StretchBack

Investment oppurtunities

2008-07-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

I would wholly agree with "the hindu's" article on uncertain times and investment opportunities. The growing inflation rate , crude price shock has bought down the sensex margins. Investment opportunities in the stock markets are no more the safest option, either in the long term else in the short. With the bank interest rates return being in the range of 9.5-10.0 %, whereas inflation of 11.5% money looses it's value in the market.
The real estate market strangely is not showing down signs of slowing down.
An option of investing in real estate markets in Tier-2 cities coupled with possible foreign fund opportunities could be good.

IT if not is US

2008-06-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Where are the IT opportunities available, if not in the US? Is it the UK, Australia, New Zealand else the asian countries?
The UK life is running around and success the US ground is money but you then you are just another part.

1. UK
2. ??

Outsourcing outcome

2008-06-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

The outcome of outsourcing followed by massive recruitments by IT majors has a role in spoiling the creativity and innovation capacity of individuals.
As a consequence it has now become a challenge for native Indian IT majors to take next bigger roles and compete with the likes of IBM, Accenture etc.
The solution lies not in cross recruitment but change in the mindset of the management commitee else the manager.

Bangalore woe's

2008-06-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

The Bangalore woes begin with the high prices and ends there. Of all states in the republic of India, Karnataka demands the highest in state taxes.
The land price in Bangalore is rigged up to sustain the same fervor.
In the so called IT Silicon Valley of India, information is scarce when it comes to
as to why the prices are so high.
It remains to be seen what does the newly formed government does about it.

Pink Floyd

2006-07-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Intrestingly the band name Pink Floyd has been coined out from
the names of two people "Pink Anderson" and "Floyd Council" both
were bluesinger of the '60's.
See http://www.hokafloyd.com/indexa.htm

Hi

2006-06-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

Hi Shravan,
My name is Sujay, I hail from India and currently in Bangalore.

I got your mail id after much frantic search for a favorite story of
mine, "Remember the Roses".

I had last read it in my school class about 12-13 years ago, but it's
never
been out of my mind.

The school story book which carried it... I believe was "A Treasury of
Short Stories".

I have been searching for the story on roadsides, on the net, quite
some time since adulthood.

A few years should I say.

Until I was fortunate to find your website and the brief.

I truly believe with you that the story deserves immortaility, none less
than a successful Hollywood make.

If there is any help I could provide in this endeavor of yours do
suggest me.

Best Regards,
Sujay

If you do happen to have a e-copy of the story, I would be grateful if
you could send me a copy.
(If memory serves me right the last words I do recall well... "See
Jehane, I Remembered the Roses")

Tribal Curse Haunts Launch Pad

2006-06-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

Can a launch pad be cursed? Engineers laugh -- but nervously.

An Air Force launch site called SLC-6 (pronounced "Slick-6") at
Vandenberg Air Force Base has become legendary in aerospace circles for
an eerie history of failed programs and botched launches.

Now on Tuesday, the Boeing Corporation will tempt fate and try to launch
a new spy satellite from the unlucky site -- 40 years after the Air
Force built the pad over an Indian burial ground in a rocky stretch of
California desert.

"I wish them good luck and hope they have a good launch," says retired
NASA astronaut Robert Crippen, who is well acquainted with the legend.
"If I've got one disappointment in my career, it was I never had the
chance to fly out of SLC-6."

Construction on Space Launch Complex 6 began on March 12, 1966. The site
was originally intended for the Titan III launch vehicle, and was to be
part of the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory, or MOL, program -- a
plan to put military astronauts in orbit to keep an eye on the Soviet
Union.

According to space historian Robert Ash, construction workers building
the pad unearthed human remains from an ancient Chumash Indian burial
ground. Members of the tribe asked the Air Force to study the area and
move the remains to another location, but the military brass ignored the
request and continued construction.

Naturally this angered the Chumash tribe, and, according to local
legends, a tribe leader put a curse on the site.

The MOL program was cancelled soon after due to military priorities in
Vietnam, and SLC-6 was mothballed. Crippen, who was training as one of
the MOL astronauts (nicknamed "Mole Men"), found himself out of a job.
"I was devastated -- it was the end of the world," he recalls. "It was
one of the worst points of my life."

Within a couple of months many of the Mole Men, including Crippen, were
recruited into NASA's astronaut program. But Crippen's fate would remain
entwined with SLC-6.

In the 1970s, the Air Force decided to reengineer the unused pad as an
alternate California launch point for the Space Shuttle. Problems
plagued the retrofitting effort, but after seven years of construction
SLC-6 was declared operational, at a final cost of $2 billion.

Crippen was scheduled to command the first Shuttle mission from
Vandenberg, when the 1986 Challenger disaster caused NASA to abandon its
plans for California launches, and SLC-6 was once again mothballed.

Years later, Lockheed adapted SLC-6 for their Athena launch vehicle. On
Aug. 15, 1995, SLC-6's first launch finally took place, 29 years after
ground was first broken at the site. The payload was a small
experimental communications relay satellite.

The rocket's hydraulic system failed shortly after launch and the
vehicle crashed.

The curse of Slick-6 seemed to be broken by a successful launch on Aug.
23, 1997 of the Lewis spacecraft. But a design problem in the attitude
control system caused it to enter a flat spin in orbit, cutting its
solar panels off from the sun and returning it, the next month, to
Earth's atmosphere and a fiery doom. SLC-6 had finally put something
into orbit -- but it was all for naught.

The first commercial spy satellite, Ikonos, lifted off from the pad on
April 27, 1999. The rocket's nose cone never separated and it ended up
falling into the Pacific Ocean.

One final Athena launch was scheduled for SLC-6: a duplicate of the
Ikonos satellite that failed to reach orbit. This time instead of just
crossing their fingers and hoping the curse would falter, the launch
team decided to do something. According to Ash, the ground crew held a
ceremony in which a Chumash priest, hired by Lockheed Martin, asked the
gods for forgiveness and to remove the curse. (Lockheed denies such a
ceremony took place.) On Sept. 24, 1999 an Athena successfully put the
Ikonos satellite into orbit.

But the Athena turned out to be a major marketing failure. Instead of
the scores of launches planned, just a handful of rockets were sold, and
the program was quietly cancelled.

Since SLC-6 was built, the Air Force has changed its policies about
construction over Indian artifacts. Whenever new facilities are erected
at Vandenberg Air Force Base the local community and Chumash leaders are
consulted in advance. The construction site is carefully scraped in
inch-thick layers, and if any artifacts are found, historians and
experts are called in to determine their nature, and to make the call on
whether to move construction to another site.

Whether the military's new sensitivity is enough to lift the SLC-6 curse
remains to be seen. It's aerospace giant Boeing's turn to find out. The
company has converted SLC-6 into a Delta IV launch pad, the fourth
remaking of the site.

The Delta IV is one of the largest rockets in the world, and the only
one capable of launching giant multi-billion dollar spy satellites.

The launch of the medium-size version of the rocket is scheduled for
Tuesday, carrying a top secret relay satellite for the National
Reconnaissance Office.

There's no word on whether Boeing has hired a Chumash priest to bless
the site. But a company engineer working on the launch says she has an
Indian feather on her desk -- out of respect for the Chumash.

our beloved dadiji

2006-06-22T04:14:00.000-07:00

21st of June,night, dadiji left us.

Greatest 500 albums : MP3 downloads

2006-06-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

http://music.allofmp3.com/awards/awards_500.shtml?page=1

The @ Sign : So Often Used & So little Understood

2006-06-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

A friend pointed me to this article talking about the history of the @
symbol.
Interesting, as the @ symbolis so often used(may be the among the top 3
most often used sysmbol in the world - perhaps also in the top 3 of the
least understood symbol as well. A very nice one - so can't resist
reproducing:

In the 6th or 7th century, Latin scribes, rubbing their wrists with
history's first twinges of carpal tunnel syndrome, tried to save a
little effort by shortening the Latin word ad (at, to, or toward) by
stretching the upstroke of "d" and curving it over the "a". Italian
researchers unearthed 14th-century documents, where the @ sign
represented a measure of quantity. The symbol also appeared in a
15th-century Latin-Spanish dictionary, defined as a gauge of weight, and
soon after-according to ancient letters-was referenced as an amphora, a
standard-sized clay vessel used to carry wine and grain.
Over the next few hundred years our plucky @ sign was used in trade to
mean "at the price of" before resting on the first Underwood typewriter
keyboard in 1885, then later rubbing symbolic shoulders with QWERTY on
modern keyboards in the 1940s.
In 1971, computer engineer Ray Tomlinson grappled with how to properly
address what would be history's very first e-mail. After 30 seconds of
intense thought, he decided to separate the name of his intended
recipient and their location by using the "@" symbol. He needed
something that wouldn't appear in anyone's name, and settled on the
ubiquitous symbol, with the added bonus of the character representing
the word "at," as in, hey_you@wherever_you_happen_to_work.com.And while
in the English language, we know it as the "at symbol," it goes by many
other unusual pseudonyms throughout the world.In South Africa, it means
"monkey's tail"
- In Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia it's the "Crazy"
- In the Czech Republic, it's "pickled herring"
- The Danish refer to it as "alpha-sign," "elephant's trunk," or "pig's
tail."
- The French often refer to it as "little snail."
- In Greece, it's "little duck."
- In Hungary, it's called "maggot"
- In Mandarin Chinese, it's the "mouse sign."
- The Poles say "little cat" or "pig's ear."
- Russians often refer to it as "little dog."
- There's no official word for it in Thailand, but "wiggling worm-like
character."
- The Turks lovingly describe it as "ear."
But an "@" by any other name is just as sweet. Online, it's at the heart
of every user's identity. It represents the breathless urgency of our
connected culture: clear, concise, typographical shorthand for lobbing
our thoughts, needs, and ideas to nearly anyone else in the world.
Instantly.Its ubiquity and urgency has transcended the Latin alphabet of
its origins to worm its way into other language groups, including Arabic
and Japanese.And that, web wanderers, is where it's @.

