Historical

Yesterday, I saw THE NEWS flash on CNN IBN - and it gave me goosebumps

"Nilekani to join govt and head ID project".

By putting a person of Nilekani's caliber on the job, our PM has ensured that the project gets done. 3 years from now, people who deserve the subsidies and benefits of social welfare programs will get them. We will have reduced or eliminated 'the leakage'. Our tax money will get spent the right way (at least relatively speaking).

More importantly, the appointment signifies our direct participation in democracy. I hope we see more of this and someday all of our government is formed by people of Nilekani's stature.

It's good to be an Indian today.

I am not the only one

Apparently I am not the only one who was baffled by the recommendation to convert Uncle Sam's preferred stock in 'stressed' banks to common stock (as one of the actions required to address the issue of lack of capital). 

I am joined by none other than Paul Krugman. He expresses the same confusion in this article. 

Virtual Economy

Interesting article (opened my eyes) about how far this virtual goods thing had gone. 

Apparently, the top social network by revenue is Tencent (China) .. yeah, not facebook, not myspace. They did around $1B in revenues this year. But here's the best part, 70% of this came from VIRTUAL GOODS (only 12% came from advertising).  The only instance when I came across a the concept of paying for a 'virtual good' was when I was playing poker on facebook. They tried to sell me like a million chips for $2 - bad deal I thought. But far too many people are making small ticket purchase like virtual clothes for their secondlife avatars. 

The French Model

Interesting excerpt from an article in The Economist

"..The French are champion rule-makers. There are rules about how many pharmacies any one pharmacist can own (one), and how many taxis there are on the Paris streets (15,300). There are rules about when lorries can use motorways (not on Sundays), or when shops can hold sales (twice a year, on dates set by officials). New rules allowing shops to pick freely another two weeks have been greeted as a revolution. “To have cut-price discounts in April without waiting for the June sales is unheard-of!” exclaimed Le Parisien newspaper ..."

Carry your own booze

Just came back from the trip.  What a drive. From Pugmark Restaurant (Beginning of Bandipur limits), the drive just keeps getting better until, of course, the hair pin bends start. There are 36 of them. By the time we made it to Ooty, it was 11 o'clock. So 61/2 hours - not bad. 

From Ooty to Destiny Farm Parking lot was interesting .. but the fun began when we boarded the Army truck that would take us to our (final) destination. A 2km drive that put us in 15  minutes of rush for our definition of 'non-existent' road kept changing as we got deeper. 

It was all worth it. For the next two days, we rested in the calmness of the that farm. They did a good job of letting us be & they did a good job of the bornfire cum barbeque. 

They are yet to get a license to sell booze so I had to make do with the next best thing - beer. I had an earful from wife for she had suggested that we carry our own booze. 

Way back is a different route (through Gudlur) . No hair pin bends  - about 40 kms longer. But you can go at a much more enjoyable speed and it's very scenic.

After driving so much in green forest the part from Mysore to Bangalore felt like desert .. 

Off to Avalanche (an hour from Ooty) tomorrow. Have heard good things about the drive. Hope to spot elephants (someone said you can see a herd crossing the road :-) )

Staying at Destiny - a highly recommended farm stay. No plans to leave it for two days but for a small trek around .. damn, need to buy a new book.  

Really excited. 

Interesting article about how gaming is shifting from console to web and evolving into a good marketing tool. Is this the Adwords/Adsense of the near future.