Before I begin, I would like to take this opportunity to thank e-commerce websites. Thank you! They have not only totally taken over the businesses of nearby and faraway local grocery stores, but they have also left no stone unturned in making us truly lazy. But that’s not the main reason. For me, one of the major moments of embarrassment in public is faced when I have to bargain. Despite being an Indian, I cannot bargain. But I don’t have to add it in my weakness section of the resume anymore. E-Commerce has literally killed the art and science of Bargaining.
Continue reading “Bargaining Skills are a passé”Category Archives: experiences
Year 2020 End Blog Post
120 odd blog posts this year! Out of these, 100 or more have been published daily for the last 100 or so days. Total Words 41,227+. Average words per post 352. That’s a big achievement so a self-pat-on-the-back is a given. So, I have nothing to sum up as consolidated thoughts today. 2020 has been a year that taught us a lot of things. I will share what I think were the 3 most important lessons we should have learned.
You
Your and your family’s health is above everything else. Money is required to keep the health intact as well. But if you are not healthy to earn money, then all the best. In case you fail to keep yourself healthy for any reason, the only thing which can save you is Insurance. If you don’t have yourself insured, then it is like bungee jumping with a rope made of noodles. Take care of yourself. You matter.
This and That
So many things are there that we take for granted. Internet and People top that list so thank you Tim Berners Lee and Evolution. But there are things which, if taken away, everything would crumble. To each, his own, but savoring small things should be our priority always. This year showed us if our basic things are taken away from us, we might implode.
The Off Switch
Beginning with the start of this year, till at least October end, I worked more than I have ever worked in my life. I took up more responsibilities than I have ever had. Then I took on some more challenges. I experienced a few things that were life-altering. What did I achieve out of that? Nothing as of now. Probably, the results would show in the next few years. But one big lesson learned is the missing Off Switch. I spent all my time this year in front of a screen and kept my eyes closed only when I was sleeping. This is unsustainable and impractical. It fast forwards you to old age. An Off Switch needs to be found and that’s going to be my focus in 2021. One cannot get back the lost moments (and people). So, spending time rightly is to be cherished.
Wishing the millions and millions of the readers of this blog the best for the upcoming year. For rest of the world, read more people! Let’s hope 2021 acts as the start of a wonderful decade for humanity. Do the due.
A bit about Crying
It was the wedding of my cousin in 2014. In fact, it the time of farewell when the bride was about to leave with the husband to her new home. It was the time when everyone was teary eyed. Partly because in India family profusely cries when their daughter is about to leave. And partly because everyone is tired of the mammoth of the event a North Indian wedding is, as it draws curtains. So, as my cousin was about to sign off from the scene with her newly added friends and family, my whole family started to cry, while saying bye, as per the tradition (and heartfelt too, of course).
Continue reading “A bit about Crying”If it is not Agoraphobia
I gifted a book called ‘Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking’ to someone recently. Gifting such book is like poking inside a Socket with a Tester Screwdriver. The only problem being is not that you don’t know that there is an electric current there. Rather it is that you don’t have much confidence in the insulation of the screwdriver itself. Another analogy is that when you try interacting with introverts, it might be like asking directions from a person who’s wearing headphones. The headphones might be a signal for You but you are not getting it. It is understandable for me because, surprise, I am an introvert myself here. Gifting such a book might be counter-productive. However, I had gifted the book thinking that there might be some tricks and tips in it which might improve productivity.
Continue reading “If it is not Agoraphobia”Reading in 2020
Goodreads.com runs the yearly Reading Challenge year after year. One has to commit to reading a certain number of books in the year to participate. There is no award but it is just a personal goal. Reading more is a goal for me as I very strongly believe that people whom I consider smart, are also well-read. Mind you, that doesn’t work oppositely (if this is a word). Every year, I have tried to increase the number of books I read than the previous year. And like how always it happens, life happens and your promise runs out of gas. So, as is shown below, I have never been able to reach even 12 books in any year since I started tracking this. Shameful indeed! But over time, I have read more Non-Fiction than Fiction. Real-life is thrilling enough nowadays. Also, a good Non-Fiction would be as captivating as any fictional book if you have an interest in the topic. In any case, storytelling would rule in any book there is.
I might not have read the most number of books. But, I have read the most this year. Seriously a lot. Not books per se, but medical articles. Just going by the variety of topics read, it ranged from Haematology, Diabetes, Sarcoma, Immunotherapy, Dendritic Cells Therapy, Metastasis, Obesity, Pneumonia, and of course, Covid-19. And many more horrible but widely prevalent things.
