Personal

I 💖 Diwali. For those celebrating, from my family to yours!

This has been a long time coming - our patent filed a about 4 years ago was finally awarded today by the USPTO. Some details below. United States Patent 10,102,774 Bahree , et al. October 16, 2018 Systems and methods for organizing and presenting skill progression In any organization, the skills collectively possessed by individuals of the organization can determine the capabilities of the organization as a whole. Previously, there was no centralized method or system for managing skills which are complex and wide-ranging. There was also no effective way for individuals to review skills they possess and to discover other skills which they can cross-train and leverage—either to enhance their existing roles and responsibilities, or possibly change skills and get involved with another area and thereby grow their career. The limited visualizations of skill sets offered to the individuals were static and non-interactive, which is not ideal. ...

kaleidoscopic! not those here-and-now colours but in memory cloudy sky is filled full of black twiggy branches a large crow shoots past picket fence and trees standing tall like sentinels like sad sentinels comes-on quietly so benign the sensation so bloody empty! this revelation times at last you think you know shrug! alas you don’t fleeting memory self-flagellation head-shake another one lost again and again scene full of twiggy branches black crow descending ...

Our current camera ( Canon IXUS 860 IS ) is on the last dying leg – the camera itself works OK, but the screen is going to give up any day now – there are big holes where the pixels are dead (looks like a black hole). We love this model and want something along the same form factor and not interesting in anything fancy. One of the options was the new Canon IXUS 240 HS which has a built-in Wifi connection and has just been released, though is not available in all the markets. ...

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Diwali May the year bring Joy, Happiness, and Prosperity!

I have been asked a number of times, what books do I have and use. It is a long list and I am too lazy to list them out. So instead here is a photo I had taken about a year ago. Sure there are more books since then on different topics, but this should be good enough to give you a flavour. Also people asked me about my machines and study at home – and there is a photo for that too. This was in London and not in Bangalore of course. I guess this might mean I need to get to cleaning things more often and probably invest in some cable management solution. :) ...

Read this story in the Guardian about a guy called Matt , who blogged about bringing up his daughter all alone, as his wife died soon after giving birth. This was such a heart stopping story, which is highly recommended. Interesting shift on the tone of the blog which first helped Matt with the bereavement and later gave him strength to cope with this to finally the blog providing support for others in a similar boat and looking for help. ...

In other news of the day … we are going to be moving in the next few weeks to Bangalore. Avanade , is sending me on a posting / secondment to Bangalore for 18 months to help out with a few things. Of course, the family will be moving as well. After my tenure, the plan is to come back to London. ...

Update 2: Car already sold - thanks for all the interest. Update: Dropping the price we we need to sell the car soon! I am wanting to sell my car and thought I would put it up on my blog first before trying other places. It is a Left Hand Drive BMW 330i Automatic (2001 model) with 89K miles in Excellent condition and has both the Sports and Premium packages factory installed. ...

New Parenting blog up and running (finally) – by popular demand. The intention is to keep that completely different from this one. I and the wife will be starting to post there so watch that space. Happy to get other new (geeky) parents (or soon to be parents) contributing if they want to.

Guardian story Social networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US where a number of academics have done studies which conclude that Twitter and Facebook don’t connect people, but on the contrary they isolate them from reality got me thinking about this and wonder if Technology is making us less human! MIT professor Sherry Turkle’s new book Alone Together (which seems interesting and is something I have not had the bandwidth to check out), is leading an attack on the information age. It does seem to agree with the recent articles like Is Google making us Stupid? I don’t quite understand Facebook (even though I have been more on it recently); my views on Facebook are quite well known, especially in the context of privacy and security . If I talk to a friend who could be in Delhi or San Francisco, I don’t feel as connected having a dialogue with him or her over Facebook as I do when talking on the phone, IM or even email. Often people thing just because they have posted something on Facebook, that is the end of it - it almost seems at times, I am too lazy and can’t be bothered, so will post a message and get it over with - or as they say in Punjabi - “syapa mukao”. :) ...

