silicon thoughts

Flying Valley to Valley

2015-10-12T04:11:00.000-07:00

Bourbon to Amrut

[Written on flight to Bangalore Oct 8, 2015]

Time flies! The last 2 trips back to my home town (Bangalore - Silicon Valley of India) have been strange, to say the least, and unreal at so many levels.

4 years back, I came home to spend 6 stressful weeks with my family as my father was taken by cancer. Given just 2 months after diagnosis, he was gone in 6 weeks! I had the fortune to spend those weeks with him, and I held his hand as left us. In hindsight, I could have dealt with those few weeks much better than I did, but I won’t be too hard on myself - life is hard, death is harder!

2 years back, I returned on a business trip after Yahoo acquired Lexity, the startup I was working with. The plan was to spend a short few days, but it turned out to be a strange 8 weeks again. I ruptured my achilles playing table tennis (yes, ping pong!) had to undergo surgery, and stay in a cast for weeks. Instead of me helping my mother, she had to take care of me!

Today, I write this on the flight to Bangalore. I'm landing in a couple of hours. I plan to spend 1 day (!) in Bangalore on this hectic business trip. My mother does not know I’m going to knock on the door :-)

I bought my mom See’s candies in San Jose - California special! She likes chocolate!

When I passed the duty free shop in London, the thought crossed my mind that I should get a bottle of whisky or rum for dad. He loves a nice drink!

I passed. I’d have to drink it on his behalf.

Hi-tech, Lo-tech - A week of the Living Dead!

2014-12-09T21:45:00.001-08:00

So ... I just switched jobs. I returned my iPhone to my previous company last week, and got a new Android today - that's one week!

So, for the last week, I was asked to fish out an old phone for the transition period. I wanted to do it to ensure that the number was ported to my personal account. So I got my old G1 (the first ever Google Android phone - see above) from my gadget stash :-)

The ATT guy who set it up didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he was professional as we both joked about it. The phone worked like a charm when he slipped in the SIM. The zombie was back to life and ... hungry. I expect he’d have had less success with my old first generation iPhone (which I also considered :-)) - 2G, no replaceable SIM.

Anyway - all last week, I actually used the G1 as … a phone! When did you last use your phone as a … phone? I didn’t even take the trouble to set up all the smartphone stuff.

I thought it would be a riot to show my new colleagues the zombie G1 and ask them if they could do mobile search on it. My new team is working on the next generation of mobile search!

I thought they’d laugh their heads off :-)

Not so. They were amazed - some of them had never seen the first Android phone - they were impressed (truthfully, a bit amused as well).

I made several phone calls last week.

As we race off to the future, it’s sometimes comforting to step back to the past. I gave this zombie one more shot! It was back to the future for a week.

How far… how fast…!

Feeling the blues ... again!

2014-12-01T23:15:00.001-08:00

I need a change of color ... again! Seems like every time I go purple, blue seeks me out :-)

Seems like I can't get very far from search, either ... search "seeks" me out :-)

The last time I was at Yahoo, it was short and relatively uneventful (notable was the "search index war" that caused Google to drop the index size counter on the home page!)

I moved to Google and worked on a bunch of products - Web Search, Alerts, Custom Search, Site Search, the Search Appliance, and Ads automation.

I left Google for an ecommerce startup called Lexity, and we were acquired by ... Yahoo ... last year. Boomerang! (what they call second timers)

I got a lot done the second time - product integration with Yahoo Merchant Solutions in a record 6 weeks after acquisition, launch of the Live Web Insights iPhone app, a unique powerful one-click badging system with benchmark insights for ecommerce, and a brand new Yahoo Stores ecommerce platform, among other things.

Done! I'm moving to a new role at Quixey. Quixey is working on the future of mobile search, attempting to unlock information within apps -> the new reality!

In 2009, I wrote my most popular tech blog post: A Brief History of Search - a Play for 3 Ages!

I may need to write a sequel to this popular play in a bit ... stay tuned :-)

My mentor, Ashok Chandra

2014-11-22T14:43:00.001-08:00

Last week was a loss for the high tech world, the Indian community in Silicon Valley, the Chandra family, and to several of us who had the chance to work with Ashok Chandra. Ashok passed away after a battle with cancer.

Ashok accomplished a lot in his career, but it was his demeanor and leadership that I value most. He valued people and he realized how to get the best out of people.

He was my mentor, and he was involved in almost all my career transitions. I would ask his advice every time.

When I moved from IBM Watson to IBM Almaden, Ashok was the lab head, and my final interview was with him. When I left IBM, I met with him. When I decided to leave Purple Yogi (Stratify) and return to IBM Research, he (and Prabhakar Raghavan) convinced me to join them at Verity to help form the Emerging Technologies team, where I learned a lot and had a very technically productive 4+ years. He was supportive of my move to Yahoo and into product management. He pulled me in to lead product at the then new Search Labs in Microsoft Silicon Valley. That offer led Google to make a decision (in 2 weeks!) since I had the Microsoft deadline. Years earlier, my first Google offer for an engineering manager role had taken an excruciating 6+ months. I had not consulted with anyone and I had eventually said NO (a mistake? :-)). Had I asked Ashok, would he have encouraged me? The second time, I decided to join Google since I correctly presumed that I’d have to make a lot of trips to Seattle to get anything done. If Ashok was upset, he did not show it - he understood, and supported my decision.

Ashok was who I went to for advice when the startup I was doing (Koollage) ran into a thorny situation, and Ashok was the first person I’d called to inform that I was quitting Google to go to Lexity. He was happy that some of the ex-Verity folks were back together again, and was so happy after the acquisition by Yahoo.

I sent him an email a couple of weeks back to connect so I could inform him of my upcoming transition from Yahoo, but there was no response. I had to decide on my own.

Ashok - we will miss you! We will miss your smile!

When Brazil loses it's shirt!

2014-07-08T22:58:00.002-07:00

There is only one way to deal with the trauma of what happened today! I'm still in denial!

I could’ve had a baby!

2014-06-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

Today is exactly 9 months since the day I ruptured my Achilles!

Funky freak accident, while playing, not soccer, but table tennis. Granted, I was playing a serious game with a state-level player, but “ping pong”?!!! I need a more exciting and more authentic story!

