[no signal]

Starbucks announcement that it will close 600 stores in the US is a long-overdue admission that there are limits to growth.
In February 2007, a leaked internal memo written by founder Howard Schultz showed that he recognized the problem that his own growth strategy had created: "Stores no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store." Starbucks tried to add value through innovation, offering wi-fi service, creating and selling its own music. More recently, Starbucks attempted to put the focus back on coffee, revitalizing the quality of its standard beverages. But none of these moves addressed the fundamental problem: Starbucks is a mass brand attempting to command a premium price for an experience that is no longer special. Either you have to cut price (and that implies a commensurate cut in the cost structure) or you have to cut distribution to restore the exclusivity of the brand. Expect the 600 store closings to be the first of a series of downsizing announcements. Sometimes, in the world of marketing, less is more.


read further


Harvard Business Review

[no signal]

Found this quite thought provoking.:idea: Plz do read.


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Is Science Going To End?

Our philosophical science correspondent Massimo Pigliucci asks.


“Before my meeting with [physicist Roger] Penrose, I had taken it for granted that science was open-ended, even infinite… The earnestness, and ambivalence, with which Penrose contemplated the prospect of a final theory forced me to reassess my own views of science’s future.” This comment is by former Scientific American columnist John Horgan, who in 1996 provoked a storm among scientists, philosophers and the general public with his book The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age. This is not a review of Horgan’s book, and I certainly do not think we are even close to the twilight of the scientific age. Still, the issue is worth pondering: will there ever be an end to science as a fruitful human enterprise, a time when all the major questions we can think of will have been asked and properly answered?


When I posed this question to several of my science colleagues over the last few years, I got almost unanimously negative answers – accompanied by a spectrum of reactions that went from the mildly amused to the positively scandalized. The typical response, however, was indicative of the fact that most scientists simply don’t have a penchant for philosophical thinking. For instance, many colleagues said something along the lines of “every new answer generates a large number of new questions.” Perhaps ; but is this an empirical statement, or an expression of a belief rooted in the inconceivability that what one does may one day come to an end? It is certainly possible to look at the history of science and show that the answer to one question did in fact lead to the posing of new, hitherto unconceived questions. But surely there is no guarantee of that happening. Sometimes we settle a question and that’s that – the process cannot continue ad infinitum.


Could it be that it is simply depressing for a scientist to entertain the possibility of the end of his discipline? Again from Horgan’s book: "I don’t think we’re close [Penrose said]… but it doesn’t mean things couldn’t move fast at some stage… I guess this is rather suggesting that there is an answer, although perhaps that’s too pessimistic.” Why pessimistic? Is it not the goal of science to answer questions about nature? Would not science answering all such questions be a triumph of human ingenuity? (Let us set aside for now obvious issues of epistemic limits and so forth.) Apparently not for the scientists involved.


And yet, it stands to reason that the number of interesting and meaningful questions about nature must be finite, indeed even fairly limited in number. Even if the universe itself is ‘infinite’ in some sense or another of that slippery term, what we wish to know about it cannot be of the same order, unless we have a pathological curiosity to, say, establish a complete catalog of every physical object in the universe (in alphabetical order, perhaps?). But that would be a far less exciting intellectual pursuit even than stamp collecting, and certainly would not look at all like what we think of as science.


Let us consider one currently unanswered question in biology: how did life originate? This is one of the big ones, probably on the top-5 list of any biologist (my list also includes the biological bases of consciousness, the origin of novel biological structures, the import of non-genetic inheritance, and the detailed evolutionary history of the human lineage). I do not know whether we will ever get a satisfactory answer. After all, it is a difficult problem: the pivotal events happened more than 3.5 billion years ago, there are no fossil records, and we don’t even know for sure what the physical and chemical conditions were at the time on planet Earth. Heck, biologists and philosophers don’t even agree on what ‘life’ is – a question that obviously becomes appropriate if one is trying to figure out how it started. Nonetheless, let us entertain an hypothetical scenario in which biologists, biophysicists and even philosophers work together and find the answer to life’s origin. They will subsequently be able to replicate the event at will under laboratory conditions; and they perhaps have even found life in other places in the solar system, which discovery helped figure out how the transition from non-living to living matter took place on our planet. Well then, question settled, and the journal Origin of Life (there is such a publication) can happily publish its last issue and send everyone home, happy or not.


Of course, something like this has already happened in subfields of science, several times. There was a time when the structure of the atom was a hot research topic in chemistry; but particle physics has pretty much settled the big question, by identifying the fundamental particles that make up the atomic nucleus – the quarks. True, there is now a (new) question, whether quarks themselves are made of something even more fundamental, like strings. But scientists are attempting to find that out as well, and no physicist believes that this game of Russian dolls can or will be played in perpetuity. There will be an end, and many physicists actually think that ‘the final theory’ is just around the corner (and even if it isn’t, the general point stands).


