Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Selected quotes of Winston Churchill


Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

If you're going through hell, keep going.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.


To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.

The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.

Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.

There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.

Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.

We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.

Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.

Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.

Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.

I never worry about action, but only inaction.

"No comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.

Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old.

My wife and I tried two or three times in the last 40 years to have breakfast together, but it was so disagreeable we had to stop.

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.

I like a man who grins when he fights.

These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.

This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.

The first quality that is needed is audacity.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Selective quotes of Henry Ford


If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
Henry Ford

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
Henry Ford

If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own.
Henry Ford

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
Henry Ford

Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.
Henry Ford

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.
Henry Ford

There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
Henry Ford

You can't learn in school what the world is going to do next year.
Henry Ford

The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.
Henry Ford

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
Henry Ford

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
Henry Ford

Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.
Henry Ford

It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.
Henry Ford


Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.
Henry Ford

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
Henry Ford

Don't find fault, find a remedy.
Henry Ford

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Selective Quotes of Thomas Edison


Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Thomas A. Edison

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas A. Edison

There's a way to do it better - find it.
Thomas A. Edison

Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged.
Thomas A. Edison

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work.
Thomas A. Edison

Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.
Thomas A. Edison

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Thomas A. Edison

I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.
Thomas A. Edison

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Thomas A. Edison

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.
Thomas A. Edison

Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!
Thomas A. Edison

I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.
Thomas A. Edison

Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.
Thomas A. Edison

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.
Thomas A. Edison

Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
Thomas A. Edison

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Senior technical roles/designations in IT

List of some fancy senior technical designations in IT. I'm still collecting the actual responsibilities expectations  involved for these roles.

Designations 
1) Principal Engineer
2) Technical Fellow
3) Chief Scientist
4) Consultant Engineer
5) Software Architect
6) Research Fellow

Principal Software Engineer roles & responsibilities
A Principal Engineer is often the top of the technical ladder in many companies. Principal Engineers are responsible for macro scale architecture of a software technology or product line, and providing guidance and oversight to multiple development teams working on different products or technologies to ensure that the technologies inter-operate or connect to each other appropriately.

The Principal Software Engineer will be accountable for resolving complex problems that impact design success of at least one or more, current or developing products. The principal Software Engineer will lead the research, design, definition and implementation of software solutions based on architecture conceived.


Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

1) Participate in multi-disciplinary projects designs, develops and implements software applications and solutions in conjunction with the Product Management

2) Mentor the team of developers and interact with testing team for new software applications and solutions.

3) Builds and assembles prototype assimilations of software applications and solutions as directed.

4) Development and testing of software applications and solutions that includes writing code, debugging issues and testing of the completed work products which are of High quality, scalable and extensible within the specified timeline

5) Contributes to code reviews

6) Lead the research and development initiatives to implement Customer/ Partner driven product features for improved product usage and promotion.

7) Ability to work both independently and as part of a team

8) Leads a project or project section as required. In addition, reviews projects against goals and provides status reports internally to the scrum team.

9) Advises management and SCRUM team on technical problems and direction.

10) Identify and define teams growing set of development platforms, tools, and processes

11) Identify architectural requirements and potential improvements and discuss them within engineering teams.

12) Participate in all phases of Agile development methodology.

13) Participate in interviewing and hiring practices as directed and advised by management team

14) Mentor software engineers and senior software engineers on technical challenges, best practices and processes.

15) Retain and keep appraised of industry intelligence, changes in the market place and trend analysis of visionary usage and opportunity for current and new products relating to support software.

16) Acts in the capacity as the liaison for technical issues between the internal management, the Customer/ Partner and Company as required.

17) Undertake any other assignments for which the companys management may request your participation from time to time.

