I shaved my head over the weekend for a dear collegue of mine. You might have read similar stories here and here
Lyn was a special human being. She was extremely dynamic and cared for her people. She has been fighting an inoperable cancer since 2004. When I heard that her family of 2 children and husband went to see her for the last time at MGH, I broke down in tears. This moved me far more than anything in the recent years. I am tremendously saddened, at the same time strengthened for what Lyn stood for and how she lead her life.
This is o Lyn and to what she represented..

Today is the Year of Dog..

Happy Chinese New Year!
It is also Jay’s birthday. He turns FOUR.

The coolest thing from Lotusphere 2006 is the newly rebuilt Activity Explorer - which my buddies from the previous QuickPlace team built in record time. I am amazed at Sami and Miguel at what they can deliver and continue to be personally inspired by Sami’s dedication to technology and SIMPLICITY. It has cool Web2.0 features and rocks!!
You can find the sessions they talked about here and here

I over heard this conversation today on the bus from airport terminal to Hertz in SJC…

Guy: I am not sure how to use the VPN..
Girl: I always connect to Internet and then start my VPN.
Guy: Oh!, I really am not sure how this Internet thing works, (and then laughs) we are so qualified to be in this business….
Girl: [laughs]
Guy: I am supposed to build this screens for the meeting tomorrow and not sure how I am going to do it. I dont understand MVC quite well.
Girl: Is Rails MVC?
Guy: I think so..in what we are trying to build, I think JSP is view, but what is the controller and model…thats where I am confused…
Girl: I think Beehive is the model and the netui is the controller
Guy: I thought Beehive was the full framework
Girl: hmmm…

At this point, I was so tempted to jump in, but was overly enjoying this conversation, that I missed my stop…
More such conversations coming your way….

I met Kelly, an energetic, excitable, poignant, self proclaimed blogger at Lotusphere. She has a blog on Devworks..Please stop by to see her escapades and pictures from Lotusphere 2006.

I have tremendous joy in reading the Pragmatic Series, and there was a recent post by Dave Thomas that raised how major publishers copied the Beta Book concept, pioneered by Dave et al. And then Andy Hunt pointed out the same, with Oreilly calling it Rough Cuts.. There is good perspective on this by Tim here.
The concept is amazing and makes users/readers take active role in the development of a book - almost blogish. Its been long in the works and I am happy to finally see it take off with major publishers.
Feedback loop is the important form of design, be it building next gen car, application or book. I can’t wait to cut my teeth into Tate’s Ruby on Rails and the Ruby Cookbook on Ora.

I was recently in Vegas for a conference. For a stranger or some one new to the USofA, it looks like you are in an alien nation. I remember the first time I came to Las Vegas, I noticed that it was big and flashy and people were on high all the time.
As I have come back to Vegas, every year during the same time (Jan 2nd week) for conferences, I have tuned out the noise, chaos, smoke, slot machine sounds and disturbances around me.
I am not sure if I will bring my sons either or my wife for that matter. I like the scenaries of mountains around me, snowcapped peaks in the distance, or just the expanse of space in front of me, once I am few miles outside the city.
We ended up going to Emeril’s last night and it was good to hang out with my team. The last three nights I spent learning JAX-RPC, WAS SOAP Internals, ESB and Message Broker from coffee table and dinner discussions.
To Andre, Greg and Mike- Thanks for Geeking out!
As I am boarding the flight, I am not sure if Vegas represents the zenith in human achievement or depravity or both…

Today is PONGAL, a true Tamil holiday to celebrate the sun, harvest and prosperity. It was really awesome to go to one of the South Indian villages on this day and see the joy and happiness, even when there was not a good harvest.
Tomorrow, following Pongal is Maatu Pongal, to celebrate the cow, ox and cattle that are cornerstone to farming and agriculture.
In the cities, Pongal is celebrated little differently. Its more about families to gather and feast and thank for all the good things, starting with food.
My mom would make the best pongal (rice based dish)- both sweet and spicy..and right about now, I am missing that.
To all who care to celebrate this wondeful holiday with me, HAPPY PONGAL.

This post is for my sons…I heard this story when I was about 10 from a relative of mine..enjoy

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. The other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk, from the stream to the master’s house. The cracked pot arrived only half full.
For two years this went on daily, the bearer could only deliver one and a half pots full of water to his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, it was perfect for the purpose it was created. However, the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half the purpose it was made for.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, the cracked pot spoke to the water bearer one day, “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?” For these past two years I have been able to deliver only half my load because of the crack in my side which causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do double work and walk more often to get the required amount of water from the stream.”
The pot said The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path. At the end of the path, the water bearer said to the cracked pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, and not on the other pot’s side? That is because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walked back from the stream, you have watered them. For two years, I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have had this beauty to grace his house.”
We are all like the cracked pot. Each of us has our own unique flaws. Do not be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty and value to someone. Know that in our weakness we find our strength.

Howbout them LONGHORNS??
I was enroute to Sanfran and missed watching the game, but as soon as I got in my rental I turned to Sports Talk AM radio and caught Vince Young run for the touchdown..

In all Vince had a great game and the best ever I have heard/seen in a while.
Thank you Horns and Coach Brown for the great spectacle!