He's back ....

SC@MD is back to blogging, narrating select tales from the last 21 months. First he did not have a reliable computer. That made him lazy and delinquent. Then he lost the urge to post when he got a computer. His cyber-rehab is going fine, albeit in baby-steps. I thought I'd keep you posted ....

#100: iPod iMac iPhone iRaq iRan

Should anyone who pronounces "Iraq" and "Iran" as though they are product extensions of the Apple brand be even allowed to share their 2-cents on NPR (or in any public forum)? Regrettably, their opinion and "expertise" counts.

#98: obiwan on photography

It's been exactly a year since my religious conversion .... from film photography to digital. It's more a repertoire expansion than a conversion or an upgrade. My film camera will stay with me (although it felt odd in my hands after a year in exile).

Now a few words of advice to my readers (the 2 of them) who may be thinking of going digital.

1. There are tons of good cameras out there .... from the slick aim-and-shoot, to the fixed zoom, to the now-affordable digital SLRs. I have trusted the advice of a few professional reviews before baring my wallet. And they have delivered good wisdom. If you are in the same boat, I personally recommend Digital Camera Resource, Digital Photography Review, and Digital Picture (for Canon products).


2. It's not in the mega-pixels. Contrary to sales pitches, ramping up pixels do not give you better or sharper images. They may just do the reverse. Don't take my word for it. Read this, "The myth about megapixels" in the NY Times.


3. The magic is in the lens. The range from less than a $100 to a couple of thousand for just that glass should tell you that there is a serious difference. Lenses bundled with SLR kits are the bottom of the line; let's just say they take pictures. Investing in a good lens is worth it, and definitely a lot more than ramping up the pixels.


4. Packing in a large zoom range has trade-offs. The images suffer from distortions and softness, and they forgo lens speed. Some have image stabilisers built in. But there's only that much they can compensate for. And they cannot help if your objects are in motion – think of people or wild-life. So don't get greedy on the range.


5. Third party lenses (Sigma or Tamron) are a hit-and-miss. You could get a terrific match with your camera and at a fraction of the cost of camera brands. How good is your luck? My advice: accessorise gradually.

So there you have it: my recently acquired wisdom distilled into one posting. Happy clicking. This is no guarantee for terrific photos (look at me). But you'll have a fighting chance!

#94: "you know, like, seriously"

.... as overheard on the Metro. Apparently this sequence of words means something. It does not however make any pretense of grammar or composition. Text-messages now set the norm. No wonder then that Miss Teen South Carolina offered such an insightful and compelling response at her beauty pageant. She may have been distraught that "US Americans" do not have maps in adequate numbers. But in turn she single-handedly put South Carolina on the global cyber-map.

Is it really surprising that reading skills and scores among school-students is stagnant or even declining? That's not just only in US; I got a greeting card from a cousin in India which did not fare any better.

PS: Here's a link to comments about "that answer" in the Miss Teen USA pageant.

#84: people power

The French TGV can chase records for the fastest train. We Indians will chart our own opposite course – literally moving iron-chariots with "people power". Not surprising though, it follows Ricardian trade theory – each country specialising and milking their comparative advantage, and using the relatively abundant resource to do so. And the notion of abundance takes a whole new perspective when describing India's teeming billions!

#80: oh, my bleeding heart

Paris Hilton was handed a 45-day prison sentence for driving when intoxicated on a suspended license. A caller on the radio cried bloody murder for this biased and disproportionate punishment. Yah, right! Non-resident-aliens (FOBs like me) can get deported on our first instance of DUI or DWI. The "harsh treatment" of celebrities truly bleeds my heart.

Notoriety and infamy is a passage to fame: ask Martha Stewart, Naomi Campbell or Marion Barry. Beaming them 24/7 is the zeitgeist of the 21st century media. The day Scooter Libby was indicted, the headline on WPost.com was Anna Nicole Smith's fatal drug overdose. So much for priorities and burning issues.

