Every calendar's days are numbered.
I'm slowly becoming a convert to the principle that you can't motivate people to do things, you can only demotivate them. The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles. - Scott AdamsSarae Jahan Se Achha Hindostan Hamaragoogol: 10100, or 1 followed by 100 zeros October 31, 2005 in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 28, 2005
time to move
Good friends and interested readers,
Good news! I am moving this blog – and my others – to my VERY OWN DOMAIN!
If you will replace your http://sv.typepad.com/ URLs with the beautiful new http://www.forsv.com
Then we’ll meet there in one month (hey, I do get a little time off to refresh my roots in Mother India!)
I hope I’ll see you there. Meanwhile, I hope November is a lucky, surprisingly good month for all of you.
All the best,
October 28, 2005 in Info, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 27, 2005
Museums Set to Sell Art, and Some Experts Cringe
Museums Set to Sell Art, and Some Experts Cringe
By CAROL VOGEL
Published: October 26, 2005 in The New Work Times
Undaunted by the tempest over the New York Public Library's sale of a prized painting, arts institutions across the country are cleaning out their closets for auctions starting next week, stirring fresh unease among art historians and curators.
Artworks going on the block include paintings by Picasso, Modigliani and Chagall, and rare photographs by masters like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston. In December, the public library is moving ahead with the sale of two portraits of George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart, and 16 other paintings.
Continue reading ...
October 27, 2005 in Art, Reality | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 22, 2005
Can your printer tell on you?
This seems like a direct threat from the big brother:
October 22, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 21, 2005
Hi-tech workers make 'curry rock'
Hundreds of thousands of hi-tech workers from India have come to the US in the past decade.
Many of them arrived on the H-1B visa programme, which allows American companies to hire highly-skilled foreign workers.
For many Indians, getting a visa is a dream come true. But living and working in the US can be harder than expected and a group of Indian-born engineers has put the H-1B experience to music.
It all started, as these things often do, at a party. It was a house-warming party in the Washington DC area to be precise.
An Indian computer engineer with a yen for Jethro Tull was throwing the shindig. Among the guests were a couple of other Indian hi-tech workers with musical backgrounds.
Continue reading...
October 21, 2005 in Fun, Info, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2005
Dancing cellphone
Disappointed with your cellphone's lack of enthusiasm? Then you'll be relieved to hear that Motorola has devised a handset that dances for joy when it receives a call.
The "ambulatory" device, as it is described, sits on four vibrating feet that shake with different strength and in slightly different directions to make the whole handset wriggle around.
The device could, for example, shimmy in a clockwise direction to signal an incoming call from the office, or wobble counter-clockwise to alert the user to a new message.
Motorola even proposes using accelerometers to let the owner teach the phone how to dance when a certain person calls. A further party trick would see the device detect the beat of a music track and dance along in time.
Read the dancing cellphone patent here.
October 20, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 19, 2005
Headlines from year 2029
source: yahoo message board ticker AAPL
Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia formally known as California.
White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.
Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crop and livestock.
Baby conceived naturally--scientists stumped.
Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.
Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon).
Iraq still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 100 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.
France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica.
Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.
George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.
85-year, $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.
Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.
Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.
Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut.
Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.
Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.
Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.
New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.
Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.
Capitol Hill intern indicted for refusing to have sex with congressman.
IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75%.
Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines.
October 19, 2005 in Reality | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 16, 2005
Merely Following a Megatrend
Merely Following a Megatrend
By ZUBIN JELVEH
Published: October 15, 2005 New York Times
Is your job at risk? If it's the type of work that can be done over a wire, then probably yes, says Nandan M. Nilekani, the chief executive of Infosys Technologies.
Infosys is India's second-largest outsourcer. After achieving success in software engineering and back-office service, it has now begun to compete with companies like I.B.M. for more lucrative consulting work. This week, Infosys reported that its second-quarter earnings rose 36 percent. It raised its earnings forecast for the full year on stronger demand and a weaker rupee.
In a recent interview, Mr. Nilekani, a chief executive who makes $60,000 a year at a company worth nearly $20 billion, spoke about Infosys's success and the danger that it and other companies like it pose to American competitors.
Q. Are you worried about the outcry over outsourcing in America?
A. What's happening is pretty fundamental. If you go back to the 1830's, India and China were 50 percent of the world's G.D.P., and then they missed the entire revolution of industry. So if you take a long view of this game, it's just part of the process.
Q. Is there anything you realistically fear from Western policy makers?
A. No. I think politicians have to win elections. But underlying secular trends like technology and demographics - you can't stop these things, they're all megatrends. They're going to happen whether you like it or not. In fact, the guys who are going to win are the ones who say, "It's going to happen anyway; let's figure out how we can take advantage of it."
Q. Why did you branch out from just doing back-office work and add consulting to the mix of services you offer?
A. Our customers want us to be good at sitting down with them, understanding their business challenges, helping them devise a solution and then implementing it. They expect us to go up the chain in terms of relationships and business value. We're not trying to be strategy consultants. We're not sitting there and saying, "Buy this company."
