There's Nothing We Can Do But Keep On Learning

I frequent the TV very rarely due to the dearth of quality channels thanks to the introduction of the Conditional Access System in 2003. Yea, 5 years and hardly any TV.. the number of blogs over here proves the point too doesn't it? But anyway, late one night I decided to test my tolerance to boredom and switched on the TV.




Randomly I found this --->




Lok Sabha TV. They were doing a documentary on Quacks in the country, and it was actually pretty damn good. They were exposing Quacks, Police Officers and even various 'Quack-crack-down' dept heads. With practical advice on how to identify Quacks and test if the medicines they prescribeare genuine or fake, it was a really brilliant documentary- something all people even remotely Indian ought to know. For once I learnt something.



And then there was this--->






The Big Brother of all Indian News Channels. They were doing a story about a poor innocent girl's murder (i.e Arushi) followed by what Madonna had to say about some random paparazzi...

News I can use?? Hell No!!

Oh, n hiring hot chicks as newscasters to increase TRP's of a channel.. good idea btw :|

1,2,3 Click

3 seconds, yes that's how long it takes the average human to decide whether they want to read a piece of literature or not. When you look at a piece of writing, like this blog entry for example, what did you first see? I guess it would be the picture of the lazy cat that has put down its book for the sake of lazing/sleeping/watching TV or god knows what. Now that must've taken you about 1.5 seconds to process. So I got 1.5 more seconds to make you commit the next few minutes to read the article. Well, that's where the layout and colour combo of the entry and blog come into play really. The nature of the background ought to hopefully cut down the remaining time by 0.5 seconds, so I got 1 more second to convince you. And for that, I have the entry itself. Damn, I couldn't beat you.. damn.. but if you are reading this.. guess I did!!!

Madness

The light called out to me
From the deepest of pits, unable to climb out
For where logic and reason gave in
There is but an allegory

Of no known cause, and of an unknown future
the coldness descends all around
And in the mind the lights that dance
they dance only to torment

The endless loop that ceases in sleep
Only to be replaced by another
Like the stormy seas that rock the mind
A perfection that can only be

In mortal failure does the soul lie
lying its way to sleep
The ground beneath gives way
Where time's own laughter is no longer heard
Into the abyss the consciousness leaps

Again, and again
and again

Oil vs Rice

Most families tend to undercount the number of members in it. Always add a '+1' or '+2' to the count. Yea, you really got to include the vehicle that a family owns. Apart from the fact that it does not talk, it really does behave like a family member (or at least a pet, but again those are considered to be family members too unless you call a fish(s) a pet and the trail of thought doesn't hold true.. but then again, there are exceptions.....) really, it eats (oil), falls sick(hence visits to the mechanic), gets cranky if ignored (refuses to start when you really want it to), breathes (yea air, combustion requires O2!) and also repro... what the hell .. this isn't what the entry is supposed to be about anyway......

Here's how it was originally supposed to be:

I have for some time been aware that many companies tend to 'google' prospective employees and look into their social networking profiles and blogs to see if the person they plan on recruiting is officially a psycho or not. They also want an impression as to whether the candidate is serious about the subject or not. Thus, on further investigation I have grown to discover a community of fakers who seem to have loads of 'fun' posting technical articles on their blog to impress their respective employers.............

But I actually have fun thinking about such stuff. Yes economics rox... what the hell .. this isn't what the entry is supposed to be about anyway......

Here's how it was really originally supposed to be:

Oil - The black gold that is suffocating the world today, because some countries (under the expert advice of powerful companies such as Goldman Sach's and others) are investing in oil futures because they are supposedly paranoid about future oil prices although in late '07 and v.early '08 supply >> demand.

Oil futures are basically deals between participatory entities that in the 'future' a seller of oil would sell a certain amount to oil to the buyer at an agreed price IRRESPECTIVE of the prevailing price at the time of exercising of the futures contract. This usually happens when there is a lack of confidence in the ability to predict prices of commodities in the futures. Can't explain more over here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futures_contract

Oh, btw this isn't what the entry is supposed to be about anyway...... nah just kidding......

Anyway, excess speculation in these futures market caused demand >> supply of oil. This pushed oil prices upward as the oil producers can demand more prices for the increasingly scarcer commodity.. Oil. Now, what did the Indian govt do to counter the rising prices? It allowed oil companies to purchase oil from the international markets at the prevailing rate and sell it to the end buyer (ie you and me). But before that the govt gave subsidies, so that the end buyer (ie you and me) would be able to afford the high priced oil. (The govt did provide for the subsidy using yours and my tax money, so technically we ARE pauying the real price, but thats a question for later..).

