simul-read
wouldnt it be usefull if there were a software which would let me talk with other readers of a particular website that i am reading at that slice of time? like a IM program but geared towards the readers of websites rather than through buddy lists. the we can talk abt common interests(if there were not common interests they wouldnt be on the same web page). i am sure it would not be too difficult to write such an application.

Globalisation : The true sense of the word for both Capital and Labor
in the past post the issue was raised about the free flow of capital and i talked by flow of labor. this needed some expanding. so this post.
i guess we all agree that globalisationa and the integrating of thw world (economically at least) is the way to the future. thats the aim of wto(at least theoretically) and all western nations strive towards it. now a days this include the developing world. china is also the member of the wto now. in india the terms of wto have led to great lowering of tariffs(still compared to western standards) and the complete removal of all quantitative restrictions. india fights for its trading rights in the wto and trecently won a case against the us which was giving subsidies to the industries which get affected by a more integrated trade regime(like steel, textiles etc). at the same time the farmins industry is in the infancy stage in india and requires some protection. this is the case in europe too and all EU countries have high tariffs against the agri-products(france is notorious for this). us is also not too behind this. the per capita subsidy for a western farmer far outweighs the per capita subsidy for the india farmer(it actually is many times the magnitude of per capita income...yes yes..per capita income of the indian farmer). but still the developed western world calls for free unhindered flow of capital everywhere in the world. this is so that the developing world is developed not only as its market but also as its source(producer) of raw materials. this is natural according to me. every country strives for its own good. nobody is a saint.

well now that i have build up a base(a big story some might say) let me come to my point. if the western world wants free unhindered flow of capital they should also allow free unhindered flow of labor. i mean if an indian guy wants to work in us and there is a job in us for him, the us govt should not prevent him from coming and working in us(quotas on H1B visas should be removed and whatever jobs are available for indians should be granted visas. be it computer coding or teaching or even a maid service). this will increase competitives in general(the same argument proposed for free flow of capital). its like free flowing water trying to find its equilibrium. so what if that means losing of jobs for american people. if this is not logical then how can one justify the losing of jobs in the developing world when capital flows there from the western world increase the efficiency of a industry and lead to layoffs. i believe in both the cases(capital flow into developing world and labor flow into western world) the general competitiveness increases. if companies want to hire a person from X country instead of local talent is should be permitted(if not supported). let capitalism provide the solution.

i know not many will like this idea. so lets argue on this if thats what is needed to get to a solution(need not be the solution i propose as long as its logical).

Yet another article about a hi-tech indian company(this time wipro) and how its moving up the ladder of outsourced software work.

The New Face of Global Competition

a report which brings much sadness and anger in me. Dow chemicals(owners of union carbide) are suing non-violent protestors for money. It was a union carbide factory which caused the bhopal gas tragedy killing more than 8000(yeah its eight thousand people) overnight and more than 20,000 in the long run. the number of people who lost their limbs, or functioning of limbs or other organs is countless.
News Details

Another detailed website on the Bhopal gas tragedy and the struggle thereafter

this is what i mean when unbrindled capitalism is not good for society. capitalism in the non-presence of accountability is disastrous.

The American Way: Rule of Law
continuing in my series of write-ups the altest one is about how the rule of law exists in america or US.

here the law is written well. i mean the constitution is clear in the basic principles like equality, liberty and freedom(all kinds like to live, work, own property, and to express oneself.) i believe this was not the case earlier. till the sixties segregation was a way of life. it was everywhere and the law was also like that. this is very shocking for people from outside from outside US. Esp for a person like me whose home country(India) has practiced universal adult suffrage from its day of independence.but the way freedom of expression is carried to extremes is seen to be believed.

but even more remarkable fact is the way the law is implemented. it can serve as a model for most nations of this world i believe. first of all everybody here is identified uniquely(through a social security number) and can be tracked anywhere in the nation. this is a very good concept but the way it has been implemented is even more astonishing. anybody cant do a crime in city A and escape to city B and be safe(like in india). in india its only dilligent public prodding of the police services which will solve the crime. in us the authorities do this proactively. but i believe the concept of human element is missing.lack of informers and the loosing fight against drug trade are examples. the police here are firm but polite.I guess when the concept of universal identification card is implemented in india tings will turn for the better.also the way impotant leaders(be they political-trent lott or economic like david kozlowsky) are punished when they do wrong(or get caught). on the whole i thing many nations have a lot to learn from US in this field.

a very nice but long piece by B. Raman on Kao the father of RAW(research and analysis wing): the intelligence agency in India. contains anecdotes and his thoughts about india, usa, china and india's neighbours. one interesting thing is the concern he displays that the indian masses might get restless with the indian elite and its consequences. the gujarat election and its results might be a reflection of this.

