Nikkie hits five year high

The Japanese Nikkie has hit a five year high today closing at up 106.93 points at 17,045.34, its highest closing level since 29 August 2000.

Just the fact that a couple of months earlier, it had gone on a panic selling spree, due to livedoor, speaks tons about the inbuilt stability of the industry. Panic had ensued when Livedoor had been alleged for fraud. The market had closed half an hour early for the first time in history because the total activity was reaching remarkably closer to the maximum load the exchange could handle.

Experts add that this has been brought about by the structural reforms introduced by the government to revive the economy and defeat defaltion.
(link)

Blogger vs WordPress

Today I tested this blog on wordpress. This is what I came out with.

The Antaean The Day Dreamer

Even though the free version on wordpress pretty much sucks, because without installing any plugins, you can't do anything more than dangling your dick around. I had still decided to give it a try, since I had a hell of a time to spare.

Please do have a look and let me know what do you think.

Tagged WordPress

Blood Donation Camp, Pune

If you live in Pune and if you haven't donated blood for the last few months, this is for you. A blood donation camp is being organised by "Swachhandi Pariwaar", and everybody is invited.

It would be helpful to the organisers and the blood bank, if you can confirm your presence in advance.

The details are given below

Date	April 2, 2006
Time	8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Place	Dr. Anjali Phalke c/o Shri. M D Phalke 'Shiv Smruti' 721/1/9 Prashant Nagar Kaka Halwai Lane Navi Peth Pune 411030
Contact	020-24336226 9850000313

Tagged Blood, Donation, Camp, Pune

Cool Blog

Hi Richa, what do you think about this design. Looks good??

I just moved to WordPress today. Looks interesting.

Animated Iraq War Fatalities

An animated version of the attacks made on Iraq by USA, UK, Italy and other countries.

The animation runs at 10 frames per second – one frame for each day – and a single black dot indicates the geographical location that a coalition military fatality occurred.More deaths in a smaller area produces visually deeper reds and audibly more pronounced 'tic's

Iraq War Fatalities (via)

Tagged War, Iraq

Now YouTube Against Copyright

This week YouTube has restricted the maximum upload time of the videos to 10 minutes, along with the previous restriction of the maximum file size to be 100MB, to restrict videos which violate copyright laws.

This change won't impact the vast majority of our users. We know that over 99% of videos uploaded are already under 10 mins, and we also know that most of our users only watch videos that are under about 3 minutes in length.

YouTube says that they are trying to balance the rights of copyright owners with the rights of our users. Quite simply I guess, prevention against silly lawsuits is always a good thing.

(link: YouTube)

Tagged Technology, Copyright, YouTube

10 Emerging Technologies

MIT Technology Review lists 10 emerging technologies, which they suspect would have a big impact on business, medicine, culture and your life.

The 10 Emerging Technologies

These include Epigenetics, Cognitive Radio, Nuclear Reprogramming, Comparitive Interactomics are a few more. If you don't really know what they mean, it's time to find out. There has to be a first time, right.

Tagged Technology, Emerging

Fuck You

Tagged Fuck You

The World in 2050

This is how the world would look like in the year 2050, according to Worldmapper

By 2050 it is estimated that the earth's human population will be 9.07 billion. 62% of the people will live in Africa, Southern Asia and Eastern Asia – numerically this is the same as if all the world's current population lived just in these regions. In addition another 3000,000,000,000 will be spread accross the rest of the world.

Tagged World, 2050

What’s in the newspapers

CNN reports that the Sexiest woman in the world is Scarlett Johannson. This always makes me wonder that why does the world's sexiest woman always work in Hollywood?

The Sensex hits yet another peak.

Infosys is planning to hire more people. Well their strength would touch 70k after they do that. I just hope they don't start asking for a seperate state.

Finally, a 60-year old drunkard Kills himself over meatless dinner. Odd eh.. Drinking destroys people. Take my advice, stay away from it.

Tagged News, Sexiest Woman, Sensex, Infosys, Alcohol

Getting the most out of your job #2

I had been talking about getting the most out of your software job, a few days ago. It turns out that the bloggers at The Man Blog have been at it for a while.

