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(image credit : http://especiallyemilyd.blogspot.in/2010/10/lion-and-tigers-and-tamers-oh-my.html ) Last weekend I went to a mall and was playing with an iMac - what a beauty it is. Apps were loading with one click and they looked beautiful on a gorgeous display.  I got home and checked my 13" Mac book pro which is nearing its complimentary 1 year warranty  ( debating whether to bite the expensive Apple Care or going Commando ). It was slow. Really slow. I longed for the spiffy machine I once used to have. This put me on a hunt and meanwhile set up development environment in Windows and worked on it for a day to see how things are. Here is the bitter truth - Apple Fans - OS X Lion sucks at Memory Management. The net is ablaze with cribs and complaints on how poorly Lion manages memory - inspite of Macs being blessed with super powerful processors and enormous amount of RAM. Still I would vote OS X Lion to be the best in class for Productivity and by the amount of things one ca...

My crazy nation - India - is the one I am talking about. It is getting really boring day by day. Zero sense of humour among the ruling class They do not get a joke. Sometime back an enterprising guy created a video called Manmohansingham - it was very funny and if I was Manmohan Singh I would have sent him a free iPad.  Instead that poor kid got a threatening letter and a take down notice was issued to all the sites hosting it. The list goes on and on - the Prince / PM in waiting does not joke at all. He is so young ( mid 40s I believe ) and he is going to be in play for the next 40 or so years - and I am getting choked thinking how I will spend the second half of my life - in utter boredom. Recently the center that spends our tax money - was busy enacting drama on a funny cartoon from 1950s.. now this puts all the cartoonists in self doubt. To be honest - I am only being partly true - I am getting good entertainment from the ladies - Selvi Jayalalitha ( 1 year = 100 year...

I am not going into SEO and other games. This is about the new-age social media games companies are playing now. Facebook Games I used to drop my jaw in awe when I see some businesses having thousands of "likes". I still remember the early days when there was a bet in our team when ApartmentADDA will reach 50 likes. We are yet to reach the 1000 like mark. We let it grow organically and don't game on the likes. However recently one of our "neighbours" in this domain, "just" jumped from 900 or so likes to - hold your breath - 9000+ likes overnight. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it.  They must have  bought these likes from some company which sells "likes" -  these are the 'work from home and earn money' shops.  If you look at Timeline then you will find where this abnormal jump happened - in May alone there were 5k likes - and may is not over yet. They had a similar jump in April. This is for a fan page which had tanked at 900 f...

For a self proclaimed geek - most of the things in life are under control. There are manuals and APIs for almost everything  around me. 4 years back a toy, which we named Prithvi, got delivered that did not have a manual nor an API. Has a mind of its own and it controls me - somehow the toy has read my APIs very well. It can make me buy ice-cream, chocolate, juice or take him to a mall - he has more wins in the constant mind control battle that is going on between us. Sometime back I stumbled on this interesting book - Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.  It was an eye opener of sorts. This book is a good summary of the research that is happening on Child Psychology - written in a Malcolm Gladwellish style. Good Job, WoW, You are so Smart! I do it all the time - thinking it builds his self-confidence. Apparently this works the opposite way. The kid does get the confidence to believe in himself and attempt tougher things. After a while he stops attempting to...

Instagram was acquired by Facebook for $1 Billion - roughly Rs.5000 Crores - we usually hear these numbers only from Scams. This set me thinking about money - and is it what we should all be running after? Before I get into money I want to share an important lesson I learnt on Running.Whenever I start with an end goal saying today I will run 8Kms, or will run 5 Kms within 30 minutes - I have a very bad run. I will get exhausted fast, I will get angry with myself as midway when I check I will realize that I am not going to reach my goal and I will start running harder. My mood and run will be on a downward spiral at that point onwards and I will end my run frustrated and depressed. Every single time I had set this kind of a goal - the end result is the same. However, the days when I am in a great mood and I run freely and simply enjoy the run - I run really really well. I do not get exhausted, I do not tire, my timing is great, and I can keep running longer distances. A goal is importan...

