Something About Everything

Dish Network is the winner - Finally !!

2010-02-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I went through a lot of pain of doing my research of finding the best option to get cable TV with HD. By the way if you really don't feel like reading just go right at the bottom of the posting for the main deal. One of the most criterias for me are as following :

1) Cheapest Option

2) Optimum Number of Channel

3) I Should get it at my Apartment

4) HD and DVR

Analyzing all of the above, I picked Dish Network. The blue underlined option is what I picked. I picked free HBO and Showtime, which I am going to discontinue after 3 months (hopefully I will remember).

America’s Top 120 Reg. $39.99 Promo for year: $24.99

Options:

---DVR service: $6/mo. One fee now covers all DVRs on the account (instead of one fee per DVR).

---HD & Platinum programming package: $10/mo. This option is for America’s Top packages. PlatinumHD channels are included at no extra charge permanently.

So for me the total came out to be 40.99 for the first 12 month.

Caution : Do not go through a third party, go directly through Dishnetwork. I was hoping to do it through VMC Satellite and it seems like reading through various forums that they most of the times do not have local channels and once you add that it always comes out to what is on dish network website directly.

The other problem is that if you are living in an apartment, you need special installation and usually third party will charge you for that.

Now here is the fun part. I used the following link, which I found after a lot of researching.

75 $ Gift Card (It said its gonna take 6 weeks to get it, Finger crossed) https://customersupport.dishnetwork.com/DishCart/prepPartnersEntrance.do?sales_id=DISHCSR
50$ Credit First Month Using following Dishclub certificate number. (Copy and paste the number in the final order )ClubDISH CERTIFICATE NUMBER: [ VCD0004679191]

See the attached image for more detail.

So thats a total of 125 dollars. So the per month goes down to $ 30.57 per month for 12 months. Another thing for some reason I am actually getting Aap ka Colors for free (Indian Channel)

Please leave comment or two if this helped you.

Brave Kid

2010-02-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

This is an article, I read on Rediff. It really amazed me. I just wanted to share it with people out there. Here is the link. You should read the comments section, if you wanted to get wowwed on what people can discuss on a topic like this.

He saved 7 kids from fire, but couldn't save self
February 12, 2010 17:14 IST

Forty-eight children survived Wednesday night's fire at the hostel of Holy Angel Don Bosco school at Palin, Arunachal Pradesh, which left 14 students dead, with some suffering burn injuries.

According to an eyewitness, the 62 inmates, who were fast asleep in the hostel, were mostly studying in kindergarten and standard one.

The villagers said the toll could have been higher but for the brave rescue efforts of a senior student of the school.

The student jumped into the leaping flames bringing out the victims one after another and thus saved seven lives. But after his eighth bid, he was not seen coming out and was presumed dead.

The residents of this remote village said 10 charred bodies have been identified and buried in the compound of the school. Four missing students are presumed dead while four of the seriously injured have been shifted to Itanagar hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh government will constitute a high level committee to probe the incident.

Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu [ Images ], who along with Education Minister Bosiram Siram and other officials flew into Palin in Kurung Kumey district on Friday morning, announced the decision after meeting the grief-striken parents and the school authorities.

Khandu also visited the spot where the hostel, made entirely of bamboo with tin roof, once stood.

The education minister said the government is drafting an education policy requiring authorities of hostels, including those run by private individuals, to give special emphasis on safety and hygiene so that recurrence of the tragedy does not take place.

The chief minister handed over Rs 20 lakh to the assistant deputy commissioner for immediate relief. Khandu expressed anguish over absence of the deputy commissioner even 36 hours after the incident.

Referring to the demand of the grieving parents to associate names of the victims with the school to keep their memories alive, the chief minister assured them that the education minister will chair a committee comprising the MP and MLAs among others to look into the demand.

2010-02-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

!! Funny !!

Being a Engineer myself, I could really relate this. Have a Laugh !!

