Many people talk about PC with awe about his dream budget. Every year for the last 5 years people were expecting him to work miracles in the Union budget. Things weren't as flashy as '97 but did improve considerably.
In the wake of the ruckus over the Mumbai Attacks PC got relieved of the finance portfolio and was given the home ministry. As home minister he is entitled to Z class security but has politely turned it down. Full Article. Political ploy before the elections to appease the hoi polloi or serious reforms in the offing?
Only time will tell. But I know who I will be voting for during the next elections.
P.S If you have finally decided to stop your wining about the situation and start doing something productive like exercising your franchise this is a good place to start
16 Dec 2008
3 Dec 2008
Facination for Roll numbers
The past few days my instant messenger client seemed to go crazy. It was showing a number in a majority of the status messages of my online friends. When I finally decided that it was not a program bug and asked people about it, I realised that people had posted their college roll numbers as their status messages.
Someone, somewhere started it either out of sheer boredom or as a witty conversation starter. The magnitude with which it caught on was insane. Bout of nostalgia ? Possible. But to with the number of people doing it increasing rapidly a poem by W. H. Auden comes to mind.
(To JS/07 M 378
This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
Someone, somewhere started it either out of sheer boredom or as a witty conversation starter. The magnitude with which it caught on was insane. Bout of nostalgia ? Possible. But to with the number of people doing it increasing rapidly a poem by W. H. Auden comes to mind.
(To JS/07 M 378
This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
7 Nov 2008
Obamania sweeps the world.
There seems to be no other topic of conversation the last few days. Everyone is talking about him. He seems to have won over the media and everyone is swooning over him.
I admire his charisma and the way he has the media lapping at his feet. I admire the fact that he got to be president of the country which was infamous for racial discrimination without the help of any reservations (India needs to take a few pointers here). However, I am not completely convinced. The anti-incumbency factor seems to have worked in his favor considering the mess that the financial system is. Fear seems to have been the prime driver IMHO.
I also want to see what happens once he isn’t the media blue-eyed boy. The media is fickle.
Till about 2 months back all Indian public figures were going on on how India is decoupled from the rest of the world economy. How the Indian growth story is still intact. How we should still be confidant and cheerful. How we should not fear.
In the short span of two months this “feel good” comments on TV have changed to dire predictions of recession. Of job cuts. Of how to protect your family and loved ones in times of crisis. Of how to prevent being laid off. Etc etc.
When the miracle that people are expecting doesn’t happen, that’s when we will see what Obama is truly made of. Till then lets enjoy what George Bush has been reduced to in the media.
Make sure you read the captions
I admire his charisma and the way he has the media lapping at his feet. I admire the fact that he got to be president of the country which was infamous for racial discrimination without the help of any reservations (India needs to take a few pointers here). However, I am not completely convinced. The anti-incumbency factor seems to have worked in his favor considering the mess that the financial system is. Fear seems to have been the prime driver IMHO.
I also want to see what happens once he isn’t the media blue-eyed boy. The media is fickle.
Till about 2 months back all Indian public figures were going on on how India is decoupled from the rest of the world economy. How the Indian growth story is still intact. How we should still be confidant and cheerful. How we should not fear.
In the short span of two months this “feel good” comments on TV have changed to dire predictions of recession. Of job cuts. Of how to protect your family and loved ones in times of crisis. Of how to prevent being laid off. Etc etc.
When the miracle that people are expecting doesn’t happen, that’s when we will see what Obama is truly made of. Till then lets enjoy what George Bush has been reduced to in the media.
Make sure you read the captions
9 Oct 2008
Brisingr and the shattering of Myths
I got my hands on a copy of Brisingr by Christopher Paolini a few days back and was half way through the book.
However, I was struck by the way he described Eragon choosing a new sword. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. And guess what? It looks like the Wikipedia entry lets him off very lightly with the talk of influences. Pixie Dust has ground him into the dust with this post over two years ago. (Her poems are pretty awesome also). Reading it I cant believe I used to actually encourage people to read his works.