Q. So now you'll be competing with the likes of I.B.M. and Accenture. Do you think you'll change the cost structure of the consulting business?
A. This is a battle of business models. We believe that at the end of the day we have a disruptive business model that is a threat to the existing business model and older companies will have to reconfigure themselves to look more like us if they're going to be globally competitive.
Q. What would that mean, to look more like you?
A. In any software project, we do 30 percent of the work in the U.S. and 70 percent in India. Our competitors do 100 percent of the work in a particular location. We have sort of become masters of delivering high value and high quality at lower cost, and on top of that we're trying to add consulting. Their challenge is to retain their relationships and business knowledge while reconfiguring their internal operations to become as efficient as us.
Q. Do you think you will be able to accelerate your consulting services as fast as companies like I.B.M. ramp up their operations in places like India to lower their costs?
A. I think the challenge is fundamentally different. For us it's about hiring and growth and building a brand; for them it's about restructuring the work force and I think, frankly, I wouldn't want to do that job because it's very painful, whereas this is exciting.
Q. What do you say to people who think that globalization will inevitably harm the United States work force?
A. Every time Wal-Mart replaces a person at a checkout counter with an automatic machine they're eliminating thousands of jobs. This is one more facet of that, except it's more emotional because instead of a checkout counter machine replacing Steve Smith, some kid in Bangalore is replacing Steve Smith. You can point to that kid and say, "He took my job."
Q. Does it feel odd to find yourself lecturing Americans on the joys of capitalism?
A. You guys told us for so many years to cut out this socialist rubbish and go to free markets. We came to free markets and now you're telling us, "Stop, don't come."
October 16, 2005 in Reality | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 15, 2005
The Blogger and IIPM
(via Atanu Dey's blog)
Here are the facts, very briefly. A magazine called JAM, did a story on a management institute called IIPM. The story said that IIPM makes tall claims. Many Indian newspapers carry full page IIPM ads. A blogger, Gaurav Sabnis, blogged about that and basically called IIPM claims fraudulent. IIPM served a legal notice threatening to sue Gaurav for a huge sum of money. They also contacted IBM, from whom they buy laptops for their students, to convey to them that they may stop that business relationship. Why? Gaurav works for IBM. So Gaurav resigned from IBM. The word got around and everyone and his brother is now blogging about the story—a rich corporation threatened a blogger and somehow managed to coerce him into quitting his job.
Everything you ever want to know about this affair and more is at Desipundit’s IIPM Blog Wars Redux.
October 15, 2005 in Reality | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 14, 2005
Andy Borowitz
Elsewhere, Apple Computer today introduced the first Video IPod, expected to be popular among porn fans with excellent eyesight. - Andy Borowitz
October 14, 2005 in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2005
Wrap up the week with some fun
October 13, 2005 in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 12, 2005
PSA: Canon and other digicam users, camera recalls...
(thanks to a good friend who sent this information)
In the past week, four major camera makers have quietly published service advisories admitting their digital cameras are affected. In each case, the flaw appears to involve CCD sensors using epoxy packaging that eventually lets in moisture.
Canon URL
Fuji URL
Minolta URL
SONY URL
October 12, 2005 in Info | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 11, 2005
Einstein's Big Idea
Exactly 100 years ago, Albert Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of relativity and came to a startling conclusion: mass and energy are one, related by the formula E = mc2. In "Einstein's Big Idea," NOVA dramatizes the remarkable story behind this equation.
PBS Broadcast Date: October 11, 2005 from 8 to 10 pm
October 11, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 10, 2005
Google 2084
October 10, 2005 in Humor, Reality, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 07, 2005
A mail from Vijay Kranti. Dean - IIT Madras
Dear Friends,
Here is a personal experience, as well as a moment of national pride, which I want to share with you. Hope you find it worth the time you put in reading it :
"In the middle of 1965 India-Pakistan war, US govt - then a close friend of Pakistan - threatened India with stopping food-aid (remember "PL-480"?). For a food deficient India this threat was serious and humiliating. So much so that in the middle of war, Prime Minister (Late) Lal Bahadur Shastri went to Ram Leela Grounds in Delhi and appealed to each Indian to observe one-meal-fast every week to answer the American threat. As a school boy, I joined those millions who responded to Shastri ji's call. I continued the fast even when the war was over and India became self sufficient in food. Hurt deep by the national humiliation suffered at the hands of the US govt, I had vowed to stop my weekly fast only when India starts giving aid to USA.
"It took just 40 years. Last week THE day arrived. When Indian ambassador in Washington DC handed over a cheque of US$ 50 million to the US govt, two plane loads of food, medical aid and other relief materials were waiting to fly to the USA. Time to break the fast? With no bad feeling about the USA, and good wishes for the Katrina victims, this humble Indian feels proud of the distance India has covered in 40 years. Let's celebrate a New India!"
