social media & opinion

I tend to go on and off social media and I have never given it much thought why... I suspect there is a reason, must be.
Last couple of days I have randomly scrolling media (social and otherwise)... and something struck me, everyone has an opinion and everyone wants to say something talk about something. I always thought to have an opinion you have to be well read, understand the subject matter, understand the audience, understand situation and even understand opposing point of views. Opinion was expressing yourself in context of what you know about and be ready to change it as more information comes your way. But it isn't the case anymore it seems everyone "wants" to have a opinion as soon as the first piece of information comes our way. The word opinion has become almost same as random thought with no or almost no knowledge.

Opinion, leadership and confidence were meant to have depth... and come from a genuine place of knowledge.
The world could do with little less opinion and a lot more living by example.

random thought

To discover oneself is as important as anything else in life and so is to accept oneself. 

फिर से वक्त भरना है,
उन पतली गलियों से गुज़रना है,
कुछ टूटी आदतें जोड़नी हैं,
फिर से नई धुन गुगु गुनानी है,
कुछ नए सवाल सुलझाने है,
कुछ पुराने खयाल भुलाने है,
फिर से वक्त भारना है। 

काश जो होता है, वो ना होता

ज़िन्दगी मुस्कराती है 
जाने फिर क्यों आँख भर आती है। 
छोटा सा आचल, थोड़े से सपने,
जाने फिर क्यों राहें भटक जाती है। 

ज़िन्दगी कुछ समझाना चाहती है ,
जाने क्या सीखना चाहती है। 

झुकी हुई नज़र में सपने है या आसू

QOTD

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." - William James
Via (@GreatestQuotes)

Best talk I have heard in a while...

Sheryl Sandberg ted talk.
Quote from the talk - "I want my daughter not just to succeed but to be liked for her success"

I knew exactly how she felt

http://trishkhoo.com/2013/04/i-knew-exactly-how-she-felt/

I have been reading/hearing a lot about women in IT these days but am not sure how I feel about it. The article above is nice point of view... But do we need to talk about women in IT?

When I look back at my personal experience it was as recent as last year that someone told me with a whole load of conviction "don't you think you are in the wrong department; shouldn't you being a women be a BA or PM". That was not the first time and that will not be the last. I can line a whole load of comments that I have heard but the fact that stood out about this particular comment was guy telling me this was not a douche bag by any stretch of imagination and I have seen my share of them.
Have I ever been discouraged by comments like this? I think no - I have been pissed but not really discouraged. But then I have never questioned the fact that I wanted to be an engineer. I hear a lot of talk about women questioning themselves - and I ask myself why did I not question myself? Was it because my physics teacher in middle school was a women? female role model? Was it because my parents never discouraged me? Probably to huge extent. But one reason that I think always kept me going was because I loved it - physics, maths, logic, computers I have enjoyed learning and am enjoying working in this field. I didn't get into this to prove that women can do it... I am here because I love it and it makes sense to me. 0's and 1's talk to me.
And one more thing for every person who has discouraged me there has been someone who has encouraged me too.

Now back to my original premiss are women in tech something special? Something to talk about? and after half a page of writing I still don't really know... but I know that there are very few of us.

QOTD

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
- J. K. Rowling.

वक्त नहीं मिलता

आज कल कुछ कहने को नहीं होता

जिससे मिलो वो यही कहता - यार वक्त नहीं मिलता
कितने खाली प्याले समेटे थे कल
और आज एक प्याला भरने तो वक्त नहीं मिलता

वाही नहीं

यही कही, कही नहीं
तुमने मुझे रोक नही |

हसी कुशी, कुशी नहीं
भरी आखें छलकी नहीं |

तुमारी यादे भूली नहीं
पर सुनहरी यादे नयी कई |

चलती रही, गुज़री नहीं 
ख़ुशी मुझे मिली वाही |

राही

राही  

हर मोड़ पर मिलते है कुछ अपने
आखो मे लेकर कितने सपने
हलके कदम और सहमे से हम
ढूंढते है वो साये
जिनके थामे हाथ और समझे जस्बात
किसी ने दी कुशी और किसी ने हसी
और कभी मुश्किलों से मिली प्ररणा नयी
नहीं ज़रूरी की हेर ख्वाइश हो पूरी
और थोड़ी बुँदे अखो से छलकाए कुशी कभी

Good reads now part of Amazon

Amazon Buys Goodreads, A Possible Step Toward Getting More Social

What Might Change As A Result Of The Deal

Right now, the Goodreads site makes it relatively easy for users to download or purchase books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other sites. It's sort of hard to imagine that Amazon will continue to allow links to non-Amazon stores going forward. Likewise, it's entirely possible that Amazon might begin, let's say, encouraging Goodreads members to sign in using Amazon IDs.
Similarly, it remains unclear whether Amazon will leave the Goodreads site itself largely untouched, or whether Amazon plans over time to assimilate -- OK, "integrate" -- it more closely with its main e-commerce site. We do know that Goodreads will continue to maintain its headquarters in San Francisco, which suggests that -- as with Amazon's Zappos acquisition -- the retailer intends to keep Goodreads as an independent entity.

 

I have been so dying to see this!!!

I got this blog link Gervais Principle questioned: MacLeod’s hierarchy, the Technocrat, and VC startups via twitter.

It is a lengthy blog but once I started reading it I could not stop... there could be two reasons for it - one being I had landed myself in a really boring/not useful talk at a conference second it was worth reading... I go with the second. I am sure anyone who has worked in corporate world big companies will be able to relate to this.Reading most of the blog gives you a very grim situation maybe not all true (I hope). But feel free to make up your own mind. The last para resonated with me this is what I have been yearning for!!! Definitely worth a read and I like things that end well.

What I hope to see during 2013, and the coming years, is a Flight to Substance. I want the best people– investors, entrepreneurs, engineers– to realize that they’ve been hoodwinked by VC-istan’s shallow reinvention of the corporate system as something different and “cooler”, and to demand a return to Real Technology. I want to see better ideas, better companies, and better cultures. I want to see funding for research and development, so that people can do intellectually interesting work without being thrown into the secondary labor market that academia has become. I want to see a world in which people actually care about solving hard problems and delivering real value. When this happens, the Technocrats can win again.