I went to see my doctor today. He was counting the months on his fingers, and he said, “You could’ve had a baby!”

True this!

My “baby” is that I am now walking again without a limp. Baby steps to, hopefully, a full recovery.

It took the first trimester - 6 weeks to get out of my cast, another 6 to get off my crutches, the second trimester (another 4-6 weeks to get out of the boot, and then, physio, etc.), and finally, the third trimester, still suffering tendonitis and doing a bunch of stretching to get rid of the limp.

I coached my spring soccer team without being able to run around with the kids. That was harsh!

I’ve been patient, and, finally today, I jumped back and forth and side to side in a crouching position. (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)

The baby was born today. When this baby is 3 months old, I hope he’s running again!

Achilles was a demi-god!

Soccer is everything!

2014-06-16T20:09:00.002-07:00

The World Cup is here…again! In addition to fully immersing yourself to the experience and the excitement of the great sport, you should ask yourself why billions of people on earth are entrenched in this sport.

I thought about this and I think I have the answer – it’s not just a sport. Soccer (football) is everything.

Soccer is joy

A few billion people will watch this world cup. It is the most engaging entertainment you can find.

Soccer, in general, is the cheapest entertainment you will ever find. So much joy - in reality, you need no cleats, no real fancy Brazuca leather ball, no fancy astroturf fields, gloves, bats, wickets … nothing!

Just any field and any ball will do. Right in the middle of the African Serengeti … with Zebras watching like referees and little barefeet kids scurrying around in shorts to impress the munching black and white onlookers and tourists with their binoculars.

That’s when you realize that joy does not have to cost you money!

We often behave otherwise!

Soccer is the world

Everyone loves the game! The world has equalized. With African, Asian and South American players playing in the best leagues in Europe, the result is that anyone can win a game in the world cup. In past world cups, Cameroon upset Argentina, Nigeria almost had Italy, South Korea had a great run and South Africa played wonderfully. Last weekend, Costa Rica beat Uruguay in a shocker.

The crowds wear all colors of the rainbow, the players are from everywhere, and yes, ironically, racism still exists #SayNoToRacism

In Natal in the Amazon, the boisterous crowds in the pouring rain were being flashed advertisements in all languages - Chinese(!) (Yingli Solar?) and Spanish and English and Coca Cola and McDonalds (yes, these are global languages that the whole world understands :-))

Everyone from everywhere is represented in this global microcosm. This is truly and the one and only “world cup”!

Soccer is war

I read somewhere that the game was used as a way for 2 tribes to resolve their differences on the field instead of impaling each other with hand-sharpened stakes! If I were a soldier, I’d rather sweat out a kicking match with a non-living spherical object than hope that it didn’t hurt much when a rough-hewn piece of wood lacerated my gut.

Remember the Zidane head-butt? He lost his head, but that’s a kind of war. Maybe a silly war, like a war for weapons of mass destruction, but a war for ego and prestige nonetheless.

During World War II, there was the "Death Match" where soccer was used in defiance by a Ukrainian team in Kiev against the Nazis. Ukrainian players eventually paid for victory with their lives.

Honor and sovereignty!

War!!

Therefore…

Soccer is peace

When England plays Argentina, it could be a way to alter the political landscape. Of course, the Hand of God goal almost escalated to war, but that’s why “War" and "Peace” are only a word apart, and only a white flag or a handled ball separates these two states. When the US played Iran in the 1998 world cup, it could be argued that was a small little proxy war. I expect all the generals were watching instead of planning military action!

Soccer is money

The CEOs of soccer do earn a pretty ~~penny~~ pound, based on their own stock. When Real Madrid played Barcelona, it was the most expensive match ever played - £417M pounds worth of smart sinew on the pitch. A few swooshes later, the millions multiply further. The club players have gotten to the point that they leverage their currency and change colors as they evolve from team to team: egos and talent are traded off for loyalty when teams are late to act to appreciate their key playmakers, much like the situation in Silicon Valley or corporate America. This money then creates the talent that translates to passion for the national teams during the world cup.

Soccer is art

When you watch teams like Barcelona, Brazil or Spain play, you see what I mean – you think it and they do it on the field – it is uncanny and mesmerizing. If you don’t see it, then you don’t appreciate art. There – I said it!

When you watch Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 game – it was a showcase of artistry, when, by decimating half of the team in one fluid movement across half the field, he showed that he could do with this feet what he could do with his arm (see below) – kill an entire nation, and stop the breath of the remainder of the earth!

When you watch Messi take the ball horizontally across from the right side of the field to the center, and then duck in through the defence to calmly slot the ball in the net – over and over, predictable, yet unstoppable – a little differently every time – with the ball stuck to his feet like they were magnets, you realize the artistry that is soccer. And, he did it again last weekend, didn't he?

When you watch people do with their feet what artists can do with fine motor control of their hands with brushes, you realize the art that is soccer.

Soccer is inspiration

When you see a team that is down by 2 goals with the season on the line, and 5 minutes to go, and then pull off what is an almost impossible task and take it back in injury time, as Manchester City did in their last 2 minutes of the season in 2012, you realize the will power and inspiration that is soccer.

Enough said. Watch the video!

Soccer is perspiration

Imagine that the average player in an average game is running upwards of 8 kilometers. And making over 80% accurate passes with his feet. And jumping a meter in the air to head the ball. And taking kicks in the shin, and elbows to the face, and knees in the back. In 74% humidity.

Hey, this is a little more severe than the Spurs just turning off the air-conditioning to turn up the Heat!

A torrential downpour of 5 hours did not stop Mexico playing Cameroon, did it?

Soccer is surprise

Who would have imagined that Spain, reigning world champion, would run into their worst loss in more than 50 years in their first game in defense of the title? Yes it was the Netherlands, but 5-1? Surprised? Would you have bet on this result even knowing that their previous worst defeat happened the last time they played in Brazil?

The first goal of the tournament in Brazil was Brazil’s only own goal in the world cup ever! Could you have written that in the script?

Would you have counted on the Swiss scoring a deadlock-breaking goal in the last 30 seconds of their game with Ecuador?

Would you have expected the US to win knowing that they were out-shot 21-8 in the game?

