Lens

Some time back, I was recalling what Sabeer Bhatia had observed when his much hyped Aarzoo had to see the end of the road- “I do not want to put $1 from my pocket to keep it alive”. Well, this was from a person who had made quite a deal from Microsoft for his Hotmail.

It might be just business in that case, but it applies to any context. The moment we stop enjoying, we better stop doing it. Those who understand this, like top blogger Kiruba , puts it to practice. And he quits blogging.

Rashmi had come up with a neat post about friendship. She gets the word right “effortless“.

Back to the end-of-the road stuff. As long as something is effortless, it remains enjoyable. If we require to put an ounce of effort, then it is because, either it is no longer interesting or it has become(is) a necessity. Unless it is the latter, there is no point in bearing the burden. There have been instances of writers, painters discontinuing their years of work, or even destroying their earlier work. You call it burn-out, you call it end. Just let it go.

I have experienced this many times, that things seize to be what they were. Like the death of a pet. It is over. It was all nice. Was.

Kiruba might just have posted it for April 1st. Just may be. Or might not be. In either case, as they say, life goes on. Aaj yahan, kal kahin aur.

Wow…finally I have installed a Linux Os on this system. Even though I had heard a lot about SimplyMepis by the pros, it could not detect the graphics for me. Installation, graphics, sound, modem have always been an issue for new users - I am a new user from 6 years . Add to that, this time SATA support was also an issue.
I have installed Ubuntu downloaded from here. The installation asked comparitively fewer questions, infact no-brainers. I was happy to see it decide what to install and proceed with the complete installation !
Next graphics…no probs here. Sound…I am installing mp3 player now, the default one does not play mp3 files. Got good help here.
Internet, it could not install my internal modem. But I didn’t waste much time on it since ethernet connection was easier to set up (and am currently logged on using the same connection!). I somehow feel the browsing is slower that it is in Windows
But it took infinite amount of time (or did it hang–I mean Linux hangs??) to mount my sata drive :((. The fact that it could recognise the drive means it should be able to mount it as well, but somehow it stops responding. Hope I get some help on the net.

That is it for now, have to explore a lot. Good Sunday afternoon instead of usual sleep routine !!

These days I am picking up the skills of interview I guess. I am speaking in journo lingo. I feel I have certain qualities that would make me a good interviewer. I feel good interviewer should :

As an example today I spoke to Deva for quite a long time. He is our seniour colleague(5 yrs), highly talented and experienced engineer. He spoke about the current trends in the industry, his concerns for immediate future, his ideas that are feasible, pieces that are missing, the actions that are necessary, possible risks and advantages in the market, anticipation of change etc. His way of looking at things is quite different from ours and I thus wanted to get a feel of his thoughts. In the flurry of his words, conclusions were often difficult. I had to cut him short sometimes.
Overall I understood lot of things and it was a good experience as an interviewer also.

This was the movie I saw a few days back…actually its title is longer than I have mentioned in the title, a reference to a certain colony which bears little or no significance to the story line. I saw this movie because couple of blogs mentioned about it, and also because Nbk got the CD. These thoughts are not on my movie blog because I am not evaluating the entire movie, just the story.
It goes like this: Hero is almost a fighter, and a typical middle class man with lower middle class values. He sees heroine. Continues to see her. Goes everywhere she goes. Stares at her. Continues to stare at her. Even after she is uncomfortable, continues to stare and follow her. Goes and falls on her in the bus. Chooses bus to give chain and errr the bus stops. Something happens and she slaps him with her shoes. Continues to follow her. Offers help. Continues to offer help even if she refuses. Continues to follow her. Continues to stare at her. She is engaged. But he continues his effort. Finally she gives in. But why? why ? why? Is it because he says “I do whatever I feel like. I don’t give flowers, cards. But I am honest” (and I will continue to stalk you??) She even tries to reform her. And another few scenes the movie ends.
I never really got to know if the movie was progressing at all. I have seen repetitive themes in movies, but repetitive scenes ?? I am really clueless about the element that has made this movie popular (if it has become). It would be interesting to know if any girl dare say she likes the movie.
Moral to the youth : “Perseverance pays” is the only theme on which movie seems to be based. Or probably “Try try until you succeed”. Only sad thing is the approach.

