Recently, I’ve been spending time listening to interesting TEDtalks. If you aren’t familiar with TED, here’s a description from their own website:
“TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year’s TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.”
As we hit the end of 2009, I’ve seen in various publications, articles about the top games, upsets, and moments in the decade of sports (2000-2009). Looking at a few of these lists have made me reflect on what my own top sporting moments of the decade would be. My list will be colored by my personal rooting and sports preferences— I grew up in Ohio and was a youth baseball and soccer player and am an all around sports nut currently living in the Bay Area.
1. Boise State vs Oklahoma- 2007 Fiesta Bowl—The classic David vs Goliath match-up with all kinds of drama and the most unexpected of endings—even had a wedding proposal. This game had everything—the best game I’ve seen this decade. I seriously couldn’t believe what I was seeing while watching.
Last month, I watched part of Game 2 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees with a colleague. While watching, it dawned on me that this was the first game of this year’s baseball post-season that I’d seen. To me, that is a significant revelation regarding the plight of Major League Baseball and its trajectory for the future. I’d consider myself one of baseball’s more hardcore fans, one who has unfailingly watched postseason baseball games for more than 30 years, even if my team, the Cincinnati Reds, are not in the postseason (which unfortunately has been the case most of the nineties and in the 2000’s). I’m the type of fan who can still recite most of the uniform numbers of Reds players and their main rivals since the 80’s and also can mimic the batting stances of most of those players as well. Continue Reading »
The other day, I was watching a documentary on the 1979 baseball season on the MLB Network and the World Series winner of that season, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Those Pirates were know for its team slogan and team song, the hit song by Sister Sledge, We are Family. As they were recollecting that season and that team, several times, the man who played the team mascot- the Pittsburgh Parrot, Greg Brown, was interviewed and would comment on the intricacies of that team. Now, Brown isn’t your typical mascot as he ultimately in later years become an announcer for the Pirates which is probably why he had the clout to be included in the list of people to comment on the team, but just hearing from a mascot for the first time, made me think, what is it really like to be a mascot, from someone who actually was a mascot? Continue Reading »
Now four years later, Levitt and Dubner have released their follow up book—the aptly named SuperFreakonimcs. I just completed reading the book. Here’s my review of the book.
Recently, Devdutt Pattanaik, the Chief Belief Officer at the Future Group based in Mumbai, India, gave a TED presentation in Mysore, India. This 19 minute lecture and presentation depicts some of the inherent differences between the views and values of Indians vs those of the west and how that manifests itself in business. I would highly recommend investing the 19 minutes to watch this lecture if you are doing or have plans to do business in India or are just interested in learning more about what drives Indian beliefs.
Additionally, some statistics cited in the promotional materials included a recent estimate from Pike Research valuing untapped energy efficiency projects at $400B as well as study from McKinsey which estimated that $520B in green building materials and efficiency initiatives by 2020 will yield $1.2 trillion in economic benefits. Continue Reading »
Earlier, I wrote about one of my fantasy football teams that was selected using Yahoo!’s auto-draft feature as I wasn’t available at the time of the draft. After 6 weeks, my team is 2-4 with the second fewest points scored out of 12 teams. The top 8 teams make the playoffs and at this point I would miss the playoffs. So, the time is now to transform the team, and try to salvage the season. This week, I made two major trades which I hope turns the tide and creates a winning 2nd half of the season.
Earlier, I wrote about my Internet ADD; the evolution of my Internet usage patterns and the recent movement to spending more time on social media and networking sites. There has been a lot of commentary and discussion on Web 2.0, Social Networks, etc. and whether the transformation of web into these types of properties has really been a good thing or a not so meaningful shift that allows people to have more means to simply waste time. Perhaps, the communication and sharing attributes of Web 2.0 has simply allowed others to participate in one’s wasting of time some have argued.
However, this past month, and even during past 8 months, has really been a banner period in terms of the value of social media in my life. I’ve had tangible, meaningful improvements in my professional life at my current job, in my ability to help friends in their professional lives, in my ability to potentially help a family member’s career, staying in touch with former colleagues and enriching my personal hobbies.
It really is making a difference. Here are some of the events that I’m referring to: Continue Reading »
Earlier this week, I attended an enjoyable lecture by former Ambassador Teresita Schaffer about India- US relations at Stanford University. Schaffer is currently the Director, South Asia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies and formerly held a long diplomatic career which included serving as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and as Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs. In her role as Director, South Asia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, her regional expertise includes India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the rest of South Asia. She is the author of the book, India and the U.S. in the 21st Century – Reinventing Partnership.
The lecture was co-sponsored by the India Community Center, Bay Area, The Center for South Asia Stanford University, The Asia Foundation & World Affairs Council of Northern California. Continue Reading »
Reading, Writing, and Reflecting 