October 30, 2007

Don't forget the subtle half

I often observe the presence of a subtle half that makes a concept complete and effective. For instance, consider the following concepts and their associated subtle halves.

  • Data, and the subtler Meta-Data
  • Intelligence, and Creativity
  • Talent, and Integrity
  • Force, and Direction
The complementary subtler aspect should be given as much importance as its other half. The data becomes more useful when associated with its meta-data. Similarly, Intelligence accompanied by Creativity is a killer combination. A talented person without integrity can be harmful to the society, and so is the force which lacks direction.

On thinking like an entrepreneur, I believe we can create a great value if we can connect the subtler portion with its crux in any domain. For instance, there are schools that teach knowledge education, but not much of character education. If a new school wants to become the best in its lot, it should consider offering both kinds of education.

In many occasions, a concept can contain several such subtle aspects tagged to its main body. Not everyone will focus on all the subtleties. In order to gain perfection or to differ from the rest, focus on the hidden aspects that are long forgotten by most. Blogging for instance is such a simple concept, but was not explored until early 2000.

October 27, 2007

Explore them this weekend

Here is a collection of impressive websites that I came across in the last week. Hope you too will find them interesting...

  1. Jiglu : It plugs into your site to automatically create intelligent tags and inner links for your web content.
  2. GoodWidgets : Good looking Photo widgets for your blog / website.
  3. BeFunky : Create funky stuff from your photos
  4. MangoLanguages : Fun and easy way to learn a new language on their list.
  5. Yuuguu: Instant & easy remote access and conferencing. I'm yet to explore it!
Some useful stuff for web developers and site admins:

October 23, 2007

Life, Education, and Society

While listening to the podcast of Ben Casnocha's interview, my attention was completely drawn by the following 4 words that he talked about.

  • On Demand education
  • Real Life University
  • Life Entrepreneurship
  • Intellectual Society
They all conceptually refer to the same ideal state of living. I can quickly think of a cool idea for a startup company to be built around these concepts. I should appreciate Ben Casnocha for having coined such wonderful terms to convey his thoughts. Here are my views...

On Demand education is learning on the go, as and when it is required. We, software developers are usually very good at this style of learning. Of course with a solid design in place, we pick the right tool for the task in hand, and start off with implementation. We educate ourselves of the technology as we march along the path to get the software functional. With the advance of internet, learning just got easier. With Google search results, online tutorials, developer forums, Wikipedia, and e-books, we can get the desired information in minutes.

The term 'Real life University' fascinates me... Learning is fun, learning is essential, and learning should never cease. Visiting new places and being inquisitive helps to explore the life to its fullest. The idea is to be an eternal student and to learn from life as it comes by. For instance, when you visit an alien land, get to know their history & culture. Participate in social gatherings, exchange views and thoughts, and express via blogs.

Everyone of us can be an entrepreneur in our own little ways. What differentiates an entrepreneur from the rest is his ability to take a stand. If one is able and willing to make a decision on his own, he is a Life Entrepreneur. We often see people who are mere head-noders to a public opinion, and lack an identity of their own. Such people end up becoming members of a herd that is taken for granted.

Speaking of the basic traits of an Entrepreneur... He is one who does not only follow rules, but also tries to invent them. Simply said, he is a leader who makes a high impact on the world with an exceptional quality of work, socializing skills and a willingness to take risks to solve problems. One can become an entrepreneur in his own field of choice (Engineering, Medicine, Law, etc...), and not essentially Business alone.

Intellectual society is the basis for every kind of social experiment (democracy, betting, share market, ... ). It is required for people to think on their own when they participate in a social activity. Following the trend like a sheep in its herd does not contribute much to the society. Agreeing to what is being said in Spiderman 3, each of us have a choice. We should evaluate our choices and make an informed decision on our own.

Unfortunately, we are currently living in a non-intellectual society. People buy Toyota/Honda cars without even attempting to evaluate them. People use Google search just because others use it. For the same reason, democracy is a failure in India regardless of what the govt of India claims.

October 21, 2007

The day for Victory

Today is Vijayadasami, the tenth day of the Dasara festival in India. 'Vijaya' means victory and Dasami is the tenth day. So, VIJAYADASAMI is a day to begin new ventures, be it business or education, as it is an auspicious day and assures success.

According to Hindu mythology, goddess Durga slays the demon Mahishasuran on this day. It signifies the victory of good over evil. My salutes to the goddess, and let good prevail in this world. Symbolically, when one makes an effort to remove a negative personality in oneself during the Dasara festival, he will achieve his goal on the Vijayadasami day.

On this auspicious day, I'd like to get FundooWeb (one-click search mashup) out of its Beta phase. Lately, it has been displaying a satisfactory performance in terms of speed and relevancy of search results. FundooWeb was launched on Sep 27 2006, and it graduates today after a year long study.

October 14, 2007

Happy Days

Last weekend, I watched the telugu film "Happy Days" at a far-away theatre. The director Sekhar Kammula did an excellent job of entertaining his audience with a touch of class. The film portrays the college days of Engineering students, while touching upon their immature mind-states, ambitions, friendship, and fun.

I enjoyed the movie from start to finish. The climax gave the movie a perfect end with a powerful message and an emotional touch. A couple of dialogs at the end especially won my heart.

After graduation, one of the students feel sorry because he did not achieve anything during the 4-year stay in college. The Dean consoles him saying "College is not for you to achieve a thing ; It is to prepare you in order to achieve something in life". Thats an excellent statement. I'm reminded of the words from Swami Vivekananda who always laid emphasis on Character-education that should complement knowledge-education in schools & colleges.

Here is another good one... "Today is the end of the most happy days in your life, and the beginning of the most purposeful days in your life" says Dean to his students on their graduation day.

The movie creates a nostalgic effect among us, while refreshing our college memories. Its director (Sekhar Kammula) experimented with a fresh new cast, corporate-deals, offbeat release date, and no drama. The melodious music hit from Mickey J Meyers will sure earn him many laurels.

I especially liked the characterization of Chandu, Rajesh, Maddhu & Appu. This movie makes everyone say "I miss my college days!".

Some related links: Cast Profiles, Team Celebration

October 03, 2007

SAB Graduating!

Today, I'm pulling Stuff-a-Blog (SAB) out of its Beta phase, as its been more than a year since its initial launch in Sep '06. Several new features including BStir module, support for Unicode, and performance enhancements were being added in its Beta. They are all working great lately.

To mark this occasion, I'm launching a dynamic BStir widget along with a few additional display options. For those who are using an old static BStir widget, you may want to update your widget. Click here for a preview (widget in action). Its free... and you will love it!

Also, a discussion group is created for the interested ones. Here... You may ask questions, request features, or just give your feedback.

October 01, 2007

Netaji - A leader and a philosopher

Y'day, I read an article about our Netaji (Subhash Chandra Bose) whom I always admire for his vision, and his action that supports his vision. A true leader and a patriot who is equally spiritual and character oriented. He is a great follower of Swami Vivekananda and his teachings. He truly believed in the wise words...

"Iron nerves and a well intelligent brain and the whole world is at your feet."
- Swami Vivekananda

Netaji is a revolutionary thinker, and a university ranker who finishing his B.A. (honours) in Philosophy. I love the courage and the energy of Netaji, and now I understand the source of his ever lasting energy level - the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

Read the entire article