Chatterbox

Last Post Here

2010-07-26T10:25:00.000-04:00

I'm officially moving my blog to Posterous.

Go here for my new blog (I'va actually been auto-posting from there to here for a while, but comments here get a lot of spam, so shutting this down).

Pics of the kids from Jinx and Joanna's wedding

2010-07-09T14:19:00.001-04:00

Thanks Geeta! (since mom and dad forgot their camera)

See the full gallery on posterous

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They pose now...

2010-07-08T17:48:00.001-04:00

Well, not really. But this is probably as close as they'll come to posing for a while.

Sent from outerspace

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Weddings tire the ladies out!

2010-07-06T19:55:00.001-04:00

Naya and Nina about fifteen minutes BEFORE the ceremony begins. :)

Sent from outerspace

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Amazon is perfect. Except for one small thing...

2010-07-02T09:35:00.001-04:00

I don't understand why Amazon can't do one small thing right that most other websites (most famously Google) have done for a while. When you start at Amazon.com, why isn't there a cursor in the search box, so you can stay searching for products right away without going back to your mouse and clicking into the search box.

Why oh why, Amazon??

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Naya & Ketan's first birthday

2009-12-27T15:58:00.001-05:00

Posted via web from Chat Joglekar's posterous

2009 Holiday Party at our place

2009-12-15T09:20:00.001-05:00

Some pics from our neighbor Lailo from our "Indian Cuisine" themed party this past Saturday.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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That Couple

2009-11-30T09:06:00.001-05:00

I am sick to my stomach over That Couple. And now comes news they are peddling their exclusive story to the highest media bidder. Disgusting, but hardly surprising.
I’m not going to use their names because you can be sure that, between giddy calls to their agent and lawyer, they are rushing to their computer every half hour to Google themselves. Who’s talking about us now? What are people saying? Look, another picture of us on the web! We’re more famous than any of our friends—no, all of our friends, combined! Tehehehee—the joke’s on you, America!
No, you’re not famous; you’re infamous. You’re situated squarely at the bottom of an already too-deep and increasingly murky barrel of celebrity culture, celebrity journalism, and (un)reality TV, the depths of which are probably making even Andy Warhol cringe in his grave. I want this to be your fifteenth minute. I want your egg timer to ding now, so you can exit our national discourse as swiftly, completely and permanently as possible.

And, you know what? We can do something about it. We can let the producers of whatever crap program agrees to pay these creepy, pathetic, attention-starved goons for the rights to interview That Couple that not only will we tune out that specific broadcast, but we will tune out that program in the future as well. We can compound the effect by identifying the companies that sponsor the airing of the interview, and boycotting their products or services.
Why? Because there are literally millions of Americans who bust their asses through school and job training, who serve our country in the military in harm’s way, or merely plumb our toilets at home or change our baskets at the office—who, in short, work hard, raise their families and pay their taxes--and do all of that with zero expectation that they should win some version of the public celebrity lottery that suddenly showers them with a degree of fame and fortune that That Couple not merely aspires to, but clearly believe they deserve. When somebody like Captain Sully catapults from nowhere to national stardom--or my fellow Bethlehem Central High School alum Rich Jadick becomes a national hero after re-joining the Marines in his late-30s (and despite having a wife and kids and the chance to make a lot of money safely back in the States) to help the medical Corps revolutionize front-line emergency medical care--at least they earned their fame. And I harbor no complaints about how showmen across the ages—from P.T. Barnum to Muhammad Ali, from Harry Houdini to Madonna—maximized their opportunities in order to achieve greater fame and fortune, because they could boast an underlying talent or social value, and often both.
That Couple offers nothing of the sort. In fact, they offer nothing beyond their naked greed and attention-starved egos. They are private and public leeches. They inherited a family business, ran it into the ground, and apparently owe money all over town. And yet That Couple self-style themselves a King and Queen of high society when, in truth, they are at best court jesters in clownish, borrowed clothes. High society? They would be a festering boil unworthy of status in low society, whatever that is. They are no more deserving of being on the invite list for the Saturday morning pancake fundraiser at the Elks Club in Elmira than they are a White House state dinner in Washington.
You know what else? The national media talking heads need to step up here. This is a moment of truth for them. They need to drive a stake into the heart of this story right now, and decisively so. They should announce on their shows that they are not going to cover That Couple beyond any news-worthy aspects, like the security breach angle and the White House and government’s response to it. Though Republican Rep. Peter King is probably grandstanding a bit, he and any other Republicans (Democrats, too!) who want to point out the embarrassment to the White House and the dangers of this sort of thing are within their rights. Fine: Cover that aspect of the story, which is very much the public's business. Hold the Secret Service and White House political and social operations to account. If heads must roll, Mr. Emanuel, roll them. But leave it at that for That Couple.
Meanwhile, I want to specifically hear from those morality mavens over at FOX News, who publicly wring their hands about the declining social values and family values of our country. I want to hear their voices leading a chorus of silence when it comes to That Couple. Roger Ailes: You want to prove you're more than Republican mouthpiece and bullhorn for vapid, calorie-free infotainment? Send the word down from on high that you are not going to turn your network over to these political poseurs. As for Shep Smith, who has lately proved to be a shining light in an otherwise dim constellation of hosts at FOX, I’m especially counting you to call this farce what it is, and give That Couple a much-deserved dressing down. This moment is tailor-made for you to prove your mettle; seize it.
OK, enough already. I can feel my blood pressure rising. I need input from something more placid and soothing than writing about That Couple…like, say, watching today’s NFL broadcasts.

via fivethirtyeight.com

Here here...