Now lets take a look at

RICE

What did the govt do when rice prices all over the world soared?? They freakin banned exports!!! They forced the farmers to sell rice to the govt at rates less than the international prices and gave to the end user (ie you and me) at a lower rate. But who is the end loser here... its the poor farmers!! The so called 'aam admi' that politicians so favour....

Why not carry over the same policy as with oil into the agricultural sector??

If farmers are allowed to export the rice, the domestic players would have to compete with international bidders for Indian rice. This would push prices in the domestic market upwards due to which the govt have to step and subsidize the rice by buying from the farmer and providing to the common man(ie you and me) at subsidized rates. (Finally a way for farmers to become rich as they receive international rates for their produce, but that's not what the govt wants is it? For them it is in their interest to keep the vote bank poor so that they can continue with their fake promises!!).

The losers of the current agricultural policy are the farmers. The real gainers of the current policy on oil are the oil companies and other foreign investors.

Lol @ democracy

Btw, there are many other angles from which the problem can be looked to give an almost contradictory view, but in economics the truth can never be ascertained with a 100% accuracy can it? Do you see the newspapers/news channels successfully predict market crashes???

Wateva, my first semi technical entry.. Yay!!

Hola!!

Hi there... whaddup!??

I Will Follow

I was on the outside

You said you needed me
I was looking at myself
I was blind, I could not see

If you walk away
I will follow
If you walk away
If you walk away
I will follow

FAVICON!!

Look up!!! Up there.. where you type the URL dumass!!!
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2008 \m/

U2's new album in October











Metallica's Death Magnetic in September





Keane's new album in September








Oasis's Dig Out Your Soul come October 6th








Coldplay's Viva La Vida released this June









Thermal And A Quarter's This Is It released this summer

2008 sure is \m/

The Honk and The Yawn

A Honk is one of the most common sounds a city-dweller gets to hear. Especially if you live at the junction of many roads, the honks coming in from various directions seem to almost behave like a music instrument with 4.0 surround sounds. Ok, that was an exaggeration, but there was this 1 advertisement where auto drivers create music just by honking, or was that some movie? Blah

Anyway

The honk....

The thing is, honking behaves a lot like yawning, especially at signals when there is a HUGE line of traffic, the light just turns green and the big-ass truck blocking every one's way refuses to budge. A simple lil honk from the last vehicle in line becomes a deluge of honk's from every other vehicle waiting in line!! Its not that the poor truck wants to not move. Whats the point in honking anyway?

Common points between the 2

1. Both are contagious

2. Both arrive out of a sense of desperation (Yawning:Sleep :: Honking:"Get the f*** outta my way)

3. Both are extremely addictive, you do it once and u'll want to do it again n again for that session at least

4. Both are evil and annoying

Anyway

The yawn...

P.S. I found this when I googled 'You'.. muhahahahahahahahahaha!!

The Peasant

Meet the peasant a.k.a the common man....

He looks smart doesn't he? N also kinda cute (in a cartoony sense of course) But you could say he also seems a bit nitwitty. Someone for whom ignorance is bliss, or is it??

The peasant worked hard, very hard indeed. He did as he was told and in time told others what to do as well. He carried out his responsibilities well, took care of those around him, paid his taxes and drank tea.

But somewhere along the way, the common man became intelligent. He realized how to play the game, how to beat his competitors as well as his bosses. He learnt how to make easy money, for people made money of him. He discovered that the world isn't a fair place and that rules were meant to be broken and he too had become smart enough to break them. He had the knowledge and the tools to become the God of his own life.


But the common man faltered. The peasant in him was strong, strong indeed. He also knew that there lay great happiness in the simple. A life with his family, friends and relatives. A life of daily prayer of movies and smiles. One of enjoying the simple things in everyday life like the visits of relatives, of playing with his kids and of eating out in his favourite diner. It would be a good life indeed. One of contentment, peace and joy. One of ignorance and failure, one of relative poverty and ogling at the fancy cars that paced the streets. One of wondering what the all the rich and interesting people did in those huge mansions of theirs. One of being unknowingly exploited and never realizing one's true potential. One of paying his taxes and drinking tea.


But before he can decide who he really is.. its always too late.....