Now reading...

I liked reading when I was a kid. Somewhere down the line, I just lost that habit and the desire. Maybe it had something to do with my obsession for music and playing the guitar. But now, I think (or hope) its coming back slowly. And what a difference it makes! Its not just the knowledge you gain from the book that counts. It also changes the way you look at things. I know that sounds cliched, so here's an example. I recently got a copy of Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler (thanks to my growing interest in my work and meeting great people like Tom from ThoughtWorks). While I'm reading it, I am exposed to the thinking of the co-authors as well. And soon, I might start looking for their books, which exposes me to more and more ...

The bottom line is that if you feel passionate about something, get a book by a leading personality in that area. In the worst case, you'll be just reading a book. In the best-case, you'll be transformed.

Spam can be interesting

Here are my top 3 emails today with the most interesting subject line -

1. I carry a bazooka in my pants, walking around.
2. One inch just leads to another, and 9 inches leads to the ultimate women pleasuring machine.
3. Okay. I admit it. I'm just here for the sexual thrills.

I find them quite hilarious.

What's common in an inkjet printer and an electric toothbrush?

Printer ink is way more expensive than it needs to be. I did a bit of googling to see if someone else thinks so too. I stumbled on an article which says that printer ink costs $13,000 a gallon. Printers are being made cheaper by the manufacturers whereas ink prices have soared.

In another story, I noticed that in the local store, an electric toothbrush costs as low as $10 and a set of 3 toothbrush-heads cost $32.

Consequently, whenever I feel that my toothbrush head is wearing off, I am tempted to throw it away and buy a new one rather than going for the pack of overpriced toothbrush-heads. Also, in the long run, people will end up spending more since the part that needs to be replaced frequently costs so much more.

Isn't the best way to control the huge amount of plastic waste that we generate is to simply make stuff that lasts longer and doesn't need to be chucked out of the window every few months?

Its sad that for instant gains, companies are all too ready to hurt the consumers; and the environment; in the long run.

I cannot believe that Microsoft have linked to "Autumn colors screensaver collection" from their website and mentioned the words "Try it for free" as well.
I don't know why they would want to even have that on their website (Which apparently reads "tech"dot msn.com :) )

Does anyone want to pay for this useless piece of software that I wrote in 1997?

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Now playing: Iron Maiden - Invaders
via FoxyTunes

Wants

What we want is often not what we get
We ask for wealth and we get jobs to work hard at
We want to be loved and we get people to love (and be loved in return)
We want to be compassionate and there are needy ones around us
We want to be courageous and we get fear and danger
We want results and we get opportunities
We get not what we want but what we need to get what we want
Coz if we get everything we ask for, we are nothing but a mere consumer
And making this life worthwhile means being not a consumer but an achiever.