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Fox News Makes the Best Pie Chart. Ever.

2009-11-26T10:21:00.003-05:00

via flowingdata.com

Best local newcast ever...

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Fox News Makes the Best Pie Chart. Ever.

2009-11-26T10:21:00.001-05:00

via flowingdata.com

Best local newcast ever...

Posted via web from Chat Joglekar's posterous

Naya with a walker

2009-11-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

Download now or watch on posterous

Naya Walker.mov (9273 KB)

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Oh, New Jersey...

2009-11-08T11:41:00.001-05:00

Clever :)

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Halloween

2009-10-31T16:46:00.001-04:00

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The family on Diwali!

2009-10-17T13:46:00.001-04:00

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GranulariDay celebration

2009-10-14T20:23:00.001-04:00

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Emailing: N 099, K 028, K 030, K 031, K 033, K 036, K 050, K 051, kn 002, KN 062, KN 068, KN 070, KN 071, N 009, N 014, N 016, N 023, N 025, N 095, N 097

2009-10-11T12:39:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lailo Varsa <lvarsa@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 7:47 PM
Subject: Fwd: Emailing: N 099, K 028, K 030, K 031, K 033, K 036, K 050, K 051, kn 002, KN 062, KN 068, KN 070, KN 071, N 009, N 014, N 016, N 023, N 025, N 095, N 097
To: Chat Joglekar <chatjoglekar@gmail.com>, Nina Patel <ninapatel21@gmail.com>

Hi there,
Here are a few photos from Monday. I have a couple of more to process. I will burn these for you and drop your CD off later this week.
Talk soon, Lailo

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lailo Varsa <lvarsa@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Subject: Emailing: N 099, K 028, K 030, K 031, K 033, K 036, K 050, K 051, kn 002, KN 062, KN 068, KN 070, KN 071, N 009, N 014, N 016, N 023, N 025, N 095, N 097
To: lvarsa@gmail.com

Your message is ready to be sent with the following file or link
attachments:

N 099
K 028
K 030
K 031
K 033
K 036
K 050
K 051
kn 002
KN 062
KN 068
KN 070
KN 071
N 009
N 014
N 016
N 023
N 025
N 095
N 097

Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent
sending or receiving certain types of file attachments. Check your e-mail
security settings to determine how attachments are handled.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Chat Joglekar's posterous

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

2009-04-18T10:23:00.001-04:00

My new favorite singer (and her kitten Pebbles!) - Susan!!

Ketan at Play

2009-04-03T18:23:00.001-04:00

Finally got the Mr. to act nice for the camera. Enjoy!

Naya at Play

2009-03-29T12:50:00.001-04:00

I got one kids on tape (well, OK flash media). Now I just need to get Ketan being cute on camera. :)

The Ketan and Naya Show has begun...

2009-01-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

Finally - here are some pictures! All the kids are now home and finally catching up on some photos.

Great Op-Ed in NYT

2008-11-29T13:17:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, I had this thought as I finished reading the paper copy of the paper (and didn't see this article ), but then saw that it was one of the top emailed articles. Captures my mood exactly (now is the time to double down on the things that got Mumbai to where it is today...)

The kids are taking over!!

2008-11-29T12:52:00.000-05:00

Well, just our kids... I figure that rather than never posting, I will start using this blog to document the lives of our children (with the random brilliant comment by me on some random news).

So starting off... we are eight days away from the "green zone" as I like to call it. Come December 7, the doctors have said that they will not stop labor and when the contractions start - the kids are coming! So that is the next big date.

Why I love Barack

2008-07-15T08:44:00.000-04:00

Writing like this...

I have a hard time imagining President Bush being able to express himself even close to this well in words, and have a hard time believing most of the 535 members of Congress could do it either.

Can't keep from smiling when you watch this...

2008-07-09T16:03:00.000-04:00

The Carlton dance...

Welcome to the 21st Century - NY Times...

2008-07-06T10:39:00.000-04:00

Was reading the NY Times this morning and noticed that the Sunday Business section had a announcement that they will no longer print the weekly tables (stocks/funds) anymore. Shocker!!

One wonders how come it took them this long to decide to get rid of a weekly summary of stocks on dead trees when the internet has been doing a better job of it for over 10 years...

Kickball? Yes, Kickball...

2008-07-02T14:19:00.000-04:00

Since I have to make up for the fact that Nina played competitive badminton in high school, we started a kickball team at Google this year. We just completed our fifth game (we forfeit one game because virtually all the team was at our National Sales Conference) and have a record of 3-2. So we have only lost once when we actually play a game.

I have decided that I am ultra-competitive, and even though I have a lot of fun at the games and with the team... I really want to win. More than that I want to get into the playoffs and run the table. Dance on the heads of our beaten foes!! (OK, maybe just kidding about that last one)

Stay tuned for the kickball weekly in future posts.

I might just have to get me one of these...

2008-06-03T15:31:00.003-04:00

Mother Ship

Since we have like 15 iPods in our house (OK, that is a slight exaggeration).

If people have control over there health records

2008-05-27T09:40:00.002-04:00

Isn't that better than many other organizations having that data to themselves?

Plus, do you trust your insurance company or Google to keep your data safe and private?

These stories never get as much attention

2008-05-26T20:33:00.002-04:00

As the original "scandalous" stories. But good to see that my alma mater responded well and is seeing increased interest since the potentially catastrophic cheating scandal from last year.

As they say, it is during the rough times that you see the true measure of a man (or institution).

Go Blue Devils...

When folks complain about mermaids on coffee cups...

