The topic of pointers and dynamic memory management is not understood by many folks for a couple of reasons : One, Lets face it..It requires some effort to understand whats going on. However it is a one time effort and subsequently one can learn as one experiments, codes etc. Then why don’t folks put in the one time effort. Second reason, I can surmise is : Most of the C++ introductory books have one chapter or at most two on pointers before diving in to OOPS concepts.

I had the good fortune of meeting Barone-Adesi today, the man behind the closed form solution for american option. I managed to speak to him about 15 min and was amazed by his enthusiasm and the way he could connect ideas from fluid dynamics, physics, mathematics, fractal geometry. He cautioned me not to think about doing anything on the American option side as he had spent a pretty long time on the field and felt that there are more interesting things to look at in the non-american option side of things.

Wow, goosh.org - the unofficial google shell. you can access all the google functions through a browser shell…real cool..

Today I gambled for the first time in my life with real money:) …ok …money at stake was not a big amount but the context was unforgettable..I was passing through Washington park and noticed a set of folks playing chess. I approached them and saw an empty board with a very old man sitting , who was just staring at the pieces which were nicely arranged . I approached him and said " Let’s play".

A few days back , I was strolling in the quiet Barnes and Noble on 14th St. when I stumbled on to a book titled" The art of learning". At the outset, it looked similar to “Success Vs Joy”, one of my all time favorite books , written by Geet Sethi. This book is an autobiography by Josh Waitzkin, a chess prodigy on whose life, “Searching for Bobby Fischer” movie was made.