Platter of Half Baked Ideas

Posting on blog after a long time... I have been following a lot of websites and blogs of late, thanks to Google Reader, and came across this article on one such site. Felt the article is relevant in the sense that most of us trying to make out what is going to happen to us with all this financial meltdown. Students in b-schools who are about to pass out are specially scared and apprehensive. I am not saying that the article gives any answers.. it merely gives a perspetive which I happened to like. (The original article can be found by clicking on the Title of this post.) The article is something like this: Here’s a Chinese parable that I try to keep in mind. Good Luck Bad Luck! A farmer used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer’s neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?” A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the n...

Apparently, Google too has started feeling not only the need to save energy, but also to spread the word around. For this purpose they have not only put up an energy calculator, but also a page full of tips and tricks to save electricity and money! The energy calculator can be found at: http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/index.html Google's list of tips and tricks can be found at: http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/tips.html Hope this does result in some savings. :)

I recommend that users save this on their document on their desktop before using it. http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p0ycmgiXPJRNG9wWDhCe3TA&output=xls

Those of you who have been following my blog regularly, the change in background color must've come as a surprise. Of all the designs and colors available, i chose black. Plain, simple, dark black.  Why? The reason is that black screen uses less energy than any other color. And i got to know about this from the site Blackle.  A simple search on net throws up a lot of pro and anti black screen analysis. However, the fact remains that black screens, when used on normal monitors does save energy consumption. And I believe that in India atleast, there are more users of normal screen than LCD monitors. Hence, I chose to keep my blog's background black. On a elated note, it is said that education opens one's eyes and makes him/her feel more responsible. Its true, atleast in my case. Though the ideas were always there I guess, but after having studied certain subjects and getting to know things in detail, I feel more responsible towards our environment and the amount of energy we ...

Dr. Manmohan Singh was not allowed to make his speech. Here is the complete text of his speech. It’s aggressive and very well written. It’s a pity he was not allowed to speak. The Leader of Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India’s sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come. As for Shri Advani’s various charges, I do not wish to waste the time of the House in rebutting them. All I can say is that before leveling charges of inc...

The Indian film industry, commonly referred to as “Bollywood”, has received much attention in past few weeks with reports of Steven Spielberg’s potential deal with India’s Reliance Entertainment for a substantial equity infusion allowing him and his Dreamworks partners to break away from their current ownership structure at Paramount Pictures ( VIA ). Additional reports this past week also have Sylvester Stallone starring in his first Bollywood picture with Indian star, Akshay Kumar. However, Bollywood is no overnight sensation despite the mainstream U.S. media’s recent attention to it, and upon closer examination one can see there is far more depth to these moves than meets the eye. The chart below, taken from a recent Credit Suisse report entitled “Challenges for Hollywood in Bollywood”, shows just how far the industry has come in recent years: click to enlarge images While the overall numbers involved pale in comparison to the traditional Hollywood film community, the growth level...

An e-mail from Deutsche Bank contained the following list, which will serve an investor well who is contemplating buying foreign currencies as part of their overall portfolio. Top 10 currency trading tips from Deutsche Bank dbFX Know what moves currency markets . Like any asset class, there are a number of factors that drive a currency's performance. A country’s macroeconomic situation can have a major influence--economic data releases, policy decisions, and political events can change an economist’s outlook on the country, and therefore its currency. There are also technical factors such as interest rates, equity markets, and international trade, which may also have an impact. Spend time getting to know these. Understand the strategies. Yes, there is a method to the madness. As a trader, you need to be aware of three crucial trading strategies, which are often used by currency traders: the carry, momentum, and value trade. Momentum tracks the direction of currency...

For many years, many theists and religious people have used some of the statements from Albert Einstein to demonstrate that he was a religious man, or that he believed in a personal God, or that he was ambivalent about belief in God, or that he was agnostic, and so on. The religious people fought a long battle, citing many of his remarks, sometimes giving quite childish interpretations and conclusions to prove that Einstein believed in a religious God. “God does not play dice with the universe” For example, his famous quote, “God does not play dice with the universe” is wrongly interpreted as confession of his belief in God. One just cannot make such a direct conclusion. Many atheists refer to 'God' in their day-to-day speech. That does NOT necessarily mean they believe in a personal or religious God. The figure of speech using ‘God’ could mean differently in different contexts for different people, including atheists. But to conclude that Einstein was a believer from the abo...

M ega investments in infrastructure and the recent market correction offers an exciting investment opportunity in construction stocks. The robust GDP growth rate experienced by the country in the last few years is indeed commendable and was aided by investment in infrastructure. To sustain growth rates, it is imperative for India to make higher investments towards setting up world-class infrastructure. As per the Planning Commission estimates, investments in infrastructure is set to go up by a whopping 130 per cent to $520 billion for the eleventh Five-Year Plan (FY 2008-12) as against the $226 billion made during the 10th plan (FY 2003-2007). Construction companies will be among the first beneficiaries of these investments and will deliver good and sustainable long-term growth. Since the investment plans for each of the sub-segments in infrastructure space varies, based on priorities, there is reason to believe that not all the segments or companies will grow at all times. For instanc...

T he following 8 financial ratios offer terrific insights into the financial health of a company -- and the prospects for a rise in its share price. 1. Ploughback and reserves After deduction of all expenses, including taxes, the net profits of a company are split into two parts -- dividends and ploughback. Dividend is that portion of a company's profits which is distributed to its shareholders, whereas ploughback is the portion that the company retains and gets added to its reserves. The figures for ploughback and reserves of any company can be obtained by a cursory glance at its balance sheet and profit and loss account. Ploughback is important because it not only increases the reserves of a company but also provides the company with funds required for its growth and expansion. All growth companies maintain a high level of ploughback. So if you are looking for a growth company to invest in, you should examine its ploughback figures. Companies that have no intention of expanding a...