The Prestidigitator

Incredibly disturbing but relevant piece by Johann Hari.

And then he smiles, coming up with what he sees as his killer argument. “When I see Western journalists criticise us – don’t you realise you’re shooting yourself in the foot? The Middle East will be far more dangerous if Dubai fails. Our export isn’t oil, it’s hope. Poor Egyptians or Libyans or Iranians grow up saying – I want to go to Dubai. We’re very important to the region. We are showing how to be a modern Muslim country. We don’t have any fundamentalists here. Europeans shouldn’t gloat at our demise. You should be very worried…. Do you know what will happen if this model fails? Dubai will go down the Iranian path, the Islamist path.”

Very often, we tend to ignore the correlation between economics and religion.

I realize that The Daily Show is no place to get my news from but Peter Schiff, who was on recently thinks that the worst is yet to come. Maybe, somebody should listen to him seeing that he was pretty much spot on about the current shitstorm as far back as 2006. To top it off, he thinks the bailouts are a huge mistake and that the “fundamentals” really aren’t all that strong.

“The credit crunch is part of the solution. The problem was all the reckless credit that preceded it. You know, when Barack Obama says that credit is the life blood of the economy — he’s talking about consumer credit — it’s not the life blood – it’s the cancer.”

“Massive inflation — which is what we’re gonna get – we’re just gonna destroy the value of our money.”

Such comfort.

[Read more here.]

A couple of hours back, I had the chance to play around with the Lego Mindstorms NXT Robot (Alpha Rex) and was blown away by what I saw. I vaguely remember a toy I had as a kid; a robot that had a button on it’s head and made noises when pressed. That was close to 20 years back and boy, how times have changed!

The central part of the kit (also sold separately) is the NXT Intelligent Brick that houses a 32 Bit ARM7 processor, an 8 bit Atmel AVR microcontroller, 4 input ports, 3 output ports and an LCD display. The beauty of the kit is the fact that you can fiddle around with an umpteen number of accessories and build a number of little robotic contraptions. Programming isn’t too difficult either; basic programs can be written directly using the menu on the brick and more complex ones can be downloaded using the USB port. I was told that you could also do it from your mobile phone thanks to Bluetooth connectivity.

The bundled programming software, NXT-G v1.0 allows the user to write a number of simple programs like performing calculations, working servo motors and programming light and sound sensors. The kit comes with 3 identical servo motors and 4 different input sensors; touch, sound, light and ultrasonic. While the majority of us got to play around with Lego blocks as kids, today’s thumb suckers get to fiddle around with exponentially cooler stuff. Pangs of envy are unavoidable.

I’m seriously considering shelling out 379$ to get the Alpha Rex robot. The kid in me has been outed and you can’t coax him back in.

http://mindstorms.lego.com/

Videos of the uber cool NXT in action: 1, 2, 3

Recently, I happened to attend one of those social situations where a lot of Non Resident Indians (mostly students) gather to feign love for their country, speak in put on Australian accents and dress up in clothes one just can’t wear on the street in Melbourne. As if jumping to loud thumping Bhangra music wasn’t bad enough, I was forced to sit through what I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life as one of the most torturous experiences ever. They screened Dhoom 2 to a cheering audience of around 500 proud Indian youth.

Now, before I’m misunderstood as one of those guys who go around trashing Indian films, let me state that I love Cinema; no matter what language. They don’t have to be realistic or art house films. They don’t have to be entirely believable. I am all for suspension of disbelief and such stuff and I totally understand what popcorn/time pass enetertainment means.

This is not that.

Dhoom 2 is an assault on the intelligence of the average Indian. The director assumes that no matter how non existent the plot, no matter how plastic the characters, no matter how inane the dialogues, the average Indian would be won over by the sheer loudness of the film. The film is so over the top that it gets beyond bad after the first five minutes. The melodrama is cringe inducing and the characters border on plain idiocy. Women seem happy wearing shockingly less and being treated like nothing more than eye candy and the men (who morally and ethically ambiguous as they are) have even less personality than the Transformers.

What boggles my mind is that in spite of the pile of crap that is Dhoom 2, it did amazingly good business and won numerous awards(!!!). Makes you wonder where the country is headed.

I urge you to see the film however. Some things have to be seen to be believed.

Anybody could use a little extra money. That’s what this friend said when he came up to me with a proposal regarding Amway. I’d heard a lot about it (mostly just allegations of it being a cult, blah blah) and I had assumed it to be just a glorified pyramid scheme. So I sat and listened to whatever he had to say about it for over an hour. Apparently, they don’t call it a pyramid scheme anymore; it’s called Multi Level Marketing (sic) ! Anyway, I was skeptical from the start and ended up asking a lot of questions and at the end of it all, I was still left unconvinced. Is it that easy to make so much money by doing nothing? Do people really make money off it? How come so many (really) educated people buy into this?

