Category Archives: Thoughts

For Good

Recently, I once again ran over the song “For Good” from the musical Wicked. I’d like to share this few but meaningful words from the beginning of that song. I watched the performance in San Francisco a couple of days before I returned back to Austria after studying for two semesters in the US. For me, this is true in so many cases. I’m thankful I knew you all.

I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you…

“For Good” from Wicked, by Stephen Schwartz

The Honorable Software Engineer

“Software engineers can be rightly proud of their achievements. Without complex software we would not have explored space, would not have the Internet and modern telecommunications, and all forms of travel would be more dangerous and expensive. Software engineering has contributed a great deal, and I am convinced that, as the discipline matures, its contributions in the 21st century will be even greater.”

Ian Sommerville
Software Engineering (8th edition), 2007
Addison Wesley, Harlow

Believe In The Impossible

I would like to share this quote with you that a friend recently wrote in my script book. It is from “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll. It was written in 1865.

“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying’, she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ ‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice’, said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it half an hour a day. Why, sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'”

Make this your New Year’s resolution! I don’t need to tell you how valuable believing in the impossible is. Or do you think humankind would be able to cross oceans, fly, watch television, or browse it’s (almost) entire knowledge within seconds without believing in the impossible?

The Hidden World

“To my mind, most people go through life recoiling from its best parts. They miss the enrichment that just a basic knowledge of the physical world can bring to the most ordinary experiences. It’s like there’s a pulsating, hidden world, governed by ancient laws and principles, underlying everything around us–from the movements of electrical charges to the motions of the planets–and most people are completely unaware of it. To me, that’s a shame.”

Carolyn Porco
Senior Researcher
Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado
from The New York Times (Der Standard)
Taking a Tour of Saturn’s Famous Rings
Monday, October 12, 2009

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say, “Hi”?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It’s like an unopened gift thrown away

Life is no race.
Do take is slower.
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

David L. Weatherford
from “The Four Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
http://fourhourworkweek.com

The Master Idea

One of my classes this semester was Ideation. In this class we tried to build the “Master Idea” for a specific company based on Joey Reiman’s method, who also taught the class. He is the founder and CEO of BrightHouse. This company is applying this method very successfully. Here is our result from this class – our company was Teavana. Enjoy!