Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

Today I learnt (is it old-school word?) a new word. It's called 'head fake'. It means simply this: you make somebody learn something by tricking them to do something else. For example, kids learn Java programming by doing screen play etc. Looks incongruous, isn't it?

I happened to come across a title of a best-seller called "The last Lecture" by one Randy Pausch. He is teaching computer science at Carnegie-Mellon. He has life-threatening disease and expect to die soon. So, he gave one last lecture which was widely web-cast.

It wasn't on any topic in computer science. It's about realizing one's childhood dreams. It's also about enabling others to realize their childhood dreams. I read the transcript of the lecture from the Net. That's where I learnt about head fake.

I am trying to recollect what were my childhood dreams. I hardly remember any except after reading Kaliki's "Ponniyin Selvan", I wanted to write like him. Aeroplanes are something that was flying so high that we hardly got to see their sizes. Hence no dream of becoming a pilot. But the coal-engine powered trains were omnipresent. The black swirling smoke and a shrill whistle frieghtened me away. Hence no fascination to become an engine driver.

How many of you out there realized your childhood dreams? It will be interesting to know.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

அடடா அருமையான Blog

நான் எழுதி ஒரு வருஷத்துக்கு மேலாகி விட்டது. இன்று எழுதுவதுக்குக் காரணம் நேற்று எதேச்சையாகப் படித்த இந்த Blog entry.

மிகவும் இயல்பாக எழுதப் பட்ட blog. தெளிந்த நீரோடை போல நடை.

ஆனால் அசல் தமிழ் பெண் ஏன் தமிழில் எழுதுவதில்லை?