Frost , Wordsworth and Mr. Britto

I apologize to every literature lover for any misrepresentations in this post.

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-- Robert Frost


I could not resist my temptation to quote these words of Robert Frost.(PS-> this has nothing to do with snow in Redmond today) These are not just one of his best words but these invoke pleasant memories in me. I still remember my english teacher Mr.John Britto reciting these words to us enjoying every word while doing it. He was one of the best teachers i have had who taught me how to dream.

I always loved to dream -( not the ambitious types :-) ). i always liked to dream while reading a book or listening to music. i loose myself into a fantasy world where i'd be a great singer, a poet walking along fields (Solitary Reaper). or a romanticist admiring a flower (Daffodils)....

i still remember the day when Mr.Britto introduced us to Solitary Reaper.. i was in the last bench that day and it was post lunch session. i could not resist myself delving into dream world.. i imagined myself walking with a bowler's hat looking at a lone reaper having a lone corn stalk in hand and nibbling its end. It was like a magic. i was in this wonder world with Mr.Britto's words building the world before my "inward eye".. it was quite a pschedelic experience.. (ps-> i had curd rice if u must know :-) )

My dream world was suddenly disturbed when Mr.Britto notied my glazed looks. he asked me what i was doing. i stood up and confessed my dream. i expected to be punished but instead told me that it is good for creativity. but told me to concentrate in his words and then dream about later in the day.. i was embarrassed but was also amused at the encouragement. i have not stopped dreaming from then on.

Do try this next time you are stuck in an airport with a delayed flight or in a long bus journey with no friendly travel mate.. they really refresh your soul and bring in a new zest for life..

Maya - The illusion!

Recently a friend mentioned about Maya to me.. (PS-> its not the software!).Its the "Illusion"!!

Maya - check out wat wiki has in store.

Signal conditioning!
This is part of every human activity..
e.g. Food - we like to bake, boil, grill or fry and eat with a garnish. Real ingredients conditioned beyond recognition.

Precis writing - a branch evolved just to limit conditioning
why does a verb need an adverb, a noun need an adjective?
i am not limiting the creativity but pointing out the exaggerations. need for limitless details.. this blog being an example!

Let me stop the digression, getting back to Maya - eternal conditioning of(/by?) senses!
we have seen that condtioning is way of life as far as humans are concerned.

we depend on all our senses (visual,aural,vocal,olfactory and tactitory) to feel the universe.. its like we sit in a room with an amazing home theater system to know wats happening outside. Quintessential question is , does this Home Theater system do any conditioning. If not, how do we disprove it?

i wear spectacles, a common conditioning we know of. What if there are non physical conditioning. Conditioning pertaining to processing the signals or transformations done to damp/amplify the signals.

What if our senses cannot detect signals beyond a certain band of frequency or dimension? spooky!
para-normal, quasi-normal, abnormal - are they conditioning gone berserk??

Matrix - this movie brought in a modern outlook to an old concept. What if? we are victims of mass delusions!

Since, it deserves a blog on its own, let me get back to current hypothesis. we have heard of various psychedelic drugs. What if? we do delude in such a hormone that keeps us unaware of the reality.

What if? the world we see is a world that we actually imagine.
What if? Balaji did not write this blog, but you imagine it to be written in the imaginary world that your senses project before you!!

i will now leave you to ruminate on that!

Past year !!

Wish u all a Happy New Year (intentionally leaving out the year!)

Past year had been a whirl wind journey. It was really an exciting year on the whole.. i had been through a roller coaster ride of my life..
It is pretty amazing to see myself get through such a dynamic phase and still survive ( excel??!! let me be modest ;-))
It all started with me quitting Philips and at the start of the year.. my experience in Philips was quite rewarding.. i do cherish the memories of those idiosyncracies..
Then came the time to move for the big apple.
It was my first time to US.. Unlike europe trip, this time i was not sure, where i was heading. Pursuing wat our ancestor prescribed, Thirai kadal odi thiraviyam thedu (Cross oceans to acquire wealth)
it was a pleasant surprise to find US more like a home away from home...
For once, i could get a decent vegeterian meal outside india!!

