For normal use with the refractometer, the stone being tested should have a well-polished flat facet. In 1948, Lester Brown developed a technique which enables the gemologist to make refractive index readings on cabochons or stones with extremely small facets, which up until that time was not possible. The technique is known as the spot method or distant vision technique and works as follows:
- Remove the eyepiece and use white light.
- Put a very small drop of liquid onto the center of the hemisphere. Very gently place the stone onto the drop and then examine the scale.
- If the drop outline covers more than two or three scale divisions it is too large and the reading will not be accurate. The size of the spot should be reduced by picking up the stone, wiping the liquid off the stone, and putting it back down on the remaining amount of liquid still on the hemisphere.
- When the spot is no longer than three scale divisions, the head should be moved up and down the scale. The spot will go from dark to light as you move your head down the scale. The point should be found where the spot appears exactly half light and half dark. This is where the reading is made.
- Sometimes the spot changes so quickly from dark to light that the half position can not be seen. If it is dark at 1.58 and light at 1.60, the refractive index can be estimated at about 1.59.
The readings obtained using the spot method may be unclear and hazy. This may be due to the stone being poorly polished. In order to insure that the reading will be as sharp and clear as possible, it is good idea to examine the stone carefully to find the smoothest and best polished area. Then, that area should be put in contact with the hemisphere instead of a dull or scratched area. This will make a big difference in the accuracy of the initial reading. The first thing to do is to remove some liquid to sharpen the division. If the reading is still unclear then a rough estimate must be made, keeping in mind that it will only be accurate to plus or minus a few scale divisions.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Everything Is Miscellaneous
This concept may work wonders in the gem and jewelry industry if executed appropriately.
(via Emergic) Rajesh Jain writes:
I have followed David Weinberger's blog for a long time. So, it was natural to want to read his new book “Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder.” David's two previous books include “The Cluetrain Manifesto” (as co-author) and “Small Pieces Loosely Joined.”
From the book's inside flap:
Human beings are information omnivores: we are constantly collecting, labeling, and organizing data. But today, the shift from the physical to the digital is mixing, burning, and ripping our lives apart. In the past, everything had its one place--the physical world demanded it--but now everything has its places: multiple categories, multiple shelves. Simply put, everything is suddenly miscellaneous.
In Everything Is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger charts the new principles of digital order that are remaking business, education, politics, science, and culture. In his rollicking tour of the rise of the miscellaneous, he examines why the Dewey decimal system is stretched to the breaking point, how Rand McNally decides what information not to include in a physical map (and why Google Earth is winning that battle), how Staples stores emulate online shopping to increase sales, why your children’s teachers will stop having them memorize facts, and how the shift to digital music stands as the model for the future in virtually every industry. Finally, he shows how by "going miscellaneous," anyone can reap rewards from the deluge of information in modern work and life.
From A to Z, Everything Is Miscellaneous will completely reshape the way you think--and what you know--about the world.
This is what David wrote in an essay on Amazon:
As businesses go miscellaneous, information gets chopped into smaller and smaller pieces. But it also escapes its leash--adding to a pile that can be sorted and arranged by anyone with a Web browser and a Net connection. In fact, information exhibits bird-like "flocking behavior," joining with other information that adds value to it, creating swarms that help customers and, ultimately, the businesses from which the information initially escaped.
For example, Wize.com is a customer review site founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Doug Baker. The site provides reviews for everything from computers and MP3 players to coffee makers and baby strollers. But why do we need another place for reviews? If you’re using the Web to research what digital camera to buy for your father-in-law, you probably feel there are far too many sites out there already. By the time you have scrolled through one store’s customer reviews for each candidate camera and then cross-referenced the positive and the negative with the expert reviews at each of your bookmarked consumer magazines, you have to start the process again just to remember what people said. Wize in fact aims at exactly that problem. It pulls together reviews from many outside sources and aggregates them into three piles: user reviews, expert reviews (with links to the online publications), and the general "buzz." (For shoppers looking for a quick read on a product, Wize assigns an overall ranking.) When Wize reports that 97 percent of users love the Nikon D200 camera, it includes links to the online stores where the user reviews are posted, so customers are driven back to the businesses to spend their money.
