When I was two feet tall
and held the hand above,
how could I know
how far that limping bond would go,
that finger-inch of love.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Thursday, January 02, 2014
We all have an intuitive sense of what "simplicity" means. In science, the word is often used as a term of praise. We expect that simple explanations are more natural, sounder, and more reliable than complicated ones. We abhor epicycles, or long lists of exceptions and special cases.But can we take a crucial step further, to refine our intuitions about simplicity into precise, scientific concepts? Is there a simple core to "simplicity"? Is simplicity something that we can quantify and measure?
When I think about big philosophical questions, which I probably do more than is good for me, one of my favorite techniques is to try and to frame the question in terms that could make sense to a computer. Usually it's a method of destruction: It forces you to be clear, and once you dissipate the fog, you discover that very little of your big philosophical question remains. Here, however, in coming to grips with the nature of simplicity, the technique proved creative, for it led me straight toward a (simple) profound idea in the mathematical theory of information - the idea of description length. The idea goes by several different names in scientific literature, including algorithmic entropy and Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Chaitin complexity. Naturally, I chose the simplest one.
Description length is actually a measure of complexity. This is just as good for us, since, we can define simplicity as the opposite.i.e, Simplicity is numerically, negative of complexity. To ask a computer how complex something is we have to present that something in the form the computer can deal with - as a data file, a string of 0s and 1s. That's hardly a crippling constraint: We know that data files can represent movies, for example, so we can ask about simplicity of anything we can present in a movie.
Interesting data files might be very big, of course. But big files need not be genuinely complex; for example a file containing trillions of 0s and 1s and nothing else isn't genuinely complex.
The idea of description length is, simply, that a file is only as complicated as it's simplest description. Or, to put it in terms a computer could relate to, a file is as complicated as the shortest program that can produce it from scratch. This defines a precise, widely applicable, numerical measure of simplicity.
An impressive virtue of this notion of simplicity is it connects other attractive, successful ideas. In theoretical physics, we try to summarize the results of a vast number of experiments and observations in terms of a few powerful laws. We strive to produce the shortest program that outputs the world. In that precise sense, theoretical physics is a quest for simplicity.
It's appropriate to add that symmetry - a central feature of physics laws - is a powerful simplicity enabler. If we work with laws that have symmetry under space and time - in other words laws that apply uniformly, everywhere and everywhen - then we don't need to spell out new laws for distant parts of space or different historical epochs, and we can keep our world program short.
Simplicity leads to depth. For a short program to unfold into rich consequences it must support long chains of logic and calculations which are the essence of depth.
Simplicity leads to elegance. Short programs will contain nothing gratuitous. Every bit will play a role for otherwise we could expunge it and make the program shorter. And the different parts will have to function smoothly together, in order to make a lot from a little.
Few processes are more elegant, i think, than the construction following the program of the DNA, of a baby from a fertilized egg.
Simplicity leads to beauty: For it leads as we have seen to symmetry which is an aspect of beauty. As for that matter are depth and elegance.
Thus, simplicity, properly understood, explains what it is that makes a good explanation deep, elegant and beautiful.
-- Frank Wilczek, MIT
When I think about big philosophical questions, which I probably do more than is good for me, one of my favorite techniques is to try and to frame the question in terms that could make sense to a computer. Usually it's a method of destruction: It forces you to be clear, and once you dissipate the fog, you discover that very little of your big philosophical question remains. Here, however, in coming to grips with the nature of simplicity, the technique proved creative, for it led me straight toward a (simple) profound idea in the mathematical theory of information - the idea of description length. The idea goes by several different names in scientific literature, including algorithmic entropy and Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Chaitin complexity. Naturally, I chose the simplest one.
Description length is actually a measure of complexity. This is just as good for us, since, we can define simplicity as the opposite.i.e, Simplicity is numerically, negative of complexity. To ask a computer how complex something is we have to present that something in the form the computer can deal with - as a data file, a string of 0s and 1s. That's hardly a crippling constraint: We know that data files can represent movies, for example, so we can ask about simplicity of anything we can present in a movie.
Interesting data files might be very big, of course. But big files need not be genuinely complex; for example a file containing trillions of 0s and 1s and nothing else isn't genuinely complex.
The idea of description length is, simply, that a file is only as complicated as it's simplest description. Or, to put it in terms a computer could relate to, a file is as complicated as the shortest program that can produce it from scratch. This defines a precise, widely applicable, numerical measure of simplicity.
An impressive virtue of this notion of simplicity is it connects other attractive, successful ideas. In theoretical physics, we try to summarize the results of a vast number of experiments and observations in terms of a few powerful laws. We strive to produce the shortest program that outputs the world. In that precise sense, theoretical physics is a quest for simplicity.
It's appropriate to add that symmetry - a central feature of physics laws - is a powerful simplicity enabler. If we work with laws that have symmetry under space and time - in other words laws that apply uniformly, everywhere and everywhen - then we don't need to spell out new laws for distant parts of space or different historical epochs, and we can keep our world program short.
Simplicity leads to depth. For a short program to unfold into rich consequences it must support long chains of logic and calculations which are the essence of depth.
Simplicity leads to elegance. Short programs will contain nothing gratuitous. Every bit will play a role for otherwise we could expunge it and make the program shorter. And the different parts will have to function smoothly together, in order to make a lot from a little.
Few processes are more elegant, i think, than the construction following the program of the DNA, of a baby from a fertilized egg.
Simplicity leads to beauty: For it leads as we have seen to symmetry which is an aspect of beauty. As for that matter are depth and elegance.
Thus, simplicity, properly understood, explains what it is that makes a good explanation deep, elegant and beautiful.
-- Frank Wilczek, MIT
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
i had written an email to my family about the idea of "do-ocracy" as opposed to all the other "crazies". i was extremely excited about where i found it and so sent this link to my family :
http://www.apache.org/
the message back from my sister was pure poetry, here it is :)
======================================================
I read it all, if only to find the link between the subject and the content
if only to see if there was a context for me....
Its gone clear over my head...but I'm happy
Happy its not a message about Politics
Happy its not about something I need to change in myself
(like Green revolution or save the environment)
or a toxin I might be consuming in micro quantities until it explodes inside me (insidious)
Happy its not something I'm doing that is affecting the Poor.
