Routine Post

Because the last time when I tried to switch on my computer, there was something burning ... and I don't know what.

• First things first. After getting rejected left, right and center last year, I finally managed to secure an admit for my MS in Computer Science. That too in UCLA. People tell me that it's a good school, but I'm more like "Hey it's in LA, so GREAT!" (Note: I am still awaiting more results).

• On to running. My sub-20-minute-5KM goal still exists and I'm training as much as I can (maybe I can do more, but then I won't be able to do all the other things which I do). I may not be able to make it in a 6 month time-frame, but it still seems possible within the end of the year. 

• For people who didn't know, I had joined Latin Dance Classes couple of months back and I'm still continuing. It's good fun and would to recommend to everyone.

• I have registered for the Sunfeast 10k which is slated to happen on May 23rd. I don't have any solid goals. I hope to do a sub-50 minute, but then that goal kind of sucks because that's the same which I had last year (I failed last year).

• I'm back to playing basketball. In fact I had been practicing all of last week for a corporate tournament which happened last weekend. We faced 3 teams (Bosch, Wipro and Repucom) and lost to each one of them, but I had a great time playing. It was almost 4 years since I had played a match. 

• Cooking has taken a back seat. I don't find it too interesting to just cook for myself. Although, if there are other people, I like to cook. 

• I'm currently reading greatbong's "May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss." I also bought "Getting Things Done." I hope I get time to read everything.

Predictably Irrational and Stack Overflow Careers

After finishing "Without Fear" I have picked up Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational". The book is on behavioral economics and, broadly speaking, tries to determine what influences human decisions which, if looked objectively, sometimes seem irrational. I'm not even through chapter 2 and find it an interesting read.

Jeff Atwood, the author of Coding Horror and one of the programmers behind Stack Overflow, had written a blog post describing the gist of the book. It was that post that prompted me to buy it.

In the post, while summarizing the 1st chapter of the book, Jeff wrote:

Realize that some premium options exist as decoys -- that is, they are there only to make the less expensive options look more appealing, because they're easy to compare. Don't make binding decisions solely based on how easy it is to compare two side-by-side options from the same vendor.

While reading another of his newer posts, I came to know that the Stack Overflow bunch have started a new site -- Stack Overflow Careers. The idea is to let active Stack Overflow members, who are looking for a job, post their resume on Stack Overflow Careers. The catch here is that in Stack Overflow Careers, the job-seekers will actually have to pay to make their resume available to the hiring-managers! Their reason:

When hiring managers search through CVs, they want to know that they’re looking at active, serious job applicants. If it were free to post a CV, a lot of applicants that weren’t looking for jobs, or who knew that they had no reasonable chance of getting a job, would post them, making it harder for the employers to find serious applicants.

Of course the other and maybe the real reason is so that Stack Overflow Careers can make money. Also, I'm sure that the other side, which looks at the CVs, also gets charged. Win, win, win!

But wait, how much does it cost? Well here are their rates:

• If you’re a student, a 1 year membership is free
• Until November 9th, 2009, a 3 year membership is $29
• After November 10th, 2009, a 1 year membership is $99

See what they did there? The $99 option is a decoy (go and read Jeff's excerpt above), albeit a temporary one.

But I think the biggest trick which they are playing is making the service paid. That combined with their brand name is actually going to make people rush to it. Hell, I might try it out of curiosity!

To make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.

-- Mark Twain

Without Fear -- Glaring Mistake?

On my flight from Bangalore to Delhi I finished reading the auto-biography of Gandhi and immediately picked up "Without Fear" -- a biography of Bhagat Singh by Kuldip Nayar. Apart from recounting the life stories of Bhagat Singh and his companions, the author tends to glorify the revolutionaries' role and importance, rather than let the readers form their own opinion.

One part of the book just seems plain wrong.

In page 64, when the author is recounting the details of the plans being set by the revolutionaries to bomb the legislative assembly, showcasing Bhagat Singh's frustrations, he writes:

... Bhagat Singh too was tired of violence being associated with them. Gandhi's description of them as 'irresponsible young men' irritated him.

