Chromecast - Wifi

Just purchased a Google Chromecast and had issues in chrome cast detecting the wifi of my home network. After much trying, the only thing that worked was to change the Channel of my wifi to below 12 (I changed it to Auto).  Chromecast immediately detected that and it rocks right now ;)

How Money Supply and Banking Works

Here are some of the key concepts:

1. Congress issues US treasury bonds and is bought by banks.

2. New money bills are printed when the Fed buys treasury bonds from commercial banks. This new money is called High Powered Money (as this can be used for money multiplier effect). New bills are printed by the Treasury and they will ask "treasury bonds" as collateral from the Fed before printing.

3. Commercial bank uses this new money bills to issue loans in the reserve ratio (e.g 9:1). For $10000 of high powered money, bank issues a loan of $9000 and gets in return an IOU of $9000+interest

4. This IOU of $9000+I is an asset to the bank and can be used for further lending in the ratio of 9:1. Bank can issue another loan of $8100 and gets in return an IOU of $8100 + interest. Note that since the original printed currency was only $10000 from Fed, this new money being lent is out is from 'thin air' and is created by crediting the bank account of the person looking for loan.

5. Above lending process will continue so long as people are looking for loans and debt. All new money is created from debt. If no one comes for further loans, no new money is created

6. In the above process the total money supply created is equal to the the amount of debt = $9000 + $8100. However, the bank is expecting an IOU return of $9000 + $8100 + Interest. As a result of the Interest differential, there will always be some foreclosures in the economy and perpetual debt. To return this interest to the bank, more people will be asking for loans and hence more debt would be created (in turn creating more money supply)

7. To control the amount of foreclosures in the economy, it is the responsibility of the Fed to ensure that adequate high powered money is available. If banks are not loaning out money, the Fed can issue new bills to the bank (called quantitative easing) to increase lending and money supply. Alternatively if banks are lending too much money, Fed can purchase these bills back from banks and destroy these bills reducing the money supply. They can also control this through increasing the reserve ratio.

8. For the above model to work, it is extremely important that money supply is in balance with the amount of goods in the economy. If there are more goods in the economy and less money to buy, it will cause a depression. Hence the govt would reduce the reserve ratio or issue more high powered money. If there are less goods in the economy, govt would reduce money supply to prevent inflation.

Level 48 solution cat physics donut games

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Just sharing a bit of enlightenment which I have learnt while trying to study the way foreign exchange works :!

Main concepts

1. Money Supply in a country includes domestic currency + foreign currency reserves

2. Foreign exchange rate is determined by supply of foreign exchange intersected with demand of foreign exchange.

3. Increase in imports increases the demand for foreign exchange

4. Increase in exports increases the supply of foreign exchange

5. FDI increases the supply of foreign exchange, hence increases the money supply

6. Increase in money supply (either via domestic currency or foreign currency), results in more spending, resulting in higher domestic prices (inflation) and higher imports.

7. Higher Imports compared to exports result in BOP deficit.

8. BOP deficit needs to be paid for by selling gold or decrease in foreign exchange reserves

9. BOP surplus is used up by buying gold or increase in foreign exchange reserves

How is BOP equilibrium reached (in turn causing foreign exchange equilibrium)

Under the Gold Reserve:

If a country is importing more than exporting (BOP deficit), it would need to pay for its imports by selling its gold or reducing its foreign exchange reserves. The quantity (supply) of foreign currency reduces in the country => money supply reduces. Due to the contraction of money supply, home prices of products come down. Exports get an incentive. Due to money supply contraction, interest rates increases which increases foreign investment (inc. in capital account). Both the above above factor remove the disequilibrium.

Due to decrease in supply of foreign exchange, home currency depreciates against it.