I began digging (it’s not THAT hard with Google).

Amway, set up in 1959 made over $6.5 Billion in 2005 from selling it’s various products (detergents, utensils etc…) and over the years have made the founders; Devos and Van Andel clans billionaires. They use something called a Distributed Marketing System which is nothing more than a pyramid scheme really where people at the top actually earn money and the ones at the bottom mostly dream of getting to the top.

Historically, many Amway distributors in the United States have lost money or barely made minimum wage for their time.

        Source: International Business Times

You’re really NOT expected to do anything; you just buy the starter kit which does cost a good amount of money and incidentally, Amway makes most of it’s profits from the sale of these starter kits rather than their so called “100% Reliable Products”. Then you hawk around these products with the hope that you add enough members/sell enough products to join the elite few (Diamonds, Emeralds etc…) who make money.

But it looks like the “little fish” “downline” in Amway have little hope of joining the elite and “miniscule…percentage” that make it really big.

One former Amway distributor recently said, “I lost all I had, great job, my financial future, my wife, children, and soul.”

         Source: International Business Times

What is striking of course is that through their various ‘meetings’, Amway has convinced it’s investors that they are actually doing a good thing; financially and morally. These so called meeting have also been accused of functioning like a cult of sorts.

When I told the friend that I needed to do a little reading before I committed to anything, he asked me to NOT go by whatever I find on the net but to simply look up the Forbes List. I do agree that somebody makes money off of all this, but it’s certainly not the ones so down in the chain.

Moreover, Amway’s business model has been declared ‘illegal’ in India and I have a feeling that the 80,000 investors with dollar dreams are in for a bumpy ride!

For further reading:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway
• http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/20061213/amway-mlm-business-model.htm
• http://wizardkitten.blogspot.com/2006/07/alticoramway-leaders-cheated-investors.html
• http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Amway-124124-1.html

I came across this site, Global Richlist and was ‘pleasantly‘ surprised to find that, inspite of my pathetic and meagre earnigs I’m actually the 850,643,176 th richest person on the planet.

Apparently, I’m in the top 14.17%…in terms of annual income.

Sigh…just hope all this new found wealth doesn’t go to my head! Not! 

Remember Lester Burnham? Remember how he freed himself from the shackles of corporate and marital slavery? (Yes I said marital slavery) Remember how he lived? Remember how he died?

Sometimes I think I want to be more like that. I want to be the kind of guy who can afford to quit his job and just start living; But then there’s a reason why Lester Burnham was a character in a film. Life is rarely like it is on celluloid.

I’ve always prided myself for not being politically affiliated to any group or idea. I liked being free from that sort of thing but lately I’ve been told that I may have anarchist tendencies. If you think about it, it makes sense. I’ve always liked books that depicted dystopian societies ruled by authoritarian governments (1984, Brave New World). I sort of believe in moral absolutism and vigilantism (Batman) to an extent. To top it off, I detest Capitalism in all it’s forms and I hate the idea of being enslaved to corporate culture. So why is it that an anti establishment guy like me works at an MNC? I like the damn money! If only money wasn’t as important as it seemingly is, we could all just do what we wanted to. Yes, youthful delusions.

I had visited Delhi (my brother’s abode) over the last week and I have to admit that it’s an amazing place. It’s difficult NOT to fall in love with a place that is such a perfect combination of tradition and modernity. But what’s sure to keep mouths open is the brilliant Metro system. You actually wonder why other states don’t come up with something as sophisticated and aesthetic as the Delhi Metro.

I purchased the graphic novel version of The Fountain. It did cost me an arm and a leg (I’ve been meaning to use that phrase for a while now) but the art work was just too awesome to resist. It also gives insight into what Aronofsky really wanted the film to be like too.

Meanwhile Hollywood seems to be conspiring to destroy every childhood memory of mine (and others who grew up in the late 80s, 90s) by coming up with new and crappy versions of such classics as Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mind you, I’m still going to watch them!

12.24 am. I should be in bed.

Listening to It Ain’t Me Babe by Bob Dylan

Work is driving me nuts.

One thing about working in a huge firm is that you tend to feel insignificant most/all of the time. There seems to be no meaning in anything you do…no greater good. You walk around like a zombie all day and do whatever you’re told without thinking twice about it.

