As of tomorrow, the earth would have revolved around the sun 2007 times since mankind decided to start keeping count of how many times this happens.
If 2006 has been a bad year, it's time to tell yourself, "the past is past, the future is what I can control and it's the only thing I choose to focus on now" as is the popular tradition, even though this little act can be done any time, any day. But hey, it's always better to do it when billions of other people are doing it.
A little prayer comes to mind when I think of "looking forward" to a better future, which is this:
"Lord, Give us the POWER
To CHANGE What we CAN Change
To ACCEPT What we CANNOT Change
And the WISDOM To Differentiate Between the Two. "
Armed with this power and wisdom within, let us create the 2007 that we desire...
Here's wishing all the readers a Great New Year 2007. A 2007 of realization, positive changes and above all, Happiness.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
My New Year Resolutions
As 2007 inches closer, it's time to make our new year's resolutions. I have made the following resolutions for new year:
1. To cultivate DISCIPLINE. I have had many dreams in the past which would all have come true if I only had the discipline to make them happen. This year, I've decided that even if it takes the whole year to cultivate this, I will do what it takes. More specifically, I will follow through on the plans that I make for myself each day, and be true to my word.
Discipline is usually misconstrued as a LACK of freedom. But in order to realize our goals we all need it. Having one's dreams come true is real freedom, being chained to a reality that we don't desire, isn't freedom- it's utter slavery.
[Seriously, that is the only resolution.]
2. To always speak the truth and never use bad words....
A mother-f***ing dog ate the rest of this blog.
1. To cultivate DISCIPLINE. I have had many dreams in the past which would all have come true if I only had the discipline to make them happen. This year, I've decided that even if it takes the whole year to cultivate this, I will do what it takes. More specifically, I will follow through on the plans that I make for myself each day, and be true to my word.
Discipline is usually misconstrued as a LACK of freedom. But in order to realize our goals we all need it. Having one's dreams come true is real freedom, being chained to a reality that we don't desire, isn't freedom- it's utter slavery.
[Seriously, that is the only resolution.]
2. To always speak the truth and never use bad words....
A mother-f***ing dog ate the rest of this blog.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
The Precision Model
It doesn’t take a genius to realize the power words have. Words can make people laugh, they can motivate, they can inspire, etc… But there are times when our words can hurt other people. This happens especially when opinions and judgments are stated as facts, especially to someone who feels very strongly otherwise.
Is there a way of communicating so that you never ever hurt other people? Is there a framework/model that can help us pay sufficient attention to details, without losing track of ourselves? Yes, there is: it’s called the precision model.
In order to communicate with absolute precision, the following points need to be taken care of:
1. Universals: Whenever we use words such as All, Every, Always, Never, etc. we might be generalizing too much. E.g. All kids are irritating. A statement like that could really hurt a person who loves kids. We must stop ourselves and ask whether we’re stating a fact. All kids? Really? Then we can simply correct ourselves as appropriate.
2. Restrictive words: Words like Can’t, Shouldn’t, Must, Should, etc…should always be accompanied by relevant reasons. E.g. You shouldn’t ever open up electronic devices. Corrected to: You shouldn’t open up electronic devices unless you know how the parts fit together, or at least the parts you’re removing.
3. Verbs: We can get a lot more precision with verbs by answering the question “How specifically?” E.g. The eight of us went to a hotel. à The eight of us went to a hotel on two cars- an omni and an 800, driven by their respective owners.
4. Nouns: Just like with the verbs, we can get extra precision here by simply answering “Who or what specifically?” It always pays to have that extra precision. Now for the most important part of the precision model:
5. Judgments and Opinions: Any sort of judgment: Good, Bad, This sucks, This blows, Cool, Great, etc…can really hurt people who feel strongly otherwise. E.g. The Java IDEs suck. That statement hurts people who love Java. These opinions, if you really want to avoid hurting people, must always be accompanied by who made that judgment. Always answer “According to whom?” when passing a judgment. In our example, the corrected form is: I feel that Java’s Eclipse IDE without plug-ins is very powerless. As you can see, the new corrected version is a much safer statement to make.
