mysticMundane (Software Engineering, Project Management, Science and Every thing else)

My presentation "On the spread of Viruses and information "

2020-06-06T18:57:00.001+05:30

I made a presentation titled "On the spread of Viruses and information " at Varahamihira Science Forum pm 25 April 2020 I thank Badri Seshadri for asking me if I can talk about the book was reading and Varahamihira Science Forum (https://www.facebook.com/MadrasScience/) for this opportunity. I messaged a few friends in Feb 2020 "It would be a good idea to understand the parameters

What do you collect ? Questions or Answers ?

2019-11-06T08:47:00.000+05:30

What do you collect in life? questions or answers? A thought-provoking comic-strip, that is totally worth the time spent. Please watch here and do use a laptop or any big screen. Phone screens don't help.

13 Lessons from 13 Years of Brain Pickings...

2019-10-24T11:31:00.001+05:30

Brain Pickings has been one of my favorite sites ever since I discovered it a few years back. It is one of those sites that enrich a person and worth every second spent. Maria Popova has shared these beautiful, insightful and time-tested learnings titled "13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings" with the tagline More fluid reflections on keeping a solid center. I have given below

CRISPR - The What, How and Why...

2019-06-05T11:44:00.004+05:30

I gave a talk on CRISPR - A Gene editing tool under the auspices of Varahamihira Science Forum on 25th May 2019 at Tamil Virtual Academy, Kotturpuram, Chennai. Background: There is so much excitement and apprehension about this in the scientific community. As a person who follows the developments in science and technology to the best of my ability, i wanted to know more about CRISPR and

737-Max controversy, Bad Software and a lot more....

2019-04-03T10:27:00.001+05:30

An employee walks down a stairway leading to a Boeing 737 MAX airplane on March 14, 2019, in Renton, Washington.* Being in the software industry for more than 2 decades, i confidently say that Bad software is never a problem, but always a symptom of something more serious. In this case of 737-Max controversy, greed and a tendency to retain their market, whatever be the cost ( now it

“Feynman, Flexner and The Cluetrain Manifesto...” Notes from a conversation with my friend's son

2019-03-27T16:03:00.002+05:30

Background: The kid’s parents are close friends for more than 20 years and i know the kid from the time he was born. While we were discussing the Indian Origin Fields Medal Winner and were googling the youngest fields medal winner, the Kid joined us in our discussion. He is presently in his 11th standard and in a school where IIT-JEE preparation is part of the curriculum

From Modularity to Emergence - A Primer on the design and #Science of #Complex #Systems.

2019-03-04T21:55:00.002+05:30

"Electrical networks, flocking birds, transportation hubs, weather patterns, commercial organisations, swarming robots... Increasingly, many of the systems that we want to engineer or understand are said to be ‘complex’. These systems are often considered to be intractable because of their unpredictability, non-linearity, interconnectivity, heterarchy and ‘emergence’. Such

Random Musings...

2019-03-04T21:51:00.001+05:30

A system of which a subset of the general populace are members , typically starts by professing objectivity but tend to steer itself in a direction dictated by influential members over a period of time . Their numbers, small or large or source of influence, inside or outside or the direction , right or wrong; are all immaterial. This may also lead to its ultimate downfall . A

An article on 'Machine Learning Causing Science Crisis' and my response...

2019-02-19T11:21:00.000+05:30

A friend shared an article titled ' 'AAAS: Machine learning 'causing science crisis'. The article is available here Screen Shot of the Article Here is my response Read through the article. it kind of touches upon an interesting area, but quite vague in its coverage. Need the original paper/talk for more details. I googled, but couldn't get it other than the coverage on other

Astu ( So Be It ) - A Marathi Movie..

