The Currency of Time

Another guest post on the Art of Living Austin blog.

Filed under: Knowledge

Light and Darkness

Here’s another guest post on the Art of Living Austin blog.

Filed under: Knowledge

Just Show Up

Check out my article – Just Show Up (PDF link) – in the Austin South Asian local newspaper. See page 7 and 8.

Filed under: Knowledge

Wisdom is beyond all arguments

Here’s another guest post on the Art of Living Austin blog.

Filed under: Knowledge

Light as a Leaf

Another guest post on the Art of Living Austin blog.

Filed under: Knowledge

Delicate Darlings

Around a year back, my brother gifted me an iPhone 3G. It was a welcome upgrade to my 2 year old iPhone which had seen better days. It was all sparkly and shiny and I was thrilled. In a moment of infinite wisdom, I plugged it in for charging around 7 feet above the ground in a precarious position. As soon as the next email alert came in, it vibrated and fell to the ground, completely trashing the screen.

Despite all attempts to get it fixed, including spending hours with technicians and a lot of money on replacement screens and whatnot, it never worked properly again. It finally croaked a few months later.

Filed under: Opinion

The Six S’s

Check out my first guest post on the Art of Living Austin blog.

Filed under: Knowledge

Software Engineering and the Common Cold

Just as I was blowing my nose for the nth time, after having picked up yet another cold, I had a revelation: the common cold is the same as the unavoidable pains associated with Software Engineering. Let me explain.

Fred Brooks wrote The Mythical Man Month over 35 years ago where he spoke about the problems associated with large scale software development. A decade later, he wrote an essay (which later became a chapter in the book) about how there’s No Silver Bullet that will cure an essential subset of that pain because of software’s inherent complexity. The book is awesome and per Brooks himself, “everybody quotes it, some people read it, and a few people go by it.“

Filed under: Programming

Seven Lessons

Every time you smile at me,
I’m bathed like a leaf in morning dew,
My fortune is hence to reflect,
That same expression back to you,
My first lesson is to practice this,
When I look at you, at you and You.

I’m dazzled by your speckless slate,
That makes the plainest burst in bloom,
Marvel in the most mundane,
From the noisy spoon to a lazy noon,
My second lesson is to live life such,
That every thing is a priceless boon.

Filed under: Poetry

Phone Wars – Achieving Locomotion

I recently spent an inordinate number of hours trying to figure out which mobile phone camp to join. Having no commitment or loyalty to any particular provider meant I had complete freedom of choice. Given that platform, it was a question of figuring out the pros and cons of the devices, operating systems and service providers and lining those with our particular needs.

Figuring out what is available out there is a time consuming affair. Making a list of all criteria and collecting data is boring. I spent most of my time in this department. ”What exactly do I need from a smartphone?” is the question I should have been asking myself all along. In the end, focusing on this question made the decision more palpable.

Filed under: Review