2008-05-26T14:08:00.004-04:00

You know you live in a strange country sometimes. Aren't mermaids supposed to be nude?

Why I don't give money to Duke (or Cal)

2008-05-26T14:02:00.003-04:00

Similar to this story about Harvard, which has a huge $35B endowment... Duke shouldn't ask me for my money until it does something better with its large endowment.

I will give to Cal - but only when they give me a diploma with my actual graduation date on it. If you ever want to hear a story about bureaucracy run amok, just buy me a beer and ask me about it.

Nobody watches you anymore...

2008-05-26T13:56:00.003-04:00

TV, that is...

Surprise, surprise, the May sweeps is a disaster.

"The writers strike, along with the rising popularity of DVRs and the increased availability of programming on multiple platforms, conspired to make this season the lowest-rated on record for the broadcasters. There was also a dearth of breakout hits, with no new show emerging as the biz's savior."

Maybe that is because all the networks have on is American Gladiator and other reality shows (though I must admit I am stoked to see is the new Mole is as good as the original one - the only reality show I really loved until Top Chef).

You wonder how come they are so surprised that people have figured out that they can entertain themselves by blowing up things on PCs or consoles, or getting outside to smell the fresh air, or countless other ways of entertaining.

Bring more shows like Lost on the air and people will start tuning back in.

David Brooks - Frienemy?

2008-05-17T17:50:00.003-04:00

I am conflicted about David Brooks. On the one hand, he is generally one of the few normal and reasoned folks in political commentary (I know, a really low bar to hurdle). I sometimes disagree with him, but I think I have kind of a man-crush on his brain.

For full info - I kind of feel the same with George Will - except I really dislike him when he goes off on the democratic party (like they are any worse than the other side). Stupid, perhaps, but two sides of the same corrupt and insane coin.

George Clooney, rest well, this does not change my overall man-crush on you and your Lake Como villa (and the rest of your semi-charmed life).

Posts based on old posts

2008-05-17T17:42:00.002-04:00

I love it when I can link to my old posts!

Barack wins - Hillary, not so much (and my vote for the Democrats seems safe, along with the ire of Sarah!)
Rob and Sarah either have a car or a chipmunk, after Rob and I spent literally months looking (OK, really just 2 hours). I look forward to being a back seat driver more than once this summer. Plus, actually seeing the car. :)
Somehow, my work got in the way of Mike Montgomery ending up as Cal BBall coach. I can't really say what I feel about it - I figure he starts winning and taking us to the Final Four and I will start liking him a lot more than Braun.

That's enough for now... enjoy.

High density of posts on weekends...

2008-05-17T17:22:00.003-04:00

Because my damn job keeps getting in the way of all this important blogging stuff. I really need to have a talk with Larry and Sergey...

If there was a way to post items from Google Reader directly to Blogger (the new Notes feature comes to mind), that would be tres cool. But I think the only place you can share those is in Reader. :(

Cool new feature from Google Reader

2008-05-17T17:18:00.002-04:00

The three people (ok, maybe two) that read this blog know that I happen to work for a really small and upcoming start-up. They happen to have a cool new update for Reader for the iPhone. It makes it easy for "folks who have never used RSS much" to keep up with news and RSS feeds.

(Nina, this means you).

If a tree falls in the forest...

2008-04-30T13:49:00.002-04:00

(by the way, I am making up for my lack of posting for a month - and working from home for a few days)

So, if the Republicans ignore you, can you really be considered a serious candidate?

If so, why is Hillary still running?

Maybe now would be the time to say that if she somehow becomes the candidate (and pigs fly) I will either write in Barack or be voting for McCain. Basically it will all depend on how much she pisses me off during that time. So my money's on McCain since she probably has no hope of not pissing me off royally.

He's ruining it for the rest of us...

2008-04-30T13:44:00.003-04:00

Seriously, Bobby Jindal needs to stop. Guy is 36 and cramping my style. Already a State Governor (granted only Louisiana), already on the Leno show, sat next to a movie star (though only Helen Hunt), and already mentioned as a potential Vice Presidential possibility. What are all the other Indian boys supposed to do when their moms start razzing them for only being world-class doctors, business leaders, or pillars of the community.

Really. :)

Car Shopping in Manhattan

2008-04-30T12:17:00.003-04:00

So Rob and I went car shopping. Me, because I love cars and Rob, because he is seriously jonesing for a car. However, for this excursion, our significant others weren't shopping somewhere else in Manhattan - just us men. :)

We ended up looking at Infiniti M35x and M45x models (nice, I have to say), though I definitely must say that I am 1) an old fart, or 2) NYC makes me feel poor, or 3) an old fart. Simply put, while the cars were really nice, I didn't see myself with a sudden onslaught of feelings about what I am missing by not having a car. Plus I think that Rob was alternating between "cool car" and "does this make sense". We agreed that the Certified Pre-Owned ones made much more sense. $27K for a year old car that is $45-50K new. Yowsah.

Now granted, if we were at the Porsche dealership, maybe I would feel different and re-discover that "damn I want a car" magic. :) Also, we didn't really test drive the cars - just look at them in the showroom -the equivalent of seeing a picture of a stove or kitchen and not being able to actually use anything.

In addition, with the insane idea that Sundays are not a good time to have car dealerships open - Rob and I didn't really get a chance to see any Bimmers or other cars. Dealerships are dumb.

I'm Back!

2008-04-30T11:01:00.002-04:00

Yes, I have a job.

Yes, it sometimes sucks the very life out of me.

Yes, the last month (almost exactly) was one of those times.

