Vikram Dhunta

From The Big Idea on CNBC: Metronaps is a firm that manufactures Pods for people to sit in, listen to music and sleep. The Pod is shaped like well, a pea with an airplane like seat and headphones. At $14 for a 20 min nap, it encourages corporates to allow employees to take a short mid-day siesta that bolsters productivity - that's their USP and it's backed by academic studies. They sell the Pod to companies, as well as have a pod cafe in NYC where people can come in and nap. The company was co-founded by an Indian Arshad Chowdhury and Christopher Lindholst.

I'd agree that a short fulfilling nap would be great to get energized and work the rest of the afternoon. There are of course, a lot of roadblocks to being able to sell the idea - incl. (from the show) companies (e.g. law firms) being apprehensive about letting their clients know about it - $60 an hour, incl. napping for 20 mins? Can they find managers that will pay enough attention to the academic support for naps, to actually take up the idea with their finance and HR? How do employees schedule their naps with limited machines? Wouldn't a policy of 'each employee is entitled to a 20 min nap at their desk' be (nearly) equally effective?

I don't see too many companies buying these (for one - it costs $12,000 apiece). I think after a period of time, they will simply move from selling to having more podcafes themselves near corporate hubs and leasing out Pods to companies for a rental fee (incl. maintenance, upgrades, music choices etc).

Personally, though, I've never felt comfortable sleeping in an airplane seat, no matter how horizontal it can get- have you?

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments
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The Baker report is to be released Wednesday, but in the meanwhile, War strategists on news channels are talking about one route out of the mess being 'dividing Iraq up according to its majorities', i.e., a Kurd state in the north, Shia in the south and Sunni in the west.

Doing so may reduce civil strife, but lead to heightened tension with neighbouring states that view the concentrated Shia area as dangerous.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments
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Busy saturday since I have a lot of work from office to do this week. Anyway we decide to catch National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Rise of the Taj for a break. From the promos we were quite excited to see what the movie was about (what with the Indian lead etc).

Unfortunately the movie didn't have much of a beginning, which was followed by a lack of buildup to any story ending with a childish fight between the protagonist and his nemesis. The movie was a low budget not-too-much-effort venture that showed. The script was amateurish barring a couple of good jokes. It was, in fact, another one of those cheesy 80s movie where ostracised nerds in a school make a new fraternity and beat the pompous top frat. I thought they stopped making movies like these back in the 80s!

Anyway, we got home and lo behold! The original Van Wilder 1 was on TV. Now this movie was so much better, despite being yet another campus comedy. Anyway, imdb.com revealed that the new Van Wilder was so bad that MGM didn't even do a press conference for it. Low point for Kal Penn after a good small role in Superman Returns?

Labels: general, india, usa

Posted by Vikram at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments
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Of all the people that are die-hard Seinfeld fans, I'd bet a 100 bucks that at least 70% of them would name Kramer as their favourite character. Until last week, that is.

Kramer, or Michael Richards, was caught on tape while lashing out at some hecklers during his standup routine at a comedy show for Laugh Factory. He repeatedly called his hecklers the N word and also referred to the lynchings in a very derogatory manner. The networks immediately took him on and there was outrage and calls on every channel. If something could make it worse, the words seemed to come from his heart - anger and rage that was bottled up for a long time and just spilled forth in uncontrollable diatribe - making everyone realize that there's still a lot of racist attitude out there that haven't been totally resolved.

He has since apologised. A lot of people think this may be it for him. At least Mel Gibson wasn't caught on tape and was inebriated.

In any case, quite unfortunately, the next time I watch a Seinfeld rerun, I'm going to be thinking about this when Kramer stumbles in through that front door.


Strangely, there's some defense of Richards.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments
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Smedley D. Butler, a Major General for the US Army at the turn of the last century, said:

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

Saddam was sentenced to death two days before the midterm but that didn't stop the Donkey from getting in while the GOP continued to resist an Iraq timetable. Bush wants a fence to fend off illegal Mexicans immigrating from the south - a fence that's 1100 Km long and is going to cost upto $6 Bn.

Iraq is costing the US about $1.4 Bn a week; about $300bn has already been spent. Would it have been cheaper to make US borders and ports (and embassies around the world) impenetrable? Once Afghanistan was freed and Saddam was caught, would it have been cheaper to focus on securing its own house than trying to find every criminal on the other side of the world?

Labels: usa

Posted by Vikram at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments
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Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Earlier, I mentioned how I used mapquest.com, wikimapia.org and a paper map to find my way around in the US. Well, after a really long time, I reinstalled Google Earth and tried to find my way to JFK using it.