Happy its not a saying that I have to digest and consume.
Happy that I don't have to change the way I live....
Generally happy
Thank you for sending me a mail from which I could draw no sense
But it made me happy for all the unknown reasons...
======================================================
http://www.apache.org/
the message back from my sister was pure poetry, here it is :)
======================================================
I read it all, if only to find the link between the subject and the content
if only to see if there was a context for me....
Its gone clear over my head...but I'm happy
Happy its not a message about Politics
Happy its not about something I need to change in myself
(like Green revolution or save the environment)
or a toxin I might be consuming in micro quantities until it explodes inside me (insidious)
Happy its not something I'm doing that is affecting the Poor.
Happy its not a saying that I have to digest and consume.
Happy that I don't have to change the way I live....
Generally happy
Thank you for sending me a mail from which I could draw no sense
But it made me happy for all the unknown reasons...
======================================================
Monday, January 23, 2012
A poem that stirs my very "soul", if i ever have one ....
The Pale Blue Dot
[1] http://tinyurl.com/palebluedot
[2] "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it
everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,
every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate
of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions,
ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every
hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every
king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father,
hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every
corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every
saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote
of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the
rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in
glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a
fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the
inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely
distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their
misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent
their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we
have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this
point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great
enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there
is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from
ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is
nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could
migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment
the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building
experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of
human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it
underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another,
and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've
ever known."
-- Carl Sagan
[3]"Carl Sagan's poetry of earth came from viewing the planet from
outside as the pale blue dot that would be the last thing any of us
would see of it if we could ever leave our native parish and travel
outbound through the eternal cold.Read Sagan's words. Read them
again.Read them for that special kind of humility which only science
can give, the special kind of humility which we cannot afford to
forget"
-- Richard Dawkins
The Pale Blue Dot
[1] http://tinyurl.com/palebluedot
[2] "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it
everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,
every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate
of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions,
ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every
hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every
king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father,
hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every
corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every
saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote
of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the
rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in
glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a
fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the
inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely
distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their
misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent
their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we
have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this
point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great
enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there
is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from
ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is
nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could
migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment
the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building
experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of
human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it
underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another,
and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've
ever known."
-- Carl Sagan
[3]"Carl Sagan's poetry of earth came from viewing the planet from
outside as the pale blue dot that would be the last thing any of us
would see of it if we could ever leave our native parish and travel
outbound through the eternal cold.Read Sagan's words. Read them
again.Read them for that special kind of humility which only science
can give, the special kind of humility which we cannot afford to
forget"
-- Richard Dawkins
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Elders
Your heart is revealed in the way you treat the elders.
Like children, the elders are sometimes a burden. But unlike
children, they offer no hope or promise. They are a weight and
an enucmbrance and a mirror of our own mortality.It takes a person
of great heart to see past this fact and to see the wisdom elders
have to offer, and to serve them out the gratitude for the life
they have passed on us.
I hope you will be such a person.
It is not easy in this culture.We have lost a feel for our elders.
They are a sad, gray presence, hidden behind clumsy phrases like
"elderly", "senior citizens", "retired persons". They are tolerated
out of guilt, feared for the burden they represent, or shunted aside
into irrelevance.They are not loved and honored and sought out for the
wisdom that their ears have given them.
Chances are you will find yourself of two minds about elders.Some will
fascinate you, especially the ones who seem to carry their youth with
them into old age.Others will be frightening to you because of their
ugliness or nearness to death. Still others will bring you great pleasure
because they want so much to please you and demand so little of you.
But no matter how they make you feel, you should always watch them carefully.
They were you and you will be them.You carry the seeds of your old age in you
at this very moment, and they hear the echoes of their childhood each time
they see you.
You will find that many old people are not pleasant.They are as filled with them-
selves and their own concerns as the very young are.They ask you to think about
them and their feelings with little or no concern for yours.
When you meet such elders you must not take them in the wrong way.Like young children,
old people are dependent on the world around them and they very often fear their own
loss of importance. They face the uncertainity of death and are often embittered that the
world they worked so hard to create is being discarded by the generations now in power.
Their bodies are giving out on them.They increasingly find themselves surrounded only by
people their own age, because they know that the young would rather be apart from them.
They often live in memories.
When you meet such elders you must not be blinded by their unpleasantness. When you are tired
or ill or full of anger and pain, you, too, may not be pleasant.For many elders, these are
the conditions of their lives. But beneath the surface of their actions is the a wisdom you
can gain nowhere else.
Even if theirs was the simplest, most limited, most ordinary of lives, they saw the world into
which you have come. No other past generation is as close to yours;no other life near so near in
time. Their stories have the blood of your life running through them.You will never be so close
to the world that gave birth to you as you are when speaking to them.For that and that alone you
should honor and revere them and give them your ear. You are bonded in time.
It is important that you avoid the pitfall of pity when dealing with elders.Too many people, under
the guise of caring , patronize and demean the very old by treating them like children.They speak
to them loudly, or as if they were simpletons. They intrepret the elder's concern for the minutiae
of life as a return to the infantile.In actions and manner they strip the elders of the very respect
they claim to be giving them.
These people are, in their own way, causing as much harm as those who ignore the elders.They are, through
their actions, holding up mirrors in which the elders must see their infirmity, not mirrors in which they
can see their humanity.True caring and respect serve the weakness, but mirror only the human and the
strength.Caring and respect listen, laugh and even challenge.They assume that words and actions of elders
are to be taken seriously.
You must remember that, even in their infirmity, elders seek and value their dignity.They want, above all
else, to feel that their lives are valued and that their life on earth has not been wasted. If you
can go to them with a pure heart, unblinded by notions of false reverence and unaffected by self-serving
feelings of pity, if you can value them and allow them to share the fruits of their experience, however,
simple those fruits might be, you will be performing the greatest act a heart can perform.
You will be loving them not serving them.
Your heart is revealed in the way you treat the elders.
Like children, the elders are sometimes a burden. But unlike
children, they offer no hope or promise. They are a weight and
an enucmbrance and a mirror of our own mortality.It takes a person
of great heart to see past this fact and to see the wisdom elders
have to offer, and to serve them out the gratitude for the life
they have passed on us.
