Weekend update

WOW! I did it!!! Yes, I managed to take off on Sat & Sun, both the days, something I wanted for a LONG time! Not that I don't like to work, but if you know you are working over weekend, it affects your effeciency. You tend to think, I'll carry over this to weekend, let me be a little relaxed.
At home, I did a lot of pending chores: Bank, lightbill, cleaning up, and many small-small things.

Saturday: After doing all the pending chores, I lazed around for most of the day. Read through The Code Book. I have now upgraded from pesky GPRS internet connection to BSNL's DataOne Broadband service! It still is a little pain to get the connection from them, but I found them to be little more responsive and friendly than in earlier days when they were real PITA to deal with. I wouldn't say that broadband has become cheaper but it's definitely not very costly either. It's for my brother that I had to upgrade to a better service. GPRS was good only for checking mails and very casual browsing and chatting. But if you were to prepare for some seminar or doing something more serious, GPRS service isn't very reliable. At times it was pain connecting to net. Not to forget the pain it was for me to get it working. It's only 2 days and I have already started liking this speed. For heavy downloaders like me, it's like being in paradise!!!

Sunday: As a norm, went for football. Wasn't more fun than last weekend and that's mainly because people (including me) didn't turn up on time. Rest of the day, I spent lazing and reading The Code Book. Just a chapter left to finish. I would say it's an amazing book!

With a lot of people preparing for the BIG bash for our launch (Fashion Show, Dance, Drama, etc.) the environment is completely charged up here. I'll post a few snaps of the rehearsal soon.

IT Survivors - Staying Alive In A Software Job

Are you plaqued by extreme pressure from your boss...
Are you expected to meet inhuman & unreasonable timelines...
Are you left with almost no social/personal life...
You are not the only one! Read the article linked below.

How many Americans would sacrifice their Thanks Giving and Christmas vacation! I believe even GOD won't have the guts to take it away from them! And how many Indians are willing to sacrifice their Diwali (etc) celebrations! Almost ALL!!! Believe me or not, we the young force are explioted hellishly in this industry! Just give it an objective thought!

I couldn't agree more with this article: IT Survivors - Staying Alive In A Software Job

Though most of times it talks about outsourcing jobs, with my firsthand experience, I tell you it's true for Software guys-n-gals even in general.

This weekend sucked BIG time

A little late on this.

Satruday: Like a looser I was at office the whole day. But my daddy had come to Pune after a long time so was excited about it. I was having dinner on this amazingly beautiful night with my family when my mobile rings (how much I detest this 'reach me whenever you want to' technology!). It flashed 'Nevis calling'! DAMN! My heart sank! I knew what was coming. It was my manager on the phone, he *WANTED* me to come on Sunday and fix an issue (which he rated as critical). I said I'll try and then looked at my daddy. I wanted to spend time with him as he was planning to leave early Sunday morning. He said he's willing to leave by noon. I called my manager a couple of minutes later saying I'll come to office on Sunday. Though it wasn't my baby, I thought I will fix the problem in 3-4 hours and come back home.
!@#$ I should have known better!

Sunday: The day started VERY well! Beautiful morning! Cool football game. It was FUN for a number of reasons: 12 people had turned up for the game. I believe it's highest attendance ever since rainy seasons! This meant bigger game! Plus, I was able to make some good passes. And thirdly, we were planning to hire some guys to clean up the grassland-look that our football field has donned.

Drenched in sweat, I went to office, had a shower in the clubhouse and then directly into the freezing lab. I looked into the problem. Though simple, many components were integrated together into this deployment where the bug was seen. It took almost the whole !@#$ing day only to get the deployment working and understand the setup. It was almost evening by the time we eliminated each of the layers which could cause the problem. It was 2001 hrs by the time things were resolved. Not at all feeling triumphant over this bug fixing, with whole body aching, begging for hot water shower and some rest, I drove back home. Of course, daddy had left by then, waiting until late noon for me to return.

Monday, I was feeling so drained and listless that I could hardly concentrate on work. Every evening I promise myself to leave early so that I can rest a bit, but it's not working. Something comes up which keeps me at office until late.

What a waste of weekend :-( :-( :-(

Nevis Making Noise in Silicon Valley

This post serves 2 purposes... First is to bust the rumor that I have been abducted by some alien forces, and wanted to reassure I'm very much in this planet, just a little dormant, socially.

Secondly, thought of sharing what's happening in my world and what's keeping me up these days. Some good news to share...(no, sorry, it's not what most of you are thinking ;-)

Under stealth mode for 2+ years, Nevis has been making much noise in the world now. In Silicon Valley, on 14th of this month, we had an official press release, OR Company Launching, as we call it. What exactly 'Company Launch' means for a startup like Nevis. Most importantly, it means we are coming out of our stealth mode and officially announce the range of products we are developing, exact features and timelines for the same. (Thank GOD, I can now discuss openly with my mates what exactly are we doing). We invite leading analysts and new agencies for questionaire, and am glad that all of them were awestruck by the end of session. For interested readers, here are some links that dig into the details of all this company launch thing. But mind you, all these analysts do their own independent study and write what is their view of the product. We don't decide what they write and what not. So, it's interesting to note that we have a market and a unique solution.

0. Revamped Company website: Nevis Networks 1. Information Week 2. Network World 3. EE Times 4. Netwroking Pipeline 5. Business Wire 6. EDACafe So, what next???

With India's official launch date on 12th of Dec, work's pretty crushing at the moment. But we all are promised a decent vacation at the end of this year. GOD! How much we all are awating that day!!!

Weekend update

Weekend(s) update after a *long* time!
Managed to get 3 days off as Diwali vacation: A well deserved and well earned vacation (yes, 3 days off is really a vacation @ Nevis ...sigh...). I lazed like crazy! Went home for 2 days, enjoyed at Mahabaleshwar for about half a day. Boating, hogging junk food, and lots of driving!
Err... yes, All my readers:

Wish you a Very Happy Diwali & Prosperous New Year!

Back to office last friday, there were so few people in the office that I felt all the air around me secretly whisper: "Atul, WTF are you doing here... It's vacation time, go home and enjoy". Alas! Those words fell on deaf ears. After a couple of meetings, managed to get something done and went home early.

Saturday: I left office early so that I can visit Crosswords, they are having a GRAND sale. I don't know the quality of sale, but it was a visit long due. I picked nothing from 'books under sale'. I was interested (& bought) these two interesting titles:
1. The Code Book, Simon Singh
2. Ignited Minds, APJ Abdul Kalam

Just started reading The Code Book, and it sounds very interesting & thought provoking. It's about how-who-when-and-why's about cyptography. And why is that field of science more relevant to common man than ever before.

Sunday: Back to football ground after soooo long (almost 3 weeks). To regain my sanity, this Sunday's session was so important to me that despite the fact that only 5 people turned up for the game, we played for about an hour! WOW! It was so much fun to play after a long break. I believe I have regained enough sanity now to assault the keyboard & get some real work done, at the least until next session.

A few days back, also managed to see 'IMAX: The Greatest Places' Witness the greatest collection of diversity ever produced.
It is an amazing (documentary) film that takes you on a journey to seven of the most geographically dynamic locations on Earth: The Amazon, Greenland, Iguazu Falls, Namib Desert, Okavango Delta, Madagascar, Tibet. It evokes a desire STRONG enough to add these to the list of must-visit places before you die.

Today, the day started with a VERY VERY VERY boring presentation. Wish it doesn't affect rest of the working day. I had a very strong intution right before it started that it's going to be very boring, wish I had quit it right when it started. Next time I'll follow my intution ;-)