tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308333702024-02-19T06:19:37.754-08:00IndygoRealizing ideasNivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-38594295659574288052012-08-27T00:46:00.000-07:002012-08-27T00:46:17.796-07:00Indygo - birth of the idea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The idea for Indygo, its name and its purpose, was born, not on the proverbial napkin in a coffee shop, but on the backside of my fifth semester maths notes book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70OaVtj8g3Mtm3Hq3xf0C4jS2Kj8IZP8PV-Nc_zMv6uXwwp20cehRWIj_P8JE7-USi02ZM4Nn7vtjXrY8Py8WAq2BA7VYMaQkyGZEnYgV5o4NAE7loWbVG-dvQdgmjmBJRTcfJw/s1600/indygo-birth-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70OaVtj8g3Mtm3Hq3xf0C4jS2Kj8IZP8PV-Nc_zMv6uXwwp20cehRWIj_P8JE7-USi02ZM4Nn7vtjXrY8Py8WAq2BA7VYMaQkyGZEnYgV5o4NAE7loWbVG-dvQdgmjmBJRTcfJw/s320/indygo-birth-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here's the proof of that :)</div>
Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-33836833117454437622012-07-13T00:38:00.004-07:002012-07-13T00:38:42.037-07:00Indygo turns Six<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Indygo turns six today. We have come far and we have quite a distance to go.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuhAyKVVjsmpOZM3TEnViY-2lvFch-lmXM0ANqETPWEx-m7a96HcbA8GA_KJxKgWYnr6pSB4oFtJIPTGNQqx09z90_NFQ7d03y_146Ixo6fLrbj13YkSugY-BRrvKQwqRRd6WpQ/s1600/photo-2012-07-13-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuhAyKVVjsmpOZM3TEnViY-2lvFch-lmXM0ANqETPWEx-m7a96HcbA8GA_KJxKgWYnr6pSB4oFtJIPTGNQqx09z90_NFQ7d03y_146Ixo6fLrbj13YkSugY-BRrvKQwqRRd6WpQ/s320/photo-2012-07-13-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At N.R Colony office... Its been a year here and we love it here</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-56312235314187509442012-03-05T21:16:00.002-08:002012-03-05T21:16:47.043-08:00Thanks to all who visited us at KSCAA conference<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvOw1AkGfeHU69dwhpWXePRydkRJVuKSXNWry3JuctX4SHm46nZsxI0ISulHLCNeOVqb5Xzaar8pBAR22AvBdUFBgS7cMEq-UgOcy96e8JvTXJL1je16QqAmYN9HQ8vxmPZj6NA/s1600/2012-03-04+10.56.15-770367.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715916730974496914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvOw1AkGfeHU69dwhpWXePRydkRJVuKSXNWry3JuctX4SHm46nZsxI0ISulHLCNeOVqb5Xzaar8pBAR22AvBdUFBgS7cMEq-UgOcy96e8JvTXJL1je16QqAmYN9HQ8vxmPZj6NA/s320/2012-03-04+10.56.15-770367.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">@ KSCAA Conference in Bengaluru</td></tr>
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</div>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-4050464551064147462012-01-31T02:52:00.000-08:002012-01-31T02:52:24.731-08:00Back to square one<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is the team we started with in 2006. Now for the next spiral!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqVtILgqT7QrMWQodBZFtT3kJMD4T2PgbeqZDbozm_oDekp-MZUa4iidGq83y-Towvgywww3qo915srJRZN2eykX9oNY_SfLtLgZpA5CuvTI3HdQbc3HzMz4ik250HyHTmoiiJg/s1600/office-shot-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqVtILgqT7QrMWQodBZFtT3kJMD4T2PgbeqZDbozm_oDekp-MZUa4iidGq83y-Towvgywww3qo915srJRZN2eykX9oNY_SfLtLgZpA5CuvTI3HdQbc3HzMz4ik250HyHTmoiiJg/s320/office-shot-small.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ramesh and Sudhi in the photo with Srini holding the camera</td></tr>
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</div>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-61130263759373062632010-10-27T08:24:00.000-07:002010-10-27T02:53:39.491-07:00Introducing PapilioI apologize for the long vacation from this blog. I have been doing some pretty exciting things lately which is keeping me on my toes and not enough time to reflect.<br /><br />We finally did something that we initially set out to do when we started Indygo. We launched a new product. This product is targeted specifically for Chartered Accountants and their firms. And its called <a href="http://papilio.co.in/">Papilio</a>. We have about 400 users using this application and we are really excited now that we launched the v1.0. Try it out!<br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-25777731431140098502009-01-30T02:28:00.001-08:002009-01-30T03:03:32.678-08:00Alternatives to pay checksA few days ago, I asked all my friends around the globe for some brainstorming help, especially since my tank was going empty. The excerpt from that email follows -<br /><blockquote> A lot of students especially from the IT background who were selected into blue-chip companies through campus recruitment are now jobless. Some of them have received rejection letters while others have been kept waiting from joining their companies. The situation is quite bad and the batches of students coming out in the next few months are also clueless about their future.