Saturday, January 15, 2011

To the Airport again


These days, the number of trips to the Airport has sky-rocketed, thanks to vacations and office work. Although I don't hate flying, reaching the airport is quite a long journey. It takes almost the same time traveling to or back from the airport as compared with the air-travel itself. I could well coin a new term "sit-travel" for this journey to and from the airport. Right now, well, I am sitting and typing this out, on my way to the airport, on a bus.

In a few days, I will be visiting the airport again. That will be an official trip to Kolkata. But the BIA buses are great. They don't tire you, and protects you from the sun, heat and the rain. Yeah, the other buses expose you to all the elements of nature. You would be better off standing under a tree instead.

I am not going anywhere though. I will be back online in a few hours. So, who's coming? Naah!!! Nobody, I busted wanted a long ride and a Subway meal. That's it. :D

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Time machine. Umm, no, a teleporter please

Image Source : Wikipedia Commons
At times, I have been fascinated by the idea of Time Travel. Those movies on Time Travel were so enjoyable to watch. There have been numerous adaptations of this concept in movies, serials (Captain Vyom) and novels. No one knows yet, if it will be possible ever. But, I get a feeling that people have stopped working on it. Perhaps, they have given up, since it's been quite some time I have heard people talk or discuss about this, or new movies based on Time Machines. Perhaps, the interest, or rather the need of this generation has shifted to something else. Teleportation. :)

For some of you, it might be a new word. So, by definition on Wikipedia, Teleporation is "the transfer of matter from one point to another, more or less instantaneously."

Time Travel still brings in a sense of excitement and adventure in me, but I would prefer to get teleported to somewhere, or wherever and whenever I like. Why? Here you go:

  • I want to get to office and back home without getting stuck in traffic.
  • Airfares have skyrocketed beyond the volume of my pockets.
  • I want to visit my parents more often, and my girl friend too (Please don't ask who)
  • I want to have a fag at midnight when I am with my parents, without they knowing.
  • I want to meet Sachin Tendulkar personally when he is relaxing in his balcony.
  • I want to be around Mrs. Sonali Bendre for some time.
  • I want to keep a chocolate for a child on the streets without he knowing it.
  • I want to retrieve all the documents from their hideouts which could land all the corrupt people in jail.
  • I want to spend some time alone on Mt. Everest.
  • I want to wish all of my family, friends and relatives personally on various ocassions.

Well, there are more, but I guess you can figure out why a Teleporter can be more helpful than a Time Machine. And by the way, if you change something, by going into the past or present, there's gonna be a hell lot of confusion.

And now, the secret: I am trying to build one. Please contact me if you are also interested in contributing towards this.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Need for a change?

Today, while I was passing by the Legislative Assembly building of Orissa on my way to some place, the sight triggered a chain of thoughts into my mind which was happily thinking about the sky, birds and the beaches before this. When I was a child, before I opened my Social Studies book, I wondered what would people do inside such buildings. I haven't yet seen the interiors of this building but then it wouldn't be much different than the Parliament houses we see on TV, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, apart from being proportionately smaller than the those.

I started thinking about how and whose idea it would have been to create a parliamentary system where countless number of people would be present, half of them sleeping, some of them day-dreaming, and a few ones shouting their hearts out. And then the Speaker siting there, as a king, on a raised chair, throughout the day, enjoying the drama going on the floor. Well, I am sure it wouldn't be anything less than a drama. As for me, I would rate Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav's talks very entertaining. He wakes up the house (read: sleeping members), lightens up The Speaker, and irks the opposition (who try their best to control their laughter).

I even remember, when cable televisions were not around, my father used to specifically wait for the show every day during the winter and the summer sessions of the houses. I could see him wearing a smile throughout the duration of the show, and there were occasional outbursts of laughter, from my father and from inside the television set. As a child, even I found it funny sometimes, the fights, arguments and the sleeping ministers. Ah, it was quite an entertaining program on National TV those days. But, now, I don't see my father even stop on this program while he is browsing through all the movie and news channels. I guess, his favorite stars have all retired, and he doesn't find it entertaining anymore. Me too.