It blew my mind. When you can see driving directions like this, you hardly need anything else. I can actually see how a road and the signs/landmarks on it look like, and that's a big help when you're trying to watch out for that sharp left turn on Exit 41!

Labels: personal, usa

Posted by Vikram at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments
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An ad jingle for a Mitsubishi dealer might be up for some opposition since it has a 'jihad' theme to it - it proclaims 'jihad on the us car market' with the works - burqas, swords and the pope. I'd have thought they'd have a little more of Osama or maybe an automobile industry statue being pulled down Saddam style. The ad may never be heard since it's not been released anywhere yet.

The council does intend to contact the dealer for a bit of 'cultural or sensitivity awareness training'.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments
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At Clinton's Global Initiative, Richard Branson pledged $3 billions for tackling world energy problems and global warming. Now, before you lose your hats, that's not cash or even straight out liquid assets.

Branson's pledged profits from his transportation businesses for the next ten years towards researching new and cleaner fuels including an airline fuel. That puts Branson in a win-win situation - he's winning a lot of free publicity for the Branson/Virgin brand and being praised for his contribution to society in a genius_of_a_businessman fashion, while re-allocating his assets - reinvesting profits into a source of energy that will prove a boon to Virgin's airline/transport business. Who knows - If they do discover new cleaner sources of energy, they may file a patent and earn royalties for the next century!

Here's a collection of blogs about it.

Clinton's initiative has earned pledges to the tune of $7.3 bn at last count.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments
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What do Mind of Mencia, The Man Show, Yo Momma and Southpark have in common?

Well (and this is my personal opinion, though I don't see how it wouldn't occur to a lot of other people), it so happens that each of these shows appears to have a really high content of material that is pornographic/derogatory in nature (but still supposedly filed under 'Humour') to the point of being extreme and sick (again: my personal opinion), and which has no regard whatsoever to any particular section's (of society) sensibilities.

Some things that these shows make fun of : dwarf people, homosexuals, the aged, women, children, jews/muslims/christians, blacks, asians and so on.

Now, I don't care who they make fun of as long as it's all in jest. But doesn't this lead to a kind of societal trend where people get exposed to such material and lose any sense of respect for other people's beliefs? What about the effect on young children that watch these shows? In my two weeks here, I've seen two different news items about teenagers plotting massacres in their own school and kill their classmates (one of these was a huge planned bombing plus random shooting in a school in Wisconsin).

I think this kind of humour culminates in the release of Jackass Number Two tomorrow in the US - a movie where a group of people do the stupidest and most dangerous of things (most inspired from Tom n Jerry - but heck that was a 2D cartoon).

To their credit though, the shows poke fun at everyone, sparing none.

Somehow, it just doesn't seem right, though.

Labels: general, usa

Posted by Vikram at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments
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In my three weeks here in the US, I've seen three references to India in the news media:
1) about a man who can swallow upto 12 swords at a time
2) about a weird dance that a tribe does during this time of the year up north
3) about India and Pakistan agreeing to continue peace talks post the Mumbai blasts.

No Manmohan, no Sonia, no Delhi, no Malegaon, no Software, no IT, no Bangalore or Hyderabad or Silicon Valley or anything.

If there ever was any illusion of India being on the radar of the US media for any reason whatsoever, it's been shattered. I don't intend to sound like I'm hurt that the 'American's' pay no attention to India. It's just that the amount and nature of coverage that India gets in the media here, certainly won't help the regular American citizen upgrade his image of India from 'a nation of snake-charmers' to 'the backoffice of the world' or 'the IT powerhouse of Asia' or any such thing.

Maybe that's all a good sign though - not being in the news since every news item these days has to do with terrorists/the UN convention or kidnapped babies more or less.

Labels: india, news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Or so says Bush, after about 43,000 Iraqis have died in Iraq since the war began, and about 220 bodies have been found in various parts of Baghdad over the last few weeks, each showing signs of torture and mutilation. Not to mention that the Al Qaeda is gaining a strong foothold in the country now.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had said last year and kept up his rhetoric that he'd like Israel to be wiped off the map. Iran has also missed the UN's deadline to halt its uranium enrichment programme.

Yesterday, he said that Iran doesn't need a bomb and that its nuclear programme is peaceful. He even says Iran respects the 'American people'. Naturally, the media here can't seem to make up their mind about this rebel president and his intentions. However, he's made it to Time's cover.

Neither can they pronounce his name right, with every commentator pronouncing it as 'Akhmad Makhmoudinejad'. I knew the American's could never spell Gandhi right since they consider (wrongly) the 'h' to be silent (Ghandi/Gandhi...), but how do you insert a 'k' where it doesn't belong?!