<br /><br />I am writing to you as I need your ideas to help these students. What's available is a young workforce with great talent and intellect. This is a great opportunity for achieving something extraordinary. What we need however is direction and mentoring. How can we help to make sure that this resource doesnot go waste? Of course, some of them can get into further studies, but most wont.</blockquote><br /><br />This list is a summary of all the ideas I have received so far. Some offered valuable pointers to people and resources while others also have offered to mentor and help students. Thanks to all of you for your active contribution. I am working towards putting this across to the student population.<br /><ol><li>Become a part of any open source project that interests you and actively contribute; be it in terms of code, documentation, bug-fixing or just technical support.</li><li>Get into institutions as research assistants like IISc where there is active research being done. These institutions may not pay very high salaries, but the exposure is beyond compare</li> <li>To look at other institutions like the Indian Defence forces, multimedia, or other art forms that you have a real liking for and develop skills.</li><li>Work with organizations such as "Janaagraha" and help them build systems like volunteer management system that would help them operate better.</li> <li>Contribute and volunteer to help non-profit foundation called "<a href="http://egovernments.org/">egovernments.org</a>" which create software systems that are used by municipalities to enable smooth governance.</li><li>To help microfinancing institutions to spread their reach.<br /></li> </ol>Some also suggested that professional bodies like NASSCOM should play a more active role and help students in this matter, if they can go to them as a group. A friend also suggested that the big players could create a software foundation which would train and use the talent for open source projects which in-turn would benefit the industry.<br /><br />I will write more about the reaction of the students and how we intend to take this forward. If you can come across more ideas, please keep them flowing. You can either write to me or leave it as a comment.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-21016204262829861582008-12-22T03:36:00.000-08:002009-01-30T02:36:41.288-08:00Wonders at "Wonder La"We recently went out on a outing to "Wonder La!". It was awesome! Some pics from the show!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GphxH8vsVia2-mhZNgTTcKn6bJ3f8mWtyogGb0FdwZHPFGwRZfiaoEY9O3t7pKOrsnfrGg7fQqjKlsH7L-Ij1v9GhfwKxyr-K6ZnZdDrG7e5_MRMz1ejvwxrGoiXcQ2yLmaCWA/s1600-h/IMG_0633_640x480.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GphxH8vsVia2-mhZNgTTcKn6bJ3f8mWtyogGb0FdwZHPFGwRZfiaoEY9O3t7pKOrsnfrGg7fQqjKlsH7L-Ij1v9GhfwKxyr-K6ZnZdDrG7e5_MRMz1ejvwxrGoiXcQ2yLmaCWA/s320/IMG_0633_640x480.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297033537521330242" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UkbUe4KXEjvtWDcWW0a6SwFNVwFgon46NHj-3wQ5o7IxF5TmityKTizuPrAr7pG4yH-QfmhDT6DL0PfFeXjLMpGMRAWXUt1qTT01xDtTSij_uTnqlejYLJdoQOte4BT-2gR-tQ/s1600-h/IMG_0626_640x480.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UkbUe4KXEjvtWDcWW0a6SwFNVwFgon46NHj-3wQ5o7IxF5TmityKTizuPrAr7pG4yH-QfmhDT6DL0PfFeXjLMpGMRAWXUt1qTT01xDtTSij_uTnqlejYLJdoQOte4BT-2gR-tQ/s320/IMG_0626_640x480.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297033266359656578" border="0" /></a>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-10443829311575287932008-08-29T10:19:00.001-07:002008-08-29T10:22:12.406-07:00"Small is beautiful" in Srilanka<div dir="ltr">STPI, Bangalore had arranged a meeting between the delegation of companies, the <a href="http://www.boi.lk/">BOI,</a> and the <a href="http://www.icta.lk/">ICTA</a> from Srilanka and the Bangalorean SME companies. I was quite impressed with the state of progress the companies are making in Srilanka. It was very refreshing to hear that working for an SME is a badge of honour and hence finding talent is much easier for the lankans. One of the CEOs among the Srilankan delegates even mentioned that they would like to stay small. This is something that exactly reverberates with my thoughts.<br /> <br />"Small is beautiful" or in Seth's words <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/06/small_is_the_ne.html">"Small is the new big"</a>. Don't get me wrong, I am all for growth. I just don't believe that growth is best described in number of people working in a company. That might be true in case of a services company where each employee is not just an employee but a resource (raw material or an engine in a sense) as well. I just believe that the growth especially in a product scenario should be determined in terms of the money you make, the value that you provide and the relationships that you build. When a team of potent people come together magic happens and great products come out. Usually that team is not in hundreds but more in the order of tens or even single digits.<br /> </div>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-3457937832495057942008-08-05T22:27:00.000-07:002008-08-05T22:50:41.415-07:00We turned twoWe turned two! Time just flies by... that exactly is what happens when you are doing stuff that you love. In this time we have grown from two to fourteen. We are busier than ever, working on some really cool prototypes that we think are "the next best thing to sliced bread!" I promise to post more as soon as I am allowed to open my mouth. In the meantime, here's a picture of us celebrating at Leela Palace.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKz5v8Y7MkDy1uulkFM6HAnn7FnHcxvgw1-8M1b9FQsq12D36eBzomBg4KJkS5smFCAYvbKFXObWGhPw7suTCPWZoFsqgdmYLxMzWZM6WsGEXZQf3RcdxA69766SDkRF-flOS9w/s1600-h/leela-dinner-20080704.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKz5v8Y7MkDy1uulkFM6HAnn7FnHcxvgw1-8M1b9FQsq12D36eBzomBg4KJkS5smFCAYvbKFXObWGhPw7suTCPWZoFsqgdmYLxMzWZM6WsGEXZQf3RcdxA69766SDkRF-flOS9w/s320/leela-dinner-20080704.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231277740774761250" border="0" /></a>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-18496872188103055212008-01-07T02:46:00.000-08:002008-01-07T03:18:23.339-08:00We have movedWe have moved our operations to a new location further south.<br /><br />The new address:<br />#30, 2nd Floor, 4th cross, 7th Block west,<br />Jayanagar, Bangalore - 560082<br /><br />You can see us on the wikimapia <a href="http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.927094&lon=77.574565&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2">here</a>.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-65510030449031504252007-12-11T02:52:00.001-08:002007-12-11T02:56:51.223-08:00Why Indians don't contributeLet me rephrase the title again - Why Indians (in india) don't contribute to FOSS (as much)<br /><br /><a href="http://foss.in/2007/info/Buzz" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">Foss.in</a> which concluded last week was overall an amazing experience. A lot of great hackers from all around the world had come in and it was quite a privilege to listen to all of them.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.sun.com/fossin/"> Sun</a> was big at the show. Java (open JDK) was there but there were quite a few FOSS projects like apache (Tomcat & the like), JBoss projects and others significant ones were missing.<br /><br />The main focus this year was to show people how to contribute and help people to get over the fear. I met Dr.Deviprasad, one of the best teachers I have seen, this weekend and we had a two hour long discussion on this topic of why there are not many indian contributors to the open source.<br /><br />Indians are attributed to having a lot of spirituality, which I dont think is completely true and they believe in daana (charity) and dharma. In this perspective, we should be contributing more. On the contrary, the number of indians that you see contributing is far less when compared to the number of people using FOSS. I have heard that its about 1% even in other countries, but I believe that its not even that in India. <br /><br />One primary reason could be that we underestimate ourselves. We think that our work is not worthy of contribution. We are not ready to believe or stand behind the quality of our own work. Another aspect to this, in general, indians don't view quality as very important. "Adjust madkoli" attitude wont fly elsewhere. <br /><br />Another reason could be that <a href="http://medhus.blogspot.com/2007/11/indians-dont-value-freedom.html">we don't value freedom</a> as much. Freedom is an expression of the heart and cannot be expressed in words. It has to be experienced and I don't think that we have enough people who have in India. If you don't value freedom, there is no question of FOSS as well. <br /><br />The thought of sharing something with others is not seen anymore in cities of India. That culture is fast eroding and that can be seen in sharing code as well. To us today, money is quite important and any effort should lead to money. I am in no way saying money is bad, but to think money as the primary goal is going a little too far. We can see that even in the fresh graduates coming out of college. With two to three offers ranging from 3-6 lakhs, they have already lost their path, and that too a year before they actually graduate.<br /><br />I would love to change this. I would love to see atleast 10% of us contributing to FOSS, but how?<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-25583709222926893932007-09-24T23:26:00.000-07:002007-09-25T00:07:44.317-07:00Dream BIG!<a href="http://changethis.com/38.02.Turnover">Matthew Kelly</a> in her manifesto says -<br /><blockquote>For the most part, it is not our work that engages us, nor the money and things that our work brings into our lives... it is our dreams. Highly engaged employees have a dream and they are working toward their dream.<br />...<br />Nothing animates the human person like the pursuit of a dream. If you want to breathe passion and enthusiasm into any situation, relationship, or team, place a dream at the center of it. Dreams inspire people, and we don’t do anything until we are inspired.<br />...<br />Consider these twelve areas. Physical. emotional. Intellectual. Spiritual. Psychological. Material. Professional. Financial. Creative. Adventure. Legacy. Character.<br /><br />Jot down your dreams in each of these areas, and carry that list with you in the coming days and weeks.<br /></blockquote><br />So dream on... and save the future!Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-68844406407799911712007-09-24T21:15:00.000-07:002007-09-25T00:23:10.072-07:00About UsQuite a few people have posed this question as to what exactly does Indygo do? So this is my view of who we are -<br /><br />Indygo is a company which builds products, more often than not, from scratch, and more often than not, for other startups who are pressed for time, quality and money. Some of these products that we build would also be our own. We are at the drawing boards of one product currently. However, we do not want to be associated with a single product, since we want to build and deliver a lot more. I know some of you might say that this will lead to blurred vision. I say, what we need to see is the immediate road ahead and guidelines to drive, not a set plan. I feel that a plan on that scale (i.e. the future of the company) puts too much focus on the future and less on the present. As <a href="http://mahantshetti.blogspot.com/2007/03/forever-young.html">Mahant Shetti</a> says - "Having vision in such a case is impossible; 'the visionary' can set directions, but we can not depend on him/her to plan for the unknown future, especially with the rate of change in our industry."<br /><br />Indygo is a journey, not a goal. And we are in it for the long haul. Not for one product lifecyle. Indygo is as much about people as the products we build. We are here for developers who love to do what they do best. Develop. Grow products that are world class. And by investing in them, we invest in the products that get built, and by that we invest in Indygo.<br /><br />Now if you ask me what our current expertise is? I would say, building applications for the web.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-706119252223634472007-09-21T23:30:00.000-07:002007-09-24T21:14:51.616-07:00Indygo is looking for a "Lead Developer"And for the first time we have posted a job listing. You can find it on the <a href="http://jobs.joelonsoftware.co.in/?2687">Joel's job website</a>.<br /><br />The listing follows -<br /><h2></h2><h2></h2><blockquote><h2> Lead Developer </h2> <h3 id="at"> at <a href="http://www.indygosoft.com/">Indygo</a> </h3> <h4> Bangalore, India </h4> <div id="description"> The ideal match for this job would be a person<br /> - with atleast a couple of years of experience leading teams of developers and atleast six years in the industry<br /> - who believes in agile methodologies<br /> - who loves to work in a startup environment<br /> - who can feel the customer's pain in a problem<br /> - who has crafted technology based solutions from the scratch<br /> - been through the whole product life cycle from start to end more than once<br /> - with experience in building applications using web technologies<br /> - with proficiency in Java and its related technologies </div> <h3 id="toapply"> Interested? </h3> <div id="directions"> Please send us an email (which can act as a covering letter) with your resume attached to jobs at indygosoft.com</div></blockquote><div id="directions"> </div><br />Update:<br />Unfortunately, telecommuting is not an option for this particular job. We are looking for somebody who can, not only work on Indygo's projects, but also build a team, mentor them and keep them together. So being with the team is an important necessity and the team would be based in Bangalore.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-35228704337420743642007-09-17T00:04:00.001-07:002007-09-18T10:15:04.662-07:00Risk Everything<strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">The <a href="http://www.foundread.com/view/risk-everything">story</a> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>by </span></strong><small class="meta"> </small><span>Ursula Schwuttke </span><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">that precedes these points is even more gripping, and the analogy awesome.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></strong><blockquote><strong><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Boldness</strong> is risking everything, meaning that which you <em>cannot affford to lose</em>, to pursue a dream.<br /><strong>Inventiveness</strong> is finding the will to be creative when necessity demands it– not when it comes to you.<br /><strong>Motivation</strong> is finding the spirit to hang together when resources are depleted and plans run awry.<br /><strong>Honor </strong> is maintaining a sense of fair play and not asking for more than you need–even when it would be excusable.<br /><strong>Leadership</strong> Real leadership is demonstrated when one at the 'helm' finds the confidence not to waver, even when the confidence of the team has wavered.<br /><strong>Luck</strong> On a day when it really counted, they had some of it. But it dawns on me that luck is just the product of all these other qualities. </blockquote>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-7620836416715364602007-08-27T05:04:00.000-07:002007-08-27T05:42:14.178-07:00InternshipRe-reading an essay, "<a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html">The Power of Marginal</a>" by Paul Graham and he says it all quite well (what else do you expect).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"just try hacking something together."<br /></span><blockquote>Hacking something together means deciding what to do as you're doing it, not a subordinate executing the vision of his boss. It implies the result won't be pretty, because it will be made quickly out of inadequate materials. It may work, but it won't be the sort of thing the eminent would want to put their name on. Something hacked together means something that barely solves the problem, or maybe doesn't solve the problem at all, but another you discovered en route. But that's ok, because the main <span style="font-weight: bold;">value of that initial version is not the thing itself</span>, but what it leads to.</blockquote>We said the same exact words to two interns this summer. They had about three months to spare and we wanted to experiment to see how internships will fare at Indygo. So this year we opened the floor up, asked students to apply and selected couple of real bright ones. The goal was to define a problem, and build a workable prototype that solves it within three months.<br /><br />What we learnt was quite refreshing.<br /><ol><li>The interns were very resourceful and attacked the problem quite well. They didnot have much experience prior to this in anything remotely similar, but could successfully complete what they had taken up.</li><li>Never underestimate the power of enthusiasm and the willingness to try.</li><li>Mentoring of interns (students) is different from mentoring developers. One has to take a more detailed hands-on approach.</li><li>Estimation is quite a difficult game in projects which depend heavily on R&D however experienced you are. This shouldn't be mentioned here since its almost redundant. We relearned this.<br /></li><li>Don't expect production ready stuff. Its just a prototype.<br /></li></ol> If I have missed some points, please add it as comments.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-77423220175372592672007-03-28T09:09:00.000-07:002007-03-28T09:14:21.654-07:00Javascript overtakes C#According to <a href="http://www.tiobe.com/tiobe_index/tpci_definition.htm">TIOBE index</a>, the popularity and usage of Javascript surpasses C# language. I guess this is majorly because of the use of AJAX and Web 2.0 buzz. The original link can be found on the <a href="http://www.tiobe.com/index.htm?tiobe_index">TIOBE site</a>.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-51451160282988245002007-03-13T01:51:00.000-07:002007-03-13T01:57:34.821-07:00OpenAlchemy<a href="http://atulchitnis.net/diary/showentry/422">Atul Chitnis</a> announced on his blog that -<br /><blockquote>The <a href="http://openalchemy.org/" target="new">OpenAlchemy Project</a> is the opensourced version of Alchemy - the user interface used on the <a href="http://amidasimputer.com/" target="new">Amida Simputer</a>. Everytime I have shown the Simputer to people abroad, the first thing people have commented on was the interface, and have asked if it was possible to make the code available.<br />...<br />If you are interested in contributing to the project (especially if you are a student), go over to http://openalchemy.org, join the mailing list (you will find some familiar people there already), read through the archives, find out what needs doing - and go for it!<br /></blockquote>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-72202091440402301232007-03-08T01:33:00.000-08:002007-08-27T05:50:31.010-07:00Shorten your workday!<a href="http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/blpnet/article.html?article_id=39810">Julie Morgenstern</a> writes [via <a href="http://emergic.org/">Emergic</a>] about different ways to improve usage of time. Best one of them is to "shorten your workday".<br /><br />[Update:] <a href="http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/03/10-tips-on-productivity.html">Dumb little man</a> points us to <a href="http://zenhabits.net">Zen habits</a> with some more hacks. The best one I liked was <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/top-10-productivity-hacks-9/">Productivity Hack #9</a>: Wake up early.</span> Definitely the one for me.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-84726305500515466272007-02-28T01:15:00.001-08:002007-03-13T21:50:30.504-07:00Jolt awards<a href="http://www.joltawards.com/2007/">http://www.joltawards.com/2007/</a> <p><b>The nominees are -<br /></b></p><p><b>Books (Practical/General Developer Interest)</b><br /></p> <blockquote><i>Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game</i> (Addison-Wesley) by Alistair Cockburn<br /><i>Catastrophe Disentanglement</i> (Addison-Wesley) by E. M. Bennatan<br /><i>Eric Sink on the Business of Software</i> (Apress) by Eric Sink<br /><i>Practices of an Agile Developer</i> (Pragmatic Bookshelf) by Venkat Subramaniam and Andy Hunt<br /><i>Software Creativity 2.0</i> (DeveloperDotStar) by Robert L. Glass<br /><i>Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art</i> (Microsoft Press) by Steve McConnell<br /><i>Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method</i> (Dorset House) by Gerald M. Weinberg</blockquote> <p><b>Books (Technical)</b><br /></p> <blockquote><i>Code Quality</i> (Addison-Wesley) by Diomidis Spinellis<br /><i>How to Break Web Software</i> (Addison-Wesley) by M. Andrews, J. Whittaker<br /><i>Java Concurrency in Practice</i> (Addison-Wesley) by Brian Goetz et al<br /><i>Rails Recipes</i> (Pragmatic Bookshelf) by Chad Fowler<br /><i>Refactoring Databases</i> (Addison-Wesley) by Scott W. Ambler and P. J. Sadalage<br /><i>Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design</i> (O'Reilly) by B. McLaughlin, G. Pollice and D. West<br /><i>Ruby Cookbook</i> (O'Reilly) by Lucas Carlson and Leonard Richardson<br /><i>CSS: The Missing Manual</i> (O'Reilly) by David Sawyer McFarland</blockquote> I should get my hands on atleast some of these.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-29852852266838480442007-02-11T23:23:00.000-08:002007-02-11T06:00:30.577-08:00Bad dress senseI get quite an earful for my dress sense. Now I dont have to feel bad about it, since I have an authority like <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/foundersatwork.html">Paul Graham</a> backing it up! :)<br /><blockquote><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">the less energy people expend on performance, the more they expend on appearances to compensate.<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />Suits, for example. Suits do not help people to think better. I bet most executives at big companies do their best thinking when they wake up on Sunday morning and go downstairs in their bathrobe to make a cup of coffee. That's when you have ideas. Just imagine what a company would be like if people could think that well at work.</span><br /></blockquote>Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-34594193214702979322007-02-01T21:13:00.000-08:002007-02-01T12:13:48.106-08:00Advice to freshersI have been interviewing a lot of freshers for internship at my company. The more I talked to these people the more I felt that the lads are being misled. So this is an effort of trying to put a list of things that freshers might want to keep in their mind. Actually this list will hold good for the inexperienced as well. Most of this is locale specific, Bangalore, India to be more specific. <br /><br />1. If you are not in the field of computers already, then there are a certain set of basics that you might want to learn first. OK, we, comp.science graduates spend about four years learning it. So even though you think that you can become a developer by taking a course in Java at one of the centers in Amirpet or NIIT within couple of months, there are certain things you ought to know and understand. Basics are important, rather most important. Its not just enough knowing a language. I agree that you dont have to know how the engine of a car actually works in order to drive a car, but you should atleast know how and when to use the brake or the clutch. <br /><br />2. Programming is like painting. This is not just <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">my view</a>. So what would you do if you want to learn painting? You paint. The first one might come out quite different from what you expected, but as you keep on practicising it, without worrying about throwing away your work (actually this is important), you will surely reach a point where you can create something that you had in your head. Now having something worthwhile or beautiful in your head is altogether different ball game.<br /><br />3. On the same analogy, there are painters who just paint walls. And there is Da Vinci. And there is a whole range in between. At some point, there is genetics I guess which will give an unfair advantage to the very few. We had only one Da Vinci, but thats something you cannot help. What you can help to climb up the ladder is to associate yourself with the best and improve your skills by helping the master do his/her job better. OK I dont want to sound like a the head master in your school who is using a cane, but what we lack in our profession is the apprenticeship. Our trade needs it more than any other form of engineering discipline. So go find a good master or guru or mentor. These dont have to always be only people. They can be groups (esp. open source projects) too.