Category: Links

The Hindu reported that a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) has been filed that Section 66A was against the freedom of speech guaranteed under the Constitution.

I hope this PIL gets more publicity, more people learn about it and something good comes out of it because the way the law is drafted right now just gives too much room for interpretation.

Next, The Economist on the ceasefire in Gaza.

I liked this post about how much hard work it takes to create and build wealth, and some parts of the post really resonated well with me. When you work seven days a week, the real worry you have is whether you are investing your time in the right thing or not because that’s one commodity that’s never going to come back.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has a good essay on learning to love volatility.

Mark Suster wrote a very inspiring post titled Entrepreneurshit that resonated with a lot of people and even if you’re not interested in entrepreneurship, this great post is worth your time.

The Economist again, this time on Watson, the computer that beat the hell out of the best humans that played Jeopardy.

Finally, three essential photography tips from National Geographic.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

The most fascinating thing I read this week was this Forbes piece on the Khan Academy, I have seen many of his videos myself and I’m just blown away by how effective his tutorials are and how he simplifies difficult concepts and makes them easy to digest. This is a great article and if you have time for only one article then this should be the one you read.

Next, an interesting piece about how our brain can do maths unconsciously, more than the idea itself I’m always fascinated by the way they carry out such experiments.

Ajay Shah writes about the IRR of UID scheme. 

A very interesting HBS case study on Sir Alex Ferguson.

ET on the 2G auction failure.

An interesting piece about a starless planet that floats alone in space.

Finally, have you done the puzzle where you have to get the goat and the wolf across the river in your boat?

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start this week with a very useful post by Hemant about  medical insurance for parents. This is an area where costs are rising rapidly and there is real need for good insurance. Hemant covers good ground as usual and I believe this is an important subject for most of us.

Next, New Scientist talks about India’s thorium dream and I must admit that I didn’t even know we had such a dream.

The Economist talks about what the recent deal means for Kingfisher and the Mallya empire.

Fast Company has a great story on Henry Ford with the wonderful title: Be Like Henry Ford: Apprentice Yourself In Failure.

Bloomberg has a slideshow on the world’s 20 richest people.

The Economist again, this time on Mr. Obama’s re-election.

Finally, the question that’s been on your mind all week – what will happen if the earth stopped spinning? 

Enjoy your weekend!

The most amazing thing I read this week was this Reddit IamA of Peter Moore who was held hostage in Iraq for 2.5 years. Some of the things he says sounds so unreal and something straight out of a movie like the one incident where he says they did a fake execution on him.

Bemoneyware has a good guest post on women and financial planning.

NYT has an interesting article on Google’s driverless car.

A hilarious account of how Fundoo Professor lost all his Amex points and Kingfisher miles.

Reason has an interesting post on why Republicans aren’t able to harness Indian American votes any more. I disagree with a lot of what this article had to say but it has some good stats, and is an interesting read.

I love to read anything Jeff Bezos, and really enjoyed this brief post with interesting quotes from his annual letters.

Finally, some amazing pictures of destruction caused by Sandy.

Let’s start this week with a very different type of retirement article which was published in the WSJ last week. This is an article about a couple who have sold their house and most other possessions in California, and no longer have a permanent home. They live in different countries for short periods of time, and I think it is a fascinating way to spend your retirement years.

Next, Wired has this great article about how everything you’ve been told about passwords is wrong, and I’ve come across this concept a few months ago and have partially adopted this way of keeping memorizing passwords myself.

Ajay Shah has a very interesting post on how the young are getting away from agriculture and what it could mean for the economy.

Kiran has yet another post on special situations investing, and more than the situation itself, I’m linking to it to highlight the thought process that is involved in analyzing such a situation.

It is perhaps not surprising that the US army has 3D printing labs that are setup in remote locations and can rapidly equip bases with parts and gear.

The Financial Literates has an excellent infographic on the cost of higher education.

Finally, don’t forget to avail your Eid and Diwali discounts when you pay a bribe this festive season.

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start this week with a fascinating article from Slate that talks about our fears and what role evolution had to play in it. For most of our existence, we were prey and the article looks at how being at that position helped us evolve over millions of years.

By now you must have heard and read about the Nifty flash crash from last week, and Ajay Shah has a very thoughtful post on how to think about such situations. Should you lean towards trying to prevent such things in the future, if so at what cost or should you look at developing a financial system that’s resilient to such shocks.

National Post on Felix Baumgartner’s unbelievable dive from the edge of space. I felt this was a very good comprehensive article that covers a lot of ground about the jump.

Fred Wilson writes briefly about “public social” versus “dark social” and this is the first time I’ve heard the term and I thought it was a useful way of looking at things.

Business Standard has an article on the next steps for UID.

I’m a big Seinfeld fan so I really loved this video of Jerry and Kramer in Comedians in Cars getting Coffee.

