Thursday, May 31, 2007

Twisted Logic #2 - Reservations



Vote bank politics, Youth for Equality, AIIMS doctors on strikes - but are reservations really bad for the non-backward general public?

My proposition: Reservations will be great for the country, but not really by uplifting 'backward' classes.

Explanation: Reservations/Quotas is a very controversial and divisive topic of discussion today. On one side are the 'backward' people who claim a right to quotas vis-a-vis reparations for apparent years (or do they say centuries?) of oppression. On the other side, is the general 'forward' public that claims that quotas will destroy the value for merit, and that too in furtherance of caste-based, vote-bank politics and not any genuine philanthropic sentiment.

But everyone involved in this debate seems to forget one thing - For the most part colleges (and really the whole educational system) here is really bad. From Day 1, the value imbibed by students is that one has to go through school, college, a master's degree etc. to get a good job. Note that the purpose of education is not to make you a better person. It's to get you a better job. And even working with that assumption, there is only a minute segment of the whole 1 billion+ population that gets to go to genuinely excellent institutions like the IIMs and IITs.

My theory is that once 50% reservations become the status quo, good students will be forced to look at options abroad (U.S., U.K. etc.) where they will actually get a good education!!! (gasp!) And in the U.S. at least, the concept of financial aid ensures that no student would be left behind merely on account of the inability to pay huge fees. And as long as the current trend of reverse brain drain continues, this would translate into a growing segment of our population getting a better education than they could have hoped for in India in the first place. And this country desperately need people who have a broader world view, and some international experience.

Hence proved.

Disclaimer: By no means, do I disrespect, discredit, or deny the existence of genuinely excellent educators and educational institutions in our country. They are there, but unfortunately as the exception rather than the norm.


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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Twisted Logic #1 - Tolerance



This is the first in what will probably be a long series of great innovative thinking on my part that other people think is "twisted logic." #1 regards tolerance.
My proposition: Tolerance is just another form of intolerance. It's a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde thing.
Explanation: Plain and simple - people who claim to be 'tolerant' are empirically some of the most intolerant people I have met. In other words, tolerance has come to mean the non-tolerance of intolerant people. Next time someone says to you:

"I consider myself very tolerant. I love homosexual people. Some of them are my best friends."

simply repeat the following verbatim:
"That's gay."

I can guarantee you that in 9 out of 10 cases you will be subject to a long lecture / argument followed by a little physical violence or lynching for dessert.

What would the true tolerant person say?
"So, are you."
Disclaimer: I'm not homophobic.


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The Parking Mafia



Only in Delhi can we have a parking mafia!! :D The problem however is quite serious - with parking attendants charging Rs. 10 while they should be charging Rs. 5. Unfortunately, they have managed to create a public perception where the ordinary person actually believes that the official parking charge is Rs. 10.

A 2005 article reported that the MCD planned on prosecuting parking contrators who print fake tickets with a charge of Rs. 10 printed on them under s. 420 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860 which provides for the offence of "Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property." (Yes, that's where the old 'chaar so bees' comes from!)

That's all well said and done, but like in the case of the recent traffic violations drive as per the High courts order increasing fines, it apparently fizzled out and the real crooks got nothing more than a slap on the wrists (if that!)

Anyway, I am yet to see a 'fake' parking ticket. The trick I have seen them do is that the ticket has printed on it something along the lines of 'Rs. 5 for 2 hr.s and Rs. 10 for every subsequent hour,' and the attendants (intentionally) rip off the ticket right after the 'Rs. 5' part. So like the vast majority of delhites, if you think that the charge is Rs. 10 and the ticket seems to be saying the same, you will end up paying double the amount you should.

I've been paying them Rs. 5 since I found out about this last year. Most attendants don't say anything because they know they don't have a stand. One or two odd ones will ask for Rs. 10 but as long as you are firm and confident, they give up very quickly. Only once did one guy give me back the money, asking me to keep it myself and not even bother giving him 5 rupees. I obliged him gladly.

A 2006 article on the other hand talks about how the MCD really intends to respond in true desi style - eliminating violations of law by simply making the violations lawful! If you regularize the irregular, then everything ends up being regular.... sweet. They did this with the unauthorized construction stuff that's been going on for the past 6 months or so. So now the official rate will become Rs. 10. (Apparently it was supposed to be enforced from Feb. 1, 2007 but I'm not sure if that's happened).

I personally think that they should not charge anything unless and until they start using at least a part of that fund to maintain and develop parking sites.


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I am moving to Japan



In Japan, the ps3 costs 60,000 Yen which converted is about $499 or Rs. 20,000/-. That means that the ps3 is half the price in Japan than it is here!!!!! Oh, the inhumanity!!!!

Not only that, but the games are about 75% the cost here, and I suppose that means that you can expect the accessories to be cheaper as well.

Source: Amazon Japan.


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Saturday, May 26, 2007

Microsoft India introduces Xbox 360 Exchange Offer



Good Job, Microsoft. It seems like the company understand the gamers in India don't always have deep pockets. This is a very nice offer. But it comes with some 'terms & conditions.' So is it that nice?

  • The offer reduces the price of the core console only. (From Rs. 19,990 to Rs. 15,990). Not a bad deal at all, but I wish it was on the premium console.
  • The consoles you can give in exchange are the Xbox, PS2 and PSP. So don't go digging up your Super Nintendo.
  • You have to ensure that you "shall not use any unauthorized or pirated software" the doing of which will render you disqualified. In other words, if you have a modded ps2,- too bad.
  • They don't mention anything about whether the console should be in working order or not.... hmmmm.
To find out more go to this page.