<br /><br />4. The mindset that most freshers have with respect to programming is that they can read the manual of a programming language say Java, know the syntax of the language and they are masters of Java all of a sudden. All they are is at the max half compilers who cannot convert the source into bytecode. I am not declining the importance of keeping the syntax in the head. All I am saying is that reading the manual of how to use a screw driver is not the same as knowing to use a screw driver. And programming is a hundred times more complex than this task. Like the great Morpheus says - "Walking the path is different from knowing the path"<br /><br />5. Find the area that you might <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">love to work in</a>. Actually this is easier said than done. This is something that you want to explore while you are in school. For that matter, this should be the reason why people should go to school. Trying your hand in a masters course might also help. Its also not necessary to declare it to the world and stick with an area forever. You might simultaneously work in multiple areas like one in your office and one at home. Sounds like a dumb suggestion, but people ignore the most obvious things. Whatever happens dont let go until you find what you love. Now is the time when you have a lot of energy and enthusiasm to explore. So dont let it go waste.<br /> <br />6. Prestige kills creativity. It hampers learning. "<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you'd like to like." - Paul Graham.</span><br /><br />7. This field is like research to a large extent. If you are not ready for lifelong learning better not get into this mess. Ofcourse five to ten years from now you will be a project manager or in some management position. For that you dont have to become a developer, you could always get in through an MBA or something of such sort. Dont become a developer half-heartedly and screw it up for the rest of us.<br /><br />I hope this will give atleast some direction to you. If you have more thoughts or criticisms please feel free to express them.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-21207695721152155952007-02-01T05:45:00.001-08:002007-02-01T05:54:41.460-08:00Founders at workIn <a href="http://www.foundersatwork.com/jessicalivingston.html">Jessica Livingston</a>'s <a href="http://www.foundersatwork.com/index.html">own words</a> -<br /><blockquote>"<span style="font-weight: bold;">Founders at work</span> is a collection of interviews with founders of famous technology companies about what happened in the very earliest days." </blockquote>This is a <a href="http://www.foundersatwork.com/interviews.html">book</a> by Jessica Livingston who is a founding partner at Y-Combinator. A must read for geeks who want to someday start on their own. Some of the interviews are online. Found this through <a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/01/30.html">Joel's</a> post.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-52022657672782454452007-01-24T06:23:00.000-08:002007-01-24T06:32:52.826-08:00How to be creativeA Manifesto by <a href="http://gapingvoid.com">Hugh MacLeod</a>. The full version can be found at<a href="http://changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative"> changethis.com</a>.<br /><br />3. Put the hours in.<br />1. Ignore everybody.<br />8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.<br />11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.<br />13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside<br />17. Merit can be bought, passion cant.<br />18. Avoid the watercooler gang.<br /><br />“The first rule of business,” he said, chuckling at my naiveté, “is never sell something you love. Otherwise, you may as well be selling your children.”<br /><br />"The more you need the money, the more people will tell you what to do. The less control you will have. The more bullshit you will have to swallow. The less joy it will bring. Know this and plan accordingly."Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30833370.post-44780308835925573922007-01-23T02:08:00.001-08:002007-01-24T06:33:47.519-08:00Awful wasteI recently heard - "Only 50% of the yearly crop is usable." That's an awful waste of brain power and time. And of this, the cream gets into one of the big companies where mostly they are either on bench or maintain code that was written before they were born. So where are the ideas? They die. Prestige and money are the killers of creativity.<br /><br />A lot of problems in the talent pool can be attributed to the education institutions and lack of quality in the process. Recently the CEO of Infosys said this quite nicely in "India Poised" program of Times Now. He says something to the order of "there is huge demand for resources in almost all sectors and there is a huge youth population available, but the bridge that connects the two islands is education. This is in a pretty bad shape and needs immediate repair." I hope that this situation will improve and we will make it better for ourselves without which, standing in the global market will only be a dream.Nivashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378531860899929416noreply@blogger.com0