Would you have counted 44 goals in 14 matches with only 1 draw?

Could you have predicted that in the first 2 matches, there would be 3 referee errors?

Surprised?

Soccer is community

I’ve been coaching for more than a decade. I’ve probably coached about 300 kids over the years, and the kids went from size 4 shoes to adult size 10. From Mitre to Adidas to Nike, from yellow to blue to red, from butterfly-pickers to artists who could coach me instead of the other way around, I’ve seen it all. Kids come in wanting to make their parents happy, and leave as mature teens with a sense of discipline and confidence and unselfishness and the ability to be a part of the whole.

When I walk into a Safeway, and I turn around at the gruff sound of “Hi Coach!” and see a young man 6 inches taller than me, with a wispy mustache covering the face I can recognize as the young boy I’d coached a few years earlier, I realize that I’m a part of the community. We’re a social animal, and our kind of animal needs coaches to help young kids become young adults with a sense of loyalty and belonging.

Soccer is teamwork

When every season starts, there are always upstarts on the team who think they will carry their team, and only they can carry their team with their gift for the game. At the end of the season, they leave, knowing that even if they are a gift from god, they need their teammates to do their job, and no one person carries the team. The team carries everyone – to victory, to defeat, to self respect, to respect.

That’s the one reality of the world, and of corporate life as well – the team is larger than the individual.
Messi is better in Barcelona than in Argentina – it’s the team that carries him. Portugal is better with Christiano Ronaldo, but he often struggles on his national team without his Real Madrid teammates, as he did during the recent German rout.

This is true of most team sports – which is why a majority of inspirational speakers are athletes who learned discipline and sacrifice for the greater team good instead of just individual goals.

Soccer is deception

When the first game of the world cup was done between Brazil and Croatia, it was a relief for the nation that Brazil had won. The metallic taste that left in the mouth was not because Croatia gave Brazil a run for their money with their tight marking and physical gameplay, but because of the Fred Flop. No foul, but the penalty awarded showed that humans will always deceive when the stakes are high. They will do it in Banks, in Corporations, in schools, in churches, and … on the field.

Don’t blame Fred. It is human nature and it is in our system. You will never root it out. You will always have the world’s best take what they can, even with flip-flopping.

After all, it's the "Hand of God".

Soccer is death

When Marcelo put in Brazil’s only own-goal in world cup history, a colleague of mine said he was dead. He was using those words for effect, but I cautioned him against it, because I had done exactly this a few years back when Colombia had lost a game due to an Andres Escobar own-goal, and I’d commented to friends that the defender was "dead"! Two weeks after the world cup, he’d indeed been killed after an argument in a bar. I felt terrible for a few days, like I’d foretold his death.

If you hear about the beheading of the referee after a local game in Brazil after the referee stabbed, in self-defence, a player who attacked him after a decision he’d made, you’d realize the implication of the emotional balance in hold through a game.

Soccer is war – soccer is death.

Soccer is life
Right now, the world cup is on! It excites me in the morning and my days are brighter. My palms are colder and sweaty, but the heart pounds and pulses, and the blood flows.

Soccer is life itself.

How I eliminated my son from the National Debate Championships!

2014-06-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

The National Speech and Debate Championships for 2014 starts today. Last year, I was responsible for eliminating my son from it.

This is a true story about how a child had to tell an adult the right thing to do :-(

I'm a Bengali (from the same place as Bengal tigers come from). We're known to love art, soccer, music, and fish, and are known to be straight shooters - I usually tell it like it is.

Mostly to my own detriment...

Once last year … to my son's detriment …

This story shows how life deals the unfair card at a young age, and how, sometimes, an adult has to be slapped on the wrist by a child - to do the right thing!

If you've had the opportunity to see state-level and national-level debaters in the Bay Area, you'll realize very quickly that more often than not, the speakers know more than the parents judging them. That's ok! They are expected to know how to convince "regular" people with their argumentation. The message early in life is that you'll have less competent (sometimes incompetent) people judging you and evaluating you in life. Deal with it. Life ain't fair!

It’s more unfair when the parent judging you can hardly speak English, and shouldn't even be there. Especially not judging a round between two good debaters that determines whether they qualify to go to the State or the National tournament. Debaters spend weeks preparing for these tournaments - sacrificing their academics, gathering evidence, preparing appropriate rebuttals to each and every possible argument. Ok, but there aren't enough parent judges, so … tough! Deal with it!

Now - there are rules - a parent cannot judge a student from their own child's school (obvious) or judge a speaker they know - they are expected to recuse themselves. I've done it 3 times over the last 2 years, even when I only vaguely knew who the student was, and I knew I could still be objective.

Prelude:
During a league tournament earlier in the year, a parent I know from the local competing school brings up an issue with me - that one of the kids from my son's school apparently grabbed her daughter's hand to point to evidence during a round, rattling her and causing her great distress (she's a good debater herself, but had thought she'd lost the round and was upset).

"Is that allowed?" she asks me meekly. I told her it was not acceptable and she should take it up with her team's coach. In fact, debaters are told not to even make direct eye contact during a round, and the boys from my son's school are specifically told to be extra nice in rounds with girls due to perception issues (even if the girls are pretty aggressive, which they often are - yup, it's a reality! (And that ain’t fair either.))

On pressing her, I was told who it was - it was a boy I knew very well. I assured her that I would tell my son, one of the captains, to deal with the issue. Assuming this account was true, since it came from an adult, I was furious that such an experienced debater would do this, jeopardizing his own chances of winning. I asked him. The boy involved protested that nothing of the sort happened, but I took it upon myself (as a parent of his friend and teammate) to berate him. My son took it up with the opposing school's captain to find out from the girl what had transpired; according to her, nothing of the sort had happened. The girl was, in fact, embarrassed that her mother would have brought something like this up with me, a parent from a competing school, instead of going to her own coach. Ironically, she’d won the round.

I was furious and apologized to the boy involved, feeling embarrassed and stupid for believing the parent over a student I knew.

That weekend, I received a phone call from said mother, who'd discovered that I had followed up on my word - trying to "clarify". Still trying to convince me that something had actually taken place, and asking why I took this up with the team’s captain, the daughter's reputation, etc. etc.