During school days/ college days after vacation my fellow friends were disappointed and bored at the thought of getting back to school or college. I used to pity the weeping kids being dragged to schools by their mothers on the first day of reopening. I used to wonder about the difference in reaction by me and others to the same event. I would have easily been bored with holidays and would be looking forward for the new class, new teachers, possibly new faces, new subjects and the joy of starting all over again, fresh.

Looks like I am having a delayed childhood.

Whoa !! Just a day after I thought this blog has limited readership, I am proved wrong ! Surprisingly, Swaroop, Pradeep came to know that I have written a post on people that feauters their names and left their comments !! I guess this should be the work of technocrati. The result ? My post was included in Swaroop’s own blog mela !! What a timing of my post and what a content !

On the other hand, I should be more conscious now How I wish I had disagreed with this lady, who after posting many posts about the freedom of speech, has obligations to men’s imagination itself I am way too disinterested in an argument, and thus am not linking to her blog.

In a related context, this makes an interesting read.

Biographies and auto bio threw open the lives of people. That was limited accessibility. Not anymore. Thanks to blogging, we can follow some people live. Here are few people whose blogs I read and admire them:

First on the list is Kalyan. Managed server in college, gives speeches on Linux, wrote articles to magazines, got into Yahoo!, takes a sabbatical after 3 years, looses camera, buys a new one partly with the help of donations from friends, does a photography course, becomes full time photographer, continues his consultancy, had an offer for research at IISc, becomes a naturalist, celebrates his birthday in jungle, allows a miami cruise contract to pass, shoots wow pics in jungle, blogs from jungle, gets abducted into monkey kingdom, experiences once in a life time event etc. His posts are just too entertaining. It is a very good experience to follow the life of a man who is doing what he wants to. For any normal post of his, the comments are near half century.

Next, is Pradeep . Did work at few places, but always knows what he wants to do and where he is heading. Highly technical, has a web-site since almost a decade, a passionate open source follower, a voracious reader, delivers talks at conferences, writes articles to leading publications, can speak on anything at any length, movie-theater lover. The more I provoked him the more I got to learn, thats how I remember him! If I want to know something about an open source technology, all I should do is just bash about that in front of him

Swaroop. Wrote a book on python, roams around to give lectures on python, has plans for hobby project, has a blog that is bookmarked by anyone and everyone and has the simplest bio-data I have seen.

There are few others whose life has amused me. I will write at an appropriate time.

Shares. Blogs. Two things all over my mind (currently).

And I stumble upon this site. ‘Virtual’ trading of blogs !! This is height !

Remember the good old board game of Money? Virtual bank that gave money to start business. Buying cities (metros-which didnt include Blore- were costly that time), building bunglows, renting bunglows, giving/taking loan … The game could go on endlessly and taught small business tactics like optimising, taking chance, playing safe, playing tricks !

The news of googler being fired for blogging about google is still fresh in the minds, here comes the extinction of Mediaah. Sad.

I am afraid . And that’s the reason I put the blue ribbon in my site the moment I came across it. But I feel, my opinions are no where explicit!

More on mediaah:
But whole of blogosphere seems to be talking seriously about it and have waged a huge war against the biggie. View and Counter view (Hey, this man has same name as mine, is a piscean, uses wordpress -as I would do shortly). The posts that were removed at Mediaah already re-appears here . You can kill a man but not an idea.

There are two things : Interesting and Important.
Watching cricket is interesting. Washing vehicle and stinky shoes is important.
Reading blogs is interesting. Updating technical skills is important.

One of the presentation tips is to “Define audience”. I have absolutely no clue who is reading this blog, if at all someone is (except those regular good people). I understand that blogging is not ‘presenting’ and I continue writing things like these and others that appeal to me and at a frequency that suits me. But in case, you need to say something, do comment.