I keep looking for flow / zone while working. Any interruption in my workflow will break my "flow state" and will drain my energy quickly. However when I am in the zone, things will flow smoothly, I can look ahead and  spot potential bugs, I will get new ideas, better optimizations, I can write better blog posts or difficult emails - it is like being in a meditative state - I am the happiest at this point - it is a beautiful and calming feeling - a zen like state and it leaves me refreshed and I can keep working at this state the entire day. Ever since I moved to OS X Lion I was always looking for ways to make my workflow smooth - so it fits in my flow and does not disturb it. I kept trying various options till I hit on the best combination to keep me moving without any slow downs or distractions. Here is how I started : Different Spaces / Virtual Desktop  I kept creating a few spaces like the Virtual Desktops I used to have in Ubuntu - a primary development area, communicat...

Why did this not occur to me earlier? Last week I went to Staples to pick a pen. I only write on cheques nowadays and I want to keep my dying handwriting alive as much as possible and for that I want to pick a good pen. There were rows and rows of Pens - all endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan or Katrina Kaif or Amitabh Bachan. If there was a Javed Akhtar or a Vairamathu or an Arundhati Roy ( I don't subscribe to her views but I respect her as a writer ), a Chetan Bhagat ( I am yet to read any of his novels - till then he is eligible to promote pens ) it made sense. Mentally I worked out this equation : (Cost of Ad money to SRK,AB,KK) - ( Manufacturing Cost of a Pen + Reasonable Profit for a pen ) = The after tax-money that is being swindled from my pocket to pay SRK,AB and KK. That did it. I decided not to pick any pen endorsed by any of these celebrities. It made my choice quite easy. When I looked around there was this Sachin 100 Tendulkar - promoting Kaspersky anti virus. Al...

It is a running thing - less fat on the body, can run better. And animal fat is bad for running. So I decided to kick the meat out of my diet. Nothing ecological, nothing religious - just a plain selfish reason to run better. I don't like fish and whenever I eat, I eat very less - so I decided to leave it in my diet. Also it helps me "fit in" with the other carnivores around. My real test was a couple of days back when my sister gave a treat for her clearing a big exam after 2 tries in her path towards becoming a CA. The treat was in a typical Chettinad style hotel in Coimbatore which I love. Whenever I enter these places - the whiff of aroma from biryani and kurmas will make me salivate like a pavlo's dog. The time for ordering came and I ordered an Egg Biryani and a prawn dish. I am surprised this was not reported by any breaking news channel. The first ever in my history. Mutton Biryani, Chicken Biryani, Fish Curry, Thalai curry and Chicken Lollipop were orde...

I finally found the silver bullet to fight FB Twitter Distractions - and is very simple - by following the [ Pomodoro technique ]. This link has a detailed instruction set - I follow the essence of it and don't kill myself ;) I now work in 25 minute sprints, with 5 minute breaks after every sprint. During the time I "work" - I avoid all distractions - no FB, no Twitter, some Email checking - and after my sprint I waste the 5 minutes entirely on Twitter and Facebook. It is like a reward at the end of a nice sprint. This is quite intense and I feel drained at the end of the day - in a good way - just like how I used to feel after some awesome pairing sessions in ThoughtWorks ( yep - haven't paired at all after I left ThoughtWorks 3.5 years back ) When I finish each Pomodoro I get this good feeling - "gumption" - if you remember Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig dwells on this - a feeling of accomplishment and it fills you with joy. I t...

Finished reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. First let me share my disappointment - no it is not the book - it is well written. My disappointment is that of Steve Jobs as a human being. Wish he was less ruthless with the people around him. As I am typing this post on a Mac Laptop my heart goes out to the folks who got fired and the poor employees who had nervous breakdowns trying to match Steve Job's specifications. There could be an argument for Steve Jobs - if he was not this ruthless with his employees and demanded perfection - we would not have seen Apple as it is now. I beg to differ - he was quite kind with Pixar employees and see what Pixar has accomplished. Before I started the book I had a few questions - who is Steve Jobs and how did he pull off such amazing things? : well I got the answers. 1. Focus : Our man can focus on the issue at hand like a laser. Not only that - he can get people around him to focus. His mercurial and brash personality could have h...