You kidding me? Reputation? Imagine the impact on the boy's reputation. If she could bring this up with a competing school’s parent, imagine the stories she was capable of weaving to parents from her own school! Why did she not take this up with her coach if it did happen?

I was not kind - I gave her a piece (lots of pieces) of my mind, and told her never to ever do this again. I did not hold back. Frankly, I’d never spoken to someone in my life in such an abrasive fashion. I was pissed!

Fast Forward:
National qualifiers for Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate in 2013. My son is in a "go round" i.e., he goes to the National tournament if he wins that round, as expected. He arrives at his round to see that the same girl's dad is one of the judges! My son assumes he'd recuse himself - first, they know us well, second, there's too much bad blood here between our families …

Nope! He stays put in his seat!

He's a parent. Surely he'll be able to put aside personal issues and rule objectively! The man makes no eye-contact throughout the round. He rules against my son; knocks him out of the Nationals.

My son is confident he won the debate. Why do I believe him? He's been quarter-finalist in California State in 2 consecutive years as sophomore and junior, top 30 in the nation as a junior. As a senior, he has the best LD debate record in the state. He knows when he wins and he knows when he loses!

He won and he lost.

The turn of the unfriendly card! My actions effectively cost him a chance to go the Nationals to try to win the title. The eventual 2013 National Champ has never beaten him head-to-head.

Fast Forward:
My son is participating in the semi-final (last 16) round at the 2013 California State tournament for impromptu speech (not debate). He walks into a classroom with 60-70 of his peers, and who does he see in the judges panel?

The mom!! Again!!!

"Okay, she's going to recuse herself."

Madam sits tight - she's not going anywhere!

This is not happening again!

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - his exact words to me later. He knows his proverbs!

He's seething - the elimination from National Qualifiers still a fresh wound! The same thing is going to happen again. He can feel it in his bones!

If I were him, I'd walk to my coach to protest! He's a Bengali!! He should be outraged and he should protest.

"Aaamader dabi mante hobe, mante hobe, mante hobe ….."

He's only 17 with all the ongoing stress of an important competition.

My son does the most non-Bengali and mature thing ever….

"Aunty," he says loudly in front of all his peers and his fellow contestants. "Our families have known each other very well for a long time, and I feel it would be unfair to my fellow speakers if you judge this round. Would you please recuse yourself from judging this round?"

She's history, and his fellow competitors are impressed with his magnanimity!

A Bengali with that kind of maturity and acumen? Impossible!

He made it to the final round and took fourth in California State. Had he not done what I described, I'll wager he'd have at least one negative vote on the panel, and would’ve been eliminated from the final round.

Why am I sure? Seriously! You're going to ask me this question?

He recused her! When a parent does not know the right thing to do, it's not bad manners to slap her on the wrist, and tell her that her place is outside the classroom!

One Slip between Cup and Lip!

2014-05-04T11:44:00.001-07:00

This post is not about soccer/football.

3 years back, when Baba was diagnosed with liver cancer, and I was there, having random conversations with him when he was able, I’d asked him once what football team he was a fan of during his many years in England. He let this slip out from between his lips - “Liverpool”.

Baba was never really into sports, but he was a part of the Queen’s England, and was known to have had a cricket vest knitted for a single game on one of the fancy cricket grounds for some departmental game - apparently he scored a duck, but he had “played on the field” :-) My father - he was always “on the field”.

The last few weeks, watching the drama of the closest season in the Premier League, with Liverpool looking for it’s first title in decades, I’ve thought a lot about Baba. Why Liverpool? Did I not ask him? Did I not pay attention to his answer?

The team I’m rooting for is Manchester City. They won the title in dramatic fashion in the last minute (must see) of the season 2 years back. One moment, and the world changed! Over the last 2 weeks, they are in pole position once again.

But, secretly, I would not be unhappy if Liverpool pulled it off over the next week. Baba’s team would win!

In fact, Liverpool had the cup, but all it takes in life is one slip. It took a the least-likely random slip from Steven Gerrard, captain and one of the most dependable players for Liverpool and England over the years, to most-likely wrest the Cup away from his lips next week, and hand it over to Manchester City.

You see his face after the ironic and unfortunate incident (the video pokes fun :-(), and you realize the pain and the disappointment. One moment, and the world has changed.

Sometimes, in life, all you get is one chance at something - don’t let it slip away!

There’s still a slim chance that Baba will beat me next week; it will require a slip from Manchester City. One slip. For Steven Gerrard and his historic and well-deserving team - Suarez, Sterling, Sturridge, Coutinho, ... - this is what needs to happen.

I’m hoping it doesn’t happen. I’m also hoping it does.

Update: Ironic and almost unbelievable - Liverpool slipped again!

The Moment of a Lifetime - Dust Cloud

2014-01-01T23:27:00.002-08:00

Here's the moment from 2013 that I'd like to think of as one of the moments of my life!

We were leaving the Serengeti in Tanzania, on our way to Masai Mara in Kenya. I was pretty pleased with our Camping Safari so far; I'd seen my favo(u)rite animal - the Cheetah - and we'd seen myriad animals - including a lioness and her cubs feeding the earlier afternoon!

We were passing the Grumeti river, and came across a herd of zebra drinking water. Rikki was the photographer (see his fantastic photos) and I was the videographer. We stopped on the road across the river to get a good angle on the zebra - check the video above. The zebra were very thirsty and were enjoying their drink, but were obviously very nervous. They would stop, and suddenly take off crazily up the bank incline, and then run back to serve their thirst again. This repeated several times. I recorded until I ran out of battery power, also eventually tired of this repetitive behavior. I even noted in the video that they were probably nervous since this was lion country (we'd just seen a pride relaxing on the dry river bed a few minutes earlier).

Zebra's gotta drink when zebra's gotta drink!

Just as I turned off the dying camera; Godlove, our driver and guide, said "Lion!"

I was still looking down and fumbled with the camera to see if I could get the video going again; but the camera was dead :-(.

I looked up and there was a cloud of dust in front, as the herd bolted.

Luckily for us, Rikki was amazing with his camera, huge lens and all! So the pictures below tell it all, and chronicle this moment of our lifetime - a moment that encapsulated our Africa adventure; a moment that I'll remember forever.