Let me tell you - setting quotas for a large sales team, not exactly the easiest (nor most fuflilling) thing you can do with your time. On the flip side, I did get a fantastic bottle of Champagne from one appreciative team! I think folks have started to catch on that they can ply me with booze.

Any how I promise to write more (for all three folks that might check this blog - you can rest assured). Plus, this should be the last time I have to deal with all this quota setting stuff. So you can hear from me consistently for many days from now on (until work comes up with the next life-sucking invention).

James Beard Nominees are in

2008-03-29T13:31:00.002-04:00

List of nominees...

How many have you been to?

How many do you want to try?

Looking back for a second

2008-03-26T19:16:00.002-04:00

Just a quick second... Referencing my last Cal post, I resigned myself to a crappy NIT run and a boring summer until football started. Well...

Cal barely beat New Mexico in the first round (at home) and then got demolished by OSU.
Cal then fired Braun.

As much as I respect Braun, I have to say that I am in favor of the decision. I think we need a new leader on the team and while he was a great recruiter, the teams just didn't perform up to the level they should have.

Here's hoping we bring in someone that can take us to the next level and have us in the NCAAs and at the top of the heap in the PAC-10 year over year.

Holy Crap - less than 30 days left

2008-03-22T01:11:00.002-04:00

Before I have to tell Uncle Sam how much Nina and I paid them for funding a war, looking like idiots, and generally mis-using my money more than I would all by myself.

On that note, one of Obama's economic advisors has been pushing an idea I thought of all by myself like five years ago. If TurboTax tells me they can connect to all these online databases and get a lot of my W-2 info, etc., then why the hell can't the IRS?

Why can't the IRS send me my bill, all itemized like AT&T Wireless, and then I can review, confirm or not, and then send a check or tell them where to send the cabbage? I bet that for most people with either no money, one job and a house, or something relatively easy, this would be doable, right?

Anyhow, it makes me heart Obama even more.

O'Hare is an inspiration

2008-03-22T01:04:00.003-04:00

Well, not really. But you are going to get a rather rambling post from me. Consider yourself warned...

Let me tell you a story about how I came to write this post sitting on O'Hare's lovely floor waiting for my super lovely wife to arrive on American Airlines. This is what happens when you and your wife fly two different airlines at two different times (me at 7 PM and her at 8 PM), during a snowstorm (so I leave at 9:30 PM and she leaves at 11 PM from LGA). But at least it left me time this weekend to put up a few blog posts and get a bit of work done!

Now, for a commercial interruption.

Noise-canceling headphones are the best traveler's invention. Ever.

The iPhone is a close second. So far I have seen a Pixar short, a "How I Met Your Mother" episode, and listened to a lot of great music, checked Nina's flight, my email, and the latest NCAA games.

Springtime in Chicago...

2008-03-22T00:55:00.002-04:00

Is a fallacy. Really, a snowstorm on March 21 doesn't meet my expectations of a great start to spring in Chicago. Of course, I truly believe that the season of Spring actually just waves at Chicago as it flies overhead and settles down on the East Coast.

So Nina and I are in Chicago for one of Nina's friend's wedding. Rebecca gets to have a white wedding like some people have a white XMas. We are also here to see Nina's dad who just had his knee replaced. I also get to try out my new nickname for him, the "Six-Million Dollar Man" and see if I can make it stick! (full disclosure, when I called him that before the surgery, it seemed to go over well - so I am diving in full force).

Here is to better weather in Chi-town the rest of the weekend. Happy Spring everyone!

Economics Pop Quiz

2008-03-16T10:32:00.003-04:00

If you had to guess how much money we (as Americans) spend trying to "beat" the stock market, what would you come up with?

$100B sound about right? (and yes, that is a "B").

More striking, the number is 1980 was $7B. So in 27 years, the number has grown by over 14x.

Since I am a nerd, I did the math - that is basically a 10.4% CAGR in money spent to beat the market, and from 1980 to the end of 2007, the market went up 14.9x (or about 10.8% CAGR).

So I am not an economist by any means, but basically as a whole, the market went up by 10.8% every year and American's increased spend at 10.4% each year to try to beat it. So good money chasing a bad idea.

Still don't believe me? Well maybe Warren Buffet can convince you better:

Everyone expects to be above average. And those helpers - bless their hearts - will certainly encourage their clients in this belief. But, as a class, the helper-aided group must be below average. The reason is simple: 1) Investors, overall, will necessarily earn an average return, minus costs they incur; 2) Passive and index investors, through their very inactivity, will earn that average minus costs that are very low; 3) With that group earning average returns, so must the remaining group - the active investors. But this group will incur high transaction, management, and advisory costs. Therefore, the active investors will have their returns diminished by a far greater percentage than will their inactive brethren. That means that the passive group - the "know-nothings" - must win.

Again, the best way (if you are a long term investor) is to keep a large portion of your money in an broad-based equity fund and let it work for you over the long haul.

So ends my Econ class of the week.

One thing I learned at Cal was to always look forward

2008-03-16T10:15:00.005-04:00

Now that the Cal Basketball season is heading towards yet another end steeped in mediocrity (imagine a college team with two first-round NBA picks at .500?!?). By the way, it was great having you Ryan and don't let the door hit you on the way out Devon.

I figured the only thing I have left is to look forward to next season's Cal Football season.

"Coach Tedford's on us harder than he's ever been," Follett said. "He's reinforcing the 'Tedford Law' around here. When I first got here, I saw how it was. Then two years went by, and I saw how much lenience was being allowed.
"He kind of recognized that. That's the No. 1 change that he's been making. That's helping our team."
Follett said he welcomed the return of a tougher, more demanding Tedford. After what happened last season, it's not surprising that Tedford's players are receptive to anything that will help them avoid a repeat.

