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.