Agile Racecar: Software, Magic, and Life

  The problem with the designated driver program, it's not a desirable job, but if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong house. - Jeff Foxworthy Made me think about how in the 21st century, we're still trying to figure out how to get from Point 'A' to Point 'B'. Seriously, how many of you have a reasonable legal solution to this problem of getting home from the bar or a late night party- when you're buzz drunk ? How about getting to the airport? Do you really pay $90 for a cab ride after 9 pm to the SF airport from Sunnyvale? Perhaps you get a friend or spouse to drive 30 miles to the airport and back. Maybe you belong to the small minority of people who have figured out the $31 door-to-door shuttle- and can put up with it. Well, think about how you usually drop off and pick up your car for oil-change or repairs? The list goes on and on - think about all those times your old faith...

Good listening skills, in particular Active Listening is essential to learning- and success. Listening- you think you know it- most of us think we're good listeners. It's very hard to know and acknowledge that you are not good at listening. You may never become a good listener because so many personal emotions and prejudices get in the way of listening. A good listener tries to understand thoroughly what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but before he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is... - Kenneth A. Wells, American Active listening is about focusing on the person who is speaking. An active listener needs to focus full attention on the person who is speaking. Here are a few good links to learn more about listening: What is listening? Poor Listening Habits, Poor Listeners, and Good Listeners. Active Listening You'll find here the four characteristics of empathetic listeners. Attributes of Good Listening Have ...

Here's a really nice quote from one of my dear friends in response to one of my dreams . Between the bigger things you cannot do, and the smaller things you don't want to do, you may end up doing nothing The problem with quotes and analogies is that they are almost always approximately appropriate, but rarely if ever exactly applicable . A quote is by definition a generalization. Also, we are by nature biased with our prejudices, biased by our own very personal and unique experiences, and biased, by nature, against those who are near and dear to us. While we want them to succeed and would eventually be happy if they succeed big, our natural instinct is to "help" them "stay grounded". I disagree with this helping nature, of course. I can - and will- expound on the virtue of dreaming big and having a big mouth. But that will be another day. Today I'm going to present a few quotes on the flip-side of my friend's quote. Feel free to add you...

Sabeer Bhatia is at it again. Generating hype, that is. This time he's building a city, Silicon Valley to be precise, in India. It's called Nano City and the idea is to create an environment that will foster innovation and create a Silicon Valley in India. Well-informed readers would shrug and yawn - this has been tried umpteen times before without credible success. Paul Graham discusses the futility of it all in his essays "How to Be Silicon Valley" and Why Startups Condense in America . But for India it's a win-win, regardless of whether Bhatia succeeds in his vision. At a minimum, India will end up with a modern development housing some universities, some companies, and rich residents with a lot of disposable income- creating a mini-economy of their own. But Nano City? Am I the only one who is sick and tired of the Cyber-Xs and Nano-Ys? Why not give it a nice Indian name? To get started, check out some of the more popular suffixes for city names in India . An...