As a legal alien on a H1B visa, I truly empathize with Wall Street Journal's article on Dr. Sengupta. Very nicely written.
It is true that illegal immigrants play a important role in the US economy and their status needs to be addressed. However, it saddens me that this often blocks real solutions to the plight of those who played by the rules. It is an irony that legal immigrants aspiring for citizenship are stuck in process, backlogs and paperwork for years, in an inefficient system very similar to that which plagues the countries they emigrate from.
This, especially from a country that welcomes immigrants, values meritocracy, and rewards those who chase the American Dream. Of late this dream is turning to just wishful thinking, and for some a nightmare. Congress needs to act now to ensure US continues to remain attractive to bright young minds worldwide such that they are willing to relocate, earn advanced degrees, buy homes, raise families, launch companies, create jobs, and contribute enormously to the economy.
US Needs Immigration Policies That Make Sense
Student Visas: Advanced education and US research depends on immigrants. Students who come to the US to pursue degrees should be welcomed, and not shunned. Today, US consulates worldwide deny student visas to those who don't show a reasonable evidence proving why they won't stay back in the US after getting their degree. Instead, let us encourage students to study in the US and settle here.
Employment Based Visas: I can see how US citizens could feel deprived of job opportunities if H1B visas are given without due process or diligence. But that should not be the case for those international students who have graduated from US universities. For example, any international student who has studied and obtained a degree in the US on a full tuition scholarship should be automatically be given a employment visa and a path to a green card. Why would the US not want these students to stay here, and instead prefer they return to their countries. And let's allow their spouses to work too.
Green Cards: Any one who has legally worked in the US for five or more years, paid taxes, social security, abided by the laws -- should be given the option to obtain a green card. Current green cards don't offer the "secure permanent residency" the way a citizenship offers. By that I mean: if you have a green card, and choose to work out of US for longer periods of time (more than once), and decide to come back to the US -- you could risk losing your permanent residency status. You would need to wait for five more years, before you can apply for a US citizenship, that confers you those rights. Why?
Is Security at Odds With Prosperity?
I understand the need for greater security after 9/11. At the same time, the world economy is in transition. Rapidly growing economies like India and China are tantalizing for emigrants to return back to. Great many have. The US is at a cross-roads. Let not 9/11 be the beginning to the end of the miracle makes USA work. Let's be paranoid. Not because we may be attacked once again, but because we may forever lose the charm that was once US. Let's tear down walls and build bridges instead. Let's be the land of free and the home of the brave. Once again.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Canon Digital Rebel: My Review
I own a Canon Digital Rebel. Many of my friends have asked me my thoughts. Here are some comments.
Number of pixels: As you may be aware this is a 8MB camera. I find that 8MB is the perfect pixel size support needed and I intend to stick with this for long time. Unless you are into professional / commercial photography -- where you may need to blow up pictures to poster sizes -- you really don't need more than 8MB. {Remember: photos quickly fill up your computer hard-drive. More on that later. Now, I am quite ruthless about the photos I keep, and I trash many pictures I take. But I digress.} The BIGGEST advantage I see in having an 8MB camera is that it gives you the luxury to crop images to remove extraneous noise and helps you dramatically improve picture composition without sacrificing quality of the image when you print it (or) view it online. Finally, I think the Canon EOS 20D, is a bit of an overkill, for my needs. It is bulkier too.
Size of the camera: If you are graduating from a simple point and click, you may find this camera a bit bulky to haul around. But, when the pictures come back and when I see what I have taken, I find it is well worth it. {By the way, I also have a Canon Powershot A80, which I also carry around, just because it is quicker, smaller, etc. And most importantly, my wife finds the Digital Rebel a bit overwhelming to handle, so she uses the Canon Powershot A80}. Speaking of point and click... since I used a Canon before, I was very familiar with the menus on the Rebel (which are quite similar to the Powershot). In that sense, you may have a learning curve, if you are graduating from a Nikon or some other camera.
Lenses: I have the 18-55mm lens that came with the package, and I also went to Wal-mart and bought a zoom lens from 75-300mm. (Cost: around $200). Yes, I am not covered from 55mm to 75mm (and there have been instances when I have seen my photo subjects fall in that range... but oh well... for the most part I am covered). Since Canon comes with over 300+ lenses, you really have a wide array to choose from. I recommend you purchase the zoom lens as well, because it gives you unbelievable liberty to shoot subjects from a distance (kids playing, etc), without making them conscious.
