FTOTW ending Feb 10,2007 – Yahoo Pipes, Indus Valley Script, Power Corrupts..

1. Dr. Airavatham Mahadevan, one of the world’s top experts in the Indus Valley script wrote a brilliant article in The Hindu last week. This article shows why the Aryan (Rig Vedic) and Dravidian (Harappan) cultures were different. I have a dream – that the Indus Valley script is deciphered in my life time. 2. I love sitting on the beach and just observing the waves doing their dance. Complimenting this experience is the sea’s unique smell. Any guesses as to what causes this smell? Scientists have finally figured that out. 3. We all know the adage – power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Vicki Haddock wrote a brilliant article about the effects of power and how exactly it corrupts quoting some interesting research studies. <Via Bob Sutton> 4. Yahoo released its path-breaking Yahoo Pipes that sent the blogosphere into a tizzy. O’reilly had the best coverage with a series of articles showing just how powerful this idea is. Glad to see  Yahoo producing some creativity on its own, instead of relying on acquired glory through Flickr, Upcoming and other acquisitions. 5. In the neuroscience department, someone decided to understand the effect of Superbowl ads using brain scans. Guess what the results were? Is it worth the gazillion dollars for a spot? 6. You must have read my posts on the ABC theory of behavior. Now, Jeffrey Phillips comes up with the insight that lack of feedback is the biggest stumbling block to innovation. 7. Priya Raju picked the famous German movie “Run Lola Run” for us to watch last week. Excellent movie with some great visuals. If you liked Sliding Doors or Butterfly Effect type of movies, you will like this.

Comments

  1. Anonymous said February 17, 2007, 11:32 pm:

    Hi Sukumar,

    I liked the article on the effects of power. Especially, the conclusion that it brings out the real you by lowering your inhibitions.

    I have always wondered about the gender differences wrt power. I heard many people say that women cannot handle power like men, it gets to them more easily. They give examples of women leaders all around the world like Thatcher, Jaya, Mayavathi even Queen Anne of French revolution; all tended to me extremely autocratic than men. What is your view on this?

  2. Anonymous said February 19, 2007, 8:24 am:

    Thanks Archana. I think this allegation about women is without basis. For every woman autocratic leader that you cite, one could cite 10 times as many men leaders who are autocratic. Think about this for a moment – there is not a single woman in the list of the world’s worst dictators – Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Nicolae Ceausescu, Idi Amin…

    In my view, women have not been given sufficient leadership opportunities, thanks to 100,000 years of discrimination against women. So it has not been a level playing field for men and women and it is likely to be that way for the foreseeable future. In that background, the responsibility for any defects that can be attributed to women leaders has to be laid squarely at the feet of men.

  3. Anonymous said February 21, 2007, 11:06 am:

    Sukumar,
    Loved the Indus script article. It’s unfortunate that while studying directly under Professor Abdul Huq and Gift Siromoney, I didn’t spend the time to benefit from it.
    Hopefully, in our lifetime, the script can be cracked and we’ll all benefit by learning from it.
    Sreedhar N.K

  4. Anonymous said February 22, 2007, 10:09 am:

    Thanks Sreedhar. That is a privilege man to have studied under Prof Huq and Siromoney. You are fortunate.

  5. Anonymous said February 28, 2007, 10:24 am:

    Sukumar,

    Back from my long vacaction….

    I watched Run Lola Run myself. The electronic music in the background is truely awesome. And the scene in the bank when she meets her father and road chase is brilliant. A real good one.. ( Did you watch Tamil movie – 12B?)

  6. Anonymous said March 1, 2007, 11:48 pm:

    Vamsi,

    Thanks. Hope you had a great vacation. Yeah, i liked the background music a lot as well and the color of the heroine’s hair.

    Yes I did watch 12B – a blatant copy of Sliding Doors.