However, I was struck by the way he described Eragon choosing a new sword. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. And guess what? It looks like the Wikipedia entry lets him off very lightly with the talk of influences. Pixie Dust has ground him into the dust with this post over two years ago. (Her poems are pretty awesome also). Reading it I cant believe I used to actually encourage people to read his works.
19 Sept 2008
Surveys and Statistics
It has been said that 85% of all statistics are made up on the spot including this one.
For example consider this one
But this one from The Hindu Online edition is the real winner.
Majority of Indians prefer smoke free zones.
92%, 96%, 95% on various counts are just unrealistic. Not that I am for smoking in public places, but falsifying data to push for reforms?
The first rule for a survey is that it take a representative sample. If you go to a anti smoking convention and ask the attendees for their opinion that isn't really a survey. Unfortunately the only fine print available is
"Around 1030 persons aged between 15-64 were interviewed between August 9 and August 24, 2008, the survey added."
By the way, what does AROUND 1030 people mean? Do you not even know the sample population size?
For example consider this one
But this one from The Hindu Online edition is the real winner.
Majority of Indians prefer smoke free zones.
92%, 96%, 95% on various counts are just unrealistic. Not that I am for smoking in public places, but falsifying data to push for reforms?
The first rule for a survey is that it take a representative sample. If you go to a anti smoking convention and ask the attendees for their opinion that isn't really a survey. Unfortunately the only fine print available is
"Around 1030 persons aged between 15-64 were interviewed between August 9 and August 24, 2008, the survey added."
By the way, what does AROUND 1030 people mean? Do you not even know the sample population size?
27 Aug 2008
What does the sub prime crisis and MLM's have in common?
Disclaimer: This is not a well researched post. It is just something that wandered across my consciousness the other day.
If you had anything to do with the financial markets till date, you would have definitely heard of the sub-prime crisis and its fall out on the financial markets over the last few months. What struck me was the fact that low grade mortgages were broken up and put with other securities to get AAA+ rated financial instruments.
And if you are not into financial markets but wish to be wealthy I am sure you would have heard of one or the other MLM (Multi – Level – Marketing) schemes. MLM schemes like Amway, Goldquest, etc are commission based schemes, were the person higher up in the chain gets a part of the cash that the person joining the chain pays. While there are many posts arguing for and against MLM’s (example ) I couldn’t help but wonder about the biggest MLM of them all.
Which one? The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in India. Why? Well let us see,
The people joining the workforce are always more than the people leaving the workforce. The government rules make sure that this will always be the case. Consider the fact that the latest rule is that a company as small as 10 people should have contributions to a provident fund.
The contributions to EPFO or PPF (Public Provident Fund) are part of an EEE regime. (Exempt from Income tax on Deposit, Interest and Withdrawal). The tax implications make a lot of people deposit their cash with the provident fund. Not to mention that the history of the rate of interest being offered was so high that people kept investing.
If we look at withdrawal part there are very few conditions where an individual can withdraw this money before his retirement which is usually after a period of 30 – 40 years. During this entire time the corpus is just growing. Now there is talk of changing the structure to EET, where in the amounts are not added to income tax on deposit and interest accrued. But they will be subjected to tax upon withdrawal. If such an amendment comes into effect, the withdrawals from the corpus will decrease even further.
The corpus is just a figure on paper. I don’t think the money is actually held physically. So then it comes to the question of valuations. A piece of land, if held by the organization, can be valued differently by different people. There is no dearth of people who will manipulate numbers to make things look much rosier than they actually are. This is what happened during the sub-prime crisis.
So in effect, I have money coming into the organization and restrictions on its withdrawal. The numbers mentioned in reports are just figures which may or may not be completely backed by assets. The only way we could ever know how sound financial institutions are, is when there is a run on the deposits. With the Government of India standing guarantor the chances of people making a run on the EPFO are minimal.
But this is seems to be a logical contradiction. Ask any person with some amount of experience in dealing with bureaucrats and he will say the babus are not to be trusted. Is that money still there? Or has the money been used by the board to buy some property that couldn’t be sold on the open market? Made investments at questionable levels?
As you probably have realized, there are too many ideas about it running through my head. It hasn’t been organized very well, but maybe I’ll get around to rewriting this piece some other time. Till then, comments about where I am right or wrong would help me organize my arguments better. So keep those comments coming.