Under Flexible Foreign Exchange System (modern):

If a country is importing more than exporting (BOP deficit),it would need to pay for its imports by selling its gold or reducing its foreign exchange reserves. The quantity (supply) of foreign exchange reduces. As a result the home currency depreciates against it. This triggers and gives a boost to exports and reduces imports. Hence the disequilibrium is removed.

When they say Nothing is Impossible in Life

From one of the poorest  

 family's chair to the most 

powerful chair in the

world. ....!!!

Barack Obama has Won !

He has done it.

I don't believe a lot of the people in this world can understand the enormity and the immensity of the task he has achieved. Barack Obama was born at a time when in certain parts of USA, blacks weren't allowed to vote and they would have been killed if they were to suggest anything close. In his mid twenties, Barack was leading a life of a confused young man who had little idea where the world was taking him. In 2000, he was rejected from entering the Democratic National Convention speech of Al Gore. In 2008 he is heading the same convention and Al Gore campaigned for him. He defeated John McCain in the elections who has been in continuous public service for US since before Barack Obama was even born. Millions of people around the world are pinning their hopes on him and billions more are looking at him are looking at him to take US and the world out of this financial crisis.

How did he do it?

I have spent a generous amount of my free time following Obama's life and career over the Internet for much more than a year now and am more than just inspired - I am in awe. If there is anything in life that I would want to pick up from him it would be

• A sense of deep solace that nothing in this world is impossible to achieve. If whites can forget all black hate to vote for a black man, if Virginia can vote for a Black man after having been the capital of US African slavery then anything in this world is possible. This alone is a most comforting thought to me. Often this brings me back to my life at Penn State in early 2006 when I was having dinner with a group of Americans and a fellow Indian student when she commented that USA is not ready to vote a black president and nobody on the table made as much as a flutter - they all believed her :-)
  

• Careful planning and an indomitable spirit can overcome the most difficult of challenges. The Obama who has inspired millions by his soaring rhetoric used to stammer till 2000. By relentless speaking publicly in Sunday Churches (and he reported lured some members to sleep), he is where he is now and delivered the South Carolina victory speech which to me is the best rhetoric till date.

• Humility, a little love and showing dreams can bring down the toughest within us to bring people together. It is nothing but pure magic to think the way he has run his campaign and showered generous humility throughout. Even his fiercest opponents (McCain, Hillary, Palin) are all showing respect and sheer awe now that the election result is out.
  

I could go on and on but there would be just too much food for thought. I am just too impressed, hopefully one day I can tread the same path.

This one is for Barack Obama !

I want to go home

There are countless things I have to and would love to do but none more than catching a flight to go to my home right now.... my parents need me and I need them more than anyone else right now.

Talking to my boss on monday - catching my flight to Delhi.. I am coming home.

Inspiring Myself

Words do matter .. often there are days when you are in need of a few words to pep yourself up, to reignite that torch within you, to remind yourself that you are in here for a greater purpose - today is one of those days for me

Read them all ... and start going after your dreams


" Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

In life I am often reminded, if not by the events of life, than by my wife - that I am not a perfect man

Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. "

Barack Obama

I am an Obama fan.

Many people have asked me .. what's so great about him? What's new in his promised policies? He isn't saying anything different. His public speaking are excellent at best and not extraordinary and we have had presidential candidates with similar oratory skills in the past - Ronald Reagen immediately comes to mind. So what is it all about Obama then?

Since quite a young age, I have had a penchant for people who are infamous for doing something that are not generally in line with society accepted good norms. I am a fan of Adolf Hitler, I am a fan of Hugo Chavez, I am a fan of the mythological figures Ravana and Duryodhana, I am a fan of Abel from Kane and Abel and now I am a fan of Obama.

Its certainly not doing justice to Obama to have his name along with the rest of them - but to me they are all the same. They all have some key characteristics that attract me towards them. And this flare of attraction is enough to hide any other deficits.

What attracts me to Obama then?

