Just to experiment what is strategy and how to make it successful in the context of high technologies. Was looking for some cool technologies that haven’t been commercially successful.
If you got any, add some comments to:
http://anubhav.wordpress.com/2006/06/27/call-for-cool-technologies/
For the unintiated, AA stands for Affirmative Action. Its about having quotas for "weaker" sections of the society. This post just outlines some of the facts about reservation in India and US. With the present Bill in place, I think it applied to 71% of India's population (nearly 2/3rd).
- US: AA was made mandatory where states had different universities for Blacks and Whites (1964). Not compulsory for the others.
- US Approach was bottom up. Universities and companies saw that they needed to diversify their workforce so they implemented AA unlike India where the feeding starts from the Government
- In 1978 US proscribed quota system as unconstitutional but did not outlaw AA. It still exists.
- *Surprise Surprise* More than Blacks its the White females that benefited from the AA system
- US universities decide their quotas..the critical mass. With the present Bill in place, quotas in India will reach the 50% mark.
- In 1996 California outlawed quota system in jobs,education. Incidentally the Black population at UC Berkeley dropped significantly
- Concession in AA in US based on grades is very marginal and not substantial unlike the quota system in India where margins are huge (thats the case with the quota system that has been in place for the last decade for SCs/STs).
- Reservations exist in certain states in India since eons. (Tamil Nadu: 69%, Karnata, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh: 50%). On a sidenote, in Tamil Nadu..quota guys have begun to outperform their "forward" counterparts
But with 600 million people living under Rs 90 (3 SGD) a day and 300 million living on less than Rs 45 (1.5 SGD) a day, "something" has to be done. Through the quota system, the Indian Government has conveniently abdicated itself of the responsibility of raising the standards of living through quality education. Lot to be said..but that surmises it.
Time Magazine has a short writeup on how Indian outsourcing firms are globalizing by recruiting from abroad, outsourcing its work overseas, and moving up the value chain rapidly by accquiring vertical specific talent through accquistions.
http://www.mingyeow.com/?p=25 [Commentary and Excerpt]
Discovered this article from EeYang's magazine. Avatars in MMORPGs like Second Life or Sims are becoming new marketing targets due to the long engagement times of the real-world users with the simulated environment in such virtual online universes. Indeed, whatever is available in our real world such as currency, parks, relationships, shopping, working down to mundane stuff like vacuuming your house can be replicated and considered as fun for de-sensitized urbanites or anybody with a broadband connection seeking some online entertainment.
How are advertisers reaching out to such virtual identities? And are they worth it?
Weisheng and I, while scanning through the article during the halftime of the England-Paraguay World Cup match at CLarke Quay, found this to be a succinct highlight of this article:
When marketing online, “you want sustained engagement with the brand rather than just a click-through” to a purchase or product information,
We did not finish the article though, feel free to add more gems you gleaned from your own reading after Gavin's "monumental" 4500 word piece.
Long, approx. 4500 words, but well worth reading (and thinking).
http://gavinseng.wordpress.com/2006/06/10/singapore-place-or-nation-2/
NUS Web Exchange does not let you save Password, forcing you to do the ever irritating thing of typing in your domain, usename and password everytime you open that damn mailbox. Here's the foxy remedy:
For those using firefox
1) Bookmark this link: Password Saver
2) Go to NUS Exchange Website
3) Click on the bookmark
4) Enter your password
5) TADA! say goodbye to that NUSSTU\XXXXXX!
That lack of autocomplete was making me so mad, but now it is doable!
Thanks to Cybernet.
Congrats to him and his founding team of Varun (also of SV 3rd batch), Indradeep and Rishi!
Check out the commentary on their victory here.
Darius has also penned a great post on entrepreneurship titled "The Gold-Digger's Pants" on SGEntrepreneurs.com
A Ukrainian of Azerbaijani origin lowered himself into the enclosure using a rope. He was quoted as saying God would save him.
One of four lions in the enclosure seized the 45-year-old by the throat, and he died at the scene.
The zoo – which keeps the lions on an "island" protected by concrete blocks – was packed with visitors at the time of the attack on Sunday.
"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," a zoo official told Reuters news agency.
"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery." ————————————
By Scott Adams:
This story presents more questions than answers. For example, was the guy a true believer trying to prove his faith, or was he an atheist that was tired of no one understanding his arguments? If he was a believer, was his faith too weak? Or was he unlucky and caught God on a break? Maybe God just turned to one of his cherubs and muttered something like “I don’t roll like that,” because it seemed funny. If he did, the cherub would not laugh, because cherubs are basically babies with wings. So God would either have to resort to a poop joke or a miracle to make that baby laugh.
All we can hope is that people learn something from this tragedy. For example, the next time that a believer jumps into the lion habitat, he should yell “If God exists, he will order this lion to kill me!” That way, everyone wins.
Track insider trading activity at Google + your favourite corporate whipping boy here
Chandra has been nice enough to host this article for me. This was the essay I had written for the St.Gallen Symposium at Switzerland (www.stgallen-symposium.org).
Europe's present situation warrants an immediate plan for a revival of the economy. From the social security net which is turning out to be quite a burden on its economy to the service sector which is desperate need of liberalization, there are a host of issues that plague Europe's growth. Through this essay, I've tried to establish a few of those issues and the possible solutions.
Even better articles on this issue here:
Selected Contributions – Inspiring Europe
As far as the actual symposium is concerned….I'm just going to copy paste something I wrote in an email.
Foreigners. Smart. Knowledgeable. Booze. Cuban Cigars. Women who know. Candid discussions. The Ministry of Leisure. Snobbish Corporate ppl. Very few Valley minds. Getting drunk and genocide talk over Beer. Youth hostel. 65 students. Sleep deprived. Drifting in and out of consciousness. Boring lectures. Interesting views. China down. India up. Hope..
