Evil starts with complacency

Posted on by Rayan

Up front I must be honest with you. While the rest of this article is mine, the title of this post belongs to my friend and colleague at my office. While we were discussing about corporate scandals, he said that he cannot state with any level of certainty that God exists. But he knew for sure that evil starts with complacency. 

Reflecting on what he said about corporate scandals I tend to agree with him. Today we have reached a situation where we treat the venerable financial statements as myths and start to wonder how much of them are true.

At any of the following stages in the evolution of a corporate scandal, person or persons involved could have blown the whistle and let the investing public and authorities concerned know that something is amiss and needs some review/investigation.
But they prefer to remain complacent and do nothing.

Stages of corporate downfall:

  1. Idea being conceived in the brain storming sessions of corporate ‘smarts’ (Example: Morgan Chase thought of offloading the risk from their balance sheet to banks as assets or Enron conceived the idea of selling Energy as a commodity)
  2. Plan executed with finesse in total secrecy and promoted as the next big thing.
  3. Investors being led to believe that it is a now or never opportunity. ( Example: banks/insurance companies/pension funds vie with each other to carry the risk offloaded by investment banks as assets on their balance sheets)
  4. Top executives show spectacular results from quarter to quarter and award themselves impressive cash bonuses or stock options in so far the going is good.
  5. Employees tend to believe and go with whatever good news management doles out to them. They show their enthusiasm by enhancing their contribution to the 401(K) plans
  6. Auditors (both internal and external) certify that to the ‘best of their knowledge’ the statements presented to them are true and accurate. (Arthur Andersen did an excellent job in certifying Enron’s financial statements. I wonder who the auditors of Nortel Networks were. Thanks to them restating of financial statements became fashionable.)
  7. News media/ investment analysts gobble up stories presented by the management of such ‘excellent’ companies and award ranks for ‘performance’. (One notable exception being the story ‘how exactly Enron gets its revenue? in Fortune Magazine.
  8. A year or two goes by and then word slowly gets around that things are not as rosy as they are painted out to be. Top executives manage to get themselves fired with excellent severance pay.
  9. Stock prices nose dive. Since the top executives have already been safely bailed out, it is now time for the government to work out the bail out details of the corporation.
  10. Finally employees and investing public are left holding the bag not knowing what to do next.



I am sure in any of the above stages there are a few honest souls with a troubled conscience who would only be too relieved to blow the whistle. But they would have been restrained from doing so for fear of consequences.

I think in the Internet age it is not difficult to post anonymously about things going wrong in the corporate world. Even if this is considered to be too risky, they can give notice about failing entities in a circuitous (hush-hush) fashion giving appropriate clues for the readers to solve the puzzle.

My sincere request for the people ‘in the know’ is to speak up before it is too late.

Borderless State

Posted on by Rayan

“People were there earlier and border came later.” Well, that was the reply I got from my German friend when I asked him, “What would it feel like to be in the then East Germany” We were standing right at the border (you can say no man’s land) of the then divided East and West Germany in March 1987.  And that was in Goslar a small town, about hundred kilometers east of Hanover.

I was looking for some sign of emotion (triggered by poignant memories) from him as he was replying my question. But he didn’t betray any. He meant the Germans on the east are no different from them on the west. They (East Germans) accepted their lot, went about their business as if nothing happened.  He spoke like Spock in the Star Trek episodes, matter-of-fact, business-like and driven by cool logic.


Earlier in the day he invited me to his house. I was going through his bookshelf and picked up a book (illustrated) on German history written in English.  He was feeling embarrassed and requested me not to read any further. When I said a few words of praise for the Germans: their discipline, their devotion to perfection, their patriotism, he offered to take me to some place I would be interested to see. So there we were at the border.

Actually I was the one who became emotional, sympathetic to the people locked behind the Iron Curtain. I could see houses so close to the border, if I had waved or yelled ‘hi’, someone would have seen or heard me. I was tempted to taste the forbidden fruit. I wanted to see what was on the other side, even though everything was there in plain sight for anyone to see. I was looking to see if any souls were moving around in the neighborhood and say ‘hello’ to them. I got closer and closer to the barbed wire fence, ignoring the watch tower.


Suddenly my friend yelled at me to stop, else I will be shot from the other side. I knew enough to stop, for the Germans always meant business. Remember even President Reagan made his speech at the Brandenburg Gate on the 12th June 1987, in front of two panes of bulletproof glass protecting him from potential snipers in East Berlin. I requested my friend to take a snap of me near the border. Lucky I am alive to tell you the story now, after more than 20 years.

