Advise on careers can be lethal

I overheard a person on phone.

" No, don't let him take IT courses. Look at me, IT did not take me anywhere. As I told you get him to do banking, at least he can get a low interest loan " 

Can you see the lethal dose ? 

Anybody seeking advise on careers, need to talk to 5 people. Actively.

By active means, You ask questions that clear your doubts. It's your future and it should be in your hands. 

Talk to people who have done well after you have understood your passion.
Yes, Passion matters.
Passion is the difference between a job and a career.

"I'm going to Mars"

"100,000 people have signed up to live in Mars, knowing they will not return to planet earth.
Only few will get the chance for first flight". This little amazing news popped in a dinner conversation.

SpaceX is not science fiction. It's actually happening. Elon Musk is a visionary in every sense.

The signed up people will get supplies in Mars from Earth once every 4 years. (Not verified)
They surely have tons of money to sign up. I wonder, why rich people want to do this?

I guess these people want to leave a legacy - "we were the first, we dared to be different."
So they decided to vanish in to thin air (or rather space).

Hierarchy of human needs is so elusive. Self actualization is a tricky place to be.

Relaxation can happen at tension.

Long tension story short:  I was 15 minutes late today to leave home, and met with an unprecedented traffic. My wife got late for school and me for office. My first meeting was delayed 30 minutes.
Not nice, when it was the first thing in the morning.
The image of my wife been late (a not happy face) lingered on until I reached office.
At office, I had to plan for the meeting and I am already 30 minutes late !

A traffic - a simple block at the beginning of the day made such an impact, and it was manifesting in me.

Instead of the routine, I took a different open approach for the meeting. Rather than peeping in to the relevant docs and notes, I made it clear upfront, that I need to discuss things in detail, step by step. I started asking specific relevant questions. Not rushed, but focused. It took 45 minutes, and it was a success.

Then I switched on Self Control on web for 3 hours, slowly engaging in work, with out giving in to the rush.

"  Tension is who you think you should be. 

Relaxation is who you are  " 

~Chinese proverb

what would I lose?

When we get to some point of achievement in life, (or sometimes at a failure) we value ourselves by asking the question " what would I lose? "
Most often people stuff many things in their back pack. 'Back pack' here is the metaphor for the burden of life. Too many things in your back pack weighs you down from doing things that matter. It gets too heavy, by the day.

A good question to ask, time to time, is, " What should I put in my back pack"

Talking about back pack, 'Up in the Air' is a very good movie to watch.

Self Control on Web.

When I am in-front of laptop, creating a document, I wish I had the resolute to switch off social media.
I had the wish, but not the resolute.
So in to 20 minutes of work, I would go to internet for some 'search' and end up in twitter and facebook or some blog(s). It would take 15 minutes to understand I am trespassing.
Then another 10 minutes (minimum) to re-focus on what I was doing.

Now I know I have a problem (Most of the time I ignored), and I have found a cure.

• Enter 'Self Control', a free and open software for mac users to black list web sites. Once I black list a website and set up a timer, I wont be able to access those sites, even if I restart the computer or delete the application. It's a pretty neat app. (Download here)

• There are alternatives for other platforms. For Windows, one notable app I found is K9. (download here). There are many other options.

• Recommended by Thameera:  RescueTime -  Works on all platforms, tells you how much time you spend on each website.

Life is meaningful

Life is meaningful, When I like things I do.
Not when I do things I like.

When I say 'I don't like the things I do' , mostly it means I am uncomfortable.
That extra effort to 'like what I do' even when I don't feel like doing it first, takes me out of my comfort zone. That's when magic happens.

When I like things I do, it's about caring and sharing.
When I do things I like, mostly it's about my self.

Myth of aspiration

Entrepreneurship is about 'go get' your aspiration, dream of things what drives you.

Question:  'What is really that drives you?'

A wealthy professional in Colombo, respected in many circles for his technical proficiency and unparalleled commitment, confessed me that he wants to run away from city and hide in a village.