Blogger Down

2006-06-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Blogger was down... Again..
http://status.blogger.com/2006/06/this-morning-hardware-problem-we-had.h
tml

home@ronu

2006-05-10T02:12:00.000-07:00

Ronu bade me ask for an invitation with an interesting set of people at her home on 28th of April 2006.

Quite a group had collected there, the hospitality of 10th janpath road herrur kunigal, appa, amma, ajji, akka, tangi (sister ), anna (elder brother), tamma( younger bro)

The time as we arrived was late by rural standards; it was a quarter to eleven
as we took the final right bypass to home. Street dogs very few in count still slept snuggled at their feet and did not announce our arrival. Thus we silently cruised lane-by-lane criss-crossing each other until a temple pronounced end of the road.

Streets look so different in the silent of the night, the busiest of them lay quite and mum as if they too felt nighttime was for rest. There were not many bulbs nearby; the brightest pair was that of my cars which hit the footsteps to the temple above. In the same sight lay an elderly woman crouching and resting as if waiting our arrival, which later we came to know, was the housemaid.

Housemaid's who bear an age are treated as a part of the family, more so in middle class families where respect and closeness is the sole dignity. Lately i have discovered it's the same in European countries and at least in the erstwhile America of ‘60’s, the present state is unknown but is not too hard to guess either.

As the metal door swayed wide-open ronu’s appa guided my car to the back of the house, ronu must have been inside announcing our presence for amma was not to be seen.
There was a garden to the entrance, I couldn’t estimate’s it’s breadth for the single bulb above the door frame bade not too much visibility. Yes there was a black dog close by it was announced shortly as homely, that settled my furtive movements searching and avoiding it.

At the introduction I was a colleague and vikram was the colleagues friend, I am yet to tell ronu colleagues don’t visit homes on no occasions.

One good thing about Vikram is his round belly, which keeps him well, submerged for his underwater swims. The second is his round head, which oozes all kind of sweet no sense talk. Talk, which doesn't harm anyone, talk which will inspire none, talk you could listen smile and forget and things would be same as before.His talks and my curiosity kept all of us awake till 1'o' clock in the night.

For the talk each one of us had found a comfortable position near about the doorstep. Niranjan rested his back to the doorframe, ronu fell herself amongst all the staircases but one where I rested, we all lay audience to vikram who had merrily squatted right ahead on the doorway.

People should talk what interests others, thus prefer to remain silent. Vikram on the contrary took advantage of this; our increasing silence assured him we have nothing to say. His talks ranged from andhra bank, colleagues, iflex offices, bosses, ma'ms , sir's, food and then another round of andhra bank. Grown men consider his talk as foolishness and amusement. Women consider it sweet and innocent. Hence I believe he will always have a girl next to him and an audience to recreate.

Cats are up, daytime searching leftovers and chasing birds, and then sleep at nights.While some awake the whole night waiting for the deep burrowed creatures to emerge.
The dirty black grey cat, which crossed and tipped alongside us, impervious to our presence or noise fell in the second category. For no amount of Vikram's chatter disturbed it, night time was duty time, work before self was the motto. Such was this creature used to humans and their ways, when vikram imitated a cat mew, it responded back immediately. I am sure it neither halted nor even looked back just mewed back, so sure it knew the ways to keep humans content.

The food was simple and healthy, rice, pappad, raasam, and some green vegetables. Before we settled finally for our beds I did take a mental note of a few memorable. The twin Tejaswini Maths guru boards which ronu's little brother won for his excellence in mathematics, it improved ronu's intellect impression on me, least i always found her as a silly dumb little nothing. Then there was extraordinarily large main hall, with a bed on one corner carefully concealing multiple mattresses until they were opened up one by one sleep time. The other end lay a TV holding its stabilizer and a picture frame of ronu's bro dressed up for a fancy dress show.

Way up the TV pedestal was the 'pain-less' window that let everything in true to its purpose, light, air, water and life. The walls on one side adorned all lords in their picture frames. Another edge beheld a cooking gas stove arrangement mostly waiting for the cookies drying up in rows the other edge. They probably dry up overnight else very quick for we got to taste them next day on lunch.

Thus; there we lay the four of us niranjan, ronu's dad, myself and vikram dreaming in herrur, the fan churning at a steady but audible speed. Once asleep we have no knowledge of our physical whereabouts or so it seems like, but if one observes closely it may not be true. Sleeping on upper berths in Indian railways I decide not to twist and turn least I’ll fall down, morning comes and things are fine. Come home every morning the bed is a mess. That day I had decided to sleep straight, no coils and legs. God forbade for I found myself intact the next morning.

Dawn was unseen as we all slept well. Amma and appa however where awake quite some time ago for I heard them in my dream. As I planned to wake up and was glancing around, found a new bedside entrant concealed in a bed sheet from head to toe. The shape and size of it felt it was ronu, sound asleep at the comfort of home. Ronu’s changes to a demanding teenager once home.

Dad often told me never burden your hosts, so there i had comforted myself to folding the mattresses back to the bed it belonged to, discovering how restrooms are used and the likes. College education, stringent hostel facilities, memorable experiences from Para deep port town had made me supple to fit in anywhere.

Navin, Sreepradha, Jaya, Niranjan, Vishu and me were pals. So we played, it was summer vacation, schools closed and the whole daytime was to idle away. "Name, place, animal thing", 12's multiplication table, riddles was fun and learning for all of us, Niranjan and Vishu older than the lot kept at bay, intermittently jumped in with answers, they were constantly looking fwd to some physical sports with me. All this while Ronu and her sister, Navin’s and Vishu's mom, were chatting away at such pace that a single pause felt as if there was some bad news.

The summer heat was bearable; we all could be well playing all day long.
But grown up's often do things because it is the way all do. The night before there had been some talk of going for a swim cause it was summer. The thought had to come true. We started packing all which one needs for a swim. My car had changed status from that of single owner to a family station. Every conceivable picnic item, food, clothes, kids was in. A few ropes were kept to behold swimmers from drowning. Excepting ronu's sis everybody swam, the rope saved two people from drowning niranjan and I think myself. Kids slotted in black rubber tubes, were floating around cheerfully like little insects. Dodappa had a noose tied up with each of them, once in a while he tugged if they drifted away. Swimmers had dodappa as their lifeguard. Thus; we were all secured one way or the other.

Surprised by the revelry and preparation we had done for something as simple as swimming a group of local boys who appeared from no-where, showed their own skills.
Performed somersaults, dive-in's underwater swims, “go-get the pebble" and all they had learnt and could think of. We rewarded them with some eatables.

Mid-day snacks were fresh home made cookies and cucumber.

I searched a place next to ronu and settled, as I was getting used to her presence. Ronu once without her contact lenses keeps herself very close to objects of importance least she may loose sight. So, she swam close by to water edge, sat just where the well began, cut the cucumber right below her nose, and persuaded her sister to sit right next. Often girls switch to dependable pair of spectacles once they are all tied up, perhaps she too will.

When we headed back home it was lunchtime, this time there were more people around, a cousin from bangalore, ajji, ronu's chacha. Thus; I sat for the 'last lunch' at herrur as appa and amma served us all with more than we could eat.

They say, "You never know when are you making a memory". Rejuvenated but with a definite remorse of leaving home, I packed for bangalore. For, I knew of all places I have traveled and memories I have had, this one was bound to stick.

I looked behind me. Parents are the same everywhere especially mothers; amma had offered me cookies to take home along with.

FW: a thought...

