I've been a science fiction and fantasy fan for as long as I remember, maybe I because I grew up on Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers.
I read Arthur C. Clarke, Douglas Adams, Michael Moorcock, Tolkien and even some other obscure writers before I was 17. They seemed to take me away into other worlds where even the language was new (not the Queen's English, mind you).
Tolkien led the way in creating entire new races of creatures with their own languages (with grammar !), cultures and religions. Clarke was more of a world builder and Adams, well, Adams was a hitchhiker.
The reason for this blog is to remember a great science fiction author who passed on recently.
Arthur C. Clarke became famous for Space Odyssey. It was a work that became a guide for othe r sci-fi writers. It was the ultimate Turing Test (hmmm AI anyone ?), as HAL was as close to humanity as you and I.
Readers were almost oblivious to his other works till Mike Oldfield (New Age music anyone ?) created an accompanying soundtrack to his Songs Of A Distant Earth (imagine reading a book with it's own soundtrack playing on your stereo).
He retired to Sri Lanka and passed his final days there.
Well, got get back to my copy of Songs Of A distant Earth, a cup of coffee and Mike Oldfield ........
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Ode to Distant Worlds
Sunday, March 23, 2008
can you raed tihs?
in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is
taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae
we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
List Of EBooks
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Evolution Of A Programmer
High School/Jr.High 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" 20 END First year in College program Hello(input, output) begin writeln('Hello World') end. Senior year in College (defun hello (print (cons 'Hello (list 'World)))) New professional #include <stdio.h> void main(void) { char *message[] = {"Hello ", "World"}; int i; for(i = 0; i < 2; ++i) printf("%s", message[i]); printf("\n"); } Seasoned professional #include <iostream.h> #include <string.h> class string { private: int size; char *ptr; string() : size(0), ptr(new char[1]) { ptr[0] = 0; } string(const string &s) : size(s.size) { ptr = new char[size + 1]; strcpy(ptr, s.ptr); } ~string() { delete [] ptr; } friend ostream &operator <<(ostream &, const string &); string &operator=(const char *); }; ostream &operator<<(ostream &stream, const string &s) { return(stream << s.ptr); } string &string::operator=(const char *chrs) { if (this != &chrs) { delete [] ptr; size = strlen(chrs); ptr = new char[size + 1]; strcpy(ptr, chrs); } return(*this); } int main() { string str; str = "Hello World"; cout << str << endl; return(0); } Master Programmer [ uuid(2573F8F4-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820) ] library LHello { // bring in the master library importlib("actimp.tlb"); importlib("actexp.tlb"); // bring in my interfaces #include "pshlo.idl" [ uuid(2573F8F5-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820) ] cotype THello { interface IHello; interface IPersistFile; }; }; [ exe, uuid(2573F890-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820) ] module CHelloLib { // some code related header files importheader(<windows.h>); importheader(<ole2.h>); importheader(<except.hxx>); importheader("pshlo.h"); importheader("shlo.hxx"); importheader("mycls.hxx"); // needed typelibs importlib("actimp.tlb"); importlib("actexp.tlb"); importlib("thlo.tlb"); [ uuid(2573F891-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820), aggregatable ] coclass CHello { cotype THello; }; }; #include "ipfix.hxx" extern HANDLE hEvent; class CHello : public CHelloBase { public: IPFIX(CLSID_CHello); CHello(IUnknown *pUnk); ~CHello(); HRESULT __stdcall PrintSz(LPWSTR pwszString); private: static int cObjRef; }; #include <windows.h> #include <ole2.h> #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include "thlo.h" #include "pshlo.h" #include "shlo.hxx" #include "mycls.hxx" int CHello::cObjRef = 0; CHello::CHello(IUnknown *pUnk) : CHelloBase(pUnk) { cObjRef++; return; } HRESULT __stdcall CHello::PrintSz(LPWSTR pwszString) { printf("%ws ", pwszString); return(ResultFromScode(S_OK)); } CHello::~CHello(void) { // when the object count goes to zero, stop the server cObjRef--; if( cObjRef == 0 ) PulseEvent(hEvent); return; } #include <windows.h> #include <ole2.h> #include "pshlo.h" #include "shlo.hxx" #include "mycls.hxx" HANDLE hEvent; int _cdecl main( int argc, char * argv[] ) { ULONG ulRef; DWORD dwRegistration; CHelloCF *pCF = new CHelloCF(); hEvent = CreateEvent(NULL, FALSE, FALSE, NULL); // Initialize the OLE libraries CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED); CoRegisterClassObject(CLSID_CHello, pCF, CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER, REGCLS_MULTIPLEUSE, &dwRegistration); // wait on an event to stop WaitForSingleObject(hEvent, INFINITE); // revoke and release the class object CoRevokeClassObject(dwRegistration); ulRef = pCF->Release(); // Tell OLE we are going away. CoUninitialize(); return(0); } extern CLSID CLSID_CHello; extern UUID LIBID_CHelloLib; CLSID CLSID_CHello = { /* 2573F891-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820 */ 0x2573F891, 0xCFEE, 0x101A, { 0x9A, 0x9F, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x34, 0x28, 0x20 } }; UUID LIBID_CHelloLib = { /* 2573F890-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820 */ 0x2573F890, 0xCFEE, 0x101A, { 0x9A, 0x9F, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x34, 0x28, 0x20 } }; #include <windows.h> #include <ole2.