- Vijay Kranti. Dean - IIT Madras
October 7, 2005 in Reality | Permalink | Comments (29) | TrackBack
October 06, 2005
Baby you can park my car
Nissan has developed an egg-shaped car for drivers who find backing out of tight parking spots a hassle.
The car's body pivots 360 degrees so that its rear end becomes the front.
The Pivo, shown on Friday at a Tokyo Nissan showroom, is still an experimental model and probably will not go on sale publicly for several years. It is a three-seater electric car that looks like a big egg on wheels. Its body revolves in a complete circle while its wheels stay put.
Such moves are possible because Pivo's steering, wheels and other parts are controlled electronically by wireless, or electronic signals, not mechanical links between the cabin and the vehicle's chassis.
"This is a cute car for people who have problems parking," said Nissan Motor Co. chief designer Masato Inoue.
Pivo, also planned for display at the Tokyo auto show opening next month, highlights other technologies, including a system that allows the driver to control devices inside the car simply by raising his or her fingers off the steering wheel.
Finger pointing
That is done through a camera embedded in the steering wheel that senses heat. Lifting one finger might turn on the radio. Two fingers might set car navigation equipment.
The technology works much like voice-recognition capabilities already available in some advanced cars, but Tokyo-based Nissan says some people prefer finger-pointing than talking.
Pivo also allows the driver to see blind spots via cameras attached to the outside of the car.
Inoue says it is possible to design a gasoline-engine vehicles that spins in the same way if electronic controls are approved for traffic safety. But they are unlikely to have the round look of Pivo because a conventional engine requires more room than an electric motor.
October 6, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 05, 2005
European school takes top spot in the Economist Intelligence Unit's MBA rankings
For the first time, a European school-Spain's IESE-has topped the list in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2005 ranking of full-time MBA programmes.
One of the main reasons that IESE does so well is the quality of its careers placement. IESE graduates can expect an average salary of around US$142,000 when they leave the programme, with 96% of graduates finding a job within three months.
Despite this European success, the ranking once again underlines the dominance of US schools. Eight of the top ten schools are American. Kellogg, which had topped the ranking for three consecutive years, drops to second, with Dartmouth, Stanford and Chicago all featuring prominently.
Bill Ridgers, the editor of Which MBA?, commented: "The main things that set these schools apart are a robust programme and excellent faculty. They often also possess a strong collegiate sense, meaning that students are keen to evangelise about their schools."
The highest ranked school in Asia and Australasia (excluding INSEAD, which has campuses in both France and Singapore) is the University of Hong Kong, in 45th place.
Read
October 5, 2005 in Info | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 04, 2005
Bush
Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."
"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"
His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.
Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"
October 4, 2005 in Humor, Reality | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 03, 2005
Robot racing gets under way
It's the ultimate robot reality show: 43 contestants battling for a spot in a government-sponsored desert race intended to speed development of unmanned military combat vehicles.
The reward? A $2 million cash prize.
The autonomous robotic vehicles began competing Wednesday in the first of a series of qualifying rounds at the California Speedway. Half will advance to the October 8 starting line of the so-called Grand Challenge.
The grueling, weeklong semifinals are designed to test the vehicles' ability to cover a roughly 2-mile stretch of the track without a human driver or remote control.
Participants ranging from souped-up SUVs to military behemoths will be graded on how well they can self-drive on rough road, make sharp turns and avoid obstacles -- hay bales, trash cans, wrecked cars -- while relying on GPS navigation and sensors, radar, lasers and cameras that feed information to computers.
October 3, 2005 in Games, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 02, 2005
Google offers free Wi-Fi for San Francisco
Google Inc. wants to connect all of San Francisco to the Internet with a free wireless service, creating a springboard for the online search engine leader to leap into the telecommunications industry.
Google spokesman Nate Tyler said Saturday that the company doesn’t have any plans to offer a Wi-Fi service outside the San Francisco Bay area.
“Unwiring San Francisco is a way for Google to support our local Bay Area community,” Tyler said. “It is also an opportunity to make San Francisco a test-ground for new location-based applications and services that enable people to find relevant information exactly when and where they need it.”
Google has been quietly experimenting with Wi-Fi service in a few connection spots around the Bay Area and New York during the past few months. In another sign of its interest in Internet access, Google recently bought an undisclosed stake in a Maryland startup, the Current Communications Group, which is trying to provide high-speed connections through power lines.
Building its own wireless Internet network connection also would help Google save money by reducing the fees that it pays to the telecommunications middlemen that provide a bridge between the company’s data centers and Internet service providers whenever Web surfers make a search request.
Any free Internet access service would threaten to siphon revenue from subscription Internet service providers like SBC Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. that have invested heavily in high-speed connections that depend on phone lines and cable modems.
A Google Wi-Fi service also could divert traffic from many popular Web sites, including Yahoo, MSN and AOL, if it’s set up to automatically make Google’s home page the first stopping point.
October 2, 2005 in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
