There was a sensational headline today: "Galileo's lost body parts found". Aye!!! What a great day for science!
The same day when the Large Hadron Collider reopened after 14 months, which of course is a headline you'll have to search to find.
Forget the question of why staring at or owning the middle finger of Galileo would give anyone any appreciation of his talents or contributions, why that would make them feel connected to him, as opposed to say, reading his work. Even more basically, why do we fuss about the dead bodies of dead people? I can understand the sentiment immediately following the death, when we still see them as the person we knew. But after they are long gone, is there any meaning to the dead body parts?
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Conversations with a 3 Year Old - #2
Him: I will throw you in the garbage
Me: (Instead of the usual, "that's not right" approach) If you do that, I'll be gone. You'll have no appa.
Him: Oh? I need appa.
Me: What do you need me for?
Him: I need you to play with me.
Me: See, that's why you should not...
Him, interrupting: Amma... do you know how to play cricket?
Me: (Instead of the usual, "that's not right" approach) If you do that, I'll be gone. You'll have no appa.
Him: Oh? I need appa.
Me: What do you need me for?
Him: I need you to play with me.
Me: See, that's why you should not...
Him, interrupting: Amma... do you know how to play cricket?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Ron Paul's "End The Fed"
Coming from strict constitutionalist and libertarian positions, subscribing to the Austrian school of economic thought with a strong influence of Ayn Rand, Ron Paul makes a passionate case against Fiat money, centralized banking, unlimited government powers in general, and the Federal Reserve in particular. He argues that the Fed's manipulation of value of the dollar, interest rates and, indirectly, prices is immoral, unconstitutional and will lead to economic destruction.
He explains how by creating money out of thin air, the Fed contributes to real inflation and so the debasement of the dollar, and helps funds wars and populist government programs. He vehemently urges a return to gold standard and a true market economy, with out manipulation by the Fed or any other central entity.
Some quotes:
"From April 2008 to April 2009, the adjusted monetary base shot up from $856 billion to an unbelievable $1.749 trillion. Was there any new wealth created? New production? No, this was the Ben Bernanke printing press at work. If you and I did anything similar, we would be called counterfeiters and be sent away for a lifetime in prison."
"The Fed's reports to Congress and hearings are for public consumption. Real information is not available to the public or to Congress, the Financial Services Committee, the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, or to me as a member of all three."
"Governments... default by debasing the currency, reducing the value thereof, through inflation. .. This is the plan: massive debt and inflation to bail out friends, pretending to prop up the economy and liquidate debt. It never goes as planned. John Maynard Keynes knew that in a correction it is necessary to lower wages. That's why he supported inflation to force real wages down and do it without confronting labor with the need to lower nominal wages."
"Do the auto executives come to Washington to demand freedom - freedom to contract labor, freedom to retool when they please, freedom to choose the cars they build, freedom from central economic planners regulating their every move, freedom to make profit and keep it, freedom to fail? Do they demand a sound currency that would rectify the international trade imbalances?
No they come to Washington to demand that innocent Americans bail them out and protect a system that deserves no protection. They never come to demand that the government protect contracts rather than insisting on the government rewriting them. They beg to be taken over, nationalized, partnered with, to obey a car czar and sacrifice every bit of self-respect that they might retain."
He explains how by creating money out of thin air, the Fed contributes to real inflation and so the debasement of the dollar, and helps funds wars and populist government programs. He vehemently urges a return to gold standard and a true market economy, with out manipulation by the Fed or any other central entity.
Some quotes:
"From April 2008 to April 2009, the adjusted monetary base shot up from $856 billion to an unbelievable $1.749 trillion. Was there any new wealth created? New production? No, this was the Ben Bernanke printing press at work. If you and I did anything similar, we would be called counterfeiters and be sent away for a lifetime in prison."
"The Fed's reports to Congress and hearings are for public consumption. Real information is not available to the public or to Congress, the Financial Services Committee, the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, or to me as a member of all three."
