Hooked to Online Gaming

Have you ever been told that you have been spending a lot of time on your Ipad or laptop or on that stupid Online Game? I am sure every male of the species would have heard that. And yes, I was one among them too not long ago. I was never a fan of online gaming – only once in a blue moon play of literati or chess or the 800 piece puzzles. That’s as far as my online gaming used to be until a year back.

It all came to a turning point when one of my colleagues introduced me to a game called “Goodgame Empire”, a game inspired from the old “Age of Empires” pc game but more sophisticated in its own way and with the additional drawback that it was an online multi-player game. I was so hooked to the game that I was spending a lot of time on the game while at home, over weekends and even while “spending time with family and friends”. I spooked them out because I was so hooked to it that it was more of an addiction than the spirit of gaming.

The virtual world was a realm of very high profile individuals – I initially thought it was just played by kids or people who find some spare time. But no, these guys are so dedicated on the game that they are even ready to spend a load of money just to prove their strength in the online world – some of my contacts in linkedin are actually people from the game – from sheriff of some county in Texas to paramilitary officers to Engineers and even CEO of biotechnology firms. In the Goodgame Empire game, I was first part of a league of extraordinary people who spend around $100 on normal days to get those jazzy gadgets to win a tournament or win by attacking people. I must applaud the people who build these games though because they really lure you to put money into the game through various ways – a fancy tool or powerful armor or stuff like that introduced before a war of all leagues or tournaments.

Gradually you find yourself also pulled into their whirlpool of getting hooked into the game and spending money just so that you too get the edge over other poor souls who don’t have option to buy one of these. Initially you may spend a $5 and think that it such a small amount and then you keep increasing, until finally perhaps you get your credit card bill which gives you the shock of your lifetime. Well it didn’t take me to the credit card level for me to realize that I was spending time and money on this game, just a strong warning from my Dad on the behest of my inlaws who visited me and found me so engrossed in the game. They thought I had changed for the worse, no social contacts or going outs or even talking to them.

I didn’t even know I was addicted to the game until my father gave me a ring and told me about it and to stop it once and for all. Since then I have stopped the game, but to tell you the truth, it was very difficult. I didn’t know what to do after checking my emails and there was always the urge to just stop by and have a peep inside – but I refrained. After a week of stopping the game, I was having enough time and turned a new leaf from the “couch potato” I had been since playing the game. I used to do a lot of reading and writing and exercising before the gaming fiasco gobbled me up.

There are a variety of online games available and some of them are really interesting. Mostly men find it more interesting to play them than women but yes, you do find women in them too. Mostly the win and losses aggravate to hate speech and cyberbullying. Players, developers, gaming companies, and professional observers are discussing and developing tools which discourage antisocial behavior but mostly it’s not to the extent of being banned from the game because it’s always about money J.

Well I have now started playing another one, but now I know the urge to control it. We’ll let us hope I don’t get another wakeup call on the new game. Clash of clans :-)

Programming for all?

Is working on IT Career for all?

NASSCOM predicts the growth of IT & ITeS service to grow by 11-14% in 2012 and cross $100 billion revenue milestone. Every year we have at least half a million of Bachelor and Masters of Technology graduates passing out from various institutions in India, each of them eyeing for a placement in one of the IT companies. So it seems the demand for IT is never going down and the opportunities neither. Most people in IT say “we are not doing rocket Science here, mostly an If and else statement here or there”J.  Well that’s mostly the truth in most cases, so is the career open house for all? The bitter truth is that it isn't having a straight forward answer as it seems.

I remember there was a time when people used to say “To clear one of the top IT companies interview you just need to know all the answers of Shakuntala Devi’s puzzles”.  And there were “smart people” who mugged up all answers too J and cleared the rounds of interview – because they were the elite few who got more than 90% answers correctly. It’s funny to even think about it now. The very reason the puzzles were put forward was to find the right candidates was beaten. Getting the right candidate is always a difficult task for interviewers.

Analytical skills

If you can visualize, articulate and solve issues based on the available information, you just hit jackpot on this one. Most developer just needs this – in this world of supporting applications if you have the ability to identify the issue with just the available information and solve issue, you are game for it.

Re-engineering skills

Well this one of the best inline attribute – going a full reverse from answer to the questionJ. I have had the privilege to meet someone like this during college days as well. He used to look at the answer of analytical question and find the correct answers using various permutation and combination logic. Most often this skill is of primary importance in identifying an issue and solving it or to completely re-architecture an existing system. A more advanced state of analytical skillsJ.

Logical thinking or reasoning

Logical reasoning is the process which uses arguments, statements, premises and axioms to define weather a statement is true or false, resulting in a logical or illogical reasoning. So ideally it’s a combination of analytical skills and reasoning.

Business Knowledge

Unfortunately this is not for beginners but for more experienced professionals. For lateral hires the criteria is a combination of analytical skills, technical skills or strong business knowledge – to be considered as an expert in the functional knowledge. It’s considered more or less easier getting a person experienced in good technical skills but difficult to get a person who knows how a system should behave or how it functions.

Ideas or Think Tankers & Out-of the-box Thought Process

Although both characteristics are different, they both are linked. Albert Einstein had said “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”

Well that’s not an exhaustive list but just the main trends for an IT candidate J

Is it God.... Or just pure Luck?

These days there are talks everywhere in the media about Higgs Boson also termed as the "God Particle". Although scientist says there is no correlation between the particle and God, it’s considered one, since the particle is the missing link on start of any matter. I have always pondered on the existence of God and if all it was just pure luck! Well, I don’t want to kick the hornets’ nest of believers and nonbelievers of God but just open a discussion on it.