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdio.h> #include "pshlo.h" #include "shlo.hxx" #include "clsid.h" int _cdecl main( int argc, char * argv[] ) { HRESULT hRslt; IHello *pHello; ULONG ulCnt; IMoniker * pmk; WCHAR wcsT[_MAX_PATH]; WCHAR wcsPath[2 * _MAX_PATH]; // get object path wcsPath[0] = '\0'; wcsT[0] = '\0'; if( argc > 1) { mbstowcs(wcsPath, argv[1], strlen(argv[1]) + 1); wcsupr(wcsPath); } else { fprintf(stderr, "Object path must be specified\n"); return(1); } // get print string if(argc > 2) mbstowcs(wcsT, argv[2], strlen(argv[2]) + 1); else wcscpy(wcsT, L"Hello World"); printf("Linking to object %ws\n", wcsPath); printf("Text String %ws\n", wcsT); // Initialize the OLE libraries hRslt = CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED); if(SUCCEEDED(hRslt)) { hRslt = CreateFileMoniker(wcsPath, &pmk); if(SUCCEEDED(hRslt)) hRslt = BindMoniker(pmk, 0, IID_IHello, (void **)&pHello); if(SUCCEEDED(hRslt)) { // print a string out pHello->PrintSz(wcsT); Sleep(2000); ulCnt = pHello->Release(); } else printf("Failure to connect, status: %lx", hRslt); // Tell OLE we are going away. CoUninitialize(); } return(0); } Apprentice Hacker #!/usr/local/bin/perl $msg="Hello, world.\n"; if ($#ARGV >= 0) { while(defined($arg=shift(@ARGV))) { $outfilename = $arg; open(FILE, ">" . $outfilename) || die "Can't write $arg: $!\n"; print (FILE $msg); close(FILE) || die "Can't close $arg: $!\n"; } } else { print ($msg); } 1; Experienced Hacker #include <stdio.h> #define S "Hello, World\n" main(){exit(printf(S) == strlen(S) ? 0 : 1);} Seasoned Hacker % cc -o a.out ~/src/misc/hw/hw.c % a.out Guru Hacker % echo "Hello, world." New Manager 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" 20 END Middle Manager mail -s "Hello, world." bob@b12 Bob, could you please write me a program that prints "Hello, world."? I need it by tomorrow. ^D Senior Manager % zmail jim I need a "Hello, world." program by this afternoon. Chief Executive % letter letter: Command not found. % mail To: ^X ^F ^C % help mail help: Command not found. % damn! !: Event unrecognized % logout Anonymous
Thursday, March 6, 2008
How To Be An Expert
The only thing standing between you-as-amateur and you-as-expert is dedication. All that talk about prodigies? We could all
be prodigies (or nearly so) if we just put in the time and focused. At
least that's what the brain guys are saying. Best of all--it's almost never too late.
Seriously. How many people think they've missed their opportunity to
be a musician, or an expert golfer, or even a chess grand master
because they didn't start when they were young? Or because they simply lacked natural talent?
Those people are (mostly) wrong. According to some brain scientists,
almost anyone can develop world-class (or at least top expertise)
abilities in things for which they aren't physically impaired.
Apparently God-given talent, natural "gifts", and genetic
predispositions just aren't all they're cracked up to be. Or at least
not in the way most of us always imagined. It turns out that rather
than being naturally gifted at music or math or chess or whatever, a
superior performer most likely has a gift for concentration,
dedication, and a simple desire to keep getting better. In theory,
again, anyone willing to do what's required to keep getting better WILL get better.
Maybe the "naaturally talented artist" was simply the one who practiced a hell of a lot more. Or rather, a hell of a lot more deliberately. Dr. K. Anders Ericsson,
professor of psychology at Florida State University, has spent most of
his 20+ year career on the study of genuises, prodigies, and superior
performers. In the book The New Brain (it was on my coffee table) Richard Restak quotes Ericsson as concluding:
"For the superior performer the goal isn't just repeating the
same thing again and again but achieving higher levels of control over
every aspect of their performance. That's why they don't find practice
boring. Each practice session they are working on doing something
better than they did the last time."
So it's not just how long they practice, it's how they practice. Basically, it comes down to something like this:
Most of us want to practice the things we're already good at, and
avoid the things we suck at. We stay average or intermediate amateurs
forever.
Yet the research says that if we were willing to put in more hours, and to use those hours to practice the things that aren'tPotentially brilliant.
We need, as Restak refers to it, "a rage to master." That dedication to
mastery drives the potential expert to focus on the most subtle aspects
of performance, and to never be satisfied. There is always more to
improve on, and they're willing to work on the less fun stuff. Restak
quotes Sam Snead, considered one of the top five golfers of the
twentieth century, as saying: so fun, we could become good. Great.
"I know it's a lot more fun to stand on the practice tee and rip
your driver than it is to chip and ptch, or practice sand shots with
sand flying back in your face, but it all comes back to the question of
how much you're willing to pay for success."
