Why I choose Heavy Metal (why should you?)

I tried...technically! I can't say that I haven't. I tried to listen to popular music, when at the age of 9 or 10 (I don't really remember....

Ozzy: Rock Legend or Just a (Old) Man?

I have just watched the documentary "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" which was apparently directed by his son Jack Osbourne. It has been characterised from monumental to insightful and generally received...

Brian Johnson Vs Bon Scott: A Scientific approach to an ongoing AC/DC debate

We have all been there. And by "there" I mean have been part of the oldest debate in AC/DC history and probably one of the biggest in Rock history in general. Who is better, Bon Scott or Brian Johnson?...

Religion Vs Rock N' Roll

I know, the title couldn't be more kitschy and lame. But here is what the world has come to! I have been avoiding to get into this debate (i.e. the religion, not the Rock N' Roll one) for obvious reasons...

Mind under training (Introduction)

I realised that while I have been writing my extremely influential (!) articles, I still haven’t introduced myself properly...

Showing posts with label Self. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Self. Show all posts

19 January 2013

"IT" Is The Life

by guest author while(TRUE){life();}

This piece is dedicated to all the engineers, tech-savvies, and geeks out there. A timeline of progress, disappointment, anger management issues, and liberation! 

The Education 
HND in Computer Engineering
BEng in Computer Engineering
MSc in Data Communication

The Student Experience 
During my years at uni I got everything that anyone could ever imagine: made good friends, was taught how to think like an engineer, did fun projects, and spent countless hours in labs (even the pizza guy learned were the labs were and came knocking on the door to deliver the usual!). My knowledge of communication systems was growing exponentially on a daily basis and something inside me was always pushing me to go the extra mile, like changing the code of a software so we can file-share with friends.

The First Job 
Junior Network Engineer: new toys, new experience, and a lot more to learn. I was working on a production system an entire company was depending on with everything working like a Swiss watch. I wish I could say that was true for me at the beginning of my career! That something inside me kept me going and going, no stop for me until I got it right; playing with new toys is like a fat kid in a candy store for an engineer (ok, ok for the sake of political correctness let’s say overweight). Within a year I became the lead, the authority on everything and anything (in engineering terms the “in case s**t man”). I was learning fast and I was having fun and I was getting paid for it as well, the trifecta for any engineer out there. Light-bulb moments were coming in thick and fast.  

The Wake-up Call 
Then a change happened. I came across office politics. I do not like office politics, I do not do office gossip, and I hate back-stabbers (that’s right, you all shall burn in hell). That is not my game, I'm an engineer, genetically programmed to look at the cold hard facts and formulate an answer to a problem. But I soon realised... office politics do work. Knowledge-less people were moving up the ladder, playing with Facebook all day long (that’s right am part of the resistance) while others dealt with problems they caused. Well, I consider them f***ing parasites! That something inside me started to get really upset. I kept everything in check, kept true and worked smart and hard.

Career Take 2
Solutions Architect: new people, new opportunities, new systems to learn. I was part of a team that were the technical experts on any technology the company had to offer. It didn't took me long, six months down the line I became the team leader, I was performing training courses from the most advanced technologies to entry-level for everyone. For any difficulty that came along, I was the answer. The trifecta was back, learning new technologies, sharing knowledge and getting paid for it. Before the year coming to an end I was awarded as one of the top business' performers.

The Games
Funny how things change though, it took a year before I started noticing the office politics again. I locked horns with one of the sales directors; these guys really don't like us! The engineer in me prevailed. Keep true I said to myself, keep true. That evil thing inside me kept growing stronger and stronger by the day though.

The Realisation
Well after that fiasco and almost two years down the line I have seen some ugly truths and even more ugly people! The same pattern over and over again, knowledge-less idiots move along the line, just by using office politics. They steal your ideas present them as their own and get the credit for it. Well that is office politics for you people. Still, there are technology companies out there that have it right and that is why they are called pioneers of technology.

Moving On 
Now I have interviews lined up and it all looks good, but that thing inside me has grown into a full figure with black attire, an army of evil, and some respiratory problems. It’s getting harder and harder to keep IT in line (see what I did there?). But its voice is always there in the background whispering... 

WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE, WE DO HAVE COOKIES!!!
(and gaming platforms, gadgets, and loose virtual women)

                                                                                                                                                                                                      
 while(TRUE){life();} has now got a job that he is temporarily happy with. He is so intelligent as to be considered a genius by his friends who expect him to make lots of money and share the wealth with his fanclub. He is a proud geek, gamer, and spectacle-wearer and does think that geeks rule [honestly]. He is also the only member of the Facebook Résistance and quite paranoid about his digital footprint and for these reasons only you cannot really follow him anywhere. Except in real life. But that would make you a stalker. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Image credits:

10 November 2011

Mind Under Training (Introduction)


I realised that while I have been writing my extremely influential (!) articles, I still haven’t introduced myself properly. And since this blog is now more popular (who would have thought) than I expected, I feel that it is something I should have done already.

Well, I am an alien 25-year-old woman living in the graphic yet moody city of London, a psychologist under training (UK regulations require me to clarify), and attempting to get the infamous “Dr” title (?) in front of my name – we shall see! I have the same issues as the average 25-year-old woman, perhaps a lot more as you may see.

The two main things you should have probably realised about me by now (that is if you actually bothered reading my previous masterpieces) are that I am sarcastic (both towards self and others), ironic (mainly towards others), and I listen to Heavy Metal. And you would have probably inferred that I am a disdainful, arrogant Miss-Knows-It-All...and you would be probably right!

Just kidding, I don’t know everything, yet.

My main purpose in life is to listen, love, learn, and become genuinely open-minded (please refer to my pretentious open-mindedness post). I don’t really like the way the world operates (but who does anyway) and I am determined to change a fraction of it (i.e. a helpless hopeful idealist) with what I’ve got, which unfortunately is not that much. I kind of hate vanity (please refer to my generation: vanity post) but I have come to believe that we all have it somewhere in our DNA structure.

I am also not religious at all although I was meant to be (according to familial, societal, and global values but that’s another blog post altogether – watch this space). And here is where some of you may infer that I am Satan’s advocate (this blog is not for you then). Sorry to disappoint you, I am not that important (to Satan at least). I don't dance round a pentagram, naked, while holding a goat's head and singing Antichrist songs (although it would make a great movie). I just prefer Science over Fiction - although come to think of it science fiction movies have their merits too - but I will not get into a debate about this in the blog – ok maybe a little bit.

I love great music (sorry to disappoint people but some genres out there are not music) and that means I love music developed by people playing real, tangible instruments (please refer to my Why I choose Heavy Metal post). I listen to Rock N’ Roll if I am allowed to sum it all up under that term (quoting the great Lemmy). I spend most of my money on gigs as these offer me the “high” other people get from drugs. Which brings me to another point: Drugs kill people – some do slower than others. End of story.

In order to learn, I travel...a lot, mostly in Europe; not because of choice but because of money (under training, remember?). People who die with no such experiences (mainly due to choice), do so incomplete. I try to love art (sometimes it's much harder than it seems), and I do, most of it. I also believe that if mind is the door to the unconscious and the unseen, then books are the key. So I read quite a lot (from trashy magazines to scientific journals). Also I write (as you can see from this blog) and I think I do that pretty well (think).

Finally, I am proud of myself (surprised?) for mainly one reason: I have reached a point where I can “see” through my big head and have an insight, a meta-cognition (for the fellow psychologists ...under training) of my stupid/wrong/stereotypical/weird thoughts, actions, and dispositions, the same ones that I see everyday around me in other people. For a self-obsessed person like me that’s not a happy place to be, at all! The good thing is that I can take a step forward and talk about it in a blog – for the whole world to see – and show what an insightful, open-minded, really really smart person I am (see above re issues). What I write here in this blog, do not necessarily exclude me.

Plainly put, I am just writing what most people already think/know/observe/realise/do not admit about themselves, others, and society. I criticise and judge as a result of disappointment, contempt, and hope at the same time – in a vain attempt to:
1. Cover with words my own self-doubt and the little voice in my head;
2. Minimise my attention-seeking behavioural patterns and the feelings these cause by doing it in a useful and entertaining way;
3. Achieve self-affirmation;
4. Provoke thinking.

So, don’t shoot the messenger, just enjoy the debate. Oh, and give peace a chance!
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