My Barber has a PhD

For me, getting my hair cut has always been an ordeal to suffer through. I hated barbers and their filthy shops. They smelt, talked and played terrible songs on the radio. And they hurt you. And they looked at you with surprise if you offered them your own blade to shave the edges of your hairline.

Well, I've never gotten a haircut in the US, but from what I hear, the experience is not much better. The reason is different though - a decent haircut could cost you about $15 + $2 in tips. At once a month, you'd spend nearly $200 in haircuts annually. And if you are as underpaid as a grad student, this can mean 20 dinners out. Imagine, 20!

So when I moved into Tempe, it is with great joy and with a sense of accomplishment that I bought myself a Wahl do-it-yourself hairclipper. No more of those smelly idiots messing my hair. And at $20, it was a steal. But we haven't got to the best part yet - how many of you have the privilege of getting a haircut from a Physics PhD who does a neat, clean job in under 15 minutes, in the luxury of your own bathroom?

Of Gilbert and Doodles

What happens when two of my favorites mix?
Here's what. Take a peek.
http://www.google.com/dilbert.html

I simply cannot stop laughing, can you?

[if you are ajay or manj, close this window NOW]
Stanford according to Wikipedia,

The school was established as a coeducational institution although it maintained a cap on female enrollment for many years and continues to have predominantly male enrollment in many strategic areas, such as engineering and computer science.

Now isn't that funny? Especially when you compare it with the very healthy 53% F/M ratio at my very own alma mater.

OMG, This cannot be true

the-economics-of-it-all

Economics has never been my cup of tea. Can you digest this?

Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai says that more than 52% of Infosys is owned by investors and mutual funds based in USA. So in a way, most of the money Infosys makes out of outsourcing US companies goes back to the United States. And everyone's benefiting - the company that outsources, Infosys, employees of Infosys, and the American Investors. The only party that is not smiling all the way is the people who lost their jobs to cheap imported labor. Its interesting to see the economics of it all if this jobs-lost-brigade invests in an India based, US owned firm.