I didn’t know at that time that in a few months this separation will become history and history will be made.  And that people will be clamoring for a piece of the German Wall to keep it for posterity as a souvenir. Some will be sold on the EBay making a neat profit for their owners. Had I known it then, I would have taken a piece of the fence with me. If only they had allowed me to take my piece of rock. What do you say?

An unexplored life is not worth living

Posted on by Rayan

I intend to visit Brazil for vacation before my retirement. That begs two questions to be answered: 

1. Why Brazil?

2. Why not after retirement?

The answer to the first: I think of its beautiful carnival dancers in bikinis and Brazil’s breathtaking beaches to soak in.

To answer the second: Please see the answer to the first.

But I didn’t realize that until recently (mid 1990s) the crime rate in Brazil was very high. Watching the movie City of God changed my view of the country. If it is not safe enough for the local residents, how would it be for the visiting tourists? I am sure you will agree that it is not a good idea to get shot and come back in a coffin after a memorable vacation. Imagine you won’t be around to answer the question, “How was your vacation?”

I am not exaggerating. Some of us Canadians had that privilege extended to us as part of the package tour, when we visited Mexico three/four years ago. To this day, they are investigating the cases to figure out the answer to the classic / cliché question, “who dun it?” When Mexico tourism promotes itself as “Mexico, beyond your expectation,” it is probably true to its words.

Meanwhile it is reassuring to note (as this article points out) that Brazil’s crime rate has fallen considerably. Hopefully by that time I visit, it has fallen so low, that it will be like I am in my city Toronto. Apart from the deliberate actions of the community of Brazil, its police and change in demographics, I think one other reason for the fall in crime rate could be its rising middle class and Brazil’s improving economy.

Some of my readers who have firsthand experience may contradict whatever I said here. Before I could agree/disagree with them I want to find out for myself. An unexplored life is not worth living, what do you say?

Lipstick on a pig

Posted on by Rayan

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” – Barak Obama
After this remark, amidst the claims of Democratic supporters and counter attacks of Republicans, here is an imaginary conversation that never took place.
McCain: Barak, I knew that your reasoning abilities were suspect. But I didn’t know you were blind too.
Barak: I meant with you being in charge there is effectively no change in leadership.
McCain: You must be foolish to deride our assets in Alaska.
Barak: I meant your policies are no different from that of Mr. Bush.
McCain: You are against feminism.
Barak: No, I meant America under your leadership will be no different than under our current leadership.
McCain: You support abortions.
Barak: No, I meant with your policies we will be lead along the same ruinous path that we are on currently.
McCain: You are against teenage pregnancies.
Barak: No, No, I meant I love my country too much to leave it in the hands of amateurs.
McCain: You are against our fundamental right to bear arms.
Barak: No, for God’s sake I meant America cannot afford anymore extravaganza.
McCain: You are against beauty contests.
Barak: No, I meant…. Never mind what I meant.
Arnold (Pointing to himself): This Governor would have done a better job wearing a lipstick. (looking at McCain) Why didn’t you think of me?
McCain: But Arnie, I thought….
Arnold: You thought what? I even bore a child in one of my movies. So you can even say I am against abortions. Besides I proposed you over Rudy. Remember?
McCain: I am sorry Arnie, but you’re the man. I have you in my mind and in my term I will amend the constitution just for you. I promise.
Bush: Guys, look what I found. If you dress up a scarecrow in jeans it is still a scarecrow!

It is in our ability to think

Posted on by Rayan

We take it for granted our ability to think. Often it happens unconsciously i.e. we don’t even know that we are doing it until we bring it into focus (like when we breathe). As much as it is a blessing it turns into a curse if done unconsciously.If we inspect our thoughts, too many of them are repetitive and destructive. We brood over our lack of resources, past failures, betrayals, missed opportunities, etc. They only generate a sense of self- pity, anger, jealousy etc with nothing constructive coming out of them.  I am sure you would have read enough literature on similar lines, so I don’t want to repeat what you know already.

The purpose of this post is to remind you (also remind myself) to be cheerful, look for possibilities when presented with a problem, solve it in a creative way and become wiser. What better way to learn to appreciate our ability to think, then to watch an animal which is endowed with even lesser faculties than we have, that goes about solving problems.

