Things I Learnt This Year

Another year has nearly come to an end. A new decade is set to begin. It’s amazing how time just whisks away. What’s also amazing is how much we can learn about ourself in time just by paying a little more attention to that sound in…

Void Sound Of A Void Monk

I’ve been relaxing and trying to make the most of my holidays for the past few days. It’s amazing how much you can get done when in the right frame of mind. While doing some coding in my spare time lately, I’ve had a…

We Lift On Three

At one of the company stand-ups I attended recently, the topic of discussion was ‘Good Communication’. As simple and ordinary it may sound, it did make me think about an interesting hypothesis. Research tells us that only 7% of all communication is impacted by the content or the…

The Teacher Will Appear

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. This beautiful Buddhist proverb is a true declaration of an open mind, a mind of a learner. Ever since I heard this proverb, I often wondered if it reflected more than what meets the eye. A few years ago, I discussed…

A Red Duct Tape

Joel Spolsky recently wrote about the “Duct Tape Programmer“: Duct tape programmers are pragmatic. Zawinski popularized Richard Gabriel’s precept of Worse is Better. A 50%-good solution that people actually have solves more problems and survives longer than a 99% solution that nobody has because it’s…

Turnkey or Chicken

Not so long ago, an acquaintance who was seeking a software development job interviewed for a role at a “market leader” in the development, implementation and support of financial services software. During the interview, it was revealed that the position is concentrated around the implementation of an Enterprise…

The Glass Is Already Broken

“You see this goblet?” asks Achaan Chaa, the Thai meditation master. “For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a…

Artist Formerly Known As _why

A lot of programmers haven’t heard of _why. Well I certainly didn’t, up until a few months ago, when I started following some of his projects. _why was a prolific programmer, writer, and artist, best known for his work on Ruby. Intriguingly, _why’s online…