Wize...[makes] money by selling advertising, but their value is in the way their sites aggregate the miscellaneous--letting lots of independent sources flock together, all in one place. We’re seeing the same trend in industry after industry, including music, travel, and the news media. Information gets released into the wild (sometimes against a company’s will), where it joins up with other information, and the act of aggregating adds value. Companies lose some control, but they gain market presence and smarter customers. The companies that are succeeding in the new digital skies are the ones that allow their customers to add their own information and the aggregators to mix it up, because whether or not information wants to be free, it sure wants to flock.
(via Emergic) Rajesh Jain writes:
I have followed David Weinberger's blog for a long time. So, it was natural to want to read his new book “Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder.” David's two previous books include “The Cluetrain Manifesto” (as co-author) and “Small Pieces Loosely Joined.”
From the book's inside flap:
Human beings are information omnivores: we are constantly collecting, labeling, and organizing data. But today, the shift from the physical to the digital is mixing, burning, and ripping our lives apart. In the past, everything had its one place--the physical world demanded it--but now everything has its places: multiple categories, multiple shelves. Simply put, everything is suddenly miscellaneous.
In Everything Is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger charts the new principles of digital order that are remaking business, education, politics, science, and culture. In his rollicking tour of the rise of the miscellaneous, he examines why the Dewey decimal system is stretched to the breaking point, how Rand McNally decides what information not to include in a physical map (and why Google Earth is winning that battle), how Staples stores emulate online shopping to increase sales, why your children’s teachers will stop having them memorize facts, and how the shift to digital music stands as the model for the future in virtually every industry. Finally, he shows how by "going miscellaneous," anyone can reap rewards from the deluge of information in modern work and life.
From A to Z, Everything Is Miscellaneous will completely reshape the way you think--and what you know--about the world.
This is what David wrote in an essay on Amazon:
As businesses go miscellaneous, information gets chopped into smaller and smaller pieces. But it also escapes its leash--adding to a pile that can be sorted and arranged by anyone with a Web browser and a Net connection. In fact, information exhibits bird-like "flocking behavior," joining with other information that adds value to it, creating swarms that help customers and, ultimately, the businesses from which the information initially escaped.
For example, Wize.com is a customer review site founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Doug Baker. The site provides reviews for everything from computers and MP3 players to coffee makers and baby strollers. But why do we need another place for reviews? If you’re using the Web to research what digital camera to buy for your father-in-law, you probably feel there are far too many sites out there already. By the time you have scrolled through one store’s customer reviews for each candidate camera and then cross-referenced the positive and the negative with the expert reviews at each of your bookmarked consumer magazines, you have to start the process again just to remember what people said. Wize in fact aims at exactly that problem. It pulls together reviews from many outside sources and aggregates them into three piles: user reviews, expert reviews (with links to the online publications), and the general "buzz." (For shoppers looking for a quick read on a product, Wize assigns an overall ranking.) When Wize reports that 97 percent of users love the Nikon D200 camera, it includes links to the online stores where the user reviews are posted, so customers are driven back to the businesses to spend their money.
Wize...[makes] money by selling advertising, but their value is in the way their sites aggregate the miscellaneous--letting lots of independent sources flock together, all in one place. We’re seeing the same trend in industry after industry, including music, travel, and the news media. Information gets released into the wild (sometimes against a company’s will), where it joins up with other information, and the act of aggregating adds value. Companies lose some control, but they gain market presence and smarter customers. The companies that are succeeding in the new digital skies are the ones that allow their customers to add their own information and the aggregators to mix it up, because whether or not information wants to be free, it sure wants to flock.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Opal Cat’s Eye Triplet
Cat’s eye opals are not chatoyant in the ordinary sense of the word. Instead the eye is simply a single streak of color across the stone due to parallel fault planes within the opal. The material is normally made into triplets as the quartz dome magnifies the effect.
The New Friends Of De Beers
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the perception of De Beer's Chairman/Managing Director by the local establishment press + the chain of events + the new concept of State Diamond Trader + the new way of doing business + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=27042
US$10m For A Rock In A Bay
I have known David Glickman for nearly two decades, and he is a unique + one-of-a-kind gem dealer in Bangkok, Thailand. He has a good sense of humor; I would call him the Woody Allen of the gem and jewelry business. I wish him all the best of luck finding a buyer for his island.
(via AP) Nation writes:
If you have ever wanted to own a piece of San Francisco Bay, now is your chance. Red Rock, the only privately owned island in the bay, is up for sale. But it is well beyond most pocketbooks.