Recently I saw a video clip (see below and click on play) in which a chimpanzee does a courier job. Let me admit that I don’t know the Japanese language as well as the purpose of this experiment (if I can call it as one) as all the commentary of the events is in that language. However as we see the clip; we can get a feel of the situation, draw conclusions and we won’t be far off the mark.

Here is my interpretation of the events:

Pan fails to notice how the package (lunchbox) is tied on the carrier (James in our case) for safe delivery
Still it takes its job seriously and later it makes it up by its persistence. It didn’t come back with some lame excuses for a failed mission.
When coming to an intersection, it decides to go one way after some deliberation. May be it had drawn from past experience or intuition. I don’t know which one. The point is it didn’t choose to remain stuck in one situation.
When it was time to cross the stream or creek, (a very complex operation for its intelligence) Pan chooses to pause and think for a minute and evaluate the risks involved. It chooses a course of action that minimizes the risks for everyone involved (James in this case).
Every step of the way Pan gives its due attention (and not lost in its thoughts about its past or future)
When it was sure that James could jump the last 1 meter, it uses all its persuasion (force in this case). I am sure Pan would have used other methods to persuade James if it can communicate with it (James). 
Finally Pan takes pride for a job well done (no matter how trivial or menial and not giving itself to thoughts of self-pity like “why me?”).

Incidentally did you notice that it didn’t miss to have fun while doing its job.
P.S. Those of my readers who know Japanese language if you could enlighten me/us about the actual experiment and commentary of events as they happen, I will be very thankful.

“Use your brain stupid” – Which one? The right or the left?.

Posted on by Rayan

Imagine someone in an authoritative position (your boss or your wife) chiding you to use your brain to solve the problem at hand. And you reply like, “Which one? The right or the left?” you are obviously smarter. Experts say you can only go up to some level in solving your problem if you use your logical side (the left) and at some point the creative side (the right) should come into play to reach a brilliant solution. The famous Edward De Bono suggests the use of ‘Six Thinking Hats‘ technique to switch our style of thinking while solving a problem. So that means at a given time we need to be aware of which mode we are in, say; being pessimistic or optimistic or cautious and switch it deliberately to widen our perception and that needs some disciplined thinking.

What if there is an easier method that makes use of both parts of the brain simultaneously, and let you see the result immediately and also is something fun to do? Luckily there is one and it is the use of mind maps pioneered by Tony Buzon.

Personally I feel the mind maps come close to our natural way of thinking (a scatter brain approach). Using mind maps, even as we jot down ideas in free form, we follow a structure. Looking at the partially developed mind map, we plug in the missing elements in our thinking as we go along. Before we know it, we will be amazed at the extent of territory we have covered and realize it was all fun and the job is done.

Before the advent of PCs the use of mind mapping technique was confined to scientists, executives in big corporations, students and professors at university. Though it doesn’t need much in terms of resources (a sheaf of papers and pen will do), it wasn’t popular and perceived to be an elite exercise. But now that PCs have become popular and along with the proliferation of mind mapping software, mind mapping has come to be within reach of every one.

I am convinced that if used properly, mind mapping exercise will enable you to create a ‘WOW’ effect in all your ventures.

Uses of mind maps:

Uses of mind maps are many as they are outlined here.

To show a live demonstration of the use of mind maps, I have taken browsing my website as an example. Please click on the link below to see how easy it is to navigate my site using mind maps. (Some of my visitors complained that they find it difficult to locate in my site what they came searching for)


Using mind map to navigate my website .


You may notice how easy it is to navigate web sites using mind maps which no one has talked about so far (at least as far as my knowledge goes. Please correct me if I am wrong)

I may even go further to suggest mind maps should be the first interface users see when they turn on the computer. Due to its intuitive nature this would make any operating system very user-friendly.

What do you think?

Like the rest of us we are unique

Posted on by Rayan

There is an universal belief that no two persons are alike. Each one of us is unique in our physical makeup, mental abilities, personality traits, our life experience, and so on. A news article I read in National Post recently has weakened my belief that we are unique in this world. It is not my concern whether the lady Ms. Bernann McKinney was really Ms. Joyce McKinney in disguise or the former is the clone of the latter as the title of the article suggests.

But what interested me was that she paid $50,000 to clone her dead dog Booger and became a proud owner of five black puppies cloned from it. That reminded me how close we have come to reality from the science fiction movie, The Sixth Day in which Arnold Schwarzenegger starred with his clone(??!!) Do you remember in the movie there is this pet shop where ‘made to order’ pets can be picked up by their proud owners?

