conspiracy theories

Conspiracy Theories – Part II

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Here is my second edition of Conspiracy Theories. The 1st part is here – http://kvrlogs.blogspot.com/2009/09/conspiracy-theories-part-i.html
4. Cure for the common cold.
It has been discovered and the pharmaceutical companies, the presidents and prime ministers around the world, the Shah Rukh Khans, the TV News Anchors – are all having access to it.

But the common man like you and me do not have this cure for the common cold. So we will end up spending on chicken soup, vicks, steam inhalers, doctor visits, orange juice etc..
5. Money does not buy happiness.
Oh hell it does. You can buy an iPhone, an iPod nano that shoots video, a Nike shoe that plays well with that nano, an European vacation and lot more. If this is not happiness then what is?
It is a conspiracy by the uber rich, so the unwashed masses will not work too hard – and the rich will not have much competition and can continue enjoying their European vacations and the cool cars. The rich authors write books and movie directors dish out art movies that glamorizes mediocrity and simple living. Don’t buy this philosophy I tell you – try to make more money and enjoy life.
6. Michael Jackson is not dead

There is no conspiracy here…but for this one I whole heartedly wish it was true – that he is still alive – and it was all a drama played by his creditors to recover his debt etc. I wish he will emerge some day and release a few more albums.
Just Beat it.

Articles, ayn rand, books, inspiration

Who is lifting the world on their shoulders?

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atlas

Who is lifting the world on their shoulders?

Politicians?
Philosophers?
Writers?
Philanthrophists?

None of the above. The right answer is – entrepreneurs / business folks – they are the ones lifting the world. They create new markets, promote new ideas, blaze new paths by fighting the system, fighting stereotypes, taking risks against all odds.

In this post I will introduce you to “Atlas Shrugged” – a magnum opus by Ayn Rand.  This book glorifies the entrepreneurial spirit.

The key players :

Looters

These are the scum of the society – apparently holding top positions. The top brass in the Government, the industry lobbying heads – they do not produce anything but they loot – from the business and from the public. They know only to take and not give anything. They outnumber and control the producers.

Producers

The producers are the entrepreneurs, the inventors, the innovators. They are the ones fighting the system to introduce new ideas and keep the world ticking and moving forward.

Henry Rearden
He is a business man who invents a new kind of alloy that is cheaper and stronger than steel. The Government wants it because their research institute cannot produce anything close to this. He refuses and he is threatened with sanctions, taxes, a govt official watchdog is sent to curb his production ( because the steel industry is fast becoming reduntant ). Yet he fights the system to produce his alloy.

Francisco d’Anconia
A rich man who inherits a copper smelting business owned by his family. However he destroys all his fortune – but before that he lures the looters to buy all his stock and bonds – there by making them lose big.

Dagny Taggart
She runs a rail road. Her brother belongs to the looters group and is the President of the rail road. She fights him and fights the lobby industry to keep the trains running.

John Galt
He is the key person or the hero of this book. He invents a new type of electric device which can generate electricity from air ( its fiction remember ! ) – but he refuses to share it with the world run by looters. Along with this invention he takes the other producers ( Henry Rearden, Dangy Taggart and there are more – a musician, a writer, an oil digger, a banker etc. ) from the world and moves to a world he builds himself – among the mountains unknown to the world. And he brings the world to a halt.

This book is a fat one. 1000 pages with page after page of philosophy being dished out from different angles – on almost all the professions. Then there is a section where John Galt addresses the public on radio – it is a master piece. It runs for some 40 pages if I remember correctly and has thoughts on all aspects – love, honesty, dignity..you name it.

I had written about this book in my personal blog earlier. If you are interested you  can read this post – Who is John Galt?.

If you are a bibliophile and an entrepreneur or planning to jump in – do read this book – it will give you brilliant new insights.

Some memorable quotes from the book:


“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” – This is the oath everyone who joins John Galt should take.

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.

Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man’s values, it has to be earned.

Rationality is the recognition of the fact that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it.

The Argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence.

and finally the quote that sums it all up beautifully :

Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns–or dollars. Take your choice–there is no other.

