Anybody who travels enough around the U.S. knows that our newspapers and news magazines can be lame. Not just lame, really lame. India’s English language press is our soul sister in this respect. Sure, I enjoyed the depth of the India Today newsweekly and some articles in the Economic Times. But […]

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Our Guide at the Taj Mahal (2005)
“As you can see, the fountains are off right now,” our guide told us. We had been told from the beginning of the ride by Baabloo, our rickshaw driver, not to get one; and we dutifully followed his advice as the teenage boys ran alongside us hawking […]

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In other news . . .
Leslie tipped me off to Indian Writing which hooked me up with The Wonderful World of Ms. World, who is traveling around her namesake.
On the Indian leg of her trip she had these departing thoughts that pretty much summed up Lisa and my time there thoughts when leaving, too:

I wanted […]

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I’m toying with the idea of starting an outsourcing carnival — the blog equivalent of a “special issue” dedicated to a particular theme. If you’re interested let me know.
Whilst surfing the blogs to see what kind of info is out there, I came upon some interesting articles. The Indian Economy Blog posted a […]

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So I’m going to apply the same kind of thinking out loud that we do at lunch to outsourcing, an issue that I haven’t completely made up my mind about. I’ll tell you what I think — it’s probably not so bad as software engineers fret, but we need to do more to stay competitive — and why I think so; and you tell me whether you agree and/or point me to the things you’ve heard or read that should lead me to reevaluate my narrow, misguided views.

Offshoring involves hidden costs; each one of the criteria for successful outsourcing — qualified, imaginative staff; alignment with company values and needs; and the desire to build a stronger brand — is increasingly rare, costly, and essential to a successful company. These are rarely discussed in outsourcing diatribes.

If we in the U.S. are going to continue as competitive innovators, then education, taxation, economic policy, venture capital, and worker benefits must remain competitive.

Plus a guide for mitigating outsourcing risks:

• Be really smart and have depth in more than one skill.
• Save for retirement and a rainy day.
• Work at a small or medium size company.
• Work at a company that understands what it’s doing and the true cost of outsourcing.
• Be part of your company’s core purpose.
• Accept that your job could leave and be willing to take what you know and move on.

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I’m moving offices sometime in the next 10 days. A bunch of orange crates sit inside and outside my office, waiting for my to pack them full of files, books, journals, dinosaurs, and the like. In the spirit of cleaning and Getting Things Done (which doesn’t have to be a cult, by the […]

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Steichen: The Times reports that the $2.9M Steichen sale is just the tip of the iceberg.
Sugimoto: Holland Cotter reviews Sugimoto’s retrospective at the Hirshhorn.

Hiroshi Sugimoto, the celebrated Japanese-born photographer, designed the installation for his own retrospective at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden here, and it is inspired. The first half of the show is […]

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Today’s close
Dow: 11,120.68
Sensex: 10,124.30

Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index v. Dow Jones Industrial Average (5-year)

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Today’s New York Times looks at outsourcing to India and China in two very different ways. Steve Lohr examines the increasing willingness of American and European businesses to outsource high-paying, knowledge-intensive R&D jobs. The Times’ Saritha Rai — whom I would really love to meet — warns that Indian outsourcing firms may not […]

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I love me some photography, and Edward Steichen’s work is great. But $2.9M for a photograph seems a bit extravagent to me.
Whether or not the Met should be selling The Pond-Moonlight is another matter. But they can definitely afford to buy a lot of work from contemporary photographers with all that loot — […]

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At first I was prejudiced against California. So many people, so many problems. O.J. M.J. Chinatown. Boyz N’ The Hood. Tens of thousands of square miles of expanding suburbia. Valley Girls. Ronald Reagan.
In 1998 as we flew over miles of the urban grid on approach to LAX […]

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As seen on TV,

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From China Could Learn From India’s Slow and Quiet Rise, a Yale Global Online reprint of Yasheng Huang’s FT article of 27 January 2006:

Two years ago the view that India might have a more competitive economy than China was met with incredulity. Now a comparison of the two countries offers valuable insights for anyone studying […]

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From the Commonwealth series:

“Be American - Georgetown, Mass.” (2005)

“Dalton, Mass.” (2005)

“Buckland, Mass.” (2005)

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From the new Signs of Nature series:

“No Parking - Douglas SF, Mass.” (2005)

“Parki - Douglas SF, Mass.” (2005)

“No Motorized Vehices - Douglas SF, Mass.” (2005)

“Gate 25 - Douglas SF, Mass.” (2005)

“Danger Unguarded Water Area. Alcohol Prohibited - Waconah SP, Mass.” (2005)

“Pole 20 - Waconah SP, Mass.” (2005)

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