Note to self: Keep posting regularly otherwise the organisation and quality of posts are going to go for a toss.
If you had anything to do with the financial markets till date, you would have definitely heard of the sub-prime crisis and its fall out on the financial markets over the last few months. What struck me was the fact that low grade mortgages were broken up and put with other securities to get AAA+ rated financial instruments.
And if you are not into financial markets but wish to be wealthy I am sure you would have heard of one or the other MLM (Multi – Level – Marketing) schemes. MLM schemes like Amway, Goldquest, etc are commission based schemes, were the person higher up in the chain gets a part of the cash that the person joining the chain pays. While there are many posts arguing for and against MLM’s (example ) I couldn’t help but wonder about the biggest MLM of them all.
Which one? The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in India. Why? Well let us see,
The people joining the workforce are always more than the people leaving the workforce. The government rules make sure that this will always be the case. Consider the fact that the latest rule is that a company as small as 10 people should have contributions to a provident fund.
The contributions to EPFO or PPF (Public Provident Fund) are part of an EEE regime. (Exempt from Income tax on Deposit, Interest and Withdrawal). The tax implications make a lot of people deposit their cash with the provident fund. Not to mention that the history of the rate of interest being offered was so high that people kept investing.
If we look at withdrawal part there are very few conditions where an individual can withdraw this money before his retirement which is usually after a period of 30 – 40 years. During this entire time the corpus is just growing. Now there is talk of changing the structure to EET, where in the amounts are not added to income tax on deposit and interest accrued. But they will be subjected to tax upon withdrawal. If such an amendment comes into effect, the withdrawals from the corpus will decrease even further.
The corpus is just a figure on paper. I don’t think the money is actually held physically. So then it comes to the question of valuations. A piece of land, if held by the organization, can be valued differently by different people. There is no dearth of people who will manipulate numbers to make things look much rosier than they actually are. This is what happened during the sub-prime crisis.
So in effect, I have money coming into the organization and restrictions on its withdrawal. The numbers mentioned in reports are just figures which may or may not be completely backed by assets. The only way we could ever know how sound financial institutions are, is when there is a run on the deposits. With the Government of India standing guarantor the chances of people making a run on the EPFO are minimal.
But this is seems to be a logical contradiction. Ask any person with some amount of experience in dealing with bureaucrats and he will say the babus are not to be trusted. Is that money still there? Or has the money been used by the board to buy some property that couldn’t be sold on the open market? Made investments at questionable levels?
As you probably have realized, there are too many ideas about it running through my head. It hasn’t been organized very well, but maybe I’ll get around to rewriting this piece some other time. Till then, comments about where I am right or wrong would help me organize my arguments better. So keep those comments coming.
Note to self: Keep posting regularly otherwise the organisation and quality of posts are going to go for a toss.
17 Jun 2008
Be a part of a Guinness world record
Firefox 3 is slated to be released on June 17, 2008. It is hoping to set a world record in the number of downloads in a 24 hour time span. Their target? A whopping 5 million. So far around 1.5 million people have pledged to download the browser on D day. You can do so here
It is kind of redundant to pledge right now since D day is only hours away (coz of difference in time zones). The objective was to send a mail to everyone reminding them to download FF3.
I am actually a little apprehensive. I initially shifted to FF because viruses were tailor made for Internet Explorer and FF was stated to be a better choice. But if they are targeting a 24 hour download record of 5 million, isn’t that just asking for trouble? I mean advertising the fact of a browsers popularity might help hit out at Microsoft and make a statement for open source. But what about the unwanted attention from hackers and virus writers? Will more people accepting FF lead to more attacks on FF? Will vulnerabilities that went unnoticed earlier be in the spotlight?
Well, until the vulnerabilities come into the spotlight, I’m more than content to scream from the rooftops that fire fox is infinitely better than internet explorer. An added bonus is the Ad block plus plugin It just eliminates downloading all those pesky ads that seem to chew up my bandwidth.
Guess you probably realized it. I’m already a pledged downloader. Time to go help create history. Wanna join?