I’m not even a year into corporate life and I’ve already started cribbing. What if this is what I’ll do for the rest of my life? They don’t pay me enough either…considering I’m nothing short of a corporate whore.

Anyway, I’ll be travelling to Delhi tomorrow and that’s the only thing that keeps me going right now. I seriously need this break!

On another, more optimistic note, Zack Snyder (of 300 fame) is attached to adapt Watchmen for the screen. I would have been skeptical had it not been for the amazing previews for 300 I’ve seen. There is even a frame in one of the extended trailers where Rorschach appears; sort of an easter egg to whet fanboy apetites.

For your viewing pleasure:  

The Postal Service is a brilliant Electronic Indie Pop band, well worth a listen. Their song, Such Great Heights was covered by Iron and Wine for the Garden State OST. Right now, it’s the soundtrack to my life…

The Postal Service (link:http://www.undertheradarmag.com/issue4/postalservice.html)

Way too many links…all hail Wikipedia!

Disclaimer: Pointless rant follows…Inspired by a conversation with relatives who think I earn truck loads of money. 

The man who said “I’d rather be lucky than good” saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how a great part of life is dependent on luck. It’s scary to think so much is out of one’s control. There are moments in a tennis match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn’t and you lose.

                                                     -Match Point (2005)

For a long while, I believed that we were responsible for everything that happened to us. Good or Bad. I liked the the idea that we were in control. The concept of free will was so alluring simply because it asserted that we could do whatever we wanted to.

The last few months have turned all those ideas upside down. Everything is so random that no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, no matter how determined we are, the possibility of failure/loss can never be ruled out.  Luck plays a huge role, especially in the Software Industry as I’m sure many will agree. Luck. The devout refer to it as fate, purpose, destiny or providence but it’s difficult to see a divine hand behind everything that happens to a person.

The Indian Software Industry, if you’ve noticed is on a recruiting spree. Every other engineering graduate is being hired to add to the already humongous workforce. The Tier 1 companies alone have close to 4.5 lac employees. Now with such a workforce, I’ve wondered how they turn up huge profits.

That’s where wealth creation and cost cutting come into action. An employee working offshore is billed at say, 35$ an hour. Mind you, that’s the billing rate for an entry level professional. A 10 hour day would guarantee him/her 350$, roughly 15,400 INR! Amazingly that’s what he/she gets paid in a month. Implies the company makes a net profit of around 3,23,400 INR per employee!

Now, once somebody is employed, he/she after undergoing a sorry execuse for training has to ‘wait’ till a project specific to his/her ‘skillset’ arrives. I’ve seen friends lose their minds because of this ‘wait’. People with huge potential and intelligence are forced to while away time (sometimes up to 10 months) with no productive output whatsoever to speak of. Meanwhile, a few get randomly selected from a ‘talent pool’ (in some companies, this pool has over 4000 ‘human resources’!). This is where luck comes in to play. People are asked to learn and un-learn new technologies and are seldom/never given a chance to pursue their interests. Everybody finally ends up in a mad scramble to either get married OR go onsite. The entire process is absurd.

So why inspite of all this, does every other jackass in the country want to be part of the Software Engineer brigade? Is the pay that good? No. Is it the glamour? No. Is it the satisfaction? No.

Delusions, Mr. Anderson. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existense that is without meaning or purpose!All of it as artificial as the Matr…nevermind.

Listening to I’m Only Happy When It Rains by Garbage

Disclaimer: The following rant has nothing to do with Adam Sandler. 

When I got into college, I thought that 4 years in a place like that would turn me into one of those intellectual slackers. The kind that you see in movies. The ones who have long hair, a perpetually unshaven look, smoke a LOT of weed and wax eloquently on topics ranging from philosophy to conspiracies. I wanted to be the guy who would laugh at the ones who wanted to get a job and get married and fall into routine. Deep down, I really wanted to be that guy.

Four years later,  I’ve realised that I have a receding hairline, it gets itchy when I don’t shave and I can’t be around smoke of any kind (cigarettes, fires and ancient smoke signals).

Here I am, actually worrying about things I thought I never would. There was a time when I used to be just plain confused.I miss being confused. I miss being able to look forward to things in life.

Where is my career going?Have I made the right decisions? Are the chances I’ve taken going to pay off? Will I be able to take that Post Grad course? Will the sequel to Batman Begins be as good?When will I get settled in life? Do I want to get settled in life? What the hell is ’settled’?

All that aside, I’m finally off Business Wait/Bench and into a unit that I think I may actually like.  Only time will tell.

Listening to  Prophecy by Remy Zero 

From the light on high,
a chance to change your fate.
Forgiveness falling down
on those who chose to wait.