Here's hoping that Cal gets back to the top of the heap next season with Riley at QB and not reading their own press clippings. Please (for the love of all things holy), let us get to the Rose Bowl.

Being the dutiful husband...

2008-03-15T10:49:00.002-04:00

I am posting this for my wife - who can't get enough of Top Chef. Especially now that it is in Chicago and they shop at the Whole Foods near where we used to live.

A list of where all the Chefs from this season used to cook for in NYC.

Next place to check out on the UWS?

2008-03-15T10:45:00.002-04:00

I always wondered about the Empire Hotel as Nina and I went to the Opera and gazed out during the intermissions... now maybe we will have to check it out one day before we see a production or anytime the night is warm.

Best reponse to a Press Release. Ever.

2008-03-15T10:13:00.002-04:00

I gotta admit - when a co-worker sent me this link, other than the fact that it was posted on Time.com, as I started to read, I keep thinking "really?!?, this has got to be a spoof or something from Comedy Central". But then I found out it was actually a real Press Release from the Obama campaign as a counter-point to a Clinton release.

A mere snippet (you have to check out the entire release - especially the "Huh?" moment)

If Barack Obama cannot reverse his downward spiral with a big win in Pennsylvania, he cannot possibly be competitive against John McCain in November.

[If they are defining downward spiral as a series of events in which the Clinton campaign has lost more votes, lost more contests and lost more delegates to us – I guess we will have to suffer this horribly painful slide all the way to the nomination and then on to the White House.]

[Thanks for the laughs guys. This was great.]

As they used to say - "Three snaps in Z formation!"

Michigan and Florida politicans are idiots

2008-03-15T09:59:00.002-04:00

Ok, maybe that isn't the biggest news of the week. But really, complaining how your delegates are not going to be seated when you knew the rules, broke the rules, and crowed about it? Now that it is politically expedient to have your delegates seated because apparently you are important states - you go around saying that you should get private donors to fund re-votes so we can end up having basically 50% of the delegates go to Obama and 50% go to Clinton (and on the other side 70% go to the already-decided nominee McCain).

Here's a plan - instead have the states give ME all the money, and I will go back into a secret vault (aka my bedroom), and award delegates based on a complicated formula (a coin), and then everyone will be happy with the charade, and I will be $20M richer. Win-win, if you ask me.

Another reason the UWS rules

2008-03-04T12:22:00.001-05:00

Gray's Papaya and Barack - together at last.

Cool mash-up of Kayne song

2008-03-04T12:21:00.000-05:00

The Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis

2008-02-27T16:59:00.002-05:00

In simple to understand terms...

[beware there is a few four-letter works, nothing you wouldn't hear in an R-rated movie]

Is Splenda making me fat?

2008-02-27T10:11:00.002-05:00

OK, maybe not "fat" exactly - more like slowing my metabolism down?

Does this mean I should go back to sugar in my morning tea at least so that my body gets started with a big dose of real sugar instead of a fake dose of sweet?

"Tower, this is Ghost rider requesting a flyby."

2008-02-27T10:03:00.003-05:00

"That's a negative Ghost rider, the pattern is full."

Apparently after saving the world from communists, Maverick became a pilot for Cathay Pacific. Well unless he pulled one of his trademark stunts!

Seems like Maverick might be looking for a new line of work as well.

The Chronology of my Vote

2008-02-27T09:44:00.002-05:00

I have an announcement. If Hillary somehow manages to become the Democratic nominee for 2008, I will "quit" the democratic party and officially change my affiliation to Independent. Plus, I will write in Barack's name on the ballot.

How did I get to this place? Here is the chronology of my vote for 2008:

I read Audacity of Hope, and told Nina that Obama should run.
Nina said "What? He will never win." I said, "I don't care, he would make the primaries better by his presence and change the conversation for the better."
Many months pass - Nina is slowly worn down by my unbelievablely great rhetoric about Barack's candidacy. :) (more importantly, she reads his book)
I announce one night - and this is at a point that Obama is well behind and Hillary is "inevitable" - that I more impressed with Hillary and her command of the issues. I tell Nina that I would be "OK" with voting for her if Barack doesn't pull it out and she becomes the nominee.
Nina says "What?!?" I explain that she would be a good president and certainly better than any of the Republican candidates at this point.

So, a little break. At this point I was still an Obama supporter, but planning to vote for Clinton if she pulled it out. So Democratic candidate either way. (If is was Edwards, I would have voted for McCain or wrote in a name). Back to the timeline...

Flash forward many months - now Obama-mania has captured more of the country. He wins Iowa, loses New Hampshire, etc. I am feeling good about things.
Super Tuesday comes and goes and Obama is still Barocking the Vote.
People start talking about super-delegates. Nina says, what if the Superdelegates make Hillary the nominee. I say, "that won't happen, the Democratic party can't shoot itself in the foot. They have a chance to win a voting bloc for a generation." (That voting bloc is voung people, btw).
Hillary and her camp start talking about Florida/Michigan, and getting superdelegates to vote for her. I start to get annoyed, but still think that the world and the democratic party is a bright and shiny place.
Hillary goes postal and "angrified" waving flyers around.
Nader gets in the election as a useless third party candidate.

So I reach the decision this morning - that for me staying a Democrat is simple. Obama as a candidate, I am in. Hillary I am out. For good.

I am at the end of the day, only one vote and one person. But I am serious.

Democratic Party - what will you do?