2006-03-28T01:41:00.000-08:00

"The purpose of life is being happy. Inner peace is the key. In that
state of mind you can face difficulties with calm and reason, while
keeping your inner happiness." H. H. The Dalai Lama

Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness is best describes as moment-to-moment, non-judgmental
awareness. It is cultivated by paying attention to those aspects of our
bodies, our minds, and our lives that we so take for granted - from our
own breathing and body sensations to our perceptions, opinions, and
emotions, and those of others. The practice of mindfulness can be
profoundly transforming and healing, and make it easier fro us to
experience the web of interconnectedness in which we live and work. It
can give rise to greater insight and clarity, as well as greater empathy
for oneself and others. Mindfulness can help us be more in touch with
our deepest and most trustworthy moral and ethical instincts, reminding
us and grounding us in what is most important in our own lives and in
the life of those we most love and care for. John Kabat Zinn

Vipassana - The Buddhist Yoga of Mindfulness
The technique of vipassana is to observe the truth of suffering within
oneself, how one becomes agitated, irritated, miserable. One has to go
within oneself to observe it objectively. Otherwise the cause of misery
always appears to be outside. Say for example that I am angry, and I
want to investigate this anger. Even if I close my eyes and try to
understand it, the apparent external cause of the anger will keep coming
to mind, and will keep justifying my behavior. "So and so abused me, so
an so insulted me, and that's why I am angry. It's no fault of mine. But
the fact is I am miserable" The technique of vipasssana teaches you to
just observe. If you are miserable, just observe misery as misery. As
you start observing, the cause of misery becomes clear. Because you
reacted with negativity, with craving or aversion, you are now
experiencing a very unpleasant sensation in the body. But as you keep
observing the sensation, it loses its strength and passes away, and the
negativity passes with it. We start with respiration because the mind
doesn't become concentrated unless it has an object to focus on. We
observe the breath coming and going at the entrance of the nostrils and
then expand to experience the sensations throughout the body. These
sensations take us to the root of our minds. They take us to the root of
the misery, to the root of the cause of the misery, and they help us to
eradicate that cause. This is what is taught in vipassana. S.N. Goenka

The Inside Job of Living in the Present
When I am in the Present, I am free to be exactly as I am. I fully
accept myself as I am at this very moment, and I flow with my unfolding
experience of life. The moment fear interferes with this connection, I'm
startled out of the present; suffering and mental oppression begin, and
I'm drawn into conditioned patterns of self-defense, projection, and
acting out. Our pervasive fear of simply 'being' has traumatized us
individually and collectively since the dawn of time, and devastated our
sense of what it means to be alive. But who and what are we petrified
of? Could it be that on a basic level, we are terrified of our own
believed mind sets of being annihilated, the fear of which has produced
a culture of anxiety and violence that dominates our world at large? The
very acknowledgment and acceptance of this fear is the return to the
Present. We have glimpses of Being Present at random moments: when we
find ourselves quietly enjoying nature, when a baby is born, when we
fall in love, when a loved one dies, when we're stilled by beauty. At
times such as these, we find that our minds are "still" enough to allow
our bodies to connect to the Present, without interference, judgment, or
fear. But more frequently, we're "out of time." Our awareness is veiled
by unconsciousness, hidden by the fear of Being. Adapting to a divisive
world, we expend great energy protecting ourselves from external attack
-- both real and imagined -- and from past worries and future terrors.
We judge, blame, compare, despair, envy, justify and deny -- so busy
surviving that we become "human doings" threatened by the challenge to
Be. In the name of surviving this fear we create endless systems of
self-defense: armies, governments, and religions, cultures, communities,
families, and intimate relationships, which, though not necessarily
harmful in themselves, can obscure our innocent, singular, unguarded
connection to the moment. Today we have reached critical mass in this
accumulated fear of being, as a river of terror floods our world.
Difficult as these dangers are, they also present us with an opportunity
to examine and transcend the fears that stand between our lives and
ourselves. They represent a chance to free ourselves from the
internalized terror of the Present. Becoming conscious of individual
fear (as well as collective paranoia) can bring you into a more intimate
relationship with your own self-oppression, and help to unleash your
natural freedom to be who you are. Living In The Present can help you to
embrace responsibility for Being in this miraculous world, and to
respond with love and acceptance to your own obstacles. Courage is not
the absence of fear, after all, but the willingness to live with fear
without becoming its hostage, and to make room enough in your heart for
what is, one breath at a time. S.K.

Creating Peace When we talk about peace, we are mostly referring to an
agreement or an arrangement. We often talk about the intellectual
concept/noun of "Peace." Very few expect that in this complex world in
which we live, there could be real peace. Real peace is an inside job.
We can only make peace with ourselves -- in the present. Being at peace
with ourselves - in our own lives, and demonstrating it - inspires
others. Peace is a consciousness. When many practice this consciousness,
its critical mass spreads like the "100 Monkeys" theory.

A human being, though one organism, is divided by fear into many parts,
and in his traumatized mind set, has to answer to many voices: "What's
wrong with me? / Am I worthy of this? / Why is this happening to me? / I
am wrong / I am right / I am all alone / I am defective / I am unlovable
/ I am powerless / I am a loser / I am less than / I am more than / I am
going to die / Shame on me / Poor me / If only I could / I am damned / I
am unlucky / I don't measure up / What's the use? / We're all doomed,"
and more.

Dealing with these voices is often an unconscious process. It is as if
the mind argues with itself, and doesn't know it. In our defensiveness,
we become indignant and self-righteous, we project and we act out.
Overwhelmed by these voices and unable to tolerate our own feelings, we
leave the present moment, and disassociate from our bodies into
agendas, beliefs and stories that justify our pains and fears. Disputes
and conflicts with ourselves and with others are expressions of these
dreaded, anticipated, and fears and pains.

Making peace is the' inside job' of being present with these voices.
Identifying and acknowledging them for what they are and accepting them
-- we can take responsibility - able to respond to them rather than
react. Containing and feeling them and enduring their physical
sensations helps us to drop back into our bodies, out of our heads;
connecting with Mother Earth grounds us in our experience. Opening our
hearts to the life we are living helps us to reconnect with our source,
break through the isolation and shame of our own fear/pain, and generate
compassion for others. Connecting to the breath, we surrender to the
newness of the present moment, available once more to participate fully
in our own lives.

Being present with these parts of ourselves that we are so threatened by
- is like becoming a listening and caring parent. Many of us have not
had these kinds of parents; it is not a memory we can conjure up. For
some, it is an image to be "invented" and acted on "as if." We are all
blueprinted with the consciousness of peace, and only we can remember
and practice "peacing" our own lives. There is no higher or nobler
practice than making peace with ourselves. The greatest gift we can give
to ourselves and to others is the peace of the present. S.K.

The Language of the Present A typical human scenario: Joe got on the
bus, inserted his metro card and proceeded to sit down. The bus driver
informed him that his card was empty. "So what do you want me to do?"
said Joe. The bus driver told him that he needed to fill the card or get
the right change. Joe stood there startled. He only had a $20 bill. The
bus was crowded and the driver informed Joe in a calm voice that he
should move in and try and get the right change or get off the bus. By
that time Joe lost it and started screaming: "This is f...d up. You
should have change or a machine that can fill up metro cards." The bus
driver stopped the bus and told Joe to get off or he would call the
police." At that point the passengers got involved and one of them
offered Joe a free ride on her metro card. Joe refused, and got off the
bus. It's easy to take sides in this real life story and have an opinion
about who was right and who was wrong. However, this conflict, typical
as it is - has another - more hidden side to it, that can be verbalized
by the language of the present. What happened in Joe's present was: he
felt embarrassed and stupid for not having had fares on his metro card.
His heart was racing and his breath got labored. His chest got tight. He
lost it - trying to cope with his rising stress, and acted out. What
happened in the driver's present: He felt bad for Joe. He wanted to help
him. Joe's impatient reaction startled him. He became hardened and was
just going to stick to his job. The language of the present is a simple,
accurate, unarguable and non-judgmental description of what is happening
in the present moment - in the body and emotions, with an awareness of
thoughts. While this language can't always be conveyed in an
un-mediated, unsupervised dialogue, becoming aware of it can return to
us the loss of power which often makes us race for the victim position,
and get lost in the defensive story the mind makes up to rescue us from
feeling powerless. The language of the present is a powerful tool, point
of reference, and a perspective to bridge conflict and communicate both
with ourselves and with others. When dealing with pain, we often add on
to the sensations and emotions of the present moment - a story. This
story is geared to answer the question the mind wants to figure out -
"why is this happening to me"?
- which can turn pain into suffering. S.K.

Cultivating Response-ability
In the 21st Century

What is our responsibility to ourselves, to others, and to the world in
which we live?

In our culture 'responsibility' is often used as a noun; an expectation
of something we should do ("You should take responsibility.. Why
aren't't you more irresponsible"). But how do we really take
responsibility? Can it be taught? In the complex, uncertain world of
today, fear-based, judgmental, and self-righteous reactivity seem to be
creating a bigger mess and threatening our very existence - collectively
as well as personally. Whether it is a natural disaster like the
Tsunami, terrorism, economical challenges or difficulties with a loved
one; trying to get things done on the phone or on the computer; getting
disturbing information about health; dealing with losses, making
important decisions, or just trying to cope with living on a daily basis
- our ability to respond wisely to the givens of life which we have no
control over - is crucial.

Unfortunately, we are not given the manual of how to respond to life's
unexpected challenges, and perhaps, it is our own spiritual
responsibility to learn from our unfolding life experience. It does
however help to find teachings and wisdom that can assist us in
developing an organic sense of response-ability - one which we can use
moment by moment, one breath at a time.

Through the practice of Mindfulness Meditation, we can develop the skill
of deep, non judgmental listening to ourselves and to others, and learn
to direct our attention wisely to what is happening in the present
moment - thus getting a better perspective of the bigger picture of
life. We can calm the mind and emotions, relax the body, manage stress,
and transform fears. We can improve communication and increase
productivity. We can raise the quality of our lives - as we cultivate
inner-peace, wisdom of heart and loving kindness and compassion for the
human condition.