A lion and lioness had suddenly emerged on the scene (we'd probably just passed them hiding in the bushes a few feet behind us). The zebra had probably smelled their presence, explaining their erratic up-and-down routine.

In a span of a few seconds and in a plume of dust, the lion and lioness attacked the herd The zebra took off in a hurry. The hunt was unsuccessful, and the regal couple gave up in a few seconds - conserving energy for the next hunt. The zebra also stopped, casually looking over their shoulders at the feline couple as they lumbered away towards the shade.

We stopped a few feet from them as they rested; they were nonchalant and unperturbed. It's good to be royalty!

Like Silicon Valley Startups, only one in every 10 hunts is successful!

Call me the Lame Silver Octopus

2013-12-25T12:51:00.000-08:00

The year is upon us - the world cup in Brazil runs next summer. I wish I could be at Maracana stadium next July, as originally planned, but I did not win the ticket lottery :-(

Hi-def TV FTW!

At Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janiero, 2008

OK - so now, I'm still nursing a ruptured achilles back to health, and watching the exciting Premier League race unfold with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool vying for top spot, I thought I'd put down my predictions for Mundial 2014.

Call me the Lame Silver Octopus. How many of my picks will hold up next summer?

For those not plugged in, there are 8 groups (A - H) with 4 teams each. These 32 teams have gone through hard trials over the past 2 years to qualify.

Here are my predictions:

Group A - Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon

Brazil needs to get through! This is the home team, and they were automatically in the 32, but they are also an awesome force during every world cup. My favourites, of course, due to the style of soccer they play. They also have some awesome players - watch for Neymar, Marcelo to have serious impact.

The surprise element will be Mexico - although they had a lot of trouble qualifying (via a playoff game with New Zealand), I think they'll raise their game and squeak into the next round over Croatia. Cameroon will have good moments, but will fizzle out as with most African teams.

Group B - Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia

This seems to be an easy call for the first round - Spain and Netherlands will make it. Watch the beautiful Spanish game with Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Pedro, Villa. Pedro will do some damage. Netherlands will, of course, continue to show off their soccer cred - Van Persie will continue be lethal. Chile will be able to pull off an upset, but the experienced sides will deliver.

Group C - Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan

This is a hard group to crack - it will be a very difficult group to get through - could be a toss-up, but I'll take my chances and announce Colombia and (surprise!) Japan to make it through (although, on paper, Greece should top Japan). The Ivory Coast will show some great moments, but will not break through.

Group D - Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy

This is the traditional group of death, and this lineup will not disappoint. Under normal circumstances, I'd write off Uruguay versus the more disciplined European teams, but this time, with Luis Suarez showing brilliant form at the highest level for Liverpool in the Premier League, and Forlan and Cavani always able to deliver, I'm going out on a limb to put Uruguay and Italy as qualifiers from this group. Why Italy over England? It could go either way, but I don't see anyone being a spark on the English team. Rooney is overrated, and the boring English style of play won't do it this time. I am, of course, assuming that Balotelli will play for Italy.

Group E - Switzerland, Equador, France, Honduras

I'll claim no surprises in this group, with Switzerland and France going through. I'm expecting that France, with players like Bayern's Ribery, Manchester City's Nasri, and Arsenal's Giraud, could actually go very far this time.

Group F - Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria

If Argentina does not qualify from this group, I'll stop watching the rest of the WC (or eat my hat! - that would be more palatable :-)). While you'd expect Bosnia-Herzegovina to be the other team to make it through, I think Nigeria would be the dark horse here - they have a bit more experience among the African teams to make it past the group stage. So Argentina and Nigeria are my choices from this Group. Look for Messi to deliver this time and make this his world cup.

Group G - Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA

This is the real group of death! Ghana and USA will try very very hard, but will die, and the experienced sides - Germany and Portugal will emerge from this group. Christiano Ronaldo will have his last chance to make a mark on the world stage to stay on par with Messi, Neymar and Suarez.

Group H - Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic

This will be a group with crazy results, and I can be 100% wrong on my predictions for this group. I'm going with Belgium after having watched some of their players in the Premier League - Januzaj, the 18-year old Manchester United wonder, Mirallas, Lukaku, Hazard, Mignolet - wow! Januzaj will likely become a known entity after this world cup. Although I'd love to see Korea make it through, I think Russia, with Arshavin and friends, will do it.

Therefore, on to the knockout stage will be:

Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Netherlands, Colombia, Japan, Uruguay, Italy, Switzerland, France, Argentina, Nigeria, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Russia.

Should I predict further? Hard to do, without knowing the matchups, but let me go out on a limb (I'll have to re-do after the brackets are settled next summer)

Quarters: Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, France, Argentina, Germany, Uruguay, Belgium.

Almost impossible to go further - but here goes...

Semis: Brazil, Spain, France, Argentina

And completely Octopus, while I'd be ecstatic for a Brazil-Argentina final, ... (I'll take any of these matchups)

Final: Brazil vs. Spain

Spain loses the title...

The Octopus is dancing!

Object Oriented Programming - Object #5: Circa 200 A.D. - Screw it all!

2013-10-16T12:19:00.004-07:00

Preface: During Graduate School, Object Oriented Programming had a very specific meaning. Now I'm more "meta", and stuck in a different time-warp for the next few weeks in Bangalore with time to ponder. I now see objects around me that had very specific meaning to me in an earlier life.

While in this time-warp, I'll post some of these interesting objects.

Object #5 (Circa 200 A.D.): Screw it all!

This screwdriver still repairs things!

First, man created the wheel!

Then, he discovered fire!

Then, after putting a few things in the fire and moulding them, man built this amazing screwdriver.

Then, my dad got it (I don't know if he bought it or dug it out of the earth :-))

The years of use have left both the metal tip and the wooden handle a glossy shine!

It still says: "Screw it all!"

A Single Leg Journey in the Metro

2013-10-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

Namma Metro

A couple of weeks before my dad passed away a couple of years back, I had asked him if he had any regrets in his life. His answer was no, and I believed him. We didn’t call him the Happy Man for nothing!

