Entrepreneur Geek

On 21st July, we organized the Mozilla Indic Developers meet at HBCSE. The latest Linux Magazine carries a note about the event.

It was our honor to organize the event! Thanks to Kartik and HBCSE for making it possible! And thanks to Sankarshan for sending the link!

Confession # 1: The more I watch TED videos, the more I become a TED fan. Not sure when I will become a TEDster. May be a TED in India!

Confession # 2: I am not a gamer. But I love to learn new things and innovate.

So, I watched the video of Will Wright demonstrating Spore, his latest game, and I was thrilled! Will Write is the guy who invented a new genre of gaming that does not involve just killing or racing against each other. He created SimCity, The Sims and is now doing Spore.

Spore starts as a single cell being in water. You then “amplify your imagination”, explore the world around you, consuming smaller creatures to survive. As you move along, you experience evolution of creatures. You can even create your own creatures (design them, set their bones, number of body parts they have and more..).

As you grow, you go through the Tide Pool phase, the Creature phase, the Tribal phase, the Civilization phase and finally the Space phase. You can conquer planets, create life there. And may even destroy it if you create too much heat.

The game is not only entertaining, it is also a superb learning experience. You will learn more about the way the universe works in a half an hour playing time with the game than a class.

I am waiting for the game to be released! Would you like to play such a game?

Recommendation # 1: Play it!

Recommendation # 2: Watch TED videos!

A few days ago, I went to see a play called Ilhaam with office friends and Nikita. The performance was at Prithvi, and I felt it was just the right place to see the play. Sitting in the second row of the auditorium, less than 10 feet from the actors, I got into the play.

The Mumbai Theatre Guide had the following preview for Ilhaam:

A man… Standing on the edge…Eager to take that leap…into his childhood…Yet a fear holds him back…the fear of losing his past & present.

Because he remembers the boatman who was stoned out of the village for talking to a bird and the beggar whose beautiful songs nobody could hear.

Because, at least once, we have all called him mad. That half naked man who shambles down our street, clutching his whole life in a sack and muttering god-knows-what to himself.

Because he knows that those who were dancing were thought to be insane by those who couldn’t hear the music.

The acting was very good, but I was touched by the concept. The cliched thought that those whom we call mad, think the rest are mad, was very evident. But the sheer joy in simplicity and the ease of being a child came out powerfully. Manav Kaul, the writer & director has done great job with dialogs as well. Check out two:

• Paida hua tabhi to shant kua tha. Phir khilaune dale, thode patthar dale. Bacha tha to dusro ke expectations dale. Phir pani hi nahi bacha.
• Park me meine ek nirash aadmi ko dekha. Mein us aadmi ko to nahi janta tha, lekin uski nirasha ko janta tha. Meine apna haath badhaya. Usne haath tham liya. Woh mujhe to nahi janta tha, mere hath badhane ko janta tha. Hum dono saath chalte gaye. Hum ek dusro ko nahi jante the, lekin saath chalne ko jaante the.

By the end of the play, none of us could figure out the meaning of Ilhaam, but were in awe. Here’s what I found around the web:

• Kashaf/Ilhaam (unveiling of arcane knowledge)
  Kashaf, or Ilhaam is the stage where man starts getting information that most people are unable to observe. In the beginning, this condition occurs suddenly without personal control. With practice, the mind gets so energized that it can get this knowledge by will. (on wikipedia)
• The literal meaning of the word Ilhaam is to swallow or drink. But when this word is used for God it would mean revelation or sending word. AuhAllah would mean that God sent an angel and sent revelation through him. Ilhaam is used for the converse of God Almighty with men. It is called Ilhaam because it descends upon the heart of the person concerned and it descends very quickly and with a glory of its own, and even though other people may be near the recipient, they remain unaware of what is happening. (from Al Islam)

I enjoy thinking abstract and non linear. Sometimes this can be absurd. But this way of thinking gives me solutions to the most difficult problems. Madness is revelation.

Watch the play if you can!

No, I have not made that list. Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge of Taschen GmbH has! And it’s great! This comes straight from TED blog:

The Web is constantly turning out new and extraordinary services many of us are unfamiliar with. During TED University at this spring’s TED2007 in Monterey, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, offered an ultra-fast-moving ride through sites in many different areas, from art, design and illustration, to daily news, blogs and curiosity. Now, by popular demand, here’s his list of 100 websites you should know and use >>

There is no video unfortunately! I would have loved to see the video! BTW, I didn’t know most of these sites

What follows, are pointers to must read material for anyone interested in improving their presentations!

I firmly believe slides are supplementary. Speaker is more important. Too many people make the slides more important than themselves. Even with the presentations, it’s really important to tell a story and grab the audience with what you are showing. I have done many “bullet points” presentations with stock photos for spice, but I think it needs something more than that to do good presentations. I have used various techniques to make my presentations interesting (I should put up a few online I guess!)

Merlin Mann has put up a few learnings on how he made his presentations a little better! Merlin presented about “Inbox Zero” at Google a few days ago and the talk received very good response. The article led me to Garr Reynold’s Presentation Zen! It’s amazing! Cliff Atkinson’s Beyond Bullets was what got me thinking about my presentations six years ago, and I think Garr is going to be next!

That reminds, I still have to watch Steve Jobs do the Apple Keynote and learn how he does it