• He is a black. No matter how much you might argue about racial tolerance and race being non existent now, it does exist there - it exists in the drawing room conversations, it exists in the police and court rooms and it exists in the minds of people. However, Obama never sat down cribbing that what he is doing is impossible - that it isn't possible to get white votes in white neighborhoods, that it isn't possible to get votes from those families who have been mobbed by black guys on the back alley. He is totally banking on himself - and that is all that he needs.
  
  
• He says something and will take it till the last dime that its worth - When Obama was touted as a possible presidential candidate, he didn't immediately say that he is ready for it. He took his time out to think and then finally announced his presidency. And now he is valiantly fighting till the end. There are many candidates Giulani, Romney, Edwards who came in with high hopes but kept dropping out. The real race is run by Titans and Obama is a Titan. You promise and stand up for something and then you go all out for it - no slacking, no excuses.

And that's why I love Obama. And I hope he wins. Cause he deserves to .. and that is going to send out a strong message to everyone that nothing really is impossible.

GTP Experience ... London

It is not often in life that you do a free fall diving from 10000 ft high. Not often do you find yourself trekking through the jungles of Amazon or are caught boat rowing through the enchanting river of Nile. It is not often that you can hitch a ride to fly down to the moon or burn your skin travelling through the endless sands of the Sahara. And it is really not often that you get a chance to attend the Graduate Training Programme of UBS.

So I must bless my stars, for I did get that chance. And I intended to make most out of it.

The stakes were clearly set on the first day of the two months programme in London. Deborah Negus, our program cooordinator asked us to look around us and notice that 292 graduates from 52 locations were present and all were “equally smart as you”. She set down the objectives of the programme which were to network, learn, contribute and have fun. As for me, I couldn't have been any less excited. I was in London after twenty years and every single thing around me was creating a sense of magic. The all new faces around me, the new design and architecture was driving a history admirer like me crazy.

We were divided into groups of about 25 grads each and assigned to our classrooms from 9 am to 5:30 pm. I was sharing desk space with grads from renowned schools to ones from little known countries (Sierra Leone, Mauritius, Peru, Cyprus). Grads with masters and work experience to grads who looked like they had just been pulled out of high school. Grads who were loud and extrovert to grads who had no problems in playing the invisbile game. As I talked and interacted with all of them, I noticed one thing that was common amongst all of them. All had their eyes set for the future. All were brilliant in their own way and behind each cheerful and demure look, there was an urge to do something and to create a mark for themselves, somewhere someday. I was happy to be a part of this group.

It was in the training classroom that I think two of our four objectives (learn and contribute) were met. We were being taught the basics of finance, accounting, investing techniques and how the structure of UBS contributes towards its revenue. As the meaning of One Firm approach became clear, the principles of security, integrity and confidence upon which UBS works also started becoming evident. Top speakers were called in from various departments and spoke to us on the importance of risk control and being client focused in all our dealings. There were also brilliantly executed simulation games to teach us pit trading, art of negotiating with clients and how interest rates move up or down with new market info. We were all learning and contributing with our own understanding and knowledge of things obtained from our respective countries.

The other two objectives (network and having fun) were easily met or rather overmet as we were taken on a VIP ride over the London Eye, sent scrambling in search of clues all over London, given a chance to show our skills in bowling, ice skating and also not so much skills in singing at the karoake. There was also enough talent within us that it was felt that we could give something back to our community. We went to a school for the mentally challenged and spent some quality time painting the walls of the building and cleaning up the compound. Though it was raining all the time while we were painting! it did nothing to dampen our spirits and our committment was rock solid. The best night though was probably saved for the final night of the programme to take us on an exclusive cruise party over the river Thames. It was the night of my life as I danced to the tunes of YMCA till I was drenched with the realisation that it was all coming to an end and that soon I will be off to live of all that I have experienced. It didn't feel much good and that night, I partied really hard.

