Success is 1% genius 99% perception ;)

I used to have an easy life,
a clear idea of right and wrong;
an understanding of what was truth,
and what was false.

Time has however matured me (or so they say),
and truth is no longer clear.
Even worse I do not know
if truth exists.

So now my life revolves,
around perceptions.
My own, and what I perceive others perceiving.
And I try to move ahead with the appreciation,
of all perceptions around me.
And I Move Not!!!

Dream Machines

Wanna check out a dream machine? Try the following article Howstuffworks "How the Bugatti Veyron Works".

The BMan is on GMail

Hey dudes, I am on Gmail...in fact I have been invited to be part of Gmail...ain't that kewl!!!

Well the reality is that since I am a user of Blogger (which is owed by Google) I was invited (as I expect every Blogger account holder to be) to be part of GMail as an user. Nontheless I am pretty excited as I really wanted to check this service. In fact I had spoken earlier about it in the blog About Gmail. Especially since it will use google search internally. One pluspoint of being early joinee is that I got my fav. brijwhiz handle :)

So all you Blogger users, check out you front page of www.blogger.com and get on to GMail.
For others, if you are still not on this service do not fret, I will try to get back with a review of the service.

Regards to all!!!

Aaya Re Aaya Elections Aaya!!!

The Gandhi family is back…with a bang!!! Most of us had assumed that the Gandhi name would have no impact on politics after the time of Rajiv. How different things have turned out to be. Even the presence of Sonia and Maneka never looked all encompassing. However the entry of the youngsters Rahul and Varun is quite ominous to the people who hate family politics. Their entry is proof to the fact that the Gandhi lineage will keep rearing its head like the Kennedys.

This time the drama of the election campaigns have been most interesting. It was interesting to see Congress push Rahul into the fray…and even more interesting to see that he might actually win with quite a comfortable margin. Another interesting point is the dependence of BJP on Varun. It is very curious how a party filled with leaders who hated Indira Gandhi’s guts (many times validly) is depending on her grandson, who in his turn is using her name to maximum advantage.

Before any BJP lover or Congress lover sends me brickbats let me clarify that I can understand that parties need to be opportunistic. I know that no party has any ideals except for populist ones like Ram Mandir and Gandhi Parivar. I know that I should be sad…but I am not…in fact I am ecstatic…happy to se that at the end of the day…regardless of whom you vote…we will get the same kinda of government…only the name of the parties will change. It gives a kind of stability (good or bad!) to the country.

Mera Bharat Mahan!!!

Speak out !

How many of you wnat to visit a certified "sizzling" blog of rediffblogs, Stand up and Speak out !(...or forever hold your peace).

Flame of the west

Rohan manages to get out of the jerk list by his blog : Flame of the west

Alto :: Let's Go

Many of you already know this; nonetheless as a matter of record I just wanted to point out that I have bought my first car. It is an Alto LXi version. The site is Alto :: Let's Go.

When I was buying the alto it came in 3 trims, LX, LXi and VXi. LX version had the same engine as the Maruti 800, a 796 MPFI engine. However it had A/C and a 5-speed gearbox. Maruti had discontinued the 5-speed 800 and Alto takes it's place. The next trim is LXi, which comes with an electronic power steering. The next trim is VXi, which was way too costly for me. This trim came with the Wagon R 1000cc engine with 67bhp. My trim only gives 45bhp(more than enough for the city...and the way Venky uses his 800 should be good enough for the state highways.)

The Alto comes with no extras so I managed to convince the dealer to put in some extras, viz. Rubber mats, steering wheel covers, side skirts, lighter and mud flaps. I also put in around 20 grand more to get myself a Pioneer music system, about which I have spoken in much detail earlier, a security system(NIPPON Maruti OEM) with central locking, tamper alarm, impact alarm and ignition lock and Goodyear tubeless tyres.

The future, well in the future the two things I am looking for is a tachometer and alloy wheels. However that will be some time in the future.

GUi Bloopers

A blog abou Jeff Johnson's book GUI Bloopers. A must read blog: MPT: GUI Bloopers. Be sure to read all the links in the blog. Now how to make the designers of OpenROAD read this :D

DrinkBoy: Adventures in Cocktails

A great site pointed out by DarthPedro :DrinkBoy: Adventures in Cocktails. Amust have link in everyone's favourites:D

Good Show!

