Dont change your passion for glory

A few weeks ago, I attended a diversity training and one of the things that the instructor mentioned still rings a bell in my mind. I dont remember the exact words, but it goes something like: A homogeneous entity bonds easily with a homogeneous group, but the incremental creativity attained is minimal. A heterogeneous entity does not bond easily with a homogeneous group, but the incremental creativity attained is much more significant.

When I decided to receive an MBA, most people around me raised eyebrows. Here are some of the amusing comments.
1. Why do you need an MBA? ( Read: You dont need it ! )
2. Will you get a good job after an MBA ? ( Read: I dont think so. You were just lucky to land at your current job/designation )
4. You are so technical ( Read: Don't be stupid and try something new. You will fail )
5. Are there students of your age there ? ( Read : You are too old for it )
6. Is it worth the $$ ? ( Read as: I dont think it is worth it. Dont waste your money. )
.....

 Its amazing to note that around most people received me with a negative vibe when I first confronted them with the news. It made me feel like I had booked a one way ticket to the moon. Ofcourse, there were a couple of needles in the haysack that made me feel good too :).

I really love the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. The lyrics are out of the world and I find it highly motivating..

EYE OF THE TIGER:

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

Chorus:
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive

chorus

Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

chorus

The eye of the tiger (repeats out)...

Why not Blog

It is weird that I who once never liked the idea of blogging am here today to blog again. Pondering over this subject I tried to reason as to why someone would not want to blog ; I could think of a few:

• It is a waste of time. Go on, get a life. 
• I am too lazy for it.
• I dont have anything to write.
• I want my privacy. I dont want to share my ideas with others.
• Is it safe?
• I am too shy for it. I might also be scared. I dont want people to judge me based on my blogs. I also dont want everyone to know what I my thought process is.
• I hate the keyboard. I prefer the pen and paper stuff.
• I am not a good writer.
• It is a permanent record. I dont want to write something that I will regret. I may even hurt people around me.
• I hate reliving the past.
• Memories are best left as memories.

 I dont know which of the above reasons repelled blogs from me, perhaps most of them. Whatever they are, they dont matter anymore, do they ?

Lojban Joke

Although I have not faced any major difficulties with English, I wouldn't deny that my usage of the language is culturally influenced. I notice this when I speak with people whose mother tongue is English. Leave aside the grammar, the vocabulary and the accent; there is still a subtle difference with the choice of words.

The other day, I was to read a document and reply with my comments. My e-mail said something like "I will peruse the document and revert". It seemed absolutely normal usage to me till one of my colleagues pointed out that my usage of revert was incorrect. It took me a while to be convinced that "revert" should never be used to mean "get back". It should always have a precedent or a backwards connotation to it. Having understood this, I also learnt about the Logan joke.

Now that you see how we face so many problems with English, How would you expect a computer to understand an English statement. The Lojban Language was created based on strict grammar rules so that the meaning of a sentence is always predictable and does not have different meanings based on the context.

So here goes the joke...

Q: How many lojbanists does it take to change a broken light bulb?

A: Two, one to figure out what to change it into, and another to figure out what kind of light bulb emits broken light.

Would you change a bulb or replace it ??

Strict speaking, broken should refer to the light and not the bulb. This is because it is of the form Adv, Adj, Noun where Adv qualifies the Adj and Adj qualifies the noun. One way to fix this would be to say broken light-bulb. But then such usage is not possible all the time.

No doubt, Computers prefer Lojban to English.

Fractals

The concept of fractals is quite fascinating. Fractals are, in contrast with Euclidean geometry where everything has a definitive shape ( square, circle ), based on the observation that although most natural objects (clouds, coastline etc) do not have a definitive shape they still have some sort of regularity amidst the irregularity.

Wiki defines fractals as "rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole".

Fractal calculations are based recursively progressing equations that use the feedback from the previous iteration.

One example is in calculating the length of an irregular boundary. The basic idea is to start with a larger unit of measurement and gradually reduce the yardstick. The length will naturally increase as we pick a smaller unit. The change in length can be approximated as a algebraic function based on the pattern of the changes in length and this will give a much closer approximation of the length.

Now for the million dollar question....

We can find the length if rate of increase in length is lesser than the rate in reduction in the unit of calculation. What if this is not the case. What happens if the length grows at a faster rate.

Is it possible. Does this mean that we can in fact have an infinite boundary over a finite area?