Friday, September 28, 2007

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Lap -Top- Dance

Full disclosure: I too have only a laptop at home. However, it was bought when we were living in the US, to make full space utilization and since we were to move, it didn't make sense to ship a desktop computer with all our documents.

Is buying a laptop in the US cheaper than buying a desktop in India?(based simply on exchange rate conversions)

Lot many people I know who have gone to the US, have bought laptops for personal use while they have been there. I too have been asked to do a favour and buy a laptop on my trips, with promises or reimbursement. In most cases, they really don't need to work from home. Nor do they have much of a travelling job. The use of the laptop is for precisely three things.

1. Word / Excel documents
2. Downloading pictures from digital cameras
3. Internet / email.

Now the first two are not so important in most cases, but the third one is the most important one in this. The freedom to take your email with you is amazing. But there's a slight hitch. Wireless technology is not so prominent in India yet. You normally do not get Wireless at home, simply because PPPoE doesn't allow you without logging in. Nor do Barista / Cafe Coffee Day / Vaishali have wireless capability to be able to surf the net while having coffee. So in most cases, I imagine, you'd have a table on which a laptop resides. You can't move it around, since the internet comes through a cable, which unfortunately cannot move around.

So why a laptop from the US, when I imagine a much superior performing desktop machine can be bought in India, with Indian suppliers who help service it if something goes wrong, with better machine specs that can make your Internet experience more fulfilling?

Esteem Value is my answer. The 21st century version of "Neighbour's envy, Owner's pride". What's yours?

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Things I think I think

-- (For readers in the US only) I am going to be in the US starting Oct. 3 (next week) for about a month. I apologize in advance for not making it to your place. It's not that I don't want to come. I just don't want to promise. Think of it like all your friends in Hyderabad who insist you come over when you are visiting, but you are in Jaipur. Promises made have to be kept, and since I don't know my schedule as such, it might be a problem keeping to promises. I shall definitely catch up over the phone.

-- Twenty20 cricket is mindless entertainment. Cricket's answer to the NFL. Designed for the Sunday afternoon family entertainment. You will watch it and forget it in a few hours. No brooding allowed. If cricket has a chance to enter the American mindset, this one is it. You can sell it like baseball without the gloves, and see it run.

-- That said, I am not too sure the whole thing will succeed in traditionally cricket watching countries. What I see happening is something like rugby, where you play Twenty20 for club, and test matches for country. One day internationals would probably be a thing of the past in the next few years. It's already starting, with a Champions League proposed for next year. One change I would like to see is replacing the bowlers with a bowling machine, which randomly throws balls in any sequence. The bowlers are getting thrashed anyway. Why insult their self esteem?

-- Saw an interesting movie yesterday. Manorama Six Feet Under. Surprisingly good movie. Not as good as Seher, which is my most favourite "pleasant surprise" but quite close. Based loosely on Chinatown, could be a drab for some people, but not all.

-- Mr. Vase, if you like a post, you should comment on the blog. Emailing me is fine, but try to comment, so that I know how many people actually read stuff.

-- BTW, Mr. Vase is organizing a biomedical competition for engineering students to be held at IIT-B in the first week of January, 2008. Those interested should contact me, and I shall put you through to the Man.

-- All else is well in the world. Saturday, laziness, cricket at night.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Amchis Rock..

They tend to talk a lot, but I guess they have something for showbiz

Money quote:
Guru Dutt and Deepika are not the only movie personalities the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin community have produced -- there is Guru Dutt's illustrious first cousin Shyam Benegal, who just won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, playwright and actor Girish Karnad, editor Guru Dutt Shirali, composer Bhaskar Chandavarkar, actress Leena Chandavarkar, actor Anant Nag and his late actor-director brother Shankar Nag, Guru Dutt's niece director Kalpana Lajmi, actress Isha Koppikar among others.


What's even more interesting is the list of comments going on below the article.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Have not written anything for a while.

Really, there's been nothing to write about right now. There is. But not right now!

Do check back in a few weeks