Some stuff from here and there

www.ted.com/
This site has lot of technological, innovative and other stuff which is quite interesting.
Try this ...
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

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http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html
This is a good site showing, in a chronological fashion, how the various religions proliferated across the world.

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There is no country in the world which is a net lender country. Basically governments owe money to private people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt

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The price of gold is now commonly seen as an indicator of geopolitical risk, a role traditionally associated with gold.

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I read this somewhere
“The view that global warming is happening but mitigating it is too expensive to be worthwhile, is rare these days in Europe, but common in America, where it is infused with the belief that, attempts to control greenhouse-gas emissions are part of a European socialist conspiracy to undermine the American way of life.”

I would add that it might also be seen as a way to constrain the developing economies of the world by those who feel threatened.

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Now that the iPhone is launched, everybody wud be well aware of its features and more ... but during the initial time this video gave a close look into it before it was launched ... was quite impressive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgW7or1TuFk

Some random thoughts

My friend from my dorm today sent me a message saying "hey missing u yaar...BTW we r goin to mount Abu on a bike trip tomorrow...u will be missed " ... aisa laga ki life main aur kya chahiye ... somebody thinking of you and feeling that it wud have been good if u had been there

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There is a tendency which I have and I think many would have of associating songs with particular times / locations / feelings etc. So, when a particular song gets played on T.V. or somewhere else, you remind of that time / place etc. I have this habit of hearing a song again and again (in a loop) till I get bored of it ... some of my friends know of it and many a times get frustrated with this. My idea is that till the time a song has any juice left, it is ok to hear it again and again. One other side effect of this is that I somehow remember the lyrics of many of these songs ... and not just the start but the whole lyrics.
One of my friends (who was in my hostel during undergrad) wrote sometime back that he heard a song (which almost everyone hated and I listened to it in a loop, as usual, while in hostel) and he remembered me ...

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The Indian government is fooling everyone – it keeps revising past weeks’ inflation numbers up. So, when all eyes are on the inflation number for some particular week, I believe that it gets under-reported and then in subsequent weeks when more attention is towards the inflation number for the latest week, those of previous weeks are comfortably raised / revised to their actual values

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When I travelled outside the country for the first time ... the airplane entertainment system showed a map of the route etc. the thing that striked me was that the physical map showed only India in green (depicting the fertility, vegetation) and the surrounding areas were desert like or not that green ... just showed the unique fertility of the soil in this area

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I have always thought ki there is a difference in the way people talk about distances in Mumbai and Delhi. If you ask someone about distance between two places, in Delhi the reply would come in the form of the approx kms between the two points ... while in Mumbai it would be the approx. time it wud take. Generally, the distance thing might like a better measure ... but not sure what the time thing implies. Even in NY the distance is spoken of in the more traditional way ... but in miles

Ideal job

My idea of an ideal job / company / workplace / colleagues is one where on a Friday I would feel sorry that for the next two days, I won't come to office and work. Don't get me wrong. I like holidays and am fine with having weekends but it should not be the case that from Monday morning onwards, you start waiting for the next Friday. It should not be the case that on Sunday evening you starting feeling sad that the next morning you have to go to work; that on Monday morning you have to push yourself really hard just to get to work. Sunday evening should be such that you become over enthusiastic with the fact that the next day is a working day.

Again, don't get me wrong. I like to spend time with family. But you should also like to spend time with your colleagues in the office. I remember a Career Launcher executive once said that the workplace and your colleagues should be such that every morning when you reach office, you would want to hug your fellow employees. Just think about the amount of time you actually spend with them at the office and may be outside.

When I look at the profiles of the seniors from my institute on a social networking site, typically I don't find even a single photograph of their office, the office building or anything related to the company they are working for. Some of it may be due to security reasons where the company does not allow photographs within the building. But I refuse to believe that even one photograph is not possible which somehow is related to the company. I don't know what to make out of this.