It is kind of redundant to pledge right now since D day is only hours away (coz of difference in time zones). The objective was to send a mail to everyone reminding them to download FF3.
I am actually a little apprehensive. I initially shifted to FF because viruses were tailor made for Internet Explorer and FF was stated to be a better choice. But if they are targeting a 24 hour download record of 5 million, isn’t that just asking for trouble? I mean advertising the fact of a browsers popularity might help hit out at Microsoft and make a statement for open source. But what about the unwanted attention from hackers and virus writers? Will more people accepting FF lead to more attacks on FF? Will vulnerabilities that went unnoticed earlier be in the spotlight?
Well, until the vulnerabilities come into the spotlight, I’m more than content to scream from the rooftops that fire fox is infinitely better than internet explorer. An added bonus is the Ad block plus plugin It just eliminates downloading all those pesky ads that seem to chew up my bandwidth.
Guess you probably realized it. I’m already a pledged downloader. Time to go help create history. Wanna join?
12 May 2008
Eco Friendly Vehicles: A Case of Misplaced Emphasis?
In this year’s budget, the Government reduced the excise duty on electric cars from 8 per cent to nil. Recently the Government repeated the same with 2 and 3 wheel electric vehicles. (Full article here) Why? Well, if one were to believe the advertisements, this is because the Government wants to promote these “eco friendly”, “zero pollution” vehicles. Just open any electric vehicle manufacturer’s website and you will see these words laced all over the site.
Well, that might be true if one were to compare electric vehicles with carbon dioxide emitting vehicles. However, I seem to have been bitten by the recent bug of measuring everything by its carbon footprint. Considering that most of the power produced in India is from hydro carbon fuels I fail to see how these vehicles are eco friendly. Just because you choose to be blind to the technology that brings the electricity right to your doorstep it does not cease to exist. Add to that the fact that we are an energy deficient nation, I fail to see the rationale in promoting electric vehicles.
I see a lot of similarities between ethanol blended fuel and these electric vehicles. Ethanol blended fuel was supposed to be environmentally friendly since it used natural component that could be regenerated. However, this has a hand in the spiraling food prices as food crops like corn were diverted to produce ethanol. Similarly agricultural land meant for food crops began to grow crops that were in demand to produce this “bio-fuel”.
As and energy deficient nation and one that meets its electricity needs primarily through fossil fuels can we really afford to promote electric vehicles?
Also posted at http://desicritics.org/2008/05/11/140745.php
11 May 2008
Whats in a name?
I recently came across an article that referred to India Held Kashmir. Now while many Indians are familiar with POK or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir I’m not sure how many have heard this term.
There is a saying that history doesn’t determine who is right. It determines who is left. It is the winner who writes the history books. With both sides claiming their own victory and scripting their own histories, can one really blame the people for their mutual distrust of each other? If your whole life you were raised to believe that America was your number one enemy, would you be able to accept any help from them without worrying about the fine print or the possibility of a Trojan horse?
If a name can cause enmity between nations or people, I guess there is a lot in a name after all.
There is a saying that history doesn’t determine who is right. It determines who is left. It is the winner who writes the history books. With both sides claiming their own victory and scripting their own histories, can one really blame the people for their mutual distrust of each other? If your whole life you were raised to believe that America was your number one enemy, would you be able to accept any help from them without worrying about the fine print or the possibility of a Trojan horse?
If a name can cause enmity between nations or people, I guess there is a lot in a name after all.
1 May 2008
Microsoft can be such a pain in the ***
Just in order to publicize your search engine you are making me go through an extra bloody step when I typed the link in correctly?
No wonder you are lagging Google in terms of search queries if you have such a lousy publicity team that doesn’t have a pinch of creativity. Wait a sec. Did I just say “number of search queries”? Guess with the battle for Yahoo going to get bitter there is a need to boost the actual number of “search clicks” that Live Search is getting.
P.S on a similar note check out this post
No wonder you are lagging Google in terms of search queries if you have such a lousy publicity team that doesn’t have a pinch of creativity. Wait a sec. Did I just say “number of search queries”? Guess with the battle for Yahoo going to get bitter there is a need to boost the actual number of “search clicks” that Live Search is getting.