Up in the Air - George Clooney

2010-02-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

We watched Up in the Air yesterday, by director Jason Reitman (of Thank You for Smoking and Juno fame) with George Clooney. Of course if you have seen Thank You for Smoking and Juno, You would not be surprised how easy and understandably realistic this movie is.

The movie is a very fast paced, excellently written, quite dark comedy centering around Clooney's character and his job which is firing people whose bosses "don't have the balls to sack their own employees". The actors playing the "firees" are real life people who have been terminated, adding a certain poignancy to their candid interviews. There are some excellent one-liners that come of these which George delivers perfectly "try not to take this personally", "review this packet, I am sure you will find a lot of helpful information in it" etc. These scenes make for some extremely memorable moments and George excels in the cynical but casual portrayal of his character, delivering each line with a super size heaping of charm.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable film, speaking very much to today's mood and spirit, easy to watch, with many laugh out loud moments. What could me more fun and humorous than to watch a company thriving on the misfortune of others. Things don't end so well for George's character Ryan Bingham however, as the holes and lack of performance in his own life are exposed throughout his journeys- no significant other, no children, weak ties with his family and worst of all, no place to call home.

Here is a little trailer of the movie.

India vs South Africa - 2010 Series

2010-02-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

Here some info I found today. It seems like this time around we should be able to watch India vs South Africa test matches without those annoying websites. I am keeping my fingers crossed, I have not tried it myself but hopefully itwill work.

Free Live Streaming Link

Sat Feb 6 - Wed Feb 10

1st Test - India v South Africa
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Sun Feb 14 - Thu Feb 18
2nd Test - India v South Africa
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Sun Feb 21
1st ODI - India v South Africa
Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Wed Feb 24
2nd ODI - India v South Africa
Green Park, Kanpur

Sat Feb 27
3rd ODI - India v South Africa
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Sending Photo Prints or Gifts to India

2010-02-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Today almost everyone uses internet in one way or the other. The photographs exchanged are mostly digital and we don’t care much to have a print of those photographs. Recently I wanted to send photograph prints to my parents back in Jharkhand and they are not much tech savvy.

So, I had only two ways either to ask someone to download my photographs then take print of the same and send it or find a website from where I can order the prints online and then send it.

I googled a bit and I came across this very good website that allows one to upload their album and you can order the prints to be sent. It is cost affective and the time of delivery is fair enough. So this can be used if you want to send photographs to your parents or loved ones who are not much tech savvy.

Here is the website -- www.picsquare.com

There is one more site I would recommend if you want to send gifts to India. We recently sent a diamond pendant of Didmas to out sister. It was delivered well within time.

Here is the website -- http://tajonline.com/

Food Inc - A worth watching documentry

2010-01-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Plot

The current method of raw food production is largely a response to the growth of the fast food industry since the 1950s. The production of food overall has more drastically changed since that time than the several thousand years prior. Controlled primarily by a handful of multinational corporations, the global food production business - with an emphasis on the business - has as its unwritten goals production of large quantities of food at low direct inputs (most often subsidized) resulting in enormous profits, which in turn results in greater control of the global supply of food sources within these few companies. Health and safety (of the food itself, of the animals produced themselves, of the workers on the assembly lines, and of the consumers actually eating the food) are often overlooked by the companies, and are often overlooked by government in an effort to provide cheap food regardless of these negative consequences. Many of the changes are based on advancements in science and technology, but often have negative side effects. The answer that the companies have come up with is to throw more science at the problems to bandage the issues but not the root causes. The global food supply may be in crisis with lack of biodiversity, but can be changed on the demand side of the equation.

Review :

I believe this is one of the best documentry, I have seen in recent times. Considering I have a Indian background, I actually enjoyed the mechanization of the food industry. Ofcourse most of it is negative, but it did fill me with a feeling of awe.