The question that’s been on your mind all these days – do crocodiles prey hippos?

Finally, OneMint crossed 10,000 readers this week and I’m thankful to all of you who have subscribed through either email, Facebook, Twitter or just visit the site. When I started out, I never thought there could be 10,000 people subscribed to OneMint one day, this is truly amazing!

If you think OneMint will be useful to anyone you know, please send them one of the links to subscribe on either email or Facebook.

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And this is my Twitter account from which I tweet out daily OneMint posts, other articles of interest and some personal stuff as well.

Have a good weekend!

 

Let’s start this week’s links with a post from the Scientific American that tells you why you can’t roll down Airplane windows. While the answer is obvious, there were a few things there that I didn’t know of and I found the article very useful.

Now, how they came about writing this article is quite a story. Apparently, Mitt Romney, who will be running against Obama in the presidential elections was quoted saying he doesn’t understand why planes don’t have roll down window. Most media outlets picked this up and ran stories on how he doesn’t even understand how a plane works and if you read the comments, you’ll see people’s horror on this person potentially becoming the president of the United States.

Buried deep under all these stories is the fact that when you read his comment in its proper context, it’s clear that he was just joking. But of course, if he was just joking then how do you make ridiculous headlines and sell page-views?

Scott Adams wrote about this topic on his blog a few days ago about how a lot of celebrity quotes either get taken out of context entirely, or sometimes just manufactured for the sake of selling news.

Indian Express has a good story on how Sonia Gandhi was persuaded to back economic reforms.

NYT has a great article on research that shows reformers do win elections in India.

PC Magazine explains the difference between 3G and 4G.

Finally, there seems to be evidence that humans hunted for meat two million years ago.

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start this week with a post at AVC that was written almost a year ago about Sustainability. This is a great post and there’s nothing I can add to it except perhaps saying that I’ve felt that many times you do things only because that’s the way it is done or was taught in school, even when it doesn’t make any sense to you.

Recently, I read an article where they were talking about an analyst who adjusted Facebook’s earnings estimate for 2022! Who really believes that you can even remotely predict how FB’s revenues will look like 10 years from now and yet that’s how it’s taught in school so that’s how people continue to do it and model for price.

HBR has a very interesting article on how distribution plays a huge role in the success of any product in India.

Seth Godin writes about how you won’t benefit from anonymous criticism. I think that even well meaning people leave rude and nasty comments when they can hide behind anonymity, and if you are someone who exposes yourself to this kind of criticism because of what you do – you have to learn to let it go and not engage with such people.

I’ve started doing that more and more while responding to comments over the years, and felt that I’m vastly better off because of it. It’s much better for my peace of mind and doesn’t hurt what I’m doing in anyway if I don’t engage with such people.

Another good article from HBR on reinventing the toilet.

Ranjan writes about a topic that I’ve never contemplated on, and I found his post on insuring yourself before you go out for education abroad a good introduction to the topic.

I was fascinated to read about the latest power couple in town.

Finally, I loved this message, and it’s going on my wall shortly.

Enjoy your weekend!

The best thing I read this week was The Seven Subjects I learnt at Marwari Business School (MBS) by Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal. This is a great post from the entrepreneur who shares things that he has learned during his career, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever thought of starting their own business.

Shabbir Bhimani writes a very detailed and thorough post about how you could go about deciding whether you should rent or buy a house.

Bemoneyaware writes about some money mistakes young people make, and how to quantify those. The big lesson here is to start saving early.

Forbes tells us how Usain Bolt earns $20 million a year, a figure that will likely go much higher after yesterday’s result.

It seems that Sun Yang’s two golds cost the Chinese $1.57 million in his training for the last two years, and there is a small debate in China if this is the best way to spend their resources. I’m fairly certain India won’t mind spending this much money if it guaranteed just one gold.

Amazed to learn that Google’s self driving car has driven 300,000 miles without an accident! I think the day is not far when you could 3D print your car that runs on water, and drives itself.

Speaking of 3D printing, a Tokyo clinic allows you to get a resin cast 3D model of your live fetus. I’m sure some people find it cool, but I find it a bit creepy.

Finally, my apologies for not answering any comments this week, I’m here, just a bit low on energy.

Enjoy your weekend!

First up, an excellent FE editorial busting some myths about RBI policy.

Next, India is facing drought like conditions, but why isn’t drought a crisis any longer?

North India saw the worst blackout in perhaps the history of mankind and here is a BW article that talks about what this shows about Indian infrastructure.

I loved reading the stories of these 18 start-up founders that talks about their lowest moments before their start up became a success.

BBC has an interesting story on how a Dolphin society that had diverged, has merged once again.

Bemoneyaware has a great piece on how to fill Form – 16.

Finally, the question that’s been on your mind all week long – do Olympic or other competitive swimmers ever pee in the pool?

Enjoy your weekend!