Well it has become a reality now and from now on, at least for those who can afford, they need never have to suffer any loss or tragedy on the demise of their pets. In one of his comedy shows the late George Carlin makes fun of pet lovers who bring home a pet and shower it with all their love and tender care. He said that they really have brought home a tragedy while they may think it to be a bundle of joy. His reasoning was that one day or the other the pet has to face its demise and that will be before its owner passes away. Sorry George, for once you are proved wrong.

Human Cloning

This story also made me wonder whether human cloning too is going on illegally somewhere on the high seas? Let us be optimistic that currently there is no large scale human cloning. I said optimistic because the unique talents that we develop as we go along, is our only insurance in this uncertain job market. Already we have enough competition and we stand even less chance if our clones start competing against us. Don’t you agree?

Talking of uniqueness, did you see Robert Muraine’s audition in the TV program ‘So you think you can dance?’ Of course the judges and the audience where blown away by the awesome performance of Bob. But one of the judges scored his performance to be so unique that he would have difficulty approving Bob to the next level of the competition. For a moment I too was thinking this young man has wasted a part of his life learning something too unique. But this time I was proved wrong.

Look at the recent IKEA commercial in which Bob replicates his success so well and I am sure he must have made a ton of money doing this commercial. As of this date no one in the world can do what Robert Muraine has done and do you understand now why I stress developing our unique talents and also why I fear my clone ?

“You only live twice or so it seems”

Posted on by Rayan

Websites have a life like James Bond and apparently they get to live only twice. Visitors visit any site, for the first time out of curiosity, to see if there is anything interesting to browse. If they find anything that grabs their attention, they visit a second time to see if there is any new content added. If the site fails to impress at either of these two times it can bid goodbye to its visitors and there are ‘no comebacks’.

In the past few weeks (probably even earlier) my site has been hacked. Being aware of the high expectations of my visitors, I had been carrying out some desperate firefighting measures to bring my site back into shape. During this period my site has been acting weird and I couldn’t fix it as quickly as I wished and as a result I might have lost some valuable first or second time visitors who are never going to comeback.

Nevertheless I have learned several valuable lessons out of this painful experience which I would like to share with you and may help you if you maintain a site of your own.

Clues that your site has been hacked (it will bring out the inner Sherlock Holmes in you):

* If you log into your account at your web host, you see your file size bloated without any reason. (Mine shot up from 35MB to something like 170MB)
* You will see some weird characters on some of your pages alongside normal ones like the one below pointed by the arrows
* If you display Google Adsense ads like I do, you will see a lot of Adsense Ads that are not relevant to your page’s content.
* You will see an unusually large number of hidden external links pointing to sites that serve hackers’ interests.
* You will see a very long list of random words hidden inside some of your pages and code and may take a little of digging to find where they are hidden. Again these are to serve hacker’s interests to place Google ads related to these random words instead of your site’s content.
* You will see some of the pictures missing in your page and if you hover your mouse pointer over it, they point to a location in an unknown folder and not in the folder you originally uploaded.

The cause of my problem:

1. I was using an earlier version of WordPress platform for maintaining the site which is known to be vulnerable to hacker attack
2. My password was not strong enough and could have been easily cracked.

Remedies:

1. If you are using a platform other than the older versions of WordPress (say FrontPage or Dreamweaver or Blogger), look into appropriate forums of webmasters to see any vulnerability of hacker attacks and implement necessary actions to improve security of your site.
2. But if you are using an older version of WordPress immediately upgrade it to a newer version. Also please implement every one of the following suggestions mentioned in the following links.

Before I let you go, I request you to stay with me or come back as often as you can and I promise I will not fail you.

Given your loyal support, I challenge the agents and the sentinels determined to kill my spirit or destroy my ship ( taking cue from the movie Matrix) ,

“Try as you can, you cannot stop me. This Neo will always rise like a phoenix from the ashes.”


I love apples

Posted on by Rayan

I love apples raw, ripe, and cooked. Even if I go to any McDonald’s restaurant my eyes instinctively look for apple pies. But lately my attention is drawn towards different kinds of apples and Macs: iMacs. I have always been using Windows OS running on PC Clones and had little incentive to look outside ‘windows’. No one could dissuade me from using them for three reasons: my familiarity with Windows, its compatibility with a wide range of applications and its economy of use.

Every time I see the Mac vs. PC ads put out by Apple on TV and print media, a sense of anger builds up in me. It is as much due to my loyalty towards Windows, as it is about ignorance of Macs and my jealousy to those who can afford Macs. A chance exposure to this YouTube presentation made me only too happy that at last Windows gets its due recognition.

