me against the world

One of these days
You’ll miss your train, and come stay with me
It’s always say goodnight and go
We’ll have drinks and talk about things
And any excuse to stay awake with you…

- by the lovely Imogen Heap.

I mentioned previously that this internship experience has opened many doors for me and has given me a better view of all the options that lie before me.

After attending the conference last week, what was just beginning to be a mild blur of thoughts in my head has now become a tangled web of questions, concerns, and ideas.

I am currently contemplating whether or not I should upgrade from my Honours BA Degree in Media, Information, and Technoculture with a Major in Computer Science, to getting a second degree: a BSC in Computer Science. I am also contemplating getting an Honours BSC since I can very well do so (with only one mark being below the cut-off and that is by 2 percent, so I can hope to win a fight for an appeal).

I am still seriously considering doing an exchange and my curiosity of partaking in graduate studies is on-going.

I am concerned because if I upgrade I won’t be done school for another two years (after this internship ends). If I decide to do graduate school (in either computer science or media studies – though a combination would be sweet), I won’t finish studying until I am in my late twenties.

A part of me wants to be starting my career by then. Another part of me longs to start a family around then too. And in between all of this, I want to travel.

How do you find a balance between ambition in all of these sectors? It has to be possible.

Oh and I must not forget the question of how I am going to find the money for all of my ambitions…

I am also left contemplating with an intensifying worry what kind of job I actually want when I eventually finish all my studies. I aspire to do something meaningful in this world, to make a difference, and to set a strong example for my peers and my future children. I see the way our world is spiraling down dark paths and I want to make a difference so that future generations can live happy, healthy, and peaceful lives.

So what kind of job do I take on that does that? How can I be a responsible developer in the technological world and ensure that nothing that I create falls into the wrong hands? How do I ensure that whatever work I do isn’t controlled by a company who cares more about money than people; who sells things to the military or abuses the rights of humans in their practices? So many things happen behind hidden (but not always closed) doors.

How can I be a responsible media reporter or public relations consultant without blurring the lines of objectivity? How do I work to give everyone equal opportunity without tilting the scales of inequality for myself?

More than that, how do I show and convince my parents that there is much more to me and my desires than just getting a computing job in a corporation that pays well?

I understand their reasons. I do worry about getting a job that will allow me to adequately provide for my future family as well as satisfy my other personal goals.

So, how on earth do you find that balance? Which paths should I take now to get to where I want to be?

I wish there was a manual.

I spent the past month working hard and stressing about this big conference at work. It suddenly arrived on Sunday and with a flash was over by the end of Thursday. It was definitely an experience I will not forget.

I worked early and late; ran around the hotel helping multiple people with multiple problems all at once; ran a booth in the technology showcase; attended two different workshops; worked at the hectic registration desk; ran around an audience three mornings with a microphone to take questions for speakers; participated in my first ‘hack night’; ran missions in the rain (to get a printer, ink, transfer paper, an iron and an ironing board for hack night); listened to keynote speakers; networked with various people; ate a lot; stressed a lot; and slept like a baby at every chance I could (which were few and far between).

It was a lot of fun, despite the stress and lack of sleep. If I have my way, I will be attending the conference next year as a participant.

I also was ecstatic about being able to live it up in my own suite and that definitely made the stress of having to stay up until 2am working on a presentation much more bearable. I had a room that could be occupied by four people all to myself for two nights, and then shared it with a friend (an attendee at the conference) for the last two nights.

I can look forward to the same (if not more intensified) stress and excitement in March when I head to Tokyo!

Everyone likes to feel special.

You can’t deny that fact. I’ve known it for a very long time now and I know that I enjoy making people feel special - especially my friends.

It’s also a very good marketing tactic. Back when I used to run JoshHartnett.net, I tapped into the reality that a lot of people like to see their name up in the “spotlight”. So, in order to get people to help me out and find content for the site, I had to figure out a way to make people feel special. I needed to find a way to make them really see how much I appreciated their work and I had to give them something in return. It worked out like this: whenever people sent me something, after confirming with the agent that the news was legit, I would post it on the news page. And beneath every news entry I would include a “special thanks to” followed by the names and links of the wonderful people who helped me out. This worked like a charm and I had some very loyal contributors. Ultimately, it helped build my “a site for the fans, by the fans” credibility.

We are hosting a huge dinner party during the conference next week and have invited 300+ people. Over the past little while, I have been going through various lists and sending out reminders asking people to reply by a certain date so that we can finalize our seating arrangements. I explained to a co-worker (another student) that while it’s tediuous and time-consuming, I am going through and sending individual e-mails. I personalize the salutation of every e-mail but send the same generic body text, and have done this for about a hundred or so people. I explained to her that people like to feel special and by doing this I was sure to make people think: “wow, they really want me to come. I should really reply and let them know since they actually remember who I am…”

She just gave me an odd look and didn’t understand.

Then today, I got an e-mail back from someone and it made my day. The text was as follows (with a few edits for privacy reasons):

Hi Uma,

I’ve been ignoring [my boss]’s emails about the dinner because I assumed that she was using a generic, rather than targetted, mailing list. From your mail, it would appear that’s not the case.

I regret that I will not be able to attend the dinner. But please pass on my best wishes to [my boss] and the rest of the attendees, and I hope the dinner is a rousing success.

Cheers

It’s kind of like how people say you should take the time to write to that author who touched you with their book, especially if they aren’t really famous. Or if someone drew a really funny comic in a newspaper - let them know that you fell off your chair laughing.

People like to be acknowledged. Try it some time. You’ll make someone’s day.

I spent too much money this summer, but while I was doing it I managed to have one of the best summers of my life so far. I spent it with some of the best of friends and experienced some of the greatest times; I will not be forgetting any of it anytime soon.

But now it’s moving into the second week of October and my daily life is very different. I am no longer going out after work almost every day (and thus, not getting yelled at every night - although the one time I do go out, I still get words tossed my way), and life at work is a lot busier than it ever was before.

I still cannot believe that time is flying by so quickly. Soon the big conference I have been anticipating at work will be over, and then I will be looking forward to the big competition I will be working on and attending in the Spring. There is a very big chance that I will be in Tokyo for a week in March but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Already I am incredibly satisfied with this year away from school and this internship, and there are 10.5 months left to go. I’m experiencing and learning so many things. I am begining to really realize and contemplate the vast number of opportunities that lie in my future, and I don’t think I would have noticed them if I had stayed at school.

All in all, despite the changes in my social life, things are good.

It’s Thanksgiving Monday (in Canada), and I’m at work again. Something about these long weekends. On Friday I had a wonderful time in downtown Toronto with the London crew (plus two lovely male add-ons) eating sushi and desserts. Then I spent my days reading books and watching “Lost” until today when my brother and his fiancee came over to visit. And now I’m at work trying to get some stuff done before the craziness that is this week begins. I’m also planning to meet up with high school folks in an hour or so.

As you can tell, I’ve changed the layout on this website. I gave in and downloaded a theme because I wanted a change, but couldn’t find the creativity nor time to make one myself. I miss the days when I used to churn out creative and rich layouts all the time. My design portfolio was vast with different styles and content, but over the past few years I just haven’t been bothered. Anyway, for now this layout will do. I still have to fix a few bugs here and there, but it’ll be complete soon.

Anyway, back to work.

Smiling is infectious; you catch it like the flu
When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner and someone saw my grin
When he smiled I realized I’d passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth,
A single smile, just like mine could travel round the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin, dont leave it undetected
Lets start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!