Had Gandhi ever tried to sit around an evening fire with a peasant and tried to gauge what he thought? Had he spent a single evening in the company of a factory labourer and shared his views with him? The revolutionaries knew what the masses thought.

The two questions above, related to Gandhi, are posed rhetorically and are intended to make the reader believe that Gandhi didn't know the problems of peasants or the factory worker. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Gandhi led successful Satyagrahs in Champaran and Kheda (for the rights of peasants), and the mill workers' strike in Ahmedabad (for the rights of factory laborers). In all these three places Gandhi was amongst the people, trying to understand them, helping them. The author also doesn't substantiate his statement that "The revolutionaries knew what the masses thought."

Deeply disappointed.

Update: I stand corrected. The two questions posed are actually derived from Bhagat Singh's article "The Philosophy of the Bomb" under the section "DO THE MASSES BELIEVE IN NON-VIOLENCE". Reproduced below to give the complete context.

Gandhi has extended his tour limit to where a motorcar can take him, the practice of staying only with the richest people in the places visited, of spending most of his time on being complimented by his devotees in private and public, and of granting Darshan now and then to the illiterate masses whom he claims to understand so well, disqualifies him from claiming to know the mind of the masses.

No man can claim to know a people's mind by seeing them from the public platform and giving them Darshan and Updesh. He can at the most claim to have told the masses what he thinks about things. Has Gandhi, during recent years, mixed in the social life of the masses? Has he sat with the peasant round the evening fire and tried to know what he thinks? Has he passed a single evening in the company of a factory labourer and shared with him his vows? We have, and therefore we claim to know what the masses think.

We assure Gandhi that the average Indian, like the average human being, understands little of the fine theological niceties about Ahimsa and Loving one's enemy. The way of the world is like this. You have a friend: you love him, sometimes so much that you even die for him. You have an enemy: you shun him, you fight against him and, if possible, kill him.

As the section heading says, Bhagat Singh is trying to emphasize that the masses understand the means taken by the revolutionaries better than non-violence.

So yes, the questions related to Gandhi were thoughts of Bhagat Singh, but better context could have been provided by the author. I absolve the author of trying to mislead the reader, but still am skeptical of the charges made against Gandhi by Bhagat Singh.

Routine Post

You thought I would be gone for long, yet I continue to surprise ...

• The Jaundice case is closed. Or so I thought. It seems that I have to be careful for many months to avoid relapse. And for that I have to start eating home food (why do you think I fell sick at the first place). As I never learnt to cook, except the occasional maggi and sandwich, my mom will not only be teaching me but also helping me set up my kitchen. Wonder how the cooking experiment will go, given my lack of patience. Maybe you will see me in the next Top Chef.
  

• I finished reading the book called "Know Your Body". Published long long ago by Reader's Digest. Quite a simple yet enlightening read. Other than informing me about my innards, it repeatedly points out the most known yet ignored thing to keep your organs in shape: exercise, quit smoking, keep a balanced diet, don't be tensed. As my guitar teacher once aptly said, "All the information is available (on the internet), it's the application which is lacking."

• I usually don't talk politics, but this one stuck out: the Congress' austerity drive. Shashi Tharoor's comments were highly irresponsible for a politician. Not just the "cattle-class" traveling, but also his reasons on why he didn't stay at Kerala Bhavan: he needed privacy and a gym. Also that he had already blogged about it days ago, thus the matter was closed. Mr Tharoor, it's the Bhavan of the state of whose capital's MP you are. I'm sure you can do something about its issues, rather than complain about it and shrug your shoulders. Also, maybe you should stop tweeting, as it's really not helping you in any way. With regards to the austerity drive itself, I'm undecided. Although the skeptic in me says that most likely they are acting in a penny-wise, pound-foolish manner.
  