B Raman on India's Legendary Spymaster

My thoughts
when walking from my house today morning i saw a poster for a march against the war(proposed) in iraq. it was a march in washington dc on jan 18th . iwas thinking : "wow, this is a great country. so unlike iraq. here people can hold a propagate a view which is totally against the views of the governing elite and the country's constitution and public institutions allow this. this is democracy, freedom and liberty." immediately behind me two guys came over and tore up the poster. i guess they want to live in a country like iraq.

Hey, I have found the formula for hapiness. and its :
Happiness = P + (5xE) + (3xH) ..yeah its as simple as that.

BBC NEWS | Health | The formula for happiness

Hey democracy works even in the animal world. or is it pure logic?


New Scientist

of the 10 fifties that Yuvraj has made india has won in 9 of them. yesterday's match in new zealand is ranked by me as a true test of yuvi's and zaheer's mettle. happy to see india break the five match loosing stretch. maybe we still can win the world cup.

Zaheer excels as India finally taste victory

Fight Club: The movie
saw the movie Fight Club yesterday. it was based on an interesting premise. People are just tired of their present lives..they just exist and dont live. so they seek out some form of entertainment/thing to do which will give them some sense of purpose in life. bpitt's acting in this movie was good. but the screenplay and the end of the movie were not good at all. see the first few blogs of this(you can get there from the archives drop-down box) for some earlier posts of mine which will give you a better idea of what i think about the meaning of life.

Political Compass :: According to the PoliticalCompass website I am a libertarian left. answer the list of questions and tell me what type you are? interesting website

mysterious seismic activity in gujarat,india
see this report in conjunction with my earlier post an possible connections between the cosmic heavy matter and seismic activity in earth.
Post from ratnose archive

Mysterious bursts of energy rattle Rajkot
Vinay Menon
New Delhi, January 4
from hindustantimes.com

For close to two months, Rajkot has been experiencing incidents that could well have come out of a sci-fi movie: inexplicable bursts of energy that emit no light, but rattle windows, crack concrete structures and rip floor tiles off.Tests conducted by a team of seismologists from the Indian Meteorological Department have so far been unable to unravel the mystery.
On Friday, the team submitted a preliminary report to deputy director-general of meteorology, H.V. Gupta, but it had no answers.
"The observatory we set up at Rajkot has not thrown up any definite clues yet," Gupta said. The team had set up workstations to monitor the blasts, but on January 1, when yet another "explosion" rocked Rajkot, they recorded no significant data.
Three theories have been floated. First, the "explosions" are sonic booms from fighter jets as they cross the sound barrier.
But the Indian Air Force (IAF) dismisses this theory. The IAF has a fighter squadron at Jamnagar, but none at Rajkot. "A fighter jet moving from a subsonic to supersonic speed is always a planned operation and can never be undertaken over inhabited areas," said a senior IAF officer.

Second, "artillery fire" or mining detonations have also been cited as possible causes. But the Rajkot collector says no mining or military activity has been held in the area.

The third is that some rare form of seismic activity is at work. "Shortly before the devastating Bhuj earthquake similar blasts were reported from Bhavnagar," claims Santosh Mehta, a Rajkot resident. "This being an earthquake-prone area, we hope this is not a fresh warning."

The American Way: Democracy
Democracy forms the bedrock of the american way of life. nobody imposes anything on anybody else. all decisions are taken in a democratic way. Well.. at least thats the idea. this is followed in a big way in many spheres of life. for example in everyday interactions this might be largely true. autocratic decisions are avoided as much as possible. But then there is a big gap between the theory and practice. i believe the american goverment is not truly democratic at all. maybe this is beacuse of the presendential form of the goverment. but when a governor can appoint a representative in case of death of the active person, according to me thats not democracy. and how is that judges are appointed by the president who chooses them taking into consideration their political views. many supreme court judges can be said to be republican or democratic. how is this true democracy. this is unthinkable in india. I cant swallow this idea and call it democracy.

