Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon

Randy Pausch is a very well know faculty member at the Carnegie for his contributions in the field of virtual reality. One year ago he was diagnosed with cancer, and after a long and difficult fight he's been given just a few months to live. Watch his departing speech titled "How to Live Your Childhood Dreams" which was nothing short of inspirational and tremendously moving. Slightly lengthy though but worth every minute watching, here is the link to the page where you can find talk link (its a wmv file which would play in your windows media player)

http://www.metafilter.com/64880/Randy-Pauschs-Last-Lecture

Some lessons from Randy Pausch’s last lecture :

1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.

Venkat

St Bernard

Most of the times we come across common dog breeds like labs or Pomeranian's, this morning when I dropped by at a local starbucks I saw this unusual dog with a monstrous size, I should say I was amazed. I learnt from the owner that they are called St Bernards.

Some interesting facts about bernards:
They can grow anywhere from 130 to 220 pounds, imagine that.
Heights upto 27- 35 inches, people would mistake them for a lion
Even with sheer size they are not at all aggressive and quite tolerant to kids.

I should get one of these some day.

Venkat

Few Nice Quotes on Books

The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it   
P. B. Medawar (1915 - )

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.   
Charles W. Eliot (1834 - 1926)

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.   
Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier.   
Kathleen Norris 1931

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.   
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.   
Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)

Venkat

Geo tagged Panaromic Photos

We often come across gorgeous scenic photos not sure where exactly they were shot. Check out this new tool by Google Earth which lets users upload panaromic photos with geo tagg information. Now you know where to plan for the next vacation.

http://www.panoramio.com/map/

Venkat

Quote of the day 09/16

A Cherokee elder sitting with his grandchildren told them, "In every life there is a terrible fight - -a fight between two wolves. One is evil: he is fear, anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment and deceit. The other is good: joy, serenity, humility, confidence, generosity, truth, gentleness, and compassion."

A child asked, "Grandfather, which wolf will win?"

The elder looked him in the eye. "The one you feed."

Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hb2/499132570/

Venkat

Globalisation

We typically tend to view globalisation as a bad thing with notions like MNC's exploiting poor nations and creating greater monopolies. But a better understanding shows that globalisation is indeed a good thing giving a chance to third world countries to move out of poverty, current Indian economy is one good example to validate this. Watch this documentary where in the presenter makes the case for pro globalisation.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5633239795464137680&q=globalization&total=1838&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2

Venkat

Experimental Radical Honesty

Read this funny article about a guy trying to speak up his mind honestly even if the consequences aren't that bright. It reminded of a old Telugu  move  "April 1st vidula" by  Rajendra  Prasad  who tries a  similar experiment for a months duration with  out  right hilarious  scenes.  Be forewarned that the language of the article is quite strong  (more Esqurish).

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/honesty0707?x

I was hesitant to send out this article but what the heck, just in tune with the articles theme.

Venkat

West vs India

This  interesting article  gives a  good comparison of western mind set vs Indian. The author points out that a western society is predominantly centered around by cultivating a dissatisfied mentality making people more materialistic driven and there by driving the capitalistic engine. On the contrast  ancient  Indian  mind set was  established towards serving the basic needs and striving for a balance through spiritual pursuit.

Don't mistake me into thinking that I am a ardent follower of any spiritual movement, its the ideas that impress me be it from any religious thought. Reading the article left me with more questions than answers as to how do you achieve a balance while still pursuing a capitalistic interests.

Here is the complete article
http://www.iskcon.net/lithuania/west_versus_india.htm

Venkat

Green Fuels

Watch this Charlie Rose talk with Vinod Kholsa and Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin) about prospects in clean fuels. From an opportunity perspective Vinod makes a nice point that growth in green fuels would be much  larger compared to IT or any other sector as there has not been much of innovation in this area and the scope of applicability is much larger.

Here is the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lRJnib93KVA

Their part of the talk starts somewhere at 27th or 28th minute.

Venkat