"Governments... default by debasing the currency, reducing the value thereof, through inflation. .. This is the plan: massive debt and inflation to bail out friends, pretending to prop up the economy and liquidate debt. It never goes as planned. John Maynard Keynes knew that in a correction it is necessary to lower wages. That's why he supported inflation to force real wages down and do it without confronting labor with the need to lower nominal wages."
"Do the auto executives come to Washington to demand freedom - freedom to contract labor, freedom to retool when they please, freedom to choose the cars they build, freedom from central economic planners regulating their every move, freedom to make profit and keep it, freedom to fail? Do they demand a sound currency that would rectify the international trade imbalances?
No they come to Washington to demand that innocent Americans bail them out and protect a system that deserves no protection. They never come to demand that the government protect contracts rather than insisting on the government rewriting them. They beg to be taken over, nationalized, partnered with, to obey a car czar and sacrifice every bit of self-respect that they might retain."
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Conversations with a 3 Year Old
A Teachable Moment
Me: Did I tell you that you should not jump around when climbing stairs?
Him: Yes
Me: What happened last night?
Him: I jumped and slipped, and rolled down the stairs.
Me: How did that feel?
Him: It hurt.
Me: What did I tell you about hitting bats on stuff?
Him: It's a bad idea.
Me: What happened just now?
Him: I hit the bat on the woofer.
Me: And what has happened?
Him: The bat became broke.
Me, with an air of pomp: So, what have we learnt from all this?
Him, sincerely: Nothing.
Curb that curiosity!
Him: Why have you propped this toy up, but not that one?
Me: Because that one is stable, but not this one.
Him: Why is that one stable, but not this one?
Me, muttering: It's hard to explain that to you.
Him: Why is it hard to explain that to me?
Me: Look! There is an air plane there!
Me: Did I tell you that you should not jump around when climbing stairs?
Him: Yes
Me: What happened last night?
Him: I jumped and slipped, and rolled down the stairs.
Me: How did that feel?
Him: It hurt.
Me: What did I tell you about hitting bats on stuff?
Him: It's a bad idea.
Me: What happened just now?
Him: I hit the bat on the woofer.
Me: And what has happened?
Him: The bat became broke.
Me, with an air of pomp: So, what have we learnt from all this?
Him, sincerely: Nothing.
Curb that curiosity!
Him: Why have you propped this toy up, but not that one?
Me: Because that one is stable, but not this one.
Him: Why is that one stable, but not this one?
Me, muttering: It's hard to explain that to you.
Him: Why is it hard to explain that to me?
Me: Look! There is an air plane there!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Universal cell phone charger - finally!
Such a stupidly obvious need, and they found a way to do it finally. I had blogged about this in early 2008 here. Now, hopefully this charger's usefulness can be expanded to other electronic devices like GPS units, music players, etc. May happen faster than we suspect, once the cell-phone supports is rolled out.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Between the Assassinations
Between the Assassinations - Aravind Adiga
In the beginning it was a dull read, but I grew to like it quite well by the end. A rather grim, gritty "novel" - more a collection of shorts based around the same settings; sort of a dark "Malgudi Days". Recommend it.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
First game of Cricket with Harsha
Exciting Day! Finally, after trying for more than an year, I played the first game of cricket with my almost 3 year old son Harsha today. As usual, in our living room. Plastic bat, plastic ball and a kitchen drain mat as stumps. It was a tie, with both of us scoring 9 runs each over 4 innings. After 3 innings he was leading 5 - 0 though!
We have sort of played on the same pitch many times before, but never in a form that could be called cricket in principle. For instance, I could never introduce the concept of getting out before - he'd get upset about missing a ball and quit. Before that, there was the struggle with convincing him that he shouldn't have both the bat and ball with himself at the same time. And before that, the fact that one bat and one ball should be involved, not two bats or two balls (he has always been big on pairs).
But today, all elements came together. He was willing to bide his time before he could connect bat on ball. He understood that if the ball hit the stumps, he was out and it was my turn. (Initially, he found ball hitting the stumps too cool to realize that getting out was bad!) He ran with great zest after hitting the ball. He understood the concept of keeping score. More than anything, he was so intent on hitting the stumps when his bowling turn came, he nailed me first ball twice!
