We Stopped being wise ?

Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for practical wisdom as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.This Lecture makes more sense in the current context.A must watch for all.we have become too sophisticated that we ignore the importance of good old common sense.

Of Face and Emotions

When I see this video I am reminded of an adage, “Face is the index of one’s mind”. A simple smile carries untold meaning based on context in which it is expressed. But this TED video really explains the complexity of human emotions represented as facial expressions . When I saw the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” for the first time, I really loved the movie for two reasons. One was the compelling portrayal by Brad Pitt in the movie; another was the most artistic direction of David Fincher that really breathes life into the plot. But after seeing this video, now I have one more reason to love the movie. It is indeed a testament to the monumental will of the people involved and their realization of the fact that how something simple and mundane as facial expression of emotions, that is acted out so easily by worst of actors ,can be such a daunting task to mimic using animation. The head of Benjamin Button is CG and rest is an actor doing the role. They have managed the head of brad on to the body of some one else. For all the advanced animation capability that studios have these days, the best that could be done was to mimic the emotions on an aged face of Benjamin.

Breakfast @E-inn

Of Late I have acquired a new vice,A lavish breakfast at E-inn on lazy Sunday mornings.This is just like any other Business hotels in town with a slight twist.Its totally Vegetarian and No alcohol served.TIME TRAVELLER is the restaurant where the breakfast is served.I really Love the ambience, simple and soothing.Now some snaps from their webpage to show what its like...



And the last time I visited the place I took some snaps of my Food .Excuse me for the quality as my Nokia E63 does not do any better than this.






Its a wonderful experience for a very reasonable price : Rs 175 including Tax.
As I am typing this out on a Friday evening, I have already started to anticipate my new found Sunday morning Routine.The Only thing I miss with this experience is good company.My Roomie will be in deep slumber at 7:30 AM on a Sunday morning.I can understand that and Besides he is not a breakfast person too.Since I am an early Riser, I can't ward off my hunger any longer than that time.

Candle making at Shristi Special Academy

Last saturday was indeed memorable. I visited shrishti special academy after almost one year. This was the first activity I participated in HP.From then on I was actively involved with the volunteering initiatives at HP. The event was candle making . There were more than 30 volunteers participated in this activity.Everyone was very dedicated. In all we ended up making 5000 candles and 1000 spiral notebooks for CISCO systems.The candles are made for Himalaya industries for their corporate seasonal gifts.Sentil Kumar as usual was our photographer. Another volunteer Meesa rajendar is a video editing enthusiast who actually maintains the HP Volunteer channel in You Tube,did a good job editing Semthil's Work into a Video. I am linking the Video for the event below.

This post is a First of a Kind as it is published from IBlogger In my Ipod touch.So the Application automatically adds the Footer.
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[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

DollHouse

Dollhouse is a Sci Fi action Series that I have been following lately. The reason I started following the series is the man behind the show Joss Whedon. Well I am fan of his two earlier works, Firefly and Titan A.E. Firefly has become a cult classic in some circle in spite of its short lifespan. There is something about Firefly that makes you watch it once again. Probably the only space western I ever watched fully, Firefly really did set the bar in that Genre.



Personally the first season of Dollhouse is a letdown at best. I was expecting a little more than this from the guy who created Firefly. The series has a reasonable plot, but nothing impressive. Eliza Dushku as Echo really holds things together by her sheer presence. So any firefly fans out there you can try this one for Joss sake. Heard that there is going to be a second season, waiting to see if that turns the tide..Until then.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

“Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely….hmm this book explains a lot. This book really opens one to Behavioral economics. The seemingly rational and irrational decisions that one makes are not what that meets the eye. I have always known that there are some things that can go incredibly right or terribly wrong in spite of meticulous planning and dedicated preparation. But this book really clears it all up fair and square. The Decoy effect: how it is used on us in our day to day life by the marketing folks and the guys and girls who know how to market themselves, is clearly explained with Experimental backing. The fallacy of supply and demand really shows that how an initial price in a new segment can really impact generation of Products and their pricing. Market is not just ‘Supply and demand ’. The way the author has explained the cost associated with something termed as FREE is indeed an eye opener. The Discussion on Market Norms and Social norms is also thought provoking in putting relationships into perspective. The Real Estate boom in Some Indian cities and the reasons behind that becomes clearer when we understand the high price of ownership. The author’s Beer experiment does clearly demonstrate what role Expectations can play in reality of one’s life. In conclusion, this is a well written book with an Experimental Approach rather than a academic approach that can be expected from text books on Marketing and Psychology .A must read book for folks in Marketing and also for the ones who want to understand their decision making pattern and seeming rationality behind the same.

Love

" Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage "
- Lao Tzu
This was an interesting status message on one of my friends.So I wanted to Add this to my Thoughts and Quotes section

Fooled by Randomness Vs Outliers

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Vs


Outliers:The story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Both books are wonderful reads.They really put a perspective on the reality in life and how we are illiterate about randomness and role of chance in our lives. When I was reading Fooled by Randomness, Outliers came to my mind. These two books together give a very interesting perspective on chance and its significance in life. One imbibes in us the idea that most of what we see is a direct derivative of randomness, While the other proclaims that there is no such thing as chance but every outliers is a result of explainable opportunities and its capitalization thereof .Both are powerful works by prolific writers that approach a topic from extreme perspectives . But coming to think of it, I see that both are moving towards the mean, thereby giving a holistic solution to a debatable issue. Both are a must read in my opinion.