2018-12-04T20:28:00.000+05:30

Watched 'Astu - So be it' based on review from two of my friends. Verdict: Highly recommended. What a poetic movie. understated but brilliant acting through out. music that just complements. the usage of sanskrit poems, the dialogues and the role played by the mahout's wife. was the elephant a metaphor for her generosity ? A friend made an interesting observation about the use

Prof. Tadashi Tokeida , his YouTube videos and his QuantaMagazine Interview

2018-12-04T12:48:00.002+05:30

I follow Quanta Magazine on Twitter and this interview of Prof Tadashi Tokeida caught my attention and this part " also to show people that scientific discoveries are not the exclusive preserve of professional scientists." resonated with me a lot. It forced me to read the interview fully. Given below is a sample from the interview On Surprises of the scientific

Project Management Approaches for Increase in Individual Output and Efficiency

2018-11-08T18:25:00.002+05:30

I have listed below different ways to increase productivity in a team. These are from my experience and have used them and continue to use them at appropriate times in my project management career. Note that there is no one size fits all solution and the solution needs to be calibrated based on the team's capability and requirement of the stakeholders that we work with. I have

Mergers and Acquisitions - Notes to Self

2018-11-08T17:51:00.000+05:30

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A )can be divided into two types. One is Financial and another is Strategic. Financial M&A is done for financial reasons like increase in cash flow or to get some quick cash. This type of M&A is fairly straightforward. A Strategic M&A happens for one or more than one of the following reasons. I call these as the benefits of M&

Rams - A Documentary on Dieter Rams

2018-11-07T23:57:00.001+05:30

#Dieter #Rams is a #German industrial designer and popular for his design of many braun products. “I am of the opinion that all this digitization now is becoming more and more a part of our life. I think it diminishes our ability to experience things,” says Rams. “There are pictures that disappear, one after the other, without leaving traces up here [pointing to his

21 Lessons From Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letters To Shareholders

2018-10-29T17:58:00.001+05:30

Jeff Bezos; In addition to Warren Buffet, his letters to share holders provide keen insights into his thinking. I have just given below the highlights, as per the report for each year. I have underlined those that i like a lot. Since 1997, Amazon’s stock price has risen from $5 per share to around $1,800 per share* 2017: Build high standards into company culture 2016: Move

El Capitan, Yosemite - Alex Honnold - Free Solo Documentary

2018-09-24T12:26:00.000+05:30

Before my US trip in May/June 2018, i saw the documentary The Valley Uprising - (thanks to a friend for the recommendation) after i came to know that Yosemite will be a part of the trip. That was my first introduction to El Capitan and Alex Honnold. The grandeur and majesty of the 3200 feet granite monolith El Capitan has to be seen to be experienced because the enormity of what Alex

CSR, Charity, Dharma and the Gold standard

2018-08-18T15:22:00.002+05:30

Note: Life always has lessons for the perceptive. I believe this is one such conversation and hence have documented it . This took place in February 2018 when i visited Bengaluru. The other person, whom i call B is a relative, a good friend and is of my age. The free flowing conversation has been structured and edited for presentation and details not needed removed. B: X told me that one

Issues with Current Day Discussions/ Narratives

2018-08-14T22:33:00.000+05:30

What follows is a mail exchange with a friend and i have reproduced it with his permission. The topic of discussion was on the issues with current day narratives and what we need to know to improve the quality of the discussions in general. --------------------------------------------------------- The issues that I find with the current narratives is that: 1. Issue of idiotic conflation

Seth Godin on Diversity and Inclusion

2018-07-06T21:43:00.002+05:30

Seth Godin's response to the query "How do you get employees to think and care about the company the same way a leader or the business owner does? " is succinct and spot on. I would say typical of his blog postings. "When it comes right down to it, I think the question is flawed. You're not going to hire people who want your story to be their story, you're together on a journey, but

Let us Respect Nature, Please..

2018-03-15T18:07:00.000+05:30

A Delhi-Manali-Leh-Kargil-Srinagar-Pathankot-Delhi Road Trip was one thing, a group of friends wanted to do and we set out the first time in 2010. We couldn’t go beyond Keylong since landslides blocked roads and returned back promising ourselves that we would come back in 2011. For the 2011 trip, We prepared in all possible ways. We worked out in the gym ( cardio and weights), were on diet

13 points from Reading a Podcast :-) On the principles and pitfalls of agile development

2018-03-01T12:02:00.003+05:30

Note: This makes for an excellent read. If you like the podcast, listen to it or if you are like me, read the transcript of the podcast here. The following points stand out. 1. It is very difficult when a part of the organization is agile and rest of the organization continues in the normal way of functioning. This introduces a dissonance or an impedance mis-match ( to be more technical

Tame Problems, Wicked Problems, Waterfall and Agile

2018-02-23T14:42:00.000+05:30