Seth Stevenson, who is “following his girlfriend around Asia”, writes and photo-blogs in a five-part series in Slate about his trip to India, his impressions, and how hard it is to like the place:

It's OK to hate a place.

Travel writers can be so afraid to make judgments. You end up with these gauzy tributes to the "magic" of some far-off spot. But honestly, not every spot is magical for everyone. Sometimes you get somewhere, look around, and think, "Hey, this place is a squalid rat hole. I'd really rather be in the Netherlands." And that's OK.

For example, the last time I went to India I just haaaaaaated it. Delhi was a reddish haze of 105-degree dust. And while, of course, the Taj Mahal was great … the streets outside it were a miasma of defecating children. I could not wait to go home...
Read On...

From The Economic Times (India):

NEW DELHI: The worst of resistance in the US to outsourcing is over, says Senator Larry Pressler, better known in India as the author of the Pressler Amendment that sought, nominally at least, to curb Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

But India actually should recognise him as the author of the US telecom law of 1996 that opened up the sector and brought down costs to a level that has made outsourcing of business processes to a land as far away as India viable.

Sen Pressler is in the Capital, as advisor to a new BPO venture, Summit HR, which targets a $70-billion niche market of temp staffing and human resources management.

Sen Pressler is a member of the Infosys board and also an advisor to Chrysalis Capital and is proud to be a votary of outsourcing and a globalised economy. He will look up his buddy from Oxford days Montek Singh Ahluwaia before proceeding to Bangalore to Infosys.

He asserts that the outcry over outsourcing is all over. In fact, the political noise on the subject during the election...
Read On...

Once again, I'm with Dvorak on this one. I wonder if Senator Pressler's constitutants are aware of his business interests in outsourcing, which certainly appear to be a clear conflict of interest. And outsourcing HR management to India—does that mean I have to go to Bangalore for my next job interview?
[Via Dvorak Uncensored]

John Dvorak thinks we should outlaw not only spyware but cookies as well. His words:

Something like this would work for me: “Any person who knowingly writes or reads files from another person's computer by personal or robotic means for whatever reason whatsoever and without the permission of the party involved, with full knowledge of the activity each and every time the action is performed, is guilty of a felony and subject to fine and imprisonment not to exceed $10,000 and one year in prison for each offense.” Read On...

I'm with ya, John.