Those who don’t know, I and Meenakshi are the proud parents if our baby girl who we have named Maya Bahree. Maya means illusion (and not money as some have thought). She is a keen and eager little thing who despite being a few weeks early is doing extremely well and so is Mum. We had to stay back at the hospital until the doctors were satisfied that Maya was doing well. Git back home about 2 data ago. ...

Was getting a little bored with the previous WP theme and changed to this one. It does have a lot of defaults in the footer and not had a chance to figure out how to turn it off or customize it. If anyone has any ideas on how to do it then let me know. Also, if you have any suggestions for free and cool WP themes then let me know. ...

We were cleaning up the house - sort of like spring cleaning, except in Autumn and in old boxes came across a whole bunch of old stuff, which for me was a blast from the past and each with fond memories. Before I recycled/donated/threw it, took a few photos (click on them to see them in the original size). Compuware, the best debuggers in town. Anyone remember a Palm Vx? ...

Happy that recently my running has been consistent and the weather has been helpful too. Last few days it has turned cold with the temperature down to 4 degrees C. It helps me relax and de-stress and clear my head. Below is a screenshot of the workout profile from this week thanks for iMapMyRun free app for my Android Wildfire (which is small and light enough for me to carry in my pocket when on my run). Still need to build more stamina. ...

I was thinking of getting the latest version of the Kindle, but one of the factors in the decision will be the number of techy books available for the Kindle. Anyone owning one has any ideas? Are there far and few or is there a good selection with more being added? I do read novels, but not as many and if there are not enough techy books for the Kindle right now then that might be a deal breaker. ...

I still don’t get Facebook – despite being on it. If I want to talk to someone I will call them, email them, text them, meet them, have dinner with them - get the picture? I am quite worried about the security and privacy elements of it – or rather the lack of it. Those who know me well (anyone?) :-) know I was not always this paranoid but after attending a few Security courses – I cannot bury my head in the sand anymore. ...

After thinking about it for a long time and then wanting to do it for probably an even longer time, I have finally moved this blog to WordPress from Community Server. Overall the move was mostly painless and did not have to write any code to move the posts and tags over which was excellent. I would have loved to write some code to do that, but I don’t have much bandwidth these days so anything I could use (as a user) without writing code or customizing is just great. ...

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Interestingly I am more active on Twitter over the last 2-3 weeks than here; I guess that might be because it is easier to dump a quick thought – which I suppose one can do here but kind of “seems out of place” (yeah, weird!). Another contributing factor is I have been extremely busy – both on work front and also on the personal front (between relatives visiting and my assignments does not leave me any time). ...

I love music – not only it enriches my life and helps me relax (especially when I am cooking), but I can think clearly and much quickly (for reasons I cannot frankly explain). So, finally I am scrobbling on last.fm – feel free to reach out to me there.

I recently got to know that Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw passed away and the ripe age of 94; I am especially sad to hear that - I cannot explain it - might by my army roots. I think fellow Army brats might get it. May he rest in peace! ...

I used to rule the world Seas would rise when I gave the word Now in the morning I sleep alone Sweep the streets I used to own I used to roll the dice Feel the fear in my enemies eyes Listen as the crowd would sing: “Now the old king is dead, long live the king!” One minute I held the key Next the walls were closed on me And I discovered that my castles stand Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand ...

If I bought an expensive gadget, I own it and can do anything with it (as long as it is legal of course). So if an update deliberately bricks the gadget how is not bullying? Also is it legal (obviously I am no lawyer). Phht … and people say Microsoft acts life a bully! I think it might be time to boycott Apple and take my business elsewhere. ...

It has been so long that I can’t remember when I last spoke with my dear old friend Govind . We use to work together back in Seattle. He is one guy who I have a lot of respect for and when he talks, you shutup and listen (yes I know that is very difficult for me to do). It is interesting the twists life throws at one and how everyone adapts and changes. It is difficult to imagine him now and how his priorities and what he is passionate about has shifted - one won’t even fathom the idea in your wildest dream. ...