One area which all my Professors emphasize on is to think of a real career and not go to investment banks, consulting companies etc (or the current usual destinations of grads in my institute). They say that you should look at other companies, other industries and that the jobs which have become typical these days are more of a waste of time. They say that you do not require to pass from this institute to these jobs and that you are too dispensable while working at these firms. Anybody above a basic level of education and understanding can do these jobs.

I sometimes think that there would be some truth in these statements. The Professors have no selfish motive when they say that a particular career path is better for me than the other. They are not expecting anything from me for themselves after I graduate. How would they be affected if I did one thing or the other? I guess it is their desire to see me happy and satisfied with my career and job that is at work here. They want me to pursue a path wherein it should not happen that later on I start wondering if I had taken the right decision. Then it might be too late to shift gears.

Two career alternatives after graduation

An interesting interview appeared in the WSJ a few days back. Mr. David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com was interviewed and he made two interesting comments / observations which I am sharing.

- What was your first job and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it?
Mr. Wei: My first job was the starting point for the balance in my career. I had a very legendary boss. His name is Mr. Guan [Jinsheng], the founder and CEO of Shanghai International Securities. I started my career as his secretary and then went on to become his assistant and executive assistant. I think that experience made my life so different than if I had joined as a junior clerk in any of the departments of a business. You start to get the vision, the entrepreneurship, the strategic thinking from the first boss. I think his success and failure gave me lessons, good and bad, respectively.[In 1997, a Shanghai court found Mr. Guan guilty on corruption charges and sentenced him to a 17-year prison term.]

- Who gave you the best business advice and what was it?
Mr. Wei: Our customers. That''s the lesson I learned from the first partner I worked with in PricewaterhouseCoopers. Although we were in an advisory business, your customer always knows more than you.

I had taken a course last term called LEM (Laboratory in Entrepreneurial Motivation). I guess I haven't mentioned that upto now. But that was by the best course that I have done during my graduation. The best thing about the course is the Prof. (Prof. SH). As he himself says in the first class, since there are no control measures in the course (attendance, exams etc.), he has to make every session such that people are kept interested and they keep coming. Though I cant say this about every session, but classes are in general interesting.

The Prof. is a very good speaker and also gives general life fundas (which I liked). One kind of develops large amount of respect for the Prof. and people remain in touch with him even many years after graduation (something which is very uncommon).

I guess you will hear a lot about the course and the Prof. henceforth. But the reason I brought this up here is that the first of the above two points is what he used to tell us. That instead of taking a normal finance / consulting etc. job which the grads tends to do in my institute, one has two other options which are far superior and which would allow you to see your full potential and put them to proper use. These two options are

1. Becoming the assistant of a senior executive (like the CEO etc.) of a firm. You being the assistant would be exposed to everything that the CEO does. The CEO does much more than just finance or marketing or HR. It is in some sense the most comprehensive of jobs and you would get a first hand experience of everything.

2. Getting yourself involved in a new project / division / department / business which some company is looking to build. Again, building something from scratch would give very good exposure and a great chance of learning.

Flexibility within a company

This is what they say about the time period to change various things in a company. Taken from the book "Managing the small to midsized company".

The question is: what should change, and what should be held tight? The answer lies partially in the hierarchy from values to tactics:

• Core values Change seldom, if ever.
• Purpose Should last for 100 years.
• Mission Changes whenever one mission is completed and a new one need be set (usually every five to 15 years).
• Strategy Revised annually, then totally recast with each new mission.
• Tactics In constant flux, to adjust to changing conditions.
  

A letter to Air India

Subject: Non-operational in-flight entertainment system

Hi,

I travelled to the US in your AI ... flight on the .... It was a direct 15-hr flight. For no part of the journey, the in-flight system worked. This problem was also faced by most of the passengers.

The crew could not do much for they only knew that it should start on restarting the entertainment system. When it did not they said they were helpless.

You would understand that this was quite painful. Such a long journey without any in-flight entertainment.

I hope something is done about this so that it is ensured that such a thing is not repeated.

