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Own a land in Moon!

My wife keeps complaining that I am not creative in my gifts to her. So for our wedding anniversary last November I wanted to gift her something out of the world. What more can be more befitting than few "Acres" of land in Moon as a gift.

Few weeks back I read in Ananda Vikatan magazine about sites in the Internet for you to buy lands in the moon. So I went to one of the sites LunarRepublic referred in the article. The site is supposed to be run by a Society based in USA which aims to promote moon exploration and space science. The society is not owned or sponsored by any government so its legality is definitely in doubt. According to a UN resolution, no nation or individual has rights over moon so technically speaking your claim over land in moon may not be valid in future. All said, I found the idea interesting and the idea certainly novel for a gift, so I went ahead and bought two "Acres" of land in Moon in an area called as Bay Of Rainbows (Sinus Iridium) at Rs.2940 (~ USD 32/Acre) in my wife’s name.  Today I got the certificate from USA brought from there by my co-worker coming to India.

I am going to give this to my wife in the evening and I am keeping my fingers crossed as to whether she will feel happy for this gift (or) I am going to get it royally from her for wasting Rs.2940 on something close to being a rip off :-)

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Registered claim of land in moon
Lunar-Republic-Satellite-Photo
Satellite image of the land I bought in moon

Anyways, the certificate (shown above) and the satellite image make me feel I got my worth for the money I paid!

Update: When I gave it to my wife, it was more of an anti-climax. The response from her was neutral & cold. I wish I had used the money on some "worldly" items.

Ray Ozzie will be at Mix ’08

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Just like last two years, this year too I will be going for Mix ’08. Now in its third year, MIX is a good opportunity for hearing about cutting-edge web technology, creative and business strategists all in one place and in an informal style. That’s why I think it is worth for me to spend few thousands grands and a travel that will take me half-way around the world to attend Mix in Las Vegas.

It was told earlier that Steve Ballmer alone will be doing the keynote this year, so I was left thinking so it will be only “English” & “Business” talk with no new technology announcements. In a way of addressing my concern, Microsoft yesterday announced that Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie will join Scott Guthrie on stage as a keynote speaker at MIX08. Ray is expected to outline Microsoft’s progress card on their investments on the web platform, Silverlight & IE. Stay Tuned!