Principal Engineer


JOB DESCRIPTION

Working under minimal direction and within general practices, the engineer shall provide technical expertise by independently determining and developing approaches to solutions for a wide scope of complex software engineering problems, which require frequent use of ingenuity and creativity. The engineer would understand company goals and practices and shall apply them when resolving a variety of problems. The engineer shall use sound judgment and in-depth technical knowledge to obtain and recommend solutions. Provides work leadership to others. Interfaces with management to provide and obtain information and builds consensus regarding project direction.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Participates in complex module design, development and testing, product testing and certification.
Leads a small team of high caliber engineers.
Identifies functional specifications, and proposes project scheduling.
Interprets, reviews and authors technical documents including design specifications, functional specifications, detailed design documents and theory of operations manuals.
Provides status of deliverables and progress updates
Provides and reviews information needed by technical writers in the development of user manuals and guides.
Provides solutions to a variety of problems of wide scope and high complexity
Accountable for delivery of systems, anticipates issues and addresses proactively.
Follows and enforces development processes and standard procedures
Exercises considerable latitude in determining technical objectives, without appreciable direction.
Offers proposed design changes/suggestions to processes and products, exerts significant latitude in determining objectives of an assignment.
Collaborates well with other engineers and other engineering groups, voluntarily shares information.
Significant contributor to organizational goals and objectives.                                  
Interacts cross functionally on matters that require coordination across organization lines.

Soft Skills:
Ability to lead, motivate and direct a workgroup.
Excellent oral and written communication skills and is able to interact effectively across labs.
Has good interpersonal skills
Ability to influence others to achieve results
Ability to adapt as per business goals.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Sense of urgency



Read this article
http://www.businessinsider.com/where-is-your-sense-of-urgency-take-6-steps-to-get-your-company-moving-2010-10?op=1

Highlights


Speed is the driver because customers have a zero tolerance for waiting, and there are always competitors gaining on you.



Positive steps to increasing a true sense of urgency
1. Behave with urgency every day

     Always demonstrate your own sense of urgency in meetings, interactions, memos and e-mail, and do so as visibly as possible to as many people as possible.
     You are the role model for everyone in your organization. If your tone or actions lack urgency, it percolates quickly to everyone, and you reap what you sow.

2. Consistently communicate urgency
3. Create action that is relentlessly aimed at winning
     Make sure your actions are exceptionally alert, and focused on success. Show some progress each and every day, and constantly purge low value-added activities.
4. Bring the outside in
5. Find opportunity in crisis
6. Deal with the urgency-killers

Beware of complacency, fear, and a false sense of urgency




Thursday, November 15, 2012

Why Software Is Eating The World? - MARC ANDREESSEN

Nice blog by Marc Andreessen about the rise of Software industry in every business.
Click here

Important notes:

Many people in the U.S. and around the world lack the education and skills required to participate in the great new companies coming out of the software revolution.
This is a tragedy since every company I work with is absolutely starved for talent.
Qualified software engineers, managers, marketers and salespeople in Silicon Valley can rack up dozens of high-paying, high-upside job offers any time they want, while national unemployment and underemployment is sky high.
This problem is even worse than it looks because many workers in existing industries will be stranded on the wrong side of software-based disruption and may never be able to work in their fields again.
There's no way through this problem other than education, and we have a long way to go.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

When to look for Management roles? How long you can program?

Refer the page
http://improvingsoftware.com/2009/05/19/programmers-before-you-turn-40-get-a-plan-b/

here the suggestion is to have a plan B after we reach 40 years of age.

In the below a old research fellow tells his opinion about his programming
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/06/why-i-still-program/


How many hours we should sleep ?

Read this nice article about sleep.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/golden-slumbers/201210/increase-longevity-seven-hours-sleep

Highlights
1) To be healthier & for longevity in life, we should sleep more than 5 & 1/2 hours and less than 7 hours. Ideal sleep time is 7 hours
2) What we should do if sleep doesn't come within a half hour of lying awake in bed ?
     Leave the bedroom and do something relaxing in another room. Use the bedroom for sleeping and sex only.

Speed reading tips

Wanna improve your reading speed ?
Here are the tips
http://www.mindtools.com/speedrd.html

Highlights

Breaking poor Reading Habits
1) Sub-Vocalization
2) Reading word-by-word
3) Inefficient Eye Motion
4) Regression
5) Poor Concentration
6) Approaching Reading Linearly

Self learning

I liked this talk from Shimon Schocken: The self-organizing computer course




Some tips for self learning
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-steps-to-effective-self-learning/