UI

Evolution of UI of ApartmentAdda – 2

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I had written about the Evolution of UI of ApartmentAdda in March 2009 how the design evolved over the last 2 years.

We launched ApartmentAdda with the following UI designed by Cicada Media on Nov 12, 2008. It was a simple yet highly functional UI. Also it has got burnt into my retina – seeing it so many times a day 🙂


Somewhere down the line we realised it was time to give the site an upgrade. We kicked off the site redesign process with Leafgrafica in August. After a lot of designs and meetings ( and corner house’s death by chocolate which was close by) – the following design won our hearts and mind.

I would like to thank both Cicada Media and Leafgrafica teams for having designed these beautiful sites ( and having put up with creativity stifling requirements from us 🙂 )

vista, Windows 7

How Windows 7 will “really” save money

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I read an article on infoworld where Steve Balmer cited an article by Gartner research how Windows 7 will save money. Now as you all know Gartner is a very trusted and honest research firm. They have earlier published how Linux is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing – Linux claims it is open source and free and all that – but you need expensive system engineers, expensive training, expensive hardware etc. So many ignorant CTOs were saved from making a wrong decision and continued to recommend Windows – because of Gartner..may God be with them ( and Microsoft’s funding ).

Anyway, here is what Gartner missed in the report and I am filling in the gap to prove why Windows 7 will save lot of money for a company :

1. Save on Coffee, Milk, Sugar & Snacks

The Vista folks when they come to work and start their day, they switch on their laptop like every one else. But as you all know that it takes some where between 20-30 minutes before the machine is actually responsive, these folks go for coffee. Along with them they pull the other Windows XP, OS X, Ubuntu folks who have already started breaking the build.

With a record 10 second boot time of Windows 7 – these ex-Vista users will become super efficient and will break the build within 1 minute of them starting work. There by the organization can save money on Coffee and snacks – because the whole team will be busy fixing the build.

2. Save on Cooling charges ( applies only to Hotter climates )

In Vista the processor always runs at 100% – it is good because you are using all the GHz you paid for – but downside is machines and the room get hot quickly. Now with the super efficient kernel and indexing – Windows 7 will run lot cooler. If you are in Bangalore, you can turn off the AC and open the Windows ( the physical kind ).

However for our friends in cooler climates where they have to heat their building, I recommend all to switch to Vista – you will save on heating charges.

3. Save on Bandwidth

This is kind of negligible, but the kind of reporting Gartner does even the minimal saving should be reported – because they don’t leave even a toothpick behind.

Because Windows 7 is “Vista correctly designed”, there will not be any UI confusions like trying to understand UAC, or how to view the file name fully in the explorer window etc. So the users need not do a google ( or Bing ) search to find out how to turn off these annoyances – there by saving a lot of bandwidth.

Guess this makes the report complete.

and Mr. Balmer, you are welcome.

books

Review – The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddnine

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They say never judge a book by its cover but that is what I did when i picked this book from the library. I was in a rush to catch the afternoon train to Hyderabad from Yeshwantpur, and I still had to press my clothes, do some biscuit/bread shopping ( YSR had died the day before in the chopper crash and I was preparing for a bandh – thankfully things were peaceful there ).
In the train someone sitting opposite me was reading a Sidney Sheldon – don’t remember what book it was. He broke the ice by saying fat book and we chatted about other things.
And the book was very interesting. In ancient times when Baghdad, Persia were thriving – there was a profession called “Hakawati” – the story teller. He used to entertain the Kings and nobility – since they did not have Tata Sky and 24 hour news channels.
The book has 3 stories running in parallel. The one is about the author himself starting from how his Grandfather became a Hakawati, about the pigeon fights, the music instrument
Oud, the Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt wars in the background and childhood years..
The 2nd story is quite bizarre. It is about the dark world, demons and their interaction with the living, poets, bards, wit and all that. It starts with the Emir dispatching his slave Fatima to meet a wizard/witch in another city faraway to find out how he can be blessed with a boy. He has 12 girls..but he has no one to take over his kingdom.
The 3rd story is actually one within the 2nd story – the slave gets back after an adventure ( where she dies and falls in love with the demon and is reborn ) and tells the King that he should narrate a story of bravery to his wife so she can give birth to a boy. So the Emir narrates a story and this is the 3rd one.
There are so many stories within each story – the whole book is a riot. Its like TV. It is late, your eyes are tired but you just cannot switch off the TV. I gave up reading this book a few times after I got back from Hyderabad and thought will return the book.
But simply couldn’t, once I started reading I would want to read a few more pages to find out what happens to that Babylar – the hero of the 3rd story who is a slave and rises to become the king or Othman – a cunning thief who becomes a loyal friend and bodyguard of Babylar, or Othman’s wife – Layla a reformed lady dove !
And the author employs all the Hakwati tricks. He will leave the story at a very nice “cliffhanger” and move on to the next story, and I will look forward to how it turns out.
After reading this book I really wish the middle east countries resolve all their disputes and go back to enjoying life with no wars. They have so much tradition and culture and they should cherish it and not let it die. I want to visit them some day and gaze at their mosques and minarets, taste their tea and lamb, listen to oud and arabic songs, read their poems and stories.
Hmm..wish world becomes a better place…and not something I read and imagine in books..
Articles, books, tips

