SAST Wingees » Sibu

Got tagged - 8 facts about me

Sibu — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:44:09 +0000

Ok - Me too got tagged. I should’ve expected this earlier in blogosphere. So, here we go..

1. I used to be a passionate soccer player in school/college. Even to a degree during my early career days till I got my ligaments torn and the Dr advised to stop playing. I don’t seem to enjoy Cricket that much these days (Sorry Ganesh). I am beginning to enjoy Golfing - wish I could expense it.
2. I learned to bycycle only in late high school. Of course, within an year I migrated to an Enfield Bullet that still remains my favorite bike. I was the only owner of a Bullet in my workplace for almost an year - the security/admin guys knew me very well because of the same.
3. When I got married, had to buy a whole new set of chest/shelf’s since my room was overflowing with books. It still is, but my spouse does a better job of organizing all of them and give away quite a few.
4. One screensaver program I wrote in my college was still running in the computer lab about 8 years later. (I couldnt check if the TSR was still there)
5. Though Eco is one of my favorite writer, I havent managed to read his ‘Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language’ completely despite several attempts.
6. Used to be with a local trekking club in Chennai and have done the Anamudi and Mukurthi. Have also done the Longs Peak along with a handful of other 14ers in CO.
7. I have practiced(for a very short time) the traditional marshal arts of Kerala - Kalariapayattu - I still use some meditation techniques I learnt there which is very similar to Yoga.
8. I learnt Homeopathy on the side for a while and can still do some basic prescriptions. There you have it ! -Sibu

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Why do we ask less as we age?

Sibu — Wed, 16 May 2007 03:58:00 +0000

I had the good fortune of listening to Andrew Sobel recently about ‘Clients for Life’ and one of the good traits to have was to be ‘curious’ and ‘ask a lot of questions’. He also joked about how a small kid will have around 100+ questions a day and by the time we are 50, the number of questions is down to 1 or 2 and it is usually - ‘Whats for dinner?’ or something routine. Well, we are all aware of that very well - so I didnt really think about it then. Couple of days back, my daughter (4 yrs) asked me ‘How does the right hand automatically know that it is itching in my left hand and it does the job by itself?’ I was literally thrown off my chair. So, I realized that not only our quantity, but the quality of questions also goes down as we age. Its been ages since I was asked such a great question by someone around my age. Any clues on why/how this happens? More importantly, how can we conciously reverse the same? Can we teach a person to be more curious? I’ll try to do some research myself, but in blogosphere spirit, thought I’ll post it here first. PS: Of Course, I am a super-dad now having answered that tough question.

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Excellent Article on UI

Sibu — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:49:00 +0000

If you havent come across Jensen Harris’ post already, it is a great read for anyone using software, and a must read for anyone in s/w development. I especially like the concept of MileHigh menus that explains the usability of Mac’s to an extend. I guess the same concept/theory can also be used to explain the usability of the iPod interface. This also means that thick client UI applications will always be inherently easier to use than web applications - unless you somehow lock the mouse within the browser window to make it artificially ‘infinite’. Hope all this will work out great for MS in Office12. Well, it better blow away all expectaions because we all know now that Google is behind.

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Google Spreadsheets

Sibu — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:14:11 +0000

A while ago, I placed my bets with Microsoft for coming up with Officelive. Well, Google is responding - Cant wait for a subscription to Google Spreadsheets. I am already impressed with their calendar - a quick review of the same can be found here. A well integrated Google Desktop, Notebook, Calendar and other Office tools will definitely pose a siginficant challenge to Microsoft.Note the emphasis on well-integrated which is missing in the popular MS-Office products - I still spend a good amount of time with copy & paste operations. But, I am puzzled with the Google business model. Can a significant number of consumers along with small businesses reach a tipping point to convert the enterprises? As the old chinese proverb says, we do live in interesting times.

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Kudos, Mr President on Office of Profit Issue

Sibu — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 06:34:00 +0000

Hon. President Mr. Kalam has made a wise move by sending back the bill ‘Office of Profit’. Even though, the President is believed to be a rubber stamp in India, Kalam is proving again that he is different.

Although the bill may eventually be passed, as that is what the constitution dictates - it is another ugly face of democracy where the politicians are making a law for themselves. Just look at the amount of time, effort, media attention spent on this issue so far - for nothing but a selfish motive of the MPs to remain in power as well as hold on to other positions. All this could have been used for some other rightful cause. Only if our leaders were so passionate about the country.

On politics, heard about some IIT-ians forming a political party in Chennai - please comment if anyone has an update on the same.

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