The last day of the programme was marked with prizes and awards to the high achievers amongst us and a scintilating final presentation speech from Deborah. As we hugged our fellow mates with whom we had spent so close a time for the last two months, it was evident that none of us wanted to leave.
As I reflected upon my time spent and learning, I more and more realised that the real objective of the programme was to bring us closer with our own selves. It was all about breaking free from our apprehensions, identifing our potential and discovering what is it in us that will one day make us better leaders and ultimately better human beings.

I closed off my two months experience with the resounding thought that every person when given a chance should go through this programme. It is one of those momentous life discovering events which will leave you changed forever.

FountainHead

I just finished the Fountainhaid by Ayn Rand. I can't describe what I am feeling at the moment or if there is a feeling at all. I know I have just finished reading a masterpiece … a one of its kind book. But I am yet to absorb fully what I have just read. I am not sure if I am in tandem where her Objectivist philosophy… I could be or I could not. I will have to wait to find out.

Words which motivate me

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
- Thomas Alva Edison

Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.
- Victoria Holt, writer

"Everything is okay in the end, if it's not ok, then it's not the end."
- Unknown

If you don't make mistakes, you aren't really trying.
- Coleman Hawking

"If you are going through hell, keep going."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
- Walter Bagehot

Don't ask God to make your life easier, ask him to make you a stronger person!
- Unknown

It is not wanting to win that makes you a winner; it is refusing to fail.
- Kristi

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.
- Vincent J. Lombardi

Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.
- Charlie Jones

When you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done.
- unknown

Everything happens for a reason.
Even if you never see the reasoning.
- Katie and Amanda

When someone is telling you that you can't do something, don't quit, just smile and say "I'll show you".
- Luis Lira

Don't ever let anyone put you down to make themselves feel better... Remember that...
- Unknown

What's meant to be
Will always find its way.
- Unknown

Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
- eleanor roosevelt

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge

"When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true"
- Paulo Coelho, 'The Alchemist'

Along Came Dad !!! Learning to Rise

When I woke up, the first thing I did was to check my cellphone. Any calls, any messages? X works 24x7 you know. But there were none. I looked up ruefully at all the god idols I have in my room and then suddenly, out of nowhere, it struck me.

I have done well in life - I know I have. There are very few areas I have failed and I have never really bothered thinking about them. And at that moment, I realised that all this while in my life, I have never gone through the acid test - the test of failure. No man in this world, can call himself a man till he has gone through a time of failure. For you never judge a man, his will power, his strengths when he is winning. You judge him when he is failing. A girl who judges her love when he is only winning, could never be farther from being right. The only time when a man should be judged is when he has failed and lost. And I thanked god for giving me this acid test as well. I promised myself that I had no intentions of failing this test.

Still reeling under these thoughts, I was unsure if this was the right thing to think about, or was it just a garb or a mask under which losers could hide their face and forget about their failings...ummm

And then along came Dad..

Let me tell you something about my dad. He is the only one of his kind, no one whom I have ever met in my life can even come close to the qualities he possesses. A man of boundless energy, a man of unlimited will power and strength, a man of countless negotiation and convincing skills and above all the only person on whom I have more confidence of handling things than on my own.

And he called... and I told him everything which I couldn't say to anyone else. Its so unfair dad, its so unfair.. I was brilliant, trust me. Nothing had gone wrong, and I couldn't have done any better - I just dont know what happened.. I just don't know.. believe me.

And my dad listened and listened. And afterwards, when he spoke, I only listened. A few words from him and I was right back on track. I can't say what he told me... only he can say the way he speaks. But its suffice to say that whatever he said calmed me in ways nothing else could. My fallen chest had risen again, my confidence level was back to its max and suddenly, I was me again.

And even while I was talking to him, I suddenly realized how lucky I am to have a dad like him. And I so much could die for a quality that he possesses - changing his words to suit the occasion the best way possible. He is a master of words... if I had told him that I have got into X - he would have convinced me that that is the best place to work in the world. And now that I didn't get into, he convinced me that it would have been the wrong place to work anyway. Oh gosh... what a quality. I need that! for I know so long as I have that, I can never be unsuccessful in life.

