[Autobiography] iWoz : Steve Wozniak

IBM may have started the revolution, but the era of personal computers began with Apple 1 and Apple 2, created almost single-handedly by Steve Wozniak. Hence, when I came across his autobiography, it was hard not to pick it up!

iWoz differs from other memoirs in the respect that there is no undue stress on dates and places; instead the focus is on events that shaped him. Particularly interesting is the part played by his father in developing the curiosity of an intelligent child.

Steve emphasizes the pride he feels to be an engineer, a statement that recurs throughout the book. He recounts the early days of Apple, its amazing rise to become one of Fortune 500 companies in a decade, and the reasons that led to many of the controversies. He concludes with “Rules to Live By”, a chapter in which he discusses his philosophy of life at length.

Language is disarmingly simple and unpretentious. Every thought is dealt in short paragraphs, focusing on the bare essentials. The book gives an insight into the life of a man who can undoubtedly be said to be one of the pioneers of computer age, and clears a few misconceptions about Apple, one of most innovative companies of our times.

[Book] The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Well, I read this book last weekend.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
David Fickling Books (a division of Random House)

When I picked up the book and read thru first page, the style of the author seemed funny--short sentences, precision where you would least expect it-- and, interestingly fresh. That's the reason I bought it.

The book is in first person, and as Christopher Boone, the narrator puts it, is intended to be a murder mystery. Christopher is a 15-year kid, with a photographic memory and amazing abilities in math & science. One night, he finds his neighbour's dog killed. Being a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories, he decides to become a detective and solve the murder mystery. What unravels is a amazing journey that touches math, science, psychology, philosophy, literature in most amazing ways.

A few pages later, it becomes increasingly clear that the book isn't that funny. The humour-- and there's plenty of it-- arises out of an autistic boy's perceptions of things and events around him. On one hand, you feel like laughing out aloud, but on other hand, your heart reaches out for the boy who seems unaware of the most basic realities of the life. You also realise the difficulties that the parents of such children have to go through.

Do try this book at least once. I read it twice in a single day. It made my journey of 800 kms much bearable.

[Review] Saawariya... the music

Over last two days, I have been listening to songs from Saawariya, the next movie directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali that is slated for release in November. Bhansali’s films so far have been appreciated for their music. Not surprisingly, expectations were running high for Saawariya.... and the album doesn’t disappoint. Monty Sharma, who assisted Bhansali during Black, has composed the score for Saawariya. He has done a superb job, bringing back the melody which seems to have been lost in the cacophony of sounds that is passed under the name of music these days.

As to the songs themselves...
The number of songs is a bit on higher side (about 12 in all), but many are of a short duration, lasting under 3 minutes. They have been rendered by established singers likes Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal and Kunal Gaanjaawaala as well new two new voices: Shail Hada and Paarthiv Gohil.

The title track sung solo by Shail Hada is a trendy number that creates an upswing mood. At some points, it has traces of Kishore's style.
"Thode badmaash ho tum" reminds one of "Bairi Piya" from Devdas. It has the same playfully romantic lyrics and sung to a similar tune. Another common factor is Shreya Ghoshal who has sung both the songs. Shreya next comes up with Sawar Gayi... another of my favourites and Masha-Allah; the latter a duet with Kunal Ganjawaala.

I am not particularly fond of Shaan, but couldn't help loving "Jabse tere naina".... very nicely sung! Yun Shabnami... definitely my most fav among all the numbers, is a pleasant melody sung in an understated way that makes it particularly sweet. After a couple of lines, the song surprisingly transforms into a qawwali style-chorus, but thankfully doesn’t stay that way for long. However, it ends in an abrupt way... perhaps the picturisation might provide the reason for this.

"Daras bina naahi chain”, from classical genre, has a haunting score depicting pain and anguish...a hallmark of Bhansali's movies.

Among other tracks, there is a playful "Chhabeela" by veteran singer Alka Yagnik. It has good beats of dhol and is rendered very efficiently.
"Pari" by Kunal Ganjaawalaa is the only track that seems to be the odd-one out, in my personal opinion. Kunal’s style doesn’t seem to gel with the effect created by other songs.

All songs lend themselves to the ear; primarily for the reason that the music is low on use of instruments and doesn’t drown out the voice of the singer…you can actually make out the words being sung! I haven't seen the trailers, but my friends who have seen have loved them.

Saawariya, the movie, features two newcomers as lead pair and has generated quite a buzz, in spite of a head-on release with Om Shanti Om. I am looking forward to treating myself with Bhansali's sensitivity and SRK's charisma.

The Search : John Battelle

Hi,

This week, Google celebrates its 9th birthday.
Rise of every company spawns a number of books written about it. First it was IBM, then Microsoft and Apple... and now it's time of Google. Earlier, I had written about The Google Story. Last week, I read another book related to same subject.

The SearchBy: John BattelleNicholas Brealley Publishing

This book is not just about Google, but about the search economy at large. Nevertheless, Google features in each and every chapter and most of the discussion revolves around the rise of company so far and its future prospects. Battelle begins with a background of search before Google. Next, he describes the lives of Google founders: Larry Page & Sergey Brin and their days at Stanford and the first days of the company. This is followed by rise of Google rise and its historic IPO. The book concludes with a discussion about the search in future, and the impact it would have on our day-to-day lives.

The book is certainly worth a read because unlike other books, it dares to ask some uncomfortable questions about the most-loved company of our age. It is ironical that Google hoards information about the world is very reticent when it comes to sharing details about itself. Also, the way Google compromised its search results to exclude the links that offended Chinese govt has not gone down well with many of industry experts.

[Book] The Google Story

Well, in the week beofre last I did a cumulative travel of 2500 kms, in 60 hours. The journey would have been lonesome, if not for a couple of books. Here are my comments abt one of them.