I hope you will be such a person.
It is not easy in this culture.We have lost a feel for our elders.
They are a sad, gray presence, hidden behind clumsy phrases like
"elderly", "senior citizens", "retired persons". They are tolerated
out of guilt, feared for the burden they represent, or shunted aside
into irrelevance.They are not loved and honored and sought out for the
wisdom that their ears have given them.
Chances are you will find yourself of two minds about elders.Some will
fascinate you, especially the ones who seem to carry their youth with
them into old age.Others will be frightening to you because of their
ugliness or nearness to death. Still others will bring you great pleasure
because they want so much to please you and demand so little of you.
But no matter how they make you feel, you should always watch them carefully.
They were you and you will be them.You carry the seeds of your old age in you
at this very moment, and they hear the echoes of their childhood each time
they see you.
You will find that many old people are not pleasant.They are as filled with them-
selves and their own concerns as the very young are.They ask you to think about
them and their feelings with little or no concern for yours.
When you meet such elders you must not take them in the wrong way.Like young children,
old people are dependent on the world around them and they very often fear their own
loss of importance. They face the uncertainity of death and are often embittered that the
world they worked so hard to create is being discarded by the generations now in power.
Their bodies are giving out on them.They increasingly find themselves surrounded only by
people their own age, because they know that the young would rather be apart from them.
They often live in memories.
When you meet such elders you must not be blinded by their unpleasantness. When you are tired
or ill or full of anger and pain, you, too, may not be pleasant.For many elders, these are
the conditions of their lives. But beneath the surface of their actions is the a wisdom you
can gain nowhere else.
Even if theirs was the simplest, most limited, most ordinary of lives, they saw the world into
which you have come. No other past generation is as close to yours;no other life near so near in
time. Their stories have the blood of your life running through them.You will never be so close
to the world that gave birth to you as you are when speaking to them.For that and that alone you
should honor and revere them and give them your ear. You are bonded in time.
It is important that you avoid the pitfall of pity when dealing with elders.Too many people, under
the guise of caring , patronize and demean the very old by treating them like children.They speak
to them loudly, or as if they were simpletons. They intrepret the elder's concern for the minutiae
of life as a return to the infantile.In actions and manner they strip the elders of the very respect
they claim to be giving them.
These people are, in their own way, causing as much harm as those who ignore the elders.They are, through
their actions, holding up mirrors in which the elders must see their infirmity, not mirrors in which they
can see their humanity.True caring and respect serve the weakness, but mirror only the human and the
strength.Caring and respect listen, laugh and even challenge.They assume that words and actions of elders
are to be taken seriously.
You must remember that, even in their infirmity, elders seek and value their dignity.They want, above all
else, to feel that their lives are valued and that their life on earth has not been wasted. If you
can go to them with a pure heart, unblinded by notions of false reverence and unaffected by self-serving
feelings of pity, if you can value them and allow them to share the fruits of their experience, however,
simple those fruits might be, you will be performing the greatest act a heart can perform.
You will be loving them not serving them.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
after moving to a new place i had to setup my home network. when i connected my first laptop to the comcast modem , everything was "hunky-dory". so , just before i connected the wireless router i tried to directly connect the other laptop. this lead to "limited or unavailable network connectivity".
i tried "ipconfig /all" on the XP cmd window. this responded with a strange looking 169 ip address.
being a techy i tried to ping this ip - it responded immediately with <1ms round trip time. so obviously there was a server locally , it wasn't going anywhere in the network.
opened the network connections and looked at the tcp/ip properties for the connection.on the "alternate configuration" found :"automatic private ip".
so- when DHCP is not available it goes to this "automatic private ip" that assigns the address 169.***
this lead me to believe that the modem(cable ->comcast in my case) caches entries of the computer it's just assigned an ip to!
the solution:
*disconnect power from modem
*disconnect power from router(if any)
*connect modem ( after at least 1 min of wait time)
*connect router ( a little after ,say another minute)
*connect computer
this will always solve the problem.
hope this helps.
i tried "ipconfig /all" on the XP cmd window. this responded with a strange looking 169 ip address.
being a techy i tried to ping this ip - it responded immediately with <1ms round trip time. so obviously there was a server locally , it wasn't going anywhere in the network.
opened the network connections and looked at the tcp/ip properties for the connection.on the "alternate configuration" found :"automatic private ip".
so- when DHCP is not available it goes to this "automatic private ip" that assigns the address 169.***
this lead me to believe that the modem(cable ->comcast in my case) caches entries of the computer it's just assigned an ip to!
the solution:
*disconnect power from modem
*disconnect power from router(if any)
*connect modem ( after at least 1 min of wait time)
*connect router ( a little after ,say another minute)
*connect computer
this will always solve the problem.
hope this helps.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
i have a dream
biological systems solve a lot of problems , every little slice of time. these systems must have both short and long term strategies. a strategy however is not sufficient to survive. the strategies formed must somehow evolve or accommodate tactics.
an example might be : sleep . when sleeping an organism must wake up before it is subsumed by another.in case of plants - the organism must learn to survive in the face of constant extinction.
in every case , it seems that simple goals create complex interactions.
my dream wonders if it's possible to plugin questions which emerge out of simple goals and find solutions as an end result of the emergent interactions?
for example : sight - the most complex problems need to be solved to interpret a pixel the size of 1x1. the details of such interaction is important and needs to be "real-time". latency and fuzziness will be punished. yet , if a conscious effort is made to solve this problem a limitation of experience seems to be the biggest determining factor to finding an adequate solution.
human beings playing chess solve many problems on a 8x8. is it not possible to use the crunched out calculations to solve "world hunger" (for example)? just like power produced by tread-mill runners is used to power a rice mill grinder, the brain output of high-intensity calculations might be useful in yet unknown ways.
biological systems solve a lot of problems , every little slice of time. these systems must have both short and long term strategies. a strategy however is not sufficient to survive. the strategies formed must somehow evolve or accommodate tactics.
an example might be : sleep . when sleeping an organism must wake up before it is subsumed by another.in case of plants - the organism must learn to survive in the face of constant extinction.
in every case , it seems that simple goals create complex interactions.
my dream wonders if it's possible to plugin questions which emerge out of simple goals and find solutions as an end result of the emergent interactions?
for example : sight - the most complex problems need to be solved to interpret a pixel the size of 1x1. the details of such interaction is important and needs to be "real-time". latency and fuzziness will be punished. yet , if a conscious effort is made to solve this problem a limitation of experience seems to be the biggest determining factor to finding an adequate solution.
human beings playing chess solve many problems on a 8x8. is it not possible to use the crunched out calculations to solve "world hunger" (for example)? just like power produced by tread-mill runners is used to power a rice mill grinder, the brain output of high-intensity calculations might be useful in yet unknown ways.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Thursday , 0219 hrs PST ,Menlo Park , CA
it was a spiritual experience.i witnessed an orchestera perform . motionless at the same time with a movement. a cadence , a dance , a ballet , a work of art that will leave michelangelo's sculptures gasping and grappling for life.
roger federer - andy roddick , australian open : with roddick having the best view of a genius at work.flowing water that leaves the mighty niagra , fall with a whimper.
imagine for a moment that you are in a free fall : there's no gravity , there are no restrictions ... and when you land,it's on a heap of feathers so soft that it lulls you to sleep.such was the timing executed in the shot making of roger federer.
one sign said: "quiet please: genius at work" . what work? this was poetry.
every shot of federer made the earth pause just for a moment to witness a miracle happen. the play reached a state of matter hitherto not witnessed nor defined.such was the grace , power and rhythm of his performance.
it left quite a few people in tears , like , when you hear the raaga bhairavi at the end of a virtuoso performance.
i can only quote what Einstein wrote about MKG to describe my feelings about roger's game today :
"Generations to come will scarce believe that such
a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood..."
it was a spiritual experience.i witnessed an orchestera perform . motionless at the same time with a movement. a cadence , a dance , a ballet , a work of art that will leave michelangelo's sculptures gasping and grappling for life.
roger federer - andy roddick , australian open : with roddick having the best view of a genius at work.flowing water that leaves the mighty niagra , fall with a whimper.
imagine for a moment that you are in a free fall : there's no gravity , there are no restrictions ... and when you land,it's on a heap of feathers so soft that it lulls you to sleep.such was the timing executed in the shot making of roger federer.
one sign said: "quiet please: genius at work" . what work? this was poetry.
every shot of federer made the earth pause just for a moment to witness a miracle happen. the play reached a state of matter hitherto not witnessed nor defined.such was the grace , power and rhythm of his performance.
it left quite a few people in tears , like , when you hear the raaga bhairavi at the end of a virtuoso performance.
i can only quote what Einstein wrote about MKG to describe my feelings about roger's game today :
"Generations to come will scarce believe that such
a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood..."
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
the niagra dream
it all happened suddenly . it should have been a great event in a lifetime.i always thought it would be. we - i had a companion who had seen the niagra maybe many times - set off to the great falls.
the journey was more uneventful than going to work on 101 each workday.niagra appears at you ,just like that, on the left side. it takes no effort to see it. no long lines ,no tickets , no grand gate.
i am used to nature barricaded ,ticketed and reserved . why would niagra be different?
somehow , it seemed to be a let down to have it , right there , with all it's grace , beauty and ferociousness. untamed and unwinding. a beast from the past ,in the present, of the future. wild , yet domesticated . a water-zoo.
a challenge to the senses that titillates and mutilates it with schizophrenic intensity. it asks you a question and with gushing pride answers without waiting. bold without a care like life overflowing knocking you senseless asking for attention daring you to take the leap to your destiny, to plunge into the unknown , playfully creating rainbows , bubbles , the works , leaving everything behind in it's wake.
all waterfalls are measured : height , width , gallons of water . yet , the mind grapples with the fate of each drop.
in a world of Tivo i wanted a button for pause with a label " wait , let me understand what's happening.." and "..continue..".
if inspiration lacks a definition one can find it in this fall ,right next to new york.
it all happened suddenly . it should have been a great event in a lifetime.i always thought it would be. we - i had a companion who had seen the niagra maybe many times - set off to the great falls.
the journey was more uneventful than going to work on 101 each workday.niagra appears at you ,just like that, on the left side. it takes no effort to see it. no long lines ,no tickets , no grand gate.
i am used to nature barricaded ,ticketed and reserved . why would niagra be different?
somehow , it seemed to be a let down to have it , right there , with all it's grace , beauty and ferociousness. untamed and unwinding. a beast from the past ,in the present, of the future. wild , yet domesticated . a water-zoo.
a challenge to the senses that titillates and mutilates it with schizophrenic intensity. it asks you a question and with gushing pride answers without waiting. bold without a care like life overflowing knocking you senseless asking for attention daring you to take the leap to your destiny, to plunge into the unknown , playfully creating rainbows , bubbles , the works , leaving everything behind in it's wake.
all waterfalls are measured : height , width , gallons of water . yet , the mind grapples with the fate of each drop.
in a world of Tivo i wanted a button for pause with a label " wait , let me understand what's happening.." and "..continue..".
if inspiration lacks a definition one can find it in this fall ,right next to new york.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
time of your life - green day
Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.
It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.
It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
what is "self"?
In very rare cases where a patient has seizures that start independently on either side of the brain and spread, a corpus callosum section may be recommended. Also called corpus callosotomy, this procedure involves severing the fibers connecting the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain. Disconnecting the two hemispheres helps stop the spread of seizures in the brain and may protect some patients from injury caused by seizure-related falls.After surgery, the patient may experience temporary or permanent limitations of speech, movement of certain body parts or behavior alteration.
For more on experiments on these patients : http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/split-brain.html
if we take these experiments for a given , we may conclude that the point of cognition - the reason we think of ourselves as an "i" - is really an illusion created by the brain. however, if this is the case, then it's a matter of extension that , when "i" say i ,"i" actually mean the point , so to speak of convergence , of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.but , if this is the case , then all "i " need to do is take this point of convergence and connect it up with ... a chair , a table , a number ,.. the universe! which means , when "i" say i , "i" actually mean the entire universe !
what do you think?