Taking responsibility for our lives is a great asset and a powerful
skill. Every one, can gain from more response-ability - and less
reactivity, especially now - in the 21st century. S.K

5 Mindfulness Trainings:
1. Bring your attention and awareness to the suffering caused by the
destruction of life. Cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect
the lives of people, animals, plants and minerals. Determination not to

kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in
the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.

2. Bring your attention and awareness to the suffering caused by
exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression. Cultivating
loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well being of people,
animals, plants, and minerals. Practicing generosity by sharing time,
energy and material resources with those who are in real need.
Determination not to steal and not to possess anything that should
belong to others. Respecting the property of others, and preventing
others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other
species on earth.

3. Bring your attention and awareness of the suffering caused by sexual
misconduct. Cultivating ways to protect the safety and integrity of
individuals, couples, families and society. Determination not to engage
in sexual relations without love and long-term commitment. Preserving
the happiness of others and myself. Determination to respect my
commitments and the commitments of others. Doing everything in my power
to protect children from sexual abuse and prevent couples and families
from being broken by sexual misconduct.

4. Bring your attention and awareness to the suffering caused by
unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others. Cultivating
loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to
others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can
create happiness or suffering. Determination to speak truthfully, with
words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. Not spreading news
that I do not know to be certain or criticize and condemn of which I am
not sure. Refraining from uttering words that can cause division or
discord, or that can cause the family or community to break
.Determination to reconcile and resolve all conflicts however small.

5. Bring your attention and awareness to the suffering caused by
unconscious consumption. Cultivating good health, both physical and
mental for myself, my family and my society by practicing mindful
eating, drinking and consuming. Ingesting only items that preserve
peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the
collective body of my family and society. Determination not to use
intoxicants or to ingest food or any other items that contain toxins,
such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films and conversations.
Working to transform violence, anger and confusion in myself and in
society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. Understanding
that a proper diet is crucial fro self-transformation and for the
transformation of society.

Every relationship is ultimately a relationship with - Self. Whether it
is with a parent or a child, a friend, a pet, or a business partner, It
is a sacred dream we dream up - a vision that gives meaning to life.
This dream keeps unfolding and constantly changing.. Our willingness to
wake up and out of 'automatic pilot; Read the signs and signals we are
receiving; Face the pain and grieve the changing of the dream;
Communicate, accept, and forgive failed expectations; Breathe.and be
compassionate for being human; Let go of attachment to forms and the
suffering of the consequences; Make adjustments, and continue to
recreate it - moment by moment, Can turn the dream into a night-mere or
into a present. -----S.K

Joie De Vivre - The Joy of Being
What is 'Joie de Vivre' - the simple Joy of Being?
It is an innate feeling of inner-peace and a happiness to just be alive
- regardless of conditions or circumstances.. Being comfortable in your
own skin.. Being grateful for living.. Loving and accepting who you
are... Enjoying the simplest, most mundane activities.. Being at home in
your breath.. Feeling light and playful.. Feeling connected to life..
Having a sense of belonging, and being an integral part of nature.. the
gift of being present. S.K

Bird Flu and India.

2006-02-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Bird Flu origins from everywhere,
from news , websites, china has been
taken too lightly.
The truth is not least friendly as the
feathered friend.
'Flu' comes from Influenza, a condition of
sneezing feeling down common as the common
cold affecting the population every cold season.
It is caused by a Flu Virus categorized under A or
B or C and further mutations of them based on their
protein content HA or HN.
They affect humans and are contigious, spread through
air.
There is a variant called as the H5N1 which kills birds
fowls this is the current cause of worry.
It spreads less between humans and birds so much as it
within the bird fraternity.
Yet when it has done, has taken its own toll.
Migratory birds have carried it up way to dense India
It should not be a cause of worry as it doesn't spread
to humans easily, the worry is once it mutates to a form
which humans can catch up easily and spread.
It may lead to a epidemic !!

"Ranikhet" a form known in India is also a variant of
the same H5N1.

My parrot in calcutta(india) had expired due to a variant of
none other than H5N1, Ranikhet !!

Vedanta the modern religion

2006-02-11T03:22:00.000-08:00

Vedanta - the modern religion
'Vedanta' the modern religion has foundations from
the Ramakrishna order.
Devised of practical and modern thoughts it is easily
understood by the layman.
Worldwide following without a sense of fanatic following
is what makes it intersting to know about.
The core is the intrepetation of Hindu scriptures and texts.
A visit to www.vedanta.org would be helpful.

Vedanta



an insight blog
2006-01-12T04:44:00.000-08:00
http://landingthejob.blogspot.com/
  
  
 My  Location;
 http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=14.626109,76.959229&spn=4.724852,7.525085&t=h&hl=en
  



Skype & Kaaza footholds
2005-12-13T05:11:00.000-08:00
 The Baltic Life: Hot Technology for Chilly Streets 
 
"TALLINN, Estonia, Dec. 8 - Visiting the offices of Skype feels like  
stumbling on to a secret laboratory in a James Bond movie, where mad  
scientists are hatching plots for world domination. 
 
The two-year-old company, which offers free calls over the Internet, is  
hidden at the end of an unmarked corridor in a grim Soviet-era academic  
building on the outskirts of this Baltic port city. By 5 p.m. at this time  
of year, it is long past sunset, and a raw wind has emptied the streets.  
 
Inside Skype, however, things are crackling - as they are everywhere in  
Estonia's technology industry. The company has become a hot calling card for  
Estonia, a northern outpost that joined the European Union only last year  
but has turned itself into a sort of Silicon Valley on the Baltic Sea. 
 
"We are recognized as the most dynamic country in Europe" in information  
technology, said Linnar Viik, a computer science professor who has nurtured  
start-ups and is regarded as something of a guru by Estonia's entrepreneurs.  
"The question is, How do we sustain that dynamism?" 
 
Foreign investors are swooping into Tallinn's tiny airport in search of the  
next Skype (rhymes with pipe). The company most often mentioned, Playtech,  
designs software for online gambling services. It is contemplating an  
initial public offering that bankers say could raise up to $1 billion. 
 
Indeed, there is an outlaw mystique to some of Estonia's ventures, drawn  
here to Europe's eastern frontier. Whether it is online gambling, Internet  
voice calls or music file-sharing - Skype's founders are also behind the  
most popular music service, Kazaa - Estonian entrepreneurs are testing the  
limits of business and law. 
 
And by tapping its scientific legacy from Soviet times and making the best  
of its vest-pocket size, Estonia is developing an efficient technology  
industry that generates ingenious products - often dreamed up by a few  
friends - able to mutate via the Internet into major businesses. 
 
These entrepreneurs grow out of an energetic, youthful society, which has  
embraced technology as the fastest way to catch up with the West. Eight of  
10 Estonians carry cellphones, and even gas stations in Tallinn are equipped  
with Wi-Fi connections, allowing motorists to visit the Internet after they  
fill up. 
 
Such ubiquitous connectivity makes Tallinn's location midway between  
Stockholm and St. Petersburg seem less remote. 
 
Even the short icebound days play a part, people here say, because they  
shackle software developers to the warm glow of their computer screens. For  
the 150 people who work at Skype, Estonia is clearly where the action is.  
 
"What Skype has shown the world is that you can take a great idea, with few  
resources, and conquer the world," said Sten Tamkivi, the 27-year-old head  
of software development. 
 
Whether Skype poses a mortal threat to telephone companies, as some  
enthusiasts suggest, is an open question. But it has become an undisputed  
technology star - a status cemented in September when eBay, the Internet  
auction giant, bought the company in a deal worth $2.5 billion. 
 
More than 70 million people have downloaded Skype's free software from the  
Internet, Mr. Tamkivi said, and it is adding registered users at a rate of  
190,000 a day. On a recent evening, 3.7 million people were logged on to the  
service, nearly three times the population of this country. 
 
Professor Viik and others relish the attention that Skype has brought  
Estonia. But he says his country cannot build a long-lasting technology  
industry on a single hit or even a few hits: Kazaa was hugely popular before  
it ran into a blizzard of copyright-infringement lawsuits. 
 
Silicon Valley, Mr. Viik noted, is composed of clusters of companies that  
feed off one another. Skype is a closed company, with proprietary software  
and owners who are so secretive about their plans that for a time local  
journalists did not know where its offices were. 
 
The company's two founders are not even Estonian. Niklas Zennstrom is a  
Swede, and Janus Friis is a Dane. Skype's legal headquarters are in  
Luxembourg; its sales and marketing office is in London. Although Estonian  
developers wrote Skype's basic code, only a fraction of the eBay bonanza  
went into Estonian pockets. 
 
Part of the problem for Estonia's entrepreneurs is the nation's inexperience  
in capital markets. It regained its independence only in 1991, after the  
collapse of the Soviet Union. Estonia's entrepreneurs do not yet have the  
Rolodexes of their Scandinavian counterparts. Recently, Tallinn got its  
first high-tech venture capital firm. 
 
Then, too, there is its small size. Estonia's entire software development  
industry employs roughly 2,500 people, less than the research and  
development staff at a major American technology company. 
 
"Let's be frank," said Priit Alamae, the 27-year-old founder of Webmedia,  
another leading software design firm. "Estonia has 1.3 million people; we  
have 200 I.T. graduates a year; we do not have the resources to develop our  
own Microsoft." 
 
