Recommended reading

Lately I have got much interest in understanding the science behind things. I attribute this sense of research motivated by reading Zen and Art of Motorcycle maintenance, book I recently purchased from Amazon for 50 cents. This book is unique among the books I have read so far as it explains and differentiates "Classics" and "Romantics". Classics are people who see abstract things, find connection among them and they have a love of technology(like understanding motorcycle maintenance), while romantics are people who hate technology as it does not make much sense to them, but they are forced to live with it. It is a best seller book written about 40 years ago talking mainly about philosophy, metaphysics, rational thinking, science and the author explains it comparing to motorcycle maintenance.

I have a feeling of both understanding the concepts written in the book and at the same time it leaves me confused. I think that makes it ticking and I 'm half the way through the book. It would be thoroughly enjoyable reading this book along with another person who has same wavelength as me. It will then give me an opportunity to discuss and analyze the concepts explained throughout the book. Most of my reading is done in the train while going to and fro to work and it also serves the purpose of giving me the "geeky" feel in the train, like other fellow passengers. I hardly sleep in the train and it helps me stay active during the morning hours at work. Moreover the train journey does not bore as this book travels me through a philosophical jaunt.

Does your laptop battery needs to be discharged fully before a recharge?

Most of this generation laptops come with Lithium ion batteries. Deep cycle discharge - discharging the battery fully to avoid memory effect, before another recharge - is not required for laptops which come with Lithium ion batteries. Li ion batteries do not suffer from memory effect - a phenomenon which causes deterioration the chemicals inside the battery causing them to reduce its full potential. The only issue with Lithium ion batteries' is -its capacity gradually starts decreasing from the time of its manufacture due to high internal resistance - which means it has low shelf life.

Will it cause to overheat your laptop if its connected to power source continuously?

No. The laptops batteries come along with a shut down separator which prevents the batteries from overheating.

Which one is better for the health of the laptop when its not in use? Sleep, Shutdown or Hibernate?

The approach for handling laptop can be decided on 

1) Duration not in use 

2) Effects they cause to internal resources like memory, disk space etc.

3) Whether the laptop is fixed or mobile

If the laptop is going to be idle and will be used in say 30 minutes, put it in sleep mode. It draws little power and generates little heat so it wont affect any components adversely.Mac users can put the laptops in sleep mode for longer duration too.

If you work on 20 applications and want to see them as it is next time when you start the computer, hibernate is the only best option. It automatically saves the content in the memory to the hard disk. The laptop uses no power in hibernate mode similar to shutdown mode.

If you are away from the computer for a couple of days, you have to obviously shut it down. Shut down clears the memory and gives opportunity to install patches. The con is while shutting down, the hard drive and other components get more wear and tear and use more energy.

When you are moving with your laptop, its better to put it in hibernate or shut down mode but never in sleep mode to prevent hard disk crash.

Solution lies within

Man found solution for all his necessities within himself and with help from other men who dint have any tool other than their own brain. He started out from scratch - born without anything with him, in a forest, with only nature surrounding him and converted it into a place which is present now - in the form of tall buildings, moving objects, flying in them, walking on other planets, taming wild, building corporates, law and structure and what not?

Thinking about this made me find solution to my earlier post where I had raved and ranted about boredom and withdrawal from the world. I find some of the below possible solutions to those issues:

Connecting with new people: Monotony causes dullness and irritation. Trying to connect with people belonging to different backgrounds and perspectives will help us to come out of the shell. Some may have anxiety in making a start talking to new people. It is waay easy to speak than it appears. I have had some success in just changing my thought about strangers. Consider them as one of your close friends and talk to them as if you have known them for long and be aware that they also are human beings with similar reservations like us.

CREATE: This is the most happiest thing to do. To me it brings ultimate happiness and satisfaction. This desire has resulted in many inventions we use today. This is due to this craving, most of software engineers aspire for development work which gives a sense of fulfillment through creating something new. Creating a simple blog post out of one's own original thoughts bring happiness. In fact we all are in this world, cos of somebody's desire to create.

Do not let the mind idle: I have a mind which constantly keeps thinking. I m not sure if its due to more active neurons :) Leaving it to wander its course is dangerous. But if there is any difficulty in taming the daemon, there are some tricks to make it not wander. Listening to music is a good one.

One must be gifted doing a job which he loves to do. He may not need any of the above tips to be content.

Here I m

When you have tried out most of the things you want to do, read the topics you wanted to, visited the places you wanted to see, there comes a saturation in life, career making you think, What's next? I admit that I m no way successful, but have tried most of the stuff. A source of inspiration and motivation is lacking. 

Sometimes it strikes me as if I have been running away from the world, hiding from people,  living to stay in my own microcosm, not to be affected by other's thoughts, words. Am I being too sensitive, touchy? Am I being a person who is a socially withdrawn? I no more feel happy about anything. Nothing amuses me. Is everybody around my age feel the same way? I seriously find a less understanding of "Challenge". Are the hurdles in our way called "Challenge" or its something other than that?

There has been time in the past when pets brought happiness, writing blog caused happiness, being with friends, relatives brought happiness, but its not anymore the same. Life has become mundane where living has been a mere effort for being alive, just because we have been born.

Is this called mid life crisis or am i yet to see what life is ?

I would like to hear from friends on how they keep up their motivation in getting things going and make life interesting.

N.B.: I try to keep myself occupied with a certification exams, playing guitar, reading novels, newspapers, current affairs but still....