here are some numbers that will wake you up

John Paulson, Paulson & Co., $3.7billion. Paulsonmade $3.7 billion last year, mostly by shorting, or betting against,subprime mortgage securities and collateralized debt obligations. Oneof Paulson’s credit funds earned a 590% return last year, according toAlpha; another racked up a 353% return.
Philip Falcone, Harbinger Capital Parters, $1.7billion. There is no word yet on how much money Falcone has made fromchallenging the New York Times board, but shorting subprime mortgagesclearly was a profitable decision.

Deal Journal took a look at Alpha’s list and how the 10 highest-paidmanagers made their money. We ranked them below by name, firm and theamount of their yearly compensation in 2007. Full article here.

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gawker explains the financial crisis in simple terms (thanks to kim for the link)

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Telegraph captures the moment

Telegraph.co.uk captured yesterday's stock market crash as follows:

Corporate America has just lost a chunk of its value the size ofthe Indian economy.

Poetic, eh :-)

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When does this get completely ridiculous?

There have been 3 bomb blasts in India in the past 10 days. Two of them in Delhi (the national capital) and one in Bombay (the financial capital). I am hoping at some point some is going to step up and go; "Guys this is not business as usual. We need to figure out what the #$% is going on!!!" But so far all I am hearing is "In other news today, 6 dead from a bomb blast in Maharashtra. Government says it is looking into this matter"... Come again... you are doing what!?!

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A September call To action

I am excited to be piggy backing on the efforts of Scott Harrison. Here is your call to action.

From right where you are sitting or standing right now, you can take a country from

to

What am I talking about?

• Average American spends 960$/year on presents.
• 960$ will provide 48 people in Ethiopia clean water for20 years!
• 1 out of 4 people in Ethiopia have NO access to clean water.
  
• Women walk three hours a day with 40pounds on their back to get not_so_clean water. Girls have to choose between school or fetching water.
• I am joining Scott in his goal to raise 1.5 million this month to give clean water to 150,000 people through 333 wells.

Think about it, when was the last time you even had to think about clean drinking water. These people are dying because of that. You ABSOLUTELY CAN make a difference.

My birthday is tomorrow... :-) I am not saying you were thinking of getting my a gift. All i am asking is that you consider donating1,2,5,10,32, or whatever amount you can to help with this cause. Also,i realize that you might be already supporting a lot of worthy causes in which case please accept my humble thanks!

If you are ready -> don't hesitate... go here. Oh, if you see me walk around with a black shirt which says"September" on the front. Now you know why ;-) Spread the word around.

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The flip for mobile email devices

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I wish I made this up - from the annals of "Gee maybe my priorities are misplaced"

  sent a letter to  and 

 

"PETA'srequest comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner willbegin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milkfor 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statementsays.

 

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you don't have to live in california to attend Stanford

Welcome toStanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE)

For the first time in its history, Stanford isoffering some of its most popular engineering classes free of charge tostudents and educators around the world. Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE)expands the Stanford experience to students and educators online. A computer andan Internet connection is all you need. View lecture videos, access readinglists and other course handouts, take quizzes and tests, and communicate withother SEE students, all at your convenience.

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Delighting on an incremental basis!

I love the fact that I can quickly create a calendarevent when I reply to an email in gmail. How long has outlook been around? Whycan’t I do this in outlook?

 

 

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onion delivers it in spades :-)

The Onion does it again J.  Link

(btw this is just me enjoying the parody. As soon asOnion publishes their version of Palin’s inbox –not the allegedlyreal one Gawker published, I will most certainly post that as well).

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are we missing big movements in the midst of the urgent?

China'sstate-controlled fund may buy as much as49 percent of the New York-based investment bank, said the person, who declinedto be identified because the talks aren't public and may end in no agreement.Morgan Stanley resumed its decline on the New York Stock Exchange, falling asmuch as 22 percent.

 

 

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The financial bleeding in pictures

A great graphical tool on the NYTimes site today –link.

 

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Hurricane Ike in pics - courtesy Boston.com

More pictures available here -> link

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Lehman files for bankruptcy

To the tune of 639 billion dollars. Said another way;Lehman just told the world that they own the equivalent of two thousand and one hundred (2140 to be exact) Boeing747-8’s (the most expensive plane in Boeing’s productlist) that we cannot pay a penny on. Nice job!

 

Boeingprice chart

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Practical password management

Joel knocked it out of the park with this article, imho.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Hurricane ike keeps marching along

We continue to wait out Ike’s wrath withfriends. Please be praying for friends and family in the south texas area.

 

Story lines

AP : Hurricane Ike slams Texas coast with majorfloods

Statesman: Galvestonunder water

bbc: BBC NEWS | Americas | Hurricane Ike barrels over Cuba

Hurricane Ike also swept right over Beaumont,Port Arthur, and Galvestonin Texas. Texas refineries processes 1 out of every 4 barrels of oilin the USand this is one of the big concerns for now along with loss to property andlives.

 

 

 

 

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Saudi Arabia scores one for the crazies

Wow really guys, off with their heads eh....

AP
Saudi: OK to kill owners of 'immoral' TV networks
Friday September 12, 9:57 am ET

Top Saudi cleric says it's OK to kill owners of TV networks that broadcast 'immoral content'

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More on my birthday gift

The September Campaign Trailer from charity: water on Vimeo.

Would you like to help? Click on this link.

from the annals of the obvious

Vigorous Physical Activity Reduces Obesity Risk in Genetically Predisposed.

You don't say...

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Want to organize your outlook (the email client not your life)?

      

(photo credit -> flickr -> userBB)

 

 

Try this -> blogpost

I am using the above and excited about it J

 

Or if you are looking for something professional; this-> taglocity.

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The subject is not the challenge to a good presentation.

Alan Cooper shows how to make a presentation onAgile more presentable J

 

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My gift to myself this birthday

This is just a teaser. Stay tuned for more. If you are very impatient, you can click on the link and get the details.

Playing with Posterous

I am playing with posterous. Depending on how much I like it, I might end up making it my primary post platform. The good news is that posterous will auto post my entries to other blogging platforms including blogger. So this blog will stay updated.

You can check out my first posterous entry here (http://bit.ly/4xeaRO)
cheers,
amar