Check out this, this and this.

Tagged Laziness, Office

The Dilbert Blog

It had been a while since I'd gone there, so I paid a visit to Dilbert's Scott Adams Blog today. He has an uncanny abitility of coming up with interesting posts very frequently. This one was really, I mean really, inspiring. It's about James Blake, the tennis player.

Anyways, pretty close to that post, there are two more, which I found to be quite interesting. The first one is called "Are Men Just Defective Women?". Mr Scott and his commentators have the following:

I’ve noticed that men generally believe they are “different” from women, whereas women generally believe men are “defective” women.

And after some discussion with himself, he concludes, "If you’re male you have to do a lot of internal editing before you let anything fly out of your mouth."

The point of giving flowers to someone is that they will die – they are a symbol of the impermanent nature of all things (including your relationship)

t's commonly known that almost always in the developmental history of a language, the first two colors to be named are black and red.

Do read it sometime.
(link: Dilbert Blog)
Other links: here and here.

The third post, is titled, "Victim or Lucky Bastard?". Now this one is about the hot blonde 25-year old female teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year old student? Apparently they did it in an SUV, in the classroom, and in her home. About this Mr Scott says, "I have a hard time feeling sorry for the kid, since he’s the victim of my biggest fantasy at that age.". The post lies here.

Tagged Dilbert Blog

IntErEstIng pOsts

This is a funny puzzle from Athens, and with a simple answer none-the-less. From the economist having a good time.

This is quite funny too. What would I give to hear stories like that everyday. Great Blog. I bet he never reads all of the comments. (He's got to keep up with his job too)

I don't usually read this guy much, but this is as straight-forward as it can get.

Tagged Favourites

Online Desktop

Netvibes has lauched a sevice, which is very close to being a virtual desktop.

This is your personalized page, you can now modify everything: move modules, add new RSS/ATOM feeds, change the parameters for each module, etc. Your modifications are saved in real-time and you'll find your page when you get back on Netvibes.com. If you want to be able to access your page from any computer, you can sign in (at the top right) with your email and a password.

Not only that, they've given you a 1GB space, where you can upload mp3 too. Now that's what I like.

You can check out their blog here.

Tagged Technology, Netvibes

AIDS Matrimonials

I had gone to Somwar Peth this weekend, to get my bike patched up. Things have not been going well with it recently, so I took some time out, watched Being Cyrus, and then went to my mechanic. On the way back, I stopped over to get smokes. Right next to the shop, there was a street light and it had an advertisement.

The advertisement was for people suffering with AIDS, and it said, that if you're suffering from AIDS, and you want to get married, please give us a call, we'd find somebody for you.

Now, I wasn't drunk or anything, but I still read it again and again. But it always said the same thing. (I was hoping I had read something wrong).
I am planning to get their number the next time I go that side, and give them a call to tell me what it is all about. I can't figure out where they'd get the spouses from, but these guys sure did find out a new market segment.

While I am on AIDS, there is a film festival going on HIV/AIDS in Chennai. Take a look here.

Tagged AIDS, Matrimonials

Travelling Festival of South Asia 2006

The Event

TFSA is a tradition that began with the first Film South Asia festival, held in September 1997, after which 15 outstanding films chosen from those amongst the festival, travelled to 40 venues. The second TFSA, subsequent to FSA '99, traveled to more than 45 venues. Following on FSA 2001, the third TFSA, went to 48 venues and TFSA ’04 with a selection from the fourth edition of the festival went to 51 venues.

The FSA Secretariat encourages organisers and film enthusiasts in towns and cities large and small – all over – to consider hosting TFSA and bringing a taste of this at-once diverse and unifying package of documentaries to audience in South Asia and in the world.

In TFSA, the films travel all over South Asia and the world, giving audiences far removed from each other an opportunity to sample an exciting range of topics and themes, presentation styles and techniques. TFSA ’06 would travel to many more cities and venues within the countries of South Asia, helping generate understanding and empathy among ourselves. At the same time, it will also provide the critical context required for others to understand us.

