Robin Sharma

I've been reading "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" again. This is one of the good book have ever come across in my life. It is a must for all Self-Help book readers and all those you want to improve their standard of living.

Two main reason which why I say this book is unique is that.

* It is written in first person singular, so that when you read you get a feeling that as if you are writing the book as Julian Mantle comes into your life. (Note: Every Robin Sharma books are written in first person singular)

* The way of association of the principle with the fable will make you remember the concept very well. You don't need to refer it again.

The major concepts of this book is:

* Master your Mind (The Magnificent Garden)
* Follow your Purpose (The light house
* Practice Kaizen (Sumo wrestler)
* Live with Discipline (Pink wire)
* Value your Time (The golden stop watch)
* Serve Others (The fragrant roses)
* Embrace the Present (The path of diamond)

The mind is a monkey, but if we train it, it can do wonders. Every concept can be composed into a Fable, which can be easily remembered by our Neural Networks. Because they are trained like that. I need to read the book Mind Map by Tony Buzan.[**Note**]

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world.

Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

- Robin Sharma (The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari)

Programming Magic

Computational processes are abstract beings that inhabit computers. As they evolve, processes manipulate other abstract things called data. The evolution of a process is directed by a pattern of rules called a program. People create programs to direct processes. In effect, we conjure the spirits of the computer with our spells.

A computational process is indeed much like a Wizard's idea of a MAGIC(yes, the same type of magic in Harry Potter, LOTR,etc). It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all. However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by controlling a robot arm in a factory. The programs we use to conjure processes are like a spells in HP. They are carefully composed from symbolic expressions in arcane and esoteric programming languages that prescribe the tasks we want our processes to perform. Magic Spells are carefully composed in Elven Language (Refer: Eragon, LOTR).

Fortunately, learning to program is considerably less dangerous than learning Magic Spells, because the spirits we deal with are conveniently contained in a secure way. Real-world programming, however, requires care, expertise, and wisdom. A small bug in a computer-aided design program, for example, can lead to the catastrophic collapse of an airplane or a dam or the self-destruction of an industrial robot.

Master programmers have the ability to organize programs so that they can be reasonably sure that the resulting processes will perform the tasks intended. As Top Wizards like Dumbledore or Lord Voldemort have the ability to organize and control their Magic Spells.

Master Programmers can visualize the behavior of their systems in advance. They know how to structure programs so that unanticipated problems do not lead to catastrophic consequences, and when problems do arise, they can debug their programs. Well-designed computational systems, like well-designed automobiles or nuclear reactors, are designed in a modular manner, so that the parts can be constructed, replaced, and debugged separately.

Djinn/Wizard need to visualize the behavior of their Spells and their consequences (The Children of Lamp).


Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
-- Arthur C. Clarke

(Reference: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs)

Road-side Vendors and Single Day Customers

It was a routine that Indra, Sankar, John and myself go for having tender coconut to the Road-side Vendor near Vijaya Hospital, Vadapalani. These guys always cheats one way or other, it is frustrating that these guys are cheating themselves by cheating us.

I'm seeming the same pattern over and over again all over Chennai. The Road-side Vendors always try to find a way to Cheat you. And obviously they will only get "Single Day" Customers. If vendors are not loyal to their customers, how could they expect loyal customers. People hate getting FOOLED !!! You get something negative emotional effect towards those who fools you. He will look like an Enemy, the next you see him.

I don't know why these people are not using their Common Sense and have long-lasting relationship with the customer. These people wanted to make "Quick Money", analogous to the childhood story "The Goose with the Golden Eggs". But, I could see few of them practice building trust in their customer and they reap a good harvest.

Unix Books

There is lot of improvements I can see in my life, after started blogging and maintaining a daily journal. I can see my patterns are changing. Now, I need to Goal to move toward it.

This is my plan to become a Unix Hacker:

* Unix C Odyssey
* Advanced programming in Unix - Rebecca Thomas
* Advanced Unix Programming
* The Design of Unix OS - Maurice Bach
* Unix Internals - Uresh Vahallia
* Linux Programming - Wrox Pub.
* Understanding Linux Kernal
* Unix Network Programming - Vol-I, Vol-II
* Illustrated TCP/IP - Vol-1, Vol-2, Vol-3

This is my Road Map for 1 Year (2007). I must follow it consistently to be sucessful.

Currently, I'm reading "The Road Less Travelled" By Scott Peck. I have also improve my blogging skills. Need to buy some book abt blogging and read it.