Warren Buffett...

Having heard his name everywhere as being the greatest investor and always amused by the "highly" priced Berkshire Hathaway stocks (BRK-A now trading at US $135000 per share - yes, thats the number - no typos :-)), was just reading his biography... It is very interesting!

His Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letters shows his funny side too, besides his investing genius! here are some cool facts and quotes about Warren Buffett...

• Forbes 2nd richest person on earth with net worth of $55 Billion
• Has agreed to donate $30 Billion to charity and here's his quote :

"I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned. If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil... I work in a market system that happens to reward what I do very well—disproportionately well. Mike Tyson, too. If you can knock a guy out in 10 seconds and earn $10 million for it, this world will pay a lot for that. If you can bat .360, this world will pay a lot for that. If you're a marvelous teacher, this world won't pay a lot for it. If you are a terrific nurse, this world will not pay a lot for it." "I don't have a problem with guilt about money. The way I see it is that my money represents an enormous number of claim checks on society. It's like I have these little pieces of paper that I can turn into consumption. ... I don't use very many of those claim checks. There's nothing material I want very much. And I'm going to give virtually all of those claim checks to charity when my wife and I die."

• Despite the riches, he still lives in the same house in Omaha that he bought for $30,000 in 1958!

• Buffett was the only student to get A+ in "Security Analysis" course from Benjamin Graham in Columbia Business School, dubbed as the father of modern security analysis
  
• When asked about not leaving the bulk of his fortune to his kids in an interview with Charlie Rose, Buffett reiterates his view about leaving wealth to kids,

"I want to give my kids just enough so that they could do anything but not nothing!" and he goes on to joke that,

"we have a choice between having a foundation like this [Gates foundation], doing tremendous things to people all over the world, OR having it go to a bunch of people that came from a lucky sperm club!" :-)

• Enjoyed his funny comment about Gold, "It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."

• Some more quotes...

"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield."

"Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."

Crocheting ?!

last week, I got a chance to try crocheting (crow-shay-ing :-)) for the first time and I realized that it is a fun hobby that gives instant gratification in the form of scarves, hats, mufflers, tote bags etc that could all be done in a evening just watching tv! I was even thinking that if I get any bedridden due to some handicap, I would want to take up Crocheting as a hobby if possible :-)

tried doing a hat and a mini-shawl using the knifty knitter circular loom and it was really satisfying to see the hat and the shawl that I made myself ;-)

looking forward to learn some real crocheting without the loom now!

Quake 4 - the Network Guardian

After a scary intro of the Network Guardian when going through the elevator in, i think, Data Processing Terminal (revisited level), I finally met the monster in the third tower...

Despite the intimidating looks, the Network Guardian (NG) is actually an easy kill once you know some basic tricks against his attacks! He is equipped with a massive blaster and guided rockets and can also try to hover over you and burn you with the fire from his Jet Pack. When you get real close to him, he will also try to stomp you down with his big, smelly feet!! In between, 1 or 2 strogg aircraft might try to drop some bombs on you... Here are some tricks that can make this a piece of cake!

- Strafing left and right is the key! Do you remember what Dori, the absent minded fish sings in Finding Nemo ? "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" :-) that is what seems to help a lot in Quake 4!

What I found to work well is that as soon as you see the NG raise his blaster arm (his right arm) to fire at you, just change the strafing direction immediately - before he starts firing. and you will dodge his bullets :-)

- I tried various gun combinations for killing NG - even shot gun by circling around the NG at close range :-) and I feel that the best choices are the quick firing ones! Machine Gun, Hyper Blaster, Nail Gun (probably the best gun since it has homing capability), Rockets and the Dark Matter Gun (DMG). Since there are refill ammos here for Nail Gun, Rockets and DM cores, I preferred using those...

Since the DMG takes a while (2 or 3 seconds :-)) to recharge, you can consider it using in the beginning when the NG comes first.

hmmm, these are a tip-too-many for this silly NG ;-) Just enjoy the game without thinking too much of strategy and you will be fine :-)

"Use you intuition, Luke!"

Zen - The Blind Man and the Lantern

Here's a nice Zen story that I came across!

In early times in Japan, bamboo-and-paper lanterns were used with candles inside. A blind man, visiting a friend one night, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.

"I do not need a lantern," he said. "Darkness or light is all the same to me."

"I know you do not need a lantern to find your way," his friend replied, "but if you don't have one, someone else may run into you. So you must take it."

The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him.

"Look out where you are going!" he exclaimed to the stranger. "Can't you see this lantern?"

"Your candle has burned out, brother," replied the stranger.

*****

Usually I don't think too deeply about these stories, but for those "extra" thirsty souls, here is a Zen discourse about this story... Or a longer version of this Zen story with more buddhist insights (too heavy for my mind ;-))

My TO DO List for 2008

Mark Twain
"New Year's is a harmless annual institution,
of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and
friendly calls and humbug resolutions."

In any case, unlike in the past, this year, I really want to do some things I have always been wanting to do, without further delay... and hence this TO-DO List 2008 :-) (starting with the important ones first!)

• Travel to 1 place mentioned in the book, "Unforgettable things to do before you die". am thinking of trying Mt. Kilimanjaro - that is not in the book though... :-)
• Lose weight and (try to) be regular to Gym!
  
• Reply to friends' emails immediately and keep in touch with them!
• Invest and try to make money in stock market
• Keep up the bonsai and gardening without killing any plant!
• Get back playing Golf!