In very rare cases where a patient has seizures that start independently on either side of the brain and spread, a corpus callosum section may be recommended. Also called corpus callosotomy, this procedure involves severing the fibers connecting the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain. Disconnecting the two hemispheres helps stop the spread of seizures in the brain and may protect some patients from injury caused by seizure-related falls.After surgery, the patient may experience temporary or permanent limitations of speech, movement of certain body parts or behavior alteration.
For more on experiments on these patients : http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/split-brain.html
if we take these experiments for a given , we may conclude that the point of cognition - the reason we think of ourselves as an "i" - is really an illusion created by the brain. however, if this is the case, then it's a matter of extension that , when "i" say i ,"i" actually mean the point , so to speak of convergence , of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.but , if this is the case , then all "i " need to do is take this point of convergence and connect it up with ... a chair , a table , a number ,.. the universe! which means , when "i" say i , "i" actually mean the entire universe !
what do you think?
Friday, March 03, 2006
Watching Roger Federer play tennis makes you feel like it's an easy game. Until you get out there and try and hit the same way. But then, so many have voiced this opinion ...to me the way his racket glides will always be : "Poetry in Motion".
This week and the next , lesser gods(!) are playing at the mountain view open. Just watching them makes you want to hit the tennis ball better . So much consistency . I wonder , of course , if i'll ever get to be as good at hitting the tennis ball that way.
Then there was JavaOne, a host of individuals who have worked hard everyday , so others have an easier life. Inventors mix with users and there is no hard line between the two. One inventor is a user to another's invention.Immense talent flowing in all directions. Nothing stands still. The mind is an equipment that hasn't come with a manual. Pity !
The universe is full of gifted individuals and people who have a way with things.Why do we feel excited when others achieve things that are way beyond our own? I think it's because we have a connection. Our bodies and minds are packets of atomicity which we are able to recognize. I think super-beings will be able to get out of these atomic packets and feel the universe as an "I". The point of intersection where "I" is separated from "Them" is very interesting. Vicarious pleasure is impossible without this separation , but, it's also not possible with the separation . Where does this leave "us"? :)
Why do i feel like i am rewinding a tape and playing it again ? Seems like my life has as little knowledge as the lives of all philosophers before me and all those who are going to come after me. This is not a good idea , but , it seems there is a law of conservation of knowledge which we are going to follow.Strictly . sigh !
This week and the next , lesser gods(!) are playing at the mountain view open. Just watching them makes you want to hit the tennis ball better . So much consistency . I wonder , of course , if i'll ever get to be as good at hitting the tennis ball that way.
Then there was JavaOne, a host of individuals who have worked hard everyday , so others have an easier life. Inventors mix with users and there is no hard line between the two. One inventor is a user to another's invention.Immense talent flowing in all directions. Nothing stands still. The mind is an equipment that hasn't come with a manual. Pity !
The universe is full of gifted individuals and people who have a way with things.Why do we feel excited when others achieve things that are way beyond our own? I think it's because we have a connection. Our bodies and minds are packets of atomicity which we are able to recognize. I think super-beings will be able to get out of these atomic packets and feel the universe as an "I". The point of intersection where "I" is separated from "Them" is very interesting. Vicarious pleasure is impossible without this separation , but, it's also not possible with the separation . Where does this leave "us"? :)
Why do i feel like i am rewinding a tape and playing it again ? Seems like my life has as little knowledge as the lives of all philosophers before me and all those who are going to come after me. This is not a good idea , but , it seems there is a law of conservation of knowledge which we are going to follow.Strictly . sigh !
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
People can be forgiven for overrating language. Words make noise, or sit on a page, for all to hear and see. Thoughts are trapped inside the head of the thinker. To know what someone else is thinking, or to talk to each other about the nature of thinking, we have to use — what else, words! It is no wonder that many commentators have trouble even conceiving of thought without words — or is it that they just don¹t have the language to talk about it?
—The Language Instinct, 1994
—The Language Instinct, 1994
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
The Third Wind
I hear my breath. It's ragged , fighting and asking for more than it can get.I want to be able to gulp copious amounts of air and let it out in equally large quantities. This must be how it feels to struggle for breath.This *is* how it feels to struggle for breath.Nothing brings the mind into sharp focus like the struggle for survival.This is what i am doing - struggling to survive.
Then things start to happen. I have just finished mile 5 , my target today is to run 10 miles. The mind needs to cope with many variables - it needs to regulate the body temperature , the heart rate , the muscular contractions , the rhythm of the run , the breathing. All of those are peanuts for the mind as it does this on a regular basis until almost unconsciously it faces the most formidable enemy of all - Itself.
Vasomotor Rhinitis : This is a term for a poorly understood condition where people have a stuffy or draining nose but have no evidence of specific allergies.What it does is however, manifest and real.For runners it's a phlegm manufacturer and *not* the best thing to happen when you are trying to "create" air to feed the brain.I have this condition.
Like an ace lawyer the mind argues to stop the incessant and insatiable desire of madness to carry on despite the pain, the phlegm , the pounding . In it's own way it's effective.2 votes to stop , 2 votes to continue. It's dead even. Meanwhile , i've carried on past mile 6.For a moment the lawyer mind looks at the numbers and doubts whether the pain is really manifest and whether it really has a case.This is all that i require.I force the numbers to change : 0-4.Continue.
And then the side stitch joins us. She is my good friend. She never fails to look me up about mile 6.3.She goes away pretty soon for her errands but the conversation with her distracts me enough to forget about the lawyer. But, as she leaves I wake up to mile 6.66.I wish it was mile 8 , but of course,this is the critical number.I have just sailed on my second wind. I am still waiting for the third wind.Why 6.66? I don't know. Maybe because it's a number i have associated with the biblical devil ,inspite of my athestic outlook.Or it's a number that's so symmetric that it looks a nice number for a time-mark.But , when i cross over this one - it's as if i have crossed the bridge. I have gone to the other side.
I am still waiting for the third wind. The lawyer mind has recouped and regathered it's energies.The legs are even more painful now.The lungs are burning as if they are lit on fire.The odds are stacking up : one by one .This is how i like it.Bring 'em on.I am still waiting for the third wind.
