Mr. Aggarwal

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. - EF Schumacher

When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest. - William Hazlitt

What does this tell us?  I guess this guy would vote for the BCS system in college football to stay.

I will also say that I have noticed this to be true about blog posts, corporate America, and celebrities.

Some of you may remember the old commercials with the egg…

“This is your brain…”

(and then then egg on a fryinf pan)…

“This is your brain on drugs…”

(and then the serious question)

“Any questions.”

Well, all this still exists — it’s just a little more high tech 20 years later: 

And American capitalism may just have the answer:

I wonder if the Blackberry is more addictive than the other PDA and/or smartphone devices?  I have to admit that I see more people addicted to their Blackberries than I do to, say, their Palm Treos.  Although the iPhone will likely not integrate into business email as Blackberry did (since they say they do not sync with Microsoft Exchange, which is the premier enterprise email platform), I am curious to see if iPhone addiction can possibly overtake Crackberry!  And if you switch from a Blackberry to another device with the same or more usage, I think the addiction will have to be named something a bit more generic.

I don’t think the US has had a good hidden camera show since the classic days of Candid Camera.  All you see these days is the MTV’s Punk’d, America’s Funniest Video (AFV) or whatever they call it, and maybe a few others that last 1-2 seasons (Jamie Kennedy X’d?, etc.)…pretty lame.

Now this is really good stuff:

Good question(s).  Web 2.0 is something “some” people have begun referring to as the next “version” of the web.  Of course, there is no “new release” that has happened, nor will it happen.  Nothing about “the web”, the Internet, etc. will actually get “rolled out” like a software version would be.

However, Web 2.0 is an interesting idea that identifies with some of the capabilities, technologies, and uses that the web has come to allow (which it wasn’t typically known for in the past — perhaps you might call the past Web 1.0).  These concepts include more dynamic websites with content tagging capbilities to allow for a richer administration and user experience.  For example, this blog would be considered Web 2.0.

There is much more that can be said about Web 2.0, some of which is more technical, but I think it is really up to each of us to determine how far we take the whole Web 2.0 “idea”, since that is all it really is - an idea.  Perception is reality as it is said in business, and quite a bit in consulting, so if people perceive a Web 2.0, then I guess it is and/or will be a reality indeed.

Following is an image I found online that helps describe some of the key aspects of Web 2.0.  Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.  In this case, there is no debate since this picture is basically an image of one thousand words (okay, I didn’t count, and yes, it does look like less than 1,000 words, but you get the idea).  Note how they are arrayed in a radial, tag-cloud like manner (I have implemented dynamic tag coulds, but it might be interesting to try one that is laid out radially like this on an actual implementation rather than just a static image):

I played basketball in my shorts with old friends over Christmas break.  Then, the weather was so nice that I held a BBQ party on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Mr. Global Warming used to be the bad neighbor that you heard others talk about and were thankful he didn’t leve next door.  Well, I’m beginning to think he is building a house on everyone’s street and it’s well into the construction process.

Any educated readers have any facts to bring to the table?

I think this clip explains the Congular name change and AT&T history quite well.  It is obvious why they might be known as the T-1000 of businesses.

George Burns is attributed with the following quote:

“Don’t stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed.”

Many of us know the legacy of George Burns (I hope all of us do).  He was a famous actor who lived to 100 years of age (1886-1996) — and I can’t remember ever seeing him without a cigar in his hand.

The thing that provoked me about his quote, however was its content, but also the date in which he died.  It might have been absurd to think one could make money in bed when he said this, but in today’s technology and Internet age, anyone would quickly recall someone they know (or have heard of) who makes a ton of money working “out of their bed” either as a virtual employee/contractor for a business, one who makes money with the web all day (with their own revenue-generating site, a web-based application, etc), or as an online day-trader.

George Burns saw a lot of things in his 100 year life, but even he might surprised at where we have gotten with technology and people being able to “make money in bed” without having to seriously sacrifice moral values.

