Making technical documents interesting...

Technical write-ups can be boring if they talk just technical stuff. But some writers make an attempt to make them interesting.

Like in the Java API reference. Here's an example. In explaining the difference between the append() and insert() methods in the class StringBuffer, this is what I found in the API reference.

The principal operations on a StringBuffer are the append and insert methods. [...] The append method always adds these characters at the end of the buffer; the insert method adds the characters at a specified point.

For example, if z refers to a string buffer object whose current contents are "start", then the method call z.append("le") would cause the string buffer to contain "startle", whereas z.insert(4, "le") would alter the string buffer to contain "starlet".

It wasn't really necessary to pick an example where all three words made sense. But someone went that extra step.

Little things - and it made it just that little interesting.

In other news...

American efficiency in Iraq (from NYTimes)

[The] discovery that the world’s richest, most technologically advanced country could not restore basic services to minimal prewar levels left an impression of American weakness and, worse, of indifference to the well-being of ordinary Iraqis.
...
Yet another example of shoddy contract writing, lax oversight and absent supervision that has consistently characterized Washington’s approach to Iraq reconstruction from the start.

How pathetic! And how tragic!

~~~~~

You thought Google wanted to pervade all our lives even more? Here's a situation where they don't want us to use google. (They are not evil, remember?)

As it turns out, they are okay with us saying "I googled it out" - but only if we had actually used their search engine. Don't say "I googled it out on Yahoo!", please.

By the way, I sometimes use Dogpile because they google from all googling engines!

~~~~~

There's a portfolio game on. Here's my take:

93 Shares of TCS @ Rs. 1080.1 = Rs. 1,00,449.3

"Flat" World Syndrome

I am getting a little bugged that people associated with Infosys are adopting the horrendous "flat world" metaphor introduced by Tom Friedman like crazy.

Take a sample:

Nandan Nilekani
Stephen Pratt
Basab Pradhan [See the "About the Site" description in the side bar]

Infosys even has a "Think Flat" blog!

It seems to have become the next buzz-phrase after GDM. And it means nothing. Or if you want to be nice to Friedman, it really means everything that's the modern world.

And what good is a metaphor if we can twist it to mean anything and everything?

Cliche count

There should be a reason why in the English language, the word cliche has so many synonyms:

banality
platitude
hackneyed
trite
threadbare
shopworn
commonplace
bromide
old-hat
...
...
(and more)

Just so that the use of that word does not become it? (That's probably wrong usage, but as long as you know what I mean, it shouldn't matter?)

Still in love with sacrifices...

Narayana Murthy, on Infosys' 25th Anniversary Celebration, says -

Friends, by celebrating this 25th year of Infosys we are celebrating the success of these architects of economic reforms of India, and the courage, aspiration, enthusiasm, energy and hard work of every one of the Infoscions and ex-Infoscions. We are all celebrating the success of the wives and children of Infoscions whose sacrifices just render our own sacrifice into little, insignificant ones.

(Italics, mine)

I guess the Indian IT industry has a long way to go before it can claim corporate maturity. The Chairman (now ex-) one of India's leading and most modern industrial house thinks the wives and children of employees of his company are making sacrifices so that their husbands (and fathers) can do their day-job?

Sacrifices - for what cause?

Update: One of my friends pointed out another keyword in that quote above. Mr. Murthy says "wives and children", not "spouses and children".

I wonder if Bill Gates can make that statement in his retirement party and hope to get away with it.

Controlling Terror...

After the recent mumbai blasts, there were people who argued that no amount of security enforcement can actually control terror, particularly in large country like India. At that time, I tended to agree with that position.

But surely, security can do better than this!

Dravid, Dravid, Dravid...

It's adjectives all over the place in praise of Rahul Dravid after the phenomenal role he played in India's recent victory at Sabina Park. All good stuff - Dravid is finally getting his due.

Greg Chappell:

We couldn't have had a better example of commitment, application, desperation, determination, patience and technique to cope with the difficult conditions than we saw from our captain. History will show that he is one of the best players for anyone, forget India, anywhere, anytime.

Cricinfo Article:

Once again, Dravid was India's deliverer; it is inconcievable that India would have won without him. Throughout the series he was excellent, and in the final Test, which called for batsmen to stand up and be counted, he was monumental. Has there been an Indian batsman who has achieved more for the team than Dravid?

White Man's Burden...

Bridge On The River Kwai - the movie had great content; it explored questions about the inner nature of man and the conflicts that may arise within during War. It showcased how something like War can make perfectly sane-looking people act in a fit of madness. It had a strong narrative, great acting and pleasing picturization (shot in Ceylon) - on the whole, something that would put it right at the top of my favourites list.

However...

However, it did have a very few moments where Col. Nicholson, and a few others, talk highly about Western effeciency. Yes, it's okay for a British army officer to talk like that. After all, it fits his part. But when the Japanese officer Saito hands over control to Nicholson in a rather subdued way, in those moments, the movie itself seemed to endorse that view. And that - I did not like.

I adore Kipling's "IF" and hate everything about the "White Man's Burden".

Too much cricket...

Is way too much cricket being played currently? Is the ICC Future Tours Programme a disastrous overdose?

Well, players are complaining, ex-cricketers are warning, and cricket writers are crying over it. But nothing seems to be happening. The powers that be are still charting out calendars that are outrageously overbooked.

Complaining about too much cricket started in various quarters quite some time back. But inspite of all that, recently the ICC sat down and charted the FTP, a glance at which, makes it pretty clear (atleast to me) that the top cricketing nations have an almost filled-to-the-brim calendar. 10 to 15 tests and 30 odd one-dayers each. Isn't that a lot? Is there any expectation that they have to play domestic cricket too? Is there going to be something called domestic cricket?

Unless the board resolves to rotate the playing 11 in a highly planned manner, it is unlikely that a top player will sustain such a load for years together. And which board is going to do that? Which board has done it before? The only other option is for players to choose to rest themselves - which might be very tricky for their careers. But then again, the Boards might interfere and restrict their choice. For instance, if Yuvraj decides to play Australia and rest against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, will the board be okay?

However, R. Mohan, thinks they are all kidding when they complain about too much cricket. Reason being - the number of days of basketball/baseball in a calendar year - is way more than the number of days of international cricket a player is expected to play. And yes, the players are free to take a break if they think they need one.

I am wondering if this is the same writer whose great analysis I adored, when he wrote for The Hindu long back (before he was fired?).

Small/Less is always beautiful. Is that so hard to realize? Its so sad when all that matters is commerce and we still call it sport/art etc.

Vote for...