This isn't new. Slashdot has been around a while. Eight years, in fact, and the Slashdot Effect is already old. So old that one business magazine, Business Week, last month suggested its impact has "begun to fizzle." This is true, but that's not because fewer people are using Slashdot. The Web site is still the premier resource for geeks. The reason for the fizzle is that it's overshadowed by the huge growth in the Internet, in particular, by blogs -- the horribly named "blogosphere." When Jeff Henning, who runs an online survey service, Perseus Development, did a survey in late 2003 he found more than four million blogs. Earlier this year he found nearly 20 million. And while the vast majority don't survive, quite a few that do are becoming more and more popular. The daily traffic to just one blog hosting company, TypePad, overtook that of Slashdot last August. The point? Well, I believe the blogosphere -- and the Internet as a whole -- is maturing into a place where information finds its way from the fringes to the center. This is because the links between all these disparate sources of information are reaching critical mass.

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On February 25th'05, I heard this interesting story on National Public Radio - Morning Edition featuring a commentary by NPR correspondent Sandip Roy on Bollywood movies. Here's the transcript for the whole story

Bollywood Dance Follows Movies, Music to the U.S.

February 25th, 2005

by Sandip Roy 

Americans are encountering Bollywood style on fashion runways and in music videos, and a new Hollywood movie is trying to introduce Bollywood to Western audiences. While many welcome that trend, commentator Sandip Roy, an Indian immigrant, isn't sure what to make of the new Bollywood section at his local Blockbuster.

India's Bollywood film industry churns out hundreds more movies each year than Hollywood does. Most films from Bollywood -- the catch-all name was originally a mix of "Bombay" and "Hollywood" -- are chaste romances set in exotic locations and jam-packed with music and dance numbers. Those songs often take on a life of their own as they're discussed, dissected, rated and traded by fans online. But as Roy says, the dances that accompany them also have their own devotees -- and Bollywood dance classes are springing up in the United States.

The subtleties of Indian films may escape casual viewers, Roy says. "Now as Bollywood enters American pop culture, with all its kitsch and camp, I am suddenly the protective parent," he says. There are challenges to understanding Indian culture through Bollywood, according to Roy: the cheesy subtitles, the flashy costumes. But to a native viewer, it all goes much deeper: "You don't just watch a Bollywood movie -- you feel it."

Songs Heard in This Story:

Here is a really funny take on Bollywood:

Bollywood for the Skeptical 

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~dboyk/bollywood/

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Irony of our Pursuit for a Safer World…

February 17^th, 2005

So what if it was the week of Valentine's day...North Korea announced for the first time that it had nuclear weapons, a claim that, if true, makes it the NINTH nation known or generally believed to possess such arms. Here’s a glance at the information collected by “Nuclear Threat Initiative’ on world's nuclear weapons states and their stockpiles:

U.S.: More than 5,000 strategic warheads, more than 1,000 operational tactical weapons -- meant for the battlefield and less powerful than the strategic arms -- and about 3,000 reserve and tactical warheads.

RUSSIA: Nearly 5,000 strategic warheads, approximately 3,500 operational tactical warheads, and more than 11,000 strategic and tactical warheads in storage.

FRANCE: Approximately 350 strategic warheads.

CHINA: About 300 strategic warheads and 120 tactical warheads.

BRITAIN: About 200 strategic warheads.

INDIA: Between 45 and 95 nuclear warheads.

PAKISTAN: Between 30 and 50 nuclear warheads.

ISRAEL: Refuses to confirm it is a nuclear weapons state but is generally assumed to have as many as 200 nuclear warheads.

Source: Nuclear Threat Initiative.

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Read the special Two-part Report on Barron’s Online on the changing political economy of India…………

A New Tiger - Part One

Catch a Tiger by the Tail- Part Two

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What If Einstein Had Taken Ritalin? - ADHD's Impact on Creativity
WSJ, February 3, 2005

In American schools these days, countless class clowns are sitting down and shutting up. In chemistry labs, students who used to mix chemicals haphazardly, out of an insatiable curiosity, now focus on their textbooks. In English classes, kids who once stared out the windows, concocting crazy life stories about passersby, now face the blackboard.

Ritalin and other drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have helped many children improve their focus and behavior -- to the great relief of parents and teachers. But ADHD support groups offer long lists of out-of-the-box thinkers who had classic ADHD traits such as impulsivity, a penchant for day-dreaming, and disorganized lives. Among those who are believed to have had the disorder: Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali, Winston Churchill.

The question is whether the Ritalin Revolution will sap tomorrow's work force of some of its potential genius. What will be the repercussions in corporations, comedy clubs, and research labs?

Some researchers now wonder if would-be Einsteins and Edisons will choose different career paths because their creativity and drive are dulled by ADHD drugs. They also worry that the stigma of being labeled with ADHD could lead some kids to lose confidence, and dream smaller dreams.