The competition for talented recruits is driving up salaries more than 20  
percent a year, he said. While Estonia remains cheaper than neighbors like  
Finland or Sweden, the gap is narrowing rapidly. 
 
In some ways, however, Estonia's labor shortage has contributed to its  
success. Companies here are extraordinarily efficient. And they tend to  
focus on niche products or on business models - like Skype's or Kazaa's -  
that can expand from a small base by word of mouth. 
 
Skype and Kazaa are powered by so-called peer-to-peer technology, which  
allows computers to share files or other information on a network without  
the need for a centralized server to route the data. In Kazaa's case, the  
files being swapped are songs. In Skype's case, they are voices. 
 
"There is no new technology in Skype," Mr. Viik said. "It is an example of  
how you put together bits and pieces of technology in a clever way.  
Estonians are very good at putting together bits and pieces." 
 
Necessity is the mother of invention, but what is it about Estonians that  
makes them the Baltic's answer to Bill Gates? 
 
"People here are kind of introverted and into technology," said Jaan  
Tallinn, a tousled-haired man who looks younger than his 33 years and wrote  
the software code that is the basis of Kazaa and Skype. "We have long, cold  
winters when there isn't much to do, so it makes sense." 
 
Other people cite history: Estonia's long subjugation by the Soviet Union,  
and the euphoria that came with freedom. 
 
"It's as if a young country suddenly came into independence with great hopes  
but few material resources," said Steve Jurvetson, a venture capitalist in  
Silicon Valley. Mr. Jurvetson, whose family has Estonian roots, has invested  
in a few start-ups here, most notably Skype. 
 
Estonia owes one thing to its former oppressor. In the 1950's, the Soviets  
chose the Baltic states as the site for several scientific institutes.  
Estonia wound up with the Institute of Cybernetics - basically a computer  
sciences center - that now houses Skype and many other firms. 
 
That scientific legacy remains embedded in society, people say. It is most  
visible in Estonia's receptiveness to new technology. Internet penetration  
is estimated by the telecommunications industry to be 49 percent of the  
population. 
 
Estonians use mobile phones to pay for parking, among other things. Most  
conduct their banking online, and more than 70 percent file their taxes on  
the Internet. The state issues a digital identification card, which allows  
citizens to vote from their laptops. 
 
In a rare disappointment, less than 2 percent of the electorate, or 10,000  
people, voted electronically during recent local elections. One hurdle was  
that voters had to buy a card reader to authenticate their ID's. The  
government hopes for better numbers for the next election, in March 2007.  
 
Some people contend that Estonia's success is a function of hard work and  
happy circumstance rather than raw talent. 
 
"I can't say that Estonians are the greatest software programmers," said  
Allan Martinson, who last June started the first high-tech venture capital  
fund to be based here. "You can find more talent in Russia." 
 
While entrepreneurs complain about the shortage of skilled workers, more and  
more young foreigners are ready to trek to this northernmost Baltic nation  
for a job. Skype employs people from 30 countries; in the halls, one hears  
plenty of English, and even some Spanish. 
 
Oliver Wihler, 38, a Swiss software developer, moved to Tallinn from London  
in 1999, drawn by the heady professional atmosphere and by Estonia's parks  
and forests. Now he and a business partner, Sander Magi, 28, run a company  
called Aqris, which reformats Java software. 
 
"The commute in London was a drag, and I missed not having any green space,"  
Mr. Wihler said. 
 
Estonia offers plenty of that. But Skype is relying on more than a pleasant  
lifestyle; it is taking a more traditional approach in its recruitment by  
offering stock options in eBay. But Mr. Tallinn says that is only part of  
the company's appeal. 
 
"The other draw," he said, "is that if you want to work for a company that  
influences the lives of tens of millions of people, and you want to do it in  
Tallinn, there really isn't any other choice." 
 
 
  
  



yet some more..
2005-12-07T01:29:00.000-08:00
Some  other incurable disease which has escaped the list of media attention  are;
  Ebola, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Hepatits  A, B, incurable Cancer, killer-flu the
  frequent Bird-flu, SARS incoming  outgoing..
  
  
  



Tips on climbing the corporate ladder
2005-12-01T01:06:00.000-08:00

I have a dream that my children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of
their character. -- Martin Luther King, American civil rights leader,
1963.
There probably isn't a person in the world who would not wish for a fair
chance, and an opportunity to succeed. We would all prefer to be
measured by the content of our character. In the business world, this
translates into an opportunity for a rewarding career.
American companies like Rohm and Haas have been working for more than 40
years to be more inclusive, to put the diverse talents of their
workforce to full use. There's no doubt that significant progress has
been made, and no doubt that more needs to occur. For that to happen,
both individuals and corporations need to take responsibility to effect
change.
There have always been differences between perception and reality.
During my career, I have observed that the perception of a successful
leader in a small, entrepreneurial company can be quite different from
the perception of a successful leader in a large corporation. In an
entrepreneurial organisation, one's success is almost always the result
of individual performance. Measurement of success is absolute -- and can
be tied to the amount of money one makes, or the amount of individual
recognition one achieves.
In a large corporation, success is somewhat dependent on individual
abilities, but also heavily reliant upon team performance and influence
skills. Here, success is relative -- one's degree of success is measured
against the performance of others, before the next move up the corporate
career ladder.
Ultimately, we are all responsible for our own careers. However, it is
important to know and understand the impact of perceptions, and a
willingness to recognise that companies expect different skills at
different points in one's career.
As a man of Indian ancestry, I have developed my own beliefs about the
perceptions of Indian professionals. These are my personal opinions, and
may not reflect reality, but when I mentor or speak with Indian groups,
these are some of the perceptions we discuss:
.     Excellent academic credentials
.     Smart and aggressive
.     Ambitious
.     Very good individual contributors
.     Good communication skills
.     Good functional leaders
.     Not necessarily good leaders of large, diverse organisations
What's the missing link here? Strong influence skills.
Whether you are Asian, African, Japanese, French, Polish, Brazilian or
American, the skill sets expected of you will change as you rise through
an organisation.
Early in your career, you are known for specific, often specialised
skills. For example, you know the intricacies of tax law especially
well, or you are up to date on the latest generally accepted accounting
rules. People seek you out for your expertise, individual knowledge and
aptitude.
Those incredible skills you had at the beginning and middle part of your
career -- in accounting or tax -- become less important as you move
higher up in an organisation. These skills are replaced by your ability
to influence and persuade people -- often your peers, or people higher
in the organisation than yourself.
In these later stages, people seek you out because of your collective
experience across many endeavours, and for the people you know both
within and outside of your company. Your ability to move a project
forward that involves many team members is valued. You bring solutions
to the organisation even before they realize that a problem exists.
These are the skills to develop in order to reach these higher levels of
performance:
.     Learning agility: The ability to learn new things even as you let
go
of outdated concepts
.     Flexibility: Being multi-dimensional
.     Risk-taking: Get out of your comfort zone and try something new
.     Focus on results/performance
.     Surround yourself with positive thinkers
.     Form deep and meaningful relationships, personally and
professionally
.     Find mentors/sponsors within and outside the organisation
.     Deliver on your commitments
.     Behave transparently
.     Confront reality
.     Find the right balance between work and the rest of your life
These are characteristics to avoid:
.     Rigidity, being one dimensional
.     Playing organisational politics to the exclusion of developing
your
own skills
.     Cynical/negative thinking
.     Making false promises
.     Harbouring hidden agendas
Above all, as you make this journey, be true to yourself. You will not
get ahead by trying to act like, talk like or behave like anyone else.
You must be sincere, open and straightforward.
The best advice I ever received was to find the kind of company whose
value and standards most closely match your own. You will spend a large
portion of your life in the work environment, and you will struggle if
you constantly feel different than others around you. Seek out a company
where it feels 'right' -- where you can use the full extent of your
intelligence, passion and drive -- to move both your career and the
company forward.
A good company will value the differences it sees in the workforce. A
smart manager will understand that there are legitimately effective ways
to get things done that might look different than the path he or she
would have chosen. A smart employee who wants to be a successful manager
will understand that influence skills really are a combination of
aptitude, attitude and approach.
I'm talking here about diversity. In my own company, diversity is an
essential component of our business strategy.
Diversity of thought; sensitivity to regional differences, a sensitivity
to gender, race, ethnicity and sexual preference -- along with an
understanding of the common business trends and principles that
transcend political boundaries -- are essential to our longterm survival
and success.
We take diversity so seriously at Rohm and Haas that I am accountable to
our board of directors on this topic on an ongoing basis -- and they are
not shy about encouraging our efforts toward further improvement.
I have also been the personal beneficiary of working for a company that
has valued diversity throughout my time here. When I first came to Rohm
and Haas 34 years ago, I was not quite feeling at home anywhere. I was
young, living outside my native land, and new to the chemical industry.
However, I can say with assurance that, early on, my colleagues made me
feel welcome everywhere, enabling me to develop my own career in part
with their help and guidance. This is a tribute to the culture of Rohm
and Haas, its core values, and the values of my co-workers.
Jack Welch, the former chairman of General Electric, made an observation
that I happen to agree with wholeheartedly. It sums up my belief in what
every leader needs to do to ensure success: 'We spend all of our time on
people. The day we screw up the people thing, the company's over.'
The discovery, deployment and development of talent is the lifeblood of
any company, and the competitive difference in the ability to bring
innovation to the global market.
If we believe we should all be judged by the content of our character,
then an ongoing commitment to diversity is an integral part of being
citizens and companies of the world.
Diversity just makes good business sense.
Raj L Gupta is chairman, president and CEO, Rohm and Haas, a
Philadelphia-based Fortune 500 firm that makes products for the personal
care, grocery, home and construction markets, and the electronics
industry.



on a rainy day .
2005-09-03T11:28:00.000-07:00
  couldn't help blogging this poems..