As soon as i landed in Pittsburgh,PA, my priorities kick in, bringing me to reality.. Soon, i leave to Sacramento,CA to start my industrious career ;-)
I cant forget those exciting trips to San Francisco,CA and Oakland,CA for customer meetings.. i have met more people by then, than i would ever imagine!!

it was exciting to interact with people from different culture and different profession sitting together to define an application that was directly impacting the general mass! the passion definitely is contagious.. i couldnt resist outrunning the mid night oil..

also, those exciting group trips to Yosemite and Bay area which we squeezed-in .. is unforgettable.. my haunts as a new driver would sure light me up on any dark day ..

Even though, it was an amazing time, i still was sane enough to reassess my priorities and move ahead to be-fitting opportunities...

Although a rhetoric by now, Seattle,WA turned out to be more exciting than anything so far.. with is plush green ambience, all too beautiful outdoors, Hands Down best place to live (Statutory warning: Sun appears only 7 days a year ;) )
Redmond,WA sure has complimented me on my skills.. working for Microsoft sure is an experience of life.. its not just exhilirating to see the birthplace of IT revolution so near but its more honoring to be a part of..

It was not just a year of work but also a year with more travel than i had ever done.. would always relish those trips to Dayton,OH, Niagara and Los Angeles,CA...

Overall, it had been a year to be marked.. Would never have imagined a dynamism so profound yet fulfilling!!
Wish every year be so enriching as this...
Good Bye 2007, u will always be my past sweet heart :-)
Welcome 2008, i do wish you are as exciting..

Art of Dosa Making!!

One of my recent successful engineering marvel is making of smaller gauge dosa. This blog will not get into the nitty-gritty of preparing batter but rather explore the nuances in making a delicious crispy dosa.
It is interesting to note how dosa preparation matches our reality. i will go in steps as to how i perceive it resembles our life.
a) Scoop dosa batter in a ladle whose volume would be lesser than the surface area of the non-stick pan. (we are all product of a same cast, our experiences mold us, as we are.)
b) Quickly spread the batter as a thin layer by pressing the ladle in the middle and making a spiralling action towards the outer rim. (As we understand that world is bigger than what we perceive, our ego is humbled and we widen our persepectives)
c)Wait till its cooked and turn the dosa upside down. (multiple percepectives bring a clarity of thought every time and aids our overall growth)
d) As dosa turns golden brown, scoop it up and wallah! delicious dosa is ready
( With an all round developement, our purpose is complete. we are now an example of an all round developement and if not influence , at least inspire the same within others)

Omnipresent Fungi!

guess it had been quite a while, since we met. There had been lots of change in my life.. i am in US working as a contractor to Microsoft in Redmond.. will post my past year sometime.. i had an opportunity to go around Europe - Hamburg, Munich, Neuschwanstein castle, Leipzig, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Berlin..

No matter where i went there was one culprit who followed me vehemently. Vegeterians have a tough time everywhere.. depending on region you are in, the check words vary.. "i want vegeterian, no meat, no egg, no fish, no oyster sauce, no mayonnaise, no gelatin".. list goes on.. but after all these specification, when waiter brings the meal, this omnipresent fungi(Mushroom - for the uninitiated..) pops up spoiling the who meal... this fungi has a signature taste that makes the food unpalatable , even if it has been fished out from it.. unfortunately, its not just that i hate the taste of this fungi, i consider it as non-vegeterian food.It makes my vegerterian friends give me a sharp look - "Dude,y do u wanna spoil our fun!!"

Metaphorically, i have waged a abstinence from this pungent smelling fungi.. let's see who prevails..

Bus - Train !!

Guten Tag ppl

Guess it has been really long since i blogged.(i will definitely work on not making this my statutory first line ..)
I was bit busy in the project work. We have nice time with Test Driven programming and Domain Driven design here in our team. (probably would need a separate blog)
Recently , i went to my colleague's wedding in Vizag by train. This brought back floods of memories. I had traveled by bus more when compared to train.
I went to my uncle's place in Coimbatore on every vacation when i was living in Trichy. Coimbatore is a nice place with weather similar to bangalore (Trichy has very hot and humid weather all year round). My family usually took the bus to coimbatore(it takes 5.5 hrs).

Bus

I used to like the bus rides more for the solitude that i get. Being the eldest kid:-) (may be most troublesome!!), i always got the window seat. The (dis)advantage of the buses was that once u plug urself into a seat, it is difficult to pull urself out.. So , there is no physical movement for couple of hours until there is an intermediate stop. I have one great virtue(Vice?) , i day dream a lot.. so these bus rides excite me a lot..