I have just gone past mile 7.25 - now every half of a quarter mile is a battle I struggle to win.The phlegm in my mouth now regularly forms a film like bubble gum blowing up when i open my mouth not letting air to pass through.I spit it.Immediately , it forces me to gulp more air.Which produces more phlegm , which i spit again.The nose clears up momentarily only to be congested again.I breathe out hard into my t-shirt.It's soaking wet now as if a cloud just burst on top of my head.My eyes start to smart from the acid in the sweat. I clear it with my hand.But the sweat keeps flowing.The phlegm is now more frequent.I need to clear it as soon as it congests.I have just cleared mile 7.8 . I think of it as my 8th mile.No , it *is* my 8th mile. This does wonders. Psychlogically , I have just 2 more miles to go.This is amazing.All my doubts clear.I reach out and grasp hope and I run with it.
The third wind can catch me if it can.
I hear my breath. It's ragged , fighting and asking for more than it can get.I want to be able to gulp copious amounts of air and let it out in equally large quantities. This must be how it feels to struggle for breath.This *is* how it feels to struggle for breath.Nothing brings the mind into sharp focus like the struggle for survival.This is what i am doing - struggling to survive.
Then things start to happen. I have just finished mile 5 , my target today is to run 10 miles. The mind needs to cope with many variables - it needs to regulate the body temperature , the heart rate , the muscular contractions , the rhythm of the run , the breathing. All of those are peanuts for the mind as it does this on a regular basis until almost unconsciously it faces the most formidable enemy of all - Itself.
Vasomotor Rhinitis : This is a term for a poorly understood condition where people have a stuffy or draining nose but have no evidence of specific allergies.What it does is however, manifest and real.For runners it's a phlegm manufacturer and *not* the best thing to happen when you are trying to "create" air to feed the brain.I have this condition.
Like an ace lawyer the mind argues to stop the incessant and insatiable desire of madness to carry on despite the pain, the phlegm , the pounding . In it's own way it's effective.2 votes to stop , 2 votes to continue. It's dead even. Meanwhile , i've carried on past mile 6.For a moment the lawyer mind looks at the numbers and doubts whether the pain is really manifest and whether it really has a case.This is all that i require.I force the numbers to change : 0-4.Continue.
And then the side stitch joins us. She is my good friend. She never fails to look me up about mile 6.3.She goes away pretty soon for her errands but the conversation with her distracts me enough to forget about the lawyer. But, as she leaves I wake up to mile 6.66.I wish it was mile 8 , but of course,this is the critical number.I have just sailed on my second wind. I am still waiting for the third wind.Why 6.66? I don't know. Maybe because it's a number i have associated with the biblical devil ,inspite of my athestic outlook.Or it's a number that's so symmetric that it looks a nice number for a time-mark.But , when i cross over this one - it's as if i have crossed the bridge. I have gone to the other side.
I am still waiting for the third wind. The lawyer mind has recouped and regathered it's energies.The legs are even more painful now.The lungs are burning as if they are lit on fire.The odds are stacking up : one by one .This is how i like it.Bring 'em on.I am still waiting for the third wind.
I have just gone past mile 7.25 - now every half of a quarter mile is a battle I struggle to win.The phlegm in my mouth now regularly forms a film like bubble gum blowing up when i open my mouth not letting air to pass through.I spit it.Immediately , it forces me to gulp more air.Which produces more phlegm , which i spit again.The nose clears up momentarily only to be congested again.I breathe out hard into my t-shirt.It's soaking wet now as if a cloud just burst on top of my head.My eyes start to smart from the acid in the sweat. I clear it with my hand.But the sweat keeps flowing.The phlegm is now more frequent.I need to clear it as soon as it congests.I have just cleared mile 7.8 . I think of it as my 8th mile.No , it *is* my 8th mile. This does wonders. Psychlogically , I have just 2 more miles to go.This is amazing.All my doubts clear.I reach out and grasp hope and I run with it.
The third wind can catch me if it can.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Sin City
i had written this in 1999 - after about 3 months in the U.S. Lots has changed since then - but this account is still quite accurate to memory. This is the unabridged , unedited , original :-) , so please bear w/ the language.
"An Ode to the Flower of Utah"
I had a 3 day most wonderful trip to Nevada.If you scan yahoo map and type U.S + map you should be able to locate this wonderful place.
We started on Thursday Night in 2 cars.
The total distance of the Journey was 1400 Miles approx.(2240 Kilometers).The road to Las Vegas goes right thru the Mojave Desert(TOP GUN stunts) known mostly for U.S Army Operations.The city opens out in the desert out of nowhere.I mean 1 minute you are travelling in Empty ,Barren Land.The next,You are in the center of the World's Most Glittering Entertainment Center.
As you enter the Las Vegas Blvd,better known as just "the Strip" one board stands above all ,It simply states "Las Vegas The City of Entertainment" and By jove it is.
The city that in daylight is mere Cement and concrete trying to fight the arid desert,comes alive at night as never before.Glittering and glamorus.
There are two things in Vegas that go hand in hand.The SLOT and the SLUT.And Human beings are turned to Machines.SLOT Machines and SLUT Machines.The slots are coin eaters.Believe me with a $20 bill you could play on 25 Cents Slot Machines and loose everything.These machines are made so you can get rid of UR cash.So if U think 25 cent machine is > what U can afford."they" allow U to loose money with a 5 Cent Slot machine.Well if U play on the higher limits,there is the 1000 Dollar slot machine.(If U win they give U 10000 Dollars.)YUP,the rich become richer the poor remain poorer.Besides the slot there are many other ways to loose your hard-earned money.The Casino,The Roulette and the so called Wheel of (Mis)Fortune.Even then it was a good lesson on probability.I mean you would think except for things like the Weather,or something more abstract in the Quantum World,where would one actually USE the Probability theory?This place is the ultimate when it comes to see probabilty at work.Remember all the world famos probabilty theorists came from Gambling!To name a few :Louis L Ambert,Fermat,Gaolis.I bet Schrodinger did put a finger in the Gamblers pie once.What I really found interesting was the SLOT and the Wheel are made so they win unless You can calculate probs accurately.That is exactly what I ended up doing and w/ an investment of $10 I went upto $80.I changed tacks thinking (which always gets me in truble) that it is NOT probabilty at work but sheer luck and bet differently.The results?Lost 30 bucks straight!I stopped playing.Cashed the 50 bucks and that was the End of it!
