I was reading Imran Anwar's In My Humble Opinion to get some ideas about what the other side has to say about the controversial cartoons. But he is not very convicing (at least to me) since his arguments are pretty baseless. He gives the following example:
"...Would all these "fair and balanced" media and publications, from Denmark to France to the USA, publish cartoons (in the name of free speech if not on merit) showing Prophet Jesus Christ as a nasty, pedophile, Homosexual telling his homosexual apostles and followers to become Christian priests and rape little boys in Churches?"
I am a christian and I have no problems with that whatsoever and it did not get infuriated as the muslim world did. Why do they care so much about what a non-believer has to say about their beliefs? A better response would have been to simply express their disagreement through BoyCott of the publications or media that is not sensitive to their feelings and start a more meaningful dialog instead of burning the embassies or killing the people.
He goes on to say the following:
"... I also don't think either cartoon would get published - at least in America or Europe because they would be considered "offensive" or "bigoted" .... Sorry, free speech is not so free and it depends on what country you are in and what group you dare to attack. Shameful double standards!"
Even if that happens in America, I am sure people are not going to burn the newspaper building or kill people. Sure there will be some protests but I am not expecting to see stupidity. Since he mentioned this, it occured to me what if an American newspaper invites cartoonists from Middleeast and portray Jesus the way they want to and pusblish it? It would teach the world muslims how different we are from them. But I don't think anyone here has the courage to even think or do it.
My word to the muslims is, Grow up guys!
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Sunday, February 05, 2006
OMG, OMG, I got one!
You sure heard me complain a lot about it. But I had the luck of getting "My precious" XBox 360 last week. It wasn't a planned hunt and was checking out something else in CompUSA and happened to ask the store clerk if they had anything in stock and the rest is history. The funny part was that I almost got that for free. The sales person thought I had already paid for my 360 and was letting me walk away w/o having to pay for it. Being a very honest person :-), I told her that I hadn't paid for it and duly paid $435 and took it home with a lot of pride.
I sure enjoy the device for its HD gaming experience and Dolby Digital 5.0 channel audio and its seamless integration with "XBox market place" which is a cool idea and I am starting to like it.
The only thing that isn't working out well for me is connecting the 360 to my PC. Will have to call tech support to figure that one out.
I sure enjoy the device for its HD gaming experience and Dolby Digital 5.0 channel audio and its seamless integration with "XBox market place" which is a cool idea and I am starting to like it.
The only thing that isn't working out well for me is connecting the 360 to my PC. Will have to call tech support to figure that one out.
All because of cartoons?
Muslim world enraged by cartoons
I don't believe this. This more or less confirms my belief that the Islam is not a progressive religion at all and Muslims by far the most close minded compared to any society.
Well, there is always a camp that says "Hey, not all muslims are like that yada yada yada...". But if that camp is a minority and cannot control the events that are happening (I am talking about the violent protests and burning of embassies), I am to believe that most are on the other camp.
With most of the Islamic nations having blasphemy laws that could hang a person just for his views or for exercising his freedom of speech or expression, I don't think I would ever consider living in one of those nations and they shouldn't expect my sympathy and support ever.
To me, there are no sacred cows and everything is subject to scrutiny and I strongly believe in freedom of speech no matter what they have to say.
Grow up guys for your good!
[Update on Feb 6th, 2006] Wikipedia has the most comprehensive report I can find on the web. Fantastic and be sure to check that out.
I don't believe this. This more or less confirms my belief that the Islam is not a progressive religion at all and Muslims by far the most close minded compared to any society.
Well, there is always a camp that says "Hey, not all muslims are like that yada yada yada...". But if that camp is a minority and cannot control the events that are happening (I am talking about the violent protests and burning of embassies), I am to believe that most are on the other camp.
With most of the Islamic nations having blasphemy laws that could hang a person just for his views or for exercising his freedom of speech or expression, I don't think I would ever consider living in one of those nations and they shouldn't expect my sympathy and support ever.
To me, there are no sacred cows and everything is subject to scrutiny and I strongly believe in freedom of speech no matter what they have to say.
Grow up guys for your good!
[Update on Feb 6th, 2006] Wikipedia has the most comprehensive report I can find on the web. Fantastic and be sure to check that out.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
I am flattened by this book
I am talking about "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas L. Friedman.
