Sukhjot (Joti) Basi

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets is a book written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This is a rather interesting read especially if you are one of contrarian minds.  I came to know about the book when it was mentioned by one of the guest speakers in our MBA program.  Finally, I had a chance to read the book while I was visiting India this summer.  If you invest in the stock market then it is a must read.  IUnlike other stock market gurus, this book doesn't teach you how to value a stock or how to time the market.  Instead, it talks about how random events shape markets and how our short term mentiality can affect our long term success.   The book also makes mockery of certain social norms and standards we use to compare our success with our peers.  It reminded me of one of my classmates who at a rather young age had accomplished a lot yet he was unsatisfied because Bill Gates had accomplished a lot more than him at the same age :)   Therefore, it might also be a good read for folks with great career aspirations.  Overall, I think that it is a good read and gives you a different prespective on life. The book is easily available online and in bookstores.

I will leave it up to the readers to determine if its an innovation in begging or innovation in creating an employment for yourself, but something rather interesting happened while I was in India this summer.  I decided to take a train from New Delhi to Ludhiana, Punjab in my home state.  It was a hot and humid summer day in the month of June, and I wanted to take an air conditioned train-car but I couldn't find the one in the train I was planning to ride.  The next train was four hours later and I decided not wait till then.  Instead, I bought a ticket for an ordinary car without an AC and thought it would be a good idea to re-experience the same middle class life I used to while growing up in India.  Anyways, on my way to Ludhiana, several beggars came asked for money and left.  Some of them were old, others young childern and some women.  I didnt' give money to anyone because I was annoyed except one elderly woman who came to me at Ambala station asking for 10 rupees so that she can have dinner and I simply gave her the money.  I didnt' see her stopping by at any of the stalls to eat but still somehow felt good about it. 

Google once again has topped the online searched and outpaced the growth of search market itself by 13%.  The online search market has grown year over year only by 3% however, Google's search business grew by 16%.  Yahoo, MSN/Live Search and AOL lost their market share whereas as Ask.com has gained the market share.  You can view the full report here.

Rearden Commerce a personal assistant planner got $100 million in funding today.   Is their business model similar to Redmond's Concur Technologies?  While Concur has expense management tools for enterprises, Rearden has planning tools both enterprises as well as individuals.  But both of the capability to track and manage expenses.  Rather interesting to see how this entire personal assistant / planning market is evolving.

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference will be taking place next week in San Francisco.  This event is fully sold out.  But Apple will be using its own service to sell the session videos.  Apple fans will be able to purchase them on iTunes shortly after the conference.