Sid Yadav

University Website (via xkcdexplained)

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:00:17 +1200

University Website (via xkcdexplained)

Udaan: the first Indian movie to be chosen for Cannes. Really...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:04:00 +1200

Udaan: the first Indian movie to be chosen for Cannes.

Really looking forward to seeing it.

Gym Motivation

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:41:17 +1200

Having recently finished Dan Pink’s latest book, ‘Drive’, I’ve been thinking a bit about the science of motivation. I’m not sure if this is an entirely original idea or if something like this exists, but as I was walking out of the gym I wondered how cool it would be if a gym existed that — for example:

Cost $30/month.
Gave you a sticker each time you checked out.
If you collected 10 stickers in any given month, you’d save $10, so it would only cost you $20 for that month.

This would have numerous positive consequences and pretty much be a win-win for everyone involved. As a result of more people visiting the gym more often:

They would be healthier.
They would be richer.
The gym would make more money in the long-run as a result of less people dropping out after the first couple of months, and telling others about the awesome deal.

Again, not sure if it’s original or if there are gyms that do this. But if it is, and there aren’t, there should be.

I’m loving the emergence of...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:30:29 +1200

I’m loving the emergence of anti-folk/indie/soft/experimental music in mainstream Indian film soundtracks. Also, Amit Trivedi is the new A.R. Rahman.

The day after US Air Flight 1549 landed safely in the Hudson, so many people played the number 1549...

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:53:19 +1200

The day after US Air Flight 1549 landed safely in the Hudson, so many people played the number 1549 in the lottery that some states shut their lotteries down out of fear that if the number hit, they would lose millions.

The New York Pick 4 number that day turned out to be 1548.

(via rickyv)

I don’t like it when you read my e-mail, Gmail.

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:29:00 +1200

I don’t like it when you read my e-mail, Gmail.

10 Rules for Raising a Child on the Internet

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:24:00 +1200

I used to be slightly against parents policing their kids on the Internet, but I’ve reconsidered after watching and tracking this incident. It’s the worst of what can happen when parents either ignorantly or willfully let an eleven year old freely roam around the Internet and pretty tragic for everyone involved.

With that said, it’s hard not to miss the great benefits of the Internet in a child’s development. Not only can it inspire and empower the next generation of designers, writers, and programmers, it can make you smarter and informed for your life ahead even if those aren’t what you end up doing.

So a few years (decades?) premature, I’ve devised a set of rules that my kids will adhere to when it comes to Internet access. Of course, this will be adjusted for technology at the time. (Side-note: can imagine what such a list would mention in 1996?)

You will have Internet access of some sort from the time you’re 4 or 5 (iPad?).
Your access will be limited with the following set of rules until you’re 15 — after which, given you don’t have a alarming history of incidents, you’ll be given fully unrestricted access.
The computer will stay in the living room until you’re 12. After this time, you may be awarded a laptop.
You will be absolutely free and encouraged do any type of creative work. Photoshop, programming, writing, pretty much anything that involves you creating something.
Likewise for learning and discovering. Wikipedia, Google Earth, (the good stuff on) YouTube, news sites, documentaries.
Time restrictions will be minimal if not none for creative and learning tasks, but 2 - 3 hours a day for games and other non-productive things.
You will not have a Facebook account, or an account of any sort on a social website, until you’re 13.
IM/e-mail with your immediate school friends and known people in your age group around the world will be encouraged. (Theory: kids talking to each other, especially those of different cultures, increases tolerance and understanding at later ages.)
Adult content filters will be set at all times.
Unrelated bonus: you will be made to watch Khan Academy videos alongside your school work. If you show interest and drive, you may proceed further than the curriculum, in hopes that you end up mastering Calculus by the time you’re 16.

"What signal are we sending young people? Trim your nails, be politically correct, don’t say anything..."

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:27:00 +1200

“What signal are we sending young people? Trim your nails, be politically correct, don’t say anything that will get you flamed by one constituency or another. And if you ever want a job in government, national journalism or as president of Harvard, play it safe and don’t take any intellectual chances that might offend someone. In the age of Google, when everything you say is forever searchable, the future belongs to those who leave no footprints.”

- Can We Talk? - NYTimes.com

On the firing of Octavia Nasr over her now infamous tweet.