So, yes, there will be an end to science, and the end we have discussed so far is actually the most optimistic possibility. The much more realistic scenario – and even more of an anathema to practicing scientists – is that the quest will stop well short of the final answer(s), just because human minds are a product of an evolutionary process which delivers organisms capable of survival and reproduction. Minds are not designed to solve the deep mysteries of the universe in which they happen to live.


I think Horgan’s book is still a bit ahead of its time, and we will see many centuries of intriguing and successful science. But if one of those discoveries on the horizon is about significantly prolonging human life, I better start looking for something else to do in the distant future.

Link

[Cute.Sid]

Take a look at this one (old one but I had a look at it today)...
Why Wipro, Infosys and TCS are “The Axis of Evil” for Indian start-up space ?

by Vishal Gondal, Founder of IndiaGames

Yes you read it right I am calling this trio and their thousands of offshoots “The Axis of Evil” for Indian Software and Start-up space. While it is well known how these companies started the IT revolution in India with an interesting business model “Body Shopping” and post US clamping on H1 visas “Offshore Outsourcing”. The Indian software outsourcing story started off as a great business of labour arbitrage has today left most of its players scrambling for margins and why?

Because of their own inefficiencies they have created a beast which is now unmanageable. Think about it - the Indian IT employee has got an average salary hike of about 20% year on year which means in the last decade salaries have gone up 5x and attrition is on a all time high. Which means after all the salary hike, free lunch, fancy office buildings and over-pampering of employees, keeping them on “bench” for years?

Axis of Evil

They have created a new breed of employees which I call the “OutBots“. These OutBots have been programmed not to think and blindly follow a process which is designed not to do a thing in a more efficient way but in a manner than the company can clock the most hours and bill the client without giving the client a feeling that he is taken for a ride.
Ask any of your friends in any of these companies and you would know how they have made an art “how many programmers do you need to replace a light bulb?”

Most of these companies run on a cost plus business model therefore as an investors what you see is that they are always making money and good margin - but you are missing what they have been loosing and the harm they are doing to the country by creating these “OutBots”.
Leaving few exceptions, most of the companies as part of “The Axis of Evil” are happy to build routers & software for large US based companies for a flat hourly rate but dont want to take a slightest amount of risk which could have transformed them into a “UT Starcom”, “Huawei” , “Lenovo” but are happy to remain outsourced partners to “Miscrosoft”, “Nokia” and “GE” who are making billions on the technology which is built by our “Outbots” .
So bad has been the impact on the start-up space that it is difficult for start-ups to hire quality employees as most prefer to be “Outbots” and for the few who do join are constantly lured by other “Outbots” for the referral amount paid by their companies to get more recruits. So bad is the situation that I once had an employee all of 23 years old come to me and said “he wanted to resign because he is putting 10 hrs a day at this job while his other friends are on bench, go to office play table tennis and make more money than him”. I had no words ..
I hope to start a debate on this important issue and would encourage everyone who wants to have the next Google and Facebook to come out of India to spread the word around and increase awareness amongst investors, entrepreneurs, students, shareholders and employees that how the “Outbots” will eventually self-destruct our software services industry and the only way out is to encourage Products, Innovation and fight “The Axis of Evil”.
Think about this - Venture Capital and Start-up investment in the software services space has dried up! Will the SENSEX and NASDAQ follow the same trend?

[Cute.Sid]

------ Double Post -----

My first ever


( If a mod finds it. Kindly delete it else will try and fill it up with something useful)

[aayush_badmash]

In all the past posts there had been serious stuffs.. to break the monotonicity here i am posting a light mood article..!

Hope u guys like it..

"The White Lady Of Bangalore Airport"



Teaser advertisements on Radio Indigo in Bangalore have been asking people why they want to leave Bangalore and even have a site where people can give their reasons. No one can stop anyone from leaving a city to find greener pastures but they stand warned not to travel by air. Bangalore's spanking new airport is apparently haunted by no less than a white witch.

The witch, I mean, lady supposedly walked on the tarmac and was noticed by a pilot, the plane got delayed and obviously there was nothing, further on she hitched a ride with the airport officers and then disappeared. No official report had been made about the incident but Bangalore is rife with all sorts of rumors about this mysterious lady. Newspapers like Mid-day and even Radio Jockey Rohit Barker made fun of the ghost.

It doesn't take long for rumors to become urban legends. And legends then are treated are facts. Delhi had its flying monkey man, there was the 'nale ba' witch in Bangalore, and now the city has its own airport ghost.