The Google Story
By David A ViseMacMillan Publication

Google is something that each one of us uses extensively. But how many of us have ever paused a bit to wonder about the search engine itself? if you have, then this book is for you.

It begins with some concise background info abt the Google founders, Larry Page & Sergey Brin; their camradierie at Stanford, the founding of Google in a garage and its rise to a $80-billion behemoth. The book ends at August 2005.

It makes for a fairly interesting read.... I say "fairly"interesting, and not "highly" interesting, because I am not quite happy with the writing style of author. It is something like those history textbooks that we survived in our school-days.. there are no dialogues and very few exciting moments. In short, the book lacks the passion, the intensity which is associated with anything that is Google.

Still, I would recommend the book as it does provide some little-known facts about this highly reclusive company.

[Instrumentals] Gaata Rahe Mera Violin : Prabhakar Jog

Violin happens to be a favourite instrument of mine... no! I can't play it, but yes.. I love to listen. In India, it is not as commonly popular as other instruments.

Gaata Rahe Mera Violin by Prabhakar Jog would rank one of the best pieces available. The pack contains six CDs, each costing Rs.100/- if purchased individually. Out of six, four CDs are of Marathi songs and 2 are Hindi film instrumentals.

The CDs are good music companions for long stretches of lonely travels, or to listen to while working. Just push in a CD, and you find yourself humming a tune without getting distracted from the task at hand.

The only drawback I can say is, in Hindi songs, all are only of Lata Mangeshkar. No complaints about that, all the songs are my favourites; nevertheless, it would have been great to have an assortment of songs by Asha, Rafi, Kishore and Manna De as well.

[Music] Classical Songs from Films: HMV

HMV has a huge collection of melodies recorded during the Golden Era of Hindi Film music. No wonder that it keeps on churning out compilations of these songs in various categories. Recently, I chanced to have a valuable piece of the same.

Classical Songs from Films is a pack of 2 CDs, costing Rs. 250/-. A look at the contents is enough to justify the price. It has most of the popular favourites such as:

• Madhuban Me Radhika-Rafi
• Bole re papihara-Vani Jairam
• Ajahu Na aaye-Rafi/Suman
• Sawan aaye na aaye-Rafi/Asha
• Naino mein badra chhaye-Lata
• Rasik Balma-Lata
• Aayo Kahan Ghanashyaam-Manna De
• Puchcho na kaise maine-Manna De
• Biti na bitai raina-Lata
• Hume tumse pyar kitna-Parveen Sultana

It also has some songs that are quite unheard of... My personal favourites among these are:

• Ja Re Badra bairi ja: Lata
• Tere Naina Talaash Karein: Manna De
• Garjat Barsat Sawan Aayo Re: Suman
• Re mann sur mein gaa: Manna De-Asha
• Ketaki Gulab Juhi: Manna De-Bhimsen Joshi

As someone who has grown on MP3s, buying this pack was in itself was a major milestone for me. Indeed, why buy 25 songs for Rs. 250/- when you can get nearly 100-130 songs for something like 30/-? However, since I have been harping a lot about protecting my own IPR (An Open Letter to Forward Enthusiasts) , the realization has been that I must respect the same in others too! MP3s clearly do not achieve this. Moreover, an original CD definitely has much better sound quality!

Do get this pack in your collection. Nothing can match the pleasure of listening to "Ja re badra bairi ja" on a cloudy evening, or listening to Manna De and Asha Bhonsle match each other note for note in "Re mann sur me gaa"...

Welcome to G Reviewz!

Well, I scratched my head quite a lot to come up with a better, "heavy" title for the blog, but just couldn’t think of any... and so ended up with this. Come to think of it...Does it really matter?

Now, to what I shall be scribbling here... It would mostly be my thoughts and reactions towards books that I read, moviews that I watch, software applications that I use, places that I occasionally visit, so on and so forth...

Since these are "G-Reviews", they are entirely personal in nature. I make no claims of any authority on any of the topics I may venture to comment on.

Just a minute... did I just write "moviews"? I meant movies... Seems the strain of coming up with a suitable title is getting on my nerves. So I had better sign off for now, heh heh..

See you soon.

-GS.

07-07-07

[Biography] Einstein: His Life & Universe

Einstein: His Life & Universe
By Walter Isaacson

Few books have created the kind of excitement the way this biography has. I read a short review of it in Sunday Express about three weeks ago, got curious and looked for more reviews on Internet. To say that people have liked this book would be a gross underestimation. It has been hailed as one of the best biographies ever written. Here is what The New Yorker has to say about it:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/02/070402crbo_books_updike

What makes it so special?First of all, it is the biography of one of the greatest geniuses of all times. Few people inspire the kind of awe that Einstein does. So much so, that the name Einstein itself has become something of a synonym for “genius”. And understandably so! Photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, Special Theory of Relativity, General Theory of Relativity... each of these would have been enough to put him among the greatest scientists. However, he never seemed to be complacent of his achievements. Even during his last days, he was working on the Grand Unified Theory, a theory that would bring together General Relativity & Quantum Theory.

The name Walter Isaacson is familiar to me because of his interview of Bill Gates for Reader's Digest about a decade ago. At that time, Gates was fresh from the spectacular success of Windows 95, and he was crushing the competition in a ruthless way. There were two extreme reactions towards him: people either worshipped him as a visionary out to transform the world or some evil genius set out to rule the world. Isaacson's interview of Gates brought out a humane side of him and showed us all was Bill was as human as all of us, just a bit more competitive.

I am very much looking forward to reading this biography of Einstein.

More about the book can be read here:
http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Life-Universe-Walter-Isaacson/dp/0743264738