A youth in a village, with eyes gleaming with hope, is willing to stay away from his family and risk legal boundaries, to find greener pastures ($).

Now let me ask you the question (above) again. 'What is really that drives you?'
Pause.

'Will achieving that dream, would fulfill your life?'
Pause.

'Do we need to burn our selves too, ignoring people who've been there, done that?'
Pause.

'If entrepreneurship is about been smarter, shouldn't we be reflecting more than acting too fast?'
Pause.

Android domination, in numbers.

This picture tells a remarkable story of android domination, which might be the greatest tech domination in history. Picture above and quote below was pulled out from a google+ post of Tim O'Reilly. 

Look at the numbers. Impressive figures. It goes on to show that in a complex competitive eco system of devices, apps, operating systems, law suits, patents, telcos, etc, a well crafted business model, always lead.

In two short years Android has blown up the mobile market, going from 142m users (57% market share) to 709m users. This incredible growth is surely one of the most rapid marches to market dominance in history. iOS has also grown substantially from 75m users in Q2 2011 to 232m users in Q3 2013 (19% market share). The big loser is Symbian, which has fallen from a 20% market share to 5% in just two years. This is followed by Blackberry (down to 5% share) and Windows Mobile (6% market share), although Windows Mobile has recently started to grow again in 2013.

Interestingly, “Don’t know” has fallen from 20% market share to 5% market share, indicating how important the OS experience has become to users.

These results underline how mobile operating systems have radically reshaped the internet experience. Today, thanks to OS integration of internet services (e.g sharing via Twitter), in-built aggregation tools and the central positioning of app stores means the operating system is increasingly defining how we use the internet. This has far-reaching impacts across all aspects of digital behavior and can be crystalized in the example of the growth of messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Snapchat and Line. No longer do we need one service to do it all;operating systems promote the usage of an increasing number of services that do one thing, and do it well.

Sri Lanka Rich List

'Rich' is the new buzz now. In past, I looked at rich on Silicon Valley, then on Indians in awe. Now it's our own.
Forbes published 'the richest 6 of Sri Lanka', few days back. (Read full article )
It talked about Dhammika Perera's journey. (Read full article )

This gives 'hope' for entrepreneurs. If Sri Lanka to get the best from the window of opportunity now, having lots of entrepreneurs is the way.

It might be a clear indication of where Sri Lanka is heading. Getting rich is always good. It alleviates poverty. There's the other side too - the dark side. The greedy and the corrupt, that take over the 'gold rush'. Enron, Lehman brothers & Galleon told us how not to run a company.

But greed is omnipresent.

It's premature to tell. Sri Lanka has the chance to be a model for sustainability. There are lot of 'if's.

Faraz Shouketaly has written a book on the same. This is from their PR.

The Rich List Company today announced that its 2013 edition of The Sri Lanka Rich List, written by internationally renowned investigative journalist Faraz Shauketaly, will be available from Friday, December 6. It will be released with an official launch party at the RnR @ Racecourse in Colombo. This definitive guide to the richest in Sri Lanka celebrates the extraordinary citizens who believe in their country and its potential, and is built on a solid foundation of transparent wealth and deep research into financial and corporate Sri Lanka. Expect names such as Stassen Group’s Harry Jayawardena, Odel’s celebrity CEO Otara Gunewardena, and Dhammika Perera, whose fortune is estimated to be at US$550 million by Forbes Asia.

More can be found from the website : thesrilankarichlist.com

Google + Android domination of smart devices

"Fusion Smart Village" started off in 2010, with Google Nexus 1 phones in Sri Lanka.
At this moment, the tech savvy around the globe are head over heals about Google Nexus 5.

This video by Marques Browniee explains how Google (with Nexus 5, Kitkat and Google 'now') will high jack even the iOS environment.




Since 2010, smart devices have made tremendous strides. It will just keep getting better with Google glass, smart watches, and soon on your fridges, cars and watching machines.

The time has come for machines to start conversation among machines, with out our intervention.
Science fiction has become so real.