P.S on a similar note check out this post
13 Mar 2008
I believe in God. It is his fan following that I cant stand
“I believe in God. It is his fan following that I can’t stand.”
A powerful statement. One that refuses to get out of my head due to a recent incident where a friend berated me for eating meat on a day that you weren’t supposed to for religious purposes.
Ok. Let’s face it. I see some glaring inaccuracies in the catholic faith.
1) How can Jesus be of the line of David when Joseph is a descendant of King David and his wife Mary was a virgin mother?
2) How can you descend to the dead to rise again on the third day and promise the thief crucified along with you that “tonight you will be with me in paradise”?
There are a few other minor ones like:
How can you say that you “believe in Jesus, the ONLY son our Lord” and then go on to say “Our Father” and
How can the New Testament tell you not to swear by anything when the Old Testament specifically tells you that God swore upon himself?
But they do point to some inconsistencies. The fact is that with the discovery of the Gospel of Judas one cannot but help wonder about the authenticity of “facts” as claimed by the other Gospels. In fact while reading this article about the New Testament Apocrypha you will come across,
The works that presented themselves as "authentic" but did not obtain general acceptance from within the churches are called New Testament Apocrypha.
So how does the church get to decide about what is right and wrong? According to recent news bulletins their ranks might even be filled with perverts and child molesters. While it is wrong to paint the whole church for the short comings of a few, it should bring about the realization that they too are human. Need I point out the famous case of Galileo and his heliocentric point of view that went against the church’s interpretation of the “scriptures”?
This is not restricted to Christianity alone. A religious organisation became infamous some time back because it declared a Fatwa (religious edict) against a particularly popular Indian lass’s sports attire. Government bans on books are common. Bans on films are the latest rage (excuse the pun). The list goes on.
While we can go on and on about the pros and cons of religion, why can’t people just live and let live? In a democracy everyone is free to their own opinion. Just because you have an opinion it doesn’t mean that you have to shove it down other people’s throats. I have an opinion and I am posting it here. I am of the opinion that the church and other bodies that claim to be the embodiment of various religions may have lost sight of what the original message was. I’m not forcing you to accept it. You can accept it or reject it. One of the characteristics of an adult is to be able to THINK. After using it, we can agree, disagree or agree to disagree with any stated opinion. As the Bible says “who are you to sit in judgment over your brother?”
P.S. IF you are still upset over the way this has been written, remember that the bible also says that “The Devil can quote from the bible to suit his needs” and go on your merry way. Peace be with you.
A powerful statement. One that refuses to get out of my head due to a recent incident where a friend berated me for eating meat on a day that you weren’t supposed to for religious purposes.
Ok. Let’s face it. I see some glaring inaccuracies in the catholic faith.
1) How can Jesus be of the line of David when Joseph is a descendant of King David and his wife Mary was a virgin mother?
2) How can you descend to the dead to rise again on the third day and promise the thief crucified along with you that “tonight you will be with me in paradise”?
There are a few other minor ones like:
How can you say that you “believe in Jesus, the ONLY son our Lord” and then go on to say “Our Father” and
How can the New Testament tell you not to swear by anything when the Old Testament specifically tells you that God swore upon himself?
But they do point to some inconsistencies. The fact is that with the discovery of the Gospel of Judas one cannot but help wonder about the authenticity of “facts” as claimed by the other Gospels. In fact while reading this article about the New Testament Apocrypha you will come across,
The works that presented themselves as "authentic" but did not obtain general acceptance from within the churches are called New Testament Apocrypha.
So how does the church get to decide about what is right and wrong? According to recent news bulletins their ranks might even be filled with perverts and child molesters. While it is wrong to paint the whole church for the short comings of a few, it should bring about the realization that they too are human. Need I point out the famous case of Galileo and his heliocentric point of view that went against the church’s interpretation of the “scriptures”?
This is not restricted to Christianity alone. A religious organisation became infamous some time back because it declared a Fatwa (religious edict) against a particularly popular Indian lass’s sports attire. Government bans on books are common. Bans on films are the latest rage (excuse the pun). The list goes on.
