Are people this desparate (and stupid)?

O.K, I am hearing enough of this to warrant a blog. Sony's new PS3 gaming console is a rarity as expected and there are several folks who are can't wait to get their hands on. But these folks also tend to ignore the fine print or should we say dump?

Case No 1: Some one in ebay puts "3 PS1 for $900" and cleverly words it to fool people into thinking that it is PS3. There were takers for this

Case No 2: "Sony PlayStation 3 PS3 NO RESERVE, HOT HOT HOT" and even supported by a picture of the console itself. And seeing all the features and specs spat out on the page certainly clutters the one, very important bit of text at the very bottom: "note: you are not bidding on an actual ps3, you're only bidding on an e-mail address (Hot_PS3s@hotmail.com), winning bidder will recieve password.". But as expected, it found a buyer too!

Case No 3: Some seller is really smart and figured that "PS1 + PS2 = PS3" and so put it up for sale. Some sorry bloke did not read the fine print and ended up paying $900 bucks again

www.engadget.com is continually updated with stories and so check it out.

U.S Mid term election - What really mattered?

You ask anyone what is so good about the mid-term elections and anyone would say without hesitation that it was the democrats take over of both Senate and House. But here is what mattered most to me and am happy about besides democrat's victory

• Maccaca lost to Jim Webb in Virginia senate race by a razor thin margin. I apologize for using the term Maccaca and I don't know what it means. I forgot his name for a second and that is what came to my mind. It is republican George Allen who lost to Jim Webb. Welcome to America George!
• Ken BlackWell the current secretary of state for Ohio lost in the governer's race.
• Katherine Harris the secretary of state for Florida lost to democratic incumbent Bill Nelson by a significant margin with Harris garnering only 38 percent of the vote

That was the best part of this election. On a related note, I don't understand why democrats are so happy about the election results. Neither of the party got a landslide victory in terms of percentage of votes. Most of the races were won by a very thin margin or by very few percentage points. The country is divided across party lines, I really wonder if any single party could make any significant contributions till the next elections!!!

Zune: it's not just the player stupid

I couldn't agree more with this assesment. It may seem like a marketing brilliance at work but I beg to differ. I have asked myself the very basic question which is "What does Zune offer that the existing products don't?" and I am not sure what the answer is.

If you say that it is the wireless, it seems too crippled and is only used for sharing music which again seems very limited in scope and functionality.

If you say it is the Zune marketplace, it does not offer as much as other offerings in terms of content not is it compatible with content purchased from other online stores

If you say it is the "Microsoft" seal, I tend to agree and we may get the top 5 spot just because it came from a company that has huge piles of cash and negotiation power and its ability to steer the the industry for the better or worse.

But frankly, it seems it is being released too soon and rushed to the market which seems to most as merely a copy cat. Microsoft had an opportunity to save it face but lost it. As usual, it takes couple of releases for Microsoft to get a foothold in any market. What is worse is the confusing message that Microsoft is sending w.r.to PlayForSure DRM and WMP compatibility..

HBO SPECIAL Hacking Democracy

A documentary showing how DIEBOLD has cheated american voters. Funny that the world's most technologically advanced democracy still has to address some very basic issues

E18 Error

I bought my Canon SD550 camera early this year and have been very happy with it until I got the dreaded E18 error which made the camera unusable. To my greatest surprise, there are mountains of information on this in the WWW and it made me realize how much the web has gone in terms of being useful and for information sharing. Here are the top links that has the details. The Camera manufacturer (Canon) is yet to admit that this is their issue.

http://www.e18error.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E18_error

Long live the World Wide Web

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.