Additional accessories: If you are going to invest in a digital SLR camera with a 8MB pixel range, there are some accessories that you absolutely need to buy. (a) Simple UV filters for your lenses, to protect them from dust, specks, etc. (b) An external USB based hard drive, to quickly transfer your photos, especially when you are on a trip (doesn't need a computer). (c) A compact flash card reader (reading pictures from the camera directly takes ages). (d) a tripod (you never know when you want to take an awesome long exposure shot) (d) 1GB compact flash card (don't buy a 2GB card. if you want 2GBs, buy two 1GB's instead. Gives you greater flexibility). (e) an extra camera battery. (f) lens cleaning solutions, etc.
I recommend you also visit these two websites to read and learn more, especially the comparisons between Canon and Nikon.
http://www.dcviews.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
Here are some of the pictures I took on my India Trip last Winter -- with this camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98013786@N00/
I will keep adding to this post as I keep using the camera.
Number of pixels: As you may be aware this is a 8MB camera. I find that 8MB is the perfect pixel size support needed and I intend to stick with this for long time. Unless you are into professional / commercial photography -- where you may need to blow up pictures to poster sizes -- you really don't need more than 8MB. {Remember: photos quickly fill up your computer hard-drive. More on that later. Now, I am quite ruthless about the photos I keep, and I trash many pictures I take. But I digress.} The BIGGEST advantage I see in having an 8MB camera is that it gives you the luxury to crop images to remove extraneous noise and helps you dramatically improve picture composition without sacrificing quality of the image when you print it (or) view it online. Finally, I think the Canon EOS 20D, is a bit of an overkill, for my needs. It is bulkier too.
Size of the camera: If you are graduating from a simple point and click, you may find this camera a bit bulky to haul around. But, when the pictures come back and when I see what I have taken, I find it is well worth it. {By the way, I also have a Canon Powershot A80, which I also carry around, just because it is quicker, smaller, etc. And most importantly, my wife finds the Digital Rebel a bit overwhelming to handle, so she uses the Canon Powershot A80}. Speaking of point and click... since I used a Canon before, I was very familiar with the menus on the Rebel (which are quite similar to the Powershot). In that sense, you may have a learning curve, if you are graduating from a Nikon or some other camera.
Lenses: I have the 18-55mm lens that came with the package, and I also went to Wal-mart and bought a zoom lens from 75-300mm. (Cost: around $200). Yes, I am not covered from 55mm to 75mm (and there have been instances when I have seen my photo subjects fall in that range... but oh well... for the most part I am covered). Since Canon comes with over 300+ lenses, you really have a wide array to choose from. I recommend you purchase the zoom lens as well, because it gives you unbelievable liberty to shoot subjects from a distance (kids playing, etc), without making them conscious.
Additional accessories: If you are going to invest in a digital SLR camera with a 8MB pixel range, there are some accessories that you absolutely need to buy. (a) Simple UV filters for your lenses, to protect them from dust, specks, etc. (b) An external USB based hard drive, to quickly transfer your photos, especially when you are on a trip (doesn't need a computer). (c) A compact flash card reader (reading pictures from the camera directly takes ages). (d) a tripod (you never know when you want to take an awesome long exposure shot) (d) 1GB compact flash card (don't buy a 2GB card. if you want 2GBs, buy two 1GB's instead. Gives you greater flexibility). (e) an extra camera battery. (f) lens cleaning solutions, etc.
I recommend you also visit these two websites to read and learn more, especially the comparisons between Canon and Nikon.
http://www.dcviews.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
Here are some of the pictures I took on my India Trip last Winter -- with this camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98013786@N00/
I will keep adding to this post as I keep using the camera.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Call to Action: Bollywood
There is a lot of positive press about India and its prospects. Yet, Bollywood and the "rest of the world" frequently potrays India as what it was in the 1950s or the 1970s. Productions are packed with melodrama, family feuds, corruption, and lack an adequate representation of the real change that is sweeping through the Indian society.
For much of the twentieth century, America exported its "culture" and the "American Dream", through on-screen and off-screen productions. While there are were movies that discussed black lynching, racial discrimination, hippie culture, etc -- there was a flood of movies about that potrayed fashion, work, money, suburbia, etc.