David Glickman, a Bangkok-based gems dealer and attorney, wants US$10 million (Bt346 million) for the 5.8-acre, uninhabited island in the shadow of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
"It's time to sell. I'm not going to live much longer. I'm almost 78. My wife is Thai, highly educated, and I'd like to leave her in good finances," Glickman said.
Red Rock Island, which gets its name from the reddish-brown color of its soil, was privately purchased in the 1920s. After a few owners, Glickman, then practicing law in San Francisco, bought it sight unseen in 1964 for $49,500.
It is located about 13 kilometers north of San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf at a point where the San Francisco, Marin and Contra Costa counties converge.
"At the time, I thought I'd sell it. The island has a good spot for a marina, and it's in the bay, so the marina would be useful," he said. "But each time I thought I was going to sell it, something happened to make it worth more money."
Settled for good in Thailand, Glickman has so far refused to drop the asking price or consider donating it for conservation purposes.
More info @ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/06/20/headlines/headlines_30037353.php
(via AP) Nation writes:
If you have ever wanted to own a piece of San Francisco Bay, now is your chance. Red Rock, the only privately owned island in the bay, is up for sale. But it is well beyond most pocketbooks.
David Glickman, a Bangkok-based gems dealer and attorney, wants US$10 million (Bt346 million) for the 5.8-acre, uninhabited island in the shadow of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
"It's time to sell. I'm not going to live much longer. I'm almost 78. My wife is Thai, highly educated, and I'd like to leave her in good finances," Glickman said.
Red Rock Island, which gets its name from the reddish-brown color of its soil, was privately purchased in the 1920s. After a few owners, Glickman, then practicing law in San Francisco, bought it sight unseen in 1964 for $49,500.
It is located about 13 kilometers north of San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf at a point where the San Francisco, Marin and Contra Costa counties converge.
"At the time, I thought I'd sell it. The island has a good spot for a marina, and it's in the bay, so the marina would be useful," he said. "But each time I thought I was going to sell it, something happened to make it worth more money."
Settled for good in Thailand, Glickman has so far refused to drop the asking price or consider donating it for conservation purposes.
More info @ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/06/20/headlines/headlines_30037353.php
The Dhandho Investor
I liked the book.
(via Emergic) Rajesh Jain writes:
I attended a talk by Mohnish Pabrai a few years ago in Mumbai. He spoke about his philosophy of investing, which has been heavily influenced by Warren Buffet. But there were also some unique perspectives that he had. Now, Mohnish has written a book that every investor and entrepreneur must read: “The Dhandho Investor.” The subtitle “The Low-Risk Value Method to High Returns” could as easily have been “Heads I win, Tails I don't lose much.”
From the book's inside flap:
All investors are told that if you want to earn high rates of returns, you must take on greater risk. Of course, the groundbreaking value investing strategies of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and Charlie Munger have shown that it is indeed possible to keep risk to a minimum while still making a reasonable profit. The Dhandho method takes their successful approach to investing one step further and shows how you can actually maximize rewards while minimizing risk.
Dhandho (pronounced dhun-doe), literally translated, means "endeavors that create wealth." In The Dhandho Investor, Mohnish Pabrai demonstrates how the powerful Dhandho capital allocation framework of India's business-savvy Patels can be successfully applied and replicated by individual value investors in the stock market. The Patels, a small ethnic group from India, first began arriving in the United States in the 1970s as refugees with little education or capital.
Today, they own over $40 billion in motel assets in the United States, pay over $725 million a year in taxes, and employ nearly a million people. How did this small, impoverished group come out of nowhere and end up accumulating such vast resources? The answer lies in their low-risk, high-return approach to business: Dhandho. This book will show you how to use that same technique to generate high returns in the stock market.
Pabrai's hedge funds, Pabrai Investment Funds, have outperformed all of the major indices and over 99% of other managed funds. $100,000 invested with Pabrai in 1999 was worth over $659,000 by 2006—an annualized return of over 28% after all fees and expenses. In this book, Pabrai distills the methods of Buffett, Graham, and Munger into a user-friendly approach applicable to individual investors. Combining their legendary investing wisdom with the business acumen of the Patels, Pabrai lays out the Dhandho framework in an easy-to-use format that will help any investor significantly improve on their results and soundly beat the markets—as well as most professionals.
