India cash and carry, Sunnyvale

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 4/21/2013 5:25:00 PM

'Bay area signifies a lot of positive things for an engineer.  I've always dreamt about the place ever since I was in college, and after a few years of learning my wares at the mid-west, I moved to the west coast. San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara and so many other small cities signify the heart of the tech population in the country.  Every lane, every street, every building in every corner, houses an engineering setup - startup or a multi-national.  Whe(...)'

Read full article

Taiwan

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 3/3/2013 1:54:00 PM

'Travelling is fun.  There are no two ways about it.  You always pick something new when you see a new place.  My friends, who are on constant business visits to China, when they tell me about their experiences, I wonder how it would be for a vegetarian to survive in a South East Asian nation.  I didn't have to wait long enough as I was sent to Taiwan on a business visit along with a colleague.Taichung, TaiwanI found my window seat on the plane.  Of course, I(...)'

Read full article

India trip - Learnings

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 2/7/2013 7:24:00 AM

'Coincidence is a rare thing.  It happens all the time, but unless it is absolutely explicit, you don't realize that there was actually one.  Some of the worst and best things in life are those that happen on the spur of the moment, and somehow, when they seem to be remotely connected, they add a new flavor to the whole situation.  Mostly, you're making a reference to someone, when the same person either calls you the next instant or shows up on you.  You call it (...)'

Read full article

Contradictions

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 12/7/2012 2:45:00 AM

'Recently, we moved apartments.  It neither looks simple nor is it.  As we packed the different, unwanted items that we have accumulated over the years, my wife and I had different solutions for the same problem.  For each and every box that gets added to the list, I had, rather have, a simple solution, "Let's chuck it.  Why do we need this?", which, unfortunately, is diametrically opposite to the position held by her - "Oh, we can buy a small shelf to offset(...)'

Read full article

Navarathri - Golu, Sundal and Geometry

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 10/20/2012 4:44:00 PM

'Navarathri GoluIt's not unusual for people to get excited about Oktoberfest, the annual beer fest held in Bavaria, Germany.  In the other part of the world, in the month of October, falls the annual Navarathri festival that lasts for 10 days.  Even though the Hindu calendar takes precedence in deciding the date on which Navarathri falls, as far as I can remember, it somehow coincides with the month of October.  Of course, as with every festival in the Indian community(...)'

Read full article

Alaska

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 9/9/2012 9:01:00 PM

'Grizzly bear - The symbol of AlaskaWarning: A really, long post.  So, if you want to catch some good sleep, you can start here.Some of my friends who have visited Alaska say it's a life changing experience, and we wanted to find out what that really meant.  My wife and I are really interested in places that's away from the crowd, and that which gives us a chance to be as close to nature as possible, in the most pristine state.  Alaska was on our mind, at least, for th(...)'

Read full article

No spoiler alert

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 7/22/2012 6:53:00 AM

'As The Dark Knight Rises movie mades it way into the theaters, I stayed away from Twitter and Facebook, and the grim prospect of knowing the spoilers before watching the movie put me on high alert.  Even if I opened Facebook by mistake or by habit (both are the same now), the news feed was getting filled with how epic the movie was, and how it bettered the prequel in all aspect. Talking about spoilers, I am really scared of spoiler alerts, for it just alters the movie watching (...)'

Read full article

Explaining iPad

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 4/1/2012 6:23:00 AM

'Yeah, the new iPad is out, and of course, there are tons of guys(including me) who want to get their hands on the new gadget from Apple.  My father-in-law, who knows as much about technology as I know about fashion and style, remarked that he had heard about the new iPad.  He had not even seen an iPhone, nor an iPod and of course, none of the previous iPads.  But, looking at the way the Apple brand is gaining traction among the crowd, I was least surprised.So, today, (...)'

Read full article

The stock market expert

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 2/16/2012 6:57:00 AM

'I am currently reading Michael Lewis's Boomerang: Travels in the new third world, a hilarious account of the events that led to the economic meltdown in Iceland, Greece and Ireland, and of course, eventually, the rest of the world.  Iceland's situation was due to the fact that every fisherman wanted to be a financial investor, Greece's was due to inflated accounts and Ireland's was due to the collapse of the banking structure.Iceland was especially funny, because I could exactl(...)'

Read full article

New year resolutions

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 1/5/2012 2:13:00 AM

'The first time my fifth or sixth grade school teacher asked me about my new year resolutions, I looked at her with a blank expression.  I had no idea what that meant.  And, I would have had no further idea for years to come if, I repeat, if she had not asked us to come up with essays on the topic.  That was also the year I was introduced to the concept of writing your own essays.  Till then, it was about cramming a few sentences in your head and spitting it out v(...)'

Read full article

Of Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 11/25/2011 6:54:00 AM

'Every year, I wonder what Thanksgiving is all about.  I take a look at Wikipedia, understand what it's all about and then the following year, take a look at the same article again.  This year, I did the same.  But, at the start of every year, when the list of holidays is released by the HR department, you will find it hard to miss that you're getting four days off in the last week of November.  The Friday that follows the Thanksgiving Thursday is referred to as t(...)'

Read full article

An engineer's conundrum

Author : Praveen Krishnan      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 11/5/2011 10:12:00 PM

'Engineering degree is at a premium in India.  At the same time, every other guy is an engineer.  I don't know whether it's the job market or the social status, everybody wants to be an engineer.  Put everything aside.  First become an engineer and then you can worry about the other stuff later.There is nothing like brimming with pride when you go home and tell your folks, "I hit a century in the local cricket match.""Okay, okay, all that's fine.  What about (...)'

Read full article

Two of an era - Jobs and Ritchie

Author : Praveen G K      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 10/15/2011 5:15:00 PM

'The last couple of weeks have been particularly bad for technology related stalwarts.  If the death of Steve Jobs hadn't even sunk in, it was even more painful to read up that Dennis Ritchie, the father of C programming and co-developer of Unix was no more.  Dennis Ritchie may not be as famous as Steve Jobs is to the layman, but there is no denying that without C, one cannot fathom the existence of these super powered smart phones and almost every other embedded device tod(...)'

Read full article

Turning 30

Author : Praveen G K      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 10/2/2011 7:53:00 PM

'I was getting up, and slowly my email inbox was getting filled with the usual suspects.  These people never fail to email me on my birthday.  I had a few calls as well.  Again, these people never fail to call me on my birthday.   So, how's the feeling?Pretty much the usual, I replied back.So, turning 30, haan? Everyone had to ask this, unfailingly and unflinchingly.Yeah, I let out a couple of the usual, monotonous jokes.  It means, they don't deserve to be c(...)'

Read full article

The days of absence

Author : Praveen G K      Blog : Ninaivugal...Thoughts      Date : 9/20/2011 2:18:00 AM

'I remember the date very well.  It was the night of 18th September, 2011.  It feels just like last night.  My day and subsequently, the night, was jeopardized thanks to the common cold.  Even though it is supposed to be common, I have no idea why it creates so much havoc.  It is very easy to draw parallels between a nose that has caught cold and an Indian road during traffic jam.  You almost feel for the nose, as it tries all possible tricks to allow it(...)'

Read full article