This is a golden opportunity for India's Bollywood. Let's have some movies specifically targetted at the global audiences, that go beyond "Bride and Prejudice"; "Bend it Like Beckham" and others (which by the way are wholesome entertainment and must be seen).
While there is no dearth in material or ideas in India, most "off-beat" movies are usually copies of American or western themes that have already been used.
Instead, let the movies cover the Indian culture. Let's show to the world, how India works. Its education system, its entrepreneurial culture, its value systems, and its financial policies, etc.
For much of the twentieth century, America exported its "culture" and the "American Dream", through on-screen and off-screen productions. While there are were movies that discussed black lynching, racial discrimination, hippie culture, etc -- there was a flood of movies about that potrayed fashion, work, money, suburbia, etc.
This is a golden opportunity for India's Bollywood. Let's have some movies specifically targetted at the global audiences, that go beyond "Bride and Prejudice"; "Bend it Like Beckham" and others (which by the way are wholesome entertainment and must be seen).
While there is no dearth in material or ideas in India, most "off-beat" movies are usually copies of American or western themes that have already been used.
Instead, let the movies cover the Indian culture. Let's show to the world, how India works. Its education system, its entrepreneurial culture, its value systems, and its financial policies, etc.
Corruption -- Why Does it Exist?
The Indian Economy Blog has an interesting post on corruption.
Interesting reading.
It is stating the obviosu that corruption in all forms results in inefficient allocation of resources. However, the reasons it exists from time immemorial is because of some fundamental realities.
The foremost of which is the income disparity between public and private sector. Until you see a comparable income level between these two sectors, human tendency is to make up for the difference by getting income from other means. In fact, fostering an articifial inefficiency in the system (such as creating a waiting list for phones, or licenses) -- supports a self fulfilling profecy. Sure, "competition" and "privatisation" helps in removing corruption, but that strategy in a sense accepts the inability to ever achieve parity in incomes between the two sectors.
Interesting reading.
It is stating the obviosu that corruption in all forms results in inefficient allocation of resources. However, the reasons it exists from time immemorial is because of some fundamental realities.
The foremost of which is the income disparity between public and private sector. Until you see a comparable income level between these two sectors, human tendency is to make up for the difference by getting income from other means. In fact, fostering an articifial inefficiency in the system (such as creating a waiting list for phones, or licenses) -- supports a self fulfilling profecy. Sure, "competition" and "privatisation" helps in removing corruption, but that strategy in a sense accepts the inability to ever achieve parity in incomes between the two sectors.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Gmail -- Making it "Enterprise Class"
Here are some ideas to make Gmail better:
- Make every "button" on the gmail interface "moveable". In other words, I should be able to pick and choose if I want "Archive" on top of my inbox messages, or if I want "Delete" above it.
- I should be able to create my own buttons, based on frequent actions I execute. For example, I would like a button that says: "Delete Foreever" right in my inbox message view.
- After I am done reading a message, and I delete it... please don't pop back to the Inbox view... can you show me the next message in the queue? Better still, can there be a "paned" approach to viewing email -- so that I can see both the inbox view and the message view at the same time? (Yes, I am spoiled by Outlook).
- Attach a file: can we support drag and drop, from my file folders, directly? Also, I would like to select multiple files and drag them in.
- Since I use Google Desktop, would it be possible for Gmail to -- based on the message I am creating (and to whom I am sending it to) -- automatically pop up in a side window the possible files that may need to be attached to the message, so that I don't have to search for them? Similarly, Can Google Desktop Search provide a "button" that says: Add to Gmail message?
- For the attachments I receieve, can Google Desktop Search "automagically" file them away in the respective folders, based on the content it sees?
- Can Gmail support shortcuts: Ctrl-S (save), Ctrl-O (open), Ctrl-D (delete), Ctrl-R (reply), Ctrl-E (Send), Ctrl-W (reply-all), and more?
- Why doesn't Gmail support "right click" new window or new tab? For example, as I am composing this message, I would like to right click on "Inbox" and open it in a new tab or a new window...
- Yes, I like the fact that you can "search" gmail, and not "file" emails. But, really, I would like to create file folders. I know right now, you can associate labels, and you can search by labels, etc... But, puhlease, can I have my folders?
- Finally, in the compose pane, automatically open it with "one CC" and "one BCC". Why do I have to click to add it?
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