#75: europe stealing thunder

TGV, France set the world speed record for trains on wheels. At that speed, a trip from DC to NYC would take 35 minutes, not the 3.5 hours it takes for Acela! The Airbus A380 earned favourable reviews on its trial trips to the rest of the world (more on that some other day).

For the first time since WWI, market capitalisation in European stock markets exceeded that of their US couterparts. Even counterfeiters now prefer the Euro to the greenback US$.

Other than David Beckham's mega-million-dollar retirement plan, most "firsts" are being clocked east of "The Pond". Is Uncle Sam losing his edge?

#74: oscars gone green

An Inconvenient Truth made quite a splash at the Oscars this year. So did Gore and DiCaprio by proudly proclaiming that the show had gone green. Pardon my cynicism but that sounded like another "I invented the internet" claim. I found some clarity through Charles Krauthammer's usual ranting column.

It appears that the Academy neutralised the "carbon footprint" of the gala by buying carbon credits (aka paying a "carbon broker," who promised, after taking his cut, to reduce equivalent carbon emissions somewhere on the planet). And that would typically be a coal-fired power-plant somewhere half-way across the globe.

This appears to be a cost efficient solution, since coal-fired plants in China and India have the greatest potential to reduce carbon emissions. The marginal dollars ought to chase the highest marginal gains. Call it outsourcing or economic mumbo-jumbo, if you want.

But in turn, it creates a moral-hazard problem from an incentive mismatch. What dissuades an operator in China and India from starting up another sooty plant, in anticipation of the day another ex-Veep will trade a few more dollars for more carbon credits? The more he pollutes today the more he can earn from his credits tomorrow. And that beats the whole purpose, doesn't it? Any suggestions?

#72: lured by the price

I have always had trouble citing illustrations of the rare upward sloping demand curve. I'll never have the funds it takes to indulge in prestige goods that consumers aspire because of the price tag and nothing else. But now I can name two.

I came across a pair of jeans lebelled "R&R" and sporting an obscene price tag. It was just a pair of jeans, nothing remarkable, and slightly tattered if you ask me. But it was designed by an obscure Victoria Posh Beckham. The tag added "R&R means edgy progressive design with an emphasis on modern silhouettes .... designs for sexy confident men and women who live the lifestyle and really understand the look". Clearly I don't.

College education in US is the other illustration. The NY Times reported that some institutions raised their fee without changes to their curriculum or facilities. And the schools had more applicants knocking at their doors (many more than can be explained by trend factors). Potential students assumed the higher tuition as a signal that "they must be doing something right" and did not want to be left behind. Higher education is getting edgy too!

#71: wonders of our world

The race to anoint 7 "new" wonders of the world is well and truly on. And in true spirit of a global community (that only includes those with the magic internet access), web-votes will decide the winners. The WPost has some striking photographs of the "contestants". Here's your chance to fulfil your civic responsibility.

For all the excitement and enthusiasm this has generated, is this a meaningful contest? It mimics a Miss Universe/American Idol pageant. How do you compare Stonehenge or the rocks on Easter Island to the Sydney Opera House? And why are the Great Pyramids of Giza nominated once again? Being an ancient wonder of the world surely would have been enough for even the Pharaohs.

Let's do away with the number 7. And then call them "architectural wonders" for what they truly are. My personal vote would be for Easter Island, Machu Picchu, the Colosseum, Angkor Wat, the Great Wall, the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, Petra, and the Hagia Sophia/Blue Mosque. The Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and the Sydney Opera House can wait for their turn.

#70: heading east

Halliburton, the energy giant once headed by a Richard Cheney and the most favoured recipient of US government contracts in the last 6 years, announced that it was moving its headquarters from Texas to Dubai. It's easy to see the fit. From one oil-field to another, from one dry and arid landscape to another – the match is perfect.

