Dallas, TX

Shirshendu describes it best when he says every big city is like a giant blender, it blends everything. People are blended with their creations. Every big city has its own appeal to its people. We, the city dwellers can never leave them. We have a sort of invisible bond with our own loving cities. The bond that got into our gene long ago in Mesopotamia.

Every city has its own unique message to the visitors. And in my experience the message is not too hard to grasp. You would probably can tell once you rest your feet in the city. Somehow I never can grasp the message of Dallas. I have been in Dallas in numerous occasions. But still, I am not sure what is the message Dallas is trying to convey. In that sense, Dallas is always a mystery to me.

Dallas is a city of immigrants. I guess Dallas is the most accepting city. It accept anything from anyone. And it's beauty is it evaporates everything from everyone without affecting itself at all. I have been in other big cities. You can probably tell what differences immigrants have brought into the city. But for Dallas it is hard to tell whether there is any immigrant at all. Somehow everyone becomes a Texan after a while. Or maybe the message is how it changes everything on its own way. Maybe the message is don't dare to mess with Dallas, it will evaporates you.

Somehow, this city feels very dull to me. I don't feel the life in Dallas. This city has so many diversity but somehow I can't feel it's life at all. There is hardly any activity on the street. I feel like something is missing, everything is so polished and artificial. This city does not appeal me at all. But for sure it is as lovely as any other cities to their dwellers. I guess I will never get the message of it or may be recognise the message of it.

Doctor of Philosophy

I am often asked what's my blog is all about? I guess the straight forward answer is life journal. I think my blog is a life journal. I think in that sense, it would be incomplete without a post about recent course of events. I got my PhD!

What's interesting in that? PhD is an interesting diploma unlike any other I have stumbled upon before. It is an art that require superb craftsmanship. I don't think the dissertation defense has much importance independently. But the time one has to been throw to get to the defense is the lesson of PhD. It requires patience and tons of it. I have heard that many of my friends are not happy with their advisor, actually it is even worse. But I am not sure why? I think at this stage of our life we should understand there is nothing called absolute right or wrong. Advisors are human being and they are bound to differ with you in hundred different ways. And the lesson of PhD is you have to get it done, no matter what.

I am hoping PhD is meant to make one more tolerable to the ideas that he/she doesn't share. PhD doesn't teach you more interesting stuff in your area, it teaches you the overall human quality. Sure, you could read few more papers and books but if you think that's what PhD is all about then I suggest you better try something else. The reason over many years it is called "Doctor of Philosophy" not "Doctor of Computer Science" is because it is not meant to teach you Computer Science, it is meant to teach you Philosophy. The philosophy of patience, tolerance, perseverance and systematic way of thinking. Sure, I have read lots of books and articles but those are not the lessons I learned. They were just a media to learn the lessons of PhD.

At the end of the day, it is "Doctor of Philosophy," we are expected to learn and master the philosophy not computer science.

PhD!

Finally I got the oral presentation of my defense done. Last five years of work materialized throw my degree. I think I am happy. The milestone has been touched.

Google wave

I was exploring tumblr today. Tumblr is interesting. I think Tumblr was designed for mobile and they got superb mobile app for social networking. Then, I spend some time with Facebook home. Facebook home, no doubt an interesting concept but I feel like Facebook overestimated themselves. All of these remind me of google Wave.

I was not a big fan of google Wave. But then, I realized google Wave might have had better future if it would  have been released after mobile revolution. Google Wave was build on based on the idea that everything is a conversation. If you think about that in your desktop that sounds like chat but if you think about that for mobile, that is exactly what we call mobile social networking. In that sense, google Wave was little ahead of its time.

This is an interesting problem. A product no matter how good it is, if it is ahead of time, there is no hope for it. Look at tablet, it was a Microsoft's concept, just little ahead of time. Some people might argue, it is the software that didn't click back in 2000. But I would argue otherwise, the world was not ready. People didn't know what they are going to do with such a device. They didn't know in 2010 either but it was easy to figure out in 2010 but not in 2000. There was not enough content clouds at that time either. PC was used for content creation at that time as oppose to content consumption. So when Microsoft introduced tablet people found it less useful. Over the decade the world had changed a lot. PCs shift their usefulness. They become a content consumption device as oppose to content creation. So, lightweight devices like tablet found their sweet spot in the market.

I think the world is ready for Google Wave now. I am hoping that we would see a reincarnation of wave pretty soon.

Freedom of speech

Not that I am a big fan of Obama, I but I think in the current context of Bangladesh I might share a speech of him

I know there are some who ask why we don’t just ban such a video. The answer is enshrined in our laws: our Constitution protects the right to practice free speech. Here in the United States, countless publications provoke offense. Like me, the majority of Americans are Christian, and yet we do not ban blasphemy against our most sacred beliefs.

Moreover, as President of our country, and Commander-in-Chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day, and I will always defend their right to do so. Americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views — even views that we disagree with.

We do so not because we support hateful speech, but because our Founders understood that without such protections, the capacity of each individual to express their own views, and practice their own faith, may be threatened. We do so because in a diverse society, efforts to restrict speech can become a tool to silence critics, or oppress minorities. We do so because given the power of faith in our lives, and the passion that religious differences can inflame, the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.