Anyway, Colbert has this NYC itinerary to recommend for the Iranian president.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments
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After Chavez called Bush, the 'Devil' yesterday leaving a trail of sulphur behind him, he followed it up with 'sick man' and 'ex-alcoholic' today. This has actually got democrats standing up for Bush. But Chavez is attracting the media right now, even calling one female news reporter pretty. Of course, the Iranian president is another media favourite right now.

And the US is paying for all this, btw, since these guys are on US soil. On a different note though - Chavez's name calling has only led to a lot of media frenzy, which is the usual since it makes for great headlines, but not for any protests by the general public. What would've been the effect if the Bangladesh PM had name-called Manmohan Singh at a SAARC conference in New Delhi?

After Armitage told Musharraf at a meeting some time back that (to the effect) 'Pakistan should be prepared to be bombed back to the stone age if they don't cooperate with the US against the terrorists', Musharraf felt it was a 'rude remark'. This, according to Musharraf himself, at the UN convention currently on at NYC. He adds that he decided to act 'responsibly' in his response. Armitage denies saying this of course. Bush did say last night in an interview to CNN that he would 'absolutely' take 'immediate action' if Bin Laden was found in Pakistan.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Getting used to the driving on the right side, with left hand steering, in an automatic while keeping an eye out for all the signs isn't the big problem really. What is though, is knowing the right turn to take. Thus it comes as no surprise that you really do need a good map with directions to find your way if you don't have GPS.

What I usually do is, go to mapquest.com and put in the Origin and Destination addresses to get a route. But even though mapquest is really detailed and has all the instructions, it's not the best guide when it comes to actually negotiating the turns and exits. So I then switch to wikimapia.org and on it, find the area I'm looking for, and visually map the route from mapquest (turn on Hybrid from the topright menu). With the satellite image, it's much easier to actually see how you would exit from an interstate. See the two figures below to see what I mean.




Oh btw, the last thing I do is take out my nice paper map and trace the route on it with a neon pen!

Labels: usa, web

Posted by Vikram at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments
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CNN is airing this story about a new computer game called 'Quest for Bush' that lets you assassinate Bush. The game play and screens are direct inspirations from Doom or Wolfenstein 3D - of course, the walls have posters of Bush and other leaders of both sides including a snap of what I thought looked like Iran's Ayatollah shaking hands with another leader.

Apparently, the game has been produced by the "Global Islamic Media Front", a terrorist mouthpiece. So there are some jihadis (or willing coders) out there that can make 3D games in system level languages. Given the skill level required for this, how far can they be from having a super team of hackers that are constantly trying to break into the top security networks?

Maybe we can count on the lack of wifi hotspots in Bora Bora to slow down their progress though.

~

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Ok, who (else) thinks US electrical outlets look like two petrified little smileys?




~

Labels: humour, personal, usa

Posted by Vikram at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments
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Apparently Pope Benedict XVI, while taking part in an academic discussion, narrated a historical passage that was construed by Muslims (in general) as a direct challenge to the basis of their religion. The passage was from a Byzantine text that said something to the effect, '.. the prophet only ruled by sword.. and had no new ideas to give..'.

While news commentators insist that the narration was simply part of a larger academic discussion, Muslims around the world are enraged by the statements and have held demonstrations, including in Lucknow India.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments
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There's an E.Coli outbreak in the US - about a dozen states affected (incl. 1 death) by the consumption of food containing E.Coli bacteria. The FDA has warned people against eating bagged Spinach, especially from a company called Natural Selection Foods. However, this is just a 'traceback' inference - based on asking all affected individuals what they've consumed recently, and then narrowing down to spinach.


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Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Driving's much easier now, though I did get honked (done only when you're 'upset' or 'angry' according to a boss) since I was driving (much) within the speed limit, which is 25 mph on city roads, which is a neat 40 kph but doesn't feel the same since, it's 25 < 40 to my mind.

Anyway, I've been able to check out the local super market (StopnShop). Things aren't really that expensive compared to India - for e.g. a gallon of milk cost me about $3. That's 140 INR for 3.8 gallons, or nearly 40 bucks per litre. Only double. Or like salted butter, which is $4.99 for about 450 gms, or Rs 250 for half a Kg, more than triple. But like I said earlier, this mental math has to be done away with.

By the way, one thing that is really in abundance here - space. Houses have nice lawns and garages. Shopping complexes have huge parking spaces outside - no basement parking. The roads are wide and there no shops/restaurants right on the road - there's usually a fair amount of footpath/garden before it. There's also a lot of green cover.

~

Labels: personal, usa

Posted by Vikram at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments
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