Vegas also has the highest roller coaster in the world.Atop a tower appropriately called the Stratosphere.The tower is about 110 floors.Which is about 1347 feet.That takes about 35 seconds to reach by lift.The coaster is ,a COASTER.Twirls and turns.But there is what is called the BIG SHOT.That does 245 mph for 45 feet vertically upwards which is approx 4g.(Men astronauts can take 6g approx,and women atros about 8g).Then drop u down at 3.5g.Where g is 9.8 metres per second per second.The seat on which u sit is Unavialable as U fall!It causes all kinds of things to unfit people(vomiting,nausea,dizziness or all,to name a few!).
Vegas imitates the World's Attraction centres.So it has a MINI EIFFEL TOWER ,from where U reach out to see the Grand Opera ,The Bellagio!This is a Light and Sound show w/ a difference.It has water included.Fountains are manipulated at such rapid pace,that are melted harmoniusly to the background opera music,that the combination leaves u wondering whether u have reached heaven!The show is non stop from 20:30 hrs every fifteen minutes.But the best part is It is absolutely free.It goes on and on.For all to see.You pay to get good views of this magnificient show.You could be watching it from the streets, which gives a different perspective.The entirity of the city and it's ways leaves you overwhelmed at the significance of mankind and life.
To pander to those philosphical thoughts the State of Arizona along with Nevada and California has the Splendor of the Wild Wild West:The Grand Canyon and The Death Valley.
This is sheer rock from the Pre Mesozoic right upto the Permian thru the Cretacious,Jurrasic and the Triassic.The rock;that has everything.Nature's way of preserving.The sheer size of the Grand Canyon opens to scrutiny at what Nature wants to tell with this statement.
The canyon covers about 1092 square miles.The highest peaks reach upto a 1900 feet or more.This is uninhabitable barren waste and yet has beauty!
The Death valley is part California ,part Nevada.This place is an uninhibited almost vulgar exhibition of Nature's mockery of man's place on earth.Yup,It puts a man in his place.This area is better known as Area 51.The sight where two U.S made fighter jets had a rondevous with an alien shuttle.An alien it is now believed ,that came from Outer Space.
It is indeed a strange sight when U see the Death valley from close range.It asks no mercy ,it has no mercy.Basic dunes cut away from eons of evolutionary time,bringing one back to what it was to look at the earth a few million years ago.Sand solidified almost fossilized for unsuspected scrutiny.Then the Wind blows,and things start to stir.Just a little,but enuf for men to loose their life on planet earth.Indeed this valley was an enormous valley below the sea for millions of years.Suddenly exposed to the Sun.The dangers of this valley are yet unknown.Dormant volcanoes which blow off w/o warning are just part of what makes it thrilling to be inside the Death Valley!Miles and Miles of barren ,grassless land.
For "the death valley" evolved before grass did. This is probably the flower of utah !
i had written this in 1999 - after about 3 months in the U.S. Lots has changed since then - but this account is still quite accurate to memory. This is the unabridged , unedited , original :-) , so please bear w/ the language.
"An Ode to the Flower of Utah"
I had a 3 day most wonderful trip to Nevada.If you scan yahoo map and type U.S + map you should be able to locate this wonderful place.
We started on Thursday Night in 2 cars.
The total distance of the Journey was 1400 Miles approx.(2240 Kilometers).The road to Las Vegas goes right thru the Mojave Desert(TOP GUN stunts) known mostly for U.S Army Operations.The city opens out in the desert out of nowhere.I mean 1 minute you are travelling in Empty ,Barren Land.The next,You are in the center of the World's Most Glittering Entertainment Center.
As you enter the Las Vegas Blvd,better known as just "the Strip" one board stands above all ,It simply states "Las Vegas The City of Entertainment" and By jove it is.
The city that in daylight is mere Cement and concrete trying to fight the arid desert,comes alive at night as never before.Glittering and glamorus.
There are two things in Vegas that go hand in hand.The SLOT and the SLUT.And Human beings are turned to Machines.SLOT Machines and SLUT Machines.The slots are coin eaters.Believe me with a $20 bill you could play on 25 Cents Slot Machines and loose everything.These machines are made so you can get rid of UR cash.So if U think 25 cent machine is > what U can afford."they" allow U to loose money with a 5 Cent Slot machine.Well if U play on the higher limits,there is the 1000 Dollar slot machine.(If U win they give U 10000 Dollars.)YUP,the rich become richer the poor remain poorer.Besides the slot there are many other ways to loose your hard-earned money.The Casino,The Roulette and the so called Wheel of (Mis)Fortune.Even then it was a good lesson on probability.I mean you would think except for things like the Weather,or something more abstract in the Quantum World,where would one actually USE the Probability theory?This place is the ultimate when it comes to see probabilty at work.Remember all the world famos probabilty theorists came from Gambling!To name a few :Louis L Ambert,Fermat,Gaolis.I bet Schrodinger did put a finger in the Gamblers pie once.What I really found interesting was the SLOT and the Wheel are made so they win unless You can calculate probs accurately.That is exactly what I ended up doing and w/ an investment of $10 I went upto $80.I changed tacks thinking (which always gets me in truble) that it is NOT probabilty at work but sheer luck and bet differently.The results?Lost 30 bucks straight!I stopped playing.Cashed the 50 bucks and that was the End of it!
Vegas also has the highest roller coaster in the world.Atop a tower appropriately called the Stratosphere.The tower is about 110 floors.Which is about 1347 feet.That takes about 35 seconds to reach by lift.The coaster is ,a COASTER.Twirls and turns.But there is what is called the BIG SHOT.That does 245 mph for 45 feet vertically upwards which is approx 4g.(Men astronauts can take 6g approx,and women atros about 8g).Then drop u down at 3.5g.Where g is 9.8 metres per second per second.The seat on which u sit is Unavialable as U fall!It causes all kinds of things to unfit people(vomiting,nausea,dizziness or all,to name a few!).
