advice

So, the unfortunate has happened and my trusty digicam has bit the bucket. Technically, I can still take pictures with it, but none of the buttons actually do anything anymore, so I am forced to just be happy with the default settings. Clearly, this will not do.

So I need recommendations on what I should purchase as its replacement. I'm going to buy something this month, so no advice to wait for the new year... The list of things that are important to me is relatively short, but here they are anyways in rank order:

1. SIZE: I am primarily a spontaneous photographer, and the last thing I want is something that requires effort/planning to carry along.

2. PRICE: I'd like to keep this under the $300 mark if possible.

3. PICTURE QUALITY: I've heard a little about the Image Stabilization stuff some cameras have... Sounds pretty useful, but I don't know how well it works, anyone that has tried it - please chime in!

4. MEMORY TYPE: It would be really nice if it used compact flash so that I could just use my current memory card, but that's not a huge requirement.

Other than that, I don't think I have many specifications. I'm not looking for something ultra-professional, I hardly used all the features on the one I had - the Canon Powershot S410. Speaking of which, if anyone has any advice on how to just fix my current camera, that would be very useful as well.

Okay, I know most of you have lots of experience and opinions with cameras, please help! :)

Thanksgiving

So today is Thanksgiving, a holiday so uniquely American. Eating till you can't see your feet, followed by crazy, crowded, deal hunting shopping? Truly American. :) While I can't say I celebrate it with the traditional turkey-induced coma, I won't complain about the vacation days, or the general festive mood it puts everyone in in preparation for Christmas and the end of the year.

One thing I do embrace about the holiday is the idea of thinking of things you're thankful for. We're all thankful for the basics, so I won't repeat those. But I have to say, in particular this year, I'm thankful for getting back in touch with friends. Whether through this blog, Flickr, Facebook or a random street sighting (it's true!), I am really happy to have gotten back in touch with so many old friends. Facebook is especially fun - I'm too old to deal with the mess of MySpace, but Facebook I like. If you don't have an account, you should really sign up just to see what all the fuss is about. And add me as a friend once you do. :)


Gobble gobble!
sangeet

Diwali

First off, Happy Belated Diwali!

So, I'm just now getting around to watching some of last week's television, and in my normal fashion, I never watch commercials/promos/etc so I had no clue as to the theme of this past week's episode of The Office. Wow, I was completely unprepared for an entire episode, not only titled Diwali, but with Diwali/Indians as its central theme.

I have to say, my knee-jerk reaction was to cringe. In what fashion is mainstream American television going to slay my culture? Not to mention one of THE most important and widely celebrated holidays in the year for Indians. Instead, I was completely and pleasantly surprised.

(Just for reference, Diwali was on October 21st this year. The show aired on Nov 2, so it was just a touch late... but I'm really nitpicking here.)

It was strangely exhilarating to watch the episode unfold. It was a great blend of cultural tension (and therefore perfect for The Office's slightly uncomfortable, squirm-in-your-seat brand of humor): equal parts mockery of both Indian sterotypes of Americans, and American sterotypes of Indians. Bonus were the "inside jokes" for the Indians watching.

Thank you Mindy Kaling (and of course the rest of the head honchos at the show) for even putting this holiday on the map in American culture, let alone writing/acting in this wonderful episode. Brava, chica. How can it be that you and I are about the same age? I feel so unaccomplished. But never mind me, keep doing what you're doing!

(I tried really hard not to give anything in the episode away for those that haven't watched it. If you don't watch the show at all... you're sorely missing out.)

justice

In class today, my professor gave an offhand example of the power of the size of the market, that still has me thinking.

Imagine that your significant other has just been diagnosed with an extremely rare debilitating disease that only affects about a 1000 people a year around the world. For you and yours, finding the cure for this affliction is paramount. Even a drug to treat the symptoms would be preferable to nothing. Fortunately, a compound X has been discovered that will dramatically improve the patient's condition.

But what incentive does the pharmaceutical company have to create this medicine? The amount of time and money that goes into researching and developming a new drug is non-trivial. Add in the costs of patents, and you begin to see why the pharmas make sure to fully research the potential of the market before launching a new product.

If the disease that your loved one has is only shared by 999 other people, how is the pharma company going to recoup their costs? There's simply not enough sales volume, and therefore, drug X will never get produced. Not until, that is, this disease suddenly goes from affecting 1000 people to 1,000,000. Or perhaps even that isn't high enough.

How many people have to suffer before drug X will prove profitable enough to produce? Will it ever happen? Sad to say, not necessarily.