It is one of the best books I read recently (few more chapters left for me to read). Since I am originally from India, it makes it an even more interesting and compelling read. The author is 1000% correct about the fact that the Internet and high speed connections has flatted the world so much that everyone in this world has an equal chance of succeeding in the global market who otherwise would have been pushed down by their Culture/government policies etc
It is indeed a great history of 21st century.
It is one of the best books I read recently (few more chapters left for me to read). Since I am originally from India, it makes it an even more interesting and compelling read. The author is 1000% correct about the fact that the Internet and high speed connections has flatted the world so much that everyone in this world has an equal chance of succeeding in the global market who otherwise would have been pushed down by their Culture/government policies etc
It is indeed a great history of 21st century.
Sony PS3 rumor
PS3 launch delayed until fall?
Delay is good for Microsoft XBox 360 isn't? That is not what I wanted to say here. It is something that occurred to me and wanted to start a rumor if there isn't one started already :-)
The way I see it, PS3 will come in 2 versions. One with Blu-Ray support and one without. I don't think Sony will include Blu-Ray in all its consoles and risk the sale of its consoles due to its price point being higher. In fact, Microsoft by setting the baseline, it is hard for Sony to deviate much. So, there will be a
Delay is good for Microsoft XBox 360 isn't? That is not what I wanted to say here. It is something that occurred to me and wanted to start a rumor if there isn't one started already :-)
The way I see it, PS3 will come in 2 versions. One with Blu-Ray support and one without. I don't think Sony will include Blu-Ray in all its consoles and risk the sale of its consoles due to its price point being higher. In fact, Microsoft by setting the baseline, it is hard for Sony to deviate much. So, there will be a
- Core PS3 console with standard DVD player and all the rest of the PS3 features
- Premium console with Blu-Ray support which will be priced much higher than $399 (my guess is $499).
With the next generation high definition players like
Pioneer (Preps $1,800 Blu-ray Player) selling as high as $1800 bucks, it would be hard for Sony to even release a basic support for Blu-ray without raising the price too much.
I am going to wait and see how much of mine is accurate.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Lost opportunities
It is XBox 360 time again! I am one of those gamers who couldn't get his hands on this shiny new gaming machine. So you could call it a rant from a disgruntled gamer. But now that I have done some thinking around the whole thing, I see many signs of how MS executed (executing) it so badly. So here are my points:
1. Does supply does meet demand?: Microsoft set launch date and I am fairly certain that it predicted the demand as well. But it failed to provide adequate supply of units for the holidays. It has been a month since the launch and I still don't see this damn thing on the store shelves.
2. Make hay while sun shines: This season is the best time of the year when people make impluse buys or not worry about spending their dollars that much (I sure is one of them) or want to gift someone that hottest items in the market to their loved ones. It failed to capitalize on this sentiment or momentum. What is the point of building the hype when there is nothing to benefit on it?
3. Why lose money when you don't have to?: The hardware isn't making money for Microsoft as this story goes. If the demand is so high, why wouldn't/shouldn't it make some money out of these things? I would have expected the initial pricing to be higher so that only the core gamers and people could afford can buy them. Would it have had the effect of reduced sales? I don't think so. I see people buying/selling these things at a minimum of $600 and as high as $1500. I have even made offers to the extent of $675 for a $399 system and was turned down. I would rather see the Microsoft and its shareholders make money out of this demand rather than the people on ebay or others.
4. Why buy the old? If the hype is so high and the demand is so high, why would anyone want to buy the old XBox or its games? In fact, retailers like Bestbuy reported that their game sales is down as much as 12%
5. Why bite more than you can swallow?: Microsoft made another big mistake by setting simultaneous worldwide launch (USA, Europe & Japan) when it couldn't even handle the demand in USA. In fact when people raised these issues prior to launch, Microsoft said it could meet the demands fine but see for yourselves.
6. When there is a choice, there will be some research: With the possibility of the supply not matching demand as late as march of 2006, I am pretty sure that some significant percentage of gamers would choose to wait for the Sony's PS3 launch which is set to second quarter of 2006. When that time comes, I am sure people are going to compare both and make informed decisions based on what they see fits them best (Price/Games/Features etc). So Microsoft has only 4 or so months before it runs into competition and the sony momentum builds. It will be a huge mistake to underestimate PS3 launch when we know what happened to PS2.