I am told for simplicity and ease of use nothing comes close to Apple products. A customer of ours who bought a few computers from us running Windows recently bought an iMac and was quite happy with it. In fact he was so enthusiastic that he was selling me on the merits of iMacs in particular and Apple products in general! Internally I started to worry whether I lost this customer forever to Apple products while I am devoted to selling PCs and laptops running Windows.

His reasons seem convincing enough that I may become a convert soon. See for yourself.

  1. User is totally freed from the details of hardware and the connection details. You bring home the iMac, connect the keyboard, mouse in the respective ports and turn it on. That’s it and it is ready to use. Rest of the items like monitor, webcam, wireless connection, all the hardware integrated and out of sight makes things simple. There is very little chance the user can go wrong in setting up the computer for the very first time.
  2. The system is intensely focused on giving the user the necessary help in getting his (her) job done. By that I mean all the necessary applications that an average user needs are preinstalled and come as a single package. The user need never have to worry about compatibility issues, no product key to forget and retrieve during installation or reinstallation.
  3. Apple is not content with just making their systems user friendly but even the after sale service is dedicated to giving an user friendly introduction to the use of Macs and solving Mac related issues on an ongoing basis. If you go by their slogan “Come to shop. Return to learn“, you will understand what I mean. Of course this service is not free but is on chargeable basis.
  4. Contrast this with us the Windows vendors, who are busy pushing hardware and software to a saturated market and in the process ignore the pleas of a customer who bought a Windows system but is beseeching to learn the basics. Often times I have come across customers who ask me as to where they can learn how to use the PC. To be honest with you, I directed them to some bookshops, library or the Internet!
  5. We learn about Windows from such disparate sources as friends, outdated books, manuals, internet articles, forums. A little here, little there and we are never sure we have learned enough or in a professional manner.

I believe there is a real business opportunity for us (the vendors selling PCs and Laptops with Windows on them) if we can combine training customers with selling them the system. Even if we don’t do this in a proactive way, soon we will be forced to be on the defensive as Apple continues to gain market share at the expense of Windows.

In writing this post I have become a traitor to myself.

Nobody home; please leave a message

Posted on by Rayan

pickupthereceiver.jpg

“Damn it. It’s him again. What do I tell him?” The guy on the right seems to be cursing himself for having picked up the receiver. Situations such as these must have prompted the invention of answering machines and call display. How convenient it is to let the caller leave his message or vent his anger while we go about our routine?

Isn’t it strange that in this age of instant communications we find it ever harder to reach the other person? Especially if that other person owes us for products delivered or services rendered. Try as we could, we never get past the secretary who would be more than willing to put us on to her elusive manager’s voice mail rather than let us know his real whereabouts. I wonder what would happen if the caller calls from his cell phone while standing right outside this customer’s office just to check if he is really there or not.

Or imagine a situation like this: You and your buddy are on the cell phones talking to each other. Unknown to each other both of you are currently in the downtown area of the city where you live. Also unknown to you, both of you are walking towards each other. You ask your friend to check the availability of a product on sale (and the sale ends today, in less than an hour) on the east end of your city. And you say (or lie) that you are in the west end shopping for the same product on sale. Your friend like you replies (or lies) that he is in the east end only and is desperately looking for the product. As soon as he finds one, he will give you call. As you come within vicinity of each other, you have found each other out (literally and figuratively).


George’s way (in one of the Seinfeld episodes) of screening incoming calls comes to my mind. Telephone answering machines have been around a long time that we get more and more creative in leaving recorded messages on our home phone / cell phone. While it is fun to watch, it will in the long run damage our reputation and ruin our relationships. In a connected world, we are alienating ourselves.

When we leave a message; the acceptable notion is that, the receiver at the other end is genuinely unavailable or busy. Or he or she is in a different time zone. But I have a suspicion that some of us are misanthropists who cannot stand humanity. How else can you explain this culture of hiding our predisposition, to communicate with the other person, pervading an always-on communication medium like MSN messenger or Yahoo messenger?

Look at some of the stock messages such applications allow us to leave:

  • Busy
  • Stepped out
  • Be right back
  • Not at my desk
  • On the phone
  • or we can get creative and type in our own message to show that we are not available at the moment.
  • Or we may even to choose to be invisible to everyone!

Look at the last entry. I believe technology came to our rescue not to serve such devious purposes. What do you think?