Worldmapper.org warps world maps based on factors such as birth rates, GDP, and population. It amazes me how much more significant it feels to see a visual representation of something rather than to read facts and figures (which is why Al Gore climbing a ladder to show the rise of global warming in an Inconvenient Truth was an excellent touch).

Check out how fat India looks based on its population in 2050.

Kinda scary or exciting, depending on your feelings around volume and glasses of water (not to mention the presence of heavy metals in the water, the temperature of the water, the availability of that water, and perhaps the politics around access to that water – makes me want a coconut.)

Wanna see the US get fat? Check out their maps based on carbon emissions or GDP.

It is the most perfect example ever of America’s contradictory attitude towards outsourcing and illegal immigration (from this month’s Harpers Index).

Fine paid in 2006 by a company building the U.S. Border fence, in a guilty plea for hiring illegal immigrants: $4,700,000.

On March 7, Bill Gates testified before the US Senate about bringing IT workers into the US:

“We have to welcome the great minds of this world, not drive them out of this country,” Gates said.

Nice.  To be clear, he is discussing the H1-B program, which currently allows 65,000 foreign professionals into the US every year.  He went on to say

“At least foreigners, who are already used to massive government inefficiency, will be more willing to tolerate the compatibility issues and other bugs in Vista.”

Okay, he didn’t really say that. But he did say

“The IT industry, I guarantee you, will be in the United States as long as we can get these people to come to the United States.”

Sometimes, I love Bill Gates. These days, I love him a lot of the time. He is right, of course, but I am worried about the timing of these types of discussions. With the war at the forefront of all political agendas, I am hoping that jingoistic calls to ban outsourcing will remain muted during Indecision 2008. But, as usual, I underestimate the democratic “Mill Worker” strategy. Sherrod Brown of Ohio:

“…skilled workers in my state are watching their jobs move overseas, not because foreign workers are more qualified, but because U.S. companies can get away with paying poverty wages to workers in other countries.”

Poverty wages? Check the average salaries for programmers in Bangalore, Sherrod.

More on this, soon (because I’m sure more is coming)

A strike over water has shut down Bangalore’s IT industry for the second time in a month (last month’s shutdown was due to religious turmoil).

Of course, the press jumps on a story like this as a sign of “how, despite a thriving tech industry, Bangalore is just not Silicon Valley”.  If a shutdown is what it takes to reach that epiphany, you deserve a cookie.

Unfortunately for Bangalore, recent targeting by terrorist groups might place the city of baked beans closer to New York in the global imagination.

Bangalore’s issues may also speed the inevitable (and ongoing) push to other cities in India. As if the gridlock on outer ring road wasn’t enough motivation already.

It’s been 4 days since Bangalore (and a few of her friends) had her name changed. Since “the English names have not yet been finalised”, it will either be Bengalaroo or Bengalaru (this is closer to the original name, Benda Kaal Ooru, which literally means, “the city of baked beans”). But with numerology invading Indian media these days, don’t be surprised if the offical name ends up being Bennngalllaaarrooooo.

Indian IT firms agree that this is just not a smart move.

“Bangalore represents a cosmopolitan, multicultural brand,” said Nandan Nilekani, chief of Infosys Technologies, the outsourcing company, adding: “It is not prudent to abandon the name of India’s most global city.”

Also, what about the anti-outsourcers?  In the past, they could say an outsourced position had been “bangalored”…if you don’t know what’s being talked about, that sounds pretty bad.  Like, you could be walking down a dark alley one day, and BOOM!, you’re Bangalored, sucker. Now, these guys will have to try for something like “bengalarood”, which no matter how much you snarl your lip, just sounds like something fun.

The reason for the name change?  Like Mumbai and Chennai, it is about nationalism.  Instead of working on poverty and infrastructure, let’s spend a couple million on new street signs and stationary.

“There is not much difference in pronunciation,” said homemaker H. Lalita Bai. “Changing the name plates and signs throughout the city will cost heavily to the government and the public.” She added that the name change may help “politicians become popular and to erase from the people’s minds the blunders that they have committed.”

At least with Mumbai and Chennai, the words sounds different enough from their predecessors.  In the case of Bengalaru, the name change represents a marginal change in English and practically none in (the local language) Kannada:

The Kannada language media has always written and pronounced “Bangalore” as “Bengaluru.” Therefore, if the name change will really materialize, a Kannada language article might say something to the effect that, “There is a proposal to change the name of Bengaluru from Bangalore to Bengaluru,” but will actually sound like: “There is a proposal to change the name of Bengaluru from Bangaluru to Bengaluru.”