Those few weeks, he had trouble sleeping, and I saw him a few times just standing quietly near his bedroom window, holding on to the bars for support and looking out at the non-stop traffic on Old Madras Road 6 floors below, contemplating ... He was above the Metro that he had made his own, the city that converted his shy bangla-speaking wife to learning english and the (tamil-kannada-hindi) chow-chow she still speaks, the city where his children grew wings to fly, the city that he’d fought for during his years of community service. I had wondered what he was thinking about. Had he realized that the end was around the corner?

There was one thing I know he wanted to do before he left. He wanted to ride the brand new Metro train - Namma Metro. It had been almost done for months, and was supposed to open for test runs in weeks. Byappanahalli station was within walking distance to our flat, and that had been one of the reasons he’d purchased the flat … “I can walk to the Metro Station”.

At the window, I think he was thinking why the construction had taken so long, and why they had delayed the opening, and that he would not be able to take that Metro ride after all… Bangalore had been too inefficient for this efficient man - his Metro had let him down.

After I hurt my leg, I knew I had to postpone my first Metro ride as well; I was planning to accompany Ma - she’d not yet been on it. Our driver had suggested we get on at Byapannahalli, get off at Mahatma Gandhi Road, and come right back on a two-leg round-trip; he’d pick us right up where he dropped us off. We had laughed it off... I had crutches.

Today, we were driving past the Mahatma Gandhi Road station, and he teasingly suggested we take the Metro back home and he'd pick us up at the station! Great idea! Despite protests from my mother on my lack of mobility, I decided we would do this ... somehow ... crutches and all.

I’d do this for her, and for my dad. She would get to ride Namma Metro, and I’d do it on his behalf!

I took that single-leg journey on the Metro today!

Mahatma Gandhi Road Station

Ma waiting for the train to come

It's a great ride!

Object Oriented Programming - Object #4: The Sound of Music

2013-10-10T12:22:00.001-07:00

While in this time-warp, I'll post some of these interesting objects.

Object #4 (Circa 1955): The Sound of Music!

The tabla I learned on - now in disprepair!

My mother is a good singer. Yes - she does know hundreds of Rabindra Sangeet songs - she even remembers most of the the lyrics now!

When she was married, and arrived at her in-laws' place in Kolkata, the above tabla (then in disrepair) was granted to her for her use. It belonged to my father's sister, who was not very musically inclined (but almost all Bengalis are to learn music :-))

A couple of decades later, when I expressed some interest in music, and I got tabla lessons scheduled at home, we got out the tabla (again, in disrepair) and got it fixed. Why did I not learn the tabla well at that time? It was tenth grade (ICSE year!) and I wanted to go play in the evenings instead of practicing or taking lessons -- I needed to play something in the evening in order to focus on my academics at night.

When I went to the U.S., I learned tabla again for about 6 months in Houston. At the time, I had a pair including the tabla my wife had that matches her vocal scale - yeah ... she's a trained classical singer.

This tabla was stowed away again in Bangalore. (Sounds like Toy Story?)

Now, again in disrepair, this instrument that is more than sixty years old, is awaiting another new head and a restringing (I know that sounds kinda bad...)

Maybe, if Rikki continues to pursue the tabla (he's been learning for 2 years), I'll clean it, re-head it and gift it to him.

It is the sound of our family tradition.

Object Oriented Programming - Object #3: The Weight of a Microchip!

2013-10-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

While in this time-warp, I'll post some of these interesting objects.

Object #3 (Circa 1975): The Weight of a Microchip!

A glass paperweight with a suspended faux microchip

Even before we realized the importance and power of the chip, it made its weight known! Let's just say it was worth much more than on paper!

I'll bet I must have asked "What's that thing in the glass?" when the cool-looking paperweight first surfaced in our house in the 70s.

Little did I know that I would later be studying how to work these chips, program them with assembly code, and, eventually, design and build my own. At Rice, I designed, and built a chip that was shipped off to MOSIS to fabricate. When the chip arrived, in "flesh and blood" and we ran our first tests, it was a thudding heart - did I miss a gate here, or a circuit line there?

For kicks, we put our names in the corners of the circuits - you can see our signatures in the photos of the chip design masks.

But most cool ... my chip worked!

I'll post a pic of my chip when I get home - as you know, I am at my other home halfway across the globe right now!

Object Oriented Programming - Object #2: The Table Fan that Rallis!

2013-10-02T07:50:00.001-07:00

While in this time-warp, I'll post some of these interesting objects.

Object #2 (Circa 1963): The Table Fan that Rallis!

Rallis Table Fan - Older than yours truly!! Still works perfectly!

Note: In the above photos, note how the image on the right is blurred due to excessive speed :-)

This fan was purchased in 1963, before I was even born. Bangalore, until then a non-fan-station, had just started warming up during the summers.

My dog Pixie knocked it down, and the fan was out for about 2 years, with a bent frame. Not to be outdone, my dad got the frame and blades fixed, and the fan repainted.

My mother uses the fan everyday since it is so convenient!

Now - it keeps the mosquitoes off my legs as I watch Champions League matches.

Object Oriented Programming - Object #1: Hello World (IIT)!

2013-10-01T23:49:00.001-07:00

Preface: During Graduate School, Object Oriented Programming had a very specific meaning. Now I'm more "meta", and stuck in a different time-warp for the next few weeks in Bangalore with time to ponder. I now see objects around me that had very specific meaning to me in an earlier life.

While in this time-warp, I'll post some of these interesting objects.

Object #1 (Circa 1983): Hello World (IIT)! The alarm clock that I took with me to IIT[M]

This clock often got me up in time during the 4 years at IIT(M)

Gift from my brother-in-law.

In some cases, the clock did its job. I'd wake up to its loud jangling, which was hard to ignore.

Sometimes, I'd shut it off, and one my wingmates (A-Z) would bang on my door every 5 minutes until I woke up.

Some days, when life was just suspended, I avoided winding it up, so I'd just sleep on!!

I'm not sure it works any more, but I'm afraid to try it - the loud jangle will surely cause me a heart attack!

I'm like Kobe Bryant!

2013-10-01T01:34:00.001-07:00

Note: In the above photos, note how the image on the right is blurred due to excessive speed :-)

Kobe and I were both born on the same day - August 23. I did not know this when I started writing this blog post! I think that’s an awesome coincidence!!

