Mouli's thoughts and musics over two decades
I remember my visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. I remember to have just gaped at the space shuttle models and the launch pads and just thought in amazement of the number of times, this beauty has made ‘out-of-this-world’ trips — 133 to be precise!
R.I.P Discovery. I am sure Smithsonian will take as good care of you as the NASA guys did.
(via MarySue)
(via G.A.S)
f Steve Jobs’s life were staged as an opera, it would be a tragedy in three acts. And the titles would go something like this: Act I–The Founding of Apple Computer and the Invention of the PC Industry; Act II–The Wilderness Years; and Act III–A Triumphant Return and Tragic Demise.
The first act would be a piquant comedy about the brashness of genius and the audacity of youth, abruptly turning ominous when our young hero is cast out of his own kingdom. The closing act would plumb the profound irony of a balding and domesticated high-tech rock star coming back to transform Apple far beyond even his own lofty expectations, only to fall mortally ill and then slowly, excruciatingly wither away, even as his original creation miraculously bulks up into the biggest digital dynamo of them all. Both acts are picaresque tales that end with a surge of deep pathos worthy of Shakespeare.
But that second act–The Wilderness Years–would be altogether different in tone and spirit. In fact, the soul of this act would undermine its title, a convenient phrase journalists and biographers use to describe his 1985 to 1996 hiatus from Apple, as if the only meaningful times in Jobs’s life were those spent in Cupertino. In fact, this middle period was the most pivotal of his life. And perhaps the happiest. He finally settled down, married, and had a family. He learned the value of patience and the ability to feign it when he lost it. Most important, his work with the two companies he led during that time, NeXT and Pixar, turned him into the kind of man, and leader, who would spur Apple to unimaginable heights upon his return.
A Must Read for anyone who is an Apple Fan, or for that matter, anyone who wants to understand the power of self-improvement. Beautiful.
Read the Brent Schlender‘s full article here.
Ever wanted a compact workstation which does not take up much space and still look stylish. Somewhat like the iMAC but I love the way it folds down. Nice.
(via FastCompany)
Every once in a while, you read a news item which makes you laugh so hard that you fall off the chair.
An Alabama man appears to have deeply offended the fashion sensibilities of an Autauga County judge. LaMarcus D. Ramsey showed up in court Tuesday to enter a plea on a charge of receiving stolen property, but before the 20-year-old could say “undie alert,” he was carted off to the slammer for his saggy pants. Circuit Judge John Bush cited Ramsey for contempt of court for wearing his blue jeans too low and ordered him to spend three days in jail. The judge warned Ramsey that when he gets out, he’d better be wearing pants that fit — or at least put on a belt.
(via)
My current employer gives out Blackberrys to its managers for official use. Two really cool features which make me smile each time:
I spent a conflicting 2 minutes on whether to say ‘why I like my BB’ or ‘why I love my BB’ in the title. I guess I am not yet at the stage where I am ‘loving’ the BB yet. I guess I got used to the super-awesome touch screen typing experience (with auto-correct) in Windows Phone. I still dont have that here. I need to rely on my finger nails to press the minuscule keypad on the BB.
The Hindu is a traditional news paper. So traditional that it will either give the exact facts (not too often) or report in convoluted third person versions (such as “Unnamed sources reported the incident to be common in the reported portions of the state.”). More recently, things have been shaking up. Print Ads and Online ads against the Times of India (the “Stay Ahead of the Times” campaign) and much more.
But today was a day of ‘shock’ for me. Quite literally, after I felt the light tremors in Bangalore.
Hindu reported that
People on Twitter said tremors were felt in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia’s west coast shook for at least a minute.
Wow. Hindu mentioning people on twitter and mentioning it in a news article. Ofcourse, it added the Hindu touch soon after by saying
Said, an official at Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency who goes by only one name, said a tsunami warning has been issued.
(link)
I have been reading Seth’s blog for a while now. Most often than not, his short posts are enlightening. But today’s post just hit the nail on the head. A little harsh, but 100% truth. An excerpt:
If you are not a customer, a stakeholder or someone with significant leverage in spreading the word, we will ignore you. And we should. When you walk up to an artist and tell her you don’t like her painting style, you should probably be ignored. If you’ve never purchased expensive original art, don’t own a gallery and don’t write an influential column in ArtNews, then by all means, you must be ignored.
…
An opinion needs to be based on experience and expertise. I know you don’t like cilantro, but whether or not you like it is not extensible to the population at large. On the other hand, if you have a track record of matching the taste sensibility of my target market, then I very much want to hear what you think.
Read the full post here.
Facebook has concluded a deal to buy out Instagram for close to a billion dollars in cash and stock. That is a pretty big deal, considering Instagram is a fairly young company. There are some folks in the internet who are saying that Facebook is the new Google, and will swallow up any new good technology that crops up. And there are a few which say that the true reason is ‘fear’. I agree with the latter. I believe trends were beginning to show that, people were beginning to start sharing info about their lives and other things more over instagram photos than sharing updates on FB. I am sure that must have made FB jittery.
Apparently, as a first time ever, Facebook is going to let Instagram function the same way as it is, rather than integrating into FB. And that is one thing that I just do not believe. I have gone through 2 acquisitions, and seen a half a dozen in the EDA industry (where consolidation happens pretty commonly). This ‘show’ of ‘trust’ in letting the new company function as it is, does not last long. Let us see how long they remain independent. I am sure Instagram will get stuffed in the timeline somewhere, very soon.
Jorge Cham is the Scott Adams of the PhD community. If every IT professional can relate to ‘every’ Dilbert strip, every PhD graduate (or student) can relate to ‘every’ strip that Jorge pens. W.O.W.
(Click to see larger image)
Been there, done that. And yes, the communion with the cosmos and the sense of calm on seeing the sunrise is awesome.