We win, nuff said!!!

Off the list

Rover, Hemant, SVR and Annon get off my list for their quick recovery. Girijesh gets into my uber-jerk list for not even being a blogger (shame! shame! puppy shame!!!)
Other respectable jerks being Sujith and Rohan...wake up ye lazy bones!!!
A very respectable mention(in the positive) to Nitin for the good work he is doing in his blog...chaos. Well done dude.

Other Uber-jerk members- Venky, Shaibal and Magi

regards and power to the bloggers.

Black Blog Day!

Just as a token protest from me against all jerks who are too busy to update their blogs. Yes! I mean you!!!

BBC - Lifestyle - Motoring

Another site pointed out by our car expert Annon : BBC - Lifestyle - Motoring

BBC Top Gear!!!

A top site of a top show, viz.BBC Top Gear. Thanksfor Annon for pointing it out to me. Thought I would get it on my site as he is not a linking blogger :D

About Gmail!!!

A lot of you might have already have heard about GMail and a lot of you might not. It was first heard of on the first of April making lots of people to believe that it was an elaborate hoax. Hoax or not you decide for yourself. Learn more about Gmail

Pioneer it is!!!

Got myself a Pioneer audio system for my car. It is the Pioneer sound.vision.soul - DEH-P5550MP. It is labelled as a multi-CD control High power CD/MP3/WMA player with FM/AM Tuner. Not much more to add except that I got it for 10000INR alonwith two 4" two-way speakers from blaupunkt. Good midrange sound...not enough speaker capacity for the deep bass or crystal shattering treble sounds.

285 kms 55 hrs!!!

Papa was here to help me take my car from the showroom. We took it out around 4:30 pm on 9th. Today we parked it below at around 11:30 pm. The tripmeter reads 285kms. Good Na!!!
Of these 285kms around 120kms were driven by my Papa and the rest by yours truly under his tutelage. Damn great fun. Especially when around 100kms of my share was on the Pune - Lonavla -Pune Expressway.
I love my car!!!

Sublimal Thoughts

Read this sublimal thought on Annon's site. As his setup is dynamic I decide to preserve the thought by copying it here. The thought was:

Conformity: When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

hmmm...

So many stations...so little attention span!

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >
< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >
< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…elcome again to Radio 17’s “Souped-Up Machine show”. Before the break our man on the ground BK was just gonna speak about his choice for an audio system for his car…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…A-keep your eyes on the road your hands upon the wheeal…A-keep your eyes on…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…and here on The Commoner’s Show we move on to another unknown face from the crowd…”Sir, what is your handle? “ “Beoda”…”A very warm welcome to Beoda. So Sir what are your memories about music and driving…”…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…samaana bhi hai deewana; deewana kya kaheage…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…and I have always been a big fan of the Souped-Up Machine Show. When I look at a need for a system I want mid-ranges with a nice span to accommodate both the treble and the bass. What I am looking for is clarity…what I am not looking for is moving through Sindhi Society with my car vibrating on its suspension and going dinchaak dinchaak. Let me first explain the limitations…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…on the back of the roadhouse they got some bungalows…well at the back of the roadhouse they got some bungalows…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…and my favorite times being in a car listening to great tunes was with my friend Kapil in his dad’s Esteem. I do not remember what system he had but we listened to a lot of rock in that car. I distinctly remember listening to Led Zep and how the tape would skip at a specific spot due to bad recording…we would actually incorporate that skip as we sang along.
And we also heard the whole Sholay tapes…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…aaap Close-up kyon nahin karten hainnnn…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

… and so I had to meet the budget constraint of 10000INR for my system (without the rear speakers) This resulted in my choice limited to the following brands Sony, Kenwood, JVC and Pioneer. As I explained earlier I was not going in for a cassette player so it was an in-dash cd/mp3 player for me. Again as I have already explained I did not want a system tending to bass, so Sony did not look great to me. So I had to decide between the Pioneer and the Kenwood. Both of them had great features. However I was adamant on wanting to listen to the system. My dealer then set up three systems for me. At the end of the day I decided upon the…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…roll bay roll…you gotta roll….