While we can go on and on about the pros and cons of religion, why can’t people just live and let live? In a democracy everyone is free to their own opinion. Just because you have an opinion it doesn’t mean that you have to shove it down other people’s throats. I have an opinion and I am posting it here. I am of the opinion that the church and other bodies that claim to be the embodiment of various religions may have lost sight of what the original message was. I’m not forcing you to accept it. You can accept it or reject it. One of the characteristics of an adult is to be able to THINK. After using it, we can agree, disagree or agree to disagree with any stated opinion. As the Bible says “who are you to sit in judgment over your brother?”
P.S. IF you are still upset over the way this has been written, remember that the bible also says that “The Devil can quote from the bible to suit his needs” and go on your merry way. Peace be with you.
27 Feb 2008
Appearances can be..... what?
I was in the canteen the other day waiting for my order when I noticed this waiter wearing plastic gloves while serving food. The only problem was that he wasn’t wearing gloves only while serving food. He was wearing it while doing everything else too. Dusting his shirt, moving vessels and DOING HIS LACES!!!!
Kind of defeats the whole purpose of wearing gloves doesn’t it? But then again, does it? The only reason I was hanging around was that they were out of something that I had ordered for and were waiting for the same to come in. Other people were eating blissfully unaware of the level of hygiene that had gone into the preparation of their meal. (We are talking about him touching rotis with the same hands. It is needless to say that I lost my appetite.) What is the point of giving the employees gloves if they are not taught to change their behaviour? Or is the purpose to just make the customers believe that there are getting clean food? Well then the purpose was served, wasn’t it?
While these thoughts were running through my head a colleague came up and asked me if I had finished filling out my appraisal form. You know that little form where there is a lot of big talk on your “achievements” through out the year. The one that everyone adds “a little extra” so that it “looks like” you have done a lot more than u really have……
Kind of defeats the whole purpose of wearing gloves doesn’t it? But then again, does it? The only reason I was hanging around was that they were out of something that I had ordered for and were waiting for the same to come in. Other people were eating blissfully unaware of the level of hygiene that had gone into the preparation of their meal. (We are talking about him touching rotis with the same hands. It is needless to say that I lost my appetite.) What is the point of giving the employees gloves if they are not taught to change their behaviour? Or is the purpose to just make the customers believe that there are getting clean food? Well then the purpose was served, wasn’t it?
While these thoughts were running through my head a colleague came up and asked me if I had finished filling out my appraisal form. You know that little form where there is a lot of big talk on your “achievements” through out the year. The one that everyone adds “a little extra” so that it “looks like” you have done a lot more than u really have……
17 Feb 2008
And the banks came tumbling down
Recession seems to be the new buzz word. Every one seems to be throwing this word around now-a-days. Guess that’s what happens when news channels keep bringing up the losses to the banking sector and the bad loan write offs. But while everyone seems to know about the real world banking problems anyone seen what has been happening on second life recently? Well I guess if you were regular players you would know that Linden labs pulled the plug on some financial institutions in the game. People not too familiar with the game might be tempted to say big deal its all part of the game. Sadly my friend, that was a long long time ago. With an exchange where you can change your real dollars into Liden Dollars, there have been lots of stories of people making their fortunes on second life. Of people giving up their real lives and careers to pursue the same on second life. A Google search on “making money in second life” threw up a mind blowing 30 MILLION results
So how do you draw the line between what is real and what is make believe? Is there a distinction between the two? I think that disappeared when real money went into the game. It was no more a game meant for fun and recreation. Events there were as real we wanted them to be. Why does that cause a shiver to run down my spine? I guess it reminds me too much of a Matrix like universe.
So how do you draw the line between what is real and what is make believe? Is there a distinction between the two? I think that disappeared when real money went into the game. It was no more a game meant for fun and recreation. Events there were as real we wanted them to be. Why does that cause a shiver to run down my spine? I guess it reminds me too much of a Matrix like universe.
24 Jan 2008
Google everywhere
I recently received the following picture in my mail. It reminded me of this post that I had written more than a year ago. With you tube, picasa and others under its belt now, there are more areas where Google has penetrated and penetrated our lives. With Google phone that is rumored to have text ads and free subscriptions on its way, need I say more?
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