Ten little niggers went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little niggers sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little niggers traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little niggers chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little niggers playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little niggers going in for law;
One got into Chancery and then there were four.
Four little niggers going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little niggers walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two Little niggers sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little nigger left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
What's in a name?
I was in charge of designing a module which retrieved data from a database and passed it onto a machine learning algorithm. I was having some difficulty in naming a class in the module and decided to seek some suggestions from one of my colleague.
“What’s in a name?” he said rather stylishly. OK. So he knew something about Shakespeare’s quotes. Not impressive I thought and tried explain that (in software engineering) a name signifies the very purpose of a variable or class or a sub-routine, and as a rule names should be well thought of and carefully chosen. He interrupted me midway and said that he really did not care so much about names, including his or anyone else’s.
I was not aware then, that the moment a developer has a difficulty conjuring up a name for something; it means that the purpose of that thing is unclear. That apart, I took this up a bit personally and decided to test if this guy really lived by what he was saying.
I drafted a mail addressed to him explaining the present status of the module and deliberately misspelled his name. No prizes for guessing what happened next. The mail was duly acknowledged with a rather terse note on watching out for spelling mistakes. He had fallen right into my trap! Yeah!! me now turn into a big time con-man!!
“What’s in a name?” I replied.
“What’s in a name?” he said rather stylishly. OK. So he knew something about Shakespeare’s quotes. Not impressive I thought and tried explain that (in software engineering) a name signifies the very purpose of a variable or class or a sub-routine, and as a rule names should be well thought of and carefully chosen. He interrupted me midway and said that he really did not care so much about names, including his or anyone else’s.
I was not aware then, that the moment a developer has a difficulty conjuring up a name for something; it means that the purpose of that thing is unclear. That apart, I took this up a bit personally and decided to test if this guy really lived by what he was saying.
I drafted a mail addressed to him explaining the present status of the module and deliberately misspelled his name. No prizes for guessing what happened next. The mail was duly acknowledged with a rather terse note on watching out for spelling mistakes. He had fallen right into my trap! Yeah!! me now turn into a big time con-man!!
“What’s in a name?” I replied.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Who wants to be Arnold?
"Anna, unga body supra irrku!"(Brother, you body is superb). "Thanks macha".( Thanks, buddy). I used to get that all the time when I was in college and working out (which was not too long ago).Now that I don’t workout as often as I used to (read: I workout once in a month), the frequency of such pleasurable compliments also has gone down.
A lot of guys would come up to me and ask for a few tips on working out and nutrition. "Sachin, can you tell me how to bench-press?” "Sure", I'd say and spend the next 10 minutes trying to explain the anatomy of the pectorals and how different exercises affect it. The newbie would be all attention during the lecture and when I'd be done, he would give me a grateful look and say "I forgot to add that I don’t want to look like Arnold". "WHAT??!!”
The first time that happened I chased the guy out of the gym. If I recall correctly a beautiful young lady from Vertex had raised a similar concern to the fitness consultants, whom Zelus, in their infinite efforts to increase employee awareness and delight, had roped in for a lecture on health and fitness. Last thing I heard about those consultants was that they had given up bodybuilding and taken up Origami.
I've come across people, many of them software engineers, who have a serious fear of turning into mean muscled monsters, as if it’s a very real possibility. Hmmm...now that I had matured.. I'm going to ask these engineers a simple question:
Q. Did any of you become Linus Trovalds or Richard Stallman because you wrote a few hundred lines of code?
The answer is an obvious NO. And so my friends, remember that, you will not become like Arnold, or or John Abraham or anybody else for that matter.
So what does it take to become an Arnold or Ronnie Coleman or Markus Ruhl? Besides the more obvious things like years of dedication and discipline, insanely heavy workouts, an enormous diet, a good set of parents and a huge capacity to endure pain and discomfort, there is an understated factor which is overlooked by most wannabe bodybuilders - the somatype or the basic body type.
Our body type is determined by the genes that are passed down to us by our parents.
There are three different body types.
1. Ectomorphs (male) or Thyroid (female) have a small frame with long lean muscles. Because of their fast metabolism, they can be a bit more relaxed about their diet. An ectomorph is relatively linear in shape with a delicate build, narrow hips and pelvis, and long arms and legs. Two of my classmates Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt are both ectomorphs.