Vegas imitates the World's Attraction centres.So it has a MINI EIFFEL TOWER ,from where U reach out to see the Grand Opera ,The Bellagio!This is a Light and Sound show w/ a difference.It has water included.Fountains are manipulated at such rapid pace,that are melted harmoniusly to the background opera music,that the combination leaves u wondering whether u have reached heaven!The show is non stop from 20:30 hrs every fifteen minutes.But the best part is It is absolutely free.It goes on and on.For all to see.You pay to get good views of this magnificient show.You could be watching it from the streets, which gives a different perspective.The entirity of the city and it's ways leaves you overwhelmed at the significance of mankind and life.
To pander to those philosphical thoughts the State of Arizona along with Nevada and California has the Splendor of the Wild Wild West:The Grand Canyon and The Death Valley.
This is sheer rock from the Pre Mesozoic right upto the Permian thru the Cretacious,Jurrasic and the Triassic.The rock;that has everything.Nature's way of preserving.The sheer size of the Grand Canyon opens to scrutiny at what Nature wants to tell with this statement.
The canyon covers about 1092 square miles.The highest peaks reach upto a 1900 feet or more.This is uninhabitable barren waste and yet has beauty!
The Death valley is part California ,part Nevada.This place is an uninhibited almost vulgar exhibition of Nature's mockery of man's place on earth.Yup,It puts a man in his place.This area is better known as Area 51.The sight where two U.S made fighter jets had a rondevous with an alien shuttle.An alien it is now believed ,that came from Outer Space.
It is indeed a strange sight when U see the Death valley from close range.It asks no mercy ,it has no mercy.Basic dunes cut away from eons of evolutionary time,bringing one back to what it was to look at the earth a few million years ago.Sand solidified almost fossilized for unsuspected scrutiny.Then the Wind blows,and things start to stir.Just a little,but enuf for men to loose their life on planet earth.Indeed this valley was an enormous valley below the sea for millions of years.Suddenly exposed to the Sun.The dangers of this valley are yet unknown.Dormant volcanoes which blow off w/o warning are just part of what makes it thrilling to be inside the Death Valley!Miles and Miles of barren ,grassless land.
For "the death valley" evolved before grass did. This is probably the flower of utah !
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Can we have more ?
"Success is not always final. If you build a better mousetrap, nature will breed a smarter mouse."
- Sol Broad
"Everyone always says to be yourself... like 'yourself' is this definite thing... like a toaster, or something."
- Angela, from My So-Called Life
"Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans."
- John Steinbeck
"Success is not always final. If you build a better mousetrap, nature will breed a smarter mouse."
- Sol Broad
"Everyone always says to be yourself... like 'yourself' is this definite thing... like a toaster, or something."
- Angela, from My So-Called Life
"Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans."
- John Steinbeck
Saturday, January 17, 2004
The Code Parlor
Here is what i am thinking of these days . Have a place for guys who'd rather be coding to meet in one place and code. Something like a code parlor. This will also be a place where we programmers can discuss the problems we face .Most of us really require the atmosphere. We also need to meet like minds at least in our time zone :-) . We hardly socialize - coz we'd rather be coding !Now , a lot of us are like that . Beasts who code - like urukhais of Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings.
Well the fact of the matter is we - coders , urukhais and other akas for coders - are really beautiful people . Sometimes misunderstood , cause we are thought to talk geek. I think most of us talk poetry . I know the mathematician Paul Erdos used to show up at the doors of other mathematicians and do math. I think he is the inspiration for this. Except that , we all meet here and code. And we help each other w/ code. With so many open source projects accelarating at > mach speeds - we need open air atmosphere w/ social networks for mental health .You see many of us are good programmers but we may NOT have the programmer temperament. I for one - love company and like and solve many problems while i code. This is how i work at work too :-).
So here is the deal : I will provide chinese food /lunch and the place . You get your laptop or your desktop too ( as long as you can set up a place betwixt the laptops or sit on your box and connect to a screen ). Anyone else interested in bringing food is most welcome. Pot Luck is great !
Oh and btw - anyone interested in talking about some great discovery or stuff they did is most welcome to talk about it. Hey we all want to be appreciated by people who really understand us ! Isn't that the goal of life - be understood at least once ? Hahahaha ! I would also love guys & gals bringing their instruments - including klunky prototype guitars , violins and whatevers and play it ! I'd love to hone my skills at guitar too.
So : to all those dudes out there who need company coding , i am here . Alan Kay said :"The best way to predict the future is to Invent it ". Let's do it together !
Here is what i am thinking of these days . Have a place for guys who'd rather be coding to meet in one place and code. Something like a code parlor. This will also be a place where we programmers can discuss the problems we face .Most of us really require the atmosphere. We also need to meet like minds at least in our time zone :-) . We hardly socialize - coz we'd rather be coding !Now , a lot of us are like that . Beasts who code - like urukhais of Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings.
Well the fact of the matter is we - coders , urukhais and other akas for coders - are really beautiful people . Sometimes misunderstood , cause we are thought to talk geek. I think most of us talk poetry . I know the mathematician Paul Erdos used to show up at the doors of other mathematicians and do math. I think he is the inspiration for this. Except that , we all meet here and code. And we help each other w/ code. With so many open source projects accelarating at > mach speeds - we need open air atmosphere w/ social networks for mental health .You see many of us are good programmers but we may NOT have the programmer temperament. I for one - love company and like and solve many problems while i code. This is how i work at work too :-).
So here is the deal : I will provide chinese food /lunch and the place . You get your laptop or your desktop too ( as long as you can set up a place betwixt the laptops or sit on your box and connect to a screen ). Anyone else interested in bringing food is most welcome. Pot Luck is great !
Oh and btw - anyone interested in talking about some great discovery or stuff they did is most welcome to talk about it. Hey we all want to be appreciated by people who really understand us ! Isn't that the goal of life - be understood at least once ? Hahahaha ! I would also love guys & gals bringing their instruments - including klunky prototype guitars , violins and whatevers and play it ! I'd love to hone my skills at guitar too.
So : to all those dudes out there who need company coding , i am here . Alan Kay said :"The best way to predict the future is to Invent it ". Let's do it together !
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