For the record, the bat is too short for me.
We have sort of played on the same pitch many times before, but never in a form that could be called cricket in principle. For instance, I could never introduce the concept of getting out before - he'd get upset about missing a ball and quit. Before that, there was the struggle with convincing him that he shouldn't have both the bat and ball with himself at the same time. And before that, the fact that one bat and one ball should be involved, not two bats or two balls (he has always been big on pairs).
But today, all elements came together. He was willing to bide his time before he could connect bat on ball. He understood that if the ball hit the stumps, he was out and it was my turn. (Initially, he found ball hitting the stumps too cool to realize that getting out was bad!) He ran with great zest after hitting the ball. He understood the concept of keeping score. More than anything, he was so intent on hitting the stumps when his bowling turn came, he nailed me first ball twice!
For the record, the bat is too short for me.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Are Banks Shooting Their Own Feet Again?
It appears the pendulum has swung too much to the careful side, to the extent of being paranoid, when it comes to mortgage lenders approving home loans. They seem to be not giving out loans even to the most qualified and motivated buyers (and refinancers). This way they may be contributing to the further decline of the home values, which will only worsen the rate of their clients defaulting on their loans.
This is all anecdotal at the moment. First from my own experience in trying to refinance my mortgage. The appraisers are so afraid of over-valuing, they are ridiculously undervaluing the property. Now, I realize, as a (so called) home owner, I will refuse to accept that my home is worth less than what I paid for it. Even then, valuing our 4-bedroom house less than what buyers are offering for an identical, though 3 bedroom, house in the next street is baffling.
What's funny is, the 3-bedroom house is not closing, even though they are getting offers close to the asking price, because, at least in one case that we came to know about, the buyer's lender rejected the appraisal that valued the house close to the asking price.
In effect, the banks are saying that these homes are not worth what buyers and appraisers think they are worth. This will probably force a desperate seller to lower the price further to close a deal. This way banks are now contributing to driving the home values further down.
Smart.
This is all anecdotal at the moment. First from my own experience in trying to refinance my mortgage. The appraisers are so afraid of over-valuing, they are ridiculously undervaluing the property. Now, I realize, as a (so called) home owner, I will refuse to accept that my home is worth less than what I paid for it. Even then, valuing our 4-bedroom house less than what buyers are offering for an identical, though 3 bedroom, house in the next street is baffling.
What's funny is, the 3-bedroom house is not closing, even though they are getting offers close to the asking price, because, at least in one case that we came to know about, the buyer's lender rejected the appraisal that valued the house close to the asking price.
In effect, the banks are saying that these homes are not worth what buyers and appraisers think they are worth. This will probably force a desperate seller to lower the price further to close a deal. This way banks are now contributing to driving the home values further down.
Smart.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
intelligent road debris
have you noticed that most of the time, debris fallen on a busy freeway is nicely positioned away from the middle of lanes and more or less on the dividing line/buttons? (this is true unless it's a big object or if it has fallen off very recently)
this is convenient, because, traffic doesn't have to swerve to avoid them. but from a pure probability stand-point, it's impossible that a majority of objects that fall off vehicles going at high speeds land at such a convenient place. perhaps the debris are *intelligent*. or, there is a benevolent force guiding this.
if you didn't get my drift, this sounds like the 'intelligent design' argument.
anyway, i think that the reason for this phenomenon is simply this: the object initially will land most likely in the middle of a lane. then a vehicle will hit it and it will be moved. then another vehicle will hit it, and so on. this will continue until the object accidentally comes to rest at a harmless location.
we could say the object's position evolved to perfection.
this is convenient, because, traffic doesn't have to swerve to avoid them. but from a pure probability stand-point, it's impossible that a majority of objects that fall off vehicles going at high speeds land at such a convenient place. perhaps the debris are *intelligent*. or, there is a benevolent force guiding this.
