Web 2.0 Entrepreneur

The Computer Programmer

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on September 5th, 2007 filed in Ramblings


• 14 Comments »
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I’m pretty much a programmer, and jokes like this never fails to make me chuckle :

Found at OffBeatEnough

A man was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess.” He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will tell everyone how smart and brave you are and how you are my hero.” The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will be your loving companion for an entire week.” The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket.

The frog then cried out, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I’ll stay with you for a year and do ANYTHING you want.” Again the man took the frog out, smiled at it, and put it back into his pocket.

Finally, the frog asked, “What is the matter? I’ve told you I’m a beautiful princess, that I’ll stay with you for a year and do anything you want. Why won’t you kiss me?”

The man said, “Look, I’m a computer programmer. I don’t have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool.”

Programming is kind of an addictive activity (much like playing games) especially when you’re working on a cool function and you know you’re already half-way there. By the time you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, nothing can stop you and take your hands away from the keyboard. Not your girlfriend’s call, not your mom calling out for dinner from downstairs, not even the clock that already strikes 2AM. Your main mission: finish that code and make it dance!

Time management is very important for being a mentally and physically healthy programmer, because as a programmer, you’ll need to balance your social life and your non-social little hobby - programming. If you can’t manage this well, you will be left with no option but to choose either one. I believe every programmers will face this kind of dilemma every now and then in some part of their lives. Programmers who have a lover and who socialize around a lot kinda have this tiny wish that everyone will one day just vanish and leave him alone with their laptop so that they can have all the time to work on their projects without anyone making it such a big deal. On the other hand, programmers who have very little social life and who doesn’t have a romantic partner - although happy for being able to do what they love - do have that tiny wish to be loved by someone and “having a life” and being well accepted in the community.

Just some thoughts..

Shopping in the “2.0 Era”

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on August 21st, 2007 filed in Web2.0


• 2 Comments »
• (1,876 Views)

Found this interesting video while browsing through YouTube. Imagine if shopping malls operate in the Web 2.0 way. Each items can be tagged, last vowel letters are dropped from brand names (Quacker becomes Quakr? ), social networks and commenting systems are applied to customers and products, and AJAX turns out to be a detergent.

Though the video is not entirely brilliant - scene-transition wise - and lots of “awkward” scenes too, but it gets the point across. So check it out

Made by the Wishood team - a Web 2.0 startup with an app that allows you to share your wishes with the world and make them come true.

6 tips on how you can raise money from Venture Capitals

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on July 16th, 2007 filed in Financing/funding


• 3 Comments »
• (1,807 Views)

All work and no fun makes Web 2.0 a dull world. Let’s up for a bit of entertainment (or infotainment) shall we?

Getting a VC’s attention is not easy. So if you want to learn some tips on how you can manipulate a VC into signing that million-dollar-agreement with your Web 2.0 team, perhaps this 3-minutes video can help you out. The man speaks in Hebrew but it has an English subtitle. Quite an interesting “videopedia” with some ground-breaking tips. Watch it carefully, enjoy and learn!

But of course you’re not gonna take that guy seriously, do ya?

Thanks TechCrunch.