 Lodged
by Robert  Frost      
  The rain to the wind said,
"You push and I'll pelt."
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged -- though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.









 We Are Seven
by William  Wordsworth      
   A simple child...
That lightly draws its breath
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?

I met a little cottage girl-
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That clustered 'round her head.

She had a rustic, woodland air
And she was wildly clad;
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
Her beauty made me glad.

"Sisters and brothers, little maid,
How many may you be?"
"How many?  Seven in all," she said
And wondering looked at me.

"And where are they?  I pray you tell."
She answered, "Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell
And two are gone to sea."

"Two of us in the churchyard lie,
My sister and my brother
And in the churchyard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother."

"You say that two at Conway dwell
And two are gone to sea,
Yet, ye are seven!  I pray you tell,
Sweet maid, how this may be."

Then did the little maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the churchyard lie,
Beneath the churchyard tree."

"You run about, my little maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the churchyard laid
Then ye are only five."

"Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
The little maid replied,
"Twelve steps or more from my mother's door
And they are side by side."

"My stockings there I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit
And sing a song to them."

"And often after sunset, sir,
When it is light and fair
I take my little porringer
And eat my supper there."

"The first that died was sister Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain
And then she went away."

"So in the churchyard she was laid
And, when the grass was dry
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I."

"And when the ground was white with snow
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go
And he lies by her side."

"How many are you, then," said I,
"If they two are in heaven?"
Quick was the little maid's reply,
"O master!  We are seven."

"But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!"
'T was throwing words away; for still
The little maid would have her will
And said... "Nay, we are seven!"
 



2005-08-23T21:58:00.000-07:00
There are a number of websites being launched on the cooperative mode.
These sites are alive and active solely out of user activity.
Consider the case of www.43things.com !
All humans educated or undeducated have dreams and how so often they are the
same.
If you have dreamt of things , places things money resolutions go to this website if there
are other peoples dreams which could be yours too.
The website draws revenue for hosting from the advertisement spree, mention once you have a
dream of travelling to Lhasa, and there are numerous links to travel agents and tour operators.
The sites have evolved from the basic blogging revolution.
More of collabrative sites or should i say the internet is the future.
One mankind one internet !


There
2005-08-21T10:10:00.000-07:00
The increasing cost of living in a place like Bangalore, rising aspirations leads to only more unease.
Search for ease in the future leads to more and more unease in the present, Irony!
If there is a solution to this problem, there is none.
Humans have lead this life not this life but since time immemorable.
They have always strived for things beyond their reach beyond their scope.
Never has the human spirit lied silent! nor it should ever.
Enterprising is the nature of human soul so should be it !


My Location
2005-08-01T06:51:00.000-07:00
 
 http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=14.626109,76.959229&spn=4.724852,7.525085&t=h&hl=en
 #end
~the map is not the  territory~
  



'The President of India' Website
2005-07-19T05:31:00.000-07:00
http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/quotes.jsp
  
 
~the map is not the territory~
  



Excellent Urdu Dictionary
2005-07-18T02:02:00.000-07:00
http://members.tripod.com/~ghazal/urdu_dictionary.html
  
 



'You've got to find what you love'
2005-06-23T04:39:00.000-07:00
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple
Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the
finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth
be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big
deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed
around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So
why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed
college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She
felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so
everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his
wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that
they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list,
got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected
baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother
later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that
my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the
final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my
parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college
that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class
parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six
months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to
do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it
out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their
entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work
out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of
the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop
taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping
in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the
floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to
buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday
night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved
it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and
intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one
example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy
instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every
label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had
dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to
take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif
and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between
different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.
It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science
can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.
But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh
computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac.
It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never
dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never
had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows
just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have
them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this
calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful
typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots
looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear
looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect
them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow
connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut,
destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and
it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky  I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I
started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in
10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2
billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our
finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned
30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you
started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very
talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things
went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and
eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors
sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been
the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let
the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the
baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob
Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very
public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.
But something slowly began to dawn on me  I still loved what I did. The
turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been
rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple
was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of
being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner
again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most
creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another
company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would
become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer
animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful
animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple
bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT
is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a
wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired
from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient
needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose
faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I
loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true
for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a
large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do
what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to
love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't
settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the
years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live
each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be
right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33
years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If
today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about
to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in
a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever
encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost
everything  all external expectations, all pride, all fear of
embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of
death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are
going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you
have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to
follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in
the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even
know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly
a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no
longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get
my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means
to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10
years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure
everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for
your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy,
where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and
into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells
from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that
when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying
because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that
is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the
closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now
say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful
but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to
die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one
has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very
likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It
clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you,
but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and
be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other
people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out
your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow
your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want
to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole
Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was
created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park,
and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late
1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all
made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of
like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was
idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog,
and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was
the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final
issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you
might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath
it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell
message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always
wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish
that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much. 



Open Office Converter
2005-06-23T02:16:00.000-07:00
It converts open office docs to any other format..
http://www.oooconv.de/engine/OOOconv.php



The Engineer's Engineer
2005-06-21T23:04:00.000-07:00
Jack Kilby, the co-founder of the modern say IC died at 81.
Considered a pioneer of the microelectronics age, Kilby invented the
first monolithic integrated circuit, laying the foundation for a wave of
miniaturization and integration that continues at a rapid pace. He was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his role in the invention
of the integrated circuit.
"In my opinion, there are only a handful of people whose works have
truly transformed the world and the way we live in it -- Henry Ford,
Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and Jack Kilby," said Tom Engibous,
chairman of Texas Instruments, in a statement. "If there was ever a
seminal invention that transformed not only our industry but our world,
it was Jack's invention of the first integrated circuit."
 



A.O.N
2005-06-21T05:47:00.000-07:00

A.O.N - Cisco's New Initiative.
Application Oriented Networking or A.O.N is the new buzzword
For networking giant Cisco.
In an effort to expand out, Cisco has now application sensing
Software for its hardware routers, switches and the likes.
Once, the application sends data packets with its footprint, all
Application aware Cisco devices in the network treat it with special
Care.
Needs partnership with major giants, like SAP, Tibco Software and IBM.
The feature is towards more and more intelligent networks, remains to
see
How competitors react to this move.



Collaborative Surfing !
2005-06-16T04:28:00.000-07:00
Collaboration almost always yields good returns to all.
FireFox has this extension for collaborative
online surfing on the net.
"StumbleUpon" is the add on for collaborative surfing, it shows you
Things which you wouldn't have before.
Light and easy on download easily installs on FireFox version 1.0 and
Above.
Once done click on the Stumbleupon and get to a page you never thought
of!!
Explore !!!
Recommended for age < 99 !



Unforgettable Words
2005-06-03T09:41:00.000-07:00
From, my friend Arya's homepage, thinking it is worth mentioning here;
 "I lived in the capital city Kohima at a height of 1444 m above sea level, scene of a fierce battle between the British and the Japanese troops during World War II. The Japanese could advance no farther than Kohima. And there is the wonderful Kohima War Cemetery wherein lie the names of those killed during the battle. A really must see if you are visiting the North-East the Cemetery welcomes you as you enter the town with those unforgettable words:"
   
  'When you go home
Tell them of us
And say that
We gave our today
For your tomorrow'


UseFul LinKs
2005-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00
Here's a list of useful links;
(Review and details pending on...!!)
http://www.iiitb.ac.in/resources/links.htm
 