TiVo shows on my iPhone

2008-02-27T09:37:00.002-05:00

I need to figure out how to make that happen.

One piece of the puzzle.

Now I need to figure out how to get my TiVo content to my iPhone so I can watch the stuff Nina doesn't like to watch on my commute!

Anyone know how?

Point. Counter-point

2008-02-26T12:55:00.001-05:00

Just make sure you have headphones on or won't offend your neighbors...

Round 1:

Round 2:

The rap section in the first video is priceless...

Funny mash-up with Barack

2008-02-26T12:52:00.000-05:00

Bollywood and Barack. The wife will love this...

Yes, the site looks different

2008-02-25T09:34:00.001-05:00

I flipped the layout and changed the font to Arial. Exciting stuff I know.

Maybe a surprise to no one...

2008-02-24T17:23:00.002-05:00

...but I am a nerd. Or most certainly I am turning into an economics nerd. If these articles don't prove it, I don't know what will. Between my interest in blogs like this, and reading Age of Turbulence, I think I would have been an Economics professor in an alternate universe.

On the popcorn article, given that theatres are in trouble these days, I wonder why some theatre chains don't just drop the price of a movie really low and charge better food? Kind of like how the "upscale" bowling alleys are remaking themselves into bars and places to hang out with younger folks. If the margin on food is way higher then why don't they just have the movies on as a way to drive people into the "store" and then sell better food and drinks to the audience?

Finally, some of the dumbest people seem to be cashiers at movie theaters. That is in fact a gross generalization, and I have interacted with some really great cashiers at theaters, but by and large I avoid food at movies because of the long lines, slow processing, and rude service, and that is on some of the highest margin goods in the place!?!

Nader and Clinton - the Obama foils

2008-02-24T16:59:00.006-05:00

So, Ralph Nader is running for office. For some reason (well, assuming that Obama is the nominee), this doesn't really worry me that much. Seriously, how egotistical can one man be? I would support a Ron Paul or Bloomberg candidacy WAY more than Nader. For one reason, his time has passed him by, and second, Barack Obama is able to dis a person with so much more class than I can:

"You know, he had called me and I think reached out to my campaign — my sense is is that Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don’t listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you’re not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work. Now — and by the way, I have to say that, historically, he is a singular figure in American politics and has done as much as just about anybody on behalf of consumers. So in many ways he is a heroic figure and I don’t mean to diminish him. But I do think there is a sense now that if somebody is not hewing to the Ralph Nader agenda, then you must be lacking in some way."

Touche!

On the Clinton front, she has managed to piss me off, feel for her (just a little), a bit of schadenfreude, and a bit of a "Dead Woman Walking". I don't for a minute think that Hillary is out of the race by any means or couldn't be a good president. I just don't think at the end of the day she is in the race for the right reason (to that end, I think McCain falls into the same trap as well).

To further the point, here is a quote from a NYT article:

In interviews with 15 aides and advisers to Mrs. Clinton, not a single one expressed any regrets that they were not working for Mr. Obama. Indeed, some aides said they were baffled that a candidate who had been in the United States Senate for only three years and was a state lawmaker in Illinois before that was now outpacing a seasoned figure like Mrs. Clinton. And to a person, these aides and advisers praised Mrs. Clinton and said that she had been a better candidate than her campaign strategy and operation reflected.

If they don't get it (and are baffled) at why Obama is surging, then that just proves that there were too many yes-men in the Clinton campaign that couldn't get out of the way of their own aura of invincibility and had convinced themselves of facts not in evidence.

Any sadness I might have had for Hillary evaporates in a cloud of incompetence. If she can't run a winning campaign or a health care initiative, she now has two strikes in my book.

So, will we have a big or small family?

2008-02-20T08:57:00.002-05:00

I always had the opinion that the "richer" a society, the smaller the family. Japan and a lot of Western Europe being a prime example of negative population growth. On the flip side, I was under the impression that developing nations had larger families since there wasn't a "Social Security" type of program or a safety net, so having a larger family was the alternative in order to have more kids survive to adulthood and eventually take care of the parents.

But this article was interesting and thought provoking. I have to admit I was drawn to it by the title and the fact I would figure out what made me so special as an only child! But it actually talks about family sizes and when you look in an already wealthy country, the ultra rich actually have larger families than the middle class, etc.

I bet if you drew a graph with net worth on the X axis and number of children on the Y axis, you would get a inverted bell curve or something with larger families at both extremes.

Picture is a Kennedy family picture to prove my point. :)

Justice

2008-02-19T23:18:00.002-05:00

So, this guy has to pay a pretty penny for being a dick (and a skeeze).

Course, one would think the cost of diverting a flight, and having to land, refuel, and time, etc. would cost more than a nice watch, right? Especially as seeing as how he has to pay a fine that is more than the cost of diverting a flight.

Of course, if I was on that flight I would sue the guy just for spite in small claims court for my time. :)

Title Inflation at work

2008-02-19T23:11:00.002-05:00

300 VPs? Seriously? No wonder they have looked lost the last few years...

Back in the Big Apple

2008-02-19T14:02:00.002-05:00

So, I am back in NYC after about a week of traveling, first to San Francisco, where I stayed here, and went to an offsite here. Weather was beautiful and a big break from NYC, who was going through this.

So Sarah said she was waiting for a post - so to ensure that she has something to read when she and Rob get back from vacation... I promise a few posts in the next few days (note to self, a way to post from my iPhone would be kick ass).

Yes We Can...

2008-02-03T13:50:00.000-05:00

I am not as cool as the folks in this video, but yes we can...