Make your idea stick

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images

In the book Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell ( my review ) says “stickiness” of an idea is an important criteria for the idea to tip.

“Made to stick” by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, is an offshoot of the stickiness chapter of Tipping Point where the authors  analyze how and why ideas stick. They have even formed a mnemonic for it – SUCCES. Each one by itself will not guarantee your idea to stick – but if rightly applied together, the probability of your idea sticking is higher.

Simple : For an idea to stick, it has to be simple.For that you need to tear apart the unnecessary layers and go to the core of it.

Nike – Just do it.
FedEx – The World on Time
Audi – Vorsprung durch Technik ( ok this is an exception, and being Audi they can make anything stick 🙂 )   Jokes apart it explains very well what Audi does – when tranlated it means – Advancement through technology.

Unexpected : The idea should rattle the listeners up. It should break pre conceived notions. Anything unusual is sticky.

When Apple launched Macbook Air, Steve Jobs pulled the Macbook Air out of an envelope in his keynote address.  He did not dish out the numbers about the weight or the thickness of the laptop. Just that image – the unexpectedness of a laptop coming out of an envelope was enough to establish the product in everyone’s mind – the thinnest laptop in the world.

Concrete : If your idea is abstract or vague or is like a puzzle, the probability of it sticking is hard. It should be direct and should not have any ambiguities about it.

Ratan Tata made a statement a couple of years back – “We will produce a car under Rs. 1 Lakh”. It was a concrete statement with no ambiguities. It motivated his team to build this car and they launched a car – with 4 doors which is quite safe, efficient and adequately powerful. All this for under Rs 1 lakh – an incredible feat.

Credible : The idea to stick needs to have the  backing of credible people. Quoting customer testimonials is the best example in this regard. If you notice most of the products will proudly present the awards, experts comments and opinions in their website and product brochure.

Emotional : We associate emotions to every incident,thought,object. If an idea generates emotion in your listener, then the probability of the idea being remembered and spread is higher. Try recollecting your favorite TV commercials – the successful ones will invariably appeal to one emotion or the other.

Stories : No one remembers facts, but we all remember stories. We all remember the moral values found in the stories of Panchatantra, Ramayan and Mahabarath. Imagine if we were just sermoned on just the moral values – will we remember any?

The book is filled with lots of anecdotes and case studies.  You will never get bored reading  this and it will give you many ideas to make your idea stick 🙂

Some quotations from the book :

“In Hollywood, people use core ideas called ‘high-concept pitches.’ You’ve probably heard some of them. Speed was ‘Die Hard on a bus.'”

“Becoming an expert in something means that we become more and more fascinated by nuance and complexity. That’s when the Curse of Knowledge kicks in, and we start to forget what it’s like not to know what we know.”

“Stories are like flight simulators for the brain.”

“The most basic way to get someone’s attention is this: Break a pattern.“

conspiracy theories

Conspiracy Theories – Part I

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I do not have the bandwidth to research – so listing out the news articles I keep coming across which are suspicious in nature…so a reporter can pick it up and run with it and hopefully win a Pulitzer or something !