(via devindra)

Rupert Murdoch, Neel Shah, and the Short Pants

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:53:20 +1200

Rupert Murdoch, Neel Shah, and the Short Pants:

(via rickyv)
Last month, my friend Neel Shah left his job at the New York Post’s “Page Six” and moved to LA to write for a network sitcom. Neel’s new gig marked not only the end of his time in New York, but the end of a year-long fascination with the management style of his boss’ boss’ boss, Rupert Murdoch….

Epic.

Jeff Bezos’ Princeton Commencement Speech If you enjoyed...

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:22:00 +1200

Jeff Bezos’ Princeton Commencement Speech

If you enjoyed Steve Jobs’ Stanford one a few years ago, you’ll love this. Skip to 5 minutes for the real deal.

“It’s easier to be clever than to be kind, for cleverness is a gift and kindness is a choice.”

"When you’re 20, you care what people think about you. When you’re 40, you don’t..."

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:03:34 +1200

“When you’re 20, you care what people think about you. When you’re 40, you don’t care what people think about you. When you’re 60, you realize that no one thought about you in the first place.”

- Bob Hope

Paul Orfalea (Kinko’s) is one of my favorite...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:45:00 +1200

Paul Orfalea (Kinko’s) is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. I like how he’s willing to say to a room full of Stanford MBAs that their grades don’t matter and that it’s MBAs like them who screwed up his business when FedEx bought it.

This talk may be a little long, but totally worth it — it’s the most business and life wisdom you’ll ever get in 60 minutes. Better still, read his book, ‘Copy This!’.

Points of View

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:48:16 +1200

Points of View

"Were it not for the intelligent, fresh sense of humor of individuals like Mr. Stein, the world may..."

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:01:11 +1200

“Were it not for the intelligent, fresh sense of humor of individuals like Mr. Stein, the world may never know about Americans who happen to be of Indian descent. Gags about impossibly spicy food? I’d never heard those before! Multiple Gods with multiple arms? Multiple laughs! Recounting racial slurs like “dot-head”? Oh, Mr. Stein, is too good! I don’t know how he comes up with such unique bits. (I was worried that he’d missed an opportunity to joke about Dr. King’s predecessor, Gandhi, but I see that he got to that hilarity on Twitter. More never-before-heard satire!)”

- Kal Penn: The “Hilarious” Xenophobia of Time’s Joel Stein

(And just incase you were thinking of skipping Kal Penn’s rebuttal piece from the last post.)

Joel Stein on Immigration, New Jersey's Indian Influx - TIME

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:59:00 +1200

Joel Stein on Immigration, New Jersey's Indian Influx - TIME:

What the hell is wrong with Joel Stein? Perhaps the bigger question is, what the hell is wrong with TIME-FREAKING-MAGAZINE? If you have any interest in xenophobia in journalism at all, I urge you to take a look at this column that is creating waves in the Indian American community, and ponder the same.

He makes the point, in the most xenophobic — sorry, embarrassingly backward — way possible, about how immigration has caused his beloved town of Edison, New Jersey to become alienated to him and how the surge of Indians is the worst thing that could happen to the town and humanity in general.

Oh, and the kicker? He tries to pass it all of as a joke. That’s right. A hilarious take on ‘the immigration issue’ so that people will better see the ‘other side’ of it.

Luckily, on our side, we have Kal Penn.

I’m loving Things We Forget. Need to print these out and...

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:17:00 +1200

I’m loving Things We Forget. Need to print these out and stick it on the wall.

(via mikehudack, heyamberrae, bigbags)

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:26:01 +1200

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”

- Bertrand Russell

"Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of..."

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 01:50:00 +1200

“Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. The big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.”

- Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4

I love the tone that Apple PR uses in this letter. I really had to double check the URL to make sure The Onion wasn’t going 2 steps further to dupe us these days.

"Most people are so worried about looking good that they never do anything great. Most people are so..."

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:01:00 +1200

“Most people are so worried about looking good that they never do anything great. Most people are so worried about doing something great that they never do anything at all.”

- I assume I’m below average | Derek Sivers

An interesting look into the psychological cognitive bias of illusory superiority. If everybody thinks they’re above average, then who ends up being below average?

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:50:20 +1200

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”

- Plato