And after talking to him, I knew one thing for sure. If X chose to go ahead without me, I have nothing to be disappointed about. If someone needs to be, it has to be that of X. "If there was anything that was under my control, it was my performance and not its outcome". Its their loss that they chose to go ahead without me. So it is they who have to be rueful - not me.

And at that moment, I made a pledge to myself. One day, and I do say one day, X will come over seeking me to join their company. And that is the promise of a son, who has within him, the genes of his dad ...

Learning to Fail...

Well well well... they say we never stop learning. And I learnt another lesson of life a couple of days back. And the lesson was that of failure. It might sound surprising, but I have never thought that I had really failed in my last 21 years as badly as I felt on Saturday. And boy o boy, was it a tough lesson to sit through!

A quick summary. It was the final round of company X's Recruitment drive. Just the last hurdle I had to clear - back to back interviews, games to play and basically to carry myself well throughout the day. I did all that well, and I really mean I did well. The interviews were a dream - never before, had I given such unblemished, assertive and magnificent interview. When I got up after my interviews, I was sure I am through. No human, whoever they were , could have the courage to not pick me up after such a marvellous display of skills. I was dead sure about that! I caught hold of my friends (who had come for the same assesment) and headed out for two back to back movies at the posh theatres downtown.

But I guess I was a little too sure. After one movie was over and I was still reeling under the effects of Penguins (Happy Feet), my friend got a call on his cellphone - he had got into X. Wow! I was so happy for him. The next thing I started to do was to take a look at my own cellphone - did I feel it vibrate or ring as well. Ah.. not yet. They are still calling - there is no way they can't take me in.

But the creeping python was all over me. All through our train ride to our next movie destination, I could keep feeling my heart beat rise with every minute. Did my phone just ring? No it didn't. Was there a slight vibration.. nah not yet. Or maybe its the tunnel? The train is running through a tunnel and signals are hard to catch by.. yeah that's right. Meanwhile, my friend was making frantic calls to all over the world - parents in India, friends, remote friends, enemies - "I am into X - London training, treat". I made a mental list of all people I would call up. First to mom and dad, and then to my brother - so what if I haven't spoken to him for over two weeks. This is the best time to make up . I will call up all my friends, even remote ones.... O damn it..!!!! Just Ring !!!!!!!!

The train was out from the tunnel, by then all the rest of my friends too had got the call from X and by the time we reached the movie theatre, I was finding it hard to walk. No way, I could sit through another movie - I am gonna die today. It juz can't be. What did I do wrong! Why is it that I am being tested for the power of endurance, why not someone else? Ah.. god. You can't be so unfair to me.

I ultimately didn't go for the movie and came back to my room. Couldn't have been so sad in my life. The canteen owner, where I brought my food everyday, spoke to me for the first time in 4 years.. and the first thing he asked was "Why are you so sad"... and I couldn't hold on anymore. Somehow, telling a stranger of how I felt was more comforting than anything else in the world at that moment.

The whole night, the only thing which went through me was --- why me? Why me, after such a splendid interview, with so many credentials - Dean's List, innumerable internships, awards, why couldn't I get through and simple others could get in? It was too much of a shock and a gulp in my throat formed which was too hard to swallow...

I din have the courage to tell my parents that I had failed in their eyes - the man who was once so sure in his life that no company could reject him would actually call them up to break a news of rejection. No I can't do that.

It was my first introduction to failure.. first time when I couldn't think of what I could have done better to get in. First time, when I felt I was at the receiving end of unfairness. So many first times, that I juz took refuge in a movie stored on my computer and slept ...

