heard that name somewhere ? ...you must have ! ... this is the movie that beat lagaan to the best foreign film oscar, and yes, it deserved it. i have seen lagaan, and i saw this movie ...trust me it deserved the oscar by several miles. set amidst the serbian - bosnian conflict, it is a story of 3 men ...one lying on a 'bouncing' mine, another who is his compatriot and the third, the guy from the enemy lines. they are all in a trench which is exactly in between the 2 enemy lines. subtitled in english, it has a smattering of french, yugoslavian and english; it portrays the 'stupidity' of war and how when it comes to even the individual 'components' of a war...it doesnt make sense any more. brilliantly depicted with absolutely no melodrama, it draws you in to the helplessness of the situation. also the true ironic nature of un forces as a negotiationg medium, the frustration, the redtapism, the farce ... and the closing shot will haunt you long after the movie is over.

recommended : very very highly ... a MUST watch

anybody who is working ought to read this book ... not just people in opensource or for that matter even software development, anybody who does anything should read this treatise. available online for download and a very short read ...33 pages ... it should be made compulsory reading for everyone. very sweeping in its observations, during most of the read ...you would be saying to yourself ...yes this is the way it should be ...this is the way i always thought it should be. the book talks about projects, product development ...about the cathedral and the bazaar as 2 models .. the cathedral being your 'infosys'-style traditional process involving production process and the bazaar model being the linux development model, as also emacs, and egcs. dont get scared by the names, read it ...offers insights into making things work and ideas succeed. if you havent read it yet, go out there and read it.

the link to the book ...
the cathedral and the bazaar

recommended : a must read

one word : mesmerizing, sums it all up. as the author takes you on an autobiographical journey of his childhood, a range of emotions wash over you. there is abject poverty, there is unconsolable misery but he never makes you feel sympathetic. a drunk for a father, not a penny of their own, a family that has to live on handouts, his school, his friends ...he takes you on an almost lyrical journey of his life. even managing to make you smile and laugh till you cry. told in a narrative manner that is stunning, he makes you walk the streets of limerick in ireland, leaving you with the feeling that if you go there, you would know your way around. if nothing else counts, one thing will ... it is 'unputdownable'. read it, smile, laugh, cry, feel ... and you will end up knowing one thing : there can be bad times, there can be worse times but there is no worst time.

recommended : v highly.

(cant wait to read the sequel 'Tis)