bala's blog

Money, Happiness & Problems

2005-10-25T08:18:21Z

-----Original Message-----From: Bala Pillai [mailto:bala@apic.net]Sent: Thursday, 16 June 2005 9:11 AMTo: 'dina@malaysiakini.com'Cc: 'sangkancil'; 'artisproactiv@yahoogroups.com'; 'malaysiaindians@yahoogroups.com'Subject: RE: [sangkancil] Money And Happiness
Dina,
>i want money. i like money. money money money.
Money is:-
a) a fluid conduit for exchanging value andb) one store of value
Which means if you solved a problem [1] whereby
1) you properly perceived the problem
2) you make available your solution to the problem at a fraction of the cost of the problem itself

Why We Must Speak In Full Sentences More

2005-10-25T08:19:35Z

One of the first questions I ask when I am Instant Messaging someone
who only responds with single words (which is like 99% of Asians on IM)
is, "Can you speak in full sentences?". Why? I have found that those
who do not prioritise speaking in full sentences are much less likely
to realise how important grasping and reinforcing the common sense
notion of causality is. And the consequences and consequences of
consequences of not doing so. They are much less likely to grasp,
without it being pointed out (and the defensiveness that sparks), that there is a reason why Man invented
sentences and paragraphs.

Question: Blogosphere Metrics

2005-05-03T08:38:30Z

Have you seen any good sites/sources on blogosphere metrics? I want to understand them. 1. Imagine a human network cluster diagram -- eg see bottom of http://myadda.com2. Imagine that those who blog profusely have their nodes to be proportionately brighter.3. Imagine that those who seem to be opinion leaders (i.e. they seem to be the source of many emerging memes in their swarming space) have their dot to be proportionately larger.So how can we using http://www.technorati.com , http://www.blogpulse.com , http://www.furl.net and http://del.icio.us get the best sense of who is the "boss" for what and how it spreads.

Turning Problems Into Money: How?

2005-04-11T11:38:18Z

Low hanging fruits & Monetising ProblemsBy Bala Pillai, Sydney What is the criteria?Given that the harder a problem, the greater the reward, the lesser thecompetition, the more uncertain resourcing for it is ANDThe easier a problem, the lesser the reward, the greater the competition andthe more certain resourcing isLow hanging fruits would lie in the sweetspot between "too hard a problem" and "too easy a problem". Not too hard such that the resourcing is so uncertain.Not too easy such that the rewards make it so unworthwhile.By resourcing I mean human resourcing. Why? Because astute humans organise all other resources, money included.Monetising ProblemsHow do you monetise problems?First of all realise that default problems are opportunities. And defaultopportunities are monetisable.And be prepared to imagine that some of the most surprising problems are monetisable. For example, how do you monetise the problem of unhappiness? Answer: Bottle happiness -- that is basically what Coca-Cola has done. It has bottled glee.How do you monetise value? Attach a currency value to it. And osmosis the value.How do you monetise views? Create exchanges. That's what stock exchanges and foreign exchange dealers do. You sell your view on where a stock or currency's price is headed.Can we monetise our views on which script-director-actor combination will do well and which we think won't? You bet -- create an exchange for the buying and selling of these views.What blurs whether money can be made from doing this?1. Absence of imagination and habitual perception that the solution will be executed weakly.