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a>. I was working with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bharti+Airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bharti Airtel</a>, and shared my experiences about moving from the Valley to India. Since he took that plunge, that conversation was probably helpful. 
 
I believe knowledge is best when shared. He believes the same. Other than that, we weren’t in touch. I had no idea what his plans were, and my decision was not pre-meditated. It’s a bit of a co-incidence that the two of us joined around the same time, and left few months apart. But there’s not much beyond that. 
 
Is there any chance you are going back to the ‘employee life’? 
I’m still in the process of figuring this out. I have written on Quora about the same. 
 
Read <a href="https://www.quora.com/Anand-Chandrasekaran">Anand </a><a href="https://www.quora.com/Anand-Chandrasekaran">Chandrasekaran</a>'s <a href="/What-is-Anand-Chandrasekaran-plan-post-quitting-Snapdeal#ans25794189">answer</a> to <a href="/What-is-Anand-Chandrasekaran-plan-post-quitting-Snapdeal" ref="canonical">What is Anand Chandrasekaran plan, post quitting Snapdeal?</a> on <a href="https://www.__nousername__.main.quora.com">Quora</a> 
 
In the last 5-7 years, I’ve realized I enjoy working with people who level the playing field. That’s my sweet spot, and I want to do it in a way that’s entrepreneurial.

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