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…Doors was another group I heard for the first time in a car. I was with a friend of mine…quite a junkie he was in his Fiat. I heard Roadhouse Blues and Highway Star for the first time in his car. He needed the Deep Purple cassette but was adamant that I take the Doors cassette to listen to it. Since he was offering me the cassette and Moraka I happily accepted the first and firmly rejected the latter. Left the cassette in Venky’s place and came back after a couple of days to find that Venky did not really like it. That was very surprising. On probing further he said some inane reasoning like it was too heavy or it was too druggie or some such shit. I forced him to keep hearing for one more day. The next day I cam for the cassette but he was not ready to return it. In fact he kept it for close to 6 months. Even now he is almost an established authority on Doors…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…aaj ki khel ki khabron main…Pakistan Lahore test Jeet gayen bade asa…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…And that was BK with his choice. What about you do you have any special choice … do write into the “Souped-Up Machine Show” at POBox no…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

…I wake up in the morning and I got myself a beer…the future’s uncertain and the end is always near…

< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >
< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >
< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >
< static > …hiss…crackle……tweeennn….shioouu…< end static >

More on tubeless tyres.

Many people ask me on how puntures are fixed in tubeless tyres. I am linking one of the articles that I used to understand this: Indiacar.com

One more article on tubeless tyres: The Tribune - Windows - Good Motoring

Goodyear Eagle F1

Have been researching a lot on tubeless tyres this past few days(...one reason why I was getting lax in blogging). In this same period one of my friends Victor was asking me how F1 car manufacturers and parts providers benefit from the races. The following link should help explain how this helps: Goodyear Eagle F1

Changes again...

...please to comment...much obliged!!!

An open request

Would you want to recruit a person who knows the syntax of a programming language thoroughly, including every comma and syntax (or as the case might be, every control of a form or every trick of a tool; you get the idea) or would you rather recruit a person who can analyse and wants to solve problems?

For me the above question is a basic no-brainer. Any given day of the week I will go for the latter. Knowledge of syntax, tools etc. will surely help but are not essential. The keys traits that I require are curiosity, analytical skill, and above all a driving need to solve problems and take on challenges. For a long time I have interviewed people on these basis. To be entirely frank I have had to recruit freshers into the company after checking on only their basic theoretical skills but that was due to the fact that the company was on head-hunting spree and to meet the numbers we were trying in to get in every potential candidate. However for interviews to my own group I try to be much more stricter and really require people who are ready to solve, who know more about software engineering than just the tools of the trade, who have some inkling of what is going on around them. I strongly feel hat every person should aspire to be problem solvers rather than expert of an inanimate thing like a language or a protocol.

After reading the above paragraph you must be having a fair idea of where I stand on the matter of interviews and interviewing. (For an even better idea check out my favourite links about this subject : Joel on Software - The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing & "MadMan" on interviews) Imagine my surprise( or a rude shock depending on how you look at it) when I found from my friend that in all the interviews she has attended (as an interviewee) they always ask her syntactical questions( of the variety of how is a certain interface called and with which keyword or which function in which java library is required to do XYZ job). Come on!!! That’s what manuals are for. Why in the name of heaven would a person want to learn this information by rote?!?

I could rant on forever but that is not the goal of this blog.

The main concern I had, which made me write this blog, is to do with the advice that I regularly give people (yup, people actually come up to me for advice!!!)
Whenever a kid (broadly meaning younger to me either by age or experience in IT) has approached me with request for guidance for career growth I have always told them to be problems solvers. My normal advice is to not just be an expert in a certain language or tool. Instead I ask them to be an expert in the domain they are working in and gain enough expertise in tools to help them solve problems faster. Key phrase being ”to solve problems”. Now with this new knowledge of how interviews are being held I am worried whether I have been giving the wrong advice all the time.

So now to my request…can you my readers please give me an idea (from your practical knowledge) of what my advice should be? I would not want to mess up people’s chances making them conform to some idealistic professional Shangrila I have.

Many Thanks for the same.

Faramir If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Faramir, Man of Gondor, the humble younger brother of Boromir. In the movie, I am played by David Wenham. Who would you be? Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

And thanks for all the fish...

Thank you for all your comments about the look and feel of the page. I will work on it this weekend...lets see if the next version is better. Was busy this evening...so do not have much to write.

In the meantime why don't you pay a visit to ANON's page. The link is available on the right. He has added a lot of links and scripts which could be useful for your own sites.

NJoy the day and hope no one was made a fool of yesterday:)