I sit and watch the scenary as bus goes along the beautiful shore of River Cauvery(dry for most part of the year!!) and dream all sort of things,.. from goin to mars to entering an atom.. being next Einstein to next Prime Minister of India.. there was no limit to imagination..

I believe Bus travelled more close to people than train did.. there always was some hustle-bustle enroute.. there were always countless villages, towns, cities or just remote farmin ranches on the way.. it was very rare to find a stretch of road say 10 KM without any settlement of one kind or another!! also , sitting in the bus i felt closer to outside world but with a safe distance without spoiling my solitude..

Train

The trains gave totally different experiences. The train always awed me with its larger than life image. It was always special becoz of the long wait in the station, it demands. As with other families, my family too believed in reachin the railway station atleast 2 hours before the scheduled departure time(it was rarely on-time). Since , train offered better mobility (leg space) , it was a favorite choice of transport for the younger kids.. the preparation for train journey is quite religious. A separate bag would be alloted for packing eatables, lunch , evening snack and dinner, boiled water(the elixir of life), fruits, biscuits and a flask of cofee!!! Though loaded with enough food to feed a Third World country , we kids always liked the eatables sold in the platform.. but even in the world largest democracy minors dont have a say :-(..

As against bus, getting a window seat is difficult in trains as there would be only 2 for every six passengers.. the middle and the aisle seats are really boring seats .. u never get to watch the scenary outside and also u cannot relax properly in ur seat.. i was a bit introverted kid, so unlike others, was not ready to strike up conversation with the co-passengers.. also if i start gaping in the window and start day dreamin, ppl around me get concerned and ask me if i am feelin sleepy!!

Trains offer a different view of the country. it always gives a detached and distant view of the outside world. As against bus, you get to see agricultural fields, factories and smaller home steads.. its rather peaceful perspective of a bustling civilization ..

The sides of the railway tracks have sign boards with some numbers.. for long time i tried to decipher it .. but finally concluded that it must be a puzzle for the engine driver to solve, to stop him from sleeping :-)

As opposed to other views on travel, i see it as an opportunity to have a peaceful solitude... with changing view instigating wildest of dreams.. this is one and only single factor that makes me love traveling no matter what the means is :-)

Cartoons and Science

I recently saw this website which has 2 best things i like - Cartoons and Science(it's actually Maths but i dont like math as much as science but science is toothless without math )

http://www.msri.org/ext/larryg/


Check it out!!

Domain Atom!

I was recently introduced to domain driven design. It means - "Ur design should be made up of building blocks that are existing as it is in Domain of interest and u should finally be able to explain the design to the domain expert/Req. Engg( must hav no tech slang) "

Check out http://domaindrivendesign.org/index.html

This is so different and this has totally changed my perception. till now the major problem was language of communication between the developers and the domain experts. now that agreed upon glossary is available, the language is common to both the developers and the domain experts. The developers' design only uses the agreed upon glossary and one of the design verification check is
- is it understandable by domain experts who have no technical knowledge?

This led me to compare the software developement with Physical world.

Consider the following scenario...

Any domain can be broken down into indivisible part. i.e. a smallest unit beyond which it loses its purpose.. for example, Customer in a banking domain.. it is a basic unit that defines a person/entity that can be subjected to various work flows in the banking domain.

We can consider such units as DomainAtoms. DomainAtom is an indivisible part of the domain and has some meaning that completes the domain definition.Another example of Domain atom would be a SavingsAccount.. we can quote lotsa such examples.
When we want certain logic to be implemented using these DomainAtoms then we get something called DomainMolecule. DomainMolecule would be made up of two or more different DomainAtoms. This DomainMolecule will internally use individual atoms properties but for outside world would expose totally new set of functionality also. this leads to similar such comparisons with physical world..

Collection of DomainAtoms/DomainMolecules -- DomainPolymer

DomainAtom/DomainMolecule that needs to broadcast message(event) all around -- DomainRadioactive Isotope ;-)

sometimes there may be partial implementation that need to be completed in later stage (more like Ions) which can be done using Partial classes!!
further, there are these properties and fields which are like matter paricles and events,methods which are like force particles..
and C (velocity of light) equivalent would be machine cycles for an instruction..

and strangely, both Class and Carbon have "C" as first letter.

Further, as atoms and molecules are bound by rules of physical world, the DomainElements will also be governed by these rules. these rules can be inherited or contained rules which are generic and have global definition..

