Along the journey of life…

When we board a train or a bus, there are several other people traveling with us but still when comes our destination we eventually alight and continue with our journey…

Life is exactly like this. A journey along which we come across people. Some of them accompany us till the end while others leave us midway. Altogether the journey of life is filled with acquaintances, separation and new beginnings.

Like any other journey, life has a destination which may vary for each one of us but still will have the same purpose – being happy. Unfortunately, very often in the quest of happiness we fail to actually recognise it when it presents to us.

Life is also a lesson where we keep learning both from our failures and successes. It is an adventure where we learn to know strangers, make them our dearest friends and share our most intense moments with them.

Have you ever stopped and thought about how it was when you still didn’t know your best friend? How incredible it is that the person who was a complete stranger to you yesterday is your most precious treasure today!

I believe the key to happiness is to simply appreciate these special treats life offers us in the form of friends, lovers or companions. We never know when our paths might separate but at least we won’t regret not having enjoyed the time we were meant to spend together.

This post is mainly to express my love for all those special persons who have been part of my life. For those who are now part of it. For you all who have left your imprints in my life’s journey so far…

Let’s get active!

After a bit more than 1 year since I started to work, I’ve noticed one very important thing – working makes you less active physically! It absorbs most of your time and energy plus it completely changes your lifestyle…

So, after realising all this, for quite a long time now, I’ve been trying to adapt myself to this new way of living and make out time for more physical activities. It sure helps to feel more energetic! I am no sports person but I do like some work out.

The process was and is quite difficult to maintain though because being a web developer and having a flexy time for work, I might find myself coming home too late. So the idea came to me – why not try to include some small and simple activities in my daily life routine? Besides, the recent ads of the margarine, Flora, made me even more realise how simple things could be done to improve our physical activities! It’s all in integrating those in our life and making it fun! After all, if we are to do something it should be first and foremost enjoyable and pleasant, else what’s the use?

Hence, all small trips I have to do I try my best not to take the car – besides it’s sometimes a headache to find somewhere to park your car or even get stuck in the traffic! Or even if I’m going by car, I might very well park somewhere far but safe , so I’m sure the car is secure plus I’m going to have a stroll out of it.

The most important thing is to realise that it’s very simple things that could easily change your physical state. And when we talk about physical state, we also should think about our nutrition. Yes, I know it’s the same lecture everytime but as I see it, controlling your food does not necessarily mean cutting out all nice things you like to eat! It’s all about knowing what you are eating and how you are using it – since it’s our body fuel.

Besides, if we try to find at least 30 minutes everyday to work out, it would be sufficient enough to keep fit. And if time allows, this 30 minutes could very well get to 1-2 hours. One of the best ways to make work outs fun is to add in some music! It not only helps to boost your energy but also time yourself. For example, during 3 songs I’m going to walk briskly (on the treadmill ) then another 3 ones I’m going to slow down the pace. With this, you can easily spend 15 minutes alternating brisk and slow walks. Another tip is to try to make a playlist with alternating rhythmic songs and slows. It really helps in motivating and controlling your pace in your work out!

Working out should also be your moment to let go all stress and tensions. Put on your most favourite songs and move on the music without any restraint. Let yourself enjoy this moment. Add in some variations plus some activities you like best -skipping, running, cycling, jogging,etc. Think like this is your hour – you are taking care of yourself and your body. Add to the fun by either working out with friends or getting yourself new clothes for work out (this is for girls specially ). Also don’t forget the “after-work-out” time where you get a nice hot bath or those who have tubs then enjoy the effects of bath salts /oils ( if you are doing it in couple even nicer ).

Last thing – we are lucky enough to live in a tropical island where summers are daaaamn hot but also the best occasion to work out the most we can in the best enjoyable way possible. I’m talking about going to the beach and swim or jog, go hiking, go cycling or even just stroll about admiring the greenery It all depends on where you live and what’s best to do according to your daily routine. In short, being active physically only needs some adjustments and the will to do it. The rest is only pleasure !

My Google Adventure

My Google Adventure by Sou

I don’t quite remember when it all started but I know it was a relief to discover Google search engine! It was followed by the creation of my gmail account and later on my iGoogle page… I also had an enthusiastic lecturer who always kept us abreadst of all news about Google like when it had bought YouTube. Besides our class at the university had its own Google group to enable ‘mass communication’ – as I viewed it. Today though we have graduated, the group is still there and we still communicate from time to time.

Then I joined Netgroup as a web developer and as every decent developer Netgroupers use Google for online search and we also make use of Google Analytics to keep track of the traffic flow on our site.  I was even pleased to learn once that my blog had brought most back links to the site

My adventure intensified when I actually got the opportunity (and enormous chance) to discover the Google Map API and use it for one of our projects – Mauritius Villas – which is yet to be launched (and you can be sure I’ll announce it when it does ). So, there were two of us, Youshrin and I, to enter the world of what I call Google coding. The experience was really great specially when you’ve been able to adapt the map to the requirements of the project. And yeah we also discovered Google Map Maker and we added regions that were missing specially for our map to work effectively. We got a bit desperate while waiting for the moderation at first but it paid off when we finally saw the regions appearing on the map! I might elaborate on this in another post (if requested ).

The last but not least event in my Google adventure was the G-Mauritius Day 2009! It all came to me as a surprise when our director sent me a message telling that he had registered me to represent Netgroup at the event. I was like astonished, surprised and then thrilled. The forum was very instructive indeed and though all information is available online to actually get started with the Google API, having real Googlers there explaining it to you is a unique and enriching experience. It was all about receiving a concentrated amount of useful info in just one day! I can’t wait to give a try to Google Gadgets and Google Friend Connect! As for Google Web Toolkit, it sounds like a real ‘miracle product’ specially for those who know the pain of debugging in IE. However, not being a Java developer at present, it was like the message of deliverance but then the disappointment . Anyway it gave me the incentive to probably jump into Java development later on in my career…

As representative of Netgroup, I found a lot could be used in our sites for more innovative and competitive products. After the brilliant experience with Google Map, Netgroupers have yet to discover Google Gadgets and Google Open Social. This of course will depend upon future projects’ requirements.

If  I could summarise my Google adventure (so far) , I’d say it began with me being a regular Google user, then I became a Google API developer and finally a G-Mauritius Day participant. I wish and strongly expect this adventure to continue. Open source is just ‘fantastic’ (as would say one of my past lecturers) and one of the best part of it is having forums like this one where virtual and geographical barriers are crossed. After all, human contact is the best experience

P.S: The picture is on my Facebook page. I shall place it on my Flickr soon for everyone to be able to see.