WP based site upgrades and magazine theme

Last updated on: September 23, 2008 at 3:56 pm By Desh Kapoor

I know I have not really written on my blog for past few days.. it was just a mixture of some things. First was obviously work.. and then I had to get two sites of mine in order. I have two blogs on business topics - businessmusings.com and BImusings.com. While Businessmusings was on some earlier godforesaken version of WordPress, BIMusings was on a newer but not the latest. My task was to first upgrade the businessmusings to the latest 2.6 version. I was looking around for help.. when I stumbled upon this plugin (attached here) for WP that does it easily! Just upload and extract it under your plugin folder and then go to the plugins and activate it.. then go under manage and click on automatic upgrade and start the steps.. it was pretty simple and took no more than 5 mins! Read more

$600 rebate check

Last updated on: September 22, 2008 at 7:20 am By Desh Kapoor

The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. Read more

The week that was…. for the economy

Last updated on: September 21, 2008 at 7:14 am By Desh Kapoor

I think image gives a good view of arguably the worst week in economy in our lifetimes! It will be talked about by many generations - for it will affect them as well. Read more

Superior we are..

Last updated on: September 21, 2008 at 6:46 am By Desh Kapoor

If you think your job sucks (pun unintended)... think about the employees of this company 🙂 Its not just a normal.. ...... - but a rather "Superior" one at that!! Needless to say, the receptionist just answers the phone by saying "Superior" - rest is .. well.. as they say, left to "imagination"!! 😉 Read more

What is Learning?

Last updated on: September 20, 2008 at 6:28 pm By Desh Kapoor

What do we mean by learning? Is there learning when you are merely accumulating knowledge, gathering information? That is one kind of learning, is it not? As a student of engineering, you study mathematics, and so on; you are learning, informing yourself about the subject. You are accumulating knowledge in order to use that knowledge in practical ways. Your learning is accumulative, additive. Now, when the mind is merely taking on, adding, acquiring, is it learning? Or is learning something entirely different? Read more

Delhi Terror: Police officer dies, terrorist caught giving interviews to media, and everyone is "innocent"!

Last updated on: September 20, 2008 at 3:25 pm By Desh Kapoor

The terror situation in India gets weirder by the day! Delhi Police worked on a confirmed piece of intelligence that the masterminds of Delhi bomb blasts were hold up in a house in Jamia Nagar. Mohan Chand Sharma - a decorated Delhi officer led the assault against them. They killed one guy Atiq, one was arrested (Mohd. Saif) and two managed to escape - and in the battle the decorated police officer died as well due to bullets in his abdomen, thighs and right arm. The inspector who was bleeding profusely was rushed to the nearby Holy Family hospital where he was operated upon and later put on life support systems. After battling with his severe injuries for nearly eight hours, he was declared dead at seven in the evening. Two things after this: First, Zeeshan, an accomplice of these guys was meanwhile making rounds of the TV channels giving interviews when he was arrested! I want to really know which News Channel was this? Read more

Perils of Financial Abyss and Political Jokers

Last updated on: September 20, 2008 at 12:40 am By Desh Kapoor

Image via WikipediaIn between a lot of work, I had the CNN on. And Wolf Blitzer was discussing the current financial crisis. It seems that the Federal Reserve is coming up with a plan to save the US financial system! Chris Dodd came and he said - that last night the treasury secretary and the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke laid out the situation and the options on the table and described the effects of the crisis. He says, that in almost 3 decades of his career, never has he seen a reaction that followed the briefing. The entire room had pin drop silence - no one had any idea as to what to say! He did not discuss the specifics but said the Future of the United States and its financial system is at stake! It will definitely have global implications.. obviously! Here was one reaction: Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina. "The federal government caused this problem by using taxpayer dollars to implicitly guarantee millions of mortgages. ... This socialization of risk removed market accountability and has now set off a chain of events that is threatening the entire economy." But the stakes are so high that everyone - irrespective of the party - was willing to work together. The entire package is $1 trillion - that is 1 with 12 zeroes! What does it mean for ordinary person - it is like every man, child, and woman alive in the United States is paying roughly $3200-odd for this! That includes those poor folks who are somehow surviving on the streets! I know.. I know it seems a bit better since some folks have received tax credit checks of $600.. so its not that bad! Whatever works in these days! But the question is obviously - is even this package enough?? Some are already saying maybe not! Many banks - will in ANY case go bankrupt! No wonder FDIC is preparing. Maybe to keep you job, this maybe a good time to JOIN FDIC as an employee! Today two different reactions happened: One from Obama and second, from McCain. Read more

FDIC's Bank failure division to grow 5 times its present size!

Last updated on: September 19, 2008 at 4:58 am By Desh Kapoor

I do not want to be sensationalist about this issue - but it IS a BIG deal! I have been writing about the various financial institution and bank failures and how things are going down in the financial market. Now, FDIC's Dallas office is expanding 5 times! From the currently one floor they are adding 5 more. Dallas office has employees and division that handles bank failures. The FDIC announced plans earlier this year to add 140 employees to its Division of Resolutions and Receiverships. Now it says it may add more than 230, with local staffing going from 164 at the beginning of this year to as many as 397. The agency is even bringing back 69 retirees to help shoulder the burden. According to some experts on banking, the number of banks that are set to fail are close to 300: Gerard Cassidy, a bank analyst at Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets, said last month that "upwards of 300 banks could fail" in the next three years. I heard a friend mention that close to 190 banks are going to fail and folded after the elections! Read more

Congress and Leftist Hypocrisy

Last updated on: September 18, 2008 at 11:01 pm By Desh Kapoor

I was for a change going through the comments on a rediff article when I saw this and thought this guy described it SO well! I could add many others here - but lets keep this list for now.. would request the readers to add more if you can... Sikhs getting slaughered in thousands = A MISTAKE. Hindus getting killed in thousands in Kashmir = Political problem. Muslims getting killed in a few hundred = Holocaust. Poor protestors getting shot in WB under Left Govt = Misunderstanding. Banning Parzania in Gujarat = Communal. Banning Da Vinci Code and Jo Bole So Nihaal = Secular. Kargil Attack = Government failure. Chinese invasion in 1962 = Unfortunate betrayal. Reservations in every school and college on caste lines = Secular Reservations in Minority institutions = Communal. Fake encounters in Gujarat [Sohrabuddin] = BJP Communalism. Fake encounters under Cong-NCP in Maharashtra [Khwaja Younus] = Police atrocity. Read more

McCain's Economic Expertise is legendary… heheh

Last updated on: September 18, 2008 at 7:05 pm By Desh Kapoor

Financial markets are in a MESS.. and McCain may become the President of the US! Here is a question that ROn Paul asks McCain in the Republican Primaries. His answer is very similar to that famous answer from Ms USA...no wonder his team is so enamored with Paris Hilton etc... .... If this guy does come in.. we may have a situation of blind man leading the nation in treacherous area of landmines!! You can clearly see that he doesn't even know what the heck Ron Paul is talking about.. and he starts on an extempore that is nowhere near the topic! Man, even I want this proverbial "SUNSHINE"! But in these days.. this is just TRULY scary! It could be a huge joke.. if the global stakes in handling tough world economy weren't as high! McCain the Sunshine kid! 🙂 Read more