The 15 films that are part of this travelling collection were chosen from those screened at FSA ’05 with the help of the festival’s three-member jury, chaired by the Bangladeshi filmmaker Tareque Masud. They include four of the award winners at FSA ’05.

Hosting TFSA

The TFSA package comes with the 15 films in professional-quality Mini-DV tapes (or VHS cassettes or DVDs), TFSA posters, festival catalogues and display material. It is recommended that the TFSA be shown through high-quality video projection systems. The 15 films vary significantly in length and may ideally be screened over three consecutive afternoons-evenings, though a more flexible schedule may certainly be considered. Cumulatively, the 15 documentaries constitute approximately 15 hours of viewing time.

Please note that the festival will only travel to cities where host organisations are willing to take full responsibility for publicity, screenings and all associated logistics. As per FSA's agreement with the individual filmmakers and production houses, the screenings may only be non-commercial. This means that entry fees at TFSA may at best be used to offset screening costs, and nothing more.

The organisers are also asked to display a poster of Himal South Asian magazine, which was co-organiser of FSA ’05 at a prominent spot and make available the magazine subscription slips provided.

Costs

There is no charge levied on hosts and venues within South Asia. Beyond the region, an all-inclusive charge of USD 700 per venue is levied by the FSA Secretariat in order to defray all TFSA-related costs (anything left over will go to the organisation of FSA’07, to be held in September 2007). The local host (whether in South Asia or overseas) takes the responsibility of dispatching the set of films to the next venue as directed by the FSA Secretariat.

Budget allowing, the TFSA host may want to invite the individual filmmakers to their venue. While it is not obligatory, the host may also consider inviting an FSA official from Kathmandu, who will be able to introduce the festival before the local audience and in doing so promote the agenda of non-fiction film in South Asia. Any host seeking the presence of an FSA official will have to pick up the related cost of travel and stay.

More Information

For more details about Traveling Film South Asia, including travel schedule, please contact Film South Asia, assistant director, Upasana Shrestha at fax + 977-1-5541196 or email fsa@himalassociation.org

Further information on Film South Asia ’05, including full listing, jury report, press releases, etc, is available at website http://www.himalassociation.org/fsa.

Film South Asia
Himal Association
PO Box 166
Patan Dhoka
Lalitpur
Nepal
Tel: 977-1-5542544

List of Films

A Certain Liberation (38 min)
Bangladesh, 2003, Directed by Yasmine Kabir
Winner of the Second Best Film Award at FSA ‘05

The City Beautiful (78 min)
Delhi/India, 2003, Directed by Rahul Roy

City of Photos (60 min)
India, 2005 Directed by Nistha Jain
Special Commendation at FSA ’05

Continuous Journey (87 min)
India/Canada, 2004, Directed by Ali Kazmi
Winner of the Ram Bahadur Trophy for Best Film at FSA ’05

Dirty Laundry (42 min)
South Africa, 2005, Directed by Sanjeev Chaterjee

Final Solution (149 min)
Gujarat/India, 2004, Directed by Rakesh Sharma
Winner of Special Jury Award at FSA ’05

Girl Song (29 min)
West Bengal/India, 2003, Directed by Vasudha Joshi

Good News (17 min)
Assam/India, 2005, Directed by Altaf Mazid

The Great Indian School Show (53 min)
Maharastra/India, 2005, Directed by Avinash Deshpande

Lanka: The Other Side of War and Peace (75 min)
Sri Lanka, 2005, Directecd by Iffat Fatima

The Legend of Fat Mama (23 min)
West Bengal/India, 2005, Directed by Rafeeq Ellias

The Life and Times of a Lady from Avadh: Hima (135 min)
Pakistan, 2005, Directed by Shireen Pasha

Sunset Bollywood (54 min)
India, 2005, Directed by Komal Tolani

Team Nepal (37 min)
Nepal, 2005, Directed by Girish Giri

Teardrops of Karnaphuli (60 min)
Bangladesh, 2005, Directed by Tanvir Mokammel

Tagged Movies, Film Festival, TFSA

Does web search really work?

