AJAX

This thing is so powerful that you do not even need a server running to make your own RSS Readers.

You require:
- Browser and internet connection
- HTML/JS, which uses Ajax

And Booom!!!... you have a RSS reader which can read any feed you subscribe to.

And the best part is, it is no new technology, just some workaround with JavaScript. Salute to that chap in google who would have figured this out.

M addicted to it!!

Image source: Cover of Yoga Journal (http://www.hlla.com/covers/yoga.jpg)

Culprit or Victim?

One of my friends sent me a link to a post which narrates some incidents of Outrageously Good Customer Service (must read).

My initial reaction was to reply back and like always crib about why such things do not take place in our country. But this time I preferred to be a little boring instead, and thought of how could such a state of accountability be achieved in our society!

The answer to that was simple... Instead of asking all the time, its the time to give!

Unless I can provide an outstanding service to my customer (be it the IT service industry) and become a part of that so called "value addition", I shall not henceforth demand for a similar experience from the seller that I trade with.

The picture says it all, we reap what we sow!! and the rest will all follow...

EDIT

1) July 04, '07: My dhobi (have to find out his name), who irons out my clothes couldn't deliver the clothes in the evening on time, due to electricity problem. As it happened, I too was running short of clothes to wear to office the next morning (as most of the other already washed stuff was still moist due to lack of sunlight).

I leave for office at 7:30 am sharp which means I needed my clothes by 7am the next day. At 6:40am, the door bell rang, with half of my eyes still shut I open the door and see him standing with all clothes well ironed.

From me to you

tere bin / besides you
sanu sohnia / my love
koi hor nahio labhna; / i shan't find another
jo dave / who'll give
ruh nu sakun / peace to my soul
chukke jo nakhra mera; / and indulge me
ve main sare ghumm ke vekhia / i have gone and seen it all
amrika , roos, malaysia / america, russia, malaysiana
kittey vi koi fark si / there wasn't any difference
har kise di koi shart si; / they all had some condition
koi mangda mera si sama / some asked for my time
koi hunda surat te fida / some were fascinated with my face
koi mangda meri si vafa / some demanded my fidelity
na koi mangda merian bala; / none wanted my demons
tere bin / besides you
hor na kise / no one else
mangni merian bala; / wanted my demons
tere bin / besides you
hor na kise / no one else
karni dhup vich chhan; / shall shade me in the sun
jiven rukia / (the) way you paused
si tun zara / slightly
nahion bhulna / i shan't forget
main sari umar / all my life
jiven akhia si akhan chura / you said, looking away
"rovenga sanu yad kar"; / "you shall weep in my memory"
hasia si main hasa ajeeb / i laughed a strange laugh
(par) tu nahi si hasia / but you didn't
dil vich tera jo raaz si / you had a secret in your heart
mainu tu kyon ni dasia; / why didn't you tell me
tere bin / besides you
sanu eh raz / none shall tell this
kise hor nahion dasna; / secret to me
tere bin / besides you
peerh da ilaaj / what druid
kis vaid kolon labhna; / has the cure to my ills
milia si ajj mainu / i found today
tera ik patra / a note of yours
likhia si jis 'te / on which you had scribbeled
tun shayr varey shah da / a varis shah couplet
park ke si osnu / upon reading which
hanjnu ik duliya / a teardrop fell
akhan 'ch band si / what was locked in the eye
seh raaz ajj khulia; / was revealed today
ki tere bin / that other than you
eh mere hanjnu / these tears of mine
kise hor / won't be kissed by
nahio chumna / none else
ki tere bin / that other than you
eh mere hanjhu / these tears of mine
mitti vich rulnha / will wither in the dust

Finallyyy

I have finally got the role/profile I was looking out for. My task over the next 3-4 months is to provide technical consultancy to some of the clients of my company.

My current task is to explore the feasibility of sharing a bunch of technologies (WebSphere Portlet Factory and a proprietary framework) across two applications by investigating the business, technical, risk, financial and governance implications. Not to mention - provide pros & cons, risks and recommendations with regards to high level transition plan, cost and effort required.

I believe this is more of a research and a collaborative role and hope it also gives good enough visibility. My next step is to delve into the concerned applications and explore the technologies involved (which I have started already) .

One thing for which I have always cribbed about is, that a techie gets the kick out of work only by learning something new which fades away soon once we come to know the nitty gritties of a particular technology (unless your company provides you enough space/opportunity to innovate and experiment). The good thing about the current role is that I need to know only enough to provide the required consultancy (and then hopefully move out to a project and get involved in something different or something that relates to what I have done previously)

Kind of excited about work after a long time.

SPOOOOOOOOOKYYYYYYYYY

It is 2 in the night, and I have just been completely flipped out. I am out of my mind right now. My thoughts have been mashed up to be replaced completely by something inexplicable and bizarre.

I happen to return home tired at around 11pm, thought to switch on the TV and just do some general viewing before hitting the bed. While browsing I come across this movie shown by my cable chap, called THE DESCENT.

Watching it at about midnight all alone, has left me shaken.

It tops my list for a must watch for horror/thrill/goosebumps whatever you want to call it.

These Americans are sooooooooooooo innovative and brilliant to come out with something totallyyyy out of this world.

My recco is to watch it alone late in the night to get the best of experience.

Zero to Hero

A couple of months back when I had decided to switch my job, I wasn't too sure/confident about what all is asked to a 2 + year work ex guy in a technical interview.

It is strange that now I find myself on the other side of the table. Within a month of joining the new firm I am now interviewing guys with more work ex than me coming from all tier 1 companies (Factories as called by Purnima). Somehow I feel that just about anybody with okaish education background could be a software engineer and not even that, but be a software engineer in companies with Rs 50,000 Crore+ market cap. (I am into reading basic finance these days :).

Anyway back to the where I started; I was a little thrilled in the beginning to take up this responsibility, but all of it soon fizzled out when I started interviewing guys with communication skills no better than our local cricketers from Najabgarh trying desperately to speak in English after winning a man of the match or somebody anchoring a show on Sun TV.

I found : -

1) Casual attitude towards answering a question. If you think that you have worked on some technology that you do not remember now, then please go and revise it before you start facing interviews.

2) Lack of basic communication skills. Every sentence constructed had "I mean" ... "you know" ... "means" and the rest were nouns, verbs spoken in an absurd order.

Also, say NO, if you do not know the answer to the question asked. It's better than listening to the trash/crap like in the case below :-

My senior: What are the different types of testing you have performed in your previous project?
Candidate: What testings?
Me (loud enough): Repeating the question..
Candidate: Any testing... hmmm... manual testing!... ya manual testing!!

The current state of IT in India is so sad (or I should say so bright), that anyone with 2+ years work experience with basic communication skills and an average technical skills can crack any of top companies' interview. No wonder I wasn't excited even after having offers from almost all tier 1 companies in Pune.

I had this childish thrill to ask those tricky questions which had confused me once, but still looking out for that elusive candidate who would deserve such questions to be asked!