Brown Motion

As a kid learning math I am trying to remember when I first encountered the concept of a million.  Seems like many moons ago.  I must have been in middle school when a friend of the family knowing my proclivity for math handed me a book written by some Russian professors (translated to English). It was a book of curious math problems and explained concepts like large numbers in some detail.  I think that may have been my introduction to appreciating a number like a million.  One followed by six zeroes. As in the distance between earth and our moon is a quarter of that.  In miles.  A million heart beats is a lifetime of 9 days since a human heart beats at around 115,000 of them each day. But this number pales when you start discussing capitalism. Recently in the news... 1. Elon Musk, the famous entrepreneur was fined $20M for blabbing about taking Tesla private when in fact it was not so. 2.  Facebook was hacked.  50M accounts were compr...

It is titled - Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness, which almost reads Jeffersonian in its ambition. Written by a couple of Chicago based professors, the book is part about brain architecture and part about some empirical observations/guilt trips, that can help us in our day to day. It distinguishes the basic brain performance as being automated (or gut based) and calculated (or more rational).  Many of these ideas are also discussed by other essayists like Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'Blink' and each offers additional anecdotes to message the point. One of the funny ones in this book is about Marriage and Divorce, where it says a second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.  It also cites a toy that was developed as an alarm clock that each time you hit snooze would roll off and run away from the bed side thereby making the person who perpetually procrastinated waking up to get up and chase it to shut up. The book discusses a lot of c...

Falafel is like a Mediterranean Wada.  For the Anglic community it can be described as a deep fried mouthful of ground beans (usually chickpea aka garbanzo aka Kabuli Chana) mixed with some herbs and spices to create a fluffy yet crisp ball of palate pleasing goodness.  Think hush puppies from the other side of the planet. We met with some friends on a cold and cloudy Saturday to try a place in the Silicon Valley that touted to make great falafels and pita (flat bread native to the Mediterranean) along with some varieties of food native to that region of the world. I chose to get Shawarma, where the spice seasoned meat (chicken, lamb, beef or whatever the chef can get their hand on) spins on a spit against hot flames for a long period of time till it gets shaved off and served in a bread or over rice. My version was ensconced in a flat bread - the pita - made on site- with pickled radish, carrot and other veggies, along with a sour cream and chickpea and sesame seed ba...

To paraphrase my favorite comedian - people are the worst. I mean it was not long ago that on learning about Apple's intention to launch a new iPhone in market that people expected curved screens. Yes glass on their phone to actually be bent so as to be more suitable for watching movies and whatever else bent screens might do better than their flat counterparts. Enter the iPhone 6.  Its aluminum body lets it naturally bend on application of pressure such as that exerted by the couch parked customers who largely stick their devices (when not in their face) in backpockets of their shaggy trouser. All of a sudden there is a brouhaha about this undocumented feature.  People all over are aghast. They think that the company is bent. Bent on bringing shame to their users who wanted to flaunt it in front of their peers but now looking like fools. So shareholders bent on profiting from sudden change of heart among the fan club sold their positions en-masse. On hearing of al...

Might be a good name for a butler..but I have to give that some thought - whether I will need butling. More importanty I observed a not so knotty phenomenon that perhaps the readership did too. While people in ties abound the universe these days - what from the newscasters and weathermen to all consultants and politicos and the local bank teller wearing one, there is also a renewed resurgence of Jeans. Every major tech company CEO now favors Jeans over the suit and tie. Major product launches and testimonials are shared with and by the chief-in-jeans. Jobs to Cook to Ballmer to Bookface to Bezos to Brin - everyone has one besides their grin. What I am waiting to hear is Marissa Mayer (who herself not in jeans) announcing a free 'Jeans of your choice' employee benefit to all Yahoos after recently bestowing them with an Apple smartphone earlier this year. Perhaps this Christmas? I say this is good news for slobs like me - while I have not launched anything remotely (or i...

There are enough jokes about why size still matters. As a Matter of Fact the whole idea of sizing things has been sized up you would think. You think wrong. We as a species keep oscillating between what we want. First their was Mad Max. Had a cult following. So much so that they had to dish out I think three versions of it till they maxed out or went mad. Hollywoodies can do that. Then there was Max Factor - in some countries anyway - it was a talcum powder. What it was aimed at was a Max Heat climate where the Min was the Max you get in some countries. Hence the talc was a huge factor in addressing the Max. Then came BigMacs. Big and Macs (by any other spelling) together. That showed our appetite for all things Max for Minimum cash. That became the mantra for many a brand - from Walmart to Kmart to Taco Bell to Dollar Stores where you got Max for a Min. Then came the iPad for Maximum enjoyment but with a Maximum price tag. But our tastes had changed. We were ready to ...