another topic close to my heart is the tough time one faces if one wants to promote a line of thought which might not be shared by either the democratic or the republican parties. i mean to say such contrarian thoughts are never easy to propagate. i guess thats the reason the green party(headed by mr. ralph nader) is doing so badly. at the same time if one has money, people like ross perot can easily muscle into the process.

i used to think elections are not rigged in USA. but after seein the florida counting in 2000 and more subsequent problems i am having second thoughts about this issue too. in india this rigging of elections is now more or less done away with, thanks to truly independent election comissioners like Mr. seshan, krishnamurthy and the lyndogh. Technology in the form of electronic voting has also accelerated the process. now a days all indian elections are fully in the form of electronic voting.

however riddled with holes this system might be democracy is the bext system of governance in modern societies and this is followed in a big way in america. i seem to have highlighted only the bad points of american democracy and not the positive ones as i believe that the positive ones are too many to be recounted. the system is 60% ok according to me.

Democracy brings in the rule of law. this is fully implemented in USA. thats one big good thing about this country. Will write about this thing in the next column.

The American Way
This is going to be a series of write ups i hope to write comparing and contrasting the differences and sim ilarities between life in India and America. I hope to make this a regular sort of column.

Matrix : the sequels
both the sequels of matrix: “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” will be hitting the theaters in 2003. I hope to see both of them on big screen. early reports suggest fantastic action.
excerpt from an article:
The ensuing sequence may be the most audaciously conceived, thrillingly executed car chase ever filmed. Sounds like hype, yeah. But you’ve gotta see this thing. The scene features two kung fu battles in speeding vehicles—one in the back seat of a Cadillac, the other on the roof of an 18-wheeler truck. There’s also a heart-stopping motorcycle chase through oncoming traffic and enough wrecked cars to keep a junkyard in business for years. Fans will go particularly bonkers over one shot of an agent leaping from atop a moving car onto the hood of another and, with his feet, crushing the entire thing into a pretzel. Says cinematographer Bill Pope: “It’s going to make ‘The Fast and the Furious’ look like ‘The Slow and the Dimwitted’.

For the full article go here

Philadelphia : The Movie
Saw the movie Philadelphia in Philadelphia, the City. the acting in the movie is amazing. Tom Hanks won a well deserved oscar for his acting in 1993. I think Denzel Washington also deserved a Oscar for his admirable acting. The quick change in expressions, the genuineness of facial expressions....just won my heart. seeing this movie in philadelphia after living here for about two and a half years was another treat for me. i could connect with so many of the background shots shown. The opening number of "streets of philadelphia" was very apt for the movie. The story was very sensitively potrayed and no actor was given to any sort of over the top acting. in the whole the movie was good altough i feel the editing could have been a bit more tight.

Philadelphia(1993)

this article from washintonpost says that great minds will flourish anywhere. they need not attend great schools to get noticed. Their hard work, dedication and intelligence will take them to the heights that they deserve. Highly recommended article for youngsters or people starting in life.

Spielberg Effect: Success in Life Without Prestigious Degree (washingtonpost.com)

Apartment agents
seeing apartments has an added benefit of being able to look at apartment agents in a closer way. the first agent we saw was a typical Bond-Girl. at least she thought so. was wearing a bra and practically nothing on top of it. we could even read the brand of the undergarment(which was no longer an undergarment) and my friend being a married man could not do anything much. i tried a lot to engage in some sort of conversaiton with her but it was all in vain(she was fighting with her boy-friend over the phone).
the second agent we saw was the typical opposite of the first one. seems like she had just got out of a marriage and she was cursing her ex-husband over the phone. she seemed to have her mother's full support in this matter. she also said that she hated all guys over the phone. we made a quick and quite exit and very wisely we have not shown any interest in that apartment complex.

Apartments in US
i spent last weekend searching for apartments for a married friend of mine in New Jersey. I saw more 9 different apartments in the Middlesex county - the typical desi(east indian for the non-desis among us) neighbourhood in central-north jersey in the Edison-Metropark-Woodbridge area. ALL the apartments were of the same design. yeah read it again "all the apartments were of the same design". for any Indian this would come as a great surprise. they all had the same dimensions more or less and the rates varied only due to the difference in distances from tne nearest train station and highway. In india the dimensions and design vary a lot. I guess here the apartments are mostly made from pre-fabricated materials.