With family run farms pretty much a thing of the past, institutional farming has pretty much taken over,and the dim,dark & dismal effects are omnipresent. There is an epidemic of food borne illness,due to cattle being exposed to over use of steroids to make them grow fatter, faster (and this also includes chickens,pigs,etc.),not to mention GMO corn,grains,etc. Robert Kenner's eye opening film, 'Food,Inc.' manages to shine at least some light on some pretty unethical practices that are being undertaken by corporate owned & managed farms. The likes of Eric Schlosser (author of 'Fast Food Nation',which was made into a semi fictional film a few years back)is featured in interviews,along with Michael Pollan. Many fingers are pointed at guilty parties doing the dirty deeds of the farming industry,along with some pretty unpleasant footage of unethical practices (i.e. abuse of farm animals, although this film doesn't take up any kind of vegetarian/vegan agenda of it's own---the viewer can make up their own mind just what they prefer to eat).

Let me know what you guys think about the movie. Here is a little clip.

Prosper.com Review continued

2010-01-29T06:06:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Discussing with one of my friend and looking on the internet, It seems like the investment risk is pretty high for prosper.com.

Here are few articles which could help you guys resolve this too. Let me know if someone else has more thoughts on it.

Better Business Bureau Rating
As of December of 2009, the Better Business Bureau rates Prosper as a D+ with 43 filed complaints. [11]

Litigation
On November 26, 2008, a class action lawsuit was filed against Prosper in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, California. The suit was brought on behalf of all loan note purchasers in Prosper's online lending platform from January 1, 2006 through October 14, 2008 and alleges that Prosper offered and sold unqualified and unregistered securities in violation of the California and federal securities laws. The lawsuit seeks class certification, damages, the right of rescission and the award of attorneys’ fees.

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosper_Marketplace

Although the website was launched again. I think its not mature yet. May be the strategy should be wait and watch. Ofcourse I am still wondering if there is a way to initiate this thing in a small community.

Here is one more read

http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/money-trail/2010/01/18/you-are-unlikely-prosper

Excerpt from the article

"Prosper's data now shows that now shows that close to 36% of the loans made before Nov. 27, 2007—the date of the AP story—have ended in default, roughly thirteen times what a casual reader would have thought from Larsen's comments. That is close, coincidentally, to the total 39% (or roughly two in five) default for the Prosper loans that have reached the end of their three year term. (You can go here to see the data for yourself, just try plugging in the ending dates)."

Highest Bank Rates - APY

2010-01-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

Peer to Peer Lending - Prosper.com

2010-01-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

"Peer to Peer Lending"

This is a topic I have been searching on google today. How can you invest by giving out loans to individuals who need it.

I believe stock market is one way of investing, ofcourse in a way, Stock Market is like loaning money to the companies, whose stock you are buying. But in recent past after 2008 debacle, I have realized that it has big risk too. The risk is not only dependent on all known factors, meaning it does not really matter if the company you have invested in is doing well or not. There are so many other unknown factors.

So why not try out "Peer to Peer lending". There is risk of course. Thats what i m looking for how much risk.

Apparently "Peer to Peer Lending" market is in a very nascent stage in United States. Apparently there are very few websites, where you can do this. This is pretty old school in India. In old days in India, there would be lenders and borrowers in one community itself. The lenders(Sahukar)would lend money by keeping some kind of zamanat(surety). I believe the Sahukar took the shape of modern day banks. I do not think there is the element of surety(Zamanat) here on prosper.com. May be its not legal for institutions to have zamanat. There is not FDIC insurance either on Prosper. This all definetly increases the risk.