Fun with Google Trends

2008-01-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

I am in LOVE with Google trends... so cool.

The Hillary v. Barack throwdown...

Are we going into a recession??

Why voting on Feb 5 matters

2008-01-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

At least in New York City, it isn't winner take all. Plus Obama could win NYC and all of the delegates, since there are 8M people that live here.

Story at the Sun.

Like they say in Chicago - vote early, vote often.

Will one of our soon-to-be-married friends have this experience?

2008-01-17T12:52:00.001-05:00

I pray not (being a guy and all)!

Cool bridges

2008-01-17T12:48:00.000-05:00

Continuing my fascination with architecture, here is a list and pics of 18 cool bridges.

My favorite stat from last week

2008-01-08T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well, other than Obama kicking ass...

Was this. Proving (if maybe just for once) that sex (or sexy people) might not sell.

Buy Indian...

2008-01-03T12:43:00.000-05:00

It is official - if I want to support the motherland, I should buy a Jag or Land Rover.

Gotta say - that beats buying a Mahindra. :)

My iPod (and iPhone) makes me sane

2007-12-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

I always knew there was a reason that I spent all that money on those cool little devices... much cheaper than therapy.

As David Bull says in the article:

The iPod allows people to control their environment, more so than any other technology. In a world where we have little sense of control over our everyday lives, it can be very satisfying to control how you interact with your environment. You have a playlist that you listen to while you're out walking around New York ... certain songs that remind you of the city. But the real sound of New York is shut off. You're controlling what your image of the city is. We are fine-tuning the relationship between our own feelings and environment.

There's a paradox between the cosmopolitan nature of a city and the iPod, which signifies something else. As users become more locked into their increasingly subjective pleasure, they ... (are remaking the) world in their own image. It's the idea that, "I don't want to hear loud people; I want to be left alone," and the iPod allows that. The paradox is, cosmopolitism resides in the person's iPod. It's often the most amazing array of music from around the world; the rich mix of songs around the world contrasting with the chilly nature of the city.... Where does diversity go? In our pocket.

This is how I survive the Subway and all the crazy people.

Apple is trying to surround me

2007-12-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

First, they seduce me with their products. Then they open a HUGE store less than a block away from work. Now, they are opening one in the UWS.

How will I escape... and more importantly, how will Nina keep me from buying even more Apple stuff?

Me likey

2007-12-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

Seeing as how Nina and I are going for less expensive gifts for each other post "First Wedding Anniversary" - this big poster makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Because I love skyscrapers & because I studied architecture in college (and used to scribble skyscraper designs in all my book margins).

I swear I am not compensating for anything. My lovely wife - I have given you the best gift idea ever (and shared it with the world).

What if YOU seceded and no one cared?

2007-12-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

Seriously... like, what is the second biggest source of oil in Latin American behind Venezuela had like a third of it's land mass decide to declare sovereignty.

Also, what is none of the press in the Free World seemed to give a damn?

2007-12-09T19:20:00.000-05:00

This is pretty funny. That's my short and sweet post for the weekend.

Indians on Facebook. Great.

Not to mention Penn Masala. Brilliant.

Any takers?

2007-11-29T13:12:00.000-05:00

Nina and I are going to several weddings in 2008 (4 or 5 I think), so I hope one of them decides to do this:

glumbert - Best wedding first dance ever

Rob/Sarah?

If only Nina and I had thought of this... Damn!

Shoot me

2007-11-27T16:11:00.000-05:00

...if I ever sound, act, behave like this.

Really.

I am building a theme I think...

2007-11-21T14:40:00.000-05:00

Politicians are dumb. Maybe that's not news to everyone, but I keep finding confirmatory evidence. Since I am lazy - here is a much more well-thought out response to the "open letter" by Danny Sullivan. As he says:

You want to have hearings? Take a look at that. But this waste of time exercise over Google-DoubleClick? Approve the deal, and let's move on.

It is challenging when politicians can't accurately represent what companies like Google and DoubleClick actually do yet feel the need to comment on it and make mis-representations in order to urge action.

The Real Issue with Social Security

2007-11-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

In further proof that most people have absolutely no idea what they are talking about... I give you Social Security. The discussion around this government program strikes me as similar to the discussion that surrounded "global warming". Here is an excerpt from Paul Krugman's article in the NY Times:

But the “everyone” who knows that Social Security is doomed doesn’t include anyone who actually understands the numbers. In fact, the whole Beltway obsession with the fiscal burden of an aging population is misguided.

As Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, put it in a recent article co-authored with senior analyst Philip Ellis: “The long-term fiscal condition of the United States has been largely misdiagnosed. Despite all the attention paid to demographic challenges, such as the coming retirement of the baby-boom generation, our country’s financial health will in fact be determined primarily by the growth rate of per capita health care costs.”

The real reasons are shrouded in half-truths and convenient lies by politicians who don't know otherwise and are too stupid to think for themselves.

Silver lining from tsunami for one town?

2005-03-18T12:41:00.000-05:00

This Yahoo article talks about a bunch of ruins that were exposed according to fisherman in Mahabalipuram when the water receeded before the tsunami hit.

Of course the locals are calling it the Indian Atlantis, but others aren't so sure. Either way, there are tourists coming now, and ultimately that might be the best thing that area needs right now.

If they can dye the river green one day a year...

2005-03-17T23:24:00.000-05:00

(click on the image above for a bigger version)

Took most of the week to get to - but here is the picture out of my apartment window for my first St. Paddy's Day celebration in Chicago. This is actually from the day after (in the morning), since by the time I left for the bar crawl the green hadn't gotten this far down the river yet. In actuality, the color right after the dye it is almost radioactive green.