Ayrton Senna Tribute

The finest tribute presented to Ayrton Senna by his teammate/nemesis Alain Prost upon his death.

http://www.prostfan.com/senna2.htm

Have read this around 10 times and each time cannot remain unimpressed by the character and the winning attitude of Senna. The brilliant words of Alain Prost is just an icing to the cake.

Frustration Limits !!!

Its been a terrible last 19 hrs...so many unwanted things have been happening that its now become too long to share it with anyone. So have to get down to what's the last thing left.. a public blog

Here is the list:

1. My computer data is all wiped out.. All Data. Everything for which I had spent hours and weeks collecting, all repository, all pictures all ebooks .. gone without a trace, without a notice, without a touch. Irreplaceable, unimaginable loss...

2. If that is not enough, my emails.. you read it right.. my emails have been wiped out too from my inbox. Why it hapened, I have no idea. All emails of paramount importance are gone too.. This is called a total Data Blackout.

3. If that is not frustrating enough, I am well behind my studies for the upcoming exams... no idea if I can even complete one reading before the exams.

4. Dad won't be for most part of my vacations in India... great.

5. Haven't chatted with my L interest since yesterday. Not that its important, it just keeps hitting me at the time when I don't want to think about it.

6. My lab partner sitting next to me is making lewd statements to his gf and seems to be enjoying himself... as if the world is not frustrating enuff already..

Argh!!

I hate all this..

Vidya..

My fav poem spoken by the lips of Vidya Balan in the movie Lage Raha Munna Bhai, this is for all those who share my taste

Guddddddddddmorning Mumbai!
This is Janvi on world's face radio
Jaane se pehle ye hai mera aaj ka khyal
Un sab ke liye jo daude ja rahe hain sheher me

Sheher ki is daud me daud ke karna kya hai
Agar yahi jeena hai to dosto, to fir marna kya hai
Pehli barrish me train late hone ki fikar hai
Bhool gaye, bheegte hue tehelna kya hai

Serial ke kirdaron ka sara haal hai maloom
Par maa ka haal poochne ki fursat kahaan hai
Ab ret pe nange paon tehelte kyon nahi
108 hai channel, par dil behelte kyon nahi

Internet pe duniya se to touch pe hai
Lekin pados me kaun rehta hai jaante tak nahi
Mobile, landline sabki bharmaar hai
Lekin jigdi dost tak pahuce aise taar kahaan hai

Kab doobte hue suraj ko dekha tha, yaad hai
Kab jaana tha shaam ka guzarna kya hai
To dosto sheher ki is daud me daud ke karna kya hai
Agar yahi jeena hai to fir marna kya hai

So gudbye Mumbai, mera bye bye bolne ka waqt aa gaya hai....

Diwali

Its 4:30 am in the morning here at Singapore. The morning sun is still to light up the sky but I believe I have strongly been hit by it already. I haven't really been able to sleep whole night.. waking up in breaks and reminscing about my earlier life and what's been going on lately. I hate myself over a lot of things. A lot of things which I know I shouldn't do but I just can't stop myself, a lot of things which I know I shouldn't say but sadly can't help not saying. And the worst thing is that I have never really cared of what I had been doing wrong until today. Until now, when the thought of losing a very dear one is very strong and the thought that the person whom I love might never be mine for that reason. Is it just too late now?

On this most auspicious day of the Hindu year, I make a pledge to change myself in what I say and what I do. Why am I changing myself for someone else? I don't know. The only thing I know is I had a conversation with Him today and I know this is the right step. I will be completing my part of the promise and the rest is upto Him.

And why am I publicly posting this? For the simple reason, that I want to stand up and take responsibility for whatever I have said and done and for people to remind me if I stray from what I pledged today.

Happy Diwali to each and every one.

My Other Blog

I have been taking time to post articles on another one of my blogs. Here is a short link to it, Click Here

For those unknown, I am an avid fan of .NET and as globally expected, my other blog is based on it. Do take time to drop in your comments. I appreciate them more than you do ! Thks.