New York City is a money-driven society.  The argument could be made that every city and almost all cultures (minus tribal cultures that do not use currency) are money-driven.  BUT, I think NY takes it to the extreme…yes, I mean too far.  I haven’t been anywhere in the world where everyone lives, eats, and breathes money the way people in New York do.  I won’t describe the people as “New Yorkers”, since I don’t think you have to be there more than a few weeks to be sucked into this money-crazed vortex.

Young people, old people, and everyone in the middle is driven by monetary success.  And there’s plenty of it to go around there.  So, many think a young person would do well spending a few years in “The City” to gain some good professional experience and live the fast-paced lifestyle.  They can settle down elsewhere, right?  I beg to differ.  Young adults in America are increasingly less responsible and more easily moldable.  They rely on their surroundings to form their values over what was taught in their families (namely because family unity and any focus on identity has all but been thrown out the window).  Also, today’s young adults have had the benefit of a fair number of years without major, broad-reaching issues (no wars on US soil, no depressions, etc.), so ‘everything will always be good’ is the common sentiment; everyone’s got Superman syndrome.  Nothing bad can happen to you, of course.

The reality is that the money-driven — rather money-is-the-top-priority — mentality is incredibly dangerous to our young Americans.  What happened to the “do what you love, work hard at it, and everything else will fall into place” theory?  Okay, even I’ll admit that can be a little utopia sounding, but I would prefer our youth having that approach over do-whatever-it-takes-to-make-dough ideals.

Interestingly, I’m not as worried about the effect NY (money-ville) has on its resident’s career choices, professional ethics choices, or even any temporary change to a more superficial lifestyle due to the money-driven surroundings.  I am worried about the effect it has on people’s self worth, value for life, love for humanity, and the long term effects it has on the persona as well as ego.  Remember, we are talking about young, moldable Americans.  When our youth makes decisions with money as a top priority, we are in real trouble.  When there are others to care for (most commonly, children), the reality of money’s decently large role in our lives quickly sets in, but our youth is getting into this mess waaaay to early, and they don’t know how to handle it.  Respect-for-elders turns into respect-for-the-wealthy-and-well-connected.  Self worth is determined monetarily rather than by inner confidence and peace.  Natural judgment of others is not based on personal experience and “connection”, but rather by their level of financial-success aura.

In the fear of sounding like The Donald, I will say I know a lot of people in NYC, they’re fabulous people, and I wish good things for them.  I also know that the quality of life (is that index based on cost of living versus average income??) NYC has been really improving over the years and people there do seem to be dropping some of the heavy/ugly baggage that typically came with NYC, like being considered generically rude people.

But, I would really like to hear what people have to say — specifically those who agree with me — and of course, the current/former “New Yorkers” who agree with me are even better!  Okay, I’ll admit, it might be fun to get those crazed Yankee fans to go off on this post; the ones who do it like raging lunatics are showing their true NYC spirit and the ones who do it calmly are either too scared to let their hair down or are the real nuts who are just boiling inside.  You have been pre-analyzed, so judiciously craft your comments.

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. - Flannery O’Connor

These days an income is something you can’t live without–or within. - Tom Wilson

Computers aren’t nice enough to just replace man altogether.  They are slowly and systematically taking over all the parts of his life. - Ashok Aggarwal

Computers may not replace man, but they will induce laziness enough to cripple him. - Ashok Aggarwal

Ashok’s Predictions:

• Many peole will switch to Cingular just to get this phone — nice move Cingular in getting first rights.
• It will sync with Outlook/Exchange better than Microsoft technologies (note: it reportedly does not sync with Outlook/Exchange currently).
• It’s interface will be copied and even improved, but the Apple marketing powerhouse will still dwarf sales of all other PDA/music/phone combos.

It will go on sale in June ‘07 for $499. 

Geek out session begins……now:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html

Video Posted on 1/28: