Over a cup of Coffee

Code Sense n’ Sensibility

2010-10-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

“A programmer who writes clean code is an artist who can take a blank screen through a series of transformations until it is an elegantly coded system”.

Probably the topic gives an impression that I am one of the geeks who eat, drink and sleep coding OR at the least it gives away the notion of me being passionate about it. Have you heard of phrase “Jack of all trades and master of few”? Apparently, not, because I made it up just now. Don’t dare use it it’s my copyright!! Few years in IT and I have learnt that if I am not the best around at least I strive to deliver best in the little I contribute.

I was given a book, ‘Clean code’ by a well known Geek from work. I call him geek because I am sure he can be described very well from the first few lines of the above paragraph. Well, I wasn’t sure if I would like the book but then I wondered what harm can it do to me? Probably teach me couple of new tips, phew! I love reading books, BUT strictly Fiction. So, here I was reading this book and almost sure that I might get bored with the writing.

I have read a lot of books ... few may qualify as technical books which I picked up while I was on my window shopping spree. Over the time I have started believing that every book’s ghost, called ‘The <book_name> ghost’ who endeavors to tell us the moral of the story, things to learn etc..etc. I am usually **scared** of techie books, because, somehow I fear that it is screeching at me in its monotonous tone ‘Com’n read it you ___! Don’t you need to learn about this better?’

Okay, before I get diverted again … I started to read this book and surprisingly the writing or the tone was calm and friendly. My <book_name> ghost was talking to me as if it had been watching people commit mistakes; indulge in fake promises that they know they can’t keep. I was happy to be attuned to it. The flow was nice and serene, I was happy to meet a nice ghost after so long. It held my hand, took me though the growing chapters, scolded where it had to, explained me where I needed improvement and where I need to let go of oldies … as I was rejoicing the momentum ...... everything faded… and … and … engulfed in darkness there I was, wondering my whereabouts when my alarm went off mad, it was then I realized …….. I had slept off! It’s the sad part of reading a ‘techie’ book at night. I still haven’t finished the book, though I firmly hope to complete it one (some) day and make my friendly ghost happy!

Here’s bird’s eye view (who even came up this phrase?) or looking into the valley view (@ copyrighted by ME!) of what the friendly book explained me. It’s not all because if I sit to write EVERYTHING, I’ll become Martin junior (who’s he? Ofcourse, the writer!)

• Writing meaningful Names - The <book_name> ghost asked me "We take lot of pain in deciding name of babies or even puppies why can’t we decide on meaningful names to methods, attributes?"
• Do one thing – In other words, stop acting smart and finish the first thing in hand.
• Comment – The <book_name> ghost suggested me … “Behave! You’ve good manners, then, why pass bad commented code to you peers?”
• Don’t forget to arrange your work in order – Looks Matter, doesn’t it?

The list goes on...

Again, I couldn’t help but share few of my favorite lines/phrases from the book.

• Writing clean code is what you must do in order to call yourself a professional.
• There is no reasonable excuse for doing anything less than your best.

Sources: Book - Clean Code, My mind

Nobel Peace Prize -2010

2010-10-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

There were 237 nominations for the peace prize (highest for this category so far), one of them being ‘Internet’ (looks like whoever suggested or accepted this nomination has ignored the fact that it is also the fastest medium of un-welcomed upsurge).

One of the things that caught my eye was that there were 6 Chinese dissidents on the list; this peculiarity forced to me read more on current political condition in China. Being an optimist or at least trying to be one, I have always looked upon china as a self sufficient and preferred ‘production hub’ by all the major giants. But, I would admit that it was distressing to read that ‘human rights’ conditions have still not improved there, how long it has been when the movement, the crusade first started? Gosh! Forever.

Liu Xiaobo has finally won the prize but on a glance at all the nominated profiles from china, isn’t it imperative to ask - why was he ‘The chosen one’? A couple of key strokes later google dishes out the complete life of Liu. A literature professor at Columbia University, United States who left his job to be with his countrymen and fight for their rights? He has always believed in awakening the youth because they are the future and if things don’t improve they’ll have to suffer the most. He helped the people by writing Charter 08, a call for multiparty elections and democratic reform. He was imprisoned / house arrested countless times because he had the power to stir the world with his ahimsic approach.

"Simply for expressing divergent political views and taking part in a peaceful and democratic movement, a teacher lost his podium, a writer lost the right to publish, and a public intellectual lost the chance to speak publicly, this was a sad thing, both for my self as an individual and, after three decades of reform and opening, for China." - Liu Xiaobo

A brief detail on the six nominees is:

Rebiya Kadeer: I had read sometime back that facebook was banned in china but I ignored as a joke, thinking, how come a website cause such a menace to be shutdown by a government? Because if it is not facebook, it can be twitter, it can be orkut or any other site but after she led a movement which ended up killing lot of people, internet was shunned which I think led to blocking of facebook.

Liu Xiaobo – He is the founder of Charter 08, a petition for democratic reforms in China. In June 2009, he was formally arrested on suspicion of incitement to subvert state power.

Hu Jia: A Chinese HIV/AIDS rights activist who's was instrumental in exposing the blood-selling scandal in Henan which gave tens of thousands of villagers HIV/AIDS. He was found guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" and given three and a half years in prison.

Chen Guangcheng: A blind activist who drew international attention to human rights issues in rural areas. He was sentenced to around four years for "damaging property and organizing a mob to disturb traffic."

Gao Zhisheng: A human rights lawyer in China, he has defended fellow activists and religious minorities. No whereabouts.

Bao Tong : A former Communist Party official who was the top aide to Zhao Ziyang, a reformist party chief that sympathized with democracy protestors in the 1989 incident.

Over a cup of coffee meaning

2010-10-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

When I thought of writing blog I wondered what should be the title? Something I wanna be or something I have been doing. Should I turn geeky and write about the ever changing technology, it's achievement. Here I was contemplating my thoughts over a cup of coffee. Then I thought what could be better than just to write about what I am doing right now, other topics can wait for while.

It's wonderful Sunday afternoon, looks like it would rain anytime. This leaves me with an excuse to stay indoor, sip my coffee and read a book with a soothing music being played in background. I have to be early to office tomorrow but who cares? I have complete day to my own.

What does 'Over a cup of Coffee' mean. It just came into my mind while I created this blog, now I am curious of its origin, but even googling hasn't quenched my craving. Is it a new idiom that has evolved due to our coffee drinking habit? Or does it mean more than that? The reason of this punch line being so popular is that it gives freedom of being expressive about any topic with any of your friends. You can read / blabber fiction, non-fiction, world affair over a cup of coffee. You can do ‘just nothing’ over a cup of coffee. It opens immense possibilities.

A book called Twilight

2010-10-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Before the story starts time to know how I stumbled across the book in first place.

Synopsis

It’s story of Bella Swan (the 17-year-old girl, and main character of the book) and she narrates you through the entire book. She shares her thoughts, her desire to be with the guy (Edward) who keeps staring her yet never shows interest and to whom she’s unconditionally attracted to.

Edward is stunningly attractive, almost inhumanly yet he never toys with humans. His looks attract many girls to him but he is intrigued only by Bella Swan. He wants to be with her but still as a vampire he knows his boundaries and his weakness. Edward's suffering to keep her alive even though as a vampire he wants to drink her blood has been depicted incredibly.

The story progress to tell us what happens when two people from two different world bound by love and desire try to be together..

Review
Once started reading Twilight, I couldn't stop. The story, the characters all mesmerized me.

The Story has been plotted in 'Forks' where Bella moves from Arizona. The description of both the places has been done so nicely that you would feel you're actually visiting the places yourself. Bella has been portrayed as very sensible & thoughtful girl who takes care of her family and is always ready to sacrifice her happiness for them. First few hundred pages describe Bella’s inner struggle to decipher whether or not Edward likes her ‘for reals’ or not. The pressure/suspense was maddening and I had to shun my desire of reading the last few pages of the book.

This forbidden paranormal romance has been beautifully written and to get the best out of this book it should be read in one sitting.

Here are few of my favorite quotes from the book:

And so the lion fell in love with the lamb..." he murmured.

I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.
What a stupid lamb," I sighed.
What a sick, masochistic lion."
— Stephenie Meyer

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him-and I didn’t know how potent that part might be-that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."
— Stephenie Meyer

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why I read Twilight?

2010-10-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

aah, could the story would have been better for me? Yes, if I could swap place with Bella Swan.

I have had been reading couple, if not lots of vampire books and so far I can say that the way bella-edward story hooked me to the book was amazing.

I read this book after watching the movie, quite unlike of me. Some of my friends had suggested me to watch the movie but I refrained dreading bloodshed. One fine day when I couldn’t think of anything to do,I decided to watch the movie. And I wasn't satisfied with the content... As a voracious reader I know there's more to a story then what can be captured on big screen in 2 hours.

A week later, I was rushing through book section in ASDA. I was in luck and found all four books (Twlight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) .
Yippie!!!