BloggingStocks writes in a review:
The key concept to glean from this book is the difference between uncertainty and risk. According to Pabrai, most investors don't understand the difference. Risk means the chance of a loss of capital. Uncertainty is the range of different outcomes. So a stock may have high uncertainty but may not be risky, if no one knows what will happen but the worst case scenario would not results in a huge loss. According to Pabrai, these investments provide the greatest opportunities for investors.
The Dhandho Investor is pretty lean for an investment book --183 pages with fairly large type. Consequently, it's short on specifics. You won't really learn about how to analyze stocks. But that's fine. There are hundreds of books for that. But Monish Pabrai has presented a compelling way of looking at investing and decision-making in general, and reading this book will likely benefit any investor.
Here is an outline of Mohnish Pabrai's Dhandho Framework which he discusses in detail in the book:
- Invest in Existing Businesses
- Invest in Simple Businesses
- Invest in Distressed Businesses in Distressed Industries
- Invest in Businesses with Durable Models
- Few Bets, Big Bets, Infrequent Bets
- Fixate on Arbitrage
- Margin of Safety - Always
- Invest in Low-Risk, High-Uncertainty Businesses
- Invest in the Copycats rather than the Innovators
(via Emergic) Rajesh Jain writes:
I attended a talk by Mohnish Pabrai a few years ago in Mumbai. He spoke about his philosophy of investing, which has been heavily influenced by Warren Buffet. But there were also some unique perspectives that he had. Now, Mohnish has written a book that every investor and entrepreneur must read: “The Dhandho Investor.” The subtitle “The Low-Risk Value Method to High Returns” could as easily have been “Heads I win, Tails I don't lose much.”
From the book's inside flap:
All investors are told that if you want to earn high rates of returns, you must take on greater risk. Of course, the groundbreaking value investing strategies of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and Charlie Munger have shown that it is indeed possible to keep risk to a minimum while still making a reasonable profit. The Dhandho method takes their successful approach to investing one step further and shows how you can actually maximize rewards while minimizing risk.
Dhandho (pronounced dhun-doe), literally translated, means "endeavors that create wealth." In The Dhandho Investor, Mohnish Pabrai demonstrates how the powerful Dhandho capital allocation framework of India's business-savvy Patels can be successfully applied and replicated by individual value investors in the stock market. The Patels, a small ethnic group from India, first began arriving in the United States in the 1970s as refugees with little education or capital.
Today, they own over $40 billion in motel assets in the United States, pay over $725 million a year in taxes, and employ nearly a million people. How did this small, impoverished group come out of nowhere and end up accumulating such vast resources? The answer lies in their low-risk, high-return approach to business: Dhandho. This book will show you how to use that same technique to generate high returns in the stock market.
Pabrai's hedge funds, Pabrai Investment Funds, have outperformed all of the major indices and over 99% of other managed funds. $100,000 invested with Pabrai in 1999 was worth over $659,000 by 2006—an annualized return of over 28% after all fees and expenses. In this book, Pabrai distills the methods of Buffett, Graham, and Munger into a user-friendly approach applicable to individual investors. Combining their legendary investing wisdom with the business acumen of the Patels, Pabrai lays out the Dhandho framework in an easy-to-use format that will help any investor significantly improve on their results and soundly beat the markets—as well as most professionals.
BloggingStocks writes in a review:
The key concept to glean from this book is the difference between uncertainty and risk. According to Pabrai, most investors don't understand the difference. Risk means the chance of a loss of capital. Uncertainty is the range of different outcomes. So a stock may have high uncertainty but may not be risky, if no one knows what will happen but the worst case scenario would not results in a huge loss. According to Pabrai, these investments provide the greatest opportunities for investors.
The Dhandho Investor is pretty lean for an investment book --183 pages with fairly large type. Consequently, it's short on specifics. You won't really learn about how to analyze stocks. But that's fine. There are hundreds of books for that. But Monish Pabrai has presented a compelling way of looking at investing and decision-making in general, and reading this book will likely benefit any investor.