I’ve been hurt many times in the past by people making statements like the examples above. And unknowingly, I’ve hurt many people with such non-precise statements. You can find them even in some of my blogs. I sincerely apologize for any such statements and the effect they may have had on you.
I hope this precision model that we’ve learnt together helps us improve in our everyday communications. If you have anything to add to the precision model, please share it in the comments section. Let us always:
COMMUNICATE WITH PRECISION
Is there a way of communicating so that you never ever hurt other people? Is there a framework/model that can help us pay sufficient attention to details, without losing track of ourselves? Yes, there is: it’s called the precision model.
In order to communicate with absolute precision, the following points need to be taken care of:
1. Universals: Whenever we use words such as All, Every, Always, Never, etc. we might be generalizing too much. E.g. All kids are irritating. A statement like that could really hurt a person who loves kids. We must stop ourselves and ask whether we’re stating a fact. All kids? Really? Then we can simply correct ourselves as appropriate.
2. Restrictive words: Words like Can’t, Shouldn’t, Must, Should, etc…should always be accompanied by relevant reasons. E.g. You shouldn’t ever open up electronic devices. Corrected to: You shouldn’t open up electronic devices unless you know how the parts fit together, or at least the parts you’re removing.
3. Verbs: We can get a lot more precision with verbs by answering the question “How specifically?” E.g. The eight of us went to a hotel. à The eight of us went to a hotel on two cars- an omni and an 800, driven by their respective owners.
4. Nouns: Just like with the verbs, we can get extra precision here by simply answering “Who or what specifically?” It always pays to have that extra precision. Now for the most important part of the precision model:
5. Judgments and Opinions: Any sort of judgment: Good, Bad, This sucks, This blows, Cool, Great, etc…can really hurt people who feel strongly otherwise. E.g. The Java IDEs suck. That statement hurts people who love Java. These opinions, if you really want to avoid hurting people, must always be accompanied by who made that judgment. Always answer “According to whom?” when passing a judgment. In our example, the corrected form is: I feel that Java’s Eclipse IDE without plug-ins is very powerless. As you can see, the new corrected version is a much safer statement to make.
I’ve been hurt many times in the past by people making statements like the examples above. And unknowingly, I’ve hurt many people with such non-precise statements. You can find them even in some of my blogs. I sincerely apologize for any such statements and the effect they may have had on you.
I hope this precision model that we’ve learnt together helps us improve in our everyday communications. If you have anything to add to the precision model, please share it in the comments section. Let us always:
COMMUNICATE WITH PRECISION
Saturday, December 23, 2006
My Treat Day
Once upon a time (2006), there was a guy named Swaroop Murthy. He was tall, average looking with average intelligence, below average people skills and below average salary, but he had such remarkably great hair. And his blogs were really good- they were a reliable source of entertainment to over 400 people, except for that intellect-devoid girl in his cubicle. Swaroop kept waiting for the time when she would stop talking so much, so that her brains could get a chance to develop. But that never did happen.
At that same time, there was a girl somewhere whose long hair, hourglass figure, firm breasts and beautiful expressive face came together in such a mind blowing package, that it was hard to describe her in words. It would be wrong for professional writers like us to say that things cannot be described in words. She was just like the heroines in those other novels. (By a strange coincidence, her name is Heroine.) And just like other novels, her only purpose in the story is to have firm breasts.
One day (Dec 17), Swaroop decided to give a treat to all of his closest friends from the college days- they were seven in number, the reason being his company posting him in Bangalore. For the sake of not filling up this entry with descriptions of a bunch of GUYS, we shall not describe them. Suffice to say, the eight of them were a fun group. It was hard for them to decide a place to go, because of Swaroop’s budget, which he explained with one line- “If God wanted me to throw generous treats, He would not have put me in TCS.”
