November 2004
Monday, November 29, 2004
Things even grad students should be thankful for
Thursday, November 18, 2004
What would you be doing?
An interesting thing just happened... I was playing the open beta of World of Warcraft, and they announced that the beta was now over, servers would be shutting down, all characters will be wiped out. The game opens for real on Nov. 23, but I won't be playing... too addictive..
In any case, I was trying to figure out what I would do in the last few minutes... I was almost at level 13, had just learned to make some potions... So I ran around for a bit, killing stuff, increasing xp, gathering herbs, creating potions... then it hit me... I should be fishing! So for the last three minutes, I stood by a stream and fished...
If the world were to end, I'll probably be reading a book in the last moments.. unless it's a spectacular end.. in which case I would make sure I see it. After all, there will never again be anything like it! :)
Investing, Value Investing
The question of money has been hanging over my head for the past couple of years... Thorough Rich Dad Poor Dad, Real estate investing, and other stuff, I'm at a stage currently where I get significant number of email newsletters regarding money and all sorts of stuff to do with it...
Value investing in particular has caught my eye for the past few months. I've been reading Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders quasi-regularly, and there's more on my reading list that I hope to get to soon. In the past couple of days, I also saw a couple of articles about a man who might be the next Warren Buffett.
In general the setup seems to be this -
1)Do a lot of hard work to get into a business that givea a steady positive cashflow.
2)Do a lot more hard work to invest in promising businesses that are undervalued.
3)Profit!
Planning to talk to Shekhar soon and develope these ideas...
Thursday, November 11, 2004
WTH!!!
Who the heck is this guy? [Search the page for chinmay]
... Well at least he seems to be smart...
BTW, sokgraphs [NYTimes] are cool [pdf]!
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
The Persuaders
After a long time, I saw a really engaging program on TV. The Persuaders was on Frontline on PBS, talking about the advertisement industry, how it's changing, how it's permeating every facet of our life. One of the most intersting aspects was that there's more and more shift towards appealing to the buyer's core emotions - "the reptilian brain" [SUVs are getting bigger because SUVs are subconsciously related to dominence] and using words that are more effective for the intended effect [Death tax instead of Estate tax, Climate change instead of Global warming].
Then there's Narrowcasting [customized ads on your TV sometime in the near future?] and product placement so integrated into entertainment, that products are almost characters.
The most frightening part of all this, is that this is all being applied to politics, electioneering, and selling policy to the public. The very areas we should think rationally before making any decisions, we're being subtly steered to abandon reason, disregard facts, and be lead only by the feel.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Weekend Update
Chalk up one more for the Tata's - now the owner of "more than 60,000 km of an under-sea fibre optic cable network, spanning three continents..."
Meanwhile, the US dollar continues its downward tumble [and is expected to continue for a while!]
The Incredibles is incredible, and Saw seems to be a rough draft of a good movie.
My blog becomes a collection of random links.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
It's a small world
Bush is back [with all the implications and more], the ice caps are melting fast, Rupee and the Indian stock market have surged [my mock portfolio is up 10.4% in little over a month, but my real Rupee worth is down!]
I guess I won't be buying any beach-front properties anytime soon.