Here is an outline of Mohnish Pabrai's Dhandho Framework which he discusses in detail in the book:
- Invest in Existing Businesses
- Invest in Simple Businesses
- Invest in Distressed Businesses in Distressed Industries
- Invest in Businesses with Durable Models
- Few Bets, Big Bets, Infrequent Bets
- Fixate on Arbitrage
- Margin of Safety - Always
- Invest in Low-Risk, High-Uncertainty Businesses
- Invest in the Copycats rather than the Innovators
Tips For Online Privacy
(via Livemint) Reuters writes:
Here are 10 ways to keep personal information secure when online:
Favour common sense over technological solutions. Keep personal documents safe, preferably in a locked drawer. Shred bank statements, credit card slips and bills before throwing them away.
If it’s too good to be true, it is. Never open spam messages. Delete emails offering cash, free gifts or stock tips. Millions of spam messages are sent every day in an attempt to defraud computer users.
Basic prevention helps. Protect your computer against identity theft. Install security software to combat viruses, spyware and spam and keep it updated.
Know enough about your firewall, the barrier between the public Internet and a personal computer, to know when it is working and when it isn’t. Don’t worry about the geeky complexity of it all, just know it’s operating.
Beware of phishing, where criminals trick people into revealing personal or financial details, often by sending emails purporting to be from a bank. Never casually reply to requests for your personal financial details.
Keep your private email addresses secure. Consider using different email accounts for shopping, banking, friends and work. There are many free account providers.
Do not use the same password for different sites. Choose passwords with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use obvious passwords, such as your first name or “123456” and don’t write them down. To make it easier to remember, choose a basic root word and then rotate numbers.
Make online payments safely. Never enter a card number unless there is a padlock in the Web browser’s frame, rather than the Web page. The Web address should begin with https—the extra “s” stands for “secure”. Consider reserving one credit card for Web use or signing up for a separate online payment service such as PayPal.
Secure your wireless network at home and be wary when using public access points. Encrypt the connection to scramble communications over the network. Turn off the wireless network when you’re not using it.
Treat your laptop like cash—never leave it in a locked car or turn your back while using it in a public place. The same holds true for your cellphone: Lock your phone (and any passwords you keep on it) when not using it.
More info @ http://www.livemint.com/2007/06/20002638/Tips-for-online-privacy.html
Here are 10 ways to keep personal information secure when online:
Favour common sense over technological solutions. Keep personal documents safe, preferably in a locked drawer. Shred bank statements, credit card slips and bills before throwing them away.
If it’s too good to be true, it is. Never open spam messages. Delete emails offering cash, free gifts or stock tips. Millions of spam messages are sent every day in an attempt to defraud computer users.
Basic prevention helps. Protect your computer against identity theft. Install security software to combat viruses, spyware and spam and keep it updated.
Know enough about your firewall, the barrier between the public Internet and a personal computer, to know when it is working and when it isn’t. Don’t worry about the geeky complexity of it all, just know it’s operating.
Beware of phishing, where criminals trick people into revealing personal or financial details, often by sending emails purporting to be from a bank. Never casually reply to requests for your personal financial details.
Keep your private email addresses secure. Consider using different email accounts for shopping, banking, friends and work. There are many free account providers.
Do not use the same password for different sites. Choose passwords with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use obvious passwords, such as your first name or “123456” and don’t write them down. To make it easier to remember, choose a basic root word and then rotate numbers.
Make online payments safely. Never enter a card number unless there is a padlock in the Web browser’s frame, rather than the Web page. The Web address should begin with https—the extra “s” stands for “secure”. Consider reserving one credit card for Web use or signing up for a separate online payment service such as PayPal.
Secure your wireless network at home and be wary when using public access points. Encrypt the connection to scramble communications over the network. Turn off the wireless network when you’re not using it.
Treat your laptop like cash—never leave it in a locked car or turn your back while using it in a public place. The same holds true for your cellphone: Lock your phone (and any passwords you keep on it) when not using it.
More info @ http://www.livemint.com/2007/06/20002638/Tips-for-online-privacy.html
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Patch Adams
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
Hunter Patch Adams (Robin Williams): All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. It's hard to describe what I felt like then. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don't even know you're walking in circles. The heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. And the storm? The storm was all in my mind. Or as the poet Dante put it: In the middle of the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood, for I had lost the right path. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place.
Hunter Patch Adams (Robin Williams): All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. It's hard to describe what I felt like then. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don't even know you're walking in circles. The heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. And the storm? The storm was all in my mind. Or as the poet Dante put it: In the middle of the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood, for I had lost the right path. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place.
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