Quantum leaps are not done by trying incrementally - but by taking quantum leaps. - Myself :) I kept running 5 Kms and suddenly one day I just decided to run 10 Kms and I could do it - of course it did hurt - but  it changed me forever. My 4 year old was on training wheels for more than 2 years and one fine day the wife removes the training wheels and after a few days he was able to ride by himself. When you are going to dive into a cold swimming pool there is no use touching the water - just dive in. And last week I read a story about this guy who is on a 25 year fitness streak. That did it - the very next day I started my own fitness streak. Today is Day #6 - going good and I am telling myself - I will not break it - ever. Day #1 - Ran 4.2 Kms Day #2 - Ran 4.4 Kms Day #3 - Cycled 4.2 Kms Day #4 - Ran 5.0 Kms Day #5 - Meditated Day #6 - Ran 5.2 Kms It will take some 21 days to become a habit. I hope after 21 days my fitness streak will be like brushing, shaving ...

Here is the mind-map I made for the talk at the Bangalore Barcamp 11. Had some initial hiccups when my laptop did not connect to the network, then I started whiteboarding  - meanwhile some kind soul setup his laptop and I was able to continue my presentation. It was well received - I was quite satisfied, but when I look back it could have been better. I missed out some interesting anecdotes I had gathered - the non-internet thing frazzled me at the beginning. I was planning to download this mindmap and show it locally - but I woke up late on Saturday morning - and murphy's law struck - as always. <p>an</p> can you spot my session? :)

Don't join a Gym. Instead Run. 1. Gym will get boring soon.  You discover new ways to workout, new machines. Then you set targets - 10 Reps, 15 Reps, 30 Reps and reach them. Then you start getting used to the machines, the reps, the music, the people who come there, the smell. Then you start dragging yourself to Gym. It is like going to office - not fun. Instead Run - you can create so many variations - Run around a lake, Run inside a Park, Run on a long stretch of road, Run on a treadmill,  Run on a beach, Run on a nice slope, Run on new trials. Run a marathon and get a certificate. Run backwards. Run barefoot. Run in a midnight marathon. Run on Mumbai Sea-link ( my next goal ). You can keep changing the place, pace, time - no two runs are the same. Running never gets boring. After every run you get a "Runners High" - you have to experience it to understand it. Its addictive too - a good addiction. 2. You need to wait for your favorite treadmill / machine Whe...

Books Books Books.. what will I do without you! Here is the list of books that I crunched last year. If you are curious - here is my list for 2010. Conversations with God 1,2 and 3 by Neale Donald Walsh During one of the demos I met this interesting 70 year old Gentleman who suggested these books. The author reaches the bottom pit of his life and cries out in anger to God - Why are you not talking to me - and God responds. It has got a good mixture of eastern and western philosophy and can help you form your own theory on Religion and God. For me I did not get any answers, but have more questions in my mind now. Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho Now I don't remember what was there in this book. But it was a good timepass and helped killed time on a day train from Coimbatore to Bangalore. You can give this a pass. The Pixar Touch, Making of a Company If you love Pixar movies you would like this book.   The Pixar Touch Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson Total Geek No...

" Did It " That was the SMS I sent to Sangeeta at 4:00 AM after finishing my half marathon in the Midnight Marathon held in Whitefield, Bangalore on Dec 11, 2011. Now to the story. The Irrational act ! A month back on Nov 11, some one tweeted saying "Registered at Midnight Marathon ". I just clicked on the link and paid 600Rs for the half-marathon. Human progress happens on such irrational acts. Why was it irrational? : My personal best was 12.5 Kms. The half marathon is 21kms. I thought I can practice harder and increase my mileage. After signing up for the marathon, I announced on Facebook and even got 13 likes and 5 comments and tips. I duly forgot about the marathon and went on with my work + occasional runs ( I average 6 runs a month - yes its very bad - good runners run almost 4 times a week ) The Panic Attack Suddenly around Nov 26th I panicked. I SoSed some of my friends and runners I follow on Twitter and got useful tips. @nilakanta, @_bha...