Dave Barry on meetings
2005-05-24T23:54:00.000-07:00
To  really   succeed  in a   business  or   organization, it  is sometimes helpful to know what   your job  is, and whether  it involves any duties.  Ask around among your   co-workers. "Hi," you  should say. "I'm a  new employee.  What  is  the name of my job?"  If they   answer   "long-range  planner" or "lieutenant governor,"  you are pretty much  free  to lounge  around and do crossword puzzles  until  retirement. Most other jobs, however, will involve some  work.
  There are two major kinds  of work in modern organizations:
 Taking  phone  messages for  people  who  are in meetings,  and Going  to  meetings.  Your ultimate career  strategy will be to get to a  job involving primarily  No. 2, going to meetings, as soon as possible,  because that's where the real prestige is.
 It   is all  very  well  and  good to be  able   to take   phone messages,  but you are  never  going to  get to   a position of power, a position where you can cost thousands of people their  jobs with a single bonehead decision,  unless you learn how to attend  meetings.
 The first meeting ever  held was back  in the Mezzanine Era. In those days Man's job was to slay  his prey and bring it home to Woman, who had to figure out how to cook  it.  The problem was, Man was slow and basically  naked,  whereas the prey  had  warm fur and could   run like an   antelope. (In  fact, it  *was* an antelope, only back then nobody knew  this.)
 At last someone said,  "Maybe if we just  sat down and did some brainstorming we could come up  with a *better way* to hunt our prey!" It went extremely well, plus it was much  warmer sitting in a circle,  so they agreed to meet  again the  next  day, and the next.
 But  the women  pointed out   that, prey-wise, the men had  not produced   anything,  and    the human  race    was  pretty much starving. The men agreed that was serious  and said they would  put it right near the top of their "agenda!" At that point the women,  who  were primitive    but not stupid, started   eating  plants. And  thus was modern agriculture  born. It could never have  happened without meetings.
 The modern business  meeting, however, might be better compared with a  funeral, in  the   sense that you  have  a gathering of people who are  wearing uncomfortable clothing and would rather be somewhere else. The  major  difference is that most funerals have  a definite  purpose.  Also, nothing is ever really buried in a  meeting.
 An idea    may  *look* dead, but it   will   always reappear at  another meeting  later  on. If you  have  ever seen   the movie "Night of the Living Dead" you have a rough idea of how modern  meetings operate, with  projects and proposals  that everybody  thought   were killed rising  constantly from  their graves  to stagger back into meetings and eat the brains of the  living.
 There are two major kinds  of meetings: 
 Meetings  that are  held for   basically  the same reason  that Arbor Day is  observed - namely,  tradition. For example, a lot of  managerial  people like to   meet on Monday,  because it is Monday. You'll  get  used to it.    You'd better, because  this kind  accounts for 83 percent of  all meetings held (based on a study in  which  I wrote down  numbers until one of them looked about  right).
 This type of meeting  operates the way "Show  and Tell" does in nursery  school, with  everybody  getting to say something, the difference being that in nursery  school the kids actually have something  new  to say. When   it's  your turn, you  should say you're still working on  whatever  it is you're supposed to  be working on. This may seem  pretty dumb, since *obviously* you'd be working  on whatever you're  supposed to  be working on, and even if you  weren't, you'd  *claim*  you were, but this is the traditional thing  for   everyone to say.  It  would  be  a lot faster  if the  persons running  the  meeting  would just  say, "Everybody  who is still working on what he  or she is supposed to be working on, raise  your hand!"  You'd all be out of there in five minutes, even allowing time  for jokes. But this is not how we do it in America. My guess  is, it's how they do it over in Japan.
 Meetings  where  there  is    some alleged purpose. These   are  trickier,   because what you do  depends   on what the  purpose is. Sometimes the purpose is  harmless, like somebody wants to show  slides of pie  charts and give everybody a  copy of a big fat report.  All you have to do in this  kind of meeting is sit there and have elaborate  fantasies, then  take the report back to  your office and throw  it  away, unless of  course you're a vice   president,    in which  case you  write    the  name of a subordinate  in the  upper-right-hand   corner, followed   by a question mark, like this: "Norm?" Then you  send it to Norm and forget all about it (although it  will plague old Norm  for the rest of  his career).  But  sometimes you go to meetings  where the purpose is to get your "input"  on something. This is very  serious, because what it means is, they want to make sure that in case whatever  it is turns out to be stupid or fatal, you'll get some of the blame. So  you  have to somehow escape from the meeting  before they get  around  to asking  you anything.  One way is to set fire to your  tie.
 Another is to    have an accomplice  interrupt the  meeting and announce that   you  have  a  phone  call  from somebody    very important,    such as the   president of   the  company, or the pope.  It should be either  one or   the  other. It would sound fishy  if the accomplice     said, "You have  a call   from the president of the company. Or  the pope."
 You should know how   to take notes at a  meeting. Use a yellow legal pad.     At  the top, write the    date and underline  it twice.  Now wait until an  important person  such as your  boss  starts  talking. When he does, look  at him with an expression of  enraptured interest, as though  he is revealing the secrets of life itself.  Then write interlocking rectangles, like this: (Picture of doodled  rectangles).
 If it is an especially  lengthy meeting,  you can try something like this: (Picture of  more  elaborate doodles and  caricature of boss.)
 If  somebody   falls asleep in a   meeting, have everybody else leave the room. Then  collect a group of total strangers, right off the street,  and have them  sit  around the sleeping person until he wakes up. Then have one of them  say to him, in a very somber voice,  "Bob, your plan  is very,   very risky. However, you've given us no choice but to try it. I only hope,  for your sake, that you know what you're getting  yourself into."   Then they should file quietly from the room.
  
 



meghali - "the cloud"
2005-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

"Dark and nimble she comes,
When the westward sky palls the setting sun.

When streaks of rainbow form and show,
You know she's touched you like ever before."

"Intrestingly 'the cloud' left us just when the Monsoons arrived...:)"




Aero-Show Bangalore '05
2005-04-05T09:40:00.000-07:00









To quote from a Fwd Mail:
2005-02-13T08:29:00.000-08:00
The information below about India given in Pakistan magazine "The News  International" by "Mr. Masood Khan" on December 14, 2004 .

       * World's 5 largest car companies are procuring their spare parts
       from India. In 2002, the export was Rs.1700 crores and it quadrupled
       in 2003 to Rs.7000 crores. In the next 5 years this will  cross
       Rs.70,000 crores.

       * India's "HERO HONDA" is the world's largest Motorcycle
       manufacturing company. It manufactures 17 lacs motorcycles per year.


       * England's popular Rover car company is going to manufacture
       "TATA INDICA" the Indian technology car at the rate of 1 lac car per

       year.

       * "BHARAT FORGE" had emerged as the largest forging company in
       the world and supplies its products to world popular companies like

       Volvo, Toyota, Honda etc.

       * "ASIAN PAINTS" an Indian paint company has its manufacturing
       plants in 22 countries across 5 continents and is the market leader
       in
       11 countries.

       * "HINDUSTAN INKS" an Indian ink manufacturing company is  producing
       world's largest 1 lac ton ink per annum with its
       manufacturing branches at Europe & America.

       * "ESCELFBOPACK" an Indian Company has manufacturing plants in
       11 countries and world's 25% pastes and medicines are packed in
       their product.

       * Many Indian Industries keeps getting world popular awards.

       * The popular Austin car company has given order to an Indian
       company for new designs.

       * Multinational car companies like Suzuki, Hyundai & Ford have
       started exporting their cars from India and by 2010, they will
       export around 5 lacs car from India.

       * Indian medicine sector manufactures products worth Rs.30,000
       crores per year out of which Rs.10,000 crores are exported.

       * Due to better performance of Indian Industrial sector their share
       in Indian market has raised from 25 to 65% where as the
       multinationals share reduced from 75 to 35%.

       * Indian Herbal business grown to Rs.4,000 crore per annum.

       * India contributes 20% of world's textile manufacturing.

       * India is proudly established its own Super Computer where as the
       other Super computer established countries are only America & Japan.


       * India is one among the 6 countries, which can build and launch
       Satellites. Even technologically advanced countries like Germany &
       Belgium yet to do that.

       * Due to Insat Organization, India had become the very big national
       satellite network country in the World.

       * 9 out of 10 Diamonds in the world are cut & polished in India
       being the no.1 Diamond works country in world.

       * India & China's business has grown to 104% with in a year.

       * India's foreign reserve had raised from US$82 billion to US$ 118
       billion.

       * India had returned back the IMF loan before the due date and
       started funding other countries.

       * Indian software is perfect but just 1/10th of the world prize.

       * India provides software to 7 out of 10 largest CD-ROM manufactures
       in the world.

       * India spends only Rs.70,000 for producing a MBA student whereas in

       America the expense is Rs.54 lacs.

       * The Eye Cataract operation in India costs only Rs.600 where as in
       America Rs.7000.

       * A Heart surgery in India costs only Rs.40,000 where as in America
       it is Rs. 6 lacs.

       * The R&D expense to make a car in America is Rs.4,500 crores
       whereas in India with half of its expense the R&D is done with same

       perfection.

       * More than 70 multinational companies have established their R&D
       centres in India.

       * Indian telephone & Internet network expanding by crore in numbers.


       * 100 out of Fortune 500 companies have come to India to do business
       while only 33 have gone to China.

       * So, India is making jumping progress in the world's market,which
       is ranging from Brazil to China.

       * According to Mr.Masood Khan "these developments have not come to
       India in a day or by luck. India also has the same situations of
       Pakistan  like Dirty politics, Corruption, Arrogant officials, Poor
       infrastructure etc. But still India keeps growing every day and
       nobody can deny the fact. This happens because the Indian people are
       not just seeing the dirty problems around them but they also see the
       confidence star on the sky, the growth opportunity and working for
       it with self motivation having a target for progress".


RameshSinghDhami
2005-01-21T20:17:00.000-08:00



old timers
2005-01-10T08:49:00.000-08:00








this guy doesn't change, it was my destiny to know him,

i am lucky !






Telecom 2004 - the year that was
2005-01-07T01:44:00.000-08:00
The 2004 fixed line market saw a mature market, average growth, overall a satisfying year.



Major providers like AT&T ,BT, NTT , Telesom Italia, Telecom Deutshe, Telecom Telefonia

saw no more than a single digit revenue growth.



The Primary reasons being increased competition , fuelled by fixed to mobile transition.

