Thursday, May 03, 2012

Must Watch : Ask the Delphic Oracle3

We have the third in the series for our column at the Times of India up. It is a short post with a video at the end. An edited version of the post is below. You don't need to know advanced mathematics to enjoy the video, so go ahead and press play!

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Two contestants, one pot of money to win.

A British gameshow called "Golden Balls" invites contestants to play a version of the Prisoner's Dilemma, wherein the two contestants have to decide whether they're going to "split" or "steal" a pot of money.

If they both opt to split, they split the money. If one opts to split, and one opts to steal, the one who steals it gets the whole pot. And if they both opt to steal it, then neither get the money.

Prisoner's Dilemma is a classic game from game theory. What happens next? You've got to watch this.

[~]

Welcome to Delfikorakle: A Time Capsule of Thoughts

Has this blog moved? In a nutshell—yes, but with a modern twist. We've migrated to the microblogging universe of Twitter and the communal delights of Facebook Groups. The Artist Formerly Known As Elon Musk even renamed Twitter to something else; I initially thought he was joking, sounding more like Space Tech Bro On Weed lately. Turns out, he was serious. So, our hub is now on X and Facebook Groups.

I've been in the blogging game since 2002, back when the blogosphere was still figuring out its WiFi password. After a stint at Zoo Station, our digital abode now resides in the realm of Facebook Groups. Our blog Zoo Station won the IndieBloggies Award in 2004, but I no longer blog there partly because I don't blog very much any more and partly because Zoo Station no longer exists. But I do post here from time to time. Because, let's face it, blogging is as mainstream as avocado toast now, and keeping a time capsule of past posts seemed like a hipster thing to do. Delfikorakle lives on.

I started here with tech and computer science musings, but my interests now dance around finance, organizational behavior, tech management, and strategic management. Check out our Facebook Groups for the freshest takes. I am very glad that my posts have struck a chord in the hearts and minds of our readers.

I am also delighted to announce that the startup I keep mentioning from time to time (formally called Delphic Ventures/Qwykr Technologies) has been selected into a number of incubation programs, including Google For Startups, Microsoft For Startups, IIM Bangalore's yearly incubation program and IIM Kashipur's FIED incubation program.

I am also happy to announce that Namaste Bharat Magazine, the newsmagazine I cofounded, is now called the Pravasi Indians Magazine. It has featured articles, videos or Tweets on a number of interesting people in the Indian diaspora or writing interesting stuff about the Indian diaspora, including some lesser known names such as Reena Pushkarna, Maharajah Madhewoo and Ghee Bowman via its website or the channels of its associates. We are trying to develop cool products, including websites and web apps. Check out also Slurrp hosted at: http://www.slurrp.com, a website that Qwykr Tech helped launch. Stay tuned for more details!

Now, don't expect a Pulitzer from this blog; it's more of a time capsule – a digital scrapbook, if you will.

Disclaimer: This blog moonlights as an A.I. lab for our company. Take what you read here with a grain of silicon, although I should add that everything here is accurate, including the kudos stuff. I simply don't spend any time on formatting this weblog. I also have tried including all sorts of HTML in some of the posts. Again, that is because this blog is being used for A.I. experiments.

All our subscribers have migrated to Facebook Groups, which, by the way, are as attractive and professional as Elon's memes. Btw, I am, by no means, an Elon Musk hater. In fact, I have almost always supported Elon Musk's ventures, and I will be making a post on Elon Musk on this blog. I feel like I have to say that because, otherwise, it might seem like I am throwing shade on Elon Musk, while actually I am just having some light hearted fun while poking fun at his antics on the Internet and elsewhere.
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Social Media Utility Ratings:

U(t, Facebook Messenger): Positive, but hey, WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram are equally cool.
U(t, Facebook): Slightly positive for some, likely negative for most.
U(t, Twitter): Negative for almost everyone, unless you're a verified superstar.
U(t, Facebook Groups): Slightly positive with the Schedule Ahead feature, but likely negative for most.
U(t, Blogger): Dusty and outdated, like that encyclopedia set in your grandma's attic.
U(t, Reddit): High and positive, especially if you're a ninja with anonymous user IDs and a knack for digging up research papers. Knowledge is power, baby!

Social media metrics are like entries in a database - you can download an open-source database and make your own numbers game. Unless you're a digital influencer, the immediate utility is a tad elusive.

[~]

Who cares about the Likes someone got a decade ago? Exactly. Gives you some perspective on this whole social media circus.

As a FIRE movement aficionado, I'd say time spent on social media might be better invested in your long-term goals.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember: a tweet a day won't keep the doctor away, but a good laugh might! 🚀🤓