2. Mesomorphs (male) or Android (female) are more muscular and athletic with a medium sized frame and wider shoulders. This body type can consume a reasonable amount of calories since they tend to gain muscle more easily. A mesomorph excels in sports that require short bursts of energy, strength and lots of power. My former girlfriend and two time Olympic gold medalist Yelena Isinbaeva is an Android.
3. Endomorphs (male) or Gyaneoid (female) have a medium to large frame with a rounder figure. Since weight loss is more difficult for endomorphs, they need to watch their diet and get plenty of cardio exercise. A metaphor frequently used to describe an endomorph body type is pear-shaped. A pear resembles a body that has more weight in the lower region, like the hips and thighs, than the upper portion of the body. Some of my Gyaneoid’s I socialize with often are Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.
One of the most prime reasons of people discontinuing their workouts is a lack of gain. The skinny ones can’t seem to gain mass and the heavier lot cannot seem to reduce any weight. In most cases, the problem was that the workout was not designed by accounting for their body type.
Now that you know what type you are and what determines your chances of making it big in the bodybuilding circuit or just simple staying fit, I hope that none of you might have any inhibitions about working out, lest you wake up the next morning and have Arnold staring at you in the mirror.
"I'll be back!!"
A lot of guys would come up to me and ask for a few tips on working out and nutrition. "Sachin, can you tell me how to bench-press?” "Sure", I'd say and spend the next 10 minutes trying to explain the anatomy of the pectorals and how different exercises affect it. The newbie would be all attention during the lecture and when I'd be done, he would give me a grateful look and say "I forgot to add that I don’t want to look like Arnold". "WHAT??!!”
The first time that happened I chased the guy out of the gym. If I recall correctly a beautiful young lady from Vertex had raised a similar concern to the fitness consultants, whom Zelus, in their infinite efforts to increase employee awareness and delight, had roped in for a lecture on health and fitness. Last thing I heard about those consultants was that they had given up bodybuilding and taken up Origami.
I've come across people, many of them software engineers, who have a serious fear of turning into mean muscled monsters, as if it’s a very real possibility. Hmmm...now that I had matured.. I'm going to ask these engineers a simple question:
Q. Did any of you become Linus Trovalds or Richard Stallman because you wrote a few hundred lines of code?
The answer is an obvious NO. And so my friends, remember that, you will not become like Arnold, or or John Abraham or anybody else for that matter.
So what does it take to become an Arnold or Ronnie Coleman or Markus Ruhl? Besides the more obvious things like years of dedication and discipline, insanely heavy workouts, an enormous diet, a good set of parents and a huge capacity to endure pain and discomfort, there is an understated factor which is overlooked by most wannabe bodybuilders - the somatype or the basic body type.
Our body type is determined by the genes that are passed down to us by our parents.
There are three different body types.
1. Ectomorphs (male) or Thyroid (female) have a small frame with long lean muscles. Because of their fast metabolism, they can be a bit more relaxed about their diet. An ectomorph is relatively linear in shape with a delicate build, narrow hips and pelvis, and long arms and legs. Two of my classmates Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt are both ectomorphs.
2. Mesomorphs (male) or Android (female) are more muscular and athletic with a medium sized frame and wider shoulders. This body type can consume a reasonable amount of calories since they tend to gain muscle more easily. A mesomorph excels in sports that require short bursts of energy, strength and lots of power. My former girlfriend and two time Olympic gold medalist Yelena Isinbaeva is an Android.
3. Endomorphs (male) or Gyaneoid (female) have a medium to large frame with a rounder figure. Since weight loss is more difficult for endomorphs, they need to watch their diet and get plenty of cardio exercise. A metaphor frequently used to describe an endomorph body type is pear-shaped. A pear resembles a body that has more weight in the lower region, like the hips and thighs, than the upper portion of the body. Some of my Gyaneoid’s I socialize with often are Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.
One of the most prime reasons of people discontinuing their workouts is a lack of gain. The skinny ones can’t seem to gain mass and the heavier lot cannot seem to reduce any weight. In most cases, the problem was that the workout was not designed by accounting for their body type.
Now that you know what type you are and what determines your chances of making it big in the bodybuilding circuit or just simple staying fit, I hope that none of you might have any inhibitions about working out, lest you wake up the next morning and have Arnold staring at you in the mirror.
"I'll be back!!"
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