One Child One Laptop!

News from PC Magazine: $100 Laptop Effort Gains Momentum: "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's plan to deliver low-cost laptop computers to children in developing nations and impoverished American students is moving forward, according to Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and co-founder of the school's Media Lab."

Honesty!

A mobile phone rings in the parliament, the speaker asks the "culprit" to hand it over to the marshals and no one does.

This, a day after they discussed witnesses turning hostile in Jessica Lal murder and Best Bakery trials.

A friend asks me what I intend to do after my MBA, I tell him I want to work in the social sector. He says "So that’s what you wrote in your essays. What do you REALLY want to do?"

My roomie is hit from behind at a signal. Falls. Few bruises. Before he is up on his feet and lifts his bike, the car's gone.

Someone puts a spoon in the office microwave. The thing just blew up. Charred black. No one admits to it.

And no one's surprised.

No one's surprised because we are culturally dishonest.

Google Buys Writely

Writely Blog: "Here are our 'top 10' reasons why being part of Google is fantastic for Writely and the Writely team:

10. Writely is like a caterpillar that we hope to make into a beautiful butterfly at Google!
9. We love Google's philosophy and values -- especially 'Focus on the user.'
8. We're as passionate as Google is about respecting users' privacy.
7. Many of our users are already Google fans using other Google services.
6. Being at Google will help us do more great things faster.
5. Some people didn't feel comfortable trusting a tiny startup with their documents...and we're no longer a tiny startup.
4. We like lava lamps and they're pretty much standard decor at Google.
3. Three words: Free Googleplex lunches ;)
2. As fun as it's been to launch a popular, global, 24x7 Web service, it'll be nice to take a vacation once in a while!
...and the number one reason???
1. We'll be able to bring Writely to not just thousands but millions of users -- the more, the merrier :-)"

The Great Indian Dream

Read it. Read it NOW!

India: Asia's Other Superpower Breaks Out - Newsweek World News - MSNBC.com: "In the decade that I've been going to Davos, no country has captured the imagination of the conference and dominated the conversation as India in 2006."

Indian Penal Code

IPC 302. Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or 104[imprisonment for life], and shall also be liable to fine.

IPC 307: Whoever does any act with such intention or knowledge, and under such circumstances that, if he by that act caused death, he would be guilty or murder, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and if hurt is caused to any person by such act, the offender shall be liable either to 104[imprisonment for life], or to such punishment as is here in before mentioned.

Now if you kill someone you will be hanged.
If you try to kill someone and fail, you get ten years.

If you are failed murderer, there are two ways to look at it.
1. When it comes to murder, the court of law rewards you for incompetence.
2. A successful murderer has accomplished his/her purpose in life but you, a loser that you are, deserve another chance at life (or death)

Here's Scott Adams on the topic

Inviting Entries...

....for "My office is a madhouse" awards.
Here's my entry.
Try-n-Match that!

Set your priorities right, will you?

Session 3 at the Urdu high school, I notice something different about all the girls in my seventh standard class.
The head mistress tells me that some "US based Muslim organization"'s just donated head scarves for all the girls in the school.
A total of 109.
Half of those 109 black scarf covered heads don't have slippers in their feet.
Most can not identify the alphabet.
Unless something extraordinary happens, not one of these 109 will make it to 11th standard.

The school does not have a permanent water connection.
Got an electricity connection just this year. (Its a 50 year old school, inside Bangalore)
Might be asked to move because it does not own the land it's built on.
Desperately needs a big piece of tarpaulin for the kids to sit on when the afternoon meal is served.

Now, I am a big, almost belligerent supporter of preserving our cultural identity.
But, we got to set our priorities right.
Don't you think?