PCLoadLetter

In business school, there's a lot of reading. I don't mean law school amounts, but its pretty substantial. As much as I love the peecee, I'm not one for reading 30 page pdfs on a laptop screen. So I print. This, as you may imagine, turns into a lot of printing and in turn, time, paper, and ink. So much so, that when I recently found a really good deal on a laser printer, I told myself it was worth it. And it definitely has been - I haven't bought ink in months.

So why am I writing a post about this? It's because of the nightly techno club that I host in my living room. You see, the mighty printer that it is, it seems to tax the circuit pretty heavily. So, in addition to the charming sounds of the printer gurgling up my professors' manuscripts, my lamps like to play backup by flickering to its beat. Since I can't do anything about it, I like to add to this joyous experience by punctuating the symphony with my beloved Tivo noises. My neighbors must think I have some sort of tribal ritual every night involving unmentionable sacrifices.

It finally occurred to me tonight that I could try plugging the lamp into a different socket. But that would just ruin all the fun, wouldn't it?

sticky

Did you know that the Post-It is only 26 years old? How did people remember to do anything before then?

driving

On my daily route back home from school, I have to take a single lane road that's fairly curvy and gets backed up at rush hour. Today, like most days, I turned the corner, and waited as the snake of cars inched forward. I noticed that I was about to come up to the entrance for the bank on my right, and there was a string of cars trying to get out.

Car after car in front of me crept forward, without a single driver making room for those marooned in the bank's parking lot. Feeling the effects of the sunshine we've been having, I decided to be generous and let the mother in the silver minvan pull out in front of me.

As I passed the parking lot, I watched in my rearview mirror as the next 5 cars behind me each let someone out until the lot was empty. Who knows, those 5 drivers behind me might have let the cars out anyways, but I like to think that my example had a little something to do with it. :)

reclamation

I hereby state that I am back in the blog world. I was a fool to ever leave; I recognize the error of my ways. I feel it's time to start sharing my thoughts again. You've been warned. :)

Speaking of errors, I found out recently that I've been mispronouncing the word 'mischievous'. My whole life, I spent 4 syllables on it when I only needed 3. So much time... wasted.

Speaking of wasting time, have you been visiting my flickr site? I've uploaded so many more pictures since the last post.

Exhibit A


Speaking of pictures, I've FINALLY entered the world of printing digital photography. My first order should arrive on Monday, I'm so excited! Although I've noticed... Shutterfly ALWAYS has a promotion going on. What's with that? Not that I'm complaining.

Speaking of complaining, I'm doing a lot less of it these days, because I'm singing again. And that is a wonderful thing.

Speaking of wonderful things, this post wasn't one of them, was it. Oh well.

inspiration

For those of you that still check, I'm not sure when this blog will inspire me next.  I mentioned a long time ago that these things seem to come in cycles.  Then, I talked about numbers and words.  Today, it is pictures.  

I have been spending more time at Flickr lately.  And thusly, more time with my camera, amateur as it is.  There is a lot of beauty out there waiting to be captured, and I have found myself staring at the works of so many strangers, completely captivated.

For now, keep watching there.  In time, the words will come back to me.

completed

More than a year after starting it, I finished knitting this sweater around six weeks ago. But too much has been going on lately, and I'm just now getting around to photographing it, let alone think about wearing it.


Nevermind that it's now 90 degrees out, and not exactly cashmere wearing weather. Nevermind that the ribbon makes me feel like I'm wearing giftwrap, which isn't quite the intended effect. Nevermind that despite appearances, it turned out a bit large so I might never even wear it.

Oh well.  My first sweater, so I'm still proud.

identity

Okay, according to peekay I really have to post now, or suffer the consequences. :) I'll spare you the usual drivel: It's been a long time, I've meant to post, I haven't, oh well.

So, first post back, big shoes to fill...

Let's start with an easy one...

So I'm sitting in one of my business school classes, and we're analyzing Microsoft from a company strategy point of view. We're in groups of three, and so far we've talked about company culture, history, goals, etc. After discussing their products, we're about to move on, when one girl pipes up quite excitedly.

Her: "Wait wait, what about iPods?"
Me: "What about them?"
Her: "Well, why hasn't anyone mentioned them?"
Me: "Because they're not made by Microsoft?"
Her: "Aren't they made by Apple?"
Me: "Yes...."
Her: "Isn't that the same thing as Microsoft?"

Oh how I wish I could make this stuff up.