gutfeel.com

Came across the blog of Malcolm Gladwell whose books ‘Tipping Point’ and ‘Blink’ are a huge success. Still not finished with ‘Blink’, but I find it pretty intriguing, more so because Gutfeel is the core concept, which has influenced the author to come up with a book on the same. Of whatever, I have read of Blink it talks about the snap decisions we take in our personal and professional lives. Interestingly, if we sit back and analyze (to bring in some logic here) most of these decisions are correct, which means that we don’t repent later.

This is a true story which of course i didn’t make up myself…picked it up coz more than the moral i liked the way it has been presented…

A man found himself floating down the rapids in a river at the bottom of a canyon, miles from anywhere, in the middle of a wilderness area with his ankle broken in half.

Having been trained on how to get out of the rapids, he determined that he would get to the shore, and he did.

Not having been trained in what to do with a broken ankle in the bottom of a canyon…he determined that he would walk out of the canyon and up the steep, rocky path just as he had come down.

He did not.

You see, his ankle had the deciding vote, and it had decided that walking up a rocky slope was not in its best interest.

A sad day for all who somewhere praised Mahajan for his leadership qualities and the fact that he was a good manager and was politically savvy. Mahajan was seen as a “technocrat” leader, sans a firm grassroots political base.

It was really appalling how his younger brother killed him right in his own house. That this kind of hatred that can come forth from ones kith and kin is something to ponder. Was this person named Pravin Mahajan out of his mind when he shot his own brother and lead him to his fateful death…how much hatred and disgust led him to commit such a heinous crime…the intensity of which is even more magnified by the fact that the victim was his own brother. And the irony is that the pistol which was used by Pravin Mahajan was provided to him only after Promod’s request to the concerned authorities. Little did he knew that his brother would use the same weapon to eventually murder him.

I was somewhat forced to share my views on the subject when I read a similar post on my brother’s blog Utopia. Is media turning into some kind of female fraternity? This is a potent question and one can witness a splurge of news channels both old and new employing journalists who are venturing into a domain which has been a field of the so-called intellectual males. So these women can discuss anything and everything and come up with their solutions to the worldly problems too!! It is very evident that the role models in media are soon changing, and how! We have journalists like Barkha Dutt, Sonali Chander, and a whole lot of upcoming faces on the tellly who are creating a whole new arena for themselves in this field. And yes, the viewer ship has also increased as these women also have there fan following. They are slowly and surely carving a niche for themselves. Gone are the days when only journos like Pronnoy Roy would rule the roost!

I remembered that i have a blog which i was ignoring for long now. Lots to post actually but time crunch. I was thinking of developing another site, but suddenly realized that it would also require a lot of attention and time. So, shelved that idea for the time being (the site would be on elearning tools, have initiated the process by registering a domain name). Elearning might not be as creative as advertising or entertainment but it is equally chanllenging. Conceptualizing a one-liner or a tag-line for a product for a television commercial may be as difficult and time consuming as creating a one hour learning material . Lots of blah blah this is actually…just random thoughts though.

It’s again time which everyone looks forward to! So much to celebrate in so little time…I am eagerly awaiting for 2006 and hope it brings good luck and cheer for us. I want to start it with a small prayer for bringing in the good ‘chi’…

A prayer when I’m weary
as onward I trod,
A little more trusting,
believing in God.

Perhaps a bit wiser,
a bit kinder, too,
a little bit braver,
a heart that’s more true.

A touch of believing
I’ve not known before,
In joys I’m receiving
a little bit more.

Accepting the anguish
that life often brings,
A little more beauty
in life’s simple things.

’tis this I would wish for
within moments dear,
not a lot - just a little
this wondrous new year.

Wishing you all a very Happy 2006!

I did finish The Fountainhead at last! And all I can say is that I really liked it and want to read more of her works. (I have this uncanny habit of reading several books of the same author in case I like their writing.)

Ayn Rand takes a bit of time to build characters but the outcome is fabulous. Be it Howard Roark, Dominique Francon, Ellsworth Toohey, or Gail Wynand, each character has a soul and resembles real life people. What I liked very much was the fact that though the novel was written in early 1930s, it seems as if it is a story of modern times. The theory of objectivism is put forward by the protoganist Howard Roark during his trial is something to ponder. It advocates personal achievement over altruism, and the fact that no man can be happy by living for others sake. He has to first achieve his goals and then work towards achieving something for the society. Roark also condemns collectivism and says that the original idea for any work is of one person, the rest of the people working just to achieve that dream. There are people who do not compromise on their beliefs and work and there are also people, generally second handers, who sacrifice their soul to please others and thus achieve the material gains.

Different places are characterized by different languages and it amuses me very much to when I notice these differences when it pertains to a single language. For example, English is spoken differently at different places around the world. Similarly, in India, the way hindi is spoken in the north will be very distinct from that in the west. Here I am not only referring to the accent but the usage of words also. Different words are spoken in the same context. So the shades of language may vary from one place to another.

For people like me, who are still new in the elearning field, the resources and latest news will help to stay abreast of the latest elearning trends across the world. I have researched and listed down a few of the resources for my reference and for anyone in the same field. Here’s my take for the time being, will add more to the list.

eCornell Research Blog: This blog i came across contains relevant info and latest news on the elearning industry. It also has a list of elearning resources, which are quite comprehensive.

Learning for 2020: Another interesting blog is that of an Australian learning technologist whose views and visions about the future learning and the role of the instructor as a convincing evangelist, guardian angel, to a manipulative devil is worth a read. His views on how the students in 2020 will want to use technology for learning are quite fascinating.

I had always wanted to read this novel by Ayn Rand, but couldn’t find enough time for it. However, I did lay my hands on it a couple of days back on the visit to Crossword, the bookstore in Mumbai. A friend had suggested reading it long back and praised it so much that it remained somewhere at the back of mind.

At the outset, the first couple of pages were not at all interesting, but as it is progressing, it is becoming something to reckon with. As of now, I have only finished Part 1, but I am impressed. The characters have so much of substance that you are bound to think about the fact that can there be real people like them? Howard Roark, the architect, is shown so confident of whatever he does that it sometimes feels as if so much of confidence is indecent…he would not settle of anything less perfect in his profession (What he calls perfect is his perception, not what the world thinks and that’s where the conflicts arise). Other characters are also intriguing enough…but that’s all for now because I am again going to be glued to the novel and write down my reactions to it once I am through.