Here are some random asides.
1. Will there be an Airbus or Boeing with 800 odd seats, albiet standing seats only? Is that the future of airtravel? Well, there is no regulation forcing Airlines to provide a seat, as long as the passenger is secured! NYTimes has an interesting story on thin seats, same or less legspace in economy classes, even as business and first class move towards high comfort, Spa style travel.
2. Now here is the story of a digital native. A few weeks ago, I wrote on Kaavya Viswanathan’s novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. Now, she is being charged with plagiarism are levelled against her. She has admitted her ill mistakes and apologized. Well, nice and dandy are all these charges, stories and the earlier success including the big half million dollar advance, contract with Dreamworks and making the NYT bestseller list.
What was less talked about then is that Kaavya herself went through an IvyWise college counselor, paying tens of thousands of dollars. Well, now it turns out that this counselor not only got her into Harvard but also introduced her to the world of agents and publishers through her own agent. This is a world beyond our comprehension. IvyWise counselors have agents and they can set you up for life, not just get you into college!
Well, let us be clear. Kaavya didn’t want emulate Orwell, who took menial jobs and starved in Paris, to understand what it means to be poor. Orwell was convinced that unless he came out of his class location, he couldn’t be a better writer. Here is a girl, who wanted to be an investment banker and writing provided her, it seems, the first shot at both investing and banking at a fairly young age. The novel though is a decent, quick, light read, which a lot of people would buy, read and laugh a little.
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