if you didn't get my drift, this sounds like the 'intelligent design' argument.
anyway, i think that the reason for this phenomenon is simply this: the object initially will land most likely in the middle of a lane. then a vehicle will hit it and it will be moved. then another vehicle will hit it, and so on. this will continue until the object accidentally comes to rest at a harmless location.
we could say the object's position evolved to perfection.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I Won't Touch the Bailout Bonds
It's being reported that the Obama administration is working on a proposal to make the "opportunity" to "invest " in the bailout of banks available to the small investor. Apparently, the administration will choose a handful of fund managers to form Bailout Bond Funds that are sold to retail investors.
The motivation seems to be to preempt any new wave of anger or resentment on the part of the public, when down the line, they find out that a rich few (hedge funds) made handsome profits by investing in the "dirt cheap" toxic assets (low quality mortgage backed assets), while they shelled out their tax dollars to bailout the bankers and ended up losers.
My problem with this is two fold:
1. my tax dollars are already subsidizing these toxic assets. i don't think i need more exposure to this risk
2. more importantly, this is a good investment only if you buy the assumption that the toxic assets are grossly undervalued
#2 is the trillion dollar question: how do you value these assets? Are they really that under-valued?
Remember that we had a housing bubble, which means that the home values during the bubble were artificially inflated. Then the bubble burst. The market may be over-reacting a bit in the negative direction now, but it'd seem to me that expecting the values to go "back up" is stupid. That's just wishing for another bubble.
So, why would I rush to throw money at a bunch of sub-prime mortgage assets, which are highly likely to default, just because there may be a small discount?
The motivation seems to be to preempt any new wave of anger or resentment on the part of the public, when down the line, they find out that a rich few (hedge funds) made handsome profits by investing in the "dirt cheap" toxic assets (low quality mortgage backed assets), while they shelled out their tax dollars to bailout the bankers and ended up losers.
My problem with this is two fold:
1. my tax dollars are already subsidizing these toxic assets. i don't think i need more exposure to this risk
2. more importantly, this is a good investment only if you buy the assumption that the toxic assets are grossly undervalued
#2 is the trillion dollar question: how do you value these assets? Are they really that under-valued?
Remember that we had a housing bubble, which means that the home values during the bubble were artificially inflated. Then the bubble burst. The market may be over-reacting a bit in the negative direction now, but it'd seem to me that expecting the values to go "back up" is stupid. That's just wishing for another bubble.
So, why would I rush to throw money at a bunch of sub-prime mortgage assets, which are highly likely to default, just because there may be a small discount?
Sunday, April 12, 2009
i shouldn't have to pay to "e-file" my taxes
By electronically filing my tax return, I am doing "them" several favors:
So why the hell do I have to pay an extra fee?
Ah, wait a minute. It's the government I am dealing with. I am asking the bureaucracy to eliminate itself. Nice try.
- reduce their expenses (assuming paper pushing people cost more than computers)
- significantly reduce errors - again less headache for them
- by authorizing direct deposit/direct debit, I again make things cheaper, faster and easier for them
So why the hell do I have to pay an extra fee?
Ah, wait a minute. It's the government I am dealing with. I am asking the bureaucracy to eliminate itself. Nice try.
Monday, March 30, 2009
inventions, innovations and improvements i need NOW
Every now and then we all think of something that ought to have been invented already. Here goes my running list (to be updated whenever I think of something new or learn it's been invented)
- when i get some cold, cough, fever etc. i want the exact diagnosis right away - no clinical diagnosis ("it should be a viral - just wait it out"), no guessing ("let's try an antibiotic for a few days"), etc.
- written, spoken language recognition everywhere. scanned docs should not be treated as images. i shouldn't need my hands to browse the internet or flip channels in my tv/radio or turn off the microwave, etc.
