random

• After a long time of reading only non-fiction, read two fictions in a row – Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse and L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy. Steppenwolf had a very interesting beginning, somewhat Ayn Rand/John Galt style, but it all went crazy after that. It was a struggle finishing it. L.A. Confidential somehow didn’t meet expectations at end – film was better than the book I think. But I had hard time putting it down. I would love to read a book which is “unputdownable” – but less gore, more of life and experiences.
• With British Library closing in TVM, there are fewer options now. My library charges 10% per book, so experimentation is limited. The best library experience was in US – 10 public libraries connected, with a decent online catalog which allows taking a book from any one of the connected libraries and you go to your local library when it is ready. You may take up to 100 books at a time, for free (they depend on public donations to an extent). It was rare to not find a book, fiction or non-fiction.
• For past one month or so, have been coding at least ½ hr a day (new year resolution). Learning Django/Python. Went right in, did a helloworld to get the software setup and started on a project straightaway – to get multiple RSS feeds (google alerts on customers, competitors, technology, domain to begin with) to build a sales news sort of site. As of now up to creating configurable panels (I liked iGoogle panels) using YUI. Learning through an actual project is more interesting than learning the theory first. All you need to have is a good reference, steps to debug and a good IDE.
• In the same way, started building a news reader in Android. I liked NYT news app in Android, but didn’t find anything for Indian news sites. Trying to see if I can build a rudimentary one for Hindu. Reached up to working app with just headings list so far. Two projects help to switch focus when one gets stuck.
• On a related note, read recently about some companies looking for StackOverFlow reputation of new hires – that’s very interesting.
• Back from my 3rd trip to Bangalore in 3 months. For at least a day, I was happy to see the rain soaked TVM with many things not changed for as long as I can remember.