Not long ago the US House of Representatives cited national security concerns to block a deal for the Dubai Ports World to manage 6 US ports. But now when the Dubai-based Halliburton wins the next hefty government bid, as it surely will in no time, how will the Capitol react? And that's not even accounting for the loss of tax revenues to the US treasury.

I'm just plain curious.

#69: business as usual

As a political persona-non-grata, I watched from the sidelines the Democrats come to power in last year's Congressional elections. I was made to believe (and I did believe) that such a resounding rebuke of the Republican agenda, policies, and practices would change the way business is done inside the Beltway. I clearly overestimated the power of the ballot and underestimated the inertia of entrenched interests. As WPost reports, the Democrats are doing just as their counterparts did for the last 12 years: pandering to lobbyists to shore up revenues for the next elections. So much for the promise of good governance.

In my profession, this is bribery and a felony. I suppose those who script the rules have legalised it for themselves.

Politics and power everywhere is so brazenly alike. In my favourite TV show and satire, BBC's "Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister", Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Administrative Affairs once observed ....

"Ministers come; ministers go. But the government must go on."

With the subtext .... without any change! Business as usual.

#67: defenses breached

Crank calls and telemarketeers have traced out my mobile number. I had been über cautious to prevent this. But a Ms. Dolly from Oregon, in a pre-recorded message, just offered to lower my mortgage! Another offered me Viagra (wow, how did she know I needed one?).
Beyond the national do-not-call registry, the sad truth is that you and I cannot do much to protect our minutes and sanity of mind. The website "whocalledus" allows irate consumers to list these bogus numbers. At least I get the satisfaction of doing something, even if futile in the larger scheme of things.

2 other websites might be of aid to some. For the not-too-easy-to-trace customer service numbers of mobile phone companies, try this consumer advocate site for a listing. To reach a person rather than the automated menus, this site lists the options for a whole group of companies (including phone, airline, utilities, banking and finance).

Good luck.

#66: in pilgrims' footprints

Thanksgiving. I figured it's a gathering of family and friends. But I never found out its significance. My closest family is a 5-hour flight away; tickets prices peak then ... you get the drift. What then gave this year? Well, it's not everyday that someone invites me to her first festive cooking, I knew I would have good company, I had a new camera, "that other Cambridge" had been on my to-visit list for a while, and I had had enough of MD! The stars were all aligned.

The meal was a true feast. I did my part .... spilt the filling of the pumpkin pie in a hot oven and saw it burn up in seconds (leaving a not-so-pleasant odour all over the apartment), chipped a coffee mug in the sink – among other bloopers. My friend was remarkably patient and forgiving. I fear though, that I've burnt my bridges!

To complete the experience, we drove to Plymouth – where the Pilgrims (now I know what this is all about) landed and settled in circa 1620. A scaled replica of Mayflower, somewhere between a ship and a "supersized" boat, sails annually on a round-trip across the Atlantic. When moored, it is a museum there. All nice and dandy. The shocker was a tacky "Plymouth Rock". My friend narrates it more eloquently ....

".... my trip to Plymouth, to see where the Pilgrims landed .... you know, the place where they met the natives, befriended them and lived happily ever after (so the history books go). I also got to see THE Plymouth Rock. Much to my dismay, Plymouth Rock turned out to be, well, a rock. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but I was terribly disappointed with the unremarkable stone that had the etching "1620" on it".

Exactly. Her expression says it all.

Thanks Maria, for a thanksgiving worthy of its true sentiments. And for one of my most enjoyable weekends of the year.

#65: lessons from the road

Driving can be therapeutic or a chore or both; it depends on the curvature of your indifference curves. And the longer the distance – the more polarised are travellers’ perceptions.

I enjoy driving – under normal circumstances; Thanksgiving week is anything but “normal”. An estimated 31.8 million travellers were on the road that weekend. Compare this with the 5 million who flew, or the 2 million who chose the bus or rail. Everyone I spoke to before embarking on this 1000 mile round-trip asked, “Por qué? Why on earth would you do this to yourself?”. And I questioned my own wisdom. But the die had already been cast. I was resigned to do my bit to line the pockets of BP and Exxon executives. I owed them my contribution to the global economy!

