Book of the month: The Wisdom of Crowds

The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki is one of the best books I read recently and I would recommend this to anyone as it is also a fun read. This book is all about how and why many are smarter and also gives a plenty of real life examples. Interestingly this proves quite the opposite of what "Extraordinary Popular Delusions: And the Madness of Crowds" is all about which I can wait to read.

Lies, Deception and FUD

If there is one thing that could be said of Republican party right now is how deceitful they are. Democrats have no choice but to follow them. I am talking about the Ads that has been running for the mid term elections in different races. Be it George Allen Vs. Jim Webb or the poor Mr. Ford Jr who is on the receiving end. It is not just them but overall, I see ads reaching the rock bottom on decency, negativity, twisted truths, statements and votes taken out of context and facts that are just plain wrong. Is this what the GOP stands far? Is this what portrays their values? If the Ads represent their moral values, principles or what they are, they are the last party I would want to represent and support.

Also, I am totally surprised at how democracy and election plays out here and how much misinformation is thrown at people regarding the candidates who is running for the election. It gets real nasty here and this is much worse than the country where I originally come from. If this is what the land of the free has to offer, I really doubt if America stands as an example for the rest of the world.

Condi lost the last bit of respect I had for her

She consistently has been proving to be ineffective and being a parrot on Bush's shoulders. Some of the revelations in Bob Woodward's book shows how ineffective she is. I had a lot of respect for her couple of years ago. But it has steadily declined and now I just don't have anything to appreciate her for. What led to the decline? The top 3 things:

1. When the 9/11 commission asked her about the intel document that said terrorists are planning to use planes to attack, she merely said it was an historical document and nothing was new. Couple of months later, the terrorists hijack planes and the rest is history. How could someone at her level do or say that?

2. During the Israel/Lebanon conflict, she again proved to be ineffective to do anything to stop the violence and the civilian deaths. She kept saying the condition isn't conducive/ready to discuss peace. What the fuck? Hundreds of people are dying on both sides and what an irresposible thing to do or say. Yes, wars have collateral damage but ignoring the conditions on the ground is just plain wrong

3. In recent days, Bob Woodward's in his book says that she ignored or did nothing to DCI/Counterterrorisom Deputy's serious concerns about Al Qaeda's plan to attack months before 9/11. This meeting is confirmed by Sean McCormak/George Tenet/Black etc but she still has no recollection of it and claims she would have acted on it if she had known about it. Yeah right. Do you expect OBL to come to you to give out the plans in order for you to Act?

You sure aren't getting my vote if you run for Office. I ran across this blog which reflects what I am thinking:
Rice acknowledged Sunday that the White House was receiving a "steady stream of quite alarmist reports of potential attacks" during daily meetings from Tenet during that period. But she said the targets were assumed to be in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel and Jordan. She said no reports mentioned the United States.
"What I am quite certain of, however, is that I would remember if I was told -- as this account apparently says -- that there was about to be an attack in the United States. The idea that I would somehow have ignored that I find incomprehensible," she told reporters.
Rice said her staff is now going back to check if there even was a meeting on July 10, 2001."
This is a woman who in 2002 was telling us in press briefings that there was "no way" anyone could have predicted that terrorists would use airplanes as weapons... but who in August, 2001 read a briefing that said that al Qaeda was planning a major strike against the US that could involve hijacking of airplanes.
There's a convenient list of Rice's incorrect statements to the 9/11 Commission here, if you're curious. It certainly sheds some light on why she was so resistant to testifying to the commission under oath (which she did, in the end, do).
After watching her for years, it's easy to see the pattern: when something goes wrong on her watch, she looks for someone to blame, and makes things up to support it... complete with an indignant complaint that people are impugning her integrity.
This isn't what we should expect from a secretary of state. This is behavior better suited to a petulant sixth-grader who's been caught not doing her homework and is looking for a convenient dog to accuse of eating it.

Talk Talk

I came across this in http://video.google.com/. Very creative use of people there. I wish it starts a whole new thing and so that I can see more of it

Switching teams, the Google Way

Steve yegge an employee at Google writes that developers can switch teams and/or projects any time they want, no questions asked; just say the word and the movers will show up the next day to put you in your new office with your new team.

I know he is a bit exaggerating. But I love and encourage it. MS definitely needs to make it easier for folks to move. What is the point of holding someone who wants to move?

I speak from my personal experience. I decided to pursue other opportunities at Microsoft after having spent 6 years in the current team. My manager wouldn't give me permission. He suggested that I stay until product ships and also was exaplaining how important my contributions are blah blah blah. Even worse, dev manager was also trying to convince me by explaining why the grass looks greener on the other side. Does it make any sense to any of you? I have decided to try a few things and folks are saying that is a bad idea and asking me to stay? I am not a dumbo and I know how to make my career decisions well.

One good thing is that Microsoft seems to be eliminating the need to get manager's approval and instead notify the manager instead. This is really a good step in the right direction.

I don't know about competing with Google on the products arena. But I love the fact the it is forcing Microsoft to rethink from a HR perspective a lot. I see the Google effect in many aspects of Microsoft.

Sure I hate Bush but I couldn't watch this...

See if you can watch the full video because I could not first. The link is:
Colbert Roasts President Bush - 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner

For some reason, I couldn't watch the entire thing (I watched maybe half of it). I think Steven Colbert went little far. Presidents no matter what they have done, deserves some dignity. Then I watched "President Bush Impersonation - 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner" and felt o.k to see the President making fun of himself and was a bit relieved.

If Israel did not exist...

Please read this first before jumping into conclusions. I am a christian if it matters. I read a lot and thought about a lot and was even pondering (fearing) about being labelled as anti-semetic. But I just want to say it since there is no point in believing in one and not acknowledging it. I wonder if mid-east (the whole sub continent) could have been at peace if the country Israel did not exist. I would have to re-iterate here that I am not saying Jews should not exist. In fact, they have all the right to live and enjoy life just as every one of us have and do (I even have couple of jewish friends with whom I discuss the mid-east conflict). I say this because every mid-east conflict has the country Israel behind it (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebonon, Palestine etc etc). I do not see any end to the violence since Israel is continueing its occupation and expansion (especially the settlements) and the affected parties are not willing to give away an inch taken from them.

What really perplexes me is that the Arab/Persian countries have so much clout (in terms of oil) and money, they are not willing to come together to bring a resolution to this issue. I really wish they put their differences behind and work towards a common goal of achieving stability and peace in the region by using their political clout.

I empathize with Palestinians and lebonaese who lost their lives or displaced by this conflict more and I feel sorry for them.

I request that you watch this documentary Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land which touched me a lot and talks about most of what I have gathered and found out. If you are touched by this documentary, please pass this on.