The Bill G@te$ in me ...
... here's what I think of myself
I think deeply about things and want others to do likewise. I work for ideas and learn from people. I'm a perfectionist, but I won't let that get in the way of new unformed ideas. I believe in luck but also believe in one’s power to change it if s/he so wishes (most times we may not wish to change our luck). I want to make the world a better place.
I don't like excluding and rating people. I try to be friends with everyone, but I hate it when people don't take me seriously. To me all my friends are equal though I do have my preferences about what kind of activities I would share with each. And I hate to be left guessing what my friends expect from me – I like to be told clearly – even if it means telling me that ‘You are not Welcome’, especially if it means so. I respect everyone's privacy and I don't hold grudges (it's not productive) but I learn from my experience.
I have heroes and most times find something to learn from every individual. I support free software and limited copyright but am clear about the need of Microsoft in this world. I worship Bill Gates as the pioneer of personal-computing but totally oppose Microsoft’s mad race against commoditisation of software industry.
I have several annoying habits. I am a talkative person and am not in a habit of listening to people unless what they say is extremely important. I especially turn a deaf ear (really deaf) to negative thoughts and criticisms unless it is me who has purposely asked for them. I always schedule my time too tight - it means I am able to fit as much as possible in a given time, but it also means that I am perpetually late. I assume I am right, sometimes even in areas I don't know much about; and I talk without waiting to fully understand the consequences of my words. I am working on my habits ... but as they say "Old Habits Die Hard". Technology is my passion!
I am an artist at heart and a techie at head.
For me technology is as cool as writing a poem. By writing software or developing technology, you help a lot of people do what they want to do. Think about how email lets people stay in touch across the globe, and remind yourself that hardware and software and engineering made this possible.
There seems to be this angst of being associated with something as dull and "hard" as science or engineering, of any sort. Technology and Software is softer than you think. Working with technology is one of the more humane and creative endeavours there are.
Yes, you have to understand the technical tit-bits, and you have to be analytical and problem-solving. But you also have to be able to communicate with the client, understand how your colleagues react to stress and to changes, organize the efforts of the group, and so much more.
Technology is only part of the larger story. At its core, developing software or reviewing applications is pure communication: The client tells you what they need in English, and you translate that into specs may be even Java (or C or whatever it might be), so the computer will understand it. You're a translator between radically different languages. And the languages are diametrically apart when you are into say – embedded programming.
This translation is so darn complicated that it takes lots of different people, lots of organization, lots of creativity, and lots of effort to do well. And these different people use the English language in different ways. There are the marketing folks, the sales guys, the user advocate, the CFO, the CEO, the programmers, and the clients, and they all have to find ways to make themselves understood to each other, and the techies need to make all of this understood to the computer.
This permeates the whole culture of the Information Technology industry. You have to be clever at figuring out how different groups communicate, you have to be good at finding out when people's hearts are not in it, you have to be good at promoting and getting people to buy in to your vision, you have to be good at covering for your friend and colleague when he's having a rough time, and you have to be good at hundreds of other little things that make technology seem not so hard and mechanical and technology-centred at all.
That’s what keeps me glued into this industry – that’s what keeps the Bill Gates me alive!
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