After much debating and compromising, the eight of them came to the conclusion that they would go to a place called Hotel Vaishnavi, for lunch. They went on the long drive through Kanakpura Road on two cars, Pavan’s Omni and Chethan’s 800, both of which were driven by their respective owners because no one else cared to ask. Once there, they all enjoyed a great lunch, in spite of the budget, and even managed to get a little drunk with a stupid drink called Bacardi Breezer that tastes even more pathetic than beer itself.
After that, Pavan suggested that we go towards the nearby Bannerghata forest area to a watch tower on top of a hill. The rest of them didn’t know what they were saying “yes” to because they were drunk. So they ended up going there. After a long, hard climb they reached the watch tower- a frail metallic structure that has somehow survived many years of rain, wind, lightnings, and get this: Government Maintenance. They went atop four at a time, with Pavan and Abhishek in separate groups for safety reasons. They really enjoyed the place although Abhishek pointed out that it wasn’t worth the effort. Having enjoyed the place till sunset and having captured many cool photos (Click Here for Swaroop’s), the group returned to the cars and drove back towards home.
During the return journey, they took a turn towards the newly constructed express highway that connects directly to Mysore Road. It was exhilarating for them to drive through that highway- there were no speed limits so they crossed 120 kmph on their cars. After crossing the 14 km in less than six minutes, they stopped to describe to each other how great it was. Things like those, we’re sorry to say, just cannot be described in words. You just had to be there.
Then, when they continued driving towards home they came across the college they had all studied in- R.V College of Engineering. They did what they’d wanted to do for more than four years- drive past it at more than 90kmph. It was like a dream come true.
Pavan decided to stop at his company’s campus for food. It had been six hours since lunch but no one except Pavan felt hungry. They went there anyway because he was the one driving. Upon reaching that place, they realized that it was Sunday, and nothing was open. Pavan came up with the brilliant solution- “let’s just talk” and the rest of them agreed because there was nothing else to do. At this point we must assert that although Pavan seems to have a great influence on the group, Swaroop for some reason, is still the hero. The discussion they had was mainly about how much each of them remembered physics and chemistry. Pavan and Sudhi remembered a lot, Abhishek and Nithin remembered surprisingly less, Ketan, Chethi and Chintu safely avoided the discussion while Swaroop continued to be the hero.
They finally drove back home because it was getting late for dinner. Swaroop was really glad that the day of his treat turned out to be so great.
It’s been almost a week since then, and today, Dec 23rd is Pavan’s birthday and people keep telling us that we must dedicate this entry to someone. After much musing, we finally figured it out:
This, the longest entry thus far, is hereby dedicated to the Heroine with firm breasts.
At that same time, there was a girl somewhere whose long hair, hourglass figure, firm breasts and beautiful expressive face came together in such a mind blowing package, that it was hard to describe her in words. It would be wrong for professional writers like us to say that things cannot be described in words. She was just like the heroines in those other novels. (By a strange coincidence, her name is Heroine.) And just like other novels, her only purpose in the story is to have firm breasts.
One day (Dec 17), Swaroop decided to give a treat to all of his closest friends from the college days- they were seven in number, the reason being his company posting him in Bangalore. For the sake of not filling up this entry with descriptions of a bunch of GUYS, we shall not describe them. Suffice to say, the eight of them were a fun group. It was hard for them to decide a place to go, because of Swaroop’s budget, which he explained with one line- “If God wanted me to throw generous treats, He would not have put me in TCS.”
After much debating and compromising, the eight of them came to the conclusion that they would go to a place called Hotel Vaishnavi, for lunch. They went on the long drive through Kanakpura Road on two cars, Pavan’s Omni and Chethan’s 800, both of which were driven by their respective owners because no one else cared to ask. Once there, they all enjoyed a great lunch, in spite of the budget, and even managed to get a little drunk with a stupid drink called Bacardi Breezer that tastes even more pathetic than beer itself.
After that, Pavan suggested that we go towards the nearby Bannerghata forest area to a watch tower on top of a hill. The rest of them didn’t know what they were saying “yes” to because they were drunk. So they ended up going there. After a long, hard climb they reached the watch tower- a frail metallic structure that has somehow survived many years of rain, wind, lightnings, and get this: Government Maintenance. They went atop four at a time, with Pavan and Abhishek in separate groups for safety reasons. They really enjoyed the place although Abhishek pointed out that it wasn’t worth the effort. Having enjoyed the place till sunset and having captured many cool photos (Click Here for Swaroop’s), the group returned to the cars and drove back towards home.