The expected revenue earner fixed line broadband did not pick up as expected.

also it replaced leased line services for VPN broadband services.



Especially in Europe due to over capacity and underutilisation Broadband and Voice services sold off as "commodities" at throwaway prices.



No major M&A have taken place again indicating a mature market with less risk taking appetite.



Luckily, however companies which had been filed under chp 11 have come revived (Global Crossing and MCI to note the famous).



VOIP saw into mainstream , so much that 2004 could be called as the year of VOIP.

It was well welcomed  by both consumer and business users.



So much so even traditional fixed voice services carriers ike AT & T , BT and NTT have launched VOIP services.



Alongwith VOIP , IP telephony gained presence ,an IP PBX is now a easily found service.



The increased migration from fixed to mobile gave way to the FMC (or FIxed to Mobile Convergence) future.



2005 is expected to be the year for more of FMC than anything else.



Already companies have launched services for FMC , like Verizon has launched the 

'iobi' service (www22.verizon.com/iobi/)

Korea telecom has launched the "Du" service.

NTT DoCoMo has launched the 3G/Wi-Fi dual mode handset.



So promising is the growth for FMC sector that 10 companies of the likes of BT,AT&T ,NTT are working upon the UMA standard which allows for seamless roaming from network 

to network.



Happy Roaming in 2005.






a few from the bandipur trip
2005-01-01T13:48:00.000-08:00













Wi – Fi Revolution & Bangalore
2004-12-18T01:48:00.000-08:00
There are about 200 plus Wi-Fi zones in India.
   Surprising to know if 96 percent of these Wi-Fi zones are alone in Bangalore.

 Any reasons why?

    
   




Alternate Careers
2004-12-18T01:46:00.000-08:00
 
   Security Strategist – Responsible for assuring a secure environment and provide competitive strategies for the organization.
   This role involves around people, processes, technology and strategy.
   The SS may not be competent enough in technology this information may be sourced out of technology specialists.


Vehicle Routing Software
2004-12-18T01:44:00.000-08:00
 
   Vehicle Routing Software
    
   With increased outsourcing and employees, coupled with a demand to be always ‘on’.
   Companies run multiple shifts on the job. One panacea of multiple shifts leads to increased transportation costs in the terms of picking up and leaving the employees.
    
   Solution lied in the following packages to provide for a an optimum route for employee pickup and dropping keeping in mind the shifts and requirements.
    
   Check out the following links;
   http://www.apsystems.co.uk/Transport%20Planning.htm
    
   http://www.mobiapps.com/moverview.asp
  
  


Wired for Broadband
2004-12-18T01:43:00.000-08:00
Electricity and electric wires are taken for granted at every household. The same doesn’t go for telephone wires with its 7-8% penetration.
   A little known India tech firm named Wireless Nova has developed a technology that enables Internet access through power cables.
   This start-ups solution offers power distribution companies offer broadband internet access through electricity wires.
   Companies have tried to use power lines as broadband carriers, however these lines suffer from numerous problems and is resistant to data transmission.
   In fact globally only a few companies have mastered the technique for delivering broadband access Wireless Nova is one of these companies and the first in India.
   Other than broadband access this technology offers other secondary usages.
   Electricity companies traditionally have had a problem of metering and power losses.
   With remote Internet access coupled with remote meter readings these issues are just one of the many that will be handled.
   There are may others utility services just waiting to be tapped.
  


how to ?? (i) "job openings"
2004-12-09T03:18:00.000-08:00
The upto date networking companies are looking forward to candidates with a specific set of skills.Keeping a view on the nature of actual work requirement vis-a-vis the specified requirements here is an attenuated list of wannabes which will get you through most of the companies.

One;

Programmin Languages- a primer in C with smart knowledge bits , C++ brush should be sufficient for explaining things, but notably the smart part of the language you claim to have knowledge have should be well rehearsed with.



Operating Systems - is a topic the interviewer will somehow get in with irrespective of his/her own expertise in the subject.Learn the basics of Operating Systems again from a primer.

Appreciate one Operating System, a comparitive study of operating systems helps as a quick learner.



Field knowledge - the Indian software market makes less experts in one domain, hence a basic understanding of the domain quoted in your resume is useful.

A satisfactory answer is most welcomed.

More so have a thorough knowledge of the organisation and the job reqt where one is going.

The people who conduct interviews maybe inept at the field you have worked on.

Try to speak out of your experience that which feeds the requirements of the project.



In the following posts I shall give a feedback of the candidates as per my perception and people i interact with.


















Networking in India - (i)
2004-09-26T06:33:00.000-07:00
Here is a part of the a brief which shall update the reader of the Networking industry;



Networking : the recession's over



1. The Indian Networking industry is out of recession, or so the figures   say so.

2. India figures as the third largest growing market in theAPAC region as per   the Q1 2004 in the LAN segment.

3. The LAN segment has improved greatly in the first quarter registering a growth of   35.1 percent.

4.Inspite of the LAN market being topsy-turvy the current growth rate indicates a   strong sentiment of the LAN segment to be better than before.

5. The Top deals registered were by 3Com which has won big deals from AP goverment   ,Parliament house,ONGC and Persisitent Systems.Nortel has deals from Transworks,    Accenture,Vcustomers and Daksh.D-links successes include SBI,BSNL,Karvy Consultants    National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur.Dax has won contracts from BSNL, AP     Govts e-Seva Project,ITC' e-choupal project.Alcatel has secured an education sector    from National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, for switches and IP telephony.

6.In contrast the WAN market growth has been more or less quite stable for sometime.  The contraint being the available bandwidth which ranges from 64kbps to 2Mbps leased line.

7. The main growth sector for WAN being the call centres, the estimation is of a growth   of 27 percent, further the WAN gear is expensive, leaving little room for expansion.

8. Emerging sub-segments within the LAN segment are the wireless LAN and MAN's.

9. Leased line markets are growing , but more on the DSL side rather than traditional   ISDN usage.Wireless is still a yet better option for intra-city connectivity   in case the locations are in line of sight, as it is more economical and easier   to set up.

10.Talking about the LAN segment, the main reasons for their growth can be attributed   to new projects in the IT and ITeS sectors, further some companies are upgrading their,    their networks into Gigabit backbone, other factors driving are deployment of WLANS   low cost of LAN gear and wider availablity of Gigabit Ethernet.

11. 10G market is still in a nascent stage as per experts it will take at least another    year for this market to grow, even so Gigabit switching on the desktop is still to come.

12. The LAN market consists of the L-2 switch , managed un-managed, Fixed port , modular,    to end up in L-3 switch's, the ubiquitous hubs and NIC's.13. With dropping prices L-3 is being preffered over L-2 and hub's are on the decline.

14. Routers had a poor growth in the last years it was alarming, however in the last years    the market grew 3.5 percent, with India being the fastest growing market at 28.6 percent    the top two being Malaysia and Taiwan.15. There are again low-range , mid-range and high-range routers, where the mid- and high     end routers are the growing segments.

16. The main reasons for these segments to grow again are the increasing investments by        carriers , mid range are preferred by the BFSI sector, SME and goverments.17. The L-3 switch is expected to have a impact in the router segment, but not so soon.    They serve different purposes is the main reason, like the L-3 switch serves more the     LAN ports and less of WAN ports where as Router does the opposite.    Moreso developing nations still have the legacy of PSTN,FR circuits which can be ended     only on Routers.

18. Hubs are to be extinct as the decreasing costs of Layer-2 switches are a better     buy than Hubs.

19. NIC's however are to become ubiquitious as they become a part and parcel  of all     networked products.

Compiled from : Express Computers




What we take for granted took 32 years to take off
2004-09-10T03:09:00.000-07:00
August 15, 2004
      What we take for granted took 32 years to take off 
   Today we use Xerox synonymously with copying. But it is instructive for young entrepreneurs to know that Chester Carlson, the inventor of copying had to go from pillar to post to perfect his idea and to convince others of its merit; from October 1938 birth of his idea (after his frustration copying many times some patent-related papers with carbon paper) to the launch of Model 914 in March 1960 by Haloid Corporation (that later became Xerox), it was a long 32 years. Xerox was the undisputed leader for two decades. Today Xerox faces competition not only from Japanese manufacturers like Canon but even computer manufacturers like HP. Xerox Park (Palo Alto Research Center – PARC) was the place where several IT inventions were made, including Laser Printer, Ethernet, Mouse and GUI (Graphical User Interfaces)
   Carlson was born to a crippled father and a house servant mother (who passed away when Carlson was just 17). But the bold Carlson was determined and made a statement “Someday I am going to make a great invention”, which he did after all through the invention of Xerox photocopier. Interestingly his “Eureka” moment on October 22, 1938 was the copying of “10-12-38” printed with India Ink!
   (Part of the stories that BusinessWeek is carrying in its 75th year celebrations)

 Courtesy from http://ss.emergic.org/archives/2004/08/15/index.html#006304

 


pic
2004-09-07T10:26:00.000-07:00


' spot a F-22 flying !'




This is the beginning
2004-09-06T05:47:00.000-07:00
This is a blog with a sole purpose of forming  an introduction

to the inner psyche of human's falling in my order.

Other minds are invited to

speak over, coffee shall be served shortly !!