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Friday, May 25, 2007

Bollywood, Plagiarism and Piracy: Time to step off the High Horse and Feed It.



This is a preview of some brilliant work being done by a few guys in Mumbai on how much and how blatantly bollywood copies movies from other countries' movies. It's really sad that they get away with it, and a mystery why they haven't been sued into the stone age.

On the other hand, bollywood gets very uptight and righteous when it comes to piracy. I especially find amusing their ad where they say "You wouldn't steal a car, you wouldn't steal a dvd from a store, then why do you steal a movie?" .... so we should stop downloading and thereby stop piracy. It's a pity that they don't listen to their own advice. Or perhaps, I should say it's a pity that the audience here remains uninformed and buys into their bullshit.

My advice: What bollywood needs to do is to:
  1. Stop bitching about piracy.
  2. Stop whining about not being internationally recognized (at the Oscars, Cannes etc.)
  3. Stop gloating about how apparently bollywood makes the most number of movies in the world.
  4. Change the system of a handful of 'stars' acting in each and every goddamn movie, and start hiring new talent.
  5. Start putting more effort w.r.t. creativity.
  6. Start getting their act together and stop acting like the greedy, untalented, unsophisticated amateurs that they currently show themselves to be.

btw: the movie is called "Four Step Plan" and I am starting to wonder whether they will ever release it, and if so, whether it would come on TV or not.

p.s. Personally the movie I hate most on account of unoriginality is "Phir Hera Pheri." I hate it on two accounts - it not only is an atrocious sequel to a really funny movie (Hera Pheri) but is a scene for scene copy of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."


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Playstation 3 & Xbox 360 in India - The Problems



Finally! Next generation video game consoles have made their entry into the Indian market with the Xbox 360 and the PS3. But should you ditch your current console of choice (or PC) and dive into this world yet?


Price
The ps3 can be got for Rs. 38,000/- at Sony Worlds. As of today's date that is about $940. Compare this to the price in the States - $599.
The 360 (premium) comes for about Rs. 27,000/- available at a number of retailers. converted as of today's rates, that is about $665. The price in the States - $399.

Note: Both consoles here come with one wireless controller, but no games.
You can just imagine what the final cost will be with other essentials (you have to get a component/HDMI cable, another controller, 2 games). Don't be surprised if your parents/girlfriend/spouse think you are turning out to be one spoilt b***ard and give you one quick whack to check you in place.


TV Requirements
If you have a sweet huge LCD tv already, then you are already well on your way to next-gen gaming. Otherwise, prepare for a heart-attack.

HDTV
Although technically both systems will play on your standard-definition TV (sdtv), to get your money's worth, you must have a HDTV. Many people in fact complain of the text being illegible on sdtvs in many 360 games.
You should get at least a 37" LCD HDTV TV which will run you upwards of Rs. 80,000/- !!!

Widescreen
Apart from DVDs (expensive) and next-gen consoles (super expensive) there is no widescreen content in India yet, and by the looks of things, there will be no such content for a long time to come. This means that if you get such a TV then you are either damned to watch all regular TV programming stretched horizontally, or alternatively to set the ratio in your TV to 4:3 and in essence, be watching a smaller TV. (watching 4:3 on a 37" widescreen TV would be like watching a normal 29" TV).

What I recommend: Forget widescreen (unless you love DVDs as opposed to your money) and get this 29" Sony standard-screen CRT HDTV (1080i) for a MRP of Rs. 36,990/-.
Edit: An Even better deal is the 29" Philips standard-screen CRT HDTV (1080p) for a MRP of Rs. 23,990/- !!!!

Availability of Games
Here, the ps3 has much more of an edge. Although only a few titles are available right now in India, the console is region-free and the games are technically supposed to be region-free (i.e. depends on the developers). So any game bought anywhere in the world should work on your Indian ps3.
If you buy a 360 here, you cannot play games imported from places like the States or Japan, though European games should work.

Advertising
Both companies are guilty of piss-poor advertising, which not surprisingly has led to lacklustre sales. While Microsoft seems to think that the Indian market is so dumb that people will flock to buy 360s just by throwing a movie star and a cricketer in every ad without showing what the console is all about, Sony seems to think that one or two print ads alone should suffice.
They would be better off saving whatever little money they spend on advertising and instead offering a free game (of choice) with every console.

Support
Although details are still sketchy, but the sketchiness of the details makes one apprehensive about how well the systems would be supported here in terms of things like what would be the turn around time for a console to be repaired and returned to the customer. In essence, is the warranty worth it to spend that extra $341 (almost Rs. 14,000/-) to buy a ps3 here than asking your chacha in the States to get you one on his next trip?

Batches
It's no secret that when consoles are released, the first few batches may have bugs in them (often requiring repair / replacement of the machines). Presumably, the consoles that have been imported here belong to such batches. Once Microsoft releases the anticipated cooler and more energy-efficient 360s (running on 65nm chips as opposed to the current 90nm ones) in the States, when will we see these batches here in India? Similarly, rumour has it that Sony will be releasing a 80GB version of the ps3 in the States (as they have already done in S.Korea I think). When will we see these here?

Online Play
With the next generation of video game consoles, all parties seem to be emphasizing online play more and more. Internet speeds in India still leave much to be desired. Will these games work well on 256kbps connections?

Motto: When the hell is the Wii coming to India, and will they repeat the same mistakes of the ps3 and 360?


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