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China IT Services Industry Too Fragmented To Match India - McKinsey
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
January 27, 2005
NEW YORK -- China's highly fragmented software-outsourcing industry will prevent it from matching neighboring India 's success in the global information technology services market for many years, McKinsey & Co. said Thursday. "For starters, the Chinese must consolidate their highly fragmented industry to gain the size and expertise needed to capture large international projects," the global consulting firm said in the McKinsey Quarterly journal. "Currently, there is little movement in this direction." China and India , two of the world's largest and fastest growing economies, have pursued different models of development, with China having emerged as the world's manufacturing hub and India as a global provider of IT services.
In the article, McKinsey said China's IT industry is certainly showing signs of "healthy expansion." The number of engineering graduates and software professionals has grown considerably and the ranks of English-speaking graduates in the workforce have doubled to 24 million over the past four years. Furthermore, annual revenue in software and IT services have risen 42% on average since 1997, reaching $6.8 billion in 2003.
But that's still barely half of India 's revenue of $12.7 billion a year from the sector, said McKinsey. And foreign outsourcing business accounts for just 10% of the global industry's revenue compared with around 70% for India . "Growth (in China) is driven by domestic demand - most customers are small and midsize Chinese enterprises that want their software customized to their own needs," it said, adding that many projects are below optimal scale, suppliers compete on price and collecting payments can be problematic. Noting that the top 10 IT services companies in China have just a 20% share of the domestic market compared with a 45% stake commanded by India 's top 10, McKinsey said that to "compete effectively in global outsourcing, China's software industry must consolidate." Without adequate scale, Chinese players won't likely be able to attract top international clients that Indian firms such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (532540.BY), Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFY) and Wipro Ltd. (WIT) have been successful at doing, it said. Smaller companies are "riskier and less reliable partners," said McKinsey. They are more vulnerable to the loss of key personnel and may not have the financial muscle to survive for the duration of project.
Yet only 12% of Chinese software service providers see mergers, acquisitions and alliances as a priority, said McKinsey, citing a survey it conducted of 32 Chinese firms. In contrast, several Indian firms are considering takeovers of Chinese firms to expand operations.
McKinsey recommended that Chinese software firms should "manage their talent better" and do more to develop their employees to reduce the annual employee turnover rate that it estimates at about 20%. Even in the U.S., where the IT labor market is very fluid, the turnover rate averages 14%, it said. "With greater size and an improved talent base, Chinese software-services companies will be in a better position to address other issues, such as building credible brands in international markets and developing knowledge of specific industries, including finance and pharmaceuticals," the consulting firm said.

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In 'Born Into Brothels,' Calcutta Kids With Cameras Offer Vivid Portraits of Truth
Walls Street Journal,
January 28, 2005.
"Born Into Brothels", a feature documentary that received a richly deserved Oscar nomination this week, takes place mainly in the red-light district of Calcutta, where prostitutes stand on a line -- called The Line -- waiting for clients. Documenting the lives of these women was the original intent of a photojournalist named Zana Briski, who had come to Calcutta to work with a still camera. The idea of doing a film was born when Ms. Briski became enchanted with the prostitutes' children, decided to give them simple still cameras of their own, along with photography lessons, and started shooting digital video to document the resulting transformation in their lives.
It was an inspired decision. In this documentary, co-directed -- and stunningly photographed -- by Ross Kauffman and Ms. Briski, most of the women are ghastly husks of the human beings they once were. Watching a whole film about their debasement could have been all but unendurable. Yet the life force survives in their daughters and sons -- not only survives but, miraculously, thrives, despite the chaos and squalor that surround them. "Born Into Brothels" encourages no illusions about curing poverty with heavy doses of good will and good works; in too many cases, the children's problems are intractable. At the same time, though, the film finds almost limitless potential in these bright-faced, quick-minded kids. One of them, an impish 10-year-old girl named Puja, fantasizes for a moment about going somewhere else for an education, then says: "I wonder what I could become." That's the question that keeps us watching, with rapt attention, as a few kids break out of their vile environment and others don't.
Puja is a live wire, to put it mildly, whether she's shooting impressive pictures on the meanest of Calcutta's streets or doing cartwheels on a beach, where her recently formed class has been taken as part of the photography project. Other brothel kids fly kites from the rooftop while their mothers entertain ungentlemanly callers in the bedroom, or they work willingly, if not always cheerfully, at dreary chores. And to a remarkable degree, their newly acquired skills set them free to become self-confident artists and, heaven help them, critics. But good critics, astute critics: A vividly gifted boy named Avigit takes your breath away when he says, of one photograph of an impoverished tent dweller: "Though it's hard to face, we must look at it because it is truth."
The photography project was so successful that it has spawned exhibitions in American cities, a beautiful book and a foundation, Kids With Cameras (www.kids-with-cameras.org), all meant to provide continuing support for the kids in the film. Heartening as these enterprises are, they intrude on the documentary tone. The narrative moves disconcertingly from Indian bordellos to Western art galleries, and Ms. Briski, the co-director, becomes the film's heroine as she struggles to get her students passports, so they can be part of the exhibitions, and into Indian boarding schools, so they can grow and flourish. But let's not be purists here. She has done heroic work, even though the fruits of her labors are bittersweet -- many more of her newly minted photographers fall back into poverty than escape it. Why, then, should we be eager to see a story of such incomplete inspiration? Because it's thrilling, and stirring. And because it is truth.