Coming back to my topic of Prosper.com, I wonder if its a good place to invest. I will be posting more information as I find.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wallet/2009/07/14/as-prosper-gets-the-green-light-a-comeback-for-peer-to-peer-lenders/tab/article/

This is the highlight on the losses, which is what I was interested. It does not look all that bad from outside

"In general, lenders’ losses have also been ticking higher amid the rise in unemployment. For example, the average lender on Prosper since the company’s inception in 2006 has lost 3.67% after charge-offs, though many of the earliest lenders lost much more. Since March 2007–when the company began providing more information about borrowers’ credit and employment histories–average lenders’ returns were negative 2.04%."

http://www.prosper.com/

Here is a typical portfolio

http://www.prosper.com/invest/portfolio_plans.aspx

Its a good business idea, especially in developing country like India where there is so much potential to grow and a lot of people cannot do certain things because they cannot afford the high interest loans.Point I am trying to make is that why can't you start something similar to this in India again, in a more structured way. It is more from helping each other and keeping benefits in the community rather than than giving it to the bank. I am sure this is still going on India but I am not sure how contractually and legally its done.

Global MBA Rankings 2010

2010-01-25T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

The global MBA Ranking for 2010 is out for Fortune Magazine. It looks like ISB- India has improved its ranking and is moving in to the top 10 MBA Schools. NYU-Stern, CBS, IMD-Switzerland are the other schools in top 15 who have gone up the ranking ladder.
I am copying and pasting the top 30 list from FORTUNE website.

Rank '10Rank '09 School name
1 1 London Business School
2 1 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
3 3 Harvard Business School
4 6 Stanford University GSB
5 5 Insead
6 4 Columbia Business School
6 6 IE Business School
8 9 MIT Sloan School of Management
9 11 University of Chicago: Booth
9 16 Hong Kong UST Business School
11 12 Iese Business School
12 15 Indian School of Business
13 10 New York University: Stern
13 13 Dartmouth College: Tuck
15 14 IMD
16 19 Yale School of Management
16 20 University of Oxford: Saïd
18 29 HEC Paris
19 18 Esade Business School
20 22 Duke University: Fuqua
21 17 University of Cambridge: Judge
22 8 Ceibs
22 21 Northwestern University: Kellogg
24 27 Lancaster University Management School
25 26 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
26 35 Cranfield School of Management
27 24 Nanyang Business School
28 - Chinese University of Hong Kong
28 23 University of Michigan: Ross
28 31 University of California at Berkeley: Haas
31 27 University of Virginia: Darden

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings

Toyoto Corolla - Inside Door Handle Remove & Replace

2010-01-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

Hello Guys,

Here is one more thing I tried. Both the passenger and the driver side handle broke down of my 2001 Toyota Corolla. There are a few video on Youtube on this. But the following video is the best. Some videos talk about removing the whole inside panel out. Please do not do that !!!

Toyota corolla differs a little from the following video. A place where it shows to latches on the top and the bottom side, Toyota Corolla only has one latch. I did not have the crooked wire tool. What I did was, I took one of the wire hangers from my HDTV Antenna experiment and bent it, using a set of pliers.

To place the plastic latch back on the door metal wire I used a set of plier. Just in case you find it difficult, the way its done in this video.

I am not sure how much this fix cost in a mechanics shop but definetly it gives the satisfaction of fixing thing yourself.

Adios

Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna!

2010-01-23T13:15:00.000-08:00

Hello guys,

This is something I tried myself. It took me probably 1.30 hr to make it. ofcourse there was certain handicap for not having the correct tools. I spent probably 14 dollars. and guess what I get 30 channels a lot of them HD. All for free. Some of the channels to mention - NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MY50, WISE and others. Let me know if you guys need help.

Here is the pdf for the steps. Print it out http://current.org/ptv/ptv0821make.pdf

Visa Signature 2 for 1 Movie for Avatar

2010-01-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

This is the first post on this Blog. I just wanted to share this deal with everybody. I followed the following link on Fandago and used my visa card and saved $13.50 on the evening show of Avatar at IMAX.

I will share the reviews once I watch the movie. For now enjoy the Buy one Get one Free deal. I wonder if the ticket prices are cheaper when you buy them online versus you buy them at the movie theater. I ll let you guys know that too tonite.

http://www.fandango.com/visasignature

Adios !!

PS: This is not a referral.