Heartcrossings

Have been reading about Intel's likely demise and many opinions of how that happened. It was completely unthinkable when I went to college for example and the 8086 was the processor we cut our assembly language programming teeth on. Many of my peers dreamed of working at Intel and several went on to fulfill that dream. That was then and this is now - even Intel needed to have a moat and came a time when they did not have one anymore.  I am sure a lot of books and case studies will be written on this subject that will dissect it all. These days the conversations around moats ( or the lack thereof ) tend to center around the rash of AI startups that are very reminiscent of the dotcom boom times where everyone and their grandmother had an idea for a something dotcom that went belly-up in the end. Particularly loved the cake, baking and oven analogy by this author to explain what is going on the in AI startup space In almost all cases, the solution to getting the desired output from th...

I enjoyed reading Marie Kondo's book back in the day and still have a copy someone gave me as a gift. It was not with the goal of achieving some level of perfection which  the author describes as impossible but more to understand how to get rid of (and ideally not even acquire) what does not "spark joy". Since then, I have found the sparking joy standard as an effective way to sort things out as still needed or not. The process gave me some other things to think about.  An item of clothing that is over two decades old and still looks as good a new was not a mistake when it was bought. It still looks nice and even fits well. But I am not the same person anymore so it does not look right. For reasons I cannot fully describe, when I wear such a thing, I feel like I am not in the place and time I am supposed to be - something feels off and uncomfortable. It calls to mind the habits of my parents' generation back in India. There were items of clothing - saris in particula...

Read The Answer is No and found it as perfectly enjoyable as a light weekend brunch. I could not help feeling the translation turned the writing a bit sophomoric but no way to know as English is the only language I have reading fluency in. I had to force myself to focus on how the story was written but enjoy the elements of satire. Organizations run by bloated middle management and committee was a prime target. Having worked at (and consulted for) pretty large organizations, some of the decision-making leading to the formation of the Pile Committee in the book and the designation of its remit definitely struck a chord.  When you are young, naive and somewhat socially awkward (I speak from experience as I have been all of that), you like to believe that people are intent on solving the problem specially when the solution is plainly obvious. It does not occur to you that the problem does not exist to be solved. It may have been manufactured to create consensus on insolvability. Thos...

The 55+ crowd is now being called the problem generation because they are acting young and reckless. This article explores the ways in which they are out of control. fortified with many numbers and statistics. While all of that may be true, the story does not delve much into what might be driving such behavior in this population segment. I have a problem with how the author concludes their piece:  For most of the post-war period crime, alcoholism, drugs and pregnancy were all rising among the young. And then at some point it stopped. The generations now ageing disgracefully were disgraceful in youth, and in middle age. If they’re behaving badly now, there is really not much to be done about it. If they choose to frolic at toga parties, no one will stop them. Except, ultimately, time There are a lot of folks in that problematic age bracket who had to work incredibly hard to stay employed in a whimsical and capricious labor market, provide for their kids, get them to college all whi...

Almost every year, despite my best efforts I end up having a run-in with poison-ivy and its hardly fun. One of the worse years, I had a pretty severe rash on my right wrist and had to show up to work properly bandaged so I would not freak anyone out. This was in the winding days of the pandemic and people were very wary of anything that looked contagious and this thing was not pretty. Reading about the most pain inflicting plant in the world makes my poison-ivy issues seem like child's play The hairs of the gympie-gympie cause immediate pain. The first sensation has been described as feeling like 30 wasp stings. After that, one’s lymph nodes will begin to swell, which creates a sensation of immense pressure. Then, the pain only intensifies until it peaks around 30 minutes later. Unfortunately, the hairs don’t have to come into contact with your skin for the plant to inflict damage. Just being near the plant for too long will begin to wreak havoc on the respiratory system. Overexpo...

 The idea of direct admission to college is an interesting one. In the crazy job market of our times, I wonder if a direct job offer might similarly work out. The situations are complete unlike each other but the level of stress might be comparable. When a college sends a direct admission offer to a student they consider the parameters that make this kid the right one to make an offer to. In similar vein, an employer might seek out the signals they need to decide if someone is worth making a job offer to. Lets imagine Company A is looking to hire and they have narrowed the pool of companies and teams within those companies they would like to hire from.  If the job search system was no longer about resumes and interviews and instead relied on collecting peer and manager signals on the prospective hires, then Company A would see the top talent from the their target set of companies that are a good fit for the role. Since the person is vetted all that remains to be seen is if th...

 At my first yoga class of the new year. the studio was packed to capacity and the crowd was much younger than I am used to seeing in this class. The instructor noted that this was three times as many folks she expected. While everyone was there to improve something about their physical or mental health, some might have had an epiphany over the holidays about taking action. The fitness trends of 2024 are interesting in that more people want to take care of themselves even if they can't stay committed. The magic number is the 6 month mark - if a person is able to cross that chasm then chances are that the habit will remain with them.  Years ago a personal trainer at a gym I was a member of (and much like the statistic left within 6 months) gave me a piece of wisdom that finally help settle my fitness routine. I was telling her how I can't predict my travel schedule so breaks happen not by my own choice and I just have not been able to persist long enough to form the habit. Thi...