So you can see a bunch of the buildings and my view (which I have never gotten around to showing folks). The big constuction zone right below is the new Trump building that is going up (Bill Ransic, anyone?). So by next year I am sure there will be a 92 story building blocking part of that view.

Explain to me why this would work?

2005-03-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

This blog makes a lazyweb request to create a fake "ad clicker and visitor" that would somehow make advertisers revolt and stop using the Pop-Up, thereby quickening its demise?

Umm... what? I am all about getting rid of pop-ups/pop-unders, but there are a few problems with this plan.

First of all, most of the pop-ups and pop-unders are purhased on a CPM basis. So a click on the ad doesn't cost anything nor would most advertisers really care - and assumably they don't track it.

Second, even for all the extra traffic headed to the advertiser, it is certainly bandwidth (which has costs), but I find it hard to believe that any extension in Firefox, even if installed by default in Firefox, would make that big a dent. Firefox is at most 5% of the market (if that). Of course, having the application hit the website 1,000, or 1 million times might be a different story, but I doubt that the script could do that without getting noticed.

The reason pop-ups/pop-unders exist still in the world are for the following reasons:

It is a cheap way to purchase advertising and a standard format.
It is a LOT of money for publishers. It is not an easy revenue line item to wean yourself off of once you have been using it on your site. A site like Google that never had them doesn't have this issue.
They deliver traffic - maybe not the most qualified or convertable, but they deliver enough (even if the 90% crud stat is right).

If you could figure out a way for publishers to replace the revenue they receive from pop-unders/pop-ups, most if not all would jump at the opportunity to get rid of them. They dislike them as much as the next guy but they like making their revenue for the quarter more.

How about a lazyweb request for some suggestions on ways a generic publisher could replace the money they get from pop-ups with another incremental revenue source? That would be interesting to hear about from the blogosphere.

Recipe for Funding Success

2005-03-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

Even though it starts off with the requisite "I hate PowerPoint" diatribe, this post actually has a pretty in-depth outline for what to present to a VC (and in my mind, a bank, angels, and other funding sources). In some ways it is just an outline for a business plan, but at least it presents the information in a question format, which I think is nice for the end-user. Just so I don't give all the thunder away, here are the topics - click over to see the juicy details (and BTW, the blog is a pretty good read to boot):

1) WHAT IS YOUR VISION?
2) WHAT IS YOUR MARKET OPPORTUNITY AND HOW BIG IS IT?
3) DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE
4) WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER?
5) WHAT IS YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION?
6) HOW ARE YOU SELLING?
7) HOW DO YOU ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS?
8) WHO IS YOUR MANAGEMENT TEAM?
9) WHAT IS YOUR REVENUE MODEL?
10) WHAT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT ARE YOU AT?
11) WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR FUND RAISING?
12) WHO IS YOUR COMPETITION?
13) WHAT PARTNERSHIPS DO YOU HAVE?
14) HOW DO YOU FIT WITH THE PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR?
15) OTHER

Saw this off of Boing Boing

Will I defect?

2005-03-17T12:50:00.000-05:00

Seems strange to talk about this on a newly created Blogger site, but all the talk about Yahoo 360 is making me wonder if that might be the better place to blog? Assuming that anyone with a Yahoo ID can post/join, etc. setting up a community blog with my MBA -mates would make a whole lot more sense there - since we already have a Yahoo Group going.

The recommendations and social-network type of features are especially intriguing and something I thought that the other social networks should have stressed more in their ramp up to get the requisite network effect. Like Charlene mentions in her post, if all your friends and family are already there - and importantly signed up - then blogging is an easy extension. Trying to convince my parents or girlfriend or school-mates to sign up at a completely different site, since Blogger doesn't equal Google for most folks, is a hard sell.

I am eagerly waiting to see if Yahoo 360 lives up to my expectations...

UPDATE: There are screenshots out now.

The problem with mergers

2005-03-17T10:50:00.000-05:00

Saw an interesting report from the McKinsey Quarterly (in their "Chart Focus" series), that talks about the problem with mergers and expectations of success. The report discusses the misguided expectations that companies have entering into large mergers. The oft-stated "synergies" in revenue and costs more often than not fail to materialize.

Given the recent trend in the market towards consolidation and larger mergers, this is interesting information for any company - and perhaps more interesting to the investor that is looking for the real return on equity in a large merger, and whether the benefits justify the costs. HP/Compaq, anyone?

Criminals are dumb

2005-03-16T17:14:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal:

Getting away with crime is difficult enough, but it's especially hard when the criminal advertises his or her crimes to the world in advance. Cases in point: police in Quincy, Mass., discovered a man sleeping in a stolen car in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy, wearing a stocking on his head and holding a cap gun and a note saying: "I have a Gun DO NOT Press any Alarms or let Custermors [sic] know Empty the All the register." And police in Moorhead, Minn., arrested a man for drunken driving last week who had a personalized license plate that read "TIPSY." "It doesn't mean I drink and drive," the defendant explained to the Associated Press. "It just means I have a good time."

All I have to say is, well... WOW. I feel a lot better about my (blog) writing skills after reading that stickup note. You gotta admit, the dumb criminals have a way of getting themselves caught. It truly is a nice self-correcting cycle.

Welcome!

2005-03-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the world of Chatterbox - my little spot on the web to post interesting info, hopefully some new insights, and cool info.

Since I work in the online world and know a wee bit about the Sponsored Link arena, I might post some interesting thoughts on that topic from time to time.

Enjoy, and look forward to hearing from folks.