Maybe before giving strange women rides in the middle of the night, the airport officials should check the womens' feet. Witches supposedly have feet turned backward.

Jokes apart what the deal with the haunting of places by white women in the middle of night? I've heard similar tales of white witches from people belonging to different countries.

It seems open dark spaces, woods and unlived homes are tagged as areas rife with hauntings.

We have all had that nasty feeling of someone watching us when we are all alone, of not wanting to go into a deserted house or even seeing something move from the corner of our eyes that we brushed off as the working of an overactive imagination.

But those who supposedly have undergone 'hauntings' say the experiences left them cold and some even terrorized. I laughed at the spoof played on Radio Indigo about the Malayalee lady who had seen a headless ghost on the turmac but would I laugh if a perfectly sane person swore that they experienced a haunting at the Bangalore airport?

A lot happens between heaven and earth which we know nothing of.

[rdcool]

Though it is supposed to be "light" ...felt Kinda spooky...i read it alone... that too at 1.40 am...nice one though..

Originally Posted by aayush_badmash

In all the past posts there had been serious stuffs.. to break the monotonicity here i am posting a light mood article..!

Hope u guys like it..

"The White Lady Of Bangalore Airport"



Teaser advertisements on Radio Indigo in Bangalore have been asking people why they want to leave Bangalore and even have a site where people can give their reasons.
...
A lot happens between heaven and earth which we know nothing of.

[Mahip]

10 ways to stay out of trouble with social networking sites

Nice Read: 10 ways to stay out of trouble when you post to social networking sites | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com

1: Where are you and what are you here for?
2: Who’s in the audience?
3: Do you dare mix business with pleasure?
4: It’s not just what you post
5: A picture is worth a thousand words — and can be a thousand times
more embarrassing
6: Sensitive subjects can come back to bite you
7: Avoid the perils of PUI: Posting under the influence
8: Be ready to reject a friendship request or “unfriend” someone
9: Are you familiar with the site’s settings and options?
10: Should you use a pseudonym?

[scorpion86]

Nice Read : http://ideafest.blogspot.com/2009/04...es-shares.html


Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai

Last Sunday, my wife, kid and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different.

As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked around again, and discovered more -there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega." (Sir, what's the use of simply sitting at home and watching TV? If I earn some income, then it will be useful in the future.)

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai - the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs50?. He also said that his auto was mentioned on Radio Mirchi twice by the station RJs. The Marathi press in Mumbai know about him and have written a few pieces on him and his vehicle.

My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. I know that my son, once he grows up, will realise that we have met a genuine hero. He has put questions to me such as why should we help other people? I will try to keep this incident alive in his memory.

Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai - my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.

Some Pictures:



He has got a first aid box on the left and a newspaper box on right (which had all hindi-english- marathi-gujrati and economic times)



He has got a tv on the top with cable (I was watching colors channel) and below tat is the tissue box. on the left is the mandir types and dont miss the "Only gandhigiri" written there , below tat is the calender and a notepad and pen along with a blue fan (which is blowing towards the customer who sits)



25% discount for handicapped !! who on this earth can expect somethin like this from an rickshawala yaar!!

Its amazing there are ppl still alive like him in this world!

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw - MH-02-Z-8508

[AnkitaKayal]

Hey friends,

Found this really intresting article while I was reading about the French Revolution.

Voltaire’s Understanding of Inequality

This passage from François–Marie Arouet, pen–named Voltaire, who was perhaps the best–known writer of the eighteenth century, illustrates the spirit of investigation of the Enlightenment. The philosophes wanted to understand the rationale behind inequality, were particularly interested if there were natural reasons for it, or if inequality came wholly from social conventions. From a well–to–do middle–class background, Voltaire condemned arbitrary inequality and the social conditions that spawned it.


"Does a dog need another dog, or a horse, another horse? No animal depends on any other of its species. Man, however, has received that divine inspiration that we call Reason. And what has it wrought? Slavery almost everywhere we turn.


If this world were as good as it seems it could be, if everywhere man could find a livelihood that was easy and assured a climate suitable to his nature, it is clear that it would be impossible for one man to enslave another. If this globe were covered with wholesome fruit, if the air, which normally should contribute to our lives, did not carry disease or death, if man needed no other lodging and bed than those the buck and his roe require, then the Genghis-Khans and Tamerlanes would have no servants other than their own children decent enough to help them in their old age.




If some individual of tyrannous mind and brawny arm had the idea of enslaving his neighbor who is weaker than he, it would be impossible. The oppressed would be one hundred leagues away before the oppressor had taken his first steps.



If all men then were without needs, they would thus be necessarily equal. It is the poverty that is a part of our species that subordinates one man to another. It is not inequality..."

You can find the full article at: Voltaire's Understanding of Inequality