Further, these DomainElements should be directly be consumable, i.e. they should be ready to be used in whatever form of UI or logic that might require it.. conversely such knowledge can be created else where and contained within these elements.. Even though ,the atoms are bit complex, they are very much user friendly...

this then leads to another possiblity.. havin got intelligent atoms and molecules .. we can program any new logic that needs these by just combining them into a new molecule or polymer!! may a RAD UI can be created(like VB) which will generate code for this..

i donno somebody would surely have tried this out.. but the computers can understand only finite set of rules and logic.. it just asks us to build our logic outta them ... so y not hav one more level of abstraction...

Thoughts - Inventions Dissected

Thoughts!
They distinguish us apart from all other beings. They give us the identity.
They are us even without we realizing it.
They are the wizards that create something outta nothing. but is it truly so.

if i try to think(?!) about that i am absolutely amazed.

A thought is a by-product of thinking. it is a past-tense implying something that happened because of a process called thinking .People create something new that had never existed? which is AGAINST the LAW of CONSERVATION of statin nothing new can be created, only one think
can be modified to another thing
how come something be created outta nothing ? Poor Einstein gave his life trying to convince us that this cant happen...

but these "thoughts" are breaking the rules. or is it my ignorance that makes me believe that thoughts are something outta blue??


Thinking..

Each second we are bombarded with zillions of data but its amazing that brain meticulously records it and processes it. the very screen that u r lookin at is nothing but a 1024X768 Matrix but brain picks it up and gets a meaningful information outta this data...

but what is more spectacular is the way brain puts together a seemingly unrelated data into a new set of information that leads to dynamic data generation to realize the same..


thinking process may be
- putting a set of related/unrelated informations to generate new set of data
- re-process the existing data to interpret it as a new information by applying a known pattern to modify the data
- also hav a prediction based on expected pattern and when there is a close match , refine it to get a meanin outta it. now use this as new set of data
- to combine the above steps recursively in any order and any number of times

i donno whether there are any inventions that happen without any inspirations..
they either happen outta inspirations and or out of misinterpretations!! but does it mean i can plan for an invention. . any process would have defined steps and following them would lead us to goal.. so , are these inventions not reachable by anybody..

Restrictions being,

-- sufficient data to interpret
-- suffictient Pattern/Template library to process data
-- ability to handle volumes of data

does it mean there is no intuition in intuitive sense? can anybody or every body make an invention through discipline and planning? Well all i can do is THINK aloud..

but if u know any invention that happened outta blue and whose inspirations cannot be traced, please do tell, i'll think over it :-)

PS-> This blog is not outcome of CMMI training that i recently underwent

i'm Back!

Hey ! i'm back( visualize me saying it like Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire")

it definitely is a long absence. Should this mean i was very busy? NO!! .. its YAEOML( Yet another example of my laziness ;-) ). few imp moments in fast forward -

Lotsa things happened in between.. i had been to land of "The Lord Of Rings". It was a short and sweet escapade. Had to go there for some client site installation support. so, unfortunately the most i saw was the cluttered Nuclear Medicine room. and whatever i saw i hav frozen in this link
New Zealand Trip. As i had to stay in Singapore for a day to catch my connecting flight to Christchurch, i had some time to have a ride in Singapore river( i did not have Singapore Visa. but there was an offer wherein ppl without Singapore Visa were taken out for a ride by the Singapore govt.)

I have moved from my BTM house to Sanjay Nagar in north bangalore. Our company shifted to North Bangalore.( but currently am back in old office near MG Road as the new office's basement got flooded. We are plannin to move back to new office by Jan)

There had been historic rains in tamil nadu and my house in trichy got flooded. Thank fully, there was no major loss and my folks were safe all throughout. but, the house looked as though a giant blender had gone amok. It will take few more months till things become normal. i am not much bothered as we plan to move outta that place soon..

I hav finally started cooking. As of now, only curd rice.. ppl with experience in cooking with electric stove, please tell me the delicacies that i can try. and yesterday we had our first spill over the coil :-) i heard a rumour that electric coil was a device by aliens that automatically tranmitts the recipe !! anyway i certainly dont hav much to transmit as of now.

ok then adios amigos till we meet again and this time i will be back soon ..