Thanks.

Something to swank

Came across this newsletter the other day

Found it amazing, the effort and the display

From my current life, it took me away

To my past, it made me sway

And I remembered the beautiful period of my life

When I was an undergrad and there was ample nightlife

With assignments and deadlines, there was constant strife

Codes and breadboards were at that time too rife

Labs were places where a lot of time was spent

Lectures also required you to be present

Did not understand every word that the professor meant

Yet after everything, there was an enriching dent

Those were the days that shaped me well

Comes to my mind, when I sometimes dwell

And there is something that I want to tell

In life, the department and the Profs have made me excel

Many of the learnings are useful for long

Made my thinking sound and strong

Prepared me for whatever may come along

Made me realize where I actually belong

Finally, I would like to thank

Each and everyone across the rank

This is an opinion very frank

You have given me something to swank

haseena-e-kaif

Aaj ka din beeta
Jaise ho zindagi ka sabse bura
Itna lamba lag raha tha
Ho hi nahin raha tha poora

Pata nahin chal raha tha main kahan hoon
Hosh hi nahin raha poore din
Lag raha tha kya main kar daalu
Khayal aa rahein the bhin bhin

Kuch jyaada khaaya piya nahin subah se
Logo ne poocha ki kya hua hain par nahin bataya
Khud mujhe hi nahin pata tha to kya batata
Kuch dikat hain aisa nahin jataya

Phir jab din dhala
Kuch jaan main jaan aayi
Sone pe suhaga
Mere dost ne achi khabar sunayi

Ms. Kaif ka ho gaya hain break-up
Matlab ab line hain clear
Ab intezaar khatam
Here I come, my dear

Sallu miya to dhoke baaz hain
Main nahin vaisa
Tumhare saare aashiq bhaag jaaye
Ab karein kuch aisa

Some more things which I liked

'Strange thing about courage is that you become braver for someone else than for yourself'


From the movie 'Pulp Fiction'
A: Don't you hate that?
B: What?
A: Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about something in order to be comfortable?
B: I don't know. That's a good question.
A: That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.


'Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address books'


'...every emotion doesn't need words for expression, you can feel someone's care through their eyes'


Love your love so much that you don't have to ask"With whom you were?" and trust your friend that much that u don't have to tell "Don't tell this to anyone"


Randy Pausch in his Last Lecture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted"
"Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you"

The Rs 780/- incident

Travelling through railways can sometimes be a little dangerous and necessary safety precautions should be taken. Your luggage and belongings should be properly taken care of. Generally, the perception is that the A.C. coaches and the A.C. trains are much more safe than the non-A.C. ones. Incidents happening in these coaches are very less as compared to the others.

I was travelling through an A.C. train coach around 2yrs back. I was to start a particular station D and I was to get down at another station M. As the train came on the platform at D, I got into the coach, found my seat and arranged my luggage. I generally carry a chain by which I can tie the luggage to the seats to avoid any chance of losing it due to theft. I was sitting on my seat and waiting for the train to start moving.

After a few minutes, a man who was well dressed and looked decent approached me. He introduced himself as a co-passenger who is travelling with family. He pointed out towards a bunch of people who were in the same coach and claimed that it was his family. He said that he had lost the tickets and so has to buy new ones / pay a penalty for himself and his family members. He took out a bunch of currency notes and said that he had some money, but was short of just Rs 780/- which if I can give him, it would help him at that time. The promise was that some of his relatives were to come and meet him at some station on the journey and he has asked to bring the money, which he would return to me.

His arguments looked convincing and it looked a genuine case that needed help. But somehow, I did not give him money because I did not had so much cash at hand and would have to open my suitcase, which I did not want to do. I also thought that in this A.C. coach there would be someone who would be able to help him and so why bother.

He took off instantaneously as I told him that I did not have that much money. As the train started, I forgot about him and started enjoying the journey. Somewhere down the line, I remembered about what had happened and wanted to check if he was able to get the money. I looked for him at the place where he had shown his family but did not find him. I thought he would be somewhere and would come in a while. I checked again after sometime and did not find him. I didn’t knew if I should ask his family or not.

