Lock, Stack and Bytes

- Rajesh

And I thought that people started talking about blogs recently! Well, it so happens that exactly five years ago on this day, Mr. Scott Rosenberg (currently Managing Editor at Salon.com) was making a very strong and passionate case about the utility of weblogs in his technology column “Fear of links“. The column, generally speaking, was a criticism of the reasons that made professional journalists look down upon their Web journalist counterparts.

They’re fulfilling the predictions by Internet visionaries of the
rise of a new breed of personal journalism online — only instead
of pounding the physical pavement, they forage for news on the Net
itself.

And then, of course, there were his views on weblogs. Five years ago. Well, I can almost see Mr. Rosenberg looking down upon all those “professional” journalists and giving them a I-said-so look. But going by his writings, he doesn’t seem to be a self-congratulating kind of a person.

- Rajesh

Having spent some real quality time in school, I am now back in the real world. These days, most of the time is spent scanning job sites, hitting the “Submit Resume” button, fending off “recruiter” spams, the odd call from smug contractors and all the usual routine. Invariably, at the end of the day, I end up totally drained. However, you do come across some amusing moments and some interesting observations.

Since my background is in IT, it is the IT jobs that I am looking for (well…duh!). In a month or so that I have been seriously looking for job, I am simply amazed at the number of IT jobs available. More specifically, jobs requiring a J2EE, web application developer background. How on earth is there a job scarcity for tech (programmers/developers) folks if all the jobs listed are real? Maybe I don’t have my numbers right. Maybe. Or it might have something to do with the “required skills” most of these jobs ask for. Some of the examples of “required skills” seem to be a listing of all the IT tools that have hit the market since 1970s! Okay, I am exaggerating a bit here.

…11 years of experience in J2EE programming…10 years of experience in Web application development…Expert in C, C++, Perl, Java, J2EE, ASP.NET, …

To a discerning person, the anomaly in the “required skills” mentioned above is obvious. Or is it? Man, do I need to brush up my skill or what?? Maybe I got to go back and add a few more programming languages and development platforms to my skill set. Maybe I underestimated the market? Maybe I overestimated my skills? Maybe. Or is it what they refer to as a buyers market? Maybe.

And then, my brother forwarded this post to me on Laurent Bossavit’s blog and it, well, helped me shrug off bit of the tiredness that has set in. The posting is an interesting take on programmer’s writing skills. Rather, the lack of it. Guess that’s why the “required skills” are so overloaded! Or should they add the “…write a one-page essay…” as a prerequisite for programmers before even allowing them to get down to the “required skills” section? Now, that would be cruel!

- Rajesh

Off late I have seen a lot of “chatter” in the media about blogs. Today, it was The New York Times that came out with an in depth story on the phenomenon of “blogging”. While it is difficult to trace the history of weblogs (Mr. Dave Winer may, of course, disagree), as far as mainstream media in US is concerned, I think it all started with Howard Dean’s passionate embrace of blogging as a medium to reach out to the hoi polloi. I remember the talking heads on TV and radio trying to define and demystify the term “blog” for their viewers. Come to think of it, no dictionary, at this point of time, defines the term “blog” or “blogging”.

The story in The New York Times does a good job of trying to cover the different motivating (sometimes not-so-motivating!) factors that drives people to take up blogging. It ranges from pure boredom to illusion. Bill Gates and the like, of course, see it as a business tool.

The Web’s illusion of immortality is sometimes more attractive than actual cash

In my family itself there are four different members doing it for four different reasons. And I won’t be surprised that that number will grow by the end of year. Both - the number of members and reasons. My younger brother - who is the driving force behind all the other family members taking up blogging (including my nearly 65 year-old father!) - “blogs” for a number of reasons. Every reason for him is as good as the other: a diary; a technical journal; a “place” to exchange ideas with peers; a form of documenting ideas or simply helping fellow “bloggers” to spread the word about something important that otherwise would never surface in mainstream media.

As far as I am concerned, blogging is the ultimate form of First Amendment. Every one has a take - and the right to voice it. The right to blog. And that can only be good.

- Rajesh

I simply love The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman. And to think that its just an ad! Now that is what I call a good, super creative, win-some-new-customers type of advertisement. Besides the fact that the message itself is very subtle, the cool thing about this ad is that I choose to see it. Nobody forced me to see it. Over the last year or so, we are increasingly seeing this trend - use of “advertisement websites” by big corporations. I think it was Honda and BMW that started it by launching websites that had some nifty ad-cum-movie content.

That brings me to the reason why I made this post. Well…not really. I started off this post just with the idea of spreading the word about Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman - more specifically, the “second part” which they released today. But then, it got me thinking about this whole business of advertising - on the web. Especially, these otherwise good sites that are proliferated with cheezy, blinking, pinkish-reddish ads. Of course, “real-estate” has always been a big constraint for websites as far as putting advertising content is concerned. So first they came up with those infamous pop-ups. Then the more notorious child-pop-ups of parent pop-ups. And then the still more notorious grand children… Well, you get the idea. And I would beg to disagree with folks who say that this was the case only with pornographic sites, gambling sites, and all the human-vice related sites. Of course, these days we have got it fairly under control with pop-up blockers, spyware killers and what not. Ah! So, now the advertisers have resorted to all the flash-dance (remember the 80’s chick flick) with a “X” or “close” button hidden somewhere in the Flash ad movie. Well, I guess it is just one of those things that they refer to as “necessary evil” and I, and many more like me, will have to live with it. Or is there a better way of advertising on websites? Well, do we see a potential killer app…maybe.

- Rajesh

Thank you, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. By gracefully declining to become the Prime Minister of India, you have, hopefully, set a precedence of country-above-self that future politicians will try to emulate.

But aren’t great leaders and true patriots always supposed to be selfless? And sensible? I feverishly hope that by this selfless and sensible act, Mrs. Gandhi has buried for good the doubts, innumerable innuendos, and vitriolic insults about her foreign roots and lack of patriotism (give me a break!). In my opinion, Mrs. Gandhi has shown leadership far beyond the other members of the dynasty. Hopefully, she has taken the baby-steps in dismantling the culture of sycophancy and nepotism that not only has weakened the foundations of Congress party, but Indian politics in general. Indian politics really need leaders who can not only lead by example but also educate the vast electorate about the real virtues of democracy. For one, the majority of electorate needs to know that democracy is definitely not about electing “individuals”. It is about electing a government. It is about governing a country. It is not about Sonia Gandhi. It is about Government of India that can take care of its people. Provide them with basic amenities. And most importantly, provide them the security to live a dignified life irrespective of caste, creed, and religion.

And now…over to you Dr. Manmohan Singh.

- Rajesh

If I ever needed a reason to count my blessings, it’s right here

- Rajesh

Finally, I am underway with my blog. It was a herculean effort to overcome all the inertia to get going on this blog. But now I am done and, to start with, here’s my thought for the day:

It is not the resources, it is their utilization that matters

C.V.Raman

- Rajesh