Well, this wasn't the subject matter of this post. I will come to the point now. The moment I passed by that building, a picture of the large hall of the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha flashed through my mind. I thought, "Is this all necessary"? Agreed, that all the countries do this, and it has been standard procedure for the governments to meet and discuss issues and probably solve them. I wonder if this is the best way to do it, or a change is needed so that we could adapt the systems to match the 21st centuries demands and needs (faster actions and please please please no corruptions and scandals).

Well I know that the ministers actually do work when they are not in the parliament. And most of the work is done outside of the parliament houses and not in presence of virtually every minister in the country. So, why do we still continue to follow this practice of having parliamentary sessions? Can't we just chuck it? If there is indeed something to be discussed and voted for among all the Ministers, can't we have a better system? Instead of flying all the ministers from different parts of the country, the majority of which would have nothing to say, but a "yes" or a "no"?

We have progressed so much in technology, we produce or develop software for the rest of the world, but we haven't been able to use it ourselves. Our governments still use a lot of work and most of them refuse to accept the new hi-tech changes entering their offices. Most of the government offices don't have a website, and the ones which have one, haven't been updated since they were first launched. Well, the list can go on and on, but I don't want to make this post bigger than this. :)

Just one last thing!!! Don't laugh at me please. I am a software engineer, and so, my thoughts would be obviously be related to where and how I work. So, my question is:

"Does our Government follow Waterfall model or Scrum methodology to execute projects?"

I don't think they use any of the methodologies at all. In case they don't, has the time come to change the way our Government works? I would not mind to see an amendment in the Constitution of India, which would require every incumbent to be trained in Project Management, at the very least. I don't mind if they are just graduates, MBAs from Harvard or just plain illiterates. If at all they are required to work, they should be at-least have proven experience or should be trained before they take their oaths. Like the IT companies hire their employees. :D What say!!!!

We, the software engineers, do not take oath, but still fulfill our responsibilities and in most cases over-perform each day. Isn't that amazing? Are we corrupt? I guess, not.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Twenty 10 >>>>>> Twenty 11

YEAR
A few minutes... All those tweets and facebook status updates will become a thing of the past. 2011 is already knocking. I can hear people bursting crackers outside. My phone is already busy beeping. And there's a lot of noise outside. There's one guy, who pinged me exactly at 12:00, to wish me. His message read: "HNY". And somebody is sending me an e-greeting and forcing me view it right away. Mom and Dad called us on my sister's phone from upstairs to wish us both a Happy New Year. I can see so many people online on Gtalk and Facebook, just like I me, everyone changing their status messages to wish the world. Wow, That's a great beginning, I guess.

Had I been in Bangalore when the calendars changed, the atmosphere would have been completely different. At-least, it would have been far more noisier than here in Bhubaneswar, though I can hear a few people outside, wishing the world, at their loudest. I would have been among friends. We would also have celebrated yesterday in office. But, being at home, on such occasions is quite a different experience, among the people you have know since you were born.

Remembering the past 2010, it wasn't actually long for me. Oh, And if I remember correctly, I was in Bhubaneswar 3 years back, celebrating my new year in a similar fashion. I guess, that was in, 2008, Jan 1st. For the 2009, 1st Jan, I was in Chennai. For 2010, I was in Bangalore. Hmmm, That's strange, seems, like my next new year is designed to be celebrated in Chennai again. :(

Well, let's not think anything about the future yet. It's party time, enjoy, have fun, get ready to start afresh and be happy. Wish you all, a very very Happy New Year, and may all your wishes be fulfilled.

Talking about resolutions, Ummm..... I don't have one. If anyone of you already has one, believe me, it never works!!!! So, go ahead, and have a blast. And since it's a holiday(for most of us), I will enjoy even more. By the way, I am on leave till 12th of January, 2011. YIPEEEE!!!!!