I did see the person for the rest of my journey and it did not feel as if I would see him again. The family looked cool and I did not sense anything about not having / losing tickets etc. I realized at that time, that even when that man pointed towards them, none of the family members were looking towards us (in anticipation) and did not even looked concerned.

I just wondered how people found ways to trick people and how they learn and change with the environment and the conditions.

Open book

What I have believed for some time now (some of the posts are examples of that), is that one should be strong enough that sharing of one’s personal issues with people at large should not make you vulnerable. Somebody has said

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway”

Just was remembering a few things about my past. Thought I should pen down so that if these memories fade away, some day I have the option to re-live them.

My mother tells me that when I used to go to a nursery school names Veena Nursery, a bus used to take me from my colony gate to the school and back. My mother used to come daily to drop me and picke me up at the gate. One afternoon, she went for a nap thinking she would get up before the specified time and pick me up from the gate. That afternoon she overslept by a few more minutes and as she woke up, she was a bit worried about me. As she prepared to go downstairs, I came to the home on my own and met my mother in the stairs. She says, then she realized that it was not necessary for her to go each time and that I knew the way.

My brother and I were generally of the silent kind from childhood. People in my family often remember that when we both were young and were about to visit some place, the relatives would try to keep things away in such a fashion that the two kids coming would not get their hands on those. However, they soon realized that their effort was futile for we were not among those kind of children who threw and played with anything we can get our hands on.

I was not among the people who used to come first in their class from kindergarten. However, one can say that I was always average or above average (in in terms of the academic performance), I did not much participate in extra-curricular activity but somewhat only in co-curricular activities. I rememeber in 4^th standard or so, I used to stay for extra time in school for some co-curricular thing – I am forgetting the exact term.

I used to be out with my friends for somewhere around 3 hours daily in the evenings (6pm-9pm). We used to play different games within the premises of the colony we stayed, and talk, and walk. The homework was completed in the afternoon to ensure that I did not miss those hours.

An old woman used to take my brother and me to school. Her job was to take various children from their homes to the school. That way the parents were satisfied to an extent that there is someone to take care of their children on the way. But after a while, as we went to higher classes, we neither used to listen to her nor did we need her assistance. But she was a very good person. She also did other school related stuff such as paying of fees so that my parents did not have to go to school. She used to come to our house sometimes after we stopped going with her, but I have not seen her lately and have neither heard of her from my mother. Hope she is doing alright wherever she is.

Some things which I liked

Jerre Stead, CEO, IHS says
" ... two most important measurements for his company 1. If their clients say to everyone outside that IHS is a company focused totally on the clients' needs 2. Does every person working in IHS say that I want my best friend to work here with me."


Ethan Berman, the founder and CEO of RiskMetrics Group says
" ... their biggest competitors are Google and GS for these companies are attracting the brightest and most talented people ... and not their peers ... for the most important thing is to find, hire, motivate and retain talented people."


Shashi Tharoor at S.P.Jain
"How, because of the strong emergence of Indians in Silicon valley and software creativity, the perception of Indians has changed from being that of snake charmers lying on beds of nails to one that every Indian is a software engineer. I saw instances when at airports Indians were approached by foreigners and being asked to fix their laptops!"


Warren Buffet about one of his company's executive
"Susan came to Borsheims 25 years ago as a $4-an-hour saleswoman. Though she lacked a managerial background, I did not hesitate to make her CEO in 1994. She's smart, she loves the business, and she loves her associates. That beats having an MBA degree any time."


Chinese intellectual libertarian, the founder of Taoism, in a 6th century B.C. quote on leadership
"To lead people, walk beside them ... As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate and revile... When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!"


Bill Watterson at Kenyon College
" ... and I was forced to accept a real job. A REAL job is a job you hate.

But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.
You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them."