1. Force India finishing 2nd, 4th

I love Formula 1, and I love India and I am quite pleasantly surprised seeing Force India finish in the podium. Well actually I did not “see” because I do not have sports channels at home – so read the news. But I am tempted to subscribe again and see the race and the Ads and be an “eye-ball” once again.
The conspiracy here is – with Ferrari once again in the dumps ( how it was prior to Schumi days ), Indian fans have lost interest in F1 – majority being Ferrari fans. And with a 200 million tv viewing population – which is almost the size of European continent, F1 cannot afford to lose India. So suddenly Force India who never finished a race is on the podium..hmmm !!
2. Ms.Nigeria/Ms.Venezuala/Ms.Phillipines winning Miss World

This has been my pet conspiracy theory from the day Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen won the pageant. This is a no brainer.
Who sponsors these events? The beauty products.
How does beauty product enter a new market? By letting one of the Aishwarya Rais win.
The Miss World trophy conveniently migrates from one country to another – dictated by the market. So when there is a dip in sales, soon you will see another Indian winning Miss World.
3. Moon landing

There are many websites and books on this topic. NASA even commissioned a book to be written saying its all bull, we did land on the Moon – but later for some reason cancelled this project.
Questions?
1. Why have we not landed in the moon again – even after 40 years? We have sent robots to Mars – but why did we not try for the moon?
2. After seeing the failure of Chandrayaan I learnt that the moon’s gravitational pull is not uniform and the satellite needs constant course correction. Then there is the sun flare and other extremities of space which a satellite built in 2008 could not handle. What is amazing is 40 years back NASA sent a satellite to successfully land on the moon, someone gave a grammatically incorrect statement, and got back alive. Hmm…
3. We have very powerful telescopes that can peer at stars some millions of light years away. Why cant we turn this on the moon – the closest object we have – and try to find the foot print, the flag and other objects dropped by the man on the moon?
Guess this much is enough for my first edition…!
india, netas

My dear netas – you deserve business class

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Our poor netas, who have already sacrificed some good professions like farming, medicine, engineering, business, law, stock trading, IT etc – for the greater good of the country, and for serving the downtrodden of this nation – are being punished by forcing them to travel in economy class. What sacrilege.

No one is there to speak in support of our netas – and they will not protest but will accept this quietly – because their humility does not allow them to protest. So I am taking up their cause in this post. No they did not pay me – our netas will never do such a thing.
Why our netas deserve business class and private jets:

1. Stress

They take so much stress. From the build up to getting a party ticket, fighting for votes, then the horse trading and finally they become ministers. And still it is not over, they have to ward off allegations of corruption, nosy reporters, RTIs, PILs – and somehow manage to find time to serve the masses.
And you expect them to be herded like cattle in economy class? Give them a break.
2. Seats are too small

Have you not seen the photos of our netas? Because they take enormous stress and the long hours they put in every day – they are a little bigger than an average Indian. They simply cannot fit in an economy seat. Please do not ask them to go join a fitness club. There is not enough time in a day.
So if your seat is next to them – in economy class, you are better off sitting on the floor. Fight for them to go business class to save your ass ( literally speaking ).
3. Entourge

Do you think our netas travel alone? They will have a bunch of IAS, IPS, SAS, CRM, CBI, ABC, GHI officials accompanying them all the time. Putting all of them in a private jet is cheaper than buying tickets for each one of them in an economy flight.
So my dear fellow countrymen – don’t you agree – our Netas deserve business class and private jets. Don’t believe what the media is saying and don’t join them in celebrating the suffering of our poor netas.
tips, zone

Getting into the zone!

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Have you ever experienced being in “the zone”? You might have experienced for sure – but never noticed it. Once you are able to notice how it is to be in the zone – you can plan to get into the zone more often – for better productivity and happiness.

What is the zone?

