Bihar, Darbhanga

Image via WikipediaI am increasingly thinking in terms of India. More specifically the great state of Bihar. Specifically my birthtown of Darbhanga. I am thinking in terms of Darbhanga as the place I want to start with.

I know the terrain. I know the state language, the national language, the local languages.

India has been the largest microfinance market in the world. Bihar is India's poorest state.

But I need to do my homework first.

Twitter Is Amazing For Networking

Image via WikipediaTwitter is absolutely the best tool out there for networking. Because it is so low pressure. There is much power in 140 characters.

You do have to know the kind of people you are looking for. In my case I am looking for angel investors. There is The Angel List that everyone knows about. Recently I created one called NYC Angels.

You try to enter into the conversation. Once you locate the herd where you want to hunt, you start replying to tweets. You read articles people have tweeted, and you write back your comments. Most of the time you will get ignored. The fish don't bite. And that's okay.

But I got one big shot to agree to meet me. And I am in talks with another with whom by now I have moved over to email. There is rapport.

In Foley Square A Libya Feeling

Image by Rob Blatt via FlickrI have been obsessed with news about Libya. So when I showed up for the Foley Square rally to express solidarity with Planned Parenthood earlier today, I kept thinking about Libya.

This event had enormous buzz. When you hear about an event on Facebook, and PlanCast, and over email and maybe one or two other ways, you know something's going on. And this rally was as big as I expected it to be. Looked to me like the entire New York congressional delegation was there. And many other speakers.

Incredible India

"I want to be a truck when I grow up."

A Gurkha Joke

Image via WikipediaMore people from Nepal died in the two world wars than people from any non warring country. The Nepalis fought on the side of the British. The feudal rulers of Nepal kept the British in India happy by supplying soldiers.

When Thatcher invaded the Falkland Islands in the 1980s, the Gurkhas were at the forefront of the swift victory. It is said they ran with their knives/khukris, not guns.

The politics of fighting for another country is another topic. And I have my views. But for now, here's a joke.

This was World War II. The British were busy defending themselves in Burma. One Gurkha got lost in the jungles of Burma in the north. After long weeks of walking he finally showed up in the capital city of Rangoon, down south. He was asked, how did you do it? How did you make it all the way to Rangoon?

"That was not a problem, Sir," the Gurkha soldier replied. "I had a map."

The officer took a look at the map. The guy had a really old map of London with him.

Guns Of Brooklyn: Santogold

With shared music tastes - if this is any indication - Fred, I might even let you invest in my company! ;-)



(Via Fred Wilson)

Soraya Darabi In New York Magazine

Foodspotting Co-Founder Soraya Darabi Likes to Pick Food Off Other People’s Plates, Doesn’t Advocate Gummy Bears for Lunch

A Tweet From Someone Running For Congress

My Reply

Hackers And Founders MeetUp: Amazing

Image via CrunchBaseLast night I dropped by the Hackers And Founders MeetUp after a long gap of months, and it was just an amazing experience. It was about how I felt - very comfortable - and the people I met - fun and interesting and amazing - and some work leads I was able to generate. I might have found myself a business consulting gig. And I am constantly on a lookout for people to grab. If I can't get them in round one, I will need them in round two. That tends to be my attitude.

My Secret Desire To Become A Great Cook

Image via WikipediaI harbor secret desires to become a great cook and a great dancer. But the definition to both are very, very specific to me.

I want to be able to cook super healthy. I believe that has to be the starting point. But then you also have to take into account taste.

And looks like Google has news for me.

Wired: Google Recipe Search Cooks Up Next Gen of Search: Google introduced a recipe search engine Thursday that serves up dishes based not only on the ingredients you may have on hand, but the calories you want to consume and even how much time you have to cook. ..... About one percent of the queries on Google are for recipes ......

I Knew Google Would Deal With Content Farms

Image via CrunchBaseAbout a decade ago when blogs became popular as a platform, the blogosphere started seriously skewing the Google search results. Google took care of that. Google made the problems go away. In the recent years content farms have messed things up. I have known all along that Google has what it takes to take care of the problem. And looks like Google just delivered.

Content farms do have their place. But they don't get to skew search results.