During the return journey, they took a turn towards the newly constructed express highway that connects directly to Mysore Road. It was exhilarating for them to drive through that highway- there were no speed limits so they crossed 120 kmph on their cars. After crossing the 14 km in less than six minutes, they stopped to describe to each other how great it was. Things like those, we’re sorry to say, just cannot be described in words. You just had to be there.
Then, when they continued driving towards home they came across the college they had all studied in- R.V College of Engineering. They did what they’d wanted to do for more than four years- drive past it at more than 90kmph. It was like a dream come true.
Pavan decided to stop at his company’s campus for food. It had been six hours since lunch but no one except Pavan felt hungry. They went there anyway because he was the one driving. Upon reaching that place, they realized that it was Sunday, and nothing was open. Pavan came up with the brilliant solution- “let’s just talk” and the rest of them agreed because there was nothing else to do. At this point we must assert that although Pavan seems to have a great influence on the group, Swaroop for some reason, is still the hero. The discussion they had was mainly about how much each of them remembered physics and chemistry. Pavan and Sudhi remembered a lot, Abhishek and Nithin remembered surprisingly less, Ketan, Chethi and Chintu safely avoided the discussion while Swaroop continued to be the hero.
They finally drove back home because it was getting late for dinner. Swaroop was really glad that the day of his treat turned out to be so great.
It’s been almost a week since then, and today, Dec 23rd is Pavan’s birthday and people keep telling us that we must dedicate this entry to someone. After much musing, we finally figured it out:
This, the longest entry thus far, is hereby dedicated to the Heroine with firm breasts.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Kolkata Photos
I uploaded the Kolkata photos into a photostream:
Click Here and check out 'detail view'
There's also a "Sleepers Hall of Fame"- photos of people sleeping in the technical sessions.
Click Here
Click Here and check out 'detail view'
There's also a "Sleepers Hall of Fame"- photos of people sleeping in the technical sessions.
Click Here
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
My take on Competition
Category: Me trying to be all mature and philosophical...
Competition, when looked at from an outsider's perspective, can be a beautiful thing. (Of course, from the inside, it's always a pain to face competition.) Competition forces all of the players to increase their standards, thereby giving customers better quality and value for their money. Competition is nature's way of enforcing progress in this world.
We live in a world where the rules of the game can change overnight. For e.g.: In the '70s, Switzerland used to be the market leader in watches, with a strong hold of nearly 80%. People used to take great pride in owning a "Swiss Watch". That decade, they invented the digital watch. They immediately sold off the technology to the Japanese (a company named Seiko), because they thought, "This cannot possibly sell! It doesn't have any gears." Overnight, Japanese became market leaders, holding about 40% of the market, while Swiss watches have dropped to 15%.
So what does it take to stay ahead of competition?
For one thing, companies need to be constantly improving the quality of their products and services, and making daily improvements in all of their processes. This principle is called TQM- Total Quality Management. For another, companies must be able to anticipate problems, and take preventive action BEFORE they even happen. "The best time to solve a problem is before it actually happens."
This explains why DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation), a multi billion dollar corporation drowned overnight. They continuously improved and innovated, but they couldn't anticipate the ubiquity of PCs. DEC occupied the same place during the 80s that HP occupies today- 2nd largest computer corporation in the world. Which brings us to the grave realization- the companies we know and (in some cases) love, such as Google, Sun, Microsoft, HP, IBM, Oracle, etc. , could indeed drown overnight. That list isn't complete, and could well include the companies we work in.
As far as software technology goes, the beauty of OpenSource software, among other things, is that it's making the market leaders, Microsoft, struggle really hard just to stay exactly where they are (their stock hasn't gone up in 6 years). It's forcing Microsoft to create stuff like Windows Xp, Office 2007, etc. which are HUGE, HUGE improvements compared to their predecessors- and still not achieving much growth. How will they make people keep paying (big) for their software when they can as well get most of the features from open source providers- free?
