Decisions, Decisions...

I hate making decisions that alter the path your life is going to take. I made one this afternoon and I will look straight ahead and try not to look back but it's going to be hard, VERY hard.

I chose to accept the position as a Lead in the Windows Rights Management team. I passed up the opportunity to interview with the NT Server Performance team for many reasons, the most compelling being not starting from a clean slate but leveraging the three years of experience I have gained doing what I do. Eventually, all paths lead to management so why wait five more years before giving in to the dark side?

Excited I am, nervous too - will I be a good manager, only time will tell. Time to clean up my act first though...

Podcasting

Any article that begins like this is bound to grab my attention:

For anyone who loves listening to the wide variety of internet audio programming, but can't always listen to their favorite shows when they're scheduled or take the time to download them manually, help has arrived.

Known as podcasting, the technology is a new take on syndicated content feeds like RSS and Atom. But instead of pushing text from blogs and news sites to various content aggregators like FeedDemon and Bloglines, podcasting sends audio content directly to an iPod or other MP3 player.

I read something about Podcasting last evening on Robert Scoble's blog and then visited iPodder.org, downloaded the client and am gonna get hooked on GEEK radio shows :)

The article on Wired goes on to say that the shows currently are for geeks primarily but there is hope; if this fad catches on, regular radio programming might become available as a podCast. I can't live without streaming audio from Shoutcast so maybe sometime in the future, PodCasting might become an intrinsic part of my life. For now though, I'd rather listen to music on my iPod ;)

ASP.NET Security Flaw Can Bypass Password

And I know people at MS who use ASP.Net extensively to write "SECURE" webpages. People who've done this in the past and are reading this, read this article to hear Microsoft's official story on the problem and the workaround you should currently implement to ensure your "restricted" pages don't become open for viewing...

Your Time is Gonna Come

Lyin', cheatin', hurtin, that's all you seem to do.
Messin' around with every guy in town,
Puttin' me down for thinkin' of someone new.
Always the same, playin' your game,
Drive me insane, trouble is gonna come to you,
One of these days and it won't be long,
You'll look for me but baby, I'll be gone.
This is all I gotta say to you woman:

[Chorus]
Your Time Is Gonna Come [X4]

Made up my mind to break you this time,
Won't be so fine, it's my turn to cry.
Do what you want, I won't take the brunt.
It's fadin' away, can't feel you anymore.
Don't care what you say 'cause I'm goin' away to stay,
Gonna make you pay for that great big hole in my heart.
People talkin' all around,
Watch out woman, no longer
Is the joke gonna be on my heart.
You been bad to me woman,
But it's coming back home to you.

[Chorus]

So poignant, so true and so satisfying...

The Outcome

Stage 1 - Decided to search for a new position
Stage 2 - Found a few I liked; applied for informationals
Stage 3 - Got an interview call from some, rejected by others
Stage 4 - Prepared for the interviews only as best as I could
Stage 5 - Interviewed
Stage 6 - Got a job offer - SDE/T Lead in the Windows Rights Management Team

Thanks to all who wished me luck, prayed for my success, helped me study and/or was just there to give me advice and mental support. There is one more stage though,

Stage 7 - Accept offer?

Shall keep you posted - my career seems to be in flux - time to rein myself in...

So what ultimately defines a relationship

... Another relationship! Yours, your ex-partner's, anyone's...

If the God can be tensed b4 a game...

Sachin Tendulkar for me is God - his presence does wonders for the team's morale, it makes the team compete harder just so that they can outdo his achievement. It is never intentional but that is the nature of greatness - when you are around it, you tend to emulate it.

I wondered about how nervous and edgy I was before my interviews this past week but in this interview, The God himself talks about how he gets nervous before every game, before every walk to the crease. Suddenly, i don't feel that small or abnormal anymore... :)

Excerpts:

Q: Does this kind of adulation - not just a comment like this by an Australian player - but the adulation you get from this huge country - does it put enormous pressure on you?
A: It does not put pressure because I feel I have to live upto my own expectations. People are going to expect little more than what is required and there is no (no) end to it. If I score 150 today, tomorrow they would expect me to score 200, and 250 the third day. So if I can be little more realistic and live up to my own expectations, I think I will do a decent job. And that is what I always try and do.

Q: You do it wonderfully well. When you go out to bat particularly before the Indian crowds what goes through your mind? You have nearly a 100,000 people in a stadium like Eden Gardens in Calcutta. What goes through your mind at that time?
A: I do get tensed and worked up. That is only till I go to the crease and once I have reached the crease and I am pretty okay after that. I sort of like that feeling because that feeling always keeps you on your toes.

Q: Are you tensed up before any particular match?
A: I am tensed virtually before every game. I feel that pressure all the time. Once I have gone in the middle then I am pretty okay.

Such modesty, I say...