- not-dumb traffic signals - i should never have to wait several minutes at a light when there is no other vehicle in sight
- easy-empty tooth paste tubes - getting the last ounce out should not require pro-wrestler strength
- one volume setting for all programs all channels, be it on TV, radio, ipod, whatever (i have a feeling this one is already around, just not available in the stone-age devices I tend to own)
Monday, February 9, 2009
why do we get sick in the winter? - part 2
Back in March 2008 I did a post when some new research came out on this topic. The news then was that there is a reason why the flu virus survives and transmits better in cold weather. It had been all about the temperature then.
Well, today's news suggests there may be more to the story...
Yahoo News Story
The new twist is that there is a strong correlation between the absolute humidity of the air and the transmission and survivability of the flu virus. Absolute humidity is the measure of the total amount of water (vapor) in the air, and this is significantly more in summer's warmer air than in winter's cold air.
This finding is just one of correlation. There doesn't seem to be any theory or explanation for why this is so. In that sense, we may have to take this with a pinch of salt.
Well, today's news suggests there may be more to the story...
Yahoo News Story
The new twist is that there is a strong correlation between the absolute humidity of the air and the transmission and survivability of the flu virus. Absolute humidity is the measure of the total amount of water (vapor) in the air, and this is significantly more in summer's warmer air than in winter's cold air.
This finding is just one of correlation. There doesn't seem to be any theory or explanation for why this is so. In that sense, we may have to take this with a pinch of salt.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
2008
2008 was an extreme year for me. Well, as extreme as it can get for a completely ordinary guy like me. It was the year in which I have worked hardest in my life. It was the year I was most stressed, aged most, got most gray hair, became unfit most, etc. It was the year I lost most (in terms of money). It was perhaps the year I learnt most as an adult. It was the most professionally satisfying year of my career. And, it was the year when the rewards of the hard toil of being a parent have started to show - spending time with my 2 year old son is such a delight, despite the frustrations and the hard work.
2008 was also an extreme year for me in decision making terms. For someone who freezes when trying to decide which pair of socks to wear, it was a monumental effort to decide to buy a house (strictly speaking, it was more like buying a mortgage, which came with a house), and then to decide which house to buy. And then to decide to do some upgrades and the million decisions associated with it. I think I made more decisions over the last few months than all the decisions I have ever made before.
There was at least one side-benefit to being too busy - I rode along in blissful ignorance the whole year when the financial markets and all my investments went into the toilet. I simply didn't have the energy to pay attention, leave alone take any evasive action. I am a lot poorer today than I was an year ago, but I sort of don't care. I certainly didn't experience any stress from that. (I like to think of it as following the strategy of "staying the course", as recommended by John Bogle ;)
2008 also ended the lives of two of my favorite authors - Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton. That really is bad.
2008 also saw my favorite sports team (Indian's cricket team) scale some new heights. These are exciting times if you are an Indian cricket fan.
2009 is certain to be challenging, both personally and economically. I guess I'd call it a good year, if I manage to do two things: contribute to the happiness of my loved ones and give my psyche some contentment.
2008 was also an extreme year for me in decision making terms. For someone who freezes when trying to decide which pair of socks to wear, it was a monumental effort to decide to buy a house (strictly speaking, it was more like buying a mortgage, which came with a house), and then to decide which house to buy. And then to decide to do some upgrades and the million decisions associated with it. I think I made more decisions over the last few months than all the decisions I have ever made before.
There was at least one side-benefit to being too busy - I rode along in blissful ignorance the whole year when the financial markets and all my investments went into the toilet. I simply didn't have the energy to pay attention, leave alone take any evasive action. I am a lot poorer today than I was an year ago, but I sort of don't care. I certainly didn't experience any stress from that. (I like to think of it as following the strategy of "staying the course", as recommended by John Bogle ;)
2008 also ended the lives of two of my favorite authors - Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton. That really is bad.
2008 also saw my favorite sports team (Indian's cricket team) scale some new heights. These are exciting times if you are an Indian cricket fan.
2009 is certain to be challenging, both personally and economically. I guess I'd call it a good year, if I manage to do two things: contribute to the happiness of my loved ones and give my psyche some contentment.
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