Few of my colleagues would require an explanation of the meaning of blog, whose limits I am only not sure of, and they look at me when I mention the word as if I am talking the internal politics of Czechoslovakia and I will end up making an easier face of “blogging-is-no-big-deal-and-i-dont-know-how-and-why-i-should-explain-to-u”.
My fellow college mates require a trigger everytime to bring them here, and I am in no mood to publicize my blog (You are reading what I mean).

I blog because it is good and I shall try to follow these rules.

My existence on earth completes its 24 years today !! Happy birthday to me Thanks for all those who wished me.

I have taken one week off and am sitting at home. Lot of people expressed their surprise over I doing nothing with the leave. I am just relaxing. Thats a lot of work, you see
Last time I had taken off was an year ago. That shows how healthy and efficient I am Also, I lookup dictionary for the meaning of on-bench

There are lot of things that I can do and time still needs to be managed well using my priority principle.

I have done a bit of wordpress, and maintaining a site parrallely. More on this later. Also, http://wakeup.to/sunshines brings you to this blog. Big deal.

I helped pollination of few vanila flowers. It is delicate work to peel the flower, lift and place pollen grain on stigma. We had just grown it for curiousity and fun. But is a strong source of economy for few farmers.

Vanila, the scent used in icecreams, looks like beans. Costly crop it is, for a kg costed 5k in its prime. The processed (dried etc) would cost 5-6 times more. This crop gave rise to lot of thefts and animosity between neighbours near Shimoga, Chickmagalur. Now the market is not in its prime; the reason being few bad quality output by some of the farmers have given a bad name to Indian crop in general.

Our house is being painted. I got confused over the options of colours to paint my room. I delayed my decision; Finally gave a nod to Pink.

Few things are happening in my sorroundings!! Pavan is leaving and so no one will monitor my mails now All the best Pavan! Ramakanth got engaged and now he blabbers about his girl his future etc. Its a welcome relief from his earlier blabbering about ‘jagging’. All the best Ramakanth, may you have a wonderful life ahead.
Sudhakar has quit, to pursue his higher studies. All the best man! May you succeed in your efforts and achieve your goals!

My place has changed. I have selected a corner place which is almost like a cubicle and was used only by PMs earlier. A lonely spacious place with the window next to me has already become envious possession. As somebody said, I really know how to be happy with small things.

“Don’t tell the world what you can do. Show it. Greatest forces in nature are silent. Electricity has no noise. Heat is dumb” This quote has moved from my bedroom to office cubicle out of need.

One good news : I withdrew from BEC :))