Sometimes I really doubt if web search really works or not. Like for example, I cannot figure out, why on earth would they reach this blog if they wanted to know:

1. what to say on my son special day on his wedding day
2. cHIENESE FLOWERS
3. getting high on rush and pot
4. "satyajit ray""wills navy cut"
5. saggitarians commit suicide

Tagged Search

Excuse

Wife to husband "What's your excuse for coming home at this time of the night?"
Husband to wife "Golfing with friends, my dear."
Wife to husband "What? at 2 AM?"
Husband to wife "Yes, We used night clubs."

(From Here)

Humour

Behavioral economics

I recently read an article on the Harvard Journal, called The Marketplace Of Perceptions. The author, Craig Lambert, has written a very interesting essay on Behavourial Economics. Rather, it is an effort to try to explain the issues which cannot be explained by traditional economics.

The rational model only approximates human cognition—“just as Newtonian physics is an approximation to Einstein’s physics,” Laibson explains. “Although there are differences, when walking along the surface of this planet, you’ll never encounter them. If I want to build a bridge, pass a car, or hit a baseball, Newtonian physics will suffice. But the psychologists said, ‘No, it’s not sufficient, we’re not just playing around at the margins, making small change. There are big behavioral regularities that include things like imperfect self-control and social preferences, as opposed to pure selfishness. We care about people outside our families and give up resources to help them—those affected by Hurricane Katrina, for example.”

“When the same thing sells at two different prices in different markets, forces of arbitrage and rationality are necessarily limited,” Shleifer says. “The forces of irrationality are likely to have a big impact on prices, even on a long-term basis. This is a theoretical attack on the central conventional premise.”

Behavioral economics, which can be used to explain the unanswered phenomenon, is the hybrid offspring of economics and psychology. It tries to explain why we want chocolate, cigarettes, and a trashy movie now, but in the future, we want to eat fruit, to quit smoking, and to watch Bergman films.

Further he talks about 'prescriptive economics', which aims not only to describe the world but to change it, then about pre-commitments, its fallacies and how to make it work. He goes the full circle from an African woman's cahbox to SEED from Phillipines to Social Security privatization. He explains how framing the questions has a much greater effect on the eventual choice than is expected by traditional economics, on how a woman's photograph on the application form turns out to be as important as a drop in the intrest rate by five points.

Eventually, he uses the logic contained in the complete write up to find reasons for the supply of hatred amongst men and about persuation, about why "George W. Bush wearing a $3,000 cowboy hat was not a problem, because it matched his image, but John Kerry riding a $6,000 bicycle was a problem, which was that luxury item appeared hypocritical for a candidate claiming to side with the downtrodden." Or Cognitive Persuation, as Andrei Shleifer calls it.

A beautiful essay, and interesting even for us non-economists.

Tagged Behavioral Economics

Smrutira Odisha 2006

Smrutira Odisha 2006, the event which was started in Bhubaneswar in last Utkal Divas (1st April) at Ekamra Haat in Bhubaneswar, is now just eight days away.

They have been trying to provide, to think of something different to educate the younger generation to understand what Orissa was.

It took a lot of hands to organise the event. It is almost impossible, but they have still managed to organize, to raise money, to plan, to coordinate the event, and they have been doing a great job of it.

Last year, Tirtha says, "The experience was exciting and very much encouraging to see people from all walks of life enjoying the event.Believe us, we never had so much response.We'll try to do everything possible to make this year's Smrutira Odisha-2006 a memorable."

In additian they say, there will be songs, dance, magic, comedy etc. and many more in between to keep the audince fresh.

The Details

Smrutira Odisha-2006
Date: 1st April,2006(Saturday)Utkal Divas
Place:Amphi Theatre,Ekamra Haat,Exhibition Ground,Unit-III,Bhubaneswar
Time:5.30-10.00 PM

If you are interested, please contact in the follwing persons for further details.

Tirtha at 94373-59745
Prakash at 94371-24014
Centre for Resource Management,Bhubaneswar.
655(P),Nayapalli,Bhubaneswar-751012,Orissa

Tagged Smrutira Odisha, 2006, Orrisa