My New Hobby

Stealing Caller Tunes. I was never a big fan of them, but recently I discovered that you can copy them with just a single keypress (the '*' key). Works even between Vodafone and Airtel. So you call someone, you hear their caller tune, press '*' and now it's your caller tune. Pressing '*' after calling someone who hasn't set a caller tune does not reset your caller tune though. I think it should.

The meaning of it all

Finished reading The meaning of it all today. It's a collection of three John Danz lectures Richard Feynman gave in 1963. They are not technical, the official topic is the effect of ideas from science on other branches of knowledge. In the first lecture Feynman clarifies what science is. He defines science to be a way of finding things out, a way based on the principle that observation is the sole judge of the merit of an idea. He discusses the importance of imagination in science, how ideas develop and more importantly, the uncertainty inherent in all scientific knowledge. You can never be 100% sure, but that also doesn't mean you are perpetually trapped in the middle of possibilities. You can be pretty sure of things, it's just not 100%. Which is a good thing, as Feynman points out, because we are uncertain means we'll keep trying new things, and I think this is an important statement, to keep trying new things out is the way to do everything.

The second lecture discusses the relationship between science and religion. Feynman points out the difficulties faced by an young man brought up in both scientific and religious disciplines, and the conflict he might see between the two. He also describes how the wonders of the universe are greater and more challenging and ultimately more satisfying than the greatest human imagination has to offer. A point made by many other scientists too, and I guess you start seeing the truth behind it after only a bit of exploration.

The third lecture is titled 'This unscientific age'. Here Feynman confesses that he ran out of organized ideas in the first two lectures and hence will present some of his uncoordinated thoughts. That gives him opportunity to jump from topic to topic, everything from radio ads insulting the intelligence of listeners (he takes on Pepsi here, What is thinking young anyway? he asks..) to some ways to improve how ideas are judged (talk about what is probable, not what is possible. UFOs are possible, yes, but what's the probability?) and some gotchas that media and sometimes even scientists make (like using the data that suggested a conclusion to support that conclusion instead of doing independent experiments and seeing what happens) and some more. Naturally, Feynman's enthusiasm makes this the longest lecture of the series.

Probably the most impressive thing about Feynman's writing is his honesty. Here's this guy adorned with words like 'The smartest man in the world' and 'The coolest scientist who ever lived' and he'll tell you straight away that you don't have to believe him because he's won some awards (Feynman shared the 1965 Physics Nobel). He'll frankly tell you that he does not know the answer and can live with that. This kinda honesty is something hard to find. But honesty is not the only thing that makes Feynman remarkable, it's also his amazing clarity of thought, his wit and enthusiasm, and his ability to successfully convey ideas, important ideas to be sure, and that without boring you.

I'll urge you to read it (won't even take that long, it's a small book (122 pages)).

Mumbai Visit

Amit's Engagement..

Usual delays, blame games (Thanks to Lalit was the operative phrase :) and still reaching before time..

Fast & Furious 4 @ Vashi Cinemax and sleeping through the entire first half (seats were that comfortable)..

Random shopping (I won't have to beg for a USB drive now)..

Plus the usual dose of jokes, songs, discussions and arguements..

Let me rephrase.. A fun filled Mumbai Visit..

Life @ Wall Street

The name of Wall Street inspires a certain amount of awe. People making (and losing) millions overnight. But apart from that I knew almost nothing. So thanks to Abhishek for sharing Liar's Poker with me. It's an honest, witty, funny glimpse at the life on Wall Street circa 1980s. The author describes his journey from a lowly trainee to a geek salesman(yep, Finance guys have their geeks too, but it does not appear to be a badge of honor as in programming circles) to the proverbial BSD (can't share the full form, this being a family blog ;-). And you get a rare glimpse at why trading is so addictive for some. Being a book about Wall Street, Finance-speak appears here and there, a language which I can confidently claim to barely understand. I understood enough to follow the book, but it you have read some books about Finance-speak which are interesting and informative (in that order), please leave a comment (or Email, or tweet, or sms, or something, there are (too) many ways to express yourself online these days. You can also come and plain-old-talk to me, if you are old fashioned ;-).

Take a look

Image of Earth from Chandrayaan-I. (Taken on March 25th)
[From Planetary Society Blog]

This is old news, but still..

We're here to put a dent in the Universe, they proclaimed. And I am happy that at least one guy took them seriously, the rikshawallah. But the part of the universe that he chose to put a dent in happened to be my bike, a fact which I cannot say I am particularly happy about. And let me spare you the drama that followed. After all that I go to the mechanic, and ask him to reduce the number of dents in the universe by one. But he misunderstands, and returns me my bike with the same dent in the same place, only polished (and shiny). Apparently the dent-ist (Dent-ist: a guy who reduces the total number of dents in the universe) is on leave. I wonder if he's fixing dents in some alternate parallel universe. I mean, they too might have rikshawallahs. Now I am fully committed, determined and whatnot to get rid of this one (so there is more space available for dents-to-come), it seems that it's not gonna happen for atleast two more days. So yes, if you want to take a look (and I remember a few souls out there giving me enthuasistic ideas about how we can photoshop me+dent+riksha to create a realistic image), come stop on by..

You should read this book.

To err is human. To cover it up is Weasel.

So begins Scott Adams' Dilbert and the way of the Weasel. Now we all love Dilbert, but this was the first time I read a book by Mr.Adams. And I simply couldn't stop chuckling while I was at it. The central theme is the Weasel Zone, which Scott defines to be the gray area between good moral behavior and outright criminality and where most of life happens. He shares his invaluable wisdom about how to survive and succeed there. Let me share some bits..

Data Collection: The most useless kind of data is the accurate one. The whole point of Data Collection is to persuade people to do things they aren't already doing.
or
The first step of Marketing is to collect data about what people want. The next step is to throw all that data away and make whatever your company can make; it's called Product Development.

I don't see how we can survive without that kinda knowledge (Weasel Knowledge: crossing a bunch of ignorance with Powerpoint charts). Later part of the book discusses social weasels, financial weasels and some more. Strangely enough, Software does not make it to his list of weaseliest professions; how could you miss it Scott?

On a more serious note, we've all met weasels, and to be completely honest, have been weasels ourselves sometimes. So yes, there is something to be learned from the book. If you are so inclined, you can learn how to identify and counteract weasels. [On the other hand, which means if you are like me, you'll add new tools to your weasel toolbag ;-)]. One more note: I think the more workex you have, the more you'll enjoy this book, because you might have already met some weasels from the book in person in your years. As for me, I plan to read it again a few years later, just to see what has changed. And you should read it too.