Taking Hindu Mythology, we have 100’s of Gods; people worship a variety of gods – in fact we have god for specific items of luxury or wellbeing and there are many mythological stories on each of them as to why they tend towards each of these making us believe in them. In Andhra Pradesh (home to highest number of people in USA) there is a “US Visa Deity” – makes us wonder how far worshiping god can go. People might laugh at this, but believe it or not, there are huge numbers of devotees who throng these places just to get through to USA.

Well my Dad & Father-In-Law are nonbelievers of God. They say it’s just the luck factor that we are trying to find through whatever sources we have (and for believers, the source is God). Makes a lot of sense to me because if we get what we aimed for, believers say “Thank God” while nonbelievers say “Damn, must be my lucky day”. Taking it a step further we have started attributing our success or failures to be “Act of God” or the luck factor. Someone have rightly said “if you are hard pressed in achieving a goal you will achieve it” (maybe the strong inner feeling - the soul is the driving factor for it).

My doubts about God’s existence peek, when I read about kids and women suffering due to war and natural calamities., The two extremes of haves and have-nots can be seen every day in the big city that I live in. So, if there is a God, why this imbalance? Godmen or gurus say the less fortunate are paying for their previous lives’ sins. Really? Or is it being born with a lucky spree? Cannot help thinking that if we stop believing in God or stop going to a religious place, would God be angry and punish us for not acknowledging him? How is he then different from a human being? Will questioning the existence cause the wrath of almighty? Too many questions, too little answers - well isn’t that what life is all about :-).

P.S It makes me wonder what Thomas Edison might have said when he found the Electric Bulb, because Bible quotes God saying “Let there be light” when he made sun.

Beginners guide to driving ( in India)

“The bigger-The mightier” used to be the rules in traffic… But there is a new rule in town-the smaller the vehicle, the less traffic rule you follow – signals (well isn’t that applicable only for bigger vehicles?), lanes (is there lanes that needs to be followed?), vehicle indicators (that’s only an accessory), footpath (that’s meant for any vehicle which can get on to it), Parking (if there is 1 inch space you can get a minibus into it, irrespective of the fact that the rest 90% is protruding into the road) & Rain (most dangerous of all - people just lose their common sense and don’t obey any rule). So that’s what the traffic has come to. For the city that never sleeps, people have started making their own rules.

Took my parents for a spin around the city and they had nerve wracking experience of the traffic, rules people make and err well my driving too. My dad quotes “Mumbai people was once considered to be having the best traffic sense and rules in the entire nation, if anyone erred, they would just let the BUSY guy go”.. No more, those days are done! Now everyone is in a hurry. It’s even hard to find good driving these days – and even if you do good driving – you end up being one of them soon.

These days it has become very difficult getting behind those wheels. I had my share of crashes and accidents in Mumbai and luckily managed to survive a major one too. But nevertheless 1 year down the line I am back to square one – the same aggression and cold heartedness while driving. Well that doesn’t mean I am a mean person on the road – “mostly” follow the rules, and have respects the elderly (stops my vehicle for them to cross – just remind me of my people back home) but I lose temper when a ‘too smart’ driver starts making his own rules. In the mornings, I usually let it go, unless they really cracks my nerve, while in the evening it’s payback time J.

Rules of engagement (yup got the word right only, it’s more of engaging in a war out there) with:

-          Some notable points with Bikers

·         For the biker, there are no rules. Use your sound judgment when he may or may not take a turn

·         If a biker is beside your vehicle it means he will cut just right in front of you, either from the left or the right

·         If a biker takes things into his hands, that is because of point # 1. But if you do the same, be ready for an outright road rash.

-          Some notable points with Rickshaws (this is condensed list)

·         If he puts one leg to the right – there are chances he might turn to the right at any point of time in the next 20 kms, vice versa for left leg. So watch out for the legs.

·         If he nods his head up and down-now this requires some careful consideration and watching him closely. If he is coming straight in front of you ,it means he will take “U” turn right in front of you. If he is beside you, he wants you to stop, so that he can overtake you.

·         If he is driving slowly, there are chances he might stop right in the middle of the road at any time without a signal - he is just hunting for passengers or might have found one of his acquaintances for a quick chat.

·         If he hits your vehicle – it just means you were wrong and he doesn’t have any money to pay you. If you hit his vehicle – you are wrong again and you need pay him compensation.

·         If he is coming from the opposite side towards you, you are on the wrong lane. You need to make way for him.

-          Some points for any other vehicle

·         Driving in both the lanes – it’s just risk mitigation. If one lane gets blocked ypu can jump to the other one.

·         Turning without indicators-the more experienced you feel, less likely you are to put indicators.

·         The premium the vehicle, the more laws you can break – you can park just under no parking board, you can even park right on at turns and even manage to take turns where it is prohibited.

-          Now if a woman driver is behind the wheels (of course these aren’t my observations, but I am forced by mightier forces to include ;) ).The war goes tougher with egos (irrespective of the opposite party being on bike, rickshaw or any kind of vehicle) flying through the roof and condescending suggestions to watch where you are going.

So the question arises why there is so much of confusion on the road, why is it not regulated? Or is it just about appreciating the people who do good driving? Or do we need stricter punishment for errant drivers?. No definitive answers, but it starts with us as responsible drivers.


P.S.:There are three absolute must-haves for driving in India-Good Horns,Good Brakes and Good Luck!