Google has a long-term focused attitude- "let's create useful products and services, and think about monetizing later", which I believe will keep them ahead for decades to come. This policy really needs to be adopted by many companies.
From the outside, it's fun to watch these companies fight it out while we enjoy great new software. What this means for us, as individuals, is that we must not only have great plans for our lives but great 'Plan B's and 'Plan C's, etc.. as well. That way, no matter what happens- our dreams will always come true.
Competition, when looked at from an outsider's perspective, can be a beautiful thing. (Of course, from the inside, it's always a pain to face competition.) Competition forces all of the players to increase their standards, thereby giving customers better quality and value for their money. Competition is nature's way of enforcing progress in this world.
We live in a world where the rules of the game can change overnight. For e.g.: In the '70s, Switzerland used to be the market leader in watches, with a strong hold of nearly 80%. People used to take great pride in owning a "Swiss Watch". That decade, they invented the digital watch. They immediately sold off the technology to the Japanese (a company named Seiko), because they thought, "This cannot possibly sell! It doesn't have any gears." Overnight, Japanese became market leaders, holding about 40% of the market, while Swiss watches have dropped to 15%.
So what does it take to stay ahead of competition?
For one thing, companies need to be constantly improving the quality of their products and services, and making daily improvements in all of their processes. This principle is called TQM- Total Quality Management. For another, companies must be able to anticipate problems, and take preventive action BEFORE they even happen. "The best time to solve a problem is before it actually happens."
This explains why DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation), a multi billion dollar corporation drowned overnight. They continuously improved and innovated, but they couldn't anticipate the ubiquity of PCs. DEC occupied the same place during the 80s that HP occupies today- 2nd largest computer corporation in the world. Which brings us to the grave realization- the companies we know and (in some cases) love, such as Google, Sun, Microsoft, HP, IBM, Oracle, etc. , could indeed drown overnight. That list isn't complete, and could well include the companies we work in.
As far as software technology goes, the beauty of OpenSource software, among other things, is that it's making the market leaders, Microsoft, struggle really hard just to stay exactly where they are (their stock hasn't gone up in 6 years). It's forcing Microsoft to create stuff like Windows Xp, Office 2007, etc. which are HUGE, HUGE improvements compared to their predecessors- and still not achieving much growth. How will they make people keep paying (big) for their software when they can as well get most of the features from open source providers- free?
Google has a long-term focused attitude- "let's create useful products and services, and think about monetizing later", which I believe will keep them ahead for decades to come. This policy really needs to be adopted by many companies.
From the outside, it's fun to watch these companies fight it out while we enjoy great new software. What this means for us, as individuals, is that we must not only have great plans for our lives but great 'Plan B's and 'Plan C's, etc.. as well. That way, no matter what happens- our dreams will always come true.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Inside all those cute buildings
The big software companies use such great looking buildings to run their businesses. Many people (who have never been inside any of these) might wonder "Isn't it fun working in such great buildings?" Oh, there's so much fun to be had, I hardly know where to begin.
In order to get into these buildings, you must first obtain an ID card. In order to do that you simply ask the receptionist, who will promptly guide you to the Security Department. It consists of people who always have a frown on their face, for effect. They will thoroughly check you for things like explosives, chemicals and bike keys, using a metal detector. If it beeps, they ask you to put the item on a tray, which they will return to you on the other side "Sir, you forgot your bomb". Then they'll make a few phone calls to the ID card issuing department, which is located in South Germany. You'll have to wait in that room for the ID card to arrive, after clearing customs and all. The whole process will take a few hours if you're lucky, and if the delivering truck isn't hit by a terrorist-hijacked airplane. Even then, they'll make you travel to the Department that Hands Over the ID-card, which will thoroughly frown at you and then reluctantly hand over the card.