- Barack Obama

You might think there is no harm in something like Blasphemy law. Trust me, you know nothing about it :)

Mobile blogging

I don't write blog from my computer anymore. I have not been using blogspot Web interface for last two months. That's an interesting shift. It was quite predictable I guess. People like me who blog just for personal purpose don't have much thing to research. Blog in that case works more like personal tracker. It is no wonder the device that accompanies me most of my time would definitely have the upper hand when writing just for personal stuff.

I thing personal blogging would be one of those things that gonna be totally mobile in next few years. I guess social networking is another one. I just have one inconvenience which is typing. I hate mobile keyboard. I bought SwiftKey, but it didn't help much. Sometimes it becomes irritating. I guess there is plenty of room in this area. I guess there are lot of people who feel like me. That's why we see so many keyboard prototype surfacing on the Internet.

One interesting thing that gonna be very mobile is searching. When I say searching I don't mean researching. We do tons of quick search in our daily life for quick info. I guess mobile gonna take care of that from now on.

I see enormous potential on mobile devices for content consumption. But there is hardly any content creation. My biggest grievance is we cannot create content using Mobile devices except picture and video. That's why we see so many pictures and videos surfacing on the Internet now-a-days. I guess we are still lacking proper input method for these kind of devices. That's make me feel like these devices may not be in the market for long time. I do enjoy my devices though.

First draft

I just finished the first draft of my dissertation. I am feeling good. I have to revise it at least twice within next 15 days. I think writing the dissertation is a test of patience. Starting with an empty word file and watching it becoming bigger and bigger. I am thinking of adding one little thing today. I am going to send it to my advisor today no matter what. I have to prepare tons of materials for the course this week as well. I think I won't have much time this week. So I got to finish everything as quick as possible.

The clock is ticking real fast. I am going to defend my dissertation on April 17th, approximately one month from now. Thus I got to finish everything real fast. Life is pressing!

Norman weather

We got an excellent glimpse of summer today. The temperature is in high end of seventies. This is the start of spring break. Campus is close next week. This is my last spring break. I have never been in any place during spring break. Well, I guess this year I cannot go either. I have to finish my dissertation. I am almost on the verge of my dissertation. Everything is done. I am finishing my writing. Writing is not difficult but it requires lot of energy for writing. Writing an entire dissertation within a month is not fun at all. Anyway, I am hoping I would be able to finish everything on time.

Well I was suppose to talk about weather, not dissertation. We got a great day today. I think Norman is really nice during the end of spring and early fall. The gentle breeze during the end of the spring feels like tuned with life of Norman. Norman is not busy, people have plenty of time; no rush, everything seems relax like the breeze. It is the tornado season as well. Tornados are surely coming very soon.

I have seen most weather active days in my life in Norman. It was equally interesting part of my life. I met my life partner here. In that sense I will carry some memory of Norman for my entire life. This chapter of my life is going to end pretty soon. I guess this part of my life was pretty much well explained by Norman weather. Typically calm and quite, slow and steady with occasional tornados. Was it active like Norman weather? I guess yes, sometimes. Looking outside of my window I feel like Norman was not that boring after all. Norman reminds me my grandfather's house. Slow and steady life. I would definitely miss the tranquility of Norman. After all Norman is how met america for the first time.

Microsoft, Inc

People like me who grew up in late nineties, Microsoft is the boss. When we start our undergrad in computer science, Microsoft was on the top of the world. I remember, in my first semester in BUET one of alumni came to BUET. He gave a talk about Microsoft. He used to work for Microsoft. We kind of saw him as a legend. Then I have heard a lot about our legendary alumnus who work for Microsoft. Growing up at that time, I have natural fascination about Microsoft. Microsoft is a great company to work for, I think.

I went to Redmond last week for Microsoft interview. I think their environment is great. The scenic from their Bellevue office was second to none. I loved it. I think the team that I was interviewed with was superb. I still feel the warm of the name Microsoft. Well, I got the offer today. This is one of my dream comes true moment. I could say that this is one of those moment I have been waiting for last thirteen years. The name Microsoft has lot of weight in it. I guess for our generation, we grew up dreaming to work for Microsoft someday.

Flights!

I hate flights. Hanging around at the Dallas airport at 6:00 am in the morning is no fun. I guess we should seriously think about the long distance travel. The way we do it right now is just tiresome and hectic. I heard that some people travel 5 days a week. I don't understand how they become productive after travel. I feel like I am gonna die after 30 min flights from Dallas to Oklahoma city. I am not sure why flying is so popular in US. If I have option I choose 1 day of driving instead of 1 hours of flight. Flight is just such a horrific thing for me.

In my view, everything is bad about flight. The seats are not comfortable. You have to sit almost in other peoples lap. The leg room is so small to fit even feet, for even my standard. There is just no incentive to fly. I guess this industry lost interest and so nobody cares about flight anymore. If you think about a flight, you pretty much have the same thing you did have 10 years ago. Now I am not saying the planes have to change but the amenities inside a flight could have changed. Aircrafts are using same old fashion overhead screen to show me even more stupid stuff. It is just all craps.

Finally the price! Which is always a mystery to me. I have no idea how they are selected and what they mean. I have not seen any single change in last five years. Now, I understand everything is not as fast as tech industry. But I did not even see the tech inside the aircraft is changing at all. It feels like life inside aircrafts are frozen in time. Good luck everyone, I have a feeling that it gonna be this way for long time.