The zone is a state of mind when time stops, creativity flows, your breathing is relaxed and steady, new ideas spring up and it leaves you energized wanting for more. In spite of working for hours at a stretch, if you are in the zone – you never feel tired.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, Anna Karenina – are two books that I have read where they talk about this state of mind. Zen book says about getting into the zone on any activity that you do – could be washing dishes, could be fixing a motorcycle, could be writing a blog post. In Anna Karenina, one of the characters – Levin goes to cut corn along with his laborers – this chapter in the book is a masterpiece. Leo Tolstoy beautifully describes how it is to be in the zone – proving why he is one of the greatest brains of all time.

It took some time for me to discover this “getting into the zone” thing. Whenever I am in the zone the code that I produce is beautiful and bug free. New ideas, hidden potential bugs show up and I squash them even before they get a chance to show up.

How to get into the zone?

You need a ritual. Here are some of the things that I do to get ready to go into the zone

1. Music

Either classical music or some movie songs that I have heard a million times before – mostly AR Rahman songs – so they wont distract but will quieten the outside noise.

2. Clear out the feeds and empty inbox

I clear out all the feeds in bloglines, and also empty my inbox – so there is no thread running silently in the head draining resources.

3. Busy status in IM

IM is a big distractor. I educate my buddies not to disturb when I am on busy-status. If they do not respect – I either block them temporarily or sign off from IM.

4. Load up with water

I keep a big jug of water and keep sipping. It will keep the brain hyderated for the upcoming power session !

After this – when I hit the editor I will notice that time would have stopped, and the things around me will disappear and I will not even hear the music. It will be just me and the editor – and things will start flowing. Because now I will be in the zone!

What is your ritual to get into the zone?


health, tips

5 simple tips to fight Flu

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The media is doing what it does best – spreading fear and panic. So here is my little post which is an anti-dote in these scary times. Some tips for increasing your immunity – so when flu gives you a visit, it knows it is not welcome.

1. Orange Juice & Fruits.
Fruits have become really expensive – nowadays Doctors are cheaper than Apple ( the fruit 😉 ). However packaged juices are cheaper than fruits if you do the Cost benefit analysis.
Try and get juices that claim they have no sugar and no preservatives. I do however remember reading that Vitamin C by itself does not help fight flu – but there are other good things – anti oxidants, Vitamin C, fiber – so over all it is good for a healthy you – and it is tasty too.
2. Japanese Shower
Take a hot bath and once you are done – in the end – take shower in the cold water. While taking a hot bath the pores open up and blood flow circulation increases in the skin. When suddenly cold water hits your body, the pores start contracting, and blood is forced to rush deep into your system – carrying with it nourishing oxygen and anti bodies. This is very effective and fun.
3. Pranayama
It takes 2 minutes but this is the most effective of all – I do this while reading the headlines of the newspaper in the morning.
Remember the 10-10-10 rule.
First set : 10 times breathe slowly but firmly through left nostril with right nostril blocked. Repeat with right nostril.
Second set : 10 times breathe a little more faster and with more force through left nostril.Repeat with right nostril.
Third set : 10 times inhale through the left nostril, exhale through right nostril and reverse.
4. Stay away from fries and chaat
8/10 times whenever I ate those delicious fried bajjies, or paani poori outside I have caught cold. You can try rice bran oil for frying ( but do not reuse ) and relish the same sinful stuff at home – cheaper and comparatively healthier.
5. Wash hands constantly
I once heard a NPR podcast about the correlation between number of heartbeats and the lifespan of an animal. The only species which defies this is humans – whose number of heartbeats is less, but their average lifespan is disproportionately higher.
The reason they gave was that humans wash their hands. Simple as that. All the epidemics enter through hand-mouth/eyes route.
Have soap dispensers in all the basins – and yes, you should use anti bacterial soap – just washing hands with water is not going to be of much help.
6. Bonus – Aerobics

This is the panacea to not only fighting flu – but to most of the ailments which might trouble us. If you think about it there is no way of fighting flu alone – your whole body has to be healthy – that will ward off lot many things – bad cholesterol, back aches, stiffness, excess fat build up.
So friends let us not wait till New Year to get healthy, this is the right time – we are being brainwashed with Swine flu scares by the media. Instead of reading reports and worrying, let us hit the healthy lifestyle button.

Here is the life story of a speck

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