• Today I was reminded of an incident which happened an year ago. I was trying to get to Bangalore city station and, as is the case in Bangalore, none of the auto guys were willing to come (or ply only at exorbitantly high rates). One guy though stopped and also agreed to follow the meter reading -- despite the fact that it was "one and a half time"! Five minutes into the journey he says "Sir, please don't feel bad or angry, I want to play a game just to pass the time." Curious of what this was, I agreed. The game was nothing but a series of questions, to which he wanted ultimate answers. I only remember a few of his questions (in all there were 10):
  • Who are you?
  • Where are you?
  • Where are you going?
  • Where do you want to go?
    

  I wasn't in any philosophical mood at that time (rarely ever am I in that mood), so I gave the most obvious proximate answers (Rohit, Bangalore, City Station, City Station). Our fellow was, of course, not impressed; repeatedly telling me that these weren't the ultimate answers.
  

  I look around today with all the people facing quarter-life crises, asking the same questions and not being satisfied with their answers.

Stop thinking. Move forward!

Routine Post

and we are back

• It's been over a week since I was diagnosed of jaundice and have since relocated, till I'm all better, to New Delhi. Although, I wasn't doing too good in Bangalore, I have been recuperating at a fast pace now. In fact for the past 4-5 days, I haven't been feeling weak or ill -- although my eyes are still a scary yellow. I wish to go back as soon as possible.

• My participation in all the running/cycling events in the near future look bleak. Today, I was supposed to run a half marathon in Hyderabad, which ostensibly I didn't. The marathon at KTM is out of question. I surely can't run the 50 KM in the Bangalore Ultra. Now the Tour of Nilgiris also looks doubtful, although I hope I'm wrong.
  

• In the meantime I have been doing a lot of reading (at least for my standards). I finished reading Jared Diamond's "Guns, germs, and steel" and am currently reading Ramachandra Guha's "India after Gandhi". "Guns, germs, and steel" concerns itself with the question "Why certain human socities ended up conquering or dominating others?" Whereas Guha's book is more closer to home and talks about contemporary Indian history. Both are excellent books and I would recommend it to everyone.

• I have also been watching quite a bit of television -- which is a rarity since I don't own a TV in Bangalore. My favoured few channels are Star World, Discovery, and Travel and Living. Although I did chance upon seeing few of the Indian reality TV shows and was left quite scared.
  

Routine Post

Coming back after a long time ... (like Lance Armstrong and Michael Schumacher, but a much shorter period):

• My training for the full marathon has been going good. I'm in the 9th week of training and I had a pretty fulfilling 30 KM run last Sunday. Everything went according to plan and I did the distance in just over 3 hours -- including water breaks. My prospects look good for the Kaveri Trail Marathon.

• The dates for the 2009 Tour Of Nilgiris have been announced and I have decided to participate. Unlike last year's TFN, this time around the distances per day have been reduced to 80 KM from 150 KM. It still poses a challenge and should be fun. As part of the training, the longest distance I have done till date is 70KM. But I think 80KM shouldn't pose much of a problem. Of course, if you put hills in between, it's a totally different ball game.

• I had been avidly following, for the first time in my life, the Tour De France. Lance Armstrong came back this year and gave a good performance. It was not a fairy tale ending for him, but he did manage a respectable 3rd place -- though no individual stage wins. The 1st place was taken by Alberto Contador, Lance's teammate and rival (oxymoron-ic, but true). Armstrong has already announced that he is coming back next year with Team Radioshack. My suspicion is that his team will have Mark Cavendish, the British sprinter, who won 6 stages in the tour this year. Here are some beautiful pictures from the event.

• I have been reading Jared Diamond's : Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee. A book which answers "why humans are the way they are?" The book tackles the question by drawing from various sources: evolutionary biology, history, anthropology, archaeology, etc. In spite of having little knowledge about those subjects I find the book extremely readable.

That's all for now. Till next time, it's bye bye.

After a while she remembered that she still held the pieces of mushroom in her hands, and she set to work very carefully, nibbling first at one and then at the other, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height.

- Alice in Wonderland

Binary search ... anyone?

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