Managing your career is like grocery shopping...
What you want may not be available
What are available may not be what you want
You may not be able to afford what you want
You may have been shopping at the wrong market
You may have looked really hard and end up buying the wrong thing
You may have bought the right thing by accident
The vendors may give you bad attitudes!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
DailyTech - NVIDIA CEO: "We're Going to Open a Can of Whoop Ass"
I really admire the CEO of nVidia for having the guts to speak his mind on Intel and their false marketing campaign. The fact is, Intel's integrated graphics is not up to par in terms of 3D capability. The CPU-centric marketing theme is to try to convince people that CPU + MMX (or whatever the multimedia extensions are called these days) are sufficient for all your entertainment needs, be it gaming or HD video decoding. The statement is true for the typical consumer whose idea of gaming is Mindsweep and thinks that 3D GUI consists of nothing but semi-translucent windows and icons. It's not so true if you're avid gamers or interested in viewing true HD video on your laptop. See DailyTech - NVIDIA CEO: "We're Going to Open a Can of Whoop Ass".
Friday, April 04, 2008
You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss
Foud this artical You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss accidentally at EconLog. It talked about the differences between programmers working at large companies and those working at start-ups (or even working for their own start-ups). The freedom one can enjoy at start-ups and the risk-taking culture often propels one to learn and grow at a faster pace compared with those working at larger companies.
Even though the article discussed software programmers, I found it to be very relevant to even hardware engineers as well. Having worked at start-ups for seven years before moving to Marvell, I felt that the difference is quite astounding. The group that I belong to actually is a pretty new one (only founded in Feb 2006), and most of the team members, including the department head and key managers, came from other start-ups. We also get to work on brand-new projects, rather than feature improvements or cost-down versions of some tired old stuff. However, in order for the team to blend in with the rest of the company, and in order for a larger team to move forward in a cohesive manner, many restrictions and guidelines were implemented that I found to be suffocating and counter-productive.
I found myself to still long for the days of working at a start-up. Hopefully my own, but it doesn't really matter. Engineering is a boring profession unless one is allowed to put the creativity to good use. Otherwise it's no different from an auto mechanics...
Even though the article discussed software programmers, I found it to be very relevant to even hardware engineers as well. Having worked at start-ups for seven years before moving to Marvell, I felt that the difference is quite astounding. The group that I belong to actually is a pretty new one (only founded in Feb 2006), and most of the team members, including the department head and key managers, came from other start-ups. We also get to work on brand-new projects, rather than feature improvements or cost-down versions of some tired old stuff. However, in order for the team to blend in with the rest of the company, and in order for a larger team to move forward in a cohesive manner, many restrictions and guidelines were implemented that I found to be suffocating and counter-productive.
I found myself to still long for the days of working at a start-up. Hopefully my own, but it doesn't really matter. Engineering is a boring profession unless one is allowed to put the creativity to good use. Otherwise it's no different from an auto mechanics...
Friday, February 22, 2008
andLinux.org
Just found out a really cool Linux system that allows one to run most Linux applications on Windows without launching a separate virtual machine such as VMWare or virtualBox. It's called andLinux. Got to check it out some time.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Eisenhower Interstate System in Subway Map Style
This is what the Eisenhower Interstate system looks like once simplified into a subway map like style. Pretty cool, I think. See here
Friday, January 26, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Fact or Fiction?: Premium Gasoline Delivers Premium Benefits to Your Car -- Exploding the myth that p
So there you go: as long as the car maker doesn't specifically specify that your car needs premium gas, using premium gas doesn't buy you extra benefits. At least so say scientists. Read for yourself: Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Fact or Fiction?: Premium Gasoline Delivers Premium Benefits to Your Car -- Exploding the myth that premium gasoline delivers better performance in the average automobile
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Bandai's Gundam robot goes life sized - Engadget
This is so cool... life sized Gundam robot. I wish I could get one and place it at the entrance of my cubicle. See Bandai's Gundam robot goes life sized - Engadget
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Thursday, December 07, 2006
patrissimo: Women aren't in science because...
Patrissimo's explanation on why women aren't in science is right on, I think. Personally, I think too many men try to appear superior and stay ahead with their peer that they end up picking the wrong battle to fight. Or put it another way: men often want to continue to feel good about their accomplishments, or refuse to admit their wrong career choices, that they end up making the wrong decision for the wrong reason. That's why many men got into the wrong kind of jobs in the first place, and are afraid to get out because doing so will amount to admitting their failure.
