PC's Personal Blog

"I am a votary of truth and I must say what I feel and think at a given moment… without regard..."

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:25:17 -0400

“I am a votary of truth and I must say what I feel and think at a given moment… without regard to what I may have said before on it.”

- Gandhi

Independence and Schools

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:44:21 -0500

Are we raising our kids to be independent? More importantly are the schools teaching its students to become independent? Sadly, the answer is no. I spent more than 16 years in educating myself, in India and USA as well, and there was never a day when I was encouraged to create something of my own, run my own business.

Back then Schools and Curriculum were started to support industrial revolution, to create educated labors in mass quantity, most of whom will eventually work on machines. They were not encouraged or trained to create anything by themselves. And since they were never taught how to run a business themselves, they’d learn to fill a position in a somebody else’s company. Not much has changed since. Children in school today are still taught to be highly paid employees or managers for a big company. They are not taught to be leader, they are taught to follow. Follow the most recent trend, or the current hot industry. Don’t trust me, look around and you’ll find a mechanical engineer coding for software shop.

In the end I guess it is our job to make our kids independent when they grow, schools will hardly help.

Succeed

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:10:23 -0400

Nobody succeed all the time. We don’t even need to succeed all the time. Few times is enough. Enough to take where you want to go. Enough to succeed.

Everybody fail more than they succeed. Not just you, me, or Late Steve Jobs. So why care about not succeeding. Just keep walking, the Johnie Walker way, and celebrate whenever you succeed.

Responsibilities

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:00:00 -0400

I was born with no responsibilities. Other than feeding myself and having sex, just like my grand grand grand parents.

But you people created some for me, hoping that would make my life better. And Then I created some for me, hoping that would make my life better. Now I’m worrying more about making my life better, than actually living it. The same life where I’ll eventually die.

Life's more fun when uncertain

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:48:15 -0400

You plan and it works, it’s good, no surprise. You plan and it fails, it disappoints, leaves you sad.

You’re vulnerable. You don’t plan and it works, it excites, surprises. You don’t plan and it doesn’t work, no disappointment, no sad.

Winning

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:01:22 -0400

I want to be different. I want to win. Winning often involves changing. Change brings resistance. Ignore resistance and I either win or fail. Obey resistance and nothing happens, I stay wherever I am. No win, No fail, I just become one of them.

A blind man becomes the first person to drive Google's Self-Driving Car. I'm waiting!

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:55:47 -0400

Google released the video to celebrate that it has safely completed 200,000 miles of computer-lead driving. Steve Mahan (a legally blind resident of California), took the driver seat for a special drive on a carefully programmed route to experience being behind the wheel in a whole new way.

Also take a note of this interesting comment from YouTube: no more DUIs

"Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can only ask their kids to..."

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 10:00:06 -0500

“Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can only ask their kids to try their best.”

- Amy Chua in her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Stick for a while

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:26:36 -0500

The world is changing fast enough, whatever’s new today will be old tomorrow. While I agree that change is often good and it is essential for a better future, I do feel that these changes are coming too fast and will make you feel dated (even if your last move was a month ago!)

Every new change, be it technology, fashion, government, automobile etc. comes with a value and have an expiry date. So when you make your choice, stick to it for a while, use it to the best before you move to another. Of course you will have reasons but resist the temptation. You don’t have to adopt to every change for just a little better.

So:

If you bought a phone, laptop, or a tablet - stick for a while
If you bought a car - stick for a while
If you bought a pair of shoes - stick for a while

(Developers) If you liked and chose a framework - stick for a while
(Developers) If you redesigned your website - stick for a while
(Entrepreneurs) If you launched a start up - stick for a while

And if you are married - try to stick forever!

Confession: I was a happy iPhone4 owner and I didn’t need to buy the new 4S!

We developers are ‘BORN BRAVE’. Check (and click to...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:17:10 -0400

We developers are ‘BORN BRAVE’. Check (and click to enlarge) this image to see exactly how!

I code hard! I’m no java dev but this is super cool...

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:22:27 -0400

I code hard! I’m no java dev but this is super cool ‘Epic’ nerdiest rap ever :) C# or jquery would have been more me though!

"Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better."

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:30:23 -0400

“Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better.”

- From Seth Godin’s blog post Talker’s block

Books I'll reading over next few weeks.

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:30:00 -0400

Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Books I recently read and would recommend: Poke the Box and The Tribes by Seth Godin. Any suggestions are welcome.

Saw this on friend’s new feed!

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:30:41 -0400

Saw this on friend’s new feed!

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves –..."

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:29:01 -0400

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Someone asked Dalai Lama what surprises him most, this was his...

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 21:41:51 -0400

Someone asked Dalai Lama what surprises him most, this was his response:

Four stages to grow as a team

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:40:49 -0400

I was recently reading an article on group dynamics, when I came across this interesting break down of group development stages by Psychologist Bruce Tuckman. It was an interesting read on why a team fails to become ‘A TEAM’.

Here’s a quick glance:

Forming

First stage of team forming. The individual’s behavior is driven by a desire to be accepted by the others, and avoid conflict. Serious issues and feelings are avoided, and people focus on being busy with routines. Members get to know one another, exchange some personal information, and make new friends. Doesn’t that sound like Strangers at cocktail party!

Storming

The storming stage is necessary to the growth of the team. It can be contentious, unpleasant and even painful to members of the team who are averse to conflict. Tolerance of each team member and their differences should be emphasized. Without tolerance and patience the team will fail. Some teams will never develop past this stage.

Norming

The team manages to have one goal and come to a mutual plan for the team at this stage. Some may have to give up their own ideas and agree with others in order to make the team function. In this stage, all team members take the responsibility and have the ambition to work for the success of the team’s goals.

Performing

Only few teams reach this stage. Members are interdependent and able to function as a unit to get the job done effectively without inappropriate conflict. The team members are now competent, autonomous and able to handle the decision-making process without supervision.

In my experience I was once lucky enough to be able to go through all these stages, and make a wonderful team. Hope to make some more in future!

Brilliant marketing by Domino's Pizza!

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 17:32:33 -0400

I have always admired Dominos for it’s pizza and website, and now it’s recent marketing campaign has turned me into a fan! You must have already seen their pizza tracker when you order pizza from their website. Now they have gone beyond to get some awesome feedback from the customers. After you have made your order, you may now write a feedback with your picture, and Dominos will run your feedback on their giant billboard at NYC Times Square.

Here’e what my looks like:

Also checkout Domino’s live cam from NYC Times Square. Now who wouldn’t leave them a feedback!

How to manage expenses at different stages of startup.

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:33:00 -0400

Mint CEO Aaron Patzer talks about the history of Mint.com, from its startup to being acquired for $170 Million. AAorn shares some real numbers from Mint finances.

Mint CEO Aaron Patzer on Startups from Techcrunch on Vimeo.

With Facebook being evaluated at $100 bln, do you not see a big ass bubble!!

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:42:46 -0400

With valuations for tech companies going through the roof from Facebook on down to Dropbox, the endless bubble debate sees no end. Paul Kedrosky and Vivek Wadhwa recently got into it on Bloomberg West TV.

Source:http://wadhwa.com/2011/07/15/techcrunch-the-endless-bubble-debate-kedrosky-vs-wadhwa/