Committing to reading gives a tangible goal. There is no compulsion but like they say, without a goal, you cannot score. If one could balance between how much content one wants to consume, through watching and through reading, and how much content, one wants to generate, that would work out the best. That would always be a struggle though but I wish to be in the group that wants to create more than consume.
I think my plan for next year would be to not go by what’s trending to read. But, I would go into what exactly I want to know about.
Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash
Recent Book Reviews
Acronyms can GFT
A rant is due from a long time. Here it goes:
One time I had a dream. It was somewhat like this:
I woke up from deep sleep, got ready, and went out to buy something. As soon I reached a shop, I asked the shop owner to give me something. He asked me ‘What?’. I repeated what I wanted. He seemed to not understand me. I kept on telling him but he kept on shaking his head as if I was speaking another language.
I came back home and picked up my phone to call my friend. The friend picked up just after 1 ring. I said something. But he didn’t seem to get it and he said ‘What?’. I said something again. Again, he kept saying ‘Hello!?’. Irritated I cut the phone and I thought that I will text him instead. I messaged him. He replied back ‘Have you gone nuts? What are you typing? What does it mean?’.
I checked what I had sent him. I also realized what I was saying on phone. And what I said to the shopkeeper as well.
It was all in acronyms. I was speaking, writing, texting all in Acronyms. All in short forms with no regard to grammar, receiver’s state of mind, decency of humanity but GM, HRU, TC, TX, and so on. It was a nightmare. It indeed was a nightmare!
Acronyms. We all are surrounded by them. They have taken over us. They have been there for some time. Since people started to write, they also found ways to shorten what they wrote in the beginning. They have morphed a bit, changed a lot, evolved sometimes, and stayed the same. They have seen it all. They are coming to get us. They have stuck around long enough to irritate one and all. If they haven’t (oh sorry have not) irked you yet, they will.
What would one do with the time which one saved by not typing full words? FYI, GNU stands for GNU’s Not Unix (!). ANT stands for Another Neat Tool. PIN code could have been called just Code but no! OK has been On Kerosine or some time it was for All Correct or now just K. Can you get past a day when you are not hit by one or the other acronym someone created because they were too busy to write it wholly out? Moreover, who approves these short forms? Shouldn’t there be a law to approve them first so that they become universally acceptable first? Shortening words or transforming words happen with time, but when did PTO become ‘Personal Time Off’ from ‘Please Turn Over’? I say let’s take SMH, AFAIK, RT, ID, and so on, wrap them around, etc., and then throw it send it to Wuhan’s Abandoned Wet Market or bury it under some Internet Cable in some sea.
But you say, there’s a Glossary? Haha, no you should be sorry to have explanations given explicitely for previous blunders.
What would one do when the country’s Prime Minister himself is an acronym enthusiast?
PostScript: Just google “Acronyms Seriously Suck – Elon Musk” if you have some time saved by sending across acronyms instead of full sentences. Obviously, you don’t have any time saved. So take this instead.
Photo by Surendran MP on Unsplash
Algorithm isn’t the answer always
In 2009, Pilot Sully landed a full fledged plane in New York’s Hudson river when its engines malfunctioned. Although he saved a lot of lives but he was still criticized for taking such an extraordinary decision. Simulations showed that he could divert the plane to another nearby air strip. But as they show in the eponymous movie, that simulation forgets to take human struggle into account. When the plane malfunctioned pilots kept on trying for at least a minute to get it back on track. They could have panicked, they could’ve gotten cold feet, but instead of giving up, they tried for a minute or so to get the plane working. Simulations later showed that if you added that minute, it was not possible to reach the airstrip. So human mind’s strategy at that time was actually correct and simulation wasn’t.
I am studying Data Science and I work for a company making software for Retail Data Science. Data Mining, predictive modeling, training, etc. are the terms I see and read all day. There are factors at play in the world today which are forcing everyone to find the method to the madness from the huge chunks of data we have at our hands. But relying on data and algorithms is a two edged sword. In fact, whatever I am studying and working with professionally has certain limitations.
We know that Covid Vaccine is now being given to front line workers. In one of the cases, an algorithm was used to find out the order in which the vaccine should be given. The algorithm, which is obviously highly dependent on what we feed as initial parameters, chose some names of the Medical staff. However, it did a mistake which led to actual front line workers to protest. It didn’t chose names of staff who were on ICU duty and who had the real imminent danger of infection.
We should be grateful to the work done by scientists but we forget that an algorithm is as good as what it takes as input, how it is supposed to run models, and how much tested it is. Over relying on it blindly isn’t the answer and it might lead to more problems than it is supposed to solve.
I guess, data scientists and softwares have some tradeoffs when it comes to accuracy and the quality of data fed. And not all works with 0s and 1s. Human emotions aren’t tangible but still play a huge role in almost everything.
P.S.: This.