Static Vs Dynamic

Guess it is a long time since i blogged..

i was a sort of busy ..i am getting shifted to a different cubicle in a different building.. i have packed my things up and am waitin for the facilities to pick it up.. so prob'ly i'll post this blog from new location...

the change is inevitable.. thats wat i feel now.. even if we resist , it does forces itself onto us.. but is change good or bad...

u do sth and coz u had been doin it for a long time, u wud hav got an optimal way of doin it.. as we do things , the process of doin it slowly evolves into a much better way.. the time it takes to evolve would of course depend on the experience in similar stuff, knowledge of the dependencies and overall picture of wats really happenin..

so, is it ok to break this evolution of sophistication?

answer may be, there is a period of block that every one would face in anything they do.. consider for example Writer's Block( i am tempted to say tat as a reason for long absence :) )

but, i do feel that this block which is nothing but mental burn out due to lack of interesting ideas, is the reason to look out for a change and break the evolution. we get new ideas only till we think in a zig zag manner.. once a regularity sets in, the thinking becomes guided.. its like u need to stir the pot time and again while cooking for equal distribution of heat..

change in a way is good.. it helps in re-dimensioning our perceptions which is really important for our mental hygiene..

now comes the question, is changing tasks good to be taken as a primary task or doin a regular task be a primary task..

this i guess is left for the individuals to decide...

the regular task lets u be more secure on what u do.. most of the time u would be in control of what u ought to be doing... thats lets u devote some amount of grey cells into some thing else rather than plannin stuffs .. but again the black out is round the corner so watch out..

the dynamism on the other hand will engage u a bit abnormally .. u have to constantly be aware of the ripples that u create so that they do not get back as Tsunami's! u will always be learnin new things and thinkin in new way.. but none will be ur identity..

but as it is our basic trait, we want the best of everything.. so, there is always a mix of both of these in our lives if u retrospect.. though it may not be in the proportion that we want it to be.

so it would be better if we adjudge the ratio of static and dynamic tasks and assign the priorities and work on it so that we get the proportion that we are happy with...

Promoted!

I have been promoted to be Senior Software Engineer!!. I donno how i must feel but am really happy that i have climbed one step in a ladder..

This brings me to an important topic "Career".. guess it must be the most talked upon topic. so let me scribble something too..

Firstly, when i say " i wannabe this or that" .. i do not understand one thing.. does it mean that i will be happy only when i reach that "such and such" a post? i do not think so as it will be quite some time b4 i reach that spot and should i be gloomy till then?

This leads to an interesting thought.. i feel u must choose a career where in the path u take is what u like rather than the destination.. that way u'll be happy for a longer time.. but the best wuld be when both the path u take and the destination interests u..

the reason for this is that many guys may like to have a career in management .. does it mean would they hate their coding days?? i cannot answer that coz i wannabe in management ladder and i love coding !! quite a freak!

then there is this option .. do wat u like as a hobby (like what anuj does) and earn for what u hate to do!! (donno would jat like this)... waitin for ur dream job!! well thats good too !!

well this is rather a person specific topic and i cannot comment more .. let me leave u to ponder at this point!

What is life?

Well, firstly this posting will not relate to the title that i had given.

I feel a sort of vacant today! donno if u guys get this .. out of no reasons , u sometimes might feel gloomy!!

Let me think wat is one really upsetting thing that happened ... was it that bad coffee with a bug in it( the tea wallah said " you are a programmer, you can debug it ") !!mmmm.. ya i remember now , it must be that really gruesome accident photo that came to me as a forward..

i was no way mentally prepared to see that!! Yuk!! My only Nightmare ( its an interesting concept)

its silly as it sounds like my favorite song , my favorite color and hey this is my favorite Nightmare!!

From the time i remember , this accidental death is one thing that i fear the most.. hate it more than cockroach(?!)

its truely unfair! its ridiculous to kill someone with unnatural things.. Had there been no automobile the guy would have lived today (of course u may argue he might not even have been born) but yet the sole responsibility for his death is recent invention called Automobile... its totally unfair to say the guy drove badly.. people do make mistakes.. thats what they are meant for.. we are not robots.. the life is all it is now because of the mistakes we make.. but life is really dearer price to pay and someway, we have to stop this...

It still spoils my sleep sometimes..

well i will start with driving safely.. u guys do drive safe!

Got to drive home..wish me Luck...

Qua Qua!!

This is my first blog. So, the first thought child has born !!!(note the phonetic in the title)

the vent for the pent up thought has been let open!!!

i feel really happy that i have now means to jot down my ramblings and ruminate it over! Guess what if u are reading this , i have a sane audience too!!