Got your card? Cool! Let's go into one of those offices where people are working so hard on their computers. Those are ODCs- Offshore Development Centers, so called because they are centers. Of course, you can't really go inside because you don't have the appropriate level of clearence. Wait for the Security and then sign on all those registers, declaring who you want to meet and for what purpose (It had better not be food). Inside, all you see is lots and lots of cubicles with the latest Dell workstations, but which have nothing in them, in terms of music, videos, games and porn. Of course, you may surf the internet, but you're not allowed to check mail or download stuff, or chat or blog or listen to streaming audio or .... the list goes on. You may only open educational stuff, such as sun.java.com, and the company's website- that too after obtaining a network ID (for which you must fill a dozen forms).
Bored? Of course you are! That's the whole point. So let's go up to the great looking cafeteria upstairs, on these great looking elevators. Hey, just because it (the cafeteria) looks great doesn't mean it's great. The food here is catered by "Perfect Solutions", which sounds like a software company's name. It is, and those people serving there are software engineers. It used to be a great company at one time, but now only the catering business is intact. Let's just eat. So now you're bored and disgusted with your life. Let's get out of here..
The building's exit is that way- please surrender that ID card on the way out. There are appraisal forms in the Department that Hands Over The Appraisal forms, that side, which you can fill up with disgusting comments and submit to the Suggestion Box department, which stores your form, along with ten thousand others in its Storage Area- a big dustbin.
"Thank you for visiting. Please come again. You don't have a choice, kid. You work here."
In order to get into these buildings, you must first obtain an ID card. In order to do that you simply ask the receptionist, who will promptly guide you to the Security Department. It consists of people who always have a frown on their face, for effect. They will thoroughly check you for things like explosives, chemicals and bike keys, using a metal detector. If it beeps, they ask you to put the item on a tray, which they will return to you on the other side "Sir, you forgot your bomb". Then they'll make a few phone calls to the ID card issuing department, which is located in South Germany. You'll have to wait in that room for the ID card to arrive, after clearing customs and all. The whole process will take a few hours if you're lucky, and if the delivering truck isn't hit by a terrorist-hijacked airplane. Even then, they'll make you travel to the Department that Hands Over the ID-card, which will thoroughly frown at you and then reluctantly hand over the card.
Got your card? Cool! Let's go into one of those offices where people are working so hard on their computers. Those are ODCs- Offshore Development Centers, so called because they are centers. Of course, you can't really go inside because you don't have the appropriate level of clearence. Wait for the Security and then sign on all those registers, declaring who you want to meet and for what purpose (It had better not be food). Inside, all you see is lots and lots of cubicles with the latest Dell workstations, but which have nothing in them, in terms of music, videos, games and porn. Of course, you may surf the internet, but you're not allowed to check mail or download stuff, or chat or blog or listen to streaming audio or .... the list goes on. You may only open educational stuff, such as sun.java.com, and the company's website- that too after obtaining a network ID (for which you must fill a dozen forms).
Bored? Of course you are! That's the whole point. So let's go up to the great looking cafeteria upstairs, on these great looking elevators. Hey, just because it (the cafeteria) looks great doesn't mean it's great. The food here is catered by "Perfect Solutions", which sounds like a software company's name. It is, and those people serving there are software engineers. It used to be a great company at one time, but now only the catering business is intact. Let's just eat. So now you're bored and disgusted with your life. Let's get out of here..
The building's exit is that way- please surrender that ID card on the way out. There are appraisal forms in the Department that Hands Over The Appraisal forms, that side, which you can fill up with disgusting comments and submit to the Suggestion Box department, which stores your form, along with ten thousand others in its Storage Area- a big dustbin.
"Thank you for visiting. Please come again. You don't have a choice, kid. You work here."
Monday, December 11, 2006
Welcome
Welcome to Roop's Memory Lane- II. This blog page is a continuation from
Roop's Memory Lane, which is located at:
http://360.yahoo.com/swaroopmurthy
Roop's Memory Lane, which is located at:
http://360.yahoo.com/swaroopmurthy
As the theme goes: Let's take a walk. And have fun along the way.
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