Few plans cancelled on sunday and left with unplanned void…
2-3 missed calls from a number unidentified! Not bothered to call back or to message. I am plain bored of unidentified messages and missed calls.
A message from the same number.
Hi
Further conversations are here for you…
Hi, who are you
K:I am karen doing my 2nd pyej at jnc..was bored so just flicked thru a no and got urs..Wanna be frendz
Rk:I dont mind but i am more comfortable in emails! Whats pyej? Ur full name ? U can call me
kiran
K:hey dat wud be a prob..i wud prefer sms…Pyej stands for psyc eng n journo..N can u tell me about urself
Rk:i work in it industry. Where do you stay? How do I pronounce your name? R u a boy?
(2-3 missed calls before i finish typing and a msg- missed calls kept happening before i cud send the reply)
K:Why r u takin so long to reply ?
Rk:Mobil typin is slow. What do you want to know about me
K:I am a gal. How do i tell how to pronounce my name
K:R u a gal?
Rk:Using some other similar familiar names
Rk:I am a boy!
K:K ka is like cat n ren sounds like rin..is dat k ?
(-In between I wanted to check with my friend whether this girl is the same whom he is meeting…bcoz psy and journo sounded familiar..and was curious how she got my num…–
So this message was typed to my friend(N):
“If u dont mind give me her num. Dont worry i wont use it. By the way we need to name ur gal.”
And by mistake- yes by mistake- I sent this msg to ‘K’ !!! Later sent it to N also)
Rk: Ok fine! not very clear but ok. By the way i think i sent a message not intended to u
K:Wat was that all about?
Rk:Sorry I am chattin with my another friend
(need to clean few sms for lack of space..just fwded few to some friends…)
K:Yeah right ..got confused …so wat ya doin? tell me how old r u? N wat r u basically..Where did u study and stuff like that…
Rk:I am 23yrs young! Studied engineering. I like watchin movies,readin,computer,emailing. U tell me about u. give me some time to reply Do u chat like this whenver u get bored?
K:K me am 19 like listening to music dancin n readin n playin basket ball..Actually today all my friends are busy no one is free to msg so fluked ur no. So how do you look ?
Rk:Ppl say I am fat. I am not that concerned. I look confident and serious-but I make good fun. I wear specs..Huh this was like answering an interview question. I dont like talkin about myself:( u can tell me about ur looks. wat do you do in free time..So you will only chat with me only till ur friends r busy? Dont u use email ?
K:yeah..i tlak to strangers only when my frendz r busy n if u become my frend den dat wud be cool n i use an email..can u send me ur pic?
Rk:U didnt tell me how u look. Give me ur email address. U can also see my blog for my pic.
K:I am fat short dark n ugly. Im not kidding n in my free time i read..im being very honest
Rk:What do you read ? Not giving me ur email id ?
K:a_demont @ ..
(I meanwhile sent another sms to N…”I was just wondering what wud have happened if u met a short dark fat or ugly girl ??”)
Rk:Whats that id mean..And r u a Christian ?
K: I am …N its a secret
Rk:Ur id is a secret ? Give me some hints.
K:Why do u wanna know it has something to do wid my devilish ways..
Rk:DEVILISH WAYS ?? r u a part of secret society ??
(N shot back -” whats happenin 2 u? Idle mind in (-shud be ‘is’) devils workshop. Dont sms all these things. my sis always reads my sms, i was there with her when u sent sms….”
I replied-”Dude u r also talkin about devils?? I am chattin with a devil. Details later…’)
K:Yes I am…n do u wanna join our society..?
K:V r lookin out 4 a manager 4 our society
Rk:I am not interested in managing ur society! I am getting scared got some work, will catch up with u later.
K:Hey,I was jus jokin…N k..Cya later ..have a nice day
Rk:u too have a nice day…i really was scared:( and u will believe me
K:Hmmm never mind Nway cya take care bye
****
Update : Next day I came across a matching email id in a fwd. Asked Vasanth to get the hotmail id of that person.

Two beneficial matches for Tsunami victims - I had groaned at the news. Can’t our players give a part (small part) of what they have already earned ? I mean, do I get to earn a day extra and paid extra so that I can donate? Or do I just keep aside a part of my earning? And we all know the difference in the impact of my donation and their donations.

But the optimist in me consoled me telling this - not only players donate, if they play lot of audience also donate. Also the amount collected from advt/sponsorships etc is enormous in any scale compared to individual donations by players. I said Ok.

Lot of publicity happened for the matches with reports and summary covering half a page of newspaper.One match played. Lot - *LOT* of money collected. Tsunami wave died down. Other match cancelled. Rs 1 crore donated. News item appeared in a corner.

This was one of the best things that I did in between my tight work schedule. Taking my time off during the compilation of our software, I attended python meet that was held at Thought works office. Pradeep keeps talking about Python, I didn’t want to loose an opppurtunity to learn its basics. It was nice to meet people from various companies to do tech hobby! One person expressed with out expressing, his displeasure due to his outsourcing” to blore. Imagine you being sent on site and paid less than what you get now:-/ But his knowledge and hold on the language was well visible. I could understand most part of the talks, but was clean bowled during FP and generator expressions As noted by one, lot of good things are happening in blore! It was a good evening but I havent been able to learn a bit after that. I have downloaded the Swaroop’s book and software but hands-on is yet to happen.

FP looked very attractive! I realised that I used Fp without knowing that it is Fp in Matlab..Or am I missing something here ?