There was a time in the initial stages of the birth of the internet when I did not have one, I used to watch at least 2 movies each day and it is quite the opposite. I have rarely have time to even watch once a week. This is how time constraints I have become and I believe many more people like have too. Marriage, kids, internet, work and all the other distractions make it very hard to do anything entertaining. But I believe that the biggest culprit that have regarding time constraints is the Internet which is so addictive that it takes a big chunk of my time. Even when I am done with it, I have to go back after a while since there is sometimes nothing on television.
But apart from the Internet, there are many other distractions that make me feel like I had more than 24 hours in the day and I can sleep less to concentrate on my things but by the end of the day, I am too tired to do anything meaningful. I don’t know about you but the routine sometimes gets to me. From Monday to Friday evening, the only thing you do is wake up, go to work, come back, spend some time with your family (if you are lucky enough to leave your office by 5 P.M.) and eat dinner and then go to sleep. I don’t know about you but it does not seem to me as very productive. During the weekends, you have ample time to do some stuff, but then you are also tired from your work to relax a little bit and then the whole routine starts again. These time constraints don’t let you develop your full potential and you get relegated to a common person without contributing anything extra to your life.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The changing landscape of retail
There was a time that many retail spaces dotted the streets of New York. I remember there was Alexander and Woolworth and in some areas Bradlees but all of them are gone now replaced by cell phone companies or computer stores. Much of these stores were the victim of recession, bad business decisions or just plain short sightedness to see what is store in the future. But it has been happening all over the place. One time Broadway on Times Square was a place where decent people tried to avoid because of all the illegal activities going on. But now it is the place to be dotted by stage shows, movie houses, restaurants and other stores friendly to families.
Same has happened with mom and pop stores replaced by big box retailers who occupy the space of two or three mom and pop stores and can have sometimes but not always lower prices but provide one stop convenient shopping. There was no star bucks back in the 80s and now you see one everywhere which provides stable income to their landlords since we the Americans are addicted to Coffee even if it is expensive. Cutthroat competition has given way to new stores who are cost efficient in their operations. Even the book stores which were considered essential are migrating to the internet and closing their expensive stores where they can only survive with discounting and not the full price, since very few people now days pay full price for the books. And so in the coming years, we will see more upheaval in the retail world.
Same has happened with mom and pop stores replaced by big box retailers who occupy the space of two or three mom and pop stores and can have sometimes but not always lower prices but provide one stop convenient shopping. There was no star bucks back in the 80s and now you see one everywhere which provides stable income to their landlords since we the Americans are addicted to Coffee even if it is expensive. Cutthroat competition has given way to new stores who are cost efficient in their operations. Even the book stores which were considered essential are migrating to the internet and closing their expensive stores where they can only survive with discounting and not the full price, since very few people now days pay full price for the books. And so in the coming years, we will see more upheaval in the retail world.
The post of the IMF chief
Ever since the scandal broke out regarding the Sexual activities of the former IMF chief, there has been a clamor of replacing the former one with the one which reflect the realities of the world economies. On the one side the IMF chief has historically been European and especially now because of the financial crisis in Europe, the Europeans want to have one of their own. But on the other hand, the emerging markets are saying that since the new economic situation in the world is gradually shifting towards India, China, Brazil and other huge developing countries, they should field a candidate of one of their own choosing.
But here is the problem; the emerging markets are not unanimous in their decision of one candidate. The Indians don’t want to support a Chinese and vice versa. There is a huge suspicious among the different emerging markets regarding each other candidates. At least in this front, the Europeans are united to field one candidate and then they can work their way to garner support from other developing and developed countries. Although I truly believe that the post of the IMF chief should reflect new realities but unless the developing countries field a unanimous candidate to the liking of all (especially the U.S. having the biggest number of votes), they will continue to lose out having one of their own in the position.
But here is the problem; the emerging markets are not unanimous in their decision of one candidate. The Indians don’t want to support a Chinese and vice versa. There is a huge suspicious among the different emerging markets regarding each other candidates. At least in this front, the Europeans are united to field one candidate and then they can work their way to garner support from other developing and developed countries. Although I truly believe that the post of the IMF chief should reflect new realities but unless the developing countries field a unanimous candidate to the liking of all (especially the U.S. having the biggest number of votes), they will continue to lose out having one of their own in the position.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The end of the world is here!
Lately I have been seeing warning signs on bill board that the end of the world will be here on May 21, 2011. It is weird watching that sing since if you want to announce the end of the world, it should be some very future date so that people have some faith and the person announcing it should have some face saving. But here in this case, the person is alive and well and he has quite a few followers who have left all their belongings and loved ones behind and have joined this crowed. My question is how did they come up with this specific date and what would happen if things does not come out the way it is supposed to be.
I remember one time back in the nineties when there was one guy holding a placard near world trade center stating that the world be end on October 22, 1992 (or something like that) but after that date passed and everything was good, I never saw that person again. Maybe some thing again will happen like that this time around. I don’t know what their tactics are, but spreading false information like that will not garner them much attention. But since they are not harming anybody and this is a free country so they can practice the message as a form of free speech and nothing more than that.
I remember one time back in the nineties when there was one guy holding a placard near world trade center stating that the world be end on October 22, 1992 (or something like that) but after that date passed and everything was good, I never saw that person again. Maybe some thing again will happen like that this time around. I don’t know what their tactics are, but spreading false information like that will not garner them much attention. But since they are not harming anybody and this is a free country so they can practice the message as a form of free speech and nothing more than that.
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