I totally see the huge mistakes and all the lost opportunities. I can't stop laughing when Microsoft talks about Asia launch!! Sure it can do it anytime. Because it is all a matter of making few thousand units available and then disappoint the gamers in the other parts of the world and then call it a hugely successful launch.
1. Does supply does meet demand?: Microsoft set launch date and I am fairly certain that it predicted the demand as well. But it failed to provide adequate supply of units for the holidays. It has been a month since the launch and I still don't see this damn thing on the store shelves.
2. Make hay while sun shines: This season is the best time of the year when people make impluse buys or not worry about spending their dollars that much (I sure is one of them) or want to gift someone that hottest items in the market to their loved ones. It failed to capitalize on this sentiment or momentum. What is the point of building the hype when there is nothing to benefit on it?
3. Why lose money when you don't have to?: The hardware isn't making money for Microsoft as this story goes. If the demand is so high, why wouldn't/shouldn't it make some money out of these things? I would have expected the initial pricing to be higher so that only the core gamers and people could afford can buy them. Would it have had the effect of reduced sales? I don't think so. I see people buying/selling these things at a minimum of $600 and as high as $1500. I have even made offers to the extent of $675 for a $399 system and was turned down. I would rather see the Microsoft and its shareholders make money out of this demand rather than the people on ebay or others.
4. Why buy the old? If the hype is so high and the demand is so high, why would anyone want to buy the old XBox or its games? In fact, retailers like Bestbuy reported that their game sales is down as much as 12%
5. Why bite more than you can swallow?: Microsoft made another big mistake by setting simultaneous worldwide launch (USA, Europe & Japan) when it couldn't even handle the demand in USA. In fact when people raised these issues prior to launch, Microsoft said it could meet the demands fine but see for yourselves.
6. When there is a choice, there will be some research: With the possibility of the supply not matching demand as late as march of 2006, I am pretty sure that some significant percentage of gamers would choose to wait for the Sony's PS3 launch which is set to second quarter of 2006. When that time comes, I am sure people are going to compare both and make informed decisions based on what they see fits them best (Price/Games/Features etc). So Microsoft has only 4 or so months before it runs into competition and the sony momentum builds. It will be a huge mistake to underestimate PS3 launch when we know what happened to PS2.
I totally see the huge mistakes and all the lost opportunities. I can't stop laughing when Microsoft talks about Asia launch!! Sure it can do it anytime. Because it is all a matter of making few thousand units available and then disappoint the gamers in the other parts of the world and then call it a hugely successful launch.
Judge rules against ‘intelligent design’
I could summarize it all in one sentance "There is still hope". Not all is lost and there are still rational and sane people living in this society. There is some hope and the country is showing signs that it not getting more conservative. I see peole questioning President on every thing from his policies to his decisions these days. This is good.
Here is the news:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10545387/
Excerpts from the link:
During the trial, the board argued that it was trying improve science education by exposing students to alternatives to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection.
The policy required students to hear a statement about intelligent design before ninth-grade lessons on evolution. The statement said Darwin’s theory is “not a fact” and has inexplicable “gaps.” It referred students to an intelligent-design textbook, “Of Pandas and People.”
But the judge said: “We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board’s real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom.”
The disclaimer, he said, "singles out the theory of evolution for special treatment, misrepresents its status in the scientific community, causes students to doubt its validity without scientific justification, presents students with a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory, directs them to consult a creationist text as though it were a science resource and instructs students to forgo scientific inquiry in the public school classroom and instead to seek out religious instruction elsewhere."
Here is the news:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10545387/
Excerpts from the link:
During the trial, the board argued that it was trying improve science education by exposing students to alternatives to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection.
The policy required students to hear a statement about intelligent design before ninth-grade lessons on evolution. The statement said Darwin’s theory is “not a fact” and has inexplicable “gaps.” It referred students to an intelligent-design textbook, “Of Pandas and People.”
But the judge said: “We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board’s real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom.”
The disclaimer, he said, "singles out the theory of evolution for special treatment, misrepresents its status in the scientific community, causes students to doubt its validity without scientific justification, presents students with a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory, directs them to consult a creationist text as though it were a science resource and instructs students to forgo scientific inquiry in the public school classroom and instead to seek out religious instruction elsewhere."
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