Driving gives me a sense of control – tempered by the worry of sharing the roads with sharks (aka Hummers and lunatics on wheels). It's an adventure, a change of sight in each moment when not dwelling on the monotony of the highway. It gives me quality time with myself – not always possible while chasing deadlines and routines. It is also an opportunity for time-travel to my music collection on audio cassettes some 12-15 years old. What can a person do if the car does not have a CD player, a satellite radio, or the ubiquitous iPod or one of its clones? (Now that's a hint: get an iPod and/or a travelling companion who does). S&G, R.E.M., Dire Straits, and the Beatles. They evoked old memories, and some new relevance for the present day. “You say goodbye and I say hello .... I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello”. John Lennon was prophetic.

The regular route from DC to Boston is the I-95 through NYC. Bypassing Manhattan and taking the Tappan Zee Bridge was a brilliant suggestion from a AAA advisor. It saved time (at least 3-4 hours), money on tolls, and frustration. Take my word …. avoid the bridges and tunnels of NYC and you’ll be a happy camper! And if you can, get a good night's sleep at a friend's place in Princeton! Thanks Victor.

Filling up gas in New Jersey was a remarkable experience. The rates are the best along the coast, and perhaps in the country – thanks to their aversion to taxes. That’s the good part. But if you dare step out of your car to fill gas, you do so at your own risk. You will be chased by an angry mob of gas-station attendants armed with gas nozzles and menacing looks of a militia in a conflict zone. You will be cursed into submission and yelled at to hop back into the car while “they” take over. How was I to know that in NJ (and in Oregon), all gas stations are mandated full-service? I can’t imagine why …. other than local legislators figuring that their residents could not be entrusted with the rocket-science of filling gas into their own cars, or for creating employment any way they could! Well, I learnt a lesson. So if an army of angry attendants at a gas station in NJ charges you, it's not because you racially resemble the stereotypical “most mistrusted in America”. They are just earning a living; no discrimination there!

#63: christmas and the saints

It's Christmas Day and I am so surprised to come across this op-ed piece in the NY Times. It's on Saint Francis Xavier of Assisi, the Christian saint my high school was named after. What a coincidence. Just last night I was narrating how for 16 years I've been a grateful beneficiary of Christian missionaries spreading truly secular education in India.

#62: 'tis that time of the year

Desolate streets, vacant parking lots, deserted Metro coaches, hardly a tourist in sight. Borrowing lyrics from Joan Baez – Where have all the people gone?

They are queuing up on highways and airport check-in counters. It's that time of the year when DC becomes a ghost town. Almost anyone on the Metro is in transit with bags in tow – heading to their friends, families, and loved ones out of town. And they look quizzically at anyone not doing so. It was the same during Christmas in Cambridge. The only ones on the streets were the forgotten foreign students and the stray dogs at Market Square. The difference here, well, are the two National Christmas Trees – one at the White House and the other next to the Capitol.

But it's also the season of occasional snowflakes in the morning, carols and choirs on every radio station, lights decorating homes, streets and buidings, egg-nog and ginger bread cookies, and people of all ages walking about with a bounce in their steps. And lest I forget, gift wrappers, peculiar Santas on the sidewalks, and movies of Nativity too. Personally, this season evokes fond memories of childhood, of choral performances and sweet treats in the festivities that followed. On occasions I've succumbed (just a wee-bit) to the calling of the desserts!

Merry Christmas to you, dear blog reader.

#61: about time, i say

My 15 seconds of fame finally caught up with me. Fantastic. The podium may be overcrowded with millions of fellow-beings in our collective crowning moment. Nonetheless, I am TIME magazine's "Person of the Year".

