lunatechian (lunatech-ian)

I have been reading the Web 2.0 post archives. A quote by Cory Dotcrow which stands out

Tech companies need to understand that easy copying of media on-line is not a bug to be fixed. It's a property of the Internet. They're convincing the world that this is a problem, and we need to fix that.

I would rank it up there alongwith the William Gibson quote

The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet.

While chatting on #linux-india (irc.freenode.net), I came upon one of the participant's blog entry about Infosys campus. Since a few of my friends works there, I have a bit of idea how the Thing works. The infosys is nice looking so that the animals can stay inside, work and die there content without wanting to see the outside world. That is the way most sweatshops in IT work and that is why this industry has such a high bun out rate

At this point, Niyam Bhushan came up with an interesting definition.

Software employment

slavery for the educated. so, give them a cosmetically nice looking pig-sty, an iron-clad contract that favors the master, pay them a small pittance per month to FOREVER own their SWEATWARE, and then patent and license it to customers for a killing. meantime, boot out the slave, unless he/she has more sweat to offer

I guess till the time you become an independent consultant, this definition holds true. Just a random observation.

The law of the lost idea states that

Any idea not put down on paper/harddisk within 10 minutes of it occuring will get lost.

Yesterday morning, I had thought of an ingenious workaround for a problem that we had been facing in one of our projects (while putting on my shoe). Now I have forgotten both, what the problem was and (quite obviously) what the workaround was.

To all those who think that I have left this blog to die, am sorry to disappoint you. My site had been suspended due to some misunderstanding, about which I will write down once the dust has settled on the matter at hand. It was a hard time but I have learnt my lesson. I think it can be best expressed by the following two quotes.

The first one is from The Prince.

And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.

The second lesson learnt is

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

(That is from the book The Dune by Frank Herbert. Though there is no online book available for Dune, you should check out the great collection of its quotes at Wikiquote)

Yesterday I logged into the yahoo chat rooms after a long time. Man, those guys lack the brains of a piece of rock. One guy kept repeating his question ("Is there anyone who works in the call center as technical support"). Another asshole sent me a personal message "hello, a/s/l plz". Frigging idiots. I cannot believe that at I was once addicted to Yahoo chat rooms. Needless to say, I am not going back to that stinkpile again. Ever.

Been reading the book extract from "how to be idle". Some nice points made in the extract.

It is your patriotic duty to work hard - another myth, particularly convenient to the rich who, as Bertrand Russell said, "preach the dignity of labour, while taking care themselves to remain undignified in this respect". Or as the late, great British writer Jeffrey Bernard put it: "As if there was something romantic and glamorous about hard work ... if there was something romantic about it, the Duke of Westminster would be digging his own fucking garden, wouldn't he?"

The process of sitting or laying down and thinking something through always seems a bit strange to my family and a few of my colleagues. Physical activity does not necessarily translates to more productivity, and especially for programmers. I always distrust someone who immediately starts coding after hearing a project's specification.

Last night I thought of a question. What do you think is the most useless profession in the world ? i.e. if all the members of that profession are wiped out, you would not notice a difference ?

The two professions that I could say can be wiped off safely are

• Models
• VJs
• Weatherman

After much deliberations I could think of nothing else. Like a good geek, I popped this question to one of my friends and he added another profession to the list Newsreaders. (He also added mother-in-law to the list, but I do not think it is a profession. Moreover, if she disappears suddenly, your wife (and consequently, you too) will notice it). Next I put this question in two IRC channels (#phpc, #joito) I frequent. The list now grew up a little

• tanning salon owners
• vb coders - it is a useless profession, but if the vb coders disappeared, people would notice as things would start working.
• Astronauts - but a few people are of the opinion that being a astronaut is not a useless profession. My personal thought is, yes it is [a useless profession]. For space exploration, it is cheaper and better to send robots.
• politicians and lawyers. however people would notice both's departure.
• derivatives market trader? suit in general? middle manager?
• President of India
• queen of england and other royalty stuff - this I consider the moooost useless profession (can you even call it that ?).

I hear kids today aspiring to become a VJ .. I wish I would hear someone say (s)he want to become a sys admin/programmer someday .

Annexure
An interesting bit of conversation that occurred while discussing this question

lunatech: Q-FUNK, michel_v and ppl who answered my hypothetical
question, consider the following answers, President of India, queen of
england, and other royalty stuff

Q-FUNK: lunatech, royalty is fine as long as it manages the transition
to "rich bastard lving on their ancestor's assets" and stop being
allowed to live off the population's taxes or off undue tax exemtions.

lunatech: Q-FUNK, if they disappeared suddenly , will you notice the
loss ?

Q-FUNK: lunatech,  I would not, as I'm not a Brit 

KevinMarks: Queen of England is a handy thing as she provides a
sepration between pomp and politics

travlin: yeah, you know, you can whip her out whenever you need a
little pomp

Suw: plus she keeps Buck House spick and span

travlin: it's a just add water sort of thing

travlin: