[Absolutely nothing to do with Oracle, but maybe a lot to do with why we do what we do ….]
Well, maybe what 2 weeks away from the interweb gives you is a little perspective.
Whilst catching up on blog postings, I noticed this one from Peter K. (Oh, and let me plug Peter’s blog again. I rest assured he’ll have something of meaning to say, based on experience. Very much my cup of tea.) Despite having 60+ ‘real’ emails to work my way through, including a couple that Yahoo’s spam filter caught in the 2000+ spam mails (not a bad effort), I sat and watched this video for an hour and a quarter this morning, then watched the time management video and then started watching the TV special. But the TV special isn’t working for me, so I paused briefly for this post.
On the simplest level, Randy was clearly an excellent speaker and I think I’ll leave it at that. Let’s not let the undoubted emotional back-drop detract from that. Like some of the best presentations I’ve ever seen, it might be light on technical detail, but the message stays with you.
Oh, and I’m sorry if this is very old news, but I’d never seen the videos so, just in case you haven’t either, I recommend them. Forget the sentiment (you probably will after 5 or 6 minutes) and just watch a smart, apparently honest man do what he clearly loved doing.
P.S. If you have any remaining doubts about watching the videos …. a) Cuddly Toys on stage during a presentation. b) The concept of Tiggerish-ness (whilst not specifically named). What’s not to like?
Thanks for that link, Doug. I saw the Randy Pausch’s obituary in the Independent this week, but forgot to make a note to watch the last lecture. Your reminder was timely. Just spent an an enjoyable hour or so watching it.
Mat.