Ok - let’s start with what’s not in common between me and Kobe Bryant:

He’s tall, I’m short
He is a professional basketball player - I’m an amateur table tennis player
He has 5 NBA rings. I have more patents :-) (yeah sure, everyone cares!)
He launches three-pointers. I launch products.
He’s rich. I’m not.

Now - don't be disappointed. We have a lot in common:

We share a birthday.
We both like Michael Jordan. We both think Jordan's the greatest basketball player ever.
We both love soccer. We are both fans of Barcelona.
We both ruptured the achilles tendon on our left legs in 2013 :-(

Here’ what both of us said after the incident: “I made a move I’ve made a million times and it popped,” Bryant/Mukherjee said afterwards calling the injury “by far” the biggest disappointment of his career. (Please note - Bryant has a real career, Mukherjee does not!)

Kobe’s getting ready to get back to the game in a record 3.5 months - he’s been diving into a pool from 40 feet already!

His idea of 40+ : “If I can run, I can jump.”

My idea of 40+ : "Will I be able to play table tennis/soccer again?"

Back to Yahoo! after 7 years

2013-07-31T18:37:00.005-07:00

The House of Cards!

2013-07-09T10:01:00.005-07:00

Netflix has been playing well-timed cards to stay in the game, it seems … the content cards ...

I’ve been trying to cancel Netflix for a while now...

Why cancel, you ask?

Nothing good to watch, or no easy way to find it without spending a chunk of time, at which point I’m tired, ready to give up and go to sleep!

Ok - so ready to pull the plug last year, … and along came Lilyhammer - I watched the first season, and … kinda enjoyed it. What happened to it?

Ok - so started watching Breaking Bad - fantastic AMC show - on Netflix. We’d missed the boat on AMC. Being late to the party, my wife and I spent a crazy period of time catching up. We did that in record time and arrived very quickly at ...Season 5. Not on Netflix! OUCH! Not even available for $$. I’ve never before gotten to the point where I’m desperate enough to pay for a TV show - right then and there!

No go on Netflix :-(

Switch to Amazon - it wasn’t on Amazon Prime, but it was available for-pay; I coughed up promptly. We’re now ready for the rest of the final season to air - we’ll probably catch it on AMC on Comcast (I pay Comcast more than for food and clothing per month!)

Ready to cut cord with Netflix again … we watch House of Cards - pretty darn good show. And Sherlock. We’re caught up on the first season of both shows.

Do I stay or do I go? Ask me after the summer!

Amazon, I think has/had an amazing opportunity to upend Netflix, and it hasn’t happened yet. They’re trading content deals - PBS, Dreamworks, ... - and something’s got to give. Amazon has also gone the path of original content - we’ll see what they come up with. YouTube's playing on the sidelines with its own content strategy.

I think Amazon can leverage it’s Prime position, but again, content is king.

What’s the next card to be played in this house?

The Reunion

2013-01-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

Rarely does a person feel old and young in the same moment! The reunion had exactly that effect. A bunch of middle-aged folks feeling and acting exactly like they'd scratched 25 years off their lives. More juvenile, in fact! The jokes came quickly and everyone laughed, independent of how terrible they were.

Walking around campus alone at 4.30 a.m. with the orange traffic lights on the trees and the deer slowly sauntering, unperturbed, the crickets making a gentle racket in the gul-mohars ... a strong sense of nostalgia hit! The memories were blurred, but the one of the black buck and chital deer herd bounding across from left to right in the moonlight while I was returning from the computer center on my moped "Julie" - an indelible scene carved into my young mind.

Walked to OAT all alone to see that there were renovations ongoing; I could see the spot where I had first spoken to my wife; we have two young boys because of that meeting 25 years earlier. A few words exchanged ... and the world changes!

Met my 3 Idiot friends; 4, 5, 110 of them for that matter. Singing along "All izz well" with the rolling credits at the screening of the 3 Idiots movie the next day at OAT, walking right into the ambush of the warm Madras torrential rain as it soaked us to the skin as we walked back to the Taramani guest house.

Better than it was 25 years ago? It was!

The only thing in favor of our student days?

We were younger, our hair was black! We felt like our sons do today?

When technology changes your life!

2012-12-05T23:22:00.002-08:00

Last week, I wrote about how technology can make you mad!

Last weekend, I was also watching TV, and saw something amazing that I had to write about! It is an amazing application of technology - an innovation that is hard to conceive due to its simplicity!

Technology rocks!

Watching Dr. Sanjay Gupta's The Next List, I was riveted to hear about Max Little, a genius mathematician from the U.K. He is responsible for what I consider an amazing medical innovation.

Max Little is not a doctor, he's a mathematician. A really smart mathematician!

Max applied audio analysis techniques to create a test of a 10-second "aaah" recording to detect Parkinsons - with 99% accuracy!

The muscles of the vocal chords are impacted just like other muscles in the body due to Parkinsons. Vocal aberrations (possibly imperceptible to the human ear) can be detected by audio analysis. Important - this can likely happen even before the more obvious symptoms kick in! Early detection.

Not only is it an almost 0-cost, consumer-friendly way (call on the phone?) to test for presence of the symptoms of the disease, it is also likely the only tangible, metrics-driven way to track the progression of the condition!

The idea makes sense ... now! But conceiving it, and actually getting it to work in this domain is as out-of-the-box as it gets!!

As out-of-the-voice-box, I mean!

When technology makes you upset!

2012-12-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

A lot of people were upset when Apple's maps sent them to the wrong place. This became such an issue that it led to Apple apologizing, and eventually, folks lost their jobs over it!

Now, this happened because technology did not work!

Here's an example of when technology worked (as (poorly?) designed) but upset me. I'm not livid, but I'm definitely not pleased with the situation.

If you are able to see my new profile in LinkedIn (you may need to sign in), you'll see nice little logos beside each of my career stints. Cool, except that I was stunned to see the Autonomy logo beside my entry for Verity. The LinkedIn engineers probably feel very good that they are able to automagically divine that Verity is now a part of Autonomy. Now, why hasn't the logo already updated to the HP logo? Of course, ... a bug! Ideally, they'd have identified date ranges as important for this specific association!