I suppose the magazine's editors reasoned that people like me (and in all likelihood you too) with our late night musings through blogs (aka pseudo-journalism on the fly) do matter – for better or for worse. I see no one complaining; nor have I been burdened by any rush of accolades lately. So I think I'll take this!

If only I could get someone to actually read my blogs .... well now that's a whole different story!

#60: internet, our social crutch

The Internet is spreading .... in its reach, and in the span of what it enables. Communication, news, research, shopping, missed TV shows... Now it's attempting to compensate for the isolation in modern life.

Social networks such as Friendster and Facebook have blossomed. Granted it connects people otherwise separated by distance. But what about when a bunch of friends currently in the same graduate school and living within a 5 mile radius flock to such a "group" just to keep in touch? Then it's a social phenomenon. My friend and I "poked" and traded one-liners on FB and the mobile phone for two weeks before we managed to meet for lunch yesterday, take a walk, and talk to each other in person and not through a keyboard. We finally had a shared experience.

The NY Times ran an article today based on the US Census Bureau’s 2007 Statistical Abstract. The article backs some common conjectures with definitive and concrete evidence.

• Among adults online last year, 97 million sought news using it, 92 million shopped, 91 million made a travel reservation, 16 million used a networking site, and 13 million created a blog.
• Average time spent with such media per year increased to 3,543 hours last year, up by 6% in 5 years.
• Since 2000, the number of labor unions, fraternities and fan clubs has declined.

Robert Putnam, the renowned Public Policy professor at Harvard comments, "The large master trend here is that over the last hundred years, technology has privatized our leisure time. The distinctive effect of technology has been to enable us to get entertainment and information while remaining entirely alone. That is from many points of view very efficient. I also think it’s fundamentally bad because the lack of social contact, the social isolation means that we don’t share information and values and outlook that we should."

Exactly. I think I said something similar but a lot less profound 2 months ago.

#58: nowhere left to hide

Sir Nicholas Stern, the ex-World Bank Chief Economist, presented his report on global warming to the top bosses of the British Government. How enlightened and in contrast to the initiatives (or the lack thereof) on the other side of the Atlantic: this was an honest effort to come to a true understanding about global warming. It chose a person untainted by lobbies and unfazed by the circus of claims and counter-claims of vested interests. Sir Nicholas is a hard-nosed economist; he's neither a bleeding-heart environmentalist, nor a corporate stooge. You couldn't seek any more credibility.

I have only read the highlights of his 600 page report. From all accounts, it is a thorough analysis – something we as students of Public Policy would be proud to produce. It is incisive, thoughtful, meticulous in details, and yet focussed on the overall picture. It lists out the possible future scenarios, and the impact of interventions, if any. It's a complete exercise, not some half-baked patch-up bureaucratic con-job.

So what did it conclude? That we are in grave danger. And that "staying the course" (paraphrasing a prominent head of state) is not really an option – not even in the short run.

Among the dire projections:

• 200 million people are at risk of being driven from their homes by flood or drought by 2050.
• 60 million Africans could be exposed to malaria in a world 2°C warmer.
• 4 billion people could suffer from water shortages if temperatures rise by 2°C.
• If nothing is done about global warming the world economy would shrink by up to 20%, that's US$ 2 trillion a year.
• Developing countries would, of course, be hardest hit with poverty increasing, disease spreading, trade worsening and hundreds of millions of people dying.
• Spending just 1% of GDP per year (US$ 90 billion annually) in an international effort could stabilise carbon emissions and reverse the alarming trend.

These results are significant for two reasons. First, it gives a concrete measure of the cost of "staying the course". Second, it calls the bluff on the argument that the costs of adjustment exceed the potential benefits. No. 2 trillion > 90 billion. And that's not even accounting for intangibles.

Sir Nicholas has done the math. It is up to the bosses (one in particular) to sit up and show some spine in taking on big businesses. Ironically, big businesses have begun voluntary adjustments – that is, excluding oil, gas, and auto industries.