I am getting back to Paulo Coelho after a very long time. The last one was disappointing - "The winner stands alone", This book - Aleph - hits me at a time when I am going through a spiritual turmoil sort of.  I have told this incident to a few folks, but never in this blog - long back in December 2010 - I ran out of Petrol on my bike. A very first in my history. I pushed the bike for more than a kilometer, and managed to buy some questionable looking fluid and resumed my journey. I was to meet a gentleman to show a demo of our product - and I was late by 1 bloody hour. He waited patiently for me even though it was already his lunch time and did not cancel the appointment. We spoke for an hour about the product and then we started chatting - what I read, what is my philosophy. He then said this : "Venkat, do you think we meeting at this moment is coincidental? It is all planned" Yeah yeah I thought - have heard that one before. Was being polit...

We launched ApartmentADDA on Nov 12th, 2008 and today this site turns 3 ! I think it is apt to look at the analytics like how we would look at a kid - how tall he or she has grown! The above snapshot is from Google Analytics of Visitors from the beginning of time till today. The mini spike after Nov 2008 was on January 2009 - when I informed about this venture in my batch's email list. Facebook had not taken off then yet. The next big spike after Nov 2009 was on January 2010 - when Bangalore Mirror put us on Front page! Today we get more than 3 times that much traffic in a day. Google Analytics now gives realtime reporting - it is surreal to watch the clicks and the dots show up on the world's map. So what is next for this kid? "Changing Orbits" of course - quoting our good friend and mentor Mr.Sharad Sharma.

Here is an equation that dawned on me today while running. It is quite simple. a) Speed at which you can run. b) Distance that you can cover. c) Running without any pain or injuries. You can only have two of the above. Obviously c) has to be selected - cannot imagine a life with pain - unless you are Zahir Khan or one of the sissy Indian cricketers who always feign pain in order to skip playing and go act in more Ads. That leaves us to pick either a) or b). So if you have only 30 minutes to run - run as fast as possible for a short distance. If you have lot of time on hand - run as far as possible - but slowly with enough breaks. At times these constraints are a real PITA - but that's life - we should just try to make the most of it.

I did not brick my phone this time. And now I am on CyanogenMod 7 - with Gingerbread. It looks beautiful and is very responsive ( thanks to the Hardcore's Speedmod kernel ) - Samsung Galaxy S feels like a new phone once again. Some of the SGS had the 3 button method ( Volume button  + Home + Power key ) to reboot into Recovery or Download mode disabled -  which is essential to install any kernels or ROMS.  The trick was to enable the 3 Button Fix and it becomes easy to install ROMS. In my previous failed attempt I tried to accomplish the same using adb and bricked my phone. (  http://venkat2.blogspot.com/2011/09/android-adventures-how-i-bricked-my.html )  1. Root SGS This is quite simple. Download SuperOneClick from shortfuse (  http://shortfuse.org/?page_id=2  ) and root the phone. 2. Enable the 3 button fix If you can go to download / recovery mode with the 3 buttons you can skip this step. Use the below link and it worked without any hiccups :...

Claimer : This is not a post to mourn but to Celebrate Steve Jobs.  I read Ayn Rand's FountainHead in 2008. A life changing novel. If you haven't read here is a gist. The hero of the book is Howard Roark.  He hates the old school architecture - where you have the professors expecting one to design buildings with 18th Century architecture - the pillars and ornate designs. Howard Roark could not stand this "apeing" and refuses to follow the college's dictum and drops out and moves to New York to start his own design firm. At the same time - Peter Keating, his fellow student, graduates with top honors and moves to New York.  The first half of the story is all about how Peter Keating's career rises while Howard Roark is rejected by the System and he goes to work as a day laborer in a mine quarry and as a construction worker.  The second half is all about how Howard Roark's style of architecture is accepted and creates a new School of Thought. He crea...