Now, anyone who knows me knows my negativity towards Autonomy. Here's a blog post I'd written after Autonomy acquired Verity in November, 2005. I was not very pleased with how it went. Others felt the same way. It felt wrong!

Luckily, I'd already moved by then (I had joined Yahoo!), so I did not have to work for Autonomy. I could not!

Since then, I've heard lots of stories of how badly Autonomy treated its employees, especially my ex-colleagues from Verity - that definitely left a very bad taste in my mouth about the company. In fact, to be very honest, the only reason I have an allergic reaction to the Tottenham Hotspurs is because they wear the A logo on their jerseys.

Call me juvenile! I'm fine with that!

Now, Autonomy is embroiled in a deep controversy about cooking its numbers for HP. Now, ironically, technology has associated my name with a company I've never been a fan of, and worked hard to beat. Double irony! HP could technically use Autonomy software to target Autonomy execs.

I wish the LinkedIn technology had failed in this case!

Tiger Kids

2012-10-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to the kids!

If you want to build a high-end computer, watch the video above: Poseidon: Components Overview, followed by the more detailed Poseidon: Computer Build. If you’re not curious about what it takes to build a high-end computer, you can skip these steps. But read on...

The video above is of Ronny’s personal summer project last summer. He’d just turned 17. The video was completely shot and edited by Rikki, who is 13. I started my education on computers at age 19! Okay, you, say - that’s not a big deal, kids grow up with iPads these days, and, if you watch the videos above, it’s doesn't seem that hard...

It is! Especially, when, at 17, during your summer vacation, you’re also doing a 9-5, 5 days-a-week internship at a Silicon Valley internet startup! And you just returned from participating at the National Speech and Debate Championships with your team. And you have to IM your friends, play Starcraft. And Tetris. Prioritize! And you’re also expected to write a 10-minute original advocacy speech, which has to be approved so you are allowed to participate on the debate team next fall! And you’re getting ready to start your college applications as the summer expires... and … Weekends? What weekends? You’re in a hard hat atop a second-floor scaffolding at a Habitat for Humanity project.

I did some extra-curricular stuff when I was growing up, but it’s ridiculous to put them in the same category!

A lot has been written on Tiger Moms and Tiger Parents and shuttle services! Yes - there is a lot of pressure parents create in driving their children to perform and succeed. No denying that, and us Asians have been known to do our fair share...

But this post is for the kids!

A few months back, I was asked by a friend’s son if I would agree to do an interview for a high school project essay about Google. Sure, I said, thinking I’d be happy to invite him to the famed Google lunch and show him the mini-kitchens and the nap pods and lap pool and the volleyball courts. He comes in, and he asks about Google’s policies on privacy and user data! His questions were deep and covered a lot of ground. Egad! This is like a media interview! Be careful...

I should have expected this - these are tiger kids!!

The thing is this - the kids who are pushing themselves are not succeeding only because their moms have aggressive feline traits and bad driving habits! They are succeeding because they are driving themselves and their peers to a level of effort and performance that is difficult to comprehend. A sampling of Ronny’s tiger peers: One of his classmates has found an issue/defect in the whooping cough vaccine! Another is a math whiz at the national and global level. Another understands the U.S. economy better than almost everyone in congress! (I’m being dead serious here!) They are all at the state, national levels in speech and debate. And they built a world-level knowledge bowl team, top notch science bowl team (of their own volition) or went off and helped communities in South America. They take advanced classes - perfect grades, great SATs. I don’t have time to talk about the Royal Bengal. And, we’re not really counting the things their tiger parents got them to do - music, this and that.

Some of them are too lazy to exercise! (I have to get that out of my system!!)

I know the parents. Yes - we participate and volunteer time and I’m sure we push and prod and want them to succeed - to reach their potential. But the point that’s often missed is - these high achievers are driving themselves and each other to achieve. Achievers achieve!

And so far, I was not talking about the super-duper athletes that are in these schools, who are the next generation of Olympians. Who wake up at 5 a.m. to practice water polo before school and also practice after school because they are the best in the state. And travel. And have to manage their academics. And...

These are tiger kids. I expect (and hope) that most tigers will do well in their lives.

The unfortunate thing is that some of these kids will not get admitted to the college of their choice! Seldom, it will be because they will bequeath a slot to someone even more brilliant and accomplished. Sometimes, it will be because these schools want diversity and will take less accomplished applicants. Sometimes, ironically, it will be because of their parents - because they marked “Asian” for race in their applications.

It’s a zoo out there! There’s only room for so many tigers!

From Googley to Googly

2012-10-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have evolved to be more soccer crazy than cricket fan! Growing up in India, I did play cricket. I was a better bowler than batsman; I switched to batting left-handed; it was more stylish, and … wonder of wonders … I was more effective! (Baayein haath ka khel! - for my desi friends.) I was a leg spinner. Once in a while, I did accomplish the effect of a Googly - it’s a tricky ball that goes the opposite way to what you’d expect. (I see from the Internet (which is always right!) that I used to accomplish the effect in a wrong fashion :-))

After almost six years of being Googley (being a Googler, doing things from the inside), I’ve become a Googly - I’m taking a different path going forward. This ball just took different spin.

I’m no longer with Google. I’ve joined a startup called Lexity! Lexity’s built a technology-driven marketing platform for ecommerce - filling an important need for merchants who would rather focus on running their businesses than figuring out how to deal with the complexity and nuances of online marketing using multiple channels. Stay tuned for more coolness!

Google was a unique company to work for - the focus on execution and innovation is amazing, even for a large company, which it has now grown up to be. I’ve learned a lot about company culture, open communications, empowering small teams, persistence, devotion to the consumer experience, and the tradeoffs required to rapidly launch quality products. The food, the shuttle and the table tennis were icing!

At Google, I navigated several products - Google Search, Google Alerts, the Google Custom Search platform (that now powers several products), Google Services for Websites, Google Search Appliance and Google AdWords - many teams, many friends! This has kept me on my toes, but I expect the startup environment will teach me many new things!

New ball… new delivery!

I’m looking forward to continuing to deliver great products!

“Stay hungry! Stay foolish!” - as a wise man said.