There's much more to the brain science around this topic, of
course--I'm just doing the highlights. And a lot of the research is
new, made possible today by how easy it is for researchers to get time
with an fMRI or PET scan. And I stretched just a little... there is
some thought that to be, literally, THE best in the world at chess, or
the violin, or math, or programming, or golf, etc. you might indeed
need that genetic special something. But... that's to be THE
best. The research does suggest that whatever that special sauce is, it
accounts for only that last little 1% that pushes someone into the
world champion status. The rest of us--even without the special
sauce--could still become world (or at least national) class experts,
if we do the time, and do it the right way.
Where this ties into passionate users is with the suck threshold and
kick-ass (aka "passion") threshold. Your users will typically fall into
one of the three categories in the graphic: expert, amateur, or
drop-out. The drop-outs decide that during that "I suck at this" phase,
it isn't worth continuing. They give up. Is that something you can work
on? Do you know what your attrition rate is?
But the most troubling--and where we have the most leverage--is with the amateur who is satisfied with where they are.this
[less efficient, less powerful] way and it's easy for me to just keep
doing it like that." In other words, they made it past the suck
threshold, but now they don't want to push for new skills and
capabilities. They don't want to suck again. But that means
they'll never get past the kick-ass threshold where there's a much
greater chance they'll become passionate about it. The further up that
capability curve they are, the higher-res the user experience is!
These are the folks who you overhear saying, "Yes, I know there's a
better way to do this thing, but I already know how to do it
Can we help make it easier for them to continue on the path to becoming expert? Remember, being better is better.
Whatever you're better at becomes more fun, more satisfying, a richer
experience, and it leads to more flow. This is what we're trying to do
for our users.
Oh yes, about that never too late thing... most of us can kiss that
Olympic ice skating medal good-bye. And at 5' 4", my basketball career
is probably hopeless. But think about this... actress Geena Davis nearly qualified for the US Olympic archery team in a sport she took up at the age of 40, less than three years before the Olympic tryouts.
And if the neuroscientists are right, you can create new brain
cells--by learning (and not being stuck in a dull cubicle)--at
virtually any age. Think about it... if you're 30 today, if you
take up the guitar tomorrow, you'll have been playing for TWENTY years
by the time you're 50. You'll be kicking some serious guitar butt. And
if you're 50 today, there's no reason you can't be kicking guitar butt
at 70. What are you waiting for?
Monday, February 18, 2008
learning methods (or the lack of)
i've noticed that when it comes to learning stuff, technical, softskill or lifeskills (is there such a thing?), most of us just rely on someone to give us everything. That's not how our brain is to work, does it.
In school, we (retro guys from the 80s) were taught under the shadow of the cane ("which size do you want ?", my discipline used ask me once or twice a week). The teachers will not accept any reasons for not finishing your homework. We were drilled in every class.
But those were the days of no Astro, cyber cafes, teen clubs and teen angst was kept to a minimum by the cane and lack of Western hooliganism.
Today, the teachers are more subdued, timid and well, plain scared too even think about picking up the cane. We have heard enough of students roughing up teachers, parents roughing up teachers, the school gardener roughing up teachers and the law roughing up teachers. A whole lot of roughing up, it seems.
I guess this is what happens when a country's population goes up, gets exposed to cultures which are not cultures at all and has a family dinner in front of Vanavil, Wah Lah Toi or Prima everyday.
I don't blame the times but I blame ourselves for forgetting who we are, where we're from and where we are going.
So what's the connection with all this and learning?
With the cane, came a fear and respect for knowledge. This respect gave birth to thirst. It came to a point where I won't be able to go to sleep without reading something. I used to doze off with anything that has a minimum of 400 words. Subconsciously, I trained my brain to absorb info and language skills while I slept. And I conversed, in 3 languages everyday. You see, my mother tongue was Tamil, but my family was more into English. I came from a kampung school and most (actually all) my friends were from kampungs in Kulim. I used to hang out with them most of the days after school (skipping tuitions and extra lesson in school).
My physics teacher was a gem of a guy. Strict, yet friendly to those who talked to him about quantum physics (no kidding, I actually like that). He gave me my first book by Stephen Hawkings, A Brief History Of Time. It fascinated me not just because of the Big Bang Theory also because the proses' he used throughout the book.
I started reading Lord Of The Rings when I was 12. It was given to me by my uncle, who bought it as a paper weight. My love for fantasy was born !
When I was 17, I read The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. Douglas Adams seemed like the most brilliant visionary (even though the book was mostly nonsense, in a good way).
I did most of my knowledge harvest through my own effort but not without my mentors, my physics, En. Shuhaimi (hope you're doing well....), my dad, my mom and my uncle (who incidentally introduced me to Led Zeppellin and Black Sabbath).
What am I trying to say? Well, nobody needs a full time teacher to teach time. They only need a good friend who is a good mentor and guide and an undying thirst to